Journey of the Heart (18 page)

The shirt had been laundered, but the faint smell of healthy male clung to it and without thinking, Cait buried her face in the soft cotton and drank it in. It brought her back instantly to the moment yesterday when she was held in Gabe Hart’s arms. She hadn’t been conscious of anything then, except her shame and remorse. But her body must have taken in the way he smelled and the way he felt, for she could once again feel his hard chest under the soft cotton shirt and smell his distinctive scent: a combination of plain soap and healthy sweat. Henry didn’t smell like that; he smelted of cologne and hair oil.

Her cheeks became hot as she realized what she was thinking, and she thrust the shirt back under the other clothes. Whatever was she doing, clutching Mr. Hart’s shirt and daydreaming of a moment that was nothing more than a gesture of comfort. And why did she keep comparing the two men? There could be no comparison. Henry Beecham was a well-educated, brilliant man whom she could talk to about anything. (If anything meant books and ideas and politics, a little voice in her head reminded her.) Gabe Hart was an inarticulate horse breaker. He himself had said it: he wasn’t very good with words, or, he’d hinted, with women. He couldn’t be compared to Henry. And yet…when he had waltzed her away from Juan Chavez, when he had lifted her down from the fence, and when he had pulled her into his arms, something stirred in her. She tried to summon up a picture of Henry at his most handsome: in black evening dress, with a starched white shirt and elegant pumps. She’d so admired him at Susan’s birthday dance. But his picture kept fading and in its place was a tall, lean, blond-haired cowboy in a well-worn blue shirt and denims and dusty boots. His silver hair shone in the sunlight. His blue eyes blazed out of his tanned face.

According to her mother, it was all right to find another man attractive, she reassured herself. It meant very little as long as you were happy with the man you loved. She hadn’t met that many handsome men in her life, after all. It was only natural that she’d notice Mr. Hart, even feel a little stir of interest. There was certainly nothing to worry about, for he had no feeling for her. He hadn’t even liked her very much in the beginning, she was sure. And when she went back east, she’d never see him again.

Three days later, Gabe knocked on the Burkes’ door. “I’m leaving for town now, Mr. Burke. Is there anything I can pick up for you besides the mail?”

“We could use a packet of tea, Gabe. Just don’t leave your sister behind,” teased Michael.

“You look very handsome, Gabe,” said Elizabeth.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

He did, thought Cait, who was sitting with her parents at the kitchen table. He was obviously wearing his best clothes, a white shirt and a pair of gray wool pants. Except for the dance, she never saw him out of jeans and chaps. His hat was brushed clean and his boots polished.

“Will she recognize you, Gabe?” asked Elizabeth. “You haven’t seen each other in such a long time.”

“Well, I’ve grown a few inches and put on a few pounds and I’m a bit wrinkled, but I reckon I look enough like I did at eighteen for her to know me. I’ll know her, for I’m sure she’s grown into the image of our ma.”

When Gabe reached town, he tied the wagon in front of the telegraph office where the stage would come in and went in to get the mail. In his eagerness, he’d left early and had time to go into the store and shop around. He picked up the packet of tea, and felt his own coins jingling in his pocket. He’d been paid only two days ago and he’d brought a little with him so he could get a thank-you present for Mrs. Burke.

White sugar was always a luxury, so he had the storekeeper wrap up a packet of that. Then he saw the ribbon: it was a deep green velvet and he immediately imagined it tying back Caitlin Burke’s dark brown hair. He ran his finger over the soft nap and in his mind, his fingers were tying it around her curls. But he couldn’t bring her such a personal present. He had no right to give her a present at all. But then he realized that there were lengths of dark blue and burgundy right next to the green. He
could
get some ribbons for each of the women: blue for Elizabeth, burgundy for Sadie, and the green for Cait. That wouldn’t look strange at all.

By the time the clerk had wrapped his ribbon, he heard the rattle of the stagecoach and hurried outside. He had a moment of panic as Elizabeth’s teasing words came back to him. What if he didn’t recognize her? What if Sadie didn’t know him?

Sadie was the first passenger down and as she stepped out all his doubts fled. She was not as tall or rangy as their ma, but her hair was the same reddish-blond and her eyes the same blue. And she had more freckles now than she had when she was fifteen.

The sun was in her eyes and she stood there, looking around when he stepped in front of her.

“Sadie?”

“Oh, Gabe!” She flung her arms around him and he could feel her shoulders begin to shake.

“Now, Sarah Ellen Hart, don’t you start crying or you’ll have me bawling on the street like a baby,” he warned in a choked-up voice. She stepped out of his arms and started fumbling with her reticule.

“Here, Sadie,” he said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping her cheeks dry. He ran his hand over his own quickly to erase the evidence of his own emotion.

“It has been such a long time, Gabe,” she said softly. “I can’t tell you how much I have missed you.”

“And I’ve missed y’all, too, Sadie.”

“Well, if you did,” she said sharply, “why didn’t you just come home, damn it! Especially when May ran off.”

“I don’t know, Sadie,” Gabe confessed. “I guess she made home a place where I was ashamed to be. And once I got to wandering, it just became harder and harder to think of it, I always wrote, you know,” he added in his own defense.

“Because I threatened to send the Rangers after you if you didn’t! And what if Ma hadn’t been a schoolteacher and made you do all that reading and writing?”

“Wal, I guess I would have had to send you the occasional telegram then, Sadie,” he drawled. “Is this all you have?” he asked, looking down at her worn carpetbag.

“Just that, though it’s a heavy one.”

“It sure is. Do you want a lemonade or something before we start off?”

“That would be very nice, Gabe,” she said, tucking her arm in his. “Did you find me a place to stay here in town?”

“The Burkes insisted you take their spare room. That way we’ll see each other a lot more while you’re here.”

Sadie frowned. “Are you sure that will be all right, Gabe?”

“You’ll like them real well, Sadie. I feel…well, as close to feeling at home there as I ever have since I left Texas.”

Gabe went back to the store and asked for two cups of lemonade. There was a bench outside and he and Sadie sat down and looked at each other and smiled.

“Do you remember when Pa would take us into town?” asked Sadie.

“How could I forget? You’d be begging and whining for molasses candy the whole ride.”

“It was good when Ma was alive, wasn’t it, Gabe?” she said softly.

“It was.”

They were both quiet for a moment and Sadie watched the townspeople go by. There was a good-looking bay tied across the street in front of the bank and she was just about to point it out when she felt Gabe stiffen as a man came out of the saloon next door. He was not a very big man, but he moved with a strength and grace that reminded her of animals in the wild. He was dressed Mexican-style and a sombrero hung down his back.

“Do you know him, Gabe?” Sadie asked.

“I know him,” her brother said shortly, his hand automatically brushing his leg where his holster usually hung.

“You clearly don’t like him,” she said, with a touch of humor. “Who is he? He’s dressed like a Mexican, but he doesn’t really look like one.”

“His name is Juan Chavez. He’s a hired gun for Nelson Mackie, the big landholder around here. Land-grabber is more like it.”

The Mexican crossed the street and approached them.

“Damn,” Gabe cursed under his breath. “Come on, Sadie, let’s go.”

“Señor Hart. Who is this charming
señorita
with you?”

The words were polite enough, but somehow the tone was insulting. Even Sadie could tell that. She was tall for a woman and she didn’t have to lift her face too much to give him one of her best schoolteacher looks. She almost gasped when she saw his eyes: they were the coldest and greenest she had ever seen.

“This is my sister, Señor Chavez.”

“Now that you tell me, I can see the resemblance.
Encantado, señorita
.”

Sadie just nodded her head and tried to look through him.

“I hope you enjoy your visit,
señorita
. I am sure your brother will keep you safe.
Adios
.”

“Come on, Sadie,” said Gabe, “the wagon is over here.”

Neither spoke until they were on the edge of town.

“Was he threatening you, Gabe?”

“That’s what he is paid for, Sadie. He’s so good at it, he’s managed to drive quite a few ranchers out of the valley.”

“I can imagine he’s good at it. Those eyes of his….”

“They call him
El Lobo.
It’s not a bad name for him,” said Gabe, “for he goes right for the weak.”

“So is his boss after the Burkes’ too?”

“Mackie’s made two offers already and sent Chavez out to the ranch.” Gabe hesitated. “A few sheep were poisoned, but no one can prove it wasn’t jimson weed. If I could have reached you in time, I would have told you not to come, Sadie, much as I missed you,” he added, his voice strained and worried.

“I’m glad you couldn’t, then,” Sadie said matter-of-factly. “I can take good care of myself, Gabe. You don’t need to be worrying.”

“Whatever happens, I sure am glad you’re here,” said Gabe, giving her a quick, hard hug.

By the time they reached the ranch, Gabe had told Sadie all about the Burke family, the size of their spread, and the history of their horses. “They are beautiful, Gabe,” said Sadie as she admired the horses in the far pasture.

“I’m working the yearlings and the two-year-olds. It’s all going well except for one.”

“A rogue, Gabe? I hope you have more sense than to think you can do anything with that kind of horse.”

“No, just a two-year-old who’s been terrified of anything coming near his back since he was attacked by a mountain lion.”

They had reached the near pasture and Gabe pulled up. “There he is, Sadie, over in the south corner.”

Sadie saw a black horse covered with silver-dollar-size spots look over his shoulder curiously. “He is beautiful, Gabe.”

“His name is Night Sky. He was coming along real well until this week,” Gabe said with an exasperated sigh.

“Did you push him too fast, Gabe? That’s not like you.” Sadie knew Gabe had the patience of a saint with horses. On the other hand, if this one was so special, he might well have been tempted to push a little, she thought.

“Not me, Sadie. Sky is Miss Burke’s horse. Her fiancé was here and she was a little too eager to show Sky off.”

“She tried to ride him? Is she still alive, Gabe?” Sadie asked with a teasing smile. Her brother had always hated any interference when he was working an animal.

Gabe gave her a shamefaced smile. “I did light into her, Sadie.”

“She deserved it, Gabe. I’m sure it set you back weeks.”

“I hope not, but it will take some time before I get him back to where he was.”

Sadie decided there and then that she was not going to like Miss Caitlin Burke with her Eastern schooling and her fancy fiancé and her spoiled determination to show off at the expense of her horse.

She like Elizabeth Burke immediately, however. Sadie had been ‘Mother’ for so long that she’d forgotten what it was like to be taken care of. Mrs. Burke seemed genuinely delighted to have her and brought her up to the spare room. There was a jar of flowers on the nightstand and the quilt on the bed was turned down.

“You must be exhausted from your trip, Miss Hart.”

“Please call me Sadie.”

“Sadie then. Please make yourself at home. It is a few hours till supper. If you want to take a short nap, I’ve turned the bed down for you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Burke. For everything. I expected I would be boarding in town.”

“Nonsense. My husband keeps Gabe pretty busy, you know, and you’d have had very little time to see each other.”

“You have a lovely place here, Mrs. Burke. And the horses are something special.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Another horse lover?”

“Not like Gabe, I’m afraid.”

“Well, he is something special, too,” said her hostess warmly. “Now, I’ll leave you to yourself. You can rest, unpack, whatever you wish.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Burke.”

There was an old wardrobe in the corner and Sadie hung up her dresses. The bed looked very inviting and though she hadn’t intended to, she lay down on it, just to rest for a few minutes. She was awakened two hours later by the sound of laughter coming up from the kitchen together with the smell of a chile stew and lay there for a minute, not remembering where she was. Then it all came back and she was up in a second to wash her face, comb her hair, and put on a new shirtwaist for dinner.

“Here she is,” said Elizabeth, as Sadie came into the kitchen. “I hope you had a good rest?”

“I didn’t mean to sleep,” said Sadie apologetically. “But as soon as I lay down, I was out like a light.”

“Then you definitely needed to. Michael, this is Gabe’s sister, Miss Sarah Ellen Hart.”

“Good evening, Miss Hart,” said Michael, clasping her hand in his.

“Sadie, please, Mr. Burke.”

“This is our daughter, Caitlin,” he added, as Cait came in the front door. “Cait, come here and meet Gabe’s sister.”

Cait smiled at the tall, rangy woman next to her father. She had a strong face, too strong to be called ‘pretty’ but with her dark blue eyes that were so much like Gabe’s and her wide generous mouth, she could not be considered plain, either, despite her sandy hair and freckles. She extended her hand to Cait and said, “I’m very pleased to meet you, Miss Burke.”