Sandra Chastain (2 page)

Some wild, untamed element vibrated from within him, like the sound of an echo in a blind canyon. Rusty had sensed it the moment their gazes met. Unlike every other man she’d ever known, he looked at her without blinking, and he didn’t ask questions.

No question about it. Cade McCall was a dangerous man. His presence so close beside her in the plane’s small cabin quite simply took her breath away. He was too male, too intense, too much man for a wóman without worldly experience. Clearly, he could and would hold his own—even gain the upper hand if she allowed him to. How on earth would she handle him?

McCall settled himself in the seat beside her and watched as she pitched her Stetson in back. Rusty crammed a headset over her wild hair and ran through the takeoff checklist. “Belt on?” she asked McCall over the engine’s rising sound.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded. His tone was obliging, his grin insolent. Rusty felt him watching her
every move but turned her full attention back to the controls.

She cleared with the tower, taxied the plane down the runway, and took off. In the seat beside her, McCall appeared relaxed and unconcerned.

“Pretty smooth,” he said finally. “How long have you been flying?”

“Since I was about sixteen. My father taught me.”

“Taught you good,” McCall replied with an approving nod.

Rusty glanced at him with a half-smile. Then she was annoyed with herself for being pleased by McCall’s small compliment. She knew she was a good pilot; she didn’t need some down-and-out drifter to tell her she was.

She guessed that Cade McCall limited his praise. He was certainly not big on small talk. That suited Rusty fine. She hadn’t much patience for idle conversation and knew she wouldn’t last long with a man who was full of questions. Acceptance was a rare quality and in this case, very necessary.

Cade, too, was content with silence. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t had many people to talk to lately or perhaps because by nature he was spare with his words. He merely waited. When the woman was ready to talk, she would.

His fellow workers had found him distant. He was simply slow to trust. He’d been betrayed by the people he’d cared for most, his father the first to abandon him, Janie the last to leave. He swore then that he’d never care about anything or anybody again.

Cade hadn’t counted on a little girl’s love to break through the wall he’d built around himself.
But she had, and she’d made Eugene, the pipeline camp cook, a part of their lives too. Leaving them behind, even temporarily, had been harder than Cade had expected.

The sun was setting, though it still hung just above the horizon. Bright streaks of gold and pink hovered above mountains that looked like black teeth capped with white. They’d been flying for nearly twenty minutes. Finally the woman turned toward him.

“We’re over the Silverwild spread now, McCall. You can see the cattle below, the white ones. They’re Charbray.”

“Sounds like French wine.”

“You’re not too far wrong. The Charbray comes from breeding the Charolais, which is a white cow of French origin, with the Brahman bull.”

“Kinda like merging Paris, France, and Paris, Texas. Interesting idea.” About like you and me, Cade thought wryly. “Why would you want to cross an ugly creature like that Brahman with anything?”

“Oh, but the Brahmans are more heat resistant, because of their well-developed sweat glands. Looks aren’t important here on the Silverwild. It’s the final product that we’re interested in, which is what we ought to talk about before we reach the ranch house. We’ll use this time to review our mutual goals.”

Cade lifted his chin and glanced over the edge of the plane at the barren landscape below. “ ‘Mutual Goals’? The ad didn’t say anything about goals—mutual or otherwise. What kind of job interview is this?”

“This isn’t precisely a job interview, McCall.
There are … certain things you need to know.”

“Yes, like what kind of quarters are you providing for my daughter and me, and why do we need a contract? If I do my job, pay me. If I don’t, deduct this plane ticket from my salary and fire me.”

He didn’t know why he was being so sharp. The woman was entitled to handle her interview any way she wanted to. It was her money. Some perverse need to rattle her calm had put him on edge. He looked over at her and tried a half-smile.

Don’t let him get to you, Rusty, she told herself. This is your game. You set the rules. Just don’t look at him as you lay them out.

“I don’t like to waste time, McCall. I like to make the right decision the first time. For now, I’ll have to say that you seem fit enough. Looks can be deceiving, of course. The job will make certain physical demands on you that might be—unusual. I simply want you to know what the future potential of your—employment might be.”

He might have believed her calm except for the tightness in her voice and the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. She still hadn’t explained the exact nature of these “unusual” physical demands, and Cade could not prevent his imagination from running wild.

He nodded, forcing himself to concentrate on the landscape instead of the generous curve of her flannel shirt.

“Are physical examinations part of the deal?” he asked playfully, surprising himself with the question.

Rusty gave him a quick, startled glance, then pulled her eyes away. “No. But they are important to my plans.”

Cade didn’t consider himself a man to whom social banter came easily, and this talk of physical examinations was more than suggestive. He was willing to bet that her pulse was running just as rampant as his own. Still, such control in a woman was rare.

“I assure you, Miss Wilder, I am in perfect physical condition. I had a checkup just last month.”

“I know.”

“You know?” This time Cade couldn’t control his reaction. “What does that mean?” he asked pointblank.

“It means I had you checked out before I sent the ticket, McCall. You have a six-year-old daughter with a chronic bronchial condition, but your health is perfect.”

However, she didn’t add that it was important to her plans to make certain that the child’s condition wasn’t the result of a hereditary weakness in the McCall line. “And it’s ‘Mrs. Wilder,’ ” she said instead. “I never took my husband’s name.”

“You never took your husband’s name, but it’s Mrs., not
Ms
.,” he said dryly. “At least you’re not one of those card-carrying, men-bashing feminists.

“On the contrary, Mr. McCall. I’m very much a feminist. But I’m also a realist. Whether or not I like men isn’t the issue. This employment is a business agreement, pure and simple. But it has to be an amenable arrangement for my plans to work. I intend to be fair. I’ll do everything possible to see that it offers as much to you as you will offer to me.”

“Just out of curiosity, how’d you get confidential medical records?”

“Truthfully, I have no idea. I didn’t ask. I simply employed a person who’s in the business of getting hold of such things.”

“And what else do you know about me?”

“I know that your wife died after an extended illness brought on by her addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. I know that you’re responsible enough to have paid off all her hospital bills and funeral expenses, even though she left you nearly seven years ago. Foolish, but admirable. Loyalty is a rare trait. I also know you were unaware you had a daughter until after your wife’s death. And I know you’re flat broke. Is that about it?”

“Just about. But I’m beginning to think you know something that I don’t. When am I going to learn the rest of the story? What exactly do
you
expect to get out of this?”

“I had planned to wait until we got to the ranch before explaining all the details, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. You’ll have to know sooner or later.”

“Know what, Mrs. Wilder? Your dark, mysterious reason for hiring me? I’ll bet I’ve already figured that out, but I’m not sure it’s legal.”

“What I expect to get,” she blurted out, turning toward him in quick surprise “is a temporary husband, Cade McCall.” Rusty heard herself and cringed. This wasn’t going the way she’d planned. Blast the man, he wasn’t even reacting.

After a long silence she forced herself to regain her composure and speak calmly. “I had planned to discuss the terms of your employment after you’d seen the ranch. I thought you’d be more agreeable then.”

Husband?
Cade’s expression might have remained
unchanged, but his inner reaction was of complete disbelief. His only comment was a strained “So, Eugene was right.”

“Eugene? Who is he?”

“Eugene is Pixie’s friend, the base-camp cook who first saw your ad.” Suddenly the air became tense. “He warned me that this might happen. Go on, Mrs. Wilder, tell me the rest. I don’t think I can wait for the tour.”

She might as well. Her inability to control her response to the man had ruined her calm, businesslike approach. Like some love-struck teenager she’d blurted out her plan and made herself look like an idiot. Well, she had no choice now but to go on.

“I’ll make few demands on your time,” she added hurriedly. “Once we’re married, you’re free to come and go, so long as you remember that you’re a Wilder and conduct yourself accordingly.”

“A Wilder?” All the tension simmering just beneath the surface suddenly caught fire and erupted. Cade sat up, narrowed his lips, and spit out his response, one knife-sliced word at a time. “Not on your life, boss-lady. The name is McCall, the same as yours will be if we should get married, which is, I might add, highly unlikely at this point. Even if I accepted your proposal, I have a child who needs a mother, not a ranch foreman.

“In addition,” he went on tightly, “I like to drink, play poker, and make love to a woman now and then. What sort of terms do you intend to write into that contract to take care of my personal needs?”

Cade didn’t bother to add that those pastimes
had been discarded years ago in the aftermath of his divorce.

“Perhaps you should see Silverwild first, before we try to iron out the fine points,” Rusty said smoothly.

Ignoring the tense silence, Rusty banked the plane, circling the mountains to the south. Cade McCall was a hard man to decipher. He hadn’t said no, but he didn’t seem to be receptive to the idea of marriage either.

But wasn’t that what she wanted? A six-month trial period where they could work out the details and decide whether or not marriage was to their mutual advantage?

Cade’s strongest objection so far was over the issue of changing his name. Well, she could make that worth his while. Cash flow was limited since she’d bought the new bull, but outside of her banker, nobody else knew. And a few well-chosen stud fees for the bull would change all that.

By the time the other ranchers got over the shock of her new bull, she and Cade would be well on her way to working out the more personal part of their future plans. The truth was, it didn’t matter what the man’s name was or what name appeared on the marriage certificate. Once Cade McCall married Rusty Wilder, he would be a Wilder, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

McCall was a definite surprise. He didn’t seem to be a typical drifter or some fortune hunter looking for a free ride. She was prepared for him to demand concessions of his own. She just didn’t know what those concessions would be. However, she knew that in order to stand up to Cade McCall, she’d have to deal with him directly. No guile, no
feminine wiles—not that such maneuvers had ever been Rusty’s style.

“I know this seems like an impossible proposition, McCall, but if you will be patient until after dinner, I think I’ll be able to assure you that Silverwild will satisfy all your needs.”

“Oh? That ought to be interesting.”

She ignored the implication of his words. “Now if you’ll look below, I’m going to take a quick pass around the spread so that you can get an idea of what I’ll be offering the man I choose. And you’re right, it isn’t a foregone conclusion that it will be you. You may not be able to handle the terms of my agreement.”

“Oh I can handle them, Ms. Wilder. As long as you are prepared to give as much as you get. Don’t you worry about that. The question is whether or not I
choose
to.”

The plane bobbled for just a second, and Cade felt an immense glow of self-satisfaction that he’d broken through her steely reserve again. She might appear as cold as one of those snow-covered peaks below, but so did Mount St. Helens until she erupted. Then the entire Northwest felt her heat.

“Another thing you’re right about, ma’am,” he added carelessly. “Just like you said earlier, appearances can be deceiving. But passion? That’s something a person can never completely disquise. I’m looking forward to dinner—and learning how you intend to satisfy my needs.”

She came up behind him on the patio like a shadow.

“Well, does what you’ve seen of the ranch come up to your expectations?”

“I had no expectations,” Cade answered honestly. “But if I had, I would never have envisioned all this.” He had thought he was alone until he heard her speak. Being caught unaware bothered him; it rarely happened. The woman was disturbing, not only to his peace of mind but to his senses.

From the time their eyes had met in the airport, the tension had grown. Rusty’s plan to show him what she had to offer had in no way changed that. Their plane had circled the house, farm buildings, and herds of cattle grazing across the pastureland. She landed on a private airfield that stretched across the flat landscape and ended at a hangar that housed the plane and several pieces of farm
equipment. They climbed into a waiting Jeep that Rusty Wilder drove fast but expertly to the white stucco ranch house.

The setting sun caught the red roof tiles of the house, turning them the same fire-shot color as Rusty’s hair. She drove around to the side of the horseshoe-shaped house and came to a stop just inside the courtyard. For a moment she stared at the steering wheel, relaxing her grasp one finger at a time before leaning back and letting out a deep breath.

The sun dropped behind the mountains in the distance as if a curtain had been lowered. In March the air was still cold, and with the moon covered by a blanket of clouds, the night sky turned volcano-black.