Texas Lucky (25 page)

“Nobody hates what happened more than me,” she cried. “And it would never happen again. Not now.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll bet you’re real brave.” He took the glass of whiskey the waitress brought and downed it in one gulp, then eyeballed Tess again. “I thought when I left you and took half your money, you’d realize the only thing for you to do was go back where you came from. So what the hell are you doing here?”

“That’s none of your business. Nothing about me is your business.”

“I think it is. You’ve got the deed to my land. And where did you get a horse like that, anyhow? I know quarter horses, and he’s one of the best I’ve seen.” His eyes narrowed, and the corners of his mouth twitched as he goaded, “But I guess you’re an old hand at stealing horses now, aren’t you?”

“Saber was a gift.”

“A gift? A horse like that? Why, I saw the one Captain Richard King was said to pay six hundred dollars for, and the one your lover rode to victory today is every bit as fine.”

“Buck is not my lover,” she said with teeth gritted as she wrapped her shaking hands around her glass. “And I don’t care whether you believe me or not. That horse was given to me.”

“In trade?” Curt sneered. “You must have learned a lot since you were in bed with me, honey, ’cause you damn sure weren’t good enough to be worth a horse like that.”

“You low-life bastard,” she whispered.

Slinging the wine in his face, she leaped to her feet, knocking the chair over with a clatter.

When she stood, the first thing Curt noticed was her holster, crossed, with the guns backward. Since he didn’t have time to figure out what it meant, he was taking no chances and grabbed her wrists with the speed of a rattlesnake.

“Let me go, damn you.”

“You might try to shoot me—if you can figure out which end of the gun to hold on to,” he added with a chuckle.

“Oh, I know which end, all right. Let me go, and I’ll prove it.”

No one was paying any attention to them, for it was Saturday night, noisy and wild, and an argument going on in a shadowed corner was not noticed.

Maneuvering to grasp both her wrists in one hand, Curt picked up her chair and righted it, then slung her roughly into it.

“Draw against me,” he warned with a finger to her nose, “and I’ll treat you like any other foolhardy gunslinger, Tess.

“And by the way,” he said as he wiped his face with his sleeve, “You’re a little plumper than you were, but not enough for me.”

He settled back as she glared at him with cheeks puffing from breathing so hard in her fury.

“I don’t care what you think of me. If I wanted to shoot you, you’d already be dead. I’ve learned a lot these past months, and I warn you—I’m damn good with a gun.”

“You couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, and wearing your guns like that could get you killed. I’m surprised your sweetheart lets you do it.”

“He’s not my sweetheart,” she said again, adding, “And no man tells me what to do, anyway. I’m on my own and doing real well, thank you. Now leave. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“I’ll leave when you agree to sign that deed over to me.”

“I’ll tell you again—you’re crazy.”

“I have a legal claim to that land.” He reached in the pocket of his leather vest and took out a folded paper and held it so she could read it but not snatch it away.

“I was in a poker game in Abilene a few weeks ago,” he began. “Playing for real big stakes. So was Chester Arthur. It came down to me and him in the end. Everybody else dropped out. They couldn’t stay with us.”

Tess had read the note but continued to stare at it, lips slightly parted. Tiny beads of perspiration began to dot her forehead as she wondered what would happen now. The note was definitely an IOU for the land described in the deed Chester Arthur had signed over to her.

Curt refolded the note and put it back in his vest pocket. Taking a gulp of the drink just set before him, he continued, “Actually, the stakes were too high for me, but I knew Arthur would eventually up the ante with land that he had won some months back.”

Flippantly, Tess remarked, “So you’re still trying to win your ranch in a poker game. Well, that’s none of my concern, but you should have known better.”

“For your information, I
have
a ranch.”

She managed to keep her face expressionless, wanting to appear neither surprised nor interested. She wanted, by God, to give the impression she did not give a damn about anything concerning him.

“My ranch happens to border the land Arthur won. That’s why I wanted to play poker with him and was so determined to win. I’d heard about him, how he’s a reckless son of a gun, and I knew if I could beat him down, he’d wager that land because he didn’t have any use for it, anyway. That’s the reason he was so quick on the trigger to deed it over to you, so he could get you off his back and get the hell out of town.

“From what I hear, he owed a lot of people,” he went on to say. “I don’t think he even had the two thousand for the prize money. That’s why he was charging an entry fee. That way, he could cover the stake and have enough left over from his winning to make a killing.

“Only he didn’t figure on you happening along with a horse that could outrun everybody else,” he finished with a grim smile.

Tess held up her hand to the waitress to bring her another glass of wine, feeling a sudden, desperate need for something strong.

Curt waved the woman away. “She doesn’t need it.”

“What?” Tess exploded. “You don’t tell me—”

“Shut up and listen,” he growled. “I want to get this over with so I can get the hell out of here. I just got back from a four-month trail drive, and I’ve got work waiting for me back home. I don’t have time to hang around and argue with you.”

“So why are you?”

“Listen, every time I sat down at a poker table, my heart was in my mouth. I was betting my savings and would either walk away with a little more money than I came with or wind up with nothing. It wasn’t easy, but I finally had enough to buy a nice place south of here.”

“Probably with
my
money,” she quipped with an airy sniff.

He slammed his fist on the table again. “Listen, I told you I sent your money to your address in Philadelphia, and if you’d been there to get it, you’d know I’m telling the truth. But I don’t care about that. What I do care about is the fact that when I drew four aces in that last hand to beat Chester Arthur’s three kings, my biggest dream came true, and you aren’t going to take it away from me.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Tess threw up her hands. “If what you say is true, why didn’t you have the good sense to have him deed it over to you like I had him do for me? It’s not my fault you didn’t have the good sense to think about how worthless that silly piece of paper really is.”

The nerve in his jaw twitched, and Tess saw that now his hand was shaking, every so slightly, as he lifted his glass to his lips and downed the rest of the whiskey.

“Out here,” he said tightly, evenly, “whether you think it’s silly or not, a signed IOU is good as gold. However, I only agreed to hold it till the next morning, when the bank opened. It was nearly four A.M. when we finished the game. We’d been playing since noon the day before. We were both bushed. I went to my room to get some sleep. Chester said he’d meet me at nine. He never showed. I went looking for him and found out he’d left town, probably before my head hit the pillow. I’ve been trailing him ever since, and when I got to town this morning…”

“So that was you,” she murmured.

He did not hear her and continued, “…I decided to let him run the race, because I figured he had a good thing going and I wanted to win a little myself. Only you ruined it.”

“You keep blaming me, damn you, and—”

“And you’ve picked up a nasty habit of cursing.”

“Which is also none of your business.”

His eyes flicked over her again. “And why are you dressed like a man? Look at you—britches, shirt, vest, bandanna, boots. You even carry guns. And got yourself a cowpoke to keep you warm.” He threw another nod toward the dance floor. “Ah, but what the hell do I care? Just sign that deed over to me. We’ll get somebody to witness it, and—”

“And how many times do I have to tell you that you are out of your mind?” she challenged incredulously. “You’ve already got five thousand dollars of my money. Do you think I am going to give you my land because of some silly piece of paper?”

He stared at her long and hard, eyes slitted, jaw set, hands clenched into fists. “Chester Arthur promised me that land before he did you, which makes it mine, and I aim to have it.”

“And I told you, you aren’t getting it.”

Remembering the rest of her money, he suddenly asked, “What did you do with it—the other five thousand?”

“I put it in the bank. I’ll use it to buy my starter herd and build my house, and barn, and…and…” She gave her head a vicious shake, rolled her eyes upward and wailed, “Oh, why I am I telling you all this? Please. Just get out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He began to drum his fingers on the table.

Tess stood it as long she could, then bolted to her feet. “Then
I’ll
leave. Bad enough we’re going to be neighbors, but since I have fifteen thousand acres, maybe that will put enough distance between us that we won’t run into each other.”

Curt also stood. “I own twenty thousand, Tess. And believe me, I don’t want to be any closer to you than you do to me. So let’s take care of that deed, and we won’t ever have to see each other again.”

She started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm and held her back. “I’ll take you to court if I have to.”

Buck, having finally noticed something was going on, charged over to warn, “Get your hands off her, mister, or you’ve got trouble.”

Tess shook free of Curt and dusted her arm as though his touch had soiled it. “It’s all right, Buck. I’ll explain it to you later.”

“No,” Buck said with an adamant swing of his head. “I think you’d better tell me now.”

Knowing Buck had probably had too much to drink, and fearing he would not stand a chance against Curt in a gunfight, Tess stepped between the two as they locked gazes in challenge.

Around them, others had noticed, and while fistfights were nothing to be concerned about, what they were seeing had all the makings of a gunfight. Fearful of getting hit by a stray bullet, everyone began to scatter.

Buck shoved her out of the way, not about to have a woman shield him. “Mister, if you want trouble, you got it.”

Curt’s lips drew to a thin line. “No, I don’t want trouble.” He held up his hands in capitulation.

Tess frowned to see Buck was feeling his oats as he puffed out his chest and said, “Then you’d best be on your way.”

He swayed ever so slightly, and she realized he was drunker than she thought. “Buck, leave it alone,” she chided gently. “It’s all right. Just a misunderstanding. That’s all. I’ll tell you about it in the morning.”

“She’s right,” Curt said, watching Buck intently in case he decided to go for his gun. “It’s just a little misunderstanding, but it’ll get straightened out.” He cut his eyes to Tess. “You can count on it.”

He backed away, still wary of Buck, afraid he’d had just enough to drink to make him do something stupid.

Finally, Curt turned on his heel and walked out.

Damn her to hell
, he fumed as he crossed the crowded street to another saloon. Bad enough she turned up, but to have his land…it was too much.

A soiled dove in a purple satin dress with her breasts spilling out of the bodice latched on to him the minute he walked through the swinging doors. “You look lonesome, cowboy. How about buying me a drink, and I’ll keep you company. Later on, I can be real friendly.”

“No, thanks,” he mumbled, gently pushing her aside to step around her and continue on to the bar.

He bought a bottle of whiskey and took it to a table in a far corner, glowering at any of the other floozies who glanced his way.

Damn Tess Partridge.

If she thought she was keeping his land, she was sadly mistaken.

It would have been so much easier, he brooded, if it had been a man who won the race, because they could have fought it out.

Tess, however, presented a problem, for he well knew how stubborn she could be.

Three drinks later, Curt decided he was a fool to drink himself into a stupor. He needed all his wits about him, because, by God and thunderation, he was going to have what was his. He did not want to wake up in the morning feeling like he’d been run over in a stampede.

Which happened far too often of late.

Ever since he’d left Tess.

Damn a bear, was he ever going to stop thinking about how good it had been?

He could not forget how it had felt to wake up with her head nestled on his shoulder, his arms about her. Sometimes her bare leg would be draped across his bare thigh, the downy nest between brushing against his flesh.

That
had never failed to wake him up in another way as well.

But, aside from that part of being with her, there had been more. Otherwise he could have put her out of his mind, because he’d had plenty of fine women in his life.