Texas Tender (39 page)

Everything was more beautiful, more intense, more important to her because she was sharing it with Will.
It isn't him or me. It's us.
As her body began to respond to his, rising to meet him and falling away to rise again, the familiar coils circled her body, but it was different this time. It wasn't just an amazingly intense physical experience. It was love as she'd never known it could be. Will gave to her, and she gave back to him in equal measure. The intensity of the experience affected him as strongly as it did her.

Throwing her arms around him, she clung to him, matched his kisses with her own, heard her moans an octave above the guttural sounds that were torn from his throat. When the rhythm of his movements became erratic, then culminated in one final thrust, she felt him release himself within her in a burst of warm seed. That was more than enough to send her over the edge as they floated off into ecstasy together.

Idalou woke with an unaccountable feeling of happiness filling her. She lay for several moments with her eyes closed, luxuriating in a kind of joy that was totally unfamiliar. She didn't know why she should feel this way, but she didn't care. It was too wonderful to question. But the moment she stretched and felt the soreness between her legs, everything came back with blinding vividness. Will had made love to her last night, twice, and she was naked. She reached to the other side of the bed, but her hand met only emptiness. She saw the note when she sat up and turned to look at the rumpled bed. It was short.

I hated to leave but thought it was best. I don't know what I'll have to do today, but save the evening for me. I promise I won't linger over supper.

Will

Idalou read the note several times before kissing it, pressing it to her bosom, and falling back against the pillows with a contented smile on her face. Will had left, but he couldn't wait to be with her again. She didn't know if she could concentrate well enough to do her work for Ella Hoffman. She'd probably give customers the wrong dresses and they'd come back to the shop angry about the mixup.

Idalou wouldn't care. She scrunched down in the bed with a smile on her face. She ought to get up and make sure Junie Mae and Mara were all right, but she didn't want to move, didn't want to shred the gossamer threads of happiness that encased her. She wanted to feel like this forever.

It was hard to believe that something as simple as being in love could make her feel so absolutely fabulous.
From now on, everything in her life would be wonderful. There'd be problems, but none she and Will couldn't work out. When you loved a man as much as she loved him, nothing else was really important. His happiness was all that mattered, because she finally believed that Will loved her, and only her, as deeply as she loved him.

No more worries about the ranch or Carl. Now that they'd found the bull, Carl could rebuild or sell as he wanted. The ranch was his. She didn't want to have to think about it ever again. No more worries about whether it was Jordan or Frank who was trying to ruin them. Will had already figured everything out and laid a trap for Sonnenberg. In a few days, it would all be over and she'd leave with Will to meet his family. She'd be going to meet her future. She jumped out of bed and reached for her clothes.

She could barely wait.

Idalou knew something was wrong when Junie Mae showed up at Ella's shop. The girl hadn't seen or spoken to her aunt since the day she was told to leave the Hoffmans' house.

“What are you doing here?” Ella Hoffman asked her niece, but Junie Mae ignored her and went straight to Idalou.

“Mara is gone, and Carl has gone after her,” she said

“Are you sure?” Idalou asked. “She could have gone to see her mother.”

Junie Mae shook her head. “She went to meet Carl. At least that's what her note said, but Carl said he hadn't sent any note, that it must be a trap, and he was going after her.” Junie Mae pulled two pieces of paper from her pocket and handed them to Idalou. “Here. Read them yourself.”

The first letter was brief and printed in block letters. It said:

I'm sorry for everything I said. I love you and want to marry you. Meet me at our favorite tree at noon today. I can't wait for us to be man and wife. Your loving husband-to-be,

Carl

The second note was equally short

Junie Mae,

I just got the most wonderful note from Carl. He does love me and wants to marry me. I'm going to meet him at our favorite tree. Tell Idalou not to worry. I'll be back in time for supper unless Carl wants us to elope.

Mara

“She left without waking me,” Junie Mae said. “I didn't see the note until Carl came asking to see Mara. His face went white when he read it. I didn't see the first note until after Carl had run out of the hotel saying he had to go after Mara as soon as he got his rifle. I went to look for Will, but he had gone out to see about some cut fences. Emmett says Will won't be back until late.”

Idalou didn't know who'd written that first note, though she could guess, but she knew that someone could get killed if anything happened to Mara.

“I have to go after Carl,” Idalou said to Ella. “No telling what might happen if someone's not there to stop him from going crazy.”

“You should wait for the sheriff,” Ella said. “Things like this are his job.” “He's already doing
his job
working for this town,”
Idalou said. “Carl is my brother. Making sure Carl's safe is my job.”

“What can you do?” Ella asked. “You're just a woman.”

“I've never been
just a woman
,” Idalou said, “and I don't intend to start now.”

But even as she left Ella's store, she had to ask herself if there really was anything she could do. She didn't know where Carl and Mara's special tree might be. They had had the run of the countryside growing up. The tree could be anywhere, but she believed it was somewhere along the creek that ran through their ranch. Because it was the only source of water year-around, it had the thickest cottonwood groves. On a hot summer day in central Texas, dense shade was a prized commodity.

“You think Van sent that note, don't you?” Junie Mae said as she walked back to the hotel with Idalou. “You think he means to kidnap Mara and force her to marry him.”

Idalou wasn't certain he'd go that far, but there didn't seem to be any other reason to lure Mara into a trap.

“I'm more concerned about Carl,” Idalou said. “He was still angry at Van for starting the fights and getting him thrown in jail. Kidnapping Mara could be just enough to make him do something really stupid.”

“Like kill Van?”

Idalou didn't think Carl would really try to kill Van, but she couldn't be sure that Van would be equally restrained. In the heat of the moment, no telling what any of them would do. Carl was still a teenager, Van was a spoiled and irresponsible young man, and Mara was a silly girl who had no idea of the potential for tragedy she represented.

“I don't think Carl would do anything that stupid,
but you can never tell how things will turn out when two men start fighting over a woman.”

“Or the ranch she will inherit.”

They reached the hotel and Idalou hurried to her room. The whole time she was changing, Junie Mae tried to convince her to wait for Will, but she wouldn't. “You can tell Will anything I could,” she told Junie Mae when she was ready to leave. “There's no need for me to be here as well.”

“I'm worried about you,” Junie Mae said.

“There's no need to worry about me. It's Carl I have to worry about.”

Half an hour later as Idalou rode up to the place where their home had stood, she was surprised to see a rider in the shadow of the trees along the creek. Thinking it was Carl, she felt her heart leap, but the outline was too big. The thought had barely crossed her mind that it could be Will before she eliminated that idea, too. Will was tall and broad-shouldered, but he was also quite slim. This man was much too stocky. It wasn't Van for the same reason it wasn't Carl, Jordan was still in jail, and she really didn't know what Frank Sonnenberg's outline looked like.

“A nice lady like you shouldn't be wandering around by herself.”

The voice was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. Still, she didn't like the tone. There was a menacing quality as well as a sense that the man was pleased with himself. She tried to see who he was, but he remained in the shadows and the sun was directly in her eyes.

“This is my property,” she said. “No one has a better right to be wandering around on it.”

She was about fifty feet from the man when instinct told her to pull her horse to a halt. But instinct had kicked in too late. The man's horse burst from the
shadows. The moment she realized it was Newt Mandrin, she turned her horse to ride away, but he was on her. He grabbed her horse's bridle. When she struck out at him, he lifted her out of the saddle. She struggled against him, disgusted at his touch, but he was too strong for her.

“I won't hurt you,” Newt said. “I just want you as bait for the sheriff. I have a score to settle with him.”

Too late, Idalou realized she should have heeded Junie Mae's advice and waited for Will. Now her insistence upon taking care of things herself had put the man she loved in danger. It was up to her to find some way to warn Will.

Will felt like letting loose a string of curses scorching enough to set Dunmore's Main Street ablaze. It was bad enough that Mara was so gullible she'd run off at the drop of a fake note from Carl. It was just plain bad luck that Carl should decide to come into town and find the note before Will could get back. But what possible excuse did Idalou have for going after them?

“She was afraid Carl would get in a fight with Van and somebody would get hurt,” Junie Mae said.

Will was certain that was exactly what would happen. No man could be expected to let a rival run off with his woman without doing something about it. But if Idalou thought Carl would be grateful that she'd come running after him, she was in for a rude surprise.

“Does she know where this special tree is?” Junie Mae had done nothing but tear up and wring her hands ever since Will got back. He knew he shouldn't feel this way, but right now he was ready to swear off helping females in distress. Look at the mess it had gotten him into.

“She said it had to be one of the trees along the creek.”

“Hell, that creek is ten miles long.” Will opened his desk and took out his holster. Junie Mae's eyes grew wide when she saw the gun.

“She said she thought it was a really big grove of cottonwoods a couple of miles from their ranch house.” Junie Mae didn't take her eyes off the gun as Will filled the chambers with bullets.

“Let's hope she's right.” Will buckled his holster on and tied it down. “I won't have a chance of stopping anything if I have to spend half the afternoon searching for the right damned tree.”

He walked over to the rifle rack on the wall and took down his rifle. Junie Mae drew back when he turned around.

“Are you going to shoot somebody?” she asked.

“I hope not.” If this was just a matter of Van luring Mara out of the hotel so he could talk her into marrying him, Will thought he could avoid any serious trouble. If, as he believed, Frank Sonnenberg was behind this, then he needed to be ready for anything. A man who blew up dams wasn't likely to stop at much.

“Are you sure nobody but you and Idalou knows?”

“Idalou made me promise not to tell anyone but you.”

Too bad Idalou hadn't stayed to tell him herself. He didn't think she'd do anything foolish, but if anybody did anything to hurt Carl, all bets were off. Emmett sauntered into the office, but he stopped when he saw Will checking his rifle.

“I need you to stay here until I get back,” Will said. “Junie Mae will fill you in on what's happened. I don't want Jordan to know, because his daughter's involved, but alert Lloyd Severns and Andy Davis. Tell
them to take Tatum and go out to Sonnenberg's place and wait for me there.”

“Is Frank in some kind of trouble?” Emmett asked.

“I won't know until I get there. You,” he said, turning to Junie Mae, “are to go back to the hotel and rest. You look worn out.”

“I'm worried about Idalou.”

“You let me worry about that now.”

Idalou had racked her brain for the last hour trying to figure out how she could get away or how she could warn Will, but she had not come up with a single feasible idea. Newt hadn't hurt her, but he'd tied her to one of the cottonwood trees in a standing position. It was incredibly uncomfortable.

“I want to make it easy for the sheriff to see you,” he'd said.

“Why? What have you got against him?”

“Lots of things.” Newt settled back in the dappled shade of a willow. “You might as well relax. He won't be done with that cut fence for a while.”

“You cut that fence?”

Newt chuckled. “Yeah. I ran off Alex Bowen's herd, too.”

“Why?”

“Because I hate that son of a bitch!” Newt exploded. “I was hoping to get a shot at him.”

“Shooting him in the back won't prove you're faster than he is,” Idalou said. “I heard about what happened in the jail,” she said when Newt's expression turned ugly. “You'll never get your reputation back by ambushing him. The next sheriff will just hunt you down and hang you.”

“Emmett and that stupid girl lied,” Newt shouted. “I was faster that day, but they just wanted to get in good with that fancy sheriff.”

It hadn't taken Idalou long to figure out that Newt intended to kill Will. She had decided to play on Newt's pride in the hope of forcing him to face Will, man to man. She didn't know if Will was faster—she prayed he was—but no man was faster than a bullet fired from ambush. “Well, everybody believes them.”