The Rancher (4 page)

As badly as he wanted a wife,
and a mother for Alex, he wasn't about to be saddled with a hateful
woman, regardless of how pretty she was. There was only so much a
man could put up with and even though bedding Laurel had been the
single most exciting night he could remember in years, the moment
she opened her mouth to berate him for something, what little
desire he had for her would be gone.

He readjusted his hat, looked
toward the school and felt a bit of hope stir in his chest when he
saw Alex. He wouldn't have to face Laurel after all.

Alex ran across the street and
was near breathless when she stopped in front of him. "Pa, I swear,
I'll run away from home if I have to go back to class
tomorrow."

Holden laughed and laid his hand
on her shoulder as they walked down the street. "It wasn't that
bad, was it?"

Her face twisted into a grimace.
"She made us all switch seats and she sat me right in front of
Jesse Samuels! That boy is a pest from the other side of the room.
Now, he's right behind me."

"That doesn't sound too bad.
Just don't turn around and you'll never even know he's there."

"That's what you think." Alex
huffed out a breath and shook her head. "She also told everyone in
class my name was Alexandra and from this day on, they had to call
me that. Jesse spent the rest of the day pulling my hair and saying
Alexandra every other sentence."

Holden bit his lip to keep from
grinning. They walked all the way to the brand new hotel before he
stopped and looked down at his daughter. "Well, it is the name your
mamma gave ya."

The fury shining in her eyes dimmed a bit. "I didn't ever say I
hated the name. I just prefer Alex better."

He smiled and tossed her
pigtails over her shoulder. "Well, why don't we just let Miss
Montgomery have her way at school and we'll keep calling you Alex
when you're not there. How's that?"

She sighed, tilted her head a
bit as if thinking and finally nodded. "As long as everyone knows
that outside of school, I'm Alex."

They entered the newly built
hotel, greeted Joseph Brighton, the owner, as he said hello before
they turned, heading to the restaurant. They'd made it a regular
Monday ritual of having an early supper when the new hotel was
built and so far, Alex had enjoyed her time alone with him.

They were seated, handed menus
with the days special and had ordered before Alex sighed. Holden
looked up, noticed the look on her face and knew, there was
something she wasn't telling him. He crossed his arms on the top of
the table and just waited.

"Nobody likes her."

Holden didn't comment. It was
pointless to debate the issue when he knew his daughter was
probably right, especially after hearing what the men at the saloon
had to say about Laurel.

She looked up at him before
lowering her gaze. "Benjamin Atwater called her a shrew today. He
said that's what his pa said she was. A hateful, dried out old
shrew with no heart and she heard him. And you know what she did,
pa?"

He shook his head. "No."

Alex looked almost remorseful as
she sat back in her seat. "She looked like he'd thrown a rock at
her head. Her eyes got all glassy like she was about to cry and
then she just smiled and pretended he'd never said it, even though
everyone was laughing at her."

Holden stared at his daughter as
heat crawled up his neck. The conversation he'd heard earlier in
the saloon came back to mind and he wondered how many others would
be so bold as to tell Laurel what they thought of her. His own
anger at her diminished, remorse filling him as he thought of her
and how she'd feel knowing she was disliked. Knowing that he'd had
ill thoughts about her, too.

If what Alex said was true, then
it just proved Laurel did have a heart. It might have been black
and shriveled to the size of a prune for some unknown reason but
she did get her feelings hurt.

He sat back and thought of the
conversations he'd had with her. She'd been very straight forward
at the ranch and here in town, hadn't cracked a smile and had
looked very stern, but he didn't miss the pink tint her cheeks took
on when she first saw him. Or the way she avoided looking at him if
she could. How straight her spine was, as if facing him was the
hardest thing she'd ever had to do.

No one really knew her. Hell, he
didn't for that matter. Their night together was about pleasure.
They hadn't talked much once he entered her hotel room and he had
no inkling of what circumstance brought her to Willow Creek. She
may act like a spiteful woman who wanted nothing to do with him,
but was she really?

Their food arrived and he
watched Alex dig into her fried chicken while he sat there
wondering what it was exactly that made Laurel act so bitter. It
had to be something. Women didn't snap like she did without cause
and he'd done nothing to offend her which made him think that
someone, somewhere, knew why she had such a sour disposition. He
knew just who to ask about it, too. His brother, Morgan, would be
able to find out. There wasn't a person alive who could escape his
scrutiny.

Making a mental note to talk to
Morgan, he looked down at his plate, the meatloaf still slightly
sizzling while his thoughts whirled. Laurel Montgomery was an
enigma to everyone in town but one way or another, he'd find out
what caused her to be so surly.

* * * *

She'd survived another day of
class but still felt the cold rush of fear skating down her spine.
The kids, and the people in town, seemed to dislike her more than
she'd hoped they would. She bolted the front door of the school
house and walked back across the space, entering the small room
behind it that was now her new home. It was sparsely furnished. A
bed, a table with two chairs, a stove for cooking and a wardrobe
for her belongings.

As rooms went, it was better
than most boarding houses she'd found herself in. It was private,
it didn't smell and the colorful rag rug on the wood floor gave it
a cheery feel.

So why did she feel so much
misery while in it?

Filling the teapot with water,
she checked the stove, adding more wood to the burning embers and
waited for the fire to grow enough to boil her water. She looked at
the foodstuff she had, debated on going to the hotel for supper and
felt her stomach clench just thinking about it. She wasn't prepared
to suffer through that humiliation again. Not yet. Being served by
people who obviously didn't like her was embarrassing, especially
when the other diners stared at her. No, she'd make due with what
she had and not step back into that restaurant until she had no
choice.

When her water had boiled, she
poured it into her teapot, added the tea leaves and waited for it
to steep while grabbing one of the three china cups she owned.
Sitting at the small table, her thoughts a jumble of what ifs, she
waited until the tea had turned dark and rich and the aroma filled
her a bit with tranquility. Tea didn't cure all the troubles she
had but at the moment, it chased away the most depressing.

Being in a town where no one
liked her was soul crushing but she'd made her choice. She'd have
to see it through. She just wished Holden Avery hadn't graced her
door. For the first time in over a year she had thoughts she never
dreamed of having about a man again. Thoughts that caused her face
to heat, her stomach to clench delightfully and made her pulse beat
so fast, she could hear the blood racing in her ears.

She sighed, added a bit of sugar
to her tea and took a sip while trying to clear her head.
Regardless of her feelings where Holden Avery was concerned, she'd
stick to the plan. No man was worth the pain they brought,
especially one as handsome as Holden Avery. If being hateful to
every person she came into contact with, even him, was what it took
to protect her heart, then so be it. Living out her life alone was
a lonely proposition but it was one she could live it. She
hoped.

Chapter Three

Greeting her students as they
ran up the steps of the schoolhouse was done with as stern a look
as possible. It almost killed her not to smile at them and say how
happy she was for them to be back. Truth was, she adored kids and
teaching was probably as close as she'd ever get to having children
of her own.

She sighed, the noise from the
school bell ringing inside her head incessantly as Jesse continue
to ring it without fail. Seeing no one else running toward the
school, she was just about to turn when she saw the horse, and the
small rider seated in front of her father. Laurel's pulse leaped
when she recognized Holden and Alexandra coming down the road.

Of all the people she hadn't
wanted to see, it was him. Her heart nearly beat out of control
whenever she looked at the man and she hated the effect he had on
her.

She'd sworn off men after being
lied to and played for a fool, and knew the only way to be happy in
life was to make her own decisions. And she had. Life would have
worked out fine had she not made the grave mistake of falling for a
handsome face back in Missoula. Now, she was stuck in a town with
that same man. A man who heated her blood beyond reason and brought
to mind images of them together she couldn't seem to forget.

Sighing, she waited for
Alexandra to dismount and prayed Holden wouldn't follow his
daughter to the building. Her prayers weren't usually answered and
today was no different. She tried to ignore him as he walked toward
her. Tried to be indifferent to his chiseled features, the whiskers
on his chin where he'd not bothered to shave or the sparkling blue
eyes that were firmly latched on her.

She lowered her arms when he
climbed the steps, looked only at Alexandra and hoped he'd just go
away.

He didn't.

"I think we got off on the wrong
foot, Miss Montgomery." He smiled, and lifted his hand, the largest
red apple she'd ever seen resting on his palm.

Her pulse leaped and she cursed
her traitorous heart for even noticing the man. "An apple for the
teacher." She looked up, gave him a blank look and sighed. "How
very… typical."

She turned, walked into the
classroom and shut the door behind her, leaving Holden on the front
stoop while her heart stammered away in her chest. She crossed the
room, stepped behind her desk and inhaled deeply, telling herself
it was okay to be so rude to Holden, that if she wasn't, he'd never
leave her alone.

Picking up her lesson book, she
flipped to today's lesson's, scanning what she'd written for each
age group and lifted her head to look at her class just as the door
to the classroom opened. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Holden
framed in the doorway, looking as handsome and strong as he always
did, that blasted smirk on his face. This man would be the death of
her.

He crossed the room, his gaze
locked on her, and stopped in front of her desk. "Your fancy words
and hateful attitude won't make me go away, Laurel." He leaned
toward her, his words a bare whisper. "If nothing else, they amuse
me." He sat the apple in front of her, grinning up at her as he
leaned back. "Have a good day. I'll see you this afternoon."

The sound of his boots hitting
the floor as he walked away echoed in her head. The light from the
open door dimmed as he shut it behind him.

The man obviously wasn't about
to give up. Apparently she wasn't rude enough. She had to dissuade
him from pursuing her but how? He was obviously stubborn to the
core but so was she. She'd chased off more men than her father
could parade in front of her and a cowboy in the middle of nowhere
wouldn't get the best of her. She wouldn't allow it.

It was several minutes before
she was able to focus on her class. When she looked up, everyone
was staring at her, one face in particular catching her attention.
Alexandra Avery looked madder than a wet hen and if Laurel had to
guess, she'd say it was because of her father. He was obviously
trying to court her and his daughter knew it. And didn't like it
one bit.

Ignoring them all, she turned
her attention back to her lesson plan and tried to overlook the
flutter in her chest every time she looked at that apple.

* * * *

Holden walked into the
jailhouse. Morgan dropped the papers in his hand and look up as
Holden shut the front door. His brother shook his head and leaned
back in his chair. "If you're here to complain about the new school
teacher, I've heard it all already."

"Steady complaints about her
then?"

"You wouldn't believe it."
Morgan grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ben wanted me
to arrest her for calling him a drunk."

Holden laughed and grabbed the
chair across from Morgan's desk, turning it backwards and straddled
the seat. "Can't arrest people for speaking the truth."

"No, you can't." Leaning
forward, Morgan laid his arms across his desk. "So, what brings you
by?"

"Laurel Montgomery."

Morgan laughed. "Why am I not
surprised?"

"She's hiding something." When
his brother lifted one eyebrow, Holden knew he was intrigued.
"Don't you find it peculiar she's so… ornery?"