The Rancher & Heart of Stone (16 page)

She sighed. “I’m a loner, too, in my own way. But I don’t stand on the sidelines and glare at people all the time—or, worse, pretend they’re not there.”

“Is that Boone’s latest tactic?” he mused, chuckling. “He ignores you, does he?”

“He did until I argued about Bailey’s condition.”

“Thank God you did,” he said fervently. “Bailey belongs to Boone, but we all love the old fellow. I’ll never understand why Boone didn’t realize what had happened to him. He’s a cattleman—he’s seen bloat before.”

“His girlfriend convinced him that I was trying to get attention, using Bailey to lure Boone to my place of work.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” he burst out. “Boone’s not that stupid!”

“Well, apparently my mother’s been telling him that I have a crush on him, and now he thinks everything I do or say is an attempt to worm my way into his life,” she said bitterly.

“Ella told him that?” he exclaimed.

“Yes. And she told him that I’m sleeping with Bentley.”

“Does Bentley know that you’re sleeping with him?” he asked innocently.

She laughed. “I don’t know. I’ll ask him.”

He burst out laughing, too. “That’s more like it, kid,” he said. “You have to learn to roll with the punches and not take life so seriously.”

“It feels pretty serious to me lately,” she replied. “I feel like I’ve hit a wall tonight.”

“You should push your mother into one,” he told her. “Or better yet, tell her what a lousy mother she’s been.”

“She doesn’t listen when she’s drunk, and she’s mostly away from home when she’s sober.” She pursed her lips. “I work for veterinarians. I’ve been professionally taught to let sleeping dogs lie.”

He smiled. “Have you, now?”

“Where are you taking me?” she asked when he took a state highway instead of the Jacobsville road. “I thought we were going to a movie.”

“I’m not in the mood for a movie. I thought we might go to San Antonio for shrimp,” he replied. “I’m in the mood for some. What do you think?”

“We’ll be very late getting back,” she reminded him worriedly.

“What the hell,” he scoffed. “You can tell your mother you’re sleeping with me now instead of Bentley and she can mind her own business about when you come home.”

Her eyes almost popped.

He saw that and grinned. “Which brings to mind a matter I need a little help with. I think,” he added, “that you and I can be the solution for each others’ problems. If you’re game.”

All the way to San Antonio, she wondered what he meant, and how she would fit into his “solution.”

CHAPTER THREE

T
HE
RESTAURANT
C
LARK
took Keely to was one of the most exclusive in town, famous for its seafood. Keely was worried that she was dressed too casually for such a grand place, but she saw people dressed up and dressed down for the evening out. She relaxed and followed Clark and the hostess to a corner table. They were seated and provided with menus. Keely had to bite her tongue at the prices. Any one of these dishes would have equaled a day’s salary. But Clark just gave her a grin and told her to order what she wanted. They were celebrating. She wondered what they were celebrating, but he wouldn’t say.

Keely had eaten earlier, so she just had a very light meal. After she’d finished, she wondered if it was really the food that drew him here. He couldn’t take his eyes off the waitress who took their orders. And the waitress blushed prettily when he stared at her.

“Do you know her?” Keely asked softly when the waitress went to turn in their orders.

“Yes,” he said, grimacing. “I’m in love with her.”

Immediately Keely recalled Boone’s attitude toward his siblings becoming involved with someone from a lower economic class. He’d been vocal about it in the past. The look on Clark’s face was painful to see. She knew without asking that he was seeing the hopelessness of his own situation vividly.

“Is she the one you took to supper at the ranch?” she asked, remembering something she’d heard from Winnie.

He nodded. “Boone was polite to her, but later he asked me if I was out of my mind. He sees all working women as gold diggers who can’t wait to marry me and then divorce me for a big settlement.”

“Not all women want money,” she pointed out.

“Tell Boone. He doesn’t know.”

“That woman he goes out with seems to be obsessed with it,” Keely muttered.

“She doesn’t count, because she’s rich in her own right.”

“Yes. She’s beautiful, too,” she added with more bitterness than she realized.

He studied her across the white tablecloth with its fresh flowers, candles and silverware. “Think about it—would a man like Boone stick his head into the same noose he escaped once? That woman walked away from him when he was lying in a hospital with shrapnel wounds that could have killed him. She didn’t like hospitals. She thought he might be crippled, so she gave him back his ring. Now she’s in San Antonio and wants to go back to where they started. How do you think Boone feels about that?”

For the first time, she felt a glimmer of hope. “Your brother doesn’t forgive people,” she said softly. It was what she’d said once to Winnie.

“Exactly. Much less people who stick pins in his pride.”

“Then why is he taking her around with him?” Keely wanted to know.

He shrugged. “She’s beautiful and she has polished manners. Maybe he’s just lonely and he wants a showpiece on his arm. Or,” he added slowly, “maybe he has something in mind that she isn’t expecting. She wants to marry him again. But I don’t think he wants to marry her. And I think he’s got a good reason for going out with her at all.”

“God knows what it is,” Keely murmured.

“God does know. He probably doesn’t like it, either.”

“You think Boone is working on revenge?”

“Could be. He doesn’t often share his innermost thoughts with Winnie or me. Boone plays his hand close to his chest. He doesn’t give away anything.”

“What was he like before he came home wounded?” she wanted to know.

“He was less somber,” he told her. “He played practical jokes. He laughed. He enjoyed parties, and he loved to dance. Now, he’s the total opposite of the man he used to be. He’s bitter and edgy, and he won’t say why. He’s never talked to any of us about what happened to him over there.”

“You think whatever it was is what changed him so much?”

He nodded. “I miss the brother I had. I can’t get close to the man he’s become. He avoids me like the plague. More so, since I brought Nellie home with me for supper. He gave me a long lecture on the dangers of encouraging hired help. He was eloquent.”

“So you’re uneasy about taking her out on a date.”

“I’m uneasy about Boone finding out that I’m dating her,” he confessed. “Which brings me,” he added with a glance, “to the solution I need your help with.”

She gave him a wary look. “Why do I get the feeling that I shouldn’t have agreed to come here with you?”

“I can’t imagine.” He leaned toward her, smiling. “But if you’ll just cooperate in my little project, I’ll return the favor one day.”

She noticed that Nellie, waiting on another table, was sending pained looks toward Clark, who was oblivious to her interest. “This is upsetting Nellie,” she pointed out.

“Not for long. I’ll speak with her before we leave. Listen, you’re my best friend. I need you to be a friend and help me divert Boone from guessing how involved I am with Nellie. We’re going to pretend to get involved, if you’re game.”

“Involved?” Keely squeaked. “Listen here, Boone already thinks I’m sleeping with Bentley, thanks to my mother. He won’t believe I’m turning my attention to you. He hates me!” she exclaimed. “He’ll go out of his mind if he thinks you’re serious about me, and he’ll stop it any way he can. I’ll lose my job and have to stay at home, my mother will drive me crazy—”

“Your mother will be thrilled if you go out with me, because I’m rich,” Clark said sardonically. “She won’t cause trouble. And Boone will spend his time trying to think up ways to get you out of my life, unaware of what’s really going on.”

“Boone isn’t stupid,” she worried. “He’s going to wonder what you see in me. I’m poor, I work at a menial job...”

“I’ll take care of all that,” he said, smoothing it over. “All you have to do is pretend to find me fascinating.” He grinned. “Actually I
am
fascinating,” he added. “Not to mention highly eligible and charming.”

She made a face at him.

“But my brother can’t know it’s not for real,” Clark added seriously. “He’s got control of all my money until I turn twenty-seven. Then I can get to my trust. That’s next year. I can’t afford to tick him off just yet. But I’m not giving up Nellie.” He glanced toward the young waitress, who blushed again at his interest and almost overturned a tray looking at him. “You have to help us,” he told her. “You helped Bailey and he’s just a dog. I’m a kind, thoughtful man who treats you like a little sister.”

“That’s it, play on my heartstrings,” Keely muttered.

He grinned. “Come on. It will drive Boone nuts, you know it will. You’ll love it!”

Thinking of the way Boone had treated her, she had to admit that the deception would pay dividends in the form of revenge. But Boone was a formidable enemy and Keely was uncertain about making one of him. That was funny, considering his hostile and condescending attitude toward her. He was her enemy already.

“I’ll save you if it gets too rough,” he promised.

She knew it was a bad idea. She was going to regret giving in. “If I agree to do it, I have to tell Winnie the truth,” she began.

“No,” he said immediately. “Winnie can’t keep a secret, and she’s afraid of Boone, too. If he puts on the pressure, she’ll tell him everything she knows.”

Keely grimaced. “I just know this is going to end badly.”

“But you’ll do it, won’t you?” he asked with a cajoling smile.

She sighed. She grimaced. Clark had been her friend as long as Winnie had. He’d helped her out of half a dozen scrapes involving her mother. “Okay,” she said at last.

He grinned from ear to ear. “Okay! Now. How about dessert?”

* * *

B
EFORE
THEY
LEFT
the restaurant, he introduced her to Nellie and explained to the waitress who Keely was and what her place was in his life. Nellie brightened at once. She was glowing when Clark added that Keely was going to be the red herring so that he and Nellie could go on dates without Boone knowing.

Keely noticed that the other woman was very demure and meek, and Clark seemed to love that attitude. But Keely noticed something that he didn’t; there was a faint glint in Nellie’s eyes that didn’t go with a meek demeanor. She couldn’t help but be apprehensive. Maybe Nellie’s allure for him was Boone’s disapproval; in many ways, he’d only just started to try the boundaries of his big brother’s control. And Nellie had to know that the family was rich. She was a working girl, like Keely. If she turned out to be a gold digger, Keely stood to be burned at the stake by Clark’s older brother for her part in this. She wished she’d refused. She really did.

* * *

T
HEY
WERE
VERY
late getting home. It was one o’clock in the morning when Clark drove up at Keely’s front door.

Until that moment, she hadn’t remembered her mother’s vicious words. They came back with cruel force when she saw the living-room light still on. She didn’t want to go inside. If she’d had anywhere else to go, she wouldn’t set foot in the place.

But her choices, like her salary, were limited. She had to live with her mother until she could make better arrangements.

Clark was watching her with open sympathy. “She probably doesn’t even remember saying it,” he murmured. “Drunks aren’t big on memory.”

She glanced at him, curious. “How would you know that?”

He hesitated, but only for a minute. “After Boone’s fiancée threw him over, he went on a two-week bender. He didn’t remember a lot of the things he said to me, but I’ve never forgotten any of them. The crowning jewel,” he added with taut features, “was that I’d never measure up to him and that I wasn’t fit to run a ranch.”

“Oh, Clark,” she sympathized. She could only imagine being a man and having Boone as a big brother to try to live up to. Those were very big shoes to have to fill.

“He sobered up and didn’t remember anything he’d said to me. But words hurt.”

“Tell me about it,” Keely sympathized.

He turned to her. “We’re both in the same boat, aren’t we? We’re people who don’t measure up to the expectations of the people we live with.”

“Winnie and I think you’re great just the way you are,” she replied doggedly.

He laughed, surprised. “Really?”

“Really. You’ve got a wonderful sense of humor, you’re never moody or sarcastic and you’ve got a big heart.” Her eyes narrowed. “If I’d told you that Bailey needed emergency care immediately, you’d have packed him into the car and taken him right to the vet.”

He sighed. “Yes, I guess I would have.”

“Boone thought it was a pitiful plea for attention on my part,” she added sadly. “I guess my mother’s said a lot of things to him about me.”

“Apparently. She doesn’t like you, does she?”

“The feeling is mutual. We’re sort of stuck together until I can get a raise or a second job.”

“How would you manage a second job?” he asked.

“Getting away from my mother’s constant abuse would make me manage. I can’t imagine living in a place where nobody makes fun of me.”

“You could work for me,” he suggested.

She shook her head. “Thanks, but no thanks. I want to be completely independent.”

“I figured that, but it didn’t hurt to ask.”

She smiled. “You really are a nice man.”

“I’ll pick you up next Saturday morning. We can go riding at the ranch. We might as well make a start at getting on Boone’s nerves,” he added with a dry chuckle.

“Take all his bullets away before I get there,” she pleaded.

“He’s not so bad,” he told her.

She shivered. “Sure he isn’t.”

The front door opened and Keely’s mother came out onto the porch. “Who’s that out there?” she drawled, hanging on to one of the supporting posts. She was wearing floral silk slacks with a fluffy pink robe. Her hair was disheveled and she looked sleepy.

“Don’t pay her any attention,” Keely advised Clark with a sad little sigh. “She doesn’t even know what she’s saying. I’ll see you next Saturday.”

“Thanks, Keely,” he told her with sincere affection.

She shrugged. “You’d do it for me,” she said, and smiled. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

She got out of the car and walked up to the porch, shaking inside, dreading another confrontation with her parent. She tried to walk past Ella, but the older woman stopped her.

“Where have you been?” she demanded.

Keely looked at her. For the first time she didn’t back down, even though her knees were shaking. “Out,” she replied tersely.

The older woman’s face tautened. “Don’t talk to me like that. You live in my house, in case you’ve forgotten!”

“Not for much longer,” Keely gritted. “I’m moving out as soon as I can get a night job to go with my day job. I don’t care if I have to live in my car, it will be worth it! I’m not staying here any longer.”

She brushed past her mother and went into the house, down the hall, into her room. She locked the door behind her. She was shaking. It was the first time in memory that she’d stood up to her abusive parent.

Ella came to her door and knocked. Keely ignored her.

She knocked again, with the same result.

* * *

E
LLA
WAS
SOBERING
up quickly. It had just dawned on her that if Keely left, she’d have nobody to do the chores. She couldn’t even cook. She’d been able to afford help until the past two or three years. But she was facing a drastic reduction in her capital, due to her bad business decisions. And there was something else, something more worrying, that she didn’t dare think about right now.

“I didn’t mean what I said!” she called through the door. “I’m sorry!”

“You’re always sorry,” Keely replied tightly.

“No. This time I’m really sorry!”

There was a hesitation. Keely started to weaken. Then she remembered her mother’s track record and kept quiet.

“I can’t cook!” Ella yelled through the door a minute later. “I’ll starve to death if you leave!”

“Buy a restaurant,” was Keely’s dry retort.

With what, Ella was thinking, but Keely’s light went off. She stood there, weaving, her mind dimmed, her heart racing. A long, long time ago, she’d cuddled Keely in her arms and sung lullabies to her. She’d loved her. What had happened to that soft, warm feeling? Had it died, all those years ago, when she learned the truth about her husband? So many secrets, she thought. So much pain. And it was still here. Nothing stopped it.