The Texan (11 page)

G
eorge was up before dawn and riding out just as everyone else was starting to stir. He’d gotten the general directions to the line shack from Burley the night before and headed that way now, taking another saddled horse with him. He’d asked Burley which horse to take along for Hank’s daughter, and Burley had shown him the smoothest-gaited one in the stable. They both knew she would probably be hesitant to get back on her regular mount right away, after being thrown. George hoped there had been no further trouble, and that he would find Josh already on his way back to the ranch with Emmie.

George had been riding for over an hour when he came to the top of a low hill and reined in. He spotted a rider in the distance and immediately recognized his brother’s horse. Putting his heels to his mount’s sides, he hurried forward.

“Someone’s coming,” Josh told Emmie when he saw a rider heading their way leading a saddled horse.

“Is it one of the hands?”

“I’m not sure.”

It took Josh a moment to recognize the other rider, and once he did he started smiling.

“I know who it is.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “It’s my brother, George.”

“Your brother is here?” Emmie asked, surprised. “The gambler?”

“He must have come to the ranch for a visit.” Josh kneed his horse to a trot and rode to meet his brother.

George could see Josh riding along with a beautiful girl hanging on to him tightly, and he thought,
My brother sure has a rough life here on the Rocking R.
He was chuckling to himself as he reined in.

“You like riding double these days, Josh?” His gaze was warm upon the pretty, dark-haired girl who had her arms around his brother.

“Some days,” Josh answered. “George, this is Emmie Ryan. Emmie, this is my brother, George.”

Emmie looked up at the other man and thought there was no mistaking the resemblance between them. They both had the Grady good looks, with thick, dark hair and deep-set eyes. Looking at George, though, and seeing the glint in his eyes, she quickly decided he could be trouble—fun, but trouble. It didn’t surprise her a bit that he was a professional gambler. “It’s nice to meet you, George. Josh has told me all about you.”

“Is that good or bad?” he asked, giving her a smile.

She couldn’t help it; she laughed out loud. “It was all good.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Emmie. Do you often
go out looking for rustlers riding double with Josh this way?”

Josh wanted to groan. He knew George’s sense of humor and guessed he wouldn’t be hearing the end of this for some time.

Emmie appreciated George’s humor and laughed. “You didn’t hear the talk? I’m an Eastern girl, and I have trouble staying in the saddle. So we thought it was safer for me to hang on to him.”

George immediately decided he liked this woman. Not only was she gorgeous, she was smart and quick with a comeback, too. “So you trust my brother?”

Emmie considered that question seriously. She did trust Josh, especially when she thought of the way he’d treated her with such respect last night. “Yes. My father trusted him, and I do, too. He’s my partner, you know.”

“So I heard. Emmie, I was sorry to learn about your father. He was a good man, and I’m sure he’s missed.”

“Very much,” she managed.

Josh decided to put a word in. “Did Burley and the rest of the men get back to the ranch safely?”

“Yes. Burley rode in last. He told us that you were thrown.” George looked at Emmie. “That’s why I rode out this morning with a horse for you. I take it you’re all right?”

“Thanks to Josh I am, and thank you for bringing another horse.” Even as she spoke, though, Emmie felt disappointed that she was going to have to ride the rest of the way on her own.

“Burley said this one would be easy on you.”

Josh helped Emmie down, and then dismounted to help her onto the other horse. He knew he was going to miss having her riding with him. Once he was certain she was comfortable in the saddle, he remounted his own horse.

“Let’s get on back,” Josh said.

“I take it you met Millie and Miss Harriet?” Emmie asked as they covered the miles back to the ranch at an easy pace.

“Yes, I did. They were very worried about you. Yesterday was a pretty rough day for them.”

“Why?” Josh asked, glancing his way.

“Your not showing up last night wasn’t the only trouble. There was a problem with one of the ranch hands, a man named Steve,” George began, knowing that his brother needed to be told about the incident.

“Steve?” Emmie asked quickly. “What did he do?”

George explained what had happened.

“Poor Millie!” Emmie was horrified, but grateful for George’s timely arrival and quick action.

“I chased Steve off, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still around somewhere.”

“I’ll take care of it when we get back,” Josh said angrily. “I left Steve behind to keep an eye on things and to protect the women, not to harm them.”

“Millie wasn’t hurt, was she?” Emmie asked.

“No. She’s fine,” George reassured her.

Emmie sighed in relief at the news. She wished they were back at the house already so she could be with her friend.

“It was a good thing you showed up when you did,” Josh said, glancing over at his brother as he rode beside them.

“Yes, it was,” George agreed.

“So, what brings you to the Rocking R?” Josh asked. He sensed that George’s visit was more than just social.

“I was missing you,” his brother answered.

“You think I believe that?”

They both were chuckling.

“Actually, I was wondering if you’re hiring any hands at the Rocking R. I’m looking for work,” he admitted.

Josh was surprised. “What happened?”

“I ran into some bad luck. Can you use another hand around here? Or should I talk to your partner?” George grinned at Emmie.

“What do you think, Emmie? Should we hire him on?” Josh asked her good-naturedly.

Emmie didn’t hesitate. She was impressed by how George had handled Steve and helped Millie in her time of need. “Yes. We can always use another good man around here, and since Steve won’t be coming back, we are short handed right now.”

Just then the ranch house came into sight, and a call went up as some of the men saw them returning.

Millie and Miss Harriet were waiting on the porch as they rode up.

Millie had been wondering where George was that morning, and now she knew. The fact that he cared enough to go looking for Emmie and Josh impressed her.

“Emmie!” Millie ran down the steps to welcome her friend home.

Josh swung out of the saddle and quickly went to help Emmie dismount. George dismounted and came to stand with them.

“We were so worried about you!” Millie said, giving her a big hug.

“There was no need to be. I was with Josh.” Emmie looked up at Josh and smiled.

Miss Harriet was in a quandary as she watched the scene unfold before her. She wasn’t quite sure what to say or how to react. By society’s standards, it was unfitting for an unmarried young woman to spend the night alone with a man, but then again, this was the Wild West and not Philadelphia. She was coming to understand that life here was more about survival than high society, more about staying alive than impressing anyone with genteel manners. She knew Emmie and Josh might have gotten into serious trouble if they’d tried to make it back to the house in that horrible storm last night. Her mind made up, she left the porch to welcome them.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she told them both.

Josh looked down at Emmie. For an instant they both thought of the moment the night before, when Josh had said he’d heard Miss Harriet coming. It was hard for Emmie not to laugh.

“He took good care of me, Miss Harriet.”

The chaperone looked up at the tall, handsome rancher and nodded her approval. “I knew he would.”

The men moved off to tend to the horses and to let
the other hands know that George had been hired on. They also wanted to warn them about Steve, just in case he showed up and tried to cause trouble.

Emmie went inside with Millie and Miss Harriet. Kate was there to welcome her back, and then the cook set about fixing Emmie, Josh, and George a quick meal.

“Here you are,” Kate said, setting the plate of fried eggs, biscuits, and bacon in front of Emmie, who was sitting at the kitchen table with Millie and Miss Harriet.

Emmie thanked her and wasted no time digging in, while Kate prepared plates of food to take to Josh and George.

“This is delicious.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you like it.” Kate was on her way from the kitchen with the plates of food when she remembered she had something to remind Emmie about. “Emmie, before I forget, this Saturday is the annual social in town.”

“Oh, we’ll have to go,” Emmie said excitedly. She had attended the social several times over the years during her visits to her father, and she had always enjoyed herself.

“What goes on at one of your socials?” Millie asked.

“There’s dancing and a big dinner. We’ll have fun, and the social will give you a chance to meet more people. You’ll go with us, won’t you, Miss Harriet?”

“Of course, it sounds like a wonderful time.”

“It is,” Emmie assured them. She had been wondering when she would get the chance to spend
some time with Josh away from the ranch, and the social would help with that. At least there she would be able to dance with him. The thought of being back in his arms thrilled her, but she couldn’t let on. Not in front of Miss Harriet. She would talk to Millie later about everything that had happened.

“You can move in here with me,” Josh told George as he finished off the breakfast Kate had brought to him.

“I was hoping you’d offer,” George said. “How soon do you want me to start working?”

“I’ll take you out this afternoon and show you around. I need to check with the other hands and find out if any of them has seen or heard from Steve. I want to make sure Steve knows he’s been fired. I do owe him some back pay, and I’ll see that he gets it, but I don’t want him anywhere on the Rocking R near Millie again. If he’d try something like that with her, he might go after Emmie, too. We don’t have time to ride herd on both of them.”

“Oh, I don’t know. That could be my new job—tending to your fillies. Millie is one fine-looking woman, and so is your Emmie.”

“She’s not ‘my’ Emmie,” Josh denied a little too quickly.

“Well, you do have to admit she is beautiful,” George insisted. He knew his brother well, and realized he was keeping his cards close to his chest.

“Yes, she is,” Josh agreed. He’d been trying to remain focused on running the ranch since they’d gotten back. He’d been trying not to dwell on the time
they’d spent alone together at the shack. He’d also been finding out that it wasn’t easy to forget what had happened between them. The ride back had been rough, having her pressed so tightly against him the whole way and memories of how it had felt tormented him. He’d always prided himself on being a man with good self-control, but there was something about Emmie that challenged his restraint.

“How’s it working out having her for your boss? I mean, you get to see her every day and occasionally spend the night alone with her at a line shack.…”

“Emmie’s not my boss. We’re partners,” Josh said quickly. “And nothing happened up at the line shack.”

“Emmie can be my boss any day,” George said. Then he added thoughtfully, “Come to think of it, now that you’ve hired me on, she is my boss.”

“And I’m your boss, too—so remember that.”

“Yes, boss.” George was grinning at his brother.

“As soon as I get cleaned up and change my clothes, I need to go find Steve and settle things with him.”

“Do you want me to ride with you?”

“No. I’ll handle it. You can stay here and go to work.”

Emmie had just finished bathing and washing her hair when a knock came at her bedroom door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, silly. Who else would it be?” Millie said. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Millie went into the room to find her friend sitting at the dressing table in her bathrobe combing out her freshly washed hair.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Much, although it’s going to take a few days for the soreness to go away and the bruises to fade.” Emmie dropped her robe off one shoulder to show Millie the large, nasty-looking bruise on her back.

“That must have been horrible,” Millie sympathized.

“It was, but you know, I really was lucky. I didn’t break anything. It could have been a whole lot worse.”

“Can you imagine if you’d been out riding alone and something like this happened? Thank goodness Josh was with you.”

“I don’t know what I would have done without him. He knew right where the line shack was, and he knew it wasn’t safe to try to make it back to the house.”

“That’s why he’s the foreman around here. He knows what he’s doing.” Millie sat down on the side of the bed as Emmie shrugged back into her robe. “All right…I have to know.…”

Her friend sounded so excited, Emmie wasn’t quite sure what to think. “You have to know what?”

“What was it like spending the night all alone in the middle of nowhere with Josh? That must have been so exciting!”

“It was,” she admitted.

“I know you like him—a lot! I can tell just by watching you when you’re around him. I’ve never
seen that look in your eyes before, not even when you were with Kenneth. Are you in love with Josh?”

Emmie had always known that Millie understood her better than anyone else, and her friend had just proven it again. “I think I am.”

“What happened?” Hopeless romantic that she was, Millie was dying to hear Emmie’s story.

“Well, he kissed me.”

“And…?” Millie was breathless as she waited for the details.

“It was wonderful.” Emmie sighed dreamily.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t wait for the social in town this weekend. Then I’ll get to dance with him.”

Millie gave her a smile as she pointed out, “You know, the two of you are already partners. Getting married would just make it an even closer partnership.”