Colorado Heart (9781101612026) Read online

  “The tax records are kept in the sheriff’s office,” Gus said. “We’ll have to look it up.”

  “Here’s Cade now,” Bettina trilled as the bell rang over the door. Cassie quickly moved behind the large barrel where the flour was kept. “And Ward Phillips, and low and behold, Jacob Reece. Imagine that,” she said to the last man to walk through the door. “Were your ears burning, Jake?”

  “Should they be?” the man from the trail said with a charming grin. He went to the counter and handed Bettina a list. “I can wait,” he said. “Until you’re done with her,” he added with a tilt of his head in her direction.

  His manners hadn’t improved any since last night. Cassie put her hand in her pocket as she studied the three men. She needed to feel the security of the gun, as they seemed to fill up all the space in the general store.

  She hadn’t gotten a real good look at Jake Reece the night before. She’d been too angry to pay attention to how he looked. But she knew he was solid from the way he landed when she’d swept his legs out from under him. His clothes were well tended, and she had to admit he was handsome with his short-cropped hair and cleanly shaven jaw. But one look at his eyes as he turned to face her unsettled her. They were as gray as a stormy sky and the look he gave her made her insides twist up. Cassie fought the urge to run her fingers through her hair again to make sure she didn’t look like a hoyden. She was surprised when a puppy with one blue eye and one brown stuck its head out of the neck of his jacket.

  “So I’m guessing Libby actually does belong to you,” he said as he stroked the ears of the puppy.

  “She does,” Cassie replied coldly. “My friend went to the stable to collect her. With the bill of sale as proof,” she added. The puppy was so cute that she wanted to touch its soft fur but she wouldn’t dare. She’d never allow herself to get that close to a man, intentionally.

  The other two men grinned at each other as if they shared a private joke. The one Bettina called Ward Phillips was tall and strongly built beneath his expensive suit. His brown hair was neatly trimmed and his warm dark eyes studied her. A large gray dog with a friendly face stood by his side. Cassie relaxed a bit. She trusted animals more than she trusted men. Still, there was something about this man, something that said he saw more than you wanted him to see. She’d have to be careful around this one. Since she didn’t plan on spending a lot of time in town it shouldn’t be too difficult.

  It was the sheriff who made her palms sweat inside the confines of her pocket. He was taller than the other man, rangy, with whipcord muscles that disguised his strength. His hair was the deepest of browns and his eyes so brown they were almost black. The gun he wore on his hip looked like a natural extension of his body. It was his eyes that frightened her. They held so many secrets, secrets just like hers. It was almost like looking in a mirror. Almost. His eyes held something else that she knew was missing in hers. A sense of peace, or dare she call it hope? Both were things she knew no longer existed for her.

  “Welcome to Angel’s End,” he said, and gave her a friendly smile. She relaxed a hair, nothing more. “I’m the sheriff, Cade Gentry.”

  “Cassandra Parker.”

  “Miss Parker is Sam Parker’s granddaughter,” Bettina cooed.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Jake said.

  “I see your language hasn’t improved any since last night,” Cassie said.

  “Oh it’s been known to get a lot worse,” Ward said. “We’re glad to have you in Angel’s End. How long have you been here?”

  “Since middle of November,” Cassie replied. “We arrived right before the snow started.”

  “I camped near your place around that time,” the sheriff said. “I never saw a soul, but I did see something strange.” Cassie’s shoulders tensed at the sheriff’s words. Someone had been that close to her place and she didn’t know it.

  “What was that?” Ward asked.

  “I could have sworn I saw a sheep.” The sheriff continued with a shrug. “I just put it down to God’s providence as I was struggling with a decision at the time.”

  “The Lord does work in mysterious ways,” Gus intoned.

  Cassie kept her mouth shut. Things would be out in the open soon enough and there was no need stirring the pot as long as it was simmering so nicely.

  “And look at how well that turned out for you,” Ward said with a sly grin. “The town got a sheriff and you got a wife, a son, and a baby on the way.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure about all that,” Bettina said with an indignant sniff.

  Cassie stole a look at the group. There was some sort of history there and something that meant all was not entirely peaceful in the town of Angel’s End. But every town had its stories, just like the one in West Texas from which she’d fled.

  The sheriff and his friend casually dismissed Bettina’s comment with grins.

  “I own the saloon, if you feel the need,” Ward said.

  “I won’t,” Cassie assured him. A saloon full of drunken cowboys was the last place on earth you’d catch her, with hell being a preferred location.

  “Suit yourself,” he said casually as he wandered over to look at the boots lined up on the shelf. Cassie moved around the barrel so she could keep everyone within her line of sight.

  “I was told you have the tax bill on the property?” she asked the sheriff.

  “I’ll bring it around when the snow melts,” he said with an easy smile.

  “I can pay it today . . .” Cassie began.

  Cade help up his hand. “I’ll have to hunt it down and I know you want to get back before nightfall. There’s no rush. I know where you live.”

  That was exactly what she was afraid of. While she’d been talking to the sheriff, Jake Reece had closed the distance between them. Being surrounded by three strong men, all of whom were considerably bigger than her, made Cassie very uncomfortable, yet she was determined not to show it.

  “If you had taken the time to introduce yourself last night, instead of waving that gun around, it would have saved us both a lot of heartache,” Jake said.

  “I didn’t expect the man who wrote to me about my grandfather to also be a thief,” Cassie retorted.

  Jake shook his head and looked toward the ceiling. “I didn’t steal your donkey. She came to me. It’s a bad habit she has. Every time she has a problem she comes running to me. So obviously she doesn’t like you. It must be your charming personality.”

  Cassie opened her mouth to reply and then stopped when she heard the soft voice of Manuel at the door. He stood hesitantly at the entrance of the store, not sure if he was welcome. Cassie wasn’t sure of his welcome either. There were places in West Texas where a Mexican would be shot just because he dared to speak.

  “Come on in where it’s warm,” Cade said, and opened the door for her man. Bettina let out an impatient huff and Cassie couldn’t help but notice that her husband gave her a stern look.

  Manuel took one step inside and then one to the right of the door so he was out of the way. He kept his eyes on the floor as he spoke. “I have the donkey,” he said. “Do you need help with the supplies?”

  “I haven’t purchased them yet,” Cassie explained. She walked past Jake, who grinned as if he was vastly amused.

  “I will wait outside,” Manuel said, and went out as quietly as he’d come in.

  Cassie gave her list to Mrs. Swanson, who studied it for a moment and then handed it to her husband. “We’re low on supplies right now,” he said. “But we can take care of the necessities.” The two of them went to work, gathering stores.

  “Where did you live before you came here?” Cade asked.

  “Texas.” Cassie knew her answer was vague and Texas was a big place. Easy to get lost in and hopefully easy to lose. It was better to be honest than not. Not answering would have made the m
an just more curious.

  Ward worked his way around her and leaned casually on the end of the counter close to the door. His dog stood beside him and looked between her and his master as if she were considering a threat. Between the three men and the big dog Cassie was having a hard time staying calm. She could tell by Ward’s lazy smile that he knew she had a history, and it had only taken him a few minutes to figure that out. So much for lying low. When you had to eat and people were relying on you, there was only so much hiding you could do.

  “Well, we’ll let you get your shopping done,” Cade said. “And I’ll drop by after the melt with that tax bill.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff,” Cassie said.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Ward said. He took off his hat and gave her a courtly bow.

  “Try to keep your donkey in line, Miss Parker,” Jake said as he followed the other two men out the door.

  Cassie narrowed her eyes at the man as he grinned at her. She should have followed her instincts and shot him last night.

  FOUR

  “Now that was curious,” Ward remarked to Cade as he stepped onto the porch where Ward sat with Lady. Now that it was warmer, Ward and Lady liked to engage in their favorite pastime, which consisted of watching the goings-on in Angel’s End, or as Pris called it, being nosy. Neither one of the men spoke as they watched Cassandra Parker and Manuel ride out of town with the spare mule loaded down with supplies and the donkey trotting somewhat stubbornly by her side.

  “Which part?” Cade asked as he leaned against the porch post. “The part where she’s trying to hide the fact that she’s a woman?”

  “You caught on to that?”

  “Well her hair looked as if she’d sawed if off with a dull knife. That was a sign. But any woman that pretty who wears that many downright ugly clothes doesn’t want to call attention to herself.”

  “Is she gone?” Jake interrupted them as he came out of the saloon with the puppy safely tucked in his arms.

  “She just left,” Ward said.

  “I’ll go and collect my supplies then,” Jake said. “If there’s anything left. I settled up the bill inside,” he added.

  “I’ll be out that way in a few days,” Cade said.

  “You’re welcome to stop by,” Jake replied and stepped off the porch.

  “Wait,” Ward said as a thought hit him. “Didn’t you say you’d opened an account for Sam’s heirs down in Denver?”

  “Yes, I sold his stock and put the money in the bank. Actually in that bank,” Jake said as he pointed to the Curry and Hayes sign across the street. “I see that they’ve taken over the stage route.”

  “And the post office too,” Cade said.

  “Don’t change the subject,” Ward declared. “Why didn’t you tell Miss Parker about the money?”

  Jake shrugged. “I didn’t feel like it,” he said, and went on his way.

  “Well don’t that beat all,” Ward said as he watched Jake walk away.

  “It appears to me like Miss Parker got on the wrong side of Jake in a hurry,” Cade said.

  “If it comes down to a battle of stubborn, we’re going to be in for a treat,” Ward said.

  “You think so?” Cade asked.

  “She had that tilt in her jaw.” Ward leaned his chair against the wall and put his legs up on the porch post. “I used to know a girl with hair that color,” he mused. “The color of corn silk. Hair that color makes me think of summertime and picnics on the riverbank and stealing sweet kisses in the moonlight.”

  Cade grinned as he turned from his perusal of the street. “Sounds like you had a nice time growing up. Which river was that?”

  “None of your damn business,” Ward growled. His past was his own and not something he’d seen fit to share with anybody since coming to Angel’s End. It kept things simpler. He’d come here to escape it, not share it with the world. Something Cassie Parker had in common with him, he was certain.

  Cade laughed out loud. “I’m betting Cassie Parker would rather not be kissed. By any man, yourself included.”

  Ward thought about it for a second and that was it. While her lips were kissable, there was something about her, a sense of tragedy and an air of hostility that put him off. “While it may be tempting, once she fixed her hair and put on a dress, I’m guessing that pistol she kept fondling in her pocket would be enough to warn anyone off, including me.” While he did occasionally long for the companionship of a good woman, he already knew that Cassie Parker was not for him.

  “You saw it too?” Cade turned back to watch the woman disappear from sight.

  “I saw that she had a tight hold on something in her left pocket and wondered more than once if she was planning on shooting her way out of the mercantile.”

  Cade easily dismissed that notion with a shrug. The sheriff was fast, Ward had seen proof of it. Cade could have taken her down without killing her. “What’s the story with her grandfather?”

  “He was a grouchy old son of a bitch.” Ward considered what he recalled about Sam Parker. “He could put Dusty to shame on one of his worst days. Didn’t want anything to do with anyone. He was here before I got here and the only thing he seemed happy about was the fact that I opened the saloon. I never saw him talk to anyone beyond acknowledging their presence.”

  Ward pulled the remnants of his cigar from his pocket and lit it again. He took a long drag before he continued. “He ran a few head of cattle, got along all right with the rest of the ranchers, if you can call not talking being cooperative. Jake found his cattle mixed in with his, spring before last, and went to check on him. He was sitting up dead in his rocking chair and had been there awhile.” He stopped for a moment, out of respect for the dead, grouchy and otherwise.

  “Jake had him buried, checked around and found a son’s name and address in a Bible and wrote him a letter. That was the last any of us thought of it. Jake made sure the house was closed up, sold off the cattle and livestock and put the money in an account in case anyone showed up. I believe that flock of chickens pecking around in your yard came from Sam Parker’s place.”

  “And Jake didn’t bother to tell her about the money?” Cade asked as he once more checked the streets, looking up one end and down the other, as was his habit.

  “Nope,” Ward replied. “Not that he won’t. Jake is as honest as the day is long. He’s just mad that she got the best of him on the trail last night. I reckon this is the first she’s talked to anyone around here.”

  “Why do you suppose that is?” Cade asked

  “I think she might be the reason you thought you saw a sheep.”

  Cade’s mouth dropped open at the thought and he looked at Ward incredulously. “Surely not.”

  Bringing even a single sheep into cattle country was one of the deadliest sins one could commit. Ward knew it and Cade knew it. Dang near everyone knew it. “There’s got to be some reason she’s acting so squirrelly,” Ward said.

  Cade looked in the direction the small party had gone. “I reckon there’s only one way to find out.”

  Ward blew a perfect smoke circle into the cold air and watched it drift downwind. “Let me know when you ride out. I think I need the exercise.”

  Cade crossed his arms, leaned against the post and shook his head. “Jake isn’t going to like it. Isn’t he the head of the Cattlemen’s Association this year?”

  “Yes. And he can just put it on his list of things he don’t like,” Ward said. “But Jake isn’t the one you should be worried about.”

  “Watkins?” Cade asked. Watkins ran the biggest spread around, with Jake’s coming in a close second. Watkins felt the size of his ranch coincided with the size of his worth and was always trying to throw his weight around, especially when it made him a dollar. He hadn’t been too pleased with the fact that Cade was appointed sheriff. Ward knew
it was because he’d wanted to bring in one of his own men, someone who would secretly be on his payroll. The few times trouble had been able to make it through the deep snow to town it was in the form of Watkins’s men, and Watkins didn’t take too kindly to Cade putting them in jail to cool off. Luckily for everyone around, Cade had the grit to stand up to Watkins’s veiled threats, and gave back as good as he got.

  “Watkins,” Ward said in affirmation.

  “I reckon I’ll have to attend a few meetings of the Cattlemen’s Association too,” Cade said. “Just to get to know everyone.”

  “And head off trouble before it shows up?” Ward asked.

  “Something like that,” Cade said. Cade stepped off the porch and walked toward the cozy little house he shared with Leah.

  The bell in the church steeple clanged crisply in the chilled air. Children poured out of the building like water in a chute. Leah’s son Banks saw Cade and ran for him with a wide grin on his face. Cade ran his hand through the boy’s blond hair when the boy joined him and the two of them continued on companionably into the house. The rest of the kids came on down the street in Ward’s direction. He recognized the Martins’ tribe of three sets of twins and a few others’ children whose names Ward didn’t even know. The schoolmarm, Margy Ashburn, followed along after them. She held her skirts up around her ankles to keep them dry from the melting snow and marched onward, looking neither right nor left. She was much too pious to even look in the saloon’s direction, which gave Ward considerable amusement. With her nose up in the air she kept going until she passed the mercantile and went into the Swansons’ house where she rented a cold and lonely room.

  The town of Angel’s End was peaceful and Cade Gentry, as sheriff, was determined to keep it that way. But Ward had a feeling that peace might be a hard thing to keep since Cassandra Parker showed up. And part of him hoped he was right, just so things would be interesting.

  FIVE

  When would she learn? Was the stupid donkey worth the trouble it caused? Cassie slammed the bolt on the stall door in hopes that it would keep the recalcitrant Libby where she belonged. Libby looked up at Cassie with her big brown eyes and brayed loud and long, a sad and mournful song for her lost freedom.