Colorado Heart (9781101612026) Read online

  “Sounds like they all got homes,” Jake said. “’Cept maybe the one that Zeke took.”

  “I don’t know,” Cade said. “The first time I ever saw him smile was the day he picked up that pup.”

  “Wait, Zeke actually smiled?” From experience Jake knew the assayer, Zeke Preston, wasn’t the friendliest person around. He also had a bad habit of saying exactly what he was thinking, which most of the time wasn’t good.

  “Like he was lovesick,” Cade replied.

  “A good dog is worth its weight in gold,” Ward said. “And considering the parentage, you gotta know these pups are all winners.”

  “Why Ward, if I didn’t know you any better, I’d think you were in love with Lady.”

  “I’ve never had a woman look at me the way that dog does,” Ward admitted.

  Cade and Jake both laughed. Jake glanced casually at the sheriff as they rode along. He’d been determined to hate Cade Gentry since he had lied about who he was, and, mostly, because he’d stolen Leah from him, but he seemed to be decent enough, no matter what his faults. Lord knew Jake had enough of his own. This was the first time he’d ever had a relaxed conversation with Cade. He couldn’t be all bad if Leah loved him, which she did, and her son seemed to have taken to him really well.

  So maybe he wouldn’t hate him. Maybe he’d tolerate him for a bit until he figured out if he was as good as Leah and Ward seemed to think he was. But if he ever hurt her . . .

  “Quite a spread you got here Jake,” Cade interrupted his musings.

  “Thanks.” Jake nodded his head.

  Ward laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Jake asked.

  Ward shook his head. “I’m just happy to be alive, that’s all. Speaking of . . . I’m surprised that crazy Chinaman hasn’t killed you yet.”

  “He gave it a good try this winter,” Jake admitted. “Or at least made things interesting.”

  “Where did you find a Chinaman all the way out here?” Cade asked. “I thought I was dreaming when he walked out on the porch and told us where to find you.”

  “More like a nightmare,” Ward said. “He was carrying one of those big knives of his.”

  “Yeah, you don’t want to mess with Fu when he’s got a knife. He’s downright deadly with them. And to answer your question, he found me,” Jake said. “In Denver. The first year I drove down to market. He was hanging around the stock pens looking for the skinniest round eye he could find, or so he says. He figured whoever was real skinny was in desperate need of a cook, and he was right. There are a lot of things I can do but cooking isn’t one of them.”

  “It takes a great man to admit his faults,” Ward observed.

  “Why should I bother when I got you and Fu pointing them out to me all the time?”

  “You’re welcome,” Ward said.

  They’d reached the house and the two men waited on their horses while Jake took Josie inside and got the bank book from his desk drawer. They were soon on their way again, out of Jake’s valley and up the road to the turn to the Parker spread.

  “How did everyone fare the winter?” Ward asked. “Jared said he found a lot of carcasses up in the small valleys.”

  “It was rough,” Jake admitted. “Lots of them got trapped when the first snow came and couldn’t get out. I’m almost afraid to count. There’s no way of knowing until we get them all together and start separating them out, which should be done by the end of this week.”

  “Will this be at Watkins’s place?” Cade asked.

  “Always is,” Jake said.

  “I’ll be around then. It will be a good chance for me to meet all of the ranchers.”

  “Not me,” Ward said. “Being around all that work makes me downright uncomfortable.”

  “Just admit it, Ward,” Jake said. “It’s all that castrating that you can’t stand.”

  Ward shifted in his saddle. “You got that right.”

  “It’ll be good for Miss Parker to attend the Cattlemen’s Association so she can get a handle on how we do things around here.”

  “Yep,” Ward said. “I bet everyone will be anxious to meet her.”

  Jake gave Ward a look. He’d been acting funny since he showed up. Like he had a secret that he just couldn’t wait to tell everyone. Knowing Ward, there was no sense in asking. He’d let him in on it when he was good and ready, so there was nothing to do but just sit back and wait. The three turned up the trail that led to the Double P. With the P’s standing back to back, Jake always thought that the brand looked like a tree.

  “That is if she’s planning on raising cattle,” Ward continued.

  “What else would she be doing on a ranch?” Jake asked.

  “Lots of things,” Ward said. “Just because it’s a ranch doesn’t automatically mean you’ve got to raise cattle.”

  “What else would she raise?” Jake asked.

  “Silkworms?” Ward suggested

  “Silkworms?” Jake said. “What in tarnation?”

  “Ask Fu,” Ward said. “They have them in China. Where do you think silk comes from?”

  “I don’t know, Ward,” Jake said. “Silk’s not something I think about a lot.”

  “That’s something I’d like to see,” Cade said. “A herd of worms. Do you think they put tiny little brands on them?”

  Jake raised an eyebrow at the sheriff, who grinned widely at the notion. He felt like the butt of a joke. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Ward?”

  “Nothing that I know for certain,” Ward admitted. “But I have a feeling.”

  They rode around a bend over a rise and Parker valley opened before them. Strange that it was still covered with snow, but upon a closer look, Jake realized the snow was moving. And it stunk to high heaven.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Cade said. “I didn’t imagine it.”

  “I thought so,” Ward said.

  Jake looked between the two men. “What?” he asked.

  Cade pointed at the house that sat up against the trees, at the barn and other outbuildings and at the snow that shifted beneath the warm sun.

  “Sheep,” Cade said with a grin.

  Jake blinked. “Holy hell,” he said.

  “Exactly,” Ward summed up for the three of them.

  SEVEN

  A bark from Max alerted Cassie to the prospect of visitors. She shaded her eyes against the bright sunshine and watched as three riders stopped on the rise. She knew exactly why they stopped. The last thing they expected to see in the middle of cattle country was three hundred sheep. There was no hiding it now. Her secret was out and there was nothing left to do but own up to it.

  Manuel was on the opposite side of the sheep pen, which they had hastily erected last fall by weaving tree branches together. Libby, short for Liberty in Cassie’s mind, stood in the middle, seemingly oblivious to the milling of the sheep around her legs. Cassie waved to Manuel to get his attention and pointed at the riders. Manuel nodded and whistled for Max.

  Cassie walked toward the visitors, who were moving once again, coming down the drive to meet her. Her short jacket hung on a corral post and she put it on. She checked to make sure the revolver was still in the pocket. She picked up her rifle, which was leaning against the post, and continued on, around the corral where Puck and the two mules pricked their ears with interest toward the approaching riders. Cassie glanced up at the house and saw Rosa had come out. Cassie’s mother sat in a chair on the porch, wrapped in a shawl with her face turned to the sun. Rosa went to her side. Cassie stopped beneath the big oak tree that sat at the foot of the rise to the cabin and waited.

  Even though she’d only seen them once, Cassie recognized the lean silhouette of the sheriff and the broader frame of the saloon owner. Which meant the third rider was Jake Reece.

&nb
sp; Libby must have recognized who it was at the same instant as Cassie. She brayed long and loud and charged to the side of the pen. Cassie cringed at the sound of snapping wood. Their quick job last fall was enough to hold the sheep, but it wasn’t much against a determined donkey. Libby kicked her way through the loosely woven branches and passed Cassie in her haste to get to the riders. The men pulled up as Libby charged up the road, braying with all her might. She stopped when she got beside the horses and lipped at the boot of the man Cassie had accused of stealing her. At least now she understood why the man had her in his possession. Obviously Libby was in love with him. That knowledge, while humorous, didn’t make the situation any less humiliating.

  The sheep discovered the opening in the pen and milled about, adding their questioning baas to Libby’s brays. Max ran to the front of the flock and proceeded to nip at the sheep in his gallant efforts to herd them back into place. The sheep were torn between their devotion to the donkey and the strictness of the dog, and they jumped over each other and turned back and forth until the entire flock was nothing more than a big fluffy mass of confusion that tumbled back and forth until the three riders, the donkey and Cassie were nothing more than sentinels in a sea of wool.

  “Well this has turned into a fine day,” Cassie muttered. There was nothing left to do but keep going, although she felt a bit foolish with the rifle in her hand. If the three men wanted to shoot her on sight she’d have to say they were justified.

  “Good afternoon, Miss Parker,” Ward called out over the constant baas. “Fine day, isn’t it?” The man seemed to be having a good time. The sheriff looked cautious while Jake looked downright furious. All of the horses stood with their ears laid back at the noise and general confusion. Cassie felt like she was in the middle of a kettle that was fixing to boil.

  “I guess that depends on why you came calling,” Cassie yelled back. The situation might be next to impossible but it was still her place and she didn’t recall inviting anyone to drop in. “Why are you here?”

  The sheriff took a piece of paper from his pocket and waved it. “Is there someplace we can talk?” he yelled.

  Cassie looked up toward the house. Rosa had gotten her mother inside while all the madness was going on. She knew the piece of paper was about her taxes. She could only hope that she had enough money left to pay them. If not, the lot of them would be kicked out of here in a hurry because of the sheep.

  “Up at the house,” she said and pointed. The men turned their horses and started for the house. Libby followed. The sheep followed Libby. Max barked and circled in an effort to herd the sheep, the donkey and the riders into the pen. Cassie watched the disaster and wished that the earth would just open up and swallow her. Finally Jake motioned his friends onward. He turned his horse and loosened the rope that hung from his saddle. He quickly and effortlessly looped it around Libby’s neck and led her to where Cassie stood. The sheep followed and Max nipped at their flanks to keep them moving.

  Jake handed her the coils of rope and looked down at her with his flinty eyes, while the sheep milled around them. “You have got to be the most gol-durn woman I have ever met,” he said.

  Cassie grabbed the rope close to Libby’s neck and pulled her close. She was having a bit of trouble hanging on to the donkey with one hand and the rifle with the other while the sheep jostled her. The presence of the overbearing man on the horse right before her didn’t help much either. Still, she refused to be intimidated.

  “Well at least I now know where this donkey learned her manners from,” she said.

  What was it about him that set her on edge more than any other man she’d come across? For the most part she ignored men, only dealing with them when it was necessary. She made sure she was free of any unwanted attention by the way she dressed and the threat of her guns, but this one . . . it was the third time she’d met him and it seemed as if his plain purpose for being on this earth was to harass her.

  “Are you comparing me to an ass?” he asked incredulously.

  “If the ears fit . . .” Cassie smiled sweetly. It was a nice revenge for the way he’d been haunting her dreams lately also.

  “At least I’ve got more sense than to bring a bunch of sheep into cattle country.”

  “Oh, is it cattle country?” Cassie responded. “I don’t recall seeing any signs. Not once did I see anything that said sheep unwelcome or shepherds keep out.”

  “You know good and well that this is cattle country or you wouldn’t have snuck this herd in here last fall without saying a word to anyone.”

  “What business is it of yours if I have sheep?” Cassie’s voice raised a pitch at his audacity.

  “I’m the man who wrote you the letter telling you your grandfather was dead,” Jake snapped back. “So everyone in the country is going to blame me for you and your gol-durn sheep.”

  “You are the one who found him?” Cassie said in surprise. The kind and thoughtful letter didn’t match her imaginings of the man sitting before her.

  Jake took off his hat and wiped his gloved hand over his hair. It was light brown in color, thick, and cut short and neat. For some reason, when she’d thought about the man who found her grandfather and written the letter, she’d imagined someone older and kinder. Not someone like Jake Reece, who seemed to be put on this earth just to agitate her.

  “I am,” he said. “And if you’d quit waving a gun in my face every time I come close I might tell you about it sometime.”

  She really couldn’t argue with that since he was right. She’d met him three times and two of those times he’d see a gun in her hands. Still, it was hard to let go of both the gun and her pride. They were the only things that kept her safe.

  The sheep were finally under control again. Manuel and Max had them rounded up and back in the pen. Half a day’s work was wasted as they’d been trying to separate out the pregnant ewes when the men rode up. Cassie led Libby to the corral. She leaned her rifle against the boards, opened the gate and sent Libby trotting inside with a slap on her rump. Cassie lifted the lasso off as the donkey went by and coiled it up. She walked back to where Jacob Reece waited and handed the lasso up to him.

  She took a deep breath and looked up at the man who seemed to tower over her from his horse. “I’d like to hear about it, and see where you buried him, if you don’t mind,” Cassie said.

  “I’ll show you when the sheriff is done with his business,” he said. Then to her surprise he held a hand out to her. “Want a ride?”

  Cassie was taken aback by the offer. His eyes on her were steady yet cautious. The thought of climbing up behind him, of being that close to him . . . not just him but any man. She couldn’t show her fear.

  “No thanks, I’ll walk,” she said.

  “Suit yourself.” If she hadn’t been standing so close she wouldn’t have seen the slight twitch of his knees that told his horse to move. The horse jumped forward at a trot and flicked its tail right in her face. Jacob Reece rode up to her house without a backward glance.

  EIGHT

  “Now that wasn’t a bit neighborly,” Ward said as Jake dismounted from Skip and joined him and Cade on the porch of Cassie Parker’s house.

  “Which part? The part where she showed up carrying her guns or the part where we were surrounded by sheep?” Jake asked.

  “The part where you just rode off and left her,” Ward said.

  “I offered her a ride and she didn’t want it,” Jake groused. “Of course it might be because she’s loco. She’d have to be to bring sheep into cattle country.”

  “Maybe we should hear her side of the story before we pass judgment,” Cade said.

  “I don’t know,” Ward said. “No matter what her reasons, it’s still not a good decision. I imagine the reaction when the Cattlemen’s Association finds out there’s a couple of hundred sheep around won’t be good.”

/>   “Yeah, and I’ll be the one that will have to deal with it,” Jake growled. “What difference does it make to you anyway?” he asked Ward. “It’s not like you’ve got a dog in this fight.”

  “My income depends upon the happiness and well-being of everyone in this valley,” Ward said. “And since things seem to come to a head in the Heaven’s Gate, I’d like to know what’s going on so I can keep the peace and my furniture.”

  “Well I got a feeling things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better,” Jake said as Cassie stepped onto her porch. Once more he was struck by how small she was. She barely came up to his shoulder and he was six feet tall. Next to Ward and the sheriff she looked downright miniscule. Yet she was feisty. She’d put him on his back quick enough on the trail and she knew how to hold a gun.

  “I’m sorry about the sheep,” she said right off as she leaned her rifle against the wall. “Not that they’re here,” she quickly amended. “Just that they got out and in your way. It’s not the usual way I welcome visitors.”

  “You don’t have to explain yourself to anyone,” Cade said. “As long as you can pay what you owe you’ve got the right to do whatever you want with the property.” He handed her the tax bill.

  “Wait just a doggone minute,” Jake began. He could not believe that the sheriff wasn’t protesting the presence of sheep. But then again, why would he? After all, the man had posed as a preacher. Allowing sheep in cattle country wasn’t that much of a reach after that.

  “Don’t you have something for Miss Parker too?” Ward interrupted.

  “Tell me again why you’re here?” Jake asked Ward, who was having entirely too much of a good time. Jake took a moment to work his jaw when he realized it hurt from being clenched so tight. Something about Cassie Parker had him all twisted up inside. In the past few weeks he’d just put it down to her getting the best of him on the trail but after the recent events, he was certain she had come to Colorado for the express purpose of aggravating him.