Both Randee and Ceil leased mountainous forest land from the government for open grazing, and it fit their needs to run their cattle together, especially since Ceil ran only two hundred head. The Ellises had taken Ceil’s cattle to the forest every summer for years.
The next day, Chase and Randee, with the help of the McBride boys, herded those cattle the twelve miles from Red Rock to Triple Creek. The McBride boys’ horseback-riding lessons had paid off, for they seemed fully at ease in their saddles. They were clearly excited to be with the group, and now they rode at the back of the herd alongside Dusty and Ceil’s old dingo dog named Hound, while Chase and Randee rode toward the front.
The cattle plodded along without much resistance. The sounds and smells were familiar—the bellowing of the cattle, the clip-clop of their hooves, the dust rising from the rich earth—and the sun warmed Randee’s back as she guided Sunburst alongside a white-faced cow and her black calf. Ahead, Chase cut through the cattle on Inferno making little hissing sounds with his teeth.
He looks so good in that cowboy hat, Randee thought. She felt a now familiar surge of joy whenever she thought of him. His dark hair curled at the base of his neck in striking contrast to his buckskin-colored Stetson. He was impressive in western wear, but then, he looked sumptuous in everything he wore. It was obvious he looked natural in expensive clothes as well. She remembered the black silk shirt from last night. Impeccable.
Randee shifted in her saddle. No matter what he’d said about her looks, she felt homely and out of place in her jeans and wished she had a dress to change into, but she’d already worn the one dress she owned that wasn’t out of date on the night of her birthday. It was probably time to go on a little shopping spree—as soon as they’d moved the herd to the mountains.
Chase eased Inferno up to Randee’s side. The big black horse and Sunburst nuzzled while they walked, and Chase’s leg brushed hers. “I think my horse has a thing for yours.”
Randee was in a playful mood. “Well, Sunburst’s rider has a thing for Inferno’s rider.”
“Is that so?” Chase tipped his hat back slightly, removing a shadow from his face.
Randee wasn’t sure where to go from there, so she flipped her reins and clicked her tongue. “I’ll race you to the meadow,” she said. Then she took off riding.
Despite the fact that Randee had a good head start, Chase was beside her in a matter of minutes. Luckily, Sunburst’s spirit was similar to Randee’s, and Randee used her second spurt of energy to pull ahead again and win the race. She jumped down from her horse and lay flat in the tall green grass, stuck a long blade in her mouth, and propped her hands behind her head as if she’d been waiting for a long time. When Chase stared down at her, she spoke as if she’d just wakened from a nap.
“Oh, there you are. What kept ya?”
Chase laughed. “I held back so I could watch your cute little butt bounce in the saddle, Green-Eyed Lady.”
Randee hoped he didn’t hear her quick intake of breath or see the raw emotion his words stirred in her. Jumping up, she hustled over to where Sunburst stood drinking from a clear mountain stream.
“Ceil fixed us a lunch,” she announced. “Let’s see what we’ve got. The boys will be a good half hour bringing up the end of the herd. They can eat when they get here.”
Chase pulled a soft grey blanket from his saddle pack and spread it over the grass. He glanced out at the cows, which all seemed to know this was their natural resting point.
Randee walked to the blanket carrying a large lunch sack. “What do you want to drink? Nothing’s very cold.”
“How about some nice cool milk?” Chase suggested.
Randee laughed. “If you want cool milk, you’re going to have to make one of the cows sit in the stream.”
He shrugged. “I’ll stick to pop, thanks.”
They ate thick roast beef sandwiches and chips in contented silence. All around were the wildflowers of spring. The sky was a brilliant blue. Clumps of quaking aspen trees dotted the landscape, and a tiny brook trilled a tune as it glided over smooth rocks.
Randee looked out over the meadow at Ceil’s cattle bending their heads to chew on the sweet grass, while Chase leaned over and picked a vivid bluish-purple flower.
“What are these called?” he asked.
“Camas. They love the moist meadows. They blossom in the spring and stay all summer, but as the summer wears on their color fades. By fall they’re completely white.” As she spoke, Randee looked at the delicate wildflower in Chase’s hand and thought of herself. She too would grow older, her colors would fade, and what if no one would be there to love her as she turned white?
As if he had heard her fear spoken aloud, Chase touched Randee’s cheek. Gently he laid the flower behind her ear, and his voice was hushed. “For the lady who will never fade.”
A pulse beat in the side of her cheek. The moment was so intimate it should end in a kiss. Another delicious kiss. But kissing Chase got her nowhere. He hadn’t confided anything about what made him quit his law practice; there was no trace of a commitment, and she could see no future in their situation. His kisses just left her with an ache so deep she couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Today she was keeping her cool.
Swallowing, Randee smiled weakly at him and got to her feet. She walked into the shade under the round leaves of the “quakies,” removed the flower from her ear and twirled it between her fingers. Then, leaning against the white bark of a huge, old tree, she shut her eyes.
Oh, Chase, she sighed under her breath.
The air stood still. She heard the song of a meadowlark high in the tree above, breathed deeply, and tried to relieve the frustration gnawing at her heart.
An unanticipated shadow fell over her. Randee opened her eyes to see Chase, and he was staring at her lips. He didn’t speak. He didn’t ask permission, either. He simply took her in his arms and kissed her.
Randee felt herself being pulled back to a familiar place, that place where she longed to spend the rest of her life, with Chase, the real Chase who might someday open up to her, but suddenly there was a third party nuzzling his way into the kiss. Inferno had somehow loosened his reins and was trying to wedge himself between them. His warm moist nose rubbed against both their faces. Randee could barely believe it.
Chase dragged his lips from hers with a groan. He didn’t say a word or try to tie the horse back up; he just held Inferno’s head away so that the horse couldn’t see, grabbed Randee with his other arm, and gave her another kiss that made her want to lie in the grass and surrender. When it ended, he said in a whisper, “I don’t want to share you with anyone, especially my horse!”
And that was it. Chase mounted Inferno and started calling to the cattle to get moving. Randee left the rest of the picnic out for the McBride boys and followed Chase’s lead. They would get the herd home by nightfall.
***
Ceil’s cattle milled in the yard with Randee’s, all restless to be on their way to the summer range. In two days the McBride boys, Chase, and Randee would drive them fifteen miles to the base of the mountains. It would take two trips to get the whole herd there.
It was late. Chase, Rex, and Ceil had retired, but Randee couldn’t sleep. She sat in a wingback chair before a crackling fire working on a new design for a garter. She shifted the material this way and that, trying to come up with something a little different. Earlier she had discarded the romance novel she’d been reading. It held too much interest for her, and the words hit too close to home tonight. Chase was the hero in every book she read these days.
The kitchen door squeaked as it opened. Randee turned with a start to see Chase standing with his thumbs hooked in his front pants pockets. The pose should have been relaxed, but his rigid posture told a different story. She held her breath, not knowing what to expect.
His words astonished her. “I was a lawyer.” He raked a hand through his unruly hair. “If I could confide in anyone, I’d like it to be you, but I can’t. I just can’t.”
He left as quickly as he’d come.
***
The next morning Miles Grant strutted into the house like a cock in a chicken yard. His blond hair looked as if he’d spent the morning in the beauty parlor, every hair in its perfect place. He’d missed his calling by not becoming a fashion model, Randee thought.
“I was thrilled when you called me.” Her cousin laid his snakeskin briefcase on the table and talked as he pulled out several papers. “I always love seeing you. I assume, though, that this is a business meeting?”
He flashed a set of perfectly capped teeth, and Randee remembered his teeth were bad as a kid; in fact, he used to steal kids’ lunch money and buy himself candy with it. Whenever someone refused to give their money to him he would beat them up. She shivered, wanting to get this over with. “Yes, it is a matter of business. I—”
He cut her off. “Good, I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses. That haystack must have been the breaking point, huh?” He glanced out the window. “You needn’t worry. They won’t really do that much damage. I talked to the mining company myself, and they only want around thirty acres, give or take a few. In fact, they even gave me the papers for you to sign, to save them the trouble of coming out again.”
Randee glowered. This man standing in front of her didn’t know her at all. She shook her head slowly. “You are some piece of work, Miles. You’re also fired.”
Her cousin looked as if Randee had physically kneed him in the groin. “Fired? You’ve got to be kidding!”
Randee stood two feet in front of him with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
Miles’s face went red, and all traces of his Ken doll–like appearance vanished. “What about us, Randee? Since when isn’t family a priority with you?”
“It is, Miles. It’s just that I don’t consider you family. A family works together, not against itself. What do you plan to get out of this, anyway? Did the mining company offer you money to get me to sign?”
“How could you even ask me such a terrible thing? Fine. If you don’t want my help, find a different attorney—if you think you can afford one!” He took a glance around her kitchen and then snarled, “You’re listening to that shithead cowhand, aren’t you? Well, don’t get too comfortable. He just wants you because he can live off you and get some action! But we’ll see how far the two of you get when legal fees drive you into the ground. It’s a damn lonely place out here, Randee, and once he uses you up and spits you out you’ll be alone. You and I could have… I never thought you planned on spending your life as a spinster, but you’re making some pretty foolish choices.”
“Go away, Miles,” Randee growled. “Your services are no longer needed.”
“You’re serious then?” It was as if he truly couldn’t process the fact.
“As a heart attack.”
Miles shoved the mining company papers into his briefcase and stared at Randee with unconcealed fury. A large vein pumped down the side of his throat. He started to speak but changed his mind. Finally, turning his back on Randee, he stomped to the door and slammed it behind him so hard the room shook.
***
Heading in from his chores, Chase saw he’d chosen the wrong time for a coffee break as a visitor slammed the kitchen door and bolted from the house. Miles, whose face was reminiscent of an overripe tomato, stopped dead in front of him.
“Get the hell out of my way.”
Chase had no idea why Miles was so hostile, but he enjoyed the fact that this wasn’t one of the man’s better days. “Got a problem, Grant?”
Out of control, the blond lawyer grabbed the front of his shirt with one hand and pulled Chase close. Chase removed that hand with a steel grip of his own, but Miles’s sneer just grew meaner.
“I don’t know who you are or what you’re planning here, but if you’ve got anything to do with getting me fired you better watch your goddamn back. We don’t take kindly to drifters in these parts.”
Chase had him by the throat before he got the last word out, and Miles’s briefcase dropped to the ground. The lawyer clutched the hand constricting his neck, and Chase’s voice was as deadly as a poisonous snake. “I doubt you’ve got the balls to do anything about anybody. I’ve known your type my whole life, and if you jerks can’t hire out your dirty work it doesn’t get done. So I’m not too worried about you. Now, get off this property before I decide to do a little extra castrating.”
He didn’t want to let go of the lowlife, but Miles wasn’t worth any more energy. There were thousands of Miles Grants in the world. Chase had known several. In fact, it was a Miles Grant type that had helped ruin his career. Maybe that’s why Chase couldn’t stand him. He would never fall victim to his breed again.
He twisted and shoved the lawyer against the hood of his car with a strength he didn’t know he had. He then picked up and threw the man’s briefcase at his gut with just as much force. “I don’t want to see you on this property again.”
Miles’s voice came out a vicious whisper. “You’ll never be the boss. Randee wears the pants here. You’ll never be more than just her hired boy, no matter what kind of chores you do for her.”
Chase took a step forward, but Miles jumped in his car before he could get to him. He watched the lawyer peel out, and it wasn’t until Miles was speeding down the gravel road that Chase turned and saw Randee standing on the front porch. There was no doubt that she’d heard the whole argument.
He’d been heading to the house, but the incident with Miles changed his mind. He turned and marched back toward the barn.
***
That evening after supper Randee asked Chase to stay at the main house and help her with some of the packing for the trail drive. All afternoon she’d tried to think of the perfect way to approach him. She’d witnessed his confrontation with Miles from the porch. She’d been sure Chase was going to kill her cousin before it was over, and she was surprised to see him hold his temper so well. She saw how hard it was for him to turn away, though, and when he stalked off…well, she’d learned enough to know that when Chase was in a bad mood he wanted to be left alone.
Ceil got up from the table and helped Rex to his feet. “Me and your uncle are gonna go have a quick game of strip poker before bed.”
“Godfrey Moses, Ceil!” Rex said, his face turning red. But his eyes shone with love, and the older couple grinned at each other. Ten minutes later Randee could hear them arguing over rummy.
“Some strip poker.”
Chase made no comment. He had been quiet all evening. Too quiet.
“Chase, come and sit down. I need to talk.”
Chase gave Randee a not again look, but he followed her to the comfortable leather chairs and sat.
“I need your advice about the mining company. As you know, I fired Miles today. So…will you give me the legal advice I need?”
He shook his head. “I’m out of that business, Randee. You’d better hire someone else.”
“I don’t want someone else. I promise I won’t tell a soul about your former career. I won’t tell anyone you helped me. Please, Chase, I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”
Chase sat silent, and Randee left him alone while she cleared away the dishes. At least he seemed to be giving the matter some thought. She returned to her seat and looked hopefully into his eyes after she finished.
He gave an exasperated sigh. “Look, I can help you with advice but that’s all. I don’t have a license to practice in Montana, so if you’re thinking of taking them to court you’ll have to get an attorney from this state. But I’ll help you with what I can.” He shook his head and gave her a wry look. “How is it I always say no to you and end up doing what you want anyway? When are you going to say no to me but mean yes?”
She met his stare and smiled. “Chase Gregory, you haven’t done everything I want, and you can change a conversation into something sensual faster than any man alive. I’ll bet you made one hell of a lawyer.”
He grimaced. “Oh, hell yes. I was the best damn lawyer in the country. That’s why I’m here working for you as a hired hand.”
But the next hour showed Randee she’d guessed right. He was a brilliant attorney. Law was his element. Randee lost herself in the sight and sound of him, hung on his every word. If she loved Chase before, she now adored him. He spoke with intelligence and style. His counsel was wise. She imagined him dressed in a charcoal grey suit, standing in front of a jury and pleading his case. But she noticed a sense of excitement in his voice as he continued to explain, and Randee realized she didn’t know where exactly she fit in with this new side of him.
“After we get the cattle to the high ground, I’ll do some more investigation, mostly into the history of the Allan Mining Company. That should show how far they might go. Otherwise, you’ve done everything right so far and reported each incident. I know the sheriff’s department hasn’t done much, but to be honest their hands really are tied. If all of these incidents have been orchestrated by the mining company, they’ve done a pretty damn good job of covering their tracks. It’s a very professional team of cutthroats. But one thing I know for sure? There is no fair judge in the nation who will allow anyone to trespass on your property if you don’t want them to. Miles was full of shit.”
He stood up and left her with a brush of his lips against her cheek. Randee knew his mind was elsewhere, and she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. She’d pushed him into doing the work he knew best, and his mind was back in lawyer mode.
Randee slipped on a Levi’s jacket and went to the barn to check on her horses. Her loving words to each of them were extra quiet tonight; she was thoughtful, impressed, and depressed at the same time. Impressed by Chase’s wisdom and strength, but depressed when she realized he had not only been successful at one time but that he’d enjoyed what he did. He’d loved it, in fact. During their discussion, his eyes lit up in a way she’d never seen before. The light that had dawned on Randee made her feel as if bricks lay across her chest. This life would interest him only for a while, only until he got over whatever he was running from. Eventually the novelty would wear off and Chase would vanish. It was everything she’d believed and feared from the start.
She wrapped her arms around Inferno, trying to draw comfort from the beast’s thick black neck. She hugged him as if he were a giant teddy bear. “He’s going to leave us, Inferno. Sooner or later he’s going to leave us.”