by Lisa Jackson
“I know you were expecting something from your father.”
Her son went rigid. His brown eyes looked into hers and Dani knew in that moment that she couldn’t talk against Blake—not yet. “What about it?”
“He didn’t say when he’d visit or write again,” Dani pointed out.
“But it’s already been three months.”
“I know. Maybe he’s been busy.”
“And maybe he just doesn’t care. Not about me. Not about you!” Cody’s lower lip trembled but he managed not to cry.
“Don’t think about it,” Dani said, trying to comfort him.
“Don’t think about my dad?” he repeated angrily. His small fist balled against the worn screen. “Don’t you think about him?”
“Sometimes,” she admitted. Like now, when I know you’re hurting.
“You should be waitin’ for him to come home!”
Dani pushed the hair that had escaped from her ponytail off her face. “I waited a long time, Cody.”
“And then you divorced him,” the boy accused.
Dani forced a sad but patient smile. “I know it’s hard for you to understand but I can’t . . . we can’t live in the past.”
“But he wrote me!” Cody said, his voice cracking. “He wrote me a letter and said he was comin’ home!”
Dani leaned a shoulder against the side of the house. “I know he did, sweetheart—”
“Don’t call me that! It’s for babies.”
“And you’re not a baby anymore, are you?” She reached forward to push his hair out of his eyes, but he jerked away.
“Aw, Mom. Give me a break!” Cody walked into the kitchen and the screen door groaned before slamming shut with a bang.
Dani looked down at the crisp white envelopes in her hand; no letter from Blake. She didn’t know whether it was a blessing or a curse. Cody was getting harder to handle each day.
With a sigh Dani walked through the house to the back porch and sat for a minute on the rail to stare at the property her great-great-grandfather had homesteaded nearly a hundred years before. The sprawling acres of the farm stretched before her. A few stands of oak, pine and cottonwood spotted the acreage that descended to Grizzly Creek before slowly rising to the foothills of the hazy Rocky Mountains. Waves of intense heat distorted the image of the cattle trying to graze in the dry pastures.
Thank God the creek was still running! And the snowpack on the mountains was still visible. So this year, at least, she wouldn’t run out of water.
So what was Chase McEnroe doing in the stream? A new fear paralyzed her as she thought aboµt the rugged-looking stranger and the fact that he worked for Caleb Johnson. Surely Caleb wouldn’t stoop to sabotaging her only source of water for the cattle, would he? He’d tried a lot of underhanded methods to force her to move, but he wouldn’t . . . couldn’t cut off her water!
“I think it’s about time to pay my neighbor a visit,” she muttered to herself as she straightened. Maybe tomorrow. Right now she had to deal with Cody, so Caleb Johnson and Chase McEnroe would have to wait.
* * *
Just being on Caleb Johnson’s land made Dani’s skin crawl. The man was poison and she could feel it as she parked the pickup and walked up the brick path to the imposing two-storied farm house. Built of sturdy white clapboard with black shutters at the windows and a broad front porch running its width, the house was as imposing and cold as Johnson himself.
Dani pounded on the front door and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
Someone did, but not Caleb Johnson. Instead of being able to vent her wrath on Johnson as she had hoped, Dani was standing face to face with Chase McEnroe for the second time in two days.
At the sight of her, Chase’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened. “If it isn’t Calamity Jane,” he drawled, moving out of the doorway as if to let her pass. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing,” she replied stiffly. A nervous sweat dampened her palms. It was one thing to come across this man when she had the advantage of being on her own property, astride a large gelding and holding a rifle. Standing toe to toe with him on Caleb Johnson’s front porch was another matter entirely. Bracing her slim shoulders, she stated her business. “I’m looking for Caleb.”
He lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “He’s not here right now.”
“Where is he?”
“In town.”
“When will he be back?”
“I don’t know.” Chase offered her a humbling grin. “I’m just the help.” His smile became hard. “You remember—the arrogant S.O.B. and flunky you caught on your land.”
“I remember,” she replied, returning his stare without flinching. Pride lifted her chin and kept her gaze cool. “I just hope you gave Johnson my message.”
“Loud and clear.”
“Then I guess we won’t have a problem anymore, will we?”
“Not as long as you keep that rifle locked in a gun closet and throw away the key.”
“I don’t think so, Mr. McEnroe. Not until I’m sure you’ll stay off my property.” She saw the tightening of his jaw and decided to make herself crystal clear. “And that includes staying away from any water running through my land. I have water rights and I intend to protect them.”
“With a shotgun.”
“Rifle,” she corrected, realizing he was baiting her. “And whatever else it takes to get the message through your boss’s thick skull: My property is not for sale or lease. He can build a city the size of New York around my land and I won’t change my mind.”
Chase leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his chest. Some of the harshness left his features “Tell me, Mrs. Summers,” he suggested, noting that Dani bristled when he mentioned her marital status. “Are you always so tough?”
“Always,” she lied. “Especially when I’m dealing with Caleb Johnson or his hands.”
Chase’s lips curved into an amused smile and his brilliant blue eyes softened to the point that Dani noticed how handsome his angular features could be. “I’ll tell him you dropped by.”
“And you’ll let him know it wasn’t a social call?”
“My guess is that you haven’t dropped over here with an apple pie or for a leisurely chat in years,” he mocked.
“Just give him the message.”
“Are you expecting a response?”
“No.” She placed her hands on her slim, jean-clad hips.
“As long as you and the rest of Johnson’s employees stay on this side of the fence, I’m satisfied. If not, I’ll contact my attorney.”
“And what’s the attorney’s name?”
Dani forced a smile though her stomach was churning. The man had just called her bluff. “Let’s try and keep him out of it,” she replied. “I don’t think Caleb wants to get into a legal battle any more than I do.”
“He claims you don’t have an attorney; that you’re bringing up this potential lawsuit as an empty threat.”
“Try me,” Dani said, hoping that she wasn’t provoking McEnroe into following her suggestion. “I just hope it doesn’t come to a costly legal battle. Neither Caleb nor I want the adverse publicity or the expense.”
“I don’t know,” Chase thought aloud, walking to the post supporting the porch roof and leaning against the painted wood. “Caleb seems to have his mind set. He’s already spent a fortune on architects, engineers, surveyors, lawyers and politicians. I don’t think one more stumbling block is gonna deter him.”
“We’ll see,” she said grimly, anger coloring her face.
“I’m afraid we will, lady,” he agreed, seeing for the first time the trace of fear in her large gray-green eyes.
“Just tell him why I came by.”
Dani turned on her heel and tried to ignore the dread stealing into her heart. So Johnson was going to play hardball. She walked down the brick path and ignored the urge to run. She could feel McEnroe’s eyes on her back as she climbed into the pickup and shoved it into gear. As s
he cranked the wheel and turned the ancient rig around, she slid a glance through the window toward McEnroe. He was still where she’d left him, on the porch, leaning casually against the post and watching her intently. She could feel the burn of his eyes against her skin.
Oh, God, she thought desperately. Johnson won’t be satisfied until he takes it all. Then, forcing her fatalistic thought aside, she muttered, “Pull yourself together, Dani. Dammit, Johnson can try to take your land, but if he does he’ll find that he and McEnroe and anyone else who’s involved with him will be in for the fight of their worthless lives!”
Chapter Two
For three days Dani watched Chase.
From her vantage point at the house, she had a view of the surrounding property from all angles. To the east toward the county road, there were only two small fields that were filled with livestock. Hereford cattle and a few horses mingled and grazed in the dry fields. To the west, behind the cabin, the larger acreage dipped down before slowly rising at the base of the mountains. Grizzly Creek, running south from Caleb Johnson’s land, cut through the westerly side of her property in a clear blue ribbon and offered the only respite, save her hand-dug well, for the parched land.
Dani gave credit where credit was due and Chase McEnroe was the most persistent man she’d ever met. Though he’d stuck to his part of the bargain and stayed on Caleb Johnson’s property, he’d pushed the boundaries to the limit, often walking along beside the fence posts and surveying the water rushing through her land.
She observed him wading in the creek, sometimes with another man, but usually alone. Though she never really understood why, she watched him from a distance.
One day, while she had been bucking hay, Dani had seen Chase fly fishing in the stream. Later, after she and Cody had stacked the bales in the barn, she’d observed Chase digging in the streambed. Dani had never caught him on her side of the fence, although he strayed near the property line, staring over the barbed wire to her land and the life-giving water slicing through the dry fields.
“I wonder what Johnson’s got up his sleeve,” she muttered to herself as she hoed a row of potatoes in the small garden near the backyard. An uneasy sensation had been with her ever since she’d spoken with Chase at the Johnson farmhouse. There had been something in his eyes, something close to pity, that had made her back stiffen in pride and had caused a stab of dread to pierce her heart. “That man knows something,” she decided, straightening and leaning on her hoe to ease the tight muscles of her lower back. “And if I were smart, I’d try to find out what it is.”
It was nearly dusk and McEnroe was still near the creek, shading his eyes against a lowering sun as he studied the rippling water. It crossed Dani’s mind that he might wait until it was dark and then trespass on her land. By why? And what would he find in the darkness?
“And who cares?” she said aloud, grabbing her hoe and walking angrily back to the house. Sweat was dripping down her dust-smudged face as she shoved the hoe into the shed near the back porch and went inside.
Cody was propped on the worn sofa in front of the television and Runt was parked on the floor in front of him. At her entrance, Runt lifted his black head and thumped his tail on the floor; Cody hadn’t noticed that his mother had come into the house.
Dani looked around the room and frowned. The dinner dishes were still on the table and Runt’s dish was empty. “Cody?”
He slid a glance in her direction but didn’t move. “Yeah?”
“I thought you were going to clear the table.”
“I will . . . I will.”
Dani sat on the arm of the overstuffed couch and smiled at her son. “I was hoping it would be sometime this century.”
“Aw, Mom,” Cody grumbled, his face crumpling into a frown as he tried to concentrate on the television.
“I mean it.”
“I said I’d do it, didn’t I?”
Sighing, Dani leaned against the back of the couch. “Look, we had a deal. You feed Runt, do the afternoon chores and clear the table, right?”
“Right.”
“I think it’s only fair that you do them the minute they need to be done.”
He looked at her blankly. “Why?”
“Because the cattle, horses and dog need to be fed on time. As for the dishes, I’d like to clean them up and put them away before midnight, okay?”
Cody, wearing his most put-upon expression, sighed loudly. “Things wouldn’t be like this if Dad was home,” the boy said, glancing out of the corner of his eyes for her reaction.
“You don’t know that.”
“You wouldn’t have to work so hard and . . . and . . . neither would I!”
Dani tried to hold onto her patience. “Cody, you have to understand that things never would have worked out between your father and me even if he had stayed on the farm.”
Cody remained silent, staring at the television. As Dani rose from the couch, he muttered, “You never gave him a chance.” And then, seeing his mother stiffen, he said a little louder, “The kids at school say he ran off with another woman. Is that true?”
“Where did you hear that?” she asked. “School’s been out for a couple of months.”
“Is it true?”
Dani’s shoulders slumped and she rubbed her temples. She was too tired to start this kind of conversation with Cody, but saw no way to avoid it. “I think so,” she admitted.
“Why?” Cody turned his accusing brown eyes on her.
“I don’t know.”
“I heard the kids talkin’ at school on the day that I got the letter from Dad.”
“You took it to school?”
“Yeah.” He chewed on his lower lip. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea, huh?”
“What do you think?”
“Isabelle Reece told me that her pa says Dad left because you weren’t woman enough to hold him.”
Dani felt her throat tighten but managed a smile. “That’s the way Isabelle’s father would say it. I wouldn’t put much stock in Bill Reece’s opinion . . .” She took hold of Cody’s hand and squeezed his fingers before letting go. “Things aren’t always quite that simple.”
“Dad hurt you, didn’t he?” Cody deduced.
“A little.”
“Do you still love him?”
Dani paused. It was a question she’d asked herself often in the past six and a half years. “No.” She saw her son cringe. “Oh, I did love him. Once. A long time ago.”
“But what happened?”
“A lot of things, I guess,” she admitted. Dani felt the sting of tears behind her eyes but refused to give in to the urge to cry over Blake Summers. What they had shared was long over. “We got older, grew in different directions. Your dad wanted to sell the farm and move to Duluth.”
“Minnesota?”
“Yep.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Dani hesitated. “It was hard for me to leave the farm.”
“Why?”
She lifted a shoulder. “The same reason it would be hard to leave now. This place means a lot to me and I’m not talking about money. It’s been in the family for so many years.”
“So?”
“So I love it.”
“More than you loved Dad.”
Dani smiled sadly. “I don’t like to think so. I know it’s hard for you to understand but when your dad left me, my mother-your grandmother-was still alive. She lived here, with us. The farm was really hers, you know. I couldn’t ask her to sell it. Her great-grandfather had homesteaded this piece.”
“Big deal!”
“It was a big deal. Still is. Anyway, I told your dad I would move with him, but he claimed that he needed the extra cash from the sale of the property to get settled in Duluth.
“When he finally left, grandma was sick and you were very young. It was the middle of winter and he said he’d send me some money in the spring so that I . . . we—you and I—could join him.”
“But he never sent the money
.”
“Right.”
“And he found another . . . woman?”
“I guess so,” Dani said quietly, seeing no reason to bring up the fact that Blake’s interest in other women had started long before he’d left Montana.
Cody sat still for a minute before turning large hope-filled eyes toward his mother. “So maybe he’s changed his mind and wants to come back. Maybe now he’ll come home.”
“He didn’t say that in his letter, did he?”
“He kind’a did. Remember. He said, ‘See ya soon. Love, Dad.’”
And it had been nearly three months since the damned letter had arrived.
“And he said that he’d write again,” Cody added. “So maybe he is coming home. Maybe he’s on his way back here right now! Wouldn’t that be great!”
Hating to dampen Cody’s spirits, she offered him a small smile. “I don’t think he’ll be back. At least not for a while.”
“But when he gets here?” Cody asked hopefully.
“If he gets here,” she said with a sad smile, “we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, won’t we?” She cocked her head in the direction of the kitchen. “Now, I’m going upstairs to shower, Why don’t you tackle the dishes?” She slapped him fondly on the knee. “Deal?”
“Deal,” he replied, rolling off the couch and nearly falling on top of Runt, who growled at having to move from his favorite position near the fireplace.
Dani climbed the stairs and heard the sound of plates rattling as Cody cleared the table. He’s a good boy, she thought to herself. You’ve just got to take the time to talk with him and quit avoiding the truth about his father.
Forty-five minutes and a relaxing shower later Dani came down the stairs to find Cody back in front of the television, a huge bowl of popcorn in his lap. The table had been cleared and the dishes had been placed in the dishwasher. The mess from making the popcorn still littered the kitchen, but Dani decided not to mention it.
“You’ve been busy, haven’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah. I decided you were right about the chores.”
“Aren’t I always?” she teased.
“Oh, Mom, give me a break!” But Cody laughed and offered Runt a piece of popped corn, which the anxious dog swallowed as if he had been starved for days.
