Chapter Eight
Linc hadn’t been kidding about the trail turning treacherous. The path was nothing more than a narrow, winding ledge. In several places the earth had washed away to leave gaping cracks. If Nevada allowed herself to look she could see the distant, rocky ground below. But she tried not to look at the danger and simply focused on putting one foot safely in front of the other.
More than once during their downward descent, Nevada desperately wanted to grab on to Linc’s waist and hold on for dear life. But she figured he would resent that intimate sort of contact. And after the fragile truce they’d made, she didn’t want to have him thinking she was deliberately trying to stir the ashes left behind by the hot kiss they’d shared.
Thankfully, the trail suddenly widened and then they were stepping down onto a wide ledge of solid rock. The sound of tinkling water immediately caught Nevada’s attention and she looked to her far left to see a small waterfall pouring over a rim of red rock. About ten feet below, the crystal-clear water pooled in a large dished-out spot that was framed with rocks and dead wood.
“Oh! How absolutely beautiful!” Nevada exclaimed. “Where is the water coming from? The snow melt is over for this summer.”
He pointed upward to a crease in the mountain. “There’s a natural spring up there. As far as I know it’s never gone dry.”
Totally enchanted, Nevada released her safety hold on his belt loops and walked closer to the waterfall.
“I don’t know much about the outdoors, but it must be unusual to find a spring in this arid climate. We’re not totally desert here by any means, but we’re not living in a tropical zone either.”
Linc walked up beside her. “You’re right. I think it is an oddity. On all the thousands of acres on this ranch, I’ve never discovered another one.”
She tilted her head to look up at him and there was a sparkle of pleasure in her eyes that made Linc’s stomach do a funny little turn.
“This is just wonderful, Linc,” Nevada went on. “Thank you for bringing me here.” She glanced around for a place to sit down. “Would it be okay if we rested a few minutes before we start back? I’m not as much of a mountain goat as I thought.”
“Sure. Just don’t get too close to the edge of the bluff. It’s a long drop over. I doubt anything could survive it. Not even a mountain goat.”
A few feet away, a fallen log rested near the wall of mountain. Linc gestured toward it. “Let’s sit here.”
She nodded at his suggestion and the two of them found a comfortable seat on the dead pine trunk.
Nevada sighed with pleasure as she stretched her legs out in front of her and wiped once again at the sweat trickling at her temples.
“I never dreamed there would be a place like this around here,” she said as she gazed at the splendorous view before them. “You can see the meadow from here. And there’s some of your Angus grazing down there. Is there a chance that we’ll see any of your horses down there with them?” she asked.
Linc pushed the black hat he was wearing to the back of his head. “No. We do have part of the remuda pastured now, but they’re in a different section of the ranch.”
“How big is the remuda?” she asked curiously.
“I think we have about two hundred and ten horses now.”
“Wow. That’s a lot.”
“Quite a few,” he agreed. “And that doesn’t include the broodmares and colts.”
“Why so many?” she asked, then shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry, Linc. I’m sure my questions sound naive. I’m not very educated about ranching, but I find it interesting.”
His gaze rested on her face and for a second Nevada thought she spotted a bit of surprise on his face. But then he looked away from her and she lost the chance to gauge his expression.
“We have so many horses,” he answered, “because the T Bar K does everything just as it was done sixty, sixty-five years ago. You won’t find helicopters or four-wheelers taking the place of horses here. Our cowboys do all the cutting and roundups on horseback. It’s a tradition that will never change as long as a Ketchum is breathing.”
His statement told her a lot about his feelings for the ranch and how much his heritage and place in it meant to him. It was a trait she admired. Most of the men she came in contact with weren’t interested in their past or where their roots originated. But then, some of them were like her; their roots were rotten.
“Tell me about this place,” she urged. “How did it get started?”
He looked at her once more and this time she could see faint skepticism pulling his brows together.
“You really want to know?” he asked.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked with a puzzled frown. “The T Bar K is known far and wide. But I’ve never actually heard its history.”
Maybe she was truly interested, Linc thought. Or maybe she was only pretending to be just to butter him up a bit.
Hell, Linc, why would she want to do that? She doesn’t want anything from you. And she sure didn’t need to patronize him just to get his attention. All she had to do was button his shirt and he melted like a snowflake on a hot tongue.
“Well, it began with my father, Randolf, and his brother Tucker. They were both born in Texas and raised there. Their father, Nate, was a big cattleman and he owned a ranch near Goliad that had been handed down to him through generations of Ketchums. It was prime land and worth a fortune.”
Already enthralled by the story, Nevada said, “Oh. So why did they come up here to New Mexico?”
He shook his head at her with faint amusement. “I thought nurses were supposed to be patient creatures.”
“All right. Go on. I won’t interrupt with questions,” she promised.
“My cousins and I have heard lots of tales from our fathers. But we’re not really sure if it was the way things really happened back then. All of us believe they didn’t want us to know the entire truth of the matter.”
“Hmm. Why do you think that?”
Linc dangled his bandaged hands between his knees as he stared off into the distance. “We’re not sure. Except that we believe something scandalous happened. But that would be after Nate got into financial trouble and began to sell off blocks of land. That was during the Depression and the land didn’t sell for much. Randolf and Tucker were just young boys then, but they recalled the hard times. Eventually though, Nate pulled things together somehow and after the war started, cattle were in demand again. He began to make piles of money and he bought back the land he’d sold.”
“Well, that sounds like everything began to get better,” Nevada remarked.
“I guess it got too good,” he said with a wry grimace. “You know, the more money a man has, the more troubles he seems to acquire. Anyway—and here’s where the story gets sketchy—our grandmother, Sarah, caught Granddad cheating with another woman. And—”
“Cheating! But weren’t they old by then?” Nevada interrupted.
“I guess some men never get too old to have a roaming eye. Anyway that was when the trouble started brewing. Eventually Sarah demanded a divorce and her half of the cattle empire.”
“Let me guess,” Nevada replied, “Nate refused.”
Linc nodded. “I think the ranch turned into a hellish place after that. Our grandfather wound up being murdered. He’d been shot and his body thrown into a thick patch of weesatche.”
Nevada was shocked. “Oh no. What happened? Do you know?”
Linc shook his head. “Not really. People down there believed Sarah shot him and had her lover hide the body.”
By now Nevada was incredulous. “She had a lover too?”
His expression turned to disgust. “Yeah. For spite, I guess. Isn’t it nice to hear you come from such a loving family?” he asked sarcastically.
So Linc’s parents hadn’t been the only ones with marriage problems, Nevada decided. No wonder he had a bad view of relationships between men and women. He must think that all marriages were flawed
and painful as those of his grandparents and his own parents had been.
She wanted to tell him that nothing could be further from the truth. There were married people who truly loved each other, who would die for each other. All he had to do was take a look at his cousins. But she didn’t say anything. It would be hypocritical of her when she’d made a promise to herself always to be a free and independent woman.
“What happened to Sarah? Was she charged for his death?”
“No. Seems there wasn’t enough evidence. So after Nate was buried, Randolf and Tucker decided they didn’t want any part of the ranch. They told Sarah to keep it and good riddance.”
Nevada shook her head sadly. “They believed she murdered their father.”
This time Linc was the one who looked surprised. “Well, don’t you?”
“How could I know that without hearing all the facts? It’s not good for a person to jump to conclusions too quickly. You might turn out to be wrong.”
“I’ve been wrong before and it didn’t kill me. Better to be wrong about a person than dead. If Noah Rider could talk to us, I’m sure he’d agree with that.”
Noah Rider was the old foreman who’d been murdered on T Bar K land about two years ago. His body had been discovered in a dry arroyo several miles away from the ranch house. The incident had garnered interest far and wide and Victoria’s husband, Jess, had nearly died from a gunshot wound received while investigating the crime. Nevada could remember what a trying time it had been for the whole Ketchum family. But it sounded as though trouble was not something new to this clan.
“So your dad and uncle came up here and started this ranch,” Nevada mused aloud. “Where did they get the money to build on?”
Linc shook his head ever so slightly as he peered into the hazy distance. “Well, that’s another place where the story gets a little foggy. My dad always told me that he and his brother got their grubstake from their mother. You see, her family had owned lots of oil rights and she’d given her two sons part of the royalties. But Tucker always told a different version. He said that the money they’d used to start the T Bar K had belonged to Nate and when they’d left Texas they’d taken a share of their father’s estate.”
“How odd that they would tell the story so differently,” Nevada commented. “Which one did you believe more? Your father?”
Linc nodded. “Not just because he was my father,” he explained. “But Tucker tended to exaggerate the facts at times. And anyway, after all these years it doesn’t matter. They made the ranch go and we children are still here keeping their legacy going.”
Nevada was fascinated by the story, and as she sat there mulling over everything he’d told her, she realized there were plenty more questions she would have liked to ask about his family. Especially about his mother. What part had she played in all of this? Had she come from Texas, too?
Deciding she didn’t want to take the chance on ruining the peace between them, she kept the questions to herself. If Linc ever wanted to talk to her about his mother, he would have to bring up the subject himself.
She looked over to see Linc suddenly squinting up at the sky and she followed his example. Dark-gray clouds were beginning to swirl and mix above them.
“Are those rain clouds?” Nevada asked. “If they are, we’re in trouble. It will take us half an hour to get back to the house.”
Linc continued to study the skyline. “I think we’re in trouble. And I’m not sure if we should try to head back right now. Or wait it out here where we might have shelter.”
“Shelter?” Nevada looked around her. Except for one lone juniper jutting out from a crack in the rocks, she didn’t see anything that would shield them from lightning and rain. “I don’t see any kind of protection around here.”
Rising to his feet, Linc pointed toward the waterfall. “That’s one of the things that always fascinated me about this place. Have you ever seen one of those old movies where the bandits ride beneath the waterfall and enter a hideout cave?”
Nevada nodded. “Sure. Hasn’t everyone? But don’t tell me there’s a cave behind this waterfall. That’s just too much to believe.”
He took her by the arm. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
Nevada pulled back. “Linc! We’ll get wet. Your bandages will get soaked and that would be bad. Let’s head to the house.”
He started to say something when a loud crack split the air around them and rumbled down the mountainside.
Nevada jumped back to the safety of Linc’s side and instinctively clutched his upper arm. “What are we going to do? I don’t relish getting fried by lightning.”
“Neither do I,” he said. “I’ve already had my share of frying.” He looked down at her. “I don’t think we have much of a choice. Either way the waterfall or the rain is going to get us wet. At least in the cave we’ll be protected from the lightning.”
Nevada nodded as another bolt of electricity sizzled through the air and struck a nearby tree. A ball of fire raced up the trunk and Linc quickly tugged on her hand.
“Come on!”
Nevada didn’t make any protest as they raced toward the fall of water.
“Duck your head,” he warned. “The cave is small.”
She did as he instructed and the two of them leaped through the icy flow of water. Once past, Nevada could see they were standing in a natural indentation of the rock. The opening was no more than four feet by six, but it was dry and cozy and would protect them from the violent lightning that was so deadly in this part of the West.
“Not a vacation suite, but at least it’s dry,” Linc said as the two of them moved toward the back of the enclosure.
“Thank God it’s here,” Nevada exclaimed. “And I would never have believed it if you hadn’t shown me.”
“Let’s sit down,” he suggested. “This might last for a while.”
There was just enough room for the two of them to sit side by side with their knees drawn toward them. As Nevada wiped at the water droplets on her hair, she said, “I’m sorry about this, Linc. When I asked you to take a walk, I didn’t know it was going to turn into this much of an outing.”
“Forget it. And anyway, it’s better than being cooped in the house or planted on the porch.”
“I know. But it would be awful for you to survive such a horrible fire and then be killed because your nurse had you out in an electrical storm. Lord, I’d never get a job after that.”
He looked at her with amusement. “You think Victoria would fire you if that happened?”
“No doubt,” Nevada said grimly. “You’re her hero.”
Linc didn’t make any sort of reply to that. Compliments of any sort made him feel awkward and he was already having enough trouble with being jammed in this tiny rock room with Nevada. Their shoulders and arms were squashed together, along with their thighs. The heat from both their bodies was already filling the small space and causing him to sweat beneath his shirt. Or maybe the desire to kiss Nevada again was making him sweat. Either way, he hoped the thunderstorm ended soon.
“It’s hard to see through the waterfall. But it looks like it’s raining now,” Nevada said as she peered intently forward.
A part of Linc’s gaze was on the opening in front of them, but the other part was darting to her face, which was only inches away from his. Her rosy-tan skin was as smooth as fine spun silk and along her cheekbone there was a faint bloom of roses. Black hair curled in tiny ringlets against her ear and temple, then fell in shiny waves upon her shoulder.
She was a naturally gorgeous woman and he tried to convince himself that her beauty was the reason he wanted to kiss her, touch her in forbidden places.
Stifling back a groan of desperation, he said, “It’s pouring. I can hear it.”
Her gaze carefully searched the fall of water a few short feet in front of them, then turned up to his face. “Really?”
He opened his mouth to answer at the same time another crack of lightning hit something outside the
cave. Thunder rocked the mountainside like the aftershocks of an explosion. Before Nevada realized what she was doing, she screamed and turned her face into Linc’s shoulder.
“Oh God, Linc, we’re going to be killed!” she wailed.
Instinctively, Linc’s arms curled around her and pressed her head tightly against him. “Sssh. Don’t be frightened. It’s just noise. The lightning can’t get us in here,” he said gently.
“Are you sure?” She tilted her head back to peek up at him. “We’re sitting on rock! And there’s water right in front of us!”
“Yes, but at least we’re not targets here like we would be outside. Don’t think about the worst happening. Just tell yourself it will all be over in a few minutes.”
Before she could make any sort of reply another network of lightning streaked the sky and exploded somewhere outside the cave above their heads.
Nevada buried her face in his shoulder and as Linc gazed down at the top of her head, he realized he didn’t know the first thing about calming a frightened woman. The brief times he’d spent in the company of a female hadn’t involved situations like this.
But he figured Nevada was no different than a nervous filly that needed a gentle hand on her, so he began to stroke his fingers softly down the black mane of hair resting against her back.
“Don’t be scared, little one,” he murmured against her temple. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Nevada wasn’t usually afraid of electrical storms. The afternoon light shows were a common occurrence in this part of the country. But she’d never been caught out of doors in one before. And certainly not in the mountains where everything was more of a target.
But she trusted Linc to keep them safe and the security of his arms was having a steadying affect on her jumpy nerves. The warmth of his body soothed her while his unique male scent was slowly seducing her senses.
After a few moments she began to forget about the sizzling streaks of lightning and ear-shattering thunder. Being this close to Linc was doing all sorts of things to her body and she realized she desperately wanted to lift her face from his shoulder and turn her lips up to his.
Taming a Dark Horse Page 10
