He nodded then, pinning her down with his gaze. “When will you leave?”
“I—I don’t know. I have to check out stagecoach and train schedules. Tomorrow I plan on going into town and sending the wire.” She smiled sadly then, causing a knot to twist in his stomach. “I should be out of your way soon enough.”
He pursed his lips. His head told him to leave it be, that this was a far better solution for her. For them both. But his heart told him other things. Things Chase didn’t want to hear, like the fact that Letty Sue could very well meet some refined gentleman of breeding in the East. With her beautiful face and body and feminine ways, no doubt she’d have men standing in line for her favors. Men would court her, fawn over her, shower her with presents.
Chase scowled. His fists clenched. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing away the vivid pictures his mind conjured up.
He desired her like no other. As much as he’d tried to refuse lust-filled thoughts, they were always there, a constant companion, filling his mind with perplexing images. His fingers itched to caress her smooth skin. His mouth wanted to devour each and every inch of her. His body craved her with dire need.
He wouldn’t allow himself the pleasure. There was no future for them. It was all he could do to send her away.
She was his wife, albeit in name only, yet she was still a married woman. He wondered if that would mean anything to her, once she was with all those fancy gents.
It hadn’t meant a thing to Marabella that he had professed his devotion, Chase thought irrationally, comparing the two women. She’d used his love to gain ground with a more prominent man, and once that was achieved, had hastily turned her back on him.
The woman he’d gotten over quickly; the betrayal stayed with him always.
Yet if marrying Letty Sue had been a mistake, not marrying her would have been an even bigger blunder.
“Letty Sue, it’s probably best that you go.”
“Oh, I agree. Why, I’ve always dreamed of visiting the East. I’ve wanted to for as long as I can remember. Silly me, I should have answered Mama’s wire sooner, but I…I—”
Brightness left her eyes then, replaced by a defeated, regretful look, and Chase had the uncanny feeling he was witnessing Letty Sue’s true and honest feelings.
“You didn’t want to leave the ranch. You wanted to make things work out.”
Her lips tightened and she nodded.
Nothing much had worked out, he noted ruefully. He stepped out of the doorway and turned to leave. There wasn’t anything left to say.
“I’ll let you know my travel plans as soon as they’re made,” she offered softly before closing the door.
Three days later, Chase squinted against the morning light streaming into the kitchen, and finished the coffee Letty Sue had left for him in a pot on the cookstove. The early rays brought warmth to the room, casting it in a cheerful golden glow. By rights, it was a glorious morning, but not even such a lovely day could shake Chase from his foul mood.
He’d not slept well again.
Thoughts of his wife plagued and perplexed him.
She’d be leaving soon. She’d come to him the other day with her travel plans. In just five days, Chase would bid farewell to Letty Sue and watch her head out of Sweet Springs and out of his life.
He set down his mug and stared out the window, watching the livestock awaken to the light of day. Then his gaze traveled farther yet, to the horizon, and with mild interest he watched the sun rise up over a stand of cottonwoods.
With a deep sigh, Chase realized he’d resigned himself to Letty Sue’s leaving, couldn’t in good conscience ask her to stay. But he’d not been able to truly settle it in his mind.
Nothing about his dealings with Letty Sue had ever been simple.
He wondered why the people he had cared about in his lifetime always seemed to leave him. He’d never known his father, his mother had died young and heartbroken, Marabella had caused him a barrelful of grief and then turned her back on him, and now Letty Sue was planning to leave.
When would he find the life partner his mother had spoken about? Was there really someone out there who would stand with him as one? For the first time in his life, Chase was beginning to doubt his mother’s wisdom.
Letty Sue barged into the kitchen and stopped short when she saw Chase peering out the window. “Oh, I thought you’d be gone by now,” she said.
He turned to give her a long, curious stare. “What in high heaven are you wearing, woman?”
Letty Sue flinched at his brusque tone.
She took a biscuit from its toweling and brought it to her lips, commending herself on its softer texture. This biscuit didn’t thud when dropped onto the table. “I didn’t get all the wash finished, just the clothes needed for my trip, so I borrowed some. I’m all packed and ready. I thought I’d take Starlight out for an early ride.” She took a bite and washed the biscuit down with a sip of lemonade she’d made yesterday.
“Borrowed from who?” he asked, none too politely.
“Well, these britches are Mama’s and the suspenders are Jasper’s. I didn’t think they’d mind. And, well, Sam was kind enough to lend me this plaid shirt.”
Grim-faced, Chase glared at the shirt. Letty Sue wondered if she’d put it on backward or something. But no, she thought, fidgeting with the buttons, she was sure she had everything on right. Yet it seemed Chase would burn a hole right through the shirt, the way he was looking at it.
“Wait here,” he said, and left the room. Minutes later he returned. He strode purposefully toward her, stopping only inches away. He pulled down the suspenders she wore, then yanked the shirttails out of her britches and began undoing the buttons. His fingers worked quickly, nimbly, and once done, he pushed the fabric off her shoulders. The shirt fell to the floor.
Stunned, Letty Sue stood frozen to the spot, vulnerable now to his gaze. She wore only a thin silky camisole under the shirt. “W-what are you d-doing?” she asked, her voice a high squeak.
His hand stroked her throat, then skimmed lower in a soft, intoxicating caress. She felt the slightest touch of his fingertips along the edges of the lace, just above her breasts. Her heart skipped suddenly. She held her breath, waiting, wondering.
He brushed his fingers across her breasts, making the nipples poke against the thin fabric. Oh Lordy.
Chase cupped her breasts in his hands, feeling their weight through the garment, then moved his palms down along her ribs until he clasped her waist. He applied gentle, torturous pressure. “You’re my wife, Letty Sue. Any borrowing you need doing, you come to me.” With a gentle shove, he pushed a shirt against her chest—one of his shirts. With its plaid design it didn’t look much different than the one Sam had loaned her.
Chase plopped one of his hats on her head, too. “I’m riding out to find some wild mustangs I spotted the other day up along the east ridge. Join me. It’ll be a nice ride.”
“O-okay,” she answered, confused by Chase’s peculiar mood.
“Fine, then. Meet me outside in five minutes. And be sure to button up.”
Numbly, she remained on the spot, her body humming from his touch and from his appreciative gaze. She clutched his proffered shirt to her chest.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Letty Sue watched him walk out the door, then proceeded to do exactly as he’d asked. She buttoned up. Once done, she dipped her face to the shirt collar and breathed in his scent. Earth and leather and man mingled and filled her senses. A thrilling tingle worked up her spine.
She liked being encased in Chase’s clothes.
As she lifted the suspenders back up to her shoulders, her lips began an involuntarily curl.
His hat. His shirt. His wife.
Letty Sue smiled for the first time in three days.
Warm wind whipped wildly at her hair, Chase’s hat unable to withstand both the force of nature and the speed with which she rode. The Stetson bounced against her back now, and she tossed her head and laughed as
Starlight’s swift stride matched Tornado’s. Chase, too, had a rare smile on his lips as, body bent low, he traveled the open grasslands with grace and agility. Riding with single-minded purpose and unquestionable confidence, her husband almost became one with the stallion.
The animals needed this release almost as much as their riders, she mused, as Chase brought his horse to a trot. They’d ridden hard for quite some time, leaving Double J land far behind.
Tension oozed from her body, a welcome emancipation of the pressures robbing her of sleep. She’d needed this ride, and although she traveled alongside the cause of all her recent woes, and her heart still ached at Chase’s quiet acceptance of her leaving, she couldn’t place all the blame on him.
He’d done right by her.
He’d kept his promise to Joellen, taking excellent care of the ranch, as well as the rancher’s daughter.
They slowed their horses to a walk now, Starlight and Tornado content to move at a more sedate pace.
“Do you think if we’d met under different circumstances, Chase—well, do you think things would’ve worked out?” she ventured to ask.
Chase took a long time answering, but when he did, he looked her straight in the eyes. “If you’d been a woman in my village, I’d have set my sights on you. Years might have gone by before I took any action. Then I’d ask a relative, most likely my grandmother, to approach you. She’d bring your family gifts. She’d plead my case and then leave you to speak with your family. If your family approved, then you’d dress in your finest buckskin, baby soft and nearly white from being worked expertly, and an elder woman would bring you to my house on your family’s best horse. I’d be waiting, hoping. My family would place you on a ceremonial blanket and carry you across the threshold.”
Her heart warmed at the notion of being Chase’s wife for real. He would ask for her and she’d not hesitate to come to him. “Sounds lovely, Chase. I think I would have liked that.”
Chase cast her a dubious, yet soft look, and nodded.
“Of course, I did get the threshold part,” she said cleverly, her voice laced with amusement. Now that it was behind her, she saw the humor in her wedding night. Nothing about it had been real, so why be distressed over it? From the falsity of their marriage to the uneventful honeymoon, Letty Sue had to make light of it, because there hadn’t been a genuine emotion behind it.
Chase grinned with devilish intent. “You did at that.”
His gray eyes gleamed liked liquid silver and she knew he was recalling how he’d picked her up in that hotel lobby, carried her over the threshold, then proceeded to dump her onto the untried marriage bed.
Letty Sue sobered. “But I think I like the Cheyenne way better. I’d have come to you, met you over that threshold, and I do believe we might have even been happy together.”
She clicked her heels lightly and Starlight took off again in a run. She left Chase in a tunnel of dust to ponder that thought.
Minutes later, he caught up to her. They rode in silence toward the long canyon ridge.
Chase pointed when he spotted the wild herd. “Look, there’s the band. Spanish mustangs.”
They dismounted, Chase leading her behind some low-growing brush. “There’s so many of them,” Letty Sue commented.
“But it’s the band stallion I want,” he said, his gaze trained on the horses calmly grazing nearby. “He’s their leader. Look at him—he’s pacing, watching, protecting the herd.”
Letty Sue peered at the regal animal, his stance clearly stating he was in charge. “He’s beautiful.” The spotted paint had incredible markings.
“He’s the strongest, smartest. The band obeys him.”
A pony and another horse joined him. The three moved together. Every so often the stallion would nip at the pony. “Why’s he doing that?”
“It’s his foal. He’s teaching him to graze the land. Biting and nipping is their way of showing what’s expected. That mare is the mother.”
“You mean, they’re a family?” Letty Sue asked incredulously. She knew the ways of cattle, having been raised on a ranch, but she realized she had very little knowledge of horses, other than how to ride them. Chase had an uncanny ability to read them, understand them.
“Uh-oh,” Chase said, watching the stallion. “He’s spotted us. He’s moving up behind the others, at their back. See his ears twitch? It’s going to be harder now to catch him. He’s too intelligent.”
They watched the horses run off, the lead mare at the front and the stallion following protectively. Chase came out from behind the bushes. “Another day,” he said.
“But Chase, you can’t separate him from his family. They need him. It’s cruel and unthinkable.”
“Cruel? You think it’s cruel?” He paced alongside Tornado. “He’d make a fine stud, Letty Sue. And I’d be doing him a favor. These horses starve when there’s a drought. They have to scavenge for food, and much of the time other herds have already used up the best grazing lands. Only the strongest survive.”
“Then bring them all in. The foal, the mare, all of them. But don’t separate them. Promise me, Chase.”
“Why, Letty Sue?”
“I can’t bear it. A family should stay together, no matter what.” There was irony in her words, since in essence, she and Chase were a family, and she would be leaving soon. But Chase didn’t seem to care, and Letty Sue felt she had no choice in her leaving. The horses were different, however. They were an actual family. The mare and the foal depended on the stallion. They needed each other.
Chase studied her face and inhaled the dry dusty air. “I’ll bring them all in,” he said.
Each silent and thoughtful, they rode toward the ranch. Chase stole a glance at Letty Sue in that getup, realizing that no matter what the woman wore she always managed to look enticing. The britches fit her rounded derriere to perfection and his shirt, though loose, followed the contours of her full bosom when the breeze blew by.
Chase removed his hat, then ran a hand through his hair. Damn fool thing to do this morning, he thought, touching her the way he had. He couldn’t help it, though. When he’d seen her wearing another man’s clothes, fury had overcome his good sense. It was as if he had to lay claim to her somehow, and since bedding her was out of the question, he’d done the next best thing.
For his benefit alone, he’d had to remove Sam’s shirt from her body. Astonished at the overwhelming sensation he’d felt seeing another man’s clothing touch her skin, he’d wanted to rip it off the moment she’d said whose garment she wore.
Whether Letty Sue read any meaning into what he’d done, he wasn’t certain. But it’d been a rash thing to do, one that, if examined too closely, would surely show evidence of feelings Chase did not want to admit.
Good thing she was leaving.
“Chase, it’s so peaceful here,” Letty Sue said with a sigh, minutes later.
They rode along the crest of the ridge, where intermittent shadows blocked the sun’s heat. “You getting tired? Want to rest a bit?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No. I feel fine. Gloriously alive today, Chase.” She rode out of the shadows, lifting her face to the sun.
Watching her, Chase swallowed, hard. An uninvited thought entered his mind. He would miss Letty Sue, once she was gone.
“I think coming with you today was a great idea. I wish we could do this…” She stopped and bit down on her lip. Chase recognized her discomfort. They’d never again have this chance.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad of it, too.”
She gave him a genuinely honest, beautiful smile, and his heart tripped over itself.
“You know, we don’t have to—”
“Shh,” he said abruptly, putting up a hand. “Do you hear something?”
Letty Sue clamped her mouth shut, grateful that Chase had stopped her from saying what she had on her mind. That maybe, when she returned, they could try to make the marriage work. It had been an impetuous notion, borne of a moment just
shared. Letty Sue had to learn to lock her lips and think, really think before she said something foolish.
She listened, watching Chase carefully search the land. “I think so,” she said, as a distant mewling sound caught her attention.
“Sounds like an injured animal.”
“Do you think it’s far?”
“No, not too far.” Chase reined Tornado toward the sound. With rapt attention he listened, his entire body alert.
They traveled for a time, the whining sound, coming in spurts, growing a bit louder.
Letty Sue followed behind, a prickling fear raising bumps along her arms. “What kind of animal do you think it is?”
Chase was quiet for a time, listening keenly. “Maybe it’s not an animal at all.”
Then his gaze sharpened. He’d spotted something. He dismounted and Letty Sue did the same. They ground tethered their horses and walked toward the moaning sound.
“Here,” Chase said. He shoved aside a thorny shrub and lifted the downed animal in his arms. Once Letty Sue reached him, she let out a horrified gasp. It wasn’t an animal at all.
In his arms, Chase held a badly bruised and battered little boy.
“He isn’t dead, Chase, is he?” she asked, her stomach clenching violently at the sight of the young child’s limp and bedraggled body.
Another pained sound stole from the boy’s lips. “He’s breathing, but he needs help. We’ve got to get him home…quick.”
Chapter Thirteen
Letty Sue mopped the boy’s forehead gently with a damp cloth, brushing back the blond hair matted there. He lay in her bed with a soft feather pillow under his head. She sat beside him, watching him with anxious eyes, hoping he’d awaken. His breathing was shallow, his face, behind the bloody scratches and abrasions, pale and ashen.
Chase stood by the side of the bed.
“What do you suppose happened to him?” she asked in a whisper.
“Don’t know, exactly. Maybe he wandered off from his folks and got lost. Maybe something worse. Looks like he’s been afield for days. Let’s get some more water down him. He’s dry as a bone.”
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