by Firebrand
Even as they stood—opposite, silent, observing—he could sense something different about her. She was proud as always, defiant, but there was an uncertainty that touched him. He released a deep breath. There was no stopping the wrench inside his chest. Every time he came close to her, it seemed to rip a little more. The pain had long ago given way to a kind of wonder, afraid yet to make itself known but simmering there until Cade was ready to acknowledge its presence.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said.
“You’re very handsome,” she answered.
“You won’t be ashamed to be seen with an oil-field roustabout?”
“Not if you’re not ashamed to be seen with a clumsy ranch hand,” she said softly.
He held out his hand. “I’ll be the most envied man there.”
She placed her rough hand in his rougher one. “If you let one of those man-hungry women lasso you, I’ll—I’ll—”
“What will you do?”
“Maybe I’d better put my brand on you right now,” she said, and pulled both his arms around her as she lifted herself on tiptoes.
“Oh, how do you plan to do that?”
“Like this.” When she kissed him, he knew that she was right. He was being branded. It might not be visible, but the brand was there, and it glowed brighter with her every touch.
“Daddy! Daddy! You look like Prince Charming,” Pixie called out from the bottom of the stairs.
“Eh, yep.” Eugene beamed broadly. “Reckon he does look pretty good. ’Course he’s got a good-looking woman to look good for. You two had better come along. Your pumpkin is waiting.”
“Aw, Eugene.” Pixie grinned. “That’s not a pumpkin out there. It’s a big shiny car. And Doak’s wearing a uniform too.”
Reluctantly, Cade pulled away, sliding his hand properly under Rusty’s arm. “Shall we go, my dear?”
“Of course, Prince. I can’t wait to see what kind of pumpkin Doak’s driving.”
“Don’t say a thing. Eugene and Doak have been working all day. And it wasn’t easy because the wash water kept freezing until they decided to bring kerosene heaters inside the garage to warm the place up. They may have to repaint the walls, but this car shines.”
Rusty slid her arms into the fur coat that Letty was holding while Cade donned the dark overcoat that Eugene held out. The addition of a black Stetson made Cade just about the most exciting man that Rusty had ever encountered. For the first time in her life she couldn’t wait to attend a social event in the city—and show Cade off.
They stepped out into the crisp night. Snow was beginning to fall, sprinkling the night with huge soft flakes that fell like glitter in the headlights of the car. It was the Cadillac, as bright as new. Doak, standing beside it, was wearing a black suit and a captain’s hat. As a chauffeur, he presented an interesting picture. But as a conspirator, he was beaming in pleasure.
Doak assisted them inside. Climbing in the front, he made a production of closing the dividing glass and plunging the back into darkness by closing his door.
“Privacy,” Cade commented wryly, and glanced out the window. “Is the snow likely to interfere with our drive?”
“No, we’re only driving over to Coyote Wells. We’ll catch a ride in with Will Fleming in his plane. Flying will be easier than driving.”
Until now, Cade had felt good about the evening. Since he’d learned that Will Fleming had been his rival, he wasn’t so certain how he felt. From a country boy back in Tennessee so many years ago, he’d come a long way. His trip into Salt Lake City to rent the tux had been interesting. The young woman in the store knew at once what he wanted and helped him put together the complete outfit. She even ran down to the mall to a department store to find the silk scarf they used as a tie. He bought the boots and Stetson with the last of his personal funds. Escorting Rusty to the ball might work. It would make it plain to everyone that Rusty Wilder was the future Mrs. Cade McCall, along with the other little surprise he’d arranged.
“Tell me who I’m going to meet.”
“Well, of course there’s Will Fleming. But you’ve already met him and Ann-Marie, his wife.”
“His wife? You considered an affair with a married man?”
“I didn’t say I considered. I just said he offered. And he wasn’t married at the time.”
“And what else am I likely to have to deal with?”
“You mean at the ball?”
“That too. But what I’m primarily interested in is how you expect to explain me.”
“I won’t. You’re with me. That’s all they need to know.”
“I don’t think so. The way you look tonight, I don’t want to have to fight off any jealous liquored-up old boyfriends.”
“ ‘Old boyfriends’? That’s a laugh. When I was in the seventh grade, I was already a foot taller than any boy in class, and by the time they grew up, I wasn’t interested anymore. Somehow, going from bean pole to beautiful was never meant to be.”
“I find that hard to believe, Willadean.”
“God, don’t call me that. That’s all I need.”
Cade glanced at Doak in the front seat. He couldn’t see, and the partition kept their conversation private. Cade slid his arm across the back of the car seat and touched Rusty’s shoulder. “I sort of like that name. It makes you seem human.”
“You think I’m not?” She turned to look at him, imagining in the darkness that she could see the dark eyes and serious drawn brows that came with the crooked smile she was sure he was wearing.
“You know what I thought the first time I saw you, standing in the middle of that airport?”
“Yes—I mean, I don’t know.”
“I said, ‘Thank you, God, for not sending me a Mack truck.’ ”
She let out a laugh and leaned back into the curve of his arm. “Is that what you were expecting?”
“Either that or some love-starved widow with six chins and a beard. What I got was fire and brimstone, a woman that any hot-blooded man would kill for.”
“And are you hot-blooded?”
“I am now. Before I came here, I was accused of being an ice man, distant and hard.” He put his other arm around her waist and pulled her across his lap at the same time his lips found the bare skin of her neck and began to move wickedly across the top of her breasts.
She gasped. “I can say part of that is true, anyhow.” She wriggled against him, feeling him pressing against her, and whispered, “There is definitely nothing—soft about you.”
His hand slipped up beneath her coat to the top of her dress and beneath it. “I’m damned glad that isn’t true about you. I like your soft parts.” He was speaking in a gruff voice, barely above a whisper. He found her nipple, stiff against his fingertips, trembling beneath his touch.
“Hummmph.” Doak cleared his throat. “The Flying Gull is just ahead.”
Cade let out a long reluctant breath. “Do we have to go, Redhead?”
“We do.” Her voice wasn’t any stronger.
“All right,” Cade agreed. He drew Rusty’s dress back over her breasts and she forced herself to sit up. “But there’s one thing I think we ought to make clear, right up front.”
“What’s that?” Rusty took a tube of lipstick from her evening bag and tried to repair the damage she’d done to her makeup. She thought a moment, pulled a tissue from the bag, and turned to wipe the evidence from Cade’s mouth.
“You’re mine.”
“I’m what?”
She stopped, caught by complete surprise at his words. After what had happened a few nights ago, she’d expected him to disappear. He hadn’t. But he hadn’t been back to her bed either. Now he was suggesting that they make their arrangement public. She was confused.
“You’re the future Mrs. Cade McCall. I want people around here to know that, and I think you ought to have an engagement ring to make it official.” He pulled a ring box from his pocket and handed it to her.
“But Cade, you didn’t have to
do this. I mean, what if I don’t get pregnant? What happens in six months?”
“We have six months to find out, don’t we? And in the meantime, I’ve decided that I’m going to earn my pay. I’ve never taken on a job that I didn’t do well. I don’t intend to start now.”
“But you didn’t have to do this. I mean with a ring. What do I care what all these people think about me? I’ve always done what I wanted to do, and they don’t expect any different.” But she did. His gesture touched her. He understood more than she wanted to admit.
“I think you do care, darling. I’m going to help you make them sit up and take notice of the future Mrs. Cade McCall, owner of Silverwild Ranch.”
Darling? Rusty liked the sound of that word. She leaned forward and flicked on the overhead light. Inside the box she found an engagement ring. A gold filigree setting held a stone that was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was a ruby, yet its color was almost fire red, and it caught the light and shimmered like a meteor disintegrating as it fell from the sky.
“Oh, Cade, it’s beautiful. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. How could you—I mean it must have been very expensive.”
“It was, and you’d better not lose it. It isn’t paid for yet.”
“Oh, where did you buy it? I’ll send a check.” Rusty immediately wished she could take back the words. Cade’s expression changed from intensely tender to thunderous.
“No! I don’t know exactly how you intend to pay my salary, but I assume I get one. I’ll take care of the ring myself. Now hold out your hand.”
Rusty complied contritely, watching as Cade lifted the ring from the box and slid it on her finger. It felt hot. It would be, for it had been in his pocket. He’d warmed it up for her, concealing it next to his body. She caught her breath and lifted her eyes to meet his.
“Thank you, Cade. This is the loveliest thing I’ve ever owned, and I’ll be the most envied woman at the ball.”
“Oh, it’s not that big.”
“It isn’t the ring,” she confessed shyly as she placed her hand on his rough cheek. “It’s because I have you and everybody there will want what I’ve got. But you’re mine, Cade McCall,” she said in her normal to-hell-with-the-world voice. “I’ve already put my claim on you.”
Cade waited a long time before he answered her. Then the only answer he could give was the truth. “And you’ve already put your mark on me too. Eugene says that I’ve been branded with fire.”
Will Fleming was tall and blond. He directed the transfer of luggage (that Cade hadn’t known they were carrying) and his passengers into his plane, larger than Rusty’s. There was another passenger already inside, a blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty who introduced herself as Will’s wife, Ann-Marie. She took one look at Cade, and her eyes opened wide.
Will and Ann-Marie were already dressed in dinner finery. After Will gave his final instructions to his men on the ground, he strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and began the checklist to leave. Less than twenty minutes later they were landing at the Salt Lake City airport and transferring to the black limo waiting at the runway.
Once inside the limo, Rusty moved close to Cade. He was pleased that she did so naturally, as if they truly belonged together, as if they were a couple.
“That’s the Mormon Temple,” Ann-Marie said, calling Cade’s attention to a stark white block-long building bathed in light.
“It’s spectacular,” Cade admitted. “Like a castle in a fairy tale.”
“It’s the heart of all Mormon life,” Will said seriously. “Parts of it are never opened to outsiders. Ann-Marie and I were married there.”
Cade took Rusty’s hand and absently rubbed his thumb across the engagement ring as Ann-Marie pointed out the Sea Gull Monument; the Beehive House, home of Brigham Young, the Mormon leader; and the Eagle Gate, which used to be the entrance to Brigham’s estate.
“You know the story about how the sea gull came to be the state bird?” Will asked.
“No, I don’t believe I do,” Cade admitted, wishing they were already at the dance so that he’d have an excuse to hold Rusty in his arms. Gone was the uncertainty and tension that had plagued them for the last few days. Tonight he was just taking his lady out on the town. He squeezed her hand, giving every indication that he was attentive to his host. Only Rusty knew that he was absently rubbing his middle finger back and forth across her palm. “Sea gulls in the middle of Utah?” Cade’s voice was disbelieving.
“Yep,” Will answered. “They thought the Great Salt Lake was the ocean. A plague of crickets swept across the valley. They were destroying the first crops that were to carry Brigham Young’s people through the winter. Suddenly a flock of sea gulls appeared and ate the crickets. The crops were saved, and the gull became our state bird.”
“Enough sight-seeing,” Ann-Marie interrupted. “Rusty, Will told me that Cade is from Alaska. I suppose that he—oh my, look at your ring, a ruby—” She stopped herself and looked up at Rusty with excitement in her eyes. “Rusty, that’s an engagement ring, isn’t it? You and your mystery man from the land of ice and snow are engaged.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cade said, lifting Rusty’s fingertips and planting a kiss across her knuckles. “We most certainly are.”
“Will, did you know that Rusty was getting married?”
“Yes. Well, not exactly.” Will leaned back and gave Cade a measured look. “But Cade did drop by the other day. We had a little talk about raising cattle and breeding bulls. Have you set the date?”
“In about six months,” Rusty answered.
“And then again, maybe sooner. It all depends on—well, let’s call it fate,” Cade answered with a long measured look at Rusty.
“Yep,” Ann-Marie said smartly, “he’s a goner, all right. Well, I can understand you importing him. Will was the last eligible bachelor in Utah. And I got him, didn’t I? How’d you find Cade?”
Rusty blushed. “Let’s say if you’re looking for a man, you have to look in the right place and use the right kind of inducements.”
Ann-Marie tilted her head and examined Rusty carefully before turning to Cade. “Oh? And what kind of inducements did you have to offer?”
“We met in an airport,” Cade answered, “and she didn’t need any bait. Let’s just say I’m partial to bossy redheads.”
The limo came to a stop under the famous porte cochere outside the imposing red brick structure with the unlikely name Little America Hotel and Towers. The doorman, unexpectedly resplendent in a black tuxedo, hurried to open the door.
Cade left the car first, taking Rusty by the hand. As she raised her head and stood up, he pulled her close and whispered wickedly in her ear, “I’m very partial to bossy redheads with long legs and beautiful big—”
“Bank accounts, McCall,” she said under her breath, teasing him back and a dream that she’s willing to share.
Seven
“This is some place,” Cade commented as he took in the stained-glass dome overhead.
“The Towers is nothing like the Cattleman’s Hotel, where they used to have the ball,” Rusty said in disgust. “My daddy would have hated this.”
“Your daddy didn’t like change, Rusty,” Ann-Marie said. “If it were up to him, we wouldn’t even have a ski resort in Utah. He and Ben Middleton both wanted you and everything else in the state to stay the same—no tourists, no farmers.”
“You’re right,” Rusty agreed. “He thought the range belonged to the cattle.”
Cade kept silent as the foursome moved past the huge fireplace and through the lobby. Walt Wilder hadn’t liked change. He wanted to keep Rusty the same too. To that end he’d made her feel plain, ordinary, even picking a safe husband for her. But anybody seeing Rusty tonight would know that was no longer true.
Cade smiled. A sexy new dress wasn’t the only change Rusty had made. Old Walt would probably turn over in his grave if he knew that Rusty had found herself a husband.
Cade watched the startled
looks of the other guests as they caught sight of Rusty Wilder. He could already discern that they hadn’t expected Rusty to attend, that the woman they were seeing was a Rusty they’d never seen before. One man after another did a double take, only to be reprimanded by the woman on his arm as he stood, gaping. Rusty smiled blithely at everyone. Only Cade knew that she was holding his arm in a death grip.
“Easy, Redhead,” he whispered. “I’m here to protect you from the wolves. Anybody who gets too close has to deal with me.”
“Is it that obvious?” Her voice was huskier than usual. Gone was her in-charge air, leaving a smile that was tentative.
The woman on his arm might look like the richest woman in Utah, but he could recognize that out-of-your-element feeling. He’d known it often enough as a mountain child in Tennessee. “Not to anybody else. But from where I stand, I’d say that you’d rather take on Pretty Boy than this group. Why are we here?”
“Because I need to hire Pretty Boy out for stud and I have to convince some people here that it’s a smart moneymaking move. Nothing breeds success like looking successful. That’s what my daddy always said.”
They reached the coatroom, where a sulky blond claimed Cade’s overcoat and Rusty’s fur. The look she gave him promised more than a claim check if he was interested. Ann-Marie immediately stepped inside and found someone to talk with, leaving Will on one side of Rusty and Cade on the other. Together they stepped into the doorway and surveyed the noisy ballroom.
A hush fell over the crowd. It lasted only a moment, like a temporary glitch in a sound track, then the crowd exploded into new bursts of conversation.
A beefy red-faced man broke away from the crowd and started toward them. “Rusty, good to see you girl. Where’ve you been keeping yourself?”
