"As if that were something new. He's been mean as a rattlesnake all week."
"Yes, Catie, but I have the feeling you're going to be the one getting all his attention."
Caitlin blew out a breath in exasperation. "What'd I do to get so lucky? Near as I can tell, I followed every one of the orders he snarled at me."
Marta sighed and took her stepdaughter's hand. "It's about last night."
"What about last night? He wanted me to be sure and remind Abel to check on that colt, and I did."
"No, no, dear, this has nothing to do with the ranch." Marta cleared her throat. "Were you out with Mr. Kincaid last evening?"
Color rose in Caitlin's cheeks. "Marta," she said stiffly, "you know how much I care for you, but I really don't think—"
"You don't think who you see is any of my business, and you're right, of course. It's Jonas. He heard about your date-"
"It was hardly a date. Mr. Kincaid showed up here without any warning. I went with him so I could make sure he understood that I have no intention of ever seeing him again."
Marta said nothing but she didn't have to. The look on her face said it all, and who could blame her? Caitlin thought irritably. The excuse sounded laughable, even to her.
"Anyway, I don't owe Jonas an explanation." She tugged her hand free of Marta's but not before giving her stepmother's fingers a reassuring squeeze. "I think there are times he forgets that I'm a grown woman."
"I know he does." Marta smiled. "As far as my husband is concerned, you're still his little girl."
"Not his," Caitlin said stiffly. "Never his. I'm not a Baron, remember?"
"Oh, Catie, I know he's hurt you terribly by saying you can't inherit Espada, but—"
"You've got it wrong. He won't let me inherit Espada. There's a big difference. And it's crazy. He trusts me to run the ranch, to oversee everything that goes on here, but because I don't carry the precious Baron blood, I'm not good enough to—-" Caitlin broke off the rush of angry words and threw her arms around her stepmother. "Oh, Marta, I'm sorry! He's your husband and you love him."
"And you love him, too, Catie."
"I do, dammit, despite the fact that he doesn't love me. Not the way he should."
Marta stepped out of Caitlin's embrace and clasped her shoulders.
"He loves you with all his heart. And he's proud of you. He talks about you to everybody." She sighed. "Trouble is, he's as stubborn as a mule when it comes to Espada. He built this place from nothing, you know that. Fifty acres of dirt, a secondhand tractor, two horses—"
"And a dozen head of cattle." Caitlin had to smile. She'd heard the story a thousand times but never grown weary of it. "I know." She sighed, kissed Marta on the cheek, then smiled at her. "Really, I do. And if I try hard, I can even see things from Jonas's viewpoint. He created a kingdom and he wants to bequeath it to someone who carries his blood." Her chin lifted. "But for all of that, I still think he's as stubborn as a mule."
Marta grinned and put her arm around her stepdaughter's waist. The women started slowly toward the dining room.
"An excellent description," she said. "I might just have trouble looking at my beloved husband from now on without seeing him with a pair of twitching ears."
The women looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Glad somebody's in a good mood this mornin'," a deep voice grumbled.
Caitlin looked up. Her stepfather was seated in a high-backed chair at the head of the massive dining-room table, his bushy brows drawn together. The king, holding court, she thought grimly, and 'tried her best to see the picture Marta had painted with words—-Jonas with a pair of twitching mule ears—-but it was difficult to manage. Difficult, hell. It was impossible.
No mule could ever look so coldly furious.
"Jonas," Marta said, the word a gentle plea, but Caitlin looked at her and shook her head.
"It's okay," she said softly.
Marta sighed, gave her a quick hug, and hurried away. Caitlin waited a moment, until she was certain she had her temper under control. Then she walked to the sideboard and poured herself a cup of coffee.
"That's all you're gonna have for breakfast?"
She smiled pleasantly at her stepfather as she sat down at the table. "And good morning to you, too," she said.
"Ain't nothin' good about this mornin'." Jonas reached for a platter of biscuits and shoved them toward her. "Nothin' good about goin' around with an empty belly, neither. Eat somethin', girl."
"I'm not hungry, thank you."
"Et too much last night, did ya?"
The first shot had been fired. Not that she was surprised. Jonas wasn't noted for his subtlety.
"What's the matter?" She looked over the rim of her cup and smiled politely. "Didn't your spies fill you in on the menu?"
She was gratified to see two streaks of color arch across his cheekbones.
"Carmen ain't a spy. She's jes' interested in your welfare."
Jonas bent over his plate and attacked his bacon and eggs with more energy than was warranted. Behind him, the kitchen door swung open just long enough for Caitlin to see Carmen shake her head from side to side and roll her eyes. Caitlin nodded. The housekeeper's message was clear. However she'd divulged the information about Tyler's visit, it had been done innocently.
"Well?"
Caitlin jerked her attention back to her stepfather. He'd pushed aside his plate and was glaring at her over the oversize coffee mug he favored.
"Well, what?"
"Don't you gimme no sass, girl." He banged the mug down on the table. "You got an explanation for what you done, I'm ready to listen to it."
"Explanation? Sass? Girl?" Caitlin put down her cup, too. "Is there someone else in this room, Jonas? Some child you think you can address like that?" Her eyes grew as chilly as his. "There must be, because you surely wouldn't speak this way to me."
The old man stared at her. His mouth narrowed, then twitched, and finally he grinned.
"You're a chip off the old block, missy. There are times listenin' to you is like listenin' to a younger version of me."
"Not enough of a chip, evidently," Caitlin said coolly, "but let's not get into that, this morning." She rose, went to the sideboard and refilled her cup. "Yes, Tyler Kincaid came here last night. Yes, I went out with him. Yes, we had dinner, and—just to save you the trouble of asking—yes, I suspect he'll ask me out again."
"And? When he does, what'll you say?"
"I'll say, yes." Yes? Where had that come from? Until the word left Caitlin's lips, she'd have been willing to swear she would never agree to see Tyler again.
"Dammit!" Jonas slammed his fist against the table. "You listen to me, Catie. That man is up to no good. No good whatsoever."
"How do you know that?"
"I just do, that's all. He came sneaking onto Espada, pretending to be something he wasn't—"
"I'm sure he had his reasons." What in hell was she doing, defending Tyler, especially since she'd made the same accusation just last night?
"Never mind that. I do not want you seeing him again."
"Why not?"
Jonas glared at her. "I don't have to explain myself to you, girl. You're not to see the man again. Is that clear?"
"What's clear," Caitlin said coolly, "is that you've managed to lose that down-home accent of yours again. How do you Barons manage that, I wonder?"
Jonas kicked back his chair and stood up. "Did you hear me? You're not to see Kincaid again."
Caitlin's jaw firmed. Her stepfather towered over her, but neither his temper nor his size had ever been enough to make her back off in a confrontation with him and she wasn't about to start backing off now.
"I'd have to be deaf not to hear you!" "Just make sure you do as you're told." "You can't order me around, Jonas."
"I can and I will."
"No, you cannot!" She stood, slapped her hands on her hips and jerked her chin up. "I'm not a child."
"Well, you're behaving like
one! Letting that man suck up to you-"
"Oh, for heaven's sake! Why would he suck up to me? I'm nobody. I have nothing he could possibly want." Her eyes narrowed. "Tyler Kincaid's got more money than God, Jonas. Did you know that?"
"Money isn't everything."
"No. No, it certainly isn't. I'm just taking your remark to its natural conclusion. You obviously think Tyler's interested in me because he thinks I have money, and I'm telling you he doesn't need anybody's money, much less what little I've got."
"You can have all the money you want, girl. Have I ever denied you anything?"
"Dammit," she said angrily, "that's not what I'm talking about and you know it. You said Tyler wants something I've got, and I said—"
"I heard what you said." Jonas tucked his hands into his back pockets. "Maybe he wants something other than money. "
"Maybe." Caitlin flushed. "In which case, I'm perfectly capable of deciding for myself whether or not to let him have it."
"You got a smart mouth on you, young lady."
"I'm sorry you think so." Caitlin pushed her chair toward the table. "Now, if you'll excuse me—"
"I wasn't referring to sex."
She looked at him. "What?"
"When I said maybe he wants something other than money, although I'm sure the son of a bitch wants that, too." Jonas took a deep breath. "I was referring to Espada."
Espada. Everything always came down to Espada in Jonas Baron's world. Caitlin gave him a brilliant smile.
"Ah. Now I get it. Tyler wants to get his hands on the ranch."
"Maybe."
"The man's a megamillionaire, he lives a thousand miles from here, he never heard of us and we never heard of him but he wakes up one morning and says to himself, 'Kincaid, you know what I want? I want something only Jonas Baron can give me."'
Jonas looked at her for a long moment. Then he picked up his mug and turned to the sideboard.
Caitlin laughed. "I hate to burst this bubble, but Tyler's already bought himself a ranch. The Wilson spread. You remember it, don't you? Big, handsome house. A couple of thousand acres of prime pasture and woodland. Not the size of Espada, I'll admit, but I suspect it'll do." She stared at her stepfather's straight back, muttered a curse and started for the door. "I have news for you, Jonas. Not everybody thinks owning Espada is the most important thing in the world."
"I do. And so do you."
The cruel words stopped her in her tracks. She took a breath before swinging around. Jonas was looking at her, his face expressionless.
"Is that what this is about? You think Tyler's sniffing around me because he thinks I stand to inherit Espada?"
Jonas folded his arms over his chest. "It wouldn't be the first time a man's tried to get at what he wants through a woman."
"Well, not to worry. You and I both know Espada will never be mine. If it makes you feel better, I've told him that already."
"You told him that? That you weren't going to inherit the ranch?"
"Not in those words, no." She flashed a brittle smile. "I just made it clear I'm not one of the anointed."
"You're sure of that, are you?"
"That Tyler's not interested in me because he thinks your little kingdom will be my dowry?"
"That you're not—what did you call it?—one of the anointed. If there's one thing life's taught me, girl, it's that things change."
Caitlin had never been at a loss for words in her life. Now, she was. All she seemed able to do was stare at her stepfather's impassive face.
"Did you hear what I said, Catie?"
"I—I heard you." She swallowed dryly. "But I don't know what you're talking about."
"Let me put it in plain English. What I'm talkin' about is that I'm not sure you won't inherit Espada."
"But you always said—"
"I know what I said, that I'd only leave this ranch to someone who carries Baron blood." Jonas's eyes turned flinty. "Best of all worlds, that would still be what I want. But my sons have made it clear they have no intention of coming back to live on Espada, and I didn't build this spread to be run by some stranger they hire after a gravestone holds me down."
"Jonas." Caitlin reached out a hand toward him, her voice softening. "You're a long way from that. We don't need to talk about this now. For all you know, Trav or Slade or Gage will come around."
The old man snorted and gently batted her hand away. "That ain't gonna happen, and you know it. And even if I live to be a hundred, I want to draw my last breath knowin' I've left this land in good hands." That same icy look came into his eyes again. "What I'm sayin' is that it's finally dawned on me that blood isn't always a good thing."
Caitlin blinked. "It isn't?"
"Ain't that what, l jes' said? No, it isn't. I never thought about it before but there are times it can be a bad thing."
"Blood can be a bad thing?"
"Damnation, girl, will you stop soundin' like a parrot?" Jonas reached into his breast pocket, took out a cigar and rolled it between his fingers. "Here's the bottom line, Catie. I've been doin' some thinkin'. And, I don't know, maybe—maybe you're the right one to inherit Espada, after all."
Caitlin pulled out a chair and sank into it. "You're serious," she said softly, "aren't you?"
"I am." Her stepfather put the unlit cigar between his teeth and bit down on it. "But I haven't made my mind up yet, so don't you go getting' any bids on the north slope timber."
"No," she said, and managed a quick smile, "I won't."
"I need to, ah, to sort some things out, before I reach a decision. And to talk with my boys, of course."
"Of course." Was it possible? Had Jonas finally realized her passion for Espada matched his? That she would cherish the land, nurture it, as he had ? That she would see to it that his name, and Espada's, were never forgotten?
"Meanwhile, you steer clear of that Tyler Kincaid."
Caitlin came to her feet. "You old SOB," she said softly. "So that's what this is all about! You think you can dangle the ranch in front of me to keep me from seeing him?"
"No. Hell, no! I just want to protect you."
"You just want to protect Espada." Caitlin fought back the bitter taste of Jonas's cruel attempt at manipulation "I don't know why you hate him so much."
"I told you. He's a liar. A cheat. He's up to no good, after something that isn't his."
"He's after me," Caitlin said, jabbing a finger into the middle of her chest. "Me, Jonas, not your precious ranch." Her voice wobbled and she cleared her throat. "I'm the attraction for him, not you. And I'll tell you something else, while I'm at it. I was going to refuse to see him again."
"But a few minutes ago, when I asked you, you said—"
"I said it because you made me so damned angry by trying to interfere."
It wasn't true, and she knew it. She'd said she'd see Tyler again because she wanted to, because she'd tossed and turned all night, imagining what would have happened if she hadn't stopped him from making love to her.
But none of that was Jonas's business.
Caitlin tossed her hair back from her flushed face.
"Well, now you've made me even madder. So I'm going to go out with Tyler Kincaid as often as he asks me. Every night of the week, if he likes. Hell, if he doesn't ask me out, I'll ask him." She glared at Jonas. "Stick that into your pipe and smoke it," she shot over her shoulder, as she made for the door.
"Catie, dammit, don't you walk out on me!" Jonas lunged after her, caught her wrist and turned her toward him. "Little girl," he said in a wheedling tone, "little girl, I'm only interested in what's best for you."
"Bull spit," she snarled, wrenching her hand free of his.
"My Lord, you didn't take on like this when I asked you not to go out with that snake, Leighton."
"Last evening, you were telling me to call him up!"
"You know I didn't mean it, Catie." Jonas's mouth twitched. "Compared to Leighton, a snake's good company."
"Damned right. He wants
this ranch so badly there's nothing he wouldn't do to get it." Caitlin's eyes narrowed. "But I tell you right now, Jonas, if you'd tried this same trick, if you'd dangled Espada in front of me and tried to convince me not to date him, I'd have run into his arms so fast it would have made your head spin."
"You're just talking to hear yourself talk, girl. You'd never play up to that slimy nephew of mine. Why, Leighton is a—"
"Did I hear my name mentioned?"
Caitlin and Jonas turned at the sound of the hesitant voice. Leighton Baron stood in the doorway, an oily smile on his face.
"Leighton," Caitlin said. She flashed a look at her stepfather, then strolled to Leighton's side. "You did," she said, and looped her arm through his. "Jonas was saying how long it is since you stopped by." She smiled. "And I said it surely was, and that I'd missed seeing you. Have you been away?"
Leighton looked from Caitlin to Jonas, and then at Caitlin again.
"Why, ah, why, no. No, I haven't." He put his hand over hers and Caitlin fought back a shudder of revulsion. "What a charming reception, my dear."
"Catie." Jonas's voice was low and heavy with warning. "Catie, don't be a fool, girl. You remember what I said about—about the future."
Caitlin gave a trilling laugh. "The future," she said. "Who cares about the future? I think people should live in the present. What do you think, Leighton?"
Leighton hesitated. Caitlin could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out which way the wind was blowing.
"Uh, well, I, ah, I think there's merit to both convictions."
"What you think there's merit to," Jonas said with a lazy smile, "is not ever sayin' nothin' that might put you on my bad side. Ain't that right, nephew?"
Leighton's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "If I seem to defer to you, Uncle, it's only because you're so wise."
Oh, yuck, Caitlin thought, but she gave him a big smile. "You should have been a diplomat, Leighton, you're so good with words."
Leighton beamed. "Thank you, my dear. Actually I did think about going into government service once, but—"
"But Washington decided there was enough hot air blowin’ around without your help," Jonas said, and took the cigar out of his mouth. "You come by for some reason, or was it just to make sure my day would get off to a bad start?"
Sandra Marton - Taming of Tyler Kincaid Page 10
