“Everyone is occupied with chores,” she said. “Including watching for those outlaws of yours.”
He didn’t take any visible offense at her tart reply. He glanced up at the sun rising over the vast Tularosa Valley. “You must be about ready to start branding,” he said.
“Yes,” she said shortly, as they stepped up onto the porch.
Nothing more passed between them until they had gone into the kitchen, where Helene was sitting at the table mending the hem of a well-worn skirt. She bolted from her seat when she saw Constantine. He stopped where he was, tucking his hands behind his back. Serenity moved closer to the other woman.
“Mrs. Tompkins,” she said, “this is Jacob Constantine. Mr. Constantine, Mrs. Tompkins.”
“Ma’am,” Constantine said. His eyes barely flickered down to Helene’s distended belly. “Pleased to meet you.”
Helene sank back down into her chair. “Good morning, Mr. Constantine,” she murmured, regaining her composure.
“Bonnie tells me there’s soup and bread,” Serenity said, as if everything were perfectly normal.
“I’ll get it.”
Before Serenity could stop her, Helene began to rise, lost her balance and tilted sideways. Constantine was there in an instant, supporting her arm.
“You should rest, ma’am,” he said. “You’ve got someone else to think of now.”
Helene stared up into his face with something like wonder. For a moment Serenity saw what the other woman did: simple kindness and concern.
“Th-thank you,” Helene whispered. “I think I will lie down for a while.”
With an unreadable glance at Serenity, she waddled out of the dining room.
“I will thank you not to offer advice to my friends,” Serenity said stiffly.
He leaned against the wall, muscles bunching and relaxing as he folded his arms across his chest. “Seems the Missus hasn’t been getting very good advice so far.”
Heat washed into Serenity’s face. “You know nothing about us and our ways,” she said. “You think of women as weak vessels suitable only for…for—” She broke off and began again. “Helene…Mrs. Tompkins is far stronger than she looks. Too much bed rest will do her no good at all.”
His eyes were so clear, so knowing, but they did not mock. “You’re right,” he said. “I know nothing about you and your ways. Why don’t you tell me how a place like this came to be and how it manages to keep going?”
He seemed to know every single thing to say that would make her angry. “Because it’s run by women? You wonder how we can do work usually done by men?”
A lock of dark hair fell across his eyes, and he pushed it aside. “It had occurred to me,” he said.
Oh, the arrogance. So completely typical. “This ranch has been operating for three years,” she said. “We have fifteen hundred head of cattle. And we own this land outright.”
“We?”
“All of us together.”
“That is impressive, ma’am,” he said softly. “Especially in this rugged country. How did you come to be here without any men?”
“We have our reasons.”
“They must be pretty strong ones.”
She had had enough. “Do you know who keeps the farms and ranches of the West from sinking into barbarity and filth? Who brings learning and civilization to the cattle towns? Who does the washing and cooking and raising of children, and all the other things most men would never—”
Constantine raised a hand. “You’ve made your point, ma’am. But everything you’ve said is about women working in the home, where they are protected.” Protected? As she had been? “And you, a complete stranger, are so deeply concerned for our welfare,” she said.
“Any decent man would be.”
“Are you offering to be our ‘protector,’ Mr. Constantine?”
His lids dropped over his eyes, and a muscle jumped in his cheek. Serenity turned her back on him, took a bowl from the cupboard, ladled soup from the cast-iron pot on the stove, and set the bowl down hard on the table. She returned to the worktable, uncovered the bread, sawed off a chunk and tossed it on a plate. She plunked it down beside the soup, along with a spoon.
Constantine continued to stand. After a moment she realized that he was expecting her to sit first. She wanted to storm out, but that would be giving in. And she would not give in.
She took the chair farthest from him and sat very still, staring at the table while he ate.
“My compliments to the cook, ma’am,” he said. His voice sounded almost hollow. Had she actually said something that had shaken his seemingly unflappable calm?
What kind of man was he, really? It had been a very long time since she’d bothered to consider what “type” any man was. They had all become the same to her, and she never attempted to look beyond her assumptions. She didn’t even want to try.
Why, then, did she look at this man and feel that somehow she had been wrong in her first judgment of him?
“I would like to ask you a question, Mr. Constantine,” she said. “How does a man come to be a bounty hunter?”
His face became a perfect blank. “Most do it for the money,” he said.
“But not you?”
“I reckon my reasons are my own, just like yours.”
“And do you consider yourself to work on the right side of the law?”
Every one of his muscles seemed to contract at once, and he set the spoon down with exaggerated care. “Yes, Miss Campbell,” he said, matching her ice for ice. “I do. If you’ll pardon me, I’ll be going back to the barn.”
She had offended him. Truly offended him. And she felt no satisfaction at all.
“Wait,” she said. “Helene didn’t take your measurements.”
“It isn’t necessary,” he said brusquely, heading for the door.
“Bonnie won’t be happy if I let you leave tomorrow half-dressed.”
He hesitated, looking back at her, searching her face. Her heart turned over. She knew where the sewing things were; she’d done plenty of mending herself. It would only take a moment to get the measuring tape.
But to touch him, to lay the tape over the firm breadth of his back and shoulders, to feel his warm skin under her fingertips…
“I’ll ask Bonnie to do it,” she said, darting past him and out the door.
Bonnie was carrying a pail of fresh milk toward the house when Serenity met her.
“What’s wrong?” Bonnie asked, setting the pail on the ground. “What did he do?”
“Nothing,” Serenity said, releasing her breath. “Helene is resting. Can you take Constantine’s measurements?”
The redhead grinned. “It will be my pleasure.”
“You find him…attractive, don’t you?”
“What woman wouldn’t?”
It was not as appalling a question as it sounded. Bonnie knew very little about Serenity’s past except that she had had some trouble with men. Everyone at Avalon had, at one time or another. But Bonnie’s own troubles and former profession hadn’t crushed her spirit or her ability to be drawn to the opposite sex. Even to a complete stranger.
Serenity couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be as strong as Bonnie.
The older woman lost her smile. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That was a stupid thing for me to say.” She looked at Serenity more carefully. “He said something to upset you, didn’t he?”
“Don’t be silly.”
But Bonnie continued to peer into her face, searching for the answers Serenity had never been able to give her. “You’re upset about the branding. I suggested we hire a few boys from town—” She held up her hands before Serenity could protest. “I know. But in fact we have someone right here who could help.”
For a moment Serenity didn’t understand. When she did, her answer was immediate.
“Never,” she said. “I want him gone.”
“Even if he could make all the difference between a good season and a bad one?”
“Even if he were willing, and I don’t see why he should be, he is only one man. How can he make a difference?”
“If it’s that you don’t want to ask him, I can—”
“No. He’ll ruin everything. He—” Serenity swallowed and took a deep breath. “We all agreed on terms when we came together here. We would never ask for the help of any man. Do you want to go back on that promise, Bonnie?”
“She won’t have to.”
Constantine came sauntering down the stairs from the porch, a blanket draped over his shoulders, quiet as a panther. Serenity hadn’t even been aware he’d come outside, let alone that he’d been listening.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, Miss Campbell, Miss Maguire,” he said, nodding to each of them in turn, “but Miss Maguire is right. And, I owe you a debt, and I’d be glad to help out for a week or two.”
IT WAS A MISTAKE, and Jacob knew it.
He thought he’d made his decision. He’d intended to leave tomorrow, just as he’d promised Miss Campbell…borrow a horse and get right on Leroy’s trail. It wouldn’t have gone too cold for a werewolf. Not yet.
But it might be in a week or two. He was about to sacrifice not only the bounty, which he needed, but the chance to bring another bad man to justice. And Serenity Campbell had been right to mock him when she’d asked him about becoming “protector” to these women. He’d pried into their business when he had no right or reason to, and every reason not to. God knew he wasn’t fit to offer protection to anyone, let alone…
He tried without success to shake off the bitter memories. He hadn’t taught Ruth to protect herself. She’d been a gentle soul, and he hadn’t thought it was necessary. He’d sworn never to make himself responsible for any woman again.
If it weren’t for the Code—the same code that wouldn’t let him forget a debt—he wouldn’t be here now, able to make a choice like this. He would have been dead—if not physically, then in every other way that mattered. He would have thrown himself into a fight he couldn’t win, walked right into the Renier stronghold to take his revenge for Ruth’s murder and started shooting without caring who he killed.
But he was alive because of these women. They had saved him at considerable risk to themselves. He hadn’t intended to overhear their discussion in the yard, but his keen wolf’s hearing had made it impossible for him to avoid it. Now he knew how much they needed him.
He couldn’t do anything about their tricky situation here, surrounded by men who would no doubt be glad to take advantage of them and steal their cattle, if not their land. All he could do was discharge his debt, and maybe buy them a little more time.
“That is very generous of you, Mr. Constantine,” Bonnie said. “If you’re sure you’re able to—”
“No,” Serenity said, looking away. “Mr. Constantine has his own work to do. We would be selfish to keep him here.”
“Not at all, ma’am,” Jacob said. It was so easy to see through that tough facade to the scared woman beneath it. Scared of him. And he was sure that fear had something important to do with why there were no men here, why these women had made some kind of pact to keep the male sex from intruding on their domain.
He didn’t like to scare women. He’d known right off that Serenity had been bothered by seeing him without his shirt. It wasn’t just some kind of prudish disapproval. No, it went a lot deeper than that. If he’d known how hard she would take seeing him that way, he would have found something to throw over himself earlier.
She didn’t seem to appreciate that he’d done it now. “You don’t owe us anything,” Serenity said. “You can be on your way with our blessing.”
Bonnie Maguire met his gaze, begging him not to accept Serenity’s dismissal. She, along with the girl, Frances, and Changying, had no difficulty in accepting his presence here, while Caridad shared Serenity’s intense dislike. They weren’t all of the same mind.
“I pay my debts,” he said. “I know how to work cattle. I may be one man, but I’m good at what I do.”
“I said we don’t need you.”
“I think you do, and if you cared about this outfit and these friends of yours, you’d realize that.”
Angry blue eyes fixed on his. He had to admire Serenity Campbell in spite of himself. Scared she might be, but she would do everything in her power not to let him see it, not to show by a single word or deed that she was weak in any way. Just like she would do her best to hide her womanliness under ill-fitting boy’s clothes.
“Let him help us,” Bonnie said, resting her hand on Serenity’s arm. “Most of the branding will be over in a few weeks, and then he’ll be on his way. Won’t you, Mr. Constantine?”
Nothing in the world could keep me here, he thought. “That’s right, ma’am,” he said aloud. “Miss Campbell, you don’t have to worry. I’ll do my work and never trouble you again.”
Serenity weighed his words as if she were Blind Justice herself. “Let me make one thing clear, Mr. Constantine,” she said. “You will be here on sufferance. You will treat every woman here with courtesy and respect. You will give no orders. And you will make no advances. None of any kind.”
As if he would ever touch any woman who didn’t invite him to do so. That generally meant whores who made their living entertaining men. They didn’t expect anything from him but his money. Unlike Ruth, they could take care of themselves.
The woman standing before him would never invite any man to touch her.
“Do those rules suit you, Mr. Constantine?” she asked. “Because if they don’t—if you break a single one of them—we will drive you out. And if you fail to do your share of the work, or prove less competent than you claim, we will dispense with your services.”
Jacob hitched his thumbs in the waistband of his trousers. “I reckon you’ve made yourself clear, ma’am.”
It wasn’t the answer she’d expected. She’d wanted him to take offense, walk away and save her the trouble of dealing with him one moment longer.
“Bonnie,” she said, turning her back on him, “he still needs to be measured.”
“I’ll see to it.”
But the other woman didn’t move, and Serenity was the first to leave. She set off at a pace that must have challenged her small body and went into the bunkhouse.
“I’m sorry,” Bonnie said. “Serenity didn’t mean what she said.”
Jacob studied the redhead with interest. “I think she did,” he said.
Bonnie glanced down at the milk pail by her feet. “I’d better take this inside before something gets in it,” she said. “Come on in.”
He moved to pick up the pail, but she beat him to it. He followed her into the house, and watched as she carefully poured the contents of the pail into several bottles and capped them. “Where did you work cattle?” she asked.
“Lots of places,” he said, leaning a hip against the table.
“But you’re a bounty hunter now.”
“That’s right, ma’am.”
“Call me Bonnie.”
He wondered if calling her by her Christian name would break one of Serenity’s rules of conduct. “Have you been here long, Bonnie?” he asked.
“About a year.” She looked over her shoulder. “It’s a good place, with good people.”
“Miss Campbell didn’t want to tell me much about it,” he said. “Or about herself.”
“She never talks about herself, not even to us,” Bonnie admitted. “Don’t expect her to confide in you, of all people.” She turned to face him, bracing her hands behind her on the worktable. “Serenity bought this land three and a half years ago,” she said. “The owner of the land had died, and his kinfolk wanted nothing to do with this country. There was nothing on it but a few corrals, and an old adobe casa that had already been done in by wind and rain. She, Zora and Caridad started with only a few cattle. Within two years there were ten women working here, and a lot more cattle.”
“Only ten women?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Usually
it’s enough. Helene can’t ride, of course, but…”
Jacob paced away from the table, crossed the room and swung around again. “Do you all feel the same way about men as Miss Campbell does?”
She laughed. “I guess it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” She sobered. “I can’t talk for the others, but just about everyone here has some reason for wanting to get away from men. Some just wanted their freedom. Others wanted peace. I wanted…” She hesitated. “I think you know what I used to be, Mr. Constantine. I see it in your eyes. Well, I’d had enough of that life, and it seemed to me that the best way to start fresh was to go somewhere and do something that had nothing to do with whoring.”
“Why do you trust me, Bonnie?”
“I’m a pretty good judge of men. I think you’re honest.” She hesitated. “I see something else in your eyes, too. You want to know about Serenity. But I can’t tell you. If she decides to trust you, maybe she’ll tell you herself.”
Jacob wasn’t used to being so easy to read, or to being so firmly put in his place.
By unspoken agreement, he and Bonnie let the conversation lapse, and she went in search of the sewing things. She returned with a tape measure and set about recording the length and breadth of his chest, shoulders and arms.
Jacob felt nothing when she touched him. Bonnie’s movements were as efficient and impersonal as they could be. For some reason he couldn’t fathom, his thoughts turned back to Serenity.
She’d touched him less than a half-dozen times, usually as if he were a side of beef or a sack of flour, but even those brief contacts had stirred him in a way he didn’t like. It was wrong, and he knew it. Just as it was wrong to wonder what had made her what she was.
There was no reason to give it any thought at all. In a few weeks he would be gone.
CHAPTER FOUR
IT WAS A MATCH made in hell.
If there had been any other way, Serenity wouldn’t be riding beside Jacob Constantine, constantly aware of his presence, of the smell of him, of the easy way he sat on his horse. If she hadn’t been so bent on protecting the other women from him—even Bonnie, who was far too trusting, and Caridad, who might shoot him and have to live with the remorse—she would gladly have sent him out with someone else.
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