“Lloyd Harkner? Sure, I’ve seen him and his wife, too—same time I saw Jake and his wife. They were all shopping and walking up the street together. They didn’t notice me, because I was watching out a window as they walked by, but I got a good look, and the son is even better-looking than the father, if that’s possible.”
“Well, take a good look next time, ’cause when you see Lloyd Harkner again, it will be for the last time. How often do they come to Denver?”
Gretta still held the gun on him, not trusting him for one second. “I really don’t know. Not often. Most ranchers tend to stay right on the ranch most of the time, except to come into the city for supplies once in a while, or to bring in cattle. This is the time of year for that, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up in Denver in the next week or two.”
Mike pulled on his pants. “Good. I’ll be ready for ’em.”
Gretta smiled. “Mister, the only reason I told you they might come around is because from all I’ve read about Harkner and his son, you’ll be the one who’s dead if you try going after them, and I will truly enjoy seeing you sprawled in the street, your body riddled with bullets.”
Mike reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a plug of tobacco, biting some off and pushing it down between his cheek and his gum. “Depends who sees who first. Onliest thing I know is I ain’t gonna try goin’ after him at his ranch. Most men I’ve talked to say nobody gets on Harkner land without bein’ noticed, and after hearin’ about them rustlers, I figured I’d wait right here. Here, he’ll be out of familiar territory, and there are plenty of places to hide instead of goin’ after a man in the wide open spaces.”
“You’ll go back to prison, you fool!”
“Not if I do it without gettin’ caught.”
“You’re the first one they will suspect, and now I know your plans.”
He looked her over. “Don’t matter. Like you said, I’m the first one they’ll suspect, but I don’t intend to be found. I’ve staked this city out pretty good, and there are plenty of places to hide till shit blows over.”
He smoothed back his hair. “The only way for men like Harkner to die is lyin’ in mud and horse dung in the street, all shot to hell, their women cryin’ over their bodies.” He rose. “The man’s daughter is as much of a looker as his son is, and she was sweet between the legs, let me tell you.” He walked a little closer. “Want to know what she did after Harkner found her and shot up most of the men at Dune Hollow?”
Gretta just glared at him. “You’re scum, Mike Holt.”
He grinned. “Maybe so, but scum or not, she forgave us. Can you believe that one?”
“Forgave you?”
“Yup. She’s the reason I’m alive. After all the shootin’ and things was said and done, she told her pa not to kill those of us still alive. Ole Harkner, you could tell he wanted to blow our heads off, and he would have if there weren’t men from town with him to see him do it. Even at that, I think he would have done it anyway out of pure meanness. But that daughter of his said she forgave us, and she’d be real upset if he killed us outright, so he had to bring us in for trial. The bastard wouldn’t let his daughter testify, so we all got nailed for rapin’ her, even though some of them didn’t.”
“But you did.”
Mike rubbed at his privates. “Sure I did. But I got out of prison on account of they couldn’t really prove it, and she wouldn’t testify, so the judge let me go.”
“You should have left well enough alone and gone someplace else to start life over.”
He shrugged. “What fun would that be?” He began pulling a belt through the loops on his pants. He stepped a little closer. “You want to know the best part?”
“I don’t think I do.” Gretta raised the pistol again.
“The best part is, Harkner’s daughter was blindfolded when I went at her. I could walk right up to her, and she wouldn’t know I was one of ’em.”
Gretta shook her head. “You’re crazy. Jake and his son know your face. You’ll never get close to that young woman.”
“Oh, I’ll wait till they ain’t around.”
“I hope they kill you. I’ve just met you, and I want to kill you! When I’m through, there won’t be one prostitute in Denver who will let you touch her.”
He shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll have to find a woman who ain’t willin’, won’t I?”
Gretta raised her chin. “If I hear of anything like that happening here, I’ll report your name to the prosecutor.” She stepped a little closer, holding the gun out again. “I happen to know him well.”
Mike’s smile faded. “So that’s how it is, is it? Well, I heard the prosecutor ain’t real happy with Jake on account of one of them rustlers Jake killed was his nephew. So I expect the man will be glad to find a reason to throw ole Harkner in jail—his son, too—if they survive what I have planned for them.”
“And that will mean you’re dead. Have you thought about it that way, you fool?”
“’Course I have. But I’m not worried. I’ve got it all planned.”
Gretta shook her head. “I’m guessing you never had any schooling, because you have to be the most ignorant man on the face of the earth.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“You done in there, Mike?” a man asked.
Mike looked Gretta over scathingly. “I reckon so. She ain’t much good at what she does, so she ain’t worth her price.” He walked over and opened the door. “You get a good lay?”
The stocky, younger man shrugged. “She was okay. She likes it in the mouth, so I obliged her.”
Both men laughed, and Gretta grimaced at the remark. She took a hard look at the young man at the door. He was perhaps in his twenties and built like a bull. She knew he’d picked Sondra for his lay, and she hoped the brute hadn’t hurt her. Gretta liked running a clean place, mostly for wealthier men or men of prominence who knew she could keep their trysts secret. One of them was Harley Wicks, a city prosecutor who was also wanting to make trouble for Jake Harkner. She hoped Harkner wouldn’t show up this year, for his own sake. She decided that if she saw him or his son anywhere, she’d warn them Mike Holt was in town. She didn’t know the younger man’s name, but she figured he was no better than Holt and probably also dangerous.
Holt came inside for his hat and plopped it on his head while the younger man looked Gretta over as though she were a fresh piece of pie. She just glared back at him. “Your friend isn’t a very nice man,” she told the younger man. “Get him out of here.”
The younger man just smiled. “What’d he do?”
“None of your business.”
Mike picked up his leather vest and pulled it on. “Come on, Brad. Let’s go have some drinks and find a card game.”
The one called Brad tipped his hat to Gretta and left with Mike. Gretta walked to the door and closed it, then slid the lock shut. She decided neither man would be allowed in the Range Club again.
Good riddance to bad rubbish. She shuddered to think what Harkner’s daughter must have gone through.
Thirteen
Mid-July
“Which one is the son and which one is the father?” Pepper joked. It was his turn to drive the three-seater carriage in which Randy, Evie, and Katie rode when the family went to Denver, well ahead of the cattle drive behind them. Jake did not want any of the noise and dust of the drive to affect the women, who at the moment watched Jake and Lloyd racing two young mustangs not far away.
“Pepper, if it weren’t for Lloyd’s long hair, it would be difficult to tell,” Randy answered him. “As far as behavior, I don’t think Jake ever got past twenty himself. He behaves like a younger man and then pays for it at night.”
“Well, ma’am, he’s a man who’s known a lot of pain. I reckon he’s just learned to live with it.”
The words stabbed at Randy’s heart. “O
h, yes, he has a very high tolerance for pain of all kinds, not just physical.”
“Looks like Lloyd won,” Pepper said with a chuckle. “They’re heading this way now.”
Pepper pulled up on the horse, halting the carriage while they waited for Jake and Lloyd to catch up. Several of the regular help stayed at the ranch, taking care of daily chores and helping watch the grandsons while Teresa and Rodriguez took care of the little granddaughters. The only ranch hands along who worked steady for Jake were Pepper and Cole. The others were drifting cowboys hired out of Longmont and Boulder, as well as two younger men belonging to neighboring farmers who wanted to earn some money. Randy couldn’t help smiling at one of the boy’s comment that he would get to go on a “real cattle drive with Jake and Lloyd Harkner,” which they considered an exciting honor.
She didn’t mind traveling this way. She and the other women could have taken a train to Denver, but all three preferred what some might now call the “old-fashioned” way of reaching their destination. The carriage they used was high quality, with good springs that made for a comfortable ride.
Jake and Lloyd reached them on lathered horses.
“Wait for me here while I go get a fresh horse,” Jake told Randy with a wink. “I want you to ride with me somewhere. I found a spot with a view you need to see.”
Lloyd dismounted. “Pepper, get on down and take this horse back to the herd. I’ll drive the carriage for a while.”
Pepper climbed down. “Whatever you say. You’re the boss.”
Lloyd got up into the seat beside Katie, leaning close to give her a kiss.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Pa is taking my mother for a ride, and I miss you,” Lloyd answered, “so I’m going to ride beside you for a bit.” He kissed her again. “And I can’t wait till we get a room in Denver.”
“Lloyd! Your mother and sister are sitting right behind us!”
“Hell, they understand.” He turned and smiled at the other two women. “Has she told you yet?”
“Told us what?” Evie asked.
Lloyd looked at Katie.
“Not yet,” she told him. “We have to be real sure.”
“I’m sure enough.” He turned back to his mother and sister. “The race is on, Sis. Katie’s carrying.”
Evie reached forward and shoved at him. “It’s not supposed to be a contest, big brother.”
“Well, Sadie and Tricia aren’t far apart in age, and they have each other to play with. What if it’s boys this time? They’ll each need someone to play with, too.”
“Well, it could be girls again,” Evie told him, “but if I have another boy, I hope he’s not as wild as Little Jake. I won’t be able to handle it. You can have him. In fact, if you have a girl and I have a boy, I’ll trade with you.”
Lloyd laughed. “Speaking of Little Jake, here comes big Jake.”
Jake rode up close on a big roan gelding, reaching out for Randy. “Let’s go.”
Randy watched him slyly. “I don’t trust you, Jake Harkner.”
“After thirty years?”
“That’s why I don’t trust you. I’ve known you too long.”
“Come on. Get on this horse.” He glanced at Lloyd. “Help her up here, Lloyd.”
Lloyd climbed down and helped his mother out of the carriage. Randy let out a little scream when he picked her up and raised her up to Jake, who grasped her around the waist and hoisted her up to sit in front of him on the horse. “You just keep going,” he told his son. “We’ll catch up in time for supper. Of course, none of us is crazy about Cole’s cooking, but we have to make do without Rodriguez.”
“I wonder how he and the boys back at the bunkhouse are doing, trying to watch Little Jake?” Lloyd joked, winking at Evie.
“They’ll be more worn out than if they were out digging trenches,” Jake answered.
“Daddy, Katie and I can help with the cooking this evening.”
“No. This is a hard enough trip. I don’t want the women doing anything extra.” Jake glanced at Katie. “You young women need to take it easy. Lloyd tells me you’re going to give me and Randy grandchild number six, not long after Evie has number five.”
Katie blushed. “I’m pretty sure.”
“Well, you’re both making a really old man out of me.”
“You’ll never be old, Daddy,” Evie told him. “Mom either. Look how pretty she still is.”
“Oh, I am well aware of that, baby girl.” He grinned and rode off with Randy.
“Jake, what are you up to?” Randy asked warily, hanging on to her hat.
“Just some time alone with my wife. I want to show you how pretty it is in that pine forest to the west.”
“That had better be all you want. We are out here with the whole family and a lot of men.”
Jake pressed her closer, taking her a good quarter of a mile west of the parade of buggies, wagons, and cattle and into a stand of pines where the ground was carpeted with needles and the trees offered cool shade. He dismounted, then helped her down and tied his horse. He took a blanket from behind the saddle and spread it out on a thick carpet of needles, then removed his guns and sat down. He reached up, and Randy saw the sly look in his eyes as she took his hand. “Jake—”
He pulled her down to sit beside him. “I just thought we’d have some quiet time together.”
Randy breathed deeply of the pungent smell of pine. They sat in the shade, watching the distant procession of family and animals make their way over what was currently government land. They had special permits to move on through private property as they made their way to Denver.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? You can see our wagons and see the cattle off in the distance. It’s quite a scene.”
“It is.” Randy watched quietly for a few seconds as Jake moved an arm around her shoulders. She turned to meet his eyes, seeing something familiar there—something she didn’t want to see. “I know you better than I know myself, Jake. You’re worried about going to Denver this time, aren’t you?”
“I’m not worried about a damn thing.”
“Yes, you are. You’re thinking about Mike Holt, and about that prosecutor who’d like to bring you down.”
He sighed, removing his Stetson and lying back. “Yeah, well, you’re right. I want this thing with Holt over with. I can’t help wondering what he’s up to, and I’m worried about Lloyd. Evie, too. If that man gets anywhere near her, I don’t know how Lloyd will react…or how I will react. I want this to be a nice trip, Randy. We’ll go to the Cattlemen’s Ball and maybe the theater, and you can shop for some new clothes and whatever supplies we need.” He pulled her down beside him and rolled to his side, moving a leg over her and pulling her close. “I just want to do something extra nice, because in a few days we’ll celebrate our thirtieth anniversary.”
Randy smiled. “You remembered!”
“Of course I remembered.” He moved on top of her, leaning down and kissing her softly. “Thirty years of too much hell for you.”
Randy touched his hair, thinking how thick it still was, with tiny streaks of gray that only seemed to make him more handsome. “Nobody loves like you do, Jake. That’s all I’ve ever needed, and few women can say they’ve been adored and cared for in all the ways I have. Yes, it’s been hell sometimes, but not because of you, and never because of how you’ve treated me. And as far as Mike Holt, there are laws now that will take care of him if he makes trouble. You remember that and let the law deal its justice. He’d be sent right back to prison.”
He kissed her again, this time deeply, in that way he had of disarming her. Randy knew his worry about trouble had brought this on. Jake Harkner was a man who was not good at handling any kind of threat to those he loved. Whenever he sensed such things, he always turned to her in a need to prove to himself that she was right here in his arms and every
thing was all right. And whenever he kissed her this way…touched her this way…needed her this way…
“My boots are still on,” she groaned as he moved a hand under her dress and pulled at her underpants.
“So are mine.”
She closed her eyes as he sat up slightly to yank the underwear off and over the boots.
Randy ran her hands over the hard muscles of his upper arms. “Have I told you how handsome you look in this blue flannel shirt?”
“Yes.” He moved a hand back up under her dress. “And you wore your yellow checkered dress today. You know what yellow does to me.”
Randy gasped when his fingers moved inside of her. “Why is that, Jake?”
He worked his magic. “I don’t know. Yellow just looks so beautiful on you, and you know how I like it. You wore this dress deliberately, just to drive me crazy.”
“I never gave it a thought,” she said softly.
“The hell you didn’t.” He leaned closer to nuzzle the soft cleavage that showed at the square neckline of the dress. “I still love these breasts. They are perfect. Have I ever told you that?”
“Practically every day.”
Amid deep kisses, he fondled the right places.
“You’re a devil,” she whispered.
“Who do you belong to?”
“A man who insists on embarrassing me by”—another kiss; Randy felt the intense ecstasy of an orgasm building—“taking me off in the woods when the whole family”—another kiss—“probably suspects what we’re doing.” She cried out in an intense climax, one that came on more quickly than normal because of the hint that trouble could be around the corner. The silent fear of being torn apart again always made their lovemaking more fiery and commanding than it normally would be for two people together for so long.
“Jake—” She moaned his name.
“God, I can feel your climax,” he told her, pressing his fingers hard against her to help increase the intensity of the moment.
Love's Sweet Revenge Page 13
