The Fugitive Bride

by Margaret Watson

  For a moment, Jesse thought Shea was going to argue with Maria, then she must have remembered his presence. With a strained smile, she said to him, “I’m going to work on the books for a while. I’ll see you tomorrow, Jesse.”

  He’d been dismissed and he knew it. Nodding, he pushed away from the table and walked out of the house. But instead of heading back to his cabin, he circled silently around until he was crouched outside of one of the dining room windows.

  Shea’s voice was an urgent hum, but she was speaking too softly for him to hear what she was saying. Maria said something occasionally, as did one of the hands. But all of them were being careful, speaking in low tones. When he heard chairs scraping away from the table, he hurried to his cabin, closing the door softly when he saw Joe emerge onto the porch of the house.

  Something had happened while they were gone today. Had Shea only been a decoy, luring him away from the house? For a moment he cursed, thinking he’d been fooled, but then he remembered her face when he’d asked to go to the rodeo with her.

  She had been shocked and frightened, and had fumbled for a reason to tell him no. When she’d agreed to let him accompany her, it had been with great reluctance.

  Jesse didn’t want to consider how easy it was to read her expressions. He didn’t want to think about what that meant. The only thing he was interested in was whether or not Shea was hiding illegal aliens on her ranch. This morning, when nothing had happened at the rodeo, he’d begun to have doubts. But now those doubts were disappearing. Something was happening on this ranch, something Shea wanted to hide.

  There was a reason he was known around the Bureau as the Renegade. He did his best work alone, when the odds were against him. And this job would be no different, he vowed. It didn’t matter that he was attracted to his suspect. Justice was the only thing that mattered. And justice would be served.

  He paced the small living room of the cabin, too edgy to relax. No sounds escaped from the house or the barn. Finally, needing action, he eased out of the cabin and headed for the barn. He’d make sure that Shea hadn’t managed to slip past him.

  There was no sign of her in the barn. Only the soft sounds of animals settling in for the night greeted him when he opened the door. Stopping in front of Demon’s stall, he watched the big horse shift on his front legs. Jesse thought he put the left one down more carefully, as if it hurt.

  The horse watched him warily for a moment, but when Jesse murmured to him in a low voice, he ambled over to the stall door. While Jesse scratched his ears, the horse butted his head on Jesse’s chest.

  “She brings you treats, does she?” he crooned. “Sorry, I don’t have any handouts for you. I’ll snag a couple of carrots from Maria.”

  “Don’t let her catch you in her kitchen.”

  He spun around to find Shea leaning up against a stall. Backing away from Demon, he shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling foolish for being caught talking to an animal. “I just wanted to make sure he was all right.”

  “I guess you’re not as tough as you want everyone to think, are you?” She grinned at him, but he saw the warmth bloom in her eyes. “Thanks, Jesse.” Demon nuzzled at her shirt, and she held out a piece of apple for him. “I couldn’t go to sleep without checking on him myself.”

  “He seems to be all right, although I think that foot still hurts.”

  The smile disappeared from her face, and she leaned down to study the horse as he moved toward the other end of the stall. “You’re nght. He’s favoring it, just a little.”

  “My offer still stands.”

  She turned to look at him, wariness in her face. “Which offer was that?”

  “I said I’d help you soak his foot.” He wanted to ask her which offer she thought he’d meant, but instead looked down at Demon’s foot. He couldn’t afford to lose control of himself twice in one evening. “Do you have some epsom salts?”

  “I’ll get it.”

  She turned and hurried away, and he wondered if she was as reluctant as he was to repeat the scene in the tack room earlier. She had to be, especially if there was something illegal going on at the Red Rock Ranch. Shea was a woman who had her priorities firmly in place.

  She returned a few minutes later, carrying a bucket full of warm liquid that steamed gently in the cool evening air. “If you’ll hold him, I’ll soak his foot,” she said.

  “Fine by me.” He grabbed Demon’s halter and snapped on a lead rope that hung outside the stall. Shea slipped through the door and set the bucket down, then spoke softly to the horse. He snorted once and tossed his head back, but he didn’t move.

  She knelt on the floor beside him, lifting his leg and putting his foot in the bucket. Demon flattened his ears, snorted and tried to dance away, but Jesse held onto his halter and murmured nonsense words to him. After a moment, the horse settled down. He shook his head once, then stood calmly as Jesse held him.

  Shea glanced up. “You’re doing a great job of keeping him still.”

  “He’s an easy horse to handle.”

  She gave him an unbelieving stare. “You’re definitely in the minority with that opinion. Even Becca has a hard time with him.”

  He shrugged, her words giving him a vague sense of unease. Now he not only understood Shea, but he understood her horse, too. “I haven’t had any problems with him.”

  She grinned at him once, her eyes twinkling. “Watch him. He’s tricky. He sneaks up on you when you least expect it.”

  Kind of like his owner, he thought to himself. Shea had certainly taken him by surprise. He had expected to feel only contempt for his latest suspect, but from the very beginning his feelings were a lot more complicated than that. Now he wondered uneasily just what he felt for Shea.

  It didn’t matter, he told himself. And when he realized there was a touch of desperation in his mind, he deliberately shut it out. Nothing mattered except the job. Nothing mattered except ensuring that the law was upheld.

  Nothing mattered besides justice. Because that was the only thing that mattered in the long run. Love wasn’t real and relationships didn’t last. Justice was the most anyone could hope for.

  Chapter 8

  Jesse held Demon securely for twenty minutes while Shea soaked his foot. As she worked, Jesse realized that she’d forgotten his presence in the barn.

  She crooned to Demon when he got restless, feeding him slices of apple that she pulled out of her shirt pocket. And when he shook his head and flattened his ears, she chided him in a sharp voice that made the huge horse settle down immediately.

  Jesse watched her, amazed. Apparently Shea handled her horse with as much ease as she handled the men who worked for her. When she finally stood up, arching her back to work out the kinks, he looked at her with something approaching awe.

  As she moved out of the stall, he unsnapped the rope from Demon’s halter and followed her out. Taking the bucket away from her, he headed to the feed room and dumped it down the drain. After rinsing it and stacking it with the other buckets, he turned to find Shea standing in the door of the feed room.

  Had she deliberately chosen not to come in, remembering what had happened in the tack room earlier? While his rational mind hoped so, the rest of him silently urged her closer. His hands burned, remembering how she felt. And his mouth hungered for another taste of her.

  “Ready to go?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  She nodded. “It’s been a long day.”

  “You can say that again,” he muttered.

  Slipping past her in the doorway to the feed room, being careful not to touch her, he started for the door to the barn. She snapped off the lights, leaving only a small night-light burning, then followed him out into the night.

  The night was clear and cool, with a snap in the air that reminded him it was still early spring. Stars blanketed the sky, their number and brilliance still awe-inspiring. “You don’t get views like this in the city,” he said, staring at the dark sky above him.

 
; “We have a lot of things in Cameron that you don’t get in the city,” she answered. “The view is just a bonus.”

  “Have you spent much time in the city?” He glanced over at her as she stared up at the sky show. Needing to move closer to her, he took a step away.

  She shook her head. “I’ve gone for visits occasionally. Once I even went as far as Los Angeles, when my brother was in the service there. But I’m always glad to get back to the ranch.”

  “You’re lucky you have a place like this to call home.” He almost didn’t recognize the wistful voice as his own.

  “Where do you call home, Jesse?”

  He shrugged. “Wherever I am at the time.”

  “Don’t you have a family somewhere?”

  “My mother is back east, in a small town in upstate New York. Otherwise, no.”

  “Then isn’t that home?”

  “It’s as good as any, I suppose.”

  “Are you close to your mother?”

  “Yeah. She worked her rear end off for me when I was growing up. I owe her, big time.”

  “What about your father?”

  He compressed his lips, the familiar remnants of anger and grief washing over him. It had never gone away, not even after twenty-two years. “My father was killed when I was nine years old.”

  He heard her small gasp in the darkness. “I’m sorry, Jesse. That’s horrible.”

  “He was a newspaper reporter in New York City. He’d been writing a series about the mob, and he’d exposed some secrets that made them unhappy. When he didn’t stop after they warned him to, they shot him.”

  “Did they catch the person who did it?”

  “Of course not. This is the mob we’re talking about, and New York. The paper he worked for sure got some good publicity, though.”

  “You sound very bitter.”

  He shrugged, aware he’d revealed more about himself than he should have. “I’ve gotten over it. It was a long time ago, after all. And my mother and I survived.”

  He felt her gaze on him. “I’m surprised that you didn’t become a reporter yourself and fight for justice, like your father.”

  He shifted uneasily. She was too damned perceptive. How had they gotten onto the subject of his choice of work? “I can’t write worth a damn. And I didn’t feel like becoming a martyr, anyway.”

  “I don’t think you’re as much of a cynic as you want everyone to believe,” she murmured.

  “Don’t kid yourself, Shea,” he said harshly. “I’m the most cynical man you know.”

  “I doubt that. I know quite a few people.”

  Her voice was light, but there was an undertone of understanding that made him squirm. He was getting into quicksand here, and it was time to back off. “I’m out of your league, Shea. Why don’t we leave it at that?”

  To his surprise, she tucked one hand through his arm. “Sorry, Jesse, if you expect me to believe that you’re a big, bad man, you’re going to have to do better than that.” She turned to look at him in the moonlight, and the gentle smile in her eyes made his heart jolt in his chest. “But you can start tomorrow. I’m kind of tired tonight.”

  She stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his mouth. Before he could reach for her, she’d slipped away from him and run up the porch stairs. Stopping in front of the door, she raised her hand, then disappeared into the house.

  He stood in the yard for a long time, his heart pounding, watching as the light in her room flickered on, then went off again a few minutes later. He would have to be careful. Shea was a complicated woman, far more complicated than the simple criminal he’d thought her to be. She was finding a way under his defenses, and he didn’t like it one damn bit. It was time to concentrate on why he’d come here. It was time to find out what was going on, and then get the hell out of Cameron.

  When Shea came down early for breakfast the next morning, Maria informed her that Jesse had already eaten. “He’s in the barn,” the housekeeper said, her voice tinged with grudging approval. “He doesn’t mind work, I’ll give him that.”

  “Jesse’s been a real find for the Red Rock,” Shea said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “He does a good job, and he’s smart. He knows what has to be done without being told.”

  “Too smart, if you want my opinion.”

  Shea smothered a grin. She was going to get Maria’s opinion, whether she wanted it or not.

  “He’s going to find out what you’re doing,” the housekeeper warned. “Then what will happen?”

  “Jesse is a good man,” she answered slowly. “A man who believes in justice. I’m sure he’ll help me.”

  “You’re not going to tell him, are you?” The housekeeper was appalled. “You can’t trust him! You know nothing about him.”

  “I know enough.”

  “Please promise you won’t say anything,” Maria said.

  Shea shrugged. “It doesn’t matter right now, anyway. There aren’t any more children coming for at least a week.”

  “A lot can happen in a week,” Maria muttered as she walked into the kitchen.

  For a moment, anticipation hummed in Shea’s veins. Quite a bit could happen in a week. Every time she thought about Jesse, her body tingled. And she’d thought about Jesse a lot since yesterday evening. He’d made her yearn for something that she’d never imagined, feel things she’d never felt before. And she wanted to feel them again.

  She wanted to know more about Jesse. He’d opened up a little last night, but she knew there were large parts of himself he was hiding. As she ate her breakfast, she smiled to herself. He would be on the Red Rock for at least another couple of months. There was plenty of time to get to know him.

  When she strode out to the barn after breakfast, she found him cleaning out stalls. “Good morning,” she said, and he grunted a reply.

  Fighting the need to stand and look at him, she grabbed a pitchfork and started on the next stall. “You should have waited for me. There wasn’t any reason to start so early.”

  “No reason to wait, either. It had to be done, and I was up early.”

  For a moment she was tempted to ask him if he’d had trouble sleeping, too. But one look at his grim face told her that she wouldn’t get much of an answer. Apparently Jesse wasn’t in a talkative mood this morning.

  Tension swirled through the barn as they worked in silence. Shea glanced over at him occasionally, but Jesse refused to look at her. He shoveled straw and manure with grim determination, as if he were cleansing the demons from his soul along with the debris from the stalls. As the silence stretched between them, taut and heavy, Shea became more and more aware of the man who worked beside her.

  “Are you interested in doing some riding later today?” she finally asked, breaking the charged silence.

  He glanced over at her. “What do you mean?”

  “We usually do only essential work on Sunday.” She waved her hand around the barn. “Like cleaning out stalls. But I was going to ride up into the mountains today and check on our summer pastures. I want to make sure they’re ready, since we’re going to move some of the herd higher into the mountains next week. You’ve wanted to see more of the ranch, so I thought you might like to join me.”

  His hands stilled on the shovel, then he looked over at her. She couldn’t read the expression on his face. “What brought about your change of heart?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been trying to keep me away from the mountains.”

  Fear fluttered in her chest for a moment, then she suppressed it. There was no way Jesse could know why she didn’t want him exploring. “I’ve been trying to make sure you knew what you were doing before I turned you loose on the ranch. There’s a big difference.”

  For a moment, his hazel eyes bored into her, then he shrugged. The atmosphere lightened. “I’d love to join you. I don’t have anything better to do today.” He raised his eyebrows. “But why not wait until tomorrow? Don’t you ever take a day off?”

 
“What do you think I did yesterday?” She scowled at him. “I don’t work banker’s hours, Jesse. You’ve worked on enough ranches to know there is no such thing as free time on a ranch. There’s always something that needs to be done. If I check out the pastures today, there’ll be time tomorrow to handle the emergency that’s sure to show up.”

  He studied her for a moment, and she felt like a specimen on a dissecting board. Then he resumed shoveling. “You work hard, Shea.”

  There was no inflection in his voice, no hint of what he thought. Shrugging, she picked up the pitchfork and attacked the next stall. “It doesn’t feel like I’m working hard. It feels like I’m doing what I love to do.”

  They worked in silence for a while, but the tension in the atmosphere had eased. Finally Jesse said, “When do you want to leave?”

  “When we finish in the barn, I guess. That way, you’ll have some time this afternoon to yourself.”

  “What do Joe, Dusty and Levi do on their days off?” he asked.

  “Sometimes they go into Cameron, sometimes they just take it easy. They’re not getting any younger. Nightlife doesn’t seem to have much of an appeal for them anymore.”

  “And you have so much nightlife in Cameron.”

  When she glanced over at him, she saw the twinkle in his eyes. “We’re known far and wide for the wildness of our parties,” she said, trying to keep her face solemn. “People come from all over Utah to go to May’s.”

  He nodded. “That’s what I’d heard. It’s why I came to Cameron in the first place.”

  Grinning, she cleaned her pitchfork and replaced it in the feed room. “Let’s take the malarkey on the road, Coulton. Saddle up Joey, over there.” She nodded at a bay horse that stood quietly in one stall. “He’ll give you a good ride.”

  The sun was only inches above the horizon as they headed across the pasture closest to the house. Shea breathed in deeply, savoring the smell and taste of early morning on the Red Rock. “This might be my favorite part of the day,” she said to Jesse. “I love riding out into the stillness of early morning. Everything is alive with possibilities.”