by Diana Palmer
“Oh, dear.”
“It was a nonpoisonous snake,” he said reassuringly. “But she decided that she’d be better off not visiting when the girls were around. And since they were always around…”
She shook her head. “Little terrors,” she said, but in a tone soft with affection.
“Look who’s talking,” he said with a pointed glare.
“I’ve never put snakes in anybody’s purse,” she pointed out. “Well, not yet, anyway.”
He gave her an amused glance. “Don’t let the girls corrupt you.”
She smiled, remembering how much fun she’d had with the little girls. It made her happy that they wanted her back. Except for her aunt, she was alone in the world. She missed being part of a whole family, especially on holidays like Christmas.
The light changed and he pulled back out into traffic. Conversation was scanty the rest of the way home, because Kasie fell asleep. The lack of rest had finally caught up with her.
She was jolted awake by a firm hand on her shoulder.
“Wake up. We’re home,” Gil said with a smile.
She searched his blue eyes absently for a moment before the words registered. “Oh.” She unfastened her seat belt and got out as he did.
The girls were sitting on the bottom step of the staircase when the door opened and Kasie walked in with Gil.
“Kasie!” Bess cried, and got up to run and throw herself into Kasie’s outstretched arms.
“Bess!” Kasie hugged her close, feeling tears sting her eyes. She was so much like Sandy.
Jenny followed suit, and Kasie ended up with two arms full of crying little girls. She carried them to the staircase and sat down, cuddling them both close. Her face was wet, but she didn’t care. She loved these babies, far more than she’d realized. She held them and rocked them and kissed wet little cheeks until the sobs eased. “You mustn’t ever leave us again, Kasie,” Bess hiccuped. “Me and Jenny was ever so sad.”
“Yes, we was,” Jenny murmured.
“Oh, I missed you!” Kasie said fervently as she dug into her pocket for a tissue and wiped wet eyes all around.
“We missed you, too,” Bess said, burying her face in Kasie’s shoulder while Jenny clung to her neck.
Gil watched them with his heart in his throat. They looked as if they belonged together. They looked like a family. He wanted to scoop all three of them up in his arms and hold them so tight they’d never get away.
While he was debating that, John came down the hall and spotted Kasie. He grinned from ear to ear. “You’re back! Great! Now maybe Mrs. Charters will cook something we can eat again!”
“That’s not a nice way to say hello,” Kasie chided with a smile.
“Sure it is! What good is a man without his stomach?” John asked. He moved closer to Kasie and the girls and bent to kiss Kasie’s wet cheek. “Welcome back! It’s been like a ballpark in January. Nobody smiled.”
“I’m happy to be back,” Kasie said. “But what about all those herd records that need putting into the computer?” she asked, realizing that Gil never had answered her when she’d questioned him about them.
“Oh, those. It turns out that Miss Parsons is a computer whiz herself,” he said to Kasie’s amusement. “She’s got everything listed, including the foundation bloodlines. And remember that Internet site you suggested? It’s up and running. We’re already getting three hundred hits a day, along with plenty of queries from cattlemen around the country!”
“I’m so glad,” Kasie said sincerely.
“So are we. Business is booming. But the babies have been sad.” He glanced at his older brother meaningfully. “We missed you.”
“It’s nice to be back,” Kasie said.
“Are we ever going to have lunch?” John asked then. “I’m fairly starved. Burned eggs and bacon this morning didn’t do a lot for my taste buds.”
“Mine, either,” Gil agreed. “Go tell Mrs. Charters Kasie’s back and is having lunch with us,” he suggested. “That might get us something edible, even if it’s only cold cuts.”
“Good thinking,” John said, smiling as he went out to the kitchen.
“Our eggs wasn’t burned,” Bess pointed out.
“Mrs. Charters wasn’t mad at you, sweetheart,” Gil told her. “You two need to run upstairs and wash your hands and faces before we eat.”
“Okay, if Kasie comes, too,” Bess agreed.
Kasie chuckled as both girls grabbed a hand and coaxed her to her feet. “I gather that I’m to be carefully observed from now on, so I don’t make a run for the border,” she murmured to Gil.
“That’s right. Good girls,” Gil said, grinning. “Keep her with you so she doesn’t have a chance to escape.”
“We won’t let her go, Daddy,” Bess promised.
They tugged her up the staircase, and she went without an argument, waiting in their rooms while they washed their hands and faces.
“Daddy was real mad when we came home,” Bess told Kasie. “So was Uncle Johnny. He said Daddy should go and get you and bring you home, but Daddy said you might not want to, because he’d been bad to you. Did he take away your toys, Kasie, and put you into timeout?”
“Heavens, no,” she said at once.
“Then why did you go away?” the child insisted. “Was it on account of Pauline said you left us alone? We told Daddy the truth, and Pauline went away. We don’t like her. She’s bad to us when Daddy isn’t looking. He won’t marry Pauline, will he, Kasie?”
“I don’t think so,” she said carefully.
“Me and Jenny wish he’d marry you,” Bess said wistfully. “You’re so much fun to play with, Kasie.”
Kasie didn’t dare say anything about marriage. “You can’t decide things like that, sweetheart,” she told Bess. “People don’t usually marry unless they fall in love.”
“Oh.”
The child looked heartbroken. Kasie went down on her knees and caught Bess gently by the waist. “What do you want to do after we have lunch?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Could we swim in the pool?”
She’d forgotten that the family had a swimming pool. “I suppose so,” she said, frowning. “But it’s pretty soon after your accident, Bess. Are you sure you want to?”
“Daddy and me went swimming the day after we came home,” Bess said matter-of-factly. “Daddy said I mustn’t be afraid of the water, after I fell in, so he’s giving me swimming lessons. I love to swim, now!”
So some good had come out of the accident. That was reassuring. “Let’s go down and eat something. Then we have to wait a little while.”
“I know. We can pick flowers while we wait, can’t we? There’s some pretty yellow roses in a hedge behind the swimming pool,” Bess told her.
“I love roses,” Kasie said, smiling. “But perhaps we’d better not pick any until someone tells us it’s all right.”
“Okay, Kasie.”
They went downstairs and Kasie helped Mrs. Charters set the table. She was welcoming and cheerful about having Kasie back again. John talked easily to Kasie and the children. Gil didn’t. He picked at his food and brooded. He watched Kasie, but covertly. She wondered what was going on in his mind to make him so unhappy.
He looked up and met Kasie’s searching eyes, and she felt her stomach fall as if she was on a roller coaster. Her hands trembled. She put them in her lap to hide them, but her heartbeat pounded wildly and her nervousness was noticeable. Especially to the man with the arrogant smile, who suddenly seemed to develop an appetite.
Chapter 10
For the next few days, Gil seemed to watch every move Kasie made. He was cordial with her, but there was a noticeable difference in the way he treated her since her return. He was remote and quiet, even when the family came together at mealtimes, and he seemed uncomfortable around Kasie. She noticed his reticence and understood it to mean that he was sorry for the way he’d treated her before. He didn’t touch her at all these days, nor did he seem inclined
to include her when he took the girls to movies and the playground, even though he asked her along. But she always refused, to the dismay of the children. She excused it as giving them some time alone with their father. Gil knew that wasn’t the truth. It made matters worse.
John left Thursday for a conference that Gil had been slated to attend, and Gil stayed home. Kasie noticed that he seemed unusually watchful and he was always around the ranch even when he wasn’t around the house. He didn’t explain why. Kasie would have loved thinking that it was because he was interested in her, but she knew that wasn’t the reason. There was more distance between them now than there had ever been before.
Mrs. Charters mentioned that there was some uneasiness among the cowboys because of a threat that had been made. Kasie tried to ask Gil about it. He simply ignored the question and walked away.
He was missing at breakfast early one Monday morning. The girls were sleeping late, so Kasie walked into the dining room and found only John at the table.
“Pull up a chair and have breakfast,” he invited with a grin. “I have to move bulls today, so I’m having seconds and thirds. I have to keep up my strength.”
“If you keep eating like that, you could carry the bulls and save gas,” she said wickedly. “I thought you had to go to Phoenix to show a bull this week?”
He averted his eyes. “I thought I’d put it off for another couple of weeks.” He sipped coffee and studied Kasie quietly. “There’s a new movie showing at the theater downtown. How would you like to pack up the girls and go with me to see it?”
Her eyes lit up. “I’d love to,” she said at once.
He grinned. “Okay. We’ll go tomorrow night. I, uh, noticed that you don’t like going to movies with my brother, even if the girls go along.”
“I just thought he’d like some time alone with them,” she hedged. “After all, I’m just the governess.”
He poured himself more coffee before he replied. “That’s a bunch of hogwash, Kasie.”
She drew in a long breath. “He makes me uncomfortable,” she said. “I always feel like he’s biding his time, waiting for me to make another mistake or do something stupid.”
He chuckled. “He doesn’t lie in wait to ambush you,” he said softly. “He meant it when he apologized, you know. He was sorry he misjudged you. Believe me, it’s a rare thing for him to make a mistake like that. But he’s had some hard blows from women in recent years.”
“I felt really bad about what happened,” she said with a wistful sadness in her eyes. “I should have remembered that he never trusted Pauline to look after the girls. I’d met this man on the plane, and he invited me to lunch. I liked him. He kept me from being afraid on the way to Nassau.”
John’s face sobered, and she realized that Gil must have told him about her past. “I’m sorry about your brother and his family,” he said, confirming her suspicions. “Gil and I haven’t really been part of a family since our uncle died.”
“Don’t you ever go to see your parents?” she asked curiously.
“There was a time when they offered an olive branch, but you know Gil,” he said soberly. “He’s slow to get over things, and he refused to talk to them. Maybe they did neglect us, but I never thought it was malicious. They had kids before they were ready to have them. Lots of people are irresponsible parents. But you can’t hold grudges forever.” He frowned. “On second thought, maybe Gil can.”
She smiled and reached across the table to lay her hand over his. “Maybe one day you can try again. It would be nice for the girls to have grandparents.”
“The only ones they have left are our parents. Darlene’s died years ago.” He caught her hand in his and held it tight. “You make the hardest things sound simple. I like myself when you’re around, Kasie.”
She laughed gently. “I like you, too,” she said.
“I never believed you had anything to do with Bess getting hurt,” he said somberly. “Anyone could see how much you care about the girls.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to know that at least one grown-up person in your family believed I was innocent,” she said, oblivious to the white-faced, angry man standing in the hall with an armload of pale pink roses. “It hurt terribly that Gil thought I’d ever put the girls at risk in any way, least of all by neglecting them. But it wasn’t the first time he’s accused me of ulterior motives. I should be used to it by now. I think he’s sorry he rehired me, you know,” she added sadly, clinging to his hand. “He looks through me when he isn’t glaring at me.”
“Gil’s had some hard knocks with women,” John repeated, letting go of her hand. “Just give him time to adjust to being wrong. He rarely is.” He picked up a forkful of eggs. “If it’s any consolation, he roared around here for two weeks like every man’s nightmare before he went after you. He wanted you to have enough time to get over the anger and let him explain his behavior. He would have gone sooner, he said, but he wasn’t sure he could get in the front door.”
She remembered her lacerated feelings when she’d arrived at her aunt’s house. “It would have been tricky, at that,” she agreed. “He was the last person on earth I wanted to see when I first came back from Nassau.”
Footsteps echoed out in the hall and a door slammed. Kasie frowned.
“Sounds like Gil’s going to bypass breakfast again this morning,” John remarked as he finished his eggs. “He doesn’t have much of an appetite these days.”
“I’ll just check and make sure it isn’t the girls,” Kasie said.
“Suit yourself, but I know those footsteps. He only walks that way when he’s upset. God help whatever cowboy he runs into on his way.”
Kasie didn’t reply. She walked into the hall and there, on the hall table, was an armload of pink roses with the dew still clinging to the silky, fragrant petals. It took a few seconds for her to realize that Gil must have heard every word she’d said. She groaned inwardly as she gathered up the roses. Well, that was probably the end of any truce, she thought. He’d think she couldn’t forgive him, and that would make him even angrier. Unless she missed her guess, he was going to be hell to live with from now on.
She took the roses to the kitchen and found a vase for them, which she filled with water before she arranged the flowers in it. With a sigh, she took them upstairs to her room and placed them on the dresser. They were beautiful. She couldn’t imagine what had possessed Gil Callister to go out and cut her a bouquet. But the gesture touched her poignantly.
Sure enough, when Gil came in early for supper, he was dusty and out of humor. He needed a shave. He glared at everybody, especially Kasie.
“Aren’t you going to clean up first?” John asked, aghast, when he sat down to the table in his chaps.
“What for?” he muttered. “I’ve got to go right back out again.” He reached for his coffee cup, which Mrs. Charters had just filled, and put cream in it.
“Is something wrong?” John asked then, concerned.
“We’ve got a fence down.” His eyes met his brother’s. “It wasn’t broken through. It was cut.”
John stared at the older man. “Another one? That makes two in less than ten days.”
“I know. I can’t prove it, but I know it was Fred Sims.”
John nodded slowly. “That makes sense. One of the cowboys who was friendly with him said Sims hasn’t been able to find another job since we fired him.”
Gil’s pale blue eyes glittered. “That damned dog could have bitten my babies,” he said. “No way was he going to keep it here after it chased them onto the porch.”
“Bad doggie,” Jenny agreed.
Bess nodded. “We was scared, Daddy.”
“Sims is going to be scared, if I catch him within a mile of my property,” Gil added.
“Don’t become a vigilante,” John cautioned his older brother. “Call the sheriff. Let him handle it. That’s what he gets paid to do.”
“He can’t be everywhere,” Gil replied, eyes narrowed. “I want all the cowbo
ys armed, at least with rifles. I’m not taking any chances. If he’s brazen enough to cut fences and shoot livestock, he’s capable of worse.”
Kasie felt her heart stop. So that was why he’d been around the ranch so much lately. The man, Sims, had threatened vengeance. Apparently he was killing cattle as well as cutting fences to let them escape. She pictured Gil at the end of a gun and she felt sick all over.
“I’ll make sure everyone’s been alerted and prepared for danger,” John agreed. “But you stay out of it. You’re the one person around here that Sims would enjoy shooting.”
“He’d be lucky to get off a shot,” Gil replied imperturbably. He finished his meal and wiped his mouth. “I’ve got to get back out there. We haven’t finished stringing wire, and it’s not long until dark.”
“Okay. I’ll phone the vet about those carcasses we found. I want him to look for bullet wounds.”
“Good idea.”
Gil finished the last sip of his coffee in a grim silence that seemed to spread to the rest of the family. The girls, sensing hidden anger in the adults around them, excused themselves and went upstairs to play in their room while Mrs. Charters cleaned away the dishes. John went to make a phone call.
Gil got to his feet without looking at Kasie and started toward the front door. Kasie caught up with him on the porch. It was almost dark. The sky was fiery red and pink and yellow where the sun was setting.
“Thank you,” she blurted out.
He stopped and turned. “For what?”
His hat was pulled low over his eyes, and she couldn’t see the expression in them, but she was pretty sure that he was scowling.
She went closer to him, stopping half an arm’s length away. “For the roses,” she said hesitantly. “They’re beautiful.”
He didn’t move. He just stood there, somber, quiet. “How do you know they were meant for you?” he drawled. “And how do you know I brought them?”
She flushed scarlet. She didn’t know for sure, but she’d assumed.
