His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Rafe walking across the back yard toward the barn. He sped his horse up and watched as Rafe paused and looked in his direction. He reined up beside him. “Where you headed, boss?”
“It’s a long story. Give your horse to Richard and let him rub him down, then come in the house and let me catch you up on what’s happened around here.”
Vince nodded. After turning his horse over to the stable boy, he hurried toward the house thinking maybe Amelia had come home. Rafe was waiting for him on the porch. “Come on in the study. Want a drink?”
“Sure do. I could use one of Delores’s good meals, too.”
“That’s not going to happen today.” There was a snarl in Rafe’s voice.
Vince frowned as they crossed the dining room. He was surprised to see dirty dishes and a couple of open jars left on the table, but he didn’t ask any questions. He felt Rafe would tell him everything.
After Rafe finished his story, Vince cursed then said, “So, your wife has deserted you and I’m a wanted man.”
“That’s about it.”
Vince took a swallow of his liquor. “I had nothing to do with that damn Mexican’s death. You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course, I do. I told Lance Gentry as much.”
“Thanks. I knew you’d always stand behind me.”
“You know I will, Vince. After all, you were the one who kept me from losing everything when old man Downey was alive. If it wasn’t for you, the bastard would have eventually run me off this ranch.”
“We couldn’t have that could we, boss? You’d worked too hard and sacrificed too much to be put out.”
“You’re damn right. When I married Elizabeth, I married this ranch, too. It was part of the bargain I made with myself.”
“I understand that.” He sipped his whisky. “Could I get a refill?”
“Sure.” Raft stood and brought the crystal decanter to his desk. He refilled Vince’s glass. Then his own. “There’s one more thing I need to tell you about, Vince.”
“What’s that?”
“A woman came by here to see you. Said her name was Esther Venable. Know her?”
Vince arched an eyebrow. “Never heard of her. What did she say?”
“Said she’d see you when you returned. I figured she was some woman who had you mixed up with someone else.” Rafe drank the rest of the whiskey in his glass and stood. “Now you know everything and I’m going to get Elizabeth. Can you believe she’s staying with that half- breed and Amelia?”
“I’m surprised, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to go running down there to get her.”
Rafe frowned. “Why not? I want her to come home.”
“If you go to Wainwright’s ranch, there’s a good chance Elizabeth won’t come home with you, Rafe. You said yourself she can be stubborn at times.”
“That’s true, but she’ll come home this time. I’ll make her.”
“And how’s that going to look to the sheriff? You said he suspected you tried to kill her when you gave her the sleeping medicine.”
“But I didn’t. I only wanted to make her sleep late so she wouldn’t go traipsing off to find Amelia.”
“Is the sheriff going to believe that?”
Rafe paused. “Why wouldn’t he? It’s the truth.”
“Think about it, Rafe. He thinks I murdered the Mexican. Now your wife almost dies. He’s going to put things together and think you were behind both.”
“Damn it, Vince. I wasn’t behind anything.”
“I know that and you know that, but others might think differently.”
“Then what the hell should I do?” Rafe dropped back in his chair.
Vince took a long drink of his whiskey. “Write her a letter. Apologize several times. Say all those things women like to hear whether they’re true or not. Tell her you love her and you can’t live without her, but you’re afraid to come for her because the bastard bounty hunter might shoot you. Of course, leave out the bastard part.”
Rafe almost smiled. “Then what?”
“Ask her to come home and add something like you’ll have a candle-lit dinner waiting.” He thought a minute. “Tell her you want her to accompany Richard back to you.”
Rafe frowned. “Richard?”
“Yeah. You’re going to have him take the letter to Elizabeth.”
“Do you really think it’ll work?”
“What have you got to lose?”
“I guess you’re right.”
“While you’re busy wooing Elizabeth, I’ll make plans to bring Amelia home.”
Rafe’s face lit up. “How?”
“Leave that to me. I’ll clue you in later.”
“I knew I could count on you, Vince.”
“If you only knew how much, Rafe.” Vince grinned and held his glass up in a salute. Inside he could hardly believe how gullible the man was. He’d been leading him around by the nose for over four years and the fool didn’t suspect a thing.
When Rafe finished writing the letter he handed it to Vince. “I sure hope this works. Believe it or not, I miss Elizabeth. Something is not right around here when she’s gone.”
“I hope I feel that way when I’m married to Amelia.” Vince headed for the door. “I’ll send Richard to you so you can tell him what to do.”
“Thanks, Vince.” Rafe picked up the decanter and poured himself another drink.
Richard was confused when he arrived at the study and Rafe told him to take one of the good horses and deliver the letter to Elizabeth at the Lawson place. “Be sure to tell them all I want is my wife to come home.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do it.”
Vince walked Richard to the front door and waited until he saw him ride out. He then returned to the study. Taking the refilled drink Rafe offered, he said, “There’s one more thing. I hate to ask you this, boss, but I put your money from the cattle sale in the bank and I need a little to run on until we get our plans worked out.”
“Sure. That’s no problem. How much do you need?” Rafe moved to the safe in the corner of his study.
“Make it fifty.”
The safe swung open and Rafe took out a stack of bills. He turned to face the barrel of Vince’s pistol. “What the hell?”
“I’ll take it all, boss.”
Still confused, Rafe gasped, “I don’t understand, Vince?”
Vince snarled. “Rafe, you’re such a fool. Now I’m wanted by the sheriff, I need the money to get away.”
“But you didn’t—”
“Of course, I did. I had Garcia beat up. Hell, I thought the wetback was dead. I intended to add his ranch to this one so I’d have the biggest ranch in Wyoming when I take over the Double D. I now know I should have killed the kid.”
“But, I thought—”
“Damn, Rafe, I know what you thought. You wanted me to marry your prissy little daughter and be your flunky until you and your fancy wife decided to die. Well, that would’ve taken too long. I had other plans. They would’ve worked out if Amelia hadn’t married Wainwright. Now I’ve got to adjust my plans.”
“I can’t believe I could’ve been so wrong about a man.” Rafe looked devastated.
Vince laughed. “You’re the easiest man to bamboozle I’ve ever met, Rafe Donahue. I planted all those suspicions in your mind about your father-in-law. The man never had any intention of taking this ranch from you. All he wanted was for his daughter and granddaughter to be happy. Then after old man Downey died, all I had to do was to make myself indispensable to you. That way I came off as your right-hand man. At first, all I wanted was to get my hands on a wad of your money. I was headed to California because I knew they’d never catch up with me there, but as I saw how you rich folks lived, I decided to stick around to see how I could live the same way, too.”
“Who was trying to catch up with you?”
“Hell, I might as well tell you. Esther Venable is my ex-wife. She divorced me after she caught me wi
th her cousin. She might have forgiven me, but I had to kill her brother over the cousin. Esther vowed she’d find me someday and make me pay.” He let a wide grin cross his face. “Of course I never thought she’d have the guts to come after me. Sad situation. Me and that little cousin of hers had a blast all the way from North Carolina to Kansas, where I had to drop her. She got it in her head she wanted to marry me and start raising a brood of kids. Hell, I already had two kids by Esther. I never intended to have any more, except maybe a couple out of pretty Amelia. A kid would keep her busy after her ma and pa’s untimely death.”
Rafe gasped and Vince laughed again.
“Ain’t you sorry you didn’t listen to your father-in-law about not keeping me around? Good thing he died when he did. He could have screwed everything up if you’d started listening to him.”
Rafe felt his whole world collapsing. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”
“I would have, but I didn’t get a chance. Nature took him with his weak heart.” Vince shrugged. “Now you know enough. Put everything in the safe in one of those bags you have folded there. Me and Amelia’s got to have something to live on.”
“You’re not taking Amelia.”
“Of course, I am. Didn’t you always want me and her to be together?” He was enjoying watching the reaction on Rafe’s face. “Can’t wait to get my hands on that pretty little body of hers.”
“I’ll hunt you down…”
Vince shook his head. “You don’t even know my real name.”
“I assume it’s Venable.”
“Oh, yeah. The bitch told you.” He waved the gun. “Get the sack loaded. I’ve got plans for your money. I figure I’ll set us up in a nice little whore house in California and get rich. Amelia will be quiet a draw, don’t you think.”
“Why, you dirty bastard.” Rafe leapt toward Vince, but he was too late.
Vince fired and Rafe fell backward, hitting his head on the corner of the fireplace.
Once outside, it didn’t take Vince long to set fire at the corner of the house. He’d decided to burn the place, but he didn’t have time to make sure it was completely destroyed. With luck, it would catch. Richard was away and he knew Wayne Rivers and the other hand that had stayed here from the cattle drive were working out on the range. Too bad the snooty Elizabeth was away. He’d like to know she died in the fire, too.
Chapter 20
Amelia and her mother were sitting on the front porch having a cup of tea and chatting about the beautiful day when the front door opened. Jed stepped out. “Hello, Elizabeth.”
“Hello, Jed. I’m sorry I didn’t see you at breakfast. I must confess, as I get older, I like sleeping late.”
“You have a right to sleep as late as you want.”
“Is something wrong at the branding site?” Amelia looked at him.
“Everything’s fine. The men were taking a break to eat the meal Juanita and Delores packed for them. I took advantage of the time to come check on you. I knew you weren’t feeling well this morning.”
“How sweet of you, son,” Elizabeth said.
“Yes, it was thoughtful, but as I said I’m, fine. You didn’t have to sacrifice your work time.” Amelia couldn’t keep the coolness out of her voice.
“Well, if you two will excuse me, I think I’ll go see if Delores has the soup ready the doctor wanted me to have. I didn’t eat much breakfast and I’m a little hungry.” Elizabeth stood.
“You don’t have to go, Mother.”
“I know, dear, but I’m sure Jed didn’t come to see me.” She smiled at Amelia then slipped through the door.
“It looks like you and your mother are enjoying her visit.”
“Yes. We’ve been talking about going to St. Louis to visit her sister. I haven’t seen my Aunt Josephine in a long time.”
“When are you planning to go?”
“Why are you interested? It looks like your duty to me is over.” Amelia’s voice went up an octave.
Jed moved beside her chair and took her arm. “If you’re going to yell your answers, let’s take a walk.”
“I don’t want to go for a walk.”
“Well, you’re going.” His grip was firm and she knew he meant what he was saying.
She let him lead her off the porch and toward the sycamore tree in the corner of the yard.
“I think we’re far enough away from the house. You can yell back at me if you like.”
“I don’t want to yell at you, Amelia. I’m here because I was concerned about you.”
“Why, Jed?” A tear came in her eye.
He was quiet a moment, then he reached for her and pulled her against him. “Because looking after you has become a habit.”
“You now know I want to be more than a habit to you.”
“I do know, but I explained to you, why it would never work. I—”
She jerked away from him. “I only know one thing. You want to get rid of me. So be it. I’ll pack my clothes tonight, and Mother and I will head for St. Louis tomorrow.”
“Amelia, you don’t have to go. We can—”
“We can what, Jed? Stay together two more months so you can get your next five thousand dollars. Well, don’t worry. I’ll put it in your account before I leave town.”
“I don’t want your damn money.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want you to relax and take care of your mother. We’ll discuss all this when she goes home.”
“She doesn’t want to go home. She wants to go see her sister and I want to go with her.”
“Then, wait until—”
“Until what? Until you decide you’ll be happy with your whores again?”
“I’m not interested in whores.”
“Then what are you interested in, Jed? Tell me. I want to know.”
“Right now, all I want is for you to calm down.”
Amelia gritted her teeth. “I will not calm down. I want to scream and yell. I want to hit you in the head with the first thing I get my hands on. I want to stop loving you and at the same time I want to make you love me back. But I can’t and I have to live with that. So don’t worry your handsome head about it. I’ll go to St. Louis and get a job as a school teacher or something. You won’t have to worry about ever seeing me again.”
“Amelia, you’ll meet somebody someday and get married and be happy. I know you will.”
“You don’t know a damn thing about it. You spend too much of your time living with the ghost of Marie. When that gets too lonely for you, you run to the whores.” She let out a coarse laugh. “Maybe I should get a job in a bordello. You could visit me then.”
He grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “You’re talking foolish, and I don’t want to hear words like that come from your mouth ever again.”
She tried to jerk away, but he had a firm grip on her. “Why not? A whore is what I am.”
He shook her. “You know damn good and well that’s not so.”
“Let’s face it. You bought my body for six months with your name and now that you’re through with me, you’re going to start handing out money when you want your pleasure in bed. You paid me with your name, and you’ll pay them with money. That makes us all whores. I don’t see a difference, do you?”
“For God’s sake, Amelia, you’re being ridiculous. I’m going back to work and we’ll talk about this later. In the state you’re in, there’s no reasoning with you.”
“Go on back to your branding. When you come in tonight, don’t worry if I’m not here. You can sleep with the ghost of your precious Marie.” She did jerk away this time. Shaking her hair over her shoulder, she turned and marched toward the house.
“If you’re still acting this way when I come in, I don’t give a damn whether you’re here or not.”
Amelia didn’t think she could be hurt any more, but those stinging words cut into her soul. She heard Jed walk in the other direction, but she was too hurt to turn around. As she entered the house, he
r mother met her at the door.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t say that, Amelia. I’m your mother. I know when something is wrong with my child.”
Amelia burst into tears. “Jed and I had a fight.”
“Oh, honey.” Elizabeth put her arms around her daughter. “Was it your first?”
“I guess. We had some words last night and today we fought. We said some really mean things to each other.”
“That’s normal, dear. He’ll come in tonight all apologetic and you’ll forgive him. Your love will be stronger than ever.”
Amelia shook her head. “No, it won’t, Mother. Jed doesn’t love me.”
“Of course he loves you, darling. All anyone has to do is watch the way he looks at you.”
“He has everyone fooled.”
“How can you say that, Amelia?”
“I can say it because he told me last night he didn’t love me. He also said he never would.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“It’s the truth, Mother. I wish it wasn’t, but it is.” Amelia clung to her mother’s neck and began to sob. “The saddest part of it all is I love him with all my heart and I know I always will.”
Elizabeth held her daughter and let her cry. At this point there was nothing else she could do.
* * * *
Jed was holding a calf for Curt to brand. He was still angry with Amelia and had been trying not to show it for the last two hours. Couldn’t the woman see he did care for her? Not in the way she wanted, but he wasn’t heartless, though she’d made him feel like he was. Didn’t she know she’d be better off without him? Once Vince Callahan swung from a rope, she’d have her pick of any man in Settlers Ridge. Why in the world would she want to tie herself to a half- breed? Didn’t she know being with him hurt her chances of ever being invited to the big social events in town? Being Rafe Donahue’s daughter wouldn’t change things. Even if he did love her, he’d never let her tie herself to him for the rest of her life. It wouldn’t be fair and in the end, she’d probably hate him.
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