But it was none of Chase’s business. His expression didn’t change, not even when the girl’s blue-green eyes shot daggers at him. Damn pretty she was, and those unusual eyes were stunning.

“But—” Blue began, but she jumped behind him once more, pinching him again.

“I didn’t know I was trespassing,” Chase offered. “If you’ll just point me in the right direction, I’ll move on.”

“Just keep riding north, mister,” Jessie answered, and warned sharply, “and don’t come back this way. We don’t like strangers crossing our land.”

“I’ll remember that,” Chase replied. Then he nodded thanks and crossed the creek, riding on.

Jessie stared after him, glaring at his back for some time before she sensed Blue staring at her in the same way. His expression was a mix of confusion and anger, and she quickly looked away. Reaching down for her gun belt, she strapped it on, refusing to look at him.

“Just a minute, gal.” Blue caught her arm when she picked up her hat and started for her horse. “What the hell was that all about?”

She tried to shrug it off. “I don’t like strangers.”

“What’s that got to do with lying?” he demanded.

Jessie jerked her arm out of his grasp and faced him, her eyes flashing with all the fury pent up inside her. Blue nearly forgot his anger then, for she was something to behold, her eyes lit up with blue-green fire, breasts heaving, her long braid flung over her shoulder, the braid end touching her narrow hip. Her right hand rested on her gun, and although he doubted she would really shoot him, the threat was there, and he didn’t try to grab her again.

“Jessie, I don’t understand. If you’ll just tell me what’s made you so angry?”

“Everything!” she snapped. “You! Him!”

“I know what I did, but—”

“What you did you’d better never try again, Blue Parker!”

He frowned. She didn’t mean that. He wasn’t about to give her up, anyway. But it would be a good idea to get her mind on something else for a while.

“Well, what’d he do? Why’d you lie to him?”

“You heard who he was looking for.”

“So?”

“You think I can’t guess why he’s looking for her?”

Blue followed her drift. “You don’t know anything for sure.”

Jessie drew herself up. “Don’t I? He was too good-looking. He’s got to be one of her lovers, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let him come to my ranch and carry on with her under my roof!”

“And just what’re you gonna do when he finds out you lied to him and comes back?”

Jessie was too mad to give it any thought. “Who’s to say he’ll be back? He’s probably from the city, like she is. He probably couldn’t find his way out of a hole in the ground,” she added contemptuously. “Didn’t you see how packed his saddlebags were? He’s the type who can’t survive without store-bought goods. If he reaches Fort Laramie or gets back to Cheyenne, he won’t be eager to venture out on the range again, where the nearest store is days away. He’ll go back where he came from and wait for her to come to him—which can’t happen soon enough for me.”

Blue shook his head. “You sure do hate her.”

“Yes, I hate her!”

“It ain’t natural, Jessie,” he said softly. “She’s your mother.”

“She’s not!” Jessie stepped back as if he had struck her. “She’s not! My mother wouldn’t have deserted me. She wouldn’t have let Thomas Blair turn me into the son he wanted. My mother died here. That woman is nothing but a whore. She never gave a damn about me.”

“Maybe you’re just hurting, Jessie,” he said kindly.

Jessie wanted to cry. Hurting? How many times had she cried herself to sleep because there was no one there to soften the pain of her life, a life she hated. Hadn’t it all been because of her mother? Every single thing her father did was to spite the whore, as he’d called her mother. He had denied Jessie boarding school because her mother had wanted her to be educated. He had denied her anything feminine because her mother had wanted her to be a lady. He had made her what she was because he knew her mother would hate her. Irrationally, he had gone into debt to build a house fit for a queen, done it solely because it was what her mother would have loved and could never have.

“I passed the point of being hurt long ago, Blue,” Jessie said in a quiet voice. “I haven’t needed her for a long time, and I certainly don’t need her now.”

Before her tears spilled, Jessie ran to her horse and took off. She didn’t mind crying, she just didn’t want anyone to see her at it. She rode south, away from the ranch, away from the cause of her tears.

Chapter 2

WHEN Jessie rode into the yard, the sun was setting, the sky to the west streaked with dark reds and violets beyond the mountains. Light streamed onto the porch at the front of the sprawling ranch house, so she rode to the back, where she could enter the house through the kitchen and not be seen. She dismounted and sent Blackstar off to the stable with a soft word and a pat on his backside. He would go directly to his stall and wait for her to come and rub him down. She was famished, had been for hours, and just wanted a little something to take the edge off her hunger before she bedded her horse down for the night.

Blackstar wouldn’t mind waiting just a few more minutes. Blackstar never balked at anything Jessie did. He would nip at other people and even try to get in a few good kicks once in a while, but he was an angel with Jessie. White Thunder had known he would be gentle with her when he gave the stallion to her. White Thunder had a way with horses that no one could match, and he had raised Blackstar from a colt, raising him just for Jessie. She had never guessed that secret, though. All the time she had thought she was just helping her friend train a horse.

It was such a generous gift. Horses were a sign of wealth among the Indians, and it wasn’t as if White Thunder had very many horses. But White Thunder was like that. Blackstar was not the only gift he had given her in the years he had been her friend. He was her closest friend really, next to old Jeb. Blackstar meant the world to her because of their friendship. Just thinking about that, watching the horse trot off toward the stable, she almost forgot about food. But her stomach reminded her, and she stepped into the darkened kitchen and closed the door quietly behind her.

The smells of dinner lingered in the large room, and Jessie looked forward to coming back later and having a big plate of Kate’s stew. She scanned the counters for something to pick on quickly, and when she spotted a plate of fresh sourdough bread, she grinned. But then she heard her mother’s voice coming from the front room down the hall, and the smile died. She tore off a chunk of bread and started to leave. Then she heard another voice.

She stopped where she was, staring at the open door leading to the hall. She couldn’t have heard right. It wasn’t that voice, was it? She edged closer to the door, then crept a few feet down the hall, pausing by her bedroom. She could hear the voice distinctly, and her face flamed with color as she recalled the scene. Damn and double damn, to be caught in a lie!

She inched her way closer to the large main room, having to tiptoe because of her riding boots with their two-inch heels. Thank goodness she never wore spurs on Blackstar! She poked her head around the corner until she could see the whole room, the room filled with all the rich things that had put Thomas Blair into debt, debts Jessie had inherited.

Sitting side by side on the thickly padded sofa, their backs to Jessie, were her mother and the stranger. Jessie stared at them for a moment. He had removed his hat, revealing dark chestnut hair that curled on his neck.

“I can’t imagine who the girl could be, Chase,” Rachel was saying. “But I’ve only been here a week, and I haven’t met any of Jessica’s neighbors yet.”

“If they’re all as hostile as that promiscuous chit, then you would do well not to bother. If I hadn’t met up with one of the ranch hands and gotten turned back in the right direction, I’d be sleeping out on the range again. One night of that was enough, thank you.”

Rachel laughed. “I take it you’ve been sticking pretty close to civilization since I last saw you.”

“If you can call the cow towns of Kansas civilization.” Chase shook his head. “But any hotel room and any hot meal beat a lonely camp fire any day.”

“Well, I’m glad you got here. When I sent those telegrams, I wasn’t sure they’d get to you. You’ve always moved around so much. And, anyway, I wasn’t sure you would come.”

“Didn’t I say if you ever needed me just to send word?”

“I know. But neither of us thought I would take you up on it. I didn’t, anyway.”

“You don’t like to ask for help.” It was a statement.

“How well you know me.” Rachel laughed softly, and the sound grated on Jessie’s nerves.

“So what’s the problem, lady?” Chase asked.

Jessie stiffened. She didn’t like the tender way he spoke.

“I’m not really sure, Chase,” Rachel was saying hesitantly. “At least... it’s not anything specific yet. What I mean is, I may have asked for your help unnecessarily. I mean ...”

“Hold on,” Chase said abruptly. “It’s not like you to beat around the bush, Rachel.”

“It’s just that I would feel terrible if I’d brought you up here for nothing.”

“You can forget that right now. Whether there is anything to what’s troubling you or not, I was glad to come. There was nothing holding me in Abilene, and it was time I moved on, anyway. Let’s just call this a visit that was long overdue, and if there is anything I can do to assist you while I’m here, fine.”