Emily Carmichael - How To Lasso A Cowboy

“Do you have a plan?”

“It’s forming. How many cows do you have here?”

“Not many. We have to be careful.”

“Branded?”

“Some. Not all.”

“What are the brands?”

Dillon named several nearby ranchers. One belonged to the Knox family.

“Where did they come from?”

“A friend of Delaney named Richmond. His herd is growing proportionately to those being depleted. He hadn’t had time to change the brands. We intend to get them back to the rightful owners.”

“We have another use for them now,” Seth said and outlined the plan.

Colorado and Dillon listened in silence.

“I don’t like it,” Colorado said. “It depends on a marshal. How do we know he’s not in league with Delaney?”

“Doc vouches for him. I plan to take his measure before saying anything.”

“We don’t have any choice,” Dillon said. “Another six months and there won’t be a Texan left in this area.”

“And Delaney will have our ranch.”

Dillon stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“McGuire was gunned down early today. I know it wasn’t you, but I hear they’re blaming everything else on you. They will probably add that to the list.”

“Hell, it wasn’t none of us. We stay hunkered down during the day.”

“It was probably Delaney. He wants to marry McGuire’s daughter, probably retire from the army with the best spread in Canaan. He can then scoop up other parcels at his leisure. He’s draining them of all their assets. They won’t have any choice but to sell or be foreclosed.”

“What do you need?” Dillon said.

SETH waited until near daybreak before approaching the ranch house that once belonged to his family.

He had seen the men stationed around the house. All appeared to be peacetime soldiers. Lazy. Undisciplined. Two were asleep. Two others had laid their rifles several feet away. All were unconscious now, tied with their own belts and the severed reins of their horses. Of the four, three had seen nothing. The last had only seen a man in a mask similar to those used by Elizabeth’s attackers.

Seth then moved swiftly to the back of the house, found an open window, and slid through it.

He’d seen a light in the house from a distance. Her father’s room. Seth wanted to make sure he was out of danger, that Delaney had not paid another visit.

Seth moved lightly to McGuire’s room, pausing at the door to listen for voices. There were none. He gently opened the door.

And came facetoface with the wrong end of a pistol.

HE STOOD STILL. He usually stood still when confronted by someone holding a pistol.

A sleepyeyed Elizabeth held it.

She was still in a dress. Her hair was coming loose from the braid she usually wore and curled around her face. Long black lashes framed weary eyes.

She lowered the gun when she saw him.

“How did you get in?” she asked.

“Through a back window.”

“Soldiers were here all day. They’ve been looking for you. They said they had an arrest warrant.”

“Did they say for what?”

“No.”

He shrugged. “I suspected as much. Under military occupation, it doesn’t take much.” “How did you get by them?” “I didn’t. They’re sleeping right now.” “Did you help them?”

“I did,” he replied.

“All of them?”

“I sincerely hope so.”

“You’re giving them more reasons to come after you.”

“I don’t think they need any.”

She put her pistol on the table beside the bed. “Why did you come here? Surely you knew…”

“I wanted to know how your father was doing. And Marilee.”

“Do you really care about my father?”

“Surprisingly enough, I do,” he said, realizing it was true. “I think he’s a victim as much as anyone here.” He went over to the man’s bedside, inspected the bandages, then felt his forehead. “No fever. Has he awoken yet?”

“Yes.”

“Did he tell you any more?”

“The only description was similar to those who came after me.”

That puzzled him. If Delaney wanted to take Elizabeth as his wife to inherit, why would he try to kill her? Or perhaps he just wanted to frighten her enough to seek his protection. If so, he obviously didn’t care if she was seriously hurt, even killed, in the effort.

She looked at him. “Could it have been your brother?”

“No.”

“You’ve talked to him then?”

Seth didn’t say anything.

Despite his efforts to save her father, Elizabeth obviously wasn’t absolutely sure who was behind the attacks. The pistol that was in her hand proved that. She’d been ready to protect her father with her life.

“I told him you saved his life,” she said.

“Anyone would have.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “I don’t remember if I thanked you.”

She looked so vulnerable, so tired, yet still so protective of those she loved that his heart jolted. He held out his arms and she stepped into them. He just held her for several moments, trying to lend his strength to her.

Her body pressed against his, but her eyes gazed directly into his. His breath caught at what he saw there. Trust. And another emotion. One more complicated than desire.

He felt it, too. Damn, he wanted to protect her. Her father as well because she loved him. Hell, he wanted more than to protect her. He wanted her in his life. Not just for a night. Or a week.

He lowered his head to kiss her. Gently, comfortingly at first. Lips touching lips with featherlike gentleness.

It was meant to be comforting but the moment their lips met, the kiss turned into something else altogether. Awareness flashed and thundered between them like a sudden Texas storm. His knees nearly buckled under the impact of need he suddenly felt. His hands moved along her back, touching lightly, and he marveled at the wells of tenderness that gave his hands a gentleness he’d never known before. He felt a glow of light, then a warmth that filled him so completely he realized how lonely he had been, how dark his world had become in the past years.

Her arms curled around his neck and he reveled in her embrace, the way her fingers teased and played with his hair. A barely restrained passion was evident in each touch, as it was in the hazel eyes that changed with her every emotion. They were stormy, more green and gold than brown.

He deepened the kiss, feeling her react to it. Her body moved closer into his and he felt a longing and need so strong he could barely contain it.

A groan came from the bed. Reality stabbed through the cocoon of desire that had wrapped around them.

She stepped back quickly, turned, and went to the bed. He remained where he was, his body afire.

“Liz?” McGuire’s voice was barely a whisper, broken with pain.

“Papa, I’m here. I’ll get you some more laudanum.”

She knelt beside her father and Seth heard the love and concern and tenderness in her voice. That struck him as deeply as her passion a moment earlier.

“No,” McGuire said, then his painfilled gaze moved to Seth.

“Who…?” His voice broke off as if he could not manage another word.

“Seth Sinclair. He took out the bullet yesterday. The doctor said he saved your life. He also rescued me the day before.”

“Sinclair?”

“Yes.”

“He…”

“He’s a good man, Papa,” she said.

“Tell him… to come close,” McGuire said.

Seth stepped closer and looked down at the man who had benefited from the theft of his land.

McGuire strained to lift his good arm and held out his hand for Seth’s. “Thank you,” he said simply. “For Liz, thank you.”

Seth took it. Any number of emotions ran through him. And out of him. Bitterness faded. So did any desire for revenge.

McGuire loved his daughter. Elizabeth loved her father.

And I love Elizabeth.

The thought flashed through his mind with the impact of a cannonball.

He tried to dismiss it. It was the circumstances. He’d been lonelier than he’d thought. He’d been without a woman’s touch too long.

It’s been too short a time. Love doesn’t happen like that.

He had to get out of here before he made any more of a fool of himself.

He nodded his acknowledgment of McGuire’s thanks and stepped back. “I have to go before someone wakes up. Do you have any protection here? Besides that?” he asked, glancing over at the gun.

“Howie is here. He’s in the barn.”

“I won’t be back for a while. There are some things I need to do. If you need anything send Howie to Abe at the saloon in town. He’ll know where to find me.”

“You’re going to try to stop what’s happening?” she asked on a shuddering sigh. “To the other ranchers. To you.”

He said nothing as he stared at her, taking one last look…for a while. Just a while.

“I want to see Marilee for a moment,” he said.

She nodded and led the way to the small bedroom at the end of the hall. She opened the door, and he looked inside.

His sister was curled up in a ball, a light covering over half her body. Her arm was around a sleeping puppy.

He went over to the bed and pulled the sheet up over her thin body. He hesitated, wanting to lean down and touch his lips to her forehead. To hug her. But that might wake and frighten her. Instead, he locked the picture of her into his mind.

Elizabeth was standing just outside the room. “I will take good care of her.”

“I know that.”

“Be careful,” she said softly.

“I’m hard to kill. And find.”

“I’ll still worry.”

“Doc or Abe will keep you informed.”

“The doctor doesn’t like me.”

“He’s just a cautious man, Elizabeth.”

“Liz,” she corrected.

His heart tugged again. He sensed that no one called her that but her father and Marilee. She’d just torn down a barrier.

He wondered whether he could tear down his as well. He wondered whether he could ever be whole again. He hadn’t told Elizabeth that, like Marilee, he had nightmares. His were about the killing fields, about the boys he had killed, the friends he had lost in a nightmare called war.