Emmeline had arrived the day before, pondering his way through a flock of unspectacular options. “Maybe I’ll ride on down to Tucson, or Tombstone, one day soon, and size up the social situation there.”
Kade swept off his hat, without slackening his pace, and ran an arm across his forehead. “Bring back a spare,” he said.
“By next winter,” Jeb vowed,“we’ll be married men.”
“By next winter,” Kade said, “we could be uncles, and taking orders from Rafe on a permanent basis.”
“Instead of just temporarily, like now?” Jeb retorted dryly, raising an eyebrow.
Kade shuddered. “I love this ranch,” he vowed, “but I figure I could live another fifty years—hell, look at Pa—and that’s a mighty long time to take guff from Rafe.”
Jeb sighed. There was no refuting Kade’s logic. Yep—he would definitely ride down south a ways and see what he came up with. One thing was for damn sure—Kade could go find his own woman. “I think I’d rather be strung up for an outlaw than have Rafe telling me what to do for the rest of my life. The misery would be over a lot quicker.”
Kade nodded, and they rode on, climbing now toward the high country, leaning forward in their saddles as their horses cut through the brush. Sure enough, there were a couple of dozen strays in the meadow, mostly cows and yearling calves, and the two brothers set themselves to the task of rounding up the critters and driving them down a gentler slope, toward the relative shelter of the canyon.
There was a lot of whistling and cursing, and the pair of them were splattered with rain and red mud by the time Rafe finally rode up, looking as cool and unruffled as if he’d just taken high tea in a lady’s parlor. The mere sight of him made Jeb want to haul him off that horse and kick his ass, just on general principle.
“Good job,” Rafe commended his brothers, tugging at the brim of his hat as he got within speaking distance.
“Nice of you to show up,” Kade commended, both hands resting easily on the saddle horn.
Rafe smiled, stood in the stirrups for a moment, stretching his legs, and sat down again with a self-satisfied sigh.“Least I could do,” he said,“now that I’m foreman.”
“So,” Kade said, his jaw tight, his horse sensing his disquiet and spooking a little.“Jeb was right.”
Rafe sliced a glance in Jeb’s direction, eyes narrowed. “Yup,” Rafe said. Hot damn, but he looked cool as a springhouse egg. Seething, Jeb wheeled his horse in a little closer, thinking he might take the new foreman down a peg or two.
Rafe’s look invited him to try, and the two brothers sat facing each other in stony silence, their horses restless beneath them. Overhead, thunder rolled across the sky and boomed against the mountains, and the cattle took to bawling and flailing around like a bunch of bugs in the bottom of a tobacco can.
“Let’s get these critters into the canyon,” Kade said, raising his voice to be heard,“before they take a notion to stampede.”
Chapter 5
“W HERE IS EVERYBODY ?” Rafe asked, looming in the kitchen doorway, his clothes as soaked and muddy as if he’d been rolling about on the ground—and perhaps he had. Cowboying was surely rough-and-tumble work.
Emmeline, seated near the stove, where she’d been mending the hem of her best petticoat, looked up at her husband. The shadows made the room seem especially cozy, even as rain lashed at the windows and struck the roof with a furious rhythm.
“Angus is helping find lost cattle,” she answered, “and Concepcion left a note, saying she went to pay a call on a neighbor.”
“In this weather?” Rafe asked, evidently unconcerned with his father’s whereabouts, or that of his two brothers, for that matter, as he kicked off his boots and set them behind the stove. “She knows better than to do a damn fool thing like that.”
Emmeline didn’t care for his tone, which was officious, and she passed him a glance
Kade swept off his hat, without slackening his pace, and ran an arm across his forehead. “Bring back a spare,” he said.
“By next winter,” Jeb vowed,“we’ll be married men.”
“By next winter,” Kade said, “we could be uncles, and taking orders from Rafe on a permanent basis.”
“Instead of just temporarily, like now?” Jeb retorted dryly, raising an eyebrow.
Kade shuddered. “I love this ranch,” he vowed, “but I figure I could live another fifty years—hell, look at Pa—and that’s a mighty long time to take guff from Rafe.”
Jeb sighed. There was no refuting Kade’s logic. Yep—he would definitely ride down south a ways and see what he came up with. One thing was for damn sure—Kade could go find his own woman. “I think I’d rather be strung up for an outlaw than have Rafe telling me what to do for the rest of my life. The misery would be over a lot quicker.”
Kade nodded, and they rode on, climbing now toward the high country, leaning forward in their saddles as their horses cut through the brush. Sure enough, there were a couple of dozen strays in the meadow, mostly cows and yearling calves, and the two brothers set themselves to the task of rounding up the critters and driving them down a gentler slope, toward the relative shelter of the canyon.
There was a lot of whistling and cursing, and the pair of them were splattered with rain and red mud by the time Rafe finally rode up, looking as cool and unruffled as if he’d just taken high tea in a lady’s parlor. The mere sight of him made Jeb want to haul him off that horse and kick his ass, just on general principle.
“Good job,” Rafe commended his brothers, tugging at the brim of his hat as he got within speaking distance.
“Nice of you to show up,” Kade commended, both hands resting easily on the saddle horn.
Rafe smiled, stood in the stirrups for a moment, stretching his legs, and sat down again with a self-satisfied sigh.“Least I could do,” he said,“now that I’m foreman.”
“So,” Kade said, his jaw tight, his horse sensing his disquiet and spooking a little.“Jeb was right.”
Rafe sliced a glance in Jeb’s direction, eyes narrowed. “Yup,” Rafe said. Hot damn, but he looked cool as a springhouse egg. Seething, Jeb wheeled his horse in a little closer, thinking he might take the new foreman down a peg or two.
Rafe’s look invited him to try, and the two brothers sat facing each other in stony silence, their horses restless beneath them. Overhead, thunder rolled across the sky and boomed against the mountains, and the cattle took to bawling and flailing around like a bunch of bugs in the bottom of a tobacco can.
“Let’s get these critters into the canyon,” Kade said, raising his voice to be heard,“before they take a notion to stampede.”
Chapter 5
“W HERE IS EVERYBODY ?” Rafe asked, looming in the kitchen doorway, his clothes as soaked and muddy as if he’d been rolling about on the ground—and perhaps he had. Cowboying was surely rough-and-tumble work.
Emmeline, seated near the stove, where she’d been mending the hem of her best petticoat, looked up at her husband. The shadows made the room seem especially cozy, even as rain lashed at the windows and struck the roof with a furious rhythm.
“Angus is helping find lost cattle,” she answered, “and Concepcion left a note, saying she went to pay a call on a neighbor.”
“In this weather?” Rafe asked, evidently unconcerned with his father’s whereabouts, or that of his two brothers, for that matter, as he kicked off his boots and set them behind the stove. “She knows better than to do a damn fool thing like that.”
Emmeline didn’t care for his tone, which was officious, and she passed him a glance
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