Native Silver by Helen Conrad

“What is she doing here?” she demanded. “How did she get in?” Her riding-crop slashed against her own thigh to emphasize her words.
    “Take it easy.” David’s hand left Shawnee’s neck and he stepped forward, taking his sister by her shoulders. “She’s my guest, Allison. I invited her here.” His voice was gentle, soothing, as though he were used to quieting her.
    “Why, so she and her family can concoct more lies about us?” She swung back to face Shawnee. “I know what you say in town. I know all about the stories you’ve spread through the years. Your grandfather has no more right to Rancho Verde than he does to the moon, and you can tell him so . . .”
    “Allison.” David gave her a gentle shake, forcing her to look up into his face. “That’s enough.”
    Allison’s blue eyes stared into her brother’s dark ones. She blinked rapidly, then her harsh armor began to melt. “I’m sorry,” she said shakily, glanc ing at Shawnee. “That was very rude. I…I hope you’ll forgive me.”
    Surprised, Shawnee found herself nodding. “Of course,” she murmured. Funny how vulnerable Allison seemed, not like the hard, arrogant picture she’d had of her all these years. Could it be that she had things in her past that aunted her just as much as it did the Carringtons?
    But her outburst did serve to remind Shawnee of her own purpose. How could she have let David lead her so far astray? Why, she’d almost. . . !
    Her hand went to her throat at the thought of how close she’d come to an intimacy with David that was im possible, always would be. It made her gasp to think of it. Somehow he had managed to weave a sense of a shared history between the two of them that had lulled her into an affection she couldn’t afford to hold. She would have to be stronger in the future. She would have to toughen up a little. She looked at him, and suddenly she wasn’t horrified by what she’d done any longer.
    He was so handsome, but more than that, he was so—so irresistible. There was no other word for it. Just looking at him made her heart melt. Was she in love? She’d better not be!
    Stepping away from David, Allison seemed confused and nervous. She pulled a silver cigarette case from her pocket and then a lighter. David reached out and took them both from her.
    “You know you can’t smoke in here,” he told her patiently.
    She looked up and gave him a tremulous smile. “Oh David, it’s been such a rotten day.”
    He smiled back. “Relax, love,” he said. “We’ll go back to the house and wash it away with a nice talk over a cool drink. All right?”
    In that short exchange, Shawnee saw just what the relationship between the two of them had be come. Allison might have been like a mother to him for many years, but now it was she who needed the nurturing, and he who was providing it. She could see that they loved each other very much, and that Allison depended upon her brother for emotional stability.  
    In other circumstances such mutual affec tion would have touched her. It sure put a spotlight on a part of David’s character she never would have dreamed he had. But she had to remember--these were Santiagos, after all. And the people she had to beat.
    “I should be getting home,” she told David briskly. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you for a lift.”
    He looked at her as though he thought she’d dropped an oar. “We’re on a date, remember?” he told her. “That means I accompany you wherever you need to go. You don’t have to ask for a special ride home.”
    She avoided his eyes. “I don’t think we can really consider this a date,” she said more firmly than she felt. “A ‘meeting’ might be a better term for it.”
    He’d turned all his attention to her again. “Why not just call it a ‘preliminary weigh-in’?” he asked ironically. “You seem to be preparing for some sort of battle again.”  
    He reached towards her and she flinched, pulling back, but he kept