Savage Land by Janet Dailey Page B

harder than her own. How mean of her to think badly of him when he teased her. He was trying to help her fit in, to be a part of the family. She blinked hastily at the tears forming in her eyes. It wouldn't do for Tony to see her pity.
    She didn't notice the calculating gleam in his eye as he studied her face.
    'Look at this view, Coley,’ he directed, sweeping a hand around him.
    She looked around her in surprise. During their slow ride around the herd, they had climbed the crest of the canyon. Spread out below them were the coppery forms of the horses peacefully grazing on the canyon floor. Shimmering in the distance were the tiny toy buildings of the ranchyard. Behind them were the craggy hills and mountains. Dark splotches of cattle dotted the pastures between the ranch house and the canyon.
    'As far as the eye can see is Slash S rangeland,’ Tony said calmly but forcefully. ‘All told, over sixty square miles, valued, with livestock and all, in the millions. And now it looks like one day it will all be mine.’ He turned once again to Coley. ‘You know, Ben's grown very fond of you these few short weeks you've been here. He told Willy your gentle ways hid a lot of determination and pride.’ Coley's eyes were captured by the forcefulness of his gaze. ‘I feel I have to warn you Jase realizes that Ben likes you. He's not above using you as a tool to get it. He constantly tries to make me look bad, gives me menial tasks, like today, then implies to Ben that I can't be trusted. He wants this ranch, Coley, any way he can get it.'
    On that ominous note Tony stopped, turning a grim face towards the hills. Jase's words came echoing back to Coley. ‘Tony would destroy everything you worked for in a week.'
    Very hesitantly Coley spoke. ‘But if what you told me the other day is true, about Rick's death, isn't the ranch rightly his?'
    There was a long silence during which it seemed Tony was choosing his words carefully before he answered.
    'Nobody saw what happened. We have only the version Jase told us and the barely lucid cries of Rick while he was conscious but delirious. Rick was very clear when he begged Jase not to stand there ... to help him.'
    'What if someone else were there?'
    His gaze sharpened as he studied her face.
    'What if the sight of three thousand pounds of charging Brahma bull momentarily froze Jase? What if the horror inside the corral stopped him?’ Tony asked, his complexion paling under his tan.
    'Is that what you believe?’ Coley asked breathlessly, half afraid to hear his answer.
    'It's possible. That's what Ben believes,’ Tony answered calmly, lifting his eyebrows briefly in an almost indifferent shrug. ‘That and the fact that Jase wanted the ranch, which will now, quite likely, be mine.’ Suddenly he smiled at her his thin lips curling back to reveal a large expanse of white teeth. ‘How did we get on such a morbid subject when we both were enjoying the ride? Quien sabe, huh? I'll tell you what, you stay here and watch the colts play while I ride over the hill and check the pump on that water well?'
    Coley nodded a quick agreement. She needed time to be alone, to think about Tony's new revelations. She smiled and waved in return as his horse danced down the hill. Her eyes followed him until he was out of sight. With a barely repressed sigh, Coley dismounted, leading her horse part way down the crest to a grassy level spot where she let loose of the reins to allow Misty to graze. She stretched out on the incline, leaning back to gaze up at the vivid blue sky.
    How strange that she had never guessed that Tony's occasional brashness had come from an unhappy childhood. She remembered often seeing those same lines of bitterness and discontent etched on Danny's face before they had come here. In some ways the circumstances of Tony's early life had been like theirs, except that he never had known a mother's love and possibly not even a father's.
    Her brows constricted briefly. She wished they had