Page 15 of A Steadfast Heart (Wind River Mail-Order Brides #2)

“Y ou expecting trouble?” Ed guided his horse close to Solomon’s flank. His free hand rested near the stock of his rifle.

Drew scanned the land, looking for anything out of place. Nothing. A nice spring evening with enough clouds to ensure a beautiful sunset. “No reason to.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

A breeze blew through. Drew forced himself to relax, then pulled his hat off to better enjoy the cool wind. The day had been hot. Finally, he faced his brother. “Just be ready for anything.”

They followed the creek into a small clearing perfect for Isaac’s cabin. But they had to finish Ed’s first. Soon they left the trees behind and crossed onto Tate land. Strange. He should be able to see smoke from their cabin from here.

Ed eyed the empty sky. “You think Quade forced them out like he did with the Fogelsons?”

Drew reached for his canteen and took a sip. “Could be sick.” He nudged Solomon into a trot. If the Tates weren’t able to tend their fire, they might need Kaitlyn to send supper, and darkness was approaching.

If they were sick, that was. Not another victim of Quade.

He stopped himself from reaching for his water again. Worry, not thirst, dried his mouth.

Three cows topped a rise in front of them. Moving fast. Why weren’t they with the herd in the good grazing? He looked at his brother, who appeared as confused as Drew. More cattle topped the ridge. Drew undid the strap over his rifle. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ed do the same.

They rode toward the stragglers and drove them into a bunch, then directed the cattle over the hill back the way they had come. Drew paused at the crest. What on earth? That looked like his entire herd. Four riders pushed them toward him. He pulled his rifle from its scabbard and laid it across his saddle, where it would be easier to use if he needed it. He couldn’t spare his brother a glance, but Ed would follow his lead.

He stopped Solomon at the front of his herd and waited as two of the hands rode up to meet him. One had a concha hatband, and the other wore a black hat. Drew wrapped his reins around the saddle horn. Solomon responded to leg aids as well as to neck reining, and Drew might need both hands. Black Hat’s eyes narrowed, and he moved one hand to his rifle.

Drew kept his hands a foot from his own gun. With it across his lap, he had enough of an advantage. No need to provoke them further. “What are you doing with our cattle?”

Conchas pulled to a stop next to his friend. “Your cattle was on our boss’s land. You’re lucky we didn’t shoot them where they stood.”

Black Hat signaled his friend to settle down. Okay, so he was in charge.

Ed pulled up beside Drew. “This land belongs to the Tates.”

Black Hat shook his head. “Not anymore.”

Drew’s stomach roiled, but he’d deal with the implications of that statement later, when he and his brother weren’t outnumbered. He pressed his left leg into Solomon’s side, turning him a few degrees to the left to give him a good view of Conchas trying to sidle around to their blind side. He rested his hands on his rifle.

Black Hat scowled at Conchas. “Don’t be a fool, Riley. Get back in front where everybody can see everybody. We’re just returning McGraw’s herd. No need to go looking for trouble.” He turned back to Drew, his eyes serious, his posture tense.

The man was expecting problems. But maybe not hoping for them?

Drew lifted his hand off his weapon. Black Hat’s shoulders relaxed, and he moved his hand from his rifle and raised it into the air. His other two riders stopped behind the herd.

Drew didn’t drop his guard. They were still outnumbered, and none of these men looked afraid of a fight. “When did the land change hands?”

Black Hat’s gaze was steady and a bit sad. “Seems Tate ran into some trouble with the land office. His improvements didn’t make the cut.”

Lightning sidestepped, and Ed brought him back under control. “He had a house and a lean-to. Phillips had already checked in with the Tates once. The final inspection was only a formality.”

“Phillips ain’t in charge no more.” Conchas sneered, his hand moving back to his rifle. “His word don’t count for nothin’ now.”

Drew intentionally relaxed his shoulders. Conchas might be a buffoon, but Black Hat didn’t seem to miss much. No sense giving him any clues to work with. “So Duff isn’t honoring past agreements?”

Conchas raised a scornful eyebrow. “Tate didn’t have any evidence that Phillips ever came out here.”

Drew forced his eyes not to squeeze shut and suppressed a wince. Ernie Duff had tried to misplace papers that showed the town owned the lot the school sat on. He’d failed that time. Evidently, the Tates hadn’t been as lucky. “And their improvements didn’t rate an extension?”

Conchas spat a stream of tobacco juice. “Duff don’t agree with extensions. Not for anybody. This is Quade land now.”

Drew’s stomach clenched. Quade now held land bordering the McGraw spread. He wanted their water access. Always had.

Ed pulled his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. “Wonder just how your boss managed to force them out.”

Black Hat tilted his head toward the herd. “I wouldn’t know much about that, but Boss said to tell you he won’t take kindly to any further trespassing.”

Take kindly? Drew shook his head. Way too many interpretations of that phrase, all of them a threat to his family and their livelihood. “Tell Quade we got his message.”

The corner of Black Hat’s mouth turned down. “I reckon you know the rest of the message without me saying it.”

“No point in hiding it.” Conchas’s smile could have frozen water on a summer day. “Everyone knows Quade’s gonna have his water afore long.”

Drew’s heart dropped to his boots. Pa had had to draw his pistol to protect the family legacy from Quade. No way was Drew going to let his family down.

And how are you gonna do that when you now need money for hay as well as lumber?

Black Hat looked over Drew’s herd. “It’s a lot of animals. I can spare an hour or two to get them back to your homestead.”

Drew ignored the hired hand and focused on the man in charge. “We can handle it.” Black Hat would probably be a help, but Quade still signed his paycheck. If the boss asked what he’d seen on McGraw land, he’d have to answer.

Black Hat nodded, then signaled his men to head back toward the Diamond Q bunkhouse.

When the four horses topped the second rise away from them, Ed ran a hand along the back of his neck. “What are we gonna do now?”

“Take the cattle home.” Drew kept his voice steady, even with his heart resting somewhere around his boots.

“And after that? There’s not enough grazing to get the cattle through the summer, and we need the hay we planted for the winter.”

Tell me something I don’t know, little brother.

“Tomorrow’s problem.” Maybe they could buy some hay for the summer. Except they needed that money to prove up the first homestead. He never should have let them get this far behind on the homestead improvements. If only he’d managed things better, they wouldn’t be in this fix.

The air in his lungs evaporated. He struggled to draw in more. But how was he supposed to have managed better after Amanda left him and the kids needed his time? And now, with the bottom dropping out of the cattle market…He shook his head. Jo didn’t think he loved her, and he was going to lose the land. He was failing on all fronts.

He gestured for Ed to move to the side. “You take the right and I’ll take the left.”

With just the two of them, it took hours to push the cattle back home, and someone would still have to go back out to round up a few stragglers. Drew’s body ached at the very thought.

Nick met them in the barn. “Why’d you bring the cattle up?”

Ed filled him in. Drew couldn’t find the energy to care.

Nick scowled. “Quade’s a snake.”

“Nothing new about that.” Drew swung down from Solomon and pulled his saddle off. “I’d best take another horse and head out to look for stragglers.”

“Isaac can handle it. You look about done in, and he’s getting antsy anyway.”

Drew nodded, and Ed went to let Isaac know about the situation.

“We can still cut some logs.” Nick tilted his head thoughtfully. “Make a small cabin on Ed’s place. Maybe even a lean-to. Doesn’t have to be fancy.”

“That might not be good enough. Ernie Duff is in charge now, and he’s a stickler.”

Nick scoffed. “Probably in Quade’s pocket.”

“Wouldn’t matter anyway. We’ve only got three weeks. Barely enough time to put up a cabin. No time left for cutting logs.”

And didn’t that just sum it up? Selling the bull might supply hay for the cows to survive the summer or buy supplies for cabins, but not both. There had been little interest when he’d tried to sell Phantom. He was a great horse, but the ranches around here were well stocked.

He undid the top button of his shirt. How had his collar gotten tighter in the last few hours?

He was going to have to sell some cows, maybe up to half his herd.

And how was the ranch going to come back from a loss like that?

* * *

Someone should go to Drew.

Kaitlyn carried the dishes into the kitchen. She returned to the dining room to wipe the table but detoured to look out the window. Though everyone else had eaten already, Drew remained in the barn.

Ed entered the dining room. Kaitlyn stepped into his path. “I’ve kept Drew’s dinner warm. Do you want to take it to him?”

Ed shook his head. “He’ll come in when he’s ready to eat.”

Kaitlyn stared at her brother-in-law, trying to read what he wasn’t saying. The concern all the men were trying to hide.

The concern they’d left Drew to face on his own.

She spun around and returned to the kitchen, where she ladled some stew into a bowl.

Ed followed her, Nick on his heels. Kaitlyn shoved the bowl at Ed, who didn’t reach for it.

“He needs to eat,” she said.

Neither man met her eyes.

Maybe she should go.

But what suggestions could she make about a ranching problem? The best she could do was listen, and Drew didn’t like to talk.

She froze in the middle of the kitchen. Drew had listened to her about her brother, and she’d felt better afterward. He might not want to talk, but he needed to.

Kaitlyn placed Drew’s bowl on a cooler corner of the stove to keep warm. With luck, she could convince him to come inside to eat. She grabbed a shawl and exited the house. Drew stood by the corral, leaning on the rail as if it were the only thing holding him up. Kaitlyn shivered, then squared her shoulders. If her husband had ever needed her, it was now.

She slipped up beside him and leaned on the rail. His brothers had given no hints about what was wrong, so she didn’t know what to ask. Maybe her silence would give him room to speak. She breathed in deeply, the air scented with horse and man. The warmth from his arm next to hers reminded her of his strength, helped her relax. The sky grew darker.

He sighed. “I lied to you.”

She stiffened, her breath frozen in her chest. What?

Drew faced her, his hat pulled low. “I told you I could protect you, take care of you. But the truth is, I can’t. We’re going to lose the homesteads.” His voice cracked, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’m going to lose everything my family has built over the past thirty years.”

Drew’s shoulders caved under the weight of his grief. He’d already lost so much. How could he face this loss as well?

Kaitlyn’s chest stung. She’d built walls around her heart when Drew had said he’d never love her, but bit by bit he was tearing them down. Now, in the midst of his current heartbreak, he had stopped to consider how the issues would affect her. How was she going to keep him out of her heart if he kept putting her needs first?

She moved closer to him, laid a hand on his chest. His heart thudded against it. “Tell me.”

In a halting, choked voice, he told her about losing grazing land and not having enough money for both building supplies and hay for his cattle. He turned back to face the fence, his head bowed and his hat brim shadowing his face. “I’ll have to sell half the herd, and prices won’t be good right now.”

She tried to see what had snagged his attention, but found nothing. Was he only trying to hide wet eyes? He’d built this herd till it was the envy of every ranch around. She’d heard it discussed at the picnic, when ranchers had said they wished they could afford any stock he had to sell.

“Maybe one of your brothers would have an idea.”

“It’s not their job. It’s mine.”

“I don’t understand. It’s a family ranch.”

He was silent for a while, then sighed. “I’m the oldest, so I’m responsible. The original land couldn’t support all four of us, so my pa suggested we take other homesteads. It should have been easy, but somewhere I failed. I might even lose the original ground.”

“Your brothers are grown men.”

“Still my job to run the ranch. I promised.”

“Promised?”

“When Pa left me this land, he made me promise there’d always be a place for my brothers here. And Ma, well, on her deathbed, she asked me to keep the family together. But even before that…” His hands tightened on the fence, his knuckles white.

A trickle of cold brushed Kaitlyn’s skin. She held her breath. It was the before that held the key, she just knew it. “Go on.”

“My pa told me I always had to watch out for my brothers.” His shoulders drooped and his chin lowered. “That I was the oldest and they’d look up to me.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“I was doing chores, grumbling about them. I should have paid more attention. I knew better.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Isaac was just a little guy, younger than Tillie, and he had followed me out. First I knew of it, Isaac wandered into a horse’s stall. The horse got spooked. I couldn’t get Isaac out, and the horse broke my brother’s leg. That’s the night Pa reminded me that my brothers would follow my example, and I had to remember that.”

Drew turned to face her, his expression agonized. “I didn’t protect Isaac, and now I can’t protect you.”

Kaitlyn swallowed hard, trying to hide the feelings she felt for that long-ago Drew. The current one needed her strength. But the ranch. How could they lose it? All they needed was money, and she had plenty. She just had to get it.

“I should’ve followed up with the judge before now, but we could go to St. Louis and talk to him. Surely if he sees us together, he’ll understand I am with you willingly.”

Drew shook his head, his shoulders sagging and his arms hanging limp at his sides. “I can’t take the time to go to St. Louis. Not if I’m going to get those buildings up. Besides, if I’m standing beside you, it might convince him I’m threatening you.”

Kaitlyn looked across the corral. She could travel by herself. She’d done it before. Except this time she was going toward Michael, not away from him. No one had ever believed her over him. Why would the judge believe her now?

She pulled her shawl more tightly around herself, trying to shut out the chill that consumed her. Michael. Her own personal tormentor. Would she never escape him?

She glanced back to Drew. His shoulders were slumped and his arms draped over the corral rail. He was willing to stand with her. Shouldn’t she be willing to stand with him? She squared her shoulders. She was going. But going alone would likely fail. Who could go with her?

She mentally reviewed the people she’d met. “Merritt.”

Drew glanced her way. “Merritt?”

“She’d go with me to St. Louis, don’t you think? She went with you. And the judge may need someone to speak about our relationship. Someone who’s seen it.”

Drew straightened but then leaned against the fence again. “You said he’s dangerous. I won’t put you in danger.”

“I have to go. Can you spare one of your brothers to go with me?”

He slowly shook his head. “It will take all of us to get the cabin up.” He paused, his head tilted. “But maybe…” His brow furrowed, then he nodded. “Take the marshal. She’s well-known as a stickler for the law. Plus, she’s a great shot.”

A great shot. Kaitlyn’s heart rate sped up. She bit her lip. She didn’t want to go anywhere where she needed a good shot to escort her.

Lord, I only want what is mine. Why is this so hard?

The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

Kaitlyn swallowed the sour taste in her mouth. Michael did love money, and he would commit any evil to get hers. If she went to St. Louis, she’d be in his domain. He’d convinced the entire city that she’d run after a married man. No one would speak for her, while he’d have legions on his side.

Drew stared into the darkness. “You don’t have to do this.”

Once again, he was putting her first. She knew what she had to do. She lifted her head and calmly met his gaze. “Yes, I do.”

Losing the ranch would destroy him. And he had already torn down enough of her walls that watching the destruction would break her heart. Maybe putting some distance between them would be a good thing. He didn’t want love in this relationship, and she was dangerously close to breaking that rule.