Angel

Chapter 14

Angel wasn’t surprised that they’d set a watch on those high walls that surrounded the Catlin ranch. Someone had to have spotted him a far ways off, because Buck Catlin and two cowboys rode out to meet him before he even got close to the place. And they weren’t taking any chances. The two hired hands had their rifles drawn, their fingers on the triggers.

He wondered if there were more rifles lining those walls. He didn’t bother to look, since being lean of frame had its definite advantages. He was a somewhat smaller target, and this allowed him to move with a swiftness that could get him out of the path of long-distance bullets. Of course, the odds were about half that he’d be moving into the path of a badly aimed bullet that would have missed him if he’d stood still, but he judged folks by his own standards, which were high, so he attributed most of them with at least a halfway decent chance of hitting their target.

He pulled up and waited for the three riders to reach him. He supposed he could take them if he had to. He was simply that fast, and he never missed at showdown range. He might take a bullet in return since two of them were ready for him, but what the hell. His mood this morning was dangerous in that it included a heavy dose of self-loathing as well as the feeling that his stupidity last night deserved some sort of retribution. He should have taken precautions so Slater couldn’t have broken into the house so easily. He should have followed him immediately after he had.

He should never have touched Cassandra Stuart.

Therein lay his greatest misery and confusion. That woman. That irritating, meddling, rarely quiet woman — and her man-eating pet. What was there to like about her? She wasn’t even pretty — actually, last night she had been damn pretty, but last night he and that wine she’d served him obviously hadn’t mixed well together. Why else would he have given in to that incredible craving to taste her again?

The cowboys drew up abreast of him, Buck slightly in the lead. The rancher took off his hat and slapped it against his thigh, a nervous gesture, Angel supposed. The young man did look slightly harassed.

But arrogance was well and truly ingrained in Buck Catlin, so his tone was still damn close to offensive as he said, “Thought my ma told you what would happen if you showed up here again.”

Angel didn’t answer right away. It was times like this he wished he smoked. Rolling a cigarette right now would be a good way to ignore the young rancher and find out if he was willing to back up that threat, or if it was just bravado.

“As I recall, I told her it wouldn’t matter— if I had a good reason to return.”

Buck chuckled. “Mister, you gotta be either the craziest or the bravest man I ever met. Ain’t you realized yet that one word from me and you’re dead?”

“Not dead, Catlin. Wounded, maybe. But I’ll give you three guesses who will be dead, and you’d be right on any guess you make.”

“You can’t be that good.”

“You don’t want to find out.”

Buck glanced to each side at his two men to make sure they were still prepared for any move. Seeing that they were didn’t reassure him as much as he’d hoped.

“Look, Angel, you got no call to come back. We get rid of our own bad apples around here.”

“I’m here for Slater.”

“And I just told you, you’re too late,” Buck said. “When I questioned the men, Rafferty’s friend, Sam, confessed that Rafferty had planned to stampede the cattle. And he wasn’t around yesterday, which verified Sam’s tale as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know what time Rafferty crawled into his bunk last night, but I hauled his ass out of it this morning and fired him. He lit out before sun-up.”

“Where to?”

“He didn’t say, I didn’t ask.”

“Then I’ll talk to his friend, Sam.”

“He’d be out on the south range today. You’re welcome to go find him — but it’s a big range, about two thousand acres. A man can easily get lost on Catlin land.”

The arrogance was back. Angel didn’t feel like putting up with it. “Then you find him and send him to me. It’s not just the stampeding now. Slater showed up at Miss Cassie’s last night, broke into her house, and scared her something bad. I want him.”

There was so much menace in that statement, all three men were glad they had other names. But Angel didn’t wait for a reply. He yanked his horse around and rode back toward the Stuart ranch.

Buck released a silent sigh and turned to his left. “Yancy, maybe you ought to ride south and see if you can locate Sam. I don’t want that man to have another excuse to pay us a visit. I wouldn’t even wish him on a MacKauley.” But then he pictured his sister’s red eyes and added, “On second thought, maybe just on Clayton MacKauley.”

Cassie found one excuse after another not to leave the house that day. She instigated a spring cleaning in December that had Maria clucking her tongue and mumbling under her breath. She took stock of their supplies. She wrote another long letter to her mother to tell her about Angel, then tore it up. Her mother did not need to know that a notorious hired gun was living within shouting distance of her daughter. Nothing would get her down here quicker. And although her mother’s stern, no-nonsense approach to problems was probably just what was needed, Cassie was determined to get through this mess on her own.

Added to the mess, however, was the new predicament she’d allowed to develop last night — her own behavior. Her own wanton behavior. In the bright light of day, she was mortified that she had simply stood there and let Angel take such liberties with her. So she had been flattered that he might want her, extremely flattered, actually, since he’d candidly mentioned that he and ranching didn’t suit. So for once the Lazy S had nothing to do with a man’s being attracted to her.

That was no excuse. Neither was the fact that she had derived so much enjoyment out of the experience. She knew better, knew what was acceptable behavior and what wasn’t. Besides, it was absurd to even think of Angel as someone she might have a future with. He was unpredictable, dangerous, a loner. If he wanted her, it was only for the moment, and Cassie knew how that sort of thing ended up. Saloons all across the South and the West were filled with women who had given in to passions of the moment.

She couldn’t imagine what he must think of her now, after she’d acted like an old maid starved for the tiniest crumbs of affection. She supposed the best thing she could do was to pretend nothing had happened. And he’d said it wouldn’t happen again. He probably wanted to forget about it as much as she did — but she knew she never would. When she was old and gray and had grandchildren about her— hopefully — she’d still remember Angel’s hand on her breast.

Staying in the house worked well to avoid Angel, until he showed up at the door late that afternoon with his saddlebags slung over his shoulder.

“I’ve thought it over,” were his first words as he walked past her into the foyer. “I’m moving in.”

She stared after him incredulously. “What?”

He kept on walking, stopping only when he reached the bottom of the stairs to glance back at her. And as if he weren’t shocking the hell out of her, he said, “Put me in whichever room is closest to yours.”

Cassie didn’t move from the door. She’d thought this first meeting with him again would be awkward, but he’d managed to make her completely forget about last night.

“That’s out of the question,” she told him emphatically. “You can’t—”

“Just do it,” he cut in just as emphatically, but relented enough to explain. “Slater has left town. Until I hear he’s out of Texas or dead, I’m not taking any chances. I want to be able to hear you snore.”

“What?”

His lips twitched slightly because her eyes had grown so round. “Just a figure of speech, lady, but you catch my drift. If you need me, any time of the night, I want to be close enough to know it.”

Her face brightened at the double meaning she heard in those words, unintentional on his part, she was sure — which made it all the more embarrassing. “This is highly improper,” she felt compelled to point out.

“Proper doesn’t come into it when protection is called for. If I didn’t think you’d faint at the suggestion, I’d be moving right into your room. So don’t mention proper to me again, all right?”

Embarrassment turned to anger as she nodded curtly and headed for the stairs. “Follow me,” she said, passing him, her voice as stiff as her back was, her hands fisted on her skirt to raise it the bare minimum so she could mount the stairs.

She led him to the room next to hers, which did happen to be empty. She’d been using it as a sewing room.

“Maria is an excellent housekeeper, so the bedding should be clean. If you need anything, you can usually find her in the kitchen. I’ll inform her now of your move.”

“You’re taking this too hard, lady,” he said in an agreeable tone, now that he’d gotten his way. “You won’t even notice I’m here.”

Like hell she wouldn’t.