Much Ado About Mavericks Read online

  Sweat ran down her face as the mid-afternoon sun bore down on her, and she called a halt to the broncbusting to give the men a break. “You need some water, fellers, before you wither away on me.” She was thirsty enough to drink Jump Creek dry and she knew they must be, too.

  They sat a spell, joshing one another and topping each other’s lies. About the time Jake was ready send them back to work, she spotted a one-horse buggy coming up the driveway with Ben’s big bay tied behind it. For a split-second, a funny feeling ran through her, but then she remembered she had a thing or two to say to him. He wouldn’t like it, either.

  “Them mustangs ain’t gonna buck theirselves out.” She took another drink and stood. “C’mon, we’re wasting the day.”

  With good-natured grumbling, they picked up their hats and left. Jake waited, wondering who he’d brought and why. She never knew what strange notions might be rolling around in his head.

  “Whoa!” The driver said as he brought the buggy to a stop.

  Ben hopped off and strode to her. “I brought Doc Mabry from Oreana.”

  The doc tipped his derby to her and she nodded back, then pinned her glare on Ben. His excuse had better be damned good--he’d missed nearly a whole day’s work, and his roping hadn’t improved a bit. “Your mama or Suzanne sick?”

  “No, but your mare needs a check-up.”

  “I don’t normally work on horses,” the doctor said. “I’m a people doctor--but Ben, here, insisted on my coming.”

  Bad as she wanted the doc to look at Brownie, Jake didn’t have the money to pay him, and that was that. She hastily untied the bay from the back of the buggy and motioned for Ben to follow her to the corral. “I can’t pay no high-falutin’ doctor!” she hissed as soon as they were out of hearing distance.

  “You don’t have to. I’m paying.”

  “I don’t take no charity.”

  “It’s not charity. It’s your birthday present.”

  “It ain’t my birthday, Boston, and you don’t even know when it is, anyway.”

  “It’s a belated birthday present.”

  “Send him back. I don’t need him.”

  “You might not, but that mare does. I checked on her this morning at dawn, and she looked sickly to me. Her back was arched and she kept tossing her head at her flanks like she was hurting back there. You said yourself that she’s the only blooded mare you have, so I got her a doctor.” He opened the gate and let the bay through. “Now say ‘thank you’ and let’s get him to the Circle J.”

  He’d been at her place at dawn? She’d been up shortly after, but she hadn’t seen him. “Well, since you drug his scrawny ass all the way out here, he might as well take a look-see.”

  Ben smiled, melting her heart and raising her dander all at the same time. “You ride on the buggy and I’ll saddle a fresh horse.”

  “I ain’t riding on no damned buggy.” She whistled at Blue, who trotted over to the gate. She let him out and hopped on his bare back. “You ride on the buggy, Boston.” And with a kick, she set out for the Circle J.

  Chapter 7

  “Fred, Rastin, you’re idiots. Here’s some dynamite. Bore a hole under that boulder and blow the damned thing into the creek,” Ezra said, exasperated that he had to tell them every move to make. Much as he hated to admit it, Jake O'Keefe had been the wisest choice for foreman of the Bar EL. Not once had he ever needed to tell her how to do anything--he just told her what he wanted done and she got it done.

  He watched Fred, squawking like a picked chicken, chip away at the base of the rock. At least Fred, while a horse short of a full team, could rope calves and bust broncs. That’s a helluva lot more than he could say for the sorry excuse for a son that Mabel had foisted on him. Still, he was annoyed that he’d told Fred and Rastin to dam up the creek a week ago and the idiots had shoveled dirt for two days while the swift water washed away their work. At some point, a person with normal intellect would have figured that this method wasn’t working.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve made any headway with Suzanne, either, Fred.”

  “Hell, no,” Fred said, slamming the hammer down on the rock drill. “I been working on this creek. Been too damned tuckered to mess with her.”

  He gingerly placed the stick of dynamite in the hole and tied the fuse to the blasting cap, then stepped back.

  It looked like a good enough job to Ezra, although he didn’t know squat about blasting. “Now light it, Rastin.”

  “My hands are too sweaty. Have Fred light it.”

  Ezra tossed Fred a match.

  Slowly, hand shaking, Fred took the match and stared at the fuse like it had already blown him to kingdom come. “I ain’t sure this is worth it, boss.”

  “It’s worth it. Light the damned thing. Now.”

  Fred struck the match and touched it to the fuse.

  Ezra smiled as the sparks came closer to the stick, then kicked his horse into a dead run. At the sound of the explosion, he reined in and looked back. The boulder had plopped nicely into the creek bed, stopping a good portion of the flow. “You better find the time for Suzanne, boy,” he called, “else the deal’s off.”

  * * * * *

  Doc Mabry pulled his arm out of the mare’s birth canal and wiped the lard off his arm. “That flushing ought to restore her health, but I doubt she’ll breed again.”

  Jake stood expressionless while her insides knotted at the loss of yet another opportunity to make her own home. “I’ll let her have a year off, but then I’ll put her to stud.”

  The doctor shook his head as he rolled down his sleeve. “You can try, but I don’t think she’ll take. This gal’s got a lot of healing to do.”

  “I don’t need no hay burners. Can’t afford ‘em.” She shook the doc’s hand. “Thanks for your help, though. A barren mare’s worth more than a dead one.”

  When they got back to the Bar EL, Ben invited Doc Mabry for supper and afterwards Jake sent a cowhand to escort him back to Oreana. “Ain’t no telling what sort of scoundrel might be up to no good between here and there, especially in the dusk, which it’ll be real soon.”

  After they’d seen the doc off, Jake told Ben to mount up. “You’re gonna work on roping some real calves.”

  She smiled when Ben groaned. He didn’t do a lot of grousing but he made it clear every chance he got that he’d rather eat magpie shit than have anything to do with roping.

  “I liked roping the two of us better.”

  “Hrmph.” She did, too, but she’d wrestle a bag full of badgers before she’d ever let him know. “You best stick to calves.”

  “You better hope that I’m a damned good lawyer if you’re pinning your whole future on my roping ability.”

  “I don’t have a doubt in my mind that you’re a damned good lawyer, but that don’t mean a thing to most of these fine folks in Henderson Flats. They respect a man who can work as hard as they do.”

  He flinched, but recovered quickly. “And you don’t think arguing cases is hard work?”

  She didn’t answer--he already knew that sitting on his ass behind a desk wouldn’t get a calf branded or a horse trained.

  “I’ll see if I can find you another Missouri Foxtrotter,” Ben said as they approached a small herd of grazing cattle. “You need more than one blooded mare to start an operation, anyway.”

  Now wasn’t that just like a Boston lawyer--thinking that he’d pour a little more money on the pile to sweeten her up some. And after kissing her the way he had, she knew exactly why he thought she needed sweetening. “I ain’t fixin’ to be bought, Boston. Go spend your money on the sporting girls.”

  She reined her blue roan to one side of the herd. “C’mon over here. There’s some easy pickings. Even you oughta be able to catch one of these fat boys.”

  He uncoiled a good length of rope and let out his loop. “If I can’t rope a set of horns stuck in a pile of hay while I’m standing in one spot, what makes you think I’m going to be able to catch a running calf from a
galloping horse?”

  She smirked as she leaned on the pommel. “I don’t, but you have to try.”

  He sent her a grin that could curl a coyote pup’s hair. “Here goes.” He nudged the bay to a walk. “I’ll take that whiteface with the ring around his eye.”

  “You just do that, Boston.”

  “I’ll take a kiss if I rope him.”

  She rolled her eyes. She’d never let him know what that last kiss had done to her. “You’re on.”

  Of course his toss missed and the whole herd of twenty or so split up and ran their separate ways. She was relieved that she wouldn’t have to deliver that kiss--a very dangerous thing to be sure. But he continued to pursue the calf until he split it from the herd, then jumped off his horse, wrestled the little whiteface to the ground, and slipped the rope around its neck.

  “I’ll take that kiss now.”

  “Kiss the damned calf then. You never said who had to deliver it, and it ain’t gonna be me.”

  “Welsher.”

  “Maybe,” Jake said, looking down from her horse. “But you’ll be mighty tired during roundup if you plan to rope a thousand calves like that.”

  “No one ever said I had to throw a loop through the air.” He took the rope off the calf’s neck and watched as it sprinted back to its mother. “That’s one advantage of being a lawyer and not working for a living.”

  “You think you can talk yourself out of anything, don’t you, Boston.”

  He ambled toward her. That look on his face told her she’d better get while the getting was good, but at the same time she didn’t seem to have the wherewithal to move. He reached one arm up and hooked it around her waist, hauling her off Blue and sliding her down the front of him. Everywhere her body touched his, she tingled. And other places, too.

  He winked and licked his lips. “I’ll take that kiss now.”

  She licked her lips and gazed into his eyes, dark and intense. Her insides went all jumpy like they always did when she touched him and she couldn’t have pushed away from him if she’d wanted to. Which, she was surprised to realize, she didn’t want to. He held her right where she wanted to be. But she couldn’t want that. Even if she let him have a poke, which she wouldn’t, he’d just get back on the train to Boston after roundup and that would be that. He’d be none the worse for wear, but she’d be missing a piece of her heart.

  “Jake?”

  She shook her head, realizing she’d been imagining things that could never happen. She tipped her head up and waited for him to kiss her.

  “No, Jake. You owe me a kiss. You kiss me.”

  Biting her lower lip, she considered that a little peck on the cheek would satisfy the bet. But as she brushed her lips against his stubble, he turned his head and they went full on, mouth on mouth. Her lips parted and he swept his tongue into her mouth. His arms tightened and pulled her even closer to him. Suddenly aware that she was hugging him back, for a moment she thought of pulling away. Instead, she ran her tongue across his and a strange urge compelled her to rub against him.

  Hardly able to breathe, she finally found the strength to shove him away. Her knees were so wobbly, she had to lean against Blue so she didn’t fall down.

  “Jake! Jake!” Crazy Jim rode up and swung down from his horse right in front of the two of them. Jake thought she’d die of embarrassment until she saw Ben smiling like he’d rode the meanest mustang in the string, then she decided she’d whoop his grinning ass first.

  She swallowed a couple of times to get all her innards back where they were supposed to be, then looked Crazy Jim square in the eye, letting him know he’d better mind his manners. When he squirmed some, she asked, “What’s the problem?”

  “The creek’s dry. Them cows is bawling and we ain’t got a drop. Slim said he’d pump water from the house well, but I don’t think he can pump as fast as them cows can drink.”

  Jake took off her Stetson and wiped her brow on her sleeve. “Go on back and tell Slim to keep pumping. I want you to put the pack saddle on a gentle horse and gather some lanterns and shovels. Have Whip fix up some grub, fill the canteens, and make up bedrolls. Tell him and the strays to get ready to ride. You’re coming along, too.”

  “Yes, sir!” He leapt on his horse and rode off at a gallop. He was probably as relieved to be out of there as she was to have him gone. She just hoped he didn’t carry any tales, else she’d have to teach him a lesson.

  Ben stepped beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Do you think he saw us kissing?”

  She elbowed him in the gut.

  * * * * *

  The last rays of sun shone over the Owyhee Mountains as Jake led Ben, Whip, Crazy Jim, Homer and Teddy along the creek through the canyon. Ben had a hard time remembering when he’d ever had a better view than watching her backside for two hours.

  When they came upon the blockage, she reined her horse to a stop and leaned on the saddlehorn. “Hell’s fire! Some asshole blowed a big damned rock into the creek.”

  Ben rode up beside her and saw the boulder in question--he guessed it probably weighed a ton or more. “How do you know someone blasted it there? It could have rolled down the hillside on its own.”

  “Naw, there’s hoofprints on top the gouge marks. Ain’t never been a boulder made that had hooves.” She dismounted, lit a lantern, and knelt, studying the tracks. “Looks like two saddle horses.” She stood, took her hat off and wiped her brow with her sleeve. “Ain’t no way we can get that thing out of there without a team.” Grinning at him, she added, “Lest you think you can talk it out of there.”

  Whip and Crazy Jim guffawed. Ben didn’t think her remark was so damned funny, but he forced out a weak smile just to let them know she didn’t get him down. Of course, there could be advantages to being “down” with her--at least if she’d quit walloping him every time he kissed her.

  Jake shook her head and frowned as she gazed at the rock in question. “The way I see it, we got two choices--either we re-route the creek, or we pull that damned rock out of there. Either way, it’s a helluva lot of work.” She threw her saddlebags and bedroll on the ground and pulled the cinch loose on Blue. “Quit your gawking and make camp. We ain’t doing a thing without no light. Crazy Jim, gather brush for the fire.”

  Ben unsaddled and hobbled the horses while Whip busied himself with setting up his supplies for supper and Jim gathered firewood. “I’ll fetch some water,” Ben said to no one in particular when he noticed Jake heading for the creek.

  As he approached her, she said, “There’s something rotten going on around here, Boston. This just ain’t right.”

  He nodded, but she still hadn’t turned to face him. “Fences cut, cattle driven off, the creek dammed--sounds like someone’s nasty work to me.”

  Finally, she faced him, a frown on her face. “But I just can’t figger it. Ain’t a soul around who’d profit from such shenanigans. Excepting maybe Harley Blacker.” She sat on the boulder and stared at the moonbeams reflecting off the pond made by the dam.

  “Old Harley is honest as the day is long, Jake. He and my father had their run-ins, but I daresay most of those problems were of Ezra’s making, not Harley’s.”

  “You forget who’s fixin’ to own the Bar EL if you don’t learn how to rope. Blacker. What man wouldn’t want a profitable ranch to fall in his lap?”

  Ben knew one man—himself—but Jake would never understand that. He sat down beside her and rubbed her back. For once, the she didn’t shy away or slug him. Maybe she wasn’t made of stone, after all.

  “None of this will matter, Jake. We’ll get this rock out of the creek and we’ll go on. The roundup will start on schedule, and you’ll get clear title to the Circle J.”

  Grimacing, she said, “Them hoof prints? They’re Fred’s sorrel gelding.”

  “You sure?”

  “Dead sure.” She looked at him, the shadows on her face emphasizing her worry. “The morning will bring answers. It always does.”

  Ans
wers. Ben had been collecting questions ever since he’d arrived at Henderson Flats. Would he be happy married to Patience? He’d never thought of it before. Patience was the perfect match for him, would give him credibility in society, and her daddy would make Ben a full partner. He’d thought that was all he wanted. But he wished Patience could have the intelligence and determination of Jake.

  None of the women he’d met did.

  Only Jake.

  * * * * *

  An hour later, after Jake downed a satisfying supper of beef stew and biscuits, she gave orders for all the men to get to bed. “The morning sun don’t wait for sleepyheads and shirkers.”

  Whip doused the fire, but left the coffee in the pot for the night watch. The others cleared the rocks so they could spread their bedrolls. Jake placed hers as far away from Ben’s as she could, but he found reasons to move closer—a rock in the wrong place, or the moon shining in his eyes.

  She knew it was all bullshit. He just wanted to be near her in order to keep on bothering her like he had since the first moment she’d laid eyes on him. Her back still tingled with warmth where he’d caressed her while they were sitting on the rock.

  Of all the men she’d known—and men had been her only friends since she was a toddler--only Ben had chased her like a man would chase a normal woman. Well, he had a big disappointment on the way, because she’d never drop her drawers for him or any other man.

  Nor would she ever be a prissy woman chained to the stove with squalling brats to feed. That was for women like Suzanne who didn’t know the freedom of the range, who hadn’t felt a breeze cool her neck on a scorching summer day, who hadn’t gone skinny-dipping in a pond no one else knew about.

  No, she liked her life jim-dandy just the way it was, and she wouldn’t change for a fancy-mouthed Boston lawyer. Especially for a Boston lawyer.