Always a Lady (7 page)

An owl hooted from a nearby tree, breaking the silence of oncoming nightfall, and Lily turned instinctively toward the door and the welcoming shadows of darkness. Night was comfortable to her. It was then that she looked the same as everyone else.

The air was a welcome twenty degrees cooler than it had been during the day. The nights were still quite cool and brisk, and a dew was falling. Lily could feel the air's dampness on her skin as she walked out onto the back porch and sat down in the porch swing.

It creaked, a gentle squeak every other push that reminded Lily she wasn't alone.

Case leaned against the fence outside the yard, secure that he was hidden in the darkness, and watched her swinging, leaning her head back and inhaling the scents and sounds of nightfall as readily as a woman born to the country.

She was a surprise, his L.A. woman. When she'd first arrived, he wouldn't have given a plug nickel for the bet that she'd last a week. But she'd fooled him. Hell, she'd fooled them all. Not only was she pretty, she was as capable as any hand Case had ever hired. And his arms ached to hold her as his body hardened with the need to make love to Lily all through the night.

Case swallowed a groan, pushed himself away from the fence and strode toward the porch, announcing his presence with firm steps.

Lily straightened immediately as she sensed someone coming up the path. She peered into the darkness and knew that the light from the kitchen behind her silhouetted her for anyone to see. A tiny sigh of relief escaped as she recognized the familiar shape of broad shoulders and long legs and that ever-present black Stetson crowning his head.

"Lily," he greeted, as he neared the porch.

"Case." She held her breath and waited.

He leaned on the porch rail and shoved his hat to the back of his head, waiting . . . hoping she'd say something more. She did not.

"I just thought you should know that I've decided to give the men a day off tomorrow."

"Why? Is something wrong? Are you already through with roundup?"

The panic in Lily's voice was evident, and it gave Case just the least bit of encouragement. She couldn't hate him all that much if she didn't want her job to come to an early end.

"No, honey," he said softly, ignoring her indrawn breath at the term of endearment. He didn't care. He was tired of letting her call all the shots. "One of the men got his foot stomped pretty good today. He'll be out for a bit, and several of the men are coming down with some kind of flu bug. I thought it'd be best if they all took a day's rest and let everything kind of get back to normal before we continued."

"Oh!" The relief in her voice spoke volumes.

"You can do whatever you want tomorrow. Sleep late, take one of the ranch vehicles and go to town and shop, whatever . . . I don't care. I only ask one thing of you. If you leave the ranch, let me know where you're going and an approximate time you'll be back. I at least want to know where to start looking if you don't show up on time."

"Yes, Father," Lily teased.

Case's heart jumped. She was smiling. He could see that much of her face in the shadows.

"I'm sorry," he grinned. "I didn't mean to come across so heavy-handed. It's just that you're fairly new to the area. I don't want you lost."

"Thank you," Lily said, in her most teasing ladylike manner. "It's nice to be wanted."

"Oh, you're wanted all right, Lily Brownfield. You have no idea how much."

Case walked past her and into the house, ignoring the look of consternation and then embarrassment that slid across Lily's face. Let her stew on that a while. He damned sure had.

*      *      *

Lily had gone nowhere. She'd opted for a lazy day in the sun and after sleeping to an unheard of nine o'clock in the morning, she'd skipped breakfast and gone outside with a glass of juice and a book she'd borrowed from Case's den. She stretched out on a chaise lounge in the sun.

Her long legs and arms were bare. The rest of her was indecently covered with a pink shorts and halter set, one that she'd have worn without a qualm back home on the beach. But here, she was a tiny bit nervous about someone seeing so much of her—especially since she was the only female within shouting distance among an unruly herd of men. She wasn't in fear for her life. Her heart was the only thing in danger. And Lily was slowly but surely admitting that to herself.

Case stood at the kitchen window and watched Lily reveling in her day in the sun. He supposed that she'd had many days like this back home in L.A. and wondered, not for the first time, if his dreams of keeping Lily Brownfield in Oklahoma were too farfetched.

She was not the usual country-girl type. She was city born, city bred, and educated to boot. He didn't know what made him so all-fired certain that she'd stay if he asked. He only knew that he wouldn't let her leave without giving it a try.

He heard the sounds of a vehicle coming down the long driveway and reluctantly turned away from the window overlooking the backyard. He went to the door and out onto the front porch, standing with one arm braced against the porch post as he watched a car full of men spill out of a dark sedan.

There was one older man, dark headed, two younger men with matching hair and complexions, and two even younger men with hair as blond as Lily's. Something about the way they walked reminded him . . .

"Can I help you?" Case drawled, as they walked en masse toward him. He smiled to himself at the fancy he had of an imminent attack. They didn't look fearsome. In fact, they looked like they were in shock.

"Is this the Longren Ranch?" the older man asked.

"Yes," Case answered. "I'm Case Longren. What can I do for you?"

"We've come all the way from California to see Lily Brownfield. Is she here?" Morgan Brownfield asked, half expecting to hear him say no. He couldn't believe that his college-educated daughter was actually cooking for a roundup on an Oklahoma ranch. When he'd gotten her brief letter explaining what she'd planned to do, he'd been in shock. By the time the rest of his brood had been informed, they'd given Lily exactly three weeks to contact them. When she'd failed to do so, they'd come looking.

Case sucked in a breath. California! Please God, no!

"Yes, she's here," he answered. "But if one of you men is that sorry, fair-weather bastard of a fiancé, you can just take yourself all the way back to California and get off my property. Do I make myself clear?"

Cole Brownfield narrowed his dark eyes, grinning to himself as he watched his father's face. It looked like Lily had found one more man ready to fight for her honor. Somehow he wasn't surprised.

Morgan Brownfield couldn't think of what to say. With his abrupt, nearly rude dismissal of them, this man clearly had the same low opinion of Todd Collins that he had. It was such a surprise he was at a temporary loss for words. Finally he found his voice.

"Well, Mr. Longren. I don't know what else to say except that you're my kind of man. Hell no, I don't have that snake Collins with me. My name is Morgan Brownfield, and these are my sons, Cole, Buddy, and the twins, J.D. and Dusty. Lily is my daughter."

Case grinned wtih relief. He all but leaped off the porch with outstretched hand.

"Lily will be real glad to see you," he said. "And please, call me Case. Leave your things in the car, we'll get them later. Lily's out in the backyard. This is a slow day for the ranch, and I've given everyone the day off. You couldn't have come at a better time."

The last of Morgan's worries just flew off his shoulders. His first impression of this big, dark man was favorable, especially since he viewed Todd Collins with the same disdain. He wondered, for the first time, just how involved Lily might be with her boss, and looked at Case again, judging him anew.

"Our things are back in a motel in Clinton," Cole answered, as he stepped forward and shook hands. He sensed this man was going to make a difference in their lives.

"You can get them later," Case ordered shortly. "You're staying here. God knows there's plenty of room. It'll give you a better chance to visit with Lily."

The Brownfield crew wouldn't argue. They were anxious to get a look at their beloved Lily. They rounded the house, following Case's lead. Cole was the first to spy his sister's familiar long legs stretched out on the lounger, soaking up sun.

"Lily Kate, you're the only person I know who'd leave California's sunny beaches and come to Oklahoma to get a tan."

That voice!

Lily flew from the lounge, dropped her book, and smiled.

The look on her face stopped Case's heart. My God, he'd give a year of his life if she'd look at him like that.

"Cole! Daddy!" her voice shook. "Oh my God! Buddy, J.D. and Dusty, too. You're here!" She was engulfed.

FOUR

Morgan Brownfield watched Lily rearranging space for him and his sons in the eating area of the kitchen. She was moving chairs and brothers with expertise and abandon. If he couldn't still see the scar on her face, he'd swear that it was the same Lily he'd known and loved since the day she'd been born, not the withdrawn, silent woman she'd become after her accident and Todd Collins's betrayal.

He sighed quietly, relieved that Lily was healing in spirit as well as body. It was what he'd hoped and prayed for. And by the look on their host's face, it seemed as if he was partially responsible for Lily's sense of well-being. Case Longren never took his eyes off of her. In fact, he seemed to be mesmerized by Lily. Yet he stayed at a more than respectable distance away, obviously following boundaries that had been established long before the arrival of the Brownfield men.

Case watched every move Lily made, and missed nothing of the amiable banter between her and her brothers, unaware that Morgan was watching him just as intently.

Lily was a completely different woman from the one who'd first arrived at the Bar L. She was tanned and smiling, and she no longer turned her face away at the slightest look. In fact, it seemed as if she'd almost forgotten the scar was there.

Case looked up, caught Lily's father staring at him, and hoped he didn't look as guilty as he felt. He also hoped that Morgan Brownfield couldn't see everything that was in his heart. It would be uncomfortable, to say the least, if Lily's father knew that he spent every waking moment wondering what it would be like to make love to his daughter.

"Lunch is ready," Lily called. "And just in time, here comes the crew."

Cole looked out the kitchen window and nearly forgot to breathe. Yesterday when they'd arrived, they'd had Lily all to themselves. But today it was business as usual, and he was dumbstruck by the rowdy crowd heading for the back door of the house.

"You mean you feed this many every day?"

"I feed them three times a day, goose," Lily teased. "It's no big deal. If you'd gotten up at a decent time this morning, you'd have met them then. It's just like feeding you guys only six times over. Sit down and mind your manners. I don't want the men to think I come from a family of heathens."

Case laughed. The look on her brothers' faces was priceless. They couldn't believe that Lily didn't think them perfect in every way. Their muttered complaints only heightened his laughter. He envied her the comfort of knowing that no matter what she said or did, she'd always have the love of her family.

Case was an only child, and his mother had left his father when Case was in college. It left him with nothing to come home to but a bitter, angry father who'd managed to maintain the ranch only long enough for Case to take over. After he had, Chock Longren had drunk himself into oblivion. As far as Case was concerned, his father had died years before his heart had actually stopped beating. He had no idea where his mother was and, quite frankly, had ceased to care. Lily was the first woman who'd mattered to him in a long, long while. Unfortunately, he had no idea how she felt about him. She alternated between being congenial but distant or ignoring him all together. He lay awake nights afraid that would never change.

Lily's family was greeted warmly by the outgoing bunch of cowboys and before long, they had talked her twin brothers, J.D. and Dusty into trying their hand at helping brand and castrate the calves. The twins had decided that the experience would look great on their resumes.

Lily smiled. Knowing the twins, they'd succeed or die trying. They were the most competitive of her brothers, with each other, as well as everyone else they met. She pitied the poor calves until the Brownfields mastered the art of cowboying.

The meal was over. As usual, the men had eaten like a swarm of locusts. She was always amazed at the amount of food Case provided for them. He was a generous, as well as competent, boss.

She watched his interaction with her father and brothers and knew that regardless of the geography that had separated their upbringings, they were remarkably alike: hardheaded but willing to listen, forceful and aggressive, yet compassionate. But the way Lily felt about Case was different from the way she felt about her family. She loved her father and brothers dearly, but the feelings she had when Case came close to her, the heat that splintered the ice in her heart when he turned his all-seeing, sky-blue gaze her way, had nothing to do with familial love. She didn't know whether it was a case of lust or the birth of something stronger, but Case Longren made her forget every ladylike manner she'd ever learned.

She closed her eyes and turned toward the mountain of dirty pots and pans, squelching the thoughts of Case right back where they belonged, in her twilight zone.

She waved a quick good-bye to the men as they stomped out the door and back to their jobs, taking her family with them. She didn't have time for frivolous thoughts. And she didn't intend to ever be put in a position for a man to hurt her again as Todd had done.

So it was shock that made her drop the pan full of soapy suds back into the sink, splashing water over the walls and down her front when a deep, husky voice drawled behind her.