Not the Marrying Kind (32 page)

Kat poked her head into the office. Assured
that no one else was there, she hurried to her father’s desk.
Although he kept it securely locked, she’d long ago learned where
he kept the key. She’d just never thought she’d have reason to use
it.

Snooping was wrong, of course, another of
those dreadful sins she’d been warned about since she was a little
girl. Guilt, her mother and father believed, served as a good
deterrent to crime. They’d been right most of the time, but not
now. Kat hesitated for only a second, maybe two at the most, then
unlocked the rolltop desk and began rifling through its
contents.

What she sought lay clearly visible, only
partially covered by other, innocuous documents. She pushed the
rest of the papers aside and picked up the neatly-written contract,
holding it with shaking hands as she read the details of the
sale.

“Son of a bitch.” The deadly chill of her
voice reflected the sudden coldness in her heart.

“Get your sorry ass out here, you…you…cur!”
she yelled, choking back tears of anger and betrayal. Kat pounded
at the door of Cody’s cabin. She knew both men were inside. Their
horses were in the corral. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,
Joshua Barron!” She pounded again. “Coward!” she yelled, kicking at
the door just as Joshua jerked it open.

“What the hell is going on, Kat?” With his
hair tousled and his shirt unfastened, he looked as if he’d been
sleeping. But never mind how damned good he looked, he had a lot to
answer for.

She whipped out the sales contract and shook
it at him, able to tell the exact second he realized what she held
in her hand. Letting out a long, heavy breath, he leaned against
the door jamb. His shoulders sagged. Kat felt as though she’d won a
victory of sorts, although winning meant nothing now.

“Where did you get that?” he asked in a
quiet, even voice.

“Where do you think I got it?” Kat shook the
contract in his face again.

“Did your father give it to you?”

“Of course not, and don’t try waylaying me
with guilt or irrelevant questions.”

Joshua turned cloudy gray eyes on her, eyes
that made her think of summer storms. “I don’t know what else I can
say. Yes, I signed that agreement. I’m buying the ranch. From the
way you’re acting, I guess you have a problem with that.”

“This is dated May eleventh. The same day my
father hired you.” On the ride out to the cabin, all the pieces had
fallen into place. Joshua had done a lot more than buy the ranch
without telling her. “You were in cahoots with my father all along,
weren’t you? You helped him sabotage me.”

At least he had the decency to look her in
the eye when he nodded.

“There were never any cattle rustlers. It
was you, you and your cousin, I suppose.” She leaned to the side,
casting daggers in Cody’s general direction.

“You’re right. We rustled those cattle
ourselves, with your father’s permission, of course.”

“What did you do with them?”

“Took them to market. Don’t worry, your
father got his money.”

“You think I’m worried about you cheating my
father?” She rubbed her forehead, still fighting tears. “After all
you’ve done, you don’t understand why I’m angry?” she asked. “You
don’t see why I have a problem?”

“No, not really. I thought I was helping
you, Kat.”

Of all the things he might have said, that
was the last excuse she ever expected. “Helping me?” Her voice
climbed. “Really? Well, you sure as blazes have a strange way of
trying to help. Just how was I supposed to benefit from having my
plans ruined? All the while you were supposed to be working for me,
all you were doing was making sure I failed.”

“For once in your life, will you be
realistic? You’re a woman. You can’t run the ranch. You need a
husband to take care of you, and—”

“And thanks to you, I have to marry that
awful man! You know how much I detest Reverend Kendrick, yet you
willingly put me in a position where I’d have no choice but to
marry him.”

“Kat, listen to me. That’s not how I
intended it to be.”

“No?” She choked back a sob. “Well, maybe
you’d better explain just what you did intend.”

“First,” he said, holding up a hand, “I
happen to agree with your father. You need a husband, Kat. Life is
hard, and a woman can’t make it on her own. But Reverend Virgil
Kendrick is sure as hell not the only man in the world. You don’t
have to marry
him
.”

“No? Then who am I supposed to marry?” Kat
held her breath.

“Well,” Joshua began, his face coloring, “I
thought maybe I could convince you…”

As he hesitated and looked away. Kat’s heart
ignited. Huge flames of hope rose up. “Convince me?” she prompted,
her throat suddenly dry and tight. “Convince me to do what,
Joshua?”

He stared down at his feet. “I thought I
could convince you to marry Cody.”

Kat had been staring at those big, bare feet
of his, too. Now, her chin jerked up. “Cody? That crazy coot! How
could you?” Tears brimmed in her eyes, but Kat was not about to let
this pitiful man push her over the brink. She shook her head.
“Everything you said, everything you did…” She sucked in a series
of deep, calming breaths. “Everything
we
did…it didn’t mean
anything to you.”

She didn’t wait for him to say more. What
the hell could he say? Not a damned thing. Besides, she refused to
let him see the tears that now streamed freely down her cheeks. Kat
spun around. She ran through the grass to where Sadie grazed,
climbed into the saddle, and pressed her legs against the mare’s
flanks. Never in her life had Kat been so humiliated.

When she reached home, she slammed the door
so hard the house shook, dislodging a china vase from the shelf in
the foyer. She didn’t bother to stop.

“What on earth is going on?” Amanda Phillips
demanded crossly, stepping out of the kitchen to find her daughter
on the verge of collapse. “Kat, honey, what is it?”

“Oh, Mama!” she sobbed. “It’s all so awful.”
She threw herself into her mother’s arms and sobbed.

She saw the contract in Kat’s hand and
nodded. “You found out about the sale.”

Kat nodded.

“I know, honey. I wasn’t happy with how your
father handled things. He should have told you. He should have told
all of us.”

There was so much more to it, but Kat
couldn’t tell her mother about her broken heart, about the awful
shame that burned inside of her now, about the terrible anguish she
felt, knowing Joshua Barron had simply used her and cast her
aside.

“I’ve never seen you go to pieces like this
before.” Her mother glanced toward the entry where her china vase
lay shattered, its flowers strewn across the floor, a puddle of
water gathering into a pool. She led Kat into the kitchen and sat
her in a chair, then quickly put a kettle of water on to boil. She
pulled out a chair, sat across from her daughter, and taking a
lace-trimmed handkerchief, she wiped Kat’s eyes. “I’ve always
yearned for the chance to dry your tears, Katherine, but you’ve
never cried before.” Mama smiled. “You’re finally becoming a woman,
honey.”

“If this is what being a woman feels like,
forget it.”

Life was so much easier before…before she
had to deal with so many emotions. Before she had to face so many
painful realities. That’s what being a woman really meant—growing
up and accepting the world as it truly was.

Kat wailed anew.

* * * *

Somehow, the next few days passed by. Kat
didn’t come out of her room on Saturday, and on Sunday morning, she
adamantly put her foot down and refused to attend church. Her
father was not pleased, but he excused her.

On Monday, she sent Benjamin out to the west
pasture. Pa needed an accurate count of the cattle on the range,
and even though Kat should have been the one doing the job, she
couldn’t muster enough energy to manage. It was all she could do to
drag herself out of bed.

She did her best to avoid any thoughts of
Joshua Barron and his trickery, yet even when she managed to keep
him from her mind for a moment or two, he still lurked inside her
head, and inside her heart. How had she fallen so hopelessly, so
helplessly, in love with the blasted man? He didn’t deserve her
love, but damned if she could make those feelings go away.

So much had changed now, and how was she
supposed to cope with it all? She wanted life to go back to normal
again, back to the way it used to be before Joshua came riding into
the foothills that lovely May evening. Most of all, Kat wanted to
be strong again, able to take care of herself, able to laugh and
live and work and stand tall, not dissolve into a puddle of tears
at the slightest provocation.

It was nearly noon before she washed,
dressed, and came downstairs.

“Where’s Mama?” she asked, when she stepped
outside and saw her father sitting on the porch.

“Mrs. Wakefield’s husband came hollering
about an hour ago. Surprised you didn’t hear all the commotion that
man was making.” He chuckled. “Looks like that little one his
wife’s been carrying is finally ready to make its appearance.”

“It’s about time. That baby was due two
weeks ago.” She leaned against the white-washed railing. “I feel
bad about sending Benjamin out by himself, but maybe it’s a good
thing I did, otherwise you’d be here alone.” If her father had
another bad spell with his heart, he’d have no way to call for
help.

“Is that your mother coming now?” Phillips
got to his feet, brought a hand up to shield his eyes from the
harsh sunlight, and stared toward the east road. “I see a buggy,
but I can’t make out who it is.”

Kat followed his gaze. She, too, stared at
the approaching buggy. “No, it’s not Mama. Looks like…” Her heart
felt suddenly heavy. “It’s Reverend Kendrick.”

“Mind your manners, Katherine,” her father
said. “The man’s going to be your husband, and you’d best learn how
to treat him with respect, otherwise you’ll have a very unhappy
life.”

She couldn’t bear the thought of being the
man’s wife. She would have no life. She frowned as a horse and
rider came into view then, pulling ahead from his previous position
alongside the buggy. As the rider came closer, she recognized
Marshal Long. Her heart thudded with alarm.

“Something’s wrong, Pa.” She was in no hurry
to see the reverend, but she rushed from the porch, concerned that
someone might need help. “Mama’s not here right now,” she called,
“if that’s who you’ve come to see. She’s over at the Wakefield
place. If somebody’s hurt or sick, I could ride over there—”

Marshal Long shook his head. He swung down
from his tall appaloosa. “We didn’t come out here to see your
mother. We’re here about the boy.” He looked around. “Where is
he?”

“Benjamin?” Kat’s heart rat-a-tat-tatted in
her chest. “He’s working. Why? He’s done nothing wrong, Marshal. I
know for a fact he hasn’t caused a lick of trouble for anybody.
He’s been right here on the ranch, or else with me…” Well, a time
or two, she’d sent him on errands, but in her heart she knew
Benjamin wouldn’t do anything wrong.

“No, he’s caused no trouble. We’ve come to
get him, Miss Phillips.” The Marshal twisted his hat in his hands.
“We’re taking him back to his father.”

“You’re doing what?”

Virgil Kendrick climbed down from the buggy
and came to stand close to Kat. “How are you feeling, dear?”

“Never mind how I’m feeling,” she snapped.
“You can’t just ride up here and take Benjamin away.”

“We’ve been over this before,” Kendrick
said, his voice turning cold. “The boy has a father who is looking
for him. You can’t come between a father and his son.”

She turned away so that her father could not
hear. “You’re doing this because you’re angry with me. Don’t
pretend otherwise.”

“I’m doing what’s right, Katherine.”

More than ever, she hated the man, hated the
smug, self-righteous look on his face, his holier-than-thou
attitude and bearing. For now, however, she must choke back her
loathing, put on a polite smile, and appear to agree with the
decision Kendrick and Marshal Long had made.

Her father stepped down from the porch.
“What’s going on, Marshal?” he asked.

The smile came into play, and Kat linked
arms with her father. “It’s very good news, Pa. Apparently there’s
been some misunderstanding about Benjamin. When we found him, we
assumed he had no family, but as it turns out, he does have a
father.”

Marshal Long nodded. “Wes Randall met the
fellow in Denver and passed the information on to the reverend.” He
jerked a thumb toward Kendrick, who picked up the story.

“I’ve contacted Mr. Brooks and informed him
of his son’s whereabouts. I’ve agreed to take Benjamin to Denver
and see that they’re reunited.”

Dirk’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s good
news, indeed.” He gestured toward Kat. “You going to ride out now
and get the boy?”

Kat nodded. “Yes, he’s working out in the
west pasture,” she told their visitors. “I was planning to head out
anyway, but I didn’t want to leave Pa alone. Now that you gentlemen
are here and can look after him, I’ll go out and get Benjamin.
There’s some fresh apple pie in the kitchen,” she added. “Mama made
it early this morning. There’s coffee, too. Help yourselves. I’ll
get Benjamin and be back shortly.”

Moments later, her hair loose and flying in
the wind, Kat raced her mare toward the west, frantic to find
Benjamin and warn him not to return to the ranch. Her heart beat
faster as she spotted him swinging up onto his pinto pony. A few
moments more, and she would have missed him. He would have
unknowingly ridden right into the danger Kendrick and the
authorities posed.

Kat had no doubt the men were dangerous to
Benjamin. They wanted to turn him over to his father, send him
back, throw him once more into a life of violence and abuse—the
very life from which he’d fought so hard to escape.