Promises Kept (19 page)

“Amen to that,” T. J. joked. “And remember, young Tate, God is watching that corner.”

Tate’s face turned red as a beet. “How’d you two know about . . .” He realized he’d just admitted he knew about the little cubbyhole behind the church where the fellows took their gals to steal a kiss.

Colt and Tate laughed at him. “As hard as this is for you to believe, T. J. and I were young once,” Colt told him. “The picnic will be over by the time we get cleaned up and ride to town.”

T. J. leaned over and smacked him on the back. “Just in time for the dancing to start! Since you don’t seem particularly interested, I will show Victoria why the ladies prefer me for a dancing partner.”

Colt ignored his comment about his lack of interest in Victoria. “Wallace and his men are sure to be there.”

“Our men will be ready,” T. J. told him. “I’ve already told them not to get drunk.”

Colt nodded. “It won’t take much to get a fight started. Old man Detrick and I had words last night.”

They dismounted at the stable and started removing their gear. T. J. glanced over the back of his horse at Colt. “You don’t think Detrick and Wallace would join forces, do you?”

“I hope not. We’ve got enough trouble as it is.” Colt had considered the same thing last night after he talked with Detrick. If Detrick linked up with Wallace and started a range war, he wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hades of handling that much firepower.

“Wallace has twice the men he needs to run that ranch. We all know he’s hired every man who comes along, just for their guns,” T. J. said.

“Yeah.” Colt thought about what Detrick said about squatters. “Tomorrow we need to ride out to some of those line cabins to make sure we don’t have any squatters. Detrick mentioned squatters on his land.”

“I ran into squatters living in that shack at the far end of the western side. I told them to be out by tomorrow morning or we’d burn them out. Your pa burned out his fair share over the years, but it’s not something he enjoyed having to deal with.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my ranch. Any man who’s willing to put in a good day’s work will always have a job with me, but no man takes from me what he hasn’t worked for, or that I haven’t freely given,” Colt stated firmly.

There was no doubt in T. J.’s mind that Colt would protect what was his. He’d worked for old man McBride and admired him for what he’d done with the ranch. In truth, Colt drove himself hard making the ranch more successful than it had been under the elder McBride. Colt worked side by side with the men and he worked harder than any of them. He’d proven himself to be a good businessman, and to T. J.’s thinking he was one heck of a lot tougher than his old man. He’d seen Colt in action with his fists and his guns. A wise man didn’t take him lightly. There wasn’t a man on the ranch who didn’t hold him in high regard, because he’d earned their respect. Those same men would follow him straight to the gates of Hell if need be. Wallace had gotten word out that he’d pay higher wages than Colt paid, but every man stayed with Colt. They thought that much of him.

“Would you look at that,” T. J. commented when they reined in at the church.

“I can’t believe she is here with him,” Tate grumbled, sounding disappointed.

Colt glanced up and saw Wallace standing beside Victoria, talking with the pastor and his wife. “He works fast,” Colt ground out.

Bartholomew was standing near the rail and heard Colt’s comment. “You can say that again. He came by this morning asking Miss Victoria to the picnic. He told her I could ride along with them. Wouldn’t you know when that cagey no-account shows up, he’s in that little buggy of his. Weren’t no room for me in that thing, so I took the buckboard and rode along behind them to make sure he kept his hands to himself.”

They laughed, and Colt asked, “So you were playing chaperone?”

Bartholomew nodded. “Yes sir, I held my scattergun in my lap the whole time, just hoping he would do something improper.”

“We stopped to see if she wanted to go with us,” Tate told him.

“You youngsters were just too dang late! The picnic was over a long time ago.”

“We just wanted to dance anyway,” T. J. added.

Victoria was talking to the schoolteacher when the music started, and T. J. approached. “Could I have this dance, Miss Victoria?”

Wallace had excused himself, saying he had business to see to, so she didn’t feel it was necessary to wait for him. She allowed T. J. to escort her to the dance floor. After the first dance with T. J., she danced with Rex, and then T. J. appeared again for the next two dances. As he twirled her around the room, she spotted Colt out of the corner of her eye talking with a lovely woman she hadn’t met. Each time she glanced in their direction, the woman had her hand on Colt’s arm. It didn’t seem like Mr. McBride lacked female attention, judging by the way women flocked around him. She noticed his Stetson was absent, but not his gun. He did look boyishly handsome with that black curly hair falling over his forehead. As if he read her thoughts, she watched him rake his fingers through his hair.

When they rode by Victoria’s and found no one home, Colt had had a feeling she might be with Wallace. Seeing her beside Wallace at the dance with his hand on her back, he decided then and there that he was through wasting his breath. If she preferred Wallace, then so be it. He’d spent way too much time thinking about her as it was, but no more. He needed to be thinking about ranch business, and that was what he was going to do from now on. He’d still have his men keep an eye on things at her farm. Any good neighbor would do that, he reasoned.

He’d keep his distance from her tonight, and seeing as how several women were already surrounding him, that wouldn’t be difficult to do. Mavis Connelly, a lovely young widow with three young children, was one of the ladies vying for his attention. He’d escorted Mavis to dinner and other social events over the years, and he liked her, but the relationship had not developed past friendship. At least, not on his part.

Every so often Colt would look around to find Tate, to see if he was doing okay. He’d danced every dance with the youngest Detrick gal, and it looked like T. J. had taught him well. Just as he predicted, old man Detrick made sure his daughters were never far from his sight.

Even though he was resolved to stay away from Victoria, he’d still managed to notice every man she danced with. He knew this was T. J.’s fourth dance, and he looked like he was just warming up. It also hadn’t escaped his notice how lovely she looked in the pink dress she was wearing. Not that it showed off her curves as nicely as that silky robe, but it didn’t hide them either.

The dance ended, and T. J. steered Victoria in the direction of Colt and Mavis.

“T. J., you’re still the best dancer around,” Mavis said after the introductions had been made. She leaned into Colt’s side and linked her arm through his. “I haven’t been able to talk Colt into dancing tonight.”

T. J. picked up the hint. “Would you like to dance with me, Mavis?”

“I’d love to, if your partner doesn’t mind,” Mavis replied coyly, looking directly at Victoria. She was well aware that Victoria had arrived on Euan Wallace’s arm, but when he excused himself, she’d had her choice of dancing partners. She’d also noticed Colt had kept an eye on her all night. She thought she might make him jealous by accepting T. J.’s offer.

“T. J. is not my escort tonight,” Victoria replied.

T. J. took Mavis’s hand and led her away, and Colt was alone with the one person he promised himself he was going to avoid. When he looked at her, all he could think about was how beautiful she was. “Are you having a good time?” he asked politely.

Colt’s question was pleasant enough, yet she thought he seemed distant. “Lovely. T. J. is an excellent dancer,” she replied.

“What about your escort?” Colt hadn’t seen Wallace dance with her. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Wallace since shortly after he arrived. He was wondering why the man would leave her alone. “What happened to him?”

It surprised her that he knew she had arrived with Wallace. “He had business that needed his attention.”

Over Victoria’s shoulder, Colt saw Wallace making his way toward them. “Would you care to see if I measure up to T. J.?” he asked abruptly.

“Are you asking me to dance?” she asked, clearly surprised.

Colt took her by the hand and pulled her into his arms. “Yes.” He danced away from Wallace.
So much for staying away from her
.

Victoria gave him a quizzical look. “I didn’t think you were dancing tonight.”

“Looks like I changed my mind.” His large hand engulfed hers in a light grip, and the hand on her back spanned the space from her waist to her shoulder blades. He held her close, too close for comfort in her estimation. She made an attempt to put some space between their bodies, but the muscled arm around her back was immovable. She didn’t smell whiskey tonight, just a pleasing scent of soap and leather.

Colt liked the feel of her close to him, the way her soft curves pressed against his ribs. She smelled like she had last night, sweet and feminine, and it made him think of things he promised himself he wouldn’t. He lowered his mouth to her ear, and lowered his voice. “I like your hair better down, like it was last night. I bet it would look real pretty in the moonlight.”

She felt the brush of his lips against her ear all the way to her toes, and she jerked her head away from his mouth. “This is the latest style,” she answered, flustered.

He chuckled at that. “Men don’t care about style. They like to feel it.”

Before she could form a reply, he asked, “Have you decided when you are leaving for St. Louis?”

The change in conversation confused her momentarily, and she tried to concentrate on what he was saying instead of his warm breath on her ear. “I received a telegram from Mrs. Wellington today. She told me not to come, that she was due for an adventure and was bringing the boys to me. I’m not sure that is a good idea, but she sounded so excited.”

“That many miles with two young boys will definitely be an adventure.”

“I’ll worry until I see them here safe and sound. That is a difficult trip, and Mrs. Wellington is not a young woman.”

Colt pulled back far enough to see a frown crease her brow. “No sense borrowing trouble. Don’t worry until you have a reason.” Good advice. Now if he would follow it himself, things would be perfect in McBride’s world.

“Mind if I cut in? I haven’t had the pleasure of dancing with
my
date yet,” Euan Wallace said.

Victoria felt Colt’s shoulders tense and his grip on her hand tighten. He stopped dancing and turned to face Wallace. “Another bad decision on your part.”

“I intend to make up for my failing manners.” He held his hand out to Victoria.

Victoria saw Colt’s jaw muscles start to twitch, and she tried to remove her hand from his, but he was obviously not ready to release his hold. “Thank you for the dance, Mr. McBride,” she said, giving her fingers a slight tug.

Colt pulled his dark eyes from Wallace and flashed her that rakish grin. “It was my pleasure, Miss Eastman.” He pulled her fingers to his mouth and brushed his lips across the back of her hand, imitating Wallace.

She wasn’t fooled by his attempt at a cordial demeanor; that cold, hard look was back in his eyes. He kissed her hand simply to irritate Wallace, and she was equally sure Wallace was aware of his intent. She had no reason to share Colt’s opinion of Wallace, and tonight he’d been a polite companion on the way to town. Of course, it was comforting to know Bartholomew was right behind them. Since Wallace hadn’t broached the subject of buying her farm again, she thought Colt was wrong about his involvement in the trouble with the ranchers. So far, the only thing that troubled her about Wallace was the fact that Bandit didn’t like him.

Colt saw Tate in line to get punch and he walked in his direction. He figured it was time to go home since they had to get up early in the morning. Before he reached Tate, he saw old man Detrick approach, and from the set of his jaw, Colt knew he was angry. As soon as Detrick reached Tate, he started yelling.

“What’s the problem here?” Colt asked, interrupting Detrick’s tirade.

Detrick jabbed a finger at Tate. “This here boy tried to take my girl behind the church.”

Colt glanced at Tate. He knew the boy wouldn’t disregard his warning, so he wasn’t going to insult him by asking.

Tate said, “That’s not true, Mr. McBride! We just walked over here to get some punch. We’ve been on the dance floor all night.”

“I know,” Colt told him. The punch table was located next to the area where the teenagers would sneak around to the back of the church. Colt smelled whiskey, so he figured Detrick was spiking his own punch and spoiling for a fight.

“Detrick, if Tate says he was having punch, you can take his word for it,” he said calmly.

“Why would I take his word for it? He’s nothing but trash that was living in a wagon before you gave him a job and a home,” Detrick spat. “He ain’t good enough for my gal.”

It didn’t matter to Colt if they were on church grounds or in a saloon; nobody was going to talk about Tate that way. He grabbed Detrick by the shirt and lifted him up on his toes. “Apologize to the boy!” he demanded.

The music stopped and everyone turned their attention to the confrontation. T. J. and Colt’s other men moved to Colt’s side in case Detrick’s men tried to get involved.

“Take your hands off me!” Detrick demanded.

“I said to apologize,” Colt ground out.

Tate moved to stand beside Colt. “That’s okay, Mr. McBride, he’s just looking out for his daughter.”

Tate was more generous than he was. “Then he ought to have the good sense to ask his daughter what was going on before jumping to conclusions. He’s not only insulted you, but Alice too.”

“Tate’s telling the truth, Pa, we were just having some punch,” Alice added in a shaky voice, clearly afraid of her father.

“I’ve told you to stay away from that piece of . . .” He couldn’t finish his sentence. Colt slammed his fist in Detrick’s jaw and sent him flying into the punch bowl, splintering the glass and table at the same time.