Renegade Moon (CupidKey) (7 page)

People were eating, but nobody in their group made a move to the buffet. Destiny didn’t feel particularly hungry, but she wished Lee would eat something. He was getting quite drunk.

At last Eric stood. “Let’s get some barbeque.”

“Yes.” Destiny quickly rose. Martin and Iris joined them and they trooped to the buffet. The food tempted; thick slices of juicy brisket, green salad, potato salad, and a large pot of beans. She spotted a bowl of hot sauce and another bowl containing the peppers New Mexico was famous for, Hatch green chilies. Destiny watched the Montoya brothers, and Iris, scoop salsa onto their beans. The men also took several peppers apiece. Destiny was Texan enough to like hot sauce, but decided to forego the peppers. They returned to the table to find Lee swallowing the last of Destiny’s unwanted drink.

Destiny tried to tempt him with some of her food, but he only took one bite of brisket and refused more. However, he did want another drink.

When they finished eating, Eric gathered up his and Destiny’s paper plates and plastic utensils and disposed of them in the big barrel that was for that purpose. Martin took his own and, as though on second thought, picked up Iris’s. A cowboy invited Iris to dance, leaving Destiny alone at the table. A bit antsy that Jard might approach her again, she rose and walked outside onto the patio.

The evening breeze caressed her bare arms. She hugged herself and gazed up at the star-splashed sky. Leaning against one of the large stone columns encircling the patio, she inhaled the sweet night air. Thoughts of Eric, Martin, Iris, and Lee chased each other in circles through her mind. Maybe she’d get a few answers on her picnic with Martin. With that thought, she turned to go back inside.

At that moment, she spotted Eric and Glen King at one end of the patio, talking. Eric appeared angry. Glen King seemed to be trying to placate him. Destiny stepped back into the shadow of the column and watched. Eric emphasized a point with a chopping hand motion and strode inside. Glen stared after him, then stomped off around the corner of the building.

After a few moments, Destiny slipped back inside. Central air-conditioning was rare in this country, but it didn’t feel hot indoors. The Wagon Wheel sported a couple of evaporator-coolers, five ceiling fans, and made use of breezes with cross ventilation. In Austin, with its higher humidity, everyone would be sweltering. Destiny found more and more that she was enjoying this wild, rugged country.
And maybe a certain wild, rugged Apache
.

Lee was practically cross-eyed by the time she returned to their table. She heaved a disgusted sigh.

“Duncan is in no condition to drive, let alone take you home,” Eric stated.

“I’m all right,” Lee sputtered, his face reddening. “You might own the Bar-M, but you don’t own my date.”

“Oh, shut up, Lee,” Iris scolded, distaste clear in her voice.

Martin patted Lee’s shoulder. “Take it easy. We can drive you and Destiny both home in my Suburban. You can pick up your car tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Martin,” Destiny quickly accepted. She’d already decided she would insist on driving Lee home, then take his car rather than allow him to get behind the wheel. No more riding anywhere with Lee.
Period
.
Phooey.

“You only drank ginger ale,” Destiny commented to Eric as they all made their way to a brown and tan Suburban with magnetic signs on the sides that said at the top,
Double
Bar-M Ranch
, and at the bottom,
Johnson City
,
Texas
. Two bars and an M, the ranch brand, spanned the center of the sign.

“Remember what I told you about my father?” Eric reminded her quietly. Destiny nodded. “That’s why I don’t drink. I refuse to fuel the ‘drunken Indian’ stereotypes.”

Somehow it made her acutely sad that he’d been hurt, and she wanted to touch him so badly her arms ached.

“I didn’t notice you drinking anything but ginger ale, either. Why?”

“Don’t care for the taste of alcohol. Have not found one drink I like.”

Iris inserted herself between Eric and Destiny and clamped onto his arm, ending their conversation. “You’ve got to come to the condos to take Lee home anyway, so why don’t you, and Martin, too, of course, come up for a nightcap?”

“No, not tonight. It’s late,” Eric said. “How about you driving Lee home and saving us a trip to the condos?”

“Good grief! Oh, all right. Put him in the car.” Iris flounced away, her high heels wobbling ungracefully on the rocky ground. They loaded Lee into Iris’s violet Corvette and she spun out of the parking lot, scattering rocks.

“Surprise, surprise,” Martin murmured, watching the Corvette’s tail lights recede, his face expressionless. Then, turning to Destiny with a smile, he handed her into the Suburban. “Here you go.”

“Don’t forget tomorrow,” Martin reminded Destiny as he dropped her off at her rental cabin.

“Okay. Thanks. Bye!” She waved and rushed into her cabin with great relief. With him to the rescue, she’d been lucky, Destiny scolded herself as she snuggled into bed. She knew better than to accept a date with someone she knew so little about. Yet, she hoped tomorrow’s picnic would be different. After all, she didn’t know much about Martin Montoya, either.

The buzz of her alarm woke her at eight the next morning. Emerging refreshed from a vigorous shower, she toweled dry and slicked perfumed lotion over her bare skin. She’d learned to apply lotion faithfully here in the high desert. A touch of blow-drying was all her hair required to fluff out into waves. A bit of makeup and peach-tinted gloss on her lips completed her efforts. The New Mexico sun had begun to tan her skin a soft honey shade, and she stared into the mirror, trying to see herself though someone else’s eyes. Then, pulling a face at her reflection, she turned away.

Since it was still too early to meet Martin, she decided to drive around, keeping an eye out for landscape shots. She took a side road away from the highway. A bunny dashed in front of her car and she stopped. A lizard zipped up onto a rock and performed pushups, daring her to invade his domain. She snapped his picture. He pumped more vigorously, then raced back under the rock.

“Thank you, Mr. Lizard.” She glanced around for another creature to pose. Perhaps a coyote or jackrabbit?

Galloping hooves announced Eric’s arrival on Pinto. Destiny’s breath caught as she gazed up at him. He looked like an Apache warrior mistakenly dressed in modern day jeans and shirt. Instinctively, she clicked her camera. Eric dismounted and padded toward her, his muscular body graceful, his face mysterious in the shade of his cowboy hat.

“I think you’ve taken enough pictures.” Shyness softened his words.

“I can’t resist a good subject.”

Eric grinned in that slightly crooked, heart-stopping way so unique to him. “So I’m classed with a lizard. I guess it’s better than the last time somebody wanted to take my picture. They wanted me to pose like a Hollywood Indian and wear beads and feathers.”

“Oh, you’re kidding.” Destiny slid her camera into its case.

Sadness touched Eric’s handsome face. “No. I’m not kidding.”

“And did you do it?” she heard herself ask, before she could stop the words.

Arching a brow at her, he replied, “I did.”

“You did?” she echoed, surprised,
and
relieved he didn’t act offended.

The grin returned. “Hey, I was sixteen and they offered me money. I didn’t work cheap, but they didn’t seem to care. Paid for a fun weekend.”

“Oh, Eric, you were a naughty boy, skinning the tourists,” she chided with a giggle. A vague headache teased behind her eyes and she pressed her fingertips to her temples.

“What’s the matter?” Eric demanded, grabbing her shoulders. His eyes burned into hers.

“Just a little headache.”

“Let’s get you out of the sun.” Eric helped her into the front seat. “Do you have anything to drink?”

“Orange juice in the thermos.”

Eric’s closeness diffused her pain, made her senses reel. He smelled of soap and warm male muskiness.

“Here,” he ordered. “Drink this.”

Destiny obeyed, sipping the juice, already feeling normal. If yearning for a man one hardly knew could be called ‘normal.’ She pressed the thermos cup into his hand. Tiny shocks rippled through her fingers as they contacted his.

“Thanks, Eric. I’m fine now.”

His gaze moved skeptically over her, making her blush. “You should go home to bed.”

She let her lashes flutter down over her eyes to hide the thoughts his words ignited. “I can’t. I have a date in an hour.” She glanced at her watch. “Oops, in less than an hour.”

“Date?” Eric scowled, his dark brows drawing together.

His stormy response surprised her. “Didn’t your brother tell you about our picnic?”

“Nope.” He stared at Destiny but she sensed his thoughts were not of her. “Have fun,” he finally said. With a sardonic little tip of his hat, he mounted Pinto and galloped away into the desert.

Destiny sighed, feeling that she had committed some crime, yet she was unsure of its nature. Or how to atone for it.

Martin waved at Destiny as she parked her Mustang beside his big Suburban.

“Hi, Martin. Sorry I’m late.” She swung her legs out of the car, reading approval of her pink shorts and matching lace-trimmed tee in his green-gold eyes.

“Get what you intend to bring and leave your car here. You don’t want to drive that pretty little thing where we’re going.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? Where’s that?”

“A romantic spot on the creek, down a very rough road. Hope you’re hungry. Estrella packed enough food to supply an army.”

“Sounds delicious. I’ve been lucky enough to sample her chili.” Destiny gathered up the camera and her large canvas bag, immediately heading for the Suburban.

“Wait,” Martin said. “You forgot your hat.”

“I did not forget my hat.” She opened the Suburban door. “You sound just like your brother. I don’t like hats and I’m not a child to be told what to do.”

“Touchy, touchy,” he teased, smiling.

Moments after they turned off the highway, Destiny understood why he recommended she leave her Mustang behind. They traveled over more than just bumps and gullies. At times they plowed through deep sand, which the Suburban negotiated like a tank. It would have captured her Mustang securely. They reached their destination and Destiny got out.

A great stone canyon framed the creek, which contained only a thin sheet of water that danced over the rugged creek bed. “Hey, Martin!
Water
.”

“If it rains at all, this part will have water in it,” he told her. “Thundershowers fell in the mountains recently.” He fetched the picnic basket and placed it atop a flat boulder in the shade of an overhang. “It’s past noon. Shall we eat?”

She agreed. Martin removed two plastic containers, napkins, forks, and paper plates from the basket. “Estrella made us taco salad with guacamole, and her homemade
sopapillas
for desert. If we don’t do justice to her food, she’ll be hurt.”

“No problem.” Destiny savored every bite. When they finished, Martin gathered up their things and replaced them in the basket, then put it in the Suburban before sitting beside Destiny. She could tell he studied her as she watched the sparkling water.

At his scrutiny, she turned and smiled at him. “Have you ever been married, Martin?” The question just popped out.

“No.” He examined a pebble he held in his hand, sailing it out into the water. Destiny gazed at him. In repose, his expression was cool and aloof. But his smile brought the sun to his face. He turned and gave her that hundred-watt smile then. “What’re you thinking?”

About Eric.
She smothered such a reply. “Nothing really. So you’re the brother who owns the Double Bar-M. And there’s a sister?”

“Yeah, she’s the youngest. Spoiled of course. How could she not be, with two big brothers? We both doted on her, and she certainly championed us. Eric was such a big kid, and I was small, so we looked more like twins, rather than seventeen months apart. Then he outgrew me when we reached about thirteen.”

Another pebble followed the first one into the water. “I don’t know why Eric’s mother died in childbirth. She developed some condition and died before they could get help for her. We were pretty remote at the Bar-M in those days. I suppose we still are even now, to some people. I don’t really remember Eric’s mother’s death, I was so young. I do remember feeling jealous that there was a baby to fuss over, and it wasn’t me. I’d been the baby up until then. Not quite three years later his old man got pitched off a horse into a barn wall. Broke his neck. George became a dedicated drunk after his wife died, and he had a hangover. Eric and I were both a little older then, and I understood how he felt. It hurt to see him grieve for his father.”

Martin weighed a couple of pebbles carefully, chose one, and sailed it into the creek. “We’ve always been in competition with each other, and for each other. I was jealous if anybody paid any attention to him, and if he paid attention to anyone else. I don’t know. Guess Eric and I have some pretty crazy mixed-up feelings about each other.”

He turned to Destiny suddenly and flashed his brilliant smile. “Why am I telling you all this? I think you cast a spell on me.” He jumped to his feet and extended a hand to Destiny. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

She allowed him to pull her to her feet. His hand felt warm and pleasant, but without the sparks that Eric’s touch ignited.

“See those stones that cross the water? Let’s hop across.”

The strange, up-thrust rocks, almost like giant toadstools spaced across the creek, fascinated her. Water truly must thunder through this canyon to carve those out like that. She glanced down at her rubber-soled tennis shoes and bare legs.

“Why not?” she agreed with a laugh, joining in his light mood.

Martin hopped onto the first stone. He waited, and Destiny followed. When her feet slipped, he caught her around her waist.

“Careful.” He grinned, pulling her closer than she considered necessary.

“I’ll go first. You take up too much room.” She leaped to the next boulder. Martin landed lightly beside her, his arms pinioning her body to prevent her from being knocked into the creek. For a moment he pressed his face against her hair.

“There’s a legend about these stones,” he said softly.

Destiny squirmed from his too-intimate embrace. To keep her balance, she extended one leg to rest a foot on the next boulder. “What kind of legend?”

“Native American.” He freed her to jump to the next stone, following closely behind. They balanced atop it, midway across the creek bed, Destiny again with a foot stretched to the next rock.

“Tell me.”

“They’re called the Marriage Stones. According to ancient myth, if a brave lures his chosen maiden across these stepping stones, they’ll marry.”

A giant thundercloud loomed up over the edge of the canyon, blocking the sun. A gust of wind whipped her hair into her face. She shivered. “Let’s go back. The wind is chilly.”

“Come on. We’re almost across,” Martin coaxed, hopping to the next stone and tugging Destiny’s hand.

“No, I’d rather not.” She stayed firmly planted upon her own pillar.

“It’s only a silly Indian legend.”

“I want to get back to the car before it starts raining.” She refused to admit that the story bothered her. To punctuate her statement, a deep rumble of thunder rolled across the sky. Other huge billows joined the first one. Destiny leaped from pillar to pillar until she reached the bank. Martin watched her a moment, then followed.

Icy fat drops pelted them. Martin grabbed Destiny’s hand and raced for the Suburban. “We’ve got to get out of here,” he said, all teasing gone, as they leaped into the vehicle. Rain pelted down, coming at a steep slant. Martin drove as fast as possible through the swiftly rising water.

“Is this four-wheel drive?” Destiny was truly frightened. Never had she seen such a flash flood—the water visibly rising, rain obscuring their vision, the wipers unable to keep up with it.

“No, but it’s posi-track. We’ll be all right.” He never took his focus from his driving and soon they got through the soft, sucking wet sand and drove right out of the storm, leaving the gusting wind and pelting rain behind in a rainbow.

Destiny was so glad to see her little dusty Mustang waiting at the Wagon Wheel she could have kissed it. She recalled Lee’s warning about gully-washers, and how dangerous they could be to the unwary.

Several people stood outside chatting, pointing in the direction of the storm as if to lure it their way. Rain was always eagerly anticipated here.

“Will you do me a favor?” Martin asked. That strange mood he’d displayed at the creek, his ‘coming on’ to her, had evaporated. Destiny wondered if she had imagined it.

“What kind of favor?”

“Can you return our picnic stuff to Estrella? I really need to get on the road. It’s a long drive to the Double Bar-M.”

“Sure. Of course.”

He handed it over. “Destiny, I enjoyed the day. I’ll be back sometime soon and I hope we’ll see each other then. Okay?”

She smiled. “Okay. Have a safe trip.”

“Thanks. See you soon.” Without any attempt to touch or kiss her, he got back into the Suburban and drove away.

Bemused, Destiny put the things in the car. Her inexplicable reluctance to cross the stones, the wild ride through the savage storm, it all seemed dreamlike now. Just as she started to get into her car, Lee Duncan walked up. She figured he’d come to get his car.

“Destiny, wait.” He stopped in front of her and gave her a rueful smile. “I apologize for my behavior last night. Really, all I can say is that I didn’t eat anything, and, well, I drank too much. Please forgive me. I promise never to pull a stunt like that again.”

“That’s okay, Lee. We can all act foolishly at times.”

“Will you go out with me again?”

She smiled down at her feet. “Maybe. Let me think about it, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed, still a bit hangdog. “Are you going out to the dig today?”

“I don’t know. I’m interviewing a local character this afternoon, so I’ll have to see how much time that takes.”

“Oh? Is it concerning the dig?”

The intensity of his tone surprised her. “No. Just something for another story I’m doing. There’s a lot to photograph and write about here.”

Though he smiled and nodded, his expression showed he’d love to question her further. To forestall him, she got into her car, waved, and drove away. She’d take the picnic things to her cabin and wash them before returning them so they wouldn’t be all icky.

Destiny waited until the following day to return the picnic items. When she drove up, she didn’t see Eric’s tan pickup, but he usually parked it behind the house out of sight from the front. She didn’t see Pinto in the corral either. Joby and Muddog came out from the side of the porch, barking. With a bit of trepidation, she opened the car door and spoke words of friendship. They appeared to remember her. After a couple of hello sniffs and licks on her arms, they trotted back into the shade.

She gathered up the basket and started for the door. As she ascended the steps, the door opened.

“
Niña!”
Estrella exclaimed with obvious pleasure. “What brings you here? Eric George is not at home.”

“I didn’t come to see Eric. I’m returning this.”

“Ah! And I have been fussing that Martin went away with these things.” She gave his name the Spanish pronunciation, MarTEEN. “Come in. Here, let me have the basket.”

Destiny followed Estrella into the kitchen. “Sit down,
niña
, and I will pour you some fresh lemonade.” Destiny sat down at the big oak table and Estrella joined her, bringing two icy tumblers.

She sipped. “Delicious.”

“
Grácias
. Now tell me. Did you enjoy your picnic with Martin?” Her round face smiled expectantly, like a favorite aunt granted sweetheart secrets.

Destiny took another sip of her lemonade to hide her grin. “Your food tasted wonderful,” she replied truthfully. “And Martin was a gentleman.”
For the most part,
she added silently. She still wondered if he’d actually made a pass at her or if she’d only imagined it. “We almost got caught in a gully-washer,” she added, and told where they’d gone.

“Ah,
sí
. I know the Canyon of the Marriage Stones. I have heard the story, but . . .” She shrugged. “
Quién
sabe
, eh? Who knows if it is true.”

Destiny smiled. “Anyway, we didn’t make it across. The rain chased us back.” She gazed around. They were sitting at the big oak table in a large open room, stretching all the way across the length of the house, incorporating the living room at one end and the kitchen at the other. The dining table sat midway. Behind it was a sliding glass patio door that opened out into an enclosed courtyard. Destiny noticed the cabinetwork, using weathered, silvered boards.

“How lovely. Such beautiful wood.”

“
Sí.
Eric wants to fix the house up pretty. After the Montoyas retired and moved to Albuquerque, and Eric got the ranch, he didn’t live in the big house. It required much work to make it like he wanted, so the three of us shared the small casa where we lived.” She giggled. “Sometimes it was very crowded, but we pushed each other out of the way when we were too close. Now, we enjoy this roomy house. Domingo and I have lived on this ranch for all our lives together. We were married on the Bar-M.”

“Really? How romantic. I don’t know much about the Montoyas, except that they’re a prominent New Mexico family,” Destiny encouraged.

“
Sí
, that they are.
Señor
Carlos Montoya, father to Martin and Eric’s father, was a very smart and clever man. Such a hard life he had when he was young. When his mother still carried him inside her, his parents came to the United States from Spain. He was a citizen by only a few days. There were other children born, and the family moved to Chicago. Times were hard for them and they lived in a very poor part of town. Many there got sick, as all their family did, and only Carlos was left alive when it was over. He had but twelve years, and he was left to face the world alone. He worked at the stockyards and it was there he met Red McDavis, who brought him to New Mexico.
Señor
Red, his wife die. He have one daughter, Elena. Beautiful fiery red hair, green eyes, she enchanted young Carlos, and they married when they grew up. When
Señor
Red die, he leave everything to Elena and Carlos, his daughter and he who had been like a loyal son to him. They had Carlos Junior, who is father to our dear boys and their sister.”

Destiny listened in fascination. “Martin did mention a younger sister.”

“
Sí
.” Dreamily Estrella refilled their glasses and sat back down. “She favors both her pretty mother and handsome father.”

“And their mother is a Carrington, right? From West Texas?”

“
Sí
, and such a beauty. Leila Carrington. She come with her father to buy some horses. Carlos could not resist her. New Mexico has much magic and legends, and he fell under her special magic as well. Then Martin came along, and, later, that sweet baby girl. In between is Eric George. I help raise all three, along with my two.”