Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) (16 page)

He crammed his feet into his boots and tucked
in his shirt. Glancing toward the bedroom, he
was surprised to see the door open. On closer
inspection, he discovered the bed was already
made. He followed the delicious smell coming
out of the kitchen and found Saber just taking
biscuits out of the oven.

She noticed how tumbled his hair looked, and
she noticed the tired lines beneath his eyes. He
was working too hard, and she doubted that he'd
slept very well on the floor.

"Something smells good," he said, sniffing the
air.

A warm glow spread through her at the shared moment of intimacy. She tried to remember that
she was angry with him, but it was difficult with
him looking at her with such a soft glow in those
silver eyes.

"After you've washed and called the others,
breakfast will be ready to eat."

"I didn't hear you get up. I thought young ladies of your station reclined in bed and had their
breakfast served to them."

In a sudden rush of irritation, she now remembered why she'd been angry with him. Why
did he always have to say such cruel things to
her? "I have always been an early riser myself
and for your information, I never take my breakfast in bed unless I'm ill. As for you" she
shrugged "it would have taken a stampede to
wake you when I first got up."

The sight of her standing there with a smudge
of flour on her cheek was so endearing that it
made him smile. "I'll wash up," he said, going
out the kitchen door with light steps.

Later, when the three men were seated at the
table, Saber poured each of them a steaming cup
of coffee, then sat down to drink hers.

"Why aren't you eating?" Reese said in a
growl. "A good puff of wind would blow you
away."

Her head swiveled in his direction, and her
blue eyes glowed dangerously. "I ate while you were still asleep. I also washed your dirty clothing, hung it on the line, and made breakfast."

"Rosita does my laundry," Reese grumbled.

"Good. Then I won't do it again."

Jake and Gabe exchanged startled glances.
Knowing Reese's temper and hoping to keep the
boss from making a fool of himself, Gabe said
quickly, "Ma'am, I guess you're just about the
best cook I ever met. I ain't ate like this since I
was a boy. My ma made biscuits like these."

"Why, thank you, Mr. Cooper. I don't know
when I've had a nicer compliment."

Jake nodded, his eyes clear and honest. "I
agree with him, ma'am, although I don't remember my ma's cooking."

Reese managed to look disgruntled, but he
said nothing.

Saber took a quick sip of coffee and smiled at
Jake. "I am riding out with you this morning."

Gabe nodded. "Bundle up good. It's still right
cold, but I don't think we'll have anymore snow."

Reese scowled at the two men, resenting the
fact that they made Saber smile. Hell, he resented any man who could make those sweet
dimples appear in her satin cheeks! He shoved
his plate away and stood. "You two ride to the
high pasture. I'm going to take Miss Vincente
and search in the valley so we won't be so far
from the house."

"Yes, sir, boss," Gabe said with pretend seriousness, and received a frown from Reese for his
trouble.

"I'll be in the barn," Reese said, his movements jerky.

Three pairs of eyes watched him stomp to the
parlor, where his coat hung.

Saber sighed and stood. Taking the kettle of
boiling water off the stove, she scraped the
dishes and dunked them in soapy water. Reese
could hurt her so easily. She paused as Gabe and
Jake left, her mind made up. No man was going
to treat her with such insolence. She had done
nothing wrong. He was probably tired of having
her around. She dried the plates and stacked
them on the shelf. Yes, that must be what was
wrong with him. Well, it had been his decision
to bring her here, not hers.

Jake swung into the saddle and whispered to
Gabe, "What's wrong with Reese-what's put a
burr under his saddle? I've never seen him act
like that before. The look he gave me when I
complimented Miss Vincente on her biscuits
would have curdled cream."

Gabe mounted his horse, laughing. "That little
thoroughbred filly's what's wrong with him.
She's got him twisted in knots. He ain't never
seen her like before, and he's fighting to the end
of his tether."

"Do you mean he's acting this way because
he.. .wants her?"

Gabe laughed and spurred his horse on.
"That's exactly what I mean."

Jake rode up to the older man. "Well, I'll be
damned. Never thought the boss would go all
soft on a woman."

Gabe gave him a knowing look. "Yes, sirree,
he's a-bucking and a-rearing like a stallion
caught in a barbed-wire fence. He'll not walk
away from that little filly so easily. She's got
spirit real spirit!"

Reese noticed that his sorrel appeared to be favoring its left hind leg. On examining it, he discovered the horse had picked up a stone. He was
concentrating on prying it loose, so he didn't
glance up when Saber entered the barn.

She made her way to the stall where one of
the mares was kept and opened the gate, patting
the animal and receiving a friendly whinny in
return.

He glanced at her and noticed she was wearing one of his old coats. It was rolled up at the
sleeves and hung past her knees. She had also
helped herself to a pair of his gloves, which were
so big she was having trouble keeping them on
her hands.

"Are you still set on riding out today, Saber?"

She gave him a lofty glance. "I need to get out
of the house, and I am going."

He ground his teeth. "If you'll wait until I am
finished here, I'll saddle that mare for you."

She led the mare forward, seething inside. "I
don't need you to saddle my horse for me! I have
been taking care of my own horses since I was
no taller than your knee."

He gave her a doubtful glance, then watched
as she aptly slipped the bridle over the mare's
head and slid the bit between its teeth. He
turned to help her, only to find that she'd already
retrieved the saddle blanket from the stall railing. Dropping the gloves, she fixed him with a
glare that stopped him short.

Saber slid the blanket in place and then
heaved the saddle over her head. Reaching beneath the mare's belly, she fastened the cinch.
After she'd adjusted the stirrups to her height,
she rubbed the mare behind the ear and turned
her glance to Reese, who was speechless.

"Mr. Starrett, my father was a firm believer
that if you own an animal, that animal is your
responsibility." She arched an eyebrow at him
and asked in a purring voice. "Now, would you
like me to saddle your horse for you?"

He turned away and began saddling his horse,
hiding the smile that tugged at his lips. "I think
I can manage."

"If you have any trouble, I'll be glad to help,"
she stated, jabbing her foot into the stirrup and
mounting. Leaning over, she took a coiled rope
from a peg and hooked it on her saddle horn. "I
can rope, too, if you need me to help you today."

He swung smoothly into the saddle and
looked into her eyes. "Ah, your offer of help
warms my heart. Dare I hope that the lady begins to like me?"

"Banish any such hope, Mr. Starrett. The lady
does not like you in the least." She nudged her
mare forward and rode out of the barn.

Laughing, Reese rode after her, ducking his
head when he came to the barn door. "Saber
Vincente, you may be too much woman for Major Matthew Halloway," he said daringly.

She halted her mount and waited for him to
join her. He saw the mischief reflected in her
eyes and waited for her to speak.

"You see, it's the Spanish blood that's the
problem. The part of me that is my mother will
always do what is correct. But my father's Spanish blood causes me to behave irrationally. It's
good if you understand this about me."

"I'll try to remember that," he said, nudging
his horse forward at a gallop.

In spite of his earlier objections, Reese admitted to himself that it felt good to have her riding
beside him. He had been well fed, and a beau tiful woman was next to him. What more could
a man ask for?

By midmorning Reese had just about given up
the hope of finding anymore strays. Suddenly he
heard the frantic bellowing of cattle. Following
the sound down to a deep gully, he and Saber
located two cows that had been trapped in a
high snowdrift.

Grabbing his rope, Reese shot forward, twirling it over his head, throwing it with precision,
and catching one of the cows in his noose. When
he wrapped his end of the rope around the saddle horn, the well-trained cutting horse pulled
the rope taut and began to back up.

Saber loosened her rope and whirled it over
her head. She had done this many times at Casa
del Sol. She prayed that her aim would be accurate today. With a quick whirl, her loop sailed
artfully through the air, slipping easily over the
cow's horns. She did the same as Reese and
wrapped her rope around the saddle horn. However, it took her only a moment to realize her
mount was not trained to bulldog, so she would
have to dismount.

Pulling the rope hand over hand, she found
she could not budge the frightened animal. She
soon felt Reese beside her, and his strong gloved
hand slid over hers as he added his strength to hers. They pulled together until the animal was
free; then Reese loosened the rope.

They both watched as the frightened animals
ran up the draw.

"Where did you ever learn to do that?" he
asked in amazement.

She looped her rope neatly and gave him her
haughtiest look. "I grew up on a ranch, Reese. I
know you think I did nothing but sit around and
study fashion catalogs, but it's just not true."

His admiration for her was growing daily, and
so was his desire to have her. He watched her
mount her horse, noting the roundness of her
hips. He wanted to take her down on the ground
and grind his lips against hers and drive into
that tempting body until she felt some of the
hunger he was experiencing.

"What do we do now?" she asked, wondering
what he was thinking as he looked at her so
fiercely, his silver eyes catching the sunlight and
burning right into her heart.

"We look for more strays," he said at last. "Are
you cold?"

"No. Let's ride on."

He mounted, watching her ride ahead of him.
He cursed the day he'd laid eyes on her. She was
his torment, and his heart's mate. If he had
never met her, he never would have known what
he'd missed. No woman would ever satisfy him now. If ever a woman had been created for him,
it was Saber Vincente. But she didn't know it,
and she never would.

She halted when she reached the top of the
draw and stared about her. Everything was so
peaceful and serene. "I love this land," she said
dreamily. "It's so beautiful, Reese. No wonder
you love it here."

He tried to see it through her eyes. It had been
a long time since he'd really looked at his ranch.
He'd been too busy working to keep from losing
it. He could see for miles now because winter
had stripped the trees of their foliage. A deep
path, cut by hundreds of years of buffalo roaming, wound through the trees to the Trinity
River. He saw deer tracks where a herd had fed
and followed the river. There was no better grazing land in Texas than on his ranch.

"I suppose a woman like you would find it too
isolated and lonely out here."

"No. I love living on a ranch. I would never fit
in anywhere else."

"Not Philadelphia?"

Reese had hit on something that she had been
struggling with. "Philadelphia is Matthew's
home, and I assume he will one day want to return there. As his wife, I will, of course, go with
him."

Silence fell between them, and Saber's gaze traced the Trinity River until it disappeared
around a butte. At last she said, "My brother always says that he who owns the water is master
of his world. You have good water here, Reese,
and a good ranch."

"Your brother is right about the water." He
glanced down at her and found she was watching him. "I have heard that your brother married
one of Sam Rutledge's daughters. That gave him
the rights to both sides of the Brazos."

Saber laughed, her eyes filled with mirth. "If
you knew my sister-in-law, you might say the
woman who controls the water rights is mistress
of her domain."

"Don't you like your sister-in-law?"

"I adore her. But Rachel is a woman who
makes her own destiny, and I admire that about
her. She can certainly handle my brother. No
other woman could have made him as happy as
she has. She rules him and makes him like it."

Reese was startled. "Your brother allows
this?"

"He has no choice. Rachel is Rachel." She was
thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, Noble encourages Rachel to be herself. He likes her just
the way she is, and so do I."

"Why did he marry her?"

Saber gazed up at the clear blue sky and took
a deep breath. "I hope I have a marriage as lov ing as theirs. They are deeply committed to each
other. I have never seen two people who are
more in love."

"Yet they come from two different worlds."

She smiled at him. "Noble once told me that
crossing the river between their two ranches was
the longest trip he'd ever made. I suspect he had
to humble himself a bit to win Rachel."

"And you say you like her."

"Of course. She's the sister I've never had. She
makes my brother happy, and I would love her
for that alone, if not for herself."

Reese wanted to reach out and touch her face,
to bring her against his shoulder and hold her
until she realized that he would cross that river
for her, brave any distance if it would bring her
to him. But again his honor stopped him. "Let's
ride on."

Saber followed him, wishing he'd look at her
just once the way his brother looked at
Rachel or even notice that she was a woman. She
doubted if he ever thought of her as anything but
trouble. He had certainly never seen her looking
like a woman. If only he could see her in something besides worn and baggy trousers. She
wanted him to think she was pretty, and she
blushed at that thought. She had never thought
about impressing a man before, but then, Reese
was not just any man.