Roz Denny Fox (22 page)

“Hmm.” Nell handed her handkerchief to Hayley before she loaded the remaining ore. She made no further comment, and the women waved gaily to each other as Nell drove off.

Hayley kept a bright smile on her face until she could no longer hear the crunch of Nell’s tires. Nell Cooper had a good heart. Kindness and generosity were part of her makeup. But deep inside her ran an implacable need to protect her family—her son—from the Hayley Ryans of the world. Hayley felt it, and she accepted the strikes against her. For very soon she’d be a mother who’d go to any lengths to protect her own child. Unconsciously Hayley rubbed her stomach.

If—no—
when
Jake showed up this afternoon, she’d have to work that much harder at convincing him to stay away.

H
AYLEY’S VOW TO TREAT
J
AKE
in such a cavalier manner that he’d stop slipping around every afternoon lasted ten minutes, tops. She wouldn’t have found it so hard to give him the cold shoulder if he hadn’t blown in each day wearing one of his impossible-to-resist grins.

Jake had called out from the bottom of the steep grade to announce his arrival today, but Hayley already knew he was there. Charcoal, roused from doggie sleep, had lunged awake to sniff the air. His whine of recognition was pitched differently from his earlier growl.

“Good dog,” Hayley praised him. She doubted if her compliment made any impression. His joyful barks drowned her out as he leapt a foot in the air to lick Jake’s face. Charcoal wriggled all over and poked his nose into Jake’s shirt pocket.

“Ha! Smart dog. You know I swiped some bacon from the chuck wagon.” Jake dug out the treat he’d wrapped in a bandanna. Instead of wolfing it down, Charcoal closed his eyes and almost daintily savored each morsel.

That was when Hayley’s indifference flew out the window. She laughed in spite of herself. “I’ve seen him lick his lips before, but never smack them. He must not like bacon the way I fix it.”

“You probably don’t burn it. Manny burns almost everything. That’s how Charcoal got his name. I took him to roundup right after I got him. Manny was new then, too. The crew tore off the charred edges of their meat and tried to discreetly toss them in the fire, but the pup kept catching them in midair. At that point I hadn’t named him. The wranglers called him the charcoal mooch, and the charcoal part stuck.”

“You still have the same cook? I would’ve thought you’d fire him.”

“Don’t kid yourself. Cooks are in big demand with so many ranchers shipping beef to market at the same time. We’re lucky to get anyone who wants the job.”

“I thought you staggered roundups. At least, I think that’s what the men who came by this morning said.” Hayley dislodged a blue-layered rock and reached out of the open ditch to set it in the wagon.

Jake’s gaze had narrowed to a frown at her announcement. “Mom delivered the wagon. Who came with her?”

“They weren’t together.” Hayley coughed. She hadn’t intended to tell Jake. Now that she’d let it slip, she grudgingly gave him details.

“I don’t like Westin’s bully tactics. Why would Mom tell him we’re on to his development scheme?”

“She didn’t. It’s okay, Jacob. The men left. Everything’s fine.”

Not mollified in spite of her assurance, Jake yanked on a pair of leather gloves and climbed into the hole he’d made with the jackhammer the day before. “I think you ought to shut down this site until next summer. Like right now. After we finish today.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.”

“It’ll be two weeks, maybe more, before I can give you full days. When Ryan and Deputy Dawg were your only threat, it was bad enough. I figured they’d have to hunt long and hard to locate you. But Westin and his cronies know where you are and they know you’re alone most of the time. That makes two threats too many.”

“Oh, not three?” Hayley grit her teeth and drove her chisel deep. Now she was back on track. It wasn’t hard to spurn Jake’s advances when he provided an opening like this. “Haven’t you conveniently forgotten that the Coopers tried to weasel me out of this twenty acres? Funny how everyone else is the bad guy for wanting me gone, but
your
intentions are so pure.”

Jake wanted to fly out of the shaft and refute her every word. But his family
was
guilty. And so was he. Not just guilt by association, either. All night, as he circled the restless herd, he’d hatched a plan of his own to halt her digging. Even though his motives were based on love, that wouldn’t matter to Hayley. She still didn’t trust him. Until he overcame that obstacle, one plan to displace her would probably sound pretty much like another.

Hayley more than half expected Jake to make excuses, or at least object to the way she’d lumped his family in with a bunch of thugs. The longer the silence drew out between them, the more she battled a cold sweat. Each time he whacked hammer to chisel, a knot in her stomach clenched tighter. Pretty soon she wanted to scream at him to deny her accusation. He had before. Why not now? She felt hot and cold. Nauseated. Sick. She crawled from the trench, wanting to blame her symptoms on her pregnancy. Hayley hated the need to give Jake the benefit of doubt.

“Break time?” he asked, poking his head above the fissure. Though he was glad she hadn’t continued her indictment, the fact that she was taking a break without his pressuring her to told Jake he ought to step up the timetable for closing down her operation.

She didn’t answer his question, and Jake noticed that her face was pale under a sheen of sweat. Her grip was so unstable she almost dropped her canteen.

Flinging down his tools, Jake vaulted out of the hole. “Are you ill?” He scrambled to her side. His boots slipped on loose rock, knocking two large pieces into the shaft where she’d been working. “It’s nothing.”
As if she’d admit the real problem,
she thought.

“Not a breath of air gets into these troughs. How long have you been working today? Since first light, I’ll bet.” He planted a flat palm to her forehead, then pressed it softly against her stomach. “I’m glad Mom brought the wagon, but, Hayley, you were supposed to fill it and leave it for me to truck back to camp. How many loads have you hauled down the mountain today?”

His devotion and solicitude seemed to contradict his earlier silence. Maybe he hadn’t heard her question before…. Spurred by hope, Hayley smoothed a finger over the worry lines bracketing his lips.

Turning his head slightly, Jake buried his mouth in her palm and planted a kiss. “Hayley, honey, you scare me to death. It’s plain foolishness for you to keep at this. To stay out here alone.”

She felt the reverberations all the way to her toes. From his admission and the brief touch of his lips to her palm. Hayley quickly snatched her hand from Jake’s.

His grave gray eyes assessed her. “I realize I’m crowding you. Last night, riding back to the roundup, I promised myself I’d quit rushing you. I just did it again. I want to start over. Take things slower. Next time I swear I’ll let
you
say when you’re ready to be kissed.” He made an exaggerated cross over his heart.

She was ready.
Hayley hitched in a long ragged breath, which Jake misread.

He stepped back to give her some space. “No dice, huh?” he said gloomily.

Hayley grabbed her canteen. “Does starting over mean that we’ll start off equal?” she ventured in a shaken voice. “You won’t give me orders?”

“Promise.” Jake leaned forward and urged her free hand up for a limp high-five. He felt a whole lot better, glad to be given another chance. “I’m asking, not ordering, okay? But would you like to play hooky this afternoon?” He capped her canteen and traced a finger over her dusty nose. “We could use your truck and go into town. You’ve never seen Eden’s store or her design room where, with any luck, she’s going to make you a rich woman.” A dimple flashed in Jake’s cheek.

Hayley shook her head, yet smiled tentatively. She thought he was kidding, but wasn’t altogether positive. “I can’t just quit work in the middle of the day.”

“Sure you can. You’re the boss, aren’t you?”

She ran nervous fingers down the front of her dirty jumper. “It’s impossible. I’d need to take a bath and change clothes.”

Jake could tell the idea appealed. “A quick shower under the waterfall and throw on a clean dress. Meanwhile, I’ll finish loading the wagon. We can be on the road in, oh, twenty minutes.” He made a show of checking his watch.

“It’s tempting.” The frown that had settled on her forehead began to fade. “I want to see Eden’s shop. I should bank the check she gave me. I hate to leave it lying around the trailer.” She paused suddenly. “We’ll get back here late. Aren’t you riding herd tonight?”

“Nope. Not till tomorrow night. We’ll have time to take my mom and Eden to dinner. Tubac has this great Mexican restaurant. Wait…will that upset Junior?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thrown up in a while.” A new sparkle lit her eyes. “I shouldn’t listen to you. But…oh, I want to go.”

“All right. Go shower. Take Charcoal in case anyone rides in unexpectedly.”

“What about him?” Her face fell. “We can’t leave him here.”

“He can stay to guard the place if you prefer. But he loves trips to town.”

“Let’s take him. I’m afraid he might tangle with the wolves if he’s here by himself. I’ve heard some close by the last few nights.”

“Probably the Mexican grays the state reintroduced along the border last year. They were released south and west of here. The drought is driving wild animals from their natural habitats to look for water. I hope you’re not bathing at the spring after dark. It’s not safe, Hayley. One of our vaqueros sighted jaguar tracks again.”

“Still safer than during the day when two-legged animals are on the prowl.”

Jake started to say something, thought better of it and offered a hand to help her up. She climbed to her feet, obviously embarrassed by her awkwardness. “Easy, easy,” he cautioned. “Your center of gravity is off. You need to lean backward a little to compensate.”

“I refuse to waddle like a duck, Jacob Cooper. It’s bad enough that I have to get patterns from Omar the Tentmaker for these jumpers.” Calling to Charcoal, she marched off down the hill with her shoulders squared and her chin high.

After she’d disappeared, Jake let a small whistle escape his lips. He hadn’t had a lot of experience with pregnant women. He’d heard from married friends that pregnancy was a touchy time. Hayley looked fine to him. But she’d probably bite his head off if he told her so.

Once he, too, had washed up and they were ensconced in her battered pickup, he decided to compliment her, anyway. The plum-colored maternity top she wore with denim pants brought out the lavender in her eyes. “You’re very pretty in that outfit, Hayley,” Jake said lightly as he turned the key and stepped on the gas pedal.

“It makes me look as round as I am high,” she grumbled.

“It does not. What’s wrong with this truck? Does it always growl like it’s on its last legs?”

“What do you expect? It’s older than dirt.”

Jake gave up and closed his eyes. “Great, Hayley. You need reliable transportation. What if you went into labor early and needed to get to the hospital fast? Not only doesn’t this beast have air-conditioning, it’s cantankerous starting.”

Charcoal, who sat between them, barked as if in agreement.

“The baby isn’t due for ten weeks. I’m going to leave here the first week of December. I’m sure the truck will last that long. Gramps drove it for years without incident. Pop it into gear and pump the foot feed. That’s generally all it takes.”

Jake muttered things best not repeated. He did as she suggested, and the engine caught. Except for an occasional miss, it ran smoothly after that. They made it into town without further malfunction.

Edging forward, Hayley craned her neck around the dog to see out both side windows. “So this is Tubac? I’ve never been past the general store out on the highway.”

“In that case I wish we had more time to explore. Anthropologists call Tubac the City of Nine Lives. It’s been a lot of things. Indian village, Presidio, boomtown, ghost town, mining town and now an art community that lives its motto, Where Art and History Meet.”

“It’s charming. Did anyone ever tell you you’d make a good spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce?”

His laughter filled the cab. “As kids, Dillon and I pretended we were Juan Bautista de Anza, Presidio commander, and Fray Francisco Garces, the Spanish explorer who established the fort. I could impress you with my knowledge of Tubac’s history, but I won’t. I’ll leave the hard sell to my mother and Eden.”

“I’m already sold,” Hayley said around a nervous laugh. “It’s more a matter of being able to afford to live here. And Francesca’s in Tombstone to help me with the baby.”

If Jake hadn’t promised to back off and give her space, this would be the time to tell her about his house, the one he wanted her to share. With Hayley, though, he was beginning to see the importance of laying solid groundwork first. So he merely pointed out Eden and Nell’s combined shop, then found a place to park.

“Jacob. Hayley.” Nell poked her head out from a back room as the bell over the front door tinkled. “What are you doing in town? Nothing’s wrong with the baby, I hope?” She hurried to meet them.

“I’m fine,” Hayley assured her. “Jake came to help me dig, but talked me into goofing off, instead. Don’t ask me how.” Glancing at him, she smiled.

Eden appeared in the doorway Nell had just vacated. She wore goggles and held a small bright torch. “My brother-in-law is a smooth-tongued devil.” She grinned wolfishly. “This time he did good. Come see the pendant I’m making. The first of your opals, Hayley. I hate to brag, but it’s beautiful. Only fine opals are cut into cabochons.”

Hayley and Jake followed Eden. “I’ll have a look,” Hayley murmured. “However, you may as well be speaking Greek.”

“Stick with me and you’ll learn gem terminology. Opal is so fragile it sometimes has to be underlaid. Depending on the number of layers, those are known as doublets or triplets. Substantially less valuable than cabochons, like the one I cut from your ore. It looks like the sky with a trace of clouds,” she finished rhapsodically.

Jake slid his hand over Hayley’s shoulder and squeezed. “I think Eden’s trying to say your opals are top quality.”

“Thank you, Jacob, for interpreting,” Eden drawled. “Why are you off playing when you should be helping my husband with roundup so he can get home faster?”

“I’ve been pulling my weight out there and then some. I had business in town. Carl Brown has my blueprints ready. Could you or Mom give Charcoal a bowl of water and show Hayley around while I dash over to Carl’s office? And if you lose that nasty tongue, I’ll take all you ladies out to dinner.”

“Nasty, is it?” Eden hissed the acetylene in the torch in his direction before she shoved up her goggles and shut off the flame. “But far be it from me to turn down a free meal. Can you get away, Nell?”