Rustled (10 page)

As I listened
to his explanation, the thing that struck me, after Russ’s kindness towards his
employees, was that he was no longer dropping the ‘g’s in his speech.

“Hey, how come
you don’t sound like a cowboy anymore?” I asked, a suspicious edge to my voice.

“Too much
trouble to keep it up,” he said. “I had some East Coast influence from my mom growing
up, and got completely out of the habit when I was in college. I didn’t want to
sound like a hick.”

The
revelations about his background only made me more curious. Since he seemed to
be in the mood to answer questions, I asked them. “Where did you go to
college?”

“Harvard. I
studied business.” He placed no emphasis on any of his words, but they
electrified me. A girl with a tenth-grade education would never be enough for a
wealthy, Harvard-educated rancher. My prophetic dream of the milkmaid and the
handsome prince flashed through my memory.

“So, why did
you sound that way with me, while we were at the cabin?” I asked. I couldn’t
help the accusatory tone in my voice, and he picked up on it immediately.

“Kitten, I’m
sorry. You’ll find out I’m a bit of a recluse, and sometimes I do that to
disguise who I am.”

Curiouser and
curiouser. “And you did that with me, because?”

“Because, I
didn’t know who
you
were. Have you ever heard of Good Samaritan laws,
and how people try to get around them when they find out their rescuer has
money?”

“Um, no. What
do you mean?”

“It’s very
iffy to rescue an injured person. You can do more harm, and sometimes they
aren’t as grateful as you’d think. Good Samaritan laws were put in place in
most states to protect someone from lawsuit if they act in good faith and
without compensation to prevent further harm by assisting an injured person.
Unfortunately, Wyoming’s law is a bit vague about people other than medical
personnel and operators of ambulances. I’ve been burned before.”

“Is that why
you didn’t get me out immediately?”

“No, I told
you. That was because I was on a horse. I couldn’t tell how injured you were,
and couldn’t risk making it worse by riding you across country on the back of a
horse. Not to mention the fact that he wouldn’t have been able to carry both of
us in time to beat the blizzard.”

“So, why did
you take me to the cabin instead of to Rawlins?” Here was the heart of my suspicion.
Yes, I was reluctantly in love, or at least in lustful gratitude, with this
man, but my practical mind wouldn’t stop asking the questions that had burned
in me from the beginning. Janet’s revelation that the cabin was in the opposite
direction from my accident from both Rawlins and the ranch begged yet another
question.

“Kitten, why
are you asking all these questions? After these last few days, do you still not
trust me?” The hurt in his voice ripped at my heart.

“Russ, I just
need to understand. That’s all.” I didn’t ask him to understand my need, but my
voice pled for him to.

“Okay, I’ll
draw you a map. But that means we have to get out of bed.” He sounded…resigned.
Fear bloomed in my chest. Would the map reveal yet another reason for me to
suspect him of something? Why did I need to poke at it? He had given me more
than enough reasons to trust him, to love him, even. I didn’t want to hurt him,
but it seemed I already had. To distract him from the conversation, I squeezed
the half-erect shaft in my hand, causing him to gasp.

“If you keep
that up, we’ll never leave this bed, woman.”

By the time we
managed to get up and make ourselves presentable, we were late for breakfast.
Twenty pairs of male eyes gawked at us as we walked in together. It must have
been plain for everyone to see that we had spent the night together, but no one
said a word about it as we sat down and Janet served our plates. Finally, a
smattering of conversation broke out, one or two said good morning to me and
several greeted Russ.

The awkward
moment passed, except that I detected a new energy vibe from Janet. I wasn
’t sure what it was, whether the narrow look she gave me, or the
fact that she didn’t say a word to me after the men left and only Russ and I
remained. Russ must have noticed, too, as he sent a look of annoyance her way
while her back was turned.
Oh, no
, I thought. The last thing I needed
was an enemy. It was too likely that I had several looking for me already.

“Janet, may we
have more coffee, please?” Russ’s tone would have cut steel, but Janet topped
up his cup without a word. Of course, he noticed that she didn’t give me any.
“Kitten, do you want some more?” he asked. Janet flinched at the endearment,
but turned around to inform him that I wasn’t drinking coffee. Then she asked
in a neutral voice if I wanted more tea. I didn’t want to prolong this unspoken
battle between the two of them, so I declined with a thank you. Russ frowned at
me, and I shook my head.

When I had
finished the last of my tea, I excused myself and rose, but Russ also got up,
his coffee cup in hand, to go with me into the library.

“Russ, what
was that?” I demanded.

“I told you
she was like a third mother. I guess she sees you as some kind of threat. She
was wild when Denise left me.”

“Oh, lord, I
don’t need this. Russ, we have to talk about what I’m going to do when the
storm lifts.”

“You’re going
to stay here and be mine.” His matter-of-fact statement frustrated me to the
point of a tantrum, but I tried to remain calm and reason with him.

“Can’t you see
that’s impossible? Even if Janet hasn’t taken a dislike to me, we hardly know
each other. I know nothing of your world, and I’m pretty unprepared for any
world except an RALDS community.” At this, his face darkened. I went on,
hurriedly, to prevent the outburst I could see on the horizon.

“I need an
education, Russ. I want to get a GED and maybe go to college. Find out what I’m
good at besides being a little wifey, and that’s all they trained me for. Don’t
you see? Here, I’d be just as isolated as I was in Bethel City. I would never
be able to grow up. For god’s sake, I’m twenty and I’ll bet you thought I was seventeen.
That’s when my life ended. At seventeen.

“I’m not ready
to settle down, even if I were a suitable mate for you. Russ, I love you, but I
can’t stay.” As I spoke, my agitation grew, until I was nearly shouting, except
for the last sentence, which came out in a choked sob.

Russ’s
expression had grown more and more desperate as I spoke, my tirade hitting home
with each point. I could see it, especially when I said I wasn’t ready to
settle down. Then it all changed. What had I done? I never meant to tell him I
loved him.

His only
answer was to seize me roughly and press his lips to mine, forcing them open
and invading them then with his tongue. A little struggle, and then I succumbed
to his insistence. That kiss sealed me to him, as the Mormons said, for time
and all eternity. All the passion, all the gratitude, all the compassion for
his broken heart that I felt now flooded my heart to overflowing, and I could
no longer lie to him or to myself. I was in for it, now. If I hadn’t been able
to convince him to let me go before, I certainly wouldn’t be able to now. And
yet, I tried.

When I could
speak, I said, “Russ.”

He put his
hand over my mouth, and with an intensity that matched mine, said, “No, it’s my
turn. I know you don’t believe me, but I love you, too.” He gave me a little
shake as he said that. Then, “I want you to stay with me. I’ll take care of
you, you’ll have everything you need, I promise, Kitten. We’ll bring in a tutor
if you want an education, please let me do this for you. I’m a wealthy man,
maybe more than you suspect, and I can give you anything your heart desires.
But, know this. God gave you to me, and I have no intention of giving you up.”

All I could do
was gape at him. When had God come into this?

Russ’s ability
to read me startled me again when he explained. “If I hadn’t been there, hadn’t
seen you go in, you would have died, Kitten. I almost didn’t find you from the
road, and I knew where you were. When I did manage to get you out, and picked
you up to carry you to the pickup, something happened. I can’t explain it, but
I knew then that you were mine. That God had sent you to heal my heart.

“You asked why
I didn’t take you to Rawlins? Because they would have taken you from me. I
needed a chance for you to know me and like me. So that I could get to know
you, because all I had was this uncanny feeling that you were mine. Can you
understand?”

No, not even a
little bit. What he was talking about was love at first sight, and I didn’t
believe in it. It was for fairy tales and romance novels, not for real life. To
entrust my heart to such a thing was to beg for disaster. Tears started in my
eyes at the impossibility of the situation. I had fallen for him in what must
have been record time, it was true. For that reason, I couldn’t bear to hurt
him.

And yet, when
he woke up from his delusion, would he still love me? I thought it was
doubtful, for many reasons. But now, he was holding me to him, murmuring,
“Don’t cry, love. Kitten, please don’t cry. It will be okay, I promise.” It
only made me cry harder.

There were no
tears left when at last he calmed me. Russ talked more, persuading me to stay
at least until we could sort out my legal situation, and making me promise that
no matter what after that, I wouldn’t shut him out. He stood, satisfied for the
moment, and told me he was going to speak to Janet.

“Wait. Russ,
I’m sorry. There’s one last thing I need to know to keep those promises. You
said you knew I was yours, but before that you told me you didn’t know who I
was, and that you disguised your identity to protect yourself from me. How do
those two facts match up?”

He sat down
again, hard, as if dropping into the sofa instead of seating himself there. It
seemed to take an effort to look at me, but finally he did, his blue eyes
gazing steadily into my green ones earnestly. “Kitten, I’m sorry. Yes, I knew
emotionally you were mine, but my head got into it, too. What if I hadn’t been
able to make a connection with you? I acted from the logical side instead of
from my heart. Can you forgive me?”

It was a small
thing to forgive. I now had all my answers, and they all made a sort of sense,
except for this uncanny sense of ownership that Russ claimed to feel. Even that
was proven in his every action, his every touch.

Remembering
that I had accused him of a heinous crime with my first coherent sentence,
shame flooded me. Of course I could forgive him! I nodded, and received a feather-light
kiss on my forehead to seal the deal. Later, when I could do it in an even more
intimate moment, I would ask his forgiveness for my accusation, but I sensed
that I already had it.

§

A few minutes
later, Janet appeared in the doorway, drying her hands on her apron. “Miss
Charity, may I have a word with you?”

“Of course,
Janet. And you don’t have to call me ‘
Miss
’ Charity. Charity alone is
fine. What can I do for you?”

Janet’s entire
demeanor was one of conflict. She stood stiffly, but her face betrayed both
softness and a determination to get something off her chest.

“Do you mind
if I sit down?”

“Of course
not! Good heavens, this is your home, not mine! Why would you need permission?”

Sighing, she
said, “I’m not sure you understand anything about the boss, or this place, or
me, but…” I waited for her to continue, which she did, in a rush, “he’s told me
how he feels and I need to apologize.”

“Whatever for?
You’ve been nothing but kind since I arrived, Janet.” My distress matched hers,
for I began to suspect that Russ had called her down for something that didn’t
deserve his notice.

“Miss
Charity,” she began, and at my severe look, she continued, firmly, “
Miss
Charity, when he first brought you here, I thought you were just what you
seemed to be, someone in need of rescue that he had found. But then, suddenly
you were wearin’ Miss Denise’s clothes and Russ seemed awful taken with you.
He’s like a son to me.” Her face had taken on an earnest and fond look. “Please
forgive me, but I just meant to protect him. He says you didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know
what?” I was completely confused, since the things I didn’t know before he told
me were not things that could harm him if I knew them.

“That he’s
rich. I mean, really, really rich.”

“And why would
it matter that I didn’t know?” I was still confused, but beginning to get a
cold feeling up my spine that it might matter a lot.

“Well, you
wouldn’t be the first woman to come sniffin’ around him to comfort him for Miss
Denise’s betrayal and try to worm your way into his affections.”

There it was.
She thought I was a gold-digger! Despite my intention to be gracious, I was
furious. I fought for control to keep from snarling some venomous reply, and
knew from her expression that I wasn’t concealing my anger well.

“Miss Charity,
I’m sorry!”

“So am I,” I
managed finally, though in tones that would have frozen a Yule log. “What have
I done to deserve you thinking that of me, Janet?”

With a flash
of defiance, she pressed her lips together. “What?” I demanded.

“Well, you
didn’t waste any time gettin’ in bed with him,” she muttered.

“That is none
of your business,” I snapped, angrier now than ever. Russ had forced his way
into bed with me, against my wishes, I told myself somewhat mendaciously. To be
judged a gold-digger because of it was unfair. Clearly, Russ hadn’t told her I
was trying desperately to persuade him to let me go when the storm lifted. I
should have left it alone, but I was so infuriated at being misjudged that I
felt defensive.

“I don’t
suppose he’s told you that I’ve asked to leave as soon as the storm lifts, and
he won’t hear of it?”

Janet gasped.
“Are you sayin’ he’s keepin’ you here against your will? Because to look at the
two of you, it sure doesn’t look like it! What are you plannin’?” Great, now
she thought I was going to go to the authorities and accuse him of kidnapping.

“Just to get
on with my life, Janet, that’s all. I’ve asked Russ to loan me enough money to
get to St. Louis where my mother lives. I’ll figure it out from there.”

Her change of
attitude left me dizzy. “Oh, no! Miss Charity, you cain’t do that! He loves
you!”

For a moment I
was speechless. Finally, I said, “Janet, which is it? Am I a gold-digger that
shouldn’t be allowed to cozy up to your rich boss, or someone he loves and
can’t bear to let go even temporarily? Because, let me tell you, I’ve enough
issues to confuse me without your inconsistencies.”

“Oh lord,” she
said miserably, “I’ve gone and stuck my foot in it all the way to the ankle.
Miss Charity, I came in to apologize for thinkin’ that of you, and now I’ve
gone and made it worse. Russ is gonna kill me.”

Although I was
hurt, and angry, Janet didn’t deserve to have me, an interloper, get her boss
angry with her. Contrite, I impulsively hugged her. “Janet, I’m sorry, I
shouldn’t have yelled at you. I know it’s confusing for you, and it’s confusing
for me, too. But I seem to be stuck here, whether I want to be or not. And, god
help me, I love him, too. Whoever heard of someone falling in love in two days?
I’m so afraid it’s just bonding over a shared trauma.”

“I don’t know
nothin’ about no trauma or whatever you said, Miss Charity, but I know my boy.
He loves you true, no matter how long or short he’s known you. Please don’t
break his heart. I’m not sure it’ll mend a second time.”