When All My Dreams Come True (17 page)

Jace looked past her. “Beans, check her.”

She tried to turn away, but a beefy hand clamped onto her chin as Beans turned her head in his direction.

“You can fight me or be agreeable, but I aim to take a look-see at your head.”

Bobbie couldn’t help but smile. Beans tried to sound gruff, but his eyes showed his concern. Most cooks worth anything on a drive doubled as doctor, always carrying medical supplies. Beans seemed to take the role seriously.

“Now, that’s a nice sight—your smile. Just turn back that a way and let’s see the other side o’ your head.”

Beans gave her chin a push, and Bobbie complied. Her gaze met Jace’s. The look on his face sent warmth flooding through her. She didn’t have time to ponder the feeling. Beans’s fingers pressed on the tender spot, and she winced.

“She’s still got a lump but nowhere near as big as last night.”

Jace moved back to sit on the log. “I want you to ride in the wagon with Beans today.”

She shook her head and flinched at the ensuing ache.

“Bobbie—”

“No, Jace. All riding in that wagon’s gonna get me is a worse headache. I’d be better off in the saddle.”

“I’m gonna have to side with the little lady here, Jace.” Beans still knelt by her side. “If we was on a road, I’d be agreeing with you, but crossing the prairie is jarring enough to rattle your bones.”

Jace emptied his coffee cup with a flick of his wrist. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but Dew galloped into the camp and reined in his horse. He dismounted in one smooth motion, his eyes on Bobbie the entire time. His gaze dropped to the coat lying at Bobbie’s feet. He grabbed it and began an examination.

“When it got light enough to see, I looked around for tracks.” Dew spoke as he scrutinized her coat. “I found drops of blood on the ledge.” He stopped, then poked a finger through a hole in the jacket. His gaze went to her. “Left shoulder, Bobbie. You hurt?”

“Check your shoulder, Bobbie,” Jace said.

She pulled the blanket down. “I told you I’m not hurt, Jace. I think I’d know if…” The tear in her shirt stopped her words. Shock rolled through her as her eyes sought Jace’s.

“Beans.” Jace jumped to his feet, his gaze never leaving hers.

The cook moved around to her other side. “I’m just gonna check real quick.” Beans poked a finger through the rip. After her hiss of pain, he tore the material a little more to get a better look. “Just a scratch. Not much blood to speak of. I’ll get the kit.”

She tried to peek at her shoulder to see if she could apply a bandage to it herself and made a face when she realized it would be too awkward.

“The blood on the ledge must’ve come from the man.” Dew’s voice cut into her thoughts. She looked up and met his gaze. “I guess you hit him.”

Her heart thudded. She’d never shot anyone before.

“I want you to stick close to one of us at all times today, Bobbie.” Jace’s voice sounded stern, but the look on his face was more so. “I
won’t give in on this, Bobbie. Either you agree or I’ll tie you to the wagon myself.”

“All right. But you know, Jace, I’m sure that man wasn’t after me. He probably wanted to hurt whoever happened to be on watch last night.”

“I realize that, but I’m not taking any chances.” He jammed his hat on his head. “Just stick close.”

Dew tossed Bobbie’s coat back where he found it. “You want me to have Sonny follow the tracks, Jace?”

“No, I need every wrangler here. I’ll talk to the sheriff when we get to town.”

Dew nodded and grabbed the reins of his horse. “All right, men. Let’s mount up.”

“James.” Jace waved to one of the boys he’d hired. He came running. “Stay with Bobbie until she’s ready to go. Then ride with her to catch up.
Stay with her
.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bobbie looked at him. “But Jace—”

“I don’t want to hear it. Catch up when you can.”

He mounted up and rode off. She urged Beans to hurry with his ministrations and tried to move away after he applied the bandage, but he sat her back down.

“Let’s do some stitching on the hole in your shirt.”

Sitting still wasn’t easy. When Beans finished, she jumped up and ran to Mack. Riding hard to reach the herd, she felt sorry for James as he struggled to keep up. She moved into position at left flank, and James hung back over her shoulder.

Bobbie rubbed at her temple in an attempt to ease the throbbing. She moved back and took up a conversation with the boy named her guardian for the day. The thought made her smile. If anything were to go wrong, she’d be the one doing the guarding.

The day and night passed uneventfully except for the drizzle that slowed them down, raising the level of Jace’s frustration. They didn’t arrive on the outskirts of Pueblo until early afternoon on their fourth day out. Jace rode ahead to prepare the stockyard for their arrival. He stood with the manager at an open gate of a large corral and counted each head as his cattle were herded inside. The cattle bellowed and bumped into one another as their hooves made sloppy sucking noises in the mud. Jace was glad to see the end of them.

He stuffed the money for his cattle into his saddlebag, then mounted and led his men to the livery. He paid the owner to leave the horses overnight and led the men back out to the street.

“I’ll reserve a couple rooms for the night. Take the rest of the day off, but make sure you’re able to ride tomorrow. We’re leaving early. I’m ready to get home.”

Bobbie turned to walk away with the others.

“Bobbie, we still have some business to attend to.” She paused, confusion knotting her forehead. Jace nodded toward the sheriff’s office. “We need to report what happened.” She scowled and shook her head but followed him without argument.

A short time later, Jace stopped pacing in front of the sheriff and leaned over the desk toward the man. “What do you mean, there’s nothing you can do? She coulda been killed.” He slapped his palm on the desktop. “You’re the sheriff. Go out there and look for the man. Follow his tracks. Do
something
! It’s your job.”

The sheriff rubbed at his chin, eyebrows raised. “Look, mister…”

“Kincaid.”

“Look, Mr. Kincaid. From what the little, uh, lady has said, she didn’t get a good look at the attacker.” The sheriff leaned back in his chair and propped his booted feet up on the desk. “And it’s been raining. There ain’t gonna be any tracks left to follow. They’re bound to be washed away by now. And from what you’ve described, that’s quite a distance from here. I can’t leave my town unattended for that long.”

Jace gripped the edge of the desk before pushing away. “Well, at least let a marshal know about it. Maybe he’ll be more inclined to do his job.”

He took Bobbie by the elbow and led her out of the office toward the hotel. Several steps later, he realized she was almost running to keep up. He slowed his stride and then stopped.

“I’m sorry. I guess he got me a little riled.” He looked at her face. Amidst the streaks of dirt, he could see her weariness. “I think it’s time we get some rest. I’ll arrange for baths, then have a warm meal sent to your room. Is that all right?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

He placed his hand at the small of her back as they continued down the boardwalk. “You won’t be disturbed and can go to sleep whenever you want. I’ll come for you in the morning.”

After making arrangements for Bobbie to have the tub first, Jace then gave the maid some money to take a plate of food to her. Once he delivered her safely to her room, Jace sat in his own tub of steamy water and allowed the heat to melt away his tension. He thought back on the last couple days. He’d been quiet. The looks he received from the men told him they’d noticed.

Bobbie hadn’t said much about the attack. He’d overreacted, treating her different from how he would have one of his men. Annoyance rode him hard. He knew better than to bring along a woman, and yet he’d done it anyway. Not only had he gone against what he believed, he also discovered his feelings were more than a boss should have for his hired hand. Much more. At least she’d found a way to avoid him, keeping herself occupied teaching the boys rope tricks. And it made her feel useful, not even suspecting he’d already asked the boys to keep an eye on her.

He ran his wet hand over his face and stared at the ceiling. What would he say to her the next time they were alone? Somehow he had to convince her that she had no place working the range even if she was one of his best hands.

The next morning, Jace led Bobbie and the men down the boardwalk toward the livery. A man cut through the group, hurrying in the opposite direction. He gave Bobbie a rough shove with his elbow.

She stumbled. “Hey!”

Dew reached out to help Bobbie catch her balance. The man stopped and turned back. Jace moved to her other side to make sure she wasn’t hurt, but the look on her face caught his attention. His gaze moved between the stranger and Bobbie as she stared at the man who’d hit her.

“That’s no way to treat a lady,” Sonny said.

The man turned to him. “If she dressed like a lady, she’d be treated like one.”

Sonny stuck his finger in the man’s chest. “She’s more a lady than you’ll ever be a man.”

The man shoved Sonny’s finger from his chest. The rest of Jace’s men surrounded the two of them. After the space of several heartbeats, the man held up his hands.

“Sonny,” Bobbie said as she laid her hand on his arm, her gaze still glued to the man’s face. “It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not.” Sonny continued to look the man in the eyes.

“Let’s go, men.” Jace took Bobbie by the arm and pulled her toward the livery, expecting the rest to follow. “Do you know him, Bobbie?”

“I don’t think so. He seemed familiar at first, but I don’t think I know him.” She made him stop when she pulled her arm away from him. “If I’m going to work for you, Jace, you’re going to have to recognize that people don’t accept me.”

“That’s nonsense.” He couldn’t imagine anyone treating Bobbie so rudely, but then not everyone felt about her the way he did. Did she remember the way he reacted to her when she first arrived on his ranch? He wanted to apologize. Then he shook the thought away. The way he was feeling about her right now, he might say something he shouldn’t.

The first day’s ride home started out with very little chatter. They plodded along only as fast as the chuck wagon allowed, following behind it in a tight cluster. Bobbie appeared anxious as she gazed at each man’s face. Jace knew the men were protective of her, but she hadn’t expected their defense. He’d wanted to flatten the man himself but obeyed the strong desire to be a good example.

“There was one night when I was about 14,” Bobbie said all of a sudden, “that I became envious of all the other hands going off into town for a night of fun.”

Jace stared at her. Rarely did Bobbie talk about herself, let alone her childhood. He perked up, not wanting to miss a word.

“They always came back laughing and talking about how much fun they had. I was never allowed to have that night off and got more and more upset about it as each weekend rolled around. I decided that if I couldn’t join them, I’d at least get into town to watch them.”

Jace glanced around. She had their undivided attention, and the smile on her face told him she knew it.

“I came up with a plan I was sure would work. I already had men’s clothing. All I needed was the whiskers, or so I thought. The only thing I could come up with that would look like whiskers was the charred end of a burned stick. So I waited until my father was asleep and rubbed the soot of that burned stick all over my cheeks and under my nose and chin. I wound all my hair up under my hat and went off to have a good time.”

She paused in her story, and Sonny said, “Come on, Bobbie, you can’t stop there. We wanna hear what happened.”

Bobbie grinned. “In all my excitement, it never dawned on me that everyone would recognize my horse, clothes, and hat. I rode into town hoping to come across as a stranger they wouldn’t give a second look. I spotted the horses of the other hands and tied mine near them. I walked into the saloon and found a table in the corner. I sat down in a chair, pulled my hat a little lower”—she tugged at
the rim of her hat much like she must have that night—“and proceeded to find out how the men had so much fun every weekend. I didn’t know they recognized me instantly and came up with an idea to teach me a lesson.