This Loving Land - Dorothy Garlock [24]
When Summer reached the footbridge, she was still trying to find an explanation for Slater’s sudden change of mood and boorish behavior. She pushed it back into a corner of her mind and fastened her attention on the figures waiting for her in the shade of the veranda.
Ellen McLean rose from a chair where she sat fanning her face. She snapped the fan shut and allowed it to dangle from her wrist as she came forward. The men, lounging casually against the rough logs of the house, watched her. One swept off his hat and ran his fingers through thick blond hair as he stepped out into the bright sunlight. The other scarcely moved. There was no sign of Sadie or the children.
“I hope you won’t think it presumptuous of me to call on you so soon.” Ellen came toward her with hands extended. “You have no idea how excited I’ve been, just knowing you were so near. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to talk woman-talk.” She took Summer’s hands and clasped them warmly; her smooth, lovely face wreathed in smiles. Summer’s reaction to the older woman was spontaneous.
“I don’t think it presumptuous at all, Mrs. McLean. I’m happy to see you again.”
“Oh, my dear! You’ve no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that.” Her lilting voice deepened with sincerity, then lightened as she glanced at the men behind her. “It was no mean task to persuade those two to bring me,” she said confidentially. “Jesse is champing at the bit to get back to the ranch. He’s my foreman, you know, and I must say there was never a better one, but this scamp is like his mother.” She placed her slim hand on her son’s arm. “If there’s a pretty girl around, he wants to know her.”
Summer looked up to meet bold blue eyes. She was startled to find them locked on her with a smiling intensity. It was like being caught naked in a public place, the way he looked at her. Her face must have reflected her feeling, for he lowered his lids and his face took on a friendly, boyish expression.
“My mother will give you the wrong impression, Miss Kuykendall, but I’ll admit it didn’t take much persuading on my part.” A smile flashed rakishly across his handsome face. “It was well worth a half-day’s extra ride.”
Innocently confused, Summer turned back to Ellen. “Is your ranch far from here?”
“It’s really close by, as far as distances go in this vast country.” Ellen took her arm and they walked together toward the house. “It must be about fifteen miles as the crow flies, but slightly more than that by the time we wind around and get across those troublesome streams that are either dry or overflowing.”
Summer found Travis once more scrutinizing her with a thoroughness that made her again feel undressed. His gaze moved unabashedly over her softly rounded breasts and trim waist, then moved leisurely along the full length of her. She struggled to keep the tide of color from her cheeks, and in looking away met Jesse’s steely eyes. He held her gaze for an instant, then raked his thumbnail over the head of a sulfur match and held the flame to the cigarette dangling from his lips.
Summer’s mind groped like some small, drowning creature. She was at odds as to how best to proceed with her guests.
“Mrs. McLean . . . ?” she began, in a questioning tone.
“Ellen. I couldn’t possibly allow Nannie Kuykendall’s daughter to call me anything but Ellen.” The soft friendly voice continued, “If you don’t mind, Summer, I’ll sit here and catch what cool breeze there is and Jesse will fetch me a cool drink.”
Travis squatted down on his heels and leaned his back against the heavy post supporting the veranda roof. Jesse moved away from the wall and toward the door.
“Bucket in here?” he asked, the soft timbre of his voice seeming to go with the rest of him.
“I’ll get it for you.” Summer escaped inside the house and Jesse followed.
When they entered, Sadie backed from the stove, her large green eyes going from Summer to Jesse. She continued to back away, until her legs struck the edge of the bunk where her daughter was sitting. Her fright calmed Summer’s nerves.
“This is Mr. Thurston, Sadie.” She