This Loving Land - Dorothy Garlock [67]
“I didn’t say, ‘in love with her.’ I said ‘admires her.’ ”
The smile flickered off her face. “Oh, I thought . . .”
“Sweetheart, it’s not for us to worry about. It’s for them to know if they want to be together.” He kissed the side of her neck. “I don’t like having to be so careful not to muss you. You know what I’d really rather be doing.”
She laughed softly and turned to kiss him on the lips.
“Later,” she whispered.
Captain Kenneth Slane and Jesse Thurston were waiting on the porch with Jack and Bulldog. Slater led Summer forward with a possessive arm about her narrow waist.
“This is Miss Summer Kuykendall, soon to be my wife,” he announced. “Captain Slane from Fort Croghan, and you’ve met Jesse.”
The captain’s eyes brightened in appreciation and he clicked his heels together and gave her his most formal bow over the hand she extended.
“I must congratulate you, Slater.” His eyes drank in the perfect features; the nose, straight and finely boned, the dark brows arched away from eyes that were clear and violet against the thick fringe of jet-black lashes. They stared back at him, vaguely smiling. Under his warm gaze, the creamy skin flushed slightly.
Summer held her hand out to Jesse. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Thurston.”
“Nice to see you, ma’am.” The steely-gray eyes looked from her to Slater as he grasped her hand firmly.
“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’ll help Teresa with the supper.”
She escaped into the coolness of the house and stood for a moment trying to still her racing pulses. She wasn’t accustomed to being the center of so much male attention. She headed for the kitchen and Teresa. She was fond of the Mexican woman who had lived so many years on the ranch, who had known Slater’s mother and cared for her.
This was the first time Jesse had been to McLean’s Keep ranch house, and he looked around appreciatively. The place was solid, permanent, and he had to admit much more to his liking than the fancy frame house at the Rocking S. He had fully expected to see Sadie Bratcher arrive with Summer. The red-haired woman had been in his thoughts of late, and he needed to see her again. He had to get the shadow of her small, frightened face out of the back of his mind and convince himself she was just a woman he felt pity for because she had almost been one of Travis’s victims.
“I’m convinced the robbings and killings are not being done by Indians, especially because a dead Apache is left every time. There’s just too many loopholes.” Captain Slane paced up and down the veranda as he talked. “They’re not very smart, or they would know Apaches never leave their dead if they can possibly take them away.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Slater said, and told them about the man Sadie shot and about his Indian prisoner. “They’re taking those poor devils alive and killing them at the scene of the robberies. That’s not all, they’re stealing women, too. The Apache that was here had been out looking for his sister.”
The captain paused in his pacing. “You say Mrs. Bratcher killed the man that shot the boy?”
“She shore did.” Jack spoke up: “Killed him deader than a doornail.”
Jesse almost chuckled. Why, that . . . spunky little devil, he thought before he asked:
“What did the man look like?”
“Black beard, black hair, teeth broke off in front, riding a red sorrel, carrying a rifle and a six-gun, but no tucker. Told the women he was lookin’ fer Mr. McLean.”
Jesse and the captain exchanged glances.
“Did he have a heap of hair, but a bald spot on top?”
“Yup. He shore did.”
“That was Black Bealy, a drifter, outlaw. A no-good bastard that would do most anything for a dollar. He hung out for a while in Hamilton, then came out to the Rocking S looking for work. I sent him packin’. Guess he found him a job after all.” Jesse’s mind was racing to a time he had seen Travis ride away with the man. There was no doubt in Jesse’s mind that Travis was the one he was looking for. There didn’t seem to be any doubt in the captain’s mind either.
“We’re making a sortie into the hills, Slater. We’d be glad to have you come