Change of Heart (6 page)

She closed her eyes and savored the sensation
of his warm fingers on her skin.

“Miss Randolf…

When she felt him move closer to her, she
opened her eyes to look at him. He was so handsome. The provocative
look in his eyes stirred her heart. “Mr. Kent, perhaps--”

An object crashed in the kitchen. Marietta
blinked and released her grasp on Jase’s wrist as Amy entered the
parlor.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Clumsy me, I
dropped a cast iron skillet to the floor. You two just go on with
what you were doing.” She rushed back into the kitchen.

Marietta looked at Jase. “I’d better help Amy
with supper. If I’m going to be a guest, I should earn my
keep.”

He stood and took her hand to help her to her
feet. “And I should go make arrangements for the night with the
colonel.” He held her gaze a moment longer before he reached for
his winter wear, donned it and went outside.

Marietta felt more alone than ever when Jase
stepped out of the room. She scolded herself for letting his
absence make a difference, but she couldn’t help the way she felt.
She would have to learn how to deal with the foreign feelings he
stirred inside her. After all, she’d be seeing him time and again
over the course of the next month.

All at once, she realized the thought of
seeing more of him gladdened her heart in a way she’d never known.
Jason Kent was no ordinary man, and Marietta wasn’t going to hate
having the opportunity to get to know him better.

Jase thought the week would never come to an
end. Between waiting for word from the consortium, the anticipation
of seeing Marietta again, and the emptiness in his house brought on
by Zack’s absence, the week since he’d left Fort Kearney moved as
slowly as a steer stuck in a snow drift.

As he rode toward the fort, his heart began
to beat a little faster. He nudged his stallion to pick up its
pace. Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to see Marietta. He knew he had no
right to feel anything for her. She’d be leaving in a few weeks and
obviously couldn’t wait to get back to her city life. She’d made
that as clear as she’d made her distaste for the territory that now
held her captive. Yet, he couldn’t help aching for another glance
into her emerald eyes or wanting to inhale the lilac scent that
drifted around her on the first evening they’d shared a meal at the
Carson home.

The last time he’d seen her, he’d thought for
a moment that he might be bold enough to lace his fingers through
her cinnamon hair. If Amy’s kitchen accident hadn’t diverted their
attention, he might have taken Marietta into his arms and held her
as he’d wanted to hold her in the cabin.

He shook his head and decided he had to put
such thoughts out of his mind. He switched his train of thought to
the land business again. He hoped someone from the fort had word
for him from the consortium. Had they even met, and was there
another meeting date set? He could hardly stand not knowing what
was going on.

He wished he could go on to Red Rock Junction
from the fort and find out if anyone knew anything about the
meeting, but he couldn’t. He’d lost a number of cattle during the
blizzard that had hit the area. He and his ranch hands had a huge
job disposing of all the carcasses. Work on the ranch was lagging,
and he needed to catch up on chores and duties at home.

He saw the colonel when he rode into the
fort. They took time to enjoy the unseasonably warm early-December
day with a nice conversation. Once they’d covered the topics of the
melted snow and the warm days over the past week, Jase moved
straight on to the question burning his gut. Had Colonel Harrison
heard from anyone in the consortium?

He hadn’t.

If there was no message from his fellow land
speculators, he needed to get to Marietta. He was starved for the
sight of her. Jase refused the colonel’s offer of a cup of coffee
and a piece of Mrs. Harrison’s apple pie and headed straight for
the Carson home.

No food he’d taken to satisfy his hunger
sated him like the sight of Marietta in the black woolen dress
she’d worn the first night they were together at the Carsons’. It
fit her better this time than it had the last. It had seemed a
little large on her small frame before. She must have taken time to
do some sewing in the past week. Her auburn hair flowed over her
shoulders as she stood in the doorway. The emerald-green eyes she
cast up at him held a happiness within them he’d not seen
before.

“Hello, Miss Randolf.”

“Mr. Kent, won’t you come in?” She opened the
door wider so he could step inside.

“I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Not at all. We were expecting you today.”
She waved her hand toward the sofa. “Won’t you sit down?”

He took off his hat and coat and hung them on
a hook near the door. He turned to Marietta and slipped his hand to
the small of her back. As he ushered her to the sofa, he noticed
the heat filling the hand that touched her. Now that he was with
her again, he felt alive and satisfied. When she sat, he made
himself comfortable beside her.

“Any more fainting spells?”

She shook her head. “No, indeed. I’m fit and
healthy. Amy has made sure I’ve had plenty of rest.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He smiled at her and
looked around the room. An unknown anxiety had crept into his gut.
“Where is everyone?”

“Amy took Zack with her to pick up some
supplies from the commissary. She bribed him with the promise of a
candy stick.”

“She had to bribe him to go to the
commissary? But Zack loves to go there. Gus always arm wrestles
with him and lets him win a cookie or a pickle.”

“Really?” Marietta raised her lovely brows.
“Amy had to practically drag him out of the house, even with the
promise of a candy stick.”

Jase didn’t like the sound of that.

A look of concern filled her verdant eyes.
“Zack isn’t doing well at all, Mr. Kent. His reluctance to
accompany Amy to the commissary is only one instance of his
dreadful behavior this week.” She wrung her hands. “The boy is
nothing like he was when we were in the shack. Despite our
difficult circumstances, he was happy there. Now, when his comfort
far exceeds anything we had in our primitive cabin, all the life
has gone out of him. I think it’s because of you, Mr. Kent.”

He shook his head. “But I’ve done nothing to
harm the boy, Miss Randolf.”

“No, of course you haven’t. What I meant to
say is that because Zack is so terribly fond of you, he misses you
something awful.”

Jase looked away and took a deep breath. “You
know how I feel about him.”

“Yes, I do. This must be difficult for you
too.”

He tilted his head and held back words a
moment before he spoke. “My house has never been so empty.”

Marietta left the sofa and went to the window
that looked out on the compound. He followed and stood behind her,
inhaling her flowery scent as he stared at the silky hair that lay
softly around her shoulders.

“Everything keeps getting worse,” she
whispered. “How bad must it get before things start to get
better?”

He touched her shoulder and gently turned her
to face him. “I don’t know.”

“It tears my heart out to see Zack suffering
so much.”

“I know what you mean. You should have seen
the boy when he walked in on his parents after they were-- ” He cut
himself off. He shouldn’t have said that.

“Zack saw Kathy and Clint after those
savages... ” She started to weave, and he quickly took hold of her
shoulders to steady her.

“No, Marietta. He didn’t see them. He was
with me when the attack came. When I took him home, he ran into the
house ahead of me, but he stopped in the doorway when he saw blood
on the floor. I made him stay outside while I checked on Kathy and
Clint. Once I knew it was too late for me to help them, I took him
back to my ranch and left him with Mrs. Whipple while I went to
report the crime and bury the bodies.”

He could feel her knees begin to buckle as he
continued to hold her shoulders. He took hold of her arm and urged
her toward the sofa. “Let’s sit down again. We don’t need to talk
any more of this.”

She sat on the sofa and buried her fingers in
her hair as she laid her head back. When she returned her hands to
her lap and looked at him, the pain in her eyes made his chest
ache. A lance shoved through his ribs would have been easier for
him to endure than seeing the pain in her beautiful eyes.

“Mr. Kent, what am I going to do? Zack is so
upset.”

Jase couldn’t say what he had to say and look
her in the eyes at the same time. He needed some distance between
them so he could speak as dispassionately as necessary to her. He
stood and took four steps to the sideboard next to the wall. He
leaned against it and folded his arms.

“The boy will adjust. He had a terrible time
the first two weeks after his parents’ death, but he came around.
Not that he’s completely gotten over what happened--he’ll never get
over that--but he did come around enough to get on with his life.
He’ll do it again because he has to.” He hoped his words didn’t
make him sound heartless.

“Do you really think so?” She didn’t look
anymore convinced than he felt.

“I do. Give him time.”

He unfolded his arms and pressed his hands
into the sideboard behind him.

With her gaze anchored to his, she walked
toward him.

He swallowed hard as she crossed the room to
be near him. “He’ll be all right, Miss Randolf.”

She stood two feet in front of him, looking
up at him with eyes as verdant as a spring meadow. More than
anything in the world, he wanted to gather her into his arms and
comfort her. Instead, he blinked and looked away. “I’ll have
another talk with Zack if you think it will help.”

The front door swung open, and Zack flew
inside like a bird lighting away from a cat. “Jase!”

The cowboy bent and scooped the boy into his
arms. He tried to hold back the affection that poured from his
heart, but he couldn’t. He loved Zack as though he were his own
son. He hugged him with as much might as he could use without
breaking the boy into pieces.

“How are you, Zack?”

“I’m happy now, Jase. I missed you powerful
much. Can you stay here for a week this time?”

Jase set him on the sideboard. “I’m afraid
not, son. I have a great deal of work to do on my ranch.”

“Can I help? I’m good at ropin’--you said so
yourself. And I can pitch hay or milk the cows or muck out the
barn. I’ll do anything, Jase. You need me.”

Jase glanced at Marietta, certain Zack’s
words had to be killing her. She couldn’t help but feel rejected,
yet the only concern she’d expressed was for Zack’s feelings. “I’ve
got all the help I need, son.”

“But Spike and Lone Wolf and Miguel might
need me to make up fresh bunks for them. That was my job, you
know.”

“It was, but the boys are doing their own
chores now.”

Jase had never seen dejection hit someone as
hard as it hit Zack. The boy’s lower lip began to quiver. He looked
down at his hands. “You don’t need me anymore. No one needs me
anymore.” He slid off the sideboard and ran outside.

Jase looked at Marietta. “I’m sorry, Miss
Randolf. It seems I’ve made matters worse.”

She put her hand on his shoulder. “Go to him,
Mr. Kent. Find the right words to set the boy straight.”

Jase took the hand she’d laid on his shoulder
and wrapped it inside his fingers. He stared down at her intently,
doubting he could do anything but hurt Zack even further. “I’m not
sure I know the right words.”

“You love the boy. You’ll find the right
words. I know you will.”

He touched her hair with one hand as he
squeezed her gentle fingers with his other. He gazed into two
lovely emeralds set in perfect symmetry above her exquisitely
shaped nose. “I hope your confidence in me is well placed.” He
withdrew his fingers from her hair.

“I’m sure it is,” she replied, gifting him
with a warm smile.

He let go of her hand and turned toward the
door. Before he reached it, Amy came inside.

“Jase, what’s going on?” she asked. “Zack ran
toward the house like a bee was chasing him when he caught sight of
your horse, and now he just took off lickety split toward the
barn.”

“We had some rough words, Amy. I’d better go
after him. Miss Randolf can tell you what happened.” He grabbed his
hat and coat from the hooks by the front door and turned to
Marietta. “I’ll see you later, Miss Randolf.”

“Of course, Mr. Kent.”

“You’re staying for dinner, aren’t you,
Jase?” Amy asked.

“I am now.” He grinned at her and tipped his
hat as he went out the door. A few minutes into his search for
Zack, he found the boy in the barn petting the filly born during
the blizzard.

“She’s going away,” Zack said sadly.

“Who?”

“The filly. I finally thought up a name for
her, and now she’s going away. We found out at the commissary that
the man who owns the mare came today. He’s taking the mare and
filly back home with him. The mare ran away during the storm.”

“Oh.” Jase empathized with another of Zack’s
losses. “Well, it’s a good thing the little foal has a home to go
to with her mother. They must have felt lost being away from
home.”

Zack looked up at him. “I know how that
feels.”

Jase squatted next to Zack. “Suppose I talk
to the man who owns the horses and ask if the filly can stay here.
He could take the mare home, and you could keep the filly with you.
How would that be?”

Zack furrowed his brows. “You mean take the
baby away from her mother? But they’re family.”

Jase shrugged. “So? The filly likes you too,
doesn’t she? Maybe she’d rather be with you. You want her to stay
with you, don’t you?”

“Yes, but she needs her mother.”