Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) (29 page)

Gabe looked at the sheet of paper clutched in
Murdock's hand, still reluctant to hear anything
his father had to say to him. "No. You read it."

"It says here, `Gabriel, my son, I leave you everything I own, wondering if you will walk away from
it or take what by birth belongs to you. Sometimes
this much money and power corrupts a man's
mind. But I'm betting it won't corrupt you. And
I'm hoping you won't walk away from what rightfully belongs to you.'"

Gabe was not even tempted. "I don't want any
part of it..

"He didn't even sign it. As your attorney-"

"I don't have an attorney."

"As your attorney, I feel it necessary to advise you
that you have just been given responsibility for the
welfare and well-being of over a hundred people
who work at various positions on Casa Mesa and
other holdings that belonged to your father.
Many of the folks on the ranch were born there
and have lived there all their lives, like Juanita,
the cook, her husband, Carlos, and their seven
children."

"Enough." Gabe groaned, remembering how the Casa Mesa cowhands had convinced Fletcher
to find out if they still had a job.

"You can't walk away from this, son. Your father
was worth"-he glanced at another paper-"in
the vicinity of seven million dollars. And that
doesn't even include the land, cattle, horses, and
houses."

"When the stage leaves for Arizona in a few
hours, I will be on it."

"Stay and make Casa Mesa a place to be proud
of. Make it into the kind of ranch you would one
day want to leave to your son. The land isn't
tainted. It was only your father's way of thinking
and doing business that were corrupt."

Gabe stared at Murdock. His son? That thought
rocked him like a heavy fist slamming into him.
He wanted nothing more than to see Casey's
stomach swollen with his child.

He wanted that more than he wanted his father's money and all his land.

"If I stay-and I'm not saying I will-there will
be many changes made at Casa Mesa. I would
want the land my father took by force to be returned to the rightful owners, or if they still want
to sell, I'd want them to get a fair price for it. You
would have to agree to manage that undertaking,
or I will walk away."

Murdock grinned, knowing he had won. "I believe I can be of assistance to you in that matter,
Gabriel."

When Gabe rode up to Casa Mesa, he hardly noticed that the rainstorm of the night before had
moved off, leaving the air crisp and clear. Reluctance twisted inside him as he looked toward the
house. He dismounted and waited for Murdock
to do the same.

Before he could reach the step leading to the
porch, he was approached by some of the hands
who worked for the ranch. He noticed that
Teague's friends, Richard Bates and Charley Latter, were not among them. He assumed they must
have left quickly when they heard he was the new
owner of the ranch.

Fletcher stepped forward, once more becoming
the spokesman for the others. "We're glad you're
here, Mr. Slaughter. I guess we're all wondering
what you want us to do."

"Fletcher, first of all, I have always been Gabe
to you, and I don't expect that to change." He allowed his gaze to move over each face. "Starting
tomorrow, I'll want to speak to each of you in
private so I can tell you what I expect out of you
and find out what your job is. I don't know most
of you, so I'll expect you to tell me about yourselves. You will find that I do things differently
than my father did. There will be changes. If any
of you can't live with that, you need to ride for
another brand."

There was nodding and muttering as the men
spoke among themselves, but none of them left.
And they soon moved away to begin their appointed tasks.

"Fletcher," Gabe called after the man. "I'll need
to speak to you later on today. There are some
things I need you to do for me concerning the
Hamilton family."

Fletcher nodded his head and squared his hat
across his forehead. "Sure, Gabe. You'll find me
in the barn when you need me."

Gabe turned back to the attorney, dreading the
moment he had to enter that house. "Let's get
this over with."

The door swung open, and Juanita smiled in
welcome. "Do you remember me, Senor Gabe?"

"Of course I do, Juanita. I never forget a
friend."

Her smile widened. "I was so happy to see you
return." She looked almost shy. "I would be honored to present my seven children to you, Senor
Gabe."

"I would like that very much." He thought there
could be nothing better to chase the bad memories of this house away than the sight of children.

Juanita walked to the door and called for them
to come in. There was a shuffling of feet as seven
young boys rushed in, stumbling over each other
into the room. Juanita scolded them with a stern
look. One of the boys received a particularly long
stare. He blinked his eyes as if trying to think what
he had done wrong, then quickly reached up and
snatched his hat off his head, looking somewhat
sheepish.

"I would like you to meet first our oldest son,
Ignacio," she said proudly. "Then there is Rafael,
Juan, Manuel, Eduardo, Roberto, and Javier." She
nodded at her sons. "Say hello to the patron," she
told them, tapping her foot.

Seven voices spoke at once, and Gabe smiled
back at them. "You have every right to be proud,
Juanita." He looked into seven pairs of dark eyes.
"But no daughter?"

Juanita patted her stomach. "I have hopes that
this one will be a girl so she can help me with the
housework." She shooed all the children toward
the door and followed them out.

"That is one of the reasons I honored my father's bequest," Gabe told the attorney.

Murdock was already assessing the room. "You
said you wanted all the furnishings removed." He
shook his head. "There are some very well known
paintings here, and the furniture will be difficult to replace. There are some very fine pieces."

"I want every stick of furniture, every painting,
every book and table gone. I want those sofas out
of here today and everything in the study as well.
I want nothing left to remind me that Cyrus ever
lived here."

Murdock nodded. Gabe had his own way of getting rid of the past, and if it meant getting everything out of this house, then that was the way it
would be.

"I understand they are building a new orphanage in El Paso. The committee is asking around
for donations. I'm sure they could use most of the
things here."

Gabe stared down the hallway toward his father's study. "Then give it to them."

"What about your father's private papers?"

"You take charge of them. If there is something
in them that I need to know, you can draw it to
my attention."

Murdock was already moving through the
room, making notations as he went.

The noon meal had been placed on the table, and
Jenny was scooping her soup into her mouth with
a slurping sound.

"Jenny, remember your manners," Casey reminded her. "Food should never be heard."

"When I crunch hard candy, you can hear it,"
Jenny reasoned.

"Yes, but that isn't a sound you make; it's the
candy."

Sam had noticed that Casey rarely ever laughed
anymore, and he knew she was missing Gabe. He
missed him, too, and so did jenny.

Jenny slid off her chair and placed her napkin
beside her plate. "I'm going to see Miss Kate."

"Tell her we are expecting her for dinner,"
Casey reminded her.

Sam took a sip of milk as he watched his sister
over the rim of the glass. "There is something I
haven't told you, Casey, and I feel real bad about
it."

"What have you done, Sam?"

"On that second night when you were suffering
from your concussion, Gabe came to the house."

"Did he? I don't remember that." She did remember the next morning, when she had said all
those horrid things to him.

"That's because you were asleep. Gabe wouldn't
go away until he saw for himself that you were all
right. I couldn't keep him out."

"I see."

"He stood over you, and I saw something soft
when he looked at you. I asked him if he loved
you, and he didn't answer, but I saw it in his
eyes-I couldn't be wrong about that, Casey."

Casey glanced up. "I do believe he loves me,
but not enough to stay so we can make a life together."

"Maybe he'll be back."

She studied her uneaten bowl of soup. "I don't
think so, Sam. He told me he was leaving Texas
for good."

"Omous and Flint came by this morning. They
asked if they could have their jobs back."

Casey blinked her eyes. "What?"

.They said they want to work for us."

Casey stared at her brother long and hard. She
had encouraged him to make some of the decisions, and apparently he had. "So you hired
them?"

"I was going to ask you, but I was afraid you'd
say no."

"I'm glad they are working for us again, Sam."

"Fletcher's back, too."

She shook her head, and her eyes widened. "He
is? What I don't understand is why any of them
would want to work for us after we dismissed them
so unfairly."

"I feel real bad about that, but they don't seem
to hold a grudge. I have the strange notion that
Gabe asked them to help us out before he left."

She paused with her spoon halfway to her
mouth. "Kind of looking out for us even though
he's gone?"

"That's the way I see it."

"Finish your soup, Sam. We have to move those
bales of hay into the loft this afternoon."

The dust cloud rising from the herd of cattle being driven onto the Spanish Spur struck no fear in Casey's heart. Fletcher had brought word that
the new owner of Casa Mesa had discovered three
hundred head of Spanish Spur cattle that had
been mingled with his own. Today they were being herded home.

Sam had ridden out to meet them, and he
came back smiling. "Casey, we now have enough
cattle to drive to the railhead! Also, three of
Slaughter's hands asked if they could work for us.
With them, we have more than enough hands to
get the job done."

She felt her heart lighten. They had lived under
the dark cloud of fear and indecision for so long,
it was difficult to grasp the fact that the bad times
might be behind them now.

"Who is the new owner?"

"They didn't say, and I didn't ask. But Fletcher
said he sent a message to you, and that I was to
get it just right." Sam looked puzzled. "His boss
said to tell you he was partial to apple pie, if you
were interested."

Casey's hand went to her mouth, and her heart
thudded inside her.

Could it be Gabe?

It had to be him! No one else would have sent
her such a cryptic message. What did it mean?

"Sam," she said, tears clinging to her lashes. "I
am going to make an apple pie, and I want you
to take it to the boss of Casa Mesa today."

Later in the day, when Sam delivered the apple pie, he was told that the owner was away. When
he asked who now owned the ranch, the housekeeper smilingly told him it was Senor Gabriel
Slaughter.

The next day passed; then another day wore away,
and still Gabe did not come. Fletcher and the rest
of the hands had rounded up the cattle and were
preparing to drive them to the railhead in a few
days.

Life at the ranch went on just as before, but
Casey was waiting... waiting. It took all her fortitude not to ride over to Casa Mesa and see Gabe
for herself. But she must not do that. He must
come to her this time.

Doubts plagued her mind. Had she been mistaken and read too much into the message Gabe
had sent her?

The third day passed and still there was no
word from him, and her doubts multiplied.

Sam had gone to bed early, and Jenny had been
sleepy when she had tucked her in right after dinner.

Casey had just dried the last dish when she heard a light tap on the door behind her.