No Place for a Lady (22 page)

"Thanks for the reminder;' he said sarcastically, and moved in
the direction of the barn.

He was tired and didn't feel like riding over to the Rocking M
tonight. But he supposed he must in order to stay in good graces
with McBride. At least he would get a good meal.

Sometimes April irritated him with her clinging. He wasn't
about to vanish into a vapor. Luke didn't like it when women
clung, and he didn't want to feel owned. When he was with her,
he sometimes felt like he had no breathing room.

Funny, somewhere along the line his feelings for her had taken
a different turn. He had always admired her way with horses,
and she was accurate with a gun. She wasn't afraid of anything,
always figuring she could do anything as good as or better than
most men could.

Maybe that was it. He decided that April was a bit arrogant
and high-strung. Luke blamed McBride for giving in to her
every whim. Then his thoughts strayed to Crystal, whose silvery laughter came from the kitchen as he made his way to the barn
for Buck. All soft and feminine. Very feminine. She exuded charisma, and her laughter was infectious, making people want to
be around her. Stop it, Weber. You've made a bargain, and you re
going to keep it.

Luke always enjoyed Josh's company, and conversation was
never lacking between them. April hovered close by after dinner. They had coffee in the parlor, and he felt himself relax as he
listened to Alice playing the piano with a faraway look in her eyes.
Josh excused himself shortly after they'd had coffee.

McBride smiled at his beautiful daughter and asked, "Have you
young people decided on a date for the wedding?"

"Oh, Daddy... we haven't had much time to talk about it, have
we, Luke?" She placed her hand on his arm.

"Maybe we should take a stroll and discuss it. How does that
sound, April?" Luke took her hand.

McBride answered for her. "Yes, you two run along. Enjoy
this fine weather while it lasts. Alice, I'm about ready to turn in"
He gave Alice a decided look, signaling the close of the evening.
Closing her music, she rose and bade Luke good evening, then
obediently followed McBride up the stairs.

Luke and April strolled toward the garden in the cool evening shadows. Linking her arm through Luke's, April leaned close
enough that he could smell her perfume. Her long, slender fingers
stroked his forearm.

"Luke, don't you find me attractive?" She stopped walking and
turned to face him with a pouting look.

"Well " W e l l . He hesitated. "Sure I do:" The moonlight had turned
her blonde hair into golden streaks the color of ripened wheat,
and he reached up and stroked her hair.

"Then why don't you kiss me? You haven't in a very long time."
Her tall frame swayed against his.

His strong arms pulled her to him, and he bent to press his
lips hard against her slightly parted ones. Her lips responded to
his, and she pressed harder against his long frame, encircling his
neck with her arms. A small groan escaped her lips, and at once
he withdrew her arms and pushed her away from him. He hadn't
felt even a flicker of desire. What was the matter with him?

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Luke swayed, and his
mouth felt dry. His head was spinning with too many thoughts.

"Was I complaining?" she asked flirtatiously. "It's very normal
between engaged couples to express themselves so" Luke realized she probably had taken his abruptness as a sign to quell his
mounting desire. "I don't want you to stop;' she murmured.

"Your father would skin me alive, and I have no wish to become
one of his trophies mounted above his fireplace." With a firm grip
he took her elbow and guided her along the garden path back to
the porch. "Besides, I'd better leave. It's getting late. Some of us
have to work"

"Well, you won't have to for long. I'll see to that. Our days and
nights will be of our choosing. You'll have all the free time you
want."

`April, I think you'd better understand something here and now."
He stopped and turned her to face him. "I like to choose what I
do and when I do it. No one is going to tell me how I spend my
time:'

"Shh ... you don't have to yell, Luke. We'll work it out:"

"There's nothing to work out. I-I have to be going" He untied
his horse's reins from the porch railing and in one fluid motion
was on Buck's back. He tipped his hat and looked down at her.
"Be seeing you:"

On the ride back home, Luke tried to clear his head of churning
thoughts of April. He realized they had never gotten around to
setting a date, and he was somewhat relieved. What had he gotten
himself into? He was nuts to think he would feel passion in their
kiss, but he'd had to prove it to himself. The problem was he knew
she felt desire for him. He thought he could make it work, but
now he just didn't know. April's too scrawny. Crystal's curvaceous.
April's a tomboy. Crystal's feminine. April's cool and calculating.
Crystal's friendly and vivacious. April's rich. Crystal's poor. Ah, and
there it was, he admitted to himself. Marrying April meant he'd
get the land he'd always wanted, and land had to be worth more
than any woman ... or was it?

Good grief, man. Stop this. You can't have everything. Besides,
Crystal had Drew waiting for her-and then there was josh.
But Luke knew there was something different in Crystal that he
couldn't put his finger on. He rubbed his brow and sighed. He
was tired of thinking.

Since Kate's death there had not been a lot of laughter around
the ranch, but tonight there had been gaiety and foolishness as
the cowboys tried to impress both Crystal and Emily. After supper
they played checkers with much cheating and uproarious hilarity,
until Kurt was declared the undefeated champion. Now they had
retired to the front porch, and it was growing late and chilly. Jube
pulled up a rocker close to Emily's side, making it perfectly clear
to the others that he wanted no interference from them.

"Miss Crystal:" Curly cleared his throat. "Remember you promised to play your Autoharp for us?"

"Oh, please, Crystal;' Emily implored.

"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any." Crystal was gone
a moment, then returned with her case.

The talking ceased as she began to play soft and low. She sang
a lover's tale with a clear, lyrical voice, and her audience watched
and listened with rapt attention. Curly looked as if he'd died and
gone to heaven as he watched her face in the moonlight. Rusty
leaned back in his chair and puffed on his pipe with a faraway
look in his eyes.

"Bravo!" Kurt exclaimed when she had finished, and the group
applauded. "What a lovely voice you have. Please, do us the honor
of another song:"

Luke figured everyone had retired since it was so late, but instead he was greeted with the most enchanting sound he'd ever
heard and realized that someone was singing. As he drew closer
to the house, he could faintly make out Crystal's shape on the
porch, her Autoharp on her knees. What a beautiful silhouette
she made with the moonlight touching her hair. The faint glow
of the drovers' cigarettes lent just enough light to illuminate her face as her small hands strummed the instrument. He felt a lurch
in his chest.

Crystal finished the song and was glad it was dark so no one
could see her blush from their obvious pleasure. Her breath quickened as Luke's spurs jangled loudly on the porch steps.

"Don't stop on my account."

"I wasn't;' Crystal said. She proceeded to open her case and place
the instrument inside, hoping she looked composed. "It's very late,
y'all." She smiled at the boys. "Emily and I are turning in:"

Jube cast a quick look at Emily. "Aw, we were just starting to
have fun;' he teased.

All the cowhands shuffled off in the direction of the bunkhouse,
with the exception of Jube and Luke.

Emily touched Crystal on her sleeve. "Crystal, I'll be back in
a little bit. I told Jube I'd go for a short walk with him, if that's
okay." Emily couldn't contain the smile on her face, and Crystal
shooed them on their way.

After they were out of earshot, Luke turned to Crystal. "You
have a pretty voice. I'm sorry I missed the performance."

"Well, Mr. Weber, the hour appears to be very late for a visit
now, so if you don't mind .." She started for the door, but he
stepped in front of her. She could smell April's perfume still clinging to his clothes, and her throat felt dry. She didn't want to think
about April in his arms.

Luke reached up and stroked her cheek. "Crystal," he murmured
in a husky voice. He took a step closer as if to pull her to him.
Crystal wavered between taking a step toward him and running
into the house, but she only stood there. She could faintly make
out his face in the darkness.

"Don't, Luke." Crystal pulled back. "I can smell April's perfume
still on you."

Luke took another step forward, with his hand holding her
elbow. "I only wanted to kiss the lips of such a beautiful voice."

Crystal wished that he would wipe that stupid grin off his face.
"Do you even remember that you are betrothed to another? Have
you so quickly forgotten that you will soon pledge to honor, trust,
and love only April forever?"

His face sobered. "Who made you chief? Of course I care about
April. You just looked so sweet standing there on the porch in the
moonlight that I guess I lost my head"

So she had guessed right. He really did love April. Her spirits
were dashed. With a sinking feeling she yanked her arm free,
turned sharply on her heel, and carried her case through the
door, closing it with a bang. She was shaking as she leaned with
her back against the door. She hated the way she was feeling
now. Part of her wanted to smooth the lock of dark hair away
from his forehead and touch his thick moustache, while part of
her wanted to rail against him and everything he stood for. She
didn't understand him at all. One minute he acted as if he really
liked her, and another minute he berated her capabilities or the
way she dressed and cooked. Yet she continued to feel painfully
aware of his charm and rugged good looks. And she had almost
let him kiss her. Again.

Chiding herself for even being attracted to such a man, she
decided to turn down Emily's covers and get ready for bed herself.