Silken Threads (10 page)

“Listen up,” Kirk called in a loud voice. The hands turned their attention from Cassandra to Kirk. “As most of you know, there’s a new face on the ranch.” Kirk paused and glanced down at Cassandra before he continued. His eyes bored into hers.

“Miss Cassandra Leeds is a vice president of Leeds International and is now in charge of the Twin Rivers Corporation. Miss Leeds,” he said as he abruptly finished and sat down.

Cassandra rose, moistening her lips as she did, and looked out at what seemed to be an endless sea of unfriendly faces. In that instant, when she saw their expressions, she knew they thought her to be the company’s watchdog.

She spoke quickly, her voice tinged with the same protective imperiousness she had used toward Kirk since her arrival.

“I hope that I will soon get to meet each of you individually. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to come to me.” As she spoke, she saw the look of disdain on many of their faces. Then she tried to single out one friendly face, and settled on making eye contact with the female ranch hand, whose name she had learned was Jane Paulson. While although there was no disdain on her face, her eyes were as unfriendly as the rest.

After her short speech, she sat down and waited until the meeting ended and everyone except Kirk was gone.

“That was a nasty thing to do,” she snapped.

“Nasty? I just introduced you to your employees.”

“It was the way you did it.”

“That’s my way, Miss Leeds,” he said, his eyes looking straight through her.

“I told you once you won’t scare me off. Don’t try so hard,” she advised him in an icy whisper.

“All I want to do, Miss Leeds, is my job—”

“Then do it!” she snapped angrily.

“And,” he continued in a level voice, “I think I’ve spent enough time familiarizing you with the operation.”

“Yes, you have,” Cassandra replied stiffly.

“Thank you. If you need me tomorrow, I’ll be at the corral. We’ve got horses to break.”

Cassandra stared at him for a moment. “I thought there weren’t any horses to sell this year.”

“We lost a lot, but we still have about thirty head. Good night, Miss Leeds,” he said as he stood and started out.

“We aren’t enemies, Kirk,” Cassandra shouted before he reached the door.

Kirk turned, his taut face shadowed by the uneven light at the doorway. “We aren’t friends, either,” he replied in a very low voice as he turned and walked out.

“What are we?” Cassandra asked the closed door, trying to understand what was making Kirk act the way he was.

Kirk sat on the high-backed chair, his eyes half closed, the rise and fall of his chest barely visible. It was late, almost midnight, but he couldn’t sleep. Too many unanswered questions plagued him. Too many unsolvable problems haunted him when they shouldn’t.

Who was Cassandra Leeds? Why did she affect him so strongly? Why did he care what she thought, felt, or even did with her life?

The problem was, he did care. There was another problem, too—the Leeds Corporation.
Why were they so complacent with their losses?
Why did they reward people who lost money for them
? There had to be a reason, and Kirk wanted to know exactly what it was. He had invested too much time, effort, and care in Twin Rivers to have it yanked away from him by the random whims of corporate executives.

Through his narrowed eyes, Kirk saw the light in Cassandra’s bedroom go out. Except for the times he had driven her around the ranch, she had avoided any contact with him. She had even avoided coming into his office when she’d had a question about paperwork; instead, she’d used the intercom.

“You won’t scare me off,” she’d told him earlier. It was the second time she’d used that particular phrase. Was there something she was afraid of? Kirk wondered. Something he couldn’t see.

Kirk thought about the night in Wyoming when he’d sensed her loneliness and frustration
. Had he been wrong about her then also? Was she just playing a game with him, making a fool of him? Or had she told him the truth about the bargain she’d made with her father?

“You awake or asleep, boss man?” came a husky, feminine voice.

Kirk opened his eyes and focused on Jane Paulson. “Can’t sleep?”

“
I’ve got a lot on my mind,” Jane replied as she sat on a chair next to Kirk.

“
You haven’t been having any more problems with the men, have you?”

“
No, the nonsense stopped about three months ago when I realized you were right. They didn’t hate me; they just wanted to see if I could hack it.”

“
Confidence in your own abilities is the proper phrase.”

“
I try to think in monosyllables these days,” she replied with a smile.

“
You aren’t the only cowboy with a degree,” Kirk told her.

“
How many others do you know with a degree in clinical psychology?”

“
Only a few dozen,” Kirk said with a straight face.

“
Kirk, what’s going on?” Jane asked, her voice serious and piercing.

“
With what?”

“
Not what, who…Cassandra Leeds. Why is she here?”

“
Twin Rivers is a subsidiary of—”

“
Kirk, it’s me, your little cousin. Remember?”

Kirk nodded and looked away from Jane for a moment. She was his cousin, and the only blood relative he had. She was nine years his junior, twenty-five.

Jane’s mother and his were sisters. She had grown up on the same ranch as Kirk, and although she had tried to fight it, she had learned ranching was what she really wanted to do with her life.

Six months ago, Jane had come to him and asked for a job. He had argued and fought with her, but finally gave in. He knew in his heart, he was proud of her for being honest with herself, facing up to the truth and taking responsibility for her future.

She had come to him and had said “I was wrong. I thought I wanted to get away from ranching and from the people in it. That’s why I went in for psychology. But it isn’t working; I don’t like the life on ‘the outside.’ The people aren’t real.”

“
Kirk, Cassandra Leeds?” Jane asked again, shaking him free of the memory.

“
I don’t know. I think her father wants me to baby-sit. She doesn’t think so.”

“
Why are you so hard on her?”

“
Hard? I’m just doing my job.”

“
Why are you lying to yourself?”

“
Why are you trying to shrink me?”

“
I’m worried about you,” she said, her eyes reflecting the truth of her words. “You pretty much raised me. I know you, Kirk. Cassandra Leeds has gotten to you and you don’t want to admit it.”

It took several moments for Kirk to reply. When he did, his voice was distant. “Cassandra Leeds is a beautiful shell covering a spoiled, shallow, callous excuse for a woman.”

“
Kirk—”

“
Good night, Jane,” Kirk whispered and looked away.

Jane stood silently for a moment before she walked away; but in her mind were the unspoken words that were a parody of a popular song.
You’ve got it bad, big cousin. And I don’t know if that ain’t good!

~~~~

Cassandra stopped at the side of the road. She stood there for several long minutes, oblivious of the heat of the day or the dryness in her mouth.

She had spent a long and sleepless night, trying her best to reconcile her actions with reality. She wanted to move forward, to patch up the discordant notes between her and Kirk, and find a way to make Twin Rivers become profitable.

She had discovered she could not do that by hiding away. She had to go out and see what was happening, learn about more than just the bottom line.

This was the reason she was standing under the strong Arizona sun, wearing her not yet broken-in boots, and trying to quell the fear-induced rapid beating of her heart. She was about to observe the livestock.

She knew she had to show her face and show Kirk that she wasn’t afraid of getting dirty. Taking a deep preparatory breath, Cassandra crossed the road and moved toward the corral, ringed with gleefully calling cowboys.

Twenty feet away Cassandra froze. She saw a wild horse jumping in the corral; on its back was Kirk North. The spotted horse looked like a fearsome vision born of a nightmare, and for just a second, she thought she would never see Kirk again.

The madly bucking horse soon slowed its frantic maneuverings, and Kirk rode him to the side, where another ranch hand took the reins and led him away. When she was able to breathe again, Cassandra edged closer to the corral.

No one seemed to take notice of her; all eyes were on the action within the wood-fenced circle. Once again, Cassandra’s breath caught as she recognized the only female ranch hand sitting astride one of the unbroken horses.

With the nod of Jane Paulson’s head, the man holding the horse released it. The horse bucked on its first step, and tossed Jane up and down.

Cassandra gripped the wood of the corral so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes locked on the battle, while her heart beat wildly with fear for the woman.

Yet, Jane seemed unafraid, and Cassandra saw a smile on the woman’s face, mixed with determination. For three more minutes, Jane rose and fell on the beast’s back, until the wild horse began to spin in circles, bucking hard as it did.

On the last turn, Jane lost her grip, and Cassandra’s teeth sank into her lower lip to stop herself from screaming as Jane arced in the air and fell unceremoniously in the dirt.

An instant later the redheaded cowgirl was standing, a smile on her face. The men circling the corral applauded her ride with catcalls and whistles, expressions of respect.

Forcing her heart to beat calmly, Cassandra tried to dismiss her fright and appear calm. Just as she succeeded, Kirk mounted another of the spotted white horses.

This one seemed unusually large, its head high, its ears turned forward in a sign of danger.

Her heart beat faster, but this time not in fear for herself—she was afraid of what might happen to Kirk. Kirk’s face showed nothing except the same determination she’d seen in Jane Paulson.

The moment they freed the horse, it rose in the air. Cassandra thought the animal had springs on its feet. She continued to watch, keeping her eyes locked on Kirk, watching the way his muscles knotted as he strained to control and break the horse.

His shirt, soaked through with perspiration, stuck to his torso like a second skin, allowing Cassandra to see the interplay of muscles as he battled the horse. The horse spun and at the same time kicked its rear legs high in an effort to dislodge Kirk. Kirk’s hat flew off with the ferocity of the horse’s movements. His wavy hair bounced freely.

Without realizing it, Cassandra was no longer a prisoner of her fears. She was free of them for the moment as she watched Kirk ride, lost within the strength, power, and handsomeness of the man.

Her heart sang its special song to her and brought out all the feelings she had been trying to hide and avoid since the first moment she’d faced Kirk in the lobby of the office building.

Watching him, she forced away those unfamiliar emotions, refusing to allow them a perch within her heart, where they might grow and blossom and only cause her more hurt and anguish.

Instead, she concentrated on the determined set of Kirk’s strong jaw, which added to the overall picture of total control and mastery he exuded. For the five minutes this session lasted, Cassandra knew no time.

When the horse stopped bucking and whirling, and Kirk rode it once around the corral, Cassandra returned to reality. As Kirk rode past her his eyes fixed on her, and their brown depths pierced her to her very core.

Dismounting, Kirk turned to one of the men. “Take over here,” he said. Then he looked at Cassandra. He hadn’t seen her when he’d mounted the horse, but when he’d finished the ride, his eyes had fastened on hers and he’d seen her wide-eyed stare. It took all his effort not to show his surprise.

Walking slowly, Kirk went over to Cassandra. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked.

“Learning. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be doing?” she asked, hating herself for using her coolness as a defense while her body burned at his closeness.

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” Kirk conceded.

As they spoke, Cassandra became aware that the low rumble of the men’s voices had dwindled away and intuitively knew they were all looking at her, sensing a confrontation between her and Kirk.

Kirk glance around. “I didn’t know this was a holiday,” he snapped, his voice loud and commanding. One by one, the men returned their concentration to the corral.

“Let’s go someplace where we can talk, all right?” he asked.

“Fine,” Cassandra replied.

Kirk called to one of the men, turned, and whispered in his ear. A moment later the man left, and as he did, Kirk nodded to Cassandra. “We’ll take a ride,” he added.

“I’d like that.” It was true, Cassandra thought. Perhaps alone they could work out their difficulties and make a stab at running the ranch together.

Kirk guided her away from the corrals and toward the stables, where Cassandra saw several Land Rovers parked. She saw, too, the ranch hand Kirk had spoken to disappear into the stable.

“What did you think of the horse-breaking?” Kirk asked, his eyes studying her face openly.

“It was…exciting,” she replied, thinking not of the horses, but of Kirk as he had controlled the powerful animal. “I’m just surprised there isn’t more to it.”

Kirk laughed. “That’s only the beginning. The first ride. This will happen a lot more, until each mount is fully broken and responds well to a rider. These particular horses are going to dude ranches. They have to be as well-broken and trained as is humanly possible.”

“I see,” Cassandra said, although she really didn’t. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jane Paulson walking toward the stable and was about to ask Kirk for an official introduction when he spoke first.

“Cassandra, I’d like you to meet Suzi.”

Cassandra turned, surprised for the moment as she saw the ranch hand walking toward them with two saddled horses.

“Suzi?” she asked, her mouth dry again.

“Pretty, isn’t she?” Kirk added with a gentle smile as the man reached them. “She’s your mount.”

“But I thought we were—”

“Going for a ride. Come on, I’ll give you a hand up,” he said in a friendlier tone than he’d used in the last four days.

Once again, Cassandra froze as she stared into the large eyes of the horse. Eyes that she was sure were measuring her for a coffin. She tried to speak, but no words came. Her stomach lurched violently, her head spun, and all the blood drained from her face. “I…” She tried again, but nothing came out.

She shook her head and took a shaky step back. Her eyes went to Kirk, pleading silently, begging for his understanding and help. All she saw were his features turning into a stoic mask.

Kirk watched her strange reaction and his emotions turn to disgust once again. She had refused to meet him halfway after he had tried, against his better judgment, to help her. Then his anger gained the upper hand, and he stepped close to her. When he spoke, his voice was low, but his fury was tangible.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve been patient, damned patient! You won’t give an inch, will you? You’re supposed to be here to do a job, and the only way you can is by working with me. But you won’t, will you? I don’t think you give a damn about what happens here, not one little bit!”