The Demure Bride (15 page)

"Do you think Roxy would like an apple pie?" Helene asked quietly; she wanted to please her uncle... and make Roxy feel welcome.

"Well, I'm not sure about Roxy, but I know I would, if it ain't too much trouble...?"

"It's not any trouble at all, Uncle Peter," she told him. He headed for the door to go back down to his shop. "Uncle Peter," she called, and when he turned to face her, she said, "Whitey is innocent; I'm going to prove it."

"I hope so, honey," he said, nodding. He couldn't permit the girl to marry a man without a name, and who could possibly be a criminal. And, as much as she loved Whitey, and he loved her, Peter wasn't sure that Helene wouldn't run off with the man she loved! He was going to have to keep a vigilant eye on her, and pray that the answers she got to those telegrams were full of good news.

* * *

Rob was thrown from the wild stallion for the third time. It hurt, but not nearly as much as the pain in his heart. He loved Amanda Chambers and staying away from her was the most difficult thing he had ever had to do. He missed her, missed her smile and her laugh. He missed her expressive green eyes. He missed her sweetness and her mischief-making and teasing. She was the woman for him and it was killing him to stay home.

"Boss, it might not be my place to say so, but you've had enough of Spider for one day. Give someone else a crack at him."

"You are quite right, Leo," Rob admitted. "I am going up to the house and tackle some paperwork I have neglected. Do not let anyone but Don or Ernie try that horse; I do not wish for anyone to be hurt."

"You got it, Boss," Leo answered, relieved that Rob took his suggestion well. It was no secret that the Boss was short-tempered right now, and most of the men figured it had something to do with Matt Chambers' fancy daughter. What the spoiled brat needed was a damned good hiding for hurting the Boss, and there wasn't a hand on the Thorne spread who didn't want to deal with the redhead for bringing the Boss low. She got a raw deal from Ted Fox, but that was no reason to take it out on the Boss.

Rob headed for the house, unaware that the woman he loved was close by... and in serious danger.

* * *

Amanda looked at the tall man and tried to decide if he was serious. She had never seen him before, but it was obvious he knew exactly who she was. She continued to stare at him, and the gun he was pointing at her. "I do not believe I heard you correctly, sir...?" Amanda jumped when he shot the hat from her head.

"You heard me, Miss Chambers. Get down and take off every stitch of your clothing or I will take a knife and carve you so badly no man will ever look at you again." His dark eyes glittered in anticipation of what he planned to do to her.

Amanda put her hands on her hips, every inch Matt Chambers' daughter. "You are the one who has been hiring men to kill Robert Thorne."

His dark eyes narrowed, and then he shrugged before speaking. "Very astute, Miss Chambers."

"You cannot face Rob but you feel free to threaten a woman...?" she purposely goaded him.

"You dare much."

"I only speak the truth. At least the last man who dared to attack me in this manner had the manners to give me his name..." She sounded as haughty as possible.

"You need a thorough caning, Miss Chambers."

"For speaking the truth?" she dared to ask. "Forgive me, but I am used to dealing with real men, not those who would hide behind a gun and who would hire someone else to do their dirty work."

"I am warning you, Miss Chambers. You will dismount right now or I promise I will make you regret being born."

"I promise you there is no place on earth you can crawl that will keep my father from finding you!" Amanda bravely declared, turning up her chin.

"You saucy little bitch!" From the enraged look in his dark eyes it was obvious he intended to harm her, but the sound of approaching horses caught his attention. "You are saved this day, Miss Chambers, but we shall meet again and it will go the worse for you. Think about that as you await your punishment." He turned his horse and raced away.

Amanda had no idea who was approaching, but she was grateful. She recognized several of Thorne's ranch hands, and quickly learned she was in danger of another sort!

"What are you doin' here, Miss Chambers?" one of the older hands asked. "Haven't you put the Boss through enough hell already?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," she answered.

"It's plain as can be that you turned him out," another cowboy accused. "He ain't hisself no more."

"What are you...? I did not 'turn him out'!" Amanda was indignant at the very suggestion. Robert Thorne was the one who left her high and dry!

"Then why is he so moody, girl?" the older man asked.

"That is what I want to know!" she told them, her temper asserting itself. "And, you all can stop looking at me like that! I am the one he stopped seeing without so much as a word of explanation, and I damned well want answers." The men weren't expecting to hear that and they looked at each other in confusion. "While you are trying to sort this out, could you please ride with me to the house so I can tell Rob I know who is trying to kill him...? The man just accosted me and I am sure he would have done more than threaten me if you hadn't come along." She got down to fetch her hat and stuck her finger through the hole on the brim. "He shot at me."

"You come along, Miss Amanda," the older man said, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of the shooter. "We heard the shot. Did you get a look at him?"

"I can draw his picture and we'll hope that Rob knows who he is," she replied. "After I tell him a thing or two...!" she murmured, but after a few seconds of thought she knew precisely why Robert Thorne was ignoring her! "Damnation!" she whispered. It was the only explanation that made sense, and why her Papa was determined to keep her away from Rob. They were in on this together! It was another 'protect little Mandy' scheme! Amanda was suddenly furious and she wanted to confront Rob with the truth and dare him to deny it! "We are going to ride," she warned the men a mere second before she urged Glimmer to a fast gallop, leaving the men to catch up or stay behind.

The closer they got to the ranch house, the angrier Amanda grew. It was another case of Rob and her father deciding what they thought best for her, and it didn't matter to them what
she
thought of the situation.

Rob heard the running horses and knew something was wrong. He jumped up from his desk, and was out the door in a moment's time. He was displeased and yet happy to see Amanda. She looked beautiful to him as she quickly dismounted and ran to him. He steeled himself to turn her away, but he certainly did not expect her to slug his jaw with her tiny fist, and he did not expect to see stars when she did! "What do you think you are about, little girl?" he demanded, resisting the urge to paddle her behind.

"You and my father were in on this together! You both are so high and almighty that you know what is best for silly little Amanda. After all, she is just a woman so what could she possibly know or understand? You fool! You damned fool! You have put me through hell the last few weeks! I wondered and wondered what I did wrong! While you sat over here on your throne feeling justified for breaking my heart! Damn you, Robert Thorne! I never want to see you again! Do you hear me? Stay out of my life!" She turned and ran to mount Glimmer, but the older hand blocked her.

"No, Miss Mandy. You can't ride out of here."

"Move!" Amanda glared at him. He still didn't budge, and she kicked him hard on the shin. While he hobbled on one leg, another man grabbed her shoulders and shook his head 'no'. "Let me go!"

"Allow her to leave now," Rob ordered, wondering at his men's temerity.

"Boss, stop her," the older man insisted. "She was shot at!" He pulled the hat off of Amanda's head and poked a finger through it, watching Rob's face drain of color, except for where the little redhead struck him, and by his reckoning, the Boss had it comin' to him.

"Amanda, when did this happen?" Rob asked calmly, his voice reflecting none of the fear he felt.

"I don't answer to you, Robert Thorne!" Her green eyes were flashing.

Rob knew it was time to apologize, even though he detested doing it in front of his men. It was embarrassing and humbling. "Mandy, please calm down. I wanted to keep you safe, and it was a poor way to go about it. I am sorry and I apologize. My only excuse is that I love you so much I thought it would be easier to stay away from you than take the risk you could be shot by accident. The last few weeks have been the loneliest of my life."

"This is where you forgive the man, Miss Mandy. He means what he says," the man she kicked looked at her and said in a loud whisper.

"I can speak for myself, Mister!" she snapped.

"Papa was in on this with you, wasn't he, Rob? That's why he's kept me from riding over here?" she asked.

"Yes, I informed him of my decision, and he reluctantly agreed. "I am surprised you gave him the slip to ride over here," Rob said with a smile, taking a step in her direction.

"It wasn't easy," she said, and then pointed a slender finger at him. "If either of you had bothered to tell me you thought I could be in danger, I could have taken precautions. As it is, I was accosted on my way here, and your men saved my life."

"What happened?" he asked, looking once again at the hat Rex had on his finger. When she just glared at him, he turned to Rex and asked, "Rex?"

The man stopped rubbing his leg and said, "We got there after he done rode off, Boss. We was busy jawing with Miss Mandy for a few minutes before we heard the truth, and by then he was gone." He had a sheepish look on his face as he waited for Amanda to tattle on him and the others. They'd be lucky if they had jobs once Thorne learned what they said to her.

To Rex's surprise, Amanda smiled at him and said politely, "I haven't thanked you men yet, but I am truly thankful, and I know that Papa will be, too."

"We heard the shot, Miss, and figured we should check it out," the younger man said earnestly.

"I am grateful, too," Rob said sincerely. "Thank you, men." He paused and then said, "I would appreciate it if you would see to it that Glimmer is cared for. I'm going to take Miss Chambers inside and see if we can figure out who is behind this." He offered her his arm, and was thankful when she slipped her arm through his. He had had all the public humiliation he could stand for one afternoon.

"I could make us some coffee," he offered once they were inside.

"I'd rather have something stronger," she said firmly as she walked over to his liquor cabinet and helped herself to a glass of sherry. "You really hurt me, Rob," she admitted.

"Yes, I know."

"No, I don't believe you do know. I have cried over you!" Her pretty green eyes were brimming with tears even now. "I have never cried over any man!"

"I am truly sorry, sweetheart," he whispered, moving to take her in his arms. "I hurt, too. I was so lonely, and I thought I was keeping you safe from all of this. Mandy, I punished us both, and I regret your tears. Will you forgive me?" he begged of her.

"Yes, I forgive you, Rob. I love you too much not to forgive you!" When he lowered his mouth to hers, she kissed him with longing and passion, feeling as though she was 'home' once again, and all was right in her world. "Rob, you must promise me you'll never pull something like this again!"

"I promise." He was sincere. "I do not think I could have survived much longer without you in my life, sweetheart."

"That is why I had to ride over here today, Rob. I needed to know why... what I did wrong...? I wanted to promise I would never ever do it again," she explained. "I have been so miserable. Papa is ready to shoot me," she admitted.

"I doubt that," Rob held her close for a moment, "but I suspect he felt like doing this..."

Amanda was shocked when Rob suddenly flipped her through the air and she found herself pinned to his side, dangling over one arm. Rob's deft fingers went to her gun belt, and it was soon lying on his desk. "What are you doing?" she demanded, knowing full well what he was doing. He was going to spank her!

"My jaw stings, little girl," he announced, and proceeded to give her a dozen sound spanks on her jean clad bottom. "Now, I might have deserved that punch, but ladies do not go around punching men! Is that understood, young lady?" he asked sternly."

"Yes! I am sorry I struck you, Rob! I was just so angry and frustrated... I didn't plan to do that; it just happened!"

"I believe you, sweetheart," he whispered, smiling. "Now, then, there is another matter that I shall not let pass."

She immediately knew what he was referring to. "But, Rob, I only wore the jeans because you were being so difficult. I had to do
something
!" she insisted.

"I understand," he stated matter-of-factly, and she sagged in relief. "Now
I
have to do
something
... And I believe you know what that something is, since I promised you what I would do if I caught you wearing these particular pants again!"

"No!" she gasped, but in the next instant, Rob's hard hand spanked against her sit spots, and it was obvious this was not going to be a little reminder spanking. He was perfectly serious, and determined to make his point about her wearing britches. "I'm sorry, Rob!" she offered immediately. "Please don't spank me. I still have to ride home!"

"And a sore ride it will be," he agreed, continuing the spanking. "Are you going to wear these pants again?" he asked a few minutes later. Amanda was sniffling now, and he was sure he had made his point.

"No, I won't," she promised. "I was in a snit when I put them on today... I think I wanted to see if I could get a reaction from you," she admitted the simple truth.

"And now you know," he said quietly, helping her up. He pulled her close and then kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Amanda, and I want to marry you as soon as possible. Do you believe me?" he asked, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"I believe you, Rob," she said. Her eyes were still shimmering with unshed tears, but he saw love reflected there, too. "I want to marry you, too."