Whispers of the Heart (9 page)

“And as far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t stand a chance in hell with me. So what now?”

“I guess I should shift directions and you watch out for little Miss Marsha,” Chloe said, starting toward the house again.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have too much in the way of experience with men, do you, Kat?”

“I
was
married you know.”

“To your high school sweetheart, I’d wager.”

“My college sweetheart, actually.”

“Didn’t date much?”

“Didn’t need to, but what’s my dating history have to do with Marsha?”

“She seems to have her sights set on our Mr. Rivers, and she’s been after him a sight bit longer than I have, if I’m any judge.”

“So?”

“So, it’s obvious she hasn’t caught him and that, my dear Kat, makes her a desperate woman. And when a woman gets desperate for a man, they get stupid.”

“And they tend to do stupid things?”

“Not necessarily stupid, but mean.”

“You sound as if you speak from experience.”

“Firsthand.”

“Why didn’t she come after you then? You were actually chasing her interest,” Kat countered.

“Because she knows, just like I do now, that Dalian isn’t the least bit interested in me, which is why I didn’t claw
her
eyes out. However, she probably has figured out that he’s definitely interested in you.”

“Well, hopefully, Dalian will catch the hint that I’m not interested and leave me be, then I won’t have to worry about Marsha, or any other woman who takes a shine to him. And if the need arises, I’ll simply let her know that I’ll be leaving in less than two month’s time. Then she can continue her pursuit unfettered.”

“Good luck. Wanna grab something to eat? And I’m not talking about our host.”

“Funny, Chloe. Real funny.”

“I thought so,” Chloe laughed. “Come on. We better hurry before the men gobble everything up.”

“Before we settle down to eat,” Dalian announced the following morning at breakfast, “I just wanted to let everyone know that today we’re going to leave the ranch...”

“Where are we going, Dalian?” Chloe raised her hand as a child in a classroom might. Kat shook her head and grinned. She might be done with her pursuit, but she still liked to be noticed.

“Well, part of being a cowboy...

“Uh-hum,” Chloe cleared her throat loudly.

“And, cow
girl
,” Dalian clarified.

“Thank you.”

He nodded politely, and then continued, “As I was saying, part of being a cow
hand
, is learning how to live out of doors during a drive. We spent this past week practicing rounding up strays...” Chloe raised her hand again and Kat heard several of the men snicker. “Yes, Miss Chloe,” Dalian asked, trying to keep his patience in check.

“I’m afraid you lost me at the bakery,” Chloe smiled. “What do you mean
precisely
by living out of doors and what’s a drive?”

Dalian laughed, “Well, Miss Chloe, when the cattle are taken to market, a lot of times we round them up and drive them cross country. By that I mean, they walk and we ride. During that time, we sleep and take our meals out on the range. It can take a month or more to go and come
back.”

“Why not just load them up on a truck and drive them that way?” Chloe asked.

“Fuel efficiency,” Dalian said. “Even in this day and age of economic fuel sources, transporting cattle can prove costly, which would eat into our profit margin. Moving them via truck is fine if you have only a couple hundred head, but when you’re taking several thousand head at once...well, you can only imagine the cost of fuel and the number of cattle trucks required. Not very economical. We did work with cattle trucks several years ago, but went back to driving them cross-country on foot since we aren’t but a few hundred miles from the nearest railway terminal. Also, we generally use All Terrain Vehicles these days for a cattle drive, since it’s easier, but for the purposes of our week-long foray, we’ll ride horses
.
I found out long, long ago, that most people associate cowboys with horses, and so prefer to ride them when they come out here on vacation.”

“We’re not going to drive your cows to market, are we?” Chloe asked, her eyes widening in distress.

“No, you’re not. We won’t take them for a few months yet,” Dalian responded. “But, as part of the ranching experience, we like to take our guests out on the range for a week with about fifty head, just to let them experience rounding them up, roping 'em in, and sleeping under the stars. That’s why we had you fine folks practicing on the wooden steers in the corral.” Dalian looked over at Kat and laughed when her face tinted crimson.

“It’s not required, is it? I mean, we don’t have to go if we don’t want to, right?”

“Absolutely not, Miss Chloe,” Dalian said, “however for those who do want to go, we’ll be leaving later this morning, so after breakfast, we’ll meet up and go over the preparations needed for an extended stay away from the ranch. If you don’t have what you need, don’t fret over much. I’ll see to it that you get it. Okay?”

Everyone nodded in unison. “Good. Anyone besides Miss Chloe planning to stay behind?” Dalian held his breath in hopes that Kat didn’t raise her hand. He let it go when she didn’t; however, he was surprised to see two men raise their hands. In all his years running the dude ranch, he never encountered a man that didn’t want to go out on the range. That’s why they came to a dude ranch, after all – to play the part of a cowboy. “Okay, appears most everyone else is going to brave the trip, so for now, enjoy your breakfast; and meet me next to the barn in an hour,” Dalian took his place in the breakfast line. He looked over to where Chloe was busily bending Kat’s ear about whatever women talked about and again breathed a sigh of thanks that she’d decided to go, and that Chloe decided to remain behind. That meant he could focus his attentions on Kat without all of Chloe’s irritating interruptions. He hadn’t known Kat but a week, but something about her sent his senses haywire. He knew she was attracted to him as well, but for some reason, expressing herself wasn’t something she cared to do. He’d love to know why. He’d also love the time to find a way to break down those barriers he perceived surrounded her.

Marsha came into the room bearing a fresh pot of coffee and he sighed. He was especially thankful that Marsha wouldn’t be going. She was even worse than Chloe about her intentions. His eyes widened slightly when he saw that she was heading in his direction.

“Dalian. Good morning,” Marsha’s tone was just barely pleasant, which meant she hadn’t gotten over his perceived snub yesterday. “Mrs. Guthrie said to tell you that everything will be ready in less than an hour.”

“Thank you, Marsha,” Dalian said. “Please inform her that Chloe, Cal, and Max won’t be accompanying us, so arrangements will need to be made for their meals while we’re gone.”

“Oh, well, I was kind of hoping that
I
could...”

“No!” Dalian interrupted. “Employees don’t go on drives, just hands; and since Mrs. Guthrie hired you to work here, that makes you an employee. Sorry.”

“No you’re not, Dalian,” Marsha whispered. “You know something? You’re a real jackass,” she said, wanting everyone to hear, but knowing that it wouldn’t be wise.

Dalian’s gaze narrowed and he lowered his head so that only she would hear, “A jackass, Marsha? Why? Because I won’t fall into your daddy’s trap? No! Don’t say another word! You’ve said quite enough, and I’ve tolerated your antics long enough, but I will say this,” he grasped her by the elbow and led her from the room. She wanted to pull away, but her humiliation would be too great, so she went along meekly. He pulled her far enough into the foyer, so he could be certain the guests wouldn’t hear. “I’ve put up with your pursuit for longer than I should have, young lady, so we’re going to put a stop to it once and for all. Understand me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marsha said sullenly. “I can’t help it if I love. ...”

“Stop it, ya hear!” Dalian snapped, his temper threatening to break. “Damn it, girl! I know what’s going on. Does your dad really believe I’m some naive school kid without a lick of sense? Don’t you think that at my age, I wouldn’t know a genuine attraction when I ran across it; that I don’t know that your attentions are all just an act? Now, I’m telling you straight – I’m not interested in you that way. To me, you’re just a kid, and I don’t mess with kids. And if that ain’t
plain enough, then I’ll put it this way – leave me the hell alone and tell your daddy to do the same. If you want to keep working here, I don’t give a rat’s behind, but I’ll fire your ass if you keep acting like a lovesick puppy. Is that plain enough for you, Marsha?”

“It’s that Kathryn McMurray isn’t it?” Marsha sniffled dramatically. “She’s taking you away from me...”

Dalian grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, then shoved her away from him. He closed his eyes and counted to ten as his frustration mounted, then took several slow, deep cleansing breaths. When he opened his eyes, Marsha was watching him warily.

“You’ve been duly warned,” he whispered, and then turned and walked back into the dining room.

“I told you, Dad,” Marsha whispered, swiping the tears from her eyes. “I made one final attempt to get him to look at me, but he just ain’t interested. I only hope you forget about plan B.”

Why didn’t you go on the drive?

“I couldn’t.” The whispered reply shied away from the rebuke.

It would have been fun, and you know I like to have fun. But you knew I’d pressure you into going, which is why you didn’t give me a hint of your intentions until they’d ridden out, you coward! You are weak and I’m sick of having to keep thinking for you, keep taking action for you. You used to enjoy life with me, now you seem to be fighting me every step of the way.

“I’m not weak, and I’m not a coward.” It was a feeble attempt at a self-confident rebuttal. “I’m just tired of playing your games, is all, and this time we don’t have a chance of winning. You can see that, can’t you? We aren’t going to ensnare this one.”

You should know after all of these years that I get what I want and it’s pointless to try to stop me. You have become a weak, pathetic, mewling excuse for a human being, but you’d better be prepared to step up when they get back from the drive, or I may just have to beat you into submission.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be ready, I promise. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

I always do.

Kat met the pseudo-drive as she did everything else in her life. It didn’t matter if she was good at it or not, she enjoyed herself to the fullest and tried her hardest; however, as with the lassoing, she seemed to lack the proficiency, which was just slightly frustrating. And frustration seemed counter to her objective to relax and unwind during her stay here.

Of course relaxing would be a heck of a lot easier if Dalian Rivers didn’t make her so tense. Not that he was rude or horribly aggressive in his attentions –
that
she could handle or even possibly ignore. No. Dalian Rivers was kind, generous, charming, witty, and helpful to a fault...and she wished to high-heaven that he wasn’t.

He was also laughing at her – again.

“Need help?” He asked, watching her struggle with her equipment. They were supposed to leave soon, and she still hadn’t loaded everything onto her horse. Dalian had demonstrated the proper method, and she knew she wasn’t a slow learner – she just couldn’t fathom why
her
stuff didn’t stay on her horse the way
his
did.

“Not at all, thank you.” Kat shifted away, trying to ignore his closeness.

“Well, we’re heading out in ten minutes,” Dalian said, grinning, “so...”

“I’ll be ready!” Kat interrupted, knitting her brow as she concentrated on tying down her bedroll on the horse’s rump.

“Don’t forget to tie that like I showed...”

“Do you mind?” She snapped around like a cobra ready to strike.

Dalian grinned at the scorching look she gave him. She was also close enough to him that if he wanted to steal a kiss, he could – with only a slight tilt to his head. He grinned as her gaze widened – as if she’d read his thoughts. Or was it that she only just realized that by turning, she was closer to him than she wanted to be.

Her complexion reddened. His grin turned into a teeth-bearing smile and he leaned in closer, “You’re in a whole heap o’ trouble, woman,” he said, his breath caressing her skin like a lover’s touch.

Her eyes fluttered closed, and she tried desperately to steady her runaway pulse, “Please, Dalian,” she said softly, keeping her eyes closed.

“Please, what, Kat?” Dalian whispered next to her lips. He literally felt her nerves jump as her eyes flew open.

“Are you two going to sit there making gaga eyes at each other all morning, or are we going to head out soon?” One of the other guests asked, laughing.

Dalian laughed and took a step back from Kat, “Sorry, Jason. I guess I just have a hard time keeping away from Miss McMurray.”