Read Online Fire and Rain by Elizabeth Lowell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elizabeth Lowell
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woman that makes a man think of hearth fires and long winter nights and babies teething on your knuckles," Ten said. Then he sighed, raked his fingers through his hair again and added, "But that's all it will ever be for this cowboy. Thinking. Dreaming. I'm piss-poor husband material and no one knows it better than I do." He jerked his hat into place and met Luke's eyes. "Ease off on the spurs, Luke. Carla has a real tender hide where you're concerned."
"And if I don't?" Luke asked, more curious than angry.
"I'll get to feeling protective and you'll jump salty one too many times and we'll have hell's own fight. Then you'll be short one ramrod and the ranch will be short one boss." Ten smiled wolfishly. "You're bigger than I am, but you'd start out fighting fair. I wouldn't. Be quite a brawl while it lasted."
Unwillingly Luke smiled in return, then laughed. After a moment his face settled into grim lines once more.
"Hell of a mess, isn't it?" Luke said quietly.
"It'll do," agreed Ten. "Why in God's name did you let Carla come to the ranch this summer if you knew it was going to drive you crazy?"
"I…" Luke closed his eyes and shook his head. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. She didn't have a summer job. The Rocking M didn't have a cook. The men were going to rebel if they had to keep eating slop that hogs wouldn't touch. Carla is a fine cook. Some of the best meals I ever had were ones she fixed for Cash and me over in the old house." Luke rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "Like I said. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, I expected her to cry uncle by now."
"Carla?"
"It's been four weeks. She must be dying to see a movie or get her hair fixed or whatever it is that women do in town. I promised her before she ever came back here that all she had to do was say the word and the bet was off, no hard feelings and no regrets."
"You don't know her very well, do you?"
It was an observation, not a question, but Luke answered anyway.
"What do you mean?"
"Carla never backed up an inch for anyone, including that hardheaded brother of hers. She made a deal with you. She'll keep it or die trying." Realization hit Ten. "That's why you're riding her so hard – you think you can goad her into quitting."
Luke looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
"Not one chance in hell, buddy," Ten said succinctly. "Carla may be pretty to look at and have a smile as soft as a rose petal, but that's one determined girl. Think about that the next time you start in on her. You're beating a hog-tied pony. She can't escape."
Luke's breath came in harshly. He hadn't thought about Carla in that way, as a person of pride and determination. He had seen her either as a girl too young for him or as one more woman who would be ground up by the Rocking M's isolation and demands. His breath hissed out in an explosive curse.
Ten smiled sympathetically. "You've got your tail in a real tight crack. It's pretty hard on a man when he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't."
"Do us both a favor, Ten," Luke said, giving the other man a hard look.
"Sure."
"Stop trying to run interference for Carla. Every time you start hovering over her like a mother hen, I get to thinking about how good stewed chicken would taste."
There was an instant's silence before Ten threw back his head and laughed. He was still laughing when Luke set out for the barn with angry, long-legged strides.
~7~
"Did you find that ghost stud yet?" Ten asked Luke.
The ramrod's voice had no inflection but his smoke-gray eyes were lit with a combination of sympathy and laughter. Ten knew that Luke had spent long hours out on the range in order to avoid being close to Carla, not to find the near-mythical black stallion that inhabited the narrow red canyons and rugged breaks of the extreme southeastern portion of the Rocking M.
"No, but I saw his tracks a time or two," Luke retorted, piling a huge helping of roast
"And if I don't?" Luke asked, more curious than angry.
"I'll get to feeling protective and you'll jump salty one too many times and we'll have hell's own fight. Then you'll be short one ramrod and the ranch will be short one boss." Ten smiled wolfishly. "You're bigger than I am, but you'd start out fighting fair. I wouldn't. Be quite a brawl while it lasted."
Unwillingly Luke smiled in return, then laughed. After a moment his face settled into grim lines once more.
"Hell of a mess, isn't it?" Luke said quietly.
"It'll do," agreed Ten. "Why in God's name did you let Carla come to the ranch this summer if you knew it was going to drive you crazy?"
"I…" Luke closed his eyes and shook his head. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. She didn't have a summer job. The Rocking M didn't have a cook. The men were going to rebel if they had to keep eating slop that hogs wouldn't touch. Carla is a fine cook. Some of the best meals I ever had were ones she fixed for Cash and me over in the old house." Luke rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "Like I said. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, I expected her to cry uncle by now."
"Carla?"
"It's been four weeks. She must be dying to see a movie or get her hair fixed or whatever it is that women do in town. I promised her before she ever came back here that all she had to do was say the word and the bet was off, no hard feelings and no regrets."
"You don't know her very well, do you?"
It was an observation, not a question, but Luke answered anyway.
"What do you mean?"
"Carla never backed up an inch for anyone, including that hardheaded brother of hers. She made a deal with you. She'll keep it or die trying." Realization hit Ten. "That's why you're riding her so hard – you think you can goad her into quitting."
Luke looked uncomfortable but said nothing.
"Not one chance in hell, buddy," Ten said succinctly. "Carla may be pretty to look at and have a smile as soft as a rose petal, but that's one determined girl. Think about that the next time you start in on her. You're beating a hog-tied pony. She can't escape."
Luke's breath came in harshly. He hadn't thought about Carla in that way, as a person of pride and determination. He had seen her either as a girl too young for him or as one more woman who would be ground up by the Rocking M's isolation and demands. His breath hissed out in an explosive curse.
Ten smiled sympathetically. "You've got your tail in a real tight crack. It's pretty hard on a man when he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't."
"Do us both a favor, Ten," Luke said, giving the other man a hard look.
"Sure."
"Stop trying to run interference for Carla. Every time you start hovering over her like a mother hen, I get to thinking about how good stewed chicken would taste."
There was an instant's silence before Ten threw back his head and laughed. He was still laughing when Luke set out for the barn with angry, long-legged strides.
~7~
"Did you find that ghost stud yet?" Ten asked Luke.
The ramrod's voice had no inflection but his smoke-gray eyes were lit with a combination of sympathy and laughter. Ten knew that Luke had spent long hours out on the range in order to avoid being close to Carla, not to find the near-mythical black stallion that inhabited the narrow red canyons and rugged breaks of the extreme southeastern portion of the Rocking M.
"No, but I saw his tracks a time or two," Luke retorted, piling a huge helping of roast
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