“I have to. I don’t expect you to understand, but be assured I won’t ask a thing from you. I won’t be in your way. What happened just now will not happen again—”
Jeth asked in astonishment, “You mean you still intend to go through with this? What the hell for? What can you possibly hope to gain? I’ll pay you now for Ryan’s share of the ranch!”
“It—it’s not for sale until the estate is settled, which will take approximately a year, or so I’m told. I’d like to arrive March twentieth, two days from now. Probably by this time next year, the paperwork will have already been drawn up to restore Ryan’s portion to you. You have my word that I will ask no more than a fair price for it. And you have to promise—”
“Yes, I know,” Jeth grated. “My protection from physical abuse. Okay, lady, you have a deal, but I hope your psychological health is in good shape. You’ll need it where you’re going.” He turned to pick up the Stetson. “By the way,” he asked, “just how do you expect to get to the ranch?”
“I intend flying to Midland Air Terminal. I’d like for you to have someone pick me up when I arrive. I’d rent a car, but I would have no way to return it.”
“Suppose I say no.”
Cara had to moisten dry lips, but she stood her ground. “Jeth, you have to cooperate with my inconsequential requests if you want that land back.”
He came back to all but gape at her, his strong brown fingers curved around the brim of the Stetson. Cara found herself gazing at them in fascination. “I won’t bore you with the results of the last attempt to coerce me, Miss Martin, but let it suffice to say that the individual regretted his impulse. You will hand over that land no later than next March twentieth with or without my cooperation to your inconsequential requests, do you understand? And another thing: you have lapsed twice and called me Jeth. Don’t do so again.”
Without another look at her, he strode from the room and closed the door behind him with the finality of an exclamation mark. Cara stood staring at it with a strange sense of loss, raising to her lips the monogrammed handkerchief he had forgotten.
Chapter Four
H e wouldn’t see me, you know,” said Harold St. Clair after he and Cara had been seated in the dining room of the Dallas Hilton where he had reserved rooms for them.
“Mr. Langston considers you a traitor,” Cara said regretfully, practicing the form of his name that she’d been ordered to use. “But even so, I’d think he would want to hear about his brother from one who had been his colleague and friend.”
“Jeth Langston is a hard man, Cara. Apparently he feels that I am partly responsible for this unpleasantness since I knew about the will and didn’t tell him in time for him to exert his influence. I plead innocent of knowing that Ryan’s illness was terminal.” He looked across at Cara with a despondent smile. She was ravishing in a red dinner dress that heightened the translucent glow of her skin. Under the flattering lights of the chandeliers, her eyes and hair were dazzling. Harold was aware that glances from other diners kept returning to their table. He only wished Cara’s admirers could have the pleasure of seeing her smile. The lovely heirloom pearls encircling her throat were nothing to the pearl perfection of her smile.
Gently, Harold covered the small hand toying with the stem of a wineglass. “If he had agreed to see me, I could have told him that he is mistaken about you.”
“How can you be sure of that, Harold?” The lawyer’s first name sounded unfamiliar to her still. This afternoon he had asked her to use it. “You know no more about me than he does.”
“I know that when I first read to you the contents of the will, your face lost all color, and you immediately wanted to give—not sell—the land back to Jeth. Your specific words were ‘Ryan would never have done that to his brother.’ Remember? You only changed
Jeth asked in astonishment, “You mean you still intend to go through with this? What the hell for? What can you possibly hope to gain? I’ll pay you now for Ryan’s share of the ranch!”
“It—it’s not for sale until the estate is settled, which will take approximately a year, or so I’m told. I’d like to arrive March twentieth, two days from now. Probably by this time next year, the paperwork will have already been drawn up to restore Ryan’s portion to you. You have my word that I will ask no more than a fair price for it. And you have to promise—”
“Yes, I know,” Jeth grated. “My protection from physical abuse. Okay, lady, you have a deal, but I hope your psychological health is in good shape. You’ll need it where you’re going.” He turned to pick up the Stetson. “By the way,” he asked, “just how do you expect to get to the ranch?”
“I intend flying to Midland Air Terminal. I’d like for you to have someone pick me up when I arrive. I’d rent a car, but I would have no way to return it.”
“Suppose I say no.”
Cara had to moisten dry lips, but she stood her ground. “Jeth, you have to cooperate with my inconsequential requests if you want that land back.”
He came back to all but gape at her, his strong brown fingers curved around the brim of the Stetson. Cara found herself gazing at them in fascination. “I won’t bore you with the results of the last attempt to coerce me, Miss Martin, but let it suffice to say that the individual regretted his impulse. You will hand over that land no later than next March twentieth with or without my cooperation to your inconsequential requests, do you understand? And another thing: you have lapsed twice and called me Jeth. Don’t do so again.”
Without another look at her, he strode from the room and closed the door behind him with the finality of an exclamation mark. Cara stood staring at it with a strange sense of loss, raising to her lips the monogrammed handkerchief he had forgotten.
Chapter Four
H e wouldn’t see me, you know,” said Harold St. Clair after he and Cara had been seated in the dining room of the Dallas Hilton where he had reserved rooms for them.
“Mr. Langston considers you a traitor,” Cara said regretfully, practicing the form of his name that she’d been ordered to use. “But even so, I’d think he would want to hear about his brother from one who had been his colleague and friend.”
“Jeth Langston is a hard man, Cara. Apparently he feels that I am partly responsible for this unpleasantness since I knew about the will and didn’t tell him in time for him to exert his influence. I plead innocent of knowing that Ryan’s illness was terminal.” He looked across at Cara with a despondent smile. She was ravishing in a red dinner dress that heightened the translucent glow of her skin. Under the flattering lights of the chandeliers, her eyes and hair were dazzling. Harold was aware that glances from other diners kept returning to their table. He only wished Cara’s admirers could have the pleasure of seeing her smile. The lovely heirloom pearls encircling her throat were nothing to the pearl perfection of her smile.
Gently, Harold covered the small hand toying with the stem of a wineglass. “If he had agreed to see me, I could have told him that he is mistaken about you.”
“How can you be sure of that, Harold?” The lawyer’s first name sounded unfamiliar to her still. This afternoon he had asked her to use it. “You know no more about me than he does.”
“I know that when I first read to you the contents of the will, your face lost all color, and you immediately wanted to give—not sell—the land back to Jeth. Your specific words were ‘Ryan would never have done that to his brother.’ Remember? You only changed
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