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with him. Though she was unused to the feeling, it wasn’t unpleasant. There was an element of anticipation about it that intrigued her. She felt something was always on the verge of happening, something very personal. That led to the one area about which she was completely in the dark.
    What should her feelings toward him be?
    “I would like to see your ranch,” Tanzy said to Russ.
    He seemed surprised. “Why?”
    “Wouldn’t you expect your prospective wife to want to see where she was going to live?”
    “It’s a long, difficult ride, impossible unless you go by horseback.”
    “I used to ride our mules when I was a little girl.”
    “I don’t have a sidesaddle.”
    “I wouldn’t know how to use it.”
    “Riding astride out here is the only sensible way to get around in the mountains, but I didn’t expect an Eastern lady to agree.”
    She relaxed with a smile. “I’m a Kentucky mountain girl. You’ll soon learn that people don’t consider me a lady. They wouldn’t be surprised by anything I did.”
    It appeared to take him a moment to digest that thought. “I see no reason to fault a female for where her parents chose to live. It’s not your birthplace that counts. It’s—”
    “God dammit, Russ. I swore if you touched another head of my cattle, I’d shoot you where you stood.”
    Rudely jolted out of her concentration, Tanzy looked up to see Stocker marching toward them, his face twisted by fury, diners ducking to get out of the way of the gun he was waving in the air.
    “Don’t be a bigger fool than you already are,” Russ snapped. “My men couldn’t get out of my valley if they wanted to. Gunmen have blocked the pass for the last three days.”
    “Then how did you get out?” Stocker demanded.
    “I know more about the mountains than they do. Now put away that gun before you hurt somebody.”
    “I’m going to shoot you between your lying eyes,” Stocker shouted. “The only gunmen guarding the pass to my valley are your men making sure nobody gets in to see what brands your cattle are carrying.”
    “I wouldn’t want your scrawny longhorns. I’ve upgraded my herds.”
    “You’ve bought bulls with money you got from selling my scrawny cows. I’m going to put an end to this right here and now.”
    Stocker lunged unsteadily at Russ. Tanzy was sure he was too drunk to know what he was doing, but Russ was out of his seat and trying to wrench the gun from Stocker’s grip.
    “I should have killed you when you murdered my brother,” Stocker groaned. “I’ll never rest until you’re dead.”
    “I’ll never forget what your family did to my mother and sister,” Russ said.
    They’d have gone with anybody who had money,” Stocker said. “They were nothing but sluts.”
    Tanzy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Stocker Pullet, the richest and most respected man in town, wrestling on the floor and shouting that he was going to kill Russ for rustling his cattle. Russ Tibbolt, the man she’d promised to marry, was no different. Both of them were pummeling each other without regard for the wide-eyed interest of at least fifty diners. If she hadn’t been so angry, she’d have been embarrassed.
    “Stop it, both of you,” Tanzy shouted. “You’re making fools of yourselves.” They ignored her, tumbling around the floor like boys in a wrestling match.
    They’ve hated each other for at least ten years,” the town banker said. “It won’t end until one of them is dead.”
    It won’t end until one of them is dead
    Her mother’s words echoed in her head like an ominous warning. She’d traveled more than a thousand miles only to find herself right back where she started. Anger sizzled through her with the speed of a lightning bolt.
    This is going to end right now,” she said. She snatched a pistol from the holster of a man watching the fight, waded into the fracas, and struck Russ a stunning blow when she got her chance. The moment Russ slumped to the floor, she pointed the