Alone in Austin Read online

  Nick walked to the door. “Watch your books, Jacklin. I’d hate to see you get into trouble.”

  She nodded, tamped down the offense she took at being told to do something and walked him to the door. “Thanks for caring for the ranch.”

  He looked at her, gave her a grin, and tweaked her nose like he used to do when they were kids.

  She pushed his hand away. “We’re not children anymore.”

  “No, we are not. Take care, Jacklin.” He stood at the door and gazed at her. “It’s more than the ranch that I care about.” He turned and looking so sure of himself, he walked outside.

  Jacklin watched him leave. Through the window, she saw him get into his buggy and turn around and head for town. Touching her nose, she sighed. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with him for another week.

  Nick drove out of her sight, and her thoughts turned to Harlen. She didn’t want to think that the man was taking advantage of her, yet, she knew such things happened. But Harlen, he’d been with the ranch for ten years. Father had hired him and raised him through the ranks until he was made foreman the year her father had been killed.

  She’d leaned heavily on Harlen that year, and he’d helped her a lot. Seen her over rough patches and made sure the men obeyed and respected her.

  Jacklin went outside to watch the men working. Everyone seemed busy. She liked to keep an eye out for any slackers. If she saw them loafing, she’d tell Harlen, and he’d either see they kept busy or were fired.

  Now that she’d sent that letter off in Nick’s hands, she became nervous about it. She hoped they didn’t put it in the local newspaper. She’d sent it to the St. Louis paper. She received the newspaper in the mail.

  Father had liked to keep up with what was going on in the world, and he subscribed to several papers. She’d keep watch and see if her letter made it into the advice column. Jacklin might know how to run a thousand-acre ranch, but on how to catch a man to marry, she was hopeless.

  And her clock was ticking.

  Chapter 3

  Harlen saddled the big bay. He was the biggest horse on Paint Rock Ranch and the roughest. But when going to round up mares away from the stallions, he was the best. He’d spotted one that he thought could make a good addition to his private collection.

  Sometimes, he felt a twinge of guilt, but most of them he’d found off Paint Rock Ranch. He hired a couple of men to watch them and visited once a month. His herd was growing. He just needed a good stallion.

  He was done with his work for the day and was on his own time, so he wasn’t stealing from Jacklin. The boss woman didn’t suspect a thing. That she had her eye on the black was a good thing. That meant she didn’t notice the sorrel mare that he’d taken last week.

  It had been one of his own mares, and somehow, she’d escaped and wound up in Jacklin’s herd. So, it wasn’t as if he’d stolen the horse. She’d been his first, and now she was bred to Jacklin’s prize stallion.

  Of course, he wasn’t telling Jacklin that he had his own horse ranch just off her northern boundary and closer to Austin. Several times a year, Harlen was able to send his men in with a few horses and make extra money.

  He needed to because he had to pay her back before that bookkeeper saw the check he’d cashed. He’d made it for miscellaneous, and if asked, he’d say dip for the cattle and feed. The thing was, he’d used the money for fencing and feed for his horses.

  But today, he was sending in some of his herd to pay for the check, and then he’d deposit it in the bank. If Nick asked him, he’d come up with something. There were always items suddenly needed on a ranch this size.

  Bucky looked like he wanted to ask him something, but he’d kept quiet. The old man was close to Jacklin, so Harlen would have to be careful around him. He was so close to getting the money he needed to buy the big spread two counties over.

  Harlen rode out at a gallop, thankful to be away from prying eyes and questions. Harlen had saved up most of his money. He rarely went to town. When he did, it was to see Bonnie at the saloon. If he ever got his life together, he’d ask the little blonde to marry him. Then again, he’d thought more than once about asking Jacklin.

  If he could marry her, he’d have the biggest ranch in the county. If the woman ever dressed like one, she’d be a looker. She had the right moves. If she wore a dress and fixed her hair, there wasn’t a man on the place who wouldn’t be spellbound looking at her. Yet, Jacklin didn’t know how to act like a lady.

  She was Jack Baird’s daughter, all right. Quick to talk, quicker to anger if done wrong, and she wasn’t bad at drawing that pistol or slashing out with that bullwhip of hers.

  No, sir. She was one woman Harlen didn’t want to tangle with. All the more reason for him to sell those horses and buy the dip for the cattle. Jacklin would skin him alive if he didn’t get those cattle dipped before loading them on the train.

  ***

  Nick left Jacklin and felt like he did every time he left the ranch. Pointless. She didn’t listen to him and acted bored the entire time that he tried to help her get the financial picture of her ranch. Still, she had plenty of money, and the ranch was solvent.

  Yet, Nick had seen from others how fast a crooked employee could cripple or kill a business once they began taking from the till. He was sure Harlen was into something illegal. But so far, Nick hadn’t caught him at it. Other than the check that he showed Jacklin.

  Still, she’d waved it aside as something that Harlen could explain. It would have been better if she’d let him handle it. Nick knew Harlen and knew how the man thought. He’d catch him in a lie.

  But then there was Jacklin. She was tough as Texas leather and sure of herself. She’d had to be to run the ranch, and she did a good job. In fact, there was very little difference between the way she ran it and her daddy had.

  The talk around Austin was that they thought she’d never settle down. She’d be an old range hen and run that ranch until she died. But for some reason, Nick saw through her. It was the small things that tipped him off and gave him hope.

  Today, there’d been a flower on her desk. Last week, she’d had a newspaper from St. Louis opened to some advice column for women. He hadn’t been able to get a close look at it, but he had found that an odd thing for Jacklin Baird to be reading.

  Then there was the day he saw Johnny Franklin and his wife at the ranch house. They’d stopped by to show off their new baby. Nick could still see the softness in Jacklin’s blue-gray eyes as she looked at the infant and held him, cooing to the baby.

  Nope, he wouldn’t be surprised to see Jacklin take a husband someday and settle down with a few kids. But what man would want to tangle with her was another problem. No man that he knew in Austin had any interest in her.

  In fact, the only one might be Harlen, but he had a girl in one of the saloons. Yet, Nick had seen Harlen look at Jacklin in the way a man looks at a woman.

  Maybe it was just because it was spring. A woman’s mind would have to turn to children with all the calves and colts around. Yes, Nick thought that Jacklin was thinking about motherhood. Like it or not, the woman had the signs.

  He’d watch, and when the time was right, he’d make his move.

  ***

  Jacklin picked up the flower she’d plucked from the meadow. That was one thing she meant to do, and that was plant flowers around the house. She loved how intricate the design and colors of the flowers offered such proof of the Creator’s hand. They were a daily reminder to Jacklin that God reigned over all the earth.

  She wondered how long it would take to see the answer to her letter in the advice column. She walked to the end of the hall and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Usually, she avoided looking.

  Today, she needed answers. Was she really that ugly that she couldn’t get a man to be interested? Or was it because she was a powerful woman and boss of the ranch?

  She dared a look in the mirror. “Jacqueline Baird.” Her brown hair shone in the morning sun. It had been s
ome time since she’d had it cut. When Father was alive, she’d kept it shorter, but now, she pulled it back in a bun. Mostly hidden by her hat when she was outdoors.

  Her face was tan and a little weathered. She was sure no comparison to her sister’s soft complexion. Jacklin’s lips were dry and usually cracked by the hot Texas sun and wind.

  For a minute, she thought about writing to Marianne and asking her for help. Once Marianne wanted to get married, it hadn’t taken her long at all to catch Jerry. They were a good match.

  Jerry had taken her to St. Louis, far away from the ranch. Not that there had been any close ties between them. Marianne, who looked like Father, was always at odds with him.

  Jacklin favored their mother. Or at least the painting of Mother that hung in the big room. Soft brown hair, blue-gray eyes, and a face that held beauty. The beauty part, Jacklin figured she’d missed out on.

  If she had to say one word about her reflection, it would be hard. Piercing eyes, hair pulled back tight. Lips set in a firm line that showed they forgave little. That was Father. Hard and unforgiving.

  As much as Marianne had Father’s features, the two of them had spent most of the time arguing. Jacklin always took Father’s side. She was the son he never had, and he treated her as a son, even shortening her name to Jacklin.

  Would her life have been different if she’d had her mother to show her how to dress and take care of her hair and face? Perhaps. If Jacklin wanted a husband, she’d have to learn on her own. She almost wished she were a boy, but she wasn’t, and she couldn’t deny the desire to have a child of her own.

  But first, she needed a husband, and Jacklin knew nothing about acting like a lady. She missed Marianne. Her sister could teach her how to dance and brush and fix her hair. Even though they’d argued, Jacklin wondered if she could get Marianne to come for a visit and help her.

  It was worth the idea.

  Jacklin left the mirror and went back to the study. Too bad she hadn’t thought of it earlier, and she could have had Nick mail a letter to Marianne. Well, it had been a long time since Jacklin had been to Austin.

  She sat at the big desk and lovingly ran her hand along the polished top. Memories of Father sitting here and telling her of things she needed to do. Dreams he had for the ranch. Some he accomplished others were left for her to do.

  The fine line of horses was her doing. She’d picked out the stallions and mares and moved them to a pasture not far from the ranch house. In a week or two, she’d send men out to drive the mares and foals into the big corral behind the barn. They could turn the horses out during the day in the green pasture and put them up at night, where they were protected from animals and rustlers.

  This was the first year that she was going to sell off some of the herd. The men had broken the three-year-olds, and she had ten of those. She’d put up a notice when word got out about the horses, and she had ranchers coming from miles around to buy her horses.

  Jacklin was proud of what she’d done. The money from her horses would see the ranch through hard times. The cattle business could be difficult to weather when there was a drought, or the market crashed. When the tick fever stopped the herds from Texas, she’d had to live off what they’d made before until the cure was found.

  She looked around and wondered if Harlen had seen to the cattle being dipped yet. She sure hoped so. If not, she’d have to have a talk with him. Out of all those who worked on the ranch, he was the one who caught her attention and made her think about him late at night when she was alone.

  “Harlen. I wonder if you look at me and see anything other than a boss?” Jacklin stared at her reflection in the mirror and had to admit the answer was probably no.

  Chapter 4

  Nick pulled down the books for the Paint Rock Ranch. The discrepancies in the accounts bothered him. Even if Jacklin didn’t seem to care, he did. He had fond memories of going out to the ranch with his father and playing with the horses and Jacklin and Marianne. Even then, Jacklin was tough, and she didn’t listen to advice back then either.

  He laid the book out on his desk. Someone was using her money for things other than the ranch. If Nick had to guess, it would be Harlen. He had never trusted the man even when Jacklin’s father had first hired him.

  Nothing that Nick could put a finger on, but maybe it was the sure look in the man’s eye. Nick didn’t remember it so much when Jacklin’s father ran things. But once Jacklin took over, he saw Harlen change. As if Harlen believed he could get away with anything if he wanted to. That wasn’t anything most people could do to Jacklin Baird. But she had blinders on when it came to her foreman.

  Yes, most of the time, Harlen did a good job. But Nick had caught him in a lie to her before. Nick didn’t tell Jacklin because he didn’t think she would believe him. He didn’t confront Harlen because he didn’t want to make Jacklin choose between them. Not yet.

  He knew right now, Jacklin would choose Harlen’s word over his, and that would put her and her ranch in more danger than it already was. So, he’d bide his time and watch. The missing money he was almost positive was because of Harlen.

  Nick went outside to get a breath of fresh air. Often when he was stumped by numbers that didn’t add up, he’d take a break and let his brain think of other things. Lately, more and more, one of those things was Jacklin.

  Why he cared about her, he wasn’t sure. But he did. Maybe he thought of her as family like a sister. But he knew that wasn’t true. When he looked at her, especially when she didn’t think he was watching, his feelings weren’t brotherly at all.

  True he did feel obligated to watch over her and her ranch. But his feelings were deeper than that.

  Jacklin never looked at him as anything other than the bookkeeper that she had to put up with every week. Yet, time was passing them by. Years ago, when they were maybe twelve, he told Jacklin he was going to marry her.

  She’d laughed. “I’m not marrying any man. Papa says there’s not a man who can tame me.” She’d pulled her toy gun and pretended to shoot it in the air and then jumped on her horse and galloped away.

  That was the Jacklin he knew. He thought she might want to settle down, but she was still that little girl determined to tame the world with her whip and her gun.

  If Nick was smart, he’d find a girl to marry and have a family of his own. But truthfully, he couldn’t do that as long as Jacklin owned his heart whether she knew it or not. He was about to the point of moving out of Texas just to put her out of his mind.

  He leaned against the post on the boardwalk outside his office and saw a couple cowboys bringing in a small string of horses. They went through town on the way to the livery and were a good-looking bunch.

  It had been some time since Nick had owned his own horse. He lived in town, and it was easier to rent from David’s livery. That way, Nick didn’t have to bother with the care of the animal. But every now and then, he got the notion to get his own. Seeing that bunch, he might just make a trip to the livery and look them over.

  Nick wondered who they belonged to. He turned around and locked the door to the office and walked down the street. He should buy a horse from Jacklin. She’d pick him out the best, and she had a pasture and barn full of excellent stock.

  He should know, he saw the bill for the stallion she’d brought in from Tennessee four years ago. A thoroughbred from the famous Bonnie Scotland bloodlines from the Belle Meade plantation. She’d caught the best mares from the plains of Texas and bred them to the thoroughbred.

  People were beginning to come from all over the country to buy her colts. Nick had argued with her about spending that kind of money on one horse, but King Rock turned out to be worth every penny.

  Nick reached the livery and watched as David led the horses into the corral. They were a beautiful bunch. “Where’d these come from, David?”

  “Some outfit south of here. They’re a fine bunch, aren’t they?”

  “Sure are. Almost as good as Jacklin’s thoroughbreds. That
black even looks a lot like King Rock.” Nick pointed out one colt that was taller than the rest and had the coal-black coloring of Jacklin’s prize stallion.

  “Sure does, doesn’t he?” David went in and put a lead on the animal’s halter and walked him over to Nick. “He’s got the Five S brand of the outfit. Are you interested?”

  Nick nodded. “I’ve been looking for a horse. How much?”

  “I have to get a hundred fifty for him. These are top price horses. I pay the premium and pass it along.”

  Nick shook his head. “That’s a lot for one horse, but I’ll take him. Is he broke to ride?”

  “Supposed to be, but as you know, they just came in. Want to try him out? I’ve got a nice saddle and bridle that I can throw in for a little more.” David grinned the smile of a man who knew he’d made a deal.

  “Yes, I’ll ride him around. Then I’ll need to settle with you for a stall to board him.” Nick went to the horse and patted his soft nose. “You’re a beauty. Does he come with a name?”

  “No, they’re all unnamed. He’s three years old. So easy-riding should suit him fine.”

  “Great. It’s a nice day for a ride.” Nick wrote a check for the horse and tack and went in and put it on David’s desk in his office.

  While there, he happened to see the invoice. It was a name he didn’t recognize, but he did see the amount. David had paid a pretty penny for the animals, but Nick figured the horse was worth it. Not to mention, he wanted to show him to Jacklin and see if she didn’t think he was an offspring from King Rock.

  He went back outside and saw that David had the horse saddled and ready. The horse was over seventeen hands tall. Yes, he figured Jacklin might want to see this one and check on her stallion and those who had access to him.

  Nick knew she kept the stallion close to the house, and not many were allowed to exercise the horse or move him from pen to meadow. If he’d been used to breed someone else’s mare, Jacklin needed to know about it.