He drew his knuckles down the side of her face. 'Witch,' he whispered. 'You have the face of an angel. And the heart of a witch. I'll never be free of you-I couldn't be if I wanted to. You own my soul, Adeline. '
'I don't want to own anyone.'
'You're a mystery. I'll never understand you. I guess no one ever will. You get a grip on a man's heart, and every now and then you give it a little twist… but always so sweetly. And it's only because you're so beautiful that I let you tie me in knots the way you do. '
The intensity of his stare made her uneasy. 'Don't, you'll make me conceited,' she said, and laughed in an effort to break the tension. Jeff followed her lead, breaking out into a low laugh.
'I've got to see you tomorrow,' he said, watching her as she stood up to brush the leaves and dirt off her skirt.
'I don't know.' Addie smiled at him. 'Something tells me I'll be very busy.'
'I miss you, Adeline. And I'm gettin' tired of the way your father and his bulldog keep such a close eye on you. I never get to visit you without them hangin' over me like-'
'His bulldog?'
'Ben Hunter. Lord knows why your father has taken to him, or why he trusts him. It's not safe for you to be around him.'
'Why do you say that? “
'He's up to no good, honey. Just think about it. Stranger comes to Sunrise, talkin' like an easterner and carryin' a forty-four. Has a reputation as a maverick hunter and a gambler. Somehow finds his way to Sunrise Ranch and hornswoggles your daddy into hiring him on. Anyone with eyes can see he 's on dodge from the law. You can always tell when a man's lyin' low.'
'I guess you can.' Addie stared into the stream and frowned thoughtfully. Then she asked him to take her home.
Russell decided to talk to Addie in the library before dinner that night-for what reason, she couldn't guess. As she sat down in a deep leather chair and watched him puff on a cigar, she found it comforting to be near him. Having been raised by a maiden aunt, she'd never been accustomed to a masculine presence in a home. She liked Russell's scratchy, deep voice, the scents of horses, leather, and the trace of strong drink that clung to him. He had the same vigor that she had admired in Ben, the same robust appreciation of life, and his roughness appealed to something inside her.
It was incredible to look in Russell's face and realize she resembled him. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, or her imagination, but it seemed to her that they even shared some of the same mannerisms. He treated her with a disconcerting mixture of directness and indulgence, one minute talking to her as frankly as if she were a man, the next spoiling her without limit.
'Lately I haven't talked to you much, Adeline.'
'No, sir.'
'You spent some time today with Jeff.'
'Yes, we-'
'What goes on between you two durin' these visits? '
'I… He… Nothing much.'
'He acts like a gentleman around you?'
'Yes. Absolutely.'
He nodded, blowing out a ring of smoke. 'That's good. Jeff is a good boy, for a Johnson. Soft, maybe, but he'd never dare treat you wrong. He say anything 'bout when he's plannin' to ask me for permission to marry you?'
'No.'
'Then he ain't caught yet.'
'No, sir.'
'Well, he will be soon. But to catch him you got to hold him at the right distance. Understand?'
'I think so.'
'Not too close, not too far. Hold him tight, but don't choke him. That's the way your mama caught me.' Russell noticed Addie's sudden smile, and he chuckled, beaming with pride. 'If you want him, we'll get him for you, honey. Just look at you. I got me the prettiest girl in Texas.'
'And… I've got the most distinctive father.'
'Distinctive?' Russell appeared to be pleased. 'Distinctive. Five-dollar word. So you learned somethin' at that school 'sides watercolorin' and manners. Your mother might have been right about sendin' you there. But don't tell her I said so.'
As he looked at her, his pride deepened until his chest was filled with it. Besides the Sunrise Ranch, he considered Adeline to be his greatest accomplishment. Any achievement of hers was a credit to him, while her faults… well, he preferred to ignore those, except to chastise her occasionally, just for show. Cade and Caroline were good children, but they were too much like their mother. Adeline understood things that most women, in his opinion, weren't capable of understanding. She thought with good, hard common sense, more like a man than a woman. And she belonged to Texas as he did. She had his nerve, she was cut from his mold.
Other men had well-behaved daughters, unassuming creatures who knew their places, women who would someday be obedient and pliable to the will of their husbands. But his daughter was wild, untamed, and beautiful. His disapproval of her independence warred with his pride in it. She thought for herself, she made decisions by herself, and there was almost no freedom he wouldn't get her.
'Let's go in to dinner,' Russell said, holding out the crook of his arm, and Addie took it with a smile.
As soon as dinner was served and the edges were taken off everyone's appetite, the conversation began. Russell proved within five minutes that he was in fine fettle. 'Well, Ben… I want to hear what that son-of-a-bitch fence cutter George Johnson had to say when you told him I want my fence back up!'
Caroline and her husband, Peter, winced at his loud voice and strong language, glancing at their ten-yearold daughter. Leah was staring raptly at her grandfather.
'Daddy,' Caroline protested mildly, 'the child-'
'Take the child up to bed,' came the answering roar. 'I want to hear what my son-of-a-bitch neighbor had t' say. He is what he is, and I won't call him anything else. Start talkin', Ben.'
Addie glanced at Ben, whose face was perfectly inscrutable. There was, however, a betraying twinkle in his eye as he regarded Russell. You didn't have to know Russell long to understand that he thoroughly enjoyed working himself up into hearty bursts of temper. Leah was hurried upstairs by Caroline.
'We seem to have a few philosophical differences with Big George.' Ben studied his table knife and turned it idly as he spoke. 'Plainly speaking, he doesn't like your fence. He doesn't have one, and he doesn't see why you need one.'
'I had that fence put up to protect
'Big George seems to think the range is open and belongs to everyone.'
'He's got the wrong damned idea. What's inside my fence belongs to nobody but me!'
Ben looked at him and said nothing, a smile playing on his lips. Addie nearly caught her breath at the sight of him, with the soft evening light shining on his black hair and bronzed face. It was difficult not to stare like a foolish schoolgirl. And it was indeed foolish to be taken in by his looks. It didn't matter what a man was on the outside when he was capable of such betrayal, cruelty, and cunning. But he seemed so affectionate toward Russell. Could it be that even now he was looking at Russell with the idea of killing him uppermost in his mind? She turned her eyes away from him and forced her attention back on the conversation.
'… George said we'd built the fence too far into his property,' Ben was saying.
'Hogwash!' Russell exploded.
'Oh, I don't know, Russ. You've always been one for cutting your slice of the pie a shade bigger than the others.'
