"I never stay too long in one place, or with one outfit." Diaz smiled at her in a kindly way and lifted his stocky shoulders as if to indicate it was something beyond his control.
"But what will you do?"
"Lotta herds gonna be driven north soon. Always room for a good talespinner on the trail."
Addie was speechless. She didn't want him to leave.
But she couldn't explain the feeling, not to him and not even to herself. There was no practical reason for wanting him to stay at Sunrise. She hardly knew him, hardly ever spoke to him. He was just as he described himself, a talespinner. He'd done nothing for her except throw out a few half-baked ideas one night that had struck her fancy. Some of the odd things he'd said. about going back in time, about redemption, had frightened her with their accuracy. Maybe it had just been a lucky choice of words. And maybe not.
"There's something I must know," she said hesitantly. "Mr. Diaz-"
"Adeline," Cade interrupted, chuckling as Leah nearly sent him tumbling down the steps with her eagerness to leave, "he just said he'll be here tonight. If you want to go to town, quit talkin' and come on. "
Addie scowled at her brother and then raised her eyes heavenward. "Later, Mr. Diaz?"
"Later," he agreed placidly, and she smiled at him before following Cade and Leah.
After they had reached town and Cade helped them down from the buggy, Addie and Leah headed for the General Store. Cade went further down the street to see if Ben was visiting with the sheriff as he had intended. Nowadays Ben made it a habit to keep the sheriff informed of every incident of friction that involved the Sunrise Ranch, doing what he could to keep him on their side. Not that the scanty forces that passed for law and order here could do much for them. In this part of Texas, you had to look after yourself and your own business, and you were in big trouble if you had to rely too much on someone else's protection. But Ben intended to maintain some appearance of respectability for the ranch, and having the sheriff's cautious support was better than his disapproval.
After buying a yard of checked gingham and a bulging parcel of candy, Addie walked Leah across the street toward the buggy. Leah's sugar-sticky hand caught at hers, and Addie grinned as they swung arms together companionably.
"Wanna lemon drop?" Leah asked with perfect politeness.
"No, thank you."
"Molasses cane?"
"Honey, if I'd wanted any, I would've gotten some for myself. But it's nice of you to want to share."
"Aunt Adeline?"
"What?"
"Why does Ben call you Addie? No one else does." She nearly jumped at hearing Addie spoken in Leah's voice. It reminded her of the older Leah, and all the times she had heard her name spoken with just that inflection. "It's just a nickname," she said, trying to calm the thump-thump of her heart. "You can call me that if you want."
"Aunt Addie," Leah said experimentally, and giggled.
She couldn't help laughing. "So you think it sounds funny, do you?"
"Uh-huh." Leah pulled out a licorice strap and began chewing the end. "Aunt Addie, is Mama gonna have that baby soon?"
"Kind of soon. There's still about two months to go."
"Oh." Leah's face wrinkled in discontentment, and she bit clean through the licorice before chewing noisily.
Addie eyed her thoughtfully. Was that why Leah had been so cranky lately? Because she was jealous of the baby? Of course… Leah had always been the baby ofthe family, and she didn't want to give that place to someone else.
"Want to know something? You're ten years older than this baby, the same age your mother was when I was born." Leah looked at her silently, one cheek bulging with candy. "When I was little," Addie continued, "she had to show me so many things-why, I tried to do everything just like she did. I followed her everywhere. She would tell me stories, and brush my hair, and she even helped me get dressed in the morning. I thought she was the best older sister there ever was." Strictly speaking, Addie couldn't remember much about her relationship with Caroline. But Leah didn't have to know that.
Leah seemed fascinated. "Will I do things like that for the baby?"
"Well, I know she-or he-will probably depend on you like I did your mother."
Satisfied by the little girl's intrigued expression, Addie let the subject drop and smiled as they reached the other side of the street. Suddenly Leah's hand went lax in her grip, and Addie looked down at her. The child's face was pale, her eyes as round as saucers.
"What is it? What-"
"Adeline," a quiet voice interrupted, and she looked up into Jeff Johnson's intense blue eyes.
10
As SHE SENSED LEAH'S UNEASINESS, ADDIE RELEASED her hand and bent down to the child. "Why don't you go and sit in the buggy?"
"The Johnsons are bad, Aunt Adeline-"
"Hush," Addie said swiftly. "Everything's just fine, Leah."
"I'll go get Cade-"
"No. Go wait in the buggy. I won't be long."
Something in Addie's voice was hard, and her face had gone cold. Leah wasn't the cause of it, but she was too young to understand. She looked at Addie and Jeff with a touch of fear and went slowly to the buggy. Straightening up, Addie met Jeff's eyes and lifted her chin.
"The Johnsons are bad?" he repeated, amused. "What would you say about someone who hired people to tear down another man's property and attack his employees?"
"That was just a warnin'. I guess Russell knows now what's gonna happen if he doesn't want to share his water rights. 'Specially when we offered to pay for the privilege-"
"He's let you share the water for years, at no charge. He finally had to stop when you started siphoning off his cattle and pushing your boundaries deeper into his property. "
"I don't care to talk about him."
"Then say whatever you need to, and leave me as quickly as possible. I didn't come to town alone, and there'll be trouble if we're seen together."
He looked at her without blinking, puzzled by her sharpness. "How've you been, Adeline?"
She was in no mood for small talk. "What do you want?"
"You." Once it might have been a teasing suggestion. But there was no lightness in his voice, no smile in his eyes. "Won't be long, Adeline."
She understood immediately what he meant. He was going to carry out the plans they had made, and he would destroy everything she loved, everything she wanted. Everything she had once been indifferent to. She was terrified as she stood there and looked at him. How could she have thought she wanted him? How could she have helped him plan her own downfall?
The steadiness of her own voice surprised her. "Jeff, things have changed since I last saw you."
"What things?"
"Everything I felt for you. Everything I said to you was a lie. I never loved you. "