“Whoohoo!” Henry shouted, once Josh had both feet safely back on the ground. “Ride that sucker, Josh!”
Miguel tapped Tess’s shoulder with a fist. “We found you a good one, eh, Miss Tess?”
Could the day get more annoying? Tess wondered. “You didn’t find him, and he’s not a ‘good one,’ okay? And he’ll be leaving soon.”
As she stalked into the house, Miguel grinned at Rosie. “If I hooked a mighty fine fish, I wouldn’t be so anxious to throw him back.”
Rosie shook her head in disgust. “What men don’t know about women is pathetic.”
As soon as they finished the midday meal, Tess saddled two horses-one for her and one for Josh-and announced that they would ride into town for a talk with lawyer Bartlett. She was good and married, and had been for a week. The time had come for Bartlett to cough up the deed to her ranch.
“Look convincing,” she advised her husband. “When I get that deed in my hand, you get your three hundred dollars.”
“Four hundred,” he reminded her. “Remember Nitro.”
Oh yes. That foolish offer she’d made. Who would have thought the man would make good on his boast? “It’s a good thing you’re not staying longer,” she grumbled. “I can’t afford you.”
Still, riding beside him on the way to town felt strangely pleasant. Tess had gotten used to his presence beside her in bed, and after the strangeness had worn off, his warm bulk on the other side of the rolledup quilt had made the nights less lonely. Before this last week, Tess hadn’t realized her nights were lonely. She did now.
And the men liked having him around. After just this short time, they trusted him. Even Miguel liked him. Rosie had hinted that Tess having a husband might not be such a bad thing after all, as long as that husband was a “damned solid cowboy” like Josh.
The very fact that Tess entertained such a thought just pointed up the dire need to have the fellow gone. Some builtin weakness in the female constitution must turn a girl’s brain to mush the minute she started keeping company with a halfdecent man. Yes, Josh Ransom-she wouldn’t be forgetting that name again-did qualify as a halfdecent sort of fellow. He had guts. He had a way with horses. He knew cattle almost as well as she did. Okay, just as well as she did. He had all his teeth, didn’t stink more than any other man who worked hard and wore the sweat to prove it, and he knew enough to take off his mucky boots before coming into the house. Someone had brought him up to manners. What’s more, in spite of Tess finding him in such a sorry state at the Bird Cage, he hadn’t touched a drop of liquor since coming to the Diamond T.
Quite a catch, all in all, if a girl were fishing for a husband. Which Tess wasn’t. Definitely wasn’t. Didn’t need one, didn’t want one, and for sure she would get used to sleeping alone in the blink of an eye. The sooner she sent Josh Ransom on his way, the happier she would be.
Therefore, Tess got very unhappy when lawyer Bartlett refused to cough up her deed.
“Now, then, Tess. Don’t be so impatient,” he advised. “You know your daddy wanted to see you settled like a woman should be settled. That’s why he wrote his will the way he did.”
“I am settled,” Tess gritted from between her teeth. She took Josh by the arm and pulled him forward for inspection. “I’m married, dadgummit. A whole week. Just ask Preacher Malone.”
Bartlett gave Josh a passing glance, as if he were an offering that failed to measure up. “I believe the will’s exact words were ‘settled into marriage.’Your brother, Sean, came by my office earlier this morning and expressed grave doubts as to the nature and commitment of your marriage, Tess.”
“What do you mean nature and commitment?” she cried. Only a lawyer would use words such as those. Her fists balled at her sides, nails digging into her palms.
Then Josh took one of those hands, uncurled it, and interweaved their fingers, just as a real husband might have done. In a reasonable, mantoman voice, he brought the conversation back to a civilized level. “Mr. Bartlett, I think Sean McCabe’s motive is pretty obvious, and I’m surprised you’re lending him an ear.”
The warmth of that masculine hand supporting hers eased the knot in Tess’s stomach. In fact, she felt amazingly light, as if she could have floated toward the pressedtin ceiling of Bartlett’s office.
“The way I understand it,” Josh said calmly, “Tess has fulfilled the terms of her father’s will, and now she wants the deed to the Diamond T in her name and in her safekeeping. That seems both legal and reasonable to me.”
Bless the man. Bless him, bless him, bless him.
Bartlett looked him up and down, as if just now recognizing he was part of this. “Mr…uh…”
“Ransom.”
“Mr. Ransom. Do you have a sister?”
“Yes sir, I do.”
“Then you should understand that a brother’s instinct is to take care of his sister. I don’t know if Tess told you this, but Sean McCabe proposed shortly after their father’s death that the ranch be sold and the proceeds split between them, because he knew that Tess wasn’t inclined to marry, and half the proceeds from the Diamond T would set her up in modest circumstances where she could live securely without having to waste her life on backbreaking ranch work that is difficult even for a man. That is not the proposal of a greedy, unprincipled man, as you seem to imply Sean is.”
The idea of selling the ranch that had been in her family three generations made Tess want to spit, but Josh tightened his hand around hers.
“Mr. Bartlett,” Josh said in that reasonable voice of his, “do you have a legal right to withhold the deed?”
“I believe the wording of the will demands it.”
Tess thought the lawyer’s smile looked like a rattlesnake’s snide grin.
“Don’t worry, Tess.” Bartlett gave her arm a condescending pat. If Josh hadn’t been restraining her, the lawyer might have lost a hand. “What difference does it make whether the deed is in my desk for a bit more? As you say, you’re married. Soon it will be obvious to everyone that your marriage wasn’t an impulsive act meant only to secure the Diamond T.”
Tess couldn’t think of a reply that didn’t involve cussing. Fortunately, Ransom had more presence of mind. He said something stiff about retaining their own lawyer while tugging Tess toward the door. She scarcely heard what he said, distracted as she was picturing her daddy, his lawyer, and her brother all staked out on an anthill.
“I’ll see you at the barn dance tomorrow tonight, won’t I?” Bartlett said as they went out the door.
Tess got out the “Fat” of “Fat chance!” before Josh firmly shushed her.
“Maybe,” he replied.
“Dadgummit!” Tess growled once they reached the safety of the street. “That snake! He’s never liked me. Always told my daddy that he’d raised me to be a heathen. He can’t do this!”
Josh put a finger to her lips to shut her up. “Tess, you need to get a lawyer to handle this for you.”
“Bartlett’s the only lawyer in town.”
“There are other towns.”
“Lawyers and their fancy words and sneaky ways. If it hadn’t been for a lawyer, my daddy would never have thought of that stupid will. Just give me a few days. I’ll think of something. I will.”
The twitch of muscle at the hinge of Josh’s jaw told Tess he had run out of patience.
“Ransom, honest! Just a few more days.”