Heart of Hurricane (16 page)

In addition to the quarter horses and the enormous herd of white-faced Herefords, Althea saw jackrabbits and deer that bounded away into the brush at incredible speed, and fat armadillos that lumbered along like ancient tanks. At a salt lick, much to her delight, they surprised a doe and her half-grown fawn.

They drove past man-made ponds and stock tanks that were fed by huge working windmills. At one point they stopped and talked to two cowboys who were taking a break, and the smell of their coffee brewing on an open fire made Althea's nose twitch with pleasure.

Finally, around noon, hunger turned them back in the direction of the ranch house. About two miles from home they had climbed a hill and were starting down the other side to ford the shallow creek at its base, when all at once Evelyn muttered a sharp curse and began to pump the brake pedal.

"Hold on, Althea!" she yelled as the truck began to pick up speed. "The brakes are out!"

Althea's heart began to pump frantically. She braced one hand against the dashboard and clutched the window opening with the other. The truck sped down the incline, bucking and pitching wildly over chuckholes and rocks. Gripping the steering wheel with all her might, Evelyn fought a desperate battle to control the careening vehicle and guide it around the larger boulders.

It was over with startling suddenness. They hit the creek with jarring impact, sending water spraying in every direction, and in the next instant the nose of the truck smashed against the opposite bank.

For a moment both women were too shaken to move. The only sounds were the gurgle of the water, the soft sighing of the trees overhead and the hiss of steam spewing from beneath the sprung hood. "Are you all right?" Althea whispered at last, turning her head to look at the older woman.

Evelyn sat like a statue, still gripping the steering wheel, her eyes tightly closed. "I don't know. Are you? Is anything broken?"

Fighting down a hysterical urge to giggle, Althea gingerly wriggled her legs and arms, then rotated her head slowly. "I don't think so," she replied in a shaken voice.

Very cautiously Evelyn opened her eyes and made a few experimental moves. When satisfied that she was still in one piece, she looked at Althea and smiled weakly. "Whew! And people think life in the country is dull."

"If it gets any more exciting than this, I don't want to know about it," Althea replied stoutly, and they both laughed nervously, their fright slowly dissipating.

When they sobered, Evelyn opened her door and leaned out as far as she could to inspect the damage. She plopped back down on the seat, gave a disgusted sigh and began pulling off her boots. "Looks like we're going to have to walk the rest of the way. This thing isn't going anywhere. The front end looks like the snout on a Pekingese dog."

The water was clear and cool and when Althea stepped into it she gave a tiny cry. She could see the red and brown pebbles on the bottom, glittering like jewels in the dappled sunlight, and darting schools of minnows that flashed away as the two women waded to the bank.

After letting their legs and feet dry, they tugged on their socks and boots and set out grimly for the ranch house. At least Althea hoped Evelyn was taking them in that direction. She hadn't the least idea where they were.

They had been walking for what seemed like hours when a horse and rider crested the hill in front of them. He reined in sharply at the sight of them, then dug his heels into the horse's flanks and raced down the slope at a gallop.

Joe Kingman was swinging out of the saddle before the big bay could come to a complete stop. "What happened? Why are you two out here on foot?" he demanded, dropping the reins to the ground as he strode toward them. His iron-gray brows were pinched together over his nose, and his lined, weathered face wore a look of deep concern.

"Oh, darling, we're so glad to see you," Evelyn greeted her big burly husband enthusiastically. "I was showing Althea over the ranch when the brakes on the truck went out. We had to leave it in the creek." She paused and grimaced ruefully. "I'm afraid the front end is pretty banged up."

"Are you hurt?" he demanded anxiously.

When Evelyn shook her head, his face went slack with relief, only to harden an instant later.

"Dammit, woman!" Joe roared, causing Althea to jump and take a hasty step backward. "I told you yesterday that that truck needed a brake job and that you were to stay out of it!"

"I guess I forgot."

"Forgot! Forgot! Of all the . . ." Impatiently Joe shoved his Stetson to the back of his head, releasing the thatch of iron-gray hair that immediately flopped across his brow. Standing with his legs braced apart, balled fists planted on his hips, he glared at her blackly. "You can calculate to the second exactly how long it will take to send a rocket to Mars, yet you can't remember a simple thing like that? Talk about your absentminded professor!" He snorted and shook his head in disgust. "You high IQ types haven't got the common sense God gave a goose. Sometimes I wonder why I ever married such a flighty, dim-witted genius!"

Evelyn drew her slender body up to its full height and glared right back, her cap of gray curls shining like polished silver in the bright Texas sun. "For the same reason I married a bad-tempered, blustering, broken-down saddle tramp," she informed him angrily, her brown eyes snapping. "You had no choice!"

"Dammit, woman!" Joe swept his hat off his head and slapped it against his leg, sending dust billowing. ' 'Besides the fact that you could have killed yourself and Althea, do you have any idea how much it's going to cost to repair that pickup?"

"No. And neither do you. You haven't even seen it yet!"

Their angry shouts echoed through the little valley, making the skittish horse prance nervously. Appalled, Althea stared at them with wide, stricken eyes, her face chalky white. A fiery confrontation was the last thing she had expected between this couple.

Joe bent at the waist and brought his face down until he was nose to nose with his belligerent wife; then he snarled through clenched teeth, "I don't need to see it. I know what a rotten driver you are. It's probably totaled."

"Oh, will you stop that bellowing, you old fool. You're not scaring anybody," Evelyn informed him cuttingly. "Just go back to the house and send someone out to pick us up before we fry our brains in this heat."

Althea sucked in her breath and clamped her hand over her mouth. She was sure that at any second they would come to blows.

Muscles twitched beneath his weathered skin and Joe's eyes looked murderous, but he merely glared at his wife a moment longer, then spun on his heel and stomped toward his horse. With the agility of a man half his age, he vaulted into the saddle and kicked his mount into a ground-eating gallop.

Hands on her hips, Evelyn watched him ride away and shook her head slowly. "My hero," she drawled in soft sarcasm as a fond smile curved her mouth.

Althea gaped at her. "Y-you're not upset?" she asked in a shocked voice.

"Upset? Over that little set-to? No, of course not." Evelyn dismissed the idea with an airy wave of her hand. "Joe's bark is much worse than his bite. Besides . . ." She paused and smiled knowingly. ". . . It's not the truck he's worried about. It's me." "B-but he was so angry."

"Oh, pooh! That's just his way. All the Kingman men are like that. They're very intense and passionate. And when they really care about someone or something, they tend to react explosively. All you have to do is give them back as good as they give. Politeness, to Ward and his father, is something for strangers or for someone they don't really care about." Seeing Althea's stricken expression, Evelyn grinned and patted her arm. "Believe me, dear, the day Joe Kingman starts treating me with kid gloves is the day I'll start worrying."

Evelyn's words haunted Althea the rest of that day and through all the days of the following week. She was sick at heart, realizing that she had thrown away her chance for happiness with the only man she would ever love. She had judged Ward quickly and harshly, putting him in the same category as Bill Holland, when in reality they were nothing alike.

Several times during the days following the accident, in an effort to arouse some sort of reaction in Ward, Althea behaved provocatively, appearing before him in a scanty bikini or rubbing against him while they worked together in the study, but to her growing despair, he showed no reaction. The polite wall of indifference remained firmly in place.

Althea's unhappiness grew with every passing day, until finally she could stand it no more. Though it broke her heart, she decided that the only sensible thing to do was to quit her job and get as far away from Ward as possible. Seeing him every day, being near him, knowing she had lost him, was just too painful.

The morning before they were to return to Houston she typed out her resignation and placed it on Ward's desk before joining the others for breakfast. When she and Ward entered the study a half-hour later, Althea went directly to her desk and pretended to study the notes in her shorthand book while watching him covertly.

A look of puzzlement crossed Ward's face when he noted the plain white envelope in the center of his desk. Picking it up, he removed the single sheet of paper and began to read. As his eyes moved back and forth across the page they grew narrow and his face hardened into a mask of rage. Before he even reached the end he crumpled the paper and slammed his fist down on the desk, making Althea jump.

"Dammit, Althea, I won't stand for this!" he roared. "If you think I'm going to let you leave me, you're crazy! I know you love me, dammit!"

He came around the desk and started for her, and Althea drew back in her chair instinctively. Seeing her face, Ward halted, his mouth compressing into a grim line. "Don't look at me like that!" he commanded in an anguished voice. "I'm not going to hurt you. Don't you know that?'' He flung himself around and stalked to the other side of the room, where he paused to throw her a scowling look over his shoulder. "Not that I wouldn't like to shake some sense into that beautiful head," he admitted disgustedly. "Lord knows, you could use it."

Alarm and hope mingled in Althea's wide blue eyes as she watched Ward's agitated pacing. Hands on hips, jaw clenched, he stormed up and down the room like an enraged beast. "I've tried my best to be patient with you, to give you time to learn to trust me," he grated angrily. "For two weeks now I've kept my distance and given you breathing room, and believe me, that was no easy task. It's been all I could do to keep my hands off you." Exasperated, he raked a hand through his hair and glared at her accusingly. "I've never taken so many cold showers in my life! I've been so damned polite and controlled I could give an English butler lessons. It's enough to make you sick!"

Once again he thumped the desk with his balled fist. "I love you, dammit! And you love me! We could have a wonderful life together, yet you're willing to throw all that away, just because you're afraid I'm like that sorry excuse for a man who calls himself your uncle!" He was so incensed his face was a dark, angry red and the tendons in his neck were standing out sharply. "Well, I'm not like him! And if you can't see that, then, lady, you're as blind as a bat at high noon!"

When she would have spoken, he sliced a hand through the air, silencing her. "All right! So maybe once in a while we'll quarrel. Big deal! That doesn't mean the loving stops. You and I were meant for each other, you little idiot!" Ward raged. "Can't you see that?"

Althea stared at him in amazement. Never. Never would she have believed that she would be glad to hear him rant at her like that ... but she was. She was more than glad—she was delighted!

Her expression gradually changed from wide-eyed shock to pure elation, but Ward was too upset to notice. He glowered at her as though he'd like nothing better than to shake her senseless. "Well, if you think I'm just going to allow you to turn your back and politely walk away, you can think again. You're going to stay right here and we're going to work this thing out together. Do you hear me!"

Watching Ward pacing the room like a raging bull, Althea was having a hard time controlling her amusement. He was so caught up in his own angry tirade that he hadn't even paused to see what kind of reaction he was getting.

"We're going to talk this thing through and do whatever we . . ." Catching sight of Althea's twitching lips, he stopped abruptly, his brows coming together in a frown. "Would you mind telling me just what's so damned funny?" he demanded furiously. "I'm fighting for our future here, and you're sitting there acting like it's all a big joke!"

Joy percolating through her, Althea left her desk and walked to him slowly. Smiling into his scowling face, she slid her arms around his neck, lifted up on tiptoes and, against his mouth, commanded huskily, "Will you just stop yelling and kiss me?"