A Taste Of Fire

Author:Hannah Howell
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-06-09T04:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

* * *

“Well, there is your ranch, amigo. Safe and sound,” Antonie said quietly.

She had sensed Royal’s and his family’s growing tension as they had neared the ranch. Although all their neighbors had assured the Bancrofts that they would keep an eye on things, the ranch had been left mostly defenseless for months. The victory of getting the cattle sold would have been severely diminished if they had come back to find only ashes.

“Let’s just hope that everyone in it is, too,” Royal murmured as he spurred his horse down the small rise where they had stopped.

A grinning Old Pete greeted them as they reined in before the house and quickly made Maria’s boys, Sancho and Carlos, see to the horses and the gear. Royal and the rest of the party had barely stepped inside the house when Maria and Rosa rushed to greet them.

“Darling!” called an elegant female voice. “I am so glad to see you back safe and sound. How lucky it was that I chose to stop by today.”

Lucky was not the word Antonie would have chosen as she leaned against the stairpost and watched Marilyn rush into a startled Royal’s arms. The only thing that kept her jealousy in check was the look of helpless embarrassment Royal sent her even as Marilyn kissed him. His swiftness in ending the embrace also pleased her. She had no idea of what, if anything, Royal had decided to do about Marilyn, but she was glad to see that he was at least trying not to play both sides of the fence.

“You’ve been coming here?” Royal asked as he disentangled himself from Marilyn’s embrace.

“Of course, darling. I told you I would watch out for everything.”

Antonie choked back a laugh when Maria rolled her eyes heavenward.

“Now,” Marilyn continued blithely, “I can assure you that your homecoming will run smoothly. We can talk while Maria and that girl heat the water for your bath. There’s so much that happened while you were gone.”

“Couldn’t it wait? Look, why don’t you go home and — ”

“Nonsense, dear. I can help.”

Seeing that it was going to take him a while to extract himself from Marilyn, Royal looked at Antonie. “Why don’t you go and have your bath, Antonie?”

“Are you saying that I stink, amigo?”

“You smell about as good as I do.”

“Ai yi yi. You’d best heat enough water for three baths, Maria,” Antonie said, and laughing at the mock glare Royal sent her, dashed up the stairs.

Even as she entered her room, she heard the others hurriedly deserting Royal. Antonie thought sadly that, if Royal did wed Marilyn, the house would lose a great deal of its friendliness. Royal would find that his family would begin to drift away, and she knew that that would hurt him. She shook away that distressing thought and started to get ready for the bath she knew would soon arrive.

Watching Maria closely as the woman filled the tub, Antonie wondered just how often Marilyn had come around. Marilyn did

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