Cattleman's Pride by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Libby and Harley raised eyebrows at Shea’s Roadhouse and Bar with their impromptu rendition of the jitterbug. It was a full house, too, on a Saturday night. At least two of the Tremayne brothers were there with their wives, and Calhoun Ballenger and his wife, Abby, were sitting at a table nearby with Leo Hart and his wife, Janie.

“I’m absolutely sure that Calhoun’s going to win the state senate seat,” Harley said in Libby’s ear when they were seated again, drinking iced tea and eating hamburgers. “It looks like he’s going to get some support from the Harts.”

“Is Mr. Parks in his corner, too?” she asked.

He nodded. “All the way. The political landscape has been changing steadily for the past few years, but old man Merrill just keeps going with his old agenda. He hasn’t got a clue what the voters want anymore. And, more important, he doesn’t control them through his powerful friends.”

“You’d think his daughter would be forward thinking,” she pointed out.

He didn’t say anything. But his face was eloquent.

“Somebody said she was thinking of running for public office in Jacobsville,” she began.

“No name identification,” Harley said at once. “You have to have it to win an office. Without it, all the money in the world won’t get you elected.”

“You seem to know something about politics,” she commented.

He averted his eyes. “Do I?” he mused.

Harley never talked about his family, or his past. He’d shown up at Cy Parks’s place one day and proved himself to be an exceptional cowboy, but nobody knew much about him. He’d gone on a gigantic drug bust with Jacobsville’s ex-mercenaries and he had a reputation for being a tough customer. But he was as mysterious in his way as the town’s police chief, Cash Grier.

“Wouldn’t you just know they’d show up and spoil everything?” Harley said suddenly, glaring toward the door.

Sure enough, there was Jordan Powell in an expensive Western-cut sports coat and Stetson and boots, escorting pretty Julie Merrill in a blue silk dress that looked simple and probably cost the earth.

“Doesn’t she look expensive?” Harley mused.

“She probably is,” Libby said, trying not to look and sound as hurt as she really was. It killed her to see Jordan there with that terrible woman.

“She’s going to find out, pretty soon, that she’s the equivalent of three-day-old fish with this crowd,” Harley predicted coolly, watching her stick her nose up at the Ballengers as she passed them.

“I just hope she doesn’t drag Jordan down with her,” Libby said softly. “He started out like us, Harley,” she added. “He was just a working cowboy with ambition.”

Jordan seated Julie and shot a cool glance in Harley and Libby’s direction, without even acknowledging them. He sat down, placing his Stetson on a vacant chair and motioned a waiter.

“Did you want something stronger to drink?” Harley asked her.

She grinned at him. “I don’t have a head for liquor, Harley. I’d rather stick to iced tea, if you don’t mind.”

“So would I,” he confided, motioning for a waiter.

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