Only 05 - Autumn Lover

roughly.
    “Why?”
    “Money.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    Again, Elyssa’s cool assessment of the facts startled Hunter.
    “You haven’t even asked how much I’ll pay you,” she pointed out.
    “I’ll get my pay.”
    “By taking the ranch from me?”
    Fury ripped through Hunter. The effort it cost him to keep his temper was shocking.
    He, who prided himself on his discipline.
    “Listen, little girl,” Hunter said in a low, deadly voice, “in Texas I had a ranch five times the size of the Ladder S, a ranch my brother and I built with our ownhands. I don’t need to steal from orphans to get what I want.”
    The tangible outrage in Hunter made Elyssa’s mouth go dry. She tried to speak, swallowed, and tried again.
    “All right,” she said. “You’ll get paid three dollars a day and fifty cents for every mustang delivered to the army. Is that agreeable?”
    Hunter nodded curtly.
    Elyssa let out her breath in a soundless sigh.
    “We’ll ride out over the ranch and count cattle as soon as I pack a lunch for us,” she said.
    “No.”
    “Then I’ll just pack a lunch for me.”
    “No need,” Hunter said. “You won’t be riding anywhere with me.”
    “Talk about snits…” Elyssa shrugged. “Fine. I’ll take the north half.”
    “You won’t be riding anywhere, period. It’s not safe.”
    For a long moment there was only silence and Elyssa’s patient blue-green eyes.
    “Hell,” Hunter snarled. “You’re going to ride out as soon as my back is turned, aren’t you?”
    “Of course.”
    “Just to prove you can,” he said with contempt.
    “No, Hunter. To count cattle. My cattle.”
    He grunted.
    “If you’re so worried about Penny’s future,” Elyssa continued sweetly, “it would be clever of you to ride along with me so that I don’t get hurt. Wouldn’t it?”
    Hunter looked at Elyssa’s smile—two rows of hard white teeth and not one bit of warmth—and knew that he had lost this round.
    “If Leopard won’t tolerate a saddle and a bridle,” Hunter said, walking away, “ride some other horse.”
    Hunter disappeared into the barn before Elyssa realized that she had won. She was still savoring her victory when the dogs started barking.
    A Culpepper on a huge sorrel mule was riding up to the ranch house as though he owned it.

6
    E lyssa’s first thought was that her shotgun was in the house rather than in her hands.
    But then, I didn’t expect a Culpepper to come calling in daylight, brazen as a cat at milking time .
    Quickly Elyssa glanced around. No one was in sight.
    If Hunter was aware that something was wrong, he wasn’t advertising it. The door leading from Leopard’s paddock to his stall was open and empty.
    Abruptly Elyssa realized that she was sitting in bright daylight with her skirts halfway to her waist. She slid off Leopard in a whirl of emerald and scarlet silk.
    When she hit the ground, her knees buckled. Only then did she realize how frightened she was.
    The flurry of color as Elyssa dismounted caught the Culpepper’s interest. He reined the mule past the kitchen garden, ignored the house, and headed straight toward the barn. The mule moved over the dusty, hoof-scarred ground with a peculiar, gliding gait that was both fast and easy on the rider.
    Three more horsemen trotted into view behind the mule. They fanned out slightly, each watching a separate area of the ranch. The men looked and acted like former soldiers.
    Rebel raiders , Elyssa thought starkly.
    Fear ran nakedly over her skin, leaving a cold trail of gooseflesh that even the hot sun couldn’t warm.
    Surely the Culpeppers aren’t so brazen as to attack in full daylight, no matter how peevish the army captain is feeling toward the Ladder S at the moment .
    The dogs’ barking rose to a frenzy.
    The temptation to run into the barn was great, but Elyssa didn’t give in to it. She suspected that the raiders were like her English cousins and other predatory animals—a show of weakness only encouraged them.
    In any case, her legs were shaking too much to be trusted with anything beyond holding her upright.
    Hunter, where are you ? Elyssa asked silently, desperately. Can’t you hear the dogs ?
    Nothing came in answer to her questions, not even so much as the sound of stealthy movement from the barn.
    She was alone and the yard was full of raiders.
    Hunter! I need you !
    Yet no sound left Elyssa’s lips. If Hunter was deaf to the dogs, her own screams wouldn’t make any difference.
    It took