Only 05 - Autumn Lover

every bit of Elyssa’s courage to appear relaxed and confident while the breeze blew through the paddock fence and a Culpepper rode up to the barn as though he owned the Ladder S and everything on it.
    The man’s clothes were trail-worn and dirty. Beneath the grime were the outlines of Confederate army trousers, boots, and jacket. Like the mule, the rider was long-boned, lean, and dusty.
    Unlike the mule, the Culpepper had pale blue eyes and a beard that needed trimming. His manners could have used a little polish as well. The look he gave Elyssa was as crude as a hand up her skirt.
    “You the owner of this spread?” the rider asked curtly.
    “Yes,” Elyssa said, just as curtly.
    “I be Gaylord Culpepper. I come to buy you out.”
    “No.”
    The rider’s eyes narrowed. He leaned forward slightly as though he didn’t believe he had heard her correctly.
    The mule stamped. Its long ears twitched and swiveled, tracking the sounds of the dogs as they paced between the intruders and the cottonwood trees that lined the nearby creek.
    “I ain’t askin’, missy,” Gaylord said.
    “Good, because I’m not selling.”
    Gaylord looked around, paying special attention to the barn. It was clear he didn’t believe Elyssa would be so brave unless there was an army hidden somewhere close by.
    Elyssa sincerely wished there was. But there wasn’t. All she had was her quick tongue, her trembling legs, and a sincere desire to be somewhere else.
    Anywhere else.
    “Well, that’s a damn shame,” Gaylord said. “We done got our hearts set on this place, and what Culpeppers want, Culpeppers get.”
    “I understand your dilemma.”
    “Huh?”
    Elyssa said the first thing that came to her mind, hoping to distract the raiders until someone could grab a gun and distract them in a more meaningful way.
    “I, too, love the Ladder S,” Elyssa said quickly. “I couldn’t bear to leave the ranch. Surely you understand?”
    “Uh…”
    “Exactly,” she agreed instantly. “You should set your affections in a different direction. I hear that the Northern Territories are quite rewarding for, er, individuals such as yourself.”
    “Too cold.”
    The temptation to suggest hell as a warm alternative was great, but Elyssa resisted it.
    “Texas is reputed to—” she began.
    “No,” he interrupted impatiently. “We done been there. Folks ain’t friendly like.”
    “Perhaps they simply didn’t know you well enough.”
    “Damn mean-spirited folks, them Tejanos. Git all riled up when a man has a little fun. Track him through hell an’ high water an’ never give up no matter what. It’s right tiresome being dogged like that, I tell you.”
    Elyssa tried to look sympathetic. She doubted that she was successful.
    “So I’ll do it yer way,” Gaylord said, “though I’ll take some awful funnin’ from the boys.”
    Elyssa blinked. She hadn’t expected to be able to talk a Culpepper out of anything, much less the Ladder S.
    “Thank you,” she said. “I’m very grateful. The ranch is my whole life.”
    “Ya oughta be grateful,” Gaylord retorted. “Ain’t every day a gal gets hitched to a Culpepper. I s’pose you want a preacher an’ all thet folderol. Lordy me, them boys will just bust a gut laughin’.”
    A distinct sense of unreality engulfed Elyssa, as though she was looking at the world through the wrong end of a spyglass. For a moment she was reminded of the Lewis Carroll story that had been all the rage when she left London.
    This is how poor Alice felt , Elyssa thought.
    Perhaps I should offer to serve tea to this mule-riding Mad Hatter .
    The thought almost made Elyssa laugh aloud, but she was afraid if she opened her mouth, a scream would come out. Her appearance of calm was only that—appearance.
    In truth, fear was drawing Elyssa tighter and tighter.She felt as though her bones would break if she made an incautious move.
    “I didn’t make myself clear,” Elyssa said carefully. “I have no intention of marrying you.”
    “Fine by me. I don’t hold with leg shackles none. But if’n it ain’t me, it be Ab, an’ he’s a mean ’un with the gals. Little bit of a thing like you won’t see Christmas hitched to him. God’s truth.”
    Elyssa swallowed over the bile rising in her throat.
    “Mr. Culpepper,” she said with desperate calm, “I am not of a mind to marry anyone.”
    The rider nodded vigorously.
    “I hear ya talking,” he said. “Prob’ly best thet way. The boys is gettin’