Calder Pride (Calder Saga 5)

“Really?” Cat was surprised. For too many years she had watched Jessy on horseback, doing a man’s work and doing it better than most. This was a side to her sister-in-law that she hadn’t considered before. But she found it amazingly easy to picture this tall, slender blonde with a towheaded child on her lap. “You will make a wonderful mother, Jessy.”

“So will you.”

“I hope so.” Suddenly Cat was awed by the responsibility she was assuming. It turned her sober and thoughtful.

NINE

Stalks of grass poked through the thin layer of snow that covered the eastern Montana plains. The cycle of freeze and thaw had hardened the snow’s surface to a glittering crust that sparkled in the morning sunlight as if scattered with millions of mica flakes. The white and gold beauty of the land stood in stark contrast to the dirty slush and mud of the ranch yard, frozen hard as a rock by night and turning greasy slick by day.

The calendars were turned to the first week of December, and already The Homestead wore its holiday finery. Garlands of greenery, strung with twinkle lights, wrapped the pillars of its front porch. More garland draped the front door, drawing attention to the large wreath that hung in the center of it.

Bells on the wreath jingled musically when Cat pushed the front door open and stepped onto the porch. She paused to pull on her gloves, recognizing the sound of her father’s footsteps following her outside, the invigorating crispness of the air sharpening all her senses. Her eyes glowed with it when she lifted her gaze to the high blue sky.

“There’s a chinook coming.” She glanced to the west where the warm, dry wind always came sweeping off the eastern Rockies. “You can almost feel it in the air.”

“We’re due for one,” her father replied, then said for the fourth time in the last hour, “I wish you would let one of the boys drive you into Blue Moon. I don’t like the idea of you going by yourself.”

“Dad, I am perfectly capable of driving myself to the doctor for a simple checkup.” Cat turned a chiding smile at him. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid. And not very pregnant, at that. See?” She smoothed a hand down the front of her coat, showing him that there was almost no bulge to her abdomen. “If I ever get too big to fit behind the wheel, I promise I’ll take you up on your offer, but not until then.”

Truthfully she couldn’t imagine anything that would be more miserable and awkward than being driven by one of the ranch hands. Not one critical word had been said to her, but the sudden silences had proved to b

e more condemning. The silences, the quickly averted glances, the new and cool politeness and the low, murmured exchanges behind her back, no matter how much she had expected it, still hurt.

The fall from grace had been a long one. Cat had been the ranch’s darling; the staff had taken pride in her beauty and intelligence and spoiled her every bit as much as her parents had. On the occasions when she had lost her temper, they had shaken their heads, clicked their tongues, and smiled at what a little firebrand she was. They could have forgiven her anything but this.

In a land where the old codes lingered, respect was important for a woman. For a Calder, it was vital. And Cat had lost theirs. Somehow she had to get it back—if not for her own sake, then for the child yet to be born.

Turning, she raised on her toes and planted a kiss on her father’s cheek. “Stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine.” The air’s cold temperature turned her breath into a frosty vapor. “See you later.”

When she crossed to the porch steps, the red wool muffler slipped off her shoulder. Cat slung it back over and reached for the hand rail.

“Watch where you’re going,” her father warned. “There might be ice on those steps.”

“Yes, Dad.” The wooden planks were desert-dry under her feet. Cat skipped down them and struck out for the Blazer.

“And be careful on those roads,” he called after her. “As muddy as they are, they’ll be slick. I don’t want you ending up in a ditch halfway between here and town.”

“Neither do I.” She reached for the door handle, then paused, catching the distinctive drone of airplane engines. Shielding her eyes with a gloved hand, she scanned the sky and quickly spotted the twin-engine aircraft. She watched it a moment, long enough to realize it was lining up to land at their airstrip. “Are you expecting company, Dad?”

“Phil Silverton is flying one of his associates in. He’s bringing some paperwork that has to be signed right away. You know how lawyers are,” he said with a grin, “they always make even the simplest thing sound like a life-or-death situation.”

“That’s why they charge the big bucks.” Cat grinned back, then glanced at the plane as it turned on its final approach. “If you want, I can pick them up for you. I have time, and it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

“There’s no need,” he said. “Ty’s already at the strip waiting for them.”

“He is?” She looked in the direction of the hangar, suddenly puzzled that neither of them had mentioned any of this at breakfast. Suspicion rose, sparking a wary anger. “Dad, you didn’t hire an investigator to—”

“Do you honestly think I would tell you if I did?” A trace of amusement showed in an expression that was otherwise unreadable.

“No, but…” Uncertainty had her voice trailing off, leaving the thought and the sentence only half-formed.

“Drive careful.” He waved and headed back inside.

Cat threw another glance toward the airstrip, then climbed into the Blazer and set out for town, her thoughts troubled by a man with blue-black hair and gray eyes.

Flames crackled and crawled over the split logs loosely stacked in the study’s massive stone fireplace. Ty stood near it, an elbow resting on the mantelpiece while he idly rubbed a forefinger across the blunt ends of his mustache, his body angled toward the man seated in front of the desk. Dressed in a dark suit and striped tie, Ed Talbot looked more like an accountant than the ex-cop and crack investigator that he was.

“I’m afraid I haven’t been much help.” Ed Talbot flipped his report closed. “Other than the motel bill in Roanoke, no other charges have turned up on your daughter’s credit card. The desk clerk says she checked in around five in the morning and checked out an hour or so later. Her friends claim they last saw her around midnight at Booger Red’s Saloon, but nobody there remembers her.”