Calder Pride (Calder Saga 5)

His eyes narrowed slightly. “You left out proud and pigheaded.”

“My mistake.”

He let out a sigh, his head turning toward the river. “No, it’s mine. I thought we had come to a truce. I should have known better.”

Stung to find herself in the wrong, Cat said in her own defense, “None of this is easy for me, Logan.”

“Do you think it’s any easier for me?”

“Probably not,” she conceded with great reluctance, well aware there was danger in caring about his feelings, in fulfilling his needs and wants.

Somewhere among the masking trunks of the tree-lined river bank, there was the idle stomp of a hoof, followed by a rolling, outblown breath. Logan swung in the direction of it.

At the water’s edge, Quint heard it, too, and looked up, raised a hand in a saluting wave. “Hi, Uncle Culley,” he said and immediately went back to his rock collecting.

Culley walked his horse from among the trees, slouching in the saddle, his hat pulled low on his forehead. Beneath the brim, his glance snaked from Cat to Logan and back. He reined in near her, hesitated a moment, then swung out of the saddle, his legs bowing a little when he stepped to the ground.

“Afternoon, O’Rourke.” Logan nodded to him, his eyes studying him in a watchful way.

Culley nodded back, then centered on Cat. “You okay?”

The simple concern in his eyes made it easy for her to smile. “I’m fine.”

His glance skipped to Quint, then over to Logan. “I guess he knows.”

“Yes.” Cat glanced at Logan and missed the glimmer of satisfaction that showed so briefly in Culley’s expression. Logan didn’t.

“What happens now?” Culley fiddled with the reins, sliding them back and forth between his fingers.

“We’re getting married as soon as it can be arranged.” Saying the words brought back the clutching of her stomach and the swift rush of nerves. She had been railroaded into this agreement, both by her father and by Logan. She could fight it, even now. But she had given her word, and a Calder didn’t give his word, then try to back out of it. Honor bound her to the agreement she had made, no matter how much she regretted it. But that didn’t mean she had to pretend to like it.

“Are you okay with that?” Culley eyed her with a sidelong look.

“I agreed to it.”

Culley dipped his head. “I guess it’s all but done, then.”

“Yes.”

“Hey, Mom!” Quint shouted, waving a hand to summon her. “Come look at this.”

Logan watched as Cat made her way down the sloping bank to Quint’s side. There was something half-angry and half-possessive in the way he looked at her, Culley noted. It was the look of a man seeing a desirable woman and resisting the lusting urges rising up in him. It worried Culley a little.

“I guess she and the kid will be livin’ with you now,” Culley ventured.

Logan’s glance jerked to Culley, his expression once again wearing that cool, impartial look of a cop. “After the wedding, they will.”

Culley’s gaze bored into him, green and icy hot. “She’s been hurt a lot in this life. I’d like to think she’ll be safe with you.”

Logan had the distinct impression that if she wasn’t, he’d find himself coming to blows with the old man. “She’ll be safe.”

“She better be.” It was a warning, clear and simple. “She’s all I got left in this world.” Drawing the reins up, he turned to his horse and looped them over its neck.

“We’ll see you at the wedding,” Logan said.

Culley threw a look at The Homestead and gave what passed for a shrug, then slipped a toe into the stirrup and stepped into the saddle, without a single creak of rubbing leather. The horse instantly moved out at a soft-footed walk.

NINETEEN