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Her chest squeezed. He couldn’t have left already. It was not yet seven according to the clock in the main room. “I’ll just be looking around anyway.”
She half expected Daniel to spring off the bed and insist they leave before she could search the house—well, not top to bottom. It didn’t have an upstairs or a downstairs. But he didn’t. He just watched her.
Her suspicions faltered. Yet her feet seemed to have planted themselves in the stones of the walkway. “Where is he?”
“He went out this morning to check the herd.” Daniel stood and stretched his arms out in front of him.
She didn’t even know if it was a lie, but she wanted to believe him. “So he ate before he rode out, did he?”
“He took food with him,” Daniel said flatly, and he turned to look out the far window.
“So a man who was so exhausted he could barely walk last night managed to be up and about before dawn?” She folded her arms.
“Yes. He’s up by dawn most days.”
Her stomach churned. Her belief that he had been in the house yesterday hadn’t been fully eradicated. And it certainly seemed the family was shielding Rafael from her. Was it because he was a drunkard, or was something else going on? She just needed five minutes of conversation alone with him. Or even better fifteen minutes. She couldn’t take this uneasy uncertainty any longer. She needed to know where she stood.
“That is the way it is here. The work doesn’t wait. Tracking horse thieves and running a ranch leaves little time for courting. I’m sure Rafael would prefer to spend time with you.”
If that were true, he could have spent time with her last night. The brothers counting the loss of their horses as more important than the same thieves trying to kill her and her fellow passengers made her throat dry.
Daniel tilted his head and looked at her.
A long breath escaped her. “Are you very certain he’s already left?”
“I helped him load the wagon.” Daniel’s coffee-colored eyes flicked lower, and a rush of heat ran through her veins. She swallowed hard.
She had to banish the idea that she was more fond of her fiancé’s brother than she was of her fiancé. It had to be because Daniel spent time with her and Rafael acted as though he couldn’t wait to get away from her.
Certainly once she experienced the intimacies of marriage with Rafael—well, then she would surely fall in love with her husband. Then she would be able to put her growing attraction toward Daniel in its proper place. He was to be her brother. But she was in a strange place with strangers. With Daniel being the only one who spent time with her, of course she was growing too fond of him. He wasn’t husband material. He didn’t have his own home, let alone own any land.
Daniel shrugged with one shoulder. Then looked toward the window. “He’ll ask the hands if they saw anything suspicious.”
What was outside that kept drawing his attention? He looked back at her, then rubbed the side of his face as his eyes darted away.
Her stomach did a little flip. Was he lying to her about Rafael? Was he looking outside to see if Rafael was getting away? She leaned and peered out at the empty grassland beyond the house.
“What are you looking for?” she asked. If it was Rafael, would Daniel tell her?
“I was trying to determine how long the sun has been up. I didn’t mean to go back to sleep this early.”
“This early?” she echoed.
“It is early for a siesta. You certain you don’t want to go with me?” he asked softly.
She shouldn’t spend any more time alone with Daniel, but he knew where to find his brother and she didn’t. “Only if you’ll take me to where Rafael went.”
Daniel looked toward the window. “I have to go divert the water. Check the grapes.”
It wasn’t an answer. “Then will you take me to where Rafael went?”
“The cattle are miles from here.” He rubbed his nose and turned back to look her in the eye.
“Is the ranch so big that we couldn’t find a herd of a thousand cattle?” Or was that a lie, too? She no longer knew what to believe.
He blinked a couple of times and ran a hand through his hair. “This time of year when the grass in the valley is drying out, we take them up into the mountains to graze. Off the ranch.”
First she would make certain Rafael wasn’t hiding in the house. Then she’d decide if the chance of Daniel taking her to meet his brother was worth the risk of spending more time alone with him. “I’m just going to keep looking around.”
Half expecting him to stop her, she moved to the next door and opened it. Another bedroom, similar in size to Daniel’s. The walls were bare except for a crucifix. A bunk bed was against the far wall. A worn pair of boots were under the bottom bunk. The next room was nearly the same.
Daniel’s boots on the flagstones behind her let her know she wouldn’t get far without him interfering.
“He’s not here,” said Daniel.
“Is he not? Then I’m looking at the house.” She didn’t look back at him. “If—” No, she was going to assume that Rafael would marry her. “As the future wife of the owner, I should have been shown the house,” she said breezily. “I might want to sew new curtains.”
“Ah,” he said. “Better check with Madre first. She might not take it well if you start making changes without consulting her.”
Okay, she didn’t really want to make curtains, but she was going to check every room. The next open door revealed another small room with a set of bunk beds.
“These are the vaqueros’ rooms,” Daniel said.
She looked back at him.
“The ranch hands.” He reached around her to close the door.
His body brushed hers, and a shiver ran through her. She tried to ignore it.
“Where are they? All the hands?” Was that a lie, too? It did look as though the rooms were being used.
“Rafael had them move the herd the day before you arrived. Since they are only moving them, they won’t press them. They should be back in a few days.”
Anna moved along the walkway to the next door. She reached for the knob.
“Knock first. That is Juanita’s room.” Daniel stepped to the edge of the walkway and folded his arms.
She followed his instructions, knocking on the bare wood. When there was no answer, she went in. The room was the same as the hands, except only a single bedstead with a white nightgown draped over it stood against the far wall. The blanket covering the mattress draped to the floor. A dress hung from a hook on the wall.
“I’m tempted to go find coffee to spill on her dress.”
“Won’t make you feel better,” said Daniel with a faint smile. “At least not for long.”
“Your mother says Juanita fancies herself in love with your brother.” If the girl had fallen in love with a man almost twice her age, that had to be bad.
A cloud passed over Daniel’s face. “Most women do.”
Anna crossed the space, lifted the edge of the blanket, bent and peered under the bed. A colorful straw basket held a scruffy rag doll. A wave of unwanted empathy for the girl who had to earn her living at such a young age swept through Anna. “She’s hardly a woman.”
“She’s old enough to think she is.” He’d lifted one foot and braced it on the post behind him, and his voice was flat.
Anna returned to the doorway and studied Daniel. Perhaps the relevant part of what he’d said was that women fell for his brother. If that was true, Anna didn’t understand it. Rafael was handsome, but so was Daniel.
She closed the door and followed the covered walkway to the corner. The paving stones were slightly different as she turned. Pausing, she looked down at them.
“This part of the house with our rooms was the bunkhouse.” Daniel pointed across the courtyard to the section that held the kitchen. “That used to be the main house, but my father decided to join it all together into one big hacienda. He thought if there was going to be war, he wanted a defensible building.”
“For the War between the States?” Hadn’t his father died long before the conflict seemed inevitable?
“No, war between Mexico and the United States. Didn’t end up being a lot of fighting here.”
He opened the next door, which contained a desk covered in papers and ledger books. “The office. You wouldn’t know it, but ranching requires a lot of paperwork.”
Several hand-drawn maps hung on the paneled walls. Noting shelves with books and a safe, she went to the desk. An open ledger showed listings of individual animals. “Who keeps all these records?”
“Rafe mostly keeps track of the cattle. I keep ledgers for the crops,” Daniel responded.
Given Daniel was being so helpful, Rafael had to be out of the house. Mrs. Werner and Juanita had spent most of yesterday trying to steer her in different directions, and she’d been certain they had taken turns occupying her. Hell, even the first night, Daniel had practically picked her up to keep her out of Rafael’s room.
