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A new horrible suspicion formed in his mind, and jolted his spine. Rafael had been so reckless in the past couple of years. And the nonsense about his will. “Have you been trying to get yourself killed?”
Rafael refused to meet his eyes. “The ranch should be yours.”
“I don’t care who owns the ranch.” Fire singed his stomach. “I can’t imagine trying to run it without you. Damn it, Rafe, we can split the ranch or you can keep it and sell me the bottoms for my farming. I don’t care, but stop trying to get yourself killed.”
“I may have succeeded this time.”
Daniel’s stomach turned. “No.”
“You said Anna won’t stop.” He heaved a breath. “The hands...will be back...soon. Can’t hide...the truth...forever.” Rafael leaned back and closed his eyes, exhaustion apparent in the pain lines beside his mouth and on his forehead. “Do me...a favor.”
“What?” asked Daniel
“Get the lawyer.”
“Why? No! Forget the land. It doesn’t matter. We can figure that out later. You just need to get well.”
“Want to ask him...what will happen...if I go to Mexico.”
Was his brother going to become a fugitive? A whole new wave of shock made his legs shake. “But—but what about Anna?”
“Take her with me.” Rafael waved his hand.
Daniel felt as if a frog had gotten loose in his chest and was hopping every which way.
Madre returned with the coffee and a plate heaped with steak, eggs and cornbread. “I go get the priest. You come home tonight. You marry her tomorrow.”
“Can’t stand yet, Ma.” Rafael set the cup on the floor beside him. “Give me a week.”
What the hell? Anna would belong to Rafael in a week. No more kissing her, no more touching her, never seeing that fiery mane of hers across his pillow. It was as if he’d lost a vital part of himself.
“You hitch the buggy for me, Daniel,” said Madre. “I’m going to get the priest.”
The dinner bell rang. “Come on, Ma. We’ve got to go.”
“Danny, send a note...Juanita.”
“What is he talking about?” asked Madre.
“Just some ranch business that needs to be done.” He pushed her out the storeroom and shut the door. “He wants you to take Juanita to town with you. She can run a couple of errands while you make arrangements with the priest.”
He steered his mother toward the back of the house, picked up an armful of crates and carried them toward the courtyard. Couldn’t have Anna wondering what he was doing in the breezeway.
* * *
Anna wondered at Juanita’s sudden chumminess. Had trying to comfort the girl when she revealed she recognized the man in the drawing helped? In any case, she needed to think about what she’d just learned, and think about her uneasiness when it came to the drawings of the two robbers. And of course, she planned to check Rafael’s room again.
More than anything it had been Juanita’s question about marriage that had spurred her to end the conversation. Daniel emerged from the hallway across the courtyard, a stack of crates in his arms.
“Have you seen Juanita?” He walked toward her.
“I left her on the porch. She was showing me the bell.” Which was odd, because Anna hadn’t asked to see it. But Juanita had insisted before she went she had to see it.
“Ma is going to town. I want Juanita to go with her.” Daniel stopped a few feet from her and shifted uneasily. “I know you want to go into town, but you shouldn’t go with my mother today.”
Anna rolled her eyes, but she agreed.
Had Daniel engineered an errand for his mother to separate them? Anna’s main reason for wanting to go to town was to talk to the sheriff, and since he’d come here and knew the Werners suspected their cousins, she had nothing to say. With everyone else out of the house, she and Daniel would be alone. Her thoughts shimmered down an unseemly path.
He started forward. “If you want, Juanita can mail any letters you have. I’ll have a load of grapes to take to town in the next day or two. You are more than welcome to come with me then.”
She fell in step beside him. “Won’t you need the wagon?”
“Yes.” Daniel looked blank.
“Doesn’t Rafael have the wagon?”
“Hell.” His mouth flattened. “If he isn’t back tomorrow, I’ll have to go get it.”
Since his arms were full, she reached to open the door for him. “Why is your mother going to town?”
“She wants to see the priest.”
“Confession, perhaps.”
He smiled, and it was like the sun breaking through the clouds on a gloomy day. “One can only hope.”
Juanita stood uncertainly in the middle of the room.
Daniel lapsed into Spanish. Then he turned to Anna. “I will head to the vineyard after I get Ma off. Do you want to come with me?”
She hesitated. That was where Daniel had first kissed her. Being alone with him was a bad idea. It would lead to other things, and she didn’t intend to allow those other things until he promised marriage. Heat stole over her face. “I think I will stay here in case Rafael comes back. I want to talk to him right away.”
His dark eyes searched hers. He gave a short, tight nod. “Suit yourself.”
“I’ll go get my letters.” Besides, if everyone was gone, she could hunt around and get the answers no one would give her. She had a right to know what this family was so intent on hiding from her. Especially if it was to be her family, too.
Chapter Seventeen
My family dined with the governor and his wife. The table was set with the whitest damask linen, china plates so fine light shone through them and silver so shiny the spoons could be used as mirrors. They brought in fresh lobster from Maine and made a most delicious sauce to go with it. That was the first course. The second course was...
Daniel stayed out late gathering the ripe clusters from the vines and throwing dirt clods at the birds stealing grapes. He was tired, and his back hurt. Normally, he would have had Juanita, Rafael and a few of the hands to help him, but this year he was on his own. The work wasn’t hard so much as it involved a lot of bending and stooping.
He’d shed his clothes and washed off in the river before returning to the house.
He almost hoped Anna had discovered Rafael hiding like a rat, but when he drove the loaded wagon up to the house—another inconsistency in the stories they’d woven—he found Madre and Juanita in the main room.
“Where’s Anna?”
“After supper, Miss O’Malley go walk in circles,” said Madre. “Why you leave her alone?”
“I thought she’d come with me when I asked her to go to the vineyard.” He shrugged. “Couldn’t force her to go when she said no. That would have been suspicious.”
“You should have stayed here.” Madre leaned back in her chair.
“I had work to do.” He didn’t even bother to mention he needed to harvest his grapes. Madre wouldn’t care—she’d berate him if the grapes went bad on the vine. But she wasn’t berating him now, which must mean Anna hadn’t discovered Rafael.
His shoulders sagged. He wanted her to discover the wagon. He wanted her to discover Rafael. He wanted her to refuse to marry his brother. Hell, he just wanted a supper plate held back for him.
“The priest will come in five days.”
“Short week,” he muttered. Daniel’s gut burned as it had all day. “I’m going to get something to eat.”
He headed for the kitchen, hoping he didn’t have to fix a meal from scratch. The courtyard was dusky, as the sun had dipped below the roofline. Anna walked along the flagstones along the perimeter. Her steps clicked rapidly, and her movements were tight, agitated.
Still, he liked watching her and only regretted there was not enough sun to light the fire in her hair.
“Daniel,” she called.
He closed his eyes. He shouldn’t encourage her. She wasn’t his. He should be discouraging her. He gave a brief wave and turned toward the kitchen.
She stepped swiftly to meet him at the door. “I’m glad you’re home. I need to talk to you.”
“Not now.”
Her eyes opened wide, and her mouth rounded in an O for just a second before her features fell.
Then he felt like a heel. “Never mind, what is it?”
If she talked about her upcoming wedding or Rafael, he might punch a wall.
“Have you had supper?” she asked.
“No. That would be why I am headed into the kitchen.”
“Would you like me to fix you something?” she asked cautiously.
He sighed. “I’d like that, but I’m perfectly capable of getting my own food.” He’d been doing it for years.
