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“Every blessed blade of grass.” Actually there was some question about that, but he intended to keep the information private, even from his daughter. “This land has quite a future ahead of it.”
Leaning away from the window, Tara thoughtfully fingered the high-ruffled collar of her blouse while she gazed out the window at the slow-moving panorama. “It’s funny. You’ve told me about this ranch so many times. And Ty talked about it endlessly. But I still never imagined anything like this.”
“It’s a kingdom, and not so small a one at that.” He smiled dryly. “It’s almost feudally run. I’m serious,” he insisted when his daughter sent him a skeptical look. “Chase Calder is lord of the land. His word is law, make no mistake about that.”
She lowered her hand to her lap, joining it with her other one in an attitude that seemed calm and poised, but her thumb was running over the smooth black opal gem, mounted in a ring. “Was anything ever said to you . . . about the broken engagement?”
“No—beyond Calder mentioning once that he thought you were both too young to be contemplating marriage.”
“Good. I should not like to make things awkward by accompanying you on this visit,” Tara murmured with a faint smile.
“Come, Tara Lee,” E.J. chided her. “I’m not one of your beaus to be taken in by your modesty. You are hoping to make things very awkward. Admit it.”
“Daddy,” she scolded him, then laughed at how easily he read through her. “You’re absolutely right. I only hope that’s the way it turns out.”
“My darling, no one can resist you,” he assured her. “Not even a Calder.”
A hint of satisfaction lay on the curve of her mouth as Tara turned thoughtful and silent. In the last two years, Ty had been frequently on her mind. It had simply been a matter of timing and priorities. It would have been so much easier if Ty had understood that.
Now was the right time and, by all appearances, the right place. She didn’t doubt her ability to win back his affection. The mere fact that she had come to him gave her an advantage.
“How much longer before we land?” She flipped open the compact from her purse and checked her makeup in the small mirror.
“A few minutes.”
The aircraft was sighted as it entered the landing pattern of the private airstrip, and a car was on hand to transport the plane’s passengers to The Homestead. As they approached the pillared front, Dyson murmured an aside to his daughter. “A fitting cowboy castle for a cattle king, don’t you think?”
Beyond an answering smile, there was no time for a comment as the massive front door opened and an elderly woman waited to welcome them. Dyson recognized Ruth Haskell from previous visits and smiled warmly. It was one of his rules of business to be friendly to the help; a man never knew when they might turn out to be an unwitting source of information.
“Ruth, it’s good to see you again. How have you been?” He injected a hearty warmth into his Texas drawl. She murmured a predictable response, and Dyson was struck again by the impression that she was a faded wallflower, no doubt privy to a lot of Calder family secrets. “Tara Lee, I want you to meet Ruth Haskell. This remarkable lady has looked after things here for years. She’s practically a member of the family.”
“I’m afraid neither Chase nor Maggie is home at the moment,” Ruth apologized for their absence and escorted the arriving pair into the house. “It’s spring roundup time, you know, and they took Cathleen out to watch the branding. Word’s been sent that you are here.”
“We happened to fly over that section and noticed the roundup in progress.” He hitched up his trousers and settled onto a rusty velvet chair in the living room, where a new fire crackled in the black marble fireplace. It warded off the gloom of the gray day and the cold rain that had started to fall outside. Tara wandered over to the cheery hearth.
“I’m sure they’ll be here directly,” the woman promised. “Audra should be here soon to prepare your rooms.”
“That won’t be necessary. Unfortunately I have to meet my partner in Calgary late this evening for a business meeting tomorrow morning, so this is going to be just a flying visit,” explained Dyson. “I wasn’t certain we had the time to spare to stop here, or I would have given Chase some warning to expect us this afternoon.”
“You’re always welcome,” Ruth assured him, knowing from past experience it was true, but she slid a hesitant glance at his daughter. “May I bring you some coffee?”
“Please.”
It was another hour before Chase and Maggie arrived at The Homestead. This gave Tara ample time to peruse the living-room furnishings without appearing to be snooping. Several items were unquestionably valuable antiques; others were old, but not quite as precious. Threads were showing in the patterned area rug that covered part of the hardwood floor where the furniture was grouped. The room gave her the distinct impression the clock had been turned back fifty years. It had a degree of charm and worn comfort, but, in her opinion, it could have been much more impressive.
After the greetings, apologies, and explanations were made, a rain-soaked and dirty Cathleen was sent upstairs to her room to wash and change clothes. After it was established that they would be staying for dinner, Tara thought it appropriate to ask about Ty. Neither of the Calders had mentioned him yet, perhaps because they didn’t want to bring up a potentially awkward subject.
“Will Ty be joining us for dinner tonight?” She spoke very casually.
“No.” It was Chase Calder who answered her question, studying her with a bland look that absorbed much more than it revealed. “The roundup crew will be spending the night at the holding grounds.”
“Oh.” She let her disappointment be seen and glanced at the windowpanes, sheeted with a driving downpour. “I thought with this rain they’d quit until it stopped.”
The dryness of his amused smile was repeated in his dark eyes. “Once the roundup starts, it continues, rain or shine, until the last calf is branded.”
“I was hoping to see him while we were here,” Tara admitted and slid a quick look at her father before addressing Ty’s parents again. “I know it must seem very forward of me to want to see him again after breaking our engagement. But Ty never gave me an opportunity to explain my reasons for doing it. I had hoped that now he’d be willing to listen. I regret what happened very much. I made a mistake, and I owe it to him to admit it.”
There was much about the young and very beautiful woman that Maggie admired. She could identify with that strong sense of independence Tara possessed and with her strong will. She had always thought Ty and Tara were ideally suited, but she also knew how deeply Ty had been hurt. The broken engagement was still a subject he wouldn’t discuss.
