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Blaze flung his head toward her and snuffled.
“Traitor,” Kent mumbled.
As Alice returned to his side, Blaze stuck his muzzle into the crook of her arm and Alice scratched under his cheek and rubbed down his nose.
“You’ll be fine. I promise. That old bull is long gone now. And the snake.” She shook her head. “I really thought we were going to make a clean getaway until that snake.” She laid her forehead against the horse’s forelock.
“What kind of snake was it?” Kent slowly wrapped the first leg, taking great care not to wrap the bandage too tight or too loose. He’d also have to be careful with how much water he used. If he didn’t have enough to clean all four legs, he’d have to use the river water, which was a little stagnant there.
“The kind that scares horses. I didn’t get a good look at it as I was trying to get control of my horse.”
She slowly rubbed the side of Blaze’s neck, doing a good job of distracting him from what Kent was doing. There weren’t all that many types of snakes common to the area. Rattlers were rare but had been seen. He needed to keep on the lookout if there was a dangerous snake nearby, especially if it was the only venomous snake known to the state.
“I think it was just a garter snake. It was small and slithery.” Alice shuddered slightly. “But that little snake almost cost me a lot.”
“Almost doesn’t count.” He finished wrapping the second leg. Hopefully, her pa would know how to take care of the cuts when she brought him home. Sometimes people called on Dr. Spight to help with animal injuries, but he’d told the doctor to let him know if he needed to pass along the work and he didn’t want to get called to Johlman Ranch. He didn’t want to start a practice in town, but he could help Dr. Spight if the need arose.
“Almost looks like you know what you’re doing.” Alice knelt down at his side.
She was giving him an invitation. All he had to do was answer in truth that he should know what he was doing after four years of education. But he couldn’t do it. “It’s not all that hard to wrap a leg.”
In the next instant, she reached up and tugged down his bandana, exposing his face. In his position, with his hands busy on the bandages, he couldn’t move out of the way. His heart tripped, then stuttered. She would give him the same look of disgust the nurses had, and he couldn’t bear that from her.
Her eyes flashed recognition, but it wasn’t disgust that followed, but anger.
“You were trying to trick me. Again.” She shot to her feet and stomped off a few feet.
“I wasn’t.” Though that wasn’t completely true. He just hadn’t wanted her to be forced to face him yet, but he hadn’t realized what he was doing when he’d followed the bull.
“Really? I just finished with the most uncomfortable conversation with Dosha. She let me know you’ve been home for a month. Did you forget the promise you made to me? Did you think I wouldn’t remember?”
“Never. You’re too good to forget. I’d hoped you’d found someone else.” He pulled the bandana back in place, trying to cover every inch of his scar.
“Why would I do that?” She turned on her heel and faced him. “We talked for hours before you left. We made plans. Good plans.” Her jaw quivered. “We were supposed to be together.”
He couldn’t stand to see her cry. “Look at me, Alice.” He yanked the bandana completely off and took off his hat for good measure, the sun forcing him to squint after the shade. “I made you promise when neither of us could’ve known. By the time I finished in Deadwood, I could see that the scar would never disappear. Already it made people stare.”
“And you think I’m so shallow that it would bother me?”
“You aren’t shallow. I never said you were. Alice, I refuse to do this to you. I refuse to let you throw away your future with a man who has none. I don’t know where I’ll go or what I’ll be. I never wanted this.”
“And when your plan to be a doctor dissolved, so did your plan to marry me, I see. I was there when that happened, Kent. Your face was still bloody when I promised that if I wasn’t married when you returned that I would marry you straight away . . . And then I promised myself I wouldn’t court any other man.”
“Why? Why would you do that?” He wanted to ball his fists and hit rocks until he could feel no more. She should’ve used every moment while he was gone. He should’ve written to her and told her he never planned to return, but he’d been a coward. A hopeful coward.
“I don’t know. Because now I want nothing from you. You’ve hurt me for the last time, Kent Douglas. This means war.”
She tugged the reins, and Blaze followed her away from Kent. She swung up into the saddle and glanced back at him. Tears stained her cheeks, but she sat straight in the saddle as she rode back toward home.
“War. Just what our families need.” He hung his head. “Lord, are you there?” The weight on his soul didn’t lighten, and he headed back for his horse. This was one development Pa couldn’t know about or it really would mean war.
Chapter3
With all the riding Kent’s brother and the wranglers had been doing, checking the land for areas where the flood from the last few years had finally receded, the horses needed more of Kent’s care than the cattle. He took the balm from his saddlebag. Just touching it made him think of Alice and her horse. She’d explicitly told him to stay away, yet he had the ready excuse to check on her horse . . .
A rider approached, and Kent left the security of the barn, knowing the only other man nearby to offer welcome was his father and that would be no welcome at all. He’d even begun to be intolerable to those he claimed to like.
Conrad Oleson touched his hat in welcome as he reined in. “Morning. Just the man I was looking for.” He dismounted, holding his reins.
