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Without waiting for an answer to his question, he stepped outside the door and slammed it shut behind him. Seconds later she heard his auto start up and roar away.
Kristin stood where he’d left her, emotions warring. She’d treated Webb shabbily. She deserved everything he’d said to her. True, the relationship was over, which was what she’d wanted. But she hadn’t wanted it to end with Webb hurt and angry.
Blast Logan, why couldn’t he have kept the truth to himself? He’d known that was what she wanted. So what had prompted him to break his silence? Had he and Webb quarreled? Or had Logan simply run out of patience?
Whatever the reason, he’d disregarded her wishes and taken matters into his own hands. Why couldn’t he have waited—or at least warned her? As matters stood, they’d both made a dangerous enemy.
As she thought about how Logan had defied her, her anger grew from a spark to a blaze. The restful evening she’d planned was out of the question now. She couldn’t rest until she’d faced Logan and given him a piece of her mind.
Horseback would be the fastest way to get to his ranch. Daylight was fading. If she wanted to get there before dark, she would need to leave soon.
Changing into her riding clothes took only a few minutes. Saddling the neighbors’ roan gelding took just minutes more. After a word to the neighbors, she was on her way, taking the street at a trot to where the wagon road cut off, then opening the horse up to a ground-devouring lope, on a parallel course with the wagon track.
The lingering heat lay like a blanket over the landscape. The faint breeze from the west felt like a blast furnace. Kristin slowed to spare the horse. Looking back over her shoulder, she could see a faint brown dust devil dancing along the horizon. She could taste the grit in the air.
By the time she sighted the ranch, the sun was low above the western prairie. Its light, reflecting on dust motes in the air, streaked the sky with hues of flame and amber.
As she rode closer, she could hear dogs barking. Logan had mentioned that he might get a pair. She could see them on the porch now—cattle dogs, a mixed breed common to these parts, big enough to take on coyotes. They were barking and wagging their plumed tails. As she stopped at the pump and dismounted to water the horse, they came prancing out to greet her.
Kristin scratched their ears and braced herself for what was bound to be a wrenching encounter with Logan. As angry as she was, anything could happen. But he had to understand the damage he’d done, to her and most of all to himself.
* * *
Logan had poured what remained of Webb’s fine Scotch whiskey onto a hill of red ants outside the back door. If he’d kept it around, he’d have been tempted to drink himself into a stupor after Kristin finished venting her fury on him—and she would, he was sure of that. It was only a question of when.
His jaw ached from the crashing blow of Webb’s fist. Logan had refused to defend himself. In going behind a friend’s back for the woman he desired, he’d violated his own code of honor. Much as he loved Kristin, he deserved any punishment Webb chose to give him. But at least, whatever the consequences, the lies and secrets were over.
As he came back through the house, he heard the dogs barking out front. His workers were long gone. Was Kristin here already, or had Webb sent some of his cowhands to wreak more punishment? Winchester in hand, he opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch.
Kristin was walking toward him, with the sky ablaze behind her and the dogs frisking around her legs. The sight of her stopped his breath. He’d been prepared to speak up and defend himself. But all he could think of was how much he loved her.
Putting the gun aside, he battled the urge to stride across the yard and take her in his arms. She wouldn’t want that now. “Would you like to come inside?” he asked. “It’s dusty out here.”
“I’ve been eating dust all the way from town,” she said. “What I have to say won’t take long. We can sit on the porch.”
The chairs from his visit with Webb were still outside. He brushed the dust off one of them and offered her the seat. She sat on the edge, tense, like a bird about to take wing.
“What were you thinking, Logan?” she demanded.
“That I’d had enough of lying—and enough of having to sneak around to be with you.”
“Webb was furious at both of us.”
“He’ll get over it.”
“Then you don’t know Webb. I don’t believe he’d hurt me, but he’ll find a way to make you sorry.”
“Whatever he does, I’ll deal with it. I know this wasn’t what you wanted. But it’s for the best, and I’m not sorry.”
In the stillness that followed, the wind picked up, swirling dust across the yard. Along the horizon, an ugly brown cloud blurred the fading sunset.
Kristin rose to her feet. A shudder seemed to pass through her body. “You ignored my wishes,” she said. “You didn’t even warn me what you were going to do. If you had, I’d have tried to talk sense into you. Now it’s too late. You had no regard for my feelings No respect for me. And all you can say is that you’re not sorry!”
She walked to the steps, then swung back to face him. “I’ll be going now, Logan. Don’t follow me or try to call on me. I need some time to myself—time to decide whether I ever want to see you again!”
He stood silent as she descended the steps and fled across the yard to her horse. He wished fervently that she would stop, turn, and look at him. But she mounted up without a backward glance and galloped off into the blowing wind.
Standing where she’d left him, Logan watched her vanish into the haze of dust. He’d deserved—even expected—most of what she’d said to him. But he’d never expected her to ride out of his life.
