Page 56 of Short-Straw Bride

Travis clapped him on the shoulder. “Cassandra will stay here under our protection until we decide what needs to be done. In the meantime, it might be a good idea—”

A pair of shots echoed in the distance, cutting Travis off. He instinctively looked to the window. Cassandra’s father had made good time.

“Have you noticed that we’ve had more visitors in the last few weeks than we had all of last year? Maybe we should consider opening a hotel.” Crockett’s sarcasm earned him a punch in the arm from Jim.

Travis bit back a reply. He couldn’t deny that things had started spiraling further and further out of control ever since Meredith showed up on their ranch, but even with all the trouble, he didn’t regret her appearance. How could he? She was family.

A tiny seed of a thought surfaced in his mind, that perhaps she was even more than family, but he didn’t have time to examine it too closely. He had an irate father to deal with and a brother to restrain from shooting said father. That was about all he could handle at the moment.

“Jim, you’re with me. Neill, take position near the barn. Crockett—” he paused long enough to smirk at his oldest sibling—“you can man the Archer Hotel.”

Crockett’s chuckle followed him as he and the others filed out the front door.

25

Travis and Jim approached the gate from among the trees instead of using the path, taking the opportunity to observe their quarry before making their presence known. Everett Hayes paced back and forth beside the gate, muttering under his breath. The rifle gripped in his right hand gave Travis pause.

Perhaps his customary show of force wasn’t the best course of action this time. The man had already worked himself into a lather, and with Jim’s temper being riled, as well, things could get ugly fast. Meredith’s warning about someone calling his bluff one day floated through his mind.

With a silent motion, Travis lifted his rifle from its ready position across his lap and angled the barrel into the scabbard attached to his saddle. He shoved it home.

“What are you doing?” Jim hissed.

“Put your gun away.”

“Not a chance.” He tightened his grip on the weapon and braced the stock against his thigh.

Travis frowned at him. “Do you really think that putting a bullet in Cassandra’s father is going to endear you to her?”

Jim shifted slightly in his saddle.

“If Everett Hayes is foolish enough to believe Mitchell’s lies, he’s foolish enough to start something with that gun of his that we’d have to finish. And if one of us puts a bullet in him, we’ll have to take him up to the house and let Crockett patch him up. Not the best scenario for keeping him away from Cassie, is it.”

Jim said nothing, just eyed Everett Hayes through the trees, his jaw clenched. After a long minute, he expelled a full breath through his nostrils like a provoked bull, then flipped his rifle around and crammed it into his scabbard.

Thanking the Lord for his brother’s cooperation and adding in a quick plea for Hayes to see reason as easily, Travis nudged Bexar out into the open and raised a hand in greeting to his wife’s uncle.

Hayes started at the sight of Travis and Jim emerging from among the pines and snapped his rifle to his shoulder. “About time you got here.” He glowered at Travis over the barrel of the gun with eyes that looked a little too wild for reasonable conversation. “I want my daughter back. Now!”

“Cassandra’s safe,” Travis said. He figured if his daughter ran away, fear for her well-being might make him a bit crazed, too. The least he could do was put that fear to rest for the man.

“Safe with you? Ha! The last female of my household that came to visit you unescorted ended up half dead with a soiled reputation. I’m not about to let Cassie share the same fate.”

Travis leaned forward in his saddle, his brief flash of sympathy hardening to stone as he glared down at the older man from his position atop Bexar. “Put the gun away, Hayes, and we’ll talk. Keep waving it at me, and you can forget about gaining my help with your daughter.”

The man held his position, but Travis could see indecision playing across his face as he glanced from one brother to the other. Finally, he lowered his rifle and stepped closer to the gate.

“All right, Archer. Now let me in so I can fetch my daughter.”

Travis stood in the stirrups and swung his leg over Bexar’s back. Jim dismounted, as well, and the two strode forward. When they reached the gate, Travis hung both arms over the top of the highest crossbar and braced a foot on the lowest, trying to appear as friendly and nonthreatening as possible. Jim, on the other hand, stood as straight as a soldier and kept his gun belt within easy reach. Neither made a move to unlock the wooden barrier that obstructed the man’s entrance.

“Cassandra will be staying with us for a while,” Travis informed Hayes, the sternness of his voice belying his casual stance. “My wife is thrilled to have her company, of course, and will gladly serve as her chaperone.”

“Impossible!” Everett Hayes blustered. “Cassie is coming home with me, at once.”

Jim took a single menacing stride forward. “She’s staying.”

Travis brushed a bit of dust from his sleeve. “I’m sure she’ll calm down in a day or two and see reason again.” He shook his head and expelled a sympathetic chuckle. “The poor girl actually believes you plan to marry her off to Meredith’s former beau. Can you imagine? I did everything I could to convince her that you couldn’t possibly be thinking of forcing her into a union with that barn-burning, land-grabbing fiend, but she seems quite convinced. Even went so far as to gain my promise that I wouldn’t let you take her away. So, unfortunately, I cannot let you in.”