A Rancher's Vow. Patricia Rosemoor

      With that, the café owner marched off and approached a small knot of people standing near the parked cars.

      Alcina wasn’t aware of Hugh Ruskin until he said, “That was a real brave thing you did, ma’am, putting yourself in the thick of the fire to save that horse.”

      Alcina knew the bartender only by sight and reputation since she didn’t frequent the Silver Slipper. And after the altercation between him and Bart over Josie, Alcina had to admit that she was surprised to see him on the Curly-Q at all.

      “Nice that someone appreciated my effort,” she muttered, wondering if he’d been eavesdropping on her and Reba.

      Then, thinking of the way Reed had lit into her, Alcina glanced around until she spotted the aggravating man over by the corral, deep in conversation with Moon-Eye. The grizzled ranch hand was shaking his head as if in denial. Undoubtedly, Reed was questioning Moon-Eye about being in the barn prior to the fire, as he’d intended.

      Not feeling very warm toward Reed at the moment—he could have said something positive about what she’d done—Alcina turned back to the bartender, whose clothing appeared to be ruined.

      “It looks as if you went all out, putting yourself on the line,” she said, surprised by the fact. Maybe he was trying to make up for that altercation with Bart over Josie, though that had been quite a while ago when he’d been brand-new in town. “And my name is Alcina, by the way, not ma’am. That’s my mother.”

      Ruskin laughed. “Alcina, then.” Strong white, predatory teeth flashed from a soot-streaked face that was rugged and interesting, if not handsome. “I didn’t get nearly as close as you did to that fire,” he admitted. “I simply pitched in like everyone else to stop it from spreading.”

      Not everyone, Alcina thought, remembering Cardona’s spotless appearance. Not quite.

      “I admire a woman with spirit,” Ruskin was saying.

      “Pardon?”

      “I admire you,” he clarified, stepping closer, leaving her with too little room. “And I’d like to get to know you better. Maybe I could interest you in sharing supper with me some night this week.”

      She was not a small woman, but he was the kind of man who filled a doorway. He made her feel delicate, and the comparison didn’t leave her comfortable. Or maybe it was the way he was staring at her expectantly. The strange glitter in his nearly colorless eyes suddenly reminded her of a reptile setting sights on its prey.

      She took another step back to set a definite boundary. But having been raised with a certain standard of manners, Alcina thought to turn him down politely.

      “I’m very flattered, Mr. Ruskin—”

      “Hugh. Mr. Ruskin is my stepdaddy,” he said, echoing her.

      Alcina forced a smile and started to say, “I just am not—” when she was interrupted yet again.

      “Ready to go home?”

      This time it was Reed, who inserted himself between her and the other man. Truth be told, she was relieved that she didn’t have to turn Ruskin down directly.

      “Ah,” the bartender said, his visage darkening. “I see how the wind blows.”

      As far as she knew, Alcina thought, the wind wasn’t blowing anywhere. And she wasn’t even sure she wanted it to. She wasn’t about to argue the point when all she felt was relief. But Reed didn’t have to be aware of that.

      “I’ll let you know, Hugh,” Alcina said in a purposely sweet tone meant to aggravate Reed.

      Though she thought the bartender was going to say more, he merely gave the other man an even darker look and backed off.

      Before Reed could say anything, Alcina challenged him. “What was that all about?”

      “I didn’t mean to get in the middle of anything,” he muttered, suddenly appearing uncertain. “I thought I would take you home.”

      “Well, you thought wrong. I have my own vehicle.”

      “Which you shouldn’t drive…just in case.”

      “In case what?” she asked. “In case we have a blue moon? That’s not until next week.”

      He frowned at her. “Are you always so prickly when someone is trying to be nice to you?”

      “Sorry, I didn’t get the nice part. Thank you, then, but I can see myself home.”

      He gave her a look that told Alcina he probably wanted to strangle her. Then he tipped his hat and backed off, leaving her staring after him.

      “Things not going so good with Reed?”

      The whisper in her ear startled Alcina. At least that’s the excuse she gave herself for her pulse threading so unevenly as she gave Josie a weak smile.

      “As best as can be expected, I suppose.”

      “Don’t give up yet,” Josie insisted.

      “There’s nothing to give up on.”

      “Okay-y-y. Then let me put it another way. Don’t use Hugh Ruskin as a way to get over Reed.”

      “There’s nothing to get over!” Alcina insisted, annoyance growing. And though instinct had told her to keep her distance from the bartender, she asked, “You haven’t made peace with Ruskin, I expect.”

      “That creep?” Josie shivered visibly and wrapped her arms around her middle. “I’ll never make peace with a womanizer and bully, and he’ll never change.”

      Glad she had listened to her own intuition, Alcina said, “I thought it was weird when I saw him here in the first place.”

      “Chance hired him. He didn’t know anything about what happened between Ruskin and me and Bart because he wasn’t around at the time. Bart didn’t find out about Ruskin being on the spread until this morning, and he didn’t want to spoil the day by objecting. Besides, he figured Ruskin wouldn’t get out of line with him around.” Josie eyed Alcina closely. “He didn’t get out of line, did he?”

      “No. He started by saying that he admired me for saving the horse—”

      “About that—”

      “Don’t, Josie,” Alcina said with a groan. “I’ve heard enough about my foolishness from Reed.”

      “I was merely going to thank you. Skitter’s one of the new mounts I brought over from my own stock. Actually, all three in the corral were. Anyhow, Skitter is young and silly and would probably have hurt himself. I’m just sorry you got hurt.”

      That it was Josie’s horse—one of many the Curly-Q wrangler and her late mother had bred and trained on their own small ranch—was gratifying. Josie had been through too much already in the past months.

      “I’ll live,” Alcina said. “A stiff shoulder and bruised bottom never killed anyone.”

      Josie grinned. “I can testify to that, considering the number of spills I’ve taken working with horses.”

      Every muscle protesting when she moved, Alcina sighed and said, “I wasn’t going to leave this early, but I need my Jacuzzi. I hate to intrude on the newlyweds, though.”

      “I sure hope Pru and Chance are having a better time than we’ve been having around here,” Josie said, “though I doubt that whatever they’re doing is as exciting.”

      “Don’t be too sure. I gave them permission to swing from the chandeliers if they wanted.” Almost able to picture it, Alcina laughed. “Are you ready to go put a crimp in their honeymoon aerobics?”

      Josie grinned. “Nah, you go without me. And don’t wait up.”

      Alcina gave her friend a quick hug, then headed for