Calder Brand - Janet Dailey Page 0,86

For a grassland claim to pay, all you needed was a herd of cows and a cabin. But his wooded, rocky hill claim, beautiful as it was, would demand a mountain of work and more money than he could even imagine. Had he made a mistake? Had he taken on too much?

But he couldn’t allow himself to think like that. He had to believe in himself and in the gut feeling that had prompted him to claim the challenging land.

“I was hoping I’d find you out here.” Lady Crawford’s velvety voice startled him for an instant. Still in her dinner clothes, she moved to stand beside him at the rail. “I was impressed with your plans for your claim,” she said. “It appears you’re not satisfied with being an ordinary cattleman—or simply being Loren Hollister’s son-in-law. I like you for that.”

Joe forced a chuckle. “Right now you seem to be the only person who does.”

“Actually, I have a confession to make,” she said. “I came here tonight because I’d heard about your work with horses. I wanted to meet you. So far, you haven’t disappointed me.”

“Is there something I can do for you?” Joe asked.

“Maybe I can do something for both of us,” she said. “I’ll get right to the point. What I have is a business proposition. If you can come up with enough good horses, I have connections with a buyer in Canada—don’t ask me to divulge any names—who’ll take all you can supply and pay good money for them.”

“I’m certainly interested,” Joe said. “But I’ve only just filed claim on my land. The horses are out there, but if you need a lot of them, and soon, that’s a problem.”

“I understand,” she said. “We can work out the time and numbers later. But hear me out. What I’m offering you is a partnership. I’ll lend you start-up money for the operation—pens, gates, feed, and pay for some experienced help. In return, when the horses are sold, we split the profits. How does that sound?”

“Almost too good to be true,” Joe said. “But what happens if you stake me and I can’t deliver?”

“Then you’d have to pay me back, of course, any way you could. But I feel comfortable making the offer. I have a similar arrangement with another partner. So far it seems to be working out fine. But he’s only providing my buyer with beef cattle. There’s a good market for horses as well.”

“Can you tell me who he is, this other partner of yours?” Joe asked.

Lady Crawford shook her elegant head. “I’m sorry, but our agreement is confidential—as my agreement with you would be. Not even Loren would be aware of it.”

“And my wife?”

A knowing look crossed her face. “That would depend on where her loyalties lie. For now, assuming we have a deal, you might want to keep it to yourself. If word were to get out, it would spread like wildfire. Everyone who has livestock to sell would want to do what we’re doing. Do you understand what a disaster that would be?”

“I do.”

“And do we have a deal?”

“If we can really make this work, we do.”

“Fine. I’ll be at the McQueen House in Miles City for the next ten days. Meet me there when you’re able to get away. We can draw up the contract and go to the bank. All right?” She smiled and extended her hand.

“All right.” Joe had never exchanged a handshake with a woman before. Her strong fingers were slender with prominent joints. Her skin was like fine glove leather.

“I’m looking forward to making money with you, Joe,” she said. “You may call me Elaine.”

Buoyed by Elaine’s offer of a partnership, Joe went into the house and mounted the stairs. But with each upward step, his spirits deflated and sank. Facing Loren had been trying enough. Facing Amelia would be downright painful.

Sharing his news with her would be out of the question. She’d go straight to her father with it. Not that he blamed her. In the short time they’d been married, he’d treated her like a child, never confiding in her or even trusting her. Unfortunately, that wasn’t about to change.

Their bedroom was at the end of the upstairs hallway. The door was closed. When he tried to open it, he found it locked.

“Amelia?” He rapped gently. “Open the door, Amelia. We need to talk.”

He waited in tense silence. Just when he was about to knock again, the latch clicked and the door opened a few inches.