She was preoccupied when she went to the tack room to get her bridle and saddle to ride fence. There was a lot of fence on the ranch. She’d never seen so many acres, except on her father’s spread. This was a huge tract of land that made up the ranch property, and it was cross-fenced for miles and miles and miles.
Darby glanced at her as she came out. “Trouble?” he asked gently.
She hesitated. She nodded.
“Mallory again?”
“I started a fight. I didn’t mean to. I was just playing the piano.”
His eyebrows arched. “That was you?” he exclaimed. “I thought it was a record they’d put on!”
She looked down shyly. “I took piano for almost ten years,” she said. “I love to play. Tank, I mean Mr. Kirk, had the score from that movie, August Rush, and when he knew I could play, he asked me to show him. So I did. But then the brothers said I shouldn’t be risking my hands doing manual labor and Mallory, I mean Mr. Kirk, got mad and said I was hired to do ranch work….”
“I see where this is going,” Darby replied quietly. “It must have been difficult.”
She nodded again and drew in a long breath. “I didn’t mean to start trouble. It was so wonderful to have a piano to play on.” She smiled. “I’ve loved music all my life. I can play classical guitar, too, and I used to carry a guitar with me wherever I went. But you can’t pack a piano around, so I sort of got out of the habit of playing.” She closed her eyes. “I can hear sonatas in my mind, when I go to bed. I never met a classical score that I didn’t love. Especially Debussy…”
“Am I paying you for musical commentary now?” Mallory asked coldly from the doorway.
She started, and almost dropped the saddle. “Sorry, boss. Sorry.” She rushed out the door with the saddle over her shoulder, almost tripped and fell down the steps in her rush.
Darby put out a hand and pulled Mallory around. His blue eyes were blazing. “Lay off,” he said in a menacing tone. “The girl’s had enough for one day.”
Mallory shook off the hand and glared at his foreman. “Don’t push me.”
“Then don’t push her,” Darby said. “Look at her, for God’s sake!”
He didn’t want to, but he did. She was fumbling with the saddle. Her hands were shaking. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Mallory felt it through his heart, like a knife. He grimaced.
“If I was her, I’d quit right now,” Darby said shortly. “And when she comes back tonight, that’s what I’m going to advise her to do. I know a couple of ranchers who need help….”
“You’ll keep your mouth shut, or you’ll be the one leaving,” Mallory told him angrily. “Don’t interfere.”
“Then you stop treating her like the black plague” came the short reply. “Honest to God, what’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you treat a kid like that!”
“She’s no kid,” Mallory said angrily. “She’s a woman.” He knew it far better than Darby.
“Well, maybe so,” he conceded. “Still, she’s twice the woman that blond headache you take around with you is,” he told the boss. “You’re letting her warp your idea of Morie. She’s making you suspicious. Now you’re picking holes in everything Morie does. All because you and your brothers were taken in by Vanessa Wilkes. It’s your pride, hurting and making you suspect everybody. Even poor old Harry. He never stole that drill. Your girlfriend was in the bunkhouse just before she told you she’d seen him take it. She framed him, and you let her.”
“That’s enough,” Mallory said. He looked dangerous. “He was guilty.”
“He wasn’t, but he knew he’d never convince you as long as Gelly was around. Now she’s trying to do the same to Morie, to make you run her off.” He straightened. “I’ve seen good people and I’ve seen bad people. I warned you about Vanessa and you wouldn’t listen. Now I’m telling you, Morie isn’t like that. She’s pure gold. If you aren’t careful, you’ll ruin her life. Maybe your own, too.”
“She’s not what she seems,” Mallory said.
“Who is?” Darby smiled gently. “But she’s not devious. She’s running from something. I don’t know what. But she had no idea how to do ranch work, I’ll tell you that.”
“What!”
“She was desperate for a job,” Darby said. “So I taught her how to do the chores, how to dip cattle, how to help brand, how to