Against the Rules Read online

  No, what Cathryn wasn’t certain about was Rule’s motive for pursuing her. She wanted desperately to believe that he wanted her simply for herself, but the fact remained that he was extremely possessive of the ranch. He had taken it over, made it his, and she had no doubt that he would fight with whatever weapons he had to in order to keep the ranch. He controlled the ranch, but she legally owned it, and it might be constantly on his mind that she could sell it at any time and his control would be ended. He had denied being concerned with the ranch at all, but the doubt remained in her mind.

  If he was so interested in her, why hadn’t he made an effort to contact her at some point since David’s death? It hadn’t been until she came for a visit, indicating a renewed interest in the ranch, that he had suddenly become so smitten with her.

  As she drove his truck into town the issue nagged at her. Her entire decision hinged on that one matter. If she trusted him, if she believed that he wanted her as a man wanted a woman, with no other considerations involved, then she would stay with him in whatever capacity he wanted. On the other hand, she refused to let him manipulate her with sex. He was an extremely dominating, virile man. Sex was one of the weapons he could use against her, clouding her senses with the sensual need he aroused simply by touching her. She knew of no way she could reach her decision except by simply being with him, hoping to learn enough about him despite his iron control to be able to say that she trusted him.

  CHAPTER 5

  Franklin’s Feed Store was the only one in town, so Cathryn had no doubt that she was in the right place as she backed up to the loading dock. She had gone to school with Alva Franklin, the owner’s daughter, and she grinned as she remembered the day Alva had pushed her older sister Regina into a mud puddle. Alva had been a little devil. She was still smiling as she went up the back steps into the musty atmosphere of the building.

  She didn’t recognize the man who came over to take her order, but it had been eight years since she had spent any time at all on the ranch, and he was obviously one of the people who had moved into the region since then.

  However, the man eyed her doubtfully when she told him what she wanted. “The Bar D order?” he asked warily. “I don’t believe I know you, ma’am. What did you say your name is?”

  Cathryn stifled a laugh. “My name is Cathryn Donahue...Ashe,” she added as an afterthought, guilt-stricken as she realized that she had almost forgotten her married name. It seemed as if David were being pushed away as if he had never existed, and she didn’t want that to happen. She hadn’t even protested when Rule had introduced her to Lewis Stovall by her maiden name, letting herself slip back into the identity of Cathryn Donahue and under the domination of her ranch manager. But not now, she thought grimly.

  She finished her explanation, but the man still stood uncertainly.

  “I own the Bar D.”

  “Mr. Jackson—” began the man.

  “Is my ranch manager,” she finished smoothly for him. “I understand that you don’t recognize me, and I’m grateful that you’re so careful with the orders. However, Mr. Franklin knows me, if you want to verify my identity with him.”

  He did, and went in search of the store owner. Cathryn waited patiently, not at all put out by his caution. It would be chaos if just anyone was allowed to sign a load slip and have a load of feed charged to any ranch at random. It was only a few minutes before the man returned with Ormond Franklin close behind him. Mr. Franklin peered at her through his glasses; then his gaze settled on her hair and he said, “Why, hello, Cathryn. I heard you were back in town.” He nodded to his employee. “Go ahead and load the order, Todd.”

  “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Franklin,” said Cathryn pleasantly. “I arrived on Saturday. I had only intended to stay for the holiday, but now it looks as though I’ll be here for a longer time.”

  He smiled so widely that she wondered why her news should be so pleasing. “Well, now, that’s good news. Glad to hear that you’re taking the ranch over. Never did like that Rule Jackson. Got rid of him, did you? Fine, fine. He’s nothing but trouble. I’ve always thought your pa made a bad mistake in taking on trouble the way he did with Jackson. He was wild enough before he went to Vietnam, but after he came back he was pure crazy.”

  Cathryn could feel her mouth fall open as she stared at him, stunned. He had made so many fantastic assumptions that she didn’t know where to start. But why should Mr. Franklin hold such a grudge against Rule? Then memory stirred and she had a clear vision of Regina Franklin’s pretty, sulky face, remembered also that the girl had had a reputation for chasing men she would have done better to avoid. One of those men had been Rule Jackson, and, being the man he was, he had made no effort to hide it.

  She made an effort to be reasonable. Mindful of Mr. Franklin’s grudge against Rule—even if his daughter had been equally responsible—she said mildly, “I couldn’t begin to run the ranch by myself, Mr. Franklin. Rule has done a fantastic job; the ranch looks better now than it did even when Dad was alive. I have no reason to fire him.”

  “No reason?” he asked incredulously, his brows gathering over the bridge of his glasses. “His morals are reason enough for a lot of decent people around here. There’s a lot of people who haven’t forgotten the way he acted when he came back from overseas. Why, in your own house you’ve got to watch him like a hawk or that stepsister of yours—”

  “Mr. Franklin, I can understand why you dislike Rule, given the circumstances,” interrupted Cathryn, suddenly and fiercely angry at his persistent attack on Rule and at the way he had linked Rule with Ricky. She refused to listen to any more of that. She went straight to the heart of the matter with her counterattack. “But Rule and your daughter were both very young and confused, and that was all a long time ago. Rule was in no way solely responsible for that scandal.”

  Mr. Franklin turned a dusky red with fury, and he spat from between clenched teeth, “Not responsible? How can you stand there and say that? He forced himself on my girl, then refused to stand by her. Why, she couldn’t hold her head up in this town. She had to leave, and he walks around as if he never did anything wrong in his life!”

  She hesitated, wondering if he had twisted his own guilt around to rest on Rule because he couldn’t face the possibility that his own rigidity had been responsible for driving his daughter away. She didn’t want to hurt him, but there was one thing she couldn’t let pass, and she said coldly, “Rule Jackson has never forced a woman in his life. He’s never had to. I was young, but I can remember the way girls chased him from the time he could even think of growing a beard. After he got out of the army it was even worse. You can think what you like, but I’d advise you not to say things like that out loud unless you want a charge of slander brought against you!”

  Their raised voices had gathered the attention of everyone in the feed store, but that didn’t stop Mr. Franklin. His gray hair almost stood on end as he shouted, “If that’s the way you feel, Miss Donahue, then I suggest you buy your feed from someone else! Your daddy would never have said something like that to me!”

  “The name is Mrs. Ashe, and I think my dad would be proud of me! He believed in Rule when no one else did, and it’s a good thing he did, because the ranch would have gone under years ago without Rule Jackson!” She was boiling now, and she stomped down the steps to where Todd was waiting, bug-eyed, with the ticket for her signature. She scribbled her name across the bottom of it and crawled under the steering wheel of the pickup. Her foot was heavy with temper and the vehicle shot away from the loading dock, bucking under the demand she was making of it.

  Shaking with temper, Cathryn drove only a block and pulled over to calm herself. Fencing...she couldn’t forget the fencing, she reminded herself, drawing in a deep breath. Her hands were trembling violently and her heart was pounding, her body wet with perspiration. She felt as if she had been in a physical free-for-all rather than an argument. Catching a glimpse of her hair in the rearview mirror she startled herself by