Page 14 of River Legacy
“That’s the Powder River. It begins in Wyoming and travels more than a hundred and fifty miles to empty into the Yellowstone River to the north of here. We’ll go along the river on the way back.”
“I’d like that,” she said and tucked a lock of that copper hair behind her ear as she had this morning.He found himself mesmerized by the simplest things this woman did. There was such a confidence in her. How many women would proposition him in the Billings airport, let alone make some enticing offers just to get him to pretend to be her fiancé? Most women wouldn’t come to the ranch for the weekend either—not having a clue what she was getting into.
That she was brave to the point of being reckless hadn’t escaped him. No wonder her father wanted to get her married off so he didn’t have to worry about her.
As they rode toward the river, she asked about the area’s history, if his family had been one of the first to settle the land and what it was like to have those kinds of roots.
“I can’t imagine the first settlers who came here to homestead the land,” she said as she looked out across it. “Such strong, brave women and men. I’ve never had roots like you do—never mind family living all around me.”
He told her about his two sisters, Tilly and Oakley, and their husbands Cooper and Pickett. “Once you meet my sisters, you might change your mind about wishing you had family close by.”
“Pickett. I love that name.” She asked about Tilly and when she was due to have her baby. “Another generation on this land. I can’t imagine what that’s like for you. What a sense of pride you must feel to be part of it.”
He’d never thought of the ranch quite that way, but seeing it through her eyes he did feel it. “It’sjust what we do. Ranching and living out here are all I know.”
“You’ve lived here your whole life,” she said as if in awe. “I’ve never lived in a place long enough to feel like it was home. My father’s always on the move. I think he was better at staying put when my mother was alive, but I don’t remember it. She died when I was twelve.”
The trees seemed to open up before them, and there was the Powder River. The moment Victoria spotted the clear water that flowed through the rocks, she was off her horse and kicking off her boots. He laughed as he watched her peel off her socks and roll up her jeans to wade out into the shallow water to a large flat rock at the river’s center.
He was tempted to take a photograph of her in the middle of the Powder River and send it to her father. He pulled out his phone and took the photo, but changed his mind about sending it to her father as he quickly dismounted and, removing his boots and socks, waded out to join her.
“The river isn’t what I expected,” she said with a laugh. “But I like it. It’s... gentle but determinedly steady.” Her gaze went to him. “Reminds me of you.”
He chuckled at that. She thought she knew him after such a short time together? He couldn’t say the same. This woman was still a mystery to him. Every time he thought he had her number, she surprised him.
“The Powder is said to be a mile wide, an inchdeep and runs uphill,” he told her. “The joke was always that it was too thick to drink and too thin to plow.”
“WhyPowderRiver?” she asked.
“Captain Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition named it Redstone River. But the Native Americans called it Powder River because the black shores reminded them of gunpowder, and that stuck.”
She leaned back against the warm rock. She looked content. He suspected it was the breakfast that she’d put away like one of the ranch hands.
“I have to ask,” he said. “Your father’s bodyguards. Are they just for show?”
She glanced over at him. “I can see why you would ask that. You didn’t threaten to kill my father, did you?”
Ryder shook his head. “If he’s been trying to strong-arm other Montana ranchers, though, then I would imagine one of them could have threatened him. But the bodyguards are something new?”
She nodded. “He pretends it’s nothing, but he’s been getting death threats. Says he took on extra security for me and will keep them until he can get me married off so he knows my husband will keep me safe.” She rolled her eyes. “I have a feeling he’s more worried than he lets on, because I haven’t seen him without the guards since he received the first threat a few weeks ago.”
“Threat, like a real death threat?” he asked, remembering that he’d told Forester that he’d shoot the next person the man sent to buy his ranch.
Turning her head to look at him, she said, “Most people who meet my father want to kill him. Seriously, I know he’s made enemies. I wouldn’t be surprised if Claude doesn’t hate him. My father seems to be getting worse, as if he can’t buy enough. I don’t think it makes him happy. He just likes to win. What will you do if he makes another run at your ranch?”
“I already threatened to shoot the next person he sends with an offer,” Ryder said, smiling to let her know he was kidding, kind of. “I doubt he’ll come himself, so he should be safe.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him to show up here. Best keep your gun loaded,” she said and chuckled, but he wasn’t sure she was joking.
Chapter Five
Claude had never seen Montana except from the air or out a hotel room window. He realized that he should treat this unappetizing job his boss was sending him on as a paid vacation. The plan had come to him after grousing for a while about the situation Wen and his daughter had put him in.
Right now, Victoria wouldn’t be desperate enough to get away from the cowboy and ranch life. She’d be treating it like an adventure, a story of her wild impulsive behavior she could share with her rich city friends. Why not give her more time on a working ranch with her cowboy before Claude rode in to save her?
He just hoped the cowboy gave Victoria a real taste of ranch living. Claude knew her. She would get bored stiff in no time, out in the middle of nowhere. She’d be expecting her father to come after her. Or to send someone after her. Someone like him.
The sour taste in his mouth made him curse. He knew he was dragging his feet about going after her. He was stalling for time to come up with a plan that didn’t require him to grovel.
