Page 123 of The Enchanted Land

At breakfast, Seth ignored Morgan. Although she had planned to ignore him also, she found it infuriating that he should act as if she weren’t even in the same room.

After Seth and Gordon left, Adam played in the courtyard with his wooden ranch set. Morgan needed to finish her ledgers and promised herself that she would not even think of Seth. But she looked up sharply each time someone passed the open study door.

At lunch, Adam proudly showed his mother his gingerbread monsters, explaining them in a mixture of gibberish and words. He went back outside for a while before his nap.

Morgan went upstairs to make sure the rooms had been cleaned properly. She hesitated at Seth’s room, but then entered. His things were always neat, more so than hers ever were. She opened a drawer. He had too few shirts, and some of them needed mending. Angrily, she slammed the drawer shut. What was she doing? He was not her responsibility any longer. Let him care for his own shirts!

She ran into Carol, an armload of clean linen nearly falling from her arms. “Is anything wrong, Mrs. Colter?”

“No!” She fairly shouted at the girl. Morgan regretted it immediately, but Carol had already scurried away.

“Now he’s making me yell at the servants,” she mumbled as she hurried to her own room. Hastily, she donned her riding habit.

In the kitchen, she asked Roselle if she’d put Adam to bed for his nap, and she went outside to ride her horse. She started for her favorite place by the river, but she knew Seth went there, and she didn’t want to see him. She remembered a pond that Gordon had shown her on the first day they’d toured the ranch together. It was an especially hot day and the sun was merciless. She loosened the high neck of the habit. The mare felt the heat, too.

The pond was a wider place in the river, forming a little pool, surrounded by tall cottonwoods. Gordon had said there would be cattails later in the fall. She dismounted, leading the mare to the trees. It would be good to splash her face with water.

She was startled by the sound of several horses beyond her, near the pond. Always cautious in the untamed New Mexico wilderness, she tied her horse and went to investigate before blundering into trouble. As she rounded a tree, she saw Seth leading several mustangs to water. As the dusty horses drank, Seth dismounted and walked to the edge of the water, letting his own horse drink.

Could she go nowhere without seeing him? She stood very still, knowing that any movement would cause him to turn and see her.

Seth removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. Then he looked around. Morgan held her breath. She was thankful she’d worn her dark green riding habit.

Seth did not really see the place where Morgan stood, half hidden in the dense underbrush. Quickly, he removed his clothes and stepped into the water. He splashed himself, enjoying the coolness. Morgan looked on in fascination at the magnificent body she had once known so well, the powerful arms and shoulders, the muscles that stood out in his thighs.

Seth was used to the dangers of New Mexico, where a second’s heedlessness could cause one’s death. Over the years he had developed a second sense concerning these hazards. He stood still. He knew someone was watching him. He pivoted on one foot and faced Morgan, who gasped. Their eyes locked and held.

“Care to join me?”

She didn’t answer, but whirled on her heel and returned to her waiting horse. She returned to her favorite spot and allowed the horse to drink before returning to the house. She tried not to think of Seth.

At dinner, the sight of Seth caused the blood to rush to her face. She refused even to glance his way during dinner. As they walked to the courtyard, Seth whispered, “Did you enjoy your bath as much as you enjoyed mine?” Blushes covered her body, and she was glad for the darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Two

IThad been a little over two weeks since Seth had come to the Three Crowns. Since the time Morgan had seen him in the pool, she had avoided him. She saw him even less now than she had when he’d lived in the bunkhouse. He took his responsibilities as foreman very seriously and often missed dinner to straighten out some problem on the ranch. Even when Morgan came down to breakfast, she found he had already been at work for hours. What free time he did manage, he spent with Adam Morgan sometimes felt Seth paid more attention to Roselle than he did to her. She was, of course, glad of that.

It was on one of the rare mornings when the three of them breakfasted together that Gordon made his announcement. “My letter finally came. I’ll be leaving for New York.”

“What?” She dropped her spoon.

“Morgan, I’ve told you about this trip for months, so don’t look so surprised.”

“Adam and I will go with you.”

“Sit down. You are not going with me. It will be a hurried trip and Adam is too young to have to travel for days on a stagecoach and then on a train. I won’t hear of it. It’s too dangerous.”

Seth turned to Gordon. “Is it ranch business that takes you to New York?”

“Morgan’s father once heard about some cattle bred in the Scottish Highlands. He thought they might adjust to New Mexico, so he started working on getting them here. After several years, they’ll soon arrive in this country. I figure if I’m not there to meet the ship when it docks, they’ll sell my cattle to someone else.”

“When are you leaving?” Morgan’s voice was soft.

“Right after breakfast.”

“Today! You’ll be leavingtoday?”

Gordon stared at her a moment. “Yes. The letter took a long time coming and now I’ll barely make it there in time for the ship. Martin is packing for me now.”

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