"Unattached forever?" Caroline repeated. "I wouldn't want that for you, Adeline. Think of all you'd miss out on."
"But what if I fell in love with the wrong man?"
"Wrong by whose reckonin'? Mama's? You'd most likely be best off with the kind of man she doesn't want for you. Someone like… well, like Ben."
"Why do you mention him?" Addie asked, suddenly irritated. "What do you see in him that I don't? If you're hoping that something will develop between Ben and me, you're going to be disappointed. I just plain don't trust him. How do you and everyone else know that he won't go bad? How do we know he won't turn mean, or turn on Daddy, or something else just as awful? He's attractive on the surface, but inside… why, there's no telling what he's really like."
"Is that what you think about him?" Caroline looked surprised. "Well, I s'pose he might be different on the inside than he seems. I just always took him at face value. But I'll tell you somethin'. The only way to find out what he's really like is to get closer to him." She peered at Addie quizzically. "There a chance you might be interested in him?"
"Maybe," Addie admitted reluctantly. She thought of Russell, and her mouth tightened. "For certain reasons."
"Then take a chance on him! Spend some time with him! You might be surprised how much you and Ben have in common. He'd be so nice to you, if you'd just let him. I'm sure of it. "
As Addie thought over the idea, she began to see the sense of it. Spend some time with Ben, get to know him, try to gain his friendship. If she could make him like her, that would make him a little vulnerable to her, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be easier to outsmart him if he trusted her? It made no sense to make him think of her as an enemy. Then he would always be on his guard when she was near. And she was the only thing that was going to stand between him and his plan to kill Russell. But how plausible was her attempt to befriend him going to seem?
"He wouldn't be nice to me," she said doubtfully.
"He'd only laugh at me if he thought I was interested."
Caroline smiled with satisfaction. "Now, that's one thing you'll never get me to believe."
Addie received her first opportunity to be nice to Ben much sooner than she'd expected. Late in the afternoon he and two line riders were entangled in the first serious confrontation between Double Bar and Sunrise men. Ben came to the main house with a battered face and a tersely worded report for Russell. Russell's roar could be heard across three counties. The fight between the cowboys had been about his "bob-wahhr" fence, and he was livid at the suggestion that he didn't have the right to fence in his own land. Why, how was he going to keep control over his cattle and stop them from drifting where they shouldn't? How could he protect his property from thieves and rustlers?
"Now, Russ, hold on," came Ben's voice from behind the door as he and Russell talked in the office. The rest of the family stood in the hallway and eavesdropped unabashedly. "I know how you feel, but you can't blame them for being angry when one of their horses was killed by that damn fence. The animal was cut to pieces. It was the worst godawful mess I've seen in a long time."
Russell was not disposed to see their side of it. "I don't care what made ' em mad. They attacked three of my men, including my foreman, and cut up my fence! Well, it's goin' back up, with five strands instead of four. If Big George wants a war with me, he'll find out quick that he's bitten off too much this time!"
There was a short silence. Then Ben spoke, and although he sounded casual, there was an undertone in his voice that commanded attention. "We fenced in some public land along with our own, Russ, not to mention a considerable amount of water. That makes us unpopular with just about everyone. There's a lot of sympathy out there for Big George. They all need water and grass for their cattle, and some figure we've got more than our share."
"Is that what you think, boy?" Russel demanded furiously. "You think we've got more than our share?"
"I think you know when it's time to be diplomatic. I've seen you slick down a lot of ruffled feathers when too many tempers were high. We're the biggest outfit around here, and that makes us an easy target. It's going to get worse, Russ. Fence-cutting is just the beginning. "
"We're not some greasy-sack outfit they can push around. We can take whatever they're fixin' to dish out!"
"Possibly. But do we want to? We've got enough on our hands just taking care of our own business." Ben's voice softened as he spoke persuasively. "The system's always worked without fences. We all depend on each other. You can't turn us into an island. We can't survive alone. I say we start putting that money we've been spending for reels of barbed wire and kegs of staples into hiring more line riders. We can't afford the trouble those fences are going to earn us."
Addie could almost see the bullheaded expression on Russell's face as he replied, "I say I'm the top man around here, and I decide where to put my money. Tomorrow I want those cedar posts stuck back in the ground and strung with five strands of wire. "
Ben swore softly, and then there was the sound of his booted feet as he walked toward the door. The family scattered, all darting out of the hallway and finding various tasks to busy themselves with. Addie met Ben at the front door as he started to leave the house. She felt a reluctant twinge of pity as she saw the bruise on his jaw and the faint shadow underneath one eye.
Ben looked at her stonily. "I've had about enough of the Warners for one afternoon. So if you'll excuse me-"
"You're going to have a black eye."
He pulled the handkerchief from around his neck and dabbed at the bloody corner of his mouth. "Lady, that's the least of my problems."
"I know." She risked a smile and inclined her head toward the kitchen. "Come with me. I'll get you something cold for that." As he followed her into the kitchen, she picked up a clean dishrag and threw a glance over her shoulder. "Stay. I'll be back in a minute. "
While he waited in the kitchen, staring after her restlessly, she went downstairs to the stone-floored ice cellar, where the perishable food was packed tightly with ice, straw, and sawdust. It was dark and blessedly cool down there. Addie wasted no time in filling the dishrag with ice and hurrying back upstairs. Ben took it from her, hesitating before applying it to his face.
"Put it on your eye," she said impatiently, and indicated a nearby chair. "And sit down. I want to see to your jaw, and you're too tall." She wet another cloth at the sink. "How are the other two men?"
"About the same." Ben sank down in the chair with a sigh, while the aches and pains in is body began to make themselves known. "They visited Cook and had him see to them as soon as we got back. I didn't have time." He turned his face into the ice, relishing its coldness. "We were lucky it didn't turn into gunfire. Ow!" He winced as Addie pressed the cloth to the comer of his cut lip. "Careful with that thing!"
"I'm sorry. I know it must hurt. "
"Damn right it does. "
She smiled into his baleful green eyes and took care to be even more gentle in her ministrations. She knew from her nursing experience that men were stoic and silent about their wounds until they were assured of a woman's attention. Then they started complaining and demanding to be fussed over.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"I had a drink when I came in to talk to Russ."
"I… we… couldn't help overhearing some of your conversation."
He smiled sardonically. "With your ears pressed to the keyhole, I guess you couldn't."