Sadly Rayna wondered how long it would be before she could take Skylar home to this kind of warm and loving welcome.
“Libby, I want you to meet someone,” Meade said, finally remembering that he’d brought a guest. Still holding on to her brother with one arm around his waist, Libby looked up at the visitor she’d been too excited to wonder about before. As Rayna dismounted, her golden braid fell over one shoulder, and Libby was stunned to realize Meade had brought home a woman! How wonderful! Judging from her appearance, she didn’t seem like the type of woman Libby would have expected her brother to marry, but despite her attire it was easy to see that she was exceptionally beautiful.
“This is Miss Rayna Templeton,” he told her. “Rayna, this is my sister, Libby Longstreet, her children, Jenny and Lucas, and our good friend Jedidiah Longstreet.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Rayna replied with a subdued smile as the children looked her over with curiosity and Jedidiah murmured a surprised
“How do you do.”
Her name registered on Libby immediately, and she realized she had probably jumped to an erroneous conclusion. However, she wasn’t disappointed.
“You’re Skylar Templeton’s sister,” she said, slipping away from Meade to greet Rayna properly.
“That’s right,” she replied.
Libby glanced cautiously from Rayna to Meade. “You’ve been to Fort Apache?”
Meade nodded. “Yes. We know what’s happened.” Little Jenny impatiently tugged at Meade’s trousers, and he bent to pick her up.
“Your brother has been a great help to me in my efforts to free Skylar,”
Rayna told Libby. “And now I fear I’m about to draw your family into this travesty even further. He’s offered me your hospitality until I can make other arrangements.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful! Of course you’ll stay with us until Case finds Skylar.
I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Libby replied, taking Rayna’s arm and drawing her toward the house. She had a hundred questions about Skylar and about how Meade had become acquainted with Miss Templeton, but they could wait until she’d made her guest comfortable.
Jedidiah had far less patience. After the brutal murder of his friends Willow and Gray Wolf, the frontiersman had traveled throughout the Southwest with Case looking for the little girl who had been kidnapped in the wake of the attack. Morning Star had always held a special place in Jedidiah’s heart, and he had never given up hope of finding her. “We’re anxious to learn more about your sister, Miss Templeton,” he told Rayna.
She glanced at him, taking in the anxious look in his clear blue eyes. He was a big man, with a wild mane of silver hair and a beard to match, and 199
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though he was well into his sixties, he looked as vigorous as any man of thirty.
Rayna liked him immediately. “I can imagine that you would be curious about Skylar. I know it can’t be easy for either of you, having Case away from home searching for her like this.”
“Oh, if she can be found, Case’ll find her,” Jedidiah said almost dismissively. “But that’s not what I meant. Is—”
“Jedidiah, please,” Libby said, reaching out to silence him by placing her hand gently on his arm. “There will be plenty of time for questions later. Miss Templeton’s had a long and difficult journey. I’m sure she’d like to clean up and rest a bit.”
Jedidiah stayed behind as Libby led Rayna into the house, and Meade divided a curious glance between his sister and his friend, wondering what to make of the strange undercurrents he was picking up.
“What did you bring me, Uncle Meade?” Jenny asked, drawing his full attention by placing her hand on his cheek and turning his face to hers. “You promised me presents,” she reminded him.
“Can I take care of your horses, Uncle Meade?” Lucas asked before he’d had a chance to respond to Jenny.
“Yes, thank you. And I have presents for both of you.”
Jedidiah moved to the horses. “I’ll give Lucas a hand.”
“Thank you,” Meade said, puzzled by Jed’s subdued mood. He kissed Jenny. “Why don’t you go help Lucas and Jed, little one? If you bring in the bags off the packhorse, I’ll probably be able to find a present or two inside.”
She started squirming even before the last word was out, and when Meade put her down, she was off and running after her brother as quickly as her legs would carry her.
Meade followed Libby into the house and almost wished he hadn’t, because he was pressed into service immediately. While Tessa, Case’s cousin who lived on the ranch with her husband and helped Libby with her household chores, drew water for Rayna’s bath in the kitchen, Meade was assigned the task of moving Jenny’s belongings into Lucas’s room so that Rayna would have a room of her own.
Rayna protested that Libby was going to too much trouble on her account, and Meade was thoroughly delighted to hear Rayna finally lose an argument.
Rayna might be tempestuous, but Liberty Ashford Longstreet was unstop-pable once she set her mind to something.
It wasn’t until after supper that the Longstreet household finally settled down. Jenny hadn’t been willing to wait that long for her present, of course, and the porcelain-faced doll Meade had brought her was given a place of honor at the table while they ate. During the meal, Meade explained how he 200
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had made Rayna’s acquaintance, and Rayna, in turn, told them of the steps she had taken to procure Skylar’s release.
As they talked, Libby began to notice the strange, strained politeness that Meade and Rayna exhibited toward each other. They rarely looked at each other, and when they did, one or both looked quickly away. Theirs wasn’t the behavior of even the most casual friends, and Libby wasn’t quite sure what to make of them until she caught Meade looking at Rayna and Jenny as the little girl forced their guest to examine her new doll for the hundredth time. While Rayna patiently cooed over the newly christened “Matilda” and admired the doll’s starched white petticoats, Meade betrayed his feelings utterly by watching Rayna with an intense hunger Libby hadn’t believed he was capable of.
Obviously her original assumption about Meade and the woman he’d brought home hadn’t been wrong, after all, though Libby suspected that her brother was a long way from admitting that he had finally fallen in love. And what of the lady in question? Libby wondered. She hadn’t known Rayna long enough to truly like her or even to determine whether she reciprocated the feelings Meade was obviously trying to hide.
Only one thing was completely clear to Libby: There was a great deal more to the story they had related about their acquaintanceship than either of them had admitted over dinner.
Libby finally rescued Rayna from Jenny and put both children to bed.
Jedidiah, who had been even more taciturn than usual, seemed relieved when Libby came back downstairs carrying a carved wooden box. He fixed her with an impatient look.
“Can we get to it now?” he asked.
Meade frowned. “Get to what?”
“If you feel up to talking about it, we’d like to know more about Skylar,”
Libby said to Rayna, throwing an impertinent look at Jedidiah as she sat on the sofa beside Rayna and placed the box between them. “In particular, how she came to live with you.”
Rayna thought it an odd question, but she didn’t mind answering. “My father rescued her from a trio of Mexican slave traders while he was buying cattle in Sonora.” She went on to explain how Raymond had brought the frightened little girl home and ultimately adopted her.
“When did he get her from the slavers?” Jedidiah asked.