“Is that what you intend to do when this is over? Return to the stage?”
“I plan to buy a theater in San Francisco with my share of the inheritance. Wouldn’t that be something?” Excitement sparkled in her eyes. “The dream of a lifetime. And it would be my theater, so I could pick whatever role I wanted, and no one could say I wasn’t ready to play it.” She saw herself standing before a maroon-velvet curtain, bowing graciously and bending to pick up one of the many bouquets showering the stage. The dream was so real she could almost hear the applause.
“None of that will happen unless we get the herd to Abilene.”
They were back to the criticism. “I’m not the only drover on this drive,” she said defensively. Why did he always have to poke and prod until he made her angry?
“One careless puncher can cost the outfit several hundred steers. I’ve seen it happen. Or a cowboy who thinks he knows more than the trail boss and thereby makes a fatal mistake. I don’t want a maverick on this trip, Freddy. And that’s you.”
“You can’t stop me from going!” she said, anger blazing in her eyes.
“Yeah, I can.” They locked gazes. “And I can put you off the drive along the way. My problem is this: Can I trust you to follow instructions?”
There it was, the opening she’d been waiting for. “How do we know if we can trust you?”
His eyebrows clamped into a frown. “I’d say it’s a little late to question my reliability. That issue was decided the day you hired me. What the hell are you talking about?”
There had to be something wrong with her, Freddy decided, because the angry intensity in his eyes made her cheeks grow hot and stirred her physically, something she did not want.
Lifting her chin, she looked directly into his steady stare. “Mr. Hamm says he heard that you went to Lola’s house. He says you kissed Lola on her front porch, then went inside and stayed for over an hour.” Standing, she looked down at him. “Can you explain that?”
“Lay it out, Freddy. Exactly what are you accusing me of?”
“I’d prefer not to accuse you of anything.” Oddly, this was true, and it was an about-face from her initial reaction to the news. “My sisters and I prefer to give you a chance to explain. Then we’ll decide if this drive actually moves out tomorrow.”
Ward’s gossip about Frisco and Lola had struck her like a blow in the stomach, and raised confusing thoughts of yet another betrayal. Then she had realized that she had no claim on Dal Frisco nor he on her. Yet, she couldn’t bear to imagine him with Lola or any other woman.
“I went to Mrs. Roark’s house at her invitation to meet her representative, Jack Caldwell,” he said, sitting back in the swing. At once Freddy understood that standing had been a mistake. The light from the window revealed her expression, but hid his.
“Is it true that you kissed Lola?”
With a sinking heart she realized that he remained silent too long. Slowly the air ran out of her chest, and she sat down, wishing she hadn’t volunteered for this confrontation. Wishing she understood why Dal Frisco mattered so much and when and how such a thing had happened.
“I knew Lola during the war,” he said at length.
She gazed at the hard lines of his profile. “I see.” Jealousy burned the lining of her stomach and made her fists clench. Only by reminding herself that her future was at stake did she manage to force those feelings aside.
“No, you don’t see,” he objected angrily. “Lola and I were business partners in a deal that went sour. Lola double-crossed me and damned near got me killed.”
“But you kissed her at the door,” Freddy insisted, wishing he’d deny it.
“You know Lola; you figure out who kissed who.” Standing, he gazed down at her and the light from the window illuminated the anger thinning his mouth. “If you don’t trust me, then you aren’t going to believe anything I tell you. But you know my history, and maybe you’ll believe that I have a hell of a lot at stake in making this drive successful.” His eyes glittered. “You don’t have to trust that I’ll put your interests first, but you can sure as hell trust that I’ll put my interests first. If I don’t get this herd to Abilene, I’m finished. There won’t be another second chance.”
He’d taken offense at her reasonable demand for an explanation, and that made her angry. Feeling at a disadvantage because he was looming over her, she jumped to her feet. “We have a right to know if something is going on behind our backs,” she said sharply. “You have to know it looks bad to us, you toadying up to the person who stands to gain if we fail. What were we supposed to think about you going to her place and kissing her?”