The Pregnant Proposition

CHAPTER ONE: THE FIRST STEP

“The first step in initiating a successful breeding program is taking the time to observe the available animals. Begin by evaluating temperament as well as physical soundness, or the lack thereof…”

Successful Breeding: A Guide for the Cattleman

From the top of the hill, Allyson Cabrerra caught sight of the black pickup as it pulled off the shimmering highway onto the graveled patch that served the old cemetery for parking. Brand-spanking-new and disgustingly expensive, the tricked-out diesel was the kind that in the tiny town of Tangleweed only an O’Malley would own.

Sure enough, the dust hadn’t settled around the truck’s shiny chrome hubcaps before Troy Michael O’Malley climbed out.

Ally stiffened—the involuntary reaction of all Cabrerras whenever they spotted an O’Malley—and glanced across the gleaming black casket at her four older brothers. None had noticed Troy yet. All stood with their backs to the road, boots firmly planted on the coarse buffalo grass that littered the hillside, the scent of cedar thick in the hot air. Hats clasped in their work-roughened hands, their dark heads were bowed beneath the searing, west Texas sun as they listened to Reverend Smith pray for their late maternal great-aunt, Eileen Hennessey.

“Hear us, oh Lord, in our time of sorrow and grief…”

Neither Sue Ellen Pickart nor Emma Mae Downs, contemporaries of Ally’s late great-aunt, noticed Troy either. Flanking Ally’s right, Sue Ellen—who enjoyed funerals almost as much as her daily soaps—had her plump face buried in a crumpled pink tissue and was sobbing so noisily even the Reverend’s deep baritone could barely be heard above her wailing. On Ally’s left, Emma—there to cover the “event” for the vintage Tangleweed Times and the town website—stood with wrinkled cheeks sucked in and eyes tightly closed as she concentrated on punctuating each of the Reverend’s utterances with a hearty “amen.”

Next to Emma, Janie Smith, the Reverend’s daughter, faithfully echoed the older women’s outbursts in a faint, breathless voice. Her pale cheeks reddened from the heat and painful shyness, Janie kept her eyes fixed on the toes of her flat-heeled shoes, obviously trying to avoid drawing the attention of any of those “alarming” Cabrerra brothers.

No one else had bothered to attend the funeral. The Cabrerra siblings weren’t especially social—discounting the brothers’ interactions with the single women in the county—and during the last twenty of her eighty-some years, Aunt Eileen had been a virtual hermit. So only Ally saw Troy stand by his truck a long moment looking up toward the small funeral party before he reached back in the cab to pull out a bunch of yellow flowers.

Then, slamming the door shut, he began walking toward the cemetery gate.

Ally tried to ignore him, to concentrate solely on her feelings for her late great-aunt, but her emotions were regretfully vague. The sad truth was, Aunt Eileen had always kept an emotional distance from everyone when alive, and death hadn’t brought her any closer.

Troy, on the other hand, was moving much closer. From the corner of her eye, Ally watched him as the Reverend droned on.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . .“

“Amen!” declared Emma.

“Amen,” whispered Janie.

“Boo, hoo!” sobbed Sue Ellen, sniffing.

“I will fear no evil…”

Ally “amened” absently with the other women as the Reverend paused once again, but her attention remained on Troy. She didn’t fear him, of course—but only a fool took her eyes off a moving snake. This snake, she noted, had a hitch in his step, most likely a legacy from the awkward way he’d fallen when bull riding at the rodeo last Saturday, after beating out her second oldest brother Kyle by six points.

“… In the presence of my enemies…”

“Amen!”

“Amen.”

“Boo Hoo!”

“I will trust in the Lord…”

You certainly couldn’t trust an O’Malley, Ally reflected, unless maybe you were one. Troy and his grandfather Mick were pretty tight; she’d give them that much. And although Troy’s second cousins had all moved out of state, they flocked back to the O’Malley homestead every Christmas, as faithful as geese migrating to a favorite pond.

Troy must have come to place flowers on his family’s plot, Ally decided, as he strode toward the well-tended grave sites surrounded by a wrought iron railing. The oldest stones memorialized victims of the Civil War, followed by the local Hoodoo War casualties; newer ones, the men lost in later battles. Like the Cabrerras, generations of O’Malleys were buried up and down the hillside, starting with Seamus O’Malley who’d first arrived from Ireland and ending with Troy’s parents. But when Troy didn’t even pause to glance at the elaborate headstone on his parents’ grave, located a bare ten feet away from the more modest one that marked her own parents, Ally tensed once again.

He can’t be coming here, she thought, as he continued to make his way through the maze of grave sites. Troy might be arrogant, but she’d never thought he was stupid.

But apparently she’d overestimated his mental abilities, because Troy kept walking.

“Who shall ascend onto the hill of the Lord?” the Reverend demanded, gazing down at his Bible as Troy started up the worn path toward the funeral party. “Who shall stand in his holy place?”

Not Troy, Ally decided, eying his steady approach. Or at least, he wouldn’t be standing long once her brothers caught sight of him. If Kyle didn’t throw him back down the hillside, then the twins surely would. Lincoln and Luke were still pissed off about a fight they’d gotten into with Troy a couple weeks ago in Big Bob’s Bar and Grill, resulting in a decree by the local sheriff—heartily upheld by Big Bob—forbidding any of the brawlers to return for at least a month.

“Only he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart can enter the lord’s domain…” the Reverend declared.

A pure heart? That was something an O’Malley could never claim. Just look at how Troy’s grandfather had treated poor Aunt Eileen. And what had happened with Troy and Misty Sanderson.

“Only he may enter who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully…”

Well, that definitely left Troy out. All the O’Malleys were deceitful, from old Mick on down; Ally had learned that in her cradle. As for vanity—please! She rolled her eyes upward toward the glaring blue sky. Troy O’Malley was so vain she was surprised he didn’t carry a full-length mirror around with him. Yeah, he knew how attractive he was—to women whose intelligence quotient was equal to their bust size anyway. At the Houston Rodeo last spring Ally had actually seen a woman trip over her own pink, pedicured toes and fall face down into the sawdust when Troy slanted a wicked, green-eyed glance her way.

“He shall receive blessings from the Lord…”

And not only had Troy been blessed with good looks, he’d been blessed with the money to play them up as well. When bull riding he wore the usual cowboy outfit of Western shirt and Wranglers, but today he was dressed, as Aunt Eileen would have said, fit for a funeral or Sunday dinner. His charcoal gray suit made his broad build look leaner and taller. His white shirt was crisp, his hand-tooled boots polished. He made Ally conscious suddenly that none of her brothers in their well-worn jackets, looked half so slick. That beneath her wide-brimmed straw hat her dark hair needed cutting and her navy blue dress—bought for her high school graduation over six years earlier—had never been very becoming to begin with.

Her eyes narrowed on Troy’s tanned face, which was shadowed by his expensive gray Stetson as he reached the top of the rocky path. A hot flush of resentment swept over her. It wasn’t a person’s clothes that were important, but what kind of person they were, she told herself. Still, she wished she’d taken more time with her appearance. Because apparently not content with the ill-will that already existed between their families, for the past year Troy had elevated the conflict to a more personal level by needling Ally every chance he got. And, oh, how she hated supplying him with ammunition.

Irritably, she brushed the perspiration off her temples with the back of her hand and shoved some straggling strands of hair, frizzing in the heat, back under her hat.

At her movement Troy looked up. Their gazes locked. For a second his expression remained inscrutable as his green eyes flickered over her face. Then he smiled, his expression shifting to the slightly mocking look Ally knew all too well.

She scowled in return, and Troy’s smile broadened. Ally must have made a disgusted sound, because Janie glanced at her questioningly then followed her gaze as the Reverend concluded.

“Amen!” intoned Emma Mae.

“A-man! I mean, amen!” gasped Janie, her hand flying up to cover her mouth.

“Boo—Oooooh!” wheezed Sue Ellen, her plump face brightening as she too caught sight of Troy.

Kyle’s head had jerked up at Janie’s gasp. He turned—stiffening at the sight of an O’Malley approaching from less than ten feet away. Without removing his gaze from Troy, Kyle elbowed Linc hard in the ribs. Linc stumbled against Luke, who slipped on the rocky hillside, his arms flailing briefly before he regained his balance.

Ally winced, amazed as always that her leggy brother could be so graceful in the saddle, and so awkward standing on his own two feet. But Luke’s clumsiness was forgotten as she caught sight of her oldest brother’s face as he too glanced back at Troy. Although all the Cabrerras had their Latino father’s black hair and golden skin, they’d inherited their Irish mother’s eyes—a dark true blue. In the harsh sunlight, however, Cole’s narrowed gaze looked like slits of frozen blue ice.

For once, the Reverend appeared speechless. Silence fell on the small group, broken only by the sound of cicadas buzzing in the bushes and Sue Ellen’s wheezy breathing.

“What are you doing here, O’Malley?” Cole finally demanded.

“Paying my final respects to Miss Hennessey,” Troy replied, moving forward to stand next to Ally, so close his broad shadow enveloped her smaller one on the dusty ground. When he removed his hat, his arm brushed hers and she edged away. He glanced down at her, adding with an exaggerated drawl in his voice, “I considered her a friend of mine.”

His challenging gaze lifted again to sweep the small party. Cole’s face hardened even more and Kyle and the twins shifted restlessly. Ally could almost feel the tension rising in the hot still air as the men eyed each other without blinking. The Reverend must have felt it, too, because he suddenly cleared his throat. His deep voice was extra hearty as he declared, “Welcome, Troy, welcome. Now let us all join together in reciting the Lord’s Prayer.”

Emma led the way, followed dutifully by Janie and absently by Sue Ellen, who’d forgotten to sob and was quivering with excitement as her avid-eyed gaze darted back and forth between Cole and Troy, reminding Ally irresistibly of Emma’s plump poodle eying a gourmet treat. Ally prayed along, too, and one by one the men added their voices to the mix. But even as the group reached “as we forgive those who trespass against us,” it wasn’t forgiveness that Ally saw on any of the hard, masculine faces surrounding her.

Still, they made it through the rest of the short service without incident. No one said a word, not even when Troy laid yellow roses—Aunt Eileen’s favorites—on the casket, their heavy, sweet perfume thickening the air and drawing gnats their way. It wasn’t until the group had made its way back down the hill that tempers flared once again.

Troy started it, of course. The O’Malleys were always starting trouble. Troy stood silent as Cole—pointedly ignoring Troy—invited the rest of the funeral party to the ranch house. But when Ally turned to follow the small group heading toward their cars, Troy caught her by the elbow to stop her.

His grasp was light, but his long fingers radiated heat, making her skin prickle beneath her sleeve. Pulling away from his grip, she shot him a suspicious look.

He stared down at her, his expression solemn for once. “My sympathy for your loss.”

“Thank you,” she responded warily.

Her cautious tone made the corners of his eyes crinkle slightly with amusement, but his tone remained serious as he said, “This isn’t the time or place to do business, but I’d like to meet with you this week. To discuss Bride’s Price.”

Before Ally could respond, Cole—who’d turned back to see what was going on—reached her side. “There’s nothing to discuss, O’Malley,” Cole stated, as the rest of the party rejoined them. Taking her other arm, Cole tugged Ally further away from Troy, adding, “I told you three days ago Bride’s Price isn’t for sale.”

Troy met Cole’s stare with narrowed eyes. “Yeah, you told me that. What you didn’t tell me was that your sister’s the one Miss Hennessey left the land to.” His gaze caught Ally’s. “Didn’t she?”

She nodded and Cole spoke up again. “Ally owns the land,” he conceded, “but my aunt put it in a trust—to be controlled by me—until Al turns thirty or marries.” His voice dropped to a harsh, taunting tone. “She’s only twenty-four, O’Malley. Why don’t you come back and ask her again in six years?”

Cole didn’t add, “or when she gets married,” Ally noticed. Clearly her brother didn’t even consider that a possibility. Her glance swept the rest of the faces intently watching the exchange. Nor, she realized wryly, did anyone else.

Including Troy O’Malley. Eyes narrowing, he frowned at her brother, then bit out, “All right, if you won’t sell, then I’ll lease Bride’s Price from you,” and he named a sum that made Cole’s dark eyebrows lift involuntarily in surprise and Ally’s heart leapt with excitement. With that kind of money, she could—

“Sorry,” Cole said, interrupting Ally’s thoughts. He didn’t look sorry, however, but grimly satisfied as he added, “But the answer’s still no.”

A muscle flexed in Troy’s square jaw. “That parcel is O’Malley land. You know it and I know it. It was in my family for generations. And now that Eileen’s gone, it’s time to return it to its rightful owners.”

“All I know is that your grandfather deeded that land to my great-aunt over sixty years ago,” Cole gritted out, “and it now belongs to our family.”

“He only gave it to her because they were betrothed. It was a family tradition.”

“He gave it to her as a gift,” Ally corrected Troy before Cole could reply. “There were no strings attached.”

Troy spared her an impatient glance. “He was expecting to marry her.”

“I see,” Ally said thoughtfully. “So Mick was actually giving himself a gift. How like an O’Malley,” she drawled, and watched Troy’s scowl darken. Pleased by the sight, she added, “Rather stupid of him to cheat on her then, wasn’t it?”

This time the look Troy returned was longer, running her up and down before coming to rest on her face. “Men often do stupid things when it comes to women.”

“I certainly won’t argue with an expert on that,” Ally answered, looking him up and down just as deliberately as he’d done to her.

One of the twins snickered, while Sue Ellen gasped excitedly. Emma clucked her tongue.

But Troy merely stared at her a moment longer, silently promising future retribution, before his gaze shifted to meet Cole’s again. He gave a shrug. “What’s past is past. It doesn’t have any bearing on my offer to either buy or lease that land—offers you’d be wise to rethink, Cabrerra.”

“Oh, yeah?” Cole drawled, widening his stance and placing his hands on his hips. “Why’s that?”

“Because from what I hear you’ve spread yourself thin lately, financially speaking, and can use the money.”

Cole didn’t like that; Ally could tell by the way his voice grew soft. “Where’d you hear that?”

“From a mutual friend,” Troy drawled, his tone just as soft and even more taunting than Cole’s had been.

The mutual friend, Ally knew, had to be Misty. Apparently her oldest brother knew it, too, because for a second, sheer hatred burned in Cole’s icy eyes. He took a step in Troy’s direction. Troy stepped forward to meet him, and funeral or no funeral, there would have been a fight—Ally was sure of it—but the Reverend grasped Cole’s arm, holding him back.

Cole didn’t resist the Reverend, but he didn’t look away from Troy’s steady gaze either. “Later, O’Malley.”

Troy nodded. “Yeah, later,” and with a final, mocking look at Ally, and a polite tilt of his hat to the other women, he turned and headed toward the parking area.

The other men slowly followed, while the women stood in silence, watching until Troy climbed into his pickup.

“Well, thank goodness that’s over, and without violence, too,” Sue Ellen said, disappointment heavy in her quavery voice as Troy’s truck spewed gravel pulling out of the tiny lot, then sped down the highway with small tornados of dust churning behind its oversized tires. She heaved a sigh, then patted Ally’s arm as they started walking toward the cars again. “You are so lucky, dear, to have four brothers to watch out for you!”

“You certainly are!” Emma stated.

Ally wasn’t sure she agreed. She planned to talk to Cole as soon as possible concerning the decisions he’d made—without consulting her, thank you very much!—about Bride’s Price. But for the next two hours she was too busy playing hostess to even try to catch Cole alone. The meal was potluck as was traditional in Tangleweed following a funeral. On autopilot, Ally served up Emma’s tuna and pea casserole and the plump German sausages Sue Ellen had brought, then made sure everyone had plenty of coffee and second helpings of the famous apple strudel Daisy has sent over from her diner, while her mind lingered on Troy’s offer.

After eating, everyone remained in the big kitchen talking around the scarred mahogany table that had once been Ally’s mother’s pride and joy. Glad the meal was over, Ally pushed her chair back from the table and stretched out her legs, slouching down in her seat as a wave of weariness swept over her.

Like many of the homes in the area, the Cabrerra ranch house was built of thick limestone blocks, excavated by the earliest settlers well over a hundred years ago. A bathroom complete with claw tub had been added in the thirties; a gas stove had replaced the wood burning one in the fifties. Since then, not much else had been done to the place. Ally had worked hard the past week, cleaning the ranch house and trying—with limited success—to brighten the old kitchen by bringing in flowers and replacing the dingy curtains with crisp white ones she’d bought with money skimmed from the grocery allowance. Nothing, however, could hide the chips in the yellow tile counters, or the battered condition of the cupboard doors. And when she caught Emma Mae looking critically at the cracked linoleum on the floor, Ally said a shade defensively, “We’re redoing the whole kitchen, you know. Right after the next stock sale.”

Cole frowned at her across the table, shaking his head, and Ally tilted her head inquiringly in return. Did he want their plans to remain a secret for some reason? If so, tough luck, because Emma declared bluntly, “I’m glad to hear it. This house can use some updating,” and if Emma knew something—not to mention Sue Ellen—the whole town would soon know about it, too.

Perplexed by Cole’s strange behavior, Ally remained silent as the conversation rambled from the sorry state of beef prices, to the never-ending heat, to the merits of the new computer that Cole had recently purchased to replace their old model. Only half-listening, Ally was jerked from her thoughts when Emma announced she’d redone the town website.

“You did?” Ally repeated. She glanced at the older woman in surprise. “That must have been a lot of work.”

“It wasn’t too bad on the new computer the O’Malleys donated to the town. Janie helped me,” Emma added, nodding at the younger woman—an action which caused Janie’s cheeks to turn bright pink as everyone looked her way. Ignoring Janie’s embarrassment, Emma added, “As a librarian, she knows plenty about computers. We posted all the information from the schools as well as the latest issue of the Tangleweed Times. Most people prefer to read it online now, although a few still pay for a paper copy.”

Ally was impressed with the women’s initiative; much less so with the O’Malleys’ generosity. Unlike Sue Ellen, who chirped repeatedly, “How kind of the O’Malleys to do something so generous, so good for the town!” she didn’t think a couple of thousand was that big a deal to a family that was obscenely rich. But, oh, what a difference a few thousand could make in her own life!

Possibly the Reverend had the same thought in regards to the new roof the church needed, or maybe—like Ally—he noticed the way the Cabrerra males all fell silent at the name O’Malley. In either case, he announced he and Janie needed to get home, and the small party quickly dispersed, with Emma’s ancient Cadillac soon tailgating the Reverend’s practical compact down the long driveway as they headed back to town.

The Cabrerra brothers disappeared almost as quickly. Lincoln and Luke went to the barn to tinker with a broken ATV fuel pump, while Kyle saddled up and rode out to check on the stock in the south pasture. Cole, as he did every evening, retreated to the study.

Ally was left with the cleaning up. She glanced around the kitchen, her mouth tightening. When needed, she helped brand, sort, feed and work cattle. She could muck out the barn, till a garden, and mend a fence. But while it would never occur to any of her brothers to stand idly by while she worked outside on the ranch, it also never occurred to any of them to volunteer to pitch in with the often less physical but more tedious chores in the house. And lately when she asked for help, their attitude was so much of someone doing her a favor, that she preferred to just do it all herself.

So she set to work putting away the leftover food, wiping down the chipped tile countertops and table, and doing the dishes. Once finished, she hesitated for a moment, absently straightening the damp towel hanging beneath the farmhouse sink as she glanced out the window across the yard toward the barn. The searing sun was setting, easing the harsh daytime heat. She longed to saddle up old Boomer and go for an evening ride, explore down by the dry riverbed or maybe catch up with Kyle to check out the progress the boys had made mending the fence in the southwest pasture. Instead, she put a slice of strudel on a plate and resolutely headed down the hall in search of Cole.

When she reached the study, she paused, leaning her shoulder against the door jamb as she glanced over to where her oldest brother sat behind their father’s big carved desk. Cole was staring unseeingly out the window at the same view she’d admired a few minutes earlier. Although evening had edged in, the light filtering through the wavy glass was still bright enough to highlight the faint lines etched beside his eyes, the creases in his lean, tanned cheeks and the stern set of his mouth and strong jaw.

He wasn’t smiling; he rarely smiled anymore, Ally realized. He’d always been rather serious, but at least he used to be more approachable. It had been big brother Cole whom Ally had run to with her childish problems after their mother had suddenly died in a horseback riding accident when Ally was only four. And Cole who’d comforted her when their father, after a long heartrending battle, finally succumbed to lung cancer when she was fourteen.

Remembering those dark times Ally sighed, and Cole glanced over at her. His blue eyes softened as he saw the plate in her hands.

“Come to fatten me up, Al?” he asked, as she walked toward him.

“I noticed you didn’t have any dessert earlier.” She set the plate on a pile of papers littering the big desk. “And you might as well enjoy some while you can, because when we start the kitchen remodeling—”

“Actually,” Cole interrupted her, pushing the strudel aside, “I wanted to talk to you about that. We’re going to have to wait with the kitchen.”

Ally sank down in the chair in front of the desk to stare at him in dismay. “Why?”

“Because we just don’t have the money right now to start a major project on the house.” Reading the disappointment in her expression, he added apologetically, “I was going to discuss it all with you, but I just couldn’t seem to find the right time.”

Her lips tightened. “You mean you couldn’t find the right way to tell me that the new kitchen that was so all-fired important when you were planning on bringing a wife home, became considerably less so when it came to your sister.”

Cole straightened in his chair. “That’s not the way it was at all. I knew we had to have a new computer—” he nodded at the machine that sat center stage, glowing softly on the broad oak desk “—but I didn’t expect to have to replace the engine on the pickup this year as well as get another baler.” His deep voice sharpened defensively. “You know we can’t do without either of those, and the new computer will make charting the breeding records, as well as doing the books, a hundred times faster and easier.”

“And buying a new stove and dishwasher would make my work a hundred times faster and easier, too.” Ally slumped down in her chair, shaking her head in frustration. “For crissakes, Cole, the oven door falls off every time I open it too far. Do you know how hard it is to pull out a pan of hot biscuits with one hand, while trying to keep the oven door on with the other?”

“Okay, I’m sorry.” He leaned back and sighed, running a hand through his thick, dark hair. “I’ll have Linc weld a new hinge on it tomorrow. And as soon as we can afford it, I’ll buy you a new stove. I promise.”

Ally wasn’t impressed by his assurance. “If you let George Vorquez go, we could afford the stove right now.”

Ally knew that George Vorquez, the land-claims man Cole had hired to prospect for oil, was one of the most respected geologists in the county. But if their father, who had the Circle C tested years ago, hadn’t met with success, she doubted they’d have any now.

But Cole’s jaw tightened. He picked up his fork, and moodily stabbed at the crust of the strudel. “Oil’s there, Al. I know it is. It just takes time and a bit of money to find it. And then we’ll be richer than we ever dreamed of being.”

“So instead of putting in a new kitchen, you’re taking a slim gamble that we’ll find oil.”

“It isn’t a gamble, Ally,” Cole said firmly. “It’s an investment.”

“Fine. Whatever.” Ally refused to argue with him on a subject she knew he wouldn’t budge on. “The point is, Cole, you’re not being fair to me.”

“I said we’ll fix the stove—”

“Not just with that. With other things, too.”

“Like what?”

“Like—” She tried to think of a recent example. “Like when you got the new phones. You gave one to Kyle, one to each of the twins and kept the other one for yourself. Without discussing it with me at all.”

“I wasn’t trying to slight you, Al. The plan just came with four, so I handed them out to the boys, and figured you could share with me.”

“I don’t want to share with you. I want my own.”

“But why? Who are you planning on calling?”

“No one,” she admitted, giving up on the battle. “And there’s no one planning to call me.”

His face softened. “Sure there is. Tell you what—you can have the one I kept. I’ll share with Kyle.”

She looked at him helplessly. He just didn’t get it. The problem was, she didn’t want to always feel like Cole—or the others—were doing her a favor. She wanted them to recognize that she worked just as hard as they did. That she’d earned her share. “It’s not the phone, Cole. It’s that you don’t treat me like an equal. You don’t discuss anything with me. Not anything concerning the ranch or the house. Not even Bride’s Price.”

Cole’s frowning eyes lifted to meet hers. “What about it?”

“Don’t you think you should have consulted me before refusing Troy’s offer?”

Cole shifted his gaze back to the strudel. He gave it another poke. “No.”

“That’s my land, Cole.”

Setting his fork aside, Cole leaned back in his chair, his dark eyebrows lifting as he met her eyes once again. “No one says it isn’t. But I’m the one Eileen put in charge to look out for your best interests.”

Ally folded her arms across her chest. “And that’s what you were doing today? Protecting my interests?”

“Of course. What else would I be doing? We need that grass for the herd.”

“Don’t give me that. We have more than enough range for the stock we’re running right now. You know and I know that if anyone else had wanted to lease that land, you would have agreed in a red-hot minute. The only reason you refused is because it was Troy O’Malley making the offer.”

Cole’s stern mouth curled in a grim smile. “Seems like a good enough reason to me.”

“Well, not to me.”

His smile faded and his blue gaze narrowed on her face. “Since when have you become so concerned about Troy O’Malley?”

She gave a short laugh, waving a dismissing hand at the thought of mocking green eyes. “I’m not concerned with him at all. What I want—what I need—is that money he offered. To put my own plans into action.”

“What plans?”

“To move out—into Eileen’s old house.”

Cole snorted. “You’re kidding me. Why would you want to move out there?”

“To be able to do what I want.”

Cole frowned at her, genuinely perplexed. “That’s ridiculous. What can you do at Eileen’s house that you can’t do here?”

I could paint the place pink, hang lace curtains at all the windows if I decide to, without some cowboy groaning about it. I wouldn’t have to clean up constantly after four messy men. I could put on lipstick and eye shadow—experiment with make-up—without being teased that I look like a rodeo clown. I could take hour-long baths without an irritable male pounding on the door asking “have you died in there?” And I could go out on dates, stay out all night if I choose to, without one or all of my four brothers intimidating the hell out of the poor guy I’d gone out with.

She was fed up with being the fifth, inferior Cabrerra brother, Ally realized. She just wanted to be by herself—run her own life, make her own decisions—without any bossy men telling her what she should and shouldn’t do.

But Cole wouldn’t understand any of that; he’d simply dismiss it as female nonsense. So Ally gave him a reason he could understand. “I want to start my own business. Breeding and training horses.”

Cole’s expression tightened. “That’s a dream, Ally. There’s no money in that.” Impatiently, he pushed aside the plate she’d brought, shaking his head. “Cattle is our concern.”

“Our major concern. I want to start a side business, breeding and training Peruvian Pasos for working herds and pleasure riding.”

Exasperation flickered across his face. “Peruvian Pasos,” he repeated flatly. “What’s wrong with good old American quarter horses?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. But I want to develop Peruvians.”

He took a deep breath, clearly summoning patience. “Fine. But we can’t afford to support two households right now, or invest in more horses. Maybe in a few years—”

“I don’t want to wait a few years, anymore than you want to wait years to find out if there’s oil on our land. Not if I don’t have to. And giving that lease to Troy means that I don’t have to.”

“I’m not leasing Bride’s Price to Troy O’Malley.”

Ally’s spine stiffened, and her gaze narrowed on her brother’s stubborn face. “No?” she asked softly. “Is that because he’s an O’Malley? Or because he stole Misty from you?”

She shouldn’t have said it; Ally regretted the comment as soon as it left her lips. Cole jerked back as if she’d slapped him and his expression turned to stone.

When he finally replied, he didn’t answer her questions but stated in a flat hard voice he’d never used to her before, “O’Malley is not getting that lease. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Not waiting for her reply, he pushed back his chair and strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.

Ally sat still for a moment, frozen in place by the force of his anger, hurt constricting her throat and causing a prickly burning behind her eyes.

Then an answering anger rose up inside her. Blinking the pain away, she glared at the closed door.

“Oh, yes, there is something I can do, brother dear,” she said softly. “I can get married.”

Buy to continue reading