Lorraine Heath by Sweet Lullaby Page A

barn. Rebecca turned, leaning her head against the rough bark of the tree as the tears wandered down her cheeks. It had been long ago and Jake had survived it. Her Jake, her sweet, gentle Jake.
    Jake slipped back into his shirt and took the plate Rebecca offered.
    “Do you mind if we go sit over there?” He nodded towards the tree that was offering Zach shade.
    “No, I don’t mind.”
    Together they walked over.
    “Mind if we join you?” Jake asked.
    “Not at all,” Zach said as he moved over to allow more room against the tree.
    Jake helped Rebecca lower herself to the ground before dropping his own lean frame down.
    “Ethan said you got the debts. What debts were those?”
    Zach laughed. “Seems Father not only enjoyed whoring, but gambling and drinking as well. Ironic, I thought, since I think one of your beatings came about because I got caught with a bottle of sour mash. Anyway, he owed just about everyone in town and they came to collect. We had to sell everything to pay off his debts.”
    “Sorry to hear that. You had a real nice ranch.”
    “Mother died pretty soon after that. The humiliation was too much for her.”
    “So you and Ethan came out here?”
    “Yep. Went down to Mexico, bought a few longhorns, stole a few, too. Been grazing them on the open range.” He eyed Jake. “Mostly your open range.”
    “I’m fixing to fence it off.”
    “Figured you would. I’d better warn you, Ethan won’t take kindly to it. Despite the fact the deed’s in your name, he thinks he has a right to this land. I don’t agree, but I’ve stayed with him so far because we’ve had no troubles.”
    “How many head do you have?”
    “Fifty.”
    “How can you make a profit with so few?” Rebecca asked. “By the time you drive them to market, you’d be lucky to break even.”
    Zach looked around Jake at Rebecca, then amused, his eyes came back to Jake. “I thought you married her because she was beautiful.”
    “I married her because she’s the best damn rancher I know.” He glanced over at his wife. “But now that you mention it, I guess she’s not so hard on the eyes.”
    Rebecca acknowledged Jake’s compliment by placing a hand on his thigh, a subtle action that did not escape Zach’s notice.
    “You’re avoiding my question, Mr. Truscott,” she said.
    “Call me Zach. A lot of men own only a few cattle, graze them on open range. We make a profit by combining our herds when it’s time to get them to market.”
    “We brought Hereford cattle from Kentucky,” Jake said. “I want to breed them with longhorns. Would you be interested in selling yours?”
    “I’ll think on it. I doubt Ethan will want to sell. I hear that ranchers are willing to pay seventy-five dollars a head for Herefords up in the Panhandle. You’d best guard yours well.”
    The meal ended and the men went back to work finishing off the barn, completing the project as the sun dipped down to touch the horizon. The men threw buckets of water on each other, washed down and slipped away to change into clean clothes as Carrie set the band up in one corner of the barn.
    Rebecca felt the warmth of Jake’s hand surrounding hers as music began to fill the newly built barn. She smiled up at him as he escorted her to its center, took her in his armsand began to waltz with her in time to the music.
    Zach had a difficult time keeping his eyes from straying to Rebecca. Her eyes danced as much as her feet as she was held in her husband’s arms. She was a beautiful woman. She could have had any man and she had chosen Jake.
    Zach had known many beautiful women, women who flirted, who looked at him through lowered lashes, laughed at a secret joke. Women who were married and still played the role of coquette. But Rebecca was unlike any of those women. She was never far from her husband’s side. Zach had only seen her dance with two men other than Jake. He strolled over and asked her for a dance.
    “You’re a beautiful woman, Rebecca,” he said