Free Arizona Territory by Dusty Richards Page A

cottonwoods and dancing on the water. I could have watched her all day. She came out and I went after a towel. That move worried her. She thought I was going to leave her. Then, when I dried her feet, she recalled Jesus doing that to his apostles at the Last Supper.”
    â€œOh, I see.”
    â€œHell, I simply wanted to touch her.”
    They both laughed.
    On their arrival at Preskitt, Liz had driven the buckboard to meet him. One of the ranch boys brought Valerie in another one. Valerie and Cole were hugging and kissing. Valerie pulled loose, ran over, and pulled Chet away from Liz. “Let me kiss him for sending Cole home early for me.”
    Valerie hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Liz, you’re so damn lucky. He is such a good man to all of us.”
    â€œOh, I know. I know.”
    Chet was back with his bride-to-be, all bundled up in a winter coat, but she wore her earrings under a red woolen shawl tied over her head.
    â€œYou can tell me how it went on the way home. You can drive,” she said.
    They shouted good-bye to the others and left for the ranch.
    He explained how they arrested the rustlers and got them to sign a confession. He also told her how Easter had given up after her husband died.
    â€œI did that, too. Such a bad thing to happen to anyone. But you know that. Oh yes, this week they brought me two of his colts from the Verde. Jimenez and I are working them.”
    â€œSo you have your horses that you stopped by for, at last?”
    â€œOh, they belong to everyone in the family.”
    â€œI am teasing you.”
    She hugged him. “Ah, yes, now this Mexican tramp is stealing his horses.”
    â€œDoes not being married worry you?”
    â€œNo, I just say that to be silly. Hombre , I am very proud to share your life with you.”
    â€œLet’s meet the priest and ask him if he can marry us.”
    â€œHe better. I am not moving out of the ranch house to please him.”
    â€œI’m glad. Everywhere I go I smell hay. I can’t believe how you did that to me.”
    â€œI admit I did it. That was where a boy would have taken me that night. See, I knew you were still a boy at heart.”
    â€œI am curious about your childhood. Somewhere, such things must have filtered through.”
    â€œOh, my parents were very rich. I was raised in a strict Catholic girls’ school. I learned about boys from myclassmates. I never had a chance to stray. Chaperones were always on hand. I learned to dance at arm’s length. At such an event, I might have two dances in an evening.
    â€œWhen my husband discovered me, I had never even kissed anyone. He swept into my life, kissed me, and we went off and danced in a cantina all night. My parents searched for me, and they even put a price on his head. A priest married us the next day, and by a fast private coach he took us from Mexico City to his Sonora hacienda . They disowned me. I have not contacted them since. That was their choice. My husband was an empire builder like you. There is a big hacienda in Sonora. His brother is not him, but he is capable enough to run it.
    â€œI never wanted another husband. After his death they came from silly boys to gray-headed old men, even one with a cane. They came like peacocks, and they thought I was some weak sister who needed their skills on how to run a hacienda and to spend my money.”
    â€œYou have no contact with your parents?”
    She shook her head. “My father is a dictator. I won’t put up with that.”
    â€œWhat does he do?”
    â€œHe is a big lawyer. He has been a federale judge.”
    â€œYour mother?”
    â€œShe does what he says.”
    â€œNo brothers or sisters?”
    â€œNone.”
    â€œYour husband treated you well?”
    â€œOh, we had fun. So much, I never thought it would end. I don’t think he spoiled me. Much like you did, taking me to the Verde Ranch to see the horses. I knew you wanted to be