Free Texas Lily by Patricia Rice Page B

them quit. There are better men out there to be had for the asking. You're the boss, not those griping asses."
    When she didn't immediately respond, Cade turned on his heel and walked away. Lily stared after him, wishing for a gun. She couldn't believe he'd said that to her. She couldn't believe that he just might possibly be right. And she couldn't believe she was watching the man's broad shoulders and narrow hips like some love-starved adolescent as he walked away.
    As she envisioned what would happen as soon as that black man joined the ranks, Lily groaned and retraced her steps to the house. Maybe Ollie was right. Maybe she should never have hired Cade. But how in hell would she find another foreman to do the job as well as he?
    Lily didn't want to feel like she was losing control, but she was. That became more evident when her father returned in time for dinner, dragging Ollie Clark with him. Both of them were well on their way to being inebriated.
    At least Jim never got drunk. Lily was beginning to appreciate his few virtues more and more these days. Jim might have been boring, passionless, and single-minded, but he was a saint compared to most of the men in her life. Gritting her teeth, she saw the men seated in the main cabin, and she headed for the kitchen and Juanita. The evening meal ought to be right entertaining.
    Lily did her best to smile as the two men praised the food, complimented her appearance, and even tried to impress Roy with their interest. Roy had grown accustomed to his grandfather's vague addresses, but he didn't take kindly to Ollie's questioning on his riding lessons. He gave their handsome guest a look that very much resembled one Cade might have given and asked to be excused.
    "You be careful out there tonight," Lily admonished, as she gave Roy a hug and sent him out to join Cade for their lesson.
    Embarrassed, Roy pulled away, but he nodded obediently. "Cade says I'm good enough to ride out with the others," he reminded her.
    "And maybe you are, but you'll have to save your riding for the evenings now. Your books are more important during the day. Maybe Saturday."
    Roy stalked out without replying to that. He would develop a swagger just like Cade's if she didn't swat his little rear end soon, Lily decided before she returned her attention to her guests.
    "Lily, you give that boy too much rope. Your foreman is a bad influence on him," Ephraim admonished his daughter.
    "Cade is merely teaching him to ride, Daddy. We've been over this before. Would you rather I went out there and tried to teach him to ride like a man?"
    Since that was another topic that had become a sore point between them, Ephraim backed away before the gauntlet could be tossed. "Now, I know you're doing what you think is right, Lily. You've always been just like me and done things your way. But I think you're old enough to realize you can't always have the things you want. I know I criticized Jim when you wed, and I was wrong, but you ought to know I only want what's best for you."
    "I know that, Daddy. You'll just have to remember I'm not a little girl any longer. Would you and Ollie like another piece of cake?" Diverting their attention to food was always the easiest way out.
    But not this time. Her father leaned over the table and patted Lily's hand. "You being a grown woman is all the more reason I should look after you. If you're determined to stay out here and not come home where you belong, then you have to think about marrying again. Jim would want it, I'm sure."
    Lily wanted to close her eyes and scream. It would be such a relief to release the tensions of this day, and perhaps it would end the subject for once and for all. Or it would convince them she needed a keeper even more than ever. Resolutely, she rose from her chair, picking up her plate to carry it to the sink.
    "I'm not in the least bit interested in marrying again, Daddy. Jim hasn't even been gone for three months, and we can't be sure that he's gone at