The two blond women were kissing and hugging Jamie. Jamie was laughing in return and thanking both for coming.

Tess wasn't sure if she would lose her temper or her mind first.

"Excuse me!" she said, but there was too much noise. "Excuse me!" she shouted. The room went still. She looked around, and then said frankly, "Excuse me, but--who are you?"

"Jamie!" the taller woman wailed.

"You didn't tell her?" Tess smiled sweetly.

"No. No, he didn't tell me."

Jamie stepped forward.

"These are my brothers, Cole and Malachi. And their wives, Kristin and Shannon. And that's my nephew, Gabe. And I take it that Shannon and Malachi's twins are in the kitchen" -- "The little darlings!" Dolly said rapturously. "We've come because Jamie sent us a wire about von Heusen,"

Cole Slater told her.

Tess gasped. She stared at them all. So this was having a family.

They were so close. They knew one another so well.

They were happy and content, she could see it on their faces; they were serene with their world.

She shook her head.

"Thank you, but" -- She swung around on Jamie.

"Jamie, you can't--they could get killed here!"

"Well, ma'am, I'm not planning on getting killed," Malachi told her, tipping back his hat.

"I'm not planning on it at all. You see, we came to kill them if need be."

"You don't know von Heusen." "Oh," Kristin said cheerfully, "we have known men a great deal like him." She smiled, stepping forward.

"We're family, Tess. And that's what it's all about." She flashed Jamie a quick grin.

"My brother-in-law was always there when I needed him," she said.

"Oh!" Shannon said suddenly.

"Smell that! Oh, no, Jamie and Miss. Stuart have come home at last, and it seems we've let dinner burn!"

She swung around, then looked back.

"Well, isn't anyone hungry?"

And Tess realized she was starved.

She glanced at Jamie. She was still amazed, still in shock. But Kristin Slater set a hand upon her arm.

"Come on! I promise you, things will start to look more reasonable after a good dinner and a full night's sleep!"

Jamie shrugged.

Tess felt herself gently pulled along. Dinner. The perfect end to the.

perfect day?

Chapter Thirteen.

They had just reached the table when Jon Red Feather came in with Hank.

Tess let out a startled, joyful cry and raced to Jori, giving him a fierce hug.

"You did come back! You made it out, and you came back!"

"Of course," he told her.

"Someone had to be here to welcome the Slaters. I mean, this is practically a tribe. Have you realized that yet?"

"A tribe!" Kristin said indignantly.

"Sit down, Jon, and watch your tongue, if you will. Jamie, by the way, you should marry this girl before you find out that you've got compet.i.tion on your hands."

Jon laughed, and Tess flushed. She wasn't sure about Jamie's reaction.

Kristin Slater started calmly doling out food into the numerous plates on the table. It was a good thing it was a big house.

Uncle Joe, you would have loved to have seen this! she thought.

"If everyone would come sit down," Malachi said, pouting wine into the gla.s.ses around the table, "I think that Jon has something to tell Tess and Jamie."

"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact." Jon walked to the table and picked up a gla.s.s of wine. He smiled at Tess and Jamie. "Cheers," he said, raising his gla.s.s to his lips.

"Will you all please sit!" Cole said emphatically.

Tess sat at her own dining table--as she had been so politely orderedl Jamie sat beside her, and they stared at Jon, who looked at them.

"I have discovered why von Heusen is so particularly eager to seize hold of your land, Miss. Stuart."

Tess gasped, and she and Jamie stood.

"Why?" Tess demanded.

Jon smiled, swirling his wine.

"The railroad." "Oh, my G.o.d!" Jamie said, sinking into his chair.

Tess stared at him. He obviously understood completely what was going on, but she didn't have the least idea.

"What?"

"Miss. Stuart," Cole Slater told her, drawing out a chair and sitting back in it, "the railroad is coming through here.

That means that this property is going to go sky-high in value. If you wanted to sell some land straight, it would be worth a small fortune."

"But there's more," Jon Red Feather told her softly.

"If 9ou do sell just the necessary land, the rest of your property will still go sky-rocketing in value--you'll be able to send your produce right out from your own doorstep. Tess, you're sitting on the best land this side of the Mississippi. And that's why von Heusen has been so desperate to get rid of you. With this property in his hands, he could really control a good percentage of western Texas."

Tess smiled slowly, looking at Jamie.

"But--but he can't touch any of it now. He must know that! Half of it is in your name, and even if we hadn't returned" -- "Ownership would have come to Cole and me and our families," Malachi supplied for her.

"Well, he must know that."

"He does know that," Jon said. Gabe was sitting beside him, and he tousled the lad's brown hair to be rewarded with a fascinated smile. Jon smiled in turn, then gave Tess his attention again.

"I let it be known that Jamie had found you and that he'd be bringing you home. I also went to see Edward Clancy and had him print up the arrival of Cole and Malachi--and I stressed the ability of the Slater brothers with their small arms."

"A couple of von Heusen's men rode out here the other day. But we uninvited them quickly," ICRISTIN said, heaping mashed potatoes on a plate to pa.s.s to Jori. "Cole or Malachi scared them away?" Tess asked.

"Oh, no, Shannon did," Kfistin said.

"She's an ace."

"I'm a decent shot," Shannon said demurely.

"She can hit a fly's eye at a hundred yards," Malachi said drily.

They all laughed, but' Cole sobered quickly and spoke to Jamie in low, even tones.

"The point is, this von Heusen knows that scare tactics aren't going to work with Miss. Stuart anymore. No one can quite fathom what he'll pull next."

"Well, he'll have more to worry about after tomorrow," Tess said firmly.

"I'm going to go to the paper and I'm going to give Clancy another front-page story. It's going to be all about David and Jeremiah and Mr.

yon Heusen's orders to see that I never returned."

"There might be a few problems with that," Jon advised her.

"Why?"

" Tess asked.

"Because Clancy and your printer gave in at last. Someone shot a few windows yesterday, and by last night, Clancy had thrown in the towel. He wanted you to know that he was sorry."

Tess inhaled and exhaled.

"I can do it myself," she said. "You won't have to do it yourself,"

Kristin corrected her, sitting at last with her own plate.

"Dolly and Jane can keep the children here, and Shannon and I will come in and help you with the press. If you give us directions, we can surely follow them. The three of us will go into town first thing in the morning" -- "NOV' Jamie said emphatically.

"I have to," Tess began, turning, ready to give battle. "Jamie, I've told you" -- "The three of you aren't going anywhere alone," he intempted harshly.

"It isn't safe. Dammr to h.e.l.l, Tess! Don't you understand yet?"

"I understand that the newspaper has always been my maj or weapon."

"But right now it isn't enough. Okay, we'll go. You'll do your d.a.m.ned article, but we'll go together. Tess, what do I have to say to get through to you? When yon Heusen attacks again, it's going to be all-out war."

She wanted to retort. She was furious. He was right, of course, but she still wanted to yell at him.

Fighting desperately to hold her tongue, she looked at Jon.

"How did you find all this out?"

He shrugged.

"I was still in buckskins when I came back, and I didn't change before I made a visit into town. Von Heusen had one of his guns follow me. I knew it, so I doubled back and got hold of him. As it happened, Cole and Malachi had been riding in to meet me." "And," Malachi said, grinning, "Jon just happened to be dressed for the occasion."

Tess was still confused. Kristin sighed and explained. "Cole and Malachi convinced von Heusen's hired goon that Jon was scarcely more than a raw savage and that he actually delighted in human flesh. Between the three of them they barely had to touch the fellow before he was spilling everything he had ever known in his life."

Tess smiled and glanced at Jamie.

He was not smiling. She looked away quickly, pushing a piece of roast around on her plate. They were a lot alike, the Slater brothers. Cole was the darkest, with golden eyes--his little boy had those eyes, even though he had his mother's soft blond hair. Malachi was a golden blond with blue eyes, and Jamie was sandy-haired with his smoke gray and silver eyes. But the planes of their faces were similar, strong and hard and weathered. She realized suddenly that she would trust any of the brothers with anything she had.

And she didn't really mean to keep fighting Jamie. It just kept coming out that way.

He stood up suddenly, his chair sc.r.a.ping back.

"That was a fine meal, Kristin, Shannon--Dolly?"

"We all contributed," Kristin told him.

"Well, thank you, but I think I need a little air. You got a good cheroot on you anywhere, Cole?"

"Sure," said his brother, rising as well. He stopped by his wife's chair and kissed her tenderly at the base of the neck before following Jamie out.