Page 90 of Native Hawk
Too exhausted to feel fear, she charged from the bed to confront the intruder and defend Drew.
But when the distinguished, white-haired man with the rifle saw Catalina, he apologized. He’d apparently come to the wrong room.
“Who is it, Cat?” Drew mumbled from the bed.
Before she could answer, the man scowled at Drew and spoke to him in a nasty snarl. “Well, I see you’re showing your true colors, Mr. Wolf.”
Catalina frowned. Mr. Wolf? The man had mistaken Drew for his twin brother.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” he continued. “But Iamdisappointed. You could have at least waited till you left town to take up with…” Instead of speaking the slur, he gave Catalina a look of contempt.
Instantly furious, she bit out, “How dare you! Can you not see he’s hurt?”
“Cat,” Drew called weakly, “who are you talkin’ to?”
Her heart melted at the vulnerability in Drew’s voice. She hurried to his side. “Don’t worry,caro mio.I will make him go away.”
Before she could consider how she was going to do that, the door swung open, and in walked Claire with breakfast. She froze when she saw the intruder.
“Father!”
“Claire?”
Catalina wasn’t sure how Claire was going to explain things to her father. But while she made several attempts, Catalina studied the old gentleman.
So this was the rancher who Drew claimed had enslaved his grandmother. Samuel Parker was clearly upset, but he didn’t seem like a cruel man. And he seemed very out of sorts to be found in such an establishment.
Halfway through the discussion, Catalina realized Claire was letting her father believe that Drew was Chase. Samuel Parker probably didn’t even know Chase had a twin brother.
Catalina wasn’t sure this was the best course of action. What if Samuel Parker decided to put Drew in jail, thinking he was Chase?
When Claire tried to convince her father that the man in the bed was Chase, running her fingers through Drew’s hair and kissing his brow, Catalina made fists of her hands and choked back an outraged outburst of jealousy.
But when the rancher casually asked if the half-breed was going to live, Catalina could bear no more of the pretense, asking how he could ask such a thing. She rushed to the bed to take Drew’s hand in reassurance.“Va tutto bene.”
“Father, this is Chase’s…sister,” Claire said, “from Hupa.”
Catalina didn’t protest too much at that introduction. After all, it was partially true. She was going to be Chase’s sister-in-law soon.
What surprised Catalina was that Claire agreed to leave The Parlor and return home with her father, on the condition that he wouldn’t tell the sheriff where Chase was.
Catalina was impressed by her cleverness. If Claire loved Chase as much as Catalina loved Drew, it was an enormous sacrifice to leave him, she knew. So when Claire murmured, “Please take care of…Chase…for me,” Catalina nodded in understanding.
It was almost an hour after Claire and her father left that the real Chase came staggering into the room, wrapped in a sheet.
He wanted to know where Claire was. He wasn’t happy when Catalina told him she’d returned to her ranch. But he had to agree it was a good plan, at least for the time being.
Catalina could tell Chase truly cared about the woman he’d kidnapped. He was an intensely serious man, as one might expect in a person seeking vengeance. She sensed he was just as intensely serious about his feelings for Claire. She didn’t think he was dangerous, however, just determined, a bit overbearing, and somewhat lacking in charm.
In other words, he was nothing like his twin.
Catalina dipped her lace handkerchief in the basin of water again and dabbed tenderly at Drew’s brow.
“How is he?” Chase asked.
She wished she could tell. The doctor hadn’t been in yet this morning, and Drew had barely been conscious. She was naturally worried about him.
Still, she supposed there was no shortage of devoted caretakers at The Parlor. Here, Drew was a hero. For Miss Hattie, he’d brought in business. For Jenny, he’d given her a new life. He’d come to the rescue of the rest of the ladies against a gunman. And for Catalina…
