Angel Creek by Linda Howard

you.” He tipped his hat again and stepped past her, followed by both of his men.
    As the second hired hand passed he, too, tipped his hat, surprising Olivia into darting a quick look at his face. She had only a fast impression of black hair, darkly tanned skin, and black eyes warm with admiration before he was past her, but the impact was strong enough to freeze her in her tracks, a little stunned.
    Surely she had mistaken his expression. After all, her glance had been so quick. No, surely the man hadn’t looked at her with
tenderness,
the way Ezekiel looked at Beatrice. How could he, when he didn’t even know her? But the fact remained that his look, imagined or not, had made her heart beat a little faster and her skin feel a little warm.
    She entered the bank, smiling politely and returning the greetings of those who spoke to her on her way into her father’s office. Wilson Millican rose on her entrance, beaming his welcome. “Your mother’s had you running another errand, at a guess,” he said, and he laughed as their gazes met in perfect understanding. “She’s enjoying this as much as if she were sixteen again and this was her first party.”
    â€œShe’ll swear she never wants to be involved in the planning again, but by the time next February rolls around she’ll be fretting to get started.”
    They chatted for a few minutes, with Olivia tellinghim about her visit with Beatrice. She didn’t want to take up too much of his time, so she kept her visit short. She was rising to her feet when her curiosity got the better of her, and she said, “I stopped outside to talk with Mr. Bellamy for a few moments. Who were those two men with him?”
    â€œTwo of his cowhands, Pierce and Fronteras, though from the looks of them I’d say they were handier with a pistol than a rope.”
    â€œGunmen?” she asked, startled. “Why would he need gunmen?”
    â€œNow, I didn’t say they were gunmen. I said they looked like they’d be handy with their pistols, and maybe they are, but then a good many men around here are good hands with a firearm. As far as I know, Bellamy’s cowhands are just that, cowhands.” He patted her arm in reassurance, though he wasn’t too certain of his own words, especially when they concerned the two men that had been with Bellamy. One thing was certain, though, and that was that he wouldn’t want either of those two men anywhere near Olivia. She was too fine a person to associate with that type of man. None of the ranch hands caused any trouble in town other than the normal drinking and fighting sometimes, but as a father he couldn’t be too careful of his daughter’s well-being.
    â€œWhich one was which?” Olivia asked, still driven by her curiosity.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œWhich man was Pierce, and which was Fronteras?”
    â€œPierce has been with Bellamy for a couple of years now. He’s a quiet man, never says much. The dark,Mexican-looking man is Fronteras. Guess he is Mexican at that, though he’s tall for one. Must be mostly Spanish.”
    He was a Mexican. She felt a little surprised at herself for not having realized that at a glance, though he
was
tall, as her father had noted. Then she was even more surprised by her own curiosity about a man whom she had never even met, because passing on the sidewalk certainly didn’t constitute an introduction. It wasn’t her usual behavior, but then she was upset by her increasing sensation of being caught in a trap. She didn’t know what she could do to escape, or even if she wanted to escape. All she knew was that she felt on the verge of panic.
    â€œA man could do worse than marrying a banker’s daughter,” Kyle Bellamy mused. “Especially one who looks like Olivia Millican.”
    Pierce grunted in reply. Luis Fronteras didn’t say anything.
    â€œShe’s his only child. When he dies