A Fearless Bride for a Wounded Rancher

by Ember Pierce

  * * *

  Something had come over Scott since he’d had her around. He realized that he’d been lonely. Very lonely. Lonely for the kind of love that came from a good and kind woman. He feared he was falling for Mae.

  * * *

  The thought, the feeling, terrified him even as it was a balm for a long ago wound he didn’t even know he had. He couldn’t go through what he’d endured a year ago. He didn’t know if he could survive that kind of loss, ever again.

  * * *

  It was better for him to keep a distance between the two of them. He needed to be careful around Mae. He didn’t want to lose his heart again. He couldn’t. He needed to protect himself.

  * * *

  But, he also felt his stubborn nature rise up in response to the thought the Bixby would come at him another time. He refused to be brought to his knees by the man again. He wouldn’t let it happen. And if that meant losing Mae because she needed more from him, then that was different.

  * * *

  He was aware that she might leave him if he didn’t tell her the entire truth of the situation with Wayne Bixby. He wished there was no need, actually, for her to know any of it, but that it caused his own moods to switch so quickly.

  * * *

  One minute he was fine, the next he could be thrown into a tailspin of worry and regret. And the worst part was that he never knew when it might happen. One word could trigger him.

  * * *

  He rolled onto his side and kicked the covers off himself. He felt overwarm. Maybe he should get up and get an early start on the day, but he didn’t want to unexpectedly run into Mae downstairs. He moved to the other side of the bed where there was a small table.

  * * *

  The room was so bright he saw his watch on the table top right next to his Bible. He opened the watch. It was now quarter past the hour. He sighed and gazed out the window. There wasn’t a sound to be heard, the whole farm was cocooned in a quiet sort of dream. He wondered if Mae was seeing it. He shook his head. Thoughts and wonderings about her wouldn’t let him be.

  * * *

  What was it about her? She stayed in his mind for one thing. She was intelligent and independent. And she was kind. If he could only let go of the past. If he could open his heart again. But after Annie...He just couldn’t risk being hurt again. Not the way he had been when Annie died.

  * * *

  The guilt alone had nearly killed him. He’d spent weeks in bed, recovering, praying for death because he’d caused the death of his love.

  * * *

  Finally, after two weeks he’d forced himself to get out of bed. He’d forced himself to go to the window, to breathe in great gulps of fresh summer evening air. And then he’d seen his face in the mirror for the first time since the explosion.

  * * *

  He thought he was unworthy of anyone’s love because, in his mind, he’d essentially killed Annie. And then when he saw himself. When he’d actually laid eyes on his reflection, he knew no one would ever want him again.

  * * *

  He was as ugly on the outside as he felt he was on the inside. He felt forsaken and bereft. Though the man didn’t know it, Wayne Bixby had come very close to breaking Scott. He had spent the next year barely leaving the confines of his property. He farmed with the idea of selling feed grain to the ranchers in the area.

  * * *

  He sent the ranchers mail. Sheets of paper stating what he would have come fall in the way of crops. The pages contained weights and their prices. Scott rarely had to do business face to face with anyone.

  * * *

  When he did, it was a laborious endeavor that included Scott situating himself to the left of his customer. The meetings were usually at the end of the workday. He had learned to use low-light and shadows to his advantage.

  * * *

  It wasn’t a happy life, yet it wasn’t sad. Scott was grateful to be alive and did his best to make the most of each day. He had his books, his garden, the farm. He was a busy man.

  * * *

  He’d convinced himself that he was content with what his life had become. He couldn’t see any reason why he couldn’t go on with the charade for the rest of his life.

  * * *

  Then Mae had shown up at his door, insisting that he marry her because she’d come such a long way. But it was also true that she had nowhere else to go. That was the real reason she’d married him.

  * * *

  He couldn’t afford to play with his own emotions. There was no reason why she should have any feelings for him. Possibly, she might feel some gratitude that he’d married her to save her from being alone in Fable Springs.

  * * *

  Scott didn’t know what to do as far as Mae was concerned. But he reckoned he should probably put some distance between them. He gazed out the window. The moon bathed the garden and the stables. Far-off a ranch dog barked. He was growing sleepy and thought he might take another couple hours of sleep.

  * * *

  Then he saw it. It was barely decipherable despite the moonbeams. Something, someone was moving along the tree line to the side of the property. He squinted his eyes to try and see better. Somewhere, cattle lowed.

  * * *

  Suddenly the sound of animals in distress carried across the barnyard. Scott went to the window and grabbed his dungarees from the chair and buttoned them on, trying to see in the faint light.

  * * *

  Then he pulled his boots on and ran into the hall and toward the back staircase. As he reached it, the door to Mae’s room flew open.

  * * *

  Her face was as white as a sheet. “Scott? What is it? What’s happening? Is it cattle rustlers?”

  * * *

  Her eyes burned with a strange light, her hair was in a braid that rested over her shoulder and hung down past her hips. Her dress was only partially buttoned. Scott felt a lump in his throat. Mae looked like an otherworldly creature, beautiful and wild.

  * * *

  “Scott, I was at my window. I saw movement at the rear of the yard, by the treeline. I was just about to come and get you. I think it’s the rustlers, don’t you?”

  * * *

  Scott’s jaw was set in a grim line. His mind was racing. He had to keep his head on straight and think fast. “Uh, it could be rustlers. Get back in your room and stay there.”

  * * *

  “Are you mad? I’m not staying here, in the house. They’re going to rob the farm. Do you think I’m going to make it easy for them? If I stay inside, they’ll kill you and burn the house down over my head.”

  * * *

  “Mae, you must stay here. In fact, I want you to hide in the cellar. Whatever happens, don’t go to the attic. You’re right, they might set the house on fire. Come, come with me. I’ll lock you in the cellar. You have to stay there no matter what. Do you understand me? Don’t come out for any reason. If they think you’re dead or in the house, they’ll leave. The root cellar will keep you safe.”

  * * *

  “Are you crazy? I understand you’re looking for a hiding place for me, but I’m not going to do what you say.”

  * * *

  “Mae! Don’t be foolish, please. If anything happens to me, who will protect you?”

  * * *

  “I’ll protect me. If you think I’m the kind of girl who needs protecting or saving, you’re wrong. I can take care of myself.” She turned from him and ran down the stairs.

  * * *

  Scott was at her heels. “Mae, no. You mustn’t. Please. If you won’t get in the root cellar, then what about under the back porch.”

  * * *

  She looked around and up at him. “You expect me to lay in the dirt, on my belly, with spiders and even possibly snakes, under the house. No. Absolutely not. I want to help you protect whatever we can. This is my home now too, Scott. I will protect it with my life.” She continued down the stairs.

  * * *

  Scott was stunned. Mae appeared to have n
o fear. She was prepared to die, if need be, to protect this house, this land. He followed her, shaking his head in disbelief. There was no argument he could present that would convince her of the danger of the situation. He had to let her go.

  Mae ran into the pantry and came back out with the shotgun Scott kept there. Yanking on her shoes and buttoning them in a minute, she went to the kitchen door and out into the night.

  * * *

  She flew down the hill. She didn’t know where Scott was. All she knew was that he wasn’t trying to stop her anymore. The men were leading the horses out of the paddock and helping themselves to tack.

  * * *

  At the end of the barnyard, she opened the gate and went in. The men were so busy, and were working so quickly that they didn’t notice her.

  * * *

  She counted them. There appeared to be five of them in total with two who were at the barn. The others were already leading livestock into the woods. She took a deep breath and cocked the shotgun.

  * * *

  The men might have been working fast, but they were working quietly and the cock of the hammer of the gun echoed across the barnyard to them. They stopped in their tracks.

  * * *

  “Hold it right there. Get out of here now and I won’t sic the law on you. Or shoot you.”

  * * *

  The two men at the barn door looked at one another then back at Mae. In the future, whenever her thoughts might turn to this night she would never know how, at that very moment, she knew the men meant to kill her. In fact, she realized that she was the reason the men were at the farm.

  * * *

  Stealing the animals and whatever else they could get their hands on was a bonus. Mae had to think as quick as lightning. She looked from one man to the other. A slight movement of one led her to believe he would be the first to shoot. His hand was ready to pull his pistol from the holster.

  * * *

  He drew and Mae fired and then dove behind the chicken coop and flattened down as close to the ground as she could get. They’d either come after her or they wouldn’t.

  * * *

  If she didn’t pose a threat, and they wanted to get the animals off the farm, they’d probably be on the move. But they wouldn’t want to leave their task unfinished. If they didn’t get her tonight, they’d get her at some future time.

  * * *

  And then when he didn’t shoot her, she thought that maybe, the man hadn’t been going to kill her at all.

  * * *

  This whole visit. The rustlers. The stealing. The intimidating. It was all meant to scare her and Scott. She realized they weren’t there to kill her. They were there to frighten her. It was a warning.

  * * *

  The man who’d aimed at her would have ruined Bixby’s plan if he’d killed her. Too much, too soon. Mae was overwhelmed by the rush of unsolicited information that flew through her brain. It all seemed clear to her.

  * * *

  She was ready to dash for the shelter of the toolshed when she saw that the other three men had come out of the woods. They continued pulling the animals beyond the line and into the trees.

  * * *

  If the two that had shot at her told the others, she feared they’d come looking for her. Maybe they did mean to kill her after all. What a fool she’d been to think she could go up against seasoned criminals. She dropped to her belly and shimmied along the ground toward the toolshed.

  * * *

  A shot rang out from somewhere. Mae froze. She dropped her head below her shoulder to look back. She saw more animals being led past the treeline. Mae resumed her movements toward the shelter of the little outbuilding. If she could get behind it, they’d think they lost her.

  * * *

  Another shot rang out, then another. She looked frantically around in all directions. Behind the fence post nearest her, she saw a flash of something white. It looked like someone was coming toward her.

  * * *

  More sporadic gunfire erupted into the night. She tried to decipher where it came from when she felt a hand on her back. She held perfectly still and resisted the urge to scream. Nothing happened. She counted to three in her mind, then whirled around, lifting the gun to point at whoever it was.

  * * *

  It was Scott’s hand on her shoulders.

  * * *

  She blinked for a moment to be sure it was actually him and not a trick of the moonlight. It wasn’t. She lowered the gun. He was still shirtless as he’d been in the hall outside her room. His skin looked so smooth to her, it glowed like ivory.

  * * *

  She looked down hastily. What was she thinking? They were about to be killed and she was running away with her imagination. Another shot pierced the air and hit the corner of the tool shed.

  * * *

  Scott’s arm pulled Mae close to him. He sat back, then, against the wall of the shed and checked his pistol and then held it down along his side. Mae was still scanning the barnyard. She leaned back behind the wall and looked at him.

  * * *

  “Oh good. You have a weapon, Scott.” Mae’s eyes were steady as she looked at him.

  * * *

  “Yes, but we’re staying here until this thing dies down. If we stay quiet, they’ll think we got back to the house. They’ve gotten what they wanted. At least for tonight.”

  * * *

  “Are you crazy? We can’t stay here, hiding. Together we have a chance, not only to survive, but to maybe take some of these rogues out. Not to mention we can rescue some of the animals, if not all of them. Here’s what I’m thinking…”

  * * *

  “You’ve been out here thinking up a plan? To get the animals back? Let them go, Mae. There’s nothing we can do. We’re lucky they don’t set the barn or the house on fire. I shudder to think what might have happened if we weren’t awake when they came up to the barnyard.”

  * * *

  “Scott!” She was kneeling in front of him. Her hands were on his shoulders. “We can’t just give up and let them go. We can beat them. We can’t give up.” She leaned back onto her feet and into a crouch. She made as if to run down to the barn. Just beyond it was where the farm animals were being led and driven. She turned back to Scott.

  * * *

  “I’m going to run to create a distraction.” She half stood and stepped forward. Scott was able to get hold of her arm and wrenched her back into the shelter of himself. He wrapped her in a bear hug and wouldn’t let her move.

  * * *

  “Scott, let me go. This instant. We have to fight. We can’t let them win.”

  * * *

  “We’re not going to fight. And you’re not going to run across the barnyard. You hear me. It’s over. Let it go.”

  * * *

  “How can you say such a thing? You can’t give up. I won’t let you.”

  * * *

  “Mae, you must trust me...shh, do you hear that?”

  * * *

  Footsteps were sounding on the gravel path from the garden lane to the outbuilding they huddled behind whispering.

  “Get behind me, Mae.” Scott pushed himself around and in front of her. He pressed his back against her so that her back was to the shed and he shielded her body with his own. He whispered to her.

  * * *

  “If I get shot, they’ll take you. Do whatever they tell you to do. It will be your best chance to survive. Shh.” He held still. The footsteps were getting closer and slower as if the sound maker knew he was being overheard and was creating more anxiety with the timing of his steps.

  * * *

  He cocked his gun and the footsteps stopped. Then a face revealed itself in the gossamer light. Scott’s breath froze. He aimed the gun at his nemesis.

  * * *

  Wayne Bixby tipped his bowler hat and sneered. “Well, well, if it isn’t Scott Henderson. Fancy meeting you here. It’s been a long time, Scott.”

  * * *

  “Not long enough. Get off
my land, Bixby.” Scott still had the pistol trained on the man but his aim was shaky. It was slight, but he knew Bixby noticed it.

  * * *