A Deal with the Cowboy’s Tangled Heart: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Cassidy Hanton

  Chester was led through two hallways. Just as he was trying to memorize the way through and make sure he was aware of his surroundings, a door opened to reveal Blossom.

  “Chester?” she asked in a disbelieving whisper.

  Her hair was bundled back over her shoulders in a thick braid. Though her clothes were dusty, her face was clean. Blossom’s eyes were big and round. Her lips parted softly before him as she stared through the doorway.

  Relief poured through his soul. She was there. She was safe. He had been worried sick. When he realized Elijah had taken her, the worst had come to his imagination.

  “Blossom,” Chester choked out as he rushed over to her.

  It didn’t matter if they would never speak again. If she hated him, then he would accept this. Chester had already resolved that no matter what Blossom believed or wanted to believe, then he would let her. All he cared about was her safety. He wanted her back home with her father.

  To his astonishment, Blossom threw her arms around his neck.

  He responded readily by hugging her around the waist with his one good arm. Chester lifted her off her feet just to make sure she was real.

  He could feel her weight, her body against his. This is her. It’s really her. She’s here. He could smell her familiar scent of horses and flour.

  Everything felt right again. Chester could hardly believe it.

  The fear in his heart was gone. After days of agonizing searches and frantic prayers, he wanted to shout from the rooftops that Blossom was safe again. He had found her. He wanted to dance through the streets. He could hardly wait to take her to her father and show her before him that she was well.

  “You’re here,” Chester finally let go of her, breathless. “Are you well? Blossom, you’re not hurt, are you?”

  She untucked her arms from him. “Not really,” she assured him before showing him that her wrists were bound together. “But I’ve been better.”

  Though her face looked rather thin, Blossom’s face shined on him hopefully with a smile. It was beautiful, reminding him of how strong she was.

  Chester took her hands in his one good one with a frown.

  “What?” That’s when he remembered that they weren’t alone. He huffed and turned back to Elijah. “You have to let her go, Elijah. None of this includes Blossom, remember? This is between you and me.”

  The rest of the gang filled the large room from the nearby hall. Even his brother Lowry was there.

  There was a new scar on his face, near his ear. Chester almost didn’t recognize him. It wasn’t because of the scar, however, but because of the bitterness in his brother’s face.

  When he looked at his older brother, Lowry never even blinked. It was then that Chester knew he had lost his brother a long time ago.

  He swallowed hard as he glanced around carefully before turning back to Elijah who was fiddling with a knife he had pulled out of his sleeve. “I didn’t bring you here just to let her go,” Elijah informed him casually. “I told you before, didn’t I? I warned you, Chester. You have to pay for betraying your family.”

  As Elijah took a step forward, Chester took a step back to try and block him from reaching Blossom. “This makes no sense,” Chester said defensively. “I don’t owe you anything! I left you all that I had. I don’t have anything more, all right? You’ve seen my home. It’s just a shack. What more do you want? My horse? Do you really need another horse?”

  “We were your family,” Three-Eyed Tom shouted over Elijah’s shoulder. “You should have never left us!”

  Chester tensed up. “I didn’t plan to,” he defended himself. “But you were hurting people. Killing people! I never agreed to that. I never wanted anything to do with that. I had to get out while I thought I still could. I didn’t steal from any of you, I swear. I have nothing to pay you! All I have is my shack and my horse. Honest. Any personal savings I had were spent over the last couple of years. No one will pay me for any work in town,” he rambled as Elijah stepped over. “Elijah, you have to understand!”

  “I understand all right,” he growled. “You’re a coward. A yellow-bellied coward who left his family!”

  Elijah suddenly hit him with the hilt of his knife right where the bullet wound was. Chester didn’t have a chance to react before Elijah pushed him to the side. He went sprawling on the ground, groaning in agony. When he opened his eyes, he was at the feet of Lowry, who wouldn’t even look at him.

  Then he turned to see Elijah had grabbed Blossom. She cried out in pain as he yanked her by the throat and pushed her against the wall. The entire place creaked and Chester could have sworn that the floor wavered beneath them.

  Her hands grappled with Elijah’s arm but they weren’t strong enough to do anything.

  “Let go of her,” Chester gasped through his pain.

  “Don’t you get it?” Elijah scoffed at him. “You’re never leaving. Once you join me, there is no way out. I will hurt everyone you care about and anyone this little lady cares about to make sure you stay with us.”

  Blossom gagged loudly. “Please,” she rasped. But no one else was listening.

  Chester forced himself to get up. His shoulder throbbed all the way through to the fingertips and to his ribs, but he managed to get back onto his feet, wavering only slightly.

  Panic left his body trembling as he tried to think of what he was going to do. He couldn’t let this happen. He had to protect Blossom.

  But how?

  Swallowing hard, Chester desperately looked around as he considered his options. He had to do something. He was hurting Blossom. But it was hard to think straight and he had to do something. Anything to make sure she got to safety. So the least he decided he could do was lie.

  “Fine,” he managed to choke out. “Fine! I’ll stay. I’ll stay, Elijah. But you have to let her go. Let Blossom go and I’ll stay forever. I’ll do it.”

  Elijah glared at him while slowly loosening his hold on Blossom. “Oh really?” he asked in a skeptical tone.

  Blossom gasped for breath as her hands fluttered around her neck and mouth. Her eyes widened as she looked over at Chester. But she was too busy trying to find air for her lungs to say anything.

  And he was glad of that, because he didn’t know what he would say if she did. He didn’t like how much lying he was doing lately with her around.

  The others in the gang didn’t say a word as Elijah stared Chester down. Silence filled the room for all but Blossom as she continued taking in deep gasps of air, trying to overcome what had just happened.

  Each rasp made his heart ache. This was all his fault. It wouldn’t have happened if Chester had done something right.

  He could have been honest with her from the start. He could have gone to another town. He could have gone farther away. He could have done a lot of other things to have changed all of this around for both himself and for Blossom. All of this could have been avoided if he had tried a little harder.

  “Why don’t I believe you?” Elijah asked slowly, staring him down.

  Even Blossom quieted down at that. Tension filled the air as Chester’s eyes widened. He looked at Elijah in confusion.

  He was giving Elijah just what he wanted, or at least what the man thought he wanted. Surely that would satisfy his old gang leader. And yet it didn’t. He didn’t understand why. Nor did he understand what else to do.

  Chester glanced around the room cautiously, but no one else seemed to know what else could be done as well. Elijah looked unsatisfied as he crossed his arms and waited for an answer. But Chester didn’t have one. He inhaled deeply, trying to think of what to do.

  The seconds ticked by.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Blossom’s Courage

  Chester was there. He was really there.

  She could hardly believe it. But somehow, she knew in her heart, with all the hammering it was doing inside her chest, that he was really there. Chester was standing so close to her to help her.

  Just moments ago,
she had touched him. Blossom knew he was real. This wasn’t her imagination. Her eyes were glued to his, refusing to leave him. It worried her that if she even blinked, he might disappear forever.

  He was pale with a sling around his arm and his brow furrowed. It made Blossom wish that she could just throw her arms around him all over again and protect him from the world. That’s all she needed to do. She wanted to make sure that he knew how she didn’t believe what the others had told him.

  She didn’t believe that he had killed anyone. He couldn’t have. If she knew anything, it was that he was a good man. He had only ever tried to protect her and keep her safe. This made her wish that she could take his arm and the two of them could run away from this trouble forever.

  Perhaps this was why neither of them were ready for Elijah when he attacked Chester, sending him falling, to grab Blossom by her throat.

  Choking, she tried to catch her breath. She didn’t care what Elijah did to her, only hoping that Chester was all right. She could see him across the room. He was right next to his brother. The brother who wouldn’t even look at him. Her heart hurt for Chester as she struggled to keep breathing.

  Her head grew light as the men talked, looking for terms of agreement.

  Gasping for breath, Blossom wondered if she heard right. Was Chester offering to stay with the gang to set her free? She gave up trying to find air for her lungs to understand what on earth was going on around her. Though her blood was pulsing loudly through her ears, she heard it. She heard him.

  Elijah slowly loosened his hold on her as she tried to gulp in fresh air. But she was too busy staring at Chester, wondering if she had heard right.

  She blinked. She stared at him in desperation. He couldn’t mean that. He couldn’t go back to the gang. Remembering the pain in his eyes from how he had talked about his past, Blossom feared what might happen to Chester if he did go back. And even if he did, these men would never truly accept him.

  All they wanted to do was hurt him.

  Collapsing onto her knees, Blossom panted. She hunched over, well aware that she made the only noise in the room as the men all stared at Chester. It gave her a minute to think. She tried to think of something she could do.

  Something she could say. Surely she wasn’t useless.

  And yet, she felt it.

  Her legs ached from being cooped up in that small room for the past couple of days. They had never untied her hands, leaving them chafed and bloody at the wrists.

  Though her body was sore, her spirit was not yet dampened.

  Chester was there. She had him. This had to be a good sign. She had prayed to God at least three times daily and had felt His love every time, knowing that she was never truly alone. Perhaps this was a sign. Her heart heaved as she turned to him.

  He had gotten away from them before. During her time in her little cell, Blossom had run over her faint memories of all that Chester had told her about his past. It had not been very much, but it was enough for her to know that he didn’t want to relive it. The past had not been good to him. That was clear enough as he returned and faced these men.

  “I do,” Chester managed with a shaky breath. “I mean it, Elijah! What do I have to do to convince you! Come on. Just let her go, won’t you? Let her go and- and then we’ll talk. I mean it. I won’t fight you. I won’t fight any of you.”

  Standing before them now, Chester had a hand over his injured shoulder. There was a new pain in his eyes, and it hurt her heart. He couldn’t do this. Not for her, not for anyone. He deserved better than this.

  Elijah took a step toward Chester, swinging his knife around lazily. “You’re going to have to do a better job of convincing us, Chester. What would you do to come back to us, huh?”

  “What do you mean?” Chester took a step away from him, nearly bumping into Lowry. But his brother didn’t budge, only shifting slightly. “Like what?”

  “Would you defend us? Would you lie for us? Would you steal for us? Would you kill for us?”

  Chester looked around the room slowly without saying a word. Blossom couldn’t take her eyes off of him. His own eyes widened before they fell on her in horror. It was there she knew with a surety that he could never bring himself to kill anyone. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.

  “N-no,” he stammered. “I didn’t agree to that.” He turned away from her to look at Elijah. “I never had to do that before and I- I won’t do that now. But I mean it, Elijah. You have to believe me. I never really lied to you before, did I? Never. You know I’m an honest man. I’ll come back.”

  Elijah circled him thoughtfully, still playing with his knife.

  It worried her. She didn’t like how close that sharp edge was to Chester’s throat. She managed to get up on her knees to watch. None of the other men even flinched, not caring what happened next. She could hardly believe how savage they all could be. This was horrifying. Sweat trickled down her brow as she tried to think.

  “True.” Elijah said at last. “You’re not much of a liar. So make your promise that you’ll never leave us. And we’ll see where we are then.”

  She didn’t like the way that sounded. Her heart skipped a beat. A shiver of fear ran down her spine. Every second of this felt like a nightmare. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and wake up from this. But she had been trying to do this for days and it hadn’t happened yet. She was still there. Still there and still waiting for a miracle.

  “Fine.” Chester started and then cleared his throat.

  But she couldn’t let him do this. Panic ran through her body like fire. If he made this promise, then he would keep it no matter what. He would feel obligated to do whatever he could to help the men one way or another. Chester kept his word and she couldn’t let him do this to himself.

  Someone had to stop him.

  “You can’t,” Blossom managed raggedly, her voice croaking in the silence. No matter what Elijah believed or not, she wouldn’t let Chester go back to a life like this one. She staggered clumsily to her feet. If no one else would speak up, she had to. “Not for me, Chester. You have to get out of here while you still can.”

  “Don’t even think about it, sweetheart,” Elijah snarled as he grabbed her before she could do anything. Blossom stumbled backwards into the wall, slamming into it as she lost her balance. She hardly had time to squeal.

  He brought his knife back out and pointed it at her throat. She felt the cool tip against her skin. Her eyes widened as she stared at the man before her. His eyes were so dark and murky. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that given the chance, he would force the pressure in to make sure she stopped talking for good.

  Though she clamped her mouth shut, Blossom’s heart wouldn’t stop pounding. She blinked hard as she tried to tell herself not to swallow. The point was uncomfortable against her neck and any movement would force the point further in.

  “Elijah, don’t!” Chester called out. “Please! Don’t hurt her. I- I'll do anything. Anything you want.”

  “No!” Blossom spoke up before she could help herself, wincing as she felt the sharpness against her throat. Something wet trailed down against her collarbone. Her chest heaved as she glanced at Chester whose face had paled.

  This was not a good predicament they were in. Blossom blinked hard as she tried to think. There were only two of them against so many men. She was tied up and Chester was injured. They would need a miracle to make it out of there alive. If they did.

  Closing her eyes, Blossom quickly prayed. Lord, we need you more than ever. Please. Please, be with us. We need you. Please help us get out of this. Don’t make Chester go back to this dangerous life. He doesn’t want it. He wants to be free. Let him be free again. Please, I’ll do anything.

  “Go.” Blossom choked the words out as she grabbed Elijah’s hand and gave Chester a stern look.

  If anything happened, then she would rather it happened to her. She’d had herself a good life and he had hardly had a chance. Her chest heaved while she tried to come to ter
ms with the possibility that neither of them might come out of this alive. Elijah certainly wasn’t making this easy, pulling his knife out on them and readily attacking them.

  But she didn’t care. She just didn’t want Chester to suffer anymore.

  Except he looked like he was suffering now as a helpless expression spread across his face. Chester’s eyes widened as they looked over at her, his mouth widening in horror. She tried to tell him silently that she didn’t matter, but it was clear that he wouldn’t be convinced.