by Ana Leigh
“No one is born heroic. The decisions we make and how we handle the circumstances we encounter in life are what make people heroes. And whatever the cause, the danger, or the choice we have to make, we need the courage to see it through, because we’re all throwing the same ante in the pot—our lives.”
“That brings to mind something I once read,” Jenny said.
Cowards die many times before their death:
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems most strange that man should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Rico finished the quote for her.
Will come, when it will come.
Jenny looked at him with surprise. “You really do know Shakespeare.”
“His Julius Caesar, for sure,” he said. “The wisdom of some words you read, you can never forget.”
She sighed and leaned her head on his chest. They lay in silence for a long moment, his arm holding her close. This was the feeling of contentment she had been yearning for since his return.
“It’s one thing to say differently, but when you, or one of these heroes you pointed out to me, is actually in a life-or-death situation, don’t you fear death then?”
“I can’t speak for everyone, Jenny, but I imagine if I had a wife and child I’d fear dying. I’m a God-loving man, but how does one welcome eternal life without fearing what will become of family he left behind?”
“But does one really think of eternal life when facing death?”
“Did you, when you were at the mercy of Slatter?”
“I knew he intended to kill me, but I guess I was more revolted by that horrible man himself to think about eternity.”
“So you defied him, rather than cower. That’s courage, Princess.”
“I think it was just downright anger.”
“But there are happier things to think about on a wedding day,” Rico said.
Jenny raised her head again and stared down into his incredible dark eyes as his warm palm slid to her breast.
“Oh? And what is the best man thinking about?” she murmured.
Rico rolled over on her, pressing her to the bed. “The same thing that he’s been thinking ever since he laid eyes on the maid of honor,” he whispered.
Frank Burke had stepped outside to smoke a cigar when he saw Jenny and Rico cross the clearing and disappear into the darkness near the bachelor quarters. He remained in the shadows for a long time, staring thoughtfully at the darkened area. Then he crushed out the cigar with his boot and went back inside.
18
The following morning, Jenny and Andrea said a tearful good-bye as the newlyweds prepared to leave for a honeymoon in St. Louis.
“I wish you would reconsider and come with us, dear,” Andrea said as she prepared to board the coach.
“Aunt Andrea, we’ve been through this before. I have no intention of being the third person on your honeymoon. This is the time for you to be alone enjoying each other.”
Andrea hugged her. “Just promise me you’ll be careful with this Slatter scare. Do whatever Rico tells you to do.”
“I promise. And you have a wonderful time! I’ll be thinking about you.”
“Sweetheart, they’re waiting to pull out,” Don interrupted. “We have to get on board.”
Jenny and Andrea exchanged another hug and kiss. “We’ll be back in a month, dear,” Andrea called out as Don practically lifted her into the coach.
As the carriage began to roll forward, Jenny waved and called out, “I love you.”
She sighed and turned to Rico and her father, who had stepped back after saying their good-byes.
“I’ve seen enough of this fort to last me for a month of Sundays,” Frank Burke said. “Let’s get back to the ranch.”
It felt good to be back in familiar surroundings. Before doing anything else she hurried to check her garden, Rico following closely behind. To her relief, it was undisturbed.
Rico made a check of the barn, and then joined Frank and Jenny at the corral, where Frank was filling the horse trough.
“Looks like nothing’s been disturbed here,” Rico said as he glanced around. “That same horse was in the corral a week ago.”
“I’ve been coming out here every couple days,” Frank said.
“I told you to stay close to the fort for your own safety,” Rico said.
“Slatter or Indians, I still have a ranch to run—stock to feed, a cow to milk. And Andrea needed to pack up her belongings before she left. But I’m no fool, boy. Hardy sent a patrol with us.”
Nevertheless, when they went inside the house, Rico checked all the rooms to make sure there was no hidden intruder.
“You best take the room at the end of the hallway,” Frank said. “It gets a good cross breeze at night.”
Jenny spun around in surprise. “But Father, that’s Andrea’s room. Some of her things are still in there.”
“Then move them into the guest room. Makes no sense to tie up a good bedroom,” Frank grumbled, and thumped back downstairs.
Rico went over to her and took her in his arms. “If you prefer, Princess, I can take the other room.”
She cuddled against him. Just being in his arms soothed her. “No, Father’s right. It’s just hard to imagine anyone other than Andrea there. It’s always been my sanctuary to run to, and be welcomed with open arms. I feel like I’ve lost a mother and best friend.”
“I understand, Princess.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “And there’s no need to move anything.”
Jenny raised her head and smiled at him. “Well, I hope you’re planning on staying long enough to unpack your saddlebags. Now you’ll excuse me, I intend to take a bath.”
Rico opened the windows to get the promised circulation through the room, then took a good look around. It was clearly intended for a woman. His attention was drawn to a large armoire and he went over and opened the doors, carved with trailing roses running the lengths of them.
He couldn’t help thinking what charm the armoire would add to the barren quarters at the fort Andrea would now occupy. The night they’d joined Colonel Hardy for dinner, he had been as surprised as Cynthia Hardy at Frank Burke’s adamant refusal to let his sister take any household items with her when she left. Rico shook his head in bewilderment. Andrea must have cherished this piece of furniture. What loss could it be to Burke to part with it?
He was beginning to understand more about the conflict between Jenny and her father. Though there were always two sides to every story, why did so many people find it difficult to play the hand dealt to them?
Rico hung up his clothing, put the rest of his items in one of the empty drawers, then closed the doors of the armoire.
After he’d familiarized himself with the layout of the ranch yard, the intense heat drove Rico back inside.
He stole a glance inside Jenny’s room and saw that she had fallen asleep. Frank’s bedroom door was closed, so he was probably napping too. Returning to his room, Rico removed his gun belt, boots, and shirt, then lay down and stretched out.
The bed was considerably more comfortable than the one at the fort, which had been only a thin straw mattress on a wooden frame. This bed actually had springs, a luxury he hadn’t enjoyed since he’d left the mission. Within minutes, he drifted into sleep.
When he awoke, the light had shifted away from the windows of his room, and he realized he had been sleeping for a couple hours. He lay there for a few moments, thinking about Jenny and how his life had changed in these past few days.
He walked down the hallway to her room and discovered she was no longer in bed. The door to Frank’s room was still closed.
Rico pulled on his boots and went downstairs. Jenny wasn’t in the kitchen or parlor, and he began to feel uneasy. A search of the rest of the rooms met with the same result.
Fully alarmed, he went outside. There was no sign of her in the barn, either, a
nd he cursed himself for falling asleep. She was his responsibility and he had let her wander off unprotected.
Then he realized where he would most likely find her, and hurried to her garden. She was sitting there reading.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Jenny. I wish you wouldn’t do this.”
“Good heavens! You sound like my father. This is my favorite spot.”
“I know, but until things settle down, I’d like you to stay close to me.”
She laughed lightly. “And I’d like to stay close to you, but since you were sleeping, I doubt my father would have appreciated that. Besides, I don’t think Slatter will venture this near to the house, knowing you’re here.”
Rico put his arms around her and drew her to him. “It’s still best to use caution, Princess. Since you were once his prisoner, I didn’t think I’d have to remind you of that.”
He kissed her and they remained in an embrace as he slid kisses down the column of her neck, then opened the buttons of her blouse and slid his hand inside. She drew a shuddering breath as his warm palm cupped her breast and his thumb toyed the nipple into a hardened peak. Then he lifted her chemise and dipped his head to close his mouth around her.
The erotic suckling sent ripples down her spine, and she slipped her arms around his neck. Groping for her skirt, he drew it up to her waist, then slid his hand into her pantalets.
The divine sensation drove her to boldness, and she fumbled at the buttons on the fly of his pants and opened them. He shifted her up and she looped her legs around his hips.
Her groans became constant as he continued to suckle the turgid peaks of her breasts when he entered her, and for endless seconds moved in and out of her. Their passion soared, their breaths quickened, their hearts pounded, blind to everything except sensation as the rhythm of his thrusts increased, building to the explosive climax.
For a long moment she remained limp in his arms as they both struggled for breath, then he pulled out of her. Her legs felt too weak to support her when she lowered them and she clung to him.
The kiss that followed robbed her of breath, and she buried her head against his chest until she was able to speak.
“Did that really happen, or am I dreaming?”
“It happened, Princess, and I’m counting my blessings.” He gave her another quick kiss, then released her and buttoned his fly. “Let’s get you restored properly.”
Jenny quickly buttoned her blouse and adjusted her skirt. “How do I look?”
He smoothed down her mussed hair. “Good enough to eat.” Then he grinned. “But we’ll have to cover that lesson at a later time.”
She looked up at him perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“Dessert.” He handed her the book she’d discarded.
Frank met them at the door when they reached the house and glanced at the bound book in her hand. “I might have guessed you’d be loafing in that garden, as usual,” Frank declared. “You planning on putting some food on the table soon?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s time you do. I haven’t eaten since early morning, and I’m hungry as hell. Do you know how to make the potato and dumpling dish Andrea always made that I like so much?”
“I haven’t the vaguest idea.” She stepped past him into the house. “So perhaps I suggest you’d better make it yourself.”
To ward off any further argument between Jenny and her father, Rico made them cheese sandwiches and fried potatoes for supper. But the tension between the two was so thick he could have cut through it with a knife. Neither of them spoke a word to the other throughout the meal. And as soon as she finished, Jenny retired to her room, and Frank to the library.
Rico stabled the horses, then fed and watered them for the night.
“I sure as hell can’t figure out what we’re doing here, Bucep,” he said as he curried the stallion. “I don’t like being in the middle between them. They’re both two very stubborn people.”
He couldn’t help but compare their relationship to that of his cousins: Garth’s wife, Rory, and her lovable father, Pop O’Grady; or Jed’s wife, Caroline; or Colt’s wife, Cassie. The three women were all close to their fathers, and their love and friendship for them was obvious. That sure wasn’t true between Jenny and her father.
“Looks like we’ve found ourselves smack in the middle of a hornet’s nest, Bucep, and there’s no getting out of it without being stung.”
Returning to the house, Rico decided to go to his room to read Cooper’s novel The Last of the Mohicans, which he had found on the library shelves earlier. But first he checked to make certain the doors and shutters were closed and locked.
Frank Burke was still in his library, and Rico stuck his head in the doorway.
“Good night, sir. Will you be sure to close and lock the windows and shutters in here?”
“Come in and sit down, Rico,” Frank said cordially. “I’m just enjoying a smoke before retiring.”
Rico began to feel a trifle uneasy when Frank handed him a glass of whiskey. “Cigar?” Frank asked.
The rancher’s extreme mood change made Rico leery. “No thank you, sir.”
After several puffs on his cigar, Frank said, “Rico, as we both know, you declined my reward for rescuing my daughter and sister. I appreciate that, son, because I worked hard to get what I have today. It’s one of the biggest spreads in Arizona, as a result.”
“No doubt, sir.”
“No need for formality here; just call me Frank.” A pause followed again and a smoke ring drifted past. Then Frank leaned forward. “How would you like half of it?”
“Half of what, sir? Ah, Frank?”
“The Double B.”
“Why would you give me half of your ranch?”
“As a wedding gift.”
The words hit Rico like a slug in his gut. The old man was putting his daughter up on the trading block.
He put aside his glass and stood up to leave. “The answer is no. Thank you for the drink.”
Frank’s laugh sounded more like a snort. “That’s what I like about you, Rico: you shoot straight from the hip. But don’t be so hasty, son. Just think about what a rich man you’d be.”
“I have no inclination to be married. Have you mentioned this to Jenny?”
“No call to. She’s my daughter; she’ll do as I say.”
It was Rico’s turn to snort. “Really? I haven’t seen any evidence of that.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you. Your actions speak louder than words, Rico.”
“My actions are not subject for your approval, Frank.”
“They are when my own daughter is involved. I saw you sneaking off together last night. That’s what gave me this idea.”
“Is this when you pull out a shotgun and march us to the preacher, Frank?”
“Hell, no.” Frank leaned back in his chair. “I like you. I’d be proud to have you as a son-in-law.”
“And is this plan to get Jenny married for her benefit, or yours?”
Frank laughed. “Like I said, Rico, you shoot from the hip, so I’ll lay it out in the open. With Andrea gone, I’m gonna be needing Jenny here to run the house. If she gets married, she’s most likely to leave me, too.”
“So you’re willing to buy your daughter a husband who is willing to remain here, just to keep your own life from changing? You don’t care whether the man she marries loves her, just as long as it doesn’t disturb your routine?”
“Sure, I care. I told you that I like you—that’s important to me. And I figure Jenny wouldn’t be averse to marrying you since she’s sleeping with you. You’re the only man she’s paid any attention to in her twenty years. And let’s face it, Rico: she’s not much good for anything except sitting in that garden and reading her damn books. How could she ever go off and set up housekeeping for any man?”
“I don’t see her that way at all, sir. I find Jenny to be as intelligent and witty as she is beautif
ul. Sure, she’s independent and has an inquisitive mind that often gets her into trouble. But that only adds to her appeal. She deserves far better than to be put on the trading block like one of your prize steers.”
“Then you ought to be more than willing to marry her.”
“I won’t deny it’s crossed my mind that when this Slatter situation is over, I might consider settling down with Jenny if she’s willing to marry. But if that time comes, you can be damn sure we wouldn’t remain here on the Double B. We’d be moving to California.”
“What’s in California that you can’t find here?” Frank asked.
“A bit of paradise called Fraser’s Keep. My family lives there, and I know Jenny would be happy there.”
“Thought you didn’t have any kinfolk?”
“Only my parents are dead, Frank. Not my family. And I’m looking forward to when I can get back.”
“Then why did you become a bounty hunter? Just for the money?”
“That’s another misconception you have, Frank. I’m not a bounty hunter; my motive has never been money. When I finished my education, I earned my living as a scout on a cattle drive, the railroad, and finally for the army.”
“Then why were you so fired up to catch Ben Slatter if not for the price on his head?” He snorted. “Don’t try to tell me it was for the good of mankind.”
“The Slatter gang raped and murdered my mother three years ago.”
Frank’s expression shifted to shock. He got to his feet and walked over and stared out the window for a long moment, then poured himself another drink.
“You sure bushwhacked me, Rico. Does Jenny know this?”
“No. I thought if she didn’t know my motives, then when the time came to leave her, it would be easier on her if she resented me for leaving.”
“What about Tom Hardy? Does he know the truth about you?”