by Linda Broday
“You never told me what happened to him.”
“No, I never did.” She stared into the rising flames as though seeing something from the past.
An impenetrable wall had gone up. He lowered himself onto the bedroll. “I was lying here counting my blessings before all the commotion. Seems we never value what we have until it’s taken away. Want to come sit with me like we did in the cell?”
Her face darkened. “I don’t want to talk about that place.”
“We don’t have to. But we do need to talk.” He’d thought pretending she was his wife wasn’t going to hurt anything, since he’d faced certain death. But it was. It was going to hurt Rayna in ways he hadn’t even considered.
Once the fire caught the twigs, he watched her add a few larger pieces. Then she came and perched beside him. “I like your brothers. They’re nice.”
“There’s no better men to have with you in a fight. They don’t back down, and they don’t quit until they’ve eliminated the threat.”
“I wish my Hershel was here. He was that way.”
Brett reached for her hand. “I wish he was too. I’m sorry his life had to end the way it did.”
“Why? Why do the good ones have to die and the rotten ones keep on living?”
“I don’t know.” Brett took a deep breath. “Rayna, the pretending we did in the jail is something we can’t do anymore. You don’t understand this life I’m forced to live, people who say I have no right to the same freedoms as a white man.”
“That’s wrong.”
“Yes, it is. But because of that, we can’t be together out here.”
Her chin raised a trifle. “I thought you were different.”
Two gunshots rent the air, then two more. Brett jumped before he could stop himself. It would take a while for his nerves to settle. He swore he still heard the sounds of the gallows being built. “Appears they found supper,” he said after several heartbeats. “Are you hungry?”
“Not much.” She tugged her hand free and got to her feet.
He hated the thick wall each was erecting. The freedom they’d had while they were jailed was gone, and nothing but sadness and longing remained. “Aren’t you curious about where we’re going?”
The firelight caressed the russet strands of her hair, bringing out a fair amount of gold. The result was the same bright color as the flames.
“No. It has to be better than where I’ve been.” She turned. “I need to change your bandages before it gets too dark. Doc Perkins would have a conniption if he knew I wasn’t tending to your wound.”
“I’m tired. I figure morning will be soon enough.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I’m changing those wrappings tonight, and I’ll have no argument.”
Color had swept into her face. He was wrong. She was pretty, especially when she was mad. Her softly parted lips drew him like a magnet. The thought crossed his mind to kiss her, and it didn’t seem to want to leave. Yet the rustling brush told him his brothers were back. Their privacy had ended.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I know better than to mess with a determined woman.”
“While I work, I hope you can clear up something.”
“I’ll try.”
“Explain to me how you, Cooper, and Rand can be brothers. You all have different last names.”
“We’re brothers in here. The only place that counts.” Brett tapped his chest where his heart beat out a rhythm that was as strong and true as the love he had for his brothers. “A deep bond formed between us in the orphanage, so one night we sat in a circle, pricked our fingers, and let our blood mix together. We declared ourselves brothers and became the only family we knew. Nothing has or will ever come between us.”
“I love your loyalty to each other. It’s beautiful. No one I know would travel so far to save me from the gallows. And not one person would want my blood to mingle with theirs.”
Cooper and Rand came into the clearing, carrying three plump rabbits. While they skinned and cleaned them, Rayna tore a strip from her petticoat and wet it in a nearby stream.
Returning, she knelt in front of Brett, and his well-honed senses sharpened as her fresh rain scent drifted into his yearning soul.
Fighting unbearable desire, he slowly removed his shirt. As she bent to the task of untying the strip of muslin that held his dressing, her gentle breath fanned his throat. Tendrils of hair tickled his chin, reminding him of the night they slept side by side. When her fingers brushed his bare skin, he closed his eyes and soaked up her gentle touch.
This closeness he felt between them aroused secret desires for everything he’d denied himself. Rayna showed him what he could have if he trusted enough to accept it.
Truth was, he didn’t. He couldn’t. Danger waited if he tried.
He walked between two worlds with neither embracing him as he was. He didn’t fit in the white world any more than he did the Indian one.
A slight pull then sudden stinging made him wince. “Is the dressing stuck again?”
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I was trying to be very gentle. I’ll need more water to loosen the wrappings. The wound busted open, soaked the gauze through to the muslin strips, and dried.”
“I’ll get some water,” Rand volunteered. “Need to wash this rabbit and my hands anyway.” He collected a canteen and sauntered to the stream, whistling.
Brett watched Rayna tear several more strips from her petticoat to bandage him once she’d washed his wound. He enjoyed the view of her trim ankles. “At this rate, you’ll be naked by the time we get to the Wild Horse.”
“Just focus on you getting there.” Color stained her cheeks a pretty shade as she went to help Cooper put coffee on.
He swallowed a groan. What in the hell was he doing? A man didn’t say things like that to a woman. He’d spent so much of his life in solitude he didn’t even know how to carry on a proper conversation.
Brett watched the easy way she had with Cooper. He could learn things from his oldest brother. Cooper would never speak like that to a woman.
By the time Rand returned with the water, the heat in her cheeks seemed to have cooled. When at last she returned to loosen the dried bandage, Brett’s muscles quivered beneath her careful touch, and he wished he could prolong the pleasurable sensations that ended all too soon.
“Thank you, Rayna,” he said when she stood and gathered the bloodstained wrappings. “Doc was right. You make an excellent nurse. And I apologize for the teasing earlier. I’m sorry.”
Her strange-colored eyes met his. “It’s okay. There’s a lot of difference between you and the things other men have said.”
“I’d never hurt you.”
“I know.” She moved to the fire. Cooper handed her a pointed stick that had a rabbit skewered onto it and asked her to hold it over the flames. She looked as though she might retch. Still, she kept her head averted from the dead animal and did as he requested.
Funny thing though, as soon as Cooper relieved her of the rabbit, she rushed behind a tree and emptied her stomach.
Rand strolled over to Brett. “What’s wrong with Rayna?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe she got something bad in the jail. The food they served was little better than slop for the most part.”
When Rayna returned, Brett took her aside to ask if she was all right.
“I’m fine,” she said, not meeting his eyes.
He knew a fib when he saw one, but he didn’t press. She’d talk when she wanted. Or not. Being one who had never felt the need to do much conversing, he understood her desire for quiet.
His gaze followed her as she walked down to the stream. Suddenly, he remembered her refusal to eat the fried chicken the kind jailor had brought them. He suspected it wasn’t just chicken she didn’t eat. Without a word to anyone, he moved into the woods and found some wild berries, roots, and nuts. Wasn’t much, but it would keep her from getting too weak to travel.
Her grateful smile was all the thanks he need
ed.
While the men devoured their supper, she ate what Brett had found. Every once in a while, she favored him with a smile.
Later, with a full stomach and a blanket of dark shadows around them, Brett moved to a log beside her. His gaze caressed her, doing things his hands could not. Light from the flames flickered and danced across her face, softening the angles. She raised her eyes and met his stare.
Yes, Rayna Harper was pretty. Real pretty.
Six
Brett and their small party rode into the small town of Hawk’s Landing a little before noon. The community didn’t offer much. But it had a mercantile, a saloon, and a café. The group scattered like buckshot the minute they stepped inside the general store.
Rayna marched off to get gauze and dressings. Cooper and Rand made tracks to the coffee and foodstuffs.
Intent on replacing the ruined shirt he wore, Brett went straight to the ready-made clothing and rifled through the lot. Finally he selected one of black wool.
A pretty blue dress peeking from behind a dull brown one hanging on a wall captured his interest. He pulled it out. “Rayna, please come over here,” he called.
When she pried herself away from the gumdrops she’d been wistfully staring at, he held the dress up to her. “I think this might fit. At least until we get back to Battle Creek.” No doubt it was a little big, because she was so small, but it was a damn sight better than her ragged, dirty one.
She pulled away, jamming a hand into her pocket. “I don’t need that. Mine is perfectly fine. It’ll wash up.”
Brett snorted. “I doubt that. We’ll take this one anyway.”
Letting out a huff, Rayna jerked her hand from her pocket. A silver watch clattered to the wood floor. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at him.
Stooping, Brett picked up the timepiece. Sadness that she’d reverted to her old ways washed over him. He would’ve staked his life that she’d changed. “Do you want to get us arrested again?”
Rayna glared at him with burning, defiant eyes. “That didn’t come from this store or even this town.”
“Where?” he demanded.
“Steele’s Hollow.”
He wracked his brain and recalled the egotistical deputy handling a similar watch. “Deputy Dingleby?”
“He asked for it the way he pranced around and said all those things. Then he pinched my rear when we were leaving.”
“Why didn’t you say something? We would’ve taken care of that weasel-eyed, sawed-off runt.”
“No one listens to the daughter of a bone-picker.”
A bone-picker? He’d seen impoverished families who’d resorted to collecting bones in order to survive. Sometimes they drove their wagons across his land. He was about to ask her more when the clerk came over.
“I couldn’t help but notice… Is everything all right?” the woman asked.
Brett opened the pocket watch and checked the time. “Everything is fine. We were just discussing meeting some friends.” He took two steps and turned. “Does the stage pass through here by chance?”
The clerk brightened. “Indeed it does. The stage lines added us to the route last year. It’s due to arrive at 1:10.”
“Much obliged, ma’am.” Brett captured Rayna’s hand. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight in case she spied something she couldn’t pass up.
At this rate, he didn’t dare turn his back.
A few minutes later, everyone had finished shopping. Being the only one with money, Cooper paid for their purchases, and they left the establishment.
Outside, Brett left her with Rand. Pulling Cooper aside, he showed his brother the deputy’s watch. “The runt dropped it in my cell. I didn’t remember even sticking the timepiece in my pocket until just now. Actually, I was going to leave it on my bunk.”
“Damn!” Cooper said. “How are we going to return it? We can’t go back.”
“I have a plan.” Brett told him about the stage and his idea to let the driver deliver it to Steele’s Hollow.
“Good idea. We can get something to eat at that little café while we wait.”
*
Rayna entered the little eatery with the men and thanked Rand for pulling out her chair. She glanced at Brett from beneath her lashes. She wished he’d let her apologize so things could go back to the way they were.
Yet when she tried, he’d turned away.
If only she could go back and change things. She hated that she’d let him down. He’d said she was someone worth saving. No one had ever told her that. She’d never let herself harbor any thought that she might possibly amount to two cents.
It was strange how a heart adapted. When something ached for a long time, a person got used to it eventually and quit noticing the pain.
She sighed. Old habits were hard to break, especially when they involved someone like Deputy Newt Dingleby. He deserved everything he got. He reminded her of that buffalo hunter who killed Hershel, except that man was taller and heavier. They shared the same beady eyes and appetite for unwilling women.
“Miss Rayna, what would you like to eat?” Rand asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“I’m not sure,” she muttered, glancing at Brett.
Rand squinted at the chalkboard menu on the wall. “Better decide. I’m going to have the special. Maybe two platefuls. I’m hungry enough to eat a cow—hooves, horns, and all.”
Cooper laughed. “I always claimed you were hollow inside. Guess you’re missing Callie’s cooking.”
Rand grinned. “Sure am. That wife of mine really knows how to fix a good meal. Her cooking was what turned me from my bachelor ways. That and her pretty eyes. Lord, I can look at her all day long.” He paused. “Brett, you’re awfully quiet.”
“Reckon you and Coop are talking enough for all of us.”
Rayna caught the glances Cooper and Rand exchanged. She’d seen Brett take Cooper aside, and wondered if he’d told his brother about the watch and her part in it. Embarrassment and shame crawled up her neck.
This was all because of that dumb owl she’d seen the previous day. She needed something more powerful than the little acorn to combat the bad omen. She’d keep her eyes peeled for a four-leaf clover. That should do it.
One thing for sure, she was not going to pick any more pockets. She wanted to measure up to the woman Brett thought she could be. He seemed to think she had potential, and she would show him or die trying.
He would see that she could be honest and trustworthy.
“Well, you could say something once in a while to let us know you’re still alive,” Rand grumbled. “Half the time I’m not too sure about you, little brother.”
The waiter came and took their order, but Rayna wasn’t positive she could force down her green beans, squash, and potatoes when they came. Knowing Brett was angry at her had stolen her appetite.
“Didn’t you want any meat, Miss Rayna?” Rand asked.
“No, thank you.”
Cooper frowned. “Never heard of anyone who turns down meat. You sick?”
“I’m fine. Please don’t fret about me.” Anxious to redirect the conversation, she addressed Brett. “Now that we have gauze and muslin, I’ll clean your wound and change your bandages before we start down the trail. Doc Perkins will shoot me if your infection gets worse.”
He swung his dark eyes to hers. “I’m fine.”
“You’ll damn well let her put a clean dressing on it if Rand and I have to hog-tie and sit on you.” Cooper’s deep voice indicated he wasn’t putting up with any nonsense. “I don’t know what’s stuck in your craw, but you’d best get over it.”
No one spoke.
When the food came, Rayna forced a few bites past the big lump blocking her throat.
“I’ll sure be glad when we get off the trail,” Rand said at last, taking a bite of his chicken leg. “I’ll bet I could grow a crop of turnips with the dirt on my clothes.”
Brett spoke quietly. “We have something to take care of before we can leave he
re.”
Rand stopped chewing. “Mind filling me in on whatever it is that’s going on? What were you and Coop discussing outside the mercantile?”
This was it. Rayna held her breath. Brett would tell them what she did. And then they’d most likely leave her in this little town alone to fend for herself.
She raised her chin a notch. She’d faced worse. She would survive. But seeing Rand’s and Cooper’s set, grim faces would hurt something deep inside.
Reaching into his pocket, Brett removed the watch. “You might as well know, I guess. This timepiece belongs to a deputy in Steele’s Hollow. He dropped it in my cell, and I pocketed it without thinking. We were discussing how to return it.”
She went weak with relief. Her eyes filled with tears at the realization that he would shoulder the blame. For her.
A frown wrinkled Rand’s forehead. “Why didn’t you give it back when we left?”
“Forgot I had it. I had intended to leave it on my bunk to let the runt know I’d bested him.” Brett forked a bite of steak into his mouth. “There’s a stage coming through here at 1:10. I’ll put the watch on it.”
When Brett’s eyes met hers, she mouthed, Thank you.
A tiny smile flickered before it died. Sudden hope that Brett’s coldness was beginning to thaw filled her.
She lifted her fork and dove into her food.
They finished eating and returned to the mercantile, which also served as the stage stop. After getting the watch aboard, they went down to a little creek.
Rayna unwrapped the strip of torn petticoat from around Brett’s chest. The wound looked angry and red, but it didn’t have any of the seepage around the edges that Doc Perkins told her to watch for. “I don’t think there’s cause for worry,” she said. “But we need to make sure to keep it clean, Brett.”
“I’m glad for that at least.”
She washed and patted the injury dry. “Thank you for not telling your brothers I stole the watch. But why? Why did you take the blame?”
“Because I wanted to. Wasn’t any reason to tell them.”
A moment of silence followed as Rayna applied a new dressing. She loved the way her fingers brushed his smooth skin. It was a mystery to her, though, why he seemed almost to wince at the contact. “Brett, I’ve been thinking. Maybe you should go on without me. I can stay here.”