Ruthless Heart

by Beth Williamson

  “You have some trouble along the way?” Gannon eyed Grady’s stitched lip and bruises.

  “Ah, couple fellas in a town we went through decided I needed to meet their feet and fists.” Grady touched the stitches, still amazed at how neatly Eliza had worked on him. “Eliza patched me up.”

  “She’s good at it. Wish Mary had that kind of steady hand. She’s a bit soft when it comes to blood.” Gannon gestured to the canteens. “How about we get the water you folks need?”

  “Much obliged.” Grady walked ahead of the rancher, knowing the man was only protecting his own. After all, Grady was armed with two pistols and a knife. Any man worth his salt would be on his guard.

  They walked around the side of the house to the pump marking the well. It was painted bright blue and shone like a beacon in the midday sun.

  “You want to make sure you can see the pump in the dark?”

  Gannon cleared his throat. “Nah, my boy loved the color blue, and after he passed on from a snake bite, the wife painted what she could see from the window blue. Blamed herself for not keeping an eye on him, so this way she always remembers.”

  Sounded like whipping herself for the rest of her life to Grady. Who was he to judge though? He’d lived like that for a long time, then he’d trained himself to be numb. Maybe one day Mrs. Gannon would learn that lesson herself.

  Grady didn’t respond because he didn’t know how to. Instead, he took hold of the handle and started pumping until the water started gushing out. Fortunately, it was cool and clear. He filled the canteens quickly, and then ducked his head under to get the last of the water to get the dust off his face.

  The rancher had moved away to the back of the house to watch him. Grady knew this was his opportunity to find out information about his quarry.

  “I was also hoping you might have seen my sister and aunt traveling this way. She headed out a few weeks ago before we knew Mama was sick. Wondered if you might’ve seen her.” Grady leaned against the pump in a relaxed pose.

  “Maybe. We see lots of folks passing this way.” Gannon pushed the brim of his hat back, a good sign. “What’s she look like?”

  “Eighteen, blonde, pretty. Had to beat the boys off with a stick when she was growing up.” Grady based his description on the old man’s description only. He hoped like hell the girl was pretty. “My aunt has brown hair, about thirty, kinda plain.”

  The rancher rubbed his chin, his hand rasping on the whiskers. “There was a couple of ladies riding with Bill Parker last week. Saw them in his wagon headed west. They had hats on, but I remember thinking one of them had shiny blonde hair that sparkles in the sun.”

  Grady’s instincts kicked in although he maintained a very casual expression. “That sounds like her.”

  “Why is she traveling alone with your aunt?”

  He’d expected the question. “She’s a stubborn girl and wanted to get to Mama. She wired Pa she was coming, and he made sure she had a chaperone, but he ain’t heard from her and got worried, asked me to look after them.” The lies rolled off his tongue as if the conversation had actually taken place with a concerned father. Little did the man know the source had actually been a furious husband.

  “Sounds like what a Pa would do.” Gannon nodded. “I’d venture that was likely your sister and aunt I saw.”

  “You said it was last week?” Grady mentally calculated how far two women would get in a wagon with a rancher. Not too far, considering he’d likely brought them as far as the next town.

  “Ayup, it was Monday because that’s the day my wife makes bread. I remember the smell of it chased the thoughts out of my head.” Gannon smiled, which caused a sharp pain in Grady’s chest. The man was obviously infatuated with his wife, and it showed.

  Grady wanted no part of it. Men who believed in love, who got trapped by love, were nothing but fools and deserved every bit of pain they got. He had no intention of opening himself up to that pain, no matter how stupid a woman might make him.

  His mind immediately went to Eliza’s expression when she’d reached her peak beneath him. If there was a female who could make him lose his focus, it might be her. She was the first one he’d met who was even more of a mess than he was, and she had more courage than most men.

  Grady realized the rancher was staring at him, and that he’d been completely distracted by thoughts of her.

  Hell and damnation.

  “You fixin’ to catch up with your sister and aunt?”

  “Maybe, depends on whether we catch up to them before we need to turn north for Raymer Falls.” Grady didn’t think Gannon suspected he was anything other than a concerned brother looking for his little sister.

  He knew for certain that if Eliza hadn’t been with him, there was no way he’d have been believable. The information might never have been offered either. Much as he wanted to get some distance between him and Eliza, this only proved to him that he couldn’t.

  “Appreciate the water and the company. It’s been a hard journey on Eliza. She ain’t used to be in the saddle that long.” Grady raised his brows knowingly.

  Gannon laughed. “I can imagine that makes it difficult when you’re in the bedroll at night.”

  The memory of exactly what went on in the bedroll nearly made Grady blush.

  Eliza watched Mrs. Gannon as she flitted around the kitchen, seemingly without a specific plan for what she needed to do. Obviously having a stranger in the house made her nervous. She reminded Eliza of herself a bit, in the sense the woman was shy and reserved.

  The journey had changed Eliza from an introvert into a woman who could track a man over twenty miles of rough terrain and who had lost her virginity by a campfire. Oh, no she was definitely not the same woman who had snuck out of her house in the darkness a week earlier.

  “You have a nice home, Mrs. Gannon.”

  “Mary.” The soft spoken word barely brushed Eliza’s ears.

  “My name is Eliza. Your curtains are quite lovely.” They were a pretty pattern with blue flowers. “Your stitching is so tight and precise.”

  At this, the woman stopped her puttering and looked at Eliza. The tiny woman had round owl-like brown eyes and wavy brown hair. Her heart-shaped face was marred by what Eliza recognized as grief. She felt an immediate connection to the rancher’s wife, a shared deep grief over the loss of someone. “Who did you lose?”

  Mary’s face drained of color. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Eliza held out her hands. “It’s been six months since I lost my best friend, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel the loss.”

  The other woman took her hands with shaking ones. “It’s been a year since I lost my son.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears.

  “I’m so sorry.” Eliza’s throat closed up in shared grief.

  Against all odds, the two of them embraced briefly, and Eliza found herself connecting with a new friend. A woman she never would have met without setting off on the adventure of a lifetime.

  “Thank you, Eliza. I, uh, don’t get much company out here. I’m glad you and your man stopped by.” She ducked her head and turned away, obviously uncomfortable.

  Your man.

  Little Mary Gannon had no idea just how untrue that was. He was no one’s man; that much was obvious. Grady lived his life by his own rules and said to hell with everything else. He hadn’t left her behind again, and had grudgingly thanked her for the help she’d rendered, but none of that meant he wouldn’t pick up and leave her in the dust, even though he’d been intimate with her and had shown her exactly what bliss was like.

  Eliza had spent most of her life wishing she were somewhere else, someone else. Here she was fulfilling that wish, and all she could think about Grady. With all his gruffness and lack of social graces, he had become important to her. She didn’t want him to leave her behind, and she had to admit to herself, it wasn’t just because of Angeline.

  The moment he discovered Eliza had been disingenuous herself about why
she was undertaking this journey, she knew their relationship would be completely over. Grady didn’t tolerate liars, and although he might applaud her effort in finding her sister, he would then hate Eliza.

  She dreaded that moment as much as she craved finding Angeline.

  Chapter Eight

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  They left the Gannon ranch with full canteens and enough food for supper. Eliza found herself sad to leave Mary behind. She had never made a friend so quickly, or one outside the church. Perhaps she might even make it back to the Gannon ranch one day. Of course then, she’d have to explain why she had been pretending to be Grady’s wife. That would be more than complicated and would likely end the new friendship.

  Eliza had to accept the fact she would never see Mary again, which caused more than a twinge of sadness. There had been a bond between the two of them, and that certainly didn’t happen very often. She sighed heavily.

  “You wanted to stay longer?” Grady didn’t turn his head. He just simply asked the question almost knowing Eliza’s thoughts.

  “No, just thinking I won’t have the opportunity to see Mary again.” She didn’t want to explain why.

  “Likely not. They were good people, which is why I didn’t want to stay longer.” Grady’s tone was void of emotion, yet Eliza could hear something beneath the words. What it was, she didn’t know but assumed it had something to do with his opinion of himself. Although she would expect him to be confident and self-assured, perhaps he wasn’t.

  Eliza stayed quiet the rest of the afternoon. She didn’t want to talk or think, so she focused on the terrain. Although born and raised in Utah, she’d spent a good deal of time inside a very narrow ten-mile radius. This adventure afforded her the opportunity to see much more. She could tell by the thickening of the trees they were getting closer to the mountains towering in the distance. The snow-capped giants were magnificent.

  Grady must have wanted to keep his thoughts private as well because he didn’t speak for hours. It was as if they’d come to the point where they were comfortable with each other, something Eliza found nearly unbelievable. Yet she didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with inane chatter.

  As the sun sank into the horizon, Eliza felt the day begin to slide through her. In its wake, exhaustion followed. The sharp tang of pine and cold temperatures surrounded her. She could hear running water in the distance and hoped Grady would make the choice to stop soon.

  The ground beneath them became muddy the nearer they came to the water. In the distance, she spotted some darker clouds and determined they’d already gone past and had left a soaking rain in their wake. She felt lucky they’d missed the rain since her coat wasn’t particularly warm, and she didn’t have a slicker.

  As if he read her mind, Grady stopped and dismounted near a grassy clearing. Unfortunately to get there, she’d have to slog through the mud. Her boots were new, and she didn’t want to ruin them; however, there didn’t appear to be a choice. Not normally a squeamish or weak girl, Eliza found herself regretting the likely ruination of her new shoes.

  She stopped and watched as Grady peered around the clearing with his right hand resting on a pistol. He took no chances at any point in time. The thought struck her that meant he never actually rested or felt comfortable enough to relax. What a lonely, tense life he led, something she’d never considered.

  “Looks safe enough to stay. There are some tracks here, but they’re not fresh.” He walked back to the horses as Eliza began to dismount.

  Before her feet could touch the mud, he scooped her up, earning a surprised squeak. He grunted as she settled into his arms.

  “I’m trying to be a gentleman. I ain’t done it much, so I don’t know what’s right and what’s not.” He deposited her on the grass then turned to go back to the horses.

  She should say thank you for his considerate act or even for saving her shoes. Yet she stood there watching him like a mute fool. Grady wasn’t as mean as he appeared. He was like a cave deep within a mountain. Cold, dark, and forbidding on the outside, yet inside he was full of amazing sights, surprises, and needs. The trick would be to find a way to bring out some of those into the light.

  What was she thinking? It wasn’t her job to help Grady break out of his wall of solitude. She had no right to do so, and he likely would not appreciate the effort.

  It didn’t mean she didn’t dwell on it and sincerely want to tear down that wall. Grady had become a part of her life, and as such, she was inexorably linked to him, whether or not he liked it.

  “You fixing on standing there the whole night or maybe you could build a fire?” Grady’s harsh tone snapped her out of her reverie.

  “Oh, you’re correct of course. I’ll begin now.”

  “Damn silly talk.” He mumbled it, but she heard him anyway. Eliza wished she could find the words and tone he wouldn’t find so uncomfortable. She wanted them to be as natural talking as they’d become when they were silent.

  She found some appropriate rocks to build a fire pit, although the grass was wet enough to get the bottom several inches of her skirt wet. Eliza knew she’d have trouble finding dry kindling or firewood. Perhaps there were some places within the canopy of trees that might have escaped the rain.

  Leaving the clearing behind her, she ventured into the woods. The sound of the rushing water was louder as it echoed off the pines that densely populated the area. She’d been right about the drier wood and found some to use as she meandered through the woods. As she gathered, her mind drifted to Grady and how she could break through his defenses. She shouldn’t, maybe couldn’t, but she knew she’d try.

  Within a short amount of time, she had an armload of wood to use and felt a certain satisfaction that she’d accomplished a task he’d given her. Then she turned around and realized she was far from the clearing, the trees around her were now shadowed in the murk of twilight, and she had absolutely no idea where she was.

  Grady finished unsaddling the horses then rubbed them down. Luckily, the grass was sweet and plentiful in the area, so he secured them at the edge of the clearing to feast. The horses seemed to be getting along well without any biting and fighting. He and Eliza could learn something from the accommodating equines.

  They’d spent the afternoon in silence, strangely enough. He’d expected her to chatter as she’d been doing, but after the visit with the Gannons, she’d been as quiet as the horses. It was a bit strange for her, but he wasn’t a talker by nature, so he hadn’t started a conversation. Stupidly enough, he’d almost missed hearing her voice.

  He put the saddles beneath a tree near the horses, keeping them out of the wet grass and mud. Then he took the bedrolls and laid them out near the circle of stones Eliza had put together. After he got the saddles unloaded and brought the various bags over to their camp, he was thirsty and hungry. He looked around and realized he couldn’t see her anywhere.

  “Liz?”

  The sound of rushing water in the distance was his only answer. Where the hell had she gone? A niggling smidge of worry danced up and down on his spine. He sure didn’t want to worry about her.

  Damn.

  Grady checked to be sure the horses weren’t going to get loose, then stepped into the woods. The sound of the water was louder and could drown out his voice, or hers for that matter. She wasn’t stupid enough to go near the river, that much was for certain. So where had she gone?

  He’d asked her to gather firewood, so more than likely she’d had to hunt around to find some that was dry. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to wander off and get lost. Eliza had more common sense for that, or maybe she hadn’t read a book about not losing her way in the woods.

  The longer he looked for her, the angrier he got. He called her name until his voice got hoarse, at least thirty minutes or more. The darkness got thicker with each passing minute. If she was stuck in the woods overnight in the cold that crept down from the nearby mountains, she could be in life-threatening danger.

  Grady wanted to find
her so he could strangle her for making him worry.

  That thought made him stop in his tracks. His stomach flipped, and then flipped again. He bent over and braced his hands on his knees to absorb what he’d just realized.

  He was worried about her.

  Son of a bitch.

  Grady wasn’t even able to worry about himself, much less anyone else. He didn’t have the ability to worry, and hadn’t for a very long time, if ever. Damn Eliza for yanking him to the dirty pool of human emotion. He didn’t want to be in there.

  What he should do is go back to the clearing and wait until morning. If she wasn’t back, he’d leave her horse and her behind. That’s what Grady would have done a month earlier.

  However, he wasn’t the same person, and he knew it. Eliza had changed him, whether that was a good thing or not. Grady wouldn’t even consider leaving her lost in the woods to fend for herself. He continued calling her name, his entire body tightening with each minute that passed. Where the hell was she? Over the pounding of the blood through his ears, he thought he heard a sound.

  Grady stopped dead and strained to hear. Closing his eyes, he put the sound of the water aside and pictured Eliza with her stubborn expression as she rode beside him.

  “Where are you?” he whispered into the breeze.

  “Grady?”

  As if by magic, she appeared in front of him with an armload of firewood and enough dirt and twigs in her dark hair to build a second fire. Unbelievably, she was smiling. His anger returned with a whoosh, and he grabbed her by the shoulders, spilling the wood every which way.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? I’ve been looking for half an hour for you. Are you stupid or something?”

  He honestly didn’t expect the slap, so it surprised the hell out of him. His cheek stung from the impact, almost as much as his pride. Nobody was faster than Grady Wolfe, and no one ever got the drop on him.