He rose and strode across the porch and down the steps to untie his horse from the hitching post. He mounted the saddle before he did something really stupid, like kiss her goodbye and make promises he might not be able to keep.
Riding away, he looked back just once. He saw that she’d stepped down off her porch and stood there bathed in moonlight, watching after him as he left. Then he turned his back on the prettiest woman he’d ever known.
15
Bailey showed up before dawn. “I’ll make coffee. You put some clothes on.”
Kylie shook off sleep and rolled her eyes at her bossy big sister. “Good idea. I probably wouldn’t’ve thought of getting dressed without you telling me.” Kylie tossed back her thin blanket. Coffee was boiling by the time she had her clothes on.
Shannon showed up with a dozen eggs just as Bailey poured the first cups. Kylie sliced a rasher of bacon, which Bailey had brought a week ago.
Bailey questioned Kylie about the new coop, making plans to come back tomorrow with a few of her own chickens.
Sunrise came in next carrying three skinned rabbits and a lumpy cloth bag that she dumped out to show some odd roots. “Stew for dinner.” The Shoshone woman had already been hunting this morning.
Kylie started the bacon frying while her sisters and Sunrise made rabbit stew and organized Kylie’s life. She didn’t even mind too much, so long as the food kept coming.
They were close to finishing their breakfast when hoofbeats drew their attention. A quick glance out the window made Kylie gasp. “It’s Coulter, and he’s not alone.”
Bailey and Shannon, both dressed in their manly clothing, rushed to the windows, each taking their own side of the door, staying back so as not to be noticed.
Kylie wondered if their disguises would hold. “You don’t have to hide from him. Aaron’s already changed your paper work, so the fact that you’re women is out now.”
Bailey scowled at Kylie, then glanced at Sunrise. Kylie realized Bailey thought Sunrise still believed her to be a man.
Shaking her head, Sunrise said, “I have known you are a woman from the first. I saw no reason to question the clothes you chose to wear.”
Bailey looked startled but then went right back to complaining. “It may be written down on paper, but if Coulter discovers we’re women, pretty soon all his cowhands will know, and then everyone will know.” Bailey drew her gun and edged to the side of the window. “Our chances of living quietly will be gone.”
“I know Coulter,” Sunrise said. “Hide if you have a mind. I will go out so he will know Kylie isn’t alone.”
Bailey and Shannon exchanged a look. Kylie knew it didn’t suit them to let their little sister take charge of anything, but this once she was right, and here she stood in a dress, no secret life to hide. Besides, they probably trusted Sunrise to take care of things, and the big-sister brigade was here if she needed to call in the cavalry.
Finally, with a jerk of her chin, Bailey said, “You go talk to him, Kylie. Sunrise, stay close to her. Get rid of him.”
“Coulter is not easily gotten rid of,” Sunrise said, “but we will try.”
Shannon returned to the table and poured more coffee for herself. Bailey stayed on guard.
Kylie, with Sunrise right behind, stepped out as Coulter rode up with another man. A wild man from the looks of him, with a full beard and long hair, his clothing made of deerskin. His shirt was beaded like an Indian’s, and he had knee-high moccasins on his feet.
“Tucker.” Sunrise spoke first, and Kylie realized Sunrise knew everything about this country, far more than the Wilde sisters and most likely more than Coulter, though maybe not more than this man who rode with him.
“Sunrise, what brings you here?” Coulter asked.
“I live here.” She hadn’t brought out her bow and arrows, which gave Kylie comfort. The woman clearly expected there to be no shooting trouble.
Coulter’s mouth twisted. “It appears you’re making yourself even more comfortable, Miss Wilde.” His eyes wandered to the teepee visible in Kylie’s yard, to the trees cut back in the front, and lastly to the new chicken coop standing between the teepee and the cabin.
What had Aaron said last night? Kylie hunted around in her head. “I cut the trees back to give me a better field of fire. Whoever shot flaming arrows at my cabin is gonna have to do it from a lot farther back now. It’s all part of settling in on my land.”
Coulter grunted. “Who else is here?” He looked at the corral, where Bailey and Shannon had penned up their horses.
No doubt Coulter remembered she only had one horse; the gray mustang was the only livestock to her name.
“My brothers,” she said.
“Well, get ’em out here. I want a word with ’em.”
“Your business is with me, Mr. Coulter. My brothers respect my ability to handle my own affairs.” Oh, how Kylie wished that were true. “I’ve asked them to stay inside.” As if her “brothers” had ever done as she’d asked, even once in their lives.
Coulter narrowed his eyes, obviously annoyed, yet he didn’t push. He gestured to the man riding with him. “This is Matt Tucker. He works for me from time to time, and I’ve asked him to look around and see if he can figure out who attacked you the other day.”
“Howdy, miss.” Matt Tucker, bareheaded, wore a buckskin jerkin and pants of the same light-brown hide with fringe up the sides. He sounded younger than he looked.
Kylie studied him closer and realized that, sure enough, he was a youngster, probably only a bit older than she was. Even so, he had the hard look of a man who’d lived in the mountains for a long while. How did a man pick such a solitary life at such a young age?
“I have scouted,” Sunrise said.
Tucker nodded. “That’s good enough for me. Tell me what you found, so I can go hunting the varmints who attacked Miss Wilde.”
“Aaron Masterson’s already looking into it,” Kylie said. “We’ll let him handle it.”
“I welcome Tucker’s help,” Sunrise said. “He is good on a trail. Nearly as good as I.”
Hearing how Sunrise stressed the word nearly caught Kylie’s attention, especially when it was followed by Tucker’s face breaking out in a smile.
Sunrise smiled back. Kylie had a sudden interest in seeing him without all the fur on his face. She suspected that under that beard was a good-looking man. Not that she cared. If ever there was a man who wasn’t interested in civilization, it was Matt Tucker the mountain man.
“Nearly as good, Ma?”
That nearly staggered Kylie. “He’s your son?”
No, he couldn’t be. His hair was light brown, the ends burned nearly blond from the sun. He had shining blue eyes. He showed no trace of a resemblance to Sunrise with her midnight-black hair and eyes. And hadn’t she heard that Indians couldn’t grow beards?
“Not son of my blood. His pa and my man hunted together. Tucker became mine when his ma died.” Sunrise then said to Tucker, “This is my home now.”
Tucker nodded and leapt off his unsaddled horse with the grace of a big cat. He rode a gray mare with a black mane and tail. The horse wore an odd-looking bridle that didn’t appear to have a bit.
“How is the Gru?”
“The Groo . . . ?” Kylie turned to Sunrise, wondering what that meant.
Sunrise smiled. “His horse. It’s a grew-ya.”
“Grulla,” Tucker echoed. “That describes her color, but I gave it to her as a name. Ma calls her Gru sometimes. She’s a mustang pony I saved when she was young, and she’s the best horse a man ever had.” He patted her gray shoulder. The mare lashed a hoof at Tucker and tried to bite him.
Kylie jumped. “That’s the best you’ve ever had?”
Tucker laughed. “She’s still half wild, and she only stays with me because she wants to. That’s the only reason I stay anywhere too, so it suits me fine.”
“I would like to show Tucker the tracks I found yesterday,” Sunrise said as she walked down the porch
steps. “Perhaps there is still something to teach the boy.”
Tucker laughed again. The man seemed quite happy. Kylie wondered if being a mountain man was in fact a carefree way of life. It sounded like a lot of hard work to her, and lonely.
Tucker swept Sunrise into a hug that hoisted the short, stout woman off her feet. When he set her down, Sunrise reached up and tugged on his beard. “I thought you shaved this fur in summer. You look more animal than man.”
“Reckon that about describes me, Ma. I been busy, but it’s time to have at the beard and get my yearly haircut.”
“I will see to it for you. You are clumsy, and I do not trust many with a razor close to your throat.”
The two of them laughed while walking side by side toward the woods.
“So, I’m not allowed to meet your brothers?” Coulter drew her attention back to him.
From the window Aaron had broken, off to the side so she wasn’t fully visible, Bailey said, “I’m Bailey Wilde. Consider me met, Mr. Coulter.”
“Two extra horses,” he called back. “There should be another brother in that cabin.”
“There is, and the other one’s less friendly than I am.” Bailey had a husky voice, naturally deep for a woman. But she cast it a bit deeper when she said, “Say your piece and be on your way.”
It was all Kylie could do not to turn and gawk at Bailey. It appeared her sister was going to let her stand out here alone.
Maybe Bailey’s confidence in her disguise had been shaken, with Aaron seeing her for a woman almost immediately, and Sunrise knowing all along. It would be more normal for Bailey to come rushing out, gun in hand, and take charge. Instead, she held back, hiding. But she still tried to run Coulter off, so Bailey hadn’t completely lost her nerve.
Coulter smiled at the voice, a cold-edged smile that made Kylie shake in her boots. If she’d had a gun on Coulter, she would’ve handed it right over and apologized for being so rude.
Bailey was made of sterner stuff. “I said, state your business and go.”
That smile faded as his gray eyes focused on the window. Kylie looked behind her, figuring Coulter wasn’t paying her any attention anyway. Only a shadowed outline showed, and Kylie couldn’t make out a single detail. The way Coulter was staring, she wondered if those icy eyes didn’t have a bit more strength than a normal human, because he kept looking even though there wasn’t much to see.
Finally, Coulter turned away from the window. His smile returned, warmed a bit as he looked at Kylie. He leaned close, but when he spoke there was no doubt he meant his voice to carry to the window. “I had a mind to ask if you’d like to ride out with me, Miss Wilde. A pretty woman moves in, and a man is apt to wonder if she’d be a likely . . . friend.” The silence between the words likely and friend carried a world of meaning. “But I think I’ll hold off on that ride. I’ve got another notion I want to track down first.”
“Notion?” Kylie had no idea what was going on with Coulter, but something was definitely afoot. He struck her as a man who didn’t make decisions or change his mind on a whim, so there had to be a substantial reason why he’d come over to invite her to go riding, then changed his mind. That change made her nervous. What’s more, she was certain he knew she was nervous and enjoyed it.
Coulter tugged on the brim of his hat, looked back at the window, and nodded toward Bailey’s silhouette. “When Tucker gets back, tell him I rode on home. He and Sunrise can figure out how to go about making you safe out here, Miss Wilde. I don’t like nesters on my land, and I mean to see you and your whole family gone. You may find you don’t like my tactics, but you won’t be hurt by them. Well, not exactly hurt.”
“What does that mean, ‘not exactly hurt’?” she asked.
Coulter just smiled, nodded to her and Bailey’s shadow again, and turned his horse. Before he could ride away, Aaron came trotting into the yard.
Kylie swung her arms wide. “I’ve never had this much company in my life.”
Riding up, Aaron hopped off his horse as if he owned the place and intended to stay. Coulter’s plan to leave was abandoned as he too dismounted and hitched his horse. At the same time, Tucker’s grulla wandered off, grazing.
“Who else is here? Where’s Sunrise?” Aaron asked as if he thought Kylie was in danger from Coulter.
Kylie wasn’t so sure he was wrong.
“Tucker and Sunrise are going over the trail left by those bushwhackers,” Coulter said. “I’m going to join them.”
When had he decided that? First a ride, then no ride. Then he was leaving; now he was staying. Gage Coulter seemed to be turning downright whimsical.
Aaron turned toward the woods. “I’d like to see ’em, too. I did my share of tracking in the wilderness around my farm back East.”
“We’ll go together.” Coulter slapped Aaron on the back.
“Are you all right?” Now Aaron was looking at her. “Do you mind staying here alone?” Aaron’s eyes shifted to the corral, and the tension went out of his shoulders. He recognized the horses.
“Her brothers are inside. Standoffish types.” Coulter said it with a strange hint of amusement that made Kylie uncomfortable.
“Let’s go, then.” To Kylie, Aaron said, “I’ll be back before long. I left town with no breakfast, if you’ve got any to spare.”
The two men started heading toward the woods.
“You’ve met the brothers, then?” Coulter asked in his deep voice.
But Kylie couldn’t hear Aaron’s reply. Just seconds later, they disappeared into the brush.
Bailey came to the door behind her, still keeping to the side. “That man wants your land, Kylie.”
Kylie walked back to the cabin and went inside. “A bunch of strangers are taking over my life. It reminds me why I want to go back East. On the other hand, it’s nice to have all this company.”
Bailey was still looking at the woods, where Coulter and Aaron had vanished, probably worrying Coulter might try to sneak back without Aaron with him.
Shannon stood to pour coffee for each of them. “I think he wants way more than the land.” She hadn’t been watching, but Coulter had spoken up nice and clear, and she’d heard every word. “What else is he after?”
Bailey holstered her six-gun. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
Kylie had the sudden urge to laugh. “You two need to grow up.”
Shannon arched one of her pretty dark brows.
Bailey, never so subtle, said, “What?”
“Come away from the door, Bailey. Drink your coffee and let me tell you about how I grew up a few days ago and put on a dress.”
Kylie had never felt quite so in control. Shannon gave her that indulgent motherly smile of hers, and Bailey rolled her eyes but conceded to Kylie’s request.
Kylie had seen the two of them react to those men. Her sisters, as much as they liked to pretend otherwise, were women, with women’s interests. For being the baby of the family, it gave Kylie a spark of pride to realize that accepting who she was had renewed her. She felt like she was starting life all over again. And it wasn’t just a renewal of her way of life; it was a renewal of her mind and spirit, too.
There was a Bible verse about being born again, and Kylie knew what that meant.
“Bailey, do you know that I can’t remember ever once in my life seeing you in a skirt?”
Bailey clumped across the room in her mannish boots, her hair short as a boy’s. She sat with her legs splayed, her every move masculine. Except when she reached for her coffee mug and her hand curled around it. Even with its work-hardened calluses, her hand was purely feminine. She had many of the masculine moves down just because she lived her life in a way that fit such moves, but her hands were graceful and delicate, and belied any attempt at passing herself off as a man.
“I suppose not,” Bailey replied. “Jimmy was just a year older than me, and from my earliest memory I was tagging along with him and Pa outside and wearing britches just like them. I don’t r
emember much before I was four. Ma was busy with you, and Shannon was already running with me.”
They’d been four in a row: Jimmy, Bailey, Shannon, and Kylie. Four babies born just about as fast as possible. Kylie wasn’t sure why, but Ma was always a quiet woman. For some reason, though the older ones ran outside with Pa, Kylie got to stay inside with Ma. And then Ma had died when Kylie was ten.
“You got to put a skirt on once in a while, Shannon,” Kylie said.
Shannon nodded. “What are you getting at? It seems to me that Bailey and I have been taking a lot of care of you out here. I’m not sure how that means we need to grow up. I think it might be the other way around.”
It didn’t even pinch, because Kylie had figured out that being a grown-up man didn’t make a lot of sense when you were a woman. “It’s time you two figure out you’re women, and what’s more, buried under all the nonsense you’ve been taught by Pa, you want to be women. You like good-looking men. It comes naturally to want a man of your very own, to want babies of your own. You scoff at it, but it’s as natural as breathing to a woman to want these things. And the day I figured that out, I became more of an adult than either of you.”
Bailey snorted and rolled her eyes. Yet Kylie had seen the way she’d watched Gage Coulter. Bailey could snort all she wanted to. She’d liked looking. And Kylie had noticed the same with Shannon, who sipped her coffee with a dismissive smile.
Kylie made no further comment. She’d had her say. Her sisters would have to figure this one out on their own. It’d be fun to watch them fight against it, but there was no doubt in her mind they’d lose. Because like it or not, her take-charge big sisters needed to grow up, and outside Kylie’s cabin right now were two real manly reasons they might get started with that growth spurt.
Matt Tucker was a man who fought shy of people. Aaron had never met him, but he’d heard stories. When the mountain man materialized out of the woods, utterly silent and looking as untamed as the rest of the Rockies, Aaron knew who he was.
Tried and True (Wild at Heart Book #1) Page 14