Hell for Leather

by Beth Williamson

  “That mule ain’t my brother.” Bernice scowled at him.

  He snorted. “Oh, you mean it’s not stubborn, mean and impossible?”

  “Well, a’course he is. All mules are.”

  “Exactly.” Cade turned the horse toward the trees. “Let’s get moving then.”

  Sabrina helped the girl up on the saddle, then mounted behind her. Felicidad shifted under the weight of both of them.

  “Shhh. It’s okay, girl, she’s a friend.” Sabrina patted the mare’s neck until she settled down. Cade had almost reached the tree line before they started off behind him.

  “He’s an ornery cuss, ain’t he?” Bernice humphed. “If I was his woman, I’d make him pay for what he done.”

  Sabrina swallowed the spurt of pain at the girl’s words. She had no idea how much Cade had actually hurt Sabrina, or how much she wanted to make him pay for it. However it would be spiteful and vengeful to follow through on the thought. Sabrina wanted to maintain her dignity and would only do so by ignoring his childish, hurtful words.

  Their breath came out in white puffs in the crisp morning air. Once they caught up with Cade, he gestured with his arm for them to precede him.

  “I don’t know where the hell I’m going.” He turned his face away when Sabrina caught his eye.

  Coward.

  “It’s north.” Bernice pointed to the densest part of the trees. “Over the ridgeline and around the side of the hill.”

  “I wouldn’t expect any less.” Cade was determined to be as obnoxious as possible that day.

  “Never mind the fool behind us,” Sabrina told Bernice. “Let’s just get your things so we can get to town.”

  Her heart still ached from the blows rendered by Cade’s words, but Sabrina held on, never letting him see just how badly she hurt. The ride to Bernice’s home was a blur of blinking back tears and swallowing them into the darkest regions of her soul. The farther they traveled, the colder it got, yet Sabrina ignored it. She would be strong.

  “There’s the hill. It’s just around the other side.” Bernice pointed again and Sabrina urged the mare around the base of the small hill.

  When they reached the other side, a rickety shack was barely visible beneath the thick pines surrounding it. A firepit sat outside with a pot hanging from the spit above it. It was neat, yet obviously the girl had next to nothing. She climbed down from the horse and headed for the shack.

  “I need to get Lucky and pack my stuff on her.”

  “Do you want some help?” Sabrina called as Bernice disappeared into the shack.

  “No. Don’t got much, so it won’t take but a minute or two.”

  Sabrina was painfully aware of Cade sitting on his horse behind her, staring holes into her back by the feel of it. The bone-numbing cold had reached up her riding skirt and grabbed hold of every inch of her body. Her teeth started chattering, and she longed for the warmth of the sun they’d left in the meadow.

  “You’re cold.”

  “You’re astute.”

  “I don’t know what that word means, but I think you insulted me.” His horse neighed and she heard him murmuring to the beast. No doubt he’d scented the mule, wherever it was.

  “I don’t think it’s possible to insult you, Mr. Brody.” Her words were as crisp as the air around them.

  “I think you’d be surprised what insults me.” He nudged the horse up beside her, practically daring her to look at him.

  “I don’t care to know.” Her hands and feet were numb, as was her nose and chin. The frigid air started to seep into her bones.

  “Here, take the damn thing.” Cade thrust something at her, dangling it under her nose. “I can’t stand to hear your teeth clack together anymore.”

  Sabrina looked down to find a handmade scarf in his hands. It was a thick, crocheted piece in a startling midnight blue, almost black. She couldn’t help but reach out and take it.

  “It’s beautiful.” She fingered the tight stitches. “Someone must have really loved you to make it.”

  His laugh made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “Not hardly. That was a gift from a friend’s mother. She’d made it for one of her boys but gave it to me instead. The love was meant for someone else.”

  There it was again, that echo of ancient pain dredged up from within him. She took off her hat and wrapped the scarf around her head and ears, then her neck, the warmth of the wool not nearly as comforting as his scent trapped within the fibers. As she put the hat back on her head, settling it around the scarf, she breathed in deeply, somehow drawing strength from the wool.

  “Thank you.”

  He grunted and stepped his horse back away from her. “It wasn’t a kindness. I was tired of hearing your teeth clatter.”

  “Liar.” Sabrina finally turned and looked at him, catching him staring at her. The longing, the absolute naked longing in his eyes made her heart pound. He quickly shuttered his gaze, but it was too late. She’d seen what lurked behind those black eyes and it gave her the one thing she needed most.

  Hope.

  Chapter Nine

  Cade had spent some miserable days in his life, most of which he cared not to even remember. This Sunday would be etched in his memory for the rest of his life. He’d seen something in Sabrina’s eyes that scared the hell out of him, made him bare his teeth and bite her until she bled. God, he’d never wanted to hurt her, not in a million years, yet he’d deliberately slashed at her with his tongue until she was down, then he’d kicked her.

  He knew he wasn’t a good person, never even pretended to be one, yet she saw something in him that made her believe he was good. Cade had no clue what it could possibly be, yet she did. Bernice had no illusions as to his character and treated him appropriately. As she walked out of the hovel leading the ugliest mule he’d ever seen, she glared at him.

  “Lucky might not be pretty but she’s got a good soul, which is more than I can say for you, gunslinger,” she snapped.

  If Bernice called him gunslinger in town, he’d have to gag her. “I didn’t say a word, girl. Now get up on that beast and let’s get out of these trees. It’s too damn cold to be jawing out here.”

  “I was fixing to do that anyway.” She climbed up on the mule’s back and the damn thing didn’t protest a whit. In his experience, the ornery creatures were nothing but trouble and nobody in their right mind would ride one. Then again, he was talking about Bernice, which explained it.

  Cade avoided looking at Sabrina, knowing she wore the scarf Mrs. Malloy had given him right before he left Wyoming. He’d tried to give it to Brett, but he wouldn’t accept it. Told him his mama had given Cade a gift and he’d best accept it. Cade had no experience with friends or family, so when the Malloys overwhelmed him, as they often did, he’d go and hide for a few hours until they left. Brett seemed to understand that, giving him a place to work and live for the best four months of his life.

  Yet Cade’s past had reared its ugly head, putting Brett and his family at risk. Cade knew he’d had to leave, yet up until then, it had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. Living on the Square One Ranch had felt like home, a place he’d never found before. God knows he didn’t deserve that kind of peace, and it was as short-lived as he’d expected it to be.

  Now he was stuck again, this time with a woman who’d snatched his heart from his chest, a heart he hadn’t known existed until six months earlier. The Malloys had discovered his heart, and Sabrina made it beat.

  Cade itched to get rid of it, to go back to living life as a hollow man with nothing but his sorry self for company. It seemed as though God had other ideas for him since he’d thrown a woman to love in his path and a girl to drive him insane. Neither one of them knew what sort of havoc they wreaked within him, and if he had his way, they never would.

  As they emerged from the forest into the meadow, he could breathe again, free from the confines of the damn trees. They rode ahead of him, talking quietly in the still morning, the cloudy white puffs from
their breath hanging in the air. He wanted to be right there, between them, around them. God, he could almost taste the raw need to be loved by someone, anyone.

  He shouldn’t have pushed Sabrina away, but it had been self-defense, pure and simple. It was as if his brain and his heart had stopped speaking to each other. While his heart screamed for her, his brain pushed her away so hard it made him stop breathing. He was a complete wreck, both physically and emotionally. His head ached from the lean-to, his ribs hurt like hell from the stupid horse kick and his heart was in a vat of pain so deep he didn’t think it would ever emerge.

  Cade opened his mouth to talk at least a dozen times on the ride to Eustace, but he didn’t, or couldn’t. He didn’t know which. When they arrived, he knew it was his last chance to apologize to Sabrina for what he’d said and done or risk losing her forever. He wanted to kick his own ass for the way he’d behaved the last twenty-four hours. Jesus, what a complete bastard he’d been.

  As the buildings came into view, he knew it was now or never. Seemingly of their own accord, his knees nudged the bay into a trot until he caught up with Sabrina. She stared straight ahead, refusing it seemed to look at him.

  “Mr. Brody.” Her tone was clipped, harsh and he deserved every second of it.

  “Sabrina.” Gravelly and uncertain, his voice broke. She whipped her head around and peered at him from beneath the brim of her hat. Her beautiful blue eyes gave him the strength to go on. “I wanted to say I’m so—”

  “How dare you?” Sam Fuller shouted from the street in front of them, spoiling the moment and his apology.

  “Sam, what’s going on?” Sabrina demanded.

  Sam pointed his thick finger at Cade. “That man is a liar. His name isn’t even Cade Brody. He took you against your will to his cabin and apparently made you part of his brood.” His nasty gaze settled on Bernice, sitting regally atop her ugly mule. “Let me guess, this is his child bride.”

  Bernice snorted. “I remember you. You’re that loudmouthed fool from the mill.”

  Cade wanted to smile at her sassiness, but found that he couldn’t. Sam Fuller was about to reveal his secrets to the entire town. Folks poked their heads out of doorways and windows. The small population started to gather behind the lumberman. Ellen stood on the steps of the store, piercing Cade with a fierce glare. Sabrina’s sister would never accept him, but at this point, finding out why she didn’t like him wasn’t a task he wanted to take on.

  “You’d best watch your language, young lady.” Sam glanced at the crowd behind him. “Cade Brody’s real name is Kincaid and he’s a gunslinger with a reputation a mile long. He’s killed more than a hundred men, most as a gun for hire.” The malice in the other man’s face was almost as bad as the shock on Sabrina’s.

  Frenchie, that foolish, stinky miner, stood on the steps by Ellen, a grin and a snicker emanating from his gap-toothed mouth. “I knew’d it.”

  Sabrina climbed down from Felicidad and walked toward Sam, trampling what was left of Cade’s stupid heart beneath her boots.

  When she slapped Sam, the silence descended on everyone. Cade’s mouth even dropped open.

  “You are a fool, Sam Fuller. Bernice was right about you.” She pointed to the girl. “This is Bernice Wilkinson. Do you remember her? Her pa died of consumption at Clara’s last year.” She glanced at Cade, and he was relieved beyond measure to see righteous fury in her eyes. “Mr. Brody found the girl and wanted to help her into town before winter hit and he asked for my help, which I gladly gave. We found her yesterday just before the storm.”

  Sam’s expression hardened as she spoke, her words growing louder and firmer.

  “He might have a past but who doesn’t? Cade is a good man, no matter what you think, Sam. I’d rather spend one night in his arms then a lifetime listening to you preach about the sins of others, while you hide your own under the rug.”

  When Sam slapped her, Cade didn’t remember getting off the horse, yet he was running toward them, even as Sam took Sabrina’s arm in his grasp. A well-dressed man in a black suit stood by the steps to the store, a gun belt hanging from his hips.

  “Let go of me.” She tried to pull away, but Sam tightened his hand. “You’re hurting me.”

  “You whore. How dare you lay with this man?” Sam raised his hand to slap her again when Cade reached them.

  He’d snatched a pistol from the stranger and although the grip was unfamiliar in Cade’s hand, the weight of it wasn’t. Fear blossomed in Sam’s eyes as soon as the barrel pressed into his chin.

  “You have about one second to get your fucking hands off her before the town sees your teeth and brains in the dirt.” Cade’s voice was as sharp and deadly as a knife.

  Sam loosened his grip and Sabrina stepped beside Cade, her hands on his shoulder.

  “Don’t do it. He’s behaving like an ass.” She tugged at him. “Please, Cade.”

  “He hurt you.” The sound of that slap kept echoing through Cade’s head, making blood-red anger pulse through him. He’d never felt so protective of anyone before or felt the absolute need to kill someone for it.

  “I’m fine, my cheek stings, but I’m more upset than anything. I don’t want to see anything happen to you because of Sam’s stupidity.” She cupped Cade’s cheek. “Please, for me, let him go.”

  Cade had done some hard tasks in his life, yet stepping away from Sam and releasing the hammer on the pistol had to be the most difficult one. He took a deep breath as his body shook with a thirst for vengeance. Not only had the man hurt her physically, but he’d humiliated all three of them in front of the entire town.

  However, he couldn’t let the man get off scot-free. Cade’s fist connected with Sam’s chin with a satisfying crunch. As he fell toward the ground, grim satisfaction rippled through Cade.

  The stranger in black stepped up with his left palm outstretched. “I’ll take that back if you don’t mind.” A hint of a smile was on his face.

  “Sorry about that. I, just, well I needed to.” As Cade handed the gun over, he glanced at Sabrina and almost melted at the love in her gaze.

  “I understand completely.” The man stuck out his right hand. “Marshal Johnathan Black.”

  Cade’s heart sank at the realization the stranger was a lawman, and Sam had already given the man enough information to take him into custody if he so desired.

  “You know I heard the gunslinger Kincaid died in Wyoming months ago.” His dark brows rose. “So I’m guessing you can’t be him and Sam’s blowing hot air.”

  Cade was able to take a breath, grateful for the reprieve, whatever the reason. “I don’t know what Sam was talking about. I’m Cade Brody and this is Sabrina Edmonds.” He looked at Sabrina. “The woman who’s going to marry me.”

  Surprise and confusion flew across her face, followed by the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.

  “Sabrina, you’re getting hitched?” Marshal Black asked, obviously familiar with Eustace and its residents. “I thought Sam had you in his sights.”

  She tucked her arm in Cade’s. “I think Sam thought so too, but you were both wrong. I was waiting for the right man.”

  Cade couldn’t believe what he’d said or done and hell, in front of the entire goddamn town. He’d not only threatened one of their prominent citizens, he’d announced that Sabrina was going to marry him. His vision started to blur and he lost sight of the ground for a moment. She held on tight, keeping him upright until he was able to take a deep breath.

  “Well it’s about time.” Bernice popped up beside them. “I was tired of seeing y’all fight all the time.”

  A laugh burst from Cade’s throat, one of relief, happiness and he couldn’t believe, hope. He hadn’t laughed in so long, if ever, he’d forgotten what it felt like.

  People dispersed as the marshal, Cade, Sabrina and Bernice walked toward Antonio’s saloon. It was Cade’s suggestion to ask Antonio and his mother if they’d take Bernice in. The no-nonsense woman could do wonders for the girl’s
sassy mouth.

  Cade found out Marshal Black stopped into town three or four times a year since there was no local law in Eustace. He’d known Sabrina’s husband, had even gone fishing with the man on occasion.

  Cade felt sick at the thought. He was an imposter trying to fill the shoes of a dead man who apparently had no enemies and no flaws. His impromptu engagement announcement to Sabrina seemed dumber by the minute.

  “Where are we going?” Bernice led her mule with the rope firmly wrapped around her small hand.

  “To the saloon.”

  “Are you gonna drink whiskey? I thought you didn’t drink no more.”

  “What are you, a witch? Jesus, girl, how the hell do you know these things?” Cade couldn’t help but wonder how the girl knew so much about him.

  “You talk to yourself and God a lot.” She shrugged. “I listened.”

  Cade closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. The girl would drive him loco any second. Sabrina’s touch brought his frustration under control.

  “She was lonely, probably needed to hear someone’s voice. She doesn’t mean to annoy you.” She took his hand in hers, their gloves gripping each other tightly.

  “Says you. Bernice takes great pleasure in annoying me.” He scowled at the pint-size curmudgeon.

  “I think she’s imitating you actually.”

  Cade’s surprise knew no bounds. “What?”

  “Oh yes, I saw it from the second she came down from the tree. I think she’s been watching you for quite some time because she’s got your mannerisms, your habits, even your cussing.” Sabrina nodded, her blue eyes dancing with glee. “Admit it, she’s just like you.”

  “Never gonna admit to that. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” He tried to deny Sabrina’s words, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right. Dead on right. Jesus, how had he missed that?

  “When she was in town with her pa, Bernice was quiet and shy, never said more than a few words to anyone.” Sabrina smiled. “You must have inspired her.”