Texas Passion

by Sara Orwig

  Rachel nodded as Dan took her arm to go to the front door. “Before she went upstairs I told Mrs. Galvez I was leaving and thanked her. I’ll see her again when I come to get you tonight.”

  Rachel nodded, looking up at him, her gaze going over his striking features, the angular cheekbones and strong nose and jaw. Her heartbeat quickened and she felt fortunate, dazzled by him, wishing there were no barriers between them, already feeling a union with Dan that made her feel incomplete without him.

  He kissed her lightly. “I love you,” he whispered and then he was gone, placing his hat on his head, striding down the walk to his horse while she stood relishing his parting words, feeling joy well inside her.

  Three hours later Rachel smiled as Abby clapped her hands and Abeyta gave a cry of satisfaction. “Que bonita!”

  Rachel looked down at the turquoise silk dress, feeling as if she had been transported back in time. She turned, the crinolines rustling and a fashionable new horsehair petticoat making the skirt swirl around her legs as she moved.

  “Dan’s waiting downstairs, and I’m ready. Thank you both for helping me get dressed.”

  “You look pretty,” Lissa said, gazing up at her with Peach clutched in her arms.

  “Thank you, Lissa.”

  Abby took the child’s hand. “We’ll tell Dan you’ll be right down.”

  As they left the room, Rachel glanced at herself in the oval mirror, wishing her skin was pale as it had been before the trek to Texas. Her hair was parted in the center, caught up on both sides of her head to cascade down the back in ringlets carefully combed by Abby. Her attention focused on the dress, another gift from Abeyta. It was deep turquoise with a low neckline trimmed in lace and pearls, small puffed sleeves, a pale pink sash. Lace and pink ribbons trimmed the skirt.

  She went downstairs to find Dan waiting in the hall while he talked to Abeyta and Pa. Dan’s dark head swiveled around and he looked at her with unmistakable pleasure, a look that made her feel all the efforts to dress for him had been worth the time. And he was handsome in his black coat and pants and a frilly white shirt.

  “You look pretty,” Pa said, facing her.

  Dan linked her arm in his. “Yes, you do,” he said warmly, gazing down at her. “And we’ll go now.”

  Pa and Abeyta said goodbye and then she was alone with Dan, walking to a waiting buggy.

  “You acquired a buggy this afternoon?”

  “I have it only for tonight.” He helped her inside and went around, springing up to sit beside her. As she sat down she saw his revolver and rifle on the floor of the buggy and realized he wasn’t taking chances even when in town.

  While they rode down the street, he studied her. “This is the first time we’ve had to ourselves like this.”

  “We’ve had hours at night on the trail, and I miss those times.”

  “You could change all that,” he said solemnly, glancing at her. He reached to lace his fingers through hers, placing their hands on his thigh. “I sent a telegram to Pinkerton’s and told them Peter Benton had slipped out of town at night before I could arrest him and I was leaving to pick up the trail.”

  “How long before they’ll expect to hear from you again?”

  He shrugged. “I can wait a month, six weeks. Out here, a man can travel where he can’t send a telegram and no one back East expects to hear from him. That’s only gaining a little time, Rachel, and I don’t want to wait long to marry.”

  Her gaze slid away from his, a slight frown furrowing her brow. “I thought we’d be safe here.”

  Dan kissed her knuckles, lowering their hands back to his thigh.

  “Dan, is there a reward for bringing Pa in?”

  He wondered when she would ask and he had debated what to tell her, knowing she would rather hear the truth. “Yes. There’s a reward posted by the law, and Luther Eubanks offered ten thousand dollars bonus on top of the reward money.”

  “That’s a fortune!” she gasped, staring at him open-mouthed. “They’ll never stop hunting him!”

  “No, they won’t. If we move on and leave a cold trail, I can wire Pinkerton’s that I followed him to Mexico and lost him. That’s the best hope I can offer you.”

  She rode quietly and he left her to her own thoughts until they approached the Menger Hotel. Dan lifted her hand to brush a kiss across her knuckles again. “I’ve put them off for weeks before we have to do something. For the next two hours, Rachel, let’s forget the problems.”

  Her wide green eyes focused on him, and he wished there were no worries. She was far too solemn, and he wanted to see her laugh and for a little while to stop bearing the burdens for her family. Slowly she smiled and nodded.

  They ate in the hotel’s spacious dining room and over dishes of roasted quail and sugary golden yams, their conversation roamed. As Dan sat back in his chair and laughed at a childhood story she told him, she realized how many sides there were to him, because he fit into city life as easily as he became part of his tribe. His coat was pushed open, his white teeth flashing when he laughed and she felt lighthearted and carefree, even though she knew she had merely postponed problems.

  He could be charming, and she loved being with him. The dinner was delicious, but she was more caught up in enjoying Dan. At last she could talk freely about the past.

  When they left, the sun was slanting low in the west. “Now I can take you to the Casino Club where the local theatrical group is performing,” Dan said as he turned the buggy, “or we can go to a fandango hall and dance. Or we can take a buggy ride along the river. I would prefer the last,” he added, pulling her close against his side.

  “Whatever you’d like is fine.”

  “This is the way life should be for you, Rachel. You’ve had too many responsibilities.”

  “Even with all the trouble from McKissick, I don’t feel as burdened because Pa is so much better and he’s beginning to take charge more and more. Dan, you gave up a fortune for us.”

  “I gained, Rachel. I didn’t lose,” he replied solemnly.

  When they were in the buggy, Dan turned to wind along the road that followed the river, the dusty lane cool and shaded by tall cottonwoods and brush. As soon as they left town and people, the only sounds were the creak of their buggy and the clop of the horses’ hooves. Occasionally the call of a bird came.

  Dan held her with one arm, wishing he could turn around and take her back to his hotel room and keep her with him all night. He wanted to marry her and he didn’t want to wait months while they argued with Eb about leaving Texas. And if Eb married Abeyta Galvez, he would never leave.

  “Rachel, when I quit Pinkerton’s, my salary will stop. I had planned to send the reward money and the bonus to my father so he could get set up in business again. He lost nearly everything during the war. Instead, I sent him my savings. I’ve asked you to be my wife, but I don’t have a lot to offer now. I have my share of the herd that your father insisted I take and that’s enough for a good start. I want to stay out here where I can live on the land and when I want I can join my mother’s people. I feel a strong tie there.”

  “What you have or don’t have isn’t a problem.” She glanced around. “I feel as if Texas is opportunity. When we reached here, I felt free.” She sobered and looked up at him. “The problem is protecting Pa. I can’t bear for him to stand trial for defending his family.”

  He gazed down at her, feeling overwhelmed by good fortune to find Rachel. He had wondered how she would react when she discovered he had given his savings to his parents, but he should have known. Rachel was a strong woman and material things meant little to her or she never would have pulled up and left Vicksburg the way she did.

  A faint jingle caught his attention and he stared at the team pulling the buggy. The sun was below the trees now and the road dusky as evening grew late. They were isolated and San Antonio was a frontier town, a gateway to the West where men rode through and some of them were unscrupulous, given to making their fortune any way possible
.

  “Rachel, hand me my revolver.”

  She leaned down to retrieve it without question. “Want me to get the rifle?”

  “Not yet. Just talk to me in a normal tone of voice while I look around.”

  “When I’m at Abeyta’s I feel as if I’ve stepped back in time. Like we were at home before the war. Abeyta has been so generous with her daughter’s silk dresses.”

  While Rachel talked, Dan glanced over his shoulder. Shaded and cool, the road was empty behind him. His gaze swung around and skin prickled on the nape of his neck.

  His hand slid to his revolver. He heard another jingle and a shadow shifted ahead, a man emerging from the trees, a rifle aimed at Dan.

  “Put your hands in the air, Overton. You too, miss. Hands high.”

  Chapter 22

  “We have an old score to settle, Overton. Get down.”

  Dan faced Walker Marland who sat astride a black gelding. In Marland’s hands was a rifle pointed at Dan.

  For a moment memories swept over him, Solange, the river road, their home, Solange laughing as she held Timothy. The revolver lay in his lap; his hands were in the air. Rachel slid her hand to the gun, her fingers closing over it and taking it.

  Dan jumped to the ground. Anger kindled in him as he faced Marland who wore a blue uniform, his broad shoulders more filled out now, his features florid.

  “I knew you were in San Antonio,” Dan said. “I expected a challenge, but not this. Not slipping up and drawing on me when I don’t have a chance.”

  “The war taught me a lot about killing. And about killers.”

  “You took Solange’s life and our child’s.”

  “You halfbreed! She shouldn’t have ever had your child. She shouldn’t have let the likes of you touch her. And you killed Thomas and Phillip.”

  “All three of you killed Solange and Timothy,” Dan said, feeling a tightness in his chest as memories swarmed over him.

  “She deserved what happened,” Marland said with bitterness filling his voice. He waved the rifle a fraction. “Ma’am, I suspect there is a revolver or rifle in the buggy. Drop it down on the road on your side so your friend will have a weapon to defend himself with. We’re going to have a duel.”

  “Do what he says, Rachel,” Dan said, glancing at her. Rachel leaned down to drop the revolver.

  “Now, ma’am,” Walker continued, “you pick up the reins and get out of here and leave me and your friend to settle an old dispute. You ride on to town. If he bests me in this, he can join you there. Don’t try to come back. Don’t cause any trouble or I’ll shoot him right now.”

  Rachel lifted the reins, her head held high as the buggy began to roll. She glanced at Dan with an impassive look, and Dan knew all Marland was doing was getting Rachel away from them. He did not expect a duel or to get a chance to reach his revolver. She turned the buggy and headed back toward San Antonio. He watched her, knowing she would try to return, but in a silk dress and riding in a buggy, she would be slowed and hampered and easy for Marland to spot.

  Marland waited, watching until Rachel was gone. Silence fell and still he stood waiting.

  “I want to make certain your pretty friend doesn’t return.”

  “She won’t. We haven’t known each other a long time.” Another silence came, and Dan could tell that Marland was listening for any sounds of the buggy.

  “Solange didn’t deserve what the three of you did. When the carriage turned over, it smashed into a tree and her neck was broken,” Dan stated coldly, seeing his revolver in his peripheral vision, knowing that Marland had been deadly accurate years earlier. The revolver was too far away for Dan to make a lunge for it.

  “I know Solange shouldn’t have married you. You killed Thomas and Phillip for it.”

  “They went for their guns first. And there were two of them, Marland. I’m surprised you’d face me alone,” he taunted, watching Marland and shifting his weight, gaining only inches to his right.

  “I’m not afraid of you. I’m going to repay what you did to them. What you did to Solange by marrying her. And working for Pinkerton’s all these years. I was tempted to write a letter to Allan Pinkerton and ask him if he knew one of his agents was a murderer.”

  Dan tilted his head. “At first I expected to hear from you, and then the war broke out. Why didn’t you write him?”

  “Because I wanted to face you and get revenge. If I told Pinkerton’s what I knew, I knew you’d never go to trial. As a banker and a banker’s son, you’d have the community behind you more than my friends and you’d have Pinkerton’s helping you.”

  “Those two drew on me. I wasn’t the murderer. The three of you were.”

  Marland raised the rifle. “You’ll die out here and no one will know why or who did it.”

  “What do you think Rachel will do when she gets to town?”

  “This time town opinion will be on my side. I’m a captain in the cavalry and I have an outstanding record. No one knows you. I asked around and asked at the saloon. People think you’re a drifter who hired on to work at one of the local outfits. Word is that the man has two pretty daughters. Was that one of them?”

  “Yes, and it’ll still be your word against hers.” Dan wondered about Rachel, knowing she wouldn’t turn around and ride back to town, his back tingling, muscles ready for any chance to get Marland. He thought about Eb. If Marland succeeded now, there would be no way to protect Eb. “That still doesn’t condone murder.”

  “She heard me say we were going to duel. I’ll tell them you drew on me. I had to protect myself. Out here, there’s no one to know.” He raised the rifle and Dan inhaled. The road was too wide to leap for Marland. His revolver was too far away.

  He heard a swish of silk. Marland’s head swung around.

  “What the devil?”

  For an instant Marland was distracted. Dan had only a glance of Rachel moving out of the trees as he rushed Marland. Walker Marland swung his rifle toward Rachel.

  “No!” For a terror-filled moment, Dan was afraid he would lose her too, to Marland’s cold-blooded killing. Lunging at him, Dan hit Marland in the middle as he fired his rifle. Another shot echoed in the air.

  Both men went down, Marland growling as Dan rolled on top of him and hit him with his fist. A red bloodstain darkened Marland’s shoulder. Dan stood up, yanking up Marland’s rifle, cocking it and aiming at Marland while he glanced around to see Rachel holding his rifle.

  Relief washed over him that Rachel was all right. He shifted his gaze to Marland who staggered to his feet while he held his wounded shoulder.

  “Get on your horse and get the hell out of my life before I choose to prosecute. Pinkerton’s will stand behind me.”

  “You damned redskin!” Holding his balled-up coat against his wounded shoulder, Marland turned, mounting up, glancing back once more, before he rode away.

  Waiting until Marland was out of sight, Dan finally turned to face Rachel who had walked up within yards behind him. Her hair was tangled, locks unpinned and tumbling over her shoulders. She had a smudge on her cheek. The skirt of the silk dress was sodden and muddy. A sleeve was ripped. He felt a mixture of admiration, amusement, and gratitude until he looked into her eyes and saw pinpoints of fire that meant a storm was brewing on his horizon.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” he said, walking closer cautiously.

  “You’ve done the same thing Pa did and you were about to take him back to stand trial for it!” Her soft voice was laced with fury, spots of color darkened her cheeks.

  “Rachel, those bastards killed my wife and child and they didn’t care what they had done,” Dan said solemnly.

  “That may be, but you’re no different from Pa, yet you were going to turn him in.”

  “I didn’t turn him in and I’ve lived with what I did on my conscience. And someone was after your pa; there was a price on his head. There wasn’t on mine. Alvin Eubank’s family wants to prosecute.”

  “What about the families
of the men you shot?”

  “They were wealthy and had a standing in society, but they weren’t good people and their families never did anything.”

  “Luther Eubanks isn’t ‘good people.’”

  “I know that,” Dan replied patiently, “but you asked why these people didn’t do anything. The father of one was in drunken brawls constantly and had five sons that did the same thing. They were always in trouble. The other father was killed in a fight shortly afterwards.” Old guilt plagued him with her accusations. At the same time, he ached for her, his admiration of her stronger than ever. She was incredibly brave and she deserved to be free of worry about her pa and Pinkertons.

  Dan moved closer, taking the rifle from her hands and putting down both weapons. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Rachel, they killed Solange and Timothy out of hatred of me. She and my son hadn’t done anything. And when I accosted them, they drew on me. I would have provoked them into drawing, so I can’t say I’m blameless because I intended to hunt them down. And I’m not turning in your father,” he added in a gentle voice.

  “How much else is there about you that I don’t know? How many men want to shoot you and are trailing after you?”

  He bit back a smile. “There are no other secrets in my life.”

  “You didn’t tell me about this, so how do I know—”

  “I swear I’m telling you the truth, Rachel,” he stated firmly. “And this has haunted me since it happened. I live with the guilt from it, yet I would do the same thing again.”

  He waited until finally she nodded. She leaned closer to him. “You’re bleeding.” She touched his cheek with her fingertips.