Promise Me Texas (A Whispering Mountain Novel)

by Jodi Thomas

  Beth couldn’t hide her grin. Andrew had become one of them.

  As the family always did, they planned. Jessie and Tobin would stay at the ranch with the boys and Madie since none of them were in the room during the shooting, so couldn’t testify.

  Everyone but Andrew seemed happy that the little priest offered to stay with them as well. Teagan, Travis, Andrew, and Beth would take the train in two days. Travis said he’d send a wire to the judge to set the trial so that they would be in Austin for as short a time as possible.

  Everything around her was the same, but Beth felt different. She’d heard her mother say once about a couple living together that marriage wasn’t a game you could play at. Maybe she was right. Something had settled in Beth. For better or worse. In sickness and in health.

  She looked at Andrew listening to everyone talk, taking it all in, probably already thinking of how he’d get each feeling, each story, each emotion down on paper.

  He’d married her. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

  Finally, the subject turned to the newlyweds. Travis spoke first. “Bethie, now you’re married, I’m guessing you’ll want a house somewhere on the property. Em and Lewt took the hunting cabin way up in the north pasture, and Rose and Duncan are still having too much fun traveling to settle down.” He looked at Andrew. “Drum and I talked when I stopped by the sheriff’s office in town, and he says you can have the cabin for a while, but soon as the boys are grown, he wants it back.”

  “We could build them a house or let them have the little place in town,” Jessie suggested.

  Andrew finally spoke. “We’ll be going back to Fort Worth. I have a place there.”

  Teagan nodded. “Strange place. A row of two-story homes built stuck together. He’s so surrounded by houses he can’t see the sunrise or the sunset.”

  Everyone at the table shook their heads, except Andrew and Beth. The thought of spending time alone in Andrew’s funny house didn’t seem such a bad idea to her.

  As usual, Teagan offered his opinion. “We’ll talk about it in the spring. By then Madie will be moving to her new home and the boys’ father will probably be coming to pick them up. I told the rangers to put out a notice that we’re looking for him.”

  Everyone seemed to agree. Beth looked at Andrew and shrugged as if to say she was sorry. Somehow their lives had been taken over by committee vote.

  He reached for her hand. “It’s all right. I can write here for the time being. I’ll sleep anywhere as long as you’re in my bed.”

  She knew he was still thinking that Chesty Peterson might be coming to get them, but with each day the chances seemed smaller.

  When the talk turned to the outlaw, Andrew explained to everyone about the map and how Peterson might try to reach him, even in Austin.

  Tobin suggested Andrew carry a gun, but the writer refused.

  The priest asked to see the map. When Andrew pulled the pouch from his inside coat pocket, Father Benjamin spread it out on the table, studied it a minute, then seemed to lose interest.

  As the morning aged, everyone scattered except Andrew. The McMurrays had work to do, the boys had lessons, and the women were all quilting on a huge frame set up in the great room that he’d thought had no purpose.

  Beth watched her new husband wander into the study, looking over the shelves of books. He didn’t belong on a ranch. She could almost feel his restlessness to walk the streets of a town. Half the time, when the family talked of ranching problems, she wasn’t even sure he understood. Their adventures were outdoors, fighting the weather and taming the land, but his were in his mind. Slowly, as she watched him, she realized what a lonely career he’d chosen. He had his imagination, but no one to share the adventures he created in his thoughts.

  “I’m going to pack up supplies. I thought I’d cook dinner at the cabin tonight,” she said, feeling like what they had between them was suddenly newborn.

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t mind coming in.”

  She touched his arm. “Want to tell me about your dream now?”

  He shook his head. “Later. I think I’ll go back to the cabin and work awhile.”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “No. I’ll go alone.” He walked to the hallway and reached for his hat. “You stay here and visit with the women. I’ve read that quilting bees can be great fun.”

  “They are nice. We talk and laugh. I grew up taking my nap beneath quilting frames.”

  He turned and smiled at her as if seeing the little girl everyone called Bethie in the woman.

  “When Colby brings Madie back, we’ll stop for lunch and all give her advice. She’s an old married lady now.”

  He watched her, and for the first time she saw the love in his eyes. It frightened her a little. Andrew was a man who loved deeply, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d be able to return that kind of love.

  Not caring who was watching, she walked up to him and kissed his mouth lightly.

  Before she could think of anything to say, he was gone. When they’d been almost married he couldn’t keep his hands off her; now he didn’t even say good-bye. Only she had no doubt he’d be back before dark.

  Madie would build her hope chest while waiting for the baby. For years Beth had had hers packed full of all the things she’d made, but now that she was married, she didn’t feel like she had a home to take them to. Andrew’s place in Fort Worth wasn’t a real home, and neither was the little cabin that belonged to her aunt and uncle.

  What if he wanted to move to New York or Boston? She’d never lived anywhere but here. She hadn’t seriously considered marrying Lamont until he’d said that they’d be living in Austin. In the back of her mind she knew they’d have to go to Washington, D.C., part of every year if he was elected a senator again, but that would just be a visit. Her home would be in Texas.

  Beth sat at the study window and watched Andrew drive away in the wagon. He didn’t even want her to cook supper, so she guessed asking him to talk about where they’d build a house was probably out of the question.

  She’d married a man who had no roots. A stranger. And this time the marriage was for real.

  CHAPTER 38

  ANDREW FOUGHT TO KEEP FROM RACING BACK TO THE cabin. He needed to be alone. All the talk. All the people. He felt smothered. When he’d said yes to marrying Beth on the mountain, he’d thought he was marrying her, not a tribe.

  Then, the impossible happened. His mood darkened even more when he looked up and saw Benjamin standing in the doorway of the cabin.

  “What do you want?” Andrew snapped as he climbed from the wagon.

  “Now don’t get mad at me,” the little man answered. “I’m not the one who got you in this mess. I only married you two to keep that father-in-law you admire from killing you.”

  “No, you didn’t marry us. You’re not a real priest, remember.” Andrew pushed past him and stepped into the cold cabin.

  “I know that and you know that, but everyone else thinks I’m the real thing, even your wife. I’ve played my part well.”

  “Yes you have, Benjamin.” Andrew shoved logs into the old stove. “And if my father-in-law ever finds out, he’ll shoot us both.”

  “What difference does it make if you jump the broom or just tell folks you’re married? To my way of thinking, if you say you’re married, you are. Do you really think every circuit preacher has the right to marry folks by law?” The priest made himself at home by putting on a pot of coffee to boil and pulling a day-old muffin from the tin by the stove. “I climbed that damn mountain to save your life, Andrew. You’re lucky I was there.”

  “Priests shouldn’t swear,” he mumbled to himself, then raised his voice. “Why are you here, Benjamin? Haven’t you made a big enough mess of things for one day? Go back and play priest at the main house.”

  “I’m here about the map, but first answer me one question. Are you married in your heart?”

  “I don’t deserve her,” Andrew a
nswered. “But I don’t want to live without her.” He raised his eyebrow. “However, I think I could get along without all the family and friends butting into our lives.” He stormed halfway to the door and then turned. “In answer to your question, yes. I love her. She is my heart.”

  “Then nothing else matters. You’re married. You were, I think, even before this morning. She’s in your blood, Andrew, so you might as well get used to it and stop thinking of yourself as alone.”

  “You’re lecturing me about marriage? Fleas have more staying power than you obviously have.”

  Benjamin waved his hands. “I know. I know. Consider me the bad example. If you care about her, don’t wander in and out of her life. Be her life just as I think she wants to be yours.”

  Andrew closed his eyes. The actor was right. He had to give it a try. He’d shut people out long enough.

  When he opened his eyes, he stared at the little man. “You still here?”

  Benjamin pouted. “I told you I came to talk about the map.”

  “Right.” Andrew patted the pouch still in his pocket. “What about the map? You’re planning to steal it, right? Lift it, or kill me and take it, then run off on a treasure hunt?”

  “No,” Benjamin said as he chewed on half the muffin. “I drew it or at least one just like it.” When Andrew laughed, he added, “A few years ago in Galveston a group of us came up with a scheme to make some quick money. We soaked paper in tea, aging it. We even burned the edges a little and rubbed it in dirt to make the folds seem worn. Then we drew maps. No one knows much about the Palo Duro Canyon, so we could pretty well do what we wanted. I remember burying my make-believe stash of gold in a cave halfway between the bottom of the canyon and the rim.”

  Andrew was hooked. He sat down across from the little man. “Go on.”

  Benjamin smiled. “It was a game, really. Six of us. The one who could get the most money for the map won. The Gold of the Palo Duro has been a legend for a hundred years. It wasn’t that hard to convince people that the map was real. I sold mine to a gambler who, I heard, lost it in a card game.”

  “So,” Andrew said, “Peterson may be looking for me, maybe even willing to kill me, for a map to nowhere?”

  “That’s about the size of it. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to keep it close when I leave the ranch. If Peterson does show up, I plan to hand it over.”

  “If he’s out of jail, he’ll show up. I’ve spent my life following wild hunches and dreams. I figure the kind of man who’d rob trains would also kill for this map.”

  Andrew stood and poured them each a cup of coffee. “Why tell me this?”

  “Because you’ve been honest with me. You kept your word about not telling anyone who I am. You offered to bring my boys to me. I guess I didn’t like the thought of you risking your life over a map that’s fake. Hand it over without hesitation. Outlaws usually don’t ask twice.”

  “If Chesty ever shows up, I’ll do that.”

  They talked for a while, and then Andrew let Benjamin take the wagon back to the house, knowing that Beth would be out to get him for dinner. He needed time to think about all that had happened and to write.

  Just as he knew she would, Beth came to get him an hour before sunset. He’d been standing by the stream thinking of her when she drove up. He went to the side of the wagon but climbed up instead of helping her down.

  “I missed you today.” He wondered if it was proper to kiss one’s wife every time he saw her.

  “Did you get lots of writing done?”

  “No, I mostly just thought.” He fought down a smirk. “It takes a ton of goofing off to be a writer.”

  “Apparently.” She laughed.

  They talked of nothing: the day, the weather, the trip into Austin. Neither mentioned the wedding they’d had that morning or the future. She didn’t ask him about the dream he’d had.

  Everyone seemed tired at dinner. The conversation moved, but slowly like a quiet stream, no longer a rushing river.

  After supper, Andrew sat on a blanket by the fire in the great room and read one of his stories to the boys. Madie, as always, drifted in with her sewing to listen, and tonight Benjamin joined them.

  When Andrew finished his tale, he looked up and saw the rest of the family standing in the shadows of the room.

  Teagan spoke first. “I’m glad I didn’t kill you, Andrew.”

  Jessie patted his chest and translated, “He loved your story. We all did. Will you read another soon? Just think, we’re hearing your stories before anyone else in the world does.”

  Andrew nodded, too touched to say a word.

  Beth saved him by offering her hand. “Come along, dear, we need to be going so everyone can get to bed.”

  He didn’t argue, only followed her out. On the ride home, he couldn’t think of anything to say. He wanted to tell her his dream, but he wasn’t sure it might not frighten her more than not knowing.

  They walked into the cabin. He watched as she moved about, turning down the bed, brushing out her hair, slipping out of her nightgown. His wife, he thought; legal or not, they were married.

  “You coming to bed, dear?” she asked, slipping beneath the covers as though she’d done so in front of him a hundred times.

  “In a minute,” he said, moving out onto the porch. The fact that he knew they weren’t really married ate away at his gut. One lie. He shouldn’t start a marriage, a real marriage, with one lie.

  He couldn’t tell her about Benjamin, he decided, but he could tell her one truth.

  Walking back inside, he made up his mind.

  He stood at the side of the bed and removed his clothes. When he moved in beside her, her bare body touched his.

  “You’re cold,” she whispered, sounding half asleep.

  He lifted her into his arms, pulling her from the covers. “Are you awake?”

  “Yes, but we need to get back—”

  “No. I need to make sure you’re awake. Bethie McMurray, will you marry me? I’m crazy in love with you and I want to ask you. Beth, marry me.”

  She punched him on the shoulder. “You fool, we are married, now put me back under the covers.”

  “I’ll hear a yes first.”

  “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

  He moved them beneath the quilts and held her close. “Good. Don’t say I didn’t ask you.”

  “All right, but I’m not telling our grandchildren about how and when you asked me.”

  He kissed her gently. “Just tell them one thing, wife. Tell them I loved you.”

  There were no more words between them, only a sweet passion that they both craved so dearly.

  CHAPTER 39

  BETH WASN’T SURPRISED WHEN ANDREW WORE HIS dress clothes to the trial. They’d talked a tailor into opening his shop the night their train got in so he could buy a suitcase full of clothes. While the sleepy tailor fitted him, Andrew explained that marriage seemed to be hard on a man’s wardrobe.

  Then he looked over and said to her, “When we’re on the ranch, I’ll wear western clothes, but in town, I wear the suits I’ve always worn.”

  She didn’t argue. He looked a very proper gentleman, nothing like the outlaw who’d saved her in the train wreck, but still very much the man she loved. After three nights of lovemaking she’d decided she liked him best wearing nothing at all.

  They testified separately while the other waited in the hallway outside the trial. Beth paced, wishing she could see what was happening when alone in the hallway, but she knew Andrew wrote. He always wrote. When he was upset. When he was happy. When he was worried.

  Once he left his journal with her, she discovered the beginnings of a poem to her on the back page.

  At the end of the day, they sat side by side and listened to the judge’s verdict. Lamont LaCroix had refused to look at her or Andrew during the trial, and he didn’t break his habit now. He stared straight at the judge as the sentence was announced.

  “Three years in
a Texas prison,” the judge said simply, “or a lifetime of never stepping foot in Texas again.”

  “I’ll be on the next train.” Lamont let out a long breath. “I swear I’ll never return.”

  “If you do, you’ll serve all three years.” The judge adjourned.

  For a moment, everyone just stood still, and then Lamont turned and looked at Andrew. “I can’t believe she settled for you,” LaCroix shouted, in hopes of embarrassing Andrew.

  “Me either.” Andrew shrugged. “But she did.”

  The senator walked out of the courtroom.

  Teagan gathered up his hat and coat. “Can’t believe the judge was so hard on him. Out of Texas for life.”

  Beth looked up at Andrew and saw his confusion. She couldn’t help but laugh. Only a Texan would think that a horrible sentence to have to live with.

  They walked back to the hotel, talking of things they wanted to pick up before heading back to Whispering Mountain. The boys needed new clothes. Madie could use a few things made for this time in her life.

  Once at the hotel, Andrew had talked her into ordering a meal delivered from the restaurant below so they could enjoy the evening in peace. Her father and uncle had made plans to have dinner with a group of rangers, and she was looking forward to being alone with her husband.

  She wasn’t surprised after they ate that he pulled on his coat and said he thought he’d walk awhile. She took the time to take a bath and put on a new nightgown she’d bought. Things were settling down and it was time for them to talk about their future.

  As she curled up in the chair by the window, someone tapped on the door.

  “Come in,” she said, not looking up from her reading. “I’m finished with the tub.”

  A low voice answered, “I didn’t come for the tub, pretty lady.”

  Beth looked up, recognizing the voice of the outlaw she’d heard one night a lifetime ago when she’d bought a pinto.

  “Mr. Peterson.” She forced down her fear, realizing her gun was still packed in her case.

  “Mrs. McLaughlin. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.” He stepped into the room and closed the door. “It took me a while, but I figured out you married Andrew. I have some settling to do with him. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that he was the only one of my men to survive the train wreck?”