by Lyn Horner
Tye delayed matters by kissing her thoroughly while his hands explored beneath her unbuttoned shirt. “I’ll be waking ye a bit earlier tomorrow, aye?” he growled softly in her ear.
“Fine with me,” she gasped. “But right now I’d better get breakfast started. You don’t want to keep the boss waiting on our first day back, do you?”
“I suppose not,” he said, releasing her with a regretful sigh. “Don’t go to any great trouble cooking, colleen.”
“It’s no trouble. It’s my job. I am your wife.”
The bed creaked when he sat to pull on his boots. “Aye, that ye certainly are, sweetheart.” He gave her a broad wink. “And I’ve the marks on my back to prove it.”
“Reckon I could do some braggin’, too, if I had a mind to,” she drawled as she buttoned her shirt, darting him an impish grin that made him laugh.
Soon, she had coffee boiling and ham frying. “Tomorrow I’ll fix us some biscuits,” she promised, setting out plates on the Medinas’ kitchen table.
Tye stepped close, lifted her braid aside, and dropped a kiss on her neck. “You’ll have me spoiled in no time.”
She giggled and hunched her shoulder to evade his tickling tongue. “Make yourself useful and go bring in some more wood,” she said in a stern tone.
“As milady commands.” He patted her bottom and chuckled at her mock-angry glare, then headed for the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
More than a week passed without any sign of trouble, although the threat posed by Judd Howard hung over them like a black cloud. David ordered all River T hands to be on the lookout for strangers, but none were reported.
Most mornings Lil worked with the men, moving cattle or whatever needed doing around the ranch. Afternoons saw Tye and David working on the new cabin, while she assisted Jessie with cooking, household chores and caring for the vegetable garden laid out alongside the house. Her sister-in-law thanked her profusely. Six months into her pregnancy, Jessie admitted to missing Maria’s help.
One afternoon, as they sat on the front porch snapping beans and shucking corn, Jessie abruptly said, “So ye know about Tye’s peculiar talent. And he also told ye about mine?”
Lil looked up, startled. “Yeah. He said you can see the . . . the future.”
“Not all of it.” Jessie laughed. “Only wee glimpses now and then. Mostly the visions come before some grand or fearful event, and they often concern those I love.” Pulling silk from an ear of corn, she asked, “Did Tye tell ye I dreamt of David long before we met?”
“N-no.”
“Aye. I came west to find him.” She raised her head and gazed at Lil with eyes the same bluebonnet color as her brother’s. “I’ve been having dreams again, only these are of Tye.”
“What kind of dreams?” Lil asked, not certain she wanted to know.
“Frightening ones.”
“Howard! You saw him . . ?”
“Nay, nay, nothing like that,” Jessie interrupted. “In my dreams I see Tye in a dark tunnel, with walls close about him, nearly suffocating him.”
“That sounds like when he was trapped in the mine after the cave-in. When he lost his partner.”
“What! He was trapped? And his partner killed?”
“Yeah. Tye didn’t tell you?”
“Nay. When he first arrived here I mentioned I’d had a dream of him – the same kind I’ve been having of late. He said there’d been a cave-in, but he made light of it.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to upset you. Or maybe he just couldn’t talk about it.”
“I suppose.” Jessie frowned. “But why should I be having the same dreams now, after so long a time? ’Tisn’t the usual way of things.” She tilted her head to the side, thinking. “And there’s something different about these dreams from the other.”
“Different how?”
“There’s a barrier of some sort blocking his way, and I get this terrible feeling that something lies beyond it, something I don’t want to see. Something I won’t let myself see.” Dropping the ear of corn, Jessie hugged herself and began to shake, staring off into space.
Alarmed, Lil set down the bowl of beans she was snapping and hurried to Jessie’s side. Kneeling by her chair, she clasped her shoulder and gave her a light shake.
“Hey! It’s all right, they’re just dreams.”
Jessie jumped, then stared at her wide-eyed. The color had drained from her face, leaving her as white as a new washed sheet. “Just dreams? Are ye sure?”
“Course I’m sure. There are no mines around here, so how could Tye be trapped in one?”
“No mines! You’re right, they’re just foolish dreams.” Clutching Lil’s hand with both of her icy cold ones, Jessie gave a shaky laugh. “’Tis my freakish gift playing tricks on me, is all.”
“Right. That’s all it is. Now, I think you oughta lie down for a while.”
“But I haven’t finished shucking the corn.”
“I’ll finish it. Don’t argue. You and that baby need a rest.” Not taking no for an answer, she helped Jessie from her chair and led her into the house. After settling her down for a nap in the master bedroom, Lil returned to cleaning vegetables, mechanically performing the task while silently repeating what she’d told Jessie – Tye couldn’t get caught in a mine that didn’t exist. Trying to forget the whole incident, she said nothing to Tye about his sister’s strange dreams when he and David came in for supper.
* * *
On another afternoon a few days later, Jessie was again lying down – at Lil’s insistence – when an urgent knock sounded on the front door. Dropping the towel she was using to dry dishes, Lil hurried to answer the summons before it woke Jessie. She discovered Sul Smith standing out on the porch. He clutched his rifle and his weathered face wore a look of alarm.
“Howdy, Miz Lil. Sorry to bother you, but we’ve got company.”
Lil stepped outside. The July heat was oppressive, causing her to pat her damp brow with her shirt sleeve. Shielding her eyes against the sun’s brightness, she stared at the incoming rider.
“Do you recognize him, Sul?”
“Nope, can’t say as I do.” Concern rang in his gravelly voice. “Davey and your mister headed over to the sawmill to get some boards cut.”
“I know. To frame the cabin doors and windows,” she said distractedly. “It’ll be hours before they get back.”
“Uh-huh, but a couple of the boys are workin’ broncs down at the corral. You want I should get ’em up here?”
She considered briefly, then shook her head. “No. But keep an eye on our visitor while I get a gun.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Lil went back inside, trying to be quiet so as not to disturb Jessie. She collected Reece’s rifle from above the fireplace in the parlor. It was the old man’s only possession that had survived the fire a year and a half ago. Checking to make sure the gun was loaded, Lil hoped it would still shoot straight.
When she rejoined Sul outside, the stranger was just reining in his horse. He touched his hat to her, glanced at the rifle she carried and at the one in Sul’s hands.
“Howdy, ma’am,” he said.
“Something we can do for you, mister?”
“Well, ma’am, me and my pard here could sure use some water if you can spare it.” He patted his buckskin’s lathered neck.
She couldn’t read his eyes, shaded as they were by his hat, but she took in his week’s growth of beard, worn duds and the tired droop of both man and horse. Concluding he was probably just an out-of-work cowboy in need of a helping hand, she lowered her gun a notch and nodded.
“You can water your animal over yonder.” She indicated a watering trough near the bunkhouse. “I’ll get you a drink and some vittles.”
“That’s right kind of you, ma’am.” He crooked his mouth in what passed for a smile, then headed his horse over to the trough.
“I’ll be back quick as I can. Watch him, Sul,” Lil said as she turned to go inside.
&
nbsp; “You bet.”
She stood Reece’s rifle in a corner near the door, then rushed to the kitchen. Throwing together a plate of leftovers from the noontime meal, she added a chunk of cornbread and poured a glass of water from an earthenware jug that kept it nearly as cold as when it was drawn from the well. Toting the food and drink out front, she found the stranger standing in a hipshot stance a few feet from the porch, casually looking around. Sul remained where he’d been, rifle resting in the crook of his arm.
The dusty cowboy turned at the sound of the door opening. He gave another half smile and ambled forward, pausing at the foot of the steps.
“It’s all right. Come on up,” Lil told him.
“Yes ma’am.”
When she handed him the plate he passed it under his nose. “Mmm, mmm, that smells good. Thank you, ma’am.” He lowered his lanky frame into the cane-bottom chair she indicated and gulped down the entire glass of water before tucking into his food.
Retrieving his glass, Lil said, “I’ll fetch you some more.”
He nodded and mumbled his thanks around a mouthful of cornbread. By the time she returned, he’d polished off everything on his plate.
“You’ve got a mighty nice spread here, folks,” he commented, drinking the second glass of water more slowly.
“We like it,” Lil said. She didn’t bother to set him straight about whose spread it was.
“Looks like you’re building somebody a fine new place.” He pointed toward the half built cabin located to the left and some way from the house.
Lil stiffened at his innocent sounding remark. Exchanging a wary glance with Sul, she didn’t offer a reply.
“Must be for kinfolks, I reckon,” the stranger said.
A jolt of alarm shot through Lil. Sul plainly had the same reaction.
“That ain’t none of your business, mister,” he growled, shifting his rifle to point at the man’s belly.
“Sure, sure, I didn’t mean no harm. Just bein’ nosy is all.” Eyeing the threatening gun, the stranger added, “I’ll be on my way now if it’s all the same to you.”
“That’s a real good idea.” Sul jerked his head toward the steps.
Rising slowly to avoid earning himself a bullet, the man handed his plate and glass to Lil, touched his hat to her and hastened out to his horse.
Watching him ride away, Lil asked, “What do you think?”
“I dunno, Miz Lil.” Sul tipped his hat back and shrugged. “He might be just what he looks like, a down-on-his-luck cowhand. Or . . . .”
“Or he could be one of Howard’s scouts,” she finished for him.
* * *
Unable to sleep due to the heat and to thoughts circling in his head like a swarm of bees, Tye slipped from bed, careful not to wake Lil. He stepped into his pants, padded from the small bedroom and out of the cabin, muttering a curse under his breath when the door hinges squeaked. Outside, a welcome breeze cooled his sweaty skin.
Staring into the night, he wondered about the man who’d shown up here today while he and David were away. Was the curious stranger riding north to tell Judd Howard about the new cabin being built on the River T? Or was he just a passing cowpoke on his way to nowhere?
Not taking any chances, David had posted guards around the home place, but Tye doubted they’d spot any unwelcome visitors tonight or anytime soon. If his hunch was right, old man Howard sat holed up on his ranch near Fort Worth, like a spider in his web, awaiting news of his prey. If the man who’d been here today truly was one of his scouts, allowing time for him to report back to his boss and for Howard to make the ride south – with no telling how many men – Tye figured it would be several days at least before they showed up.
Time enough for Lil and him to get away – or for him to take off by himself. That would be the smart thing to do. Lil would be safe here with David and Jessie. Howard wasn’t after her. The problem was he didn’t know if he could stand to leave her a second time.
Besides, she’d sworn to come after him again if he tried running from her, and he knew she’d do it. As if to confirm this, the door squeaked open. Turning his head, he saw Lil’s shadowy figure step out. She came up behind him, wrapped her arms around his middle and kissed him between his shoulder blades.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked drowsily, pressing her cheek to his bare back. She’d wound a sheet around herself, but he felt her warmth through the cloth.
“Just thinking. I couldn’t sleep.” He caught her hands and gave them a squeeze. “Go back to bed, mavourneen.”
“Not ’til you do.” After a brief silence she said, “You’re thinking of leaving . . . without me, aren’t you?”
He loosened her hold upon him and turned to face her. “’Twould be wise if I did. Ye know that.”
“No! I don’t know any such thing. If you try it I’ll find you the same as last time, and sooner or later Howard will track us down. Then what? We’d be on our own.” She shook her head. “We’re safest here with David and his men to back us up.”
“Lily, me darlin’, I don’t want ye risking your life for me.” She tried to interrupt, but he shushed her with a light kiss. “Nay, hear me out. It sickens me to think I’m placing you and Jessie, David and little Nora, and everyone else in danger with my presence here. I’ve already caused the death of one friend, Tom Pearce. I don’t wish to cause anymore, much less yours.”
“You didn’t cause Tom Pearce’s death. We’ve talked about that before.”
He sighed. “We did, but I never told ye the whole story.”
Darkness concealed her expression, but he sensed her mild irritation because he’d kept something from her. “Then tell me now,” she said.
“Aye, I suppose I must.” He ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. Her skin was growing chilled from the breeze. “Let’s go in first.”
He led her inside and back to their borrowed bedroom. Drawing her down on the bed, he propped himself up against the headboard, and Lil copied his example. He took a deep breath, girding himself against the loathing she was sure to feel once she knew what he’d done.
“The part I didn’t tell ye has to do with a letter Tom received from his fiancée back in Cornwall. The letter arrived the day before the cave-in. Tom was as excited as a wee child at Christmas . . . until he read what it said. In it, his fiancée told him she would wait for him no longer. She’d taken up with a soldier and they were planning to wed in a few months, as soon as the fellow got the promotion he was expecting.”
“God! Poor Tom! He must have been awful torn up.”
“Aye, he was. Yet, hopeless as it seemed, he was certain he could win the fickle wench back, if only he’d make a big strike and return home before she said her wedding vows. That’s why he was in such a froth the next day, why he wouldn’t take time to shore up the rock.”
“But none of that was your fault. You told me you warned him, but he wouldn’t listen.”
Tye snorted in self disgust. “Aye, but I could have prevented it all. Ye see, I picked up the letter when I went to purchase a few supplies for us. It had come open in the mailing, and I . . . I read it.”
“So you knew what she’d written before he did.” Lil shrugged. “You were guilty of reading his private mail. That doesn’t make you responsible for his death.”
“There’s more. A week or two before that, Tom had mentioned he was thinking of giving up and returning home. Later he passed it off as merely a moment of weakness, but I knew otherwise. I felt how badly he missed his homeland and his Sweet Gwen. That’s what he always called her. I knew he was serious about leaving, and I didn’t want him to go.
“Ye must understand the man was my closest friend, like the brother I never had. Jessie had married and gone to Texas, my father had disowned me for leaving home and taking Jess with me, and Rose was lost to me as well, locked behind convent walls. Tom was all I had.
“So I gave him the damned letter, knowing it would break his heart, but thinking it w
ould make him hate Gwen and he’d never want to see her again. He’d stay and we’d go on as before. But he didn’t hate her as I expected. He wanted to return to her all the more, with money in his pockets in order to win her back, and because of that, he was desperate to strike a vein of silver.”
“And he died trying.”
“Aye, all because of that letter. I never should have given it to him. I should have burned the cursed thing as I thought of doing. Instead, I used it for my own selfish purposes.”
Lil scooted around to face him. “But the letter was his. He had a right to know what his fiancée wrote. It wasn’t up to you to keep it from him.”
Tye laughed bitterly. “He would have learned of her perfidy soon enough without the letter. Like I said, he had it in mind to leave for home soon, with or without the riches he’d come to find. Not that he ever said as much, but I felt his secret jubilation because he’d be seeing his Sweet Gwen before long.
“So there ye have it, the whole sorry tale. Because I wrongly thought to keep Tom from leaving, I gave him the letter, and because of that he died. I as good as killed him, Lily.” He met her gaze, expecting to see condemnation, but as with Tom, his expectations proved wrong. She took his hand and, turning it palm up, studied it, lightly tracing the creases, sending prickly sensations up his arm that unsettled him physically and distracted him from sensing her emotions. Then she began asking questions.
“Tye, when you gave Tom the letter, you thought he’d see that Gwen wasn’t worth going home to, right?”
“Aye, as I said, I hoped he’d never want to see her again. But he didn’t feel that way.”
“Mmm. And you figured he was wrong thinking he could get her back if he returned a wealthy man?”
“Oh, I imagine he could’ve won her over, with money. But who’s to say she wouldn’t leave him once the money was gone? I tried to tell him that, but he grew angry and wouldn’t hear it of her.”
“I see. So you tried to save him from more hurt later?”
He had to think about that for a moment. “I suppose, in a way, but as I told ye, I had my own reasons for wanting him to stay.”