by Lyn Horner
“Be a good wife and perhaps he will not beat you too hard,” her mother said with a smug look, leaving Lil to stare after her in disbelief as she walked out with Pa, who was still chuckling.
“There now, that ought to hold ye,” Jessie said, finished with her job. “Providing ye don’t exert yourself too greatly while beating your wife, that is.” Gathering up extra bandages, washrag and water basin, she followed Lil’s parents out, laughing as she closed the door.
“Tye Devlin, If you weren’t flat on your back, I’d knock you cold!” Lil stormed the moment they were alone. “How could you say such a thing in front of my folks?”
“Oh, ye didn’t enjoy being made a spectacle of? Now ye know how I felt when ye sent me sprawling in front of everyone, including Judd Howard.”
“I did it to save your life, you durn fool! If you’d tried firing that rifle, Judd would have plugged you full of holes. I couldn’t j-just stand there and w-watch you die!” She gulped down the lump in her throat and struggled not to cry.
Tye sighed. “Aye, I know, and even though ye hurt my pride, if truth be told, I’m grateful.”
“You are?”
“Of course. Because I’m still alive to love ye.”
“Oh.” She gave a wobbly smile he couldn’t see and swatted at a lone tear that had escaped down her cheek.
“Now, since I am flat on my back, might ye care to join me? I’ve a subject to discuss that requires your close attention.”
A glance at his lower half told her what the subject was. “Your head’s hurting, Devlin. How are you going to discuss anything?”
“Well, I was rather thinking you might lead the discussion.” His sensuous smile made her heart thud and her breath quicken.
He held out his hand. “Come, mavourneen, and we’ll shut out the world together.”
By the time she helped him out of his clothes and shucked her own, they were both on fire with passion. Sliding into bed, Lil raised up on her elbow.
“You’re not to move,” she said. Then she kissed him, her long hair draping over them both. His hands traveled over her, touching all the secret places where she longed to be touched.
It was a heady experience, setting their pace. She tried to take it slow, but before long neither of them could wait any longer. Their coupling reached a crescendo with a throaty cry from Tye while she dissolved in bliss upon his chest.
Once she could move again, she collapsed beside him. Exhausted, he fell asleep almost instantly, with his arm around her. Lil couldn’t sleep. Nagging thoughts flitted through her head. How long could they shut out the world, as Tye had said? How long before his sight returned, as it simply must? How long before he would insist on meeting Judd Howard again?
* * *
Tye and Lil moved back into Luis and Maria’s cabin the next day. By week’s end, Tye’s constant headache had let up, his wound no longer required a bandage, and he’d recovered most of his strength. He could also distinguish light from dark. Within a few more days he was able to make out general shapes, including human forms, although details such as faces were only a blur.
Judd Howard had made no move against him while he recuperated, but from Del, who’d been as good as his word, Tye knew the vengeful rancher waited in Clifton. It was time to finish this once and for all. He refused to live like a mouse in a hole any longer.
Admitting he couldn’t take on Howard and his men by himself, Tye had finally agreed to let Del and Jeb Crawford, as well as David and some of his hands, back him up. They were to hold the six gunmen in check while he dealt with Howard. They waited outside for him now.
The August morning was already heating up as he strapped on his .44. He’d cleaned, oiled and reloaded it last night, working by touch, with Lil looking on in tense silence. She’d given up trying to talk him out of meeting Howard. Now she stood in shadow near the cold hearth, where he could hardly see her, but he knew she watched him.
“What if I take that gun away from you?” she asked suddenly.
He spun the cylinder of his Colt, fingering the loads to make sure all was ready. “Don’t try it, Lily. I don’t want to fight with ye.” He slipped the gun back in his holster, cautiously made his way to her and laid his hands on her shoulders. Feeling her fear and panic, he knew how difficult this was for her.
“Don’t try following us, either, colleen. Stay here, where I know you’re safe, aye?”
“Mmm,” she replied in a choked voice.
“Good girl. Now hold me and send me off with your kiss sweet on my lips. Can ye do that for me?”
A tiny sob escaped her, but she did as he asked. He molded her to him, wanting to carry the imprint of her on his body. She touched her mouth to his and he kissed her deeply, fearing it was for the last time. The heartache she was feeling lanced through him, causing a new kind of pain in his head. Unable to endure it, he stepped back, forcing her to let go. He traced her face with his hands, memorizing each beloved feature and feeling her lips tremble.
To say good-bye was impossible. Easier to just turn and walk out, Tye’s brain said, but his heart writhed in agony as he closed the door behind him.
Neither he nor any of the others had much to say during the ride to Clifton, all of them caught up in thoughts of what lay ahead. As they entered town and rode along Main Street, Tye discerned the shadowy shapes of people crowding out of shops and saloons and heard their excited voices. The whole town must know about his feud with Howard. Pulling up outside the saloon where Howard and his men usually spent their days according to Del, Tye didn’t doubt his foe already knew he was there.
“You sure you want to go through with this?” David asked as they dismounted.
“Aye, very sure. Remember, Howard is mine.”
Stepping onto the boardwalk, he pushed through the saloon’s swinging doors. He was met by the usual liquor fumes and tobacco smoke, but the place was unusually quiet. The only sound Tye heard was the clinking of glass from behind the bar, where he guessed the saloonkeeper was stacking glasses.
“Howard’s sitting at a table across the room to your left,” David said quietly. “He looks to be playing solitaire. Two of his boys are standing, one on either side of him.
“I can make them out. But where are the others?”
“They’re not here. I don’t like it. Howard could have them stashed upstairs, waiting for his signal to step out with guns blazing.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Tye said with a shrug. Starting toward Howard, he ignored the sound of the barkeep scurrying out the back door. He kept his clouded gaze on Howard, trusting his companions to watch the two gunmen guarding their boss. He halted several yards from Howard’s table.
“Finally come to settle things, have yuh?” the older man asked gruffly.
“I have. I’ll not ask forgiveness or beg for my life, but I would ask one thing of ye.”
“What’s that?”
“Your promise not to harm Lil. She had no hand in your son’s death.”
“I know that. She’s safe from me. You’ve got my word on it.” Speaking to his men, he said, “Y’all heard me. No matter what happens here, nobody goes after his wife.”
The two muttered agreement, and Tye sighed quietly in relief. Detecting movement from Howard but unable to tell if he was reaching for a gun, Tye gripped his Colt, ready to pull it.
“Whoa there. I was just gonna get up.”
Tye relaxed slightly.
“Still can’t see proper, I take it,” Howard remarked as he pushed back his chair and rose.
“I see well enough to defend myself.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Boys, don’t mix in unless I say so,” he ordered the two gunmen. “Or unless I’m dead.”
“Yessir,” both replied.
Surprised that Howard would take him on alone, Tye held his ground as the man stepped out from behind the table and sauntered forward.
“Devlin, I came here to kill yuh, and if it wasn’t for –”
The bar doors
slammed open, cutting Howard off. Tye instinctively drew his gun and pivoted, ready to let bullets fly.
“Lil! What in tarnation are you doing?” Del hollered.
“Put that gun away and get out of here!” David added.
Tye felt like someone had kicked him in the gut. “Lily! I told ye not to come after me, and ye agreed to stay at the ranch.” Belatedly, he holstered his gun.
“No, I didn’t. You just thought I did.”
Her slim form moved against the light from the window, slipping between tables, where he couldn’t easily reach her. “I’m not gonna let you do it, Judd,” she gritted, and her arm rose, obviously aiming her pistol at Howard.
“Lily, don’t!” Tye roared, taking a step toward her. “Get out of here before ye get killed!”
“No! I won’t leave you.” Suddenly her arm swung toward the shootist to Howard’s right. “Don’t do it!” she yelled.
Whirling, Tye saw only a blurred gray shadow where the man stood, but he realized he must have made some threatening move for Lil to react the way she had. He started to reach for his own .44 again, but Judd Howard’s angry snarl stopped him.
“Marsh, you draw that gun, and I’ll put a bullet in you myself. I said she wasn’t to be hurt and I meant it.”
“But you’d kill my husband,” Lil raged. “And why? Because he was faster on the draw than Frank? Because he defended himself when Frank called him out?” She cocked her gun. “I won’t let you do it,” she repeated.
“Lil, no,” Tye said. Nearly tripping over a chair, he managed to place himself between her and Howard, blocking her line of fire.
“Look out!” she shrilled, sidestepping in the other direction.
He blocked her aim again and moved closer, determined to get her out of here before Howard lost control of his hired guns. “Ye can’t mean to kill the man in cold blood, surely.”
“I will if that’s the only way to keep you alive.”
“Nay, ye won’t, for you’ll have to shoot me first.” He held out his hand. “Give me the gun, colleen.”
He couldn’t be sure but thought she shook her head. Backing up, she sought to evade him, but her father and David stood in her way.
“Give it to me, love,” he coaxed, closing in on her. “Please. I’ll not have ye do murder for my sake.” Releasing a broken cry, she let him take the gun from her hand. Gently, he drew her into his arms.
“Y-you should’ve let me do it!” she wailed, desperately clutching him.
“I couldn’t, mavourneen,” he murmured, absorbing the shuddery sobs that tore through her.
“Devlin, you’ve got quite a woman there,” Howard said gruffly behind him. “I reckon she’d fight the devil himself for yuh.”
Tucking Lil against his side, Tye turned toward the older man. “Thank you. For keeping your word.”
Lil lifted her head, choking back tears. Tye felt her confusion as she glanced from him to the Texan.
“I’ve known that gal since she was a pup and I don’t aim to see her killed,” Howard said. He started to say more, but was interrupted again, this time by Del.
“I’m grateful to you, Judd, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t get in the way again. Come on, Lil, you’re only making things worse.”
“No! I’m not going anywhere,” she declared, arms locking tight around Tye.
Del, Jeb and David, even some of the ranch hands laid into her, trying to make her listen to reason, while Tye sought and failed to break her tenacious hold on him without hurting her. Fearing the two hired gunslingers might get nervous and start shooting, he was about to drag Lil out of the saloon when Judd Howard put a stop to the commotion.
“Quiet!” he bellowed. “Damnation! Can’t a man even speak his piece around here?”
The room went silent as a tomb. Not liking that unpleasant thought, Tye wished for his sight back more than ever. He’d love to see the startled looks on the faces surrounding him. He’d also very much like to see the face of the man who wanted him dead. He had to settle for listening to his testy voice.
“As I was saying, Devlin, before everybody came busting in, I likely would have killed you that day at the ranch. But I didn’t have the stomach to shoot down a blind man.”
Howard shifted, making the plank floor squeak. “Then your wife set me straight on a few things, and since then I’ve done some thinking. About how you risked your hide to help save Taylor’s little gal. I found out she’s your niece, but even so that was a decent thing to do. And then there’s that business about yuh blowing up the cave and damn near getting killed. That’s not what I’d expect from a coward.”
“Aye? So what are ye saying?”
“Just that I’ve also done some hard thinking about Frank. I loved that boy, but I know what he was.” Howard’s deep voice developed a catch. “And I made him that way.”
Tye felt pity for him and experienced the same emotion from Lil.
Collecting himself, Howard admitted, “I heard Frank swear he’d kill yuh for taking Lil away from him.”
“But I was never his,” Lil blurted, causing Tye to tighten his arm around her shoulders.
“I know, but he didn’t see it that way. And he hated you, Devlin, for the whupping you gave him that time on the trail north. He wouldn’t let it go. I put him on the train for home, hoping he’d get over it with time. Shoulda known better. Frank hated to lose to anyone. Over anything.
“It’s my doing,” he added in a heavy tone. “I never said no to him, never taught him what it means to be a man. So I reckon I’m the one who got him killed, and that’s something I’ll live with for the rest of my days.”
Tye couldn’t shut out the man’s guilt and despair, much as he wanted to. It surged past his mental barriers, causing him to screw his eyes shut and nearly making him groan with the pain of it. Perhaps he did make some sound because Lil reached up to touch his face.
He caught her hand and opened his eyes to the cloudy light, fighting to regain control. “Exactly what are ye saying, sir?” he managed to ask as the pain receded.
Howard cleared his throat. “I’m saying you’ll have no more trouble from me. I sent those four gunnies I hired on their way two days ago. Marsh and Daly, here, work for me permanent. I only hung around to say my piece to your face, Devlin. Now that I have, I’ll be heading home.
“Just one thing,” he said, stepping close enough for Tye to smell the whiskey on his breath. “Take good care of this gal, boy, or I’ll be back.”
Tye nodded. “I’ll take very good care of her, sir. Ye have my word on that.”
“Good enough.” With that, Howard turned and walked out, followed by his two faithful guardians.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Del muttered, “I can’t believe it.”
Thinking the same thing, Tye tightened his arms around Lil.
“It’s over,” she whispered tremulously. “It’s really over.”
He grinned. “Aye, love, and saints be praised, I’m still alive to kiss ye!” And he did, cheered on by a loud chorus of male voices.
* * *
Reece Taylor, Senior passed on ten days later. He was buried next to David’s mother on a small hill not far from the homestead. Afterward, Lil helped Jessie prepare and serve dinner for the family – including her own parents. Her father had gotten his wish, if not in the way he’d expected. They were all related now, through blood and marriage.
Dinner was somber at first, with little conversation. Gradually, though, they began to share memories of Reece, even having a laugh or two over old times. By mutual consent they avoided speaking about the war and the wedge it had driven between David and his father, as well as between him and Lil and her folks. Some things were best left in the past.
Eventually they talked themselves out. Lil glanced at Tye, who’d listened quietly to stories he’d had no part in. She suspected that wasn’t the only reason for his silence. There’d been no further improvement in his eyesight over the past week and a half. They didn’t t
alk about it much because he refused to, but she knew he feared his near blindness would be permanent. So did she.
Her father cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with y’all, uh, if you don’t mind, David.”
Seated at the head of the table, David replied, “Go ahead, Del. We’re family now. Say whatever you want.”
Pa looked at her and Tye. “Maybe I should have brought this up with you two first, but I figure it concerns all of us. See, your mother and me and your Uncle Jeb have been doing some talking. We’d like you and Tye to come live with us. Uh, if you’ve a mind to.”
Lil stared at him in astonishment. This was the last thing she’d expected him to say. Beside her, Tye stiffened in his chair. Looking at him, she read wariness in his expression.
“’Tis kind of ye to offer, Del,” he said, “but why would ye be wanting us? Or should I say me? I’ve no doubt ye want Lil back home, but I’d be no good to ye like this.” He gestured at his eyes. “Tis bad enough I’m a burden on my sister and David.”
“Tye! You’re no burden,” Jessie hotly denied. “Is he, David?”
“No, of course not. You’ve already started helping out around the place, Tye.”
“Oh aye, by shoveling horse dropping and spreading fresh hay in the barn, ye mean? A child can do that. I’ll never be able to round up or brand cattle, much less go on another drive. I’m no more than –”
“But ye may still get your sight back,” Jessie interrupted. “Ye haven’t given it time enough.”
“Och, I’m not seeing any better than I did two weeks ago, and I never will. I’m no good to myself or anyone else.” he said bitterly.
“Don’t say that!” Lil cried. “You faced down Judd Howard., didn’t you?”
“Begorrah! Faced him down? What nonsense! If he hadn’t decided to give up his thirst for revenge, I’d be dead right now. And so might you be, need I remind ye?”
“Jumping Jehosaphat!” Pa burst out. “I know just how Judd felt in that saloon. Quit your arguing and hear me out.”
“Fine,” Lil groused. “But it won’t do any good. He’s too busy feeling sorry for himself.”