“You’ve been standing there lying to me?” Marshall yelled. “What do you think I am? Some pitiful, gullible, weak-kneed opponent?” He raised his pistol, but it hung limply in his hand. “Just because I didn’t—”
The rest of his speech was cut off when, without a word, Robert knocked the gun from Marshall’s hand from behind, pulled him to the ground, and subdued his protests with a solid blow to his jaw. Seconds later, he had him facedown on the ground and was calf-roping him. Marshall writhed in pain.
Meanwhile, Monroe had turned to Orr. “Let loose of the woman and you’ll live.”
The man looked wild-eyed, but he didn’t let go. “This weren’t my fight. I was only doing this for the money. I owed him money. And . . . and he killed a man. George Irwin, after Irwin poisoned the cattle by the creek and shot at her. So did Foster Howell.”
“I’d venture to say you don’t owe him anything no more,” the captain said, his voice smooth and reassuring. “Landon Marshall isn’t going to be harming anyone anytime soon, and neither is this Howell. Let go of Miss Tracey.”
Orr’s eyes widened as he turned to Laurel. He gulped as he stared at her, almost as if he couldn’t figure out how he’d met her in the first place.
“Please,” Laurel begged.
At last he lifted his hand.
The moment she was free, she started running toward Thomas. He walked down to meet her halfway and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay now,” he soothed. “You’re safe.”
Kelly strode over, and as he tied Orr’s hands behind his back, Laurel closed her eyes and burrowed her face into Thomas’s chest. “I was so afraid.”
“I know. I was too,” he admitted as he stared at the other men. Robert now had Marshall sitting against a rock and Kelly was maneuvering Orr to a spot against an old pine tree.
The captain was facing Thomas and Laurel with a pleased look on his face. “It’s over.”
Relief flooded Thomas. He felt like he was on the verge of tears. “I’m beholden to you,” he said to his best friends in the world. “I couldn’t have done this on my own.”
“You never should have thought you had to, Sergeant,” Monroe replied. “We wanted to help.”
Still tucked safely in Thomas’s arms, Laurel looked up at all of them with shining eyes. “I’m so grateful. Gentlemen, I hardly know how to convey my thanks.”
“No thanks are needed,” Robert said. “We’re only glad you’re all right.”
His expression now all business, the captain moved toward his horse. “I’m going to ride into town and tell the sheriff what transpired and get some assistance. Robert and Ethan are going to stay here with these men. Thomas, I think it might be best if you took Miss Tracey home.”
Thomas couldn’t agree more. Running a hand down the curls of her hair, free of its bonnet, he murmured, “How does that sound, angel? Do you feel like you can handle riding Velvet home?”
She nodded. “I can, but I don’t want to leave here. Not yet.”
Thomas wasn’t eager for her to hear Marshall say any more harsh words against her. But he knew it was just as important that he let her see this through. She’d been dealing with this man’s destructive behavior since before he’d met her, and she’d be dealing with the consequences of his actions long after he was put in jail.
Looking at both men tied up and silent, he sighed. “If you’d like to stay a bit longer, we will. But now is not the time to talk to Landon Marshall, you understand?”
She nodded. “I don’t want to talk to him ever again.”
“I think that can be arranged. You won’t have to talk to Howell again either.”
“I’ll be back when I can,” Monroe said, then set off toward town.
After helping Laurel get situated in a cleared spot near the creek, Thomas walked over to Kelly and Robert to see if they needed anything.
Each man shook his head before Thomas could open his mouth. “We’re fine, Thomas. You know we are,” Ethan said.
But that was their way, he knew. They would stay where they were needed for hours or until their captain or whoever was in charge said otherwise. Until that time, they would remain vigilant and silent.
Feeling satisfied that there was nothing else to do for the time being, Thomas returned to Laurel and sat down beside her. Then he took her hand, carefully pulled off her glove, and cradled her hand in between his. She didn’t offer a single word of protest.
They sat and waited. No words were said.
That was just as well. Not a single word could be said that would make a bit of difference.
33
NO MATTER HOW HARD LAUREL TRIED TO GET HER BODY TO comply, she couldn’t seem to make it stop shaking. Fortunately for her, Thomas didn’t notice. Or perhaps he had.
While the other men stayed a respectful distance away, allowing them to have a small semblance of privacy, Thomas had moved from holding her hand to holding her close in his arms, then pressed his lips to her temple and brow.
“Easy now,” he murmured for what must have been either the sixth or the sixteenth time. “It’s over. I promise, it’s all over.”
She’d kept her hand resting along the expanse of his chest. Her palm was flat against the soft cotton. Underneath the fabric, she could feel the line of his muscles, and underneath those hard planes, she could feel the beat of his heart.
It beat steadily, centering her. As the minutes passed, she was able to draw strength from its constant beat. She was alive, and Thomas was too.
Little by little, she once more became aware of the oppressive heat of the sun, the faint scent of soap, the gentle whickering of the horses in the meadow. She began to feel more secure, calmed by Thomas’s heartbeat, his warm embrace, his soft assurances.
But even all that couldn’t alter the fact that her world had just been shaken up. Yet again.
“I can’t believe Landon was the man behind everything,” she said at last. “I don’t understand it.”
Thomas sighed. “I know you don’t, sugar. But that’s okay.”
“How can it be all right?”
“If you did understand such things, you wouldn’t be the woman you are.”
That statement felt as cryptic as any she’d ever heard. Lifting her head at last, she studied him carefully. “What about you? Do you understand it?”
His blue eyes, usually so bright, were cloudy with regret. “To an extent I do.” Looking a little sad, he continued, “Marshall wanted everything to stay the same. He thought if he possessed this land and you, it could be.”
“But marrying me would have changed everything.”
“For you, it would have. For him? He would have gained the water he was fixated on. He would have had better access to the rail line people are talking about coming in the future. He would have even gotten your family’s home and any money you had in the bank.”
“He was willing to kill to get it all.”
“Men kill for such things all the time.”
She scoffed. “Thomas.”
“It’s true. People kill and hurt and maim for security and money. Sometimes even for a woman’s love.” Lifting one finger under her chin, he tilted it up so she would look into his eyes. “Those things are what dreams are made of. I know I sure dreamed of having such blessings many a time.”
“I suppose. But Landon already had so much.”
“Landon Marshall’s problem was that he couldn’t see beyond what was lacking in his life to realize what he already had.”
Thomas sounded so sure. “Did you ever do that? Feel like you needed to put other people in jeopardy to get what you needed?”
“Maybe I did. There have been a lot of times when I would rather eat than starve or sleep instead of suffer. Or kill, rather than be killed.”
“That was different, though, wasn’t it? Because it was during the war.”
Gazing at her, one corner of his lips turned up, he nodded. “Yes, Laurel,” he said as he smoothed a lock of her hair away from he
r face. “It was different. It was a matter of life or death, and I don’t mean that in a dramatic, over-the-top way. I mean it was because I had no choice.”
“Thomas, I remember the night before my brother and father left for the war. Landon and his father were over, and we were all in our sitting room watching the blaze in the fireplace.” She remembered feeling as if she’d known exactly how her life was going to play out. She’d felt safe too.
She hadn’t felt that secure or safe again until Thomas appeared in her life. “Landon promised my father he’d look out for me.”
“Did he ever do that?”
“For a time. But then he left. When he came back, his personality was different. Altered.”
A shadow filled his gaze. “War can change people, I’m afraid.”
“I guess that’s what happened.” Thinking of the many men and women she knew and had known, she sighed. “I guess everyone is destined to change in one way or another. Do you think so?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I know I have.”
“Landon did. And when he did, the things he used to think were important—family, honor—didn’t seem to matter anymore. I can’t help but think about his poor mother and sister. This will devastate them.”
Thomas changed positions and kicked his legs out. “Laurel, it does us no good to try to understand why a man like him did something like he did. You are right. War changed everything. Our land, our homes. People too. However, most of us clung to our values and our hearts. We stayed true to those.”
Laurel nodded. Realizing she was no longer shaking and holding off tears, she dropped her hands and exhaled. “You’re right. It is over. And it was foolish of me to wonder why he valued different things than he used to. After all, no one really keeps their promises anymore, do they?”
“What? Of course they do.”
He sounded so indignant, she almost smiled. “I meant, besides you.”
“Look at the captain and the major and Robert. They came here because of a promise we once made.”
“They came here because you are a man worth helping.”
“I’d like to think I am, but I also know they’re honoring something we shared one night in the prison camp.”
Lifting his chin, he let his gaze drift over the horizon. “We had just buried Rory MacDonald. He’d been younger than all of us. So fresh and young. So full of promise. We were all feeling the pinch of our confinement.”
“I’m so sorry, Thomas.”
“While we were all standing there, worrying over what was going to happen next and wishing our circumstances would somehow get better eventually, Captain Monroe had us all make a promise to each other. We promised to look out for each other the rest of our lives.”
“That’s why they came when you sent word you needed them.”
“Yes, that’s why. The only reason why. It wasn’t because I deserved it or I had earned their efforts. It was because they’d made a promise. A vow.”
“They are truly good men.”
“They are.”
“You are worth it, you know,” she said softly. “Even if you had to ask for help for yourself, not me, it would have been the right thing to do. You’re worth it too.”
“I’m beginning to think I am at that,” he said lightly as he got to his feet.
Bending down, he reached for her hands. “Now, don’t you think it’s time I got you home? The major and Robert can wait for Sheriff Jackson here. If he needs to speak with you, he’ll find you. Let’s go home.”
She loved how he referred to her house as his home. It was going to be a difficult day indeed when he left, when his year was up and she was the only one who lived in her house again. Thomas didn’t seem like someone who would ever settle down if he didn’t have to, and she felt sure he was the kind of man who probably never would, no matter how he felt now.
As Laurel placed her hands in his, she made a vow to herself to show her love for him as well as he showed his to her, for the time she would be allowed to do so.
No matter what happened in the future or how much she yearned for him to always stay by her side, she, too, could honor a promise. She could let him go.
Secretly, she knew her reasoning had nothing to do with honor and glory. It was simply because she loved him.
She loved him enough to one day encourage him to leave.
34
THOMAS WATCHED IN DISMAY AS HIS THREE BEST FRIENDS in the world packed their duffel bags in their rooms. After Marshall and Orr were safely jailed in town, along with Foster Howell, they had brought the sheriff and Judge Orbison to the house. And because the two officials wanted to meet with everyone involved individually as well as in a group, the three men divided their time between eating a light meal of cold pork and fried potatoes and bathing off the sweat and grime of the day.
Thomas had also checked on Laurel frequently. As far as he could tell, she was handling all that had happened as well as anyone could have expected. However, he had known many a green recruit in battle who had broken down from the shock of it all hours after seeing such violence and bloodshed. Thomas feared that such a thing would happen to Laurel as well.
He’d been hoping the other men could help him find the words to comfort her. He knew they’d all had more experience soothing tattered nerves than he did.
But less than an hour after Orbison and Jackson left, Thomas discovered the three of them preparing to leave.
“Surely y’all aren’t planning to leave right now?” he asked.
Captain Monroe nodded. “I need to get to Fort Worth before it gets too late.”
“I had hoped y’all would stay at least until morning. We could catch up.”
Major Kelly flashed a smile. “As much as I would enjoy that, I’m afraid that’s not possible, for me at least. I need to get back to San Antonio. I need to see to an issue at the Menger Hotel.”
Ethan’s voice held a note of desperation in it. “Are you in trouble?” Thomas asked.
He shook his head. “Of course not. My, uh, concerns have more to do with a woman than anything else.”
Robert chuckled low. “Concerns, hmm? Perhaps I’m not the only one to be falling in love.”
“I didn’t mention love, Lieutenant,” Ethan retorted sharply. “What Lizbeth and I have is just”—his voice lowered—“friendship. At least I think it could be categorized as that.”
“Lizbeth sounds like a name to remember,” Robert mused.
Feeling a little desperate, Thomas turned to Robert. “I didn’t even get to hear the whole story about you and Miranda.”
“There were some problems and threats . . . well, it all worked out for the best,” Robert said easily. “Once we let our guards down, Miranda and I discovered we had room in our hearts for something more.”
For the life of him, Thomas couldn’t imagine how Robert and Miranda had fallen in love, but now it seemed he wasn’t likely to learn the ins and outs of it anytime in the near future. “I see.”
Robert laughed. “I know you don’t see at all. But I’m thinking you will see what I’m talking about very soon.”
“I suppose you need to leave tonight as well?”
“I do. Miranda doesn’t do well without me nearby.” Looking a little self-conscious, he added, “I don’t do too well away from her either.”
Thomas finally brought himself to look at Captain Monroe.
The captain was staring right back at him. However, unlike Ethan and Robert, he wasn’t smiling. Instead, he was wearing a solemn expression that spoke volumes. “I have other pressing concerns as well. I am sorry.”
“I feel like things are at loose ends.” No longer caring that he sounded like a sulky child, Thomas added, “Captain, I haven’t even thanked you properly.”
Devin Monroe brushed off his words. “Like Robert said out on the range, no thanks are needed. They are never needed. We made a promise, remember?”
“Yes, sir.” But still, Thomas knew this was a case where a mere thank-you
wasn’t good enough. He was going to need to do something more to convey his thoughts and gratitude, even if it was in the form of a letter. “Are you going back to Galveston? Is that where you’ll be?”
“No.” Looking a bit uncomfortable, Monroe said, “There’s a small town out west, almost to the New Mexico territory. I’ve had my eye on it for some time. I thought I’d head out that way and maybe make a home.”
“What are you talking about?” Kelly asked. “Big Spring?”
“None other.”
Realizing that the other men were as much at sea as he was, Thomas dropped the subject. “I’ll leave you to finish your preparations, then.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll tell Miss Tracey good-bye before we depart,” Captain Monroe said.
After going downstairs and ascertaining that the main house was quiet, Thomas looked for Laurel in the kitchen. He wanted to check on her again and let her know about the men’s plans. As he walked, he was mentally trying out ways to let her know the men who had helped her so much were about to take their leave.
But she was nowhere in sight.
“Laurel?” he called.
Not hearing a reply, he glanced outside the kitchen door, hoping she was taking a break on the back porch, as she sometimes did. However, there was no sign of her there either.
After checking the bathing room and finding it also empty, he strode up the stairs and tapped lightly on her bedroom door, then turned the doorknob.
If she was sleeping, he would close the door again and tell the men he would convey their good-byes.
Peeking in, he saw that she was, indeed, lying down. But instead of seeing her resting peacefully, he saw her staring back at him.
He was so startled that he gripped the door for a moment to gain a few seconds. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I couldn’t find you downstairs. I thought you might be asleep.”
“I probably should be.” Moving into a sitting position, she shrugged. “I just thought I’d take a few minutes to gather myself.” Her gaze warmed. “Someone keeps telling me I try to do too much and I should rest more.”
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