by Jodi Thomas
Nell started to tell him that she preferred to dress before going down, but the words froze in her throat when she saw the bullet hole in the wicker of her wheelchair.
“Jacob?” She gripped the lapels of his unbuttoned shirt. “Jacob, someone . . .”
“I know,” he answered before she could finish. “Someone tried to kill you. They couldn’t have seen clearly enough to know that you weren’t in the chair.” He hesitated. “But the rider was definitely aiming at your window.”
She tried to think of who might know that normally she watched the sun rise from the exact spot where the chair had been. Everyone, she realized or anyone who passed by the house. From dawn until dusk that spot had become her place to watch the world go by. Even the people passing in the trains leaving town might look over and see her sitting in her window.
Nell leaned her head against Jacob’s shoulder and let his arms surround her. She might be fully grown, a woman of means who knew her own mind, but right now she needed to be protected. The only safety she’d ever known had been with him near. He’d always been the one rock in her ever-shifting life.
“It’ll be all right, Two Bits,” he whispered in her hair. “I won’t let any harm come to you.”
They’d reached the main room, but he still held her tight. For a few minutes, she curled into his arms, closed her eyes, and let the world go away. He’d always been near when she needed him or couldn’t make sense of life. When she’d been a kid, everyone she’d ever known had let her down. Then, Jacob came along, little more than a kid himself, but thinking he was all big and grown. He’d made her believe in the goodness of people.
He lowered her to the couch by the fireplace. Gypsy covered her legs with a blanket while Jacob built the fire.
Once he finished, he stood and faced her. “As soon as the sheriff gets here, I’ll saddle up and see if our early visitor left enough tracks to follow. If he headed away from town, I’ll follow him. I’d have trouble tracking him if he rode in, but it looked like he was heading away.”
“Why would anyone shoot at me?” Most of the folks in town didn’t bother speaking to her, but they didn’t wish her dead, or at least she didn’t think anyone did.
Jacob lowered to one knee in front of her and pulled a small pistol from his boot. “I don’t know, but whoever rode by and fired that shot was on a mission. It wasn’t an accident. No drunk riding home from a wild night. No young cowhand testing his gun. I watched him coming. When I realized he was headed here, I stepped from the barn, thinking he had a message to deliver.”
The pistol felt warm as he placed it in her shaking hands. “Only he didn’t see me. He was staring up at your window as he rode by at full speed. He got off one shot before I saw the gun. He didn’t have time for another. When I returned fire, he leaned low, and his horse ran like ground lightning across the open range behind the house.”
“It was too dark to see him. How will you ever find him?”
“I know two things about him. He’s a good shot, too good not to have been trained to fire from the saddle, and he rides like he was born on horseback.”
Nell smiled. “I guess that eliminates two people in town. Randolph Harrison and Sheriff Smith.”
Jacob squeezed her hand. “You know of any reason why someone would want you dead?”
She shook her head. “Maybe it’s just a case of mistaken identity like the last time I was shot. Maybe something about me reminds people of a target.”
“Know anyone else in a wheelchair who lives out by the tracks?” He smiled, looking almost as if he believed she might say yes. “Our visitor was firing at you, no one else. Promise me you’ll keep this gun close. Odds are it won’t stop anyone, but at least it will sound an alarm.”
“I’ll do that,” she answered as she slipped the pistol into the drawer in the table beside her. She’d handled weapons several times over her life and never thought much about it. But since the accident, they’d made her a little nervous. She knew it wasn’t the gun that had hurt her, but the man behind it, yet somehow she related the pain to the weapon.
Jacob twisted and sat on the floor beside her knees. His long legs stretched toward the fireplace, his shoulder touched her leg. His nearness and the comfortable silence between them slowed her pounding heart. She brushed her fingers over his sun-lightened hair, wishing she could find the right words to thank him.
The fire popped, and she could hear Gypsy talking in the kitchen, but for just a moment the world stilled as she moved her hand through his hair. Something passed between them, a feeling, a bond. Neither had the words to say, but they both needed to know the other was near.
The sheriff walked through the front door without knocking. Jacob stood and stared down at her, his face unreadable as his big hand plowed through the strands of hair she’d just straightened. Then, almost by accident, she saw something in his eyes. A longing she’d never seen. A need.
“What’s going on here!” Parker yelled to no one in particular as he neared. “Marla interrupted my breakfast to tell me someone’s shooting at you. Who in the hell would want to do that?”
Jacob gave the sheriff his full attention. “Let me know, and I’ll make sure they reach hell by nightfall.” He was back in full control, two hundred pounds of Texas lawman.
Parker walked around Jacob like he was no more than a noisy tree and went straight to Nell.
Jacob moved to close the door the sheriff left open, but before he could reach the knob, Rand Harrison darted through.
“You’re here early,” Jacob grumbled. “I thought accountants had banker’s hours for starting work.”
Harrison didn’t look frightened by the ranger’s frown. “I heard about the shooting. I’m here to help. Is anyone hurt?”
“No, no one is hurt, and yes, you can help,” Jacob answered. “Can you use a gun?”
Rand nodded. “If I have to. I’m not fond of them.”
Jacob glanced at Nell. “There seems to be an epidemic of that around here. I don’t care if you like them or not. Would you use one if need be?”
“I would.” Harrison stood at attention.
“Good, I’d like you to stay here until I get back. I’m going to track the rider. It’ll be full daylight by the time I get my horse saddled.”
“Wait.” Parker leaned and poked his finger through the bullet hole in the wicker of Nell’s chair. “I’ve got a few questions.”
Jacob looked bothered, but he gave the sheriff his due. This was his territory. He had a right to take charge.
“Did you see the shooter?”
“Yes, but it was dark.” Jacob knew what the old lawman wanted, so he might as well give it to him as fast as possible. “He sat tall in the saddle. Thin. A big hat, shoved back on what could have been black or brown hair. It was too dark to make out his face. He fired one shot with a rifle. A man who can aim at that speed is trained.”
“Or lucky,” the sheriff mumbled. “We got a few cowhands in town who are out of work and needing money something terrible, but I don’t think they’d fire at a woman. Maybe he could have been trained, but why’d he be here?”
“I’m guessing he was on a mission, because he didn’t ever look my direction until I fired on him. Then he leaned low, blending with the horse, and rode out. He was out of range before I could center him in my sight.”
“Any chance you hit him?”
Jacob shook his head. “I doubt I could even pick him out in a crowd unless maybe he was riding. He could sure handle a horse.”
“Great,” Nell whispered. “Brag on my assassin. He sounds perfect.”
Gypsy rushed from the kitchen with a tray of mugs. She handed Nell the only cup of tea among the coffee cups. “Not too perfect. He missed.”
Nell thanked her for the tea and looked at the old hooker turned housekeeper. Gypsy had on the same faded dress she’d worn for the past three days. She had dressed in her underthings and gowns for so many years that it never occurred to her to not sleep in whate
ver she happened to have on. The idea of changing clothes at dawn and dusk seemed a waste of time to her. Nell had bought her several new dresses, but she claimed to be saving them in case she had to go to town. Which she never did, except after dark once in a while to buy a bottle of whiskey she said helped her sleep.
While everyone in the room theorized as to why anyone would shoot Nell, Jacob reloaded his rifle from a chest of supplies next to Nell’s desk. Fat Alice had always kept a stock of arms for protection, and Nell had continued the habit. He handed Harrison a rifle and handgun from her stash.
Rand looked at the weapon, not handling it with the ease Jacob had, but familiar with it.
Jacob raised his rifle to his shoulder and faced Nell’s twelfth suitor. “I’m asking you straight out, Harrison, and I want you to tell me the truth. Will you stay here until I return? I’d feel safer knowing that you were near.”
“You mean in town?”
Jacob shook his head. “I mean here at the house. I’d feel better if I knew either you or Parker guarded the place. Whoever that rider was, it won’t be long before he figures out that he missed. I wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped by for another shot.”
Nell had been quiet long enough. “Don’t I have any say about this, or are you just inviting men to stay with me without even asking for my opinion?” She knew Jacob made up his mind about a man quickly. The ability to pick who he could trust had saved his life more than once, but she needed time to decide who she trusted.
Jacob glanced at her, then turned back to Harrison. “It won’t be an easy assignment. She’s likely to make you sleep on the porch, but I have to know she’s safe, and the sheriff ’s responsibilities are to the town. I may be gone for a few days. If I hit trouble, it could be a week.”
“I’ll check on the ladies every night about suppertime.” Parker nodded his thanks to Marla for a fresh cup of coffee. “I’ll spend as much time as I can out here. Between us, we’ll keep an eye out for trouble.”
Harrison nodded toward the women. “Not one of these ladies looks helpless,” he said to the ranger. “I could sleep in the barn. But I’ll stay only if Miss Nell agrees. It’s not your decision to make, Ranger. It’s hers.” There was no doubt in his tone that he was talking about more than where he’d sleep.
Jacob opened his mouth to argue, but Nell spoke first. “All right. You can stay. You’ll already be here most of the day working on the books. There’s no need for you to sleep in the barn, Mr. Harrison. After all, we’re almost engaged. Gypsy can set you up a bunk in my office. I think if there is a floor between us we’ll still be respectable.”
“Almost engaged,” Jacob mumbled. “I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
He didn’t look at Nell as he stormed from the room with the sheriff close behind. As he walked, Jacob listed things he wanted changed as fast as possible. The gate fixed and locked. The window upstairs replaced before nightfall. All doors to the house kept bolted at all times.
When they were out of hearing range, Nell glanced at Randolph Harrison. He must feel like he’d been drafted into the army. He examined the six-shooter Jacob had left out of the chest of weapons, then began loading it from a box of shells in the storage cabinet. He handled a gun well, but didn’t look like he enjoyed the task.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Harrison looked up as though surprised anyone else was in the room. For a moment, he didn’t say anything, then he cleared his throat. “I’m honored to help.” He straightened. “But I hope there will be no need.” Crossing to the door, he started to put the weapon on a high shelf, then changed his mind and put it within easy reach for someone in a wheelchair.
Nell smiled. In his simple action he’d told her that if trouble came, he knew she’d be willing and able to back him up. “You’ve already been of great service by offering. Jacob would never leave me unless he believed I’d be safe. I’m not too worried about being killed. In truth, I’m more interested in why anyone would want to.”
“You’re a rich woman,” he said flatly.
“Not so rich,” she answered. “I’d give it all up if I could walk again.”
“We can’t rewrite what’s happened to us.” Harrison refilled her tea and passed the cup to her. “No matter how much we’d like to.”
They drank in silence as Gypsy went upstairs to bring down Nell’s dress, and Marla whispered she would pack the ranger a knapsack. Nell watched the bookkeeper as he studied the fire. He didn’t seem to feel the need to talk this morning as he had yesterday. Maybe if they weren’t talking about the ranch, he felt he had nothing to say.
The time alone with him wasn’t unpleasant. Neither was it as comforting as being with Jacob. But it might be, in time, when she knew Mr. Harrison better. She could get used to a marriage with times like this built in. At least she wouldn’t be alone.
But she couldn’t see herself ever running her fingers through his hair. In fact, she couldn’t even picture Mr. Harrison with a hair out of place. He kept to an order in everything he did.
She studied her twelfth prospect. He wore the same suit he’d worn yesterday, but his collar was fresh. His shoes were far from new, but he’d blacked them and polished the leather recently. He’d probably be the kind of husband who wanted dinner exactly at six and who walked with a cane each night after eating just because that was what he thought proper. She’d seen men like him when she’d been back East. Men who never raised their voices, who weren’t given to excess, and who shaved their faces clean every morning. Men of order.
She smiled. Too bad there weren’t a few more such men in Texas.
Sheriff Parker banged his way through the door, swearing that if it weren’t for his bad leg he’d be riding out with Jacob.
Nell thought of yelling for him to close the door but watched Mr. Harrison silently stand and close it without commenting.
When Parker reached the center of the room, he looked up. “Oh, Nell, Jacob wants to see you for a minute on the front porch. He made a point of telling me he planned to have a word with you alone.” Parker headed for the coffeepot.
Gypsy crossed from the stairs and wrapped a shawl around Nell. With the housekeeper holding the chair and Harrison offering his arm to grip, Nell slowly stood and shifted her feet until she could lower herself into the wheelchair.
She thanked him without meeting his eyes while she wrapped the shawl around her body then tied it behind her waist. “Everyone, please, move into the kitchen. I can smell Marla’s rolls, and they are best eaten hot. I’ll say good-bye to the ranger and join you in a few minutes.”
The sheriff was already at the kitchen door, but Harrison hesitated.
Nell gripped the wheels of her chair. “I can make it to the porch on my own. Don’t worry, Mr. Harrison.”
He bowed slightly. “Of course.” If possible, he looked as embarrassed as she. “Please call if you . . . or the ranger . . . need me.”
Nell tried to smile. “Thank you.”
Without another word, she turned toward the front door that Gypsy held open. Nell accepted the flour sack filled with supplies for Jacob and put it in her lap as she propelled herself forward.
When she passed, Nell whispered to Gypsy, “Please close the door behind me.” She wasn’t sure what the ranger wanted to tell her, but she could never remember him feeling the need to say anything in private. Maybe he knew something about the shooter and didn’t want to frighten the others. When she’d been a kid, he’d sometimes acted as if she were his partner fighting the bad guys. He’d often given her a mission, like asking her to keep her eyes open for something, a kind of horse, a man with a scar. She’d never known if his orders had been a game, or real.
Nell heard the door close almost as soon as she’d crossed the threshold.
Sunlight greeted her, but the day held no warmth. Jacob stood several feet away, tightening the cinch on his saddle. When he heard the door, he looked around. Worry lines wrinkled his forehead as he moved to stand in front of th
e porch railing. He was a handsome man, solid and brave, but for some reason he looked a little nervous for once.
“Now don’t start lecturing me,” Nell began. “I’m not completely helpless. I can take care of myself. And don’t worry. I promise I’ll keep the gun near me. If I answer the door, it will be in my pocket.”
As she handed him the food, she noticed that with her on the porch and him on the ground in front of her, they were the same height. Nell couldn’t help but smile. She’d only been eye to eye with him a few times in her life.
“I’m not worried about you,” he said. “Parker will be close, and if Harrison steps out of line, you’ll shoot him.”
Nell crossed her arms. “Then why did you ask me out here in the cold?”
“I wanted to say good-bye.” He looked more angry than friendly.
Nell didn’t even attempt to hide her surprise. “All right. Good-bye. Be careful.”
He pulled off his hat and stepped closer. “I will, but I need to remind you about something before I go.”
“What?” Nell fought to keep from using a few of the swear words she’d spent four years at school trying to forget. Jacob was worse than ten parents. “I already told you I’ll be careful.”
“That wasn’t it.” He grinned.
Without warning, he leaned across the banister between them and kissed her on the mouth. It wasn’t long, or hard, but it was a kiss. A real kiss. Not a brotherly kiss or a friend’s kiss, but the kind of kiss a man gives a woman.
Only their lips touched. She could have pulled a fraction of an inch away and broken the kiss. But she didn’t. His mouth was warm and bold against hers. About the time she got used to it, he stepped back.
Nell couldn’t find words. She could barely hang onto a thought. Jacob Dalton had kissed her.
He plowed his fingers through his sunny hair and smiled. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I got here.”
Then, without another word, he walked to his horse, swung up, and rode away.
CHAPTER 8