by Ginna Gray
The sheriff's car screeched to a halt outside the barn as Kate ran out the door. She paused just long enough to say something to him and gesture toward the barn, then ran for the house, where Maria was standing on the back porch, wringing her hands.
"What's going on here?" Sheriff Denby demanded, taking in Zach's prone and bloodied form and Lennie struggling to break free from Matt and J.T.
When they explained what happened, the sheriff smiled contemptuously at Lennie. "Always knew you'd get in real trouble someday, Dawson."
"You can kiss my—"
The sheriff slapped Lennie upside the head. "Watch your mouth in front of the ladies, boy." He pulled the younger man's arms behind his back and snapped a pair of handcuffs on him. "Lennie Dawson, you're under arrest for attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, felony menacing—"
"And assault," Pete added. "He whopped me over the head."
"And felony assault. You have a right to remain silent. If you relinquish that right…"
When the sheriff finished reciting Lennie's Miranda rights he shoved him down onto the floor and asked Matt and J.T. to keep am eye on the prisoner while he checked out his truck.
Kate raced in with the medical bag. "The kids heard all the ruckus and they're pretty upset. I told Maria to keep them at the house, and that you would be there soon."
"Thanks." With Willa kneeling beside Zach, clutching his hand, Maude Ann went to work. She unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it back, but when she began swabbing the entry wound with a sterile pad his eyes fluttered open. "Willa?"
"I'm here, darling." She squeezed his hand and smiled tearfully. "I'm right here."
"Are you … all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Don't try to talk. The ambulance will be here soon to take you to the hospital."
"I … love you."
Willa's lips quivered and a tear spilled over onto their joined hands. "I know. I love you, too."
Maude Ann cleaned out the wound, applied antiseptic and packed it with sterile gauze. Zach groaned when she and Kate rolled him onto his side. "The good news is we won't have to dig out the bullet. It went straight through. And it doesn't appear to have hit any artery or major muscle."
The sheriff came back into the barn carrying several plastic evidence bags. "Looks like Lennie here is your vandal. I found this in his truck – yellow spray paint, butchering knives, dynamite, and a hide with your brand on it."
"I don't get it, Dawson. Why try to run us off? What did you have to gain?"
Lennie gave Matt a surly look. "You mean beside the satisfaction of hurting your brother? That's easy. Money. Edward Manning paid me five thousand up front, and I was to get another ten when the bunch of you turned tail and ran."
"I knew something was fishy about that guy," Matt declared. "I knew it. I had my suspicions about him from the moment we met him."
"Well, I for one think he's lying," Sheriff Denby said. "I mean, c'mon. Edward Manning is a well-known and respected man in this state. Seamus trusted him implicitly. Hell, he was the only one the old man did trust. Manning is also a wealthy man. He inherited a fortune plus a successful law firm from his old man.
"Not only that, for years he's been positioning himself to make a run for the governor's office. Some say he's going to throw his hat into the ring the next election. Why would he risk all that when he's got nothing to gain by running you off the ranch? No, I think our boy Lennie here is just blowing smoke."
"I'm telling you, I was acting under orders from Edward Manning. He said get rid of at least one of Seamus's heirs, and to use any means necessary to do it."
"Now why would Mr. Manning do that?" the sheriff demanded.
"I don't know. You think he'd tell me? I just do his dirty work."
"Then it's your word against his."
"I'm telling you, I'm not taken the fall for this alone. I was acting under orders from Edward Manning!"
"Yeah, yeah." The sheriff hauled Lennie to his feet and gave him a shove. "C'mon, get moving. I got a nice cell in town with your name on it."
"Sheriff, hold on," Matt said. "Look, I'm not trying to horn in on your territory or step on anyone's toes, but would you mind if I do some checking on Manning on my own? Just to satisfy my own curiosity?"
"I'm telling you, it's a waste of time. But, hey, if you want to give it a shot, be my guest."
* * *
Two days later Willa sat beside Zach's hospital bed watching him doze, when the Dolans and the Conways walked into the room.
"How's he doing?" J.T. whispered.
Zach's eyes fluttered open. "I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Kate studied him worriedly. "You still look pale to me."
"Don't fuss, sis. I'm fine. Or at least I will be when they let me out of here."
"He's cranky because they've been keeping him sedated," Willa supplied, chuckling.
"I wanted to talk to you," he growled. "But they've kept me so groggy I haven't been able to string two coherent sentences together."
"Well, cheer up," Maude Ann said. "I spoke to Dr. Bailey, and he told me if there is no sign of infection in your wound, you can go home tomorrow."
"In the meantime, here's something that should cheer you up." Matt tossed a file folder onto Zach's bedside tray.
"What's this?"
"The scoop on Manning. At face value, he appears to be exactly what everyone assumes – a wealthy, successful attorney with a bright future ahead of him. I did some digging, though, and found out the man is broke."
"How can that be? What about his father's fortune and the law firm? And the retainer he gets from the Rocking R is nothing to sneeze at."
"It seems our friend Manning has expensive tastes. He likes to run with the big boys. The movers and shakers. Thanks to a series of bad investments and his extravagant spending, Edward has lost the fortune his old man left him. To maintain his lifestyle and keep up appearances, he's borrowed heavily.
"With his political ambitions within reach and his back to the wall financially, he's desperate for money.
"If we were to forfeit the ranch it would be sold in a sealed-bid auction, and Edward would be solely in charge of the whole thing. It would be a simple matter for him to rig the bidding in favor of his buyer. I suspect he stood to receive a hefty kickback from the sale of ranch, but even without that, his fee as executor of the trust could run into the millions annually."
"That son of a—" Zach bit off the rest of the expletive and demanded, "So do we have enough to have him arrested?"
"Yeah, but on minor charges. All he's done so far is solicit someone to harass us, and Lennie's testimony is uncorroborated. It would be his word against Edwards – a bullying vandal and would-be murderer looking to make a deal versus a well-respected pillar of the community. Who do you think a jury will believe? Even if we did manage to get a conviction, all Edward would get is a fine and a slap on the wrist.
"As to the conspiracy to commit fraud, all we've got is motive and opportunity. Without hard evidence, we wouldn't stand a chance in court. A good defense attorney will rip our case to shreds."
"So there's nothing we can do," Zach demanded angrily.
"I didn't say that. We can't send him to prison, but we can have the satisfaction of making him squirm and derail his political ambitions. In fact, J.T. and I have already taken care of that little matter."
"Yeah, you should of been there, bro," J.T. chimed in, grinning. "We paid Mr. Manning a visit this morning and laid it all out for him. We dismissed him as our attorney, of course, but we also warned him that if he even thinks of running for public office we'll file charges against him and make the public aware of his underhanded dealing. You should have seen his face," J.T. crowed. "I think that hurt him worse than a prison term would."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Zach looked at each of his brothers, gratitude and a new respect, even a hint of affection in his eyes. "Good job. And I want to thank you both for your help. You, too, Maudie and Kate. If you hadn't been there—"<
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"Hey, bro, you don't owe us any thanks."
"J.T.'s right." Matt gave Zach's uninjured shoulder a squeeze. "That's what brothers do. They stick together."
After Zach's family left he took Willa's hand and looked deep into her eyes, his face serious and just a touch anxious. "I think I'm awake enough now to talk."
She smiled and smoothed back a lock of hair from his forehead. "Okay."
"I seem to have a vague memory of telling you again while Maudie was patching me up, that I love you."
"Mmm, you did."
"And of you saying that you knew. Or was I hallucinating that last part?"
"No, you weren't hallucinating."
"Then you do believe that I love you?"
Willa's eyes grew moist as she gazed down at him. "Oh, my darling, of course I believe you. How could I not, when you risked your life to save me."
"Okay, now that we've got that settled, maybe I can do this right this time." He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a warm kiss against her palm, looking into her eyes all the while. Then he pressed her hand against his heart. "I love you, Willa, and I will until the day I die."
"Oh, Zach." Her voice quavered with so much emotion she could barely speak.
"Will you marry me, sweetheart?"
Tears slipped over each of her lower eyelids and trickled down her cheeks. "Yes. Oh, yes, my love. I'll marry you."
Zach cupped his hand around her nape and brought her face down for a lingering kiss that made her heart thunder. When their lips parted, he looked into her eyes. "Soon?"
Willa laughed. "Anytime you say."
* * *
Three weeks later, on a bright October afternoon, Willa stood at her bedroom window and stared out, marveling at the people wandering through the ranch yard. In all her years at the Rocking R, there had never been this many guests on the ranch at one time, not even for her mother's funeral.
And more were arriving all the time, people with whom they did business and neighbors from miles around, new friends all, thanks to the determined efforts of Zach and his brothers to mend the fences that Seamus had destroyed years ago. There were so many guests the cowboys had taken down a section of fence and turned the home pasture into a temporary parking lot.
Willa's gaze wandered over to the meadow by the pine grove, where a flower-bedecked arch had been set up in front of two groups of folding chairs on either side of a long red carpet, and her throat grew tight with unbearably sweet emotions.
Someone tapped on her door, and a second later Kate and Maude Ann rushed in. "It's time. Tyrone and Timothy are seating the last of the guests now."
Willa smiled and picked up her bouquet and followed Maude Ann downstairs, while Kate held up her train. Pete was waiting for her in the foyer, looking scrubbed and uncomfortable in his tax, but when he saw her his faded old eyes grew misty. "Willie, girl, if you ain't the prettiest thing God ever made, I don't know what is."
She kissed his cheek, making him blush, and whispered, "I love you, too," and looped her arm through his.
Moments later Willa stood serenely beside Pete and watched her attendants, all dressed in long emerald-velvet gowns, walk down the red carpet aisle. First came little Debbie, solemnly strewing rose petals, then her bridesmaids, Jennifer and Yolanda, followed by her two matrons of honor, Kate and Maude Ann.
The stirring opening notes of "The Wedding March" sounded and, proud as punch, Pete led her down the aisle.
Every head turned in her direction, and gasps and sighs sounded all around, but Willa barely heard. Through the layers of tulle and lace, all she saw was Zach. He stood in front of the arch with Matt and J.T. and the minister, looking so handsome in his tax he took her breath away, his intense green eyes fixed on her as though willing her to come to him.
Through the misty veil, Willa glanced around – at the five children she had once resented, at Maude Ann and Kate and Matt and J.T., whom she had considered grasping usurpers, all watching her with pride and affection, waiting to welcome her with open arms into their family, and her heart overflowed.
How much had changed in the past ten months, she thought dreamily. Not just in her life, but for all of them. Zach and Matt and J.T. had forged a strong brotherly bond, the children finally had the safe and loving home they deserved, her own years of isolation and loneliness had ended and she and Kate and Maude Ann had become the dearest of friends.
And most miraculous and wonderful of all, she and Zach had found each other.
Willa and Pete came to the end of the aisle, and when Zach reached for her hand she smiled serenely at him through the veil. They had all started out at odds with one another, but now they had become exactly what Maude Ann had said they were, she thought happily. They were a family, bound together by ties of love.
* * * * *