"I'll not have anyone hurt you again," Vance whispered. "Especially because of me."
Mae smiled and kissed Vance. "I can see that the things I love about you are also the things that are going to vex me to tears."
Vance grinned. "Love me?"
"Oh yes," Mae whispered. "I love you just about beyond reason."
Suddenly serious, Vance brought Mae's hand to her lips and kissed her palm gently. "For just a minute out there today--yesterday--I thought I was back at Appomattox. It hurt so much. Milton, my friend, was dead because of me. I knew Lee's soldiers were coming, and if I didn't die before they reached me, they'd probably shoot me where I lay. I expected to die and I didn't really mind."
Mae's heart thundered painfully, but she kept silent, knowing it was time for this wound to be purged.
"I got confused for a minute out there," Vance said, remembering the sweat and the pain and the soul-deep weariness. "I was ready to let go of everything, just to stop the hurt."
"Sweetheart," Mae whispered brokenly, kissing her forehead and holding her as closely as she dared without causing her injured shoulder more pain.
"But then Jessie reminded me of the one thing that mattered."
Vance lay her head on Mae's breast. "She reminded me of you, and I realized I had the best reason of all for living." Mae's heart pulsed strong and steady beneath her cheek, and Vance felt the promise of happiness in every beat. "I love you." She tilted her head back and smiled into Mae's eyes. "You're all the reason I'll ever need."
"I never thought to have love like this in my life, not even when I was young enough to still believe that love existed. Not like this. Not all the way through me, in every breath I take."
"You can believe it." Vance held Mae's hand to her own heart. "I promise."
***********
Jessie peeked in the open door of the upstairs bedroom. Vance was asleep. Mae sat beside the bed, watching Vance with an expression of such tenderness on her face that Jessie was embarrassed to intrude. As she started to turn away, a soft voice said, "She's worn out. You'll not wake her."
Jessie turned back and waited while Mae quietly rose and crossed the room to her. In a whisper, she asked, "How is she feeling?"
"She'll admit to it hurting, which I imagine means the pain's fearsome, but her mind is clear." Mae smiled. "And she's showing signs of her usual stubbornness, so I imagine she'll be fine before long."
"I'm sorry."
Mae stepped into the hall and drew Jessie away from the door.
She kept the door ajar so that she could see into the room in case Vance wakened. With a hand on Jessie's arm, she regarded her quietly. "I'm sorry for blaming you the way I did earlier. It's not your fault that Vance got hurt."
Jessie shrugged, remembering the terror in Mae's eyes when she'd first seen Vance. When Jessie had gotten down from Star after easing Vance into the arms of several waiting men, Mae had flung herself at her, accusing her of letting Vance get killed over nothing more than a few horses. She'd thought for a second that Mae was going to slap her.
Then Mae had just run out of steam and turned away, shaking. At that moment, Jessie had wished that Mae had struck her. "It was my fight, not hers."
"Vance is your friend. She was only doing for you what you would've done for her." Mae sighed. "When I first saw her and all that blood...I thought I might lose her. I just needed a target for my fear.
You were handy." She patted Jessie's chest. "And strong enough to take it. I'm sorry for forgetting that tender heart of yours."
Smiling, Jessie caught Mae's hand and held it. "She saved my life today. She's more than a friend." She kissed Mae's forehead. "You both are."
"Montana," Mae said softly. "I have loved you, I think, since the first time I saw you walk into the Nugget, covered in trail dust and sunshine." She laughed when Jessie blushed. "Somehow I always knew it wasn't meant to be, and it wasn't until I saw you with Kate that I understood why." She looked back into the room at the pale woman, so fragile appearing now, asleep in the bed. "Your heart was meant for Kate. And mine was meant for her."
"You'll always have a place in mine," Jessie whispered.
"And that means the world to me." Mae regarded Jessie intently.
"I want you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"I want you to see that Vance doesn't try to change the way things are for me. At the Nugget." Even in the half-light of the hallway, Mae could see the muscle jump in Jessie's jaw. "You know how things are.
That's not going to change, and there's no sense her getting killed trying." She grasped Jessie's hand again and squeezed, hard. "It would kill me to lose her. Please."
"I can't make that promise," Jessie said, adding quickly, "but I can promise she won't be alone. I won't let anything happen to her. I swear."
"You get yourself mixed up in this and end up getting hurt, Kate will never forgive you or me."
Jessie shook her head. "Kate understands."
Mae closed her eyes. "Lord. There's no talking sense into any of you."
"Don't worry." Jessie kissed Mae's cheek. "Vance isn't going to do anything foolish, and if she has a mind to, I'll see that she doesn't."
"I'll hold you to that, Montana."
"You can."
v The next time Vance woke, Mae was gone and Jessie was standing at the foot of the bed. "What time is it?"
"Morning. Mae's asleep down the hall. Kate made her finally lie down."
"Good." Vance braced her hand on the mattress but found she couldn't push herself up. Grimacing, she said, "Can you help me here?"
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to," Jessie said, coming around the side of the bed and easing an arm behind Vance's back. "You do anything to start that bleeding again, Mae and Kate will skin me."
"Don't worry. I don't want the both of them after me." Vance leaned back against the headboard with a sigh. "Thanks. How's the leg?"
"It's nothing. It'll be stiff for a day or two, but that's all."
"And Star?"
Jessie smiled. "She's fine. Little scratch no bigger than mine." She shifted and sighed. "You got the worst of it."
Vance grinned. "Not as bad as the two fellows we put down. Both dead?"
"Yep. Charlie went back up with a wagon after we got you down.
He took them into town."
"What about the other two?"
"Long gone, and I don't think they'll be back." Jessie leaned a shoulder against the bedpost, her expression pensive. "At least those two won't. But I think we haven't seen the end of rustlers. Too many people came out here thinking there was gold running in the streets, and most of them ended up with nothing. Horses and cattle are money on the hoof."
"No matter where or when, it seems that it comes down to fighting to protect what's yours."
Jessie shrugged. "I never thought otherwise." She met Vance's gaze. "I owe you for what you did up there."
"You don't owe me for anything. You insult me to suggest it."
Jessie grinned. "You Easterners are pretty easy to insult."
Vance's brows rose. "Now you add injury to insult."
"Just the same, I expect you'll let me return the favor if needed."
"If needed," Vance said seriously, "I will."
"That's good enough."
Vance shifted restlessly. "Do you think you could have one of your men drive me into town later today? I never was a good patient, and I don't want to be any trouble."
"Could be you want to be closer to the Nugget?"
"Could be."
"I'll take you in myself if you promise not to try taking these men on until you've got your feet back under you."
Vance sighed. "I can see that Mae's gotten to you."
Jessie grinned. "Could be. But it makes sense."
"I'll wait till I'm healed, but I intend to right this wrong."
"You'll get no argument from me." Jessie gently squeezed Vance's shoulder. "I'll talk to Frank. I trust him. Between the two of u
s, we'll keep an eye on things until you're better."
"Thank you."
"No need. We're friends, right?"
Vance held up her hand. When Jessie took it, she said quietly, "That we are."
* * *
CHAPTER THIRTY
When Vance stepped up to the bar shortly after midnight, Frank broke off his conversation with a grizzled cowboy who looked as if he had just come in off the trail, judging by his dirt- caked clothes and apparent thirst as he downed three shots of liquor in quick succession. On his way to the end of the bar where Vance stood half in shadow, Frank picked up his best bottle of whiskey.
"Good to see you up and about, Doc."
"Thanks. Even better to be here," Vance said. "More than a week indoors, most of it in bed, feels like a year."
"Been pretty quiet around here. Can't say as you've missed a whole lot."
Vance met Frank's deceptively placid gaze as she sipped the bracing drink. "I appreciate you keeping an eye on the situation."
"I'd do more but," he shrugged, "can't really change what ain't my affair."
"It wouldn't do anyone any good if you lost your job." Vance finished the shot and shook her head when he gestured with the bottle for a refill. "You do what you can." She turned sideways to survey the room. "Has our friend been around this week?"
"He was in and out a few nights ago. Picked up what he came for, but didn't linger."
"Does he have a regular time for coming by?"
"Not that I've noticed." Frank stepped away to pour a drink for a nearby customer, then leaned his elbows on the bar and lowered his voice. "One thing I do know. The bank transfers cash to the reserve in Bradford once a month, and he always comes by the night before the stagecoach takes the shipment. Tidying up accounts, I suppose."
"And when would the next run to Bradford be?"
"Day after tomorrow."
"So we can expect a visit tomorrow night."
Frank nodded.
"Thanks." Vance studied the bartender, thinking that she had always been comfortable with him. He cared about Mae, and that was what mattered most to her. "Besides tending bar, what else do you do here, Frank?"
Frank was silent for a moment, as if deciding how much to reveal.
Then, apparently coming to a decision, he said, "I suppose I manage the place, when it comes down to it. I order the stock, tally up what's in the till and take it to the bank, see that the place is looked after. Cleaned up and all that."
"So how is it you don't know who owns the Nugget?" Vance knew she was putting him on the spot, but it was time to put all the cards on the table.
"I've been tending bar here for almost ten years. Before Hanrahan, there was another fella who did pretty much the same as him. He hired me and spelled out how things would run. One day, he was gone, and Mike was doing his job." Frank blew out a breath. "I didn't ask any questions."
"I understand. I probably wouldn't either. You have any particular liking for the way the place is run now?"
"I like that I can do things my own way and don't have to answer to nobody. I take my wages out at the end of the week, leave receipts in the bag for whatever I spend to replace the liquor or the broken tables and chairs if things get rowdy, go about my business."
"Sounds like a pretty good deal."
"It suits me."
Vance tapped her hand lightly on the bar. "Thanks for the information. I think I'll head on upstairs."
"Mike Hanrahan's a mean son of a bitch," Frank said conversationally.
Vance smiled thinly, her eyes glittering dangerously. "So am I, when provoked."
She walked away to the sound of Frank's quiet laughter.
Vance stopped in front of Mae's door and listened. Although Mae had been by Vance's hotel room that afternoon and had said that she would be free that evening, Vance was never certain that would be the case when she came around. She didn't completely trust herself to come face-to-face with someone who had just left Mae's bed, and it would do Mae no good for her to vent her jealousy on a customer. When she heard nothing from within, she tapped quietly.
"Mae, it's Vance."
The door opened almost immediately. Smiling, Mae reached out, took Vance's hand, and drew her inside. "How are you feeling?"
"Good as new." Vance caught Mae around the waist and kissed her soundly. "Like I haven't seen you in a month of Sundays."
Laughing, Mae slapped her hand against Vance's chest and held her away. "You might be feeling pretty frisky right now, but I saw that shoulder this afternoon, and you're not ready for romping just yet."
Vance ignored the restraining hand and tugged Mae close again.
She nuzzled Mae's neck. "We don't have to romp. How about we stroll?"
Mae tilted her head back and gave her throat to Vance's kisses.
Truth was, she missed her touch more than she would've imagined, even though she'd seen her every day. She never would have believed she could hunger for something she hadn't known she'd wanted until a few short weeks before. Loving Vance had opened her heart and her body to the possibility of not just pleasure, but communion. Now there were critical places inside her that only Vance could fill. She threaded her fingers through Vance's hair and tugged her head up so she could kiss her mouth. After she did, thoroughly, she whispered, "I think a nice long walk would be just perfect."
Grinning, Vance released her so that she could undress her. "Turn around."
"I took pity on you," Mae said as she turned her back. "This dress has laces."
"Buttons, ties...makes no matter," Vance muttered, rapidly loosening the laces that closed the back of Mae's dress. As she opened the material, she kissed along the edge of her shoulder blades and down the center of her spine. "Nothing's going to slow me down, let alone stop me."
The dark, edgy tone caught at Mae's heart and places lower down, and she turned back to Vance, suddenly just as eager to have her naked. She pushed at Vance's coat. "Let me help you get this off that shoulder."
"I thought you were anxious to see me in these new clothes,"
Vance protested.
"Right now," Mae murmured, "I want to see you out of them."
Vance laughed and held up her arm for Mae to help her out of the new coat. Then Mae went to work on the buttons on her shirt and Vance's patience disappeared. She gave a growl and tugged Mae's dress off her shoulders, then scooped her hand inside her bodice. The sensation of warm, soft flesh in her hand drove all caution from her mind, and if Mae hadn't gently restrained her, she would have tried to pick her up and carry her to the bed.
"Careful," Mae said breathlessly. "You start that shoulder bleeding, and I'm not letting you into my bed."
"Lord, Mae, I want you so much," Vance gasped. "Never. Never knew it could be like this."
"You can have me, for however long you want, as often as you like." Mae covered Vance's hand and held it still. "There's no need to rush, as much as I love the way you want me."
Vance laughed shakily. "I feel like I've been away from you for weeks."
"Well come to bed, and let's get reacquainted." Mae took Vance's hand and led her across the room. She stopped by the side of the bed and finished undressing Vance, taking her time, running her hands over Vance's body as if learning it for the first time. By the time she was done, Vance was shaking.
"Mae," Vance said, her voice a hoarse whisper. "What you're doing to me. I don't know that I'll last much longer."
"Just a few more minutes." Smiling, Mae stepped away and removed her undergarments. The way Vance's eyes darkened and her face tensed as Mae slowly uncovered herself sent spirals of pleasure curling through her. Naked at last, she lay on the fresh smooth sheets and opened her arms. "Come here where you belong."
With a sigh that spoke of a rightness she had never dreamed of, Vance settled into Mae's embrace.
"Do you know what Vance intends to do about Mae's situation?"
Kate asked, running her fingers lazily down the center of Jessie's chest.
Jessie lay on her back, Kate's head pillowed on her shoulder and their legs entwined. Fingers of red and gold stretched into the room as the sun broke over the horizon. She couldn't imagine wanting for anything else when she had this every morning. She kissed Kate's temple. "Not exactly. I got the feeling that she's going to use her wits and not her gun, if she can."
"I know she wouldn't do anything to endanger Mae, but I'm worried about her." Kate lifted her head and kissed the point of Jessie's chin. "And I'm worried about you."
Jessie shook her head and turned on her side so they faced one another. She kissed Kate softly. "No need. Vance won't do anything to hurt Mae. I feel the same way about you."
Kate traced the curve of Jessie's collarbone where it dipped into the hollow at the base of her throat. She kissed the pulse that rippled there. "You're precious to me above all else. Be careful."
"Don't worry." Jessie curled an arm around Kate's waist and pulled her near until their bodies fit together seamlessly. "You're the most important thing in my life."
"If you kiss me, you're going to be late for your morning chores."
"That's what's nice about being the boss." Jessie grinned and kissed her.
v Kate was in the kitchen when she heard the rider come into the yard. She went to the door, drying her hands on a towel, and looked out.
Vance dismounted and threw her horse's reins over the porch rail. Kate opened the door to greet her as Vance crossed the porch.
"You're just in time for coffee. I've got bacon and grits, too."
"I was hoping my timing would be good," Vance said with a grin.
"How are you feeling?"
"Happier than I thought I would be about going back to work."
Radclyffe - Promising Hearts Page 25