Women, Whiskey & Gold

by Dawn, Autumn

  She thought about it. “I don’t like surprises, or the implication that I can’t take care of myself.”

  He settled her more comfortably. “Everyone needs help from time to time. Besides, I’m alpha; it’s what I do.”

  “So you’re saying I have to live with your bossiness?”

  “You’re bossy, too.” He let her digest that and added, “It doesn’t stop me from loving you.”

  She sat up quickly, moving to the bench to stare at him. “What?”

  He frowned. “I love you. I’ve loved you since we were kids. Why is that news?”

  She huffed. “It’s not like you ever said it!”

  He looked at her mischievously. “And now that I have?”

  She frowned at the dirt. She didn’t know. “I’m not sure of my feelings. I need time to think about this.”

  Dakota sighed gustily. “Well, while you’re thinking…” He kissed her again, derailing any protest before it formed, and it was a good while before she was able to think at all.

  The girls and Harmon had left for bed, so Alex and Levi had the porch to themselves. The silence had grown uncomfortable.

  Alex rocked, staring at the night. “She’s going to make me go after her.” Alex grimaced at what she might find when she did.

  “He’d marry her in a heartbeat,” Levi observed. “He’s probably proposing now.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What do you know?”

  The moonlight made his eyes luminescent. “He’s alpha and he knows what he wants. It’s easy to tell she wants him, too.”

  “You’re saying you smell it?” she asked tartly. Ew. She could have lived without knowing that about her sister. “Talk about being nosy.”

  “Jealous?”

  Her eyes widened. “Do I smell jealous?”

  “Mostly you smell anxious. Do I make you uneasy?”

  She grimaced. “You make me want to bash you with a shovel. Does that count?”

  He smiled as he considered the horse corral.

  “Finally,” she muttered as Charlie and Dakota came into view. She scowled as Dakota kissed Charlie’s hand. “You wouldn’t happen to be engaged, would you? Otherwise I might have to shoot your hunny bunny in the knee.” He would regenerate, but meanwhile it would hurt like crazy.

  Charlie frowned at her. “I’m capable of doing that myself, and I’m still deciding.” She shot a flirty look at Dakota, who grinned. “He’s helping me think about it.”

  “I’m sure we’ll come to a satisfactory decision,” he said, his eyes tracking Charlie’s body hungrily.

  Charlie actually winked before she went inside.

  Alex grunted as she followed. “At least he’s not a dud,” she muttered. “Unlike some men, who can’t decide if they’re going to crap or get off the pot.”

  The door banged behind her, absorbing Levi’s narrow stare.

  “What are you doing?” Dakota asked quietly.

  Levi leaned against the back of the house, unabashedly listening at Charlie and Alex’s open window. He put a finger to his lips.

  About to make a pithy observation, Dakota was distracted by Alex’s question. “What’s it like?”

  The bed creaked. “What?” Charlie asked.

  “Kissing.”

  “Nice. I like it.”

  “Did you do anything else?”

  “No.”

  “Really?” Alex sounded doubtful.

  “Why the interest?”

  There was a long pause. “I’m restless, that’s all.” Pause. “And maybe a little jealous. Levi is useless; I’m starting to think he enjoys torturing me.”

  Charlie mulled that over. “Tochtli seems pretty interested in you.”

  Both men’s eyes narrowed. That wasn’t a direction either one would encourage.

  “At the very least, he’d be happy to kiss you.”

  Levi growled and lunged. Dakota barely caught him before he jumped through the window, half-carrying him away.

  “Did you hear something?” Charlie’s voice faded as they got farther away, but Dakota didn’t release his cousin until they were in the trees, blocking him from returning.

  Levi snarled, his eyes glowing with rage.

  “No. She’s right, you haven’t claimed her…and from the sounds of things, she’s suffering, too.”

  Levi’s head went up.

  “She said you were torturing her; that happens when the mate bond is strong. Sometimes we can want our mate so badly it hurts.”

  “She never said anything,” Levi ground out.

  “She’s a strong woman; she wouldn’t. Besides, she’s proud and she knows you’ve rejected her. What do you want her to do, crawl to you? She won’t beg for your love, she’ll just move on.”

  Levi made a sound that was angry and agonized.

  Dakota shrugged. “Get your head out of your butt. She’s not the only one losing patience with you.” Satisfied that Levi was under control, he left his cousin to get his priorities straight.

  Chapter 7

  “Are you hurt?” Gabe demanded, looking up at the sound of sniffles. She’d been looking for her little sister and found her in her favorite hiding place, the tree house by the river.

  “No.” Sydney climbed out of the tree, managing to tear her dress. She appeared devastated.

  “What’s the matter?” Gabe demanded. “Your lip is out so far, a bird will be along any minute to perch on it.”

  Sydney swallowed. “You know when we heard Dakota talking about how Levi liked a girl? I thought he meant me. He’s always nice to me, and mean to Alex, but I heard Dakota talking about it at the party. He said Levi liked Alex.” Her lip trembled.

  “He was talking about Alex the first time. Stop spying and you won’t get your feelings hurt.” Sydney was annoyingly light-footed, with a penchant for eavesdropping. Still, she’d have to be nearly supernatural to snoop on Dakota undetected.

  Sydney glared at her. “It could have been me.”

  “In your dreams. Face it, he likes Alex, and he doesn’t even know you’re alive. Besides, he’s too old for you,” Gabe insisted.

  “Is not.”

  “He’s old enough to be your father. That’s too old.”

  “Nothing can stop love,” Sydney snapped, quoting some poet or another, no doubt.

  “You don’t love him. You’re just in heat.”

  “Gabrielle Lions! You watch your mouth.”

  “Sorry,” she muttered. “But it’s true. You should stop wearing dresses all the time, too. He won’t notice.”

  “I’m a lady,” she said stubbornly. “Ladies wear dresses.”

  Gabe smirked. “Are ladies allowed to stand around the corner of the barn, watching men take off their shirts to wash up?”

  Sydney’s jaw dropped. “You sneaking varmint!”

  Gabe snickered. “I wonder what Harmon would say if I told him?”

  “You’re just jealous because you’re ugly and no one will ever like you!”

  Gabe stopped. Trust family to know where to twist the knife.

  When she saw her sister’s reaction, Sydney made a face and muttered, “Sorry.”

  “Shut up.” Gabe knew she was ugly compared to her sisters. She would never compare to Charlie or Alex; her face was too masculine. She’d been mistaken for a boy more than once, but what could she do, dressed in pants? Even if she had a skirt, she doubted it would help. Why shouldn’t she be surly? It worked for Harmon.

  Her family’s jokes didn’t help. She was minding her own business as they ate lunch when Charlie brought up the subject of drifters.

  “You know what most of them are like,” Charlie said. “They’re dirty and scruffy and they don’t watch their language.”

  “Can’t be worse than riding with Gabe,” Max said.

  Gabe shot her a dirty look and dumped her plate in the dishpan. She didn’t need to put up with this crap.

  She was still fuming as she rode out alone. She wasn’t worried about rustlers or cats, not with the
extra men Dakota had patrolling the range. In fact, sometimes it was hard to find privacy.

  She figured Charlie would marry Dakota soon. She didn’t know how that would change her life, or what she wanted. Sometimes she wanted to ride off. If she were such a burden, maybe her family would be better off without her.

  Maybe her stepfather had the right idea after all.

  She felt guilty for thinking that. Her stepfather was no one’s hero.

  Moody and unhappy, she chose to ride to the mouth of the canyon, almost wishing she could encounter some bandits. As she was looking at the canyon walls, idly studying the new rockslide caused by Charlie’s explosives, she noticed a glint of metal. Frowning, she rode closer and dismounted to study it closely. She picked up a rock. It was dark gray with a vein of quartz. A shiny spot of yellow metal gleamed in the quartz like a little star.

  “Probably fool’s gold,” she muttered, but collected several rocks anyway and put them in her saddlebags. She didn’t want her family poking fun of her for collecting rocks, but she’d put them on the table and see what happened. What if it were gold?

  More excited than she wanted to admit, she turned her horse toward home.

  A shot rang out. Her horse grunted and dropped like a felled pine, pinning her left leg. Stunned, she lay still and listened, easing her gun out of its holster. She waited until she heard the crunch of boots on gravel and sat up, firing four shots over her horse’s belly. She was a hair faster than the sniper and his bullet grazed her shoulder while she nailed him in the chest. He crumpled backwards and she looked around frantically for other assailants. When none were immediately obvious, she tried to free herself from the horse and nearly screamed from the pain. It was no use; the horse was too heavy.

  Someone from her ranch would have heard the shots and would investigate soon, but she didn't know when. She couldn't afford to lie there; the gunman might have friends. There was only one way she could think of to get the horse off her.

  She drew a deep breath and pulled her long knife. Sharp as flint, the Indian blade was as long as her calf and could cut through steel. It was great for chopping brush, and she’d once cut a two-inch lead pipe just for fun. It easily cut through the girth, and she pulled the saddle blanket out. The saddle flopped forward and rested partially on top of her, making things more difficult.

  Gabe was an excellent butcher, but she'd never quartered an animal from such an awkward angle, and never one she was fond of. The spine took the most strength to cut, but after that it was fairly easy. The smell was awful, and the feel of hot blood dripping down her leg made her cringe. She had to drag entrails out and fling them away so she could keep working, wrenching her back, and all the while her leg screamed. Finally, the last layer of hide parted. She panted for a moment and pulled her leg from the lightened carcass. The movement made her cuss, but she was free. She crawled away a couple of feet and sat up, checking her leg. It didn’t look broken and she could wiggle her toes, but it was horribly bruised and the agony in her knee was brutal.

  The sound of galloping hooves warned her of riders and she drew her gun, but it was only Levi and a couple of their cowboys. Relived, she sheathed the pistol, grimacing at her sticky, gore-covered hands.

  “What happened? Are you all right?” Levi demanded, taking in the scene. He swung down and steadied her.

  “Hurt my knee. He killed my horse.” She nodded at the dead gunman.

  “He’s Aztec,” one of the cowboys said, dismounting to kneel by the body. The other rider watched the canyon for signs of attack.

  “Can you ride?” Levi asked, helping her to his horse. It snorted and rolled his eyes at the smell of blood.

  “Yeah,” she said shortly, cussing as he helped her into the saddle. It hurt worse than she expected. After her vision cleared, she said hoarsely, “Get my gear. I want my saddlebags.”

  Levi tied them to his saddle without comment.

  “We’ll bring the rest,” the cowboy on the ground said. “You want us to bury the body?”

  Levi shook his head. “Take it to the sheriff. I’d like to know if he’s wanted for something.” He mounted up and began the long walk home.

  “Gabe!” Charlie saw them first and dropped the rope she’d been carrying. She helped Levi support her bloody sister into the house. By that time Gabe was lightheaded with pain.

  “What the blazes happened to you?” Harmon demanded. He rose from the rocking chair on the porch as they helped Gabe into the house.

  Max ran up to the house. “I’ll get the poppy juice and bandages,” she said, disappearing into her room to raid the medicine chest.

  “You might want to scrub me first,” Gabe mumbled as they took her into the kitchen. “We’ll never get the sheets clean otherwise.”

  “That’s the plan,” Charlie assured her as Levi boosted her onto the table. She cried out as they helped her out of her boots. Levi supported her as she swooned, easing her to the table. “You’d better cut those pants off,” he warned as he backed out of the kitchen.

  Charlie shooed him impatiently. “We know. Thanks. Get lost.” She was already unbuttoning Gabe’s shirt.

  He snorted and left. She could hear him talking to Harmon out front.

  Max, who had a gift for healing, took up position at Gabe’s leg and stared intently, her gaze unfocused as she “looked” deep below the skin. Finally she pronounced Gabe’s knee sprained, not broken. “I can get the swelling down in a couple of days, but you’ll be on crutches for a few weeks.”

  “A few weeks!”

  “You’re lucky I can heal, otherwise you’d be six weeks on crutches and a couple of seasons before you could run or jump,” she said with a frown as she slathered homemade arnica and lavender salve over the leg and knee before wrapping it in bandages. “I can cut that time in half.”

  “Do you need me to raid the ice house?” Charlie asked. They cut ice blocks from the river in the winter and layered it in sawdust to preserve for the summer. In spite of the insulation, it would melt in another month, but there was still a little left.

  “We’re past the time for ice, but thanks.” She prepared two hot water bottles to tuck around the knee. The heat would increase circulation and speed healing. She supervised as Gabe gagged on the white willow bark and American poppy syrup Charlie forced on her. Though heavily laced with honey, it was still unpleasant. When she’d gotten that down, Max handed her a candy coated, hand rolled pill.

  “Not cayenne,” Gabe protested. “It makes my stomach burn.”

  “Yeah, it’s fire going in and fire coming out,” Charlie agreed wryly.

  Max looked down her nose. “I added peppermint, which helps with pain anyway and will cool your stomach. This will help with both, too,” she said, producing a piece of candied ginger.

  Gabe sighed and took the medicine, too worn out to fight.

  Charlie frowned as she cleaned the bullet burn on Gabe’s shoulder. “This was close.”

  Gabe grunted. “Some comfort you are. Aren’t you supposed to tell me pretty lies?”

  “That’s why I’m the family healer and she’s the assistant,” Max smirked. “No bedside manner.”

  Charlie shook her head and pulled a nightshirt over Gabe’s head. “Let’s get her to bed. She can have my place tonight; I’ll sleep in the loft.” She helped Gabe into the small room she shared with Alex, tucking her into the feather bed that used to be her mother’s.

  “Any idea why that man would try to shoot you?” Charlie asked as Max settled the water bottles and the covers.

  Gabe blinked groggily. Max must have added something pretty strong to the medicine, because she was already feeling the effects. “Yeah. Bring me my saddle bags, ‘kay?”

  Charlie did, grimacing at the blood smeared leather. “What am I looking for? Oh,” she said as she withdrew some of the gold-streaked rocks. She and Max stared.

  Finally Max cleared her throat. “Is that…?”

  “Gold,” Charlie said numbly.

 
Just then Alex ran in, grabbing the doorjamb to halt her rush. “What happened? I heard Gabe’s been shot.” Dakota crowded behind her, frowning over her shoulder.

  Gabe smiled and closed her eyes. Charlie and Max stared at the newcomers dumbly.

  Alex stepped into the room, fearing the worst. “Is she dead?” she whispered.

  Charlie shook her head and handed Alex the rock. “Gabe found this.”

  It took a moment before Alex realized what she was holding. Her gaze snapped to Charlie, then to Gabe. “Holy cow.” She sat down where she stood, feeling lightheaded.

  Dakota took the rock carefully and held it to the light. “Huh. That explains a few things.” He smiled at Gabe. “Good job, sweetheart.”

  Charlie frowned. “Do you think that’s what the rustlers were after all this time? They knew about the gold, and wanted to run us out to get it?”

  “Sounds like a reasonable theory,” he said, placing the rock on the bed by Gabe’s hand. She curled her fingers around it and smiled, her eyes still closed.

  By unspoken agreement they moved into the kitchen to give Gabe some peace. Harmon was waiting at the table, eager to hear the news. “That explains Tochtli’s interest in buying us out,” he growled.

  Alex frowned. “Not really. Our land lies near his and he’s looking to expand. He might not know about the gold.”

  “You think?” Dakota said sarcastically.

  “Just because you’re rivals doesn’t mean he’s guilty,” Alex said firmly. “We’ll have to investigate.”

  “How do you propose to do that?” Charlie wanted to know.

  Alex studied the ore in her hand thoughtfully. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t want you going near him,” Harmon growled. “You see him on this land, you shoot him.”

  “You’d better have a good reason for the sheriff before you do something like that,” Alex cautioned, “Otherwise you’ll be chatting with the judge.”

  “Trespassing is a crime,” Dakota pointed out, “but you have a point. Meanwhile, I think we should check out the canyon and look into this gold. We’ll need guards on it right away.”