by Emma Lang
His worse fear was her hieing off after him as she’d done before. This time he had anticipated the woman’s resourcefulness and rode through terrain that would leave no tracks to follow. The horse also had new shoes, which meant she couldn’t use the trick of following the shoe prints with a nick.
He was impressed; it took a lot of effort to actually throw Eliza off his trail. She was damn smart, and not just book smart, either; she had good instincts and a sharp eye for detail. If he wasn’t hired to kill the people he tracked, they could be very good together in the bounty-hunting business.
That was neither here nor there. The truth was, he’d left her behind and that was that. Grady would never see Eliza again.
The realization hit him like a gut punch, and he sat on a smaller rock reeling from the impact. He hadn’t said good-bye, or even kissed her sleeping cheek. It proved what kind of man he was, that was for sure. Not the kind to marry a woman like Eliza.
Jesus, he needed to stop thinking about her and start thinking about who he was supposed to be hunting. Angeline Brown was a wily target for a woman, but the fact she’d stuck with the older woman proved she wasn’t as wily as she should have been. They would have done better by splitting up, but considering her age and lack of experience, he understood the need to rely on each other.
From what he knew, they had headed to Bowson two days earlier. It was a smaller town than most, and the number of folks riding in and out would be fewer, which meant less opportunity for someone to offer them a ride. He assumed the women had little funds, so perhaps they would stay in town for a while, maybe earn some money in one way or another. Bowson was a three-day ride, which meant they’d be getting there tomorrow.
He’d ridden so hard, he’d get there in just over two days, and hopefully surprise them. That’s what Grady was counting on. From what Tim Hansen had told him, the fugitives had relied on others for help and settled for a meal they’d split between them at Ana’s. No doubt they were hungry, scared, and nearing on desperation.
Perfect opportunity for the wolf to catch his prey.
After taking care of his horse, he laid out his bedroll without starting a fire. No need to advertise where he was camping for the night. Yet another precaution against the resourceful Eliza, and any other two-legged or four-legged creature that might be about in the blackness of the night.
When his head finally hit the bedroll, Eliza’s scent surrounded him. He cursed loud and long as he realized there was almost no escape from her. She had crawled under his skin, and dammit all the hell, into his heart.
He didn’t want to love Eliza, didn’t want to believe he was capable of such a weak emotion. Women and trust didn’t mix; there wasn’t much else to offer her. Yet he’d gone and done something so monumentally stupid, he wanted to kick his own ass.
Grady rubbed his bedroll up and down the horse’s withers, then in the sand to rid himself of her scent. He shook it to get rid of the excess gravel, then took a whiff. His loco idea took care of the scent and added a ripe, not-so-sweet one instead.
By the time he lay down for the second time, his eyes were as gritty as the blanket. His heart, however, was beating again. An organ he’d long since given up on had come to life over a mousy spinster schoolmarm with beautiful blue eyes and the courage of a lion.
He ground his fists against his eyes, telling himself the stinging was due to the sand and nothing else. Grady wrapped himself up in his now smelly bedroll and closed his eyes.
It was a long, lonely night for the lone wolf.
Eliza rode Melba at a steady pace toward Bowson. With directions from Ana, and a sack full of food, she set out after Grady. She had to find him before he found Angeline, before everything crumbled into dust, before she lost him for good.
Oh, she wasn’t fooling herself into thinking a happy ending was possible. Even if she had indulged in one of those romantic books, which lay at the bottom of the bag if she were honest, she had no qualms about accepting that there was a very slim chance at a future with Grady.
First, he was a bounty hunter. Second, she’d lied to him from the moment she met him. Obviously he’d been doing his fair share of lying, too, but what they did with their bodies, what she felt in her heart, was no lie.
She loved Grady Wolfe, and she was certain he loved her in return. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have left her all that money, or made sure she was taken care of before he rode off. Oh, no, his actions told her there was hope, and she was holding on to it for dear life.
Angeline’s return to Josiah Brown would prove to be a sticking point between them. Grady would need to agree to give up whatever he’d been paid or would be paid for bringing her back. She wasn’t sure if Lettie had a bounty on her head as well, but regardless of that, he was sent to find Angeline. If he loved Eliza, he would understand why he couldn’t bring her sister back.
Josiah Brown was a monster who pretended to be human. He had beaten Angeline from the moment he’d married her, leaving her bruised and bloody on their wedding night. When Eliza had arrived the next morning, she’d been heart-broken to see what had been done to her beautiful, vivacious sister. Eliza had tried to think of a way to undo what had been done when Angeline and Josiah spoke their vows, but hadn’t yet come up with a solution.
Then Angeline had run with Lettie, and everything had changed. Eliza had found out quite by accident that Josiah had hired Grady Wolfe to find her. Eavesdropping was a bad habit, but she considered it to be a necessary device when she was dealing with someone as evil as Josiah.
Eliza had to make Grady understand just how much danger Angeline would be in if he brought her back to Josiah. There was no doubt in Eliza’s mind that her sister would die within a few days of her return to the Brown household. No one would dare stand up to the great Josiah who held sway across all men in the ward.
However, Eliza dared that and more. She had thrown away her entire life to help her sister and along the way discovered who she really was, and had fallen in love with a man she should have never met.
Life had been so simple, so uncomplicated, and so stifling. Leaving Tolson had been like a metamorphosis for Eliza. She was no longer the ugly caterpillar living on a tree branch and waiting to be something else. Instead she’d become a butterfly, a thing of beauty with wings to soar above the drudgery and escape the misery.
For that, Eliza would be grateful to her teacher, who had given her the books and instruction to survive. And to Grady, who taught her to fly.
Eliza’s determination drove her to ride Melba alone all day and into the night. She didn’t see a fire or even a single speck of evidence that Grady had passed the same way. Yet she knew deep down in her heart, he’d been there.
Exhausted but proud of her journey, she stopped for the night near a stream with cool, clear water. The fresh shoe prints in the mud told her someone had been there earlier that day. She could only hope it was Grady and her path was the right one.
After making Melba comfortable, she put her bedroll down on a bed of pine needles and lay down to rest. As soon as her head touched the blanket, Grady’s scent surrounded her. She breathed in deeply, bringing him into her lungs, into her body. The strength and purpose she had started with that day only grew greater within her.
As she closed her eyes, she imagined it was his arms around her, and not the blanket that held the ghost of his scent. Sleep came easy as she felt secure within the circle of the man she loved.
Grady woke with a start, feeling as though he’d just closed his eyes. The sun was just painting the horizon pink, and dawn was only a few minutes away. He dragged himself up and broke camp quickly, eager to be on his way.
As he saddled his horse, he had vague recollections of dreaming about Eliza, about holding her in his arms and pressing his nose into her hair. If only the damn bedroll hadn’t smelled like her, he wouldn’t be in such a fix.
He rode hard again, trying to outrun his thoughts and his memories—not that it worked. He exhausted himself ag
ain, yet when he finally slept again the next night, he again dreamed of Eliza.
By the time he woke up on the third day, he was almost relieved to see her standing in front of him. Her old brown dress was now in rags, her face lined with dirt, and she sported bags under her exhausted looking eyes. Her hair had seen better days and was currently sticking every which way under her battered hat.
She stood with her hands on her hips and a look of pure satisfaction on her face. “I thought maybe you forgot something.” She tossed the two golden eagles in the dirt in front of him. “I am not for sale and I won’t accept payment for sharing your bed.”
Grady thought at first he was dreaming, but then the coins kicked up a cloud of dust that tickled his nose. Jesus Christ, how the hell had she found him?
“Liz, go home.” He rose to his feet, ignoring the coins. Having Eliza stand over him gave him an uneasy feeling he didn’t like.
“I have no home to return to. You are currently the closest thing I have to a family in this world, and you left me behind as if I was a saloon whore you had sex with.” She sucked in a breath, which sounded more like a sob. “I gave you my trust, my body, and my heart. All of which you just threw back in my face as if it were worthless. To make matters worse, instead of being completely angry with you, I find myself wishing you would take me in your arms and kiss me.”
Grady should have turned his back, should have made tracks away from her. But he didn’t. In fact, he was so stupidly happy to see her, he did exactly what she wanted.
He took her in his arms and kissed her.
They were both dirty, covered with two or three days of dried sweat, but it was the sweetest kiss he’d ever shared with her.
She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and he realized she was crying. Eliza had shed tears for him.
He was completely dumbfounded by the notion. This woman who had braved hell and back to not only ride by herself, but track him twice, was crying over him. Grady had never had anyone shed even a single tear for him.
Eliza was crying buckets.
His throat closed up as he sat down on the rock with Eliza firmly attached to his side. Leaving her behind had been a mistake, his heart and mind finally agreed on that. He’d left because he wanted to find his quarry, finish the job, and get his money. Yet he had abandoned the one person in the world who cared if he lived or died. The one person who cried for him.
“I’m quite angry with you.” Her voice was muffled against his neck.
“I realize that.”
“You’ve got a lot of explaining and, I daresay, apologizing to do.” She swiped at her cheeks, and he saw the dirt and water mixture coat her hand. “We had an agreement, you and I, and you broke it. I did everything you asked, including cooking, cleaning, and sharing your bed. Although I didn’t expect a marriage proposal, I did expect common courtesy.”
He cringed at the tongue lashing she was meting out. “Okay, enough already. I get it, Liz. I am a poor excuse for a pretend husband and a lousy son of a bitch.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Well, I don’t know if I’d sink so low as to call you derogatory names.”
“Then I did it for you.” He pulled her to a sitting position and tugged off her hat so he could look her in the eyes, watery as they were. “You have to know I ain’t one of the good guys.”
“I never thought you were a knight on a white steed.” She sniffed. “I did think you were good at heart, though, or rather I do believe it.”
He could hardly swallow that bit of information. She thought he was good at heart? What the hell ever gave her that idea? He was a nasty bastard, literally and figuratively, who did what he could to survive, including killing people for money.
“Then that makes one of you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Liz, I ain’t worth your tears.” If he’d ever told her the truth, this was the most honest he’d ever been.
“I’ll be the judge of that. You continue to be my traveling companion, promise not to leave me behind ever again, and I will forgive you.” She shook her head. “I cannot explain the whys of how things occur, but I will accept them if all evidence points to them as the truth.”
“What the hell does that mean? Don’t rattle my brain with your fancy talk, woman, just tell me in plain words.” He hated feeling dumb around her, but every time she opened her mouth, every other word was lost on him.
“What I’m trying to say, unsuccessfully of course, is that I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Grady didn’t even remember getting up, but suddenly he was ten feet from her and her mouth was open in an “O” of surprise.
“What?”
“You heard me quite well apparently judging by how quickly you just moved.” She rose and walked toward him with deliberate, slow steps. “I love you, Grady Wolfe, whether or not you want to accept my words. There is absolutely nothing you can do to change how I feel. I accept it as the truth and trust that my heart knows what it’s doing.”
“Oh, sure as hell it doesn’t know a damn thing if it’s fallen in love with me.” Grady could hardly swallow the gigantic lump in his throat. He didn’t want her love, the responsibility of it, the realization he likely felt the same way about her.
He stumbled over some loose stones as he backed away from her. “Liz, honey, you need to set your sights on someone a little more reputable. Some farmer with a nice couple of acres, have a passel of kids, grow old and safe with him.”
She pressed her palm against his frantic heart, and his body cried out for more of her touch. He felt as if he’d fallen head-first into a twister, and he’d be lucky to get out alive and in one piece.
“I don’t want to live on a farm with some other man. The only man I want in my bed, or my bedroll, is you. As for children, the same holds true. I cannot imagine holding any baby unless they had your eyes.”
This time he fell on his ass into the dirt, his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. Eliza was loco, plain and simple. He couldn’t be the man she wanted.
“I can’t,” was all he managed to whisper hoarsely.
She knelt beside him and cupped his face with her small hands. “Oh, yes you can. We can do anything our minds and hearts want us to do. I love you, Grady, and I believe you love me. Whether we’re riding through the prairie, or tucked beside a fire in a small mountain cabin, I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
This time when she kissed him, Grady felt something inside him burst, as if a dam of hurt and fear and fury had burst. It careened through him, leaving behind a shell of a man whose heart beat for the woman in front of him.
This time when their cheeks pressed together, he couldn’t tell who the tears came from.
They slept for a few hours, spooned together and content. Grady needed the sleep. Considering he’d spent two days in the saddle, he was beyond exhausted. She was obviously just as tired because she’d caught up to him, which meant she rode harder than he did.
The sun was high in the sky before they woke. After some simple ablutions, he built a fire so they could have a proper meal. After he had the fire blazing, he couldn’t find Eliza. He knew she hadn’t gone far, but she wasn’t within sight.
He walked around until he found her on her knees fiddling with her bag of books again. Beside her on a flat rock lay her journal, and a quill pen dipped into an inkwell. Judging by the amount of ink on the page, she’d been at it since she’d left him by the fire.
“What are you doing?”
She looked at him and smiled as she pushed the glasses up on her nose. The smile lit up her entire face, reminding him of just how pretty she was beneath all the layers of learning. “I needed to work with my hands a bit. It helps me, ah, relax. So I’m developing a pulley system to allow me to raise and lower the travel bags from Melba’s saddle without straining myself.”
He grunted. “You ain’t the only one straining yourself. I’ve been hauling that bag up and down, too.”
“Well, th
en it will assist you as well.” She stood up and showed him a series of ropes, loops, and two metal rings all hooked to the saddle horn and the bag.
“Where did you get all that stuff?” He knew she didn’t have it in her bag, and he sure as hell didn’t.
“I found it in the alley behind Ana’s restaurant near the outhouse. She told me it was trash and I could take whatever I wanted.” She smiled. “I can’t imagine throwing away such things. These are all completely useable pieces of equipment. A veritable treasure trove.”
He didn’t want to know what she’d been doing—he wanted to be on their way as soon as possible. They were close to catching up to Angeline Brown, and he didn’t want to lose the scent.
“We’ve got to eat and get going, Liz. Just pack up your things so we can eat.”
She looked down at the ground. “I’ve been told many times to stop my inventions.” With determination in her eyes he recognized, she shook her head. “I’m going to finish this and verify it functions correctly.”
He frowned at her. “What?”
“I said I am going to spend an additional ten minutes to finish this. My notes are incomplete.” She knelt back down on the ground and started fiddling with the bits and pieces again.
He’d seen her in many different moods including scared, angry, exhausted, and happy. Even when they’d been intimate, she had kept a piece of herself tucked away. This was the piece. Obviously her passion knew no bounds when it came to her inventions.
Grady ran his hand down Bullseye’s withers as he watched her work. He was going to leave her to whatever she was trying to do, but Eliza’s enthusiasm coupled with his own curiosity about what made her tick made him stop.
“How does it work?” He leaned against the horse and watched her.
She grinned again and went back to work. “I’ll be able to show you shortly.” After writing something else in the journal, she made a few more adjustments to the parts.