Abby turned her face into her pillow. "I want to know the moment Jonah comes back. I don't care what time it is, Crystal."
Crystal blew out the lamp and sat down in the chair beside Abby's bed. "Are you sure he'll come here?"
"I'm sure. Promise me."
"I promise. I'll just sit here beside you until you fall asleep."
"It can't be comfortable for you. You must think of the baby."
"Me and this baby are just fine. It's you we are worried about for now. You need to sleep."
Abby closed her eyes. There didn't seem to be a place on her body that didn't ache. She wanted Jonah, and then she could sleep.
Jonah didn't bother knocking on the door, but shoved it open with such force it vibrated against the wall. He walked through the three rooms until he came to the bedroom, where a woman was huddled in the bed, looking at him with frightened eyes.
"Where is Edmund Montgomery? And don't tell me he isn't here, because I saw his horse out front."
The woman's dark eyes darted to the door just behind Jonah as if she were trying to signal him-he saw the fear reflected there and dodged just as Edmund swung a chair at his head.
Jonah sidestepped the older man and faced him with fists tight. "You might want to ask the lady to leave. She might not like what I'm going to do to you."
"Arrogant pig!"
"I'm not a woman, Montgomery. How brave are you when you are facing someone stronger than you?"
Jonah grabbed Edmund by the shirtfront and slammed him against the wall. He didn't give him time to recover before he slammed his fist into his stomach, and the man doubled over. As Edmund slumped to the floor, his mouth hanging open, Jonah lifted him up and drove his fist into his face with all his strength.
He hit him again and again, anger and rage driving him.
Someone caught his arm and held it. Jonah was ready to hit whomever it was when Quince spoke. "He's had enough for now. I sure wish you'd saved a piece of him for me, though."
Brent bent down to examine the banker. "He's out cold. It'll be a long time before he can show that battered face in Diablo. Looks like you broke his nose."
Jonah reached into his pocket and tossed money to the woman still huddled in bed. "That's just in case he hasn't paid you, ma'am. And you did warn me that he was behind that door."
The three men walked out of the house, mounted their horses, and rode silently into the night.
They didn't see Kane slither behind a tree with a smile curving his thin lips. Seeing Edmund get beaten by the major was just too good to pass up.
When Jonah dismounted, he hurried toward the house.
"We need to talk," Brent told him.
"Later."
Brent caught Jonah's arm. "Now."
Jonah shook his hand off. "I am going into that house, and I'm going to see Abby. When I am satisfied she is all right, then we'll talk."
Quince smiled as he leaned against the porch post watching Jonah push past his brother. "You heard the man, Brent-he said later."
Abby saw Jonah's silhouette in the doorway, and she slid out of bed and threw herself into his arms. "I had to see you before I could go to sleep."
He nodded at Crystal, and she vacated the chair. "I'll take care of her now, ma'am." He sat down with Abby on his lap and pulled the cover off the bed to wrap it around her.
"I'm here now." He pushed her hair aside and touched her cheek tenderly with his lips. "I won't leave you tonight. Go to sleep, sweetheart."
Brent and Quince had come into the hall and were standing at the doorway. "He can't stay in there with her," Brent told his brother.
Crystal took her husband's hand. "Honestly, Brent, do you think she's going to come to any harm from him?"
"No," he conceded as he heard Jonah talking in whispers to his sister. "But we'll be staying the night here just the same."
Quince squared his hat on his head. "Well, I'm going home. I'll be back in the morning."
Abby curled up against Jonah and burrowed her face against his throat. The strength of his arms sheltered her while the heat of his body brought her comfort and held her fear at bay. He helped her forget Edmund Montgomery, and the smothering evil that had touched her. "Don't leave me, Jonah. Stay with me."
"I'm not going anywhere." His lips touched her brow. "Close your eyes and sleep. I'll be here."
When Brent came back to check on his sister an hour later, he found both her and Jonah asleep in the chair. The major's booted feet were propped on the bed, and he held Abby snugly against his body as if he would never let her go.
Brent tiptoed out of the room.
If he had to let Abby go, he couldn't be giving her to a better man.
Jonah awoke and tried to move his cramped body, but Abby moaned in protest. He touched his lips against her cheek, and her arms slid around his neck.
His lips slid to her ear and then to her neck. "Marry me, Abby," he said softly, not really sure she was awake. "You are already mine. You have been since our first meeting. Say you will be my wife."
"Yes," she murmured, her head falling against his chest, her tangled hair spilling over his arm. He dipped his head, touching his lips ever so softly to hers. She groaned and snuggled closer to him and fell asleep once more.
Jonah sat there in wonder. Had she just agreed to marry him?
He touched his lips to each bruise, wishing he could hit Montgomery again.
He doubted the cowardly banker would come anywhere near Abby now, but he wanted to make sure-he wanted her where he could protect her.
The sun had barely touched the horizon when Jonah stood and placed Abby on the bed. She curled against her pillow and sighed in her sleep. He stretched his cramped muscles and made his way to the kitchen.
Frances had her hands in dough, making the morning biscuits, and she glanced up at him with a twist to her mouth. "Well, I hear there was quite a to-do last night." She nodded toward the coffeepot, indicating he could pour his own coffee. "I suppose you are going to marry Abby, since you spent the night in her room."
He poured a cup of the steaming brew and sat down at the table. "Yes, I am going to marry her."
She rolled out the dough and slapped itIwith the palm of her hand. "I suppose you asked her?"
His lips curved into a smile. "Yes." He frowned. "And I think she said yes, but I'm not sure she was fully awake at the time."
"I wondered when you'd realize you wanted her."
He took a sip of coffee. "I'm not sure when the notion struck me. It could very well have been the day she knocked me off my horse."
Frances paused as she pinched off bits of dough. "She did what?"
Jonah grinned. "If she didn't tell you about it, I'll let it remain a mystery."
Frances dipped the biscuits in hot bacon grease, arranged them in a pan, and shoved them in the oven. She then stood back and gave him her full attention. She had never seen him with his hair mussed, and she kind of liked the idea that he could be just like any other man.
You slept in the chair all night."
"Yes, I did."
She glanced at his hands and saw the knuckles were red and raw. "I heard you got in a fight. I'll doctor your hands."
Jonah smiled. Frances never asked; she ordered. "Yes, ma'am."
She filled a washbasin with hot water she had boiling on the stove, cooled it down a bit, and nodded for him to dunk his hands. After she was satisfied the blood was washed away, she dried them and applied ointment.
"They are going to be sore for a few days." She looked down at him. "But I'd wager they aren't half as painful as Edmund Montgomery's wounds are."
"Nothing gets past you, does it?"
"Hardly ever."
Frances sighed inwardly, knowing Abby was going to be taken care of. She had known almost from the beginning that these two were right for each other-it had just taken them a little longer to find out.
The ranch was stirring to life when Jonah returned to the house after talking to Navidad. He'
d already had coffee; now he was ready for breakfast. Quince rode up just as Jonah reached the porch, and the two men went in together.
"I asked your sister to marry me."
"I figured you would after last night."
Frances had heard them coming and placed two full plates of eggs and bacon on the table in front of them. Jonah was eyeing the golden-brown biscuits the housekeeper had just removed from the oven.
Quince buttered a hot biscuit. "I've already eaten, but I never can resist your cooking, Frances." He took a bite and swallowed before he asked Jonah, "Is it true you bought the Taylor ranch?"
"I knew when I saw that ranch that it was where I wanted to live. I think I bought it with Abby in mind, and perhaps to thwart Montgomery."
"It's a mighty fine spread. One of 'the best. I heard you were tearing most of the old house down and building a new one."
"No. I'm just adding on. The old structure is sound."
"What about your army career?"
"I still have two years to serve, and then I plan to retire. Abby and I will spend as much time at the ranch as we can until then, assuming they don't assign me to another fort miles from here or in another state."
Quince didn't like the notion of Abby being too far away from the family. "Is that a possibility?"
"I shouldn't think so. There's a lot of work to do at Fort Fannin."
Frances was humming as she went about her work, and Quince turned his attention back to Jonah. "I wanted to talk to you about my sister last night, but it didn't seem like a good time. How is she?"
"She slept fretfully. She was badly shaken by what happened."
"I'd like to kill that son of a-"
"Quince!" Frances warned him. "There'll be no such talk in my kitchen."
He nodded and smiled at Jonah. "You see how she orders us all around. And we all do exactly what she says because she puts the fear of God in us."
"Humph," Frances said, leaving the room with a laundry basket on her hip. "As if anyone listens to me."
Quince took a drink of coffee and set the mug back on the table. "I guess this is the part where I ask you what your intentions are concerning my sister?"
Jonah looked straight into his friend's eyes. "I'm going to keep her safe and see that she's never unhappy."
"After last night I don't think there's any doubt of my sister's feelings for you, and it seems to me you care for her. Do you?"
"I want her so much I hurt inside when I'm not with her. I want to spend my life with her. If you hadn't stopped me last night, I would have killed Montgomery for what he did to her. Does that qualify as love?"
Quince grinned and clapped Jonah on the back. "You'll probably bring an air of respectability to our family. When's the wedding?"
"I hope as soon as possible. I wanted to ask Abby if she would consider having the wedding at our ranch. I could have Chaplin Moody from the fort perform the ceremony."
Quince frowned, watching him closely. "Is there any need to rush into this?"
"No reason other than that I miss her every day she isn't with me. But I will leave it up to Abby to decide the date."
"My father won't be back from New Orleans for several weeks."
"Is it necessary to wait for him?"
"Not to me. Probably not to Abby, but you'll have to ask her." Quince stuck out his hand, and Jonah shook it. "You are never going to know a dull day with my sister as your wife."
"Don't I know it!"
"Welcome to the family."
Abby had slept late. She sat up slowly, her body aching with each movement she made.
In the vague recesses of her mind, she seemed to remember sleeping in Jonah's arms and his asking her to marry him.
Had she only dreamed it?
She filled the basin with water and bathed, scrubbing vigorously everywhere Edmund had touched her.
She glanced in her mirror and was horrified by the blue-and-purple bruise on her chin and the swelling of her left cheek. She touched her face and winced. Her hair was tangled, and she brushed it until it crackled. She dressed in one of her split skirts and pulled on her boots.
On her way to the kitchen she discovered the house was empty. The coffeepot was still warming on the back of the stove, so she poured a cup and sat down at the table, still feeling a bit shaky.
She buried her face in her hands, wishing she could forget about what Edmund had done to her. When she heard Jonah's voice, she stood up, not wanting him to see her with bruises on her face.
But he was there, standing in the doorway, his blue eyes soft, his hand held out to her.
Without hesitation she went to him and felt his arms close around her. He touched his lips to her forehead. "Are you sore this morning?"
She nodded, too choked up to speak.
He lifted her chin. "Do you remember agreeing to marry me last night?"
"I thought I might have only dreamed it."
"It wasn't a dream. Do you still want me for your husband?"
"Are you sure?"
Laughter rumbled deep inside him. "I have never been more sure of anything in my life." He gently touched her bruised cheek. "Will you be my wife?"
"Yes." Her arms went around'his waist and joy sang in her heart. "Yes, I will."
He kissed her gently, then put her away, not trusting himself to touch her; just being near her was enough to make his body tighten. "Abby, I have to leave you for now. But I have already spoken to Quince, and he's agreed to bring you to the ranch. I want you to see it, since it will be our home when we are not at Fort Fannin."
She remembered refusing to enter the house when she thought Patricia would be living there with Jonah. "I want to see it very much."
He pulled her back to him and smiled against her cheek. "If you were my wife right now, I could take you into that bedroom-"
"We're not married yet, and I want to wait," she said seriously. "When we made love before, I was afraid you might not come back alive."
He touched her hair. "Now we have the rest of our lives."
Her laughter was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, and it seemed to set his heart free of the shackles that had bound him for so long.
He held her away from him. "Abby, there are so many things I want to show you on the ranch. I had the whole inside of the house gutted and two more rooms added on. I want you to choose furniture and make it into the kind of home you would like to live in."
She snuggled her head against his chest, her heart so full she could hardly speak. She loved him so much, and it seemed he loved her, too, although neither of them had said the words.
He kissed her softly, and when he raised his head his eyes were gentle with a calmness she had never seen in them before.
He didn't have to say he loved her-she saw it in his eyes, she heard it in the tenderness of his voice, felt it in the touch of his hand.
Jonah walked toward Abby with long strides, and her heart took wing. Then she blinked her eyes, realizing she had never seen him dressed other than in his uniform. He wore trousers and western boots, and she could tell by the scuffed toes that the boots weren't new. His green shirt was open at the throat, and she could see a muscle working there. Smiling, he lifted her off her horse, planting only a quick kiss on her mouth, since Brent and Quince were watching.
Big brothers, when they were as tall and fierce as the Hunter brothers, could be a bit intimidating.
Brent was already assessing the white-faced cattle in the stock pen, while Quince was looking at all the building going on around them.
"Come, I want to show you the house first," he said, anxious for her to like what he had done so far and wanting her approval. He was also hoping he could get her alone.
Brent started to follow them, but Quince put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Guess we'll be looking the stock over."
Brent caught his brother's look and his meaning. "Yeah-that's what we'll be doing, all right looking at cattle."
Quince watched Abby's hand sl
ide into Jonah's and smiled. "I already told him he's going to have his hands full with her as his wife."
Brent frowned. "We won't get to see her much after she's married."
"But we'll know she's happy, loved, and taken care of"
"Yeah, I guess so," Brent mumbled. He had looked after Abby for so many years, he sometimes forgot she would one day grow up and leave him.
As soon as they were-inside the house, Jonah pulled Abby into his arms. "Going three whole weeks without seeing you has been hell."
She raised her face to him and smiled. "Hadn't you better kiss me then?"
He gripped her about the waist, drawing her tightly against him, his gaze moving over her face, satisfied the bruises had mostly faded. He dipped his head, his mouth shaping itself to hers while he smoothly unbuttoned her blouse. He slid his hand over her breast, lifting, caressing, touching, knowing it was his right, or it soon would be.
"Ohhh," she breathed as her knees went weak under his masterful manipulation.
"In three days," he whispered against her mouth, "you will be mine."
She pressed herself against him, feeling the proof of his need for her. "Yes. If you are going to run, it had better be now."
"I am not going anywhere until I can take you with me." He straightened her blouse and with a grin buttoned it. "I think I should show you the house."
She spread her hand across his chest, noticing that his heart was pounding in rhythm with her own. "I think that might be a good idea."
"The men are working in the kitchen, so you can see that later."
She stepped across polished wooden floors and looked at a dining room that was twice as large as the one at the Half-Moon.
"We will put a crystal chandelier in here," he told her. "But you can decide on what you want. I know nothing about furnishings. The only furniture I have here is the bed." He smiled wickedly. "A must."
She blushed and lowered her head, and he laughed. "Come; I'll show you the bed."
When he led her into the bedroom, she saw that it was an enormous room. "I had the back wall knocked out so it could be enlarged. I like the thought of a sitting room in the bedroom so I can watch you sleep while I work."
The bed was of dark wood and huge.
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