Just West of Heaven
Page 23
Stiffening her spine, she lifted her chin, looked him dead in the eye and said, “You’re right.”
Surprised, he grinned and asked, “I am?”
Her lips twitched. “Yes, you are,” she said then warned, “And enjoy hearing me say that now. It probably won’t happen often.”
“No doubt,” he said.
“I do trust you.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“And I won’t run.”
“Good. ‘Cause I’d come after you.”
Whatever she might have said was forgotten when she saw his expression shift and his gaze dart to the crowd behind them. “What is it?” she asked.
“Jenna,” he said quietly. “I just heard her call.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head and starting past her. “I heard her inside my head.”
She didn’t doubt him for an instant. No one who saw the expression on his face would have.
Sophie hurried after him, but Ridge didn’t even notice. His gaze swept the crowd, looking for one little girl. The fact that he could hear Jenna’s cries in his mind didn’t even bother him now. All that mattered was finding her and making sure she was all right. When he spotted her, the child was running toward him, her eyes brimming with tears. He dropped to one knee and held out his arms.
“Daddy!” She flung herself at him, wrapping her little arms around his neck and holding on for all she was worth. His heartbeat returned to normal as he realized she was safe and unhurt.
Sophie was right beside him, smoothing the child’s tangled hair back from her tearstained face, and a few other folks gathered close as the girl’s cries were noticed.
“What is it, darlin’?” Ridge asked, peeling her off him and holding her back so he could see her face.
“Jenna, sweetie,” Sophie said, “what is it?”
“The ponies,” Jenna said around a choked-off sob. “The ponies’ house is burning down.”
“Ponies?” he repeated, shooting a look at Sophie, who shrugged helplessly. Then lifting his gaze to one of the men standing close by, he asked, “You know anyone around here who keeps ponies, Ed?”
“Can’t say that I do,” the older man muttered.
Then Toby spoke up and his deep voice carried over the whispers scuttling through the air. “They ain’t ponies,” he said, “but John Farmer’s mare had twin colts last week.”
Baby horses would seem like ponies to a child, Ridge thought, and turned his gaze back to Jenna “Is that it, darlin’?” he asked. “Are there two ponies?”
“Uh-huh, and the big white barn where they live is burnin’, Daddy,” she said in a rush. “You have to save ‘em.”
“How’s she know a barn’s on fire?” someone wanted to know.
Another man in the crowd muttered, “Didn’t John just paint his barn white last month?”
“What in the sam hill is the child talkin’ about?” someone else asked.
“Heck if I know.”
“You think there’s anything to it?” someone else wondered aloud.
“Look at the girl,” another voice piped up. “Looks to me like she believes it.”
Ridge lifted Jenna in his arms and stood up, staring down into Sophie’s worried green gaze. “She’s usually right, isn’t she?”
“Usually,” she said and took the girl as he handed her over.
“All right, then,” he said, and shouted, “Tall? Where are you?”
“Right here, boss.” The man pushed his way through the crowd, eager to be of service and still trying to make up for sending that wire.
“Is John Farmer here today?”
“No, sir, I ain’t seen him.”
“You goin’ out there, Sheriff?” Mort Simpson asked.
Ridge shot Jenna another look. The girl’s tears were real. The touch in his mind had been real. He was ready to bet that fire was real too. And if it was, John Farmer might need help fighting it.
“I sure am.”
A few of the other men spoke up, and before he knew it, half the town was bundling into wagons and onto horses for the ride out to Farmer’s ranch. Sophie and Jenna hopped into Hattie’s carriage and he didn’t even argue. It would have been pointless.
Besides, until this matter of Charles Vinson was settled, he preferred having them close at hand. Stepping up into his saddle, he pulled on the reins, wheeled his horse around and spurred it into a gallop. The men on horseback soon left the buggies and wagons behind on the three-mile ride to Farmer’s place.
John Farmer stopped dead in his tracks as damn near the whole town of Tanglewood rode into his ranch yard.
Ridge pulled his horse to a stop and swung down, holding on to the reins as he let his gaze drift across the peaceful place. He noted the smoke coming from the chimney at the main house, then looked at the outbuildings, the corral, and most especially, the freshly painted white barn.... none of which were on fire.
Scowling to himself, he rubbed the back of his neck and tried to figure out what was happening. He’d been so sure. Jenna had been so sure.
“What’s goin’ on, Sheriff?” John asked, wiping his forehead on his shirtsleeve.
“Your barn ain’t on fire,” Tall accused, his gaze locked on the building as if he expected flames to suddenly sprout from the roof.
“Well, who the hell said it was?” the man snapped.
“You got no call to be so durn cranky, John,” a man in the crowd yelled out. “We only come here to put out your danged fire.”
“What fire?” John demanded.
“Looks like we come all the way out here for nothin’,” someone else said.
“You don’t have to sound so disappointed,” Ridge told the man sharply.
Sighing, John Farmer looked at the buggies and carriages rolling into the ranch yard, then shifted his gaze back to Ridge. “You want to tell me what you’re all doin’ out here?”
“We come out to help you fight your fire,” Mort Simpson told him hotly. “A body’d think you’d be some grateful.”
“What fire?”
“The child said she saw some ponies burnin’.”
“What child?” John said, sounding more and more confused.
And Ridge didn’t blame him a bit. Hell, he was just as confused and he knew what was going on. He would have been willing to bet that Jenna was right. Now he wasn’t sure what to think.
“Is somebody gonna tell me what’s happening around here?” John asked, irritation coloring his tone.
But before Ridge could say a word, the double doors to the barn burst open and one of John’s hired hands came running out, leading one of the new colts and waving his arms like a crazy man. “Fire!” he shouted, then staggered in surprise when he saw all of the people in the yard.
Tendrils of smoke drifted from the open barn doors, twisting in the cold mountain wind before snaking out toward the crowd like a beckoning finger.
“By damn,” Mort muttered, “there is a fire!”
“The little girl was right,” someone else pointed out unnecessarily.
“Son of a bitch, my barn!” John shouted, already sprinting toward the building. Glancing back over his shoulder at his friends and neighbors, he hollered, “Well, give us a hand!”
Sophie held Jenna on her lap and kept her arms wrapped tight around the girl. She watched Ridge and the other men run into the barn and saw them lead the animals to safety before forming a bucket line from the watering trough to the flames growing inside the building.
“Are the ponies all right?” Jenna asked, putting both hands on Sophie’s cheeks and demanding her attention.
“Yes, honey,” she said tightly. “Look. Over there. See? They’re with their mama.”
Jenna looked to where the colts gamboled and jumped in the paddo
ck near their weary mother. Then the child heaved a sigh and sat back with a pleased smile on her face. “Oh, good.”
Hattie turned from the front seat, gave the girl a pat and Sophie a knowing glance. “Lucky thing for John that Jenna happened to be around, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes,” she said, “I suppose it is.”
Her gaze drifted to the water line, where Ridge stood closest to the flames, tossing bucket after bucket of water onto the fire. Smoke billowed out from the inside of the barn, like a New England fog, and the stench of burning hay and charred wood stung her nostrils.
Now everyone would know, she thought, resting her cheek atop Jenna’s head. Everyone in Tanglewood would know her and Jenna’s secret. Now there would be no question of remaining here. Even if Charles didn’t come for them, they wouldn’t be able to stay. Everything would be different, now. The whispers, the stares, the name-calling, would all begin soon and it would be Albany all over again.
Only this time, it would hurt so much more.
●
It was a tired bunch of citizens who made the long ride back to Tanglewood. John Farmer’s barn was still standing. A bit worse for wear, but he’d only have to replace a few boards and repaint it. It could have been worse, as they all knew.
One of the new colts had kicked a lantern over into the haystack and it had taken only seconds for the flames to consume one corner of the barn. Without help, John never would have been able to keep the fire from spreading. Jenna’s vision had come in damn handy.
Ridge helped Sophie down from Hattie’s buggy, then picked up Jenna and set her on his hip. Such a tiny thing to be a heroine, he thought.
The little girl patted his cheek. “You saved the ponies, Daddy.”
She looked at him like he was one of Sophie’s storybook heroes and Ridge silently admitted just how much it meant to him to hear her call him “daddy.” For the first time in his life, he was important to someone. And when she looked up at him with those pale green eyes full of admiration and love, he wanted to be everything she thought he was. He wanted to protect her. To love her. To be the father she wanted him to be.
“It wasn’t me, squirt,” he said, tapping the end of her nose with a fingertip. “It was you who saved the ponies.”
She giggled and the sound shot straight to his heart.
Staring up at him, she said, “Can we go see ‘em tomorrow? Maybe I could play with ‘em and then maybe me and Travis could have one of ‘em, too, and we could ride it all the time and—”
“Hold on there, sweetness,” Ridge told her with a chuckle, getting tired just listening to her. “Let’s wait and see about the ponies, all right?”
Jenna sighed heavily as only a child can and grudgingly said, “All right, Daddy.”
“For now,” he said, chucking her under the chin, “let’s get you and your mama home, huh?”
Jenna nodded, resigned, and he turned to look down at Sophie, walking beside him. She smiled sadly, and Ridge wondered what she was thinking. Then her gaze drifted past him to the townspeople slowly walking by them on their way back home, and he knew. She’d told him all about her life back in New York. He knew that she was used to being snubbed and feared, and now she was waiting to have the same thing happen all over again.
His gaze slipped from her to the people he’d known for the last few years and he wished he could reassure her. Tell her that no one here would do to her what had been done in the past. But it didn’t matter what he said. The only way she’d believe in anything now was if she saw it for herself. He could only hope the folks of Tanglewood wouldn’t let him down.
“Sophie, darlin’,” he said softly, taking her arm, “don’t worry. Everything’ll be fine.”
She nodded and tried to give him a smile, but it died before it could complete itself. Though he felt a flash of pride when she lifted her chin and walked beside him like a damn queen down the middle of Main Street Whatever she thought was going to happen, she was ready to meet it on her own terms. And damned if he didn’t love her for her guts.
“G’bye,” Jenna called to the people watching them pass.
“Goodbye, little one,” Toby called, and Ridge shot him a grateful nod.
They kept walking, and as they neared the boardinghouse, he noticed Sophie hurried her steps as if she couldn’t wait to get behind closed doors away from the curious glances of the people she’d thought her friends.
Just before they turned into the walk though, Morton Simpson stepped up to them. He looked long and hard at Sophie, and Ridge, beside her, felt her stiffen, almost as if she were expecting a blow.
“That’s a fine thing your girl did today, Miss Sophie,” he said, then turned a smile on Jenna. “You’re a pistol, child,” he said, then moved off again, still shaking his head.
Sophie turned her head to look after them, stunned surprise evident on her face.
“Not Albany, huh?” Ridge muttered and she flicked him a quick look. He saw the hope shining in her eyes and his heartbeat staggered with the need to protect her. To keep her from ever feeling lost and alone again.
Davey Sams walked up to them next “G’night, Miss Sophie,” he said, then grinned at Jenna. “You surely did save them ponies, didn’t you, punkin?”
“Uh-huh,” Jenna said, pleased to be the center of attention.
Hattie came out of the boardinghouse, a wide grin on her face, and marched right up to them. Snatching Jenna from Ridge, she said, “Turned out to be a fine day, didn’t it?”
“Yes,” Sophie said hesitantly, “I guess it did.”
Ridge grinned at her and dropped one arm around her shoulders as the rest of Tanglewood surrounded them, everyone talking at once.
“Damn handy child to have around, I say,” someone said from the back of the crowd .
“If she’d been here last year, maybe I wouldn’t have lost my field to that brushfire.”
“Don’t you just know it,” another voice called out
“My goodness,” a woman said breathlessly, “I feel safer knowing she’s in town.”
Sophie drew strength from the arm Ridge kept tight around her and she felt his pleasure, too, as she turned from one smiling face to another, still amazed by the reactions of those around her. Never in her life had she experienced anything like this. Not only were these people not afraid of her and Jenna, they were actually happy to have them around. Grateful for Jenna’s vision.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes and Sophie blinked furiously, to keep them at bay. She didn’t want to ruin this moment with tears. She wanted to enjoy it all, burn the memory into her mind so that years from now, wherever she was, she would be able to recall what it felt like the moment she realized she’d finally found a home.
CHAPTER Nineteen
Two days later, Ridge was a man on the edge.
Time was running out and he was no closer to figuring out what to do. Damn it, he was expecting Charles Vinson to show up any time now. From what Sophie had told him about the man, Ridge guessed he’d set out from New York the minute he’d received Tall’s telegram. Which could put him in Tanglewood as early as tomorrow.
Pushing back from his desk hard enough to make the chair legs scrape against the wood floor with a shriek, Ridge propped one booted foot on the corner of his desk and stared blankly at the wall of wanted posters opposite him. He’d never really thought about the faces on those posters before. The men and women behind the faces, rather. Their reasons for doing what they did. For ending up on some sheriff’s wall.
Mind you, most of them were no better than they should be, he knew. Hell, you couldn’t ride with outlaws for years and not learn that the majority of ‘em weren’t worth the gunpowder needed to blow ‘em to hell. But there were others too. Folks who for one reason or another either stumbled into or got pushed into a life they hadn’t wanted.
Like Sophie.
Jumping to his feet, he crossed the room in a few long strides, the only sound his boot heels clacking against the wooden planks. Stopping at the front window, he stared out at Tanglewood and thought about her situation. Hell, she hadn’t asked to go on the run. She hadn’t planned on changing her name and hiding out in a backwater part of Nevada. But she’d done what she had to do. He didn’t doubt her for a minute when she said that Jenna was in danger from Vinson. It had taken a lot of guts to break the law and up and move across the country. To take a stand that she had to have known could land her in jail. But she’d put that child’s safety above all else and, damn it, he couldn’t—wouldn’t—do less.
And if that meant turning his back on the law and the life he’d found, then so be it. He wouldn’t lose Sophie. Or Jenna.
The office door flew open and Tall stepped inside, smacking his forehead on the door sash. “Dadburn it,” he muttered, rubbing at the spot and sweeping his gaze around the room until he spotted Ridge.
“Hey, boss,” he said, nodding.
“Tall.” Ridge turned away and walked back to his desk. Damn it, if there was one thing he didn’t need at the moment it was another go-round with Tall. The man had been at him for two days, pestering him for the name of the “criminal” mentioned in the telegram.
“Y’know, boss,” Tall said, clearly aiming to go straight at it again. “If you’d just tell me who it is you’re worried about, I could maybe help.”
“There’s nothin’ you can do,” Ridge snapped as he sat down and scooted his chair in closer to the desk. “Like I keep tellin’ you.”
Still rubbing his forehead, Tall shook his head and said, “Don’t you trust me?” Then without waiting for an answer, he went right on. “I’m your deputy, boss. I know I sent that wire when I shouldn’t have, but if you don’t tell me what’s goin’ on, how can I keep from doin’ something stupid again?”