CHAPTER TWELVE
Why had he let Lissette and Chance talk him into this? He would make a fool of himself. Birch reined the team in alongside the haberdashery next to Annora's office. He could still back out and go home. But that would make him the coward Lissette had accused him of being.
He hopped from the buckboard to secure the team. The door to the haberdashery opened, and he heard laughter. Familiar laughter.
Annora emerged from the shop.
"You two are so funny," she said to a second woman who came out with her. "How could naming the baby now jinx anything?"
"What if we name it George Jr. and he’s nothing like his father?"
"No matter what personality your child has, he'll still love his father. He’ll be proud to carry his full name," Annora argued.
A man exited the place behind the women. "Give it up, Annora. My wife is as stubborn as a granite mountain. Unmovable, believe me."
He slipped an arm around the second woman's shoulders, and the look that passed between them told Birch he'd been a fool. Just like Chance tried to tell him. But he had much still to learn about Annora. How could he know he could trust her?
Gut instinct. Yeah, Chance might have a point there, but Birch needed to be sure.
Still arguing with himself, Annora spotted him and called, "Birch! Come over and meet my neighbors."
Neighbors? The man and the other woman were neighbors? Hoping his face didn't give away how stupid he felt, he joined them on the boardwalk. "Hello. I'm Birch Struthers."
"George Jenkins," the man introduced himself. "And this is my wife, Beth."
His wife, not Annora’s lover. You damn fool, Birch.
"They're going to be parents around October," Annora said. "I’m trying to convince Beth to choose names now, but she's superstitious, afraid the name would affect the baby’s character."
"I can understand that," Birch said, though he didn't really. It seemed to him naming a child before it was born would be presumptuous. How much harder would it be to lose a child you had named and felt you knew? His mother had lost several and never recovered from the loss.
George gave him a light slap on the shoulder. "Thank you." He winked at Annora. "At least someone agrees with us."
"All right," she said. "I give up."
"Now that it's settled," Beth Jenkins said, "I'm going home to finish the layette I started."
"Don't overdo, honey." George kissed her.
"I won't. I'll see you later, Annora. Good to meet you, Birch."
He nodded toward her before she crossed the street. George offered Birch his hand and returned to his store.
Annora turned her attention to Birch. After an awkward moment, he cleared his throat. "I, uh, came to apologize."
"What for?"
He shrugged. "For whatever made you pack your bags and return home without even a goodbye."
She remained silent a moment, then turned toward her office. "Let's go inside."
Birch followed her up the stairs to her apartment, noting how homey she'd made it seem with a few personal touches here and there. She'd produced the type of relaxed atmosphere he would choose to live in, rather than the harsh, cold leather and cowhide mood his father had created at the ranch. The feminine decor didn't bother him. A few ruffles and flounces on a woman didn’t alter the man beside her.
She went to the stove. "Would you like some coffee?"
"Sounds good."
He watched her quick, efficient movements as she filled the pot with ground coffee, then water, and set it on the stove where a fire already burned. After adding a few sticks, she turned to him. "Have a seat and tell me why you came."
"I already said—"
"The real reason you came." She drew a chair from the table to sit. A mature, gray-striped cat jumped into her lap.
Why did God have to give women intelligence and intuitiveness? It made a man's life much more difficult. But he'd rather have Annora smart than stupid like Charlotte. Oh, Charlotte had intelligence, she just didn't think beyond her own needs and wants.
Once seated, he balanced his hat on his knee. "I want you to come back to the ranch."
"Why?"
Because he wanted her there. "Because there's more for you to learn. I want you to really know and understand ranching."
"Why?" She kept petting the cat.
Damn it. Did she mean to own his soul? "So, you'll know we don't mistreat our animals, of course." The lie was a small one. He did want her to approve of his way of dealing with animals. More than that, he wanted… Hell, he didn’t know what he wanted.
"I think I saw enough. You aren't abusing your stock, Birch. I know that now."
"Then come back because Mable misses you. If you do, I can help you figure out how to approach the other ranches in the area about proper livestock care." If that didn't get through to her, nothing would.
She smiled. "I miss Mable too. I still want to know how to make pie crust."
"Then come back with me now."
"All right, but only if I can bring my growing brood of animals with me. I missed them too much last time."
He looked around. "How many do you have?"
"Six cats and two dogs."
He blinked. "All right. We can handle that, I guess."
At least she practiced what she preached. Birch respected that. In truth, he discovered more and more to respect about Annora with every moment he spent with her. Respect and admire.
~~^~~
Annora watched the calf emerge from his mother and, this time, without the nausea she'd suffered the first time she'd observed a birth. Animals did what was necessary to protect their babies, including eating the afterbirth so predators wouldn’t be drawn to the infant. If only she could say as much for some human mothers she'd known.
"That was so marvelous, Birch."
He wiped the calf's nose and mouth and released it to its mother's administrations. "I never get tired of seeing new life come into the world. Reckon it could qualify as a miracle."
"Yes, a beautiful miracle." She wondered what it felt like to carry an infant inside her. Next time she saw Lissette, maybe she’d ask. The idea of motherhood seemed overwhelming, yet she hoped to experience it herself someday. Did Birch want children?
"You must be exhausted," he said. "It's after midnight."
"I am a bit weary."
"Go to the house. Maybe you can sleep now."
"Are you staying here?"
"For a little while longer. I'll be in soon."
She laughed. "I don't know why I asked. I'll probably be asleep."
Thoughts of family, babies, and love filtered through her mind as she strolled to the house. Tonight had given her a glimpse into what marriage to Birch might be like. High Plains had stood on this spot at least three decades. The house had seen births as well as deaths, giving it a sense of permanence and continuity that appealed to Annora. In New York, families—those she’d known—lived more distant lives, colder, less fulfilling, to her way of thinking. Money and position ruled there. Here, life centered more around tradition, loyalty, and honesty.
Perhaps her own background tainted her view of the world. As a child, she’d spent more time with nannies than with her parents. She’d yearned to belong, to be wanted and feel secure. Although a stranger to High Plains, she came closer to feeling those emotions here than she ever had in New York.
She took her time reaching the house, often stopping to watch clouds drift overhead and listen to the distant lowing of the cattle in the pasture. She loved the peace and quiet, the feeling of being safe and—
A hand slid over her mouth the same moment an arm clamped around her middle. "Shush," a male voice whispered, "unless you enjoy pain."
When Annora opened her mouth to scream, a hand stuffed something fishy-tasting inside. She kicked and struck out, her fists finding nothing but empty air. Whose arms imprisoned her, and why?
Before she could find an answer, her wrists were bound with cord, de
priving her of the ability to fight for her freedom.
The man threw her over his shoulder, wringing a mumbled “Umph” from her. She bounced painfully on a bony shoulder as he jogged to a string of horses hidden in the trees along High Plains
Creek. A second pair of hands seized her. This time she found herself slung upside down over a saddled horse. The leather abraded her hip bones. She kicked, trying to free herself until her ankles met the same fate as her wrists. Bound and gagged, she could do nothing.
"Did you get Hezekiah?" one of the men asked in a low, scratchy voice.
"Tied behind the wagon," another answered.
"Good. Let's go."
~~^~~
Birch paused outside Annora's room, wondering if she slept yet. He lifted his hand to knock, but let it drop. He heard no movement inside. She must be asleep. The woman had been amazing during the birth. She'd sat with the cow's head in her lap, crooning to her. The entire time, the cow's eyes never left Annora's face, as if mesmerized. He'd never seen anything like it. She had a gift, one every rancher in Wyoming would love to have at hand.
In the bathroom, he washed his face and hands. Exhausted, he undressed and crawled into bed.
The next morning, he almost skipped down the stairs, looking forward to seeing Annora at the breakfast table.
She wasn't there.
"Where's Annora?" he asked Mable who was stirring a big pot of porridge. "I thought she'd beat me to the table for sure."
"Not this morning. I haven't seen hide nor hair of her." Mable left the porridge and turned bacon in a pan on the stove. "Maybe you should check on her."
"I'll do that."
He raced up the stairs to tap on her door. "Annora! Rise and shine."
No answer. No movements inside. Outside, a fierce wind whipped tree branches and whistled in the eaves. Maybe she couldn't hear him above the storm.
"Annora?" He rattled the doorknob. Still nothing.
Worried now, he opened the door. Her bed appeared untouched.
The instant he reached the foot of the stairs, Chance burst in through the back door. "Birch!"
"Right here. Annora's missing."
"Missing?"
"She didn't sleep in her bed last night, and I can’t find her anywhere."
Chance gave a low growl in his throat. "Well, she isn't all that's missing."
"What else is gone?"
"Hezekiah."
Good hell. "You sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure. We found signs of horses near the willows along the creek, as well as footsteps from more than one person. Hard to tell how many. Looked like there might have been a struggle."
Panic struck Birch. "Annora."
"Could be."
He called in his men and gave orders, sending groups of men to scout various sections of the ranch.
"Where do you want me?" Chance asked.
"I'm not sure. Do you think John-B or Jenks Clondry might have had something to do with this? John-B's no doubt furious that I refused his little girl again. He might be trying to make sure I can't get married before the deadline, so he'll get High Plains. And Jenks still thinks Annora should belong to him."
"Aren't you leaving someone out of the picture?"
"Who?"
"Charlotte."
Hellfire. Of the three suspects, she was the most devious and the most determined. At times, he doubted she even had a conscience.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Annora struggled against the ropes binding her wrists. Her middle ached from bouncing I the saddle. She’d lost a shoe somewhere. At least, she’d donned her split-skirt that morning. No skirts flying up over her head in the wind. What good freeing her hands would do, she couldn’t say. Her ankles would still be bound. She’d have to slide off the horse and might be tromped on in the process. Being unable to run, her captors would catch her again.
At the end of a long leash, Hezekiah plodded along behind the horses, as if walking in his sleep. Now and then his gaze would connect with hers. He'd appeared to doze while on his feet. Wind blew Annora's hair in her face, limiting her visibility. She tried brushing it away with her shoulder, but in seconds, the wind had it in her face again. Fear of what the men intended to do with her made her desperate to escape.
The horse splashed through a creek. As it climbed the bank, she thought certain, she would fall into the water and drown.
"We're here," one of the men said, slowing his horse.
She looked around to catch sight of a shack hidden in a copse of trees. One wall held a dark window like a huge eye.
The others rode up alongside the leader and stopped.
"Get her in the cabin. Leave that damned buffalo where he is. Can't hurt nothing." The man chuckled. "Let's see Birch win any more races without him."
"You'll win the Ride for a Bride Race for certain now, Boss."
"You bet I will, Pete. But I already got my bride, right here." He patted Annora's thigh beside him. She kicked but missed.
At least, now she knew who had kidnapped her—Jenks Clondry from the Seven Aces Ranch.
He entered the shack, holding the door open while the others hauled her from the horse into the shack. They slung her onto a bunk in a corner. A line shack, she thought, like one Birch had shown her on his land the day they freed the steer from the mud.
"What now?" Pete asked.
"You two go back to the ranch, let Charlotte know everything went fine. Act normal. If anyone asks for me, say I'm mending fences."
The men's eyes went from Jenks to Annora and back. They grinned.
"Sure thing, Boss. Have fun." Pete's brows wagged as he backed out the door.
Charlotte? What did she have to do with this? Had she ordered Jenks to kidnap her? Birch had been right. Trusting the woman had not been wise. How far would Charlotte go to banish her competition? Not that Annora considered herself real competition. Birch didn't want her, but maybe Charlotte didn't know that.
Jenks worked at building a fire in a crude fireplace. What did he plan to do to her? Force her to marry him? Or just take her and say she was his wife?
Birch, oh, Birch, where are you?
"Might as well go to sleep," Jenks said from where he was crouched by the fireplace. "Gonna be a long night."
She tried to speak around her gag but only succeeded in producing strange sounds. Jenks jerked the rag from her mouth. "Don't waste your time screaming,” he said. “Ain't nobody around for miles."
"What do you want?" she asked.
He ran his perused her body. "What I want and what I'm gonna get ain't the same thing."
She supposed she could find hope in that vague comment. Outside, the wind keened through the trees, whipping branches into a frenzy. Would Birch brave the storm to search for her? Had he noted her absence yet?
Jenks hung his hat on a peg before settling in a chair by the table. Annora watched, afraid to sleep. But exhaustion took its toll, letting her drift into slumber.
A heavy weight settled on her, waking Annora.
"That's it, baby," a voice whined in her ear. "Wake up and let's have some fun."
She opened her eyes, looking straight into the eyes of Jenks Clondry. "What do you think you're doing? Get off me." Where were the other men? Did anyone care what happened to her?
"You're supposed to be my bride, honey. We're anticipating the wedding a bit is all."
"No! Get off me."
"Aw, honey, you don't mean that." He tried to kiss her, but she twisted her face away. "We have the cabin all to ourselves. The other men returned to the ranch. Come on, put your arms around me," he pleaded. "I’ll free your wrists and ankles, so the ropes won’t get in our way. Come on, hug me back."
Outside, a horse whinnied as if scared.
Jenks lifted his head and listened. "Something's disturbing my horse. Better check it out." He climbed from the bed to stand. "Don't you go anywhere, sweet thing, I’ll be right back."
He pulled on his trousers. The man had been naked.
<
br /> Outraged, Annora grabbed the first thing she could reach, his boot. She struck him in the head with it as hard as she could. He dropped to the floor with a thud. Leaping from the bed, she thanked her lucky stars she still wore her clothes as she ran to the door. She peeked outside but saw no sign of the other men. They must not have come back yet. Running to the horses, she freed the reins. She’d ride one and let the other go free so Jenks couldn’t follow her.
Wild-eyed with fear, the gelding yanked away and bolted, causing the mare to do the same.
Shoot. How would she get back to the ranch now?
Flames shot up from the willows by the creek. No wonder the horses panicked. The way the wind blew, the fire would easily outrun her, and with night and all the smoke, she couldn't tell the right direction to go. In minutes the cabin would be engulfed.
Jenks. As abhorrent as the man might be, she couldn't leave him in there to burn to death.
Running back inside, she grabbed his feet. By the time she dragged him outside sparks had ignited the roof. When she had Jenks twenty feet away, she slapped his face until he stirred. "Fire. Get out of here, now."
"Wh-what?"
A loud snort brought her gaze to Hezekiah, who fought the rope binding him to a tree. Her one hope of escape. An animal that strong would break free any moment. She had to calm him enough to climb on before he ran left her behind.
She approached with caution. "Hello, Hezzie. Remember me?"
He stared at her with fear in his eyes, but also recognition.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." She stroked his ragged fur. "If you help me, we can get out of here."
Behind them flames darted higher now, the fire drawing close. The intense heat and thick smoke threatened to overcome her. A strong urge to sleep rose inside her.
Jenks had risen, stumbling around searching for his horse. Guilt niggled at her for leaving the man behind, but not enough to risk letting him get his hands on her again. If she didn't go now, she might not get another chance. She doubted the buffalo would allow two people to ride him.
"We have to go now, Hezzie. Will you let me ride you?"
He snorted. She took her courage in hand, found a boulder nearby, and led him close. The rock allowed her to climb onto Hezzie's back. As soon as the buffalo sensed he was free to move, he galloped away. Clutching handfuls of fur, Annora clasped her legs around his body as tight as she could, praying they raced in the right direction.
Ride for a Bride in Wyoming (Rocky Mountain Romances Book 4) Page 11