The sounds of sirens invaded the woods as Rafe and the women made it to Cunningham’s big SUV that blocked the road the deputies were following through the woods. In a matter of minutes, flashing lights appeared through the mist and the cars rolled to a stop. The officers sprang from their cars and rushed toward Levi, Rafe, the women and the prisoner, ready to assist in any way they could.
^^^
Two days later, Mesa sat in the rocking chair on the front porch of Uci and Rafe’s house, her heart revved up to racing speed, waiting to see the car appear in the driveway. Raale, Jory, Uncle Rance and her mother were due to arrive at any moment, and she couldn’t wait for the hugs she’d been missing since they left.
Rafe pushed open the door and walked out to stand beside her chair, his cell phone to his ear. “Alright, Levi. Great job.” He bent down to bump Mesa’s forehead with a quick kiss. “Sure,” he continued to talk into the phone. “Yeah, I’ll see you in the morning then.” He closed the phone and returned it to the holster clipped to his belt. He knew he had a lot to be thankful for.
The coroner had discovered that Shiver had died from a massive dose of digitalis, administered by injection after he’d been knocked unconscious and Cunningham was the only person who could have done it. Cunningham had confessed to the deaths of both Shiver and Fisher in exchange for the D.A. agreeing not to seek the death penalty. He’d also named Shiver as his partner in the meth lab that had been dismantled next to the river and Fisher had been the enforcer of the operation.
Rafe drew in a deep satisfied breath. He loved his job when things worked out well. He placed a hand on Mesa’s shoulder, just to remind himself how lucky he was.
Looking up at him, Mesa smiled. Lordy, that man looked good in black t-shirts and Wrangler jeans. If her heart wasn’t already racing like a Russian racehorse, just looking at him would certainly kick start it.
He winked one coffee brown eye at her, then movement drew his attention to the long driveway. “Here they come.”
“Oh, my Lord!” she gasped. “I can’t hardly breathe!”
A deep chuckle came from his throat. “Don’t you dare hyperventilate on me now, woman. I’m just as excited as you are!”
Mesa reached for her crutches, but realizing she intended to get out of the chair, Rafe pulled them from her reach. “Do not get out of that chair. I don’t want anyone knocking you down in all the excitement,” he scolded.
A frown knotted her brows above her nose. “I just need to get to my baby,” she objected.
The car was pulling to a stop in front of the porch and Rafe moved down the steps. “I’ll bring her to you, sugar. You just stay in that chair.”
Spotting Raale’s dark head bobbing in the back seat, he jerked the door open as soon as the car stopped and caught his daughter in his arms as she dived out of her car seat.
Her arms tightened around his neck when he turned, and with her held tightly against his chest, he hurried up the steps to set the squealing, animated child down in Mesa’s lap, amid a cacophony of yelps and laughter.
Twenty minutes later, the whole group had moved into the dining room adjacent to the kitchen. Uci and Jenny had prepared a feast for the homecoming and waited only for the excitement level to subside some before serving it.
Mesa was seated to the right of Rafe’s chair at the head of the table, Raale in her lap, and everyone else was seated along the huge rectangular table, chatting happily.
A grin spreading over his face, Rafe knew it was time. He pushed his chair back and stood up. A short, shrill whistle from him, brought quiet to the noise around the table and all eyes turned in his direction.
He looked down at Mesa, then bent one knee and dropped to kneel beside her chair, one hand behind his back.
“Mesa,” he said, his baritone voice even deeper with emotions that he could barely contain. “You and this beautiful child are two of the most important people in my life. I love you in a way I’ve never loved anyone else and I need to know that you will always be a part of me. I know we’ve already talked about this a little, but here, in front of our family, I’d like to make it official. Will you marry me, be my wife, make us a united family, and make me the happiest man who ever walked the face of the earth?”
Tears of joy could not be contained as she nodded.
Raale squealed loudly and reached out to wrap one arm around her father and pull him close. The other little arm pulled her mother’s head close as she hugged them together, showering them with kisses on their cheeks.
With his daughter exclaiming her happiness and hugging them both closely, it was only natural that Rafe found Mesa’s lips with his own. As long as the crowd was gathered around, it wasn’t too hard for him to keep the kiss reasonably chaste, but they both knew that was only temporary. After a minute, he pulled back and brought his hand from behind him, presenting Mesa with a small box.
Opening it, she looked inside and gasped at the breathtaking ring sparkling up at her. A respectable sized diamond surrounded by small emeralds flashed with green fire each time the box was moved.
“My father gave that to my mother,” Rafe said, his voice husky but still soft.
“And his grandfather gave it to me,” Uci added. “And maybe before long, you’ll have a son to pass it on to.”
“What about me?” Raale asked, looking at the people around her.
Rafe shrugged and winked at his daughter. “When you fall in love and get married, I think the man you chose will want to give you a ring that’s special to the two of you.”
“But I likes dat one,” she said insistently.
“Then I’ll get one made for you that looks like it, so you and your mom can have rings that match,” he bargained.
Raale smiled and nodded. “I lub you, Daddy.”
“But since this is a very expensive ring,” Mesa cut in, “you’ll have to wait until you graduate from high school before you can wear it.”
Raale rolled her chocolate colored eyes. “All the good stuffs gotta wait till I’m all growed up.”
Rafe lifted his daughter off of her mother’s lap. “Not all the good stuff.” He winked at Mesa and she nodded.
“Y’all go ahead and eat. Me’n Raale need to make a trip to the barn,” he said.
The child was bubbling with excitement. She knew something was up, but couldn’t imagine what, as the two of them walked along the short cut that led from the back of the cabin to the barn.
“Bob’s told me what a good student you’ve been and how well you’ve been doing on his old horse, Tex. Your mom and I are really proud of you, you know,” Rafe said as they approached the barn.
Raale nodded. “Tex is a big horse, but he don’t like to do nothing but walk.”
It was Rafe’s turn to nod. “Well, he’s not young anymore and it’s not as easy for him to trot and lope as it used to be. I think he’s got arthritis pretty bad and it makes his old joints stiff and sore.”
“But he’s still a good horse,” Raale felt she needed to defend her faithful mount.
They entered the big barn and walked down between the stalls, some empty, some with equine heads hanging over the bottom half-door, watching them.
“Yes, he is,” Rafe agreed. “But if it makes him hurt, for you to ride him, you don’t want that, do you?”
She shook her head negatively. “But I still wants a horse to ride, Daddy.”
He nodded and stopped in front of a stall. “Your mom and I understand how important it is for a girl growing up on a ranch to have a horse to ride, but we don’t want old Tex having to work. So we’ve decided to turn him out with the yearlings and just let him be retired.”
Raale nodded and looked up at her father, disappointment welling in her big brown eyes. “I don’t wants for him to hurt.”
Rafe lifted her in his arms. “I’d like you to meet your new horse.” He held her so she could see into the stall where a sleek bay pony stood looking back at them. His bright, intelligent eyes were as brown as the two
pairs of eyes looking at him, but a narrow white stripe appeared from beneath his bushy black forelock, ran down between his eyes, continuing down the length of his face and appeared to drop off the end of his dark velvety nose. His shiny coat was the rich, brown color of polished oak. His mane and tail were long and black as were his legs, from just above his hocks down to his well-shaped hooves, except for the two back legs that were black around his hocks, and then the hair turned startling white, as if he was wearing boots.
Raale gasped. “My new horse? My bery own horse?”
Grinning at her excitement, he nodded. “He was living with a family on the other side of town and their son outgrew him and got a bigger horse, so this guy needed a new family. Do you think you can make sure he’ll like it here?”
Her head bobbed quickly. “Yes! He’ll lub it here. I promise.”
When he sat her back on the floor and pulled the door open, he was quick to notice that she didn’t rush into the stall, but walked calmly toward the pony. She let him smell her extended hand without jerking it back, and then she moved to his neck and stroked his soft hair. Her calm assurance in approaching the animal brought a smile to Rafe’s lips. She was a natural horseperson.
“What’s his name, Daddy?” she asked softly.
Rafe shrugged. “I didn’t ask the people he lived with, because I wanted you to be able to give him a name that you like,” he explained moving to stand beside her.
“Is he a Quarter Horse?” Rafe knew she’d been hearing everyone talking about Quarter Horses because it seemed to be the breed that almost everyone they knew rode.
“Nope. He’s a Connemara Pony. His great-great grandparents came from Ireland,” he responded. “And he has a registered name, but it’s long and kinda hard to pronounce.”
She arched one dark brow at her dad. “Is Ireland near us?”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “No, it’s a long way across the ocean.”
The pony turned his head and nuzzled the child at his side and she giggled.
“He likes me.”
“Sure he does. He’s been around kids all his life and he’s just the kind of horse that you need.” Rafe lifted her and sat her astride the animal, keeping his hands under her arms in case the pony shifted unexpectedly.
Again, Raale giggled. “He’s smooth.” She patted the animal again. “I can’t believe he’s my bery own horse. Can I ride him?”
Rafe nodded. “But everyone will want to see that. Do you think you can wait until after we’ve eaten lunch and Macie and Rusty get here?”
“Macie and Rusty are coming?” Her voice reflected her excitement.
“After they eat lunch with their grandmother. Rusty has a new horse, too, and they’re bringing her over so you can see her.” When the pony turned around to snatch a mouthful of hay from the hay rack, Rafe moved with him, keeping his hold on Raale, allowing her to stay balanced on the sleek back.
She grinned up at her father. “I lub him already, Daddy. Thank you for finding him.”
“So you don’t mind if we turn Tex out with the yearlings?” he teased.
“No. He’ll like it there, won’t he?”
They talked for a few more minutes, her sitting astride the pony, Rafe making sure she didn’t slip off, but then they agreed to go back to the house and tell everyone about her horse.
“And can Uci help me pick a name for my bery own horse? I wants it to be a Lakota name.”
When Rafe lifted her off the pony’s back, Raale slipped her arms as high as they could reach around the animal’s neck and hugged him. “I’ll eat fast and when I gets back here, I’ll tell you your new name.”
The bay pony nuzzled her shoulder gently and followed her to the door of the stall. Once Rafe closed and secured the gate that kept him in, the compact equine had to stretch his neck to look over it, but he did, and watched as they left the barn.
So excited she could hardly contain herself, Raale’s short legs moved so fast that Rafe found himself walking faster than normal to keep up with her.
The day passed quickly and when Raale returned to the barn, the name she whispered to her pony was Cante Tinza, meaning brave heart in English and pronounced chun-tay t-een-zah in the Lakota language. “But I’m dis gonna call you Cante (chun-tay,)” she assured him. “’Cuz it’s easier to bemember.”
Raale and Rusty rode their ponies in the training ring and then into an empty field behind the barn, so everyone could watch them.
Rafe stood beside his soon-to-be wife, his pride in their daughter and the happiness that everything was once again peaceful in their lives, filling his heart to almost bursting.
In two weeks, Mesa would become his wife. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side. “Is it my imagination, or are you in need of a bigger bra?” he whispered in her ear.
Her cheeks turned pink as she dropped her eyes down to her chest. “It’s not that obvious is it?”
He chuckled. “Maybe not to everyone, but I gotta admit, that I sure would like to see how they fit in my hands, right now.”
Quickly she cut her eyes around to see if anyone had overheard him and seeing the others were involved in watching the kids, she grinned up at him. “Do you think we’d be missed if we slipped back to the house for an hour or so?”
“Who cares,” he said, now nuzzling around her ear, knowing how she responded to that.
He looked around and caught Jory’s attention. “I need to check in with the office and Mesa needs to take her medicine. We’ll be back in a bit. Will you keep your eyes on Raale?”
Jory nodded, a knowing grin spreading his lips. “You might want to make sure you lock that door behind you. It’s hard to keep everyone corralled down here.”
Rafe grinned and nodded. “Thanks.” Then he swept his future wife up into his arms and strode purposefully toward the house.
Epilogue
Mesa walked to the edge of the porch and stopped, waiting patiently for Rafe to reach her side with the umbrella. It had been raining off and on for two days and everything was sodden and slick. He’d made her promise that she would stay on the porch and not attempt the steps alone.
One hand dropped to cradle the bottom of her very obvious baby bulge. It had ceased being a baby bump months ago. It was about the same time she’d switched from walking to waddling and now her mind was filled with joy, knowing the long months were quickly drawing to an end.
They had left Raale sleeping and had promised Uci that they’d call when the doctor determined that birth was eminent, so the two of them would have time to get to the hospital to welcome Rafter Jessup Storm Horse Junior into the world.
Raale was so excited about becoming a big sister, they knew she’d drive everyone to distraction if she had to wait for the birth in a hospital waiting room. Despite the fact that families were allowed in the birthing room with the laboring mother, it wasn’t the place for an almost seven year old child to spend several hours. She could sleep until time to get up and get ready for school, keeping her schedule as close to normal as possible. If Mesa’s labor progressed to the point that delivery was close, while Raale was still at school, Uci would check her out and bring her to the hospital. Uci had been getting Raale off to school for over a month now, so the child probably wouldn’t even know that her mother wasn’t still upstairs asleep.
Rafe walked to the porch, umbrella in hand, to help his wife down the steps and into the seat of the truck he’d maneuvered close to the steps. He looked up and his eyes met hers, his insides tightening at the sight of her, as they always did.
“Do not look at me with those bedroom eyes,” she scolded playfully. “That’s what got us into this, you know.”
He shook his head negatively. “It was that sexy bottom lip of yours that’s to blame. You know I’ll never be able to resist the urge to bite it, and that’s always just the beginning.”
Leaning against him for support, she smiled. “I’ll remind little Jessie of that, when he asks wh
ere he came from,” she retorted, rubbing her tummy. Suddenly the muscles of her stomach began to tighten and her steps ceased.
“Is it another one?” Rafe asked.
She nodded, bending slightly. “Stronger,” she muttered.
They waited until the contraction eased and then he helped her into the truck.
It didn’t seem possible that they’d been married just over two years, he was thinking, as he slipped behind the steering wheel of the truck. So many things had changed.
Amazingly, once Mesa had married him and moved onto his family’s ranch, Mesa’s mother and her Uncle Rance had become good friends and she’d pitched in to help with his physical therapy. It wasn’t long before the old cowboy was walking and even occasionally riding around the ranch. Then, last year they surprised everyone by getting married. They now lived in the main house at the Rocking H ranch.
Jory had remained in the cabin beside the lake and was seriously involved with the owner of the local vegetable market. Everyone expected them to announce their engagement any day.
Rafe’s head deputy, Levi had married Rafe’s cousin, Trish and his married deputies, John and Krystal Montgomery were the proud parents of a baby girl.
So many changes in such a short span of time.
Rafe cut his eyes toward his wife as he slowed the truck at the entrance to the emergency room. “Are we ready for this?” he asked, a trace of uncertainty niggling at him.
She flashed him a look of amazement. “You are too intelligent for that to be a serious question, so I won’t even dignify it with an answer.” She gasped and her eyes focused on his. “Another one,” she managed.
Rafe hopped out of the truck. “I’ll get a wheelchair.” He practically ran into the E.R. emerging a few seconds later, his cousin, now Levi’s wife, Trish pushing the chair, a big smile spreading across her face.
“Is this the big day?” Trish asked, as Mesa, with Rafe assisting, eased from the truck into the wheelchair.
Sweet Talking Lawman Page 28