by Howe, Cheryl
“I’m in a lot of trouble,” he said.
Jay shoved Braddock’s shoulder, sending him and the swing off balance. Braddock looked up to find Jay grinning the way he did when he had a winning poker hand. “I’ve been waiting to hear you admit that. Now, tell me what I can do.”
“Corey was involved in a stagecoach robbery near Santa Fe. He’s not a killer, though. He’s just…” Braddock never expected to find himself defending the kid. “Stupid,” was all he could think of to explain Corey’s behavior.
Jay rocked back, and Braddock tried not to notice how his wooden legs bent. He was unsuccessful.
Jay rubbed his thighs. “You’d never bring anyone here I’d have to worry about. I trust you, Chris.”
Braddock leaned forward, squeezing his hands together. Jay never missed a chance to reassure him that the injury wasn’t his fault. Of course, there was no disputing who had led him into the booby-trapped field and who had walked away without a scratch.
“Well, don’t trust me, Jay. Because if the law doesn’t get Corey, Rowen Mulcahy will. That is, if I don’t find him first.”
“Mulcahy again. I told you, he’s not worth your trouble.”
“Corey knows where to find him. He’ll tell me. He has his sister to worry about.”
Jay rubbed his brow as if putting all the pieces together. “The woman’s this Corey’s sister. Who’s the other fella?”
“He’s someone we picked up in Coyote Pass. I won’t leave him here.”
“Coyote Pass?”
“Do you have anything to drink?” It was a long story, and Braddock didn’t really want to tell it. But Jay wasn’t one of those people he could skirt the facts with—nor did Braddock have the right to.
“Lift up that plank to your right.”
Braddock found the loose plank in the porch and liberated bottle of whiskey. “You don’t tell Beth about this?”
Jay shrugged. “We’ve got liquor in the house, but sometimes a man wants to have a drink by himself.”
“Are you in pain a lot?” He pulled out the cork and handed the bottle over.
Jay motioned for Braddock to drink first. “Let’s hear about Coyote Pass and the sister.”
Braddock took a long swig, knowing Jay would dig right down to the meat of his problem. He gulped enough to burn all the way down to his toes, then set the half full bottle away from himself. The temptation to get rip roaring drunk was too strong.
“I met up with Lorelei when I tracked Corey to his homestead after the robbery. She tried to hide her brother.” Braddock stopped himself. He wouldn’t tell how Lorelei came to his hotel room, or what had happened between them back at the ranch, though he knew Jay would understand. “Then Langston showed up. Remember him?”
Jay nodded with a grimace.
The look on Jay’s face reminded him that Jay was the one who’d gotten stuck begging for supplies after Braddock lost his temper with Langston’s ridiculous need for proper protocol. The fact that Langston had broken his leg during a training exercise and spent the entire war shuffling papers was something he never let anyone forget.
“He wanted to arrest Lorelei as Corey’s accomplice. I stopped him, but how I did it wasn’t exactly legal. Since Langston’s now a deputy marshal, I guess that makes me an outlaw.”
Jay raised his eyebrows. “I guess it does.”
“And Lorelei aimed a rifle at Langston because he had his guns on me. You know Langston. He isn’t going to ignore that.”
Jay sat forward. “Langston outdrew you?”
“Hell, no.” Braddock flinched at the insult. “I didn’t have my guns.”
Jay’s surprised expression had Braddock rocking back in the swing and averting his gaze. Braddock wasn’t about to admit he had been buck naked at the time.
But he didn’t have to. Jay’s clear blue eyes had already assessed the situation. He rapidly concluded the only circumstance in which Braddock would be caught without his guns. “So you brought them here to protect the woman.”
Braddock met Jay’s penetrating gaze. “Yes.”
“What about the brother? What are you going to do with him?”
“I’m going to let him go. I don’t think he’ll try anything like the stagecoach robbery again.”
“Let him go? Why in hell would you do that? The man’s a thief.”
“He’s not a man. He’s a kid who got caught up with the wrong bunch.”
“You’re in love with his sister.”
Braddock gazed out over the yard. Oh, he wanted to deny it. Vehemently.
“Maybe.”
Jay laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
Braddock gave Jay his fiercest scowl, which was pretty damned fierce. “Are you going to help me or not?”
His anger didn’t seem to lessen Jay’s amusement. “Of course, I’m going to help you.”
“I’d like to see Lorelei married to a good man. Someone who can take care of her and make sure she doesn’t let her brother talk her into anything that’s bad for her.”
Jay finally did lose his humor with the situation. He frowned. “I thought you said you loved her?”
“What does that have to do with anything? You know I can’t be tied down to a woman. I’d only get her killed. I was the one who dragged her into Coyote Pass. I was so determined to find Mulcahy, I didn’t stop and think.”
“But you came out of it all right.”
“I care about Lorelei more than I have a right to. I’m going to do the right thing by her. I want your help with that.”
“How does she feel about you?”
“It doesn’t matter. This is the favor I want. The one you’ve been wanting to give.”
“If it’s what you want, I’m not going to argue about it.”
Braddock grabbed the whiskey bottle and took another swig. “Thanks.”
He handed it to Jay, who sipped instead of guzzled, then wedged the bottle between his thighs. “Do you want to help pick out her husband?”
Braddock’s fingers itched to grip the bottle. “No. Do it after I’m gone. When I leave here to find Mulcahy, I won’t be coming back.”
“You going after him by yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“You looking to commit suicide?”
“If I bring a posse it will give too much warning. Mulcahy will get away like he’s done in the past. I’ll have to take him by surprise. If I can get him, his gang won’t last.”
“One of these days it’s all going to catch up with you, Chris. You’re not invincible like you think.”
Braddock gave in to his weakness and snatched the bottle back from Jay. If only he could be so lucky.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Tell us how Mr. Braddock saved your life, Pa,” said little Chris through a mouthful of food.
Lorelei rearranged Rachel on her lap so she could glimpse across the table. Christopher was studying Beth’s blue and white china which still held a large hunk of untouched corn bread. As if the question asked didn’t concern him, he stabbed a piece of pork from some pinto beans and chewed on it as if he were being forced to eat Lucky.
“Christopher saved your life?” Lorelei asked. “He must make a habit of doing that.” She flashed Braddock a teasing grin, but her effort didn’t erase his frown.
Little Chris stood on the rawhide seat of his pine chair. “That’s why he’s a hero and I’m named after him.”
“Sit down and finish your beans.” Beth cocked her head and studied Lorelei in a way that made her shift. “You know, my dear, Chris doesn’t tell many people his first name. He only told Jay because he thought he was dying.”
Christopher’s gaze lifted, but he didn’t comment.
Jay set down his fork. “He had everyone in the regiment guessing at what went in between ‘Captain’ and ‘Braddock.’ ”
Lorelei smiled. “He tried that on me, but I got it out of him.”
Corey made a mule like noise through closed lips. “Lucky you.”
<
br /> Alice’s gaze strayed to Corey, and she smiled shyly. Lorelei noticed that the girl couldn’t keep her eyes off her brother.
Beth’s stare darted from Corey to Lorelei to Christopher. She didn’t miss a thing. “How did you get it out of him, Lorelei?”
Lorelei forced down a piece of com bread that had suddenly swelled in her throat, wishing she’d kept her big mouth shut.
“She twisted my arm,” Christopher said flatly, closing the subject.
“So how’d he save your life, Jay?” asked Corey.
Lorelei suspected Corey asked to annoy Braddock more than out of any curiosity.
Alice raised her gaze to Corey. “My pa was crossing a field to get to a farmhouse where some farmers were hiding.”
“They weren’t farmers, Ali! Let me tell it,” exploded little Chris.
Beth brushed back her youngest son’s blond hair. “Your sister was talking, sweetheart.”
Alice’s cheeks rivaled the apple red background of the calico tablecloth. She stared down at her plate, looking like she wanted to crawl under it.
Corey encouraged her with a coaxing smile. “Then what happened, Alice?”
She blushed even harder but grinned from ear to ear when he said her name. “They weren’t farmers, they were—
“Bounty jumpers!” Little Chris practically leaped out of his seat.
Alice shook her head, but her giddy grin remained.
“Chris’s heard this story a thousand times. He can tell it better than I can. He’s always wanting to hear stories about his namesake.” She nervously darted her gaze to Braddock, as if the mere mention of him might get her into trouble.
Christopher managed a tight grin for the shy girl, but Lorelei could tell the effort pained him.
“Maybe little Chris should hear the story from big Chris.” Corey slung an arm over the back of his chair and smirked triumphantly.
Christopher met her brother’s challenge with a look that promised it wasn’t too late for him to follow through with some of his earlier threats.
“I’ll tell the story,” said Jay from the other end of the long table. He leaned forward, capturing everyone’s attention. “It was just a few of us, not the whole regiment. We were looking for some bounty jumpers.” He turned to Lorelei. “Those are men that sign on for an enlistment bonus. It was up to three hundred dollars in ’sixty-four. That kind of money makes some men greedy, and we had quite a few who signed up, then deserted first chance they got. The fellas we were looking for had taken off two days before, right at the start of the Cold Harbor mess. Stole some ammunition to boot. Cap’n Braddock was spitting mad.” Jay chuckled.
Braddock hooded his eyes and played with a spoon, flipping it face up, then facedown.
Jay’s humor faded. He looked directly at Lorelei. “One of those fellas was Rowen Mulcahy.”
Lorelei’s gaze whipped to Corey, her mouth already open in accusation.
“I didn’t know,” he said.
Jay’s smile held more sympathy for Corey than Lorelei thought her brother deserved. “Don’t feel bad, Corey. He fooled us, too.”
“He didn’t fool me,” mumbled Braddock to the tablecloth.
Jay snorted. “Well, he sure fooled me. I was the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on the new recruits.”
“It was my responsibility. It was my regiment.” Braddock glanced up.
Jay shrugged, then dismissed Christopher as if they had had this argument before. “Back to the real story. We were sneaking up on the farmhouse around early evening. After three days of fighting, it was the first chance we had to go after deserters. Usually we just let them go, but not this time. Braddock was too damned riled.”
Beth’s brow wrinkled. “Jay.”
Jay nodded at his wife’s reprimand. “I’ll try to keep it clean. Anyway, we were all spread out, walking through this field that looked like it had just been turned for planting. At the time I remember thinking, this farmer’s seeds are going to be trampled by all the troops. That was the last thing I thought before I was flying through the air.”
Lorelei gasped. “What happened?”
“They buried shells. Step on one and you’re done. I think Jay must have set one off by kicking a clod of dirt. I never expected it.” Christopher’s voice was so flat and unemotional, he gave himself away. His pain was unbearable. Lorelei hugged Rachel to keep from grabbing his hand.
“How could you have known they meant to kill us? Bounty jumpers usually just ran.” Jay took a swig of his coffee. “Thought I was dead for sure.”
Beth stood. “I hate this part. Alice, help me clear the table, please.”
Lorelei stood, a sleepy Rachel in her arms. “Let me help you.”
Beth urged her back down with a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, no, you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing Jay’s war stories.”
“Sit down, Beth. I’m not going to tell it in detail.”
“All right. But the first word about blood loss and I’m leaving the room.”
“Here’s the short version, Lorelei. Chris ran over, picked me up, and lugged me back to camp. I remember lying there, knowing everyone was afraid to move, ’cause no one knew what else was in that field. The others were yelling at Chris to stay put, but he didn’t even hesitate. But that’s not all he did. That was the easy part. The hard part was not giving up on me when I cussed at him for not leaving me there to die.” Jay glanced to Christopher, who just stared past the flagstone fireplace mounted with elk horns and a mantel lined with porcelain figurines. “Getting better took a long time. The sawbones didn’t think I was going to make it. Didn’t want to bother with me at all. Chris changed his mind real quick.”
Beth smiled at Braddock. “We’re all grateful to him for it, too.”
“He wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it weren’t for me.” Christopher sneaked a guilty glimpse at the woman praising him.
“But I wanted Mulcahy, too.” Jay winked at Lorelei. “Don’t think it was easy telling Chris the new recruits slipped away with ammunition. Shoot, I think it was worse than getting my feet blown off.”
Beth and Christopher stood at the same time, the latter nearly toppling his chair.
“I need some air.” He headed for the door without a backward glance to anyone.
They all held their breath until he was gone. After the door slammed shut, Beth turned to Lorelei and her child. “Let me take her from you. She should have been in bed an hour ago.”
“I’m not sleepy,” Rachel said. She was passed to her mother without ever opening her eyes.
Lorelei rubbed her arms, not realizing how heavy the child had become until her deadweight was lifted away.
“I’ll take her, Ma,” offered Alice.
“You kids clear the table and start on the kitchen. And make a plate for Archie. He’ll probably be hungry when he wakes up.”
Lorelei reached across the table and picked up Christopher’s empty plate, stacking it on top of hers.
“I’m supposed to help with the horses,” complained Jason.
“Me too,” mumbled little Chris, who had already laid his head on the table, his eyes half shut.
Corey stood. He took a stack of dishes from Alice’s hands. “How ’bout if we all do it together? Then we’ll see to the horses.”
Alice blushed. “Thank you, Corey.”
Jason followed the pair, grumbling. Little Chris lost the battle to keep his eyes open and fell asleep, slumped over the table with butter and bits of corn bread stuck in his blond hair.
Jay and Lorelei watched the older children file into the kitchen at the far end of the house. Corey had never volunteered to do dishes before. Obviously Alice’s affection didn’t go unappreciated. The adjoining room was partially open, but the clank of dishes and buzz of chatter meant the others were occupied—leaving Jay and Lorelei alone for the first time.
“Sit down, Lorelei. I’d like to talk to you.”
She sat in the chair vacated by Beth,
having known he had something on his mind even before he made his request. “I’ll speak with Corey about Alice.”
Jay dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand. “She acts like that around any unrelated male between the ages of twelve and twenty-five. Beth says not to worry about it.”
“I don’t know what Christopher told you, but Corey’s not a bad person. He just looks for the easy way to do things. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt your girl.”
“Chris said the same thing.”
Lorelei blinked. “He did?”
Jay’s grin was slow and easy. “Yeah, he did. I think you have a greater influence on him than you know.”
Lorelei looked down at her folded hands, wishing it were true. “Christopher doesn’t seem to listen to anyone.”
“He listens. He just does what he thinks is best.”
“Yes.” She didn’t dare look up at Jay. The man’s eyes were too kind, and she was sure she would cry.
“But you don’t think what he thinks is best, is best.”
“I know it’s not.”
“So I guess I don’t need to ask if you’re interested in marrying one of my neighbors.”
“He asked you to marry me off?” Lorelei didn’t know which emotion tightened her chest—horror, anger, or a hurt so deep she didn’t dare contemplate it. Better to be angry. “He had no right to do that.”
Jay raised his hand as if to fend her off. “Guess I shouldn’t have told you that. It wasn’t easy for him, you know.”
“And marrying a stranger would be easy for me? Christopher’s trying to convince himself there is nothing between us, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. He doesn’t even want to take a chance.”
“He’s not thinking of himself, Lorelei.”
She turned her chin up to Jay. “I think he is. I think he’s afraid.”
“Afraid for you.”
Lorelei wanted to argue, to call Christopher every name in the book, including coward, but she knew it wasn’t exactly true. He’d lay down his life for her. She dropped her gaze to hide the rawness she knew was reflected in her eyes. He’d give his life, but he wouldn’t share it.