Winter Magic

by Cheryl Pierson

  Chapter 10

  Magdon’s laughter grated harshly on Brett’s nerves.

  “Oh, no, Diamond. You come on out here. I’ve got your brother, you know.”

  “Yeah,” Brett muttered to himself. “I know, damn your ass.” He picked up his own Winchester from where it stood in the corner.

  Brett reached to pull the front door open a crack in order for them to hear one another better. A shot rang out, and a piece of wood splintered off the door frame.

  “Now, Tell, that ain’t too friendly,” Brett called. “You come here to kill me, or to get a bank job done?”

  “Both!” Magdon sneered. “You better just hope I see fit to let your bastard brother live a while longer—along with our sweet little traveling companion.”

  “Who would that be? Anyone I should be interested in saving?”

  The smirk in Magdon’s tone was undeniable. “Says her name is Miss Lainie Barrett. You may not know her, but Angie Colton does. They were friends in their circus days together. And I know Angie’s in there with you. I plan to take her with me when I leave here. So you see, you really aren’t needed at all—not with Angie’s skills at the tumblers.”

  Brett heard Angie’s gasp from where she stood behind him.

  “Don’t worry, Ang. He’s just trying to get a reaction from us. Make us do something foolish.”

  “I-I know.” She sighed, and he felt the warmth of her breath on his neck. “But…what are we going to do? And what about Lainie?”

  “Don’t panic. I’m going to try to get him to trade Jake for me.”

  “No!”

  He turned to face her.

  “Brett—I don’t want to lose you.”

  The look in her green eyes held him spellbound. He knew in that instant he loved her—whether by the natural order of things or by a secretly whispered incantation on Angie’s part. Whatever had brought them to this point—he didn’t care.

  “You won’t, Angie. I don’t plan on us ending things today.”

  “Cat got your tongue, Brett?” Magdon shouted.

  Brett tore his gaze away from Angie. “Let’s make a trade,” he called back. “Me for Jake.”

  “Show yourself and we’ll talk about it.”

  “No, Brett! He’ll shoot you!” Angie clutched his arm as he started for the door.

  “Angie, I have to do this. Have a little faith.”

  “I do, but—he’s just so—”

  Brett nodded grimly. “I know how he is. Once Jake’s free, I’ll dive for the ground. How good a marksman are you? Do you have any of Earlene’s skill?”

  “I can shoot—but not like she can.”

  He handed her the Winchester. “Try. Shoot to kill.”

  Her expression became set. “I wouldn’t do anything else. What if I miss, though?”

  He smiled. “No matter what, it’ll be a diversion. Jake and I will head for the barn.” He held up a hand at her protest. “Yes, I know that some of Magdon’s men will be holed up there, but it’s the only cover for any of us. It’ll have to do.”

  He risked a look out of the corner of the window. “Right now, we don’t have much choice. He’s got a gun to my brother’s head—and he’s walking this way.” He threw her a glance. “How about the Christmas tree window, Angie? They can’t see in, but you can see out around the branches. As soon as I shake Jake’s hand, that’s when you need to shoot.”

  “Earlene’s out there, somewhere. Maybe she’ll be able to help.”

  She stood on her toes and brushed a kiss across his lips. “For luck.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t need luck. I have my own witch. If you have a spell you could use for this situation, it would come in mighty handy.” He gave her a slow grin, then turned away from her and carefully opened the front door.

  Everything remained still—no gunshots. A good sign. He stepped out onto the front porch and came down the steps. His gaze met his brother’s first, then Magdon’s.

  A slight grin lifted Magdon’s lips. “Well, lookie here. We meet again. Finally.”

  “Let him go, Tell. I told you I’d be coming to do your dirty work for you—and here I am.” Brett smiled coldly. “Was there some reason you felt you had to come meet me? We’re only a day away.”

  At that question, Magdon looked confused. “I’m…not sure. I just knew I had to come—follow my instincts…and I was right. I struck the Mother Lode, didn’t I, Brett? You and my little woman, all right here together. And I aim to kill you for layin’ with her.”

  Brett didn’t bother to try to correct Magdon’s false impression. Maybe the anger it stirred in him would work to Brett’s advantage. He let his gaze move idly back to his brother.

  Jake looked like hell. They’d beaten him. But there was still fire in his eyes—

  Brett’s lips pressed together in a harsh line. “You okay, brother?”

  Jake gave a terse nod. “I’m fine. Right as rain.”

  “The boys were just havin’ a little fun. They got tired of waitin’ on you to show. Don’t worry about it,” Magdon snarled.

  The wind came up suddenly, unnaturally, blowing Magdon’s hat from his head. Startled, he made a grab for it.

  Brett started forward quickly, hoping to seize the advantage, but Magdon’s attention was fixed on him instantly, the revolver in his hand reverberating with an ominous click.

  “Storm’s brewin’,” Magdon observed. “At least, maybe it’ll wash all the blood away. Not quite cold enough to snow.” He gave a toothy grin. “Now, come on, Brett. Real slow-like. Don’t want you getting hurt…although, now that I know where Angie is, she could crack the safe for me, same as you…maybe even better. An’ once she becomes my bride…she becomes my property…to do with whatever I will.”

  “Let him go,” Brett gritted. Slowly, he reached out a hand to Jake, as he neared, trying to let him read the message in his eyes. “Jake. Good to see you.”

  “Last time to see each other—in this world, anyhow. How touching,” Magdon said.

  Jake ignored him, reaching to take Brett’s hand as Magdon eased up on the pressure he exerted, allowing the brothers’ fingers to touch.

  Palms joined, and Brett squeezed and yanked on Jake’s arm at the same time. They both went rolling to the ground as a gunshot rang out from the house, and a second one from the barn.

  Magdon fell to the ground, hit from both directions—but neither was a killing shot.

  Magdon reached for his gun, and Brett shot his cuff, palming the small gambler’s derringer, aiming for Magdon’s head.

  “Run, Jake!” Brett heard the desperation in his own voice. He knew there wasn’t a tinker’s chance in hell that Jake would run to safety and leave him to face Magdon alone.

  “Like hell,” Jake muttered from behind him, just as he’d expected he would.

  Arguing was a waste of time. Jake was just as stubborn as any of the Diamond clan—maybe more so, being the youngest.

  Brett pulled the trigger, and as the bullet hit Magdon square between his ice blue eyes, he felt a rush of satisfaction…and also, a bit of puzzlement.

  Small caliber bullet…the wind had whipped up to a near-gale…how had he managed that shot?

  Jake ran to where Magdon’s pistol lay on the ground and picked it up. He turned Magdon’s corpse over with the toe of his boot. “Dead. Just like you should be,” he murmured, satisfaction in his tone.

  Puzzled by the lack of gunfire, Brett met Jake’s gaze—and they both looked toward the barn as the door swung open.

  ****

  “It’s all right,” Earlene called. “I’ve got ’em all roped and tied. She peered out of the door, and Jake’s look turned even more questioning. “Didn’t even have to fire a shot. Well, except when I was tryin’ to kill him.” She nodded at where Magdon lay sprawled on the ground.

  Brett had to smile at the tinge of disappointment in her voice.

  Lainie appeared beside Earlene. “Jake!” she called. Earlene and I have these varmints trussed
and ready to be turned over to the law.”

  “I’ll ride Big Red into Clear Springs,” Earlene volunteered. “It’s only eight miles.” She led the horse out of the barn as Jake came toward her.

  He turned to look at Brett, who’d risen to a sitting position. “I don’t know—you think it’s safe?”

  Brett smiled. “Earlene can take care of herself. She’s a crack shot.”

  Earlene gave him a wide smile.

  “So I’ve heard tell,” Jake said.

  The front door burst open, and Angie ran down the steps, past Magdon, and knelt beside Brett.

  “Are you hurt?”

  He grinned. “No. But that doesn’t mean I can’t use some healing, sweet witch.”

  She leaned down and kissed him with a passion that shot lightning through him, and had him lying back on the ground, pulling her to him with all the world watching.

  “Are you binding me with a spell?” he finally whispered. “’Cause I’m damn sure there was some magic in that kiss, Ang.”

  She gave him a secretive smile and arched a brow. “No magic, Brett Diamond. Only my love. And I intend to keep you spellbound in that forever.”

  LUCK OF THE DRAW

  When gambling man Jake Diamond accompanies Lainie Barrett to Texas to be reunited with her mother, he realizes that sometimes “fate happens”—and everything in life becomes purely luck of the draw.

  Chapter 1

  “Aren’t you the very least bit disappointed I’m not a witch?” Lainie Barrett turned her ocean-blue gaze on Jake Diamond as they rode side by side in the stagecoach.

  Thank God they were alone—finally, Jake thought. He turned to look at Lainie. “That’s why you’ve been so quiet? You’re worried I might be disappointed because of—that?”

  Lainie shrugged. “My family was. I guess—when you’re raised to believe that’s normal and something to be desired, you feel like a failure if it doesn’t happen in your life. Like everyone expects it will.”

  Jake smiled at the wistful tone in her voice. “You worried about us visiting your mama?”

  “So much has happened, Jake—but still, that hasn’t. At this point in my life, I’m beginning to believe it’s just not meant to be for me. I’m my mama’s only daughter—the one she’d normally pass all her spells and—and gifts to. But I don’t think I have a magical bone in my body. I think Angie and Earlene must have gotten my share.” She sighed, and Jake couldn’t help but feel a twinge of empathy.

  It was hard, trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations. As the youngest brother in the Diamond family, he was well aware of that.

  He put his arm around Lainie to draw her close to him, now that they were the only two passengers on this leg of the trip to Fort Worth. Though Lainie might be disappointed in her own perceived shortcomings, to him, she couldn’t have been more perfect.

  Their meeting and short courtship had been odd, to say the least.

  Barely two weeks ago, Teller Magdon, the leader of a vicious gang of criminals, had kidnapped Jake to force Jake’s brother, Brett, to crack a safe for him.

  But Brett had been waylaid by Lainie’s cousin, eleven-year-old Earlene, on his way to Fort Smith to pull off the robbery and save Jake’s life.

  Earlene’s older sister, Angie, had nursed Brett back to health—in a most unconventional way. Angie was a witch, as was Earlene. Three years earlier, their father had hidden them away on a small secreted homestead to protect them before he died. The same man who had kidnapped Jake had had his eye on a much-too-young Angie at the time, as she travelled the circus route, performing her sleight-of-hand tricks.

  Their lonely existence had kept them safe, up until Brett had ridden by and gotten shot. In a twist of fate, Earlene, tired of the clandestine life she and Angie led on their lonely farm, had gathered her supernatural powers and “summoned” Teller Magdon to come to them. It had been a spectacular showdown, Jake thought, but one he never wanted to repeat.

  Teller Magdon lay dead, his gang trussed and gagged, and thankfully, Angie, Earlene and Lainie were reunited in a tearful—but safe and happy—reunion.

  Christmas had been the next day, and Angie and Lainie had prepared a feast the likes of which Jake and Brett had never seen before.

  Jake smiled, remembering the Christmas tree that stood regally—although, somewhat barrenly—in the corner of the front room. It had been Earlene’s pride and joy—the reason she’d brought Magdon, his gang, and his hostages to the little farm rather than having to leave the tree for the trip to Fort Smith.

  In spite of her impetuous nature, Jake found himself somehow oddly in agreement with Lainie’s young cousin and her reasoning. Growing up, he’d never had a Christmas tree. After his mother had passed when he was a youngster, his entire life had changed.

  Now, he was accompanying Lainie to be reunited with her mother—and the travelling life of the circus—the only way she’d ever known.

  At the thought of returning her to it, a pall settled over his happiness.

  “What’s wrong?” Lainie asked, looking up into his face.

  “Just thinking.”

  “About…”

  He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. “Never knew a kid like Earlene. She’s something else.”

  Lainie smiled, then, at his words. “She’s very tenderhearted, but she tries to cover it with her blustery ways.”

  “Guess she’s had reason to hide her feelings. Her mother being killed when she was so young. I wasn’t very old when my ma died, but I knew everything changed for me that day. Then, to lose her father so close after. Two years, did you say?”

  Lainie nodded. “Yes. My uncle never liked the circus. Never really fit in. But, he did train Earlie to use a gun and become a sharpshooter when she was very young. By the time she was five, she had the most uncanny talent at it. And, he was the one who taught Angie her—act. You know. Safecracking, and the like.”

  Jake nodded. “I know you must be looking forward to getting back to your family and friends.”

  She smiled wanly. “My mother will be glad to know I’m safe. But we’ve never been all that close. Not since I wasn’t able to conjure. And really…Angie is my best friend. She’s more like a sister to me than a cousin.”

  Jake felt a stab of guilt and remorse at Lainie’s words. She’d seemed anxious to get back to the circus, but…maybe it was her only alternative.

  He wondered what could be if they had more time together. But what could he offer her?

  He’d seen her looking at him from veiled lashes. And they’d said some intimate things to each other during their shared captivity by Magdon’s gang.

  Expecting to die made a person speak more honestly—and sometimes more freely—than what might be a good thing, Jake thought.

  “Jake—”

  “Lainie—”

  They both started to speak at once, and then both of them smiled.

  “You first,” Jake said. “Go ahead.”

  ****

  Lainie looked down, her hands twisting nervously in her lap. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy?

  She wanted to speak her mind openly, be honest about the feelings she suddenly felt she must hide away coyly, like some young schoolgirl. She’d never be a schoolgirl again. She was well past prime marrying age and on her way to spinsterhood. Nineteen, soon to be twenty.

  “How old are you, Jake?” The words were out before she knew it.

  “Twenty-four next month. Why do you ask?”

  She blushed at his teasing tone. “I was just thinking.”

  “’Bout what?” He watched her, saying nothing to ease her way.

  She might as well just ask.

  “Don’t you ever think of…settling down? Like Brett and Angie plan to do?” She rushed on. “Surely, you’ve planned for your future—” She broke off, her head coming up quickly, as her words brought a sudden unexpected realization. “You told me your oldest brother, Nick, was ‘gun handy’—and Brett’s the safecracker
in your family—”

  “Yeah…every family should have one.”

  She ignored him, her eyes narrowing. “So, what is your specialty? You never did say.”

  “No, I never did.” Jake seemed to be finding it hard to meet her eyes.

  “Jake?”

  “Who do you think taught Brett how to shoot his cuffs and come up palming a derringer?” he growled.

  Lainie’s shock registered on her face, she knew. She couldn’t help it. She would never have pegged him for—

  “Diamond Jake,” she breathed. “Gambler extraordinaire. I bet a hundred men are looking for you.”

  Jake nodded in weary agreement. “At least.”

  ****

  And, of course, that was one of the big reasons why he really had no future—and since it didn’t exist, it would be impossible to ask someone to share it with him.

  “Well…say something. If you aren’t too disgusted, that is.” Of course, this was one of the finer points of his life he’d not mentioned during their captivity.

  She shook her head, but the shock of his revelation still registered in her delicate features.

  “I—I am not disgusted,” she whispered.”I guess I’m more—”

  She left the rest of her sentence unfinished, and oddly, Jake had the impression she would have said, “disappointed” rather than “surprised.”

  He scowled at her. “I’m not proud of it, Lainie. But I don’t know how to change it.”

  “You mentioned a horse ranch,” she reminded him.

  “Brett said I could have the horses we kept from the San Bois Gang after you and Earlie captured them,” he agreed. “And I’d love nothing more. Growing up, I learned to speak to horses, and care for them the Cherokee way. I’ve got a bit of money from my part of the reward money we got for the San Bois Mountain Gang, too. That would help.”

  He sighed, and it sounded longing, even to him. “It would be quite a departure…from my previous—ah—livelihood.”

  Chapter 2