Love on the Plains

by Knight, Ciara

  She gasped. “What are you doing?”

  “You came here to marry a man, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, but you lied, remember?” She meant to hide her pleasure with her tone, but he saw through it and knew she wanted more. He kissed her chin.

  “Did I?”

  “Of course. You said you were a well-to-do business man with means.”

  He kissed her cheek. “I am. I don’t flaunt it, but I’m better off than most. Better off than Andrew.”

  “Jealous?” She giggled, but when his mouth moved to her ear, she melted into him.

  He whispered, “No.” Then he added, “I know you don’t only care about money, Dinah, but what I don’t know is if you could be happy here. Long-term, with me.” He brushed his lips across hers. She took in a shaky breath, and he reveled in the way he affected her.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Then we should save your honor, and end the gossip.”

  “How can we do that?”

  “Marry me.” He held his breath, waiting, willing her to say yes. “I know I’m not the man you wanted, but I’m a man who wants you. Not because you’re beautiful on the outside, but because you’re smart, loving, caring, giving, and so much more. I can’t promise I’ll always be this man, but I can promise I’ll always try to be. And I know you can handle the other side of me. You’re good at keeping me grounded and calm.”

  “Yes.” She kissed him. The softness of her lips, the closeness of her body excited him. If he could marry her tonight, at that moment, he would.

  They kissed and held each other. Dusk turned into the darkness of full night, and the kerosene lamps flickered, adding to the mood.

  “When?” she asked.

  “Tomorrow.”

  “That soon?” Dinah’s eyelids fluttered, and she breathed as if he held her too tight.

  “Why not? You already have a dress, and if we’re left alone with no chaperone much longer, I won’t be responsible for my behavior.” He waited for her slap, but it didn’t come.

  “Me, either,” she breathed more than spoke.

  The sound of a horse galloping up to their porch demanded his attention for their safety, which only made him want to shoot whoever was approaching. He growled, but released her. At the window, he looked out to see Andrew stride up the front steps.

  “Colt, it’s Andrew. I need your help.”

  Dinah joined him at the window. Colt rested his head to Dinah’s and whispered, “Don’t say anything, and maybe he’ll go away.”

  Dinah shook her head. “Mr. Sanbourn. What do you want?” Dinah called out.

  Colt shook his head. “Why woman? Why do you have to challenge me at every turn?”

  “Because that’s one of the things you like about me.” Dinah winked.

  Colt opened the door, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to help his former partner.

  Andrew stood outside with his hat in his hands, pressed to his chest. “I’m going to say my peace before you kick me off your land. I know you hate me, and I don’t blame you. What we did that day was something I’ll never forgive myself for. We were all bloodthirsty from war. I wasn’t in my right mind. What you did for that boy wasn’t murder. It was a gift. He would’ve never survived on his own, and what the Boltins and I would’ve done would’ve been far worse.”

  Colt fisted his hands. He didn’t like talking about that day, and he didn’t believe Andrew’s words. Not entirely. Andrew wanted forgiveness from Colt, so he could use him again. That’s all Andrew knew how to do, use people. “I’m not supporting you anymore. You said you were done with the business, and I accept your word. I’m closing shop. I’ll be fine. Will you? Will you have enough money to support your campaign?”

  “Is that what you think of me?” Andrew lowered his chin to his chest and shook his head. “Don’t forgive me, but I’m not the beast of a man you think I am. Listen to me. If you don’t help, I don’t know who will. Everyone’s scared of the Boltin brothers. I found out that they’re the ones who scalped Gabe. They’re the ones who took that girl. Now they’re going to kill all the McDaniels.”

  “Why?” Dinah rushed to Colt’s side and wrapped her arms around him. Andrew noticed, and he couldn’t hide his snarl quick enough. He wasn’t a changed man.

  “Because they want their land, and yours. They want to run you both out. That’s why they killed your sister.”

  “What?” Colt shook his head. “No, my sister died in a wagon accident.”

  “That’s what they told you, but it isn’t true.”

  Dinah backed away and faced the other wall.

  “What is it? What do you know?” Colt asked Dinah, but she didn’t turn around.

  Her shoulders rose, then fell. “The doctor told me that your sister didn’t die from the wagon, but from a gunshot.”

  Fire erupted in Colt’s soul, and he knew the devil himself wouldn’t stop him from killing the man who had murdered his sister. Andrew stepped away from him until Colt could regain his control.

  “Why do they want our land?”

  Andrew placed his hat on his head and walked to the railing where he leaned against the post. “Because of the railroad. They’re finally getting it to come here, and this land will be worth a lot of money.”

  Colt glanced back at Dinah and then at the door. “Where’s the sheriff?”

  “He’s been shot. Can’t help us now. Come on, Colt. You can hate me, but if we don’t stop these animals we created, they will kill all the McDaniels.”

  The frogs had stopped croaking and the noises of the night had gone silent, as if the devil himself had arrived. Colt stepped to the threshold toward his once friend, turned enemy, turned…he wasn’t sure what. “Come inside.”

  Andrew shook his head. “No, there’s no time. Come on.” He ran to his horse.

  “I’ll get my gun.” Colt turned to retrieve the shotgun from the wall.

  Dinah’s eyes went wide, and she stumbled backward. Colt swung around to follow her gaze, but he was struck in the temple. He went down hard on his side. “Well, if it isn’t our old friend Colt Hardin,” David Boltin said, his tone condescending, dark.

  “Time to die,” Charles said.

  At that moment, Colt realized whose voice he’d heard by the creek that night. Charles was a man of few words, and Colt had probably only heard him speak a handful of times in a year during the war. It had been years, but the raspy tone was undeniable. Colt cursed himself for not realizing it sooner. “It was you two who set upon Dinah.”

  “At the creek, of course,” David said. “You showing up blew our plans. Andrew had graciously told us about Dinah meeting him, and well, we couldn’t pass up that opportunity to kidnap the woman.”

  “Why would you do that?” Dinah asked. “I don’t even know you two.”

  David walked toward Dinah, but stopped a few feet away. “Same reason I’m here now. Same reason Andrew lied to get you to open the door. You’ll earn us a hefty sum of money.”

  Colt pushed to his knees and lunged for David, but Charles yanked him back, throwing him to the ground. Colt’s shoulder slammed against the floor. Pain erupted up his neck and down his back. Still, he ground out, “Not gonna happen.”

  “Andrew, get in here and tie him up,” David demanded. “We can’t have him ruining our plans.”

  “No!” Dinah screamed and raced toward David, but he side-stepped and caught her wrists. In a flash of a second, he had her pinned to the wall. Colt scrambled to stand, but the end of a gun was suddenly thrust into his face.

  Andrew had entered the house and stood over Colt. The businessman who’d once been his friend and now who betrayed him really was the monster he’d pegged him to be. “How could you do this?”

  “I had no choice.”

  Colt struggled against Charles, who still pinned him to the ground. “No, you made a choice and it was the wrong one. When I get free, I’m going to strangle you. This time I won’t have any remorse when I see the life leave your eyes.�
��

  Dinah kicked and thrashed, but she couldn’t get free. Colt’s gut twisted and churned at the sight of his woman captured, at the thought of either of those men touching her.

  “Now, now boys. No need to get so hostile.” David slunk around the sofa and stopped inches from Dinah. Colt fought to move, but Andrew and Charles had now teamed up to secure him. One he could fight off, but especially after being so wounded for so long, he lacked the strength to break free from two men.

  “All this for land for the railroad? Take it and go. I don’t care about the land, just let our family leave.”

  “She’s not your family.” Andrew said with an air of anger.

  “You hit a nerve.” David laughed. “Guess I’ll have to keep her for myself. Well, until I can get a good price on her.”

  “Price?” Colt fought like a buffalo gone mad.

  David pulled a pin out of Dinah’s hair and watched a large chunk of her hair fall free. “You should fetch a great price.”

  She slammed her fist into his jaw. The man stumbled, but then backhanded her, sending her into a heap on the floor.

  “Don’t touch her!” Colt fought hard against the two men, but a blow to his head knocked him into submission.

  David crouched down at Dinah’s side. “I won’t be the one touching her. Right, Andrew?”

  Andrew didn’t say anything.

  “What did you do?” Colt asked, his blood went icy.

  “I had no choice.” Andrew looked at the wall instead of at Colt. The snake couldn’t face him.

  Charles laughed like a sick coyote. David joined him until he stopped abruptly and smiled at Andrew. “You always had a choice. You chose to sell your friend’s girl to the highest bidder, up in Seattle.” He looked down at Colt with a sick look of pleasure. “Did you know they’re so desperate they’re paying people to retrieve women from the East and bring them west? Dinah’s a beauty..”

  Colt bucked and kicked, but with one punch to his ribs he curled into himself, fighting for air.

  “No!” Dinah cried out. “You’ll hurt him!”

  “We intend to.” David yanked Colt by the collar, out the front door. Dinah jerked free, but only made it to the top step by the time they had him on the ground outside. There, they were kicking and punching him. “Stop. You’re gonna kill him. I’ll go, just leave him alone.”

  Colt rolled over on his side and reached out for her. “No. I won’t let that happen.”

  “You ain’t got a choice,” David said.

  Andrew remained quiet, holding Dinah. Colt knew he had to think instead of reacting. There was one thing Andrew cared about most, money. “Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll double it.”

  Andrew shook his head, but still wouldn’t look at him.

  “Dang it man, I’ll give you everything if you walk away. All my money, the business, this house, all you have to do is let Dinah go.”

  David crouched by his side. “You can’t give him what we got.”

  Colt rolled onto his back. “What?”

  “A future. If he doesn’t cooperate, we’re gonna tell the world about his barbaric nature. The slaughter of innocent people, his hunger for blood and torture.”

  Realization slipped into Colt’s head. “You’ll ruin him.”

  “Exactly, but this way, we are gonna back him for his political future. It’ll be good to have a hold over a man in government.”

  “I’ll tell the world. I’ll ruin you,” Colt said in a murderous tone.

  David kicked him in the ribs again, the toe of the man’s boot slammed into his rib with a snap. “You ain’t gonna live long enough to tell.”

  Breath trapped, Colt gasped and held his side, as if to put his rib back in place. The pain was horrible, but not as excruciating as the thought of what they were going to do to Dinah. Charles grabbed him by the hair and punched him in the jaw, then his eye, his chin. Numbness replaced pain at the realization he wasn’t going to be able to save the woman he loved. His head rolled back and thudded against the ground. Darkness crept in from the sides of his vision. He knew this was it. He’d wanted to die for so long, and now all he wanted to do was live. To be with Dinah and the children. He only hoped the children stayed hidden and safe. Life was ironic, no doubt.

  “Andrew, please, listen to me. We were once friends. Help me.”

  “Can’t.”

  And with that one word, Colt knew there was no hope, no way to survive, no way to save Dinah.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Dinah’s stomach rolled, her breath trapped as if she’d been kicked repeatedly instead of Colt. The night had gone from romantic to perfect to horrific in a matter of hours. No. She wouldn’t allow this to happen. She wouldn’t watch another person she loved die. She slammed her head back, knowing what she’d hit. Andrew yelped. His boney, strong hands released their grip to cover his nose.

  She scurried inside before he could regroup, and grabbed the shotgun off the rack.

  A loud bang shocked her. A gunshot. She started. She looked down to check her chest, stomach, arm, legs, but no blood saturated her new dress. No bullet hole slashed through the pale green material.

  “You killed Ma. Now you die.” A strange, strangled voice caught her attention, the voice of a young boy’s, echoing through the kitchen. She whipped around. Streaks of red hair fluttered, distorting her vision but she still saw him.

  James.

  Standing with Colt’s handgun, smoking from the barrel.

  She turned back to see David stumble , clutching his chest.

  “What’s going on in there?” Charles yelled.

  Andrew stepped in the doorway and raised his gun, snapping Dinah out of her shock. “Don’t even think about it.” She pointed the shotgun at him, hoping he didn’t know it wasn’t loaded. “I swear I am looking for a reason to put you down like the incompetent, undesirable animal you are.”

  “Don’t be stupid.” Charles shoved Andrew out of the way and pointed his gun at Dinah.

  Another bang echoed through the night.

  Dinah jolted, but saw James fall against the wall behind him from the force of the gun. She wanted to help him, to save him. Everything made sense at that moment, and she wanted to pull him into her arms and make him feel safe. He hadn’t felt safe for years, not since the death of his mother and father. Not since the Boltin brothers had shot his parents dead.

  Charles held his arm, blood soaking his shirt. He eyed his brother, whose head rolled to the side and his hand fell to the floor. Charles switched the gun to his good hand.

  “Don’t do it, or I’ll put you in the grave.” Andrew lifted his own weapon and pointed it at Charles. “I know I can’t make up for what I’ve done, but I ain’t going to let you murder a child. I left the murderous, dark side of myself behind, and I’m not welcoming it back. Where you dream of killing, I have nightmares. It was horrible and tragic what happened, and its time I faced the consequences.”

  James fired again, hitting Charles in the leg. He dropped to one knee and screamed, “Stop!”

  Dinah set her gun on the table, hoping what Andrew said was the truth and not some other lie to get her to lower her defenses. “James, it’s okay.”

  His little hands shook, and she saw the hatred in his tight jaw and narrowed eyes.

  Colt staggered into the doorway, between Andrew and Charles. He pried the gun out of Charles’s hand and held it against the man. “It’s okay, son,” he said calmly to James. “You can put the gun down.”

  “They need to die.”

  Colt shook his head. “No. They’re unarmed now. You need to put the gun down, or it’ll be murder.”

  “They murdered Ma and Pa. They shot Ma. I should’ve helped, but I hid. Hid in the grass. It’s my fault they died.” James’s thin body shook, and tears streamed down his cheeks to drip off his chin.

  Dinah went to his side and knelt. “No, it wasn’t your fault. You were only a little boy. You couldn’t have done anything.”

  “I
can now.”

  Charles groaned. “He’s crazy. Take that gun from him.”

  Colt continued to hold the gun at Charles. “You need to listen to me, James. Murder is something that haunts you. It invades your dreams, your life. You see the faces of the people you’ve murdered as if they are standing in front of you, judging you,” Colt said, his voice cracking.

  Dinah couldn’t help but want these men dead, but not at the expense of James’s soul. “Listen to Colt, James.”

  Colt cleared his throat, and that’s when Dinah noticed the tears in his eyes. The big, hard-shelled, stubborn man was baring his soul to save a child. “If you pull that trigger and murder them, their deaths will be with you forever, trust me. I knew your ma all her life and I can promise you she wouldn’t want that.”

  “But he killed her. I need to avenge their deaths.”

  “Then let them be tried and hanged. Let the law handle these criminals.”

  James trembled, and Dinah worried the gun would go off again, shooting Colt instead of David or Charles, or even Andrew, so she touched his shoulder gently and slid her hand down his arm to his fingers.

  “Give me the gun, James.”

  “I can’t.” He cried, his shoulders up near his ears and his body convulsing. “I need to make it right.”

  “You already have, son.” She tugged the gun from his fingers and pulled him into her arms. “You already have.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Snow fluttered down onto the road outside the church, dotting the sandy ground and the roofs of buildings. Dinah would never grow tired of attending church service as a family.

  Colt wrapped his arm around Dinah and tucked her tight to his side. James skipped to the wagon and climbed up, spinning with his arms out, mouth opened. “It’s the first snow.”

  Emma half-skipped, half-walked, unable to perfect the action yet.

  “Where’s Anna?” Colt asked Emma.

  “Inside talking to a booooy.” The little girl rolled her eyes and then held up her hand for James to help her into the wagon. He lifted her up, and she stood behind Colt and Dinah, resting one tiny hand on each shoulder. “Let’s make snowmen and go on a sleigh. I’m a big girl now. I can ride a sleigh.”