The Texan and the Lady

by Jodi Thomas

  “She’s not here!” True gulped back a sob.

  “Looks that way.” Austin knew how the child felt; he was disappointed also. He’d like to get his hand on any man who thought he could just walk up to the Harvey House and steal one of the girls. There wouldn’t be much left of him to take to trial.

  “We have to find her.” True looked up at the marshal for reassurance.

  Austin wished he believed in himself half as much as True believed in him. “We’ll start again come morning. There’s nothing else we can do tonight.”

  True kicked at the snow then slowly followed Austin out of the cave. As they walked toward the horse, a tiny hand slipped into Austin’s gloved palm.

  He hugged the child tightly as he lifted True up onto the saddle. “It’s all right, son. We’ll find her.” He acted as though he didn’t see huge tears rolling onto True’s dirty cheeks.

  Wanting the words to be fact, he repeated, “We’ll find her. Maybe the sheriff turned up something in town.” Maybe?

  They rode back toward the Harvey House. True mumbled, “We’re going to get that bad guy and pull him apart limb by limb and dry him out in the sun till he’s raisin done, then use his bones for firewood. And if he ain’t dead yet, we’re going to shoot him twice in the heart and once in the foot and cut his head open with an axe and use his brains as—”

  “True,” Austin scolded. “That’s enough.”

  “I ain’t finished with my plan yet.”

  “But don’t you think you’re getting a little bloody?”

  “Oh, all right,” True agreed. “We’ll tie him up and drain him like I saw them do a hog once. After all his blood drips out then we’ll—”

  “That’s enough.” Austin almost wanted to play the game with True. Thoughts of what he planned to do to the man heated his blood and staved off the bitter cold. But he needed to be thinking about catching the bastard first.

  As they neared the lights of the hotel, True yelled, “Look, Marshal, the light’s on in Jennie and Audrey’s room!”

  Austin looked up. “Doesn’t Audrey get up about this time?”

  “Not for hours yet.” Hope wouldn’t die in True’s voice. “Jennie must be back. Maybe she killed the bad guy and left his body somewhere in the snow. We’ll find him come morning stiffer than a week-dead cow.”

  “Maybe.” The marshal set the child down on the porch. “You go up and check with Audrey. I’ll take care of my horse.”

  True disappeared instantly, but Austin took his time riding to the barn. He didn’t like coming back empty-handed. If he’d been out by himself, he’d have tried to find that abandoned farmhouse, but he couldn’t risk True’s life.

  When Austin opened the barn door, he was surprised at the activity going on inside. Several of the hands were already up and dressed. They were working with an animal that looked very near frozen to death.

  The Texan dismounted and pulled his saddle off his horse. “Everything all right?” he asked in passing as he grabbed a handful of straw and rubbed his animal down.

  “Maybe it will be. We about lost one of our best mounts. A fellow stole him earlier tonight and we figured he was gone for good, but one of the women just rode him in a half hour ago. She was almost frozen in the saddle. Didn’t even have on a coat. We had to pry her hands loose from the reins.”

  Austin stopped moving. He could only think of one woman who never seemed to have a coat and who might be out in this storm. “Jennie?”

  The hand nodded. “Yes, sir, I think that was what I heard someone call her. We wrapped her in all the blankets we had and carried her up to the house.”

  Handing the reins of his horse over to the man, Austin ran toward the Harvey House. He didn’t bother to speak as he stormed through the kitchen and started up the stairs.

  “Marshal!” True yelled from the top of the steps. “She’s back.”

  Unaware of the commotion he caused walking the dorm wing of the house, the Texan followed True to Jennie’s room. When he opened the door to her room, Audrey blocked his path.

  The tall redhead took one look at the marshal and raised her hands to stop him. “Now, hold on there, Austin. I know you’re worried, but I can’t have you bear-hugging her. She’s so frozen she’s liable to shatter like an icicle.”

  Austin fought the urge to shove Audrey aside. The woman had given up nursing and taken to bossing. “Get out of my way.” He tried to hold his voice to a low roar.

  “All right, but be careful. The feeling’s coming back to her arms and legs, and even the slightest touch is going to hurt her.”

  He forced himself to move slowly. He walked to where Jennie was sitting up in bed all wrapped in quilts. Her black hair was wet and shiny and her face ghost pale.

  “Jennie?” he whispered without touching her.

  “I made it back,” she mumbled through swollen lips. “I believed I was dead when I reached the lights. I couldn’t feel the cold anymore. I couldn’t even climb down from the horse.”

  She’d thought the ride endless but had stayed in the saddle even when a layer of ice formed over her. Now she looked up at the man she’d wished for every step of the way home. “I hoped you’d be waiting when I got back.”

  Looking more closely at her face, he noticed several bruises, and her lip was cut on one side. Blood caked along her hairline and another spot near the crown of her head. She’d been through more tonight than just the storm. “What happened?” he asked as he knelt on one knee by the bed.

  Jennie allowed a single tear to escape. “I went to the barn to see about True. A man must have followed me, for I remember feeling him near even before I saw him. He hit me on the head, and I woke up in an old run-down house somewhere. He …” Jennie couldn’t say the words.

  He didn’t need or want to hear the details. Austin could see in her eyes that the man had hurt Jennie, and his mind was already planning ways he’d kill the kidnapper. Suddenly True’s plans looked mild compared to what he had in mind.

  Austin rested his hand lightly on Jennie’s shoulder. “Do you know where he is now? Did he follow you back?”

  Jennie pulled away from his touch and shook her head. “I don’t know. It seemed like I rode a long way. When I left, I could hear him yelling for me to come back or he’d kill me. But I don’t think he followed me. I took the only horse.”

  Audrey opened her mouth to order Austin to stop his questions, but the marshal raised his hand to stall her. He needed answers.

  “Do you know his name or have any idea why he kidnapped you?” Austin knew a few men in this world didn’t need any reason.

  Jennie shook her head slowly. “I think he thought I was someone else.”

  “What did he look like?”

  She closed her eyes trying to remember details. “Broad-chested, not much taller than me. I hit him across the face to get away. I don’t remember what he looked like, only the blood running down his cheek. The things he said to me …”

  “Marshal!” Audrey couldn’t remain silent. “That’s enough for now.”

  “I have to ask questions,” Austin snapped, “if I’m going to find this man.”

  He touched Jennie once more, and again she pulled away. “Jennie, please, tell me anything that will help us catch him.”

  Jennie fought back more tears. “I don’t know who he was.” She wasn’t sure why she lied, and she was too tired to answer any more questions. If she told the marshal who the man was, he’d have all kinds of questions about Delta. All Jennie wanted in the world was to pull the covers over her head and sleep.

  “He must have said something to tell you who he was,” Austin pleaded, guessing she was lying.

  Unable to look at him, Jennie stared at the flower patterns on the quilt covering her. Now, if she told the truth, it might end Delta’s marriage to Colton. With a baby on the way, Delta needed a home more than ever. If Ward ever showed his face around here again, she’d kill him herself.

  “I must insist,” Audrey said to Aus
tin. “You have to leave.”

  Austin reached for Jennie again, but she rolled out of his reach. She hadn’t trusted him with the truth before, and now she didn’t trust his touch. Austin swore he’d find this man who hurt her and make him pay for every tear Jennie cried. If True was right about the man looking like the brother who came after Delta’s belongings, he shouldn’t be too hard to find.

  * * *

  DELTA LEANED AGAINST the door to Jennie’s room and listened. Her tears fell silently as she shared Jennie’s pain. There was no doubt in Delta’s mind who had kidnapped her friend. She’d guessed the truth when she noticed her cape missing from the hall.

  She had to stop this before someone else got hurt. She wasn’t sure Ward had shot Colton, but there was no doubt he’d hurt Jennie. The truth had to come out, and Delta was the only one who could release Jennie and Audrey from their promise. She had to stop Ward. But before she told Austin, Delta knew she owed the truth to Colton.

  Moving silently back to their room, Delta crawled beneath the covers once more. In an hour it would be light enough to dress and talk to the marshal.

  “Colton?” Delta whispered as her hand touched her husband’s arm. “How are you feeling?”

  He moved slightly. “Stronger,” he answered in a voice that told her he hadn’t been asleep. “Where have you been?”

  “Upstairs. Outside Jennie and Audrey’s room,” Delta answered. “There’s something I must tell you.”

  “You no longer want to be my wife?” Colton questioned. Before she could answer, he added, “I’ve been expecting it every hour I’ve stayed alive. I know you agreed to marry a dying man. Staying with a living one is another story. I’ll try not to stop you even if I am able.”

  “Oh, no,” Delta cried. “I’ll be your wife for as long as you want me.”

  “Forever sounds reasonable to me.” He said the words slowly, as if he could soften his tone with lack of speed. She had no reason to be loyal to him, but she was.

  Delta lightly brushed his arm and moved an inch closer. He might be a hard man, but his words were so direct she always found strength in them. “I must tell you about my past. Then you may not want me to stay.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “No.” Delta couldn’t wait any longer. Enough had happened because of her lie. “Tonight.”

  “It won’t change my mind,” Colton answered, his dark eyes watching her in the shadows as she continued to touch him. Her small hand moved across his bandaged waist as if she were smoothing out all pain beneath her touch.

  Delta drew courage from her husband as she said, “There’s a man following me. He’s my stepbrother, and he hurt me the night I ran away from home. He plans to kill me and anyone who gets in his way.”

  “Are you afraid?” Colton’s voice was low.

  “No. Not for myself,” Delta answered as her hand moved up to brush the dark hair from his eyes. “Not when I’m with you. I’d never felt safe with anyone until I met you.”

  Colton captured her hand and pressed it against his chest. “No one will ever hurt you again.” He said the words like an oath. “I may have no love left in me to give, but I promise you protection.”

  She relaxed against him. She could live without love in her life as long as she was safe. “I promise I’ll never lie to you again. I should have told you about him from the first, but I didn’t think he’d ever find me.”

  “Then we’ll both start from right now,” he answered. “No more lies or half truths between us, Mary Elizabeth.”

  “My name’s Delta,” she whispered, closing her eyes so that she couldn’t see his reaction.

  To her surprise he laughed softly. “I wondered what it was. Delta. How beautiful. It fits you somehow.”

  “You knew I wasn’t Mary Elizabeth?” Delta raised herself up in the bed so that she could see his face more clearly.

  “The minute you spoke,” Colton laughed at the shock on her face. “Mary Elizabeth was Irish, she’d only been in the States a few months when she answered my ad. Almost every one of her letters told of how she hoped I’d be able to understand her.”

  “But you took me to the ranch. You let me think you believed me.”

  “I couldn’t very well call you a liar in front of everyone in town; and by the time I’d thought of what to say, you’d intrigued me. I wanted to see what game you were playing.”

  “I’d meant to only stay the month and take the ticket you’d offered Mary Elizabeth,” Delta answered honestly. “I’d hoped to earn my way working for you all month.”

  “I guessed as much, and before the dance, I’d decided it would probably be best to let you leave and never tell you I knew you weren’t Mary Elizabeth.”

  “And after the dance?”

  Colton let out a long breath and was silent for so long she wasn’t sure he would answer. “You touched me.” He looked at her, his black eyes reflecting the firelight. “I was starting to believe I’d been given another chance. I thought maybe my life could know some peace. I could have a woman at my side who wasn’t afraid to touch me.”

  “What woman would be afraid of you?” Delta asked, trying to appear brave but remembering how she’d first felt when she’d met him.

  “Every woman in the state,” he answered. “But not you. I thought I might be able to walk the streets of town with a woman by my side and live a life like any other. But the shot ended that. When I thought I was dying, I wanted to know someone would bury me. Now that I may live awhile, I’m not sure what would be fair to you. I was thinking before you came in that I could send you away. Anywhere you like.”

  “I want to go back to the ranch with you.”

  Colton shook his head slowly. “Impossible. It’s too dangerous. I know you think your stepbrother shot me, but I think it was more than likely one of Buck Lawton’s men. Next time he might miss and kill you. I can’t take that chance.”

  Delta cuddled a bit closer. “We both seem to have folks wanting us dead. Let me stay on the ranch.”

  “No.”

  “But I feel safe.” Delta looked up at her husband. The first light of dawn had turned the shadows from black to smoky gray. His features were as hard and unyielding as ever, but she’d learned his heart was not. “Please, let me stay with you.”

  “I can’t,” he whispered, closing his eyes as though in pain as she brushed his whiskery chin with her fingers. “You’re no part of this feud. It started long before you were my wife.”

  “I’m not leaving.” She smiled, knowing she’d win when he reacted to her touch. Her fingers lightly touched his face, exploring, caressing. “Tell me to stop.” He was a man starved of all human touch for years.

  “No,” he whispered as her fingers crossed his lips.

  “Tell me you don’t want me by your side.”

  “I can’t,” he answered. “It’s been so long since anyone wanted to be with me. I’d like you to stay forever, but I have nothing to give. All the caring in me died the night my wife was buried.”

  She knew any man who could react as if her slightest touch were a treasure couldn’t be as heartless as Colton believed himself to be.

  “You didn’t kill her, did you?” Delta had to ask even though she was afraid of the answer.

  “I might as well have.” Colton’s body stiffened slightly. “She wanted to leave me, but she was carrying my child. I tracked her and her lover down before they could escape. I dragged her back against her will. I locked her in our bedroom and told her I’d not allow her to leave with my baby.”

  He was silent for a long time, and Delta knew he was telling the whole truth for the first time. “She took a mixture of poisons to cause her to lose the baby. It worked; my son was born dead only hours later. But the bleeding never stopped, and she died cursing me with her last breath. Swearing her lover would come for her and kill me.”

  “You buried her without telling anyone the truth?”

  “How can a man tell his neighbors that his wife preferred to d
ie rather than live with him? I threw her bags into the coffin and wrapped my little son in a blanket I cut from the black coat she’d been wearing. I placed him in her arms, but even in death she didn’t seem to want him. The hardest thing I ever did was lower the coffin lid and leave him with her. I wanted to hold him so badly. I needed to hear him cry. I needed to know that I hadn’t killed him. But I had, just as surely as if I’d shot them both. If I’d have let her go, they might have lived. All the softness went out of me that night. All that was kind in me was buried with her.”

  He was silent for a long time. His face looked as hard as ever, but Delta could almost hear the tears he cried deep inside him, where no one else would ever see. When she touched his hand, he didn’t react and she realized this strong man was more afraid of her than she was of him.

  She lifted his hand and placed it on her abdomen. Spreading his hand over her nightgown, she whispered, “I carry a child no father wants. Would you accept him?”

  Colton’s long, slender fingers spread across the cotton in a caress. “Whose child is it?”

  “Mine,” she answered. “I’ll not give the baby up, even if it means I have to go away and you divorce me. The baby has no father, but he’ll have a mother.”

  His hand rested on her. He didn’t have to ask to know that she’d gotten pregnant from an attack. He’d seen the fear in her eyes when he’d told her to get in bed. “I’d never hurt you, Delta,” he swore. “You’ve no reason to ever be afraid of me.”

  “I’m not,” she answered. “I’d like to stay as your wife.”

  A light came into his eyes that she had thought she’d never see. “Stay with me,” he said. “Both of you.”

  Without thinking of how he might react, Delta rolled toward him and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for wanting us both.”

  Cupping her chin hesitantly, slowly, very slowly, he lowered his mouth to her lips. The kiss was light, tender against her mouth. “Thank you, Delta, my wife.”

  He rolled back on the pillow and relaxed with his arm pulling her close to his side.