A Love to Last Forever

by Tracie Peterson

“And I can’t imagine it was very easy for Justin to see his grandfather leave again so quickly. I was surprised he didn’t stick around for a while.”

  “He’s sick. He told me he doesn’t have much time and wanted to go back to Kansas to die.” Nick shook his head. “I just keep thinking of how strange it’s all turned out.”

  He ate in silence for several minutes, and Beth tried to think of how to tactfully ask him to share his past, with Justin so thoroughly occupied. Beth finally turned to find Nick watching her rather thoughtfully. She cocked her head to one side and raised her brow as if to question his thoughts.

  “I don’t know how you’ll feel about me after I tell you what I’ve come to say,” Nick began, “but I hope you’ll still care about me.”

  “My guess is that I will,” Beth admitted, “but why don’t you go ahead with your story, and then you’ll know for sure.”

  Nick leaned back against a tree. “I’d known Justin’s mother for much of our childhood. She was just a year younger than me. Her name was Annie. We always figured on marrying. I remember thinking, even at the age of twelve, how lucky I was. Most folks had to wait until they were adults to find true love, but I knew I had it already. Annie felt the same way.”

  Beth smiled, but the tug on her heart was bittersweet. “That must have been very comforting.”

  Nick nodded. “It was. Our folks were neighbors, and the families were close. Simon and Annie’s brothers were best friends. It seemed perfect that we would be so much in love.” He laughed. “Of course, I’m not sure that I really knew what love was at the age of sixteen, but I knew I wanted to spend my life with Annie.”

  Beth frowned and looked away. She didn’t want Nick to think she was upset. “But something happened,” she said, hoping he’d think her expression was nothing more than a deep thought about the matter.

  “Yes. We hoped to wed as soon as she turned sixteen. We knew our folks wouldn’t be all that excited about us marrying so young, but we didn’t want to wait until later. We were alone one night, talking about spending our lives together, and well . . . one thing led to another. We found ourselves tempted beyond our ability to resist.”

  Beth grew uncomfortable but said nothing. She could hear in Nick’s voice that he was just as uneasy. “I dishonored her. I should have been stronger. I planned to go and confess it all to her father, but her brother found us, and after that, no one would hear reason. Before I knew it, her brothers and father were threatening to kill me.”

  “But if you were willing to marry her, why should they have acted that way? It was a mistake for you to do what you did,” Beth said, choosing her words carefully, “but you were willing to make it right.”

  “In their eyes, there was no making this right. My father finally suggested Simon take me and leave for a short time. He was certain that once things calmed down, Annie’s family would see the truth of my sincerity and let us marry.”

  “So you left. What happened to keep you from going back?”

  Nick’s brown eyes seemed to darken. “Annie found out she was pregnant. That just fueled the anger her family had toward me. My father and mother tried to intercede, but it did no good.”

  “But what of her reputation? I would have thought they would have wanted her to marry. At least then the gossip would have been lessened.”

  “That’s what my folks suggested, but her father was adamant. He kept saying that her shame had marked her for life, and that God would punish us both for our sin. Things just got worse and worse, and my family feared for my life.” Nick turned to watch Justin for several minutes before saying anything more.

  “I went back one night. I went to her bedroom window and woke her up. She was nearly eight months along, and I thought she’d never looked prettier. She was embarrassed and cried. I told her I’d come for her and that she should get her things and meet me behind the barn. She agreed.”

  “What happened?” Beth asked, completely engaged in the story.

  “We were about three miles out of town when her father and brothers caught up to us. They threatened to kill me, and Annie went into labor. Things moved so fast after that, they kind of forgot about me temporarily. They hurried Annie back to the house. That was the last time I saw her.”

  “She died giving birth to Justin,” Beth said matter-of-factly.

  “Yes. Her father went to see my father. He told him that they would never allow me to be a part of the boy’s life, and that if they ever saw me again, they would put a bullet in my head. My mother was terrified and begged me to stay away. That’s when Simon suggested we head west. That was nine years ago. I’ve never gone back. After a while, I heard from my folks that Annie’s parents had allowed them to be grandparents to Justin. I was glad about that.”

  “I’m so sorry, Nick. I can’t begin to imagine how painful that must have been.” Beth shifted uncomfortably and bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to ask the question that plagued her, but she knew she had to. “Do you . . . are you still in love with Annie?”

  When Nick didn’t answer right away, she found she had no choice but to look at him. He was watching her with such a tender expression that Beth wanted to rush into his arms.

  “Annie’s gone. There will always be a special place in my memories for her, but—”

  “Pa! Pa!” Justin yelled at the top of his lungs, cutting off anything further Nick might have said.

  Nick jumped to his feet, as did Beth. She feared for a moment that the bear had returned to cause problems, but when Justin began laughing, she could see his cries were for an entirely different reason.

  “There’s a fish on my line. Hurry!”

  Nick ran to the water and helped his son bring in the catch. “Good job, Justin! Just look at the size of him.”

  Beth watched and smiled as the father and son began to build new memories together. The past had wounded them both, but the future promised healing. She prayed that their future might also include her.

  Gwen went to the front door for the fifth time. “I can’t imagine what’s taking the stage so long to get here. They’re nearly an hour late.”

  “Maybe they broke an axle or wheel,” Beth suggested.

  Lacy pulled off her apron. “I’ll ride down the trail and see if I can find them.”

  “No,” Gwen said. “I don’t want you to endanger yourself again. We’ll just wait, or we’ll send one of the men.”

  Lacy fumed. Gwen made it sound like her encounter at the store had been due to some fault of her own. “I haven’t yet put myself in danger’s way, so I resent that you should suggest I’d be doing it again.” She marched off to the kitchen, determined to do exactly as she had suggested. Just let them try to stop her.

  “The stage just pulled up to Lassisters’,” Beth called from the front room.

  “There, see,” Gwen said, following Lacy into the kitchen. “No need to fret or send anyone out. They were simply running behind schedule.”

  But within minutes, it was apparent that something much more sinister had delayed the travelers’ arrival. Dave Shepard helped the stage driver carry a man into Gallatin House, and his expression told Lacy all was not well.

  “He’s been shot,” Dave said. “Where can we put him?”

  “Take him upstairs,” Gwen instructed. “The first room. Should I send Hank for the doctor?”

  “No, I already sent Cubby,” Dave announced as they struggled up the stairs.

  Lacy and her sisters followed. Beth had thought to grab a pitcher of warm water and a couple of towels before joining them in the bedroom.

  “What happened?” Gwen asked.

  “Stage was held up,” the driver said. “Two men with guns. My man here got spooked and fired a shot at them, and they returned fire. Caught him in the side.”

  Dave tore away the man’s shirt to reveal the wound. “Bullet’s still in there, and he’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “Where’d it happen?” Lacy asked.

  The driver glanced her way. �
��About four miles back. I thought for sure we’d have no trouble that close to Gallatin House. They waylaid us long enough to force everyone out of the stage and make us unhitch the team. Then they took everything of value and headed off, down the opposite way from here. I spent the next twenty minutes rounding up the horses while the passengers worked on Zeke, here.”

  Gwen went to work on the man’s injury. “We’ll have to get him cleaned up and see exactly how bad it is.”

  “Well, I think we should be out there tracking the men who did this,” Lacy said, heading for the door. “There’s still plenty of light.”

  “That’s exactly where I’m heading, but I’m going alone,” Dave announced. “This is my job, not yours.”

  Lacy started to say something flippant but held her tongue. Dave was doing the right thing. She watched him go, wishing that someone might go with him. There were, after all, two bandits. Two against one could prove fatal.

  A quick glance over her shoulder told Lacy she’d never be missed. Her sisters and the driver were much too busy attending the injured man. She had no idea where the rest of the stage passengers were, but she’d leave that to her sisters.

  Slipping out of the room, she hurried to her bedroom, tripping over Calvin as she went. The cat gave a yowl as if to raise the alarm for what Lacy had in mind.

  “Sorry, Cal,” Lacy said, not even stopping to see if he was hurt. She quickly closed her bedroom door and rid herself of her cumbersome dress, then pulled on her trousers. It felt good to wear the pants again. She didn’t know why women had to suffer all the time with skirts. She found a well-worn cotton shirt and quickly donned it, stuffing the tails into the waistband. Lacy would need to hurry if she was going to be any use to Dave. If he got too far out and ran into the bandits alone, he might very well get himself killed.

  A sense of urgency drove her onward. Her sisters would believe her crazy, but Lacy felt as if this was something she needed to do. She’d hated how helpless she’d felt during the robbery.

  The driver had said there were two men who’d attacked the stage. There had been two men who’d held her up, as well.

  “They’re probably the same two,” Lacy muttered and pulled on her boots. “And if they are, then I want in on their capture.”

  She hurried out the back door of the house, grabbing up her rifle as she went. Nick and Simon might protest letting her have her horse, but Lacy was prepared for them. If they asked, she’d merely say she was going to see the Shepards. She didn’t need to tell them which Shepard she was hoping to see.

  But as luck would have it, Nick and Simon were still busy working. Lacy slipped into the corral and caught her horse without any trouble at all. She had the beast saddled and out the gate in a matter of minutes.

  So far, so good.

  Lacy tried to judge the distance to the site of the robbery. She looked for signs of where the horses might have stopped when the robbery began. There would no doubt be multiple sets of prints all in one place, as well as the telltale signs of men’s boots.

  She finally came upon the location. She could see the hoofprints of Dave’s gelding. It was the only set of horse tracks that had come from Gallatin House, so Lacy felt certain they must belong to the deputy. She walked the horse around where the stage had stopped and looked for additional prints. There were two sets besides Dave’s, and they clearly led south on the road.

  Lacy urged her horse to follow. She saw no other sign of Dave but knew he couldn’t be too far ahead. She kept her mount moving at a slow pace so as to watch for any sign of the bandits deviating from the road. At one point, she saw a set of prints heading down a narrow path. They didn’t look to belong to Dave’s horse.

  “Should I follow them?”

  Glancing back down the road, Lacy made up her mind to check it out. Surely it wouldn’t take that long. She moved her horse down the narrow trail, watching for any sign of the robbers. Pines and aspen rustled on either side of the path, causing her mount to spook.

  “Easy, fella. It’s all right.” She patted the horse, reassuring him. Lacy felt a trickle of sweat run down her neck. Maybe I should turn back, she thought. After all, there wasn’t any sign of Dave. For the first time, she wished she’d heeded Dave’s command to stay home. She felt out of place and uncharacteristically frightened.

  She had just stopped the horse to turn him when Lacy heard voices. She froze. Someone was coming down the path. For a moment, she wasn’t at all sure what to do. Glancing around, she spied a small opening in the trees. She could hide there. Jumping from the horse’s back, she pulled the beast with her and led him deep into the forest.

  Lacy tied the horse off nearly twenty yards away, then crawled back to the path, rifle in hand, to see who was talking. The ground was hard and dry, and Lacy had to work carefully to make as little noise as possible. If she broke a single twig, they might hear her.

  The horses passed by her in a leisurely fashion as the men spoke. She knew the voices immediately. They were the same men who’d robbed her at the store.

  “Not as good a haul as I would have liked,” one said to the other.

  “You suppose we killed the shotgun?”

  “Can’t be sure, and I don’t really care.” This came from the man who’d first taken hold of her at Hank’s place. Lacy got to her knees and aimed her rifle, but the men were already out of her field of vision.

  She figured to head out to the path and get them from behind, but just as she tried to get to her feet, someone slammed her down to the ground.

  “Be quiet,” Dave Shepard whispered in her ear. “Don’t move.”

  Lacy held still, barely able to breathe from the weight of Dave pinning her to the ground. When he finally moved away and yanked her to her feet, Lacy couldn’t help but pant for breath.

  “What in the world do you think you’re doing? Were you just going to shoot them in cold blood?”

  “They’re the same ones who robbed me,” Lacy declared. “And they were talking about having shot the man on the stage.”

  “I figured as much, but they’re also part of a larger gang. One I’ve been trying to catch for some time now. I want the whole gang, not just part of it,” Dave said, bending toward her. “And you nearly cost me months of investigating.”

  Lacy looked at him oddly. “I didn’t know.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Of course you didn’t. You must think I sit around and play checkers all day or read the paper. Actually, I’m not sure what you think I do all day, but I’m certain you wouldn’t believe the truth if it bit you.”

  “You could try just telling me,” she countered.

  “I might, if you ever shut up long enough.” He looked at her and shook his head. “Why must you always believe the worst about me? What did I ever do to make you so certain that I’m useless at what I do?”

  He walked away, and Lacy was uncertain what he was doing until he reappeared, leading his horse. “I could have followed after them if you hadn’t interfered,” she said.

  “Don’t blame this on me. I was trying to help. It’s not safe for you to go alone. You do realize if you’d gone out there, they would have killed you. They would have seen a boy aiming a gun and shot you dead.” He shook his head. “Then I would have had to live with it.”

  He mounted his horse and rode off in the same direction as the bandits. Lacy stood, looking after him for a moment. Her sense of indignation was nearly overwhelmed by her guilt. Of everything Dave had said to her, the one thing that bothered her most was that he was right. She did always believe the worst about him. But why?

  She retrieved her horse and continued to consider this. It wasn’t like her to just harshly judge people. She supposed because of her father’s death and Dave’s inability to deliver the killer to her doorstep, Lacy had wrongly believed him incompetent.

  Drawing a deep breath, she considered what should be done. Lacy mounted her horse and headed him in the direction Dave had gone. She couldn’t deny the thought deep within her th
at she should apologize to Dave—ask for his forgiveness and hope that he would see how bad she felt for having disrespected him so completely.

  She frowned. Was an apology absolutely necessary? She didn’t want Dave getting the wrong idea. She definitely didn’t want him to believe that what he thought mattered in the least to her.

  Even though it did.

  “Oh bother. Why should it matter?” she asked herself.

  She didn’t like the way it made her feel inside. She didn’t want to care about him or his opinions. It was costly enough to care about her sisters.

  Lacy spied Dave’s horse up ahead. He hadn’t gone too far and was no doubt going slow in order for her to catch up.

  She trailed behind him even after they made their way back onto the main road. Finally, just before the bend that would lead them to the Lassiters’, Lacy allowed her mount to catch up.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” she said, forcing the words to sound as sincere as possible. It wasn’t that she didn’t mean them, but she really hated saying them.

  Dave looked at her in surprise. He actually stopped his horse and waited as if Lacy should say something more. She grew uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

  “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

  Still he said nothing. He just continued to look at her. What more did he want? Lacy tightened her grip on the reins and looked at her hands. “I just wanted to help.” She finally looked back up at the silent man. “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  Dave pushed back his hat a bit. “I didn’t know ‘sorry’ was even in your vocabulary.”

  Lacy squared her shoulders. “Well, when I’m wrong, I don’t mind admitting it. Well . . . I mind, but . . .”

  He laughed and shook his head. “You are something else, Lacy Gallatin. God truly broke the mold when He made you.”

  He urged his horse on with those words, leaving Lacy to wonder if he’d just insulted her or offered her a compliment.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  When Beth saw Ellie hurrying over from the saloon, she smiled. “You look as though you feel a little better,” Beth said, noting that her cuts and bruises were nearly healed.