Emily’s mind filled with questions, although she knew first things first. As soon as she got the opportunity, she’d corner Jake and tell him she’d guessed the riddle—the identity of his mystery woman. It was . . . herself!
“You sure you want to do this, Jake?”
“I’m sure.”
Fellow deputy Roy Gentry fell silent for several moments as they ambled down the road leading to and from the Ready Web. “I’m disappointed to say the least.”
“I appreciate it, but the fact is I want to settle down.”
“You can do that and still be a deputy marshal. I have.”
“I realize that and don’t think I didn’t consider it.”
“You’ve been deputized by four different marshals. Know why? Because folks around here know that you’re honest, trustworthy, patient, and fair—even to the Indians.”
“I’ve tried, Roy, so I’m glad that I’m leaving the profession with a good reputation.”
His burly friend, a man who’d been part of the posse that tracked down Pa’s killers, worked his thumbs under his suspenders. “It’s more than that, Jake. We need you.”
“No, you don’t. There are plenty of other good men who can step into my place.” When Roy started to debate, Jake held up a forestalling hand. “My mind’s made up. Tomorrow when I report for duty in Glendive, I’m turning in my badge.”
“Wish you’d at least give it another thought.”
“Done thinking on it, Roy.” Jake’s tone was sharper than he’d intended.
“All right then.” He snapped up a long piece of prairie grass and chewed on the end of it. “So who’s the lucky girl?”
Jake grinned. He knew that question was coming. “Emily Sundberg.”
“That red-headed filly?”
“Right.” Although Jake would say her hair was more russet than red.
“Pretty little thing.” Roy gave him a sideways glance. “Seems kinda quiet, though. You sure you want a quiet woman? A man never knows what them quiet ones is thinking.”
Jake laughed. “Emily is not quiet. Trust me.”
“Okay.” Another hesitation. “It’s good you found a woman to love, Jake. I’ll admit that Verona and I sometimes worry about you. God said it ain’t right for a man to be alone. And you’re young enough yet, not so set in your ways that a woman can’t share your life.”
“I plan to move to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and live in Granddad’s house. He left it to me. It feels like . . . like home.”
Roy stopped and stroked his grizzled face. “You’re leaving Montana too? That’s quite a blow you’ve hit me with. If you leave, that’s one less God-fearing, law-abiding soul in the county.”
“I know. And I apologize for the disappointment you feel. But I’ve got to follow my heart on this one, Roy. Besides . . . ” Jake grinned. “I can always visit.”
“And speaking of . . . ” They resumed their slow amble. “Have you been over to Suicide Bluff yet?”
“Nope, and I don’t plan on going near it any time soon.”
“I think you might want to reconsider.”
Jake gave Roy a glance, but didn’t reply.
Again Roy halted. “You can’t begin a new life until you’ve made friends with the past, Jake.”
“The past ain’t been any sort of friend to me.”
“And that’s my point. You can’t carry all the hurt and anger that’s inside you into your marriage. It’ll haunt you there as much as it does right now.”
Jake’s temper simmered. His friend walked a precarious edge right now. “We’d best get back to the house.”
“You never struck me as a coward, Jake. Not in any situation.”
“You can’t goad me, Roy.” He turned and strode toward the house.
“I’m your friend, Jake, and it’s my duty to tell you the truth.”
Jake stopped so the man would quit his hollering. With his back to him, he waited for Roy to finish his rant, mentally protecting himself from the words sinking too deep. This wasn’t the first time Jake heard this particular advice. But no one really understood what he thought and felt. The pain was unbearable. Miserable. And it wasn’t so simple as making friends.
“It’s a fact, Jake. A man has to go back in order to move forward. It’s just like tracking a murderin’ thief. You find out where he’s been before you can figure out where he’s at.”
Several moments of silence, and then Jake walked back to the house alone.
CHAPTER 25
THE GUESTS LEFT, and Emily assisted Deidre in cleaning up afterward. Just light duty, as Deidre believed in resting on the Sabbath. They retired to the porch where a cool breeze greeted them along with Charlie’s harmonica playing. A ways off, near the fruit trees, Emily spotted Iris and Rez, strolling along. He’d got his kiss on the jaw, but Emily still felt a bit hurt that her best friend thought she cast an oppressively tall shadow over her. They’d been best friends for more than eight years. Whatever Emily had, she’d shared with Iris, including her dreams and disappointments. But, on second thought, she’d never told Iris about kissing Jake under the oak. She’d been too ashamed. If Iris ever heard gossip or rumors about it, she’d never said, so Emily never had to explain.
Thinking of Jake caused Emily to realize she hadn’t seen him in a while. Where’d he run off to? An afternoon nap in his cabin?
“Come on over here and sit a while, Emily.” Deidre called to her from the left end of the porch where the dining table stood.
She smiled and headed that way. But about that same time Jake came from the barn, leading Nickel and Rusty. Both animals were saddled.
His gaze found hers as he walked across the yard. Nearing the porch, Emily glimpsed his fallen features, darkened by the brim of his Stetson, and somehow knew things were amiss.
“Want to go for a ride?”
She nodded. “Wait here while I change. It’ll only be a few minutes.” She faced Deidre. “May I borrow your split skirt again? It’s hanging in the room I share with Iris.”
“Of course.” A little frown puckered Deidre’s brow. “Anything wrong, Jake?”
“Nope.” He put one booted foot on the first porch step.
Emily hurried inside to change. Without so many petticoats to wear, changing into the split skirt was a simple task. Next she unpinned her hair, allowing it to fall down her back in one thick braid, like yesterday. Chances were she’d lose the pins during the ride anyway.
Back outside she smiled at Jake as she approached Rusty. She rubbed the horse’s nose. “I’m ready.”
Jake handed her the reins and politely assisted her into the saddle. Then he mounted Nickel.
As they rode slowly out of the yard and down the dirt road, Emily waited for Jake to say something. A good minute went by before he did.
“Will you ride to Suicide Bluff with me?”
Surprised, she looked his way, but his gaze remained straight ahead. “Of course I will.” So many more questions filled her, but the time didn’t seem fitting to ask.
They steered their horses the opposite way as they’d gone yesterday and then made another turn, away from the river and going farther into a stretch of badlands.
Finally the path became impassable on horseback. They dismounted and walked up a steep incline, using the boulders on either side of them for leverage. Then suddenly they stood on a narrow ridge. Another steep incline lay ahead, but a weathered wooden fence blocked their entrance. The word DANGER had been painted across one plank.
“That’s it up there.” Jake stepped up to the fence. “If you look over there—” He pointed to the right. “—you can get a sense of how deadly the fall might be.”
Emily strode to a short, hip-high rocky formation, looked over its width, and glimpsed the stony crevasse below. She looked back at Jake’s bowed head. He’d removed his hat and held it against his chest. His other hand gripped the top plank of the wood barricade. Emily felt his sorrow. Her heart ached for him.
She walked to his si
de and hugged his right arm. He moved and pulled her against him, holding her so tightly that Emily could barely pull in a breath.
“Can I hold you a minute?” He spoke the words into her shoulder. She felt each one.
“Yes, and squeeze me as hard as you want if it helps.” She pressed her hands into his muscled back. “I won’t break.”
His shoulders moved in a way that made Emily think he was . . . crying? She’d never seen a grown man cry. Was it possible? A rugged, experienced deputy marshal? Tears filled her own eyes. He had to be in an enormous amount of pain.
She said nothing. No words came to mind that might soothe him.
His left hand cupped the back of her head, and she heard him exhale then sniff as if he had a cold. Long moments passed before he relaxed his hold around her. His breathing slowed.
“This has been a long time coming.” Jake kissed the side of her head and gently pushed her away. One arm remained around her waist, the other on her shoulder. “I spent the last hour praying about something a friend said earlier. As much as I hate to admit he was right, he was.”
“About what?”
“About . . . making friends with the past.” He gazed off in the distance before looking into her face once more. “You see, I never let myself grieve for Ma. That is, I never let it out. I avoided it—and this place. Does that make sense?”
Emily nodded.
“But you’re the only one I trusted to be with me right now.”
“I’m glad.” High compliment indeed! She removed the borrowed riding gloves, letting them drop, before reaching up and wiping a spot of moisture from his face. “Do you feel better?”
He appeared to think it over. “Maybe.” His right shoulder moved up and down. “Guess I do.”
Emily smiled. As fickle as a female, as Poppa liked to tease.
Jake’s gaze narrowed as if he read her thoughts.
Emily stepped closer and hugged him around the waist. Her ear to his heart, she heard its strong, steady beating. Lord, I love him. Jake pressed a kiss on her forehead. And he loves me.
“I figured out who your true love is.” Maybe now wasn’t the time or place, but Emily couldn’t rein in her own feelings a second longer.
“About time.”
She straightened and longing filled her as she looked in his dark eyes. She cupped his face, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him on the mouth. The instant their lips made contact, Emily knew without a doubt that she’d loved Jake for almost half her life.
“Mmm . . . ” Jake pulled back and wagged his head. A grin twitched the corners of his mouth. “Emily Sundberg, bold as brass.”
“Not usually.” Her hands slid around his neck, and she sagged against him.
“I’m glad to know that.” He made no attempt to free her—or be freed.
“The truth is I gave my heart away to you when I was thirteen years old. I tried to forget you, but I never could. That’s why I was so angry to see you again. Just when I thought that maybe Andy Anderson might fill the void you left in my heart, you burst back into my life.”
Jake stared at her, vulnerability pooling in his eyes.
“I love you, Jake.”
“You mean it?”
“From the depths of my being. Maybe knowing this will help heal your heart. Admitting it has helped heal mine.”
He leaned slowly forward, his lips seeking hers, claiming them. The magic happened all over again. Emily closed her eyes and kissed him back until the air left her lungs.
Jake moved slightly back. They shared a breath. “I guess my fate is sealed.” He sounded breathless himself. “At least according to your father.”
Emily smiled and snuck another quick kiss.
Amusement danced in Jake’s gaze, and then Emily glimpsed forever there too. “I love you, Emily, more than words can ever say.”
“I know.”
He gave her braid a little tug as payback for the sassy reply. Then he gazed up at the bluff; however, the sadness had been erased from his face. “I think my heart is healing, Em.”
She clung to him. “What was she like?”
“Ma?”
“Uh-huh.”
He rested his head on hers. “Soft-spoken, sweet, caring. Like Deidre, only not as talkative.”
Emily tried to imagine what Jake’s mother looked like.
“She was nothing like my aunt! Just the opposite. And she would have liked you, Em.”
“I have a feeling that I would have liked her as well.”
Jake talked on about his mother, and Emily didn’t interrupt him. With arms still around his waist, she stared up at the bluff, listening to him and yet pondering the same question that plagued Jake, Deidre, and Mr. Ollie all these years. Why?
A glint of something in the rock caught a ray of evening sun, and Emily blinked. And then she saw it.
“Jake!” She gasped. “It’s there. It’s truly there!”
“What?” His body tensed.
“The lockbox. I see it, hiding in the rock at the top of the bluff.
Look!”
“Emily—”
“Look!” She broke free and pointed, hoping she didn’t lose sight of it as the sun sank deeper into the sky.
Jake shoved his hat onto his head, and then with forearms on the barricade and a booted foot on the lowest plank, he stared upward.
“Do you see it?” She saw his eyes searching the rock formation. “See it?”
He pursed his lips and squinted.
Emily tugged on his elbow, pulling him several steps to his right. “See it now?”
A second later, Jake’s eyes widened. He saw it!
Relief mixed with excitement coursed through her. “Let’s get it. If we’re careful, we can climb—”
“No.”
“No?” Emily wouldn’t accept the answer. “But we owe it to your late grandfather, to Deidre and your unborn niece or nephew to get the box. It proves your mother fell. She didn’t jump.”
Jake’s gaze jerked to hers, and she sensed he weighed his options.
“We need to get that lockbox tonight.”
“Not ‘we,’ Emily. There’s no way I’ll let you risk your life.” He reached for her hand. “You’re too important to me. Let’s go back to the house.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“I am. You mean everything on earth to me.”
“Thank you, but don’t you think we’ll all sleep easier tonight if—”
“I’ll get that lockbox before nightfall, but I need Web, Charlie, and Rez to help.” They reached the horses. “I also need a passel of dynamite.”
“Isn’t that extreme?” Emily swung her leg over the saddle.
Jake grinned. “Not if I intend to blow Suicide Bluff to kingdom come!”
“But the lockbox! Won’t it be blown to kingdom come too?”
“Don’t you worry.” Jake sent her a smile. “I’ll safely retrieve it before I blow up the bluff.”
Emily awoke the next morning and immediately smiled. Many miracles occurred last night. It seemed to take forever, but finally she, Iris, and Deidre felt the consecutive blasts that shook the very house in which they waited for the men to return. The china clattered in the cabinet, and glass panes rattled in windows, but Deidre was so relieved to learn her mother’s death had been an accident and not suicide that she said she’d willingly suffer with any collateral damage, although there was none. And while the men were blowing up Suicide Bluff, Deidre carefully leafed through the lockbox. It was weathered, but it was identical to the one Mr. Ollie left to Jake.
A sigh passed through Emily’s lips. But the best part of the night was that she’d found out he loved her—and she loved him.
And it had been with great delight that Emily told Iris that she’d guessed the identity of Jake’s mystery woman. Afterward they’d giggled as if they were sixteen again!
A rooster crowed, and Emily remembered that Jake was leaving for Glendive this morning. She wanted to see him before he rode off
. Taking care, she slipped from beneath the bedcovers. Iris still dozed peacefully, no doubt dreaming of Rez the ranch hand. Emily had heard only good things about him thus far, and she wouldn’t dare interfere. It still hurt, though, to think Iris had harbored feelings of inadequacy all these years when Emily loved her as much as if they were sisters.
She dressed in a red and ivory pinstripe walking dress with empire waist. Probably too fancy for a day on the ranch, but most of Emily’s wardrobe had been tailored for teaching school and afternoon garden parties. After brushing out her hair, she twisted it into a knot and let it hang between her shoulder blades. She’d pin it up later. She simply couldn’t miss seeing Jake off.
As she hoped, she found him drinking coffee on the back porch. He looked every bit the US deputy marshal in his white shirt, coal vest, and black trousers. She guessed he’d don a dress jacket to complete his ensemble.
“Good morning, Jake.” She spoke softly so as not to wake anyone else.
He stood from the step and faced her. “Morning, Em.” His gaze ran the length of her. “My, but you’re a pretty sight.”
“A bit overdone for my visit here at the ranch, but I was, um, misled when I packed.”
Jake grinned. “You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She stepped forward and clasped his outstretched hand with both of hers. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Like a new man.”
He didn’t appear to be teasing either. “Good.”
“Want some coffee?”
Emily shook her head. “Is your assignment today dangerous?” She hoped not—prayed not.
“No. I’m giving testimony in front of a judge today regarding a man I apprehended.”
“Did he kill someone?”
Jake shook his head. “Stole some livestock and drove them into North Dakota to get back at his second cousin who, supposedly, stole them first.”
“Well, please be careful.”
Jake set down his coffee cup and caressed her cheek. “Don’t worry, all right?”
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