by Stacy Henrie
“I think Grandma Jones is expecting us for supper,” she hedged. The anxiety in his blue eyes set off warning bells inside her head.
“She’ll understand if we don’t come in for a while.”
If she went with him, something told her things would never be the same. But she didn’t usually back down from hard things and she wouldn’t now.
“All right.”
Jennie licked her lips and followed him past the house. She tried to breathe evenly as she forced her steps to keep up with his. Maybe he wanted to talk about his wages or his earlier suggestion for her to sell the ranch. And yet, if it were either of those wouldn’t he hold her hand? Fear knotted her stomach and the distance between them felt much wider than a few feet.
Caleb stopped at the far end of the corral. Jennie swallowed hard and waited for him to speak, feeling lost and unsure. At any other time, she would have had the comfort of his warm smile or his shoulder resting against hers to calm her nerves and give her strength. Now he stood away from her, his brow furrowed, his shoulders stiff.
“I need to ask you something.”
The tightness in his voice frightened her almost as much as his words. She gave a silent nod and clasped her trembling hands together.
“However strange or absurd it might sound, I want you to answer the question.”
“What is it?” she forced herself to ask, wishing she could run to the house and hide.
“Why were those bandits chasing you that day on the trail?”
Jennie stumbled backward, his question knocking the breath from her as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She reached out and grabbed the fence to steady herself. “I...” She bit her lip and tasted blood. “I...told you already. They were after my money.”
“Was it your money?”
“What do you mean?” She twisted around to look at the fence, the milling cattle, the distant mountains—anything but Caleb.
“Just answer the question, Jennie. Was the money they were after rightfully yours?”
“W-why are you asking me this?” A spark of anger ignited inside her and she stoked it with defensive thoughts—afraid if she wasn’t angry, she might drown in his displeasure. Did he have to go and ruin everything when she was so close to winning the ranch back? Couldn’t he leave well enough alone? “I wouldn’t do anything I didn’t feel was best for my family.”
Caleb slammed his fist against the fence, making her jump. “You’re avoiding the question. Was that your money or not?”
“No, it wasn’t.” She folded her arms and pressed them together, trying to hold in the ache beginning in her chest. “I took it from them, all right? But the money was already taken from its original owners, and the men who had it would have spent the money on drinks or worse. I used it for something good and decent.”
“Decent?” He blew out his breath. “The money was stolen. It doesn’t matter what they would’ve spent it on. It belonged to someone else.”
“Why are you asking me this?” she repeated, her voice rising in pitch as anger and fear battled inside her. “Why now? Why today?”
“Because Mr. King,” Caleb said, his jaw clenching, “was kind enough to share your exploits with me during our conversation at the store.”
“Now who’s being dishonest?” she lashed out in defense. “You said he only talked to you about working for him.”
“I said he offered me a job and that he is a scoundrel. All of that is true. I wasn’t trying to keep the rest of our conversation from you, but I needed time to...to think.”
“And what have you decided?” Her voiced sounded as small as she felt.
Instead of answering, Caleb countered with a question of his own. “That wasn’t the first robbery was it?”
She hazarded a glance at him and regretted it at once. The hurt and betrayal on his face nearly stopped her heart altogether.
“How many stage robberies have you committed, Jennie?”
“None,” she whispered to the ground. “I never robbed a stage. I only robbed stage thieves.”
Caleb’s harsh laugh brought up her head. “My mistake. How many times have you taken money from thieves like the ones shooting at us that day on the trail? Like the ones I spent more than a year of my life tracking down?”
She swallowed, trying to bring moisture to her dry mouth. “Four.”
“Four?” Caleb echoed before sweeping off his hat and whacking it against his leg. “Only four, huh? Well, that’s good to know, I suppose. ’Cause I was worried it might’ve been more.” She glanced away, stung by his sarcasm. “Do you know why I became a bounty hunter?”
His question caught her off guard but she welcomed the change in subject. “No. You didn’t say the other day.”
“It’s because of Liza.” When he paused, Jennie peered up at him. Fresh pain etched his face. “The stage she’d taken was robbed by four men. When they shot the driver, the stage flipped and she was killed.”
Fresh guilt washed over her. She knew she wasn’t responsible for those hurt by the stage thugs she took from. Still, she’d never thought about those people’s lives.
“I spent over a year tracking down three of those men. The fourth got away...after I killed his partner. But to think those are the type of people you’ve been dealing with...” He shook his head, his voice strangled. “I’m not sure I can stay here any longer.”
Did he mean a few days or forever? Jennie hadn’t fooled herself into thinking he wouldn’t be mad. But leaving? She didn’t want to think about him going away for good. She had to make him see, make him understand. “I’ll tell you the whole story, just please...” She sniffed back the threatening tears, her chin wobbling with the effort. “Don’t leave—not until I’ve explained.”
He frowned, but stood still.
“The day we met in the store when you helped me with the spilled candy, I...” She exhaled, forcing out the words with her next breath. “I’d just come from the bank. The bank president told me that if I didn’t pay five hundred dollars of my loan before the end of the month—and the other thirteen hundred by this August—he’d foreclose. I was on the stagecoach back home, desperately trying to think of a way to get the money, when I met my first bandits. They got drunk during the ride and it loosened their tongues. From what they had said, and from what I’d overheard about the robbery in the mercantile earlier, I realized they were the ones responsible, and that they had two thousand dollars with them.”
“Wait a minute,” Caleb interjected with a shake of his head. “I heard about that robbery. The sheriff got his hands on the thieves and the stolen money.”
“Not all of the money. I took the five hundred I needed. Then I got rid of the men’s guns and alerted the stage driver by firing my pistol. We tied up the thieves and turned back for Fillmore. I made it onto another stage before the sheriff arrived.”
“So that’s how it’s been with all of them?” His bitter tone made her cringe inwardly. “You pit yourself against dangerous men and walk away without a scratch?”
“No.” She gave a helpless shrug but didn’t say anything more, afraid to tell him about the bullet graze to her arm.
He ran a hand through his hair as he angrily paced away from her and then returned. “What were you thinking? Why would you put your life at risk to do something so morally wrong?”
His words seeped like poison into her heart, igniting fresh resentment. “That’s not how I see it. This place is my life, Caleb. It’s all we have. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing what my father had worked so hard to keep. I had to fight for it, in whatever way I could. That’s why I’ve only taken money from criminals—money that’s already been stolen.”
“Is that what these meetings with that ruffian were all about? The robberies? Or whatever you want to call them?”
“You still think it’s some kind of affair, don’t you?” Jennie didn’t wait for his reply. “Nathan Blaine is a business partner, nothing more. He spends enough time in the saloons to le
arn who’ll be robbing what stage and when. I pay him for his help with half the money I take.”
Caleb’s face went pale and he grabbed her arm, hard. “Did you say that man’s name is Nathan Blaine? Is his first name Otis?”
His reaction made her pulse race with new fear, though she wasn’t sure why. “I don’t know. He only told me he was called Nathan Blaine.”
“Did he used to rob stages?”
“I—I don’t know for sure.”
He let go of her arm and marched past her, then seemed to change his mind. He spun back, his eyes dark blue with barely controlled anger. “You said the other day that you wouldn’t be meeting with him again. Does that mean you’re done robbing stage thieves?”
The roar of her heartbeat in her ears nearly drowned out his question. How could she tell him no? “Caleb...” She lifted her thumbnail to her mouth and then dropped her hand. “The bank called my loan due in twelve days. I still owe five hundred and fifty dollars. There’s another stage robbery planned for tomorrow—”
“What? No.” The muscles in his jaw tightened again. “No.” He stalked toward the house.
Jennie raced after him. “Caleb, wait.”
She gripped his sleeve, but released it when he spun around. The pain in his eyes eerily matched the pain in another pair of eyes, ones Jennie hadn’t seen in eight years. Her mother had looked as troubled and hollow the day she’d left as Caleb did now.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her voice rising with alarm.
“I’m not going to stay here and watch you ride off to do something illegal—something dangerous. If you were caught, you’d go to jail, Jennie. Jail. For a long time. What would happen to your family then? What would Will and Grandma Jones do?”
“What I am supposed to do? Say goodbye to all of this?” She swept her arm in an arc, taking in the house and barn with the motion. “I’ve worked for years to make this place beautiful and profitable like my father wanted. But I can’t...” She stifled the sob rising in her throat with a fist to her mouth. “How can I do that if I lose the place? Are we just supposed to start over with nothing?”
Caleb reached to hold her hand for the first time all evening. His touch sent a jolt of hope through her until he spoke. “You could walk away from it. Start over, like I suggested this morning.”
Abandon the ranch? “I can’t—not yet.” That couldn’t be the only answer. “Maybe we could sell the cattle to hold the bank off a little longer. I could go see Mr. Dixon and beg him to reconsider.” She realized her mistake the moment the words were out.
“Isn’t that who you went to see in Fillmore?”
Jennie flushed.
“You didn’t go, did you? It was just another ruse for a robbery, wasn’t it?”
“I could talk to him, for real this time. Maybe he’d extend the loan.” She squeezed his hand, hoping he’d understand. “Please, Caleb. I can’t give up—not like my mother.”
“Is that what this is really all about?” He yanked his hand from her grasp. “Not giving up like your mother?”
“You don’t know anything about it.” She wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the sudden cold inside her.
His answering gaze seemed to pierce into the hidden corners of her soul. “Maybe not. But I know this. Your mother was too scared or stubborn to ask for help when she needed it most, and that’s your problem, too. You judged all those people at church, while you sat out here with your nose in the air, not willing to ask anything from anybody.”
“They wouldn’t have helped us anyway.” She no longer cared about keeping the tears back; they slid hot down her face, creating the only warmth in her body.
“How do you know? There are a lot of decent people in this world who would’ve gladly lent a hand until you could get back on your feet. And what about God? Did you ask Him what to do?” Caleb rubbed a tired hand over his face. “No. You just went ahead and solved the problem your own way—by robbing bandits.”
Before she could reply, he took another step toward the house.
“I’m falling in love with you, Jennie,” he said, his back to her. “Even knowing all of this, my feelings haven’t changed. But I think it’s best if I leave.”
“Wh-what are you saying?” His words resurrected the painful thumping of her heart. Why did everyone have to leave? First her mother, then her father and now Caleb.
“How can I stay?” Caleb turned slowly to face her, his expression full of grief. “I can’t live here. Not when I know my wages and the ranch are paid for with stolen money.”
Jennie jabbed at the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand. “There’s nothing that’ll change your mind?”
He hesitated, causing Jennie to hope again, then he lowered his head. “You’ve made your choice clear. I’ll leave in the morning. Don’t worry about my pay.” With that, he walked away, not looking back.
Jennie hurried to the bunkhouse, grateful for once that they didn’t have any other ranch hands. She slumped to the floor, her chin resting on her knees. Her unrestrained sobs echoed off the walls.
When her shoulders stopped shaking, she twisted her head to study the loose board that concealed most of the stolen money. For the first time in eight months, she questioned the course she’d taken that day in the stage with Horace and Clyde. She hadn’t meant to do anything wrong or hurt the people she loved.
Was it too late to make things right? Or was she in too deep to turn back now? The stillness of the room held no answers.
Chapter Sixteen
Grandma Jones served Caleb’s favorite dish for supper—flapjacks and fried potatoes. But despite the delicious smells and the sweet taste of the molasses he drizzled over everything, he could barely choke down the meal.
“You haven’t touched much of your food, Caleb,” Grandma Jones said, giving him a long look.
Caleb ate another bite and swallowed. “Not because it isn’t excellent. I guess I’m just a bit tuckered out.”
“You aren’t the only one.” She nodded at Will who’d fallen asleep in his chair, his head resting beside his plate on the table.
Caleb didn’t want to say goodbye to Will or Grandma Jones tomorrow. They’d become like family the past six weeks and he hated the idea of them being hurt by Jennie’s foolish choices.
Should he turn Jennie in to the law? No, he couldn’t do that. But he did know someone who deserved to be brought in. He stood abruptly and took his half-full plate to the sideboard.
“I think Saul and I are gonna go for a ride. Will you tell Jennie?” he asked Grandma Jones. “I’m not sure where she went.”
Grandma Jones lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll tell her when she comes in. You going to be gone long?”
“We’ll be back in a few hours.”
He left the kitchen and went to his room. Inside, he loaded his revolvers and placed them in the holster he buckled around his waist. He slipped outside and headed to the barn. He hadn’t seen Jennie since before supper. Thankfully she wasn’t in the barn. He needed to complete his plan before he saw her again.
After saddling Saul, Caleb led the horse toward town. With sunset coming later in the evening, he would have plenty of time to do what he had to and be back at the ranch before too late.
His earlier anger and hurt at Jennie’s confession rolled through him again as he rode. How could she have lied to him and her family? How could she have participated in something so wrong? And then to throw in lots with the likes of Black-Eyed Blaine.
Thoughts of Nathan led to thoughts of Liza and her unfair death. This man had never paid for robbing Caleb of his fiancée and his dreams of marriage and family; he had escaped any consequence. Well, that ends tonight. Caleb clenched the reins tight as seeds of hate and revenge sprouted anew inside him.
This time Caleb wouldn’t let him go. This time Nathan would see justice served for all his misdeeds, starting with robbing Liza’s stage. Vengeance burned hot through his veins and he urged Saul into a gallop. He would fi
nally bring in his last man.
Caleb rode straight to the saloon, certain from Jennie’s story that Nathan would be there. He pulled his hat low and entered the crowded establishment. Raucous laughter and the smell of booze filled the air. Taking a seat at an empty table at the back, Caleb searched the room for Nathan. He didn’t see him.
Tasting bitter disappointment, he started to stand when a couple coming down the stairs caught his eye. He sat back down when he realized it was Nathan and a saloon girl. Fresh loathing for this man washed over Caleb, and he grit his teeth to keep from leaping up and shooting him at once. Instead he slipped one of his guns from his holster and concealed it beneath his jacket as he waited for Nathan and the girl to find a table.
Once they were seated, Caleb rose to his feet and ambled in their direction. He paused at a table where a poker game was in full swing, feigning interest so he would appear to be just one of the crowd. He didn’t want Nathan to see him coming until too late.
Caleb angled his way across the room to come in at Nathan’s back. The stage robber had obviously gone soft in the three years since robbing Liza’s stage to sit in the open with his back to most of the room. Bringing him in would be easier than Caleb had thought.
He approached the two who were whispering, keeping his footsteps light. Someone on the other side of the room shouted something and Nathan turned in that direction. Caleb quickly dropped into a seat at the table next to theirs. He held still as Nathan returned to his conversation with the saloon girl.
Scooting his chair out from the table, Caleb twisted in his seat and brought the gun from beneath his jacket. His heart lurched with familiar anticipation, just as it had when he’d brought in Nathan’s three partners—two alive, one dead.
One dead, his mind repeated.
Caleb froze, his fingers gripped so tight around his gun that they started to ache. He wasn’t wrong to bring this criminal to justice—was he? No, but you made a promise.
Remorse every bit as sharp as his hatred cut through him and he had to gulp in several deep breaths. He might have killed Nathan’s partner in self-defense, but Caleb’s dreams of revenge had brought him to that fateful situation. After that, he’d promised God he would give up bounty hunting, he would give up his thirst for retribution. Neither one would bring back Liza or restore peace to his life.