When the Halo Falls, a heavenly romance

by Maureen Child

  Hell, he even missed arguing with her and that was really saying something.

  The nights were the worst, though. He'd lie there in the dark, so hungry for her, every inch of his skin feeling as though it were on fire. And there was just no relief for the wanting.

  "Have you even seen her since she left?" Sam asked, breaking the silence.

  "No." He'd looked for her that first day she was gone. Wanting to make sure she was all right. Telling himself that he'd have done the same thing for anyone. Though he knew damn well that was a lie.

  But he hadn’t been able to find her.

  Which went to prove how badly she wanted to stay lost. The town just wasn't big enough to hide in unless you really worked at it.

  "I think Lily knows where she is."

  "Huh?" Brady's head snapped up and he looked at his friend, waiting for more information.

  "Lily's staying with Treasure now —“

  "I know." Brady shook his head, amazed anew at how much had changed because of Patience. Lily had not only quit working at the saloon, she and Treasure had become such good friends, she'd moved out of her room upstairs and into the spare room above the Mercantile.

  " — and when I went to see her last night, she —“

  "You went to see her?" Brady asked, interrupting the other man. "Why?" After all, when a town sheriff went to talk to a saloon girl, it generally meant trouble. And if Sam thought he was going to throw Lily into jail on some trumped-up charge, just when she was finding some happiness…

  Sam worked his index finger around the inside of his shirt collar and swallowed hard. Then narrowing his gaze, he told Brady, “I went calling on her, that's all."

  Yet another surprise. It was a good thing he didn't have a bad heart, he thought.

  "You're courting Lily?"

  “Nobody said anything about courting," Sam muttered. "Can't a man go to call on a woman without folks getting the idea that —“ He broke off, shook his head and started over. "Anyhow, Lily said something about what Patience was up to, then I guess she remembered it was supposed to be a secret and she closed up tighter than a wet boot. Wouldn't say another word about her."

  Brady's fingers tightened around his glass. Lily knew where she was. Lily knew if she was all right. All he had to do was talk to Lily. And thereby admit he gave a damn, which was probably just what Patience was hoping for.

  Nope. He couldn't do it.

  No matter how much he wanted to.

  "All finished, Brady," Davey said as he came in from the storeroom. "Got them boxes all straightened out and lined up like General Custer's boys."

  "Those boxes,” he corrected, without even thinking about it.

  "Those," the kid echoed.

  Brady shifted his gaze to the boy beside him and an idea slowly took shape in his mind. Laying one hand on Davey's shoulder, he smiled.

  #

  The little cabin rocked with laughter as the townswomen told story after story, entertaining each other with tales of their men's tribulations.

  Miriam Vines laid one hand against her chest, pulled in a deep breath, and said, "You should have seen the look on Hiram's face when he sat down to dinner last night and I told him he'd be cooking for himself. That man wouldn't have been more surprised if I'd pulled a pistol on him."

  "And Dennis?" another woman piped up from the far corner of the small, crowded cabin. "When I left the twins with him this morning, you'd have thought it was the end of the world." She grinned and added, "I saw panic in his eyes."

  The women laughed and Patience smiled, since she knew it was expected, but inside, her mind was whirling. Her fight with Brady had taken on monstrous proportions. She hadn't meant to instigate a revolution. But whether she'd planned it or not, the town of Fortune had been set on its ear.

  The lines had been drawn.

  Women against men.

  Wives against husbands.

  And though she knew she should be touched by the support of these women, all she really wanted was to be in Brady's arms again. To have this settled. To know who she was and where she belonged.

  To love him and be loved.

  But the chances of that seemed slim. Patience stood up and walked to the far side of the cabin. Bending down, she stoked the fire and resettled the tea kettle onto the hob. Voices rose and fell around her, laughter punctuated the air, but she wasn't listening.

  Instead, her mind turned, as it usually did, toward Brady. Three days she'd been gone and he hadn't even tried to find her. She wasn't that hard to find, after all. This little cabin that Treasure's husband had built when they were first married was only a short distance from town.

  Lily pushed herself up from her seat on the floor and left the circle of women to join Patience at the stove. It just wasn't fair, she thought as she watched her friend's wistful expression. Lily was happier than she'd been in years and the woman responsible for her happiness was clearly miserable.

  Patience looked up as she neared and forced a smile that was so overly bright, it was sad.

  "Are you enjoying living with Treasure?" she asked.

  "It's surely different," Lily said and smiled to herself. It was all so new. Having friends. Living in a place where you didn't hear drunks whooping it up. Where you didn't lie in your bed waiting for the knock on the door telling you it was time to go to work again.

  For the first time in too many years, her life was her own once more. And she felt… good. But she'd feel so much better if Patience would come back to town and help end the nonsense that was spreading like a wildfire.

  “That's wonderful, Lily," Patience said and turned back to watching the kettle as it simmered on the stove.

  "Aren't you going to ask about Brady?"

  Patience stiffened slightly and a pang of sympathy tugged at Lily's heart.

  "Of course," she said and her voice sounded so chipper it scratched at the air. "How is Brady?"

  "Miserable," Lily said simply and waited while Patience turned to her with a hopeful smile.

  "Really?"

  Nodding, Lily leaned in close and said, "Fern and Addey told me he's like a bear. Just wanders around the saloon grumbling and muttering. Got a look dark as thunder on his face all the time and spends half of every night just sitting in the empty saloon. Guess he's not sleeping any better than you are."

  "Oh, I'm fine,"' Patience told her, straightening her shoulders and lifting her chin as if that were enough to convince anyone.

  "Sure you are," Lily said. "That's why you've got shadows under your eyes dark enough to plant corn in."

  Patience ducked her head, then turned around to snatch up the whistling kettle. As she poured boiling water into the waiting teapot, she said, “I'm a little tired. That's all."

  And stubborn, Lily thought. Don't forget stubborn. This small woman and Brady were either a match made in heaven or hell. They were so much alike. No bend in either of them.

  Laying one hand on the woman's arm, Lily asked quietly, “Why don't you come back, Patience? He needs you.”

  "But he doesn't know that yet," she said. “And until he does, I'm not coming back."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Billie Sue Simon smiled at him.

  Right there in the middle of Main Street, with folks walking all around. Then she lifted one hand and gave him a wave.

  Davey's insides turned to mush and his knees went a little trembly. Those big blue eyes of hers latched on to him and her long, blond curls almost seemed to glow in the haphazard morning sunlight peeking out from behind the clouds. He felt hogtied and dizzy. About as out of place as a cow on a front porch. He wasn't sure what to do about it. Durn it, no girl had ever smiled at him before.

  "I'm not s'posed to talk to you," she said and Davey almost looked behind him, thinking she must be talking to somebody else.

  "How come?” he asked, when he could get his voice to work.

  "My mama says we can't talk to you men, not till you come to your senses.”

  Men? His
narrow chest puffed out a bit with pride. It was nice being counted as one of the men — even if the menfolk weren't real popular here lately. And remembering that made him remember what it was he was supposed to be doing.

  "Our senses?" he said. “Brady says it's you females who're acting plumb loco."

  "Are not."

  "Are too."

  Billie Sue sniffed like she had a cold or something, then turned her back to him and marched right off like a soldier on parade.

  Davey straightened up, clutched his magic ring tighter, gave Billie Sue a fierce scowl, and forced his legs to work as he turned around and walked off.

  Imagine that. Prettiest girl in town and she'd actually smiled at him. His feet got all tangled up together and he durn near sprawled out face first in the dirt. But he caught himself and kept going. His face felt all red and Davey figured he looked like a durn fool, so he hurried his steps to get away as fast as he could.

  Besides, he had to follow Miss Lily, didn't he?

  At the edge of town, he ran to make sure and keep the blond woman in sight. She surely did walk fast, skirts snapping with every step. Little puffs of dust shot up from her heels and an icy wind whipped her long hair out like a yellow cape behind her. He hoped she really was going to see Patience, 'cause he surely didn't want to disappoint Brady.

  Made him proud that Brady trusted him like this. Why, he guessed Brady Shaw was about the best man he knew. He didn't get drunk and loud like most men and he never had raised his hand to Davey. Not once, he thought, swiping one hand under his nose. Not like his pa had on more than one occasion.

  But he didn't have time to think about his father, so he ignored the ripple of old fear that moved through him. After all, the old man was dead now. He didn't have nothing — anything — to be afraid of anymore. He was all grown-up now and doing for himself. Nodding, he shoved that ring up higher onto his shoulder, bent low at the waist, and hurried along. The money Brady had promised to pay him for finding Patience wasn't even important. Well, not the most important thing, he told himself. He wanted to help Brady.

  The man just didn't look right since Patience had left town. It was like the heart had gone out of him. But it wasn't just him either. Most of the menfolk were complaining now that the females were being so ornery.

  Davey frowned to himself and scuttled off the road, ducking and crouching in back of a pinon tree as Miss Lily stopped and looked behind her. When she set off again, Davey let her get a little ahead before he followed.

  It wasn't long before the woman walked right up to a tiny cabin like she'd been there before. The door opened up and she disappeared inside. Davey glanced around, then shifted his gaze back to the cabin. Place looked like it had been around for a hundred years. Chinking was falling out of the log walls and the short, tumbledown chimney was missing more than a few bricks. But there was smoke curling from the top and Davey knew without a doubt that Patience was in there.

  Still, he told himself as he started walking toward the cabin, he had to make sure.

  #

  "So you know where she is?" Brady asked a little more than an hour later.

  "Yes, sir," Davey said and swung that shock of hair back out of his eyes.

  "And you're not gonna tell me."

  "No, sir," the boy answered on a sigh. "I reckon not."

  Brady bit down hard on what was left of his back teeth. He was pretty sure that by now, they'd been ground down into nothing more than a speck of bone. Staring at the kid who stood before him, head hanging, he told himself that he shouldn't be surprised by the boy turning traitor on him. After all, since Patience had arrived in Fortune, nothing had been the same.

  But damn it, he'd thought he and Davey were friends. That they understood each other. Two souls, alone in the world. He frowned to himself. The boy suddenly siding with Patience was a little hard to take.

  Easing down into a chair, Brady used the toe of his boot to push another one out. Motioning to the boy to sit, he used the armrests and folded his hands atop his middle. Once the boy was perched on the edge of the chair opposite him, he asked, "Why won't you tell me?”

  The kid clutched at an old brass hoop he held in his hands and studied the damn thing like it had the secrets to the universe written there on the scratchedup metal. Never lifting his gaze, he muttered, "It don't seem right, is all."

  "Right?" His voice echoed in the empty saloon.

  "Yes, sir."

  "How's that?” he asked, forcing himself to remain calm when what he wanted to do was shout until the roof fell in. Damn it, he wanted to know where the hell Patience was and he wanted to know now. Why wouldn't anyone cooperate? And why did he want to know so badly?

  That was the real kicker, he told himself, and another cold, hard knot of worry joined the others that were already stacked up in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't sure anymore if the worry was over Patience or over the fact that he was worried about her.

  Damn it, he'd never in his life given a damn about anyone. And it had been a real easy way to live. Looking out for himself. Caring about nothing and no one.

  Although, he was quick to point out to himself, he wasn't admitting to actually caring for Patience. It was more a sense of responsibility that had him pacing the saloon all night long. That kept him from sleeping. That kept her face and her voice looming in the forefront of his mind every blessed minute.

  It wasn't her, he told himself, and even as he thought it, he knew it for a lie. Somehow or other, that crazy woman had eased her way into his life, and now that she was gone, his world was in a shambles.

  He had to get her back. So he could well and truly find out where she belonged and get rid of her. He wasn't going to be able to put her out of his mind until he knew that she was where she was supposed to be. Yeah, he thought, now that made sense. Much more sense than believing she mattered to him.

  "Davey, I have to know where she is."

  The kid finally lifted his gaze from that damn ring of his and looked Brady dead in the eye. "Patience don't want you to know where she is, though, Brady. And I promised her I wouldn't say."

  Frustration coiled inside him, but he'd had too many years of practice at keeping a poker face to let the boy see it. Instead, he said, "I thought we were friends, you and me."

  "We are, but…”

  "And friends help each other, don't they?"

  "Yes sir, but…”

  "You know I don’t want to hurt Patience."

  "'Course not." The kid looked appalled at the thought.

  "Then why won't you tell me?"

  "Because she's my friend too," Davey said, remembering the feel of her hand as she smoothed back his hair. He recalled her smile of welcome when she'd opened the cabin door to find him. She wasn't mad he'd followed Lily, though Lily sure enough had been. Nope. Patience had just gone down on her knees and taken him into a tight, hard hug. Then while she was holding on to him, she'd said how she'd missed him and fussed over him not wearing a coat with the weather turning so bad.

  Even now, he could feel the gentleness of her touch and something inside him hungered for it again. It was so long since his mother had died, he didn't even remember her. But when he was around Patience, he didn't feel that emptiness of loss. She filled a spot in him that was no longer cold or lonely.

  And if she needed him to keep secret her whereabouts, then that's just what he'd do. Even if it meant disappointing a man he thought as much of as he did Brady.

  He shook his head and firmed up his lips. "Can't tell on her, Brady. Not even for you."

  A long, silent minute ticked by. Then, to his relief, Brady reached out and gave his knee a pat. "I understand," he said as he stood up, put on his hat, and walked outside.

  "Wish to hell I did," Davey muttered and leaned back in his chair.

  #

  Patience sat down in the rocking chair Treasure had brought out to her and scooted closer to the fire. Heat reached out warm fingers toward her and eased her into sleep she sorely needed
.

  Just for a moment, she told herself as her eyes slid closed and her body seemed to sink into the worn, comfortable curves of the polished wood. She'd just rest her eyes for a moment or two, then she'd get up and bake a little more.

  Keeping herself busy so she wouldn't have time to think of Brady and how she missed him had filled the little cabin with stacks of cookies and bread and cakes. Treasure kept her larder full and, in return, Patience gave her the baked goods to sell in the store.

  It was a good bargain, she told herself as she felt her heartbeat slowing, her body sliding into sleep. But it would have been better if she were in town. In her own kitchen. With Brady.

  Loneliness crept up on her and tugged at her insides.

  She missed him so. But she missed the others as well. In fact, she could still feel Davey's arms hugging her neck and a warm thread curled around her heart. He responded so eagerly to the love his soul hungered for. The poor child needed loving nearly as much as Brady did. And she had so much to give if only they'd accept it. Why couldn't either of them see that? Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, but she reminded herself that all was not yet lost. She would convince them both, she thought, a soft smile curving her mouth as sleep claimed her.

  Instantly, the dream started again. Patience moaned and her fingers curled tight around the ends of the chair's arms.

  "You'll not defy me," her father shouted.

  "I won't marry him," Patience yelled at him, for what felt like the one hundredth time. Why couldn't he see what he was doing to her? Why didn't he care?

  It seemed that she'd been a disappointment to him all her life. And no matter how she tried to belong in the tiny community, she didn't fit in. She was too stubborn. Too prideful. Too independent.

  Her spirit was simply too big for the tidy confines of the Puritan village. She couldn’t bear to be less than she was, even to please the man looming over her now.

  Her father, enraged, raised his fist and this time he plowed it into her face with such force that Patience dropped to the dirt like a stone. Fear came first. Then the pain. Stunned, she shook her head, trying to clear the stars from her vision. Agony screamed through her jaw and she lifted one hand to cup the broken bone tenderly.