by Linda Bridey
Joe tried to tamp down his anger. “Yeah, I saw it all right. Minx, I don’t want you riding without tack. He’s not trained like one of your ponies.”
She shook his arm a little. “He is now. Come pet him. He is tame now.”
Joe looked at Leo and noticed that he wasn’t anxious about Eddie handling him. “I’ll be damned.” He walked cautiously over to Leo and put out a hand.
Leo warily sniffed it and then shook his head.
“You must give him some of your spirit,” Minx said.
“Do what?”
“Blow in his nose,” Minx said.
Joe arched a brow at her. He could tell she wasn’t joking.
Eddie said, “I did it. I’m not sure if it did anything, but it can’t hurt.”
“Ok. What the heck.” Joe blew into his nose gently. Leo nudged him with his muzzle. “I can’t believe it.”
Minx took his hand and said, “Feel.”
Joe ran his hand over the spot she showed him. What he felt created a wave of fury inside his chest. “Who whipped him?” Joe demanded.
“I don’t know yet, but I intend to find out. They did it in the perfect spot because it wouldn’t be as noticeable there and with none of us being able to get very close to him, it healed before we would see it,” Eddie said.
“When you find out who it was, you let me know. They’re going to regret ever meeting me,” Joe said. “Minx, thank you for your help and for figuring out what was wrong with him. I’m going to have to lay some ground rules down with you, though. Right now, I need to get both you and Deena settled in. Put Leo away and come with me up to the house.”
Minx nodded and walked away as Leo followed her.
*****
Eddie brought the last of Deena’s suitcases into her room and sat them down. He was glad Joe had given her Gina’s old room. It was a very nice room and he thought Deena would be comfortable in it.
“Ok. That’s it,” he said.
She turned around from the chest of drawers and said, “Thank you. I appreciate the help. I love this room. This whole place is impressive.”
“Yeah, I know. You’ll have to come see my apartment,” Eddie said. “Just to look at it, not to stay.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “Sure.”
Eddie frowned. “I mean it. Deena, I won’t take advantage of you, unless you want me to.”
“You are very bad, Eddie.”
He grinned. “I know. Is there anything I can help with?”
“No. I have to figure out where I want everything. That’s not really something you can do. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Ok. I’ll leave you to it. See you at supper?” he asked.
Deena nodded as her eyes roamed over his handsome face and powerful body. She’d never had such an intense reaction to a man before and wasn’t sure she could trust herself around him.
“Don’t look at me like that, Deena,” Eddie said with a smile.
“I can’t help it. Get out of here. I’ll see you at supper,” she said.
He gave her a smile as he walked out her door.
*****
Minx felt so out of place at the supper table that evening that she was too nervous to eat. She’d eaten with utensils before at the Samuels ranch, so she was familiar with them. No one else was dressed in buckskin and it made her selfconscious. The food was somewhat familiar to her and she put it on her plate to be polite, but she mostly played with her food to make it look like she was eating.
There were a lot of different conversations going on and she found all of them interesting. She listened and gleaned information about what went on at Joe’s place. There were issues with different horses and she tucked those details into the back of her mind. Though she hoped she would mainly be working with the horses, Minx would do whatever she was told to, provided she was given instructions on how do to those tasks.
Lacey watched Minx and saw the tension in the girl’s face. Her heart ached for Minx. When Joe had told her what had happened to Minx, she also burned with anger and felt an affinity with Minx. She wanted to help put Minx at ease but wasn’t sure how to do that. They’d cleared the furniture from the large room they’d given her and Reckless had gotten her a sleeping pallet and sleeping robes. He’d also brought a dream catcher and some other things to make her room feel more at home.
Lacey wanted Minx to feel included. She said, “Minx, I understand you had some excitement this afternoon.”
Minx’s eyes shifted to Lacey, but she didn’t speak.
“It seems as though you made friends with Leo,” Lacey said.
The Lakota girl couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. “Yes. It was fun. He is very fast. He is now friendly. He was scared and if I find out who hurt him I will scalp them.”
Joe almost choked on his food at her statement. He looked at her and saw that she meant every word. Silence descended on the room as Minx’s gaze touched on each person seated there. Darryl squirmed in his seat a little as her eyes locked on him. With her keen eyesight, Minx saw his pupils dilate; a sure sign of deceit.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “It was you, was it not?”
Darryl said, “No. I never did anything to him.”
Joe looked at the stable hand. “Did you whip him?”
“Answer him!” Minx said as she rose from the table.
“Keep her away from me!” Darryl got up and moved towards the sunroom.
Minx advanced towards him and he ran out the door. All hell broke loose as Minx tore after him and all of the men jumped up and followed them. Darryl made it as far as the back lawn before Minx was on him. She tackled him from behind, rolled with him, and pulled out a knife at the same time.
She wound up straddling his chest, knife pressed against his throat. “What did you do to Leo?”
“Nothing! I swear! Get her off me! She’s crazy!” Darryl shouted.
“You are a liar!” Minx said and grabbed his hair. “If you value your pathetic life you will tell the truth.”
The others had caught up and stood in a semicircle around them. When Darryl didn’t speak, Minx pulled his hair harder and pressed the knife harder against his throat, drawing blood.
“Ok, ok! He kept trying to kick me, so I started taking a whip with me when I had to get him out. I had to whip him to protect myself!” he confessed.
Minx let out a battle cry and raised her knife high and brought it down in a swift arch. Darryl screamed as the knife plunged harmlessly into the lawn by his head. Minx roughly banged his head off the ground and released him. She rolled off him and up onto her feet.
“You are no man. You are a worthless coward and you are lucky I spared your life,” she said as she put away her knife. She looked at the group of people assembled there and said, “What?”
Darryl got shakily to his feet. “I want her arrested for assault. She cut me and hit me.”
Joe’s furious gaze settled on him and he said, “If anyone’s gonna get arrested, it’s you for abusing and damaging a very valuable horse. That’s considered property damage and I oughta sue you. Get your crap and get off my land. You’ve got fifteen minutes to clear out or I will hogtie you and haul you to jail.”
Darryl gave Minx a scathing look until she stepped towards him again. The fierce expression on her face reminded Joe of He Who Runs and he grinned. Darryl ran off to his bunkhouse and Minx squared her shoulders.
Joe walked over to her and gave her a one-armed hug. “See? That’s why you’re my very brave bravette. No brave could have done that any better than you. Thank you.”
Minx smiled up at him. “Thanks. I enjoyed it.”
“I’m sure you did.” Joe chuckled.
Charlie smiled at her and said, “I ain’t never seen anything like that. I’m impressed.”
Minx grinned. “Thanks.”
Joe saw male appreciation in Charlie’s eyes as he looked at Minx. Oh, boy. I think someone just developed a crush.
“Minx, I need
to talk to you a moment. Excuse us, Charlie.”
“Sure, boss,” Charlie said and walked away.
“What is it?” Minx asked.
“Honey, after what I just saw, how the hell did Dixon get the drop on you?” Joe said.
Minx looked downward. “He had a gun. I did fight him, but when he held a gun to my head, I stopped. If he hadn’t had the gun, he would now be dead.”
Joe’s mouth flattened into a thin line of anger as he thought about Dixon threatening to shoot her. “I wish he was, Minx. I wish he was.”
“Me, too.”
“You go on back in and finish your dinner. I’m gonna make sure Darryl is gone. I’ll see you in just a bit,” Joe said.
Minx nodded and jogged back to the house.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Living at the Dwyer estate was a constant adventure, Deena found. No day was ever the same and there was always some kind of issue to deal with. Meals were hilarious and loud. Eddie always made sure to sit beside her and often held her hand under the table. They sometimes went to Wolfe Point to eat or ate at the Grady House so Deena could visit with Alice a little bit.
Deena loved her newfound freedom and being able to see Eddie anytime she wanted to. He was always happy to see her and they were together most of the time after work. Poker was played either at the main house or in Eddie’s apartment, which was very nice indeed. Deena had enjoyed looking it over and it gave her a little more insight into Eddie’s personality.
Eddie even attempted to cook her dinner one night, but it was burnt too much to eat, so he took her out to dinner. Deena had thought it was sweet for him to try and told him how much she appreciated it.
The more time they spent together, the closer they became. Deena hadn’t yet expressed her love for Eddie to him because she didn’t want to pressure him into saying it back. She wanted him to say it on his own. Her love for him grew daily and there were times when it was incredibly difficult to keep inside.
As June came to a close, Eddie knew that he had fallen in love with Deena. He longed to tell her, but the time never seemed quite right. Finally, he decided that there would never be a perfect time and planned to tell Deena one night after work. They ate supper up at the main house and when they left, Eddie took Deena’s hand.
“Let’s go for a walk around the pond,” he said.
“Ok,” she agreed.
Eddie thought the night couldn’t have been more perfect. It had cooled down a little and the stars shone brightly in the sky. The moon was on the rise and glowed silver in the sky. The pond really could have been considered a small lake. Water lapped softly at the edge of it as the strong breeze blew across it.
Smoothing back a few locks of Deena’s soft hair from her face, Eddie said, “You are so beautiful. I can’t believe how blind I was in not noticing you until Joe pointed out that you were trying to flirt with me.”
Deena chuckled and kissed his palm. “It’s ok. Maybe it happened at the right time.”
Eddie nodded and decided to plunge ahead. “Deena, I have fallen completely in love with you. I’ve never met anyone like you and you make me so happy. Ever since you and I started seein’ each other, my life has been better. I smile whenever you’re around or whenever I think about you. When I’m not with you, I want to be and I hate having to say goodnight to you.”
Tears of joy began gathering in Deena’s eyes as he spoke.
“I’m not a smooth talker and I know I don’t always pay attention when I should, and yet you want to be with me. I’m not sure I’ll ever figure that out, but I’m not knockin’ it. I don’t want to be without you, Deena, and I’ll do my best to make you happy, sweetheart. I love you and I want to marry you, Deena. Will you be my wife?”
Deena watched in amazement as he took out the gray ring box from his jeans pocket and opened it. The ring she had previously refused sat inside and sparkled in the moonlight. It was a lovely piece and she put a hand to her mouth as she took in its beauty. Then she looked into Eddie’s eyes and saw his sincerity reflected in the silvery-blue depths. He wasn’t asking her to marry him because anyone was forcing him to or he felt obligated. Deena could see that Eddie really wanted to marry her.
“Yes, Eddie. I’ll marry you. I love you so much. I have for so long. You are all I’ve wanted the past two years. I would be proud to be your wife,” she said through her tears.
The whole time Eddie was placing the ring on her finger, he looked into her eyes and Deena saw a possessive light in them that excited her. His arms came around her and he held her close. He placed a kiss on her forehead, each of her eyes, the tip of her nose, and finally against her lips. Deena’s arms slid around his neck and she deepened the kiss as his embrace tightened.
There was a difference in their kissing. It went beyond the physical. Love made it sweeter, more potent, and addicting. Eddie pulled her with him down to the grass and Deena didn’t object as their kissing became more passionate. Deena loved his shoulders and massaged them and his chest. His hand squeezed her thigh and roamed over her hip.
Eddie tore his lips from hers and in a ragged voice said, “Deena, if we don’t stop right now, I’m gonna take you to my place and make love to you.”
She buried her face in his chest and said, “Eddie, I want to. You don’t know how much I want to.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I’m sorry, Eddie. I just can’t before we get married. Are you mad?”
Eddie laughed softly, the sound rumbling in her ear. “No, I’m not mad. I could use a dip in this pond, but I’m not mad. Just give me a few minutes and we’ll go tell everyone our good news.”
Deena giggled and lay looking up at the stars with him by her side.
*****
There was an instant celebration in the Dwyer household when Deena and Eddie announced their engagement. Joe had Randall break out champagne while he gathered everyone for a toast. Then he decided they should go to the Watering Hole to celebrate properly. In a flurry of activity, everyone began dressing. Minx didn’t feel comfortable going to the bar and said she would stay with the children so Rita and Callie could go.
Lacey had asked, “Don’t you want to see Reckless? He’s working tonight?”
“Yes, but I think the sisters would like to go for a change. He will be able to visit me soon,” Minx had said. In truth, she had some things to think about and with everyone gone, the house would be quiet. Emily would go to bed after a while and once Timmy was asleep, he would sleep the night through.
Lacey said, “Ok. If you’re sure?”
“I am.”
*****
The Watering Hole got very loud after Joe made the announcement about Eddie and Deena’s engagement. The couple smiled and laughed as boots stomped and people whistled and clapped. Then the dancing began and it seemed like Eddie and Deena’s dancing partners constantly changed as people wanted to congratulate them.
Jake kept the liquor flowing and joked that people needed to get engaged more often because it was good for business. Reckless congratulated his friends and asked when the wedding would be.
“We haven’t set a date yet, Reckless. Give us a little time,” Eddie said.
Reckless grinned and then went to break up a fight.
Out on the dance floor again, people were switching partners with them again and suddenly Deena found herself dancing with Carter Douglass.
“Carter? What are you doing here?” she asked.
His gray eyes smiled down at her. “I thought I’d come play some poker and lo and behold you and your new fiancé walked in. Congratulations, Deena. I’m sure you’ll be very happy. Eddie’s a good man.”
“Yes, he is. Thank you.”
Carter looked at her ring and said, “That’s a pretty ring, all right. That’s a good start.”
She couldn’t stop smiling until something occurred to her.
“Carter, does your pa still run that tack shop?” she asked.
“He sure does. Why?” Carter asked.
“I want to come by Saturday. There’s something I want to get Eddie for his birthday,” she said.
“All right. Pa will be happy to see you again. What time are you figuring on coming over?”
“By noon,” she said.
“Great. You could do your business and then we could have some lunch,” Carter suggested.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Just friends, Deena. No funny business. I’ve got my eye on a little lady in Brayford and you’re engaged. Nothing more than a couple of old friends catching up,” Carter assured her.
She smiled at him. “When you put it that way… Yes. I would love to have lunch with you.”
“Wonderful. Well, I guess someone else wants to dance with you now,” he said, when someone tapped on his shoulder.
It turned out to be Eddie, who was more than ready to take his fiancée into his arms again.
“Eddie! There’s the lucky man right now,” Carter said with a smile. “I’m very happy for you.”
Eddie had seen Carter dancing with Deena and he didn’t like it one bit. It seemed funny to him for Carter to suddenly turn up in Dawson after running into the man a few weeks back.
“Good to see you, Carter,” he said, putting on a jovial expression. “Thank you. So what are you doing here?”
“Playing cards. I’m hoping I might coax Joe into playing. I wouldn’t mind a rematch with him.”
“Oh, well I hope you get the chance,” Eddie said.
“Have fun, you two,” Carter said and moved away.
“Joe’s gonna beat the pants off him,” Eddie said with a grin.
“Most likely. Carter was never a very good card player, so unless he’s improved, I don’t see him winning,” Deena replied.
“So what were the two of you talking about?” Eddie asked.
“He was just wishing us well and telling me that he’s seeing someone over in Brayford,” Deena replied.
That put Eddie more at ease. “Oh. That’s nice. He seems like a nice fella.”
“He is. I hope it works out for him the way it’s worked out for us.”
Eddie’s smile made her heartbeat jump a little. “It sure has. I love you.”