Even as the thought plagued her, Emma still refused to admit the truth. What she really wanted was for her father to do for her what he hadn’t done for her mother. Her heart had sunk to a new depth when Storm said their father was not with them. He’d done it again—shirked his responsibilities. And he’d left the burden of guilt to fall solidly on Storm’s, and the marshals’ shoulders, considering this was supposed to be a threatening abduction and her life was in mortal danger.
She swung the ax high, and slammed it into the wood. Tears filled her eyes, blinding her as she finally accepted the truth for why her father had to pay.
Her sole reason for being alone outside chopping wood was because when Storm and the marshals arrived, they’d see she wasn’t at risk—and there of her own accord. Red-Ken wouldn’t be implicated in an abduction if the abductee was seen to be free to come and go as she pleased.
She’d mixed the batch of medicine she’d given Ken earlier with some herbs that induced sleep, just before getting him to soak his foot in the hot water. Emma had done it purely because she had no idea how he’d react to their new visitors. She’d also hidden Red-Ken’s guns, so when he woke, the only option left to him would be to act civil.
Emma heard them, before she saw them. Storm and the marshals had arrived. She’d pretend not to notice them coming, and would fake surprise when they were close enough for there to be no doubt of their presence.
“Are you Emma Peckham?” came a voice like honey to her ears.
She turned in the direction of his voice. Her heart flew to her throat, and her body temperature increased, as she stared into the dreamiest pair of gray eyes on the planet. She couldn’t see anyone or anything else. Storm hadn’t warned her that the marshal was made from prime stock. Her knees gave way, and she swooned, landing in the folds of his arms.
“Cole Dalton, meet my sister Emma Peckham. Emma, meet Colt Dalton, Cole’s brother.”
Emma gave Colt a short wave over his brother’s shoulder, her eyes never leaving Cole’s. “Hello, Colt, pleased to meet you,” she said absently, her focus elsewhere. She hadn’t seen anything past Cole’s broad shoulders. She was aware she hung on to Cole longer than was necessary, but she didn’t care. They were in the wilderness, no room for proprieties here. The already thin air of the mountain top just got a little thinner, and she didn’t trust her legs to hold her upright.
As Cole stared down at her, his lips curved into a smile. “Err, Miss Peckham, we came here under the impression you were being held prisoner. Is that not the case?”
“Yes...I mean no.” Being so close to this man named Cole Dalton had turned Emma into a halfwit, and her brain felt like syrup.
Chapter 15
“Didn’t you see your sister was safe when you came here yesterday?” Storm heard close by her ear.
“Would you have believed me if I told you?”
“We’ll never know, because you didn’t tell us. You didn’t say anything about this.” Cole waved his hand toward the cabin and the surrounding area.
“When I came back to camp, I was aware of you and your brother’s suspicion about me. I had no desire to fight with either one of you by telling you something you wouldn’t have believed, unless you saw it for yourselves.” Storm stepped by him. “Now if you would excuse me, you and Cole can chat to Emma, while I go and use the hot spring I saw around back yesterday.”
Storm walked off, leaving an openmouthed Colt, and a bedazzled Cole, to head to the back of the cabin, where Emma told her she’d find the spring among a few bushes.
Storm wasn’t surprised by Cole’s reaction to her sister. It was typical of most men who met Emma. No doubt Colt would be falling all over himself too, once Cole let Emma go and put some breathing space between them. The thought that Colt might be smitten by Emma was akin to having a cactus plant rubbed all over her insides. She didn’t know why, but the thought of it made her want to tear Emma’s face off.
Maybe she’d been out in the sun too long. Never in her life had she ever wished her sister harm. Not thinking, she stripped off. Although initially she was only going to strip to her undergarments, she didn’t realize her error until she was submerged in the water. The icy sting of the air to her rump should have been a sharp indicator of her undress, but the agony of her thoughts had numbed the sensation. Couple that with the fact she hadn’t washed for days and was beginning to ripen.
It was the heat of the spring, and Colt’s presence that shocked her into being. How much had he seen?
She soon found out when he began to strip too.
“Well now, doesn’t that look inviting?”
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Cole?”
“It doesn’t need both of us to interview your sister. Cole’s quite capable of taking her statement on his own.”
Storm closed her eyes when he threw off the last of his clothing, and got ready to jump in too. “Don’t you dare come near me,” she shouted.
Colt paused and looked at her in disgust. “Don’t flatter yourself, you’re not my type.” He got in and turned his back to her. “You’re not the only one whose body’s kicking. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cole doesn’t join us as soon as he’s finished taking your sister’s statement.”
Storm shrunk as far away from Colt as she could, within the small space available to her. So he hadn’t seen her get in, but how could she ensure he didn’t see her getting out? His clothes were piled on top of hers. Even if she did get out unseen, how was she going to retrieve them? The one thing she did know—she needed to be out of there before Cole decided to join them.
Her heart was in the roof of her mouth when Colt dipped under the water to wash his hair. If he should turn even a fraction of an inch her way while under the water, she wouldn’t have to worry about Red letting it slip she was female. She took this golden opportunity and jumped out while he was still underwater, grabbed her clothes, and disappeared into the shrubs.
When she returned, he was floating on his back, his eyes closed. She covered her mouth to stifle the gasp which sprung to her lips at the sight of him. Averting her eyes, she slipped quietly by, reminding herself never to be so careless in future. A sigh of relief escaped her as Cole walked past. He turned his head toward her at the sound.
“It feels good to get the grime off,” she offered as an explanation.
He nodded and kept moving.
She made her way back to the cabin where Emma was alone on the porch. “Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Stop who? From doing what?”
“Colt—I was in the hot spring when he stripped off and got in with me.”
“Oh.” Emma raised her hand to her mouth and stared at Storm, her cheeks crimson. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that’s where you went. I wondered how he knew there was a hot spring out back.”
Storm rolled her eyes. “I really can’t believe you! Do you think of no one other than yourself?”
“That’s not fair!”
“I really care less for what you have to say. Your actions speak volumes. It’s all about you. Here I was beating myself up thinking you were here because of me. But your lack of care for my regard and safety tells me you’re here for your own selfish reasons, whatever they might be. I’m done with you, Emma. Fix your own damn mess.”
Storm marched off the porch, leaving Emma sitting alone in the rocking chair where she’d found her. The logs Emma had chopped were stacked in a neat pile by the door. Storm was going hunting. The old man was still asleep, and he showed no signs of waking for now. The brothers needed to speak with him too. No doubt Emma had seen to that.
Once they’d gotten this whole charade over and done with, then they could all go home.
By the time Storm entered the thickets, she had calmed down. She didn’t feel much like hunting anymore. Her head was filled with images of Colt. The broadness of his back, the definition in his chest, and shoulders. The lines carved out in his stomach. She shook her head. No good could come of the
thoughts she was having. To him she was a man, a nuisance one at that. He had no patience with her.
The way Colt looked at her, was a far cry from the way Cole had looked at Emma. Or the way Cole had caught Emma, wrapping her in his arms. His movement had been swift, yet gentle, and caring. Emma had looked safe cocooned in his embrace. The heart-stopping moment for Storm, was the hunger in his eyes. Cole had been like a hungry lion, with his prey in sight.
She stopped walking and sat on a rock. Picking up a handful of stones, she began to hurl them in front of her. If she were being honest with herself, she had to admit the feelings running around inside her were born from jealousy. It hurt to know that no man would ever look at her that way. Not while she lived a lie.
Why couldn’t things just be simple? Storm had never once blamed her mother for the life she was living. Even so, she’d often wondered what life would have been like for her, had her mother not deceived her father. The more she thought about it, the stronger the ache at the side of a temple threatened to become more painful. Her life and her feelings were in turmoil, and had been for the past few days. This was Emma’s journey. Why did she have to suffer because of Emma’s selfish whim?
Protecting Emma had been Storm’s life aim, but Emma had just proved herself a manipulator of the truth. Her idea to extort money from their father was a crazy, malicious one. Storm hoped the marshals wouldn’t feed into anything her sister told them, although she suspected Cole was already lost, and Colt would appease his brother. It was stupid. All Cole and Colt had to do was their job. Which meant arresting Red-Ken, and Emma if need be.
Tears tumbled down Storm’s cheeks. She didn’t mean the bit about Emma being arrested. She didn’t know what she meant anymore. What she did know, and should hang on to, was that her sister never did anything without reason. What Storm had to do was get Emma to share that reason with her.
Until this point in their relationship, she’d have said, she and Emma told each other everything. All that seemed to have changed. Her sister was hiding something, and the revenge she sought against their father was at the bottom of it.
Chapter 16
“I see you managed to scare Storm off again.” Cole laughed.
“I don’t know what his beef is. I didn’t do anything to him.” Colt paused, furrowed his brow, and raised his eyebrow at his brother, his brain frazzled with confusion. Then he said, “Would you believe he told me not to come near him? As if I would. What a liberty. I was this close to socking him in the mouth.” He indicated the short distance between his thumb and forefinger. The fact Storm would even think he’d go near him, irked like hell. The gall of the man.
Cole stripped and got into the spring. “Oh boy, this is heavenly,” he said. He dipped his head under the water. Coming back up, he spat out the water he’d collected in his mouth while under. “Maybe he just felt awkward sharing. He’s not like me. I’m used to getting into hot water with you literally, as well as figuratively.” He laughed.
“Yeah, we have had some fun times in the past, haven’t we?” Colt grinned.
“We sure have. What do you think of Miss Emma?”
“I haven’t been thinking about her, why?”
“I think I like her. I like her a lot; she could be the one.”
“The one to do what?”
“Don’t play dumb, you know what I mean.”
“Actually I don’t. You’ve known the woman all of half an hour. I have no clue what you’re getting at. Maybe the fumes from your unwashed body are clouding your mind. You stink, and what you’re hinting at smells even worse. You don’t know this woman.”
“I know enough, to know how I feel. I really like her, a lot. I felt a connection between us when I held her in my arms. It was as if she belonged there.”
“I’m getting out. I’m not staying here, listening to you talk gibberish. You make no sense, and I’m not going to stand around here, and watch you make a fool of yourself. Stick to the job at hand.” Colt jumped out of the hot spring and grabbed his clothes. As he stormed off, he heard Cole singing.
Maybe he needed to check this Emma woman out for himself. He hadn’t really looked at her when they first arrived, and from what he could remember, he hadn’t noticed anything remarkable about her. Not to the extent his brother would think of hitching his wagon to her. Had he missed something? The only thing he remembered thinking when he got a good look at her, was he didn’t see much of a family resemblance between her and Storm.
For a man, Storm’s features had looked more classical, not unlike Nuttah, his brother Cassidy’s dead wife—maybe it was an Indian thing. Cassidy’s wife had been a Comanche squaw, a queen amongst her tribe. A fine woman, lost to childbirth. It was possibly why he had mistaken Storm for a woman when they first met. Storm had reminded him of Nuttah, but Cole had not seen the resemblance. If he did, he hadn’t mentioned it.
If Cole was this taken by Emma, Colt would bet his fortune his brother hadn’t taken a statement from her. He’d probably wasted his time making googly eyes at her. Colt sighed, the mission was becoming impossible. There was not one thing that felt right about it. Not the people involved, nor the situation, and Cole was useless.
As the building came into view, Colt contemplated entering the cabin through the back door, but changed his mind. He’d last seen Emma out front chopping wood, maybe she was still there. He walked around the side of the building and paused when he saw it was empty. Colt looked around before moving closer to the front porch, and stepping onto the veranda, knocking on the door.
He’d been inside the cabin earlier, a little while after they’d arrived. Since Miss Emma said she wasn’t abducted, he’d wandered off—left Cole talking to her, as he went in search of the so-called abductor. He’d gone inside, and found the old man sleeping. He’d tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t budge. Maybe it was an old people’s thing. His granddaddy had slept that hard once, then again it was expected seeing as his granddaddy was dead at the time. Colt had chuckled, before checking the old man asleep in the chair for a pulse.
He had a mind to walk right on in like before, but the young lady was in there now, so it was only proper he remember his manners and knock first.
“It’s open.”
Was that an invitation to go inside? He turned the handle and walked in. Miss Emma was on her knees drying off the old man’s foot. The old man grunted, but didn’t wake up.
“Howdy, you’re Colt, right?” Her gaze traveled over him like she knew him.
Colt’s eyes widened. How did she know who he was? This woman and Storm were the only two people outside of their immediate family who seemed to recognize him and Cole differently right off—to be honest—except for his mother. His father and siblings didn’t always get it right either. Maybe the Peckham’s were seeing that soft attraction Storm said Cole had that he didn’t. Colt didn’t know why the idea should trouble him, but it did. He and Cole were identical twins, there shouldn’t be any differences between them. He hadn’t liked it when Storm suggested it, and didn’t care for it now.
Come to think of it, where was Storm?
“Would you like some tea?”
Emma’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She stood with her hand on her hips in front of him.
“Where’s Storm?” he asked the question almost to himself. Yet those two words, were the first things to come out of his mouth, when he’d intended to respond with a single, “yes.” But the fact Storm was gone troubled him.
“He said he was going hunting,” she said, cocking her head.
“Don’t you think it strange, he should go off, having only recently established you’re all right?” he asked, cocking his head too, mimicking her response, and raising an eyebrow.
She sashayed toward the stove, her skirt swishing and scraping along the hardwood, and picked up a jug. “No, Storm does his best thinking when he’s alone. This is empty.” She waved the metal jug at him. “I’ll be right back.” She went out the back door.
Colt rifled his fingers through his still damp hair, put the hat he’d been holding in front of him this whole time, back on his head, and leaned back onto the sideboard.
Nothing added up. The old man had been sleeping way too long for it to be natural slumber. Then there was Storm, he was nowhere in sight. If Colt had been as worried as Storm appeared to be when first hearing the news of Emma’s abduction—he’d want to spend as much time with her as possible. Storm was a strange man, but Colt was sure in this instance, Storm would be the same, anybody would. Come to think of it, Storm made no attempt to save his sister, when she’d lost her footing earlier. It was Cole who stopped her from being face down in the dirt.
Colt glanced through the window on hearing voices. It was Emma and Cole. What was that idiot brother of his doing now? He watched Cole remove strands of hair from Emma’s cheek as he spoke with her. Then he took the jug from her grasp, and filled it with water from the barrel, took her arm, and threaded it through his.
Cole needed to get his head right, instead of leading her by the arm back into this building. They all should be making their way downhill, hand the girl back to her father, and learn what was happening to their own family. The war hadn’t stopped because they were here preparing to reunite other families. He was concerned for his own, and Cole should be too.
They needed to wrap this up.
The second Cole and Emma entered through the back door, Colt pounced.
“I hope you were out there getting her statement. Because we need to get moving.”
“No I wasn’t. In case you’re forgetting, we need both statements before we do anything else.”
“We don’t need anything from the old guy. He’s wanted, we can arrest him, and get his statement when we get him back into town, right before we hang him.”
Emma ran and stood in front of Red-Ken. “You can’t hang him, he’s old. Besides, he didn’t do anything wrong.”
Wild Storm (The Unbridled Series Book 2) Page 7