Mary Connealy

by Montana Marriages Trilogy

  Wade realized he had his gun leveled straight at the man’s heart. He lowered his weapon.

  “I knew he was up to no good.” The man walked up to his partner and prodded him with his toe. “We split up right after you’d taken the girl back. I’d only been riding with him for a couple of weeks since we finished a cattle drive. I didn’t like the way he treated the girl, but I thought it was right to take her back to her own people, so I went along.”

  “He wasn’t here to return her to anyone.” Wade felt his hand begin to tremble. He hadn’t needed to take that shot, but he knew, deep in his gut, that he would have. He should have been proud of that. Instead, he felt changed, scarred, ashamed. “He wanted her for himself.”

  “I heard. And I’d figured it out myself. He was loco to beat all when you took her. Way too hornet mad to explain him wantin’ to help her.”

  “Thank you. You saved my life. You saved both of us.”

  The other man nodded. “I’ll stay to bury him. Reckon I can do that one thing for him. You go along and take the girl home.”

  Wade nodded then looked once more at the man who now lay still and lifeless on the ground. It was awful to kill a man. A terrible thing to carry on your soul. Wade thanked God he didn’t have to do it. Knowing he would have done it was burden enough.

  He prayed silently for the man who did take that shot.

  Then he turned.

  In time to see Glowing Sun vanish into the woods.

  CHAPTER 17

  Belle didn’t scream. Mainly because she took one look in Lindsay’s eyes and knew it would do no good.

  It wasn’t just determination, though there was plenty of that. In fact, more than determination, Lindsay just had a solid, settled look that said she was getting married. With or without Belle’s blessing.

  Belle could go along or be trampled, so the only real choice Belle had here was in how much she hurt her relationship with Lindsay.

  But even that wasn’t the look that stopped Belle in her tracks. Lindsay was in love. It shone out of her.

  For one second, Belle remembered how she’d felt about William at the very beginning. No one could have stopped her. And William wasn’t half the man Roy was. Whether Belle liked it or not, her daughter was getting married.

  Silas’s firm hold on Belle’s hand grew tighter until he might have been the only thing holding her up. Belle gave one hard jerk of her chin, and that was all she could manage.

  Lindsay laughed and threw herself into Roy’s arms as joyfully as if Belle had clapped and yelled with delight at this wedding. A bright girl, Lindsay knew this was the best she was going to get from her man-hating ma.

  “Let’s get settled for the night so we can get into Helena in time to sell these cattle tomorrow.” Silas kept hold of Belle’s hand and dragged her away from the tight circle of people talking and laughing and planning.

  As Belle moved, she landed her eyes on Emma.

  She saw frightened eyes. And Emma never showed fear. Belle tried to tug loose of Silas, but rather than let her go, Silas let himself be dragged to Emma’s side.

  “What’s she doing this for, Ma?” Emma let Belle slide her arm around her waist. Looking past Emma, Belle saw Sarah tending the campfire with Betsy on her back. Sarah was crying and salting the stew with her tears.

  And why shouldn’t they be terribly upset? Belle had spent all her years as a mother filling her girls’ heads full of dire warnings about men.

  “Lindsay will be okay, girls.” Belle didn’t believe it, but she tried to sound convincing. “Roy’s a good man.”

  A boy. A young one at that. God, how did this happen? I’m losing my daughters. She’s starting her life out as bad as I did. All my warnings and she up and marries the first man her age she’s ever seen.

  Emma didn’t answer.

  Sarah kept stirring.

  Silas led them back to the campfire in the dusk. “He is a good man, Belle. I’ve taken his measure, and I trust him to do right by our girl.”

  It was no comfort. The man who wanted to hold her and kiss her but didn’t want marriage earned no trust in Belle’s book.

  “I’ll make the best of it.” Belle pulled away from Silas. “And so will Lindsay. That’s all a woman can do in this life.”

  Silas gave her a long look. Then he nodded. “That’s all any of us can do, Belle.” He strode toward his horse. “I’m going to ride a circuit. I’ll be back in time for supper.”

  They drove the herd up to Helena late the next night and held them on the flatland south of town.

  “Shorty and I’re gonna go into town and hunt cattle buyers.” Silas’s voice from behind her turned Belle around.

  He’d quit with his kissing nonsense ever since Lindsay and Roy had announced their engagement. Belle was too upset to miss it.

  Truth was, Belle had come to think of Silas as Lindsay’s pa, looking to him whenever her doubts were too much for her. His shared concern gave her strength. He quietly assured her that allowing the marriage was the only real choice. That alone kept her from screaming.

  It occurred to Belle to protest Silas handling the sale of her cattle. But she trusted him. It was that simple. “Thank you. I’ll get the camp set up and have supper waiting when you get back.”

  “We could be late.”

  “We’ll expect you when we see you then.” Belle was struck by this quiet, reasonable conversation. She couldn’t remember talking with any of her husbands like this. She gave orders. They followed them or lit out to hide until mealtime. Th ere was no relaxed discussion of plans and duties. Silas was a good man. She’d finally found one.

  And he wanted no part of marriage.

  Silas rode off with Shorty.

  Belle watched Lindsay and Roy sharing every chore, whispering, excited.

  “Let me get that.” Buck came to where she was dipping water from a quiet stream. He reached for a bucket she already had filled.

  “You know they’re too young.” Belle scooped the water without looking at the man.

  Buck took the pail from her and straightened, holding both, leaving her hands free.

  Why had she never been able to find a man who would work beside her?

  “I know they’re young. I do. But my son does a man’s work every day. He’s honest, with no vices. I’ve raised him to be a Christian, and he’s taken it to heart. He’ll give full weight to his marriage and keep his vows. And I’ve never seen him so happy. He’s got a powerful love for your daughter.”

  Belle heard a twinge of resentment in Buck’s voice. Resentment aimed at Belle because she wasn’t excited about Roy marrying Lindsay. The two of them turned to watch Lindsay and Roy in the distance, chattering and smiling as they rode a circle around the herd.

  “It’s not about Roy.” Belle looked seriously at Buck. “He’s a fine young man. You know I like him. It’s just…I married so young. The work was hard and relentless. I wanted my daughter to be a child for a little longer.”

  “I’ve been riding with you for two weeks now. Lindsay’s already not a child. She works her heart out for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if her life with us was easier than her life with you.”

  “Most likely will be.” Belle sighed. “Her life with me is hard, but it’s…safe. I love her and treat her with respect.”

  “I won’t—”

  Belle held up her hand. “I’m not insulting you, Buck. I promise I’m not. It’s not you and Roy and Shorty. I’d feel this way no matter who staked a claim on my girl’s heart. I can’t stop this wedding, but I think I’m allowed to hurt a little having to let my girl go.”

  Smiling, Buck nodded as they turned together and walked toward the camp. “How about next spring, as soon as calving is done and the snow melts, I send Lindsay and Roy over for a visit. Say the first of June. They can stay for two weeks.”

  Belle thought of her ramshackle cabin and wondered where they’d sleep. Maybe Silas would help her add a room. No, Silas would be gone. He’d sell these cattle and r
ide away. Her hurt over Lindsay multiplied by her hurt over finally caring about a man.

  She was tempted to tell Buck the truth, not wanting falsehood between her and Lindsay’s new family. But even that was beyond her as she watched Lindsay and Roy and ached for what lay ahead for her daughter.

  Buck didn’t wait for Belle to agree to the visit. He seemed to be satisfied that he’d had his say. He set down the water. “I’ll go spell Emma.”

  Belle’s other girl rode the far side of the herd. Sarah puttered around the camp, going about business as usual, talking and being herself. Belle wished herself eight years old again, without a care in the world…except for feeding nine people every day using scant supplies and an open fire, of course.

  Emma rode in.

  Belle went to her quiet, horse-crazy daughter.

  Emma hadn’t said much about losing her big sister. Of course, Emma was quiet in the normal course of things. But she’d been even more so today.

  “We’ll miss her, won’t we?”

  Emma kept busy stripping the leather off her horse. “I reckon we will.”

  “She’ll be okay, you know.”

  Emma shrugged then looked up at Belle. “Running the Tanner Ranch took all our energy every day. How can we get by without her? Will Silas stay?”

  “I don’t figure that Silas will stay, no. We talked about marriage, Emma. Silas isn’t interested.”

  Emma shook her head. “The two of you act married already. Why doesn’t he want us, Ma?”

  Belle didn’t know what to say. She’d expected to talk about Lindsay, not Silas. But she’d known from the first that Emma and Silas were close. Emma had opened up to him as she had to no other person. As for wringing a marriage proposal out of the man, Belle had no idea how. No man had ever not wanted her. “I don’t know, Em. But he doesn’t, and that’s the end of it.”

  Emma’s face crumpled, but she didn’t cry. Belle didn’t think Emma had cried since she was three years old. “I’ll help get the meal.” Emma walked away, her shoulders slumped, shut off from Belle and the whole world. She turned as she reached for the boiling coffeepot and stared at Lindsay and Roy for a minute before she poured herself a cup of the blazing hot brew.

  Sarah hummed as she worked over a stew using the last of their jerked beef and potatoes. She mixed up sourdough biscuits and talked at Emma. Emma released Betsy from the pack on Sarah’s back then fussed with her, teasing a smile out of the little one while she sipped her coffee.

  Silas and Shorty didn’t come back. The rest of them ate a quiet dinner, and the night sky spread over them and gleamed with a million stars. They all took to their bedrolls except Buck and Roy. Buck adamantly refused to let Emma ride a watch so close to a settlement where strangers might happen by, and he didn’t believe it proper to let Roy stay in with the womenfolk alone.

  Belle knew that no chaperone besides herself was necessary. She’d make such a strict watchdog Roy might not survive it.

  After the men rode out, Belle heard singing wafting across the night air. The steady noise wasn’t cattle drovers being whimsical, singing the cows to sleep. It covered strange night sounds apt to startle the herd. But it felt like a lullaby. Like a long-lost chance to be a child again and have her mother crooning over her, protecting her against all that was big and bad in the dark of the night.

  That kind of safety had ended too soon for Belle with her mother’s death. And now it was ending too soon for Lindsay.

  In the sleepless night, Belle was left thinking of her father’s cavalier dismissal of her when he had his long-desired son.

  Thinking of William’s unkindness after Belle’s inheritance was lost.

  Thinking of Gerald’s drunkenness and his raised fists that she hadn’t dodged nearly as often as she’d let on to her daughters. Too many times she’d stayed behind to give them a chance to run.

  Thinking of Anthony’s unfaithfulness and the way he flaunted it, shaming Belle as often and as publicly as he could.

  Thinking of Silas and his strength and warmth…and rejection.

  It wasn’t fair to measure Roy with such a wretched yardstick, but it was the only one Belle had. She was giving her daughter over to a man because no other choice was forthcoming.

  Belle lay on her side, stared into the crackling, glowing embers of the fire, and cried. Tears soaked into her sleeve where she rested her head on her arm. She was letting her firstborn go. With her tears, Belle came to see she’d accepted the situation. She was going to give Lindsay and Roy her blessing.

  Crying silently, Belle fell asleep praying for life to be kinder to Lindsay than it had been to her.

  Glowing Sun saw her chance and ran.

  Her village was only miles away now. She was in territory she recognized. She was home.

  But even as she dashed up a steep incline, she admitted she wasn’t running from those evil men. She ran because she feared what Wade made her feel.

  She had taken a direct route no horse could follow and had gone nearly a mile when the thudding of hooves sounded behind her. She didn’t have to turn around to know he’d come. Wade, with his warm, kind eyes that spoke of dreams and a future, would always come.

  And he’d take Glowing Sun away from the only world she understood.

  Away from the man she’d promised herself to. She couldn’t betray that promise, even if now the thought of marrying Wild Eagle frightened her. How could she marry him when she’d been willing—no, eager—for Wade to kiss her?

  She didn’t dart into the woodlands or scale the rocks. She’d been riding with Wade long enough to know he wouldn’t stop until he caught her. He’d want to hold her again.

  She didn’t think she could say no.

  Finally, as she ran alongside a trickling brook, the horse drew up beside her and she stopped. Turning, she saw Wade rein in his horse and swing down to the ground with a jingle of spurs and the creak of leather. “You’re safe. That man is dead.” He said it with such kindness, as if she were running for her life, not from her emotions.

  Glowing Sun nodded. Much of her white language had come back to her as they’d talked. “Safe” she knew. “Dead” she knew.

  Wade dropped his reins to the ground, which kept his well-trained horse in place. The animal turned its muzzle to the crystal stream and drank noisily.

  Coming until they stood toe to toe, he tipped his hat back so his eyes weren’t shaded and smiled down at her. “The saddle partner, the other man who held you prisoner, took care of the outlaw who got the drop on us. He’s a decent man who means you no harm. He’s not following us. You’re safe now.”

  Those words meant the world to her. Except she was only safe from that man, not from Wade. Not from herself.

  “Go home to Salish village.” Glowing Sun nodded.

  Wade shook his head. “Stay.”

  Glowing Sun understood that, too. “Home.”

  “Come home with me. Marry me, Glowing Sun. I love you.”

  She understood every word. She loved him, too. But his world frightened her. His world had killed her white family, and it threatened her Indian family every day. And she’d made promises. “No.”

  Wade smiled. “Yes. Please.”

  “Thank you.” That wasn’t exactly right, except in her heart the words were perfect because she was so thankful a man as fine as Wade wanted her.

  Cradling her hands in his, he dropped down on one knee. Glowing Sun had no idea what that meant. She only knew it looked like begging. Such a proud man, so strong, so courageous, and she was making him beg. She felt shame and tugged on his hands.

  “I love you. I know we haven’t known each other long …” He fell silent, struggling.

  Glowing Sun knew he searched for simple words that made sense to her.

  “Time.” He swiped at his hat and threw it to the ground beside them and his eyes gleamed with hope. “Give me time. Come back to my village. I’ve got a safe place you can stay until you…you’re…uh…until you love me, too. My friend
s, the Dawsons, will let you stay there, safe. We can get to know each other better. Please just give me a chance.”

  He seemed so sure. And why wouldn’t he be? He’d held her after he’d guided her down from the tree, felt her respond, felt her longing to kiss him. What else could a man think?

  Glowing Sun pulled harder on his hands, and he stood, as if he’d do anything she asked of him, devote his life to pleasing her.

  Wild Eagle wasn’t a man like this. He wouldn’t think of her pleasure. He was strong, harsh even, a great warrior who would give her strong sons. An Indian woman wanted that in her husband.

  Not this softness, the kind eyes and sweetness and concern. Glowing Sun’s heart ached to think she’d have none of this in her life.

  Wade stood before her, waiting.

  “I have remembered much white words.” She squeezed his hands, wishing he would let go. Wishing she could want him to.

  “Abby. Abigail. My white name. My family dead. Fever. I—ten. Ten summers. Salish father found me. Took me from house of death. Went to Salish village.”

  “They saved you.” Wade smiled, listening to every word.

  Had Wild Eagle ever listened to her this way?

  “I have to go home. To my Salish village. I—” She fumbled for the right word. “Promised. I would keep my promises to my people.” Her heart cut like a knife, each beat a stab to her chest. “No, Wade. I will not marry you. No.” She had to force the next breath through the thickness of tears clogging her throat. “Thank you.”

  Wade shook his head as if her words made no sense.

  Perhaps they didn’t. Perhaps she’d spoken them wrong.

  “Come home with me. Marry me. I love you.”

  Glowing Sun jerked her hands free, shaking her head. She took two steps backward, planning to run. He’d catch her. Maybe his arms would wrap around her. Maybe he’d kidnap her this time and force her to do the thing she wanted most—be with him.

  The betrayal of Wild Eagle and her people wouldn’t be her choice then. She could live with the decision if Wade made it for her.

  She took another step, and joyfully, she braced to have her future decided for her…by Wade.