“The round up went well until one of the men tried to escape. My team went after him and I thought we had him subdued, but then he managed to pull Joseph’s weapon and shot him and two other men before my men knew what was happening.
“I should have been the one to deliver the news as I was the one in charge of the men, but I was no longer a Ranger. I began collecting bounties full time after that job. Maybe I was running, not only from Catherine’s death but also from the other men, but then I landed here, and I met Emma.”
“Yes, let’s talk about Emma,” Doc Moore said, folding his hands on his lap. He had been quiet during William’s story, but William sensed he had issues on his mind. “What are your intentions toward my daughter?”
The question caught William off guard. He thought after his story that Doc Moore would be shooing him off the property, not asking what his intentions were with Emma. “To be honest, sir, I’m not sure. I hadn’t planned on falling for anyone here, and I’m not sure I could give up hunting outlaws, but your daughter has made quite an impression on me. I find myself thinking of her often, and the guilt from not telling her the whole story ate me up for two days.”
Doc Moore’s brow arched, but he said nothing, letting William flounder through his feelings.
“I don’t know that it matters now though. She ran off without letting me explain. It’s probably for the best that I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Perhaps it is,” Doc Moore said leaning back, but William felt there was more to his words than he was letting on.
“If I need to, I can sleep in the barn with the horse tonight,” William continued. “I don’t want to upset Emma any more than I already have.”
“Oh, I think Emma will be alright,” Doc Moore said, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if she stays in her room until she know’s you’re gone.”
William nodded and followed Doc Moore’s lead into the house. Carrie glared at him initially from the kitchen while she prepared dinner, but after a discussion with Doc Moore, her demeanor softened, and she appeared slightly less hostile toward him. William had no idea what the doctor had told her, but he welcomed the reprieve from her scolding eyes.
While he helped entertain the younger two with card tricks, his mind wandered to what he would say to Emma when she entered the room, but when supper was ready, and Emma still hadn’t appeared, he began to accept the fact he might not see her again before leaving.
“Aren’t we waiting for Emma?” Benjamin asked as they took their places around the table.
“Emma isn’t feeling well tonight,” Doc Moore said. “So, we are going to let her sleep and not bother her.”
“Does that mean I can’t sleep in the room tonight?” Jennie asked.
“We’ll sleep in the living room tonight,” Carrie said, patting her sister’s arm. “You can take the couch and I’ll take the chair.”
“Okay,” Jennie said with a shrug as she scooped up some beans and shoveled them into her mouth.
With the topic of Emma dropped, the rest of dinner was quiet. Before William knew it, the food was gone, and Carrie was picking up the plates to wash them.
“Do you really have to leave tomorrow?” Benjamin asked as they sat around the table after dinner.
“I do,” William said, realizing it wasn’t just Emma he would miss, but the rest of her family as well. “I have to return a bad man to the authorities.”
“Will you come back after that?” Benjamin hounded.
“I don’t know,” William answered truthfully. “My life isn’t here. My life is out hunting men who break the law.”
“But what about Emma?” Jennie asked, her innocent eyes large and round.
“Emma will be fine without me,” William said, though he was beginning to wonder if he’d be fine without Emma. “In fact, she’ll probably be better off without me.”
“I doubt that,” Carrie spoke up softly as she picked up the last plate from the table.
William could have asked her what she meant by that, but it didn’t matter. He’d be leaving in the morning and Emma would be only a memory, which was where she belonged.
Chapter 16
William woke before the sun. Not that he had slept much anyway. He had stayed up hoping Emma would enter the living room, so he could talk to her. When that didn’t happen, and it became clear the girls wanted to go to sleep, he had retired to the room, but with one ear attuned to the noises in the living room, what little sleep he had received had been restless.
With a sigh, William pushed back the blanket and sat up. The pain still throbbed with excessive movement, but it had softened to a dull, manageable ache. He gave it a moment to recede before standing and crossing to his saddlebag.
After pulling on his clothes, William folded up the few items he had unpacked and shoved them back in the saddlebag. He spared a final glance around the room to make sure he hadn’t missed anything before heading to the kitchen.
He didn’t expect anyone else was awake, but he was hopeful he could locate the coffee and brew a pot before having to head out. However, he was pleasantly surprised to find Doc Moore reading at the table, Carrie already bustling in the kitchen, and a pot of coffee already made.
“Good morning, Mr. Cook,” Doc Moore said, looking up from his Bible as William entered. “Would you like some eggs before you leave?”
“If it isn’t too much trouble,” William said, being careful to keep his voice low as Jennie was still asleep on the couch.
“It’s no trouble,” Carrie said. “There’s coffee made too. Go on and help yourself.”
William nodded and grabbed a cup off the shelf, feeling very much at home and like an outsider at the same time. He filled the mug, added a dash of milk, and returned to the table with the warm liquid in hand.
As he sat down, Carrie placed a plate of eggs, bacon, and a slice of bread in front of him. “Thank you,” he said, smiling up at her before picking up his fork.
“Aren’t you going to pray first?” Doc Moore asked.
William dropped his gaze. “It’s been quite a while since I prayed. I’m not sure I remember how.”
“Then I’ll pray for you,” the doctor said and closed his eyes. “Lord, we thank you for this food and for the hands that prepared it. Thank you for healing William. Keep him safe on his journey and help him find his way back to you. Amen.”
“Amen,” William echoed though he felt strange listening to someone else pray for him.
He ate his breakfast in silence, unsure how to bring up the topic of Emma. Doc Moore had made it pretty clear the previous night that Emma may want nothing more to do with him and that he might not see her before leaving, but he felt he at least owed her an apology.
“Do you have any paper and a pen?” William asked when his plate was clean, and his belly was full.
Doc Moore nodded, walked to a small chest in the living room, and returned a moment later with a few sheets of paper and a pen.
William stared at the blank page for a minute wondering how to write what was in his head. After a deep breath, he placed the pen on the sheet and let the words flow. When he was finished, he folded the letter and wrote Emma’s name on the outside.
“Will you make sure she gets this?” William asked Carrie as he stood.
“Of course. I’ll put it in our room where she’ll be sure to find it,” Carrie said. As she took the paper from him, she flashed him a small sympathetic smile.
“Alright, I guess I should be going then,” William said. “Can you show me where my horse is lodged?”
“Be happy to,” Doc Moore said, standing and leading the way outside.
The air was crisp and cool as they walked to the barn, and the first rays of sunlight were hitting the sky, creating a brilliant purple and red color.
Doc Moore opened the barn door and crossed to the third stall. William was glad to see his horse munching hay happily in the stall. She looked well taken care of.
He entered the stall and let Bessie sniff h
is hand. She had been his first purchase when he joined the Rangers and she had been his closest friend since.
“Thank you again for boarding her and taking care of her while I recovered,” William said, pulling out a small wad of bills and handing it over to Doc Moore.
The doctor shook his head, but William insisted, “You fed me, so consider it repayment for food. Besides, I make more than enough money for myself.”
With a single nod, the doctor accepted the money and shoved it in his pocket. “You’re welcome, Mr. Cook. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to throw my two cents in. I can tell by the way you look at my daughter that you have feelings for her and the very action of her shutting herself in her room proves she cares for you as well. I know you must turn your bounty in, but there comes a time in a man’s life when he realizes the chase is no longer what it once was. There is a comfort in coming home to a loyal woman.
“I know you had that once,” Doc Moore continued when William opened his mouth to speak. “And I know you say you don’t want it again, but iffen you ever do, I’d be willing to get to know you better.”
“Thank you, Sir,” William said, unsure of what else to say. That very thought had been playing in his head like a record since the day before. How nice it had been to come home to a loving woman and how it could be that way again if he could give up bounty hunting. But therein lay the quandary. Could he give up the life?
The doctor said nothing further as he helped William saddle Bessie up.
“Be sure to keep your wound clean and covered for another week or so,” he said as William mounted Bessie outside the barn. “And be seen by a doctor if you have any issues breathing or the pain gets worse.”
“I will, thank you,” William said. He spared one final look at the man who had saved his life and then glanced at the house in hopes of at least seeing Emma in the window. Nothing but empty windows greeted him back and with a sigh, William turned the horse towards town. He had a bounty to collect and a woman to forget.
Chapter 17
The house was quiet when Emma woke the next morning. She looked to the side, but the bed was empty. Where was everyone? Pa would most likely be at work and Jennie and Benjamin would be at school, but where were Carrie and Samuel? Emma was just surprised they had let her sleep in. Of course, usually she was awoken by Jennie first thing in the morning.
After a quick stretch, Emma rolled out of bed and dressed for the day. Her calico dress was nothing fancy, but it was one of her favorites as evidenced by the fraying hem at the bottom.
She opened the bedroom door, expecting to hear Carrie cleaning in the kitchen or see her sitting in the living room, sewing, but there was nothing but silence.
“Hello?” Emma called as she walked toward the kitchen. The dishes were washed and drying by the sink save for a plate with a few pancakes on it, obviously saved for her. A wave of hunger knotted her stomach as she realized she had missed dinner the previous night in her effort to avoid William.
Grabbing the plate, she sat down at the table and that’s when she saw the note. Her name was at the top, written in her sister’s handwriting.
Emma,
William is gone. I do think you should have listened to his story for Joseph’s death wasn’t really his fault. We decided to let you sleep as it seemed you needed it, so to make sure it was quiet for you, I decided to help Pa out in the clinic today. Samuel is working the garden should you need anything. I pray you find peace and we’ll see you this evening.
Carrie
Emma frowned at the paper as she cut the pancake into pieces and brought a forkful to her mouth. Had she been wrong not to listen to William? It wouldn’t be the first time her emotions got the better of her, but usually she had a way to make it right. If William were gone though, there was no way to make it right, but maybe it was better this way. After all, even without the lying incident, he wouldn’t have stayed, and Emma would still be alone, wouldn’t she?
She pondered that question as she finished eating the pancakes. When she was finished, she washed her dishes and then looked around the room for what else she could do. Carrie was such a good homemaker that items were rarely out of place.
Emma wandered into the living room, but everything was put away here as well. She would venture into her father’s and brothers’ room, but they had often said they would rather she didn’t, so she wandered back into the girls’ room to grab some knitting.
As she reached for the knitting bucket beside the dresser, another flash of white caught her eye. It was another note, but this one wasn’t written in her sister’s curly script. Instead, her name was spelled out in a crooked print.
Intrigued, Emma grabbed the note and sat down on the bed to read it.
Dear Emma,
I hope Carrie left this for you. I’m sorry things ended so poorly between us, and I wish I could go back and tell you the moment I knew, but I was scared. I haven’t felt affection for a woman since Catherine, but I was feeling attraction to you, and I was afraid you would be angry when you found out. I don’t know if you felt the same way I did, nor do I know if I could have offered you the kind of life you want. Perhaps it worked out this way for a reason, but I wanted to thank you for caring for my injury and to let you know how sorry I was. If I could go back in time and make sure Gilbert was truly secured and bring Joseph back to you, I would.
William Cook
Emma fought the emotion as she read the letter again and pored over each word. Had she acted too hastily? It didn’t matter now, of course. William was gone, and she had no way to reach him. The enormity of that hit her and the letter fell from her hands as she curled into a ball and let the tears come once more.
Chapter 18
“What took so long?” Jack Hardesty asked as William deposited Monroe in his care. “This was supposed to be a quick and easy hunt.”
“I took a bullet,” William growled. “I had to take a few days to heal. I was lucky it hit a fleshy part and didn't cause other damage.”
He had been grumpy all day since picking Monroe up from the Sage Creek jail. William had thought once he left the town that the image of Emma would fade from his mind and he would remember the thrill of collecting bounties, but Monroe had been nothing but a hassle since they left.
William had bound his hands to the front of the saddle and then, after getting Monroe mounted on the horse, had tied his feet to the saddle belt to keep him from kicking. Monroe had fought but not as much as William had expected. Instead, he had pleaded his case the entire ride. William grew so tired of his voice that he almost knocked the man out.
“I have another mark,” Jack said. “You think you can handle it or should I give it to someone else.”
“I can take it,” William said. Whether he could or not he needed to. He needed to stay busy to keep his mind and his heart from wandering to the blond woman he had left behind.
“Good,” Jack said. “Well, here’s the cut for Monroe and the next mark.” He slid a plump white envelope and a folded piece of paper across the desk.
William picked up the envelope first and glanced inside to see it bursting with bills. Then he unfolded the piece of paper. A grim looking man with a long thin face stared back at him.
William scanned the paper. Tom “Too Tall” Herman wanted for bank robbery. Last seen near Dallas Texas. It was perfect. Far enough away to put distance between Emma and himself and with a paycheck of a thousand dollars, it was a nice job that should be challenging enough to keep him on his toes and his mind off a certain woman.
“Looks good. I’ll head out now.”
Jack nodded and turned his attention to Monroe.
After a quick stop at the mercantile to load up and replenish items he needed, William repacked his saddle bag, mounted Bessie, and headed toward Dallas. If he was lucky, he might make it by nightfall but more than likely, he’d be sleeping under the stars.
Chapter 19
When her tears were spent, Emma wandered back into the kitchen. S
he still had a few hours before the young ones would be out of school and a few more hours until her father and Carrie would be home. Samuel would probably finish his work around the small farm shortly after the young ones returned home.
Emma decided to spend the time cooking for supper. She began chopping vegetables for the stew, hoping to keep her mind off William Cook’s strong face and cleft chin.
When the vegetables were ready, she added them and the meat to a large pot and lit the fire. As the stew began to simmer, she turned her attention to the bread. After the ingredients were mixed, she began kneading the dough, letting her mind flirt with “what if” possibilities.
If she had heard William out, would he have stayed? Beyond that, if he had stayed, would he have wanted to court her? Might she have one day been preparing bread for him in their house as she waited for him to come home for dinner?
“Mmm, what smells so good?”
Jennie’s voice broke Emma’s daydream, and she looked up to realize nearly an hour had passed and she hadn’t gotten the bread in the stove yet. Benjamin and Jennie stood a few feet away staring at her.
“It’s stew,” Emma said, placing the bread in the stove, “but it’s not ready yet. We’re going to wait for Pa and Carrie to finish their day before we eat.”
“Okay,” Jennie said, a small pout gracing her lips. “Do you think William will ever come back?”
“Yeah, I miss him too,” Benjamin said. “I wanted him to teach me about bounty hunting.”
“Oh, I’m sorry you two, but I don’t think Mr. Cook is coming back,” Emma said.
“Emma, are you sad that William is gone?” Jennie asked.
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