Jared (Bachelors And Babies Book 7)

by Charlene Raddon

  "No harm done, Oysters." Cynara used her calmest voice, the one she usually reserved for the babies. "We all know now, and everything is okay."

  "It's my fault too." Healy stuck a thumb in her mouth, chewing on the nail. "You weren't the only one who failed to spread the word, Oysters."

  "If' you say so." Oysters continued shaking his head, seeming disgusted with himself.

  "There's plenty we can do to help," Ma said."We need to make sure the guns are clean and loaded."

  "Good idea, Ma." Cynara slipped an arm around Healy's shoulders and aimed her toward the great room. "I'll show you where they are."

  "I haven't loaded a gun since I left home," Healy said, her hands trembling. "I hope I remember how."

  "You'll remember," Cynara said, "and, if not, we can help."

  They worked the dining room table with the rifles and six-guns spread out in front of them. The babies sat on the floor at their feet playing with rattles and blocks. It struck Healy that should anyone walk in, they'd likely think they'd landed amidst of some sort of female militia.

  When Healy stopped working, her thoughts elsewhere and her fingers limp on the gun in her lap, Cynara asked, "Are you all right, Healy?"

  "A little nervous is all. What I need is a big baby hug." Healy picked up Gage and kissed his sweet face, breathing in his special scent. She didn't want to go to California or anywhere else. She wanted to raise this little boy and never give him up. What if Jared married Melanie? Healy didn't think she could bear losing Jared and Gage. If that happened, she'd have to leave High Mountain. Maybe she'd end up in California after all.

  To Healy, the afternoon inched by with the speed of a summer cloud floating in the sky. The sun sank low in the sky. She could have sworn time had stopped. She yearned to be where the action was. To be with Jared. But she realized the others were no calmer inside than her.

  When she wasn't pacing the floor, Cynara was. Or they were peering out windows. Earlier, there had been buggies and wagons aplenty driving past, and men on horseback, coming to join the roofing. Now, all was quiet. Too quiet. Healy thought she would go crazy worrying about what was happening at Jared's house.

  Periodically, she or Cynara would check with the men outside to see if they'd noticed anything out of place, any hint of men hiding in the trees. They'd had nothing to report, which had the effect of a double-edged sword, leaving them more restless than ever.

  Healy played with the babies, changed diapers, tried to knit. While Cynara fed the little ones, the women shared stories from their youth. Ma had plenty of tales from her early days in Montana before her sons were born when she and Pa Givens first built High Mountain ranch.

  "Those were good days," she said, winding up a story. "Hard, dangerous, sad even, but still good. We survived."

  "I've lived an easy life I haven't appreciated." Healy hadn't heard everything Ma said. Her mind kept drifting off. How close were the men to finishing? Was everything there as it should be?

  A tentative knock came on the open door and Oysters stuck his head inside. "Roof must be finished. Folks is leaving."

  "Thank heaven." Healy jumped up, going to the window, along with Cynara and Ma. A wagon rumbled past, the driver waving to Cavell and Roy. Behind him came the reverend's buggy and three riders.

  "At least it didn't take until nightfall," Cynara said. "I bet my man is tired. Oysters, make a fresh pot of coffee for the men when they come in."

  "Yes'm." He hurried to the kitchen.

  The women went to the back porch to watch the parade. Three more riders rode toward the gate, followed by the Jeffers' buggy.

  "I hated being left out of all this," Cynara said. "We don't have many chances to visit with neighbors. Especially, the women."

  "Look." Healy pointed. "The Jeffers are stopping."

  They stepped out on the porch and waved.

  "You ladies doing good?" Jeffers called.

  "We're fine, Tom," Cynara answered. "I take it they're done up there? Did all go well?"

  "Yes. Not entirely done, but Jared and Barclay insisted they could finish up. A few men stayed with them." He grinned. "I had a darn fine time. I think everyone did."

  "I certainly enjoyed it," Mrs. Jeffers said."We all missed the three of you, though."

  "Thanks for that, and for stopping." Ma waved."We've hated being left out."

  The Jeffers lifted their hands and drove on.

  As they entered the house again, Healy groaned."Alone again."

  "No, we're not," Cynara said. "We have each other, the babies and Oysters."

  "You're right." Healy joined the babies on the floor playing with toys. Now, Gage crawled to her and held out his arms. Healy obliged, cuddling him close. "I feel so bad, though. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have stayed home today."

  With a sigh, her sister perched beside her. "I don't like to hear you castigating yourself for something you couldn't prevent."

  "Huh. I could have stopped it simply by not staying."

  Gage, distracted by a toy Vella had, crawled over to take it. Too restless to sit, Healy stood and paced. "I should have gone to California."

  "The men will be back soon." Cynara rose and took the babies' bath pan from the wall."I want to give the babies their baths and get them settled in bed before Barclay gets home."

  "Good idea. I'll get Gage ready." She made a game of tickling him as she removed his gown and diaper. "I'm surprised no one else has stopped to tell us goodbye."

  "I'm not. Barclay planned to tell everyone the babies were ill so they wouldn't ask questions and wonder where we were.”

  "Oh." Healy's disappointment surprised her. She barely knew these people. Some she'd never even met. She had settled into High Mountain as if meant to live out her life here. Could that be possible?

  An image of her, Gage and Jared—only the three of them—sitting in front of a roaring fire in their own house flashed through her head. Reality banished the lovely vision.

  Outside, dusk handed her scepter over to night. The sun had vanished behind the trees in the west. It would be dark soon.

  "I wonder what's keeping our men." Healy walked over to the window to look out. A red glow lit up the sky like a beautiful sunset—except in the east instead of the west. Something was wrong.

  A pounding came on the back door. By the time Healy and Cynara reached the kitchen Oysters stood looking out. Roy stood outside but neither man spoke. They were watching a rider thunder up to the house, coming from the big meadow.

  "Fire at the new house," he yelled. "I'm going for help." Bent over his saddle horn and urging his horse to go faster, he quickly disappeared.

  "What did he say?" Oysters called to Roy, a hand cupped behind his ear.

  "Fire!" Roy yelled. "Jared's house is on fire."

  At that moment, the bells on Jared's alarm system rattled and clanged. Healy's heart dropped to the vicinity of her stomach. It was true. Someone had set fire to Jared's house.

  "No!" She screamed and ran outside. It couldn't be. Weren't matters bad enough? Skelly had done this. Would he hurt Jared and Barclay, or any of the other men?

  She halted. The babies. She had to protect the babies. But she needed to see Jared too, see he was all right. Stymied with indecision, she stood in the road.

  The few men left at the ranch compound leaped on horses and galloped toward the orange glow in the sky like an echo of sunset. The horses dodged the skirted figure standing in the way.

  "Healy!" Cynara screamed from the porch. "Come back here. Any man with a rifle could shoot you from the woods and be gone before we could do anything about it."

  Healy grimaced at the terrifying picture her sister painted. Turning slowly, she searched the tree line for anything human. Would Skelly simply have her shot from a distance? No, he could have had Blackie or Chips, or any other man take care of that and stay comfortable in St. Louis. Skelly came all the way to Montana for one reason—to kill her himself. She had to make sure he didn't harm Gage, Vella and Co
nner.

  "Think what Jared would say if you left the house and something happened to you." Cynara rushed down the steps and took hold of her sister's arm."It would kill him, I think."

  "Cynara, get over this thing you have about me and Jared." Healy tried to back away. "It's so unlikely to happen. I'm going to California. Did you forget that? And Jared may like kissing me, but there's a mighty big difference between kissing and marriage."

  "I know that better than you do, Healy Kimbrough. I'm the one who is married. Now, come back to the house where we'll be safe."

  We'll be safe? The words struck Healy with the force of a stampeding cattle herd. She could risk danger to herself but not to Cynara and the babies.

  Cynara must have seen the defeat in her sister's eyes. She led Healy to the back door without further protest where Ma waited with comforting arms. They moved into the kitchen and sat at the table after making sure to lock the back door.

  "But I should be there." Healy drummed her fingers on the tabletop. "Jared's in trouble. It's going to kill me to sit here and do nothing."

  In the heart of the house, a baby took up crying.

  "You're needed here too," Cynara said as another little voice joined the first one. "Let's go take care of them."

  Her feet dragging, Healy followed Cynara into the nursery.

  Sitting on a chair with little Gage on his lap was Skelly.

  Chapter Twelve

  Healy screamed at the sight of Skelly with the baby she'd come to love so much. As soon as Gage saw her, he held up his arms and broke into tears. Rushing on unsteady legs, she took the baby from him and backed across the room near Cynara and Ma. "Get out of here, Skelly. I want nothing to do with you."

  "Oh, my dear. You know it isn't that simple." He stood and lifted a hand. Not until then had she noticed Chips and another man standing in the corner."Give the child to your sister. At least, I assume this is her?"

  Healy glanced at Cynara. "If you harm her or Ma Givens or any of these babies, I'll—"

  "Yes. Yes, I know."He waved a dismissive hand. "You'll kill me with your bare hands, or something horribly drastic like that. Such dramatics."

  He paused as if for emphasis."I said, give the baby to your sister."

  Pulse pounding, she ignored him, turned and sat Gage next to Conner who lay in his own bed staring up at her. Vella slept soundly.

  The babies. No matter what, she had to protect them. There had to be a way to keep them out of whatever Skelly had planned. Her brain whirred as she sought answers among jumbled thoughts that made thinking difficult. Never had she been more terrified.

  Calm. Think. Do something.

  How had he gotten in? They'd made sure the doors were locked. And the windows. The dogs never even barked. Had the dogs followed Roy, Cavell and Oysters to the fire?

  She wanted to run. To hide. To flee. To fight this horrible man she'd come to detest. She thought of the weapons on the dining room table. Were they still there, or had Skelly and his men taken them while the women were out back? If only she could get her hands on a six-gun.

  Get Skelly away from High Mountain. That's what she needed to do. He'd already harmed Jared by setting fire to his house. She couldn't allow anything more to happen to these people she'd come to love.

  She pivoted toward him. "I'll leave with you now, Skelly, so long as you leave my family here in peace."

  He gave a wry smile. "I didn't realize you were in a position to bargain. Yes, you will come with me and, since I'm feeling generous, your family as you call them, will not be harmed. Shall we go?"

  She cuddled Gage closer, sudden panic rising inside her at the thought of abandoning him. Kissing his sweet head, she whispered, "I love you, baby. I'll be back for you."

  "Healy…" Cynara said.

  She sent her sister a look, pleading with her to be silent. As calmly as possible, she said, "It's all right, Cynara. Please, take care of my Gage and tell Jared… Tell him goodbye."

  "Jared, yes," Skelly snarled. "The man I saw you kissing, I suppose. That made me very unhappy, Ruth. You. Belong. To. Me."

  He walked over and took her hand. "Where is your engagement ring? You didn't lose it, did you?"

  "I left it on my dresser in St. Louis." She yanked her hand away. "Didn't you find it?"

  "You put it in your safe, boss," Chips said.

  "Oh, yes. I remember now. Very naughty of you to leave it behind." He stared down at her as if she were a bug he considered squashing. "But then you've been much naughtier than that, haven’t you? You left me."

  "I-I'm sorry for that, Skelly. It was a mistake. Please, let me get my things and we'll go now."

  "Very well but be quick about it and no tricks—" he looked pointedly at Gage. "—or someone here will suffer for it."

  "No tricks, I promise." She headed for the door where Cynara stood. As she passed, she whispered, "Go along with me. Say nothing."

  Then she ran up the stairs. On impulse, she darted first into Jared's bedroom and grabbed the recording device he'd created from on top of his chest of drawers. In her own chamber, she dug out her old satchel, placed the dismantled recorder inside and laid underclothes over it. That left little space for a dress, her brush and comb, and her mother's pendant watch. Sitting on the bed, she donned her most durable shoes. Five minutes later, she raced back downstairs. Skelly, Chips and the other man waited in the great room. She saw no sign of Cynara, Ma or the babies. They must still be in the nursery.

  "I'm ready, Skelly. Let's hurry before anyone notices you're here." She pulled her shawl down from its hook and swung it around her shoulders. "I can't wait to leave."

  He gazed at her a long time while her heart drummed against her ribcage and her stomach threatened to empty itself. Her chest tightened to the point of pain and a lump formed in her throat. Would he refuse? Did he see through her lie?

  Of course, he did. Who was she kidding? Skelly Bernard was a smart man. He'd have no trouble divining her intentions.

  "I suppose next you'll tell me you can't wait to marry me," he said sardonically.

  "Please, Skelly, I couldn't bear it if anything bad were to happen to my sister or these good people on this ranch. Or… Or you. You could be shot. You said once that you loved me. If that's true, let's go now."

  Without turning to them, he waved his men forward. "She can ride with you, Chips."

  "Yes, sir." He came forward and opened the door, a hand on Healy's arm as he ushered her outside.

  "Oh, God, please…" she cried, seeing the bloody bodies of the dogs on the porch, their necks slit open.

  Skelly stepped out behind her and she whirled toward him, pounding her fists on his chest. "You monster! Why did you have to kill them? You promised no one would be harmed."

  "Chips, shut her up."

  "Sorry, Miss Ruth," Chips murmured as he snared her with his arm and clapped his hand over her mouth.

  He lifted her onto his horse, then climbed on behind. Healy twisted in her seat trying to see the trail to Jared's house. A reddish glow showed still above the trees but no flames. Was he all right? Had they put the fire out?

  Please, Jared, forgive me. It's all my fault.

  She never should have come to Montana. Deep inside, she'd known it all along. It had been selfishness on her part that had brought her to Cutthroat. Would she ever see it again? Doubtful. She would either be married to Skelly or buried somewhere in the woods. A tear ran down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away. No time for self-pity. She had to find a way to save herself.

  The moment Jared saw Roy, Cavell and Oysters riding up, he threw down his empty bucket and ran to meet them. "What are you doing here? Who's guarding Healy?"

  Blank faces changed to guilty ones.

  "We thought you'd need us," Cavell said.

  "Tarnation," Oysters muttered. "Shoulda knowed better. Some man spoke to Healy out at the clothesline. Told her Skelly was here and to get in the house. He seemed like he meant to protect her. She made me promise not to fet
ch you."

  Cursing, Jared ran to his horse. "Get back to the main house! Now!"

  The men turned their horses around and took off.

  Barclay followed Jared to the makeshift corral. They were both wet from spilled buckets and filthy with soot.

  "You think Skelly started this so he could grab Healy?" Barclay asked.

  "Don't you?" Jared leaped onto the gelding's back, not bothering with a saddle. "If he's harmed her…"

  "More likely, he's taken her." Barclay checked his six-gun.

  "Where you boys going?" Marshal Vining asked, standing with an empty bucket in his hand. "You know who did this?"

  "Yeah, we know." Jared spat at a rock to show his opinion of the man. "Skelly Bernard."

  "That's what I figured." Vining went to his horse. "I'm coming with you."

  Andrew Osborne, who owned the newspaper in town, joined them. "What's going on? Why do I get the feeling something is wrong here, more than the fire? You think this was deliberate?"

  "We know it was," Barclay answered, jumping on his horse.

  "We're going after the gibfaced bastard responsible," Jared said loud enough for the others to hear. "If we're right, the bastard has likely taken my… Healy with him. We could use some help."

  To a man, the others—about a dozen who'd helped put out the fire—dropped their shovels and buckets and ran for their horses.

  Jared castigated himself all the way to the ranch house. If anything happened to the women or babies, to Healy, it would be his fault. He prayed Healy did nothing to worsen her situation, like go outside again.

  What had Oysters said about a man telling Healy she was in danger and to get inside? Who could that have been? Not any of Skelly's men. He'd drill Oysters more about it when they got to the house.

  Please, please don't let Skelly take Healy.

  As Healy suspected, Skelly and his gang didn't go to Cutthroat. After they'd ridden several miles, she began to wonder if they'd stop at any town. She had hoped somehow to get word to a lawman or to Jared. Anyone who might help. None of the men spoke as they traveled so they must know where they were going. Skelly led the group, followed by Ax and Percy. She and Chips brought up the rear.