Cutty (Prairie Grooms Book 8) (15 page)

“At the ranch,” he said, obviously still in shock. “I came to town for a few supplies.” He looked Cutty up and down and shook his head. “Bloody unbelievable. All this time …”

“You may strike me if it will make you feel any better,” Cutty said. “But it won’t change a thing.” He shook his head. “If it would change the past, I’d
beg
you to hit me.”

Harrison grimaced, his anger evident. “No. You’re right – it won’t change the past.” He shook his head and backed up a few more steps. “I have to think … Colin and the others …”

“I’ll tell them, if you like,” Cutty volunteered. “Colin can hit me if he wishes.”

“Cutty, stop saying that,” Imogene said. “You men need to settle your differences in a civilized manner.”

“Or at least using the Marquis of Queensbury rules,” Eloise quipped, then saw the looks everyone gave her. “Sorry.”

But Cutty smiled at the witticism, before staring at the table again. “I am so sorry for the wrongs I’ve done you and yours,” he said, glancing at Harrison. “I’ve tried to change, to be the man I should’ve been all along. I can only hope and pray that you can see your way to … to forgive me.”

Harrison pulled up the nearest chair and sat. “Bloody unbelievable …” He looked at Cutty. “Who else knows?”

“Reverend King. And everyone here, of course.” Cutty’s eyes found their way to Newton. “I …” He didn’t know what to say next.

And Newton didn’t give him the chance. His hands balled into fists, his jaw tight, he stormed out of the dining room and up the stairs.

Cutty sighed. “That’s that, then. He’s leaving.”

“You don’t know that,” Nettie said. “Please, go talk to him.”

Cutty shook his head. “What good will it do? He was set on returning to the Indians even before I told him. Now he’ll definitely go.” He sighed again. “And I wouldn’t blame him if he never came back.”

* * *

Mrs. Upton came into the dining room just after the ruckus and for the life of her couldn’t figure out what was going on. “Why all the glum faces? I made bacon and biscuits.”

Harrison ignored her and instead faced Imogene. “How long have you been carrying that gun?”

“I’ve had it for years,” she insisted. “One does come in handy in case of a scuffle.”

He looked at Cutty. “Yes,” he said and cleared his throat. “Sorry for almost hitting you.”

“I daresay I’ve earned it,” Cutty remarked, still eyeing the tablecloth.

“Stop it,” Imogene scolded. “And I would hope you’re above doing so,” she added to Harrison.

Harrison folded his arms across his chest and said nothing.

Mrs. Upton screwed up her face. “Did somebody get shot?”

“Almost,” Cutty said with a sigh.

Harrison glared at him but kept his mouth shut. Mrs. Upton just stared – why was Cutty talking like the Cooke brothers all of a sudden?

“Everything’s fine now, Mrs. Upton,” Seth said. “Please, we’d love to get started on breakfast.”

She gave him a slow nod, looked at Cutty quizzically, then dished out fried potatoes for everyone. She put everything else out on the table, then hurried to the relative sanity of the kitchen.

Everyone stared at the food in front of them. “I’m not sure I understand what just happened,” Eloise stated. “I can’t believe you’re … you’re …” She was jabbing her finger toward Cutty as if poking him from a distance.

Seth put his arm around her. “This is mostly between Cutty and … and his children.” He glanced at Harrison. “And the rest of the Cookes.”

Harrison’s eyes flicked to Nettie and Amon. “How long have you known?”

Nettie met his eyes and straightened in her chair. “He told me when Ryder took Newton out the first time.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Harrison asked in shock.

“It wasn’t hers to tell,” Cutty said. “The responsibility was mine.”

“Well, I must say this is quite a surprise,” Eloise said. “You saved me from that barn fire, along with my sisters and the others. For that I’ll be forever grateful …”

“But,” Cutty said.

“But … the other things you did …”

“Quite,” he said with a frown. “I can at least assure you that I’ve been in this country for some time now. I can promise you that the things that happened to you and your sisters in England was not my doing.”

Her eyes widened. “Great Scott, you’re right.” She looked at Seth. “Remember when Apple and I told you about those odd things that made us believe there was a curse on our family?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod.

“Cutty’s right. Most of those things happened when he was already here.” She looked back to Cutty. “Who would want to keep us from marrying?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve asked Imogene, and she has no theories.” Imogene nodded in confirmation. “At the moment, though, I have other things to worry about.”

“Such as what?” Harrison asked.

Cutty saw Newton cross the hotel lobby, saddlebags in hand, and march out the hotel’s double doors. “Such as that.” He got up, left the table and ran after him.

Fifteen

“Newton, please, wait!”

Newton didn’t stop. His angry strides carried him quickly toward the livery stable. “I’m going back – don’t try to stop me.”

Cutty caught up to him and grabbed him by the arm. “I know you have to go back, but … when will you return?”

Newton stopped to look at him. “I don’t know …
Father.
” He wrenched his arm away and kept going.

“You don’t have to make it sound like a curse. I didn’t know!”

Newton didn’t stop this time. “You knew when we got off the stage, yet you kept quiet all this time.”

“Because I didn’t know what to do,” Cutty pleaded. “Because I was afraid … son.”

“
Don’t
call me that!”

“Newton, please don’t leave angry like this. I want to make things right between us. You, me, Nettie …”

“And what about the others?” he asked, not slowing a step.

“The Cookes? I’ll deal with them later – you’re more important to me.”

“I have to get away from here. I have to think.”

“Dash it all, what is there to think about?” Cutty was almost sobbing now. “You have a father who loves you, even if I didn’t find out you were my son until a little while ago. I missed so much – I never got to see you as a baby, you or your sister. I never got to see you grow up. I didn’t even know you existed until you arrived here. It gave me such a shock that Imogene had to take me to Doc Waller’s!”

Newton raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were already ill.”

“Yes, but I was on the mend. And then … but never mind that. Please, I beg of you, give me a chance.”

“You didn’t give the Cooke brothers a chance,” he remarked.

Cutty closed his eyes a moment and sighed. “Point taken. There are a lot of things that happened they don’t know about, and what they do know they blame me for.”

“So I’ve heard,” he said dryly. “Tell me,
Father,
how much of it
was
your fault? Did you or did you not try to bring harm to that family in order to get what you wanted?”

Cutty kicked at the dirt with his boot. “I admit I hired some men to steal their cattle. But that’s all.”

“Oh? I heard other things happened involving my distant cousins.”

“Not my doing,” he insisted. “Thank the Lord for that.” Or in this case a rooster. He looked away as a flash of memory hit. Penelope tied to a barn post, a match in his hand, and one very, very, angry rooster …

“Indeed – someone might well be dead.”

Cutty shook his head to chase the memory away. He’d have to atone for that sin but first things first. “Newton, you don’t understand. Out there …” He pointed toward the prairie. “… I was forced to spend time with the vilest men imaginable. They showed me what real evil is – showed me so clearly that even then, cad that I was, I decided I wanted no part of it. If I hadn’t made that decision, your relations
would
be dead.”

Newton looked at the sky and drew in a long breath. “And so you’ve been doing good ever since?”

“I’ve been trying to. After I rescued all the women from that barn fire, there was a time I didn’t care if I lived or died. In fact, I lived under a log for a while until some of the men from town found me. I knew I didn’t deserve to live after all the things I’d done – I should have died out there. But the people in this town wouldn’t let me!”

“How bloody inconvenient for you.”

“That’s actually how I thought about it, at first,” Cutty said with a sigh. “But then I got a taste of what it was like to have friends, true friends, people who cared about me. That’s when I found that I could be … better than I was.”

“Which of you was that?”

Cutty’s shoulders sagged. “Imogene figured it out, yet stayed by my side. Nettie’s accepted me for who I am. Is … is there any chance you can?”

Newton turned away again. “I have to leave.”

“No, you …” Cutty said, then stopped and sighed heavily in resignation. “Yes, I suppose you do.”

Newton strode to the livery stable and didn’t look back. Cutty stood there for a few moments, his mind a blank. Just as he was about to turn and head back to the hotel, Newton led a horse from the livery, mounted, kicked the animal into a canter and rode off.

Cutty watched him go, then shook his head and stared at the ground. “Please, Lord. I have little right to ask anything of You, but please, make sure he comes back.”

“He will.”

Cutty spun around. “Imogene …” He reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “Imogene … if only I could be so sure.” He looked up and saw Harrison, Seth and the others watching them. “How long have all of you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” Harrison said. He rubbed his face with his hand a few times. “I think you and I should pay a visit to Sheriff Hughes.”

Cutty’s eyes widened as he realized Harrison’s intentions. “Yes, I imagine so.”

“Cutty,” Imogene said. “You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do.”

Harrison touched Imogene on the shoulder. “I’m not going to have him arrested, if that’s what you think.”

“You’re not?” Imogene said accusingly.

“You’re not?” Cutty echoed in shock.

“No. On the contrary, after hearing what you just told Newton, I was going to see if the sheriff knew what it took to legally change a name.”

But Cutty shook his head again. “I’m not proud of who I was … but I’m not going to hide from it either. No more lies, no more silly accents – and no false names. I want to marry this woman, Harrison. And if she’s willing to marry Thackary Cuthbert Holmes –”

“And I am,” Imogene declared, as much to Harrison as to Cutty.

Cutty couldn’t hide his smile, or his tears. “– then I’m willing to be him. It makes no difference to me what it says on our marriage license.”

Harrison smiled and nodded to himself. “If you say so, old man.” He looked at Imogene. “Are you sure you want to marry him?”

“Do I have to point that gun at your head again?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. But even if the rest of the family agrees, that doesn’t mean others will. Cutty has a past, and sometimes our pasts come back to haunt us. If he changes his name legally, it will be harder for that past to find him.”

She glanced at Cutty and back. “He has a point. Especially if we were to return to England for any reason.”

“I’m not so sure,” Cutty replied. He looked at the livery stable, his eyes full of worry.

“We can talk about it another time,” Harrison suggested. “Are you going to go after Newton?”

Cutty turned back to him. “No. He said he needs time – I need to honor that.”

“But he could stew over this for months out there.”

“If that’s what he needs to do, then I say let him. I can’t force him to accept me – he has to make his own choice. I hope he chooses to return, but …” Cutty shrugged.

Harrison put his hands on his hips. “I’m sure he will. I doubt he’ll want to spend the winter with the Indians.”

“If he does, he does.” Cutty said as he took Imogene’s hand and stood beside her. “He likes to be out in the open, after all.”

“True,” Harrison conceded. “What say in the mean time, you and Imogene accompany me back to the Triple-C and let the rest of the family know.”

Cutty shuddered and went pale.

“Don’t worry, I’ll speak to Colin and the other men. No one is going to harm you.”

“If you say so. But even aside from the men, your wife may wish to lay about me with a frying pan. And Mrs. Dunnigan …” He shook again.

Harrison laughed, a laugh that quickly faded as he realized the truth of Cutty’s statements. “By Jove, I think you’re right. Well, I may have to serve as your bodyguard once or twice. I’ll break it to Sadie gently. As for the rest of the town … well, one thing at a time. Besides, if everyone sees that our family accepts you, the rest of Clear Creek will be more likely to.”

“I hope you’re right,” Cutty said. “Who knows, I might even live long enough to see if Newton does.”

Harrison gave him a somber expression. “I understand. Now, let’s go tell the others.”

Cutty leaned over and kissed Imogene. “Thank you for not shooting Harrison.”

She smiled. “Who said I would have?”

“Me,” Harrison stated as he headed for the Triple-C’s wagon. The others laughed.

Nettie sobered first. “Would you have?”

“I’ve made my decision, dear, same as you,” she said. “I didn’t want to see Cutty come to harm, but I wouldn’t want to see Harrison come to any either. This isn’t easy for any of us – for Cutty, hardest of all.”

“Amon and I will come with you,” Nettie said.

“We’ll come too,” volunteered Seth. “You’ve looked out for all of us at some point and I’m indebted to you for saving my wife from that fire. I feel I owe you.”

Cutty wiped his eyes a few times. “Thank you, Seth.”

“It is strange not hearing you talk like a drifter, though.” Several others agreed, and Nettie swallowed a snort of laughter.

“Well, best get used to it,” Imogene declared. “This man is through hiding.” Cutty nodded sheepishly in agreement.

“We’d better go,” Amon said. “Our wagon’s just down the street. Seth, Eloise, you can ride with us.”

They followed Amon and Nettie to their wagon as Cutty and Imogene headed for the Triple-C’s. Cutty felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. And he’d only started. He just hoped he survived the rest of the day, and that Newton did as well.

* * *

Imogene squeezed Cutty’s hand as the Triple-C wagon crested the rise and began its decent to the ranch. He hadn’t been there as Thackary since the infamous dance, when Duncan Cooke proposed to Cozette Duprie … right before the kidnapping fiasco. He’d arrived late with the old duke’s solicitor Mr. Ashford – they’d been discussing his finances (or lack thereof) which had put him in a foul mood. That, plus being accused of taking the women, plus getting manhandled by that giant Scotsman, had made for a rough evening.

When everyone lit out after the outlaws, he was at his wit’s end. He’d hired Jeb and his gang of outlaws to steal cattle and nothing more, hoping to instill a sense of duty in his cousin Duncan to the ranch. After all, how could any of them possibly take on a duchy when the ranch needed them more …

So much for that idea. The outlaws’ leader had gone back on his word, taken matters into his own hands and caused a huge mess by making off with the Cooke brothers’ wives and others. What had started as a simple ploy turned quickly into a disaster. And for Thackary Holmes, the disasters kept right on coming …

“Stop that,” Imogene said.

Cutty shook himself. “What?”

“You’re holding your breath.”

He sucked in some air. “Oh. So I was.”

“Don’t be nervous – everything will be fine,” she assured.

“Easy for you to say.”

“We’ll get through this together,” she whispered in his ear.

Harrison sat and pretended to ignore them. He’d been quiet most of the trip. Cutty leaned forward, looked past Imogene and watched him a moment. “I’m still concerned about your wife throwing things at me …”

“Sadie is more civilized than you think,” Harrison quipped, sounding annoyed. “She’ll not throw anything.”

“You’re quite sure about that?” Cutty asked.

“Positive.”

“All right,” he said as Harrison parked the wagon in front of the house.

Ten minutes later …

Cutty ran out of the ranch house, jumped off the porch and barely dodged the stew pot that followed. A coffee pot flew out the door behind it.

“I can’t believe you!” Sadie screeched. “You left me hanging on that swing and took off with Cozette!”

Cutty covered his head with his arms and peeked around to see if Sadie Cooke had run out of things to throw at him. She’d even tossed a few spoons at Harrison for being, as she’d put it, “so calm about this!”

Seeing that she was now unarmed, he dared to look up. “I can explain everything!” he whimpered. “Please, just give me a chance!”

“You had your chance as far as I’m concerned!”

“My dear wife,” Harrison said from behind her. “He’s right, you need to…”

She spun on him. “You of all people should have … have spit in his eye!”

Harrison’s brow puckered. “What would that have solved?”

“I don’t know!” She put a hand to her chest and heaved a heavy sigh. “I … I’m sorry. I’m so upset! That awful day …”

Harrison took her into his arms. “There was another awful day, as I recall. One where that chap over there saved you and the others from a horrible fiery death.”

“Well … yeah. But that don’t just erase what else he did.”

Harrison looked at her. “Darling, I was angry too, and my first reaction was just as … extreme as yours. But he did risk his life to save you, and would have died had he not been found and brought to Clear Creek. He was prepared to die, in fact, fully acknowledging he deserved it. Isn’t that punishment enough for the man? To die knowing none of us would ever know who he was, nor even thank him for what he’d done?”