Here Comes the Bride (31 page)

Gabe sat on the ground, his knees tucked up to his chest, staring blindly into the flames. Tess’s heart ached to look at him. As much as she would miss Rosa and Miguel, it was nothing compared with what Gabriel and Bart must be feeling. She knelt behind him, wrapped her arms around his huge shoulders, and tried to blanket him with her tiny body. How she wished she could take even a tiny bit of his pain and carry it for him; but she knew she couldn’t. The best she could do was to love him even more.

They sat that way for a long, long time, not a word spoken, not a sound uttered. Finally, when she thought he’d never give in to it, Gabe’s forehead lowered to his knees and his whole body convulsed with anguished sobs. Tess tightened her hold around his body, using every last bit of her strength not to break down with him. He needed to let it out, to grieve his loss, to be comforted; what he didn’t need was to have to comfort anyone else right then. Not even his wife.

News of their loss spread faster than the fire itself, bringing the entire town out for the burial of Rosa and Miguel. Even Miss Hattie from the boardinghouse came, bringing with her enough food to feed the Fifth Regiment. Tess made a point of greeting everyone and thanking them for coming, leaving Gabriel and Bart to themselves. Neither one had said more than half a dozen words since the previous night, and Tess feared things would get worse for them before they got better.

Reverend Boswell blessed both caskets and the souls of the dearly departed, then turned and added an extra blessing to all who had cared for Rosa and Miguel. Tess sat rod straight between Gabriel and Bart, grasping their hands in hers. Neither one of them so much as blinked through the entire service. When Reverend Boswell finished, Bart immediately rose from his seat, searching the crowd until his eyes lit upon the only person he cared to see. Collette.

As if he’d spoken his thoughts aloud, she, too, rose and made her way directly toward him, ignoring the stares and soft gasps around her. Wyatt Langman was on his feet in a flash, his mouth open to object, when he must have thought better of it and sat back down. Collette walked right up to Bart, put her arms around his middle, and held him, in front of all to see, comforting him with an inner strength Tess prayed for.

Bart tucked his face in the crook of her neck and shoulder and held on to her for a long time.

“Come on, everyone,” Tess said, rising to her feet with Gabriel. “There’s coffee and cakes in the barn.”

As though one, the entire crowd turned their stares from Bart and Collette and wandered toward the barn, picking their way through the ashes of the house.

“Why don’t you go for a ride?” Tess whispered to Gabe softly. “I’ll deal with these people.”

“The horses . . .” he began, but Tess stopped him with the point of her finger.

Far enough away to make a dash for safety if need be, Zeus stamped his feet and tossed his head. Gabe sighed with regret.

“I can’t,” he said. “All these folks came out . . .”

“Never you mind about these folks,” she said. “They’ll understand, and if they don’t then they should be ashamed of themselves.”

“But . . .”

“Go, Gabriel.” She kissed his cheek tenderly. “I think you need to be by yourself for a while.”

Gabe looked down at his wife with dead eyes. She was the reason he’d made it through the night with his sanity intact.

“You sure?”

“Yes.” She smiled through glassy eyes, then added with a note of teasing, “Just remember to come back.”

Gabe ran his finger gently down her cheek. “I love you, Tess Calloway.”

“I know,” she said definitely. “And I love you. Now get out of here.”

He kissed the top of her head and both hands before making his way out of the crowd toward Zeus. Bart watched in silence for a moment, kissed Collette on the cheek, and took out after Gabe, taking his own horse by the bit and hauling himself into the saddle.

Tess and Collette watched the two brothers ride out across the land they’d only ever worked with Miguel; the land Rosa had worked and tilled to provide food for the lot of them.

Joby and Seth approached Tess, their hats twisting nervously in their hands.

“Miss Tess,” Joby said, his head ducked low. “We best get out to the herd now, unless you be needin’ us for somethin’.”

“Thank you, Joby. But I think Gabriel would want you to look after the herd for him. Be sure to take some food with you, though. There’s plenty.”

The two men nodded meekly and backed away.

“Oh, Tess,” Collette sighed ruefully. “This is so awful for you. How is it you’re holding up so well?”

Tess’s chest heaved. “I’d like nothing more than to fall in a heap right here and cry for a week,” she admitted. “But Gabriel needs me to be strong, as you were strong for Bart just now.”

“I wasn’t.” Collette shook her head. “I needed him to hold me as much as he needed to be held.”

“Still,” Tess insisted, “most ladies I know wouldn’t have done it, walked up in front of everyone like that. You must really love him.”

“I do,” she choked. “It breaks my heart to see him like this. I wish there was something I could do, some way I could unburden him.”

Tess nodded sadly, patting the other girl’s arm. “I know exactly what you’re feeling. Now come, I’m going to need your help to get through this afternoon.”

Collette wiped her eyes with her white lace handkerchief, lifted her chin, and plastered a smile across her pale lips.

“Right,” she said. “Let’s go receive your guests together, shall we?”

“Thank you, Collette,” Tess said softly, swallowing hard. “You are a dear friend.”

“As are you. Now come, let’s get this over with.”

Every minute of the afternoon dragged by with painstaking slowness until finally the only ones left were Reverend Boswell and the Widow Brenner, but with a little smile and a great deal of insistence from Tess and Collette, they too finally made their way back toward town.

And still Gabe and Bart did not return.

Joby and Seth finished with the herd and then busied themselves doing nothing until it was painfully obvious to all of them they were just killing time.

And still Gabe and Bart did not return.

“You boys should head back into town,” Tess said. “There’s nothing to do here but wait for Gabriel and Bart, and I’m certain they’ll be along shortly.”

Her forced conviction was much stronger than it sounded in her head.

“Don’t reckon the boss’d be too pleased with us if’n we up and left you to yerself, Miss Tess,” Seth said.

“I’m not alone,” she said. “Collette is here with me and what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Lots,” Seth said, his eyes wide.

“Seth,” she smiled. “We’ll be fine. Now away you go. I’ll be sure to tell Gabriel how you wanted to stay.”

“Miss Tess . . .” Joby started, looked into her face, and closed his mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you for your help today, boys. We’re all very grateful.”

“Ma’am.” They both half-nodded, half-bowed, and took their leave.

Tess linked arms with Collette and they strolled around the yard, saying nothing but fearing the same thing. Finally, Collette, near tears, begged for conversation.

“Tell me more about Boston. What was so horrible you felt you had to leave?”

“It’s a little complicated,” she sighed. “But regardless of what happened, I would have left eventually anyway. I was meant to be here, I know that.”

Collette did not speak, but urged her on with her inquisitive look.

“You see, Collette, I come from a very affluent family. My father is a lawyer in one of the largest firms in Boston and he knows everyone and everything about them. My mother, God bless her, did her best, but she was no match for him when it came to decision making. He chose my sister’s husband and thought he should be able to do the same for me, without my having a say in the matter.”

“I take it you did not agree with his choice.”

“I most certainly did not. The man he chose, Harmon Stiles, is also an attorney and
his
father, as it happens, is one of
my
father’s partners. I guess he thought it would be a good business decision on his part and did not take kindly to the fact I had no interest in his business—or the Stiles’ family business for that matter. Harmon Stiles is a horrible, horrible man. He makes Eli Gribbs look like an addle-headed child.

“Anyway,” she continued, “needless to say, both Father and Harmon considered me a ‘silly little girl’ and believed they could arrange the entire wedding without so much as my consent. So I was forced to take matters into my own hands.”

“What did you do?” Collette breathed, her eyes wide.

“I told my father I would not then, now, or at any time marry Harmon Stiles, and he, in turn, told me if I did not go through with the wedding, he would immediately disown me and cut me off of any inheritance. Like that meant anything to me at all.” She shook her head in disgust.

“Father apparently did not believe I meant what I said because he continued on as if I’d not said a word.”

“So you left?”

“Yes. But it wasn’t quite that easy. You see, I have always wanted to live out west, on a ranch like this, and raise a family here. But since I had no money myself, it was all Father’s, I couldn’t very well jump on a train and head out, so I did something that, in hindsight, might not have been the smartest thing to do, but it got me here. Eventually.”

“What?” Collette’s eyes were as wide as dishplates.

“I answered an ad for a mail order bride.”

“You didn’t!” she gasped.

“I did. And that’s when things started going horribly wrong. You see, the man who placed the ad, Mr. Barclay Simms, ended up murdered by Eli Gribbs . . .”

“That man . . .”

Tess nodded. “Yes, but Bart explained all of this to you, didn’t he?”

“Goodness, no. All he said was that horrible man was someone from your past who was bent on causing trouble. He certainly didn’t tell me any of this!”

Knowing Bart had tried to save her the embarrassment of her past, Tess felt the tiniest bit better.

“Anyway,” she said, “Eli Gribbs showed up pretending to be Mr. Simms, and how was I to know the difference? Well, I have to admit, I was horrified when I saw him and thought perhaps once we got out west I could somehow get away from him. Thank goodness I was able to convince him to wait until we made it west before getting married.”

“And . . .”

“And we ended up in Butte where he lost me in a poker game to Bart.”

Another gasp. “Dear Lord, you must have been terrified.”

Tess nodded. “I was at first, but once I met Bart and heard him speak of El Cielo, I had to come. And then I saw Gabriel and knew I’d done the right thing. Took a little while to convince him, of course, but he came around.”

She smiled happily, although her eyes cast a worried glance across the empty acres around her.

“And then Eli Gribbs came looking for you. Aren’t you afraid your father and Mr. Stiles will do the same?”

“I’ve thought about it, but I’ve been here long enough now. If they were looking for me, they certainly would have found me by now, don’t you think?”

Collette nodded. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“I must confess, though, the idea of him finding me . . .” she trailed off.

“Tess?” Collette’s worried gaze searched Tess’s frightened face. “What is it?”

Tess shuddered.

“Tess,” Collette persisted. “Did he do something . . . ?”

“No,” she breathed shakily. “He threatened, though, and the look in his eyes when he said it, Collette . . . I swear he is possessed by the devil himself. I had heard talk about other women Harmon had ‘dealt’ with and that was enough to convince me I wanted no part of him. I’ve never met anyone as evil as Harmon Stiles.”

“What happened?” Collette’s frightened voice chilled Tess even more.

Tess shook her head. “It’s in the past now, let’s not dwell on it.”

The sun was setting low in the sky, the calm of the evening settling around them.

“Oh, Tess,” Collette suddenly wailed. “You don’t suppose Bart and Gabe . . . that they . . . they wouldn’t . . .”

Tess set her jaw and straightened her spine.

“The thought did cross my mind,” she confessed. “But surely they wouldn’t go after whoever did this without telling us, would they?”

“No,” Collette said. “I hope not, anyway.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Tess said. “Tell me about the change in your father. I have to say I am more than a little surprised in the turn around.”

“It’s you, Tess.” Collette’s smile was a welcome change from the grim faces they’d seen all day. “Pa has taken a shine to you like I’ve never seen before. I’m sure he’d take you in and adopt you in a flash, maybe even trade his own children if he could call you his.”

The women laughed lightly together.

“I doubt that’s true,” Tess said, “but if I had anything to do with the change, I’m happy about that.”

“You did,” Collette insisted with a nod. “Once Pa saw how much you were in love with Gabe, it was as though he’d suddenly seen the light, so to speak. He really believes if someone like you, a good, virtuous lady, could see the good in one of
those Calloways,
then they must not be so bad. Of course, he’s not completely ready to yield to Bart yet, but he’s getting there.”

“I’m so glad,” Tess said, squeezing her friend’s hand. “You make Bart so happy, and he needs you more than anything right now. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” she replied. “I hope I can be of some comfort to him.”

“I think you already have been.”

Collette’s sharp intake of breath made Tess turn, warily, dreading the worst. But there, shadows stretching out before them, rode Bart and Gabe, both tall in their saddles.

Tess lifted her skirts, higher than she should have, and raced across the field with Collette right beside her. Gabe was off Zeus and running toward her before his animal had even stopped. He scooped her up into his arms and held her tight against his chest.

“Oh, Gabriel,” she cried. “I was so worried. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” he murmured. “I’m sorry I frightened you.”

Collette was sobbing against Bart’s shoulder as he whispered soft soothing words into her ear. Gabe released Tess but kept his arm around her waist, keeping her close. He whistled for Zeus who joined them shortly, and they walked back to the barn, leaving Bart and Collette to follow when they were ready.

“Where did you go?” Tess asked, her heart feeling a hundred pounds lighter now that he was home.

“We rode all over the ranch, back and forth, looking at nothing in particular and seeing everything. I really can’t explain it.”