Hunter's Moon (Hunter Family Saga; Half-Moon Ranch 1) (26 page)

He loved her....

The knowledge jolted Brent to the depths of his
soul, but he finally accepted the truth of it. What
else could explain the power of his feelings for her?

He loved Crystal. The thought of living without
her was unbearable.

He offered up a fervent prayer that she was all
right as he turned toward the place where he'd seen
her last. Crystal was standing there watching him.
She was pale and shaken, but he could tell she was
uninjured.

Without a word, Brent rushed to take her in his
arms and hold her close.

"You're all right?" he asked in a husky voice.

Crystal only nodded and clung to him, trembling.
She was still too frightened to speak. She had seen Brent going for his gun and had feared he would be
shot down.

Brent felt her trembling and scooped her up in his
arms. "We're getting out of here right now."

"But Ken-"

"Ken can handle this," he said tersely, and strode
from the Lone Star without looking back. The
sheriff and the town doctor were coming toward the
saloon at a run, but he didn't pause. A crowd of
townsfolk were gathering.

"What happened?" they shouted to him.

"A couple of drunks shot it out," he called back to
them, and kept on going. Brent wasn't stopping for
anyone or anything until he had Crystal alone back
in his room. He knew what he was going to do. He
had made up his mind that they were going to get
married, and he wasn't going to take no for an
answer. He would never allow Crystal to put herself
in this kind of danger again. Never. She meant too
much to him.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"First, to my room at the hotel," he answered, his
expression serious.

"Don't you think I should change clothes first?"

"No. We have to talk-now-and I want it to be
somewhere private."

"I can walk now," Crystal said.

He looked so grim she thought he was angry with
her, but at her words, his mouth lifted in a half grin,
surprising her.

Brent looked down at her, his gaze warm upon
her. "I like carrying you this way."

"Oh..." Her eyes were luminous as she gazed up
at him.

Brent would have kissed her right then and there,
but they were out in public. Granted, it was dark,
but if he allowed himself to kiss her one time, he
wasn't sure he would be able to stop.

He entered the hotel and was glad there
was no one in the lobby. He strode straight upstairs
and took her into his room. He set
her on her feet, then lit a lamp and closed the door
firmly behind them, insuring they wouldn't be
interrupted.

"We're going to have a little talk," Brent
announced as he faced Crystal.

"About what?"

"We're getting married," he said bluntly, offering
her little opportunity to argue with him.

"Oh." She was shocked. It was what she'd hoped
for. It was what she'd dreamed of, yet he sounded
so... serious.

"And there's no point in arguing with me," Brent
went on in his dictatorial manner.

"I wasn't going to," Crystal said in a soft voice.

Brent had been ready for trouble from her. He
stopped in surprise. "You weren't?"

"No. I love you, Brent," she said simply. "I love
you very much. When all the trouble started in the
saloon and I thought you might get shot, I was fran tic. I couldn't bear the thought that anything might
happen to you."

Brent stood perfectly still, as if not quite sure that
he'd heard her right. Only when Crystal went to him
and reached up to kiss him sweetly on the lips did he
accept her words as reality.

Brent looked down at her. "And I love you, too."

"You do?"

He could only nod in response as his gaze went
over her in a loving caress.

"But Brent, there is something I have to tell you.
Something you have to know," Crystal began as she
drew physically away from him.

He sensed her withdrawing emotionally as well,
and he worried about it. Brent put his hands on her
shoulders and gently pulled her closer to him.
Whatever she had to tell him couldn't be that bad.
They loved each other.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"Brent..." Crystal looked up at him anxiously.
"I'm pregnant."

"You're pregnant?" he repeated, lost for a
moment in the magnitude of what she'd just
announced.

"Yes," she answered quietly, then awaited his
reaction.

Brent didn't speak. He showed her instead what
he thought by gathering her even closer and kissing
her.

"We'll go to Reverend Crawford tonight. There's no reason to wait any longer. You won't be going
back to the Lone Star ever again. I want you with me
always. That way I'll know you're safe," Brent told
her, taking charge of her life.

Crystal gave him a gentle smile.

"You saved me again tonight, you know," she said
softly, reaching up with one hand to tenderly caress
his cheek.

"And I want that to be the last time you're in
any danger," Brent said as he looked down at her.
He couldn't bear the thought that any harm might
come to her, and now that he knew she was
carrying his child, his protective instincts were
even greater.

Crystal wanted it to be the last time, too, but the
horror that was her past still haunted her. She
wrapped her arms around Brent and clung to him.

Brent was her power and her strength. He loved
her. He was going to marry her.

And she wanted that. Oh, how she wanted that.

But could she marry him without telling him the
complete and awful truth about her life?

Crystal knew the answer. She loved Brent too
much to try to deceive him. She had to be honest
with him. She knew how he felt about
what his father had done and how that tragedy had
torn apart his family. For that very reason, she
couldn't put her child's future at risk.
She had to be sure their baby would have a secure,
loving home.

But what if she told him, and he wanted nothing
more to do with her?

The uncertainty of her future brought tears to
Crystal's eyes. She struggled for control as she
prepared herself to speak.

"You're crying?" Brent asked, worried when he
drew away from her and saw her tears.

Crystal nodded and drew a ragged breath.
"There's something more I have to tell you."

He stared down at her, studying her tortured
expression and trying to imagine what could upset
her so badly. He wanted to reassure her. "I love you,
Crystal. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does matter!" she choked out. "You have
to hear me out. I won't marry you until I've told
you....

Crystal moved away from him, needing to put
some distance between them as she made her
confession.

Brent remained standing where he was, watching
her and waiting for her to go on.

"Told me what?" he asked quietly, knowing from
the way she was acting that what was troubling her
was serious.

"You have to know that I haven't always been just
a singer when I worked in saloons," Crystal began
slowly.

"I know you're no saloon girl." Brent frowned
slightly, confused by her distress. She had given him
her innocence, after all.

"Please..." She paused, then began again. "My
real name is Crystal Stewart-Morgan is my middle
name. I didn't tell you the truth when I said I had
no family. My parents are dead-they died when I
was young-but I do have an older brother named
Dan."

Brent was surprised that she hadn't
acknowledged her brother, but he believed it
didn't realty matter.

"Dan's a gambler, and I used to work with him as
his shill, helping him cheat people at cards," Crystal
admitted.

"You cheated people? Why?"

"Dan made me do it. He said it was the only way
we could make money and support ourselves. It was
all I knew. But I know that's no excuse. It was
wrong, and I told Dan the last night we were
together that I was quitting-that I couldn't do it
anymore.

"I'm proud of you," Brent assured her.

"But Brent... She started to say more, to tell
him everything, but she hesitated, afraid. Brent
was being so kind and so understanding. She
wondered if he would feel the same way after she
told him the rest.

"What is it, Crystal?" Brent urged.

"Brent, I killed a man," Crystal finally blurted out
the horrible truth. "That's why I've been using
different names. That's why I keep moving on-the
law is after me."

Brent went still as he tried to come to grips with
what she'd just told him. He couldn't believe this
was happening to him again. First his father, and
now the woman he loved.

Could Crystal really have killed someone?

It didn't seem possible.

She had gone silent and was watching him
closely, trying to judge his reaction to what she'd
revealed.

"Crystal," Brent began slowly, seeing the torment
in her expression. "Tell me what happened. I know
you. I love you. I don't believe you could kill
anyone.

"I did-it was horrible! Dan and I had been
working a saloon in Long Horn one night, and he
lost a lot of money in a poker game to a man
named John Hall. I was worried because Dan
didn't have any money to pay him. I went on up
to my room, thinking Dan would figure out a way
to take care of the problem. Later that night, I
woke up to find Hall in my room. He told me
Dan had sent him to me and said I was supposed
to work off what he owed him. He wanted me
to..." Crystal went pale as the memory of that
terrible night returned full force. She swallowed
tightly as her gaze met Brent's. "I couldn't let him
touch me." She shuddered visibly at the memory
of Hall's hands upon her. "I fought him off as best
I could. He hit me, but I kept struggling. I
managed to grab a lamp from the bedside table and I hit him over the head with it. That was
what killed him."

If her brother had been there with them at that
moment, Brent would have beaten the man within
an inch of his life. He thought of Abby, of her youth
and innocence, and he couldn't imagine treating a
little sister the way Dan had treated Crystal. As a big
brother and a guardian, it had been Dan's
responsibility to protect Crystal and make life good
for her-not use her in gambling schemes and then
turn her into a whore to pay back his debts. Brent
put his arms around Crystal. He could feel her
trembling and wanted only to calm her and let her
know she was safe with him.

"I'm proud of you, Crystal."

"You're proud of me?"

"I'm glad you defended yourself. You had the
right to fight that man off," Brent said. "That was
self-defense-not murder."

"But Hall was dead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The lamp shattered when I hit him. He
collapsed and didn't move. There was blood and
glass everywhere." She shuddered violently at the
memory.

"What did you do?"

"What could I do? I couldn't go to Dan-he'd
betrayed me. I ran away that night, and I've been
running ever since."

You should have gone to the law."

"It wouldn't have mattered. Hall was one of the
town's `upstanding' citizens. I worked in the saloon.
No one would have believed me."

Brent held Crystal away from him and looked
down at her. When he spoke, he spoke quietly but
with no hesitation. "I believe you."

Crystal's breath caught in her throat as she gazed
up at him in wonder. "You do?"

"Yes, I do."

She went into the safe harbor of his arms,
clinging to his strength. She had been on her own
for so long, alone and frightened, but now she had
Brent.

She had feared he would reject her. She had been
terrified that he would walk away from her, that he
would despise her for what she'd done. But he
believed her.

"Thank you," she whispered, her tears dampening
his shirt. It felt so good to have told him the truth.
She had kept her terrible secret locked deep within
her for so long, it was a relief to have shared it. with
him.

Brent stood there, holding Crystal in his arms for
a moment longer; then he lifted her chin with one
hand to look in her eyes. "Are you ready?"

"For what?" she asked in a whisper.

"To go see Reverend Crawford."

"You still want to marry me?"

"Yes, I still want to marry you. I love you, Crystal. Somehow we'll find a way to work this outtogether."

Without another word, Crystal drew Brent down
to her for a cherishing kiss. There was no greater joy
in her life than loving Brent.

Brent kissed Crystal one last time and then they left
the hotel room. As Brent locked the door behind
them, he realized that when they came back he
would be carrying her over the threshold again-as
his bride.

They stopped at the boardinghouse so Crystal
could change clothes. He had told her he would
marry her no matter what she was wearing, but
she wanted to look her best for him. Since it was
after dark, Brent waited outside while she went
in.