Jenny (37 page)

"If you're both dead, it will solve everything," she
told him coldly.

"You can't get away with this," Jenny said.

"Of course I can." Mira was arrogant as she
looked at Jenny. "Wayne got away with killing your
father, and I got away with killing your hand and
shooting you! No one will ever know who killed
you today."

Tears burned in Jenny's eyes as the truth was revealed to her. "Your brother killed my father? Why?"
she asked in torment.

Mira smiled at her, pleased at her rival's distress.

"Because your father was stupid enough to show
up when Wayne and the boys were trying to run off
some of your herd," she said simply. "He didn't know
what was going on, and he and Wayne started to talk.
They'd dismounted, and Wayne managed to hit him
from behind when he wasn't looking. It was simplejust like killing you is going to be!"

Cole spoke up quickly, moving to stand before
Jenny. "My men will hear the shots and catch you
before you can get to your horse, Mira. Give it up."

"Why should I listen to you? You've never cared
for me! Why would you care what happens to me
now?"

"Turn yourself in, Mira. It's the only way-"

"Turn myself in?" she shrieked again. "So I can end up hanging or in prison? No! If I can't have you,
neither can she. Step out here where I can see you
Jenny. Now!"

In that instant, Cole knew there was no reasoning
with her. He reacted instinctively, knowing she
wanted to hurt Jenny. He shouted to Jenny, "Get
down!" as he dove at Mira.

Cole hit her with the full force of his body weight
and knocked her gun arm aside just as she pulled the
trigger. The shot went wild, and the gun went flying
from her fist as Cole slammed her to the floor. Jenny
ran to grab the weapon while Cole subdued the still
struggling Mira.

"I hate you!" Mira screamed at Jenny.

Cole dragged Mira to her feet and held her pinned
against him. He could hear the shouts from his men
as they came running up from the stable. Fred and
Shorty burst through the front door, their guns drawn,
ready for trouble.

"What happened, boss?" Fred demanded as he
stared in confusion at the wild-eyed Mira.

Cole quickly recounted the morning's events.

"Paul was murdered?" Fred repeated, shocked by
the news.

"And the Jamesons are the ones who've been doing
the rustling?" Shorty said in disbelief.

"That's right. Take Mira out to the stable and lock
her in the tack room. Have someone guard her until
one of you can get back here with Marshal Trent."

Fred looked at Jenny. "I'm sorry about your pa."

Jenny could only nod at him.

"I hate you! I hate you both!" Mira was screaming
as Cole handed her over to Fred so he could lock
her up.

When they'd gone, Cole closed the door and
looked at Jenny. She was standing, pale and shaken,
his gun still in her hand.

"I don't think you'll need the gun anymore," he
told her, taking it from her and setting it aside.

He took her in his arms and held her to his heart.
She was trembling, and he wanted to calm her, to
reassure her, to absorb her pain and erase the horror
that had just been revealed to her. Neither spoke for
a long moment as they treasured the closeness of their
embrace.

"You saved me again," Jenny told Cole softly,
looking up at him and managing a small smile in spite
of her tears. "You're my hero."

Cole bent to her and kissed her gently, tenderly.

"I'm sorry about your father." His words were
heartfelt.

"So am I," she whispered. "Papa never got to know
that we loved each other. He never got to see his
stubborn daughter finally realize just how truly wise
he was."

"Oh, I don't know," Cole said to soothe her. "I
think Paul probably knows we're married right now."

"I hope so."

"I love you, Jenny."

"Show me how much, Cole," she whispered.

And he did.

Four Months Later
Philadelphia

"I am so excited for Rose! Her dream has come
true-she has her own gallery," Jenny said as Cole
helped her descend from the carriage in front of the
impressive three-story brick building that now housed
the Stanford Photographic Gallery.

They had made the trip to Philadelphia to celebrate
the moment with Rose. Her help in publicizing the
Lazy S had brought a steady stream of visitors to the
ranch, and Rose was featuring her photographs of Durango and the ranch at this, her premiere exhibition.

"Shall we join the festivities?" Cole offered her his
arm and Jenny took it happily.

Rose had been watching for them and hurried for ward to greet them. The gallery was a high-ceilinged
room with large, arched windows that afforded good
lighting. There were alcoves off to the sides providing
special sites for selected photographs.

"Cole! Jenny! I am so glad you could come!" she
told them happily.

"Congratulations." Jenny went to her and gave her
a warm hug. "I've missed you, but it looks like
you've been keeping busy these last few months."

"I have, but everything has turned out wonderfully.
We've already got quite a crowd here."

"I can see," Jenny said, noting the large number of
people milling about inside studying Rose's work.

"Shall I give you the grand tour?"

"Absolutely. We can hardly wait."

Rose led them through the exhibits. They already
knew how talented she was, but seeing all of her collected photographs emphasized her unique ability.

"And I've saved the best for last," Rose said as she
stopped before the alcove that held her Western photographs.

They moved into the area, studying the pictures
she'd taken of the mountains and the townspeople.
She even had their wedding picture on display.

"I can't believe you included us," Jenny told her.

"Of course I included your picture! You're the perfect example of the spirit of the Wild West. Jenny
had to save the ranch, so she took charge and did
what she had to do, and Cole, you were her hero. I've
known you were wonderful since the night of the dance when you saved her from Clint," Rose said
with a laugh.

They laughed, too, at the memory of the dance that
had ultimately brought them back together.

"That isn't all he saved me from," Jenny said adoringly as she looked up at her handsome husband. "Do
you know what else he was doing all that time?"

"This sounds intriguing." Rose looked at Cole with
open interest.

"He was paying all my bills-out of his own
money to help me. He never told me. I didn't even
find out until long after we were married and I accidentally found a few of my bills on his desk at the
Branding Iron."

"You were right, Jenny. Cole is definitely a wonderful man. No wonder you love him so much."

They moved on, and Jenny noticed the photograph
of the High Time Saloon with Dan and Fernada standing out front. She frowned, remembering how Rose
and Dan's relationship had ended so suddenly and
with no real explanation.

"Did you ever hear from Dan again?" Jenny asked.

"No, not after that day out at the Lazy S." Rose's
expression faltered a little as she thought of Dan. "I
went back to the saloon to see him and drop off copies of the photographs the day I was leaving Durango,
but Dan wasn't there. I asked Fernada if she could
tell me where I could find him, but she wasn't sure.
I had to leave without seeing him again."

"You really cared about him, didn't you?"

"It took me a while to realize it, but I did. I know
we were very different, but what we had together was
special. I never got the chance to tell him, though. I
don't know what happened. I don't know why he
changed, and I guess I never will." Rose looked at
the photograph of Dan standing by himself, and her
heart ached for what could have been.

"Maybe it's time you considered another excursion
to the Wild West," Jenny suggested.

"You know, I've deliberately kept myself busy getting the studio ready so I wouldn't think about him."

"And now?"

Rose lifted one hand to carefully touch Dan's picture. "Now I know I need to talk with him again. I
need to find out if what we felt for each other was
real or--"

"It was real, Rose."

At the sound of Dan's voice so close behind her,
Rose gasped and spun around.

"Dan! You're here!" She was astonished to find
him standing before her, looking quite the gentleman.
He was devastatingly handsome in his expensive suit,
and her heartbeat quickened at the sight of him.

In spite of all those looking on, Dan gathered Rose
close and kissed her.

"I've missed you, Rose."

"And I've missed you, too," she replied breathlessly.

"Will you marry me?" Dan had waited long enough
for this moment; he wasn't waiting any longer.

"You want to marry me?" She stared at him in
wide-eyed wonder, thrilled that her fantasy was coming true. Ever since she left Durango, she'd been
dreaming about Dan and trying to figure out what had
gone wrong.

"Yes, and I know how you feel about living out
West, so..."

"What do you mean?" She frowned, not understanding what he was talking about.

"I heard you that day at the Lazy S when you said
you wanted to come home to Philadelphia. I'm ready
to do whatever you want so we can be together."

"So that's what happened that day-"

"I want you to be happy, Rose. And I want us to
be happy together."

"You would move here for me?" With that realization she fell even more in love with him.

"Yes, and there are a few other things you need to
know about me that I never had time to tell you."

"I don't need to know anything except that you
love me." She looked up at him. "I love you, Dan,
and, yes, I will marry you and I'll move to Durango,
if that's what you want."

"Can we compromise and settle in St. Louis?"

"Isn't that where your family is?"

"Yes, and it's time I took my responsibilities to my family more seriously. It's time for me to go back
home and help run the family business."

"Anyplace you want to live is fine with me as long
as we're together. But what business is your family
in?"

"We're in the carriage business," he answered.
"And, Rose?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not poor." He wanted to tell her how successful the business was and how he'd left home because he'd wanted to prove to himself that he could
make his own way in the world without relying on
his family's name or fortune.

She lifted a hand to touch his cheek, stopping him
from saying any more. She smiled up at him. "It
doesn't matter to me if you're rich or poor, Dan. I
love you."

Rose kissed him again as everyone looked on.

"It looks like the grand opening of Rose's gallery
is quite a success," Cole said quietly to Jenny.

She looked up at him with a conspiratorial smile.
"I'm glad you had that talk with Dan the night you
went drinking at the High Time a few weeks ago."

"So am I."

"It looks like you've helped to make Rose's dream
come true. Her handsome prince did find her and
sweep her off her feet." Unable to help herself, Jenny
rose up on tiptoe to kiss him. "Thank you, darling."

"It was my pleasure," he responded.

"Do you think they'll be as happy as we are?"

"I hope so."

Jenny smiled up at Cole, certain that they all were
going to live happily ever after.

Dear Readers,

I knew I wanted to be a writer by the time I
was nine years old, and, in fact, had already
started writing and publishing my own "books"
by then. My publisher was Bobby House and I
pounded out my three page "novel" on a portable manual typewriter. Even now re-reading
my first book "Flood!" written in 1959, I have
to smile.

Leisure Books is being kind enough to publish
"Flood!" in its original unedited form for me
here in Brides of Durango: Jenny, my 29th novel.
I wanted to show you what to look for in young
writers, so you can encourage your son or daughter to aspire to a writing career. Who knows?