Lone Star Lover (20 page)

Crazy, because he’d seen her just a few hours ago. Dammit, he needed to keep his focus. He had to stop thinking about Rebecca. Any distraction would mean more time she was on her own. More time for Wade to find her. The smart thing, the only thing, he should be thinking about was completing this mission. He’d sworn to keep her safe, and he wasn’t about to break that promise.

Impatient, he watched the chestnut drink. Jake couldn’t rush the animal. Hell, he didn’t know when they’d find the next watering hole. Shading his eyes, he squinted at the horizon. Too bad it got dark so early.

He wondered what Rebecca was doing. Had they made it to Otis’s ranch yet? He plowed a hand through his hair, slowly, thoughtfully, something he’d seen his father do hundreds of times. Funny, Jake hadn’t realized they shared that habit. Made him wonder what else he’d picked up from his old man. Dedication to the job, certainly.

The chestnut seemed like he was never going to stop drinking, and Jake grunted, realizing that impatience was something else he and his father had in common. Except when Jake worked undercover. As long as he was on the job, he could bide his time. The end result was all that mattered.

His thoughts drifted to his mother, and it occurred to him that he’d been gone for over a week, and anyone looking for him would think he’d dropped off the face of the earth. Which he sort of had. But he was officially on vacation, so no one would be wondering about him. Certainly not his mother. Since he’d just seen her on Christmas morning they were good for another four months.

Guilt took a stab at him. She’d looked terrible, and he had a feeling her drinking had reached the next level. He’d thought about bringing it up to his sister. The two of them could discuss whether they should step in…. Nah, she wouldn’t give a damn. Hell, he was one to talk. What had he done?

Besides stay away more.

Just like his father had done.

The painful realization went straight for the jugular. Had he become the thing he’d despised most about his father? When had he started pushing everyone away? When had the job become his priority to the exclusion of his family? He’d even gone out on a limb to get confidential informants into rehab, but he’d done nothing to help his own mother.

He’d always admired the job his father had done as a Ranger, but as a husband and father, the man had been a disaster. Was that the kind of man Jake wanted to be?

Was it too late? Jesus, he’d left Rebecca. What the hell was wrong with him? He loved her, and he’d left her behind without knowing for certain that she would be safe. What kind of man did that? If anything happened to her…

The horse was done drinking and Jake was through saving everyone on the planet but the people that mattered the most. He filled up his canteen in a wet rush, then mounted, turning back toward Diablo Flats, racing as if his life depended on it.

It was another jerk by the thirsty horse that made her look to her right. To see another horse racing so fast there was dust flying behind him like a cape.

Her heart nearly beat out of her chest. Jake? He had turned back. Was he being chased? Had Wade discovered his plan? She pulled the reins sharply, leading her horse to a rocky bank. It wasn’t tall enough to hide them, but if there was someone after Jake, she’d see them before they saw her. She’d cut them off, make them follow her away from him.

Her breath and the horse’s were loud in the late afternoon sun, but she stayed still as a stone as she watched behind Jake, looking for dust. By the time she could hear the hoofbeats echo off the rocks, she was sure that no one was after him.

She urged her horse forward, faster, surer as Jake came nearer. She didn’t care that she could barely feel her hands or her nose. Nothing mattered but the moment he jerked up, nearly causing his mount to throw him. He’d seen her.

It felt like forever until she could see his face, make out his smile, and then she pulled back the reins and jumped off before the horse had stopped. Then she was in strong arms, lifted from the ground.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he said, right before he kissed her so she couldn’t speak.

Finally, he took a breath, and she touched his face with her cold hands, pushed at him to let her down. “I heard the Rangers talking,” she said. “I should have told you. I said I trusted you, but then I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s okay,” he said. He took a step back and took off his coat, wrapping it around her shoulders. “It’s okay. The only thing that matters is that you’re all right. I shouldn’t have left you there. I was a damn fool.”

“No, it was me. I should have come with you. I heard them talking and I know what they’re planning. No one in Austin will know I was with the Comanche. They’ll believe me.”

He put his hands inside the coat, around her waist. “I was so afraid I’d lost you. I don’t care about the Rangers or the cattle. I love you, Rebecca. I love you like I’ve never loved another soul. I turned back because of you.”

She closed her eyes, willing the tears to stay back. Hearing him say those words felt like every hope she’d never dared dream. “I love you, Jake. But your honor and your duty is who you are. We can go together. We’ll ride into Austin and make them believe us.”

He smiled and kissed her again, long and slow, as if he was proving something. While she wouldn’t complain, he had nothing to prove to her at all.

She stiffened, and he hurried, cursing himself for being a fool. “You’ll come with me. You’ll like it there, I promise. You’ll see such amazing things you won’t believe your eyes. We’ll have a home. You can read all day, if you want.”

When she wouldn’t relax in his arms, he leaned his head back to look at her. “I know it sounds scary, but I’ll be right there with you. Always.”

“I can’t go,” she said sadly.

“Rebecca,” A lump rose in his throat. “I swear to you, I will never let anything bad happen.”

“Oh, Jake.” She turned around and touched a finger to his lips. “I know.” She looked so sad, her eyes glistening with tears, he thought his heart was literally going to split in two. “Bird Song needs me. She was sick, but still alive when they took me. I have to find her. She was like a mother to me. I can’t just walk away, not knowing if she can take care of herself.”

A long breath left him as her words sunk in. She didn’t want to go back with him? She’d said she loved him. It didn’t make sense.

“I’m sorry. If you only knew how much I wish I could go. I—I—” Her voice broke on a sob. “Leaving and not knowing would haunt me forever.”

His entire body tightened. How could he leave without Rebecca? He couldn’t. There was no way. Did she not understand what it meant for him to leave while she stayed?

He looked deep into her earnest eyes and found his answer.

“I understand,” he said, a second later. She was doing the right thing by the only family she had left. She was doing what he should have done from the beginning. Taken care of his family. Watched over his loved ones before they drifted away. Before there was nothing left of him but a silver star. “I do understand,” he repeated. “And tell you what. We’ll take care of business in Austin, then make sure Kitty’s all right. And then we’ll go find Bird Song. Both of us. Together.”

A tear slipped from her eye. “You would do this? For me?”

He smiled, and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. He wasn’t sure which was colder, but it didn’t matter. “I think there’s been enough of men making the decisions in your life. They sure as hell haven’t done a very good job. So this time, we’ll do it your way. After that,” he said, winking, “it’s up for negotiation.”

It took a minute for the smile to lift her lips. But when she threw herself back into his arms, he had no doubt at all that this was right. Whether it was the eighteen hundreds or the twenty-first century, they belonged together. They belonged to each other.

“Me, too.” Kitty shrugged, her eyes moist. “But Wade made his own bed. You two plan on sticking around?”

“We can’t.”

“I figured.”

“You can’t, either.”

Kitty smiled. “There’s food in the house. I ran over there after dark. I could fix you something before you go.”

Rebecca linked an arm through hers as they headed out of the barn. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to talk Kitty into going with them, but she wouldn’t give up.

Jake was untying their horses from the front post. He’d found a third one. “Kitty, get your stuff. We gotta go.”

The women ran to meet him, Rebecca’s heart pounding in her chest. “What’s happened?”

“I saw riders. We have to leave. Now.”

Kitty’s shoulders dropped. “You two, go on. I’ll go back to the barn.”

“No, you can’t.” Rebecca took her hands. “You have to come. Kitty, they’ll kill you if they think you’ve had anything to do with us. What if they know what’s coming?”

“It doesn’t make a difference. I’m not running. I’m tired and I’m cold, and one place is as good as another.”

Rebecca turned to Jake, begging him silently to do something. To make her understand.

He handed the reins to Rebecca. “Climb on up, sweetheart.” He turned to Kitty. “There is a place that’s different. Where you’ll find a whole new way of life. Things you never dreamed of. All you have to do is find Slow Jim. You get to him, and you tell him I sent you. You tell him to take you to the rock. He’ll know what to do.”

Kitty frowned. “Hell, you are crazy.”

“No,” he said. “I’m saving your life. All you have to do is trust me. Can you do that?”

Rebecca went to Kitty. “You’re the one who told me I could trust him. You were right. He’ll save you. I promise.”

Kitty looked at Rebecca, then back at Jake, the crazy man from who knows where. She’d have to be a damn fool to think there was a way out of this mess of a life. But then, she kinda liked fools. “What the hell,” she said, wondering how she was gonna get on that horse. “It can’t be worse than Diablo Flats.”

LONE STAR LOVER

Copyright © 2010 by Debbi Quattrone.

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