Mary Connealy (19 page)

Cassie flinched away, but Red’s hand came up and deftly caught them. Cassie reached for them, but Red whispered, “Later, Cass. Not in front of Wade.”

Wade said, “We’ll use your house for a line shack. It’s a fool’s house. Too big to heat and too far from our ranch for any use. Maybe we can store hay in it.”

Cassie was surprised that his insults toward her house didn’t upset her. The fact that she didn’t care about the house gave her the strength to face Wade straight on and wave her hand carelessly. “If the house is yours, then do with it what you will. It’s nothing to me.”

“Even after the floors rot and the rats move in it’ll be better than the hole you’re livin’ in now with Dawson.”

Cassie gasped indignantly. Odd how the slur against Griff’s house left her unmoved but his insults to Red’s house were fighting words. She met Wade’s eyes but she couldn’t hold the look. Wade’s eyes burned with something that had always scared her. She still had the china doll inside her, and she said placidly, “Red’s got a wonderful home. We have everything we need.”

Wade’s face contorted into rage. “So then you must have Dawson bowin’ and scrapin’ for you just like you had Griffin.”

Cassie saw Wade’s weasel eyes shift to Red. “I often wondered what she did for Griff that he’d let her walk all over him like that. Tell me, Dawson. Does she earn your favors like a real flesh-and-blood woman? Or is she as cold as the china doll she seems to be?”

Red suddenly moved, and Cassie felt his anger at Wade’s crudity. She caught him with a quick backward move of her hands.

She said clearly, so clearly that it was possible Mort Sawyer could have heard her out at the ranch, “Remember we’re in church, Red. And remember the man who won has to be big enough to stand a few temper tantrums from the loser.” She looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly at Red.

He glared down at her for a second, obviously frustrated, then he relaxed. “Only ‘cuz we’re in church, Cass. The ‘temper tantrum’ comment from you wouldn’t have saved him any other time.”

“Saved me?” Wade blustered. “The day a man can hide behind a woman’s skirts and that’ll stop …”

“Enough, Sawyer. We’re in the middle of church.” This was from Norm York. “Your pa wanted Cassie’s spring and he paid a fair price for it. You Sawyers got what you wanted. You’ve no call to come in here insulting a fine woman and threatening Red. You’re standing in front of dozens of witnesses to your actions, and you can’t get away with starting anything. And if something happens to them any other time, you’re the first one we’ll come looking for. So you’d better pray they don’t even accidentally get hurt. If you want to stay and hear the preaching, we welcome you.”

Suddenly Mr. York’s voice became very sincere. “We do, Wade. Forget all this anger and stay. We have God here with us, and you need to hear about Him. There is always room for anyone who wants to worship the Lord. But the store is closed on Sunday and always has been, as you well know. We need to get back to services.”

Cassie noticed that every man in the place squared off against Wade, some moving to place themselves between Wade and her until she couldn’t see him anymore. Even though anyone from out of town would have a rifle on his horse because of the dangers along the trail, none of them brought a gun into church. Wade was the only one armed.

Seconds stretched to a minute.

Cassie leaned sideways to see Wade. His eyes, burning with anger, shifted from one man to another. He flexed his fingers as if fighting the urge to destroy anyone who thwarted him. His eyes connected with Cassie and they held. Under the anger and hunger, Cassie saw something else. Some deep longing that told her Wade wasn’t just fighting because he was a troublemaker. Wade’s desperate yearning aimed straight at her made her shudder deep inside.

With a sneer, Wade’s hand dropped away from his gun. “This isn’t over, Dawson. You got what’s mine and I aim to get it back.”

She couldn’t see him anymore, and she stayed behind Red, not wanting Wade’s eyes on her. But she heard the obsession in his voice, and icy fingers of fear crawled up her spine and grabbed at her throat.

She saw him again as he turned and wrenched the door open, slamming it behind him so hard the glass rattled.

The congregation stood silently for a moment. Cassie saw fear on many of the men’s faces. She knew the ruthless Sawyer bunch had made dreadful enemies.

Finally Red broke the silence. “Let’s bow our heads and pray for Wade and his father.”

Several people turned sharply to face Red, their faces revealing they were not ready to let go of their anger or fear. Most nodded soberly.

“He’s so lost,” Muriel said.

Cassie couldn’t believe the gentle murmur of agreement. Not a minute ago a fight brewed that might end in the deaths of some of the people in this room. Now they were praying for a man they so obviously feared.

She thought of her practice with Griff’s gun and her own desperate plans to protect herself. Never for a second had she considered praying for Wade. This was a kind of Christianity that Cassie didn’t understand.

A peace settled over her as Red’s comforting voice started talking to God in a way that made it seem God was a personal friend.

Cassie prayed that God would be her friend, too.

C
assie wondered about the papers in Red’s pocket as the church service wound down, the general store was put back to rights, and she and Red prepared to head for home.

He lifted her onto his horse, and she decided to get settled into Buck’s gallop before she asked.

She awoke when he swung off the horse in front of their house. He was still holding her.

She insisted she could walk.

He just nodded. “I know you can, Cass honey.” He carried her inside and set her on a chair.

“Thank you, Red.” She didn’t admit it, because it made her feel like a burden, but she was secretly glad she hadn’t needed to use her shaky legs.

She sat on the chair, letting her head clear for a few seconds. And then she remembered Wade. “What was it Wade tore up?”

“Let’s see.” Red pulled the wad of paper out of his pocket and smoothed it.

Cassie recognized it. “My family portraits and the painting of the countess.”

Tears burned sharply across her eyes. She forced herself to say what Griff would have wanted to hear. “It’s…it’s only portraits. It’s all frivolity.”

Red lay the mangled pieces of paper and canvas side by side on the table. “They’re not frivolous. We’ll fix ’em. They won’t be nice like before, but we’ll remember what your family looked like, and that’s the real point of portraits, right?”

Cassie thought of how lovingly she’d cared for those paintings all of her life and her mother before her, so there was never any damage to the canvas and no sun faded the color. But what Red said about remembering lifted the dark sorrow from her heart. Griff’s voice, accusing her of childish longing for unimportant things, faded.

“You’re exactly right. The portraits are important.” She smiled up at him as he bent near her shoulder, arranging the portraits. Red knew
why
they were important, and that reason wasn’t lost because of wrinkled paper, nor was it frivolous. She felt immensely better and began helping him put the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Red produced another paper from his pocket and bent over her shoulder to smooth it out on the table. They had copied all her ancestors’ names out of her old family Bible. As they worked on the torn portraits, Red asked, “Did you mean it about the Bible, Cass? You weren’t just being brave? It’s a beautiful old book. I’ve never seen one so big and grand. If you want to keep it, we can think of something.”

“It’s not even in a language we can read.” Cassie shook her head. “Of all the things we might save from my past, I think the Bible is the least important. And Mr. York seems to think he might get more from it than even the mortgage price. I like your Bible better. Maybe there’s a place in it for my family’s names.”

Red glanced sideways at her and smiled. “There is. I got this Bible new so I’ve never written in the pages set aside for that kind of thing.”

The smile warmed Cassie’s heart as their gazes held for a long moment. Then Red turned back to the tabletop. The portraits began to take shape in front of them. “These folks are your mother’s grandparents, right, Cass? And the oil painting is the countess?”

“Yes, my grandfather was one of the original executives who began building the railroad.” Cassie pointed to a stern-looking man with a slight twinkle in his eye. “My grandmother was one of the finest hostesses in New York. Mother always said I looked just like her and she looked like the countess. I just barely remember them. They came to visit us in Illinois several times, but Grandfather died the year after my father, and Grandmother just a few years after that.”

“Do you know stories of your ancestors, Cass?”

Cass looked up from her scraps. She’d been enjoying making her grandparents emerge from the mess. “Oh, yes. Mother talked about them all the time.”

“I can see our children putting these portraits together just like this and you telling them about their heritage. We’ll do it as often as we can. We can tell them about my ma and pa and my brothers and sisters, and your great-grandma, the countess, too. We’ll hand down more than portraits to them, Cass. We’ll make sure they know where they came from.”

“They?” Cass said, her voice faint.

“Sure. I want to have a big family. Don’t …” Red’s voice faltered as he looked away from the work he was doing. “D–Don’t you?”

They looked at each other before Red straightened away from her, his cheeks turning as red as his hair.

Cassie knew what a big family meant. It meant she was going to have to really be married to Red. Her first reaction was dismay, but after she had a second to think about it, she knew she’d agreed to a real marriage when she took her vows. And she remembered how he’d almost kissed her just before Wade barged into the church service, and how much she’d wanted him to. Yes, she’d be willing to have a big family if it would make Red happy.

All she said was, “I hope they all have red hair.”

Red smiled and rested one hand on her shoulder. “That’s fine for the boys, but I hope the girls are all as beautiful as you. I’d like to stay and help you get the portraits finished, but I’ve got chores waiting.”

“Oh, let me help, Red. I want to share the work with you.”

Red hesitated, and Cassie guessed he was thinking how tired she was. It made her feel like such a burden to him. He was always making excuses why she didn’t have to help.

“I’ve been thinking, Cass. I want you to help, but I haven’t been taking the time to teach you. Now I want you to milk Rosie today and feed the chickens and Harriet, but I don’t want you to start without me. I know you’ve been trying to do these things to save me time, but at first it’s gonna take
more
time because learning always does. Now, I’ve got to water Buck and Rosie before anything else. Don’t start without me.” He shook his finger in her face. “Promise me. Not even with the chickens. There’re a couple of things I want to show you about them I didn’t get to before.”

“I’ll wait, Red.” She thought taking direct orders was the safest thing in the world. She longed for Red to tell her just what to do.

“And don’t start a fire in here yet. I don’t have time to do it, but it’s tricky. I’ll teach you how to do that, too. It’ll be chilly for a while, but we’ll just have to wait for a fire even if that makes dinner late.”

She nodded, elated to be obedient. “I promise I’ll sit and work on these portraits until you’re ready for me.”

“Good, yes, that’s a good idea.” Red bent quickly down to his Bible and opened it to a paged lined but with no writing. “And put your family names in here while you’re waiting. I’ll hurry. I should be ready to milk Rosie in fifteen minutes. I’ll call out when I’m back from the stream.”

Cassie smiled at him, her heart soaring.

Red grabbed his hat from a nail beside the door. He glanced back to see her still smiling at him. His hand faltered as it reached for the wooden peg that latched the door shut. Something passed over Red’s face that transfixed Cassie. He stood there frozen for a long minute.

Suddenly, he jammed his hat crookedly on his head, took two broad paces toward her, and lifted her out of her chair by her shoulders. He kissed her hard and quick, then set her back in the chair and left without looking back.

Cassie sat dazed, feeling his strong hands on her shoulders and his warm mouth on hers. It was over so fast that she hadn’t really felt anything while he was kissing her. But after he left, she started tingling until her whole body was buzzing with the pleasure of Red’s abrupt kiss. She forgot all about her grandparents’ portraits and her ancestors’ names and sat daydreaming. She wanted him to do it again. They’d have a lot of children, because Muriel had explained what caused babies, and she knew kissing led to that cause, and she’d liked his kissing very much.

Cassie almost hummed she was so happy thinking of the future and all the kissing she and Red were going to do.