Matthew: The Circle Eight (18 page)

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Authors: Emma Lang

BOOK: Matthew: The Circle Eight
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“Who wrote the letter claiming Matt had committed fraud?” Hannah didn’t recognize the handwriting and it wasn’t signed. However, it was written in a distinctly feminine hand.
“I don’t know, Mrs. Graham, and frankly I don’t care.” Mrs. Markum left the house without a backward glance.
Hannah took a moment to catch her breath before she followed. She had to find out who had been so vicious as to claim Matt had come by the land through fraud. The letter was a cruel ploy written by a coward who lurked in the shadows.
She promised herself to find out who had done it and protect her new husband and her new family.
When Hannah emerged from the house, Matt was deep in conversation with the ranger. Mrs. Markum had climbed into the buggy and was currently shooting daggers with her eyes at her escort.
To Hannah’s surprise, Matt shook the ranger’s hand. After turning the buggy around, the two strangers left the Circle Eight. Everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
The three younger girls crowded around her, all chattering at once like a flock of magpies. She wanted to go ask Matt what he and the ranger had been discussing, but couldn’t. He’d gone over to Caleb, Nick, and Lorenzo, and the four of them had disappeared into the barn.
Granny walked over with Eva and they both looked at her expectantly. Olivia watched from the newly created table. Hannah extricated herself from the girls and held up her hands.
“Okay, everyone. I showed her the house, the marriage certificate, and answered her questions. She said the land grant was valid and the investigation was over.”
“
Dios mio,
that woman was a
bruja.
” Eva made a strange sign with her hands at the retreating buggy.
“You did good, Hannah.” Granny grinned. “I thought you were going to take a swing at her.”
The younger girls all looked confused while Eva chuckled. Hannah felt her cheeks heat, but decided she had to be honest. This was her family after all.
“I thought about it, but I didn’t want to give her any reason to stay a second longer.”
This time everyone laughed and Hannah felt an enormous sense of relief. She gazed around and realized that she finally felt like a Graham.
“Let’s get ready for the barbecue.”
 
Matt could hardly focus on the pit. His mind whirled with the events of the day, particularly with what Ranger Armstrong had told him. He hadn’t shared the information with anyone yet, so it was his burden to carry until he decided to tell someone.
Lorenzo and Javier were butchering the steer, which left the three Graham boys to finish the pit. They had to get the coals hot enough so the steer would cook the entire day. If they didn’t put it in on time, it wouldn’t be tender as he liked it.
Eva would appear with the rub any minute, so they picked up the pace. The heat made his skin feel tight and his eyes dry. It had been years since they had attended a barbecue, and they’d never hosted one. His parents had been more concerned with keeping the family safe and fed.
Eva had been the one to tell him what he needed to do to cook the steer. Any barbecue was a big event in itself, but this was also the first time the Grahams would welcome their neighbors to the Circle Eight. They would show everyone they were not only surviving their parents’ deaths, but celebrating their new beginning with his marriage.
It sounded stupid to him, but Eva insisted that was what they had to do. That left him and his brothers sweating over a pit big enough to hold the steer. Lorenzo and Javier brought half the butchered steer. The brothers obviously had experience with this sort of thing and Matt deferred to their knowledge, learning as he helped them get everything done.
He looked up to find Hannah watching him. Her gaze was questioning and he could guess what she wanted to know. Matt shook his head, unwilling to talk to her, and turned his attention back to the pit. Her frustration was probably hotter than the coals he was currently stoking. Matt didn’t want to talk to her and there was no way he’d let her push him into it.
A wife was important to a man, but Hannah had to understand no matter what, he was the head of the house. The bedroom was their private domain. What happened there did not give her license to tell him what to do elsewhere.
By the time they had covered the pit and decided on a shift to watch it, Matt was exhausted. The sun had set, and his body was covered with sweat, dirt, and soot. The barbecue was the next day, which meant his rest would be short because there was so much to do. Hannah had been wrong, it wasn’t just a simple matter of nailing a few tables together and cooking a steer. There was a hell of a lot of work involved in feeding seventy-five people, even if there wasn’t a lot of money spent.
Matt walked in to find Hannah sitting in the kitchen with a cup of steaming liquid in her hand. She wore a shawl over her white nightdress. The memory of exactly what had happened the last time she wore that nightdress made his body stir to life.
“Hungry?” Her voice sounded as tired as he felt.
“Yes, but I think I’m too tired to eat.” He sat down heavily in the chair across from her. “More than anything, I want to get clean.”
She smiled. “I heated water for a bath.”
Matt couldn’t help smiling back. Somehow she knew exactly what he needed before he did. He should be scared by that fact, but he didn’t want to think about it. In fact, he didn’t want to think at all.
Hannah pulled the tub in from the back porch and filled it with three buckets of hot water, then added two buckets of cold. She already had soap and a towel waiting for him along with a clean pair of drawers.
“Need help getting clean?”
Her question shocked him. She had been such a quiet, soft-spoken woman, even shy, and now she was a seductress. He couldn’t quite reconcile the two and trying to do so made his head hurt. Matt didn’t answer her and after a few moments of watching him undress, she sat down and picked up her mug again.
He climbed into the tub, trying to ignore the fact he was naked and his wife was five feet away. At least his cock appeared to be as tired as he was. As he sank into the water, which was the perfect temperature, he sighed with relief.
“You spent some time with that ranger.” It wasn’t a question, but she was fishing for information.
Matt closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the tub. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Then I won’t tell you what Mrs. Markum said.”
Matt sighed. “Fine.” He really didn’t want to think about the conversation anymore but Hannah hadn’t given him a choice. “Armstrong read the report on the murders and Benjy’s disappearance. He told me there had been ten other ranches within a hundred miles that had been attacked, folks killed and children taken.”
She gasped. “Ten?”
“Ten. Armstrong didn’t give me much but I do know he’s investigating five of them himself.” Matt tried not to picture what happened to the other ranchers, wives, or children. He could hardly get the image of his parents’ bodies out of his head.
“Did he have any information on what happened here?” Her voice had softened.
“He knows as much as I do.” Matt planned on meeting up with Armstrong next week to talk to the man more. The ranger was tight-lipped and hid secrets behind his cold blue eyes.
“It’s good that a ranger is working on it, right? I’ve heard they are very tough lawmen.”
“I hear the same thing. Whether or not he comes through remains to be seen.” Matt didn’t expect her touch, but it didn’t startle him either. She dipped a rag in the water, wrung it out then soaped it up. As Hannah washed the grime from his body, he felt he’d died and gone to heaven, her touch was nearly perfect.
“Mrs. Markum told me someone wrote a letter accusing you of fraud, that you lied about the land grant.” Hannah started soaping up his hair.
“Who?” He managed to keep his calm although the idea that someone would accuse him of anything illegal made him want to punch something.
“She said the letter was unsigned. I showed her the house and our marriage certificate.” Hannah scrubbed his scalp, her strong fingernails earning a moan from his throat. “I did tell a white lie though.”
Matt’s eyes popped open. “What did you lie about?”
“I told her we were engaged before you went to file for the land grant the first time.” She sighed, and he hated the fact that she’d been put in the position to have to lie to save him. “I don’t have much family, so I told her we were waiting for the grieving to pass before we got married. Then with the land grant requiring you to be married, we went ahead and tied the knot.”
She sounded so matter of fact, as if she hadn’t lied to a government person.
For him.
Matt had done it for his family, for his father, but she had done it for
him.
Hannah had showed him with her simple gesture just what it meant to be first in someone else’s heart. Matt’s stomach thumped so hard against his ribs, it vibrated his bones. Could her heart be involved already? They’d known each other only two weeks. Matt didn’t pretend to understand how women thought and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask. He wasn’t ready to hear the answer.
“Thank you for that, Hannah. I didn’t mean for you to tell any kind of lie for me.” He dunked his head and rinsed the soap from his hair. When he emerged, she sat beside the tub watching him. Her gaze was pensive.
“Mrs. Markum said she was keeping the letter with the land grant.” Hannah shook her head. “I don’t know that we’ve seen the last of her. I think she’s some important man’s wife.”
“I don’t care who she is. She’s a bitch.” Matt was rewarded with a chuckle from Hannah, although most women would have chastised him for cussing.
“I won’t argue that. I didn’t like her at all.” Hannah reached out and touched his cheek.
He wanted to melt into her, pull her into his arms, and make love to her until neither one of them could see straight. Matt was teetering on the edge of falling in love with his wife and it scared him witless. He didn’t want to be a man who was led around by a woman. He needed to stop his feelings from going any further.
“Can I have a towel?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Hannah got to her feet, her large breasts at eye level for a moment, which made his traitorous cock jump. Thank God the water hid the movement.
She held the towel open, waiting for him to step from the tub. His gaze held hers and he was torn between his head and his urges. If he got out of the water and stepped into her arms, he’d tussle in the sheets with her. If he took the towel from her, there would be no sex that night.
Matt took the towel with a weak smile. Her expression looked shocked for a moment and then she turned away, leaving him in the tub alone.
Damn.
Hannah shouldn’t have been disappointed. Matt was exhausted from preparing the barbecue pit and she had no right to expect him to make love. But after the intimate moments they’d shared while he bathed, she’d thought maybe they would.
He had relaxed under her hands and she had completely enjoyed bathing him. But as soon as she’d finished, his gaze became shuttered again, leaving her with nothing but an ache between her legs and hardened nipples.
She washed up for bed and climbed in before she had time to think about being naked. Married people didn’t need to make love every night, did they? She fussed around under the covers without really getting comfortable. Matt came to bed within ten minutes and she pretended to be asleep. The truth was she was awake a lot longer than she should have been. As she fell into a fitful sleep, Hannah ached to touch her husband.
C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN
 
T
he day of the barbecue Hannah was up before the sun, her heart and body still aching. She dressed quietly, leaving Matt still sleeping. If she had more courage, she might have woken him up, but she couldn’t quite make herself do it.
No one else was awake so the house was quiet as she went out to milk the cow. Catherine had shown her how and now Hannah felt confident she could do it herself. The gray light of dawn colored the yard as she made her way to the barn with just a bucket.
She stepped into the barn, and paused at the darkness inside. She hadn’t brought a lamp, hadn’t thought of it really, so she either needed to go back to the house to get one or go into the gloom of the barn without one. Hannah decided to just get the cow milked and not worry about needing to see. She could leave the door open to shed light into the interior.
The cow lowed at her as she went into the stall. She sat on the stool and placed the bucket strategically to catch the milk. The cow’s warm udder felt good in the coolness of the predawn morning. Hannah leaned her forehead against the cow as she milked her, finding the experience relaxing. The soft sounds of the animals, the sound of the milk hitting the pail, they were becoming familiar to her, comfortable. Hannah knew she would be happy here.
It never occurred to her to be afraid or to take precautions to protect herself. She was at home and safe on Graham land. When a pair of strong arms grabbed her, she was so surprised, she didn’t make a sound. Her attacker wrapped one arm around her waist, the other around her throat.
Adrenaline surged through her. Her heart had never beat so hard in her life. Who was this and what did he want? The man smelled of sweat, tobacco, and something rancid. She struggled to get free, although her brain told her not to, until his arm tightened so much on her throat she was barely getting any air.
“Let me go.” Her shout was only a whisper.
“You listening to me, girlie?”
Hannah managed to make a noise that sounded like a yes.
“That husband of yours needs to stop talking to Armstrong.” He tightened his arm again, cutting off her air supply completely. “If’n he don’t, I’ll come back here and he won’t never find your body or that pretty little blonde. You understand me, girlie?”
Hannah tried to nod but his arm was so tight, she couldn’t. She scratched at his arm, desperate for air. The only thought in her mind was she didn’t want to die before she’d really had a chance to live. He had threatened Catherine, and she had to protect her young sister-in-law.
Black dots swam in front of her eyes, and she mustered up the courage to fight him one last time. She was a Graham now and she would do the name proud. She kicked out hard with her old boot, connecting with his shin. He loosened his grip enough for her to get some air.
“You fucking bitch.”
Next she brought her elbow back into his stomach, but it was padded with so much fat, her blow didn’t accomplish anything. She tried to kick him again, but he was ready for it. He replaced his arm with his hand and really started choking her with fingers like talons.
Hannah was angry enough not to care what he did. This stranger had dared to hurt and threaten her and her family. She started fighting him for all she was worth, scratching and kicking. As the black dots became a roar of blackness in her mind, her last thought was of Matthew.
She should have woken him up that morning and told him she loved him.
Matt awoke as the sun crept in through the lace curtains. He knew he was alone the second he opened his eyes. To his surprise, he was disappointed Hannah wasn’t there, and not just because his cock was painfully hard. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he enjoyed spooning with her, feeling the heat from her body mix with his. Other than riding Winston, it was about the only time Matt felt at peace.
Today there would be no spooning and no ride. The neighbors could start arriving at any time and his shift at the pit started at eight. Judging by the position of the sun, it was just past six, so he had time to eat some breakfast.
When the door to his room burst open, he was just climbing out of bed. He was about to yell at whomever it was, but Catherine started yelling first.
“Mattie, come quick! Somebody hurt Hannah!”
Matt didn’t remember putting his pants or boots on but he was wearing them as he ran across the hard-packed dirt to the barn. Hurt Hannah? Who would hurt her? His gut clenched as he stepped into the barn. She lay on the straw-covered ground, as still as could be.
He dropped to his knees next to her. When he took her hand, he realized his own were shaking. What kind of cruel God would take so much from him? She was warm, and through the haze of confusion and grief, he recognized she was also breathing.
A whoosh of pure relief zinged through him. He slid his arms under her and picked her up. She moaned and her head lolled back. Anger replaced all his emotions when he saw fingerprints on her neck.
Somebody had choked her.
“Is she okay?” Catherine practically danced beside him. “I came to milk the cow but she already done it cause I showed her how, and she was lying there like a doll on the floor.”
“You did good, sprite.” He didn’t want to scare his sister with his fury, so he kept it contained. “Get the door open for me.”
Matt brought Hannah into the house, past a surprised Eva, and into their bedroom. As he laid her on the bed, her eyes fluttered open. She gazed at him for a few beats before she smiled.
“Love you, Matt.”
Then she was out again. Matt thought he had been shaking before, but now his damn knees were knocking together. First he’d found out that someone had tried to kill her, and now she’d told him she loved him.
Matt wanted to cry.
“¿Que pasa, hijo?”
Eva was right on his heels, pushing him out of the way. Mrs. Dolan knocked him aside, too.
“Somebody choked the hell out of her.” Matt stared at the marks on her neck. He was torn between staying at her side and tearing off after the bastard who had done this to her.
“¿Porqué?”
Eva unbuttoned Hannah’s blouse, exposing the entire length of her neck. Mrs. Dolan gasped and to his surprise, cursed under her breath.
“Damn.” Matt couldn’t help cussing himself.
Eva pushed Hannah’s hair out of the way and examined the back of her neck. “I think whoever the
bandejo
was, he only bruised her. I don’t think there is permanent damage.”
“I don’t care if it’s permanent or not, I want to rip his arms off.” Matt ignored Catherine’s gasp behind him. “How dare he hurt my wife?”
Eva turned to him. “Stop complaining and help me. I need water, as cold as you can get it. Martha, I need rags, too.”
Mrs. Dolan went to get the rags. Matt didn’t want to leave the room, but he did because he knew cold water was for the swelling. If they could keep the swelling down, Hannah would fare better. He grabbed a bucket from the kitchen, then stomped out to the well and pumped it until the water gushed good and cold.
When he returned with the bucket, at least three of his sisters had woken up and were currently crowded in his bedroom doorway.
“Move.”
They scattered like feathers in the wind, lucky for them. Matt was in no mood to be patient with anyone. He set down the bucket and Eva immediately dipped a rag in the water. Mrs. Dolan stood at the foot of the bed, watching. As Eva wrung it out, she gestured to Hannah.
Matt looked down, surprised to see his wife’s eyes open. “Hannah.” He took her hand and squeezed it gently. “You don’t get to milk the cow anymore. You spilled half the milk.”
She tried to laugh, but winced at the attempt.
“It’s okay, honey.” His damn knees shook so, he sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Eva press the cold rags against Hannah’s neck. “Do you know who did this?”
She shook her head.
“Did you see him?”
She shook her head again. “Message.” Her rusty whisper made him want to roar at the heavens.
“A message to me?”
Hannah nodded. “No Armstrong.”
Matt’s blood ran cold. “Somebody choked you to give me a message to stop talking to Armstrong?”
Her gaze looked scared and angry at the same time, but she nodded.
He pressed her hand between his as he struggled with the rage that poured through him. Not only did the message have the opposite effect from what the son of a bitch wanted, but Matt would personally hunt him down and use his balls for coyote bait.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Mateo.” Eva changed the cold compress and speared him with one of her
“bruja”
glares. “Today is the barbecue and your wife needs you here.”
“Shit.” He’d completely forgotten about the barbecue and his shift at the pit. The last thing he needed was to be polite to his neighbors. For all he knew, Stinson was the one who had sent the mongrel to choke Hannah. “We need to cancel the barbecue.”
A chorus of nos came from outside the room. It seemed that every one of his siblings was out there.
“It’s too late. The meat will go to waste if we don’t have it.” Olivia spoke up from the doorway.
Matt turned to see them all looking between him and Hannah; their identical expressions of worry almost made him forget how angry he was.
“Besides we need to show whoever it is we’re not scared of them,” Caleb offered. “Maybe they’ll expect us to tell everybody to go home.”
“We need to show them what Grahams are made of.” Nick stuck out his jaw just like Pa used to do.
“Yeah, we’re no cowards.” Elizabeth was generally the quiet one, but even she looked fierce.
“We’ll find out who hurt Hannah so we can hurt them back.” Catherine climbed into the bed and snuggled up against Hannah.
“I like your kin, Matthew.” Mrs. Dolan grinned. “I think we need to stand together.”
His family had all gathered around his wife as if she had been part of the Graham clan forever. The sight dampened his fury so much that he could see the logic for not canceling the barbecue.
Whoever was behind the attack on Hannah would expect them to cancel. His brothers and sisters were right. They might just flush out the person responsible for not only Hannah’s injuries but for his parents’ death and Benjy’s disappearance. The hunt was on. And he’d make damn sure everyone there knew he’d been talking to Ranger Armstrong.
The Grahams were going to war.
Hannah’s throat hurt, especially when she talked, but she was well enough to get out of bed an hour after she woke up in it for the second time that morning. Matt kept hovering, along with Granny and Eva. None of them would let her move.
“I need to help.” Her voice was raspy but she managed to be heard without too much pain.
“Pshaw, child. There ain’t nothing that important for you to do.” Granny sat like a sentry in a chair next to the bed.
“Everyone else is working.” Hannah gestured to her throat. “I don’t need this to help.”
“Wait until folks start arriving, then you can get up. In the meantime, rest.” Granny gestured to Eva, who stood in the doorway. “Do you have a scarf she can wear?”
“
Sí,
I have a pretty one
mi mama
made when I got married.” Eva disappeared, leaving Granny and Hannah alone.
“That husband of yours was white as a sheet when he brought you in.”
Hannah stared at her grandmother. “He was scared?”
“Oh, scared and angrier than I’ve ever seen anyone. He would have torn apart the man who hurt you, but he was too busy fussing over you.” Granny chuckled. “I do believe your husband is falling in love with you, child.”
Hannah managed not to let her mouth drop open. Granny was a smart lady and a good judge of people. Hannah had to believe she was right about Matt, but he surely didn’t act it around her. The man was still bossy and cold outside the bedroom.
“Good thing, too, because you done told him you loved him.”
This time, Hannah’s mouth did drop open. “I did no such thing.”
“Oh, yes you did. Plain as day. Me, Eva, and him heard it.” This time Granny’s cackle made Hannah panic.
“I couldn’t have. I mean, I don’t remember.” She searched her memory and the last thing she could recall was the man choking her in the barn. When she woke up in the bedroom, she could hardly talk much less confess her love. What if Granny was right and she had told Matt she loved him?
Was it such a bad thing?
Yes, if he didn’t feel the same. And in such a short time? Two weeks was hardly long enough to fall in love, but she was well on her way.
“He must know I was out of my head.” Hannah pushed the thought out of her mind. She had other things to worry about. If Matt had heard her, then he could darn well ask her about it.

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