Now and Forever (25 page)

“We need to go fetch Aaron,” Tucker said. “He can ride out to get Shannon, bring her back here.” Tucker strode to the front of the diner and hollered, “Nev, get out here!”

There was no answer.

Tucker looked at Langley and Gage. “They were just here.” He stepped inside and walked into the kitchen, only to find it empty. The lovebirds had flown the coop.

Shaking his head, Tucker went back to the marshal. “All right. Let’s go talk to that lying varmint you’ve got locked up.”

W
hat happened?” Bailey came running out of her barn.

Shannon went to her big sister rather than go home. Now she should be telling her sister everything, but all she could do was cry.

Bailey helped Shannon down off her horse. “Are you hurt?”

Trust Bailey to think that the only reason a person should cry was because they’d been physically hurt. And even then Bailey probably wouldn’t shed a tear over it. But she might forgive a weakling like her little sister for crying a bit.

Shannon shook her head.

“Let’s put your horse up. Where’s Tucker?”

That was the wrong question to ask. Shannon had hoped she was cried out, but apparently her body had plenty of tears to spare. Bailey slung an arm around her shoulders, grabbed the horse’s reins, and led them toward the corral.

By the time the horse was seen to, Shannon had calmed down enough to walk unaided to Bailey’s log cabin.

They went inside silently. It was possible Bailey was afraid to say anything, dreading another bout of tears. She shoved the coffeepot and a stewpot forward on the stove. It looked like Bailey planned on Shannon staying awhile, and that wasn’t a bad idea. If Shannon went home, there was a chance Tucker would show up, and Shannon didn’t think she was up to talking with him yet. Assuming he even came.

That thought almost set off another spell of bawling.

Maybe if she had a little more time, she could calmly wave goodbye to him.

Bailey was busy getting plates and cups, remaining silent still, giving her little sister all the time she needed. She turned to the table with her tin dishes. Two plates in a stack and two cups on top, forks and knives.

Where to begin this tale? “A man kidnapped me last night.”

“What?” Bailey dropped the dishes on the table. They went flying. Shannon scrambled to keep them from falling on the floor.

“Tell me what happened.” Bailey shoved the tinware aside and sat down at the table around the corner from Shannon.

Bailey knew about the Barnburner, but Shannon hadn’t seen her since they’d started keeping watch over the corral. Once Gage started sleeping at Shannon’s place, Bailey stayed away. Shannon told her story with a shaky voice.

Bailey had heard about the way the man had mutilated
the mule. They knew he was capable of awful deeds. “He managed to sneak up on Sunrise?”

“Yes, and Coulter.”

“And he kidnapped you, intending to kill you?”

“He told Sunrise something about drawing Tucker away from our homestead so he could grab me. Yes, he was intent on murder.”

Bailey shuddered, her mouth forming a grim line. “But they have him locked up in jail now, right?”

Shannon nodded.

There was a long pause as Bailey studied Shannon. She knew her eyes had to be swollen from tears. They burned and were probably red.

“And that was so upsetting, you’re still crying all these hours later?” Bailey sounded more than a little doubtful.

Shannon didn’t blame her. “No, I’m crying because Tucker just told me he wants us to move to his cabin in the mountains. Then he’s going back to trapping, and that will leave me alone up there for days and weeks and maybe months at a time. And b-besides . . .” Shannon felt the tears start again. “He offered my sheep to Nev Bassett.”

“He said he’d stay with you.” Bailey’s hands tightened on her coffee cup until her knuckles turned white. “He promised Sunrise.”

“He doesn’t seem to think being gone a few weeks at a time counts as not staying with me. So I told him to go on back to his mountain cabin and leave me h-here.” Shannon broke down again.

“And you’re crying because . . . ?” Bailey waited while Shannon sobbed.

Finally she pulled herself together enough to say, “I’m crying because I’m in love with him and he’s leaving me.”

“You should’ve known better than to do that!”

Shannon shoved her cup aside, laid her head down on the table, and howled.

Thundering hooves sounded outside the cabin. Shannon jerked her head up. Bailey was on her feet and peering out the window within seconds.

“It’s Tucker and that no-good Gage Coulter.”

“I don’t want to see Tucker.”

“And I sure don’t want to see Coulter.” Bailey grabbed her rifle from the pegs over the door, pushed open the narrow window shutters, and fired.

“Be careful!” Shannon rushed to Bailey’s side in time to see the grulla wheel around.

Coulter’s brown thoroughbred reared so high it almost unseated him.

“I am being careful. I hit what I aim at.” Bailey lifted the gun again, but she didn’t pull the trigger.

“You ride on out of here, Tucker.” Bailey was using her deeper voice. Not much different from normal, for she already had a fairly deep voice for a woman. Even so, she could put a more manly tone to it when she wanted to. “And take your friend with you.”

“I see Shannon’s horse here,” Tucker shouted. “Put down that gun, Bailey. I need to see my wife.”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

Shannon did, though. She wanted to go beg him not to leave her. She wanted to cry and plead and tell him how much she loved him and promise him anything to get
him to stay. The thoughts that rioted through her head were so pathetic she decided it was best to let Bailey do the talking.

“You can’t build your cabin across the mouth of this canyon.” Coulter tore the Stetson off his head and whacked himself on the leg so hard his stallion reared again.

“Go home, Coulter.” Bailey changed the angle of her rifle so the next time she fired, if she fired, the bullet would hit the ground inches from Coulter’s horse rather than Tucker’s.

“Shannon, come on out, honey.”

“You didn’t want to talk to me very bad. I’ve been at Bailey’s for an hour. What’d you do, stay and have another meal before you decided to ride after me?” That hurt almost as much as his abandoning her. Knowing he’d felt no urgency about following her.

“No, the marshal stopped us. He was going to let Stewbold go.”

“What?” Shannon swung the door open and stood in the opening. She almost went charging out. Keeping that evil man in jail was more important than any broken heart. But she couldn’t make herself go to Tucker when it might be the last time.

“We had to go in and talk to Marshal Langley, give our side of the story. He wants to talk to you, too.” Tucker swung down off his grulla and slapped the horse on the rump. The mustang seemed eager to trot away, out of rifle range.

“Hang on to that horse, Tucker,” Bailey yelled. “You’re not staying.”

“I’m surprised you bothered to even come. How’d you find me anyway?” Shannon hollered.

Tucker was probably a hundred feet from the cabin, standing beside Coulter, who was still on horseback. Tucker’s head jerked back in surprise, and he stared at her. Coulter stopped, turned around to give Shannon a startled look. Even Bailey stopped aiming her rifle to arch a brow at her sister.

Tucker answered, “I tracked you.”

“He tracked you.” Bailey and Gage spoke at the same instant as Tucker.

Shannon knew that. She figured maybe all the crying had muddled her thinking. “Just go on back to your cabin in the mountains, Tucker. That’s where you live. You said so yourself. So you go live up there and I’ll live down here. Stop by from time to time if you’ve a mind to.” Shannon got that out in a very even voice. She was proud of herself. Because she wanted to start crying again.

“Wilde, this is my fall range. You can’t put your cabin across the neck of this canyon—I own it. I’ve bought it all right and legal. You own one hundred and sixty acres. But your homestead is blocking off five thousand acres of my land.”

“Doesn’t matter what you own, Coulter. I’m not giving you permission to cross on my land. If you can find another way in, you’re welcome to it. In the meantime I’m running my own cattle on it.”

“Oh, no you’re not. If you think—”

“Gage!” Tucker snapped, “I’m trying to talk to my wife. Stop interrupting me to talk about your stupid ranch.”

“My
stupid
ranch?” Gage whacked his leg again with his poor, abused hat. A piece of the brim tore loose. “Your wife’s brother just stole over five thousand acres from me and you want to talk about your wife throwin’ a conniption fit? What’s the matter with you, Tucker? Go grab her and drag her up to your cabin in the mountains. I’ll buy your homestead, and if I’m in a good mood I won’t feed her dumb sheep to the wolves.”

“Coulter!” Tucker, Bailey, and Shannon all spat his name out at the same time.

“
What?
”

Again they spoke together. “Go home!”

Visibly shaken, Gage looked at Tucker. His icy gaze then swung to Shannon, then to Bailey in the open window. Bailey kept her attention on her precisely aimed rifle.

He slammed his hat on his head. The brim tore again and dropped over his eyes. Furious, he yanked the hat off, glared at it in disgust, and hurled it to the dirt.

“I’ll be back, Wilde.” Gage wheeled his stallion and galloped off.

T
ucker stood there alone, staring at the house. He wasn’t fuming like Gage. Instead, there was confusion on his face, as if he had no idea what had set Shannon off.

She had a strong urge to take Bailey’s gun and fill his backside with buckshot, just to impress upon him how upset she was.

Of course, she didn’t want him to be hurt.

Suddenly Tucker started forward.

Bailey fired into the ground. Tucker didn’t even slow down.

But Bailey did. Speaking quietly to Shannon, she said, “You know I can’t shoot him.” She had a forlorn tone to her voice.

“I know,” Shannon said.

Tucker reached the cabin and came right on inside. “Bailey, you’d best step outside. Unless my stubborn wife is ready to go home with me.” Tucker waited.

Shannon didn’t budge.

Bailey crossed her arms, and her golden eyes flashed fire. The worst of the stubborn Wilde women.

“Fine. Stay here then.” Tucker walked straight up to Shannon, put his arms around her, and dragged her against him. He kissed her until it shook loose the tears she’d been holding inside. Sobbing behind the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Shannon.” Distantly she heard Bailey say her name, then groan in disgust. The door slammed—Bailey leaving.

Shannon held on for as long as she could, even when her common sense nudged her to let him go. Finally she had to step back. Scrubbing at her leaky eyes, she turned and found the table—after some fumbling—and sat down. Better not to let him see how he made her knees go weak. And maybe if she was seated, it would keep her from launching herself into his arms and agreeing to anything to stay with him.

She tried to think, to pray, rather than grieve for the husband she wanted with her. She wasn’t even sure if it was fair to start this way, but she knew suddenly, powerfully, that she had to be honest with him. “Tucker, I love you.”

He moved to the table and pulled a chair close, too close for her to think clearly, and sat down. “Last night when I found Ma hurt, and then had to go after Stewbold, I felt like I was being torn in half to leave her. But I had to get to you.”

He took both her hands in his. “I told her I loved her, and I realized I’d never said that to her before. Never in my whole life, and I’ve loved her almost from the first
day she took me in. And I’d never said it to you either, Shannon, and I may have loved you from the minute my eyes connected with yours when I saw you on that roof. And for sure by the time we hit the water after falling over that cliff. I’m not waiting any longer. I love you, Shannon.”

It was a wonderful thing to hear, and yet it ripped up her heart, and the pain flowed fresh and bright and deep.

Swallowing hard, she said, “I am not going to live up in that mountain cabin with you, Tucker.”

“But that’s where we live, honey. You knew I was only down here until my leg healed up.”

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“I’m a mountain man. I make my living trapping and hunting in the high-up hills. That’s the life I know. Who did you think you were marrying?”

Shannon knew then that she wasn’t being fair. She leaned forward and caressed Tucker’s face. He was right. It wasn’t fair to marry a man, then ask him to be someone other than who he was.

Which came back to them both making a terrible mistake. “I’m not going to spend my life waiting for my man to stop by.”

“I never said I’d—”

“It’s frightening. What if I have a baby? Am I to give birth all alone? What if something went wrong, and there I’d be with no one to help?”

“Shannon, I—”

“You told Sunrise you wouldn’t leave me. You said it right in front of the parson.”

“Yes, and I—”

“But how can you be what you are, a hunter and a trapper, and
not
leave me? And it’s not fair for me to ask you to change. So go on up to your cabin and live your life.” Shannon surged out of her chair. “Just remember you’ve got a wife down here who loves you.”

She turned away, more certain with every word that to go with him was impossible, but to ask him to stay would be wrong of her. She went to Bailey’s door ready to send her husband on his way. It would be the best thing for them both.

“But I love you, Shannon. I don’t want to—”

“A wife who’ll welcome you when you can stop by. There’s nothing else we can . . . mmph.”

Her last words were cut off when Tucker’s hand covered her mouth. Standing behind her, he leaned forward until she could see him and feel him, warm and strong, all along her back.

“Can I talk for a minute now?”

“I doe heee hye.” That was as close as Shannon could come to saying
I don’t see why
. What could he add?

“First, I’m not leaving you down here.”

Shannon’s hopes rose. Did that mean he was staying?

“You’re coming with me.”

Those hopes sank just as quickly and she felt worse than before, surprised to find out that a woman who’d been crying most of the day could feel any worse.

Held firmly, she couldn’t talk, but she shook her head, even if only a tiny shake because his grip was solid. Still, he got the message.

“You’re my wife, and a wife goes with her husband. It’s in the Bible. So I’m going to save you from this sinful notion you have about staying behind.”

She looked over her shoulder at him, narrowed her eyes, and did her best to burn him to a cinder with a glare.

The polecat smiled and kept her mouth covered. Just as well. It was a certainty that he didn’t want to hear what she had to say. With his usual graceful movements, he spun her around to face him, only uncovering her mouth for a second. She inhaled, planning to need a lot of breath to tell him all she wanted to say. Except her mouth was securely covered by his hand once again before she could speak, and he had his spare arm anchored around her waist.

“I let you have your say, little wife. Now you let me have mine. I am not going to go off and leave you for weeks at a time.”

“Ur ott?” Shannon straightened, and her curiosity overcame her temper.

“No, I’m not. I may sometimes be gone overnight, but it won’t be often and it for sure won’t be if you are anywhere close to having a baby, for heaven’s sake.” Tucker shuddered so hard she felt it deep within. Then in the midst of his being really nice for a man who had more or less imprisoned her, suddenly he looked furious.

“I promised I wouldn’t leave you. You heard me. No, I didn’t promise you. I promised my ma. And I made that promise for a reason, Shannon. I saw how sad Ma was every time Pierre left her. She really cared for him, and I saw the burden of her life. In fact, I did my best to ease that
burden, and Ma will tell you that’s true. Her sons were all cut from the same cloth as Pierre, and her daughters took off with their husbands as soon as they married. But not me. I’ve been taking care of Ma for years. I can’t believe you thought I’d lie to you and to Ma.”

Tucker uncovered her mouth and let her go with an angry motion. Shannon staggered back. He looked hurt and almost as sad as she felt.

He leaned so close his nose almost brushed hers. “And I can’t believe you’d say you love me with one breath, then with the next breath send me off to the mountains and invite me to stop in if I’m in the area. What kind of love is that, Shannon?”

She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Finally, she gathered her thoughts and replied, “The same kind of love I thought I was getting from you when you said you’d go off hunting and trapping. I asked you if you’d be gone.”

“I will be. I have to walk my trap lines, and those are long days.”

“But not weeks or months?”

“No, not weeks or months. I promised you I wouldn’t do that.” Tucker’s eyes slid to Shannon’s middle, then back to her face. “So all this talk of babies—is it all just talk about the future or do you really think there’s a baby on the way?”

Shannon shook her head. “I don’t know of a baby yet.”

“So are you coming with me peacefully or do I have to drag you up to my cabin?”

“Well . . .” Shannon hesitated.

Tucker yanked her into his arms again and kissed her, maybe thinking he didn’t want to hear her answer.

There was a good chance he did want to hear it, but she didn’t mind being kissed.

When he let her go, he said, “You’re coming, Shannon. ‘A man shall leave his mother, and a woman leave her home.’ Well, Ma is living down here now, though she’s never lived near me.” Tucker frowned. “I still need to take care of her sometimes, so we’ll need to come down on occasion. We can live at your homestead enough months of the year to prove up on it, and that’ll give you a chance to see Bailey.”

“I want to see Bailey, so that’s good.”

“And during the winter months, when the pelts are thick on the beaver . . . well, the Bible says you have to leave your home, so that’s that.”

Shannon found herself smiling. “You really don’t know much sweet talk, do you, Tucker?”

He gave her a suspicious look, like he thought she was trying to trick him. “I know I’m not going to live without you. I know you’re coming with me now, and we’re staying together forever.”

Shannon’s heart started to heal at those words. And she opened her mouth to tell him so.

But he kept talking so that she couldn’t get a word in. “I love you. I’m going home. That means you’re coming with me. How much sweeter talk could a woman want?”

The man would never be a poet. She threw her arms around his neck. “No woman could want sweeter talk than that. I only got so upset because I can’t bear the thought
of living without you, Tucker. I’m sorry I doubted you. Yes, I’m coming home with you.”

“You are? Even without your sheep?” Tucker looked doubtful.

Shannon did hate to give them up, but it was in the Bible after all.

That wild smile broke out on Tucker’s face, and he laughed as he swung her around in a circle. Then he lowered her to her feet and kissed her until she’d follow him anywhere.