Sullivan (34 page)

Sin took another step forward, and the gun that had been pressed against Eden's side turned on him.

"You stay back!" Jacob ordered, as he shifted his weight so he could better control the weapon that was now shakily aimed at Sin.

Daniel's arm popped up so fast his movement was a blur to Eden. She could see one dark eye narrow as he took aim. Sin dropped to the ground and rolled toward her as the gun fired. Almost simultaneously, Jacob fired. The world went black.

***

Eden crumpled and fell to the ground, blood on one shoulder of her white blouse and splattered across one pale cheek, her eyes closed, her body limp.

"Eden?" Sullivan whispered, gathering her into his arms and pulling her away from Jacob Merriweather's body. With trembling fingers he brushed the flecks of blood from her cheek. Shadows surrounded them, fell over Eden's body and his. He looked up. Of all the men present he saw only one. His eyes fell on Cash, who stood there half naked, favoring his left leg, his revolver hanging from his hand.

"You shot her," he said hoarsely. "You son of a bitch. I told you no. I knew that shot was too risky."

"I did not shoot her," Cash said indignantly. "I fired one bullet and it found its intended target, there"—he gestured with the gun toward a motionless Jacob Merriweather—"just above the left eyebrow. I believe Eden fainted. The blood is Merriweather's."

Eden stirred and opened her eyes. Immediately, she threw her arms around his neck and held on tight.

"Did he shoot you?" she whispered against his neck, her breath so warm and soft Sullivan had to close his eyes and savor it.

Eden's hands rapidly skimmed over his shoulders and chest, over his sides and thighs. "He came out of nowhere," she said as she searched. "Before I could scream he clamped his hand over my mouth, and then he dragged me out here, and oh, Sin, I was so afraid he would shoot you."

Rico went down the street to check on the kids and Nate. Cash turned to Jacob Merriweather to admire his handiwork, and Jed spread his legs wide and took a stance of defiance.

"This is why we're getting you back to Georgia as soon as possible," he snapped. "And get your hands off of Sullivan! It's obvious he hasn't been hurt. You've already checked damn near every square inch."

"I'm not going anywhere," Eden said confidently.

"No, you're not," Sullivan agreed, and then he kissed her, a soft kiss to make sure she was still warm and breathing. He had never been as afraid as he'd been when he'd turned to see that gun against her side. He wasn't about to let her leave. He couldn't. "You're not going anywhere."

"No, I'm not," she whispered.

"You belong here, with me."

She smiled and nodded.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you, too," she whispered with a smile. "But you already know that, don't you?"

God, yes, he knew it. She'd told him. She'd shown him in a hundred ways. He kissed her again.

"I've been horn-swoggled," Jed said softly. "You two aren't on the outs at all!"

"No, we're not," Eden admitted as she took her mouth from his. "We're married. We love each other, and if you don't like it you can just...just... Well, you can learn to keep your opinions to yourself."

Sullivan helped Eden to her feet, holding on to her as if she might break if he let go. They were both still a little weak in the knees.

Jed all but sputtered. "I can't believe you fooled us all with that... What you did was treachery, pure and simple. All this time we thought..."

"Speak for yourself, Jed. You were the only one who was blind enough to be fooled," Cash said with a smile as he stepped away from the body of Jacob Merriweather. "Remember how you told me a few days ago that Eden was cleaning the tub? I almost busted a gut trying not to laugh."

"Why?" Jed asked with a frown.

"You see..." Cash began.

"Daniel!" Eden gasped. "Don't you dare."

Cash grinned. "Well, maybe there are some things a brother shouldn't hear about his little sister."

Nate and Rico joined them, telling Eden, when she asked, that the children had been told all was well, and they would remain in Rose Sutton's care until the bodies were removed from the street. She thanked them for being so thoughtful of the children's delicate sensibilities.

"I need to see Millie and Teddy," she said. "To give them a hug and tell them everything is fine. But I can't do that until I change out of this blouse." She wrinkled her nose and plucked at the bloodstained shoulder. "I don't want them to see me like this. It would just upset them, and I'm sure they're already distressed enough by this episode. Goodness, did you hear Teddy scream?"

Eden shuddered as Sullivan draped his arm over her shoulder, and together they turned about. She slipped her arm easily around his waist and leaned comfortably against him. The shaking stopped almost immediately.

Rico grinned widely as Sullivan led Eden toward the hotel. He muttered something in Spanish, and for once no one told him to translate, and Cash didn't bellow at him to speak English. Nate didn't seem to pay them much mind at all, but he did seem quite pleased with himself.

Jed lifted his arms in frustration. "Is there anyone here," he bellowed, "besides me, who was horn-swoggled into thinking these two were... that they didn't... that they hadn't..."

"Not me," Nate said. "I married them, remember? I knew it would last."

"I forgot you're the
wise
one among us," Jed said tersely.

Rico continued to grin. "If you would take your head out of the sand long enough to take a good look at the people around you, or perhaps to take a nice long smell..."

"I think I like the sand," Jed said, but there was surrender in his voice.

Sullivan and Eden walked toward the hotel and left the others quibbling. He couldn't hold her tight enough, couldn't touch her enough. When he thought of how close he'd come to losing her...

"Hold it right there!" Jed hollered as they reached the hotel doorway.

Together, he and Eden turned to face the furious man.

Jed shook a menacing finger. "I guess if she had to marry one of us, it might as well be you. It could've been worse," he said, glancing at the men around him. "She might've married Rico, or Nate, or"—he shuddered—
"Daniel."

"Well, thank you, I think," Sullivan said.

"Is this your way of giving us your blessing?" Eden asked with a dimpled smile.

Jed Rourke actually blushed. "I reckon," he mumbled. He waved a dismissive hand. "You go change out of those clothes, and I'll go check on the kids. If you're all going to stay here, I need to... mend a few fences with my niece and nephew."

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Sullivan said as he turned Eden about and they walked away from Jed.

"I was so scared," she said as he led her up the stairs.

"Me, too." Truth was, he'd never been so scared in his life.

When they reached the second-story hallway, she stopped, took his hand, and laid it over her belly, just beneath her navel. He knew what was coming even before she said, "Mostly I was worried about him. Or her. Our baby."

His fingers brushed against her still-flat belly, where his child, their child, already grew. "I shouldn't be surprised."

"No," she said with a smile. "You certainly shouldn't."

A baby. He should be terrified. He should be concerned about the blood of his father and the blood of his mother running through another body, and how he and Eden were going to make it when they were so different and always would be, but at the moment he was oddly happy.

"Did I thank you?" she whispered, "for saving my life, that is?"

He shook his head. "I don't believe you did."

She came up on her toes and kissed him, her lips soft and yielding, the caress deep and undeniably loving. "Thank you, Sinclair Sullivan," she whispered as she reluctantly took her mouth from his. "What would I do without you?"

He brushed a strand of pale hair away from her face. "You'll never have to know."

"Good," she whispered, kissing him again, much too briefly. "I suppose I should thank Daniel, too, and Rico and Nate and Jedidiah, of course," she said softly. "They were all wonderful."

Sullivan arched his eyebrows slightly. "You can't thank them the way you thanked me," he insisted. "Make 'em soup."

"I do make very good soup," she said with a smile.

How had he survived this long without that smile?

"I meant what I said out there." He slipped his arms around his wife and lifted her off her feet. "I do love you."

She laughed lightly and tilted her head back. "I knew it before you did."

"Yes," he whispered as he gently spun her around. "Yes, you did."

Chapter 23

The Merriweathers had been disposed of less than a week earlier, and Sin was already packing his saddlebags. Eden tried to stay calm.

"How long will you be gone, do you think?" She sat on the edge of the bed and watched him pack.

"Not long," he said. "I have a few things to take care of. A few loose ends to tie up."

How many days was
not long?
Two? Ten? Thirty? "You're going to Webberville," she said softly.

Sin lifted his head and smiled at her. "Yep."

Eden had to bite her lip to keep from telling him, at least
asking him,
not to go. "It's that damn hat," she muttered. When Sin lifted surprised eyebrows at her unexpected curse, she muttered an even softer, "Sorry."

She'd told Daniel she would become the woman Sin needed, if that's what it took to keep him. Could she do it? If he needed to ride off on occasion, to one troubled place or another, could she stand it?

Yes.

"You know," she said more calmly, "I still want all of you, but I'd rather have a little piece of you than all of anyone else in the world. If you need to go, go. I'll be waiting for you when you get home."

He gave her a look that said he'd never doubted it, but there was nothing possessive or selfish about that look. It was warm and confident and told her all she needed to know. It told her he loved her.

"I'm going to rename the hotel," she said, changing the subject so she wouldn't cry. "Jedediah's going to help me paint a new sign to replace the old one."

"Does he know this yet?"

Eden shook her head. "No, but he won't mind."

"What are you going to name it?"

She looked deep into his eyes. "Paradise."

* * *

Paradise.
He thought about the new name for Eden's hotel all the way to Webberville, a trip much quicker on his horse and alone than it had been in Eden's crowded wagon.
Paradise.

What had Eden said? A long time ago, it seemed like, she'd said she'd rather live in the most desolate place on earth surrounded by people she loved than to live alone in paradise. She'd also supposed that the exact opposite was true of him. Maybe she was right, or at least had been then. Now... Hell, he missed her already. He missed the kids. He missed his own bed.

And he'd only been gone a few hours.

He camped out that night, slept on the hard ground. When he dreamed, he dreamed of Eden and the baby she carried. If it was a girl, he decided, he wanted to name her Fiona. The world needed a happy Fiona Sullivan again, he figured.

The next afternoon he arrived in Webberville. No one would take him by surprise this time, that was for goddamn sure. They weren't expecting him, so he had time to glance around as he stepped through the bat-wing doors. Almost immediately, he spotted the men who had ambushed him, his hat hanging behind the bar like a kind of trophy... and something else that drew his attention away from it all.

* * *

Eden looked up at the new sign, red paint on a white background standing out against the weathered boards of her hotel, Paradise.

"It looks good, Mama," Millie said, shielding her eyes with her small hand. "Very pretty."

"Yeah," Teddy said. "I like it."

The streets were crowded, but then it was Saturday afternoon and people from visiting ranches filled the streets and streamed from the businesses along Rock Creek's main thoroughfare. As soon as she hired one or two girls to help her, she might start opening the hotel restaurant for meals in the evening and on Saturday afternoons. There appeared to be lots of hungry people out there.

"Papa's coming," Teddy said softly, his eyes turned to the end of the street.

Eden turned to watch the black stallion making its way slowly down the street. Sin had been gone less than a week, and she'd missed him so much she hurt with it. How would she stand it when he left again?

She would, she reminded herself. She would do whatever she had to do.

Sin wore his accursed hat, the one he'd been compelled to go back to Webberville and fight for, and underneath that hat his long strands of hair were missing. She squinted against the sun to see more clearly, but it didn't help. He might've pulled his hair back, she supposed, but he'd never done that before.

He had another surprise in store for her. A child with pale brown hair peeked warily around Sin's side as he pulled up to the hotel. He helped the kid to his feet before dismounting and tossing the reins across a hitching post. He took the child's hand as he came to Eden with a smile.