Sundown (20 page)
Authors: Jade Laredo
“Will I see you again?”
“In time, as always.”
The fire in the hearth dimmed to orange burnished coals, yet Luke still hovered by her side. Dawn’s morning light shafted through the curtains and crossed the room, caressing his face with strange warmth. Just then, she opened her eyes. It was as if God had touched him with an answer to his prayers.
“Luke.” Barely a whisper, her voice crackled from painful exertion, but she managed a weak smile. “He told me you were calling for me.”
“Who told you, my love?” He smiled back behind grateful tears, and kissed her hand.
“That beautiful boy in gray.” She said, closing her eyes.
Luke chuckled. “Should I be jealous?”
“No.” She murmured still smiling. “And a woman named Julia told me you needed me.”
Luke felt the bottom of his heart drop from beneath him. Disbelievingly, he stared at her as if he had seen a ghost. Clearing his throat, he inquired of the woman she claimed to have spoken with while in her stupor.
“Julia?”
“She was beautiful, and so very nice.”
Just then, a shadow fell over Luke’s shoulder.
“Poppa.” Arabella turned another weak smile.
“Bella.”
“You still need me.” She whispered before slipping back to a dark netherworld.
Luke tensed.
Wyeth placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, she’s exhausted.”
“I am sorry.”
“M-hmm.” Wyeth released his hand. “It doesn’t change anything.”
“I know.” Luke replied. “I’m asking you to give me some time while she recovers.”
Wyeth did not give an answer. He turned toward the window and peered down below. Lena and Sam helped Jenny into a rocking chair. Still weak from
childbearing, the young woman leaned back and soaked in the morning sunshine.
He had fallen in love with her. He supposed he had this feeling for quite some time, but never wanted to admit it. Leaning against the window pain, he finally startled Luke with an unexpected answer.
“I’ll give you some time but only under one condition.”
“What condition?” He heard Luke’s voice take on a suspicious edge.
“Give me your permission to wed Miss Jenny.”
“Bribery.”
Wyeth shrugged his shoulder.
“I was thinking more along the lines of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
“Can we shake on that?” Luke asked.
“I don’t think we’re on those terms yet.”
The next time Arabella awoke, she looked around the room, finding Luke had gone. The sinking alarm, which tempered her brow, creased the tired lines of her face.
“No need to worry.” She heard a voice measured with concern. Realizing it was Jenny who spoke she turned to look at the woman. “Luke would not leave your side. It’s been nearly a week, but I finally convinced him to take a rest.”
“Where’s Poppa?”
Arabella noticed the soft transformation on Jenny’s face. Her eyes grew
lax, and her cheeks flushed at the mention of her father.
“Making his usual rounds.” Jenny murmured. “He should be back soon.”
“And the baby?”
“Lena stole her away.” Jenny laughed. “She dotes on the child like a natural grandmother.”
Arabella smiled and then looked away.
The late evening sunshine filtered through the curtain, touching her face. She realized she was lucky to be alive. With that knowledge, she caught Jenny studying her closely.
“What happened?”
Jenny leaned forward and squeezed her hand.
“Trig and Jake killed Rafferty.” Jenny recanted. “They shot him dead. We have not seen nor heard from those boys since. Sheriff Gentry pardoned Jude for his confession and now he and
Rosanna
are back in Denver, looking for the whereabouts of their missing daughter.”
“And Luke?”
Jenny’s lips thinned. The look in the other young woman’s eyes told her exactly what she needed to know. Feeling a lump form in the back of her throat, she tried not to
snivel, but instead, she heaved a long sigh, while Jenny gripped her fingertips.
“When does the circuit judge arrive?”
“Tomorrow.”
Arabella swallowed back the lump in her throat.
She never thought she had heard a word sound so ominous. “Is he going to hang?”
“No.” Jenny replied. “I don’t think your poppa is going let that happen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Your poppa was smart enough to keep this incident a quiet affair. No one from Sundown aside from the boys and Wade Coffee knows about at Adder Creek Station. As far as he’s concerned, it never happened.”
“What about you and the sheriff?” Arabella asked her brow took on a perceptive eagle eye effect.
Jenny blushed. “Your poppa has asked me to marry him.”
Arabella had not expected that.
She merely stared tongue-tied at the revelation.
Shaking her head with bewilderment, she nearly laughed.
“Did you give him an answer?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, why ever not?” Arabella huffed.
“He’s yet to give me a proper courting.”
Both women shared a laugh. Jenny reached down and gave a sisterly hug. When she pulled away, Arabella gave the other woman a steady look.
“You will say yes?”
“Of course.”
“Jenny Shelton.” Arabella laughed again. “You most certainly are a clever one.”
“What’s all the female caterwauling about?”
Luke stood in the doorway. Arabella held her breath as he sauntered into the bedroom. His very presence seemed to make the room grow smaller as he neared. At the foot of her bed, his sea-green eyes swept over her face approvingly.
“I’ll leave the two of you alone.”
Neither she nor Luke took notice of Jenny’s departure.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore.” She whispered. Feeling a catch in her throat, she felt a hot tear escape the side of her face. Luke watched the glistening droplet slide down her neck, and seep into the coverlet, which hid her breast.
“Don’t cry.” He pleaded. Moving to the side of the bed, he sat down and touched her arm. Ever so lightly, he placed a kiss on her forehead and smiled. “It’s over now.”
“Yes, it’s over.” Arabella replied. Rolling her eyes toward the ceiling, she tried not to shed another tear. “Yet it’s only just begun.”
He shook his head with understanding.
“If I’m lucky, it’ll only be a few years.”
Arabella nodded. She could not respond because of the hard lump restricting her throat, which would not let her. She gripped the end of her coverlet, and fiddled with the cotton-frayed edge. She tilted her chin, dried her eyes, and turned away, looking out the window.
“Did you love her very much?”
Luke smiled.
“I did.” He replied fondly. “She was an exceptional woman, everything a man could ever need in those dark times, but regrettably not enough now.”
Arabella looked at him then. The gentle warmth, which emanated from his blue eyes, caressed her face. Lifting her hand, he drew her fingers to his lips and started to kiss each digit.
“You complete me.” He murmured. “Even if I rot in jail for forty years, I will be thinking of you every day of my life until the day I die.”
“Forty years?” She exasperated.
“Let’s hope not.” His mouth quirked with bent humor. Drawing a more serious face, he clasped her hand with a pining grip, and cupped her chin until her eyes looked back at his own. “Would you wait for me?”
Before her mind’s eye, a nebulous memory dogged the back of her mind, tugging at her conscience. Drawing from the unknown source she somehow managed to remember the unearthly woman in white, her celestial words, and how they tinkled back at her like a musical lyre.
He will need you …
Arabella reached for wet linen from the hand basket. The wind whipped wildly as she shook the wrinkles from a sheet and then carefully pinned the bedclothes on a drying line.
Nearby her daughter tugged on the wavering linen, pulling the fabric down to the ground, the child watched with fascination as the sheet floated away.
Arabella smiled when the girl began to clap her hands and giggle as she watched her mother chase the windswept linen around the yard. Skirts flapping and hair flying aimlessly, she guessed her wild appearance made a funny
impression on the youngster.
She hardly realized that around the corner of the house, stood a man who watched the blissful scene, his blue-eyed gaze filled with wonder, while lingering on the beautiful woman and enchanting child.
It had been three long years.
In that time, he thought he would die of loneliness and longing for his woman. He had waited every night in his dreams, for the moment when he would finally get to hold her in his arms once again. That dream never ended. It went on and on just as the moment now. There he stood, on the brink of desperation,
hungering for the one thing that would make him whole, yet the few feet of distance, which stood between he and the shimmering image of mother and child seemed like a faraway oasis in the middle of a forsaken desert.
He watched as she lifted her head and looked out toward the distance as if searching for something. Sadly, she would stare, and in disappointment return to her chore at hand.
He could wait no longer.
One-step at a time, he moved forward, not wanting to frighten the child. The girl looked back at him and smiled. She looked like a breathtaking angel with eyes as verdant as a blade of grass. He took her by the hand, touching her downy head. He put a conspirator finger to his lips, and smiled. The little girl muffled a giggle with her hands, covering her mouth.
Luckily, the wind whipped so hard that it was impossible for her to hear. Not more than a step away, he allowed his eyes to rove up and down her maidenly figure, his desire astounding him. Slowly, he untied his bandanna, and wound it in his hands just so. Ever so gentle, he placed the blindfold around her forehead, making her falter to a standstill.
“Arabella.” He whispered into her ear. “Courageous, willful, and tragic. You defied your father, justly so, to save your outlaw lover, knowing very well that your life was in jeopardy, yet willing to give up your life for the memory of that lover.”
“Luke?”
He heard her whisper.
A sigh of disbelief escaped her lips. She grabbed at the blindfold and pulled it down below her chin. Whirling around, her eager gaze met his. His heart ached when he looked down at her flushed
visage, happy tears, which nestled in her green eyes, threatened to stream down her face. Yet she smiled despite her show of mixed emotion, and reached out to touch his swarthy face. He caste her a wide smile before finally pulling her into to his arms with a longing embrace.
The End
