The Reluctant Bride (40 page)

“Are you sure you don’t mind letting him live with us?” Tanzy asked.

“He’s good for us. I didn’t realize we’d turned into such old men until Tardy arrived.”

“He makes me feel tired, and I’m barely three years older than he is.”

“He’s just enjoying the freedom to be himself without being demoralized by withering criticism. I can sympathize with that.”

Even dark memories had no power to dampen her mood today. They were in love. They’d stood up to the opposition in town, forcing people to question Stocker for the first time in years. They were on their way to a home as close to a private paradise as anyone was likely to find on earth. And the day was absolutely too splendid for words.

The sun shone with brilliant intensity, but the cool drafts that flowed down from the mountains kept them deliciously cool. Overhead, the sky was a perfect deep blue without a single cloud to mar its perfection. A pair of golden eagles soared far above, riding the updrafts as they lazily circled in the sky, their huge wings stretched to the full extent of their nine-foot span.

Birds fluttered among the pine trees, searching for seeds and arguing with each other. Squirrels scampered over the ground and leapt from tree to tree, hanging precariously onto limbs Tanzy thought couldn’t bear their weight. Grasses and flowers covered much of the land in luxuriant growth. Tanzy would have loved to stop and pick some if she hadn’t been in a hurry to get home.

Home. It had a wonderful sound to it. She realized the cabin had felt like home almost from the beginning. Just like Tardy, she’d found her resting place without knowing it.

“Where do you want to have the wedding?” she asked Russ.

“We should have gotten married before we left town,” Russ said.

“Why? Folks who think I’ve lost my reputation won’t change their minds just because we get married. And those who trust me aren’t likely to change their minds in the next few days. Where would you like to get married?”

“I don’t know. Part of me wants to get married in Boulder Gap in the biggest wedding the town has ever seen. The more sensible part of me says it would be nice to get married at the fort.”

“I don’t know anybody there.”

“We could invite anybody from town you want.”

“I don’t care. If you think—”

She broke off. Tardy was riding toward them at a gallop. Since Russ had drummed it into his head he was never to gallop a horse unless it was an emergency, Tanzy felt her stomach clench. Something was wrong. She felt Russ’s body tense as he pulled the wagon to a stop.

“Oren said somebody’s attacked the ranch,” Tardy shouted as he drew close. “He said he can see smoke coming from that direction.”

Russ handed the reins to Tanzy. “You ride back with Tanzy,” Russ said to Tardy as he jumped from the wagon and began to untie his horse.

“I want to go with you. I can—”

“Any man who works for me learns to follow orders or he has to look for another job,” Russ said. He vaulted into the saddle. “Your job is to keep Tanzy safe. Right now that’s the most important job of all.”

Russ galloped off.

“Don’t just sit there like your brain has fallen out of your head,” Tanzy said to Tardy. “Tie your horse behind and get in. I’m about to see if this horse knows how to gallop.”

Chapter Twenty-five

“What did Oren say?” Tanzy asked Tardy as she whipped her horse into a fast trot. The trail toward the pass into the valley had been worn smooth by frequent travel and the wagon only nearly rattled the teeth out of her head.

“He didn’t know what happened, but he saw smoke coming from the direction of the cabin and heard gunshots.”

“More men must have come over the mountains,” Tanzy said, “but what could they want this time?”

“To burn Russ out,” Tardy said.

“He wouldn’t leave just because they burned a few buildings.”

Tanzy could see a thin trail of smoke rising from the trees in the distance, but she heard no gunshots. She didn’t know whether that was good or bad. She urged the horse into a canter.

“You’ll jerk the wagon to pieces,” Tardy said, his words broken into bits every time the wagon hit a rock or bounced over a tuft of grass.

“If I’d had a saddle horse, I wouldn’t have been left behind.”

She understood why Russ had ridden off without her, but it made her furious. This was going to be her home as much as it was his. She was equally determined to defend it.

The cows seemed unconcerned with what was happening. They continued to graze, placidly moving from one tuft of grass to another, calves frolicking like children with too much energy or sprawled out in the sun like they hadn’t a care in the world. Tanzy suddenly resented their indifference. They were the reason Russ was in danger.

“I hope Welt shot whoever did this,” Tardy said.

Tanzy wasn’t sure she agreed. She didn’t know how the sheriff would react if Russ pulled into town with more dead bodies.

“I’m more concerned with who did this and why.”

“It had to be Mr. Pullet,” Tardy said. “He was nearly crazy he was so mad last night.”

“Mad enough to do something like this?”

“He wants to get rid of Russ and he doesn’t care how he does it.”

“How do you know?”

“He came to my aunt’s house last night after she threw me out. I sneaked back in to get some of the stuff she hadn’t tossed out after me, and he came in shouting he’d get rid of Russ if it was the last thing he did. Aunt Ethel said he was acting crazy, but Stocker said he didn’t care what he had to do to get rid of Russ, that a scoundrel like Russ deserved what he got.”

“What did your aunt say?”

Tardy blushed. “Something about you that I won’t repeat.”

They were close to the cabin now. She could have seen what was happening if it hadn’t been for the screen of trees. As they pulled into the clearing they saw smoke coming from the bunkhouse. One wall of the cabin appeared to be blackened from flame, but the fire had been extinguished.

“What happened?” she asked. The men were carrying buckets of water from the stream to the bunkhouse. Tardy jumped down to help.

“Stocker’s men came over the mountains,” Welt said as he bent over to fill his bucket. “They tried to set fire to the cabin, but we were able to drive them off.”

He filled his bucket and ran off. Tanzy jumped down from the wagon, tethered her horse to a tree, and looked for something to hold water.

“The fire’s out,” Russ said when he came out of the bunkhouse.

“Is there a lot of damage?” Tanzy asked.

“Not much to the structure, but the roof will need replacing as well as some equipment, a couple of mattresses, and the men’s clothes.”

“I couldn’t get a good shot without coming out of the cabin,” Welt said. “If Tim and Buck hadn’t gotten here as soon as they did, things would have been worse.”

Tim came out of the cabin. “Oren is going to be mad as hell,” he said. “It was his corner that got the worst of it.”

“It was Stocker,” Welt said.

“How do you know?” Tanzy asked.

“I recognized one of the men who’s worked for him for a long time.”

“Do you want me to go with you to report this to the sheriff?” Tanzy asked.

Everybody looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“You have to report it,” she said. “Stocker has to be made to realize he can’t bully people and get away with it.”

“He’s been bullying people for years and getting away with it,” Welt said. “What makes you think things are going to change now?”

“There’s law in Colorado now,” Tanzy said. “People can’t just set fire to someone’s house and get away with it.”

“They can and do,” Welt said. “The sheriff won’t believe us.”

“You’ve got witnesses.”

“Stacker’s men all stand up for each other. How do you think they convicted Russ of killing Toley?”

Tanzy still clung to the belief that the law would control violent people. “If you don’t trust the sheriff, you can talk to the commander of the fort.”

“He has no authority over civilians” Russ said.

“What are you going to do?” Tim asked.

“Ride to Stocker’s ranch and do to him what he tried to do to us,” Russ replied.

“No!” Tanzy exclaimed. Everyone stared at her, but she looked only at Russ. “You can’t just go burn Stocker’s barn or bunkhouse. That will make you just as bad as he is.”

“Do you have a better suggestion?” Welt asked.

“I just told you: talk to the sheriff or the commander of the fort.”

“And Russ told you why neither will do any good.”

“There must be something else you can do.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. You’re the cowboys. You live out here.”

“That’s right,” Russ said. “And we understand what it takes to survive. I have to make Stocker understand that he can’t attack me without expecting something worse to happen to him.”

“You can’t do that,” Tanzy said. “That’s how feuds start.”

Welt started to reply, but Russ signaled him to remain silent. “I understand why you have such a morbid fear of feuds, but I’ve got to show Stocker and everybody else I won’t be bullied, that if they attack me they’ll suffer. One day it will reach the point where Stocker isn’t willing to pay the price of continuing. Then it will stop.”

“Stocker hates you. He’ll do anything he can to ruin you.”

“He won’t succeed. I want to ride out as soon as we can saddle up. Tardy, stay here to guard the house.”

“I want to go with you.” The boy was angry at being left out.

“I can’t leave the ranch or the pass unprotected.”

“Why can’t Welt stay?”

“Because he’s got more experience than you.”

“I won’t get experience being left behind.”

“I know, but you have to stay behind today.”

“I won’t. You can’t make me.”

“You’re right, I can’t make you do anything against your will. Either you do as I say or you pack your belongings and go back to town.”

“You know I have nowhere to stay.”

“That’s not my problem. The choice is yours.”

Tardy turned and stalked off, but not before Tanzy noticed a suspicious wetness in his eyes.

Tanzy reached out to rest her hand on Russ’s arm. “Thanks for forcing him to stay here.”

Russ put his hand over hers. “I’m not cruel.”

“I know that, which is why I don’t understand why you have to retaliate.”

“I’ve already explained.”

“But I don’t agree. Why can’t you listen to me?”

“I did listen to you, but as you pointed out, I’m the one who lives out here and understands how things work.”

“So my opinion doesn’t mean anything to you?”

“It means a great deal, but it’s wrong.”

His words hit Tanzy like fists to her middle. That was almost what her father used to say. Russ wasn’t any different from any other man.

Tanzy withdrew her hand and stepped back. “You’re not going to do what I asked?”

“No.”

“I see I was wrong.”

“About what?”

“Your respecting my opinion.”

Russ stepped forward and slipped his arms around her waist. “I do respect your opinion, but there will be times when we disagree. One of us will have to make the decision.”

“Why can’t it be me?”

Russ’s eyes widened slightly. “I suppose there will be times when it will be you.”

“But only about what to cook for dinner and how to decorate the cabin.”

Russ pulled her closer. “You’re a very strong-willed woman.” He grinned and dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “I expect I’ll give in to a lot of things just to get some peace in the house.”

Tanzy pushed against him, but he wouldn’t release her. “So now I’m a harridan who uses bullying to get her way.”

“You’re nothing of the sort. You just like to get your way.”

“Some things aren’t a matter of one person making a decision and the other having to accept it. Some things are not negotiable.”

She felt Russ stiffen.

“Are you trying to tell me this is one of them?”

Tanzy could see her happiness beginning to crumble right before her eyes. She wanted desperately to hang on to it, to do anything to keep it, but she couldn’t if it meant she would end up losing another family to a feud. She couldn’t go through that again. It would surely kill her.

Recollections of the previous night flooded her mind with such vividness she could almost feel she was living them over again. But hard on the heels came an equally vivid image of Russ’s body being brought to her tied across his saddle. She knew she couldn’t endure it. It would be better to have had nothing than to have everything and lose it.

“I don’t know,” she temporized, unable to bring an end to dreams that were still bright and new. “When I said I couldn’t marry you, I said there were two reasons, the lack of respect for my opinion and the feud. This brings both back into question. I was serious when I told you I couldn’t marry into a feud. Losing you now would be horrible, but having to bury you and maybe some of my children would kill me.”