Married to Claim the Rancher's Heir Page 23

  Nichols didn’t say it, but Gabe caught the understanding that Ed and Bass were watching Janette’s house.

  Turning toward him, Kent continued by saying, “There’s no easy way to say this, Gabe.”

  “Say what?” Gabe asked, increasing his hold on Janette.

  “Sam Bollinger had been in Mobeetie and had a run-in with Max. Said his name was Isaac Fredrickson and that he was a friend of Anna’s.”

  Gabe’s insides went cold, but concern for Janette was what he reacted to. She was trembling and had pressed a hand to her chest.

  “Right after Max ran Isaac out of town, the town’s well was purposefully poisoned.”

  Gabe cursed beneath his breath while wrapping his other arm around Janette to pull her into a full hug as she muttered, “No. No.”

  Kent laid a hand on Gabe’s arm. “Sam Bollinger was in Hays a few days ago. There’s a good chance he was the one to murder a saloon girl, and he was asking about the Triple C.”

  Gabe hadn’t had a chance to react before Janette grasped the front of his shirt.

  “Ruby! He’s after Ruby, Gabe!”

  * * *

  Janette was sure the train taking them westward was traveling as fast as the one that had taken them east, it just didn’t feel that way. It might have helped if night hadn’t fallen, if she could see trees rolling past, hills, anything that confirmed they would arrive as soon as possible. Her initial shock, fear and anger had all congealed into the deepest attack of worry she’d ever had. Gabe assured her no harm would come to Ruby. There were too many people at the ranch for Bollinger to get close to the house. Close to Ruby. Janette wanted to believe him, truly did, but she was afraid to hope. Hope for anything.

  The train was quiet, except for Thelma’s snores coming from the seat behind Janette, and she settled her gaze on Gabe, sitting a few seats in front of her, talking to Kent.

  Gabe had insisted Thelma come with them, that it wasn’t safe to leave her behind with those other outlaws still on the loose, but Janette had to wonder if it was her that made all of them unsafe. She was the cause of all of this. If she hadn’t been so excited, so thrilled that Isaac, or Sam Bollinger, had been impressed with her gowns, none of this would have happened. Anna may never have left Kansas City and certainly wouldn’t be dead. And Ruby...

  She pinched her lips together to keep the tears at bay again.

  Gabe rose from his seat, and as he started walking toward her, Janette turned toward the window and kept her gaze there even after he sat down beside her.

  “You should try to get some sleep,” he said. “We won’t switch trains again until Hays.”

  Already twisted in knots, her stomach stung. Ached. “I’m not tired.”

  “There isn’t a safer place for Ruby than the Triple C,” he said. “A safer place for you, too.”

  “No one would need a safe place if it wasn’t for me.”

  “There’s no reason to blame yourself,” he said. “You didn’t know about the gold.”

  “But I should have.” Thelma might not be able to believe Lewis and Father could have been involved, but she could. She could believe her father had deceived his family. The hard part was believing he’d deceived the army, the thing he’d loved more than anything else. That was the part that angered her the most. All those years of being forced to obey his every order because the army needed him far more than they did left her sick to her stomach. Because, in a way, she’d followed in his footsteps. She’d cared more about her sewing than she had others.

  “Now that the gold’s been recovered, they’ll figure out who was involved,” Gabe said.

  “We already know.” She knew something else, too. While Gabe had helped dig up the gold, she and Thelma had packed. Taking only the essentials. Her stomach twisted a bit harder. So did her heart. The essentials had included the paper he’d given her. And the ring.

  Leaning down, she pulled her traveling bag out from beneath the seat. Opening it, she dug into the hidden pocket she kept her money in. Clutching the ring in one hand, she closed her bag and shoved it back under the seat.

  “Got what you needed?” he asked.

  “Yes.” The single word burned her throat, and it was a moment before she trusted her ability to say more. Opening her palm, she held her hand out. “I’ve made my choice.”

  He was quiet for a very long time, and her hand started trembling before he plucked the ring out of it.

  After dropping the ring in his shirt pocket, he buttoned the flap closed. “You’ll need to file those papers at the courthouse.”

  “I will.” She would also have the decree changed, giving him custody of Ruby. That part she’d wait to tell him once this was all over and she and Thelma headed back to Kansas City.

  “Get some sleep,” Gabe said, standing up. “It’ll be several hours before we arrive in Hays.”

  Nodding, she turned to stare out the window. Her eyes blurred, but she held her resolve. This is how it had to be. She’d already put enough people in peril to last a lifetime.

  When the train arrived in Hays, Gabe escorted her and Thelma onto the one that would take them to the ranch before he went back out onto the platform to talk to the sheriff whose office they’d been married in. That seemed like eons ago rather than days.

  “Don’t you want to hear what the sheriff has to say?” Thelma asked.

  “No.” She turned toward the window again. Used to looking through blurry eyes, the smudges didn’t even bother her. “He can handle it.”

  “That certainly doesn’t sound like you,” Thelma said.

  “He’s better at it than I am,” she admitted. Better at many things, including protecting what was his.

  Shortly after the train started chugging westward again, he approached their seat, asking if they were comfortable. She nodded, not meeting his gaze, and then stared out the window as Thelma told Gabe all over again that Lewis couldn’t have been involved in any robbery.

  Hours later, when the train whistle sounded, her stomach sank clear to her toes.

  A wagon had been left at the water tower. Gabe and Kent put their luggage in the back of the wagon before they helped load wood on the train and fill the water tank.

  Janette’s hand was in her pocket, her fingers around the butt of her gun. The way Gabe kept glancing around said his senses were on alert.

  While the other passengers boarded the train, Gabe said, “You and Thelma sit in the back, Kent will ride up front with me.”

  That confirmed her intuition. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

  The stormy dark color of his eyes intensified as he took her arm to help her climb over the tailgate.

  “Tell me,” she said.

  “Someone should’ve been with the wagon,” he said. “Get up toward the front and stay low. Have Thelma stay down, too.”

  Telling him to be careful burned in her throat, but it would be a waste of breath. No one said a word as they settled in the wagon and Gabe steered the team of horses in the direction of the ranch.

  The rumbling racket of the train pulling away from the water tower mingled and then faded as Gabe urged the horses into a faster pace. Janette couldn’t swallow past the lump in her throat and stopped trying. It was useless. Her greatest hope became that Ruby was not only fine but would someday understand.

  Gabe would see that Ruby never wanted for anything. Not food or clothing, a home or love. He gave that without even knowing it. And that was the reason she’d had to make the choice that she had. She’d fallen in love with him, but his life, his livelihood was more important than her happiness.

  They topped a hill, and as they started downward, Gabe slowed the horses. Janette rose onto her knees and twisted about to gaze around him. Piece by piece, her shattered heart sank.

  Her worst fears had come true.

  On his knees, with his han
ds behind his back, a man knelt in the middle of the road. He was still a distance ahead and had a rag tied over his mouth, but she recognized it was Dusty Martin, the man who’d given her and Ruby a ride to the ranch a mere week ago.

  “It’s a trap,” Kent said.

  “More like an ambush,” Gabe said. “There’s a man in that clump of trees.”

  “And one behind the rocks on this side,” Kent said.

  Janette saw the clump of trees on one side of the road and the large cluster of boulders, surrounded by scraggly but thick bushes on the other but couldn’t see the men.

  Gabe glanced over his shoulder. “Do you know how to drive a wagon?”

  Another bout of regret filled Janette. Her inadequacies were numerous and a solid confirmation she wasn’t the sort of wife Gabe needed.

  “I can,” Thelma said. “Teams of two, four and six. I’ve driven them all.”

  “Then climb up between us,” Gabe said.

  “What’s the plan?” Kent asked.

  “Get ready to jump,” Gabe said. “Thelma, as soon as we do, you whip these horses into a run and don’t stop until you reach the ranch. The horses know the way.”

  “No!” Janette grabbed his shoulder.

  “Get down!” Gabe shouted at her. “My men will hear the shots and be on the way out here before you get to the ranch. Lie down and stay there!”

  “No! Gabe—”

  “Do as I say,” he barked.

  Something inside her snapped. She’d obeyed her entire life and was done with that. Searching the trees and bushes, she concluded it would be her shots his men heard.

  As Gabe jumped, she drew her gun, pinpointed the glint of sunlight bouncing off a gun barrel in the trees and fired. Without waiting to see if her bullet struck its target, she spun around and fired at the man popping up from behind the rocks.

  A couple of other shots were fired, and Janette spun around, searching for more targets, but Thelma had the horses at a full gallop, jostling her about and leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. “Stop!”

  “No!” Thelma shouted. “I’m doing exactly what Gabe told me to. Now, sit down before you fall out!”

  Still trying to see through the dust, Janette rose up higher on her knees. Something solid hit her from behind, knocking her onto the wagon bed.

  “Sorry! But you don’t listen any better than you ever did,” Thelma shouted.

  Her gun slid across the boards and Janette scrambled after it, pushing aside the traveling bags that were bouncing in all directions. It seemed to take forever, but she finally retrieved her gun. Then, on her hands and knees, she scooted backward toward the front of the wagon. Dust still blocked her view of what was behind them, but as she turned around, she saw riders heading their direction.

  Leveling the gun over Thelma’s shoulder, Janette said, “Turn this wagon around. Now.”

  “Gabe said—”

  “I don’t care what he said,” she growled. “I’m done following orders.”

  Thelma glanced at the gun. “You won’t shoot me.”

  “I won’t kill you,” Janette said. “But I’ll shoot you in the foot.”

  “You will not.”

  “Yes, I will, and it’ll hurt!”

  Thelma brought the wagon to a stop just as the riders arrived. “There was an ambush!” she shouted. “Mile or so back!”

  The men raced onward, and Janette said, “Turn this wagon around!”

  Unexpectedly swift, Thelma grabbed the barrel of the gun and pulled it out of Janette’s hand. “Give me that. Your husband—”

  “He’s not my husband,” Janette shouted, grabbing for the gun.

  Thelma threw the gun onto the floorboards near her feet. “Yes, he is, and you should be glad he took you to Kansas City and brought you back here.”

  “He did all of that because he was court-ordered,” Janette said, climbing over the seat rail.

  “Haven’t you seen the way he looks at you?” Thelma asked. “He was court-ordered to marry you. He kept you at his side because he loves you.”

  Janette caught herself as she tumbled onto the front seat. “No, he doesn’t.”

  “Yes, he does, and you love him.” Thelma picked up the reins. “That’s why he had that divorce decree written up. Because he loves you but wanted to make sure it was your choice to stay married to him.”

  The shiver that rippled over Janette was strong enough to chase aside the cloud of gloom that had been encrusting her. She hadn’t thought of that. He’d given her a choice. Her choice.

  She grabbed Thelma’s arm. “He could be hurt. You have to turn around. Please, Thelma, turn the wagon around. Turn around!”

  Thelma followed her orders, and just as the horses started heading back toward the ambush sight, a horse appeared over a small hill, racing toward them. Janette’s heart fell. That could mean only one thing. Someone was hurt. Hurt bad.

  “Go!” Janette shouted. “Go faster!”

  * * *

  At the sight of the wagon, Gabe urged the horse to run faster. She’d made her choice and he’d abide by it, as soon as he knew she was all right. She had to be all right. She’d been standing up in the wagon and he’d seen her go down, hard, like she’d been hit.

  Relief washed over him when the wagon grew close enough for him to see her sitting next to Thelma. He dropped the reins, letting the horse slow down enough for him to jump out of the saddle.

  He was on the ground when the wagon rolled to a stop and reached up to pull Janette off the seat. Spinning her about, he gave in to his first instinct and kissed her. Long and hard before cupping her face in order to pull their lips apart.

  “Are you all right? Not hurt?” he asked.

  She patted his arms and chest. “I’m fine. Are you all right? Were you shot? Where?”

  He grasped her hands, holding them still. “I’m fine. You shot the guns out of their hands before they got a chance to fire.”

  “Oh, thank goodness.” Sighing, she leaned her head against his chest for a moment before pulling it back. “Then why are here? Why were you riding—”

  “I had to make sure you were all right.” He grasped her face again. “I told you to lie down and stay down.”

  She closed her eyes and sighed, but when her lids opened, his heart started drumming against his rib cage. He knew what he wanted to see, what he’d wanted to someday see in her eyes, and hoped he wasn’t imagining things.

  She blinked and shrugged as she whispered, “I made the wrong choice, Gabe.”

  He didn’t say anything. Couldn’t. His heart was pounding too hard.

  She slipped her hands off his shoulders and unbuttoned his shirt pocket. Smiling, she pulled out the ring and held it up. “This is what I want.”

  Needing to make sure she knew what she was doing, he asked, “What about your sewing? Poison ivy? Snakes? Snowstorms? Isolation? Des—”

  She shook her head. “Are you trying to change my mind?”

  “I just want you to be sure, because once you agree, I’m never letting you out of my sight.”

  “I don’t ever want to be out of your sight,” she said. “Not ever.”

  He’d never experienced the level of happiness that filled him. Taking the ring from her palm, he admitted, “I was hoping this would be the one you’d pick.” Whatever doubts he’d ever had about marriage completely disappeared. Sliding the ring onto her finger, he said, “I never thought I’d love someone as much as I love you.”

  “I never thought I’d love someone as much as I love you either.”

  He hugged her tight and kissed her again before saying, “I just need to know one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?”

  She laughed. “My father.” Stepping closer, teasing him with her curves, she w
hispered, “So I can protect what’s mine.”

  Epilogue

  “Tell us the story about when Mama shot the bad guys, Uncle Kent,” Max said, lying on the floor with both hands folded beneath his chin.

  He looked so much like his father Janette’s heart welled every time she looked at her son.

  “Yeah,” Anna said, lying next to her six-year-old twin brother. “Those meanies who tried to blame the robbery on Grandpa Parker.”

  Her daughter looked enough like Anna that there were times Janette had to take a second look and tell herself that adorable little girl was her daughter, not her sister.

  “I’m gonna be a Pinkerton agent when I grow up,” Max said.

  Never one to be outdone, Anna said, “Me, too.”

  “It’s a good thing Mama’s having another baby, then,” Ruby said, stoking the black-and-white cat curled up in her lap. “So I won’t have to run the Triple C by myself.” At age ten, she was already the voice of reason. “Hopefully, it’s a girl. One who can sew. I’ll need help with that, too.”

  Sitting beside her on the sofa, Gabe laid a hand on her stomach as both Max and Anna started explaining they’d be agents only when they weren’t needed at the ranch. “How are Mama and baby doing?” he asked quietly.

  Loving his touch, and him, as much as ever, Janette leaned her head on his shoulder. “Fine.”

  “Getting tired?” he asked. “I’ll help you up to bed. And help you get undressed.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you would,” she answered. He was never far from her side, day and night, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Nuzzling his shoulder with her cheek, she said, “And I’ll let you, but not yet. The children love hearing Kent’s stories. It’s been a year since they’ve seen him.”

  After putting the Bollingers and their cohorts in prison for the rest of their lives and clearing her father and Thelma from any association with the gold robberies, Kent had become a regular visitor to the ranch.