“You might’ve gotten the better of me once, but that’s not enough to make me miss either of you.”
Penny saw blood streaming from Luther’s nose and upper lip, and she felt a wave of light-headedness. She averted her eyes and saw blood from Florence. It was all too much, and she pitched straight backward.
Luther pulled the trigger, but he missed and that gave John time to leap. The gun came around, but John was too close, too low.
Luther hadn’t lost one bit of his strength and wicked skill. He dodged the impact, but that wrecked his aim and the bullet went wide.
John hit with his whole body, and Luther staggered back against a table with breakables on it. The table crashed over and glass shattered. Luther heaved himself up and was on top of John. Fists like iron crashed into John’s face.
He saw double from the blow. Another fist hit, then another. John struck out, but he was losing strength. He was losing the fight. And soon he’d lose his life and Penny’s along with it. Cam’s too. What a disaster.
He was glad he’d sent Trace away.
In the ever-narrowing tunnel of his vision, a specter appeared, pale as a ghost. Then the ghoulish figure moved, raising an arm as if summoning all the ghosts of Luther’s ugly past. The arm came down with a crash on Luther’s skull.
Then another thud, and another. Penny. Not a ghost, just a woman who’d gone as pale as one from her unfortunate problem with the sight of blood.
She bent over Luther with . . . something, and slammed it across his back where he lay facedown on the floor. John looked in shock at how Luth was bleeding everywhere from the glass. In fact, bleeding too much.
There was no doubt Penny saw it too, but she continued her assault until John was able to grab her and rip the piece of broken table out of her hand. She’d gotten hold of a stout leg.
“Enough, stop, he’s out. He’s down. You got him.” John pulled Penny into his arms and hung on tight. “Thank you. You got him.”
Penny’s head cleared gradually. She was only barely aware of flailing away on Luther. She didn’t know what she’d whacked him with or where it had gone.
But she knew who held her.
John. Her husband. A city man who’d be a constant nuisance, but it didn’t matter because she loved him. She even liked him. She really, finally, believed she knew him.
Right away, when they’d first met and those men had attacked them in that alley, John had offered, without speaking a word, to die for her.
Now he’d done it again.
The last thing she’d seen as she toppled over was John diving into the teeth of a firing gun. For her. To draw Luther’s fire, to save Penny’s life.
As her thoughts steadied, she thought of Cam. She had to get to Cam.
Then in a dizzying rush she thought of Florence clawing at her while she was already dying. She remembered how Raddo had hounded them after he’d massacred Abe’s wagon train and killed her brother.
Now she had someone to hang on to, and it felt wonderful.
“We’re going to figure out a way to stay married, Mrs. McCall.” John’s voice was almost shaky. He was a brave, tough man for a city feller, but now he needed someone to hang on to, too.
Penny held him for a long time, then finally she raised her head and smiled. “Yes, we are.”
“I’m going to contact Mr. Pinkerton and ask if he’d be interested in starting a Pinkerton office in Carson City. We could live close to your family. I might have to travel some, but we’d figure it out. You’d lose your homestead, though.”
“Maybe we can live just outside of town, and I can homestead out there and raise some cattle.”
He kissed her. “And some children, huh?”
Smiling, Penny had an unpleasant thought. “What if Mr. Pinkerton says no?”
She loved the idea of being close to her brother and all the others she’d come to love out here in the High Sierras. But she wanted to be close to her husband more, and she’d follow where he led.
“Then you’ll have to train me to be a rancher, or I’ll see whether the Carson City sheriff needs a deputy. We’ll figure out something. I like it out west. I honestly prefer a man who’d take his gun and aim it at you, to a lying, sneaky, backstabbing weasel like Florence Chilton.”
“I’m not fond of either sort.” Penny gathered herself to step away from him. “I wonder how long it’ll take Trace to get back here with the sheriff.”
John searched Florence and found the key to the front gate. “Let’s make it easy for them to get in.” John handed her the key. “I’ll make sure everyone’s tied up tight, then go check Cam, if you want to open the gate.”
“That sounds good. You handle all the blood.” Penny took the key while John picked up the guns and frisked Luther for hideout weapons.
As Penny left the room she heard John say conversationally, “Luther, we found the evidence Raddo left behind incriminating you. Your arm has a big old piece of glass in it, so I’m going to tie a tourniquet around it. You’ll probably lose it. But you’ll live to stand trial. But not here, where you’re a feared and powerful man. There are wanted posters from years ago along with a lot of other things. Penny and I are going to collect a big reward for you. And you, Luther Payne, if you live, are going to hang.”
Luther’s muffled snarling followed Penny out the front door.
Trace and the posse came riding in an hour later, and Cam and John went out to meet them. Penny kept her eyes averted from their bandages.
Epilogue
They got to Cam’s house an hour after dawn and found the whole family there.
As Penny and the menfolk came riding in from Carson City, Gwen came out of the cabin with little Ronnie on her hip. She smiled and waved, then her eyes went to Cam’s bandaged shoulder. The doctor had stitched it up and bandaged it, but Cam’s sleeve was stained with blood.
Gwen’s smile vanished, and she came running.
Deb was a step behind her, holding Maddie Sue’s hand. Deb’s shirt was hanging loose as her baby grew under her heart. Deb looked at everyone. Penny saw Deb register Cam’s wound, then John’s. The dried but disheveled clothes Penny and John wore. She assessed them, or Penny figured that was what was going on, then rested one hand on her belly and smiled at Trace.
Not a scratch on him.
Utah hailed them from the corral where he was unsaddling horses. Adam waved from the yard with Cam’s cattle.
Penny and her company of champions dismounted and announced that all the bad guys were dead or in jail.
Gwen hugged Ronnie tight while they talked.
Then Adam and Utah joined the group, and they all trooped into the cabin for the breakfast Gwen and Deb were preparing. More eggs were broken. More biscuits baked. There was the sizzle of frying bacon.
Penny joined John, Cam, and Trace at the table and drank coffee while the others cooked. Even Utah and Adam helped with the meal by carrying water and milk, stoking the fire, and doing any lifting Deb and Gwen wanted.
“I’m so tired I could fall asleep right on this table.” Penny sipped her coffee and hoped it revived her. Everyone was talking over each other as they filled the others in on what had gone on.
“The sheriff wired back east to ask about that wanted poster,” John said. “Luther killed the son of an important man, and there’s a big reward for that and a few other crimes Luther committed. There was a price on Raddo’s head, too. We’re going to split it four ways.”
Cam said casually, “I haven’t mentioned Ronnie is the heir to a fortune. We’ll have to figure out how to manage all that.”
“What?” Gwen looked at the little toddler.
They took turns explaining about the Chiltons and their greedy reasons for wanting the little boy back.
“And they charged Edmond with murder?”
“Yep, just because he didn’t shoot who he intended to is no excuse—though he tried to say it was. He’ll hang for Florence’s death.”
The breakfast was on the tabl
e by the time they were done with their story. Platters of eggs and bacon, biscuits, and fried potatoes vanished into hungry bellies. When they’d finished eating and the kitchen was clean and the coffeepot empty, John said, “I need everyone’s attention, please.”
Penny turned to him, wondering what he was up to.
“I’ve wired to ask Mr. Pinkerton if I can be an agent in Carson City. Whatever his answer, I’m moving to Nevada.”
Then he turned those blue eyes on Penny. “Mrs. McCall?”
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
“Again?”
The room dissolved into laughter.
“We finally have time to talk about that,” Penny said. “Raddo dead. Luther captured. No more threat to Ronnie.”
John heaved a sigh of satisfaction. “It’s safe out here at last.”
“Except for the hungry wolves,” Cam said.
“And raging blizzards.” Deb shivered.
“And the Ts’emekwes,” Utah chimed in.
Silence swept through the room.
“The what?” Deb asked.
Trace shook his head. “We can discuss it later.”
“There are rattlesnakes.” Gwen gave Utah a worried look.
“And cliffs, don’t forget cliffs.” Adam stood by the dry sink, wiping a pot.
“Avalanches and forest fires.” Trace took a deep pull on his coffee, not sounding all that worried.
“And the usual crowd of cattle rustlers and bandits.” Penny nodded. “That all seems like a normal, quiet life after these last few months.” She smiled at John. “We did already get married. Surely you remember. It wasn’t that long ago.”
John slid an arm around her waist and dragged her close. “We went through a farce of a marriage ceremony neither of us wanted. Now I want to make a choice.”
He kissed her soundly right there in front of everyone. “I love you, Penny. You’re a woman I admire, respect, and want to kiss, day and night, for the rest of my life.”
He rested his strong hands on her shoulders. “I know I skirt the law.”
“Oh, you outright break it. Just admit it.”
He grinned, then the smile faded, and he was very serious. “Arresting Luther Payne was badly needed. The whole town of Virginia City was next thing to terrorized by him. He broke the law without fear. He killed with no concern he’d be arrested. He was evil and stopping him was the right thing to do, even if I had to tell a few tall tales.”
“Lies.”
“And search a building.”
“Breaking in.”
He smiled and waited. Not for long.
“You know what, husband? I agree. What you did brought an evil man to justice. And the laws you skirted—”
He kissed her for that.
“You did no harm. I can be the wife of a Pinkerton agent.” She hesitated, then took her courage in both hands. “I think I can be a Pinkerton agent. Do you think I can help you with your investigations?”
“Now, Penny, what about—”
She quickly put her hand over his mouth. “Maybe just now and then, until the children come.”
She felt her husband squirm beneath her hand. She lifted her fingers away to let him talk.
“I do think you have a knack and certainly the courage. I can teach you how to wear a disguise and act the part you’re playing.” He kissed her again. “So, Mrs. McCall, will you marry me, by choice, with a willing heart? And do it for the best of reasons, because we are in love and want to spend our lives together? And will you do it because you believe God will bless our union and smile down on the life we build?”
“I do love you. And I absolutely do want to spend my life with you. Yes, Mr. McCall, I will marry you.”
“Do we need to find a real pastor? Should we say our vows in front of a preacher?”
Penny kissed him again. “The legalities are already settled, so we count these words shared between us as our vows. We count our family here as the wedding guests, and the breakfast we just ate as a fancy party to celebrate.”
“Then so be it. I’ll love, honor, and cherish you all of my life. I promise you that now, before God and man.”
“And I will love, honor, and cherish you, too. And I’ll obey you unless you ask me to do something really half-witted, considering I know more about the West than you do.”
Nodding, John said, “That seems fair.”
Gwen said from by the sink, “I now pronounce you man and wife.”
The whole room erupted into applause and hugs and happiness.
Utah said, “I might take off for a week or two and try to rustle me up a wife, too. All this romance is makin’ me itchy.”
The laughter broke out again.
Adam said, “I’m almost tempted to go find my wife and see if she’s as mean as I remember.”
Penny looked at Adam, then shook her head and looked back at John.
“We can keep building cabins as long as the forest holds out,” Trace stated.
“We’re surrounded by deep, endless woods.” Penny linked arms with John and hoped for the best for Utah. “That seems like a safe promise to make.”
“Well, now that we’re duly married, I’m exhausted.” John’s arms tightened around her waist. He whispered in her ear, “And I’d say that a honeymoon might be in order.”
It was definitely time to get some rest. Or not.
Arm in arm, Penny and John left Cam’s cabin for Penny’s tent. Her cabin was now nearly finished. A cabin they’d probably never live in.
“Things aren’t settled for me, Penny. Thank you for joining your life to mine without knowing what the future holds.”
“It holds joy, John. And a marriage blessed by God. We’ll find our way together.”
And indeed they did, two people, nearly strangers, brought together forever, in a land where everyone needed a champion. And everyone needed to be a champion.
Together they had both of those things, because they had courage, faith, and true love.
About the Author
Mary Connealy writes romantic comedies about cowboys. She’s the author of the KINCAID BRIDES, TROUBLE IN TEXAS, WILD AT HEART, and CIMARRON LEGACY series, as well as several other acclaimed series. Mary has been nominated for a Christy Award, was a finalist for a RITA Award, and is a two-time winner of the Carol Award. She lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her very own romantic cowboy hero. They have four grown daughters—Joslyn, married to Matt; Wendy; Shelly, married to Aaron; and Katy, married to Max—and five precious grandchildren. Learn more about Mary and her books at:
maryconnealy.com
facebook.com/maryconnealy
seekerville.blogspot.com
petticoatsandpistols.com
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Table of Contents
Cover
Half Title Page
Books by Mary Connealy
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
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Epilogue
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
List of Pages
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The Unexpected Champion Page 24
