by Gold, Ciara
“You never asked,” Bryce said, smiling around a mouthful of refried beans. The conversation continued as Bryce recounted several amusing tales of him and his brothers. When the topic was spent, there was a brief lull before Sarge started a new avenue for discussion.
“Well, I can’t thank you enough for bringing my daughter home. I don’t know how you accomplished it, cuz I’ve been trying for the past two years, but I’m grateful, nonetheless,” Sarge declared, his voice unusually thick with emotion.
Bryce laid down his utensils, placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. “The letters. If not for the mystery of the letters, she wouldn’t have followed me here.”
“What mystery? I wrote my daughter several letters. I don’t see any crime in that.”
“You didn’t send a few extra that didn’t have your name attached?” Kaitlin snapped, unable to keep silent any longer.
Sarge shook a fork at his daughter. “That’s the second time you’ve alluded to something wrong with the mail I sent you. Spell it out, girl. I feel like I’m on trial, and I haven’t a darn notion what the charges might be.”
Kaitlin wouldn’t answer him verbally. She let her gaze bore into his with intense mistrust.
Bryce reached over and put his hand on top of hers. “Don’t seem right, this anger you have stored up inside for your father, Katy. For what it’s worth, I don’t think he sent those other notes.”
Kaitlin yanked her hand from his and turned on him. “What do you know about it? How can you judge him so quickly? You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Katy,” Sarge implored. “Lord knows I’ve made my share of mistakes where you were concerned, but I don’t deserve this bitterness you have toward me. As God is my witness, I don’t know what it is you’re accusing me of.”
“Don’t. Don’t even pretend you care.” Kaitlin couldn’t believe his audacity after all they’d been through. Maybe he’d forgotten the past, but she sure hadn’t. Hate for her father and what he’d done provided an anchor for her anger. She’d held onto these emotions for so long, she didn’t know how to let them go.
The negative intensity of these feelings had helped her mend from James’s betrayal on her wedding day. She’d felt more comfortable hating a man she’d known all her life, than hating James Latham. Her bitterness toward Sarge meant admitting there was something wrong with him. Embracing her intense dislike for James meant admitting there was something wrong with her.
Sarge had no words for her. His stony silence made her uncomfortably aware of her rudeness. She pushed herself away from the table, suddenly losing her appetite.
“Sarge is trying to meet you halfway here. The least you can do is cooperate.” Bangles peered at her with gentle but honest eyes.
“She’s rather stubborn, but molasses and oats might loosen her up some.” Bryce gave her a wink. It was just the right touch to lighten the heavy atmosphere. Kaitlin took a deep breath. She’d come for answers, and she wasn’t going to get them if she continued to act so immaturely. So much for proving to her father she was a rational young woman who could make it on her own.
“Bryce is right.” She swallowed a piece of her pride and relaxed back in her seat. “I’m not acting like the lady I’ve become. Forgive me, Sarge.”
Sarge cleared his throat and patted his lips with a napkin. “I was hard on both you and your sister, because I didn’t know much about raising girls, but whatever the case, I always had your best interests at heart. I can’t bring your mother back. I can’t change the way things turned out for Bethany. But by God, I can try to make things up to you. That’s all I want. A second chance. I want you to have the Silver Saddle when I pass on. You might not want it now, but I’m hoping it’ll be something your children and their children will grow to appreciate. The Silver Saddle is the culmination of who I am. It’s all I have.”
Bryce leaned forward and stretched his hand over hers. “Everyone makes mistakes, some are bigger than others, and some mistakes leave lastin’ scars, but it sounds like Sarge is really tryin’ to mend fences.”
Kaitlin pulled her hand from under his and held it to her mouth, fighting tears. Sarge had never admitted guilt for the bad times, yet what he’d just said was the closest she’d ever heard to an apology. Perhaps Bryce was right. She gazed at her father with new eyes, wondering if she should lower her guard. He looked old, tired. Deep wrinkles mapped his features, and his eyelids sagged over watery blue eyes. When she’d been younger, he’d been an unbendable rock, a hard man who’d forged a livelihood from nothing. Now, vulnerability crept into his words and posture.
She pushed back tears and took a deep breath. “I never could understand why I had to call you Sarge and not Father, but I got used to it. That was little compared to other stuff. I can’t forgive you for making Mother leave us, nor can I forgive you for humiliating Bethany so much she felt she had to run away. Mother was partially to blame for the immoral way Bethany viewed the world, so I suppose I can’t hold you solely responsible for Bethany’s problems. But when you—you sent me away...”
Her voice caught and she stifled a sob. The old pain shot through her with fresh intensity. “Why? Why did you have to send me away? I needed your reassurance, your strength, and you reacted by evicting me from my home.”
“I did what I thought best. How was I going to raise a girl by myself? You needed more than I could give you.”
“I needed love.”
Her outburst must have struck a nerve with Bryce, for he quickly turned his head. Was he comparing Sarge’s actions to his own with regards to Charley? Had he thought to drop Charley in Kaitlin’s lap and leave? But he hadn’t. He wasn’t anything like Sarge. Spent, she sagged against the back of her chair.
Sarge scraped his chair back and squeezed his eyes. “I loved you, gal. Too much.”
Kaitlin shook her head. She wasn’t going to argue the fact.
“Things were never the same when I returned. I had new values, new goals, and they didn’t fit into your plans for my future. You could never see I was my own person.”
“The war was starting to touch Colorado, and I didn’t want you hurt by it. I figured school in Boston was the safest place. I also didn’t want you to follow in Bethany’s footsteps. I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, but I couldn’t afford to repeat those mistakes with you.” Sarge’s raspy voice gave the only indication of the emotional turmoil he must be experiencing. Kaitlin should be moved by the sincerity she heard, but she just wasn’t ready to trust so quickly.
“You were all I had left. I regret sending you away. If I hadn’t sent you to Boston, you never would have heard those suffragists speak. You never would’ve developed such an independent nature, or the drive to fight for the things you believed in. Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of the woman you’ve become, but I want more for you.”
“More?”
“Anyone with half a mind can see how lonely and bitter you’ve become. Fighting for these beliefs might be fulfilling on a grand scale, but they make cold bedfellows at night.”
“Ah.” Kaitlin saw exactly where this conversation headed. The old coot was about to badger her again about marriage and family. “I was wondering how long it would take you to get to your favorite subject. Let me save you the trouble. I am very happy living in Denver. I love the thrill of protesting against the wrongs perpetrated there. It gives my life meaning. I am not marriage material. No man wants a woman who is stronger than he is.”
Bryce scratched his forehead. He squinted his eyes and wrinkled his nose, a sure sign he was about to argue her point. “Well, now, I don’t see where you’ve ever proved you’re stronger than a man, Katy. I concede you’re more hardheaded than most and while it’s true, most men like their women a bit more malleable, I don’t think it’s safe to say no one could ever want you.”
“I do not have the qualities necessary to make a good wife,” Kaitlin reiterated, narrowing her eyes to punctuate her point.
; They all stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t like to cook.”
“Cooks can be hired,” Bryce argued.
“I don’t like to clean house.”
“I can attest to that.” He chuckled. “You had more cobwebs in your bedroom than dolls, but that chore can be hired out as well.”
“Whoa there.” Sarge waved a gnarled hand in the air. “When were you in her bedroom?”
Kaitlin ignored him. “I am not at all fond of children.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong. Look how well you’ve done with Charley. You don’t think you’re fond of them cuz you’ve never really been exposed to them. It’ll be different when you have your own.” Bryce waggled a brow. “Not to mention how much fun it’ll be makin’ ’em.”
Bangles started chuckling at that last remark. Sarge collapsed back into his chair. “Are you more to my daughter than just an escort, Bryce?” Sarge asked with what appeared to be genuine fatherly concern. Kaitlin wasn’t fooled by her father’s anxiety over Bryce’s indiscretion.
“No!” Kaitlin shot Bryce a condemning glare. “He most certainly is not. How did we get on this line of conversation, anyway?”
The dopey grin Bryce wore obviously wasn’t convincing Sarge or Bangles.
“You know, partner,” Bangles chuckled again. “That woman is liable to run you ragged. But then, a spirited filly is a lot more pleasurable to ride than a docile mare.”
Bryce swept his gaze over her figure. “Yep, I’d have to agree. A spirited filly she is, and she’s got good lines, too. Although, she’s a bit of a stargazer.”
At that, Bangles erupted into full laughter while Sarge continued to frown fiercely. Kaitlin unfolded and refolded her napkin, uneasy with their amusement. “I’m not too fond of being the brunt of your jokes. Care to share the humor?”
Bangles shook his head, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes. “Ah, Katy. I’ve missed having you around.”
She set the napkin aside. “Enough to tell me what y’all meant by a stargazer?” She should probably know, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember the term.
“A stargazer is a horse that tends to hold his head too high and his nose too far out.” Bryce pushed his plate away and pulled the glass of tea in front of him.
“I still don’t see what’s so funny.” Was he comparing her to a horse again?
“Never mind,” Bryce replied, taking a sip of sugared tea. “I think we should get back to more serious things. Sarge, what can you tell me about James Latham?”
“No,” Kaitlin interrupted before Sarge could reply. “We will not talk about James. I’d rather talk about horses.” Kaitlin wasn’t ready to open that particular topic.
“Hush, Katy. Sarge might know something that’ll help us figure out what James was up to.”
Sarge tapped the table with his finger. “Why? What has James done now?”
Kaitlin refused to provide an answer. The renewed pain of Latham’s betrayal cut deep, and she didn’t want Sarge witnessing her distress.
“Katy? I asked a question.”
Bryce started to open his mouth, but Katy cut him off. “The man stirred up a bit of trouble back home, that’s all.”
“Why do I sense there’s more to it than that?” Sarge asked. He wasn’t one to be forthright with information, and Kaitlin hoped he proved true to form. She didn’t need Bryce knowing the particulars of her relationship with Latham.
“Humor me, Sarge. Katy doesn’t seem to think I need details on the man, but past events tell me otherwise.”
Sarge nodded.
Kaitlin’s stomach twisted in a knot, threatening to reject the fine meal Vena had prepared. She wanted to go to her room, so she wouldn’t have to face the hurt all over again, but she didn’t want to leave Bryce alone with her father and Bangles to discuss things she considered private.
Sarge leaned back in his chair. “James used to work for me. He was kind of a hotheaded kid, but he was a hard worker. He took a shine to a lot of girls, but when he started flirting with Kaitlin, I decided to encourage the suit.”
“Kaitlin came back from school with some mighty lofty ideas,” Bangles picked up the conversation. “She was still mad at Sarge for sending her away, so she decided to apply for her own homestead. She was going to prove to Sarge she didn’t need him or any man telling her what to do. At twenty-one, she had a legal right to do this.”
“She had a legal right, but she wasn’t physically equipped to handle all the hardships,” Sarge continued. “I sent James over to her place to help her out. He was reluctant at first, but I offered him enough money. A year after she moved out to the honeymoon cabin, James started working as her foreman. She didn’t know I’d sent him, and he was smooth enough to make it seem like it was his idea. I promised him another fifty acres if he’d get her to agree to marry him. At first he refused to even consider it. It was two years later before he began seriously courting her.”
Kaitlin leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She always knew there was more to James’s sudden interest in her than what he claimed. She should have suspected Sarge’s hand in her romance. “One minute he was just my foreman, and the next he was dazzling me with compliments. I didn’t understand his sudden interest in me as a woman, but I was lonely, and he made me want things.”
“Now it’s your turn, young man. What has Latham done to warrant these questions?” Sarge asked.
“No, Bryce, please.” Katy shifted uneasily in her chair. “He doesn’t have a right to know my personal affairs especially after confessing his hand in Latham’s proposal.”
“I imagine Sarge regrets past actions or he wouldn’t have been so forthright with the information.”
“You two keep talking circles around the issue. Spit it out, Bryce.” Sarge sounded as if he’d had enough. Katy clamped her lips together and turned her head away. Let them talk about her. She didn’t care anymore.
“Katy’s been getting some nasty mail. She claims the letters started about June. Several had an Oresonville postmark and all said the same thing. Leave Denver or else. When I showed up at her house, someone threw a rock through her window with the same message attached. I chased the young man, but he eluded me. Later, I found the little rascal. He’d been paid by James Latham.”
“Bryce, you don’t have to say any more.” Kaitlin snapped her gaze to his.
He ignored her warning.
“That’s when I decided to come to Oresonville for answers. At the time, all I had was a description. I didn’t know it was James who’d paid that kid until I saw the pinky ring.”
“So, all you need to do is find James and confront him,” Bangles suggested.
“Can’t,” came Bryce’s stilted reply.
Kaitlin knew immediately where this was going. She leaned forward and caught Bryce by the arm. “Don’t, Bryce.”
“Bryce?” Sarge urged him to continue.
Bryce wouldn’t look at her.
“Bryce, please. He doesn’t have to know,” she whispered.
“Know what? Will someone tell me what you two are yammerin’ about?” Sarge was getting edgy.
“I’ll never forgive you,” she hissed.
Bryce finally looked her in the eye with a sympathetic gaze. “This is somethin’ that doesn’t need to remain secret. Your father should know.”
“No.”
He turned his attention away from her. “James Latham is dead, sir.”
“Dead?” Sarge and Bangles both sat up straighter in their chairs.
Kaitlin stood up, clenching and unclenching her hands. He had no right. No right whatsoever. Now her father would never let her out of his sight. He was going to suffocate her with some misguided urge to be a doting and protective parent, to dominate her with good intentions. And Bryce? She might never trust him again. Why couldn’t he stay out of her business?
The coming blizzard seemed more welcome than having her father know just how rotten Jam
es Latham had become. Having Sarge realize James’s desire to see her dead made Kaitlin feel all the more unworthy as a woman. “You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you?” She turned on her heel and started to exit but not before hearing Bryce’s next statement.
Bryce’s gaze bore into her back. “I shot James Latham while he tried to kill your daughter.”
Twenty Six
Kaitlin sat before the window and gazed at the blanket of white covering the ground. To Bryce she looked dejected, not at all the high-spirited woman who’d greeted him at the door a month ago. The weather could be blamed for part of her melancholy.
The storm bombarded them an hour after he’d told Sarge of the attempted murder. Sarge demanded that she return to the dining room where he grilled her for every sordid detail. Bryce could see why Kaitlin and Sarge butted heads on a regular basis. Opinionated, neither was willing to give an inch. Sarge wanted information Kaitlin didn’t even know, and Kaitlin refused to give Sarge all the facts she did know. Bryce had been caught somewhere in the middle. Kaitlin’s glare made him feel like he betrayed her each time he filled in the gaps for Sarge.
It was odd viewing Kaitlin’s relationship with her father as an outsider. Objectively, Kaitlin and her father were both wrong, yet—they were both right. If they would just temper their emotions with less passion, they could communicate better. Their heated discussions reminded Bryce of his own relationship with his brother William. Next time he and William butted heads, he would remember this moment with Kaitlin and Sarge.
“Are you going to just keep staring at me?” Kaitlin turned her head and pinned him with a disgruntled glare.
“Just trying to gauge how angry you are at me.” Bryce shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets. He’d abused her trust in him when he failed to honor her wishes. But damn it all, Sarge had a right to know. If nothing else, telling Sarge gave Bryce another avenue for information and another sounding board for figuring out the truth.
She turned away to look at the snowdrifts. The wind and snow had intensified, rattling the windowpanes.
