Haven's Flame (Fires of Cricket Bend Book 1)

by Marie Piper

  Coming out of her room, she checked the simmering dinner and walked out onto the porch to see where Luke had gone. He’d changed out of his work clothes and was standing by Lucy’s grave out in the field. Haven leaned against the railing to watch her father. She rarely thought of them as people with their own emotions and passions. Her parents had loved each other so deeply, she bet Lucy had never questioned Luke’s feelings for her. What must it be like to be loved that openly? What must it be like to love someone so much you still talked to them years after they’d passed?

  Matthew rode up to the house. Even at a distance, she could tell he’d shaved. If nothing else, she’d be marrying a good-looking man. He tied his horse and came toward her, a bouquet of wildflowers in hand.

  “Good evening, Matthew.”

  The sweet smile he gave her in return made her heart thump. He held up the flowers. “They’re not bluebonnets, but I hope you like them. I thought they could brighten up the table.”

  “They’re beautiful,” she said as she inhaled the sweet scent of the assorted blossoms. “Thank you.”

  “Is Luke all right?” Matthew asked, noting the sheriff.

  “Just swimming in memories.”

  “Your ma was the nicest lady I ever knew.”

  “I miss her,” Haven confessed in a quiet voice. “It’d be real nice to have her around to talk to.”

  “You have me,” he offered.

  “And I’m grateful for it every day.” She smiled up at him. “Oh, here come the others.”

  ***

  Matthew

  Haven scampered into the house to put the final preparations on dinner, and it was all Matthew could do not to run after her. Her flowing, dark curls enraptured him, and he couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen her with it down. In her pink dress, with the light of sunset on her, she looked radiant and womanly and his whole body ached to touch her. In just a few more weeks, he’d be able to hold her in his arms freely. A vision of their wedding came to him: Haven in her white dress, going with him to their new home for their wedding night. He envisioned her with her hair loose lying in their bed, only covered by the sheets. Haven, his forever, friend and lover—his wife.

  “Gentlemen!”

  Doc’s bellow travelled all the way to Luke. When Matthew turned toward the sound, he couldn’t believe what he saw. Braxton looked like a different man. He’d obviously visited the bathhouse, and he'd even shaved. The lack of the bushy beard and mustache revealed a face younger and kinder than Matthew would have thought. The bounty hunter wore clean clothes; he'd even left his duster at home. He looked like any ordinary man, instead of a fearsome gunslinger on the search for a mad killer.

  As the men dismounted from their horses, Braxton winced in pain and favored the leg which recently had a knife lodged in it.

  Luke came from Lucy’s grave. “Good to see you’re still on two legs, friend.”

  “I tried to get him to use a crutch, but he refuses,” Doc interjected.

  “Hurt like a bitch, let me tell you.” The bounty hunter stopped for a moment and leaned against the fencepost, taking the weight off of his injured leg. “I got half a mind to go to your jail and stick a knife back in the man who stuck me as payback. ‘Cept all those cowboys look the same to me, and I might get the wrong man.”

  “I’d be happy to point him out,” Matthew offered.

  Braxton gave a hearty guffaw. “I might take you up on that.” He surveyed the house and land. “Nice place.”

  “Thank you,” Luke replied. “Been here now about twenty-five years.”

  “Has it been that long?” Doc answered. “Damn, we got old. Even the babies are grown and getting married.” He pointed to Matthew with an affectionate wink. “That scrawny little boy went and turned into a deputy.”

  “Won’t be too long before he becomes Sheriff, I imagine.” Luke winked at Matthew.

  “You getting too old?” Matthew retorted. Luke’s big laugh was his reward.

  Haven stepped out on the porch and called them to dinner, causing all of the men to turn toward her.

  “Ought to get you a dinner bell. Maybe I’ll put one up at the new house,” Matthew said to her as he passed by.

  “Mr. Braxton,” Luke put a hand on Haven’s back and turned her toward the bounty hunter. “Have you met my daughter, Haven?”

  Matthew waited. The two had met, and he’d been there to see it.

  “We haven’t actually been introduced, though we’ve met.” Haven graciously extended her hand to Braxton, and he accepted it. Matthew knew what she was doing—a flawless replication of her mother’s perfect manners. “Welcome to our home, Mr. Braxton. I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Always,” he replied.

  They sat at the Anderson’s table, and the beef stew, cornbread, and buttered green beans Haven prepared were eaten happily and highly praised.

  “Just as good as Lucy used to make,” Doc commented as he wiped cornbread crumbs from his graying beard. “Heaven in a bowl, I always said.”

  “Lucy was your wife?” Braxton asked Luke.

  Luke nodded. “She was indeed. Got the fever real bad about five winters ago.” The sadness came back over his face for a moment, and Matthew saw it cross Doc’s face too. He hadn’t been there when Lucy had passed, but he'd gathered it had been an awful ordeal. Haven took her father’s hand over the table.

  Matthew piped up, “She was a real kind lady.”

  Luke seemed to come back from his reverie. “She was the love of my life. Fortunately for me, Haven is every bit her match in the kitchen, so I don’t starve.” He patted his daughter’s hand affectionately. “Though we do need to work on your aim with a board.”

  Haven sighed. “I was trying to save your hide, Papa. And, if you noticed, I did hit that foul cowboy. It just wasn’t hard enough.”

  “Next time, take after them with your stitching needle,” Doc quipped. “That’ll send him running for the hills.”

  Everyone at the table laughed, and the sad moment passed. Matthew remembered the days when the Anderson's dinner table had always been full of laughter. The adults had eaten and talked until the children had fallen asleep. Braxton took a long drink of his sweet tea. “You get much trouble with cowboys?”

  “Every spring and summer, soon as the weather breaks up north.” Luke sat back in his chair. “The McKenzies are the worst of them. Their boss is their pa. He ain’t bad, but his boys are a hot-blooded lot, and they always seem to hire the roughest cattlemen for their drives. Cricket Bend is one of their first stops. The trail is about twenty-five miles west of here, and we’re the first town for a while with a telegraph.”

  “Not to mention Porter’s,” Matthew said. “Couple hard weeks of riding between here and the last saloon leaves them thirsty.”

  “I bet that blonde he’s got workin’ for him brings in the boys too.” Braxton nodded toward Matthew. “You been on the trail?”

  “I did. Did a couple drives a few years back. Hung up my rope and picked up a badge.”

  “Then you know how welcome a pretty face is after weeks of only seeing men and cows.” Braxton winked at Haven, and Matthew saw her shoot him a mean look. He tried not to laugh. Haven had grown up around enough men to know not to pay attention to conversations like these, or boisterous men like Jack Braxton. If the bounty hunter thought he could rattle her, she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure.

  “How long have you been following this Walker?” Doc changed the subject.

  “Who?” Haven asked.

  “The man I’m after. Gray hair, tall, glasses, maybe a limp. Seen him?”

  She shook her head. Matthew remembered the man who’d come to his aid during the brawl. He’d been a big man who'd worn glasses, but he hadn’t limped and Matthew hadn’t been able to see his hair under his hat. Surely a crazed murderer wouldn’t rescue a lawman and then take off.

  “If you do see a man looks like that, you run as fast as you can.” Braxton leaned forward. “I first noticed h
im about seven years ago. He killed another bounty hunter, a friend of mine named Bob Larson. Bob was after him for a string of robberies, and got too close. So I picked up the trail. I’ve lost him a few times, but he can’t keep his nose out of trouble for too long. He always pops up again. This time around, he murdered a farmer up in Nebraska a few months back and I got word.”

  Doc leaned forward, always one for a good story. “Why’d Walker kill him?”

  “Farmer had a big season. His wife said there was a large amount of cash in the house, but it was gone when they found the body. Four young kids, big farm. By all accounts, the farmer was a kind man. So I’m back on his trail.” Braxton’s eyes lingered on the table for a moment, and Matthew caught a glimpse of the man’s utter exhaustion. Being a bounty hunter couldn’t be easy.

  “And you think he’s headed here?”

  “I don’t know what he’ll do next. But he was headed this way, and word is he’s been spotted a few places around here. Heard rumors he has folks in these parts, but hell if I can find them. No one recognizes the name.”

  “Could be the family moved after the war. Lots of folks were displaced,” Doc interjected.

  “You fight in the war?” Braxton asked him.

  Doc nodded his head. “They needed doctors, and I had just gotten done with my medical schooling. I’d never treated a gunshot wound or amputated a limb, but I learned fast. We all did. I wound up here after it was over, and I would've have drunken myself stupid if the new sheriff hadn’t told me to clean myself up or get lost.”

  “It was what you needed to hear,” Luke defended himself with a smirk.

  Doc ignored him. “I’m happier bringing babies into the world, and patching up broken bones. You see any battles?”

  Braxton nodded. “Union army. I was sixteen years old and stupid enough to think it’d be an adventure.” He looked at Luke. “You fight?”

  “I was the foreman of a big ranch at the time. We shipped beef to the Confederates.”

  “You side with them?”

  “I sided with my father-in-law in order to stay with my new bride and keep her safe. Most of our best men went off, and the boys we could hire on were a ragged bunch of misfits. Between them and the soldiers who were always coming and going, Lucy’d likely have come to a bad end if I’d gone. By the end of the war, all the ranchers in the area pooled their interests and that’s how Cricket Bend started. They needed a sheriff, and I got the job. Hill Hilton and Ed Dean from the saloon, they fought. That’s how Ed lost his arm.”

  “And gained his love of whiskey.” Doc raised his glass a little before drinking.

  Matthew had heard these tales before, but always found them fascinating. The three older men continued to tell war stories, and everyone finished their dinner and dessert. By the time they were done, not a speck of food remained.

  Doc put a hand on Matthew’s chair and looked between him and Haven. “I’m sure these two young ’uns have their own things to talk about, rather than sit here and listen to old folks like us. Looks like a fine night to take a walk.” He looked at Braxton. “Gonna be a wedding in a couple weeks.”

  “Congratulations.” Braxton nodded to Matthew after he nearly choked on his tea. Haven’s attempt to try not to laugh failed, and Matthew was on her side. Not only had the bounty hunter made lewd comments to the sheriff’s daughter, but he’d also done it to the deputy’s fiancée. As much as Matthew liked Braxton, the bounty hunter had sure messed up.

  “Go,” Luke said, shooing them out the door. “Gentlemen, cigars?”

  Matthew and Haven wasted no time scurrying outside. The sun had set, and the dark sky was illuminated by a smattering of stars.

  “I’m so glad it cooled off.” Haven lifted her face. “You men don’t know how good you have it.”

  “Should we sit?” Matthew indicated the rocking chairs on the porch.

  The men talking inside laughed at something.

  “We could walk,” Haven suggested.

  So they did. They talked a little too. Mostly they just enjoyed being side by side, the way they’d always been as children. “Bet you never thought there’d be a bounty hunter at your dinner table,” he said.

  Haven made an annoyed sound. “I don’t care for him, honestly.”

  “Braxton? Naw, he’s all right.”

  “Now that he knows who my papa is, I bet he treats me like I’m the queen of England.”

  “You let me know if he doesn’t.” Matthew stepped through the grass. “I’m planning to visit the house tomorrow. I’ll move over there in a day or so. There are a few repairs that need to be done so it’ll be ready for us.”

  “I’ll stop in too. I should start thinking about what we’ll need. Let me know if you think of anything. I can place an order at Harper’s. Reckon I should get a garden going soon.”

  “I reckon so.”

  “I think I’ll plant beans and carrots, maybe potatoes. They shouldn’t mind a late planting. Is there a root cellar?”

  “There is.”

  “Then I’ll do some canning too. It’ll be so strange not to live here anymore.”

  Over the horizon, Matthew could see the edge of the border between the Anderson's and Carnes’ land. It brought back a memory. “Do you remember when we fell through the roof of Carnes’ old barn?”

  The two of them, as rough and tumble kids, had fallen from trees and gotten bit by all sorts of beasts. One day they’d gone against Luke’s specific orders and climbed onto the roof of the Carnes’ decrepit barn, and it had collapsed under their weight. It was Doc who’d plucked the chunk of wood out of Haven’s leg and set Matthew’s arm after the two of them had hobbled home. Haven started to laugh. Matthew continued. “I thought your mother was going to faint, you were so bloody.”

  “Me? Your arm looked like it was going to fall off!”

  “Still aches a little when it rains.”

  “Really?”

  Being with her, away from everything else, felt like the best kind of freedom. They stood in a field roaring with laughter, filled with memories, and he felt their love coming together. Their bond was unbreakable; he knew it deep in his bones.

  Matthew noticed her stepping toward him and turned his head to see her eyes looking up into his own. Dumbstruck, he watched as she came close to him and lifted her face. Haven flashed him the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, her face just inches from his.

  He realized Haven wanted him to kiss her.

  If he did it then, he’d never be able to stop himself. The desire that lived in his blood, waiting for her, threatened to flare up. He felt the swell of her breasts press against his chest. A fire raced through his body, landing in his loins, and he started talking to keep control of his desires. “The Harpers came by the other day. Mrs. Harper wondered if you’d keep working after the wedding.”

  “Curse Mrs. Harper. A working woman is a burr in her britches.” Her hands went to his suspenders. Every speck in her big brown eyes begged him to kiss her, but he knew he couldn’t. Not yet. He needed to hold back just a little longer.

  “Well, will you?” He took her hands and held them in his own.

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I just don’t know how much time there’ll be once the children come.”

  She’d been on her tiptoes to kiss him, but she dropped back to the ground. Taking her hand away from his, she stepped back to leave a good distance between them.

  She folded her arms, closing herself off to him. “Oh, Matthew,” she whispered, and turned to head back toward the house.

  Disappointment and heartbreak dripped from her words in the way she said his name, and Matthew closed his eyes against the sound. He should have kissed her. He’d been trying to protect her, and now he’d gone and hurt her. If forgiveness came at all, it would take a long time.

  Before she got more than a few steps away, he called her name.

  Tears shone in her eyes when she whirled around. “You know, if all you wanted was a brood
mare, there are a million other girls in the world who’d be happy to have you for their husband.”

  Watching her go, he hated the secret fear that kept him from losing himself in her. They’d been far away from everyone, and no harm would have come from it if he’d let himself kiss her. He’d wanted to, to go further even, but she was so innocent about the matters between men and women that he feared losing control. The idea of ever seeing fear in her eyes had stopped him, once again, from taking her in his arms. It would take more than a bouquet of wildflowers to fix the harm he’d just done.

  A few minutes later, Matthew reached the porch. He’d stayed back long enough to give Haven time to get inside. Seeing her now would be awkward, and he wanted to spare them both. He also wanted to get back his room as quickly as possible.

  “Trouble in paradise, son?” Doc asked with a smirk.

  “I’m heading back to town. I’ll relieve Jasper at the jail.” Talking about it wouldn’t do any good. Matthew mounted his horse and got away from the house before anyone could try and ease his mind. Nothing could be done, unless he could figure out a way to turn back the clock a few hours.

  On nights like that one, he understood why men took to whiskey.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Haven

  “Could you do something for me?”

  Haven looked up from the bottles of medicine she’d been taking inventory of. “Of course.”

  “There’s a few things I put together, and I was going to take them over to Miss Lee, but I’ve got to go check on Lizzie. Would you mind going over to the saloon and taking them to her?”

  Haven gave Doc a look. “You know Papa will have my hide.”

  Doc smiled. “Your father is my oldest friend. But sometimes he’s a cranky busybody and don’t need to know everything about everyone.”

  Haven gasped.

  Grinning, Doc spoke right to her. “I was young once too, you know. You work hard as an ox all day long. Have a little fun while you’re still young. If that means the occasional bout of flirting with a scoundrel, and I do mean just flirting, mind you, then so be it. Make Matthew a little jealous. Might just solve your problems.”