by Rita Hestand
"That's fine with me sir. Sounds like justice to me. We just want it to stop. Noah is a good man. And he's not a land grabber like some. He just wants to live out his life in peace, and if there is any way, I'm going to see he does."
"You're an unusual sort. I admire your loyalty to the man. But everyone likes Noah in these parts. Except maybe my wife. And…I want to thank you for not fully compromising my wife. That could have easily happened. In fact, I'm sure it already has with others. She'd have let you of course. She uses men. She honestly thinks that every man falls in love with her. I've known of her escapades for some time. Just the way she dresses tells me a lot. At first it didn't bother me. But when she involves other innocent people, it does. Please tell Noah to accept my apologies and that I would love to have some of the horses he gentles. And one other thing."
"Yes sir?"
"This is going to be quite embarrassing, so can we keep this between us. We'll settle the Indian problem ourselves, Doug and I. Doug has wanted her gone for some time. He's right! It's time. He's the only reason this place is still running. She was merely a decoration."
"I won't say a word to anyone but Noah and Jen."
He held out his hand to shake. "I rather like you Jace. I thought you'd lie your way out like so many others have tried to do. But you were straight with me, and that means a lot to me. I can't blame any man for being attracted to her, she's beautiful and knows it."
"Thanks. Before tonight, I didn’t know what to think about you. I'm glad to know that you really know her well enough." Jace smiled.
"Unfortunately, yes. Better get that eye taken care of." Sam smiled.
"Thank you sir. And…I apologize for the way I handled things, but I had to catch her and stop her quickly. I still can't prove a thing I've told you, but it's the truth and I appreciate the fact that you recognize that."
Sam wheeled his chair toward the door where Jace was now standing. "Yes, I think you did. Tell me one thing, honestly."
"If I can?"
"How far would you have gone to get the proof?"
"To be honest, I don't know. I'm sort of glad it played out like it did. To tell the truth, I didn't even mind the beating. I think I might have deserved it But tell Doug he has a mean left punch."
The man laughed. "Thanks for the honesty." He smiled at him.
"Goodnight sir."
"Bring your Jen around some time. I'd like to meet her."
"I'll do that. If she doesn't kill me for this…" He laughed.
Chapter Fourteen
When Jace came home that night, he was tired, and sore and hurting in all the wrong places. But it was over.
He opened the door and saw Noah sitting in his chair and Jen was on the floor. When they saw his eyes and his lip they scrambled up to help him.
"What happened?" Jen cried, concern lacing her voice and expression.
Noah got a pan of water and a rag for her.
"Justice!" Jace laughed, happy to be home with them.
"Who did this?" Jen asked.
"It doesn't matter sweetheart. I deserved what I got, and it's all over now and I can talk about it." Jace had never been happier.
"He's not making a bit of sense, is he?" Noah frowned and sat at the table as Jen doctored him.
"Hold this on your eye." She told him.
"You gonna tell us what's going on now?" Noah asked, his patience wearing thin.
"I don't know where to start!" He laughed.
"At the beginning." Jen told him.
"Noah, ten years ago, I was Chance Montgomery, and the land that Hank Hardin built his new house on, belonged to my folks."
Noah's eyes widened. "Montgomery. That rings a bell."
"Hank foreclosed on my folks. Then he turned around and bought the property for practically nothing and built his empire. So for ten years I've been nursing a grudge against the man." Jace began explaining.
"Holy cow, ten years!"
"Then we went over there the other day, and I met him again. And I saw what he'd done with the place, and how he's lost his hand and was losing his wife, and I realized that he'd changed. And when a man makes that big a change, you gotta give him a fair chance. Because that's what I wanted, a fair chance to change my life too."
Noah nodded, "I reckon I can understand, but what's that got to do with tonight?"
"A lot!" Jace chuckled. "When I realized that Kate was basically trying to take advantage of you and pressure you into selling a land that had been in your family for generations. I saw greed. I could not let her get away with what she was trying to do…"
Jen looked confused now.
"So I thought to catch her at her game. She was the only one to have a reason to sell guns to the Indians. You were that reason. She was trying her best to scare you off your land. She didn't reckon with the fact that you've probably been through a lot worse Indian attacks than the other night." Jace chuckled again.
They both stared with open mouths at him.
"So I romanced her, trying to get a confession out of her. She had such an ego I knew that wouldn't be hard to do. And she confessed. But I had no real proof of her confession so I knew I had to dig deeper and find something so I could turn her in for it."
Both of them were still staring.
"Did you find it?" Noah asked.
"No. I went over there to take the horse back to her, and her brother and a few of his buddies beat the hell out of me."
"Doug!"
"That's the one."
"So you are still looking for proof?" Jen asked.
"No…I don't have to."
"What do you mean?" Jen frowned. "If you went to that much trouble, and didn't finish the job."
"She came out later and found me. And right behind her was her husband. He sent her to the house and we talked. I told him everything. He didn't have any idea about the Indians nor trying to force you to sell. But when I told him that's why I kissed her, he knew I was telling him the truth. I didn't want to see you end up like my folks Noah! That's why I did it! I didn't want you nursing a hate for years like I did. You're at an age you should enjoy the fruits of you labor. I didn't want you to turn out like I did."
Noah stared at him a minute, his mouth hanging open. "You did all that…for me?"
Jace took Jen's hand from his eye and held it in his. "I didn't want to see you nursing a hate for the next ten years. I had to do something. And she was such a cold, heartless bitch, I decided I'd take care of it. I don't think she's the kind to ever change, like Hank did. I think she'll go on to make other people just as miserable."
Jen sat down, but Jace didn't give her hand back. "So, what's going to happen now?"
Jace smiled. "Well, I don't think anyone has given the man a bit of credit, including myself, but he's known what she was up to most of the time. As far as getting dumb, stupid cowboys to do what she wanted. This is just for our information, no one else's. He's sending her back east to her family that can't stand her and sending her men that she seduced on their way. He's making Doug the Ramrod of the place while he will help manage it. He said also that he and Doug would take care of the Indians too. I think he wants to find out just how much devilment she was up to with them. If she'd do it to you, she'd try it on Hank too, because she wants his land too."
Noah fell back in the chair and shook his head.
"Something wrong?" Jace asked him.
"I just can't believe it!"
"What part?" Jace laughed.
"You were doing this all for me! No one, I mean no one has ever done anything like that for me!" Noah exclaimed. He was fighting tears back as he said it, his throat seemed to fog up too.
"You're a good man Noah. You gave me and Jen a job, a place to live, and a chance to do things different. After I met Hank again. It all hit me. I realized that I couldn't change what had happened in the past to my folks. But I could change this. At least I could try."
"My God son, ain't nobody done anything like that for me!" He got up and walk
ed outside.
Jen stared after him. "He's in tears." She cried.
Jace stared at her. "Can you forgive me for not telling you what was going on?"
"I thought…." Her look of hurt galvanized him. The air electrified the sexual tension between them. His eyes betrayed him, it was more than want, it was need, it was hunger.
"I know what you thought. But I had to make it look good and you being just a tad jealous sure cinched it." He grinned.
"I was not jealous!" She stood up and started to walk off.
But he grabbed her, pulled her into his arms and planted a sultry kiss on her lips. Lost for long dizzying moments neither one of them came up for air as he continued to assuage the ache within him. He smelled the sweet natural scent of her. The taste of her lips was addictive.
He felt the slow invading submission as her body warmed him. Even Rebecca had never set him afire as quickly as Jen did.
When he raised his head, he stared into her eyes, "You were weren't you?" He whispered.
She blushed profusely, "Never!"
"Were too…." He smothered her again with a kiss, this time he ravaged her mouth, scraping her cheek and chin with his beard and listening to her moan softly, he smiled against her lips. "I've missed you so damned much!" He whispered in her ear.
"Don't you ever do that again!" She pulled out of his arms and slapped his arm with a cup towel now. "I thought I'd die when you took her home and then you wanted to go to her place. I couldn't believe she put you under her spell so quickly."
His eyes devoured her admission, tucking tight into his heart for later. "I'm sorry honey, but I had to help Noah. We owed him so much." He brought her close, not ready to turn her lose yet. He kissed her chin, her nose, her cheek, and then her lips again.
When he pulled away she was panting and just as stirred to passion as he.
"I agree about Noah. But it took me back to when you loved Rebecca and I just couldn't stand it any longer. I began to think you fickle."
He hung his head a minute, "That's because I didn't tell you how much I love you…"
His sudden admission had her head rising, her eyes searching his, and a slow shy smile spreading over her well-kissed lips. "You…. you love me?"
"More than anything…" He whispered and kissed her again. This time she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him for all he was worth. His kisses were everywhere, all over her face, her neck and he wanted to go further but he raised his head. "We're going to get married."
"Married?" she shrieked.
He stared into her shocked face, "Well honey, that's what people do, when they are in love. I mean…you love me back don't you?" He asked in a comical way?
She stared at him for a moment, then broke out in a giggle. "Love you back? Chance Montgomery I've loved you since I was eleven years old."
"I loved you then too!" He said but then lowered his voice and laid his head on her forehead, "But then you were too young. I'd have had the law after me for that! Sometimes I'd look at you back then and think, 'God, she'll be a knock out beauty someday."
She chuckled. "You did not…"
He stared from a short distance at her, his eyes going from her hair to her feet. "Yes, I did. Rebecca was a beauty, no doubt about it. But you…you shined from the inside out."
She got up and started to fix him some supper but he came behind her whirled her around and backed her against a wall and put his hands on either side of her head. "Promise me one thing." His voice went serious, his eyes stared straight into hers.
"I'll try." She smiled.
"From this moment on, no matter where I go, what I do, you'll trust me, and that I love you and only you."
"Jace I…!" She sighed.
"Promise me," He leaned into her and kissed her hard on the forehead. "Because trust is as important as love" He stressed.
"Do you trust me?" She asked, turning her head sideways.
"Honey, the one thing I thought about while I was wrestling with her was that you'd somehow forgive me and still love me. Not because I deserved it, but because of the bond we have, have always had."
"How could you be so sure of that?"
"Because every time I looked at you, I saw love in your eyes. The only thing I worried about was that I didn't tell you how much I loved you, before I messed with her."
"I'm sure she tempted you…I mean you are a man, and women like that know exactly how."
"I kissed her….and she did try to seduce me. She tried hard, and I'll admit, I'm a man, I was affected. By lust, not love. I certainly know the difference now. But the one thing that kept me from taking what she so freely offered, was how I felt about you. That was pure lust, and you are nothing but love!"
"I promise."
He started to kiss her again but Noah walked in.
He touched her cheek and smiled.
"We're going to get married Noah." Jace informed him still staring at Jen.
"What, you kidding me?" Noah was half smiling, half confused.
"No. I'm serious." Jace turned to look at him.
"Well, that's just grand," Noah smiled sheepishly. He sat down at the table again and he looked up at them. "I'm sure glad you settled that. But, I got something I want to talk to you two about too." Noah told them seriously.
Jace and Jen came and sat at the table, waiting to hear what he had on his mind for he looked serious.
"I don't have no kin left. No family, no kids. And I've been thinking about things. I wrote up a will and when I die, this place here, will belong to the two of you. I want you to have it. I just wanted you to know."
"Why Noah, you aren't going to die!" Jen went to hug him around the neck. "I won't let you!"
"Everybody has to die, someday, honey. And I just wanted you to know…" Noah said quietly eyeing them both.
"You don't have to do this, Noah." Jace told him seriously.
"I'm doin' it because I want to. Because I've come to care about the two of you. And I know you'll make this your home. And you getting married is icing on the cake so to speak." Noah smiled.
Jace studied him a minute then reached his hand for a shake. "We'll take care of the place for you, someday, but that's a long time in the future. I'd like to think we got plenty of time to enjoy each other's company before that."
"Good."
Jen stared at the two of them and broke between them. "I love you both very much." She kissed Noah on the forehead and then Jace on the lips.
"We've become like a family around here. And I ain't had a family since I was a kid." Noah sighed heavily.
"Noah…how'd you lose your eye?" Jen asked. "I know I shouldn't ask, but I had to…"
Noah reared back in his chair and smiled at Jen. "Now that's a story. It was in school?"
"School? What did you get in a fight or something?" Jen filled in the details for him.
"Not exactly. But kind of. You see our teacher was a mean lady. Big lady, very mean. She had a habit of stabbing the kids with her pencil when they acted up. One day I was monkeying around and she came at me with that pencil, well, I ducked down and she thought she was stabbing my arm, but I had ducked and she hit me in the eye with it. Hard. I bled like a stuffed turkey. Kids were screaming and I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. I couldn’t believe it."
"Dear God…" Jen cried. "That hard?"
"That hard!"
"What happened after she stabbed you?"
"The doc came and took care of me. My Ma gave her a tongue lashing she wouldn't soon forget. I went around with a patch for a long time. Then an eye doctor gave me a glass eye a few years later. She was fired, I never went back to school." Noah shook his head." I decided I didn't need that kind of meanness. My Ma let me quit school and I never went back." Noah chuckled. "I worked on the farm after that."
"That's so sad."
"Yeah, I ain't never told anyone about that before. Some had asked, but I just couldn’t tell them."
Jen smiled and pulled Noah's chin up.
"I got something for the two of you…." Jen smiled.
"Yeah, what?" Noah asked with a chuckle.
"An apple pie. Now you two sit here and talk while I make some coffee and we'll have a piece together. And celebrate." Jen told them.
Noah glanced at Jace who was smiling and watching Jen. "She's something isn't she?" Noah watched him.
"She's the most beautiful girl in the world, and the sweetest." Jace replied then eyed Noah. "And you're pretty special too Noah. I want to thank you for all you've done for me and Jen."
Noah looked seriously at Jace, "You learned something when you visited with Hank, didn't you?"
Jace firmed his lips and nodded. "I sure did. A lot."
"You think Sam and Doug will do what he said?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure of it. Sam's been wanting to do something for a long time. I think now he's got enough reason to do it. He seems like a pretty nice fella. And he wants your business too."
"Good. Because we'll have plenty of it."
Jen brought the apple pie from the top of the stove and set it between them, she poured them some coffee and then cut them both a piece and herself. The aroma of the pie filled the cabin.
Chapter Fifteen
Kate paced her bedroom that night. She'd heard every word Jace spoke to her husband and her husband's plan to get rid of her.
Anger seethed within her like a smokestack about to blow. She flounced on the beautiful peach and white quilt on her bed. She looked in the mirror, and saw the worry wrinkle on her forehead and grimaced. She knew she was just on the verge of showing her age. She was older than most of the cowboys realized.
"I can't let him get away with this! The very nerve of him trying to run me off this place after all the work I've put into it."
She'd been used. Never in her entire life had she been taken advantage of by a man. Sam Williams and Jace Harrison had a lot to answer for, and she was going to see they answered in the worst way.
She heard her husband come inside and roll himself to his bedroom. Thank God they no longer slept together. They barely spoke to one another now, she preferred it that way. She had grown to hate him over the years. He never kissed her anymore, never wanted her anymore. He was useless, he couldn't ride, he couldn't even get down the stairs alone. The stairs, yes, that was the answer.
