Tried and True (Wild at Heart Book #1)

by Mary Connealy

  Emerging from the woods, he saw movement on the roof of Masterson’s nearly finished cabin. A pair of eyes turned and locked on him. Something in those eyes drew his attention in a way he couldn’t quite explain. He couldn’t look away. Then that head with its dark curls ducked out of sight.

  Masterson had killed back the trees to make a decent-sized clearing, which Tucker was just entering. He was probably forty or fifty feet from the house, and he’d only seen those curls and those eyes for a moment when he knew he’d never seen them before. And he knew he wanted to see them again.

  Words he couldn’t make out passed between two people behind the house. A skinny young man with blond hair peeked around the corner, then quickly disappeared.

  Tucker touched his holstered gun, wondering where Ma was. Then he saw her. She walked out of the house, where a door had been neatly hung. He swung down and noticed a hitching post had already been put in place in front. He smelled something cooking and heard a fire crackling behind the house. Beef. Ma didn’t go hunting for beef, so someone had brought it over. Probably one of these visitors.

  Scanning the place, Tucker saw a corral finished behind the house. The house wasn’t closed up yet, but there were split aspens laid overlapping each other about halfway up on all four walls. Probably a bigger job than could be tackled today, but it didn’t look like rain. If it suited them, Masterson and his wife could sleep here tonight.

  A lot had been done since he’d come out here to get Aaron and Kylie. Ma was a mighty handy woman, yet she sure hadn’t done all this. Who were the folks building on the house?

  Hooves pounded away on the far side, and Tucker knew whoever it was, they were hightailing it. He had a momentary stab of worry for Ma just as she stepped out of the house, looking just fine. Jumping off the grulla, he stripped off the hackamore bridle and let the mustang roam.

  “Howdy, Ma.” He jogged up and hugged Sunrise, lifting her off her feet as he often did. She slapped his shoulders and smiled. It was their usual greeting. “Who was helping you?”

  “That was Kylie’s family. All but her pa.”

  Tucker quit smiling. “I’ve met Cudgel Wilde. I had a run-in with him in the woods. He told me I was on his property and threatened to fill my backside full of buckshot if I didn’t move along. A sour old goat who doesn’t deserve to have a pretty young daughter.” He thought of that head of dark curls. Those eyes. He waited for Ma to tell him more, not wanting to get caught showing interest.

  “Shannon and Bailey are good builders. They came to help with the house. They are not ones to mix with folks, so when they heard you, they headed home.”

  “I remember her brothers were at her house the other day. Is that the whole family?” That hadn’t looked like a brother up there. Except what woman had short hair like that? “They wouldn’t come out of Kylie’s house when Coulter and I rode over. I understand keeping to yourself. I like that as well as any man, but it don’t make no sense to be quite so standoffish.”

  Sunrise waved a hand. “It is their way. Now you help.”

  Ma hadn’t answered his question about Kylie’s family. Was there a sister? Shannon and Bailey sounded like men. “Masterson had a few more things to see to in town before he could come home. Let’s see if we can surprise him.”

  There was a nice pile of aspens ready for the roof. They were neatly done, and it was all new, since Tucker had been here just a few hours ago. Must’ve been the brothers’ work. The Wildes were skilled woodsmen. A nice change from the Hughes family.

  Tucker looked up at the roof and pictured those dark curls and bright eyes. He’d bet he could get Kylie to tell him about her family. He bit back a grin as he leaned a long row of split logs on end against the wall, then headed for the corner of the house and scaled it. The corners were logs notched and crossed so they stuck out like steepled fingers, a perfect ladder.

  He pulled the first log up and set it in place.

  Over the years he’d helped his ma build a barn, and they’d re-roofed that and her cabin a couple of times. Sunrise didn’t like admitting any white man’s ways made sense, but Pierre had himself a cabin, so that was where she lived and she’d finally let Tucker build her horse a shelter in the winter.

  Sunrise was a lot younger than her husband, and as Pierre had aged, Tucker had done a lot for them. He and Ma knew how to work well together.

  There was plenty left to do before the cabin could be called finished. Building the chimney, hanging the windows, chinking the cracks, and Masterson would probably want to lay a floor.

  But with his ma’s help, Tucker was setting the last log in place on the peak of the roof when the Mastersons rode into the clearing. Kylie and Aaron could sleep here tonight.

  Kylie saw Tucker straddling their roof. She smelled food cooking. The people after her were locked up. She had a handsome new husband who showed signs of real decency. Except he wanted to move farther into the wilderness.

  It was all she could do not to cry.

  And if they weren’t completely tears of gratitude, well, she had no intention of letting them fall, so what difference did it make?

  Tucker hailed them and then turned his attention back to the roof. He was right at the peak; he had it all enclosed.

  Sunrise waved from the ground, where she picked up scraps of log. “There is stew around back.”

  Aaron helped her down from her horse and kept a supporting hand on the small of her back as he led the horses toward the corral.

  Why, she was being waited on hand and foot. She might as well be a princess.

  They sat on the dirt floor of the roughly finished house. Tucker ate with them.

  “I saw your brothers today, Mrs. Masterson.”

  “Oh, call me Kylie, for heaven’s sake. Mrs. Masterson takes too long.”

  Tucker grinned. Kylie couldn’t help remembering him with all that wild fur on his face. He looked much more civilized now, though the long hair and full beard was probably more who he truly was. A kind, hardworking, decent man, but only half tame.

  He nodded. “Obliged, Kylie.”

  “So you got to know Bailey and Shannon a bit, then?” Aaron asked.

  Kylie could hear the amusement in his voice, even if he was doing his best to keep it under control.

  “Nope, I barely caught a glimpse of ’em. The dark-haired one on top of the roof and the fair-haired one working on the ground. They rode away the minute they saw me. I never even spoke to ’em. Your brothers are mighty unfriendly.” Tucker might have stressed the word brothers, but Kylie wasn’t sure and wasn’t going to mention it.

  “Shannon has dark hair.” Kylie looked around. “I can see Bailey’s been working here. Bailey has a lathe and some other fine woodworking tools. I haven’t seen them since my wedding. I reckon they’re upset that I gave up my claim, but still they came, prepared to help. That sounds like my family.”

  “Does it?” Tucker got up, empty plate in hand, and carried it to a basin of hot water set on the dirt floor. He crouched beside it and made short work of washing his plate and fork. “Well, then you’re lucky in your family, lucky indeed. I am going to make a point of getting to know them, despite their standoffish ways. Good night, everyone.” Then he left the cabin.

  Kylie had no doubt he’d meant those words as a warning. Her sisters were going to have to watch out.

  “I moved in bedrolls and clothes from your homestead cabin today, nothing large or heavy,” Sunrise said. She made that announcement and was gone moments after Tucker.

  Kylie was alone again with her husband.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t get the rest of your things moved, Kylie. Your bed and stove and your rocking chairs. For tonight we’ll have to make do with a bedroll on the ground.”

  Kylie smiled and caressed Aaron’s face with her open palm. “That’s fine. I never dreamed we’d be sleeping here tonight. I can’t believe the house is so close to done. I came west in a covered wagon, Aaron, so I slept on the ground for months. And before tha
t I slept in a tent. I’ve slept in muddy trenches. I’ve crawled across battlefields with cannons exploding around me. I’ve—”

  Aaron reached out and touched her lips with one finger. “We need to talk about that. I’d even like to share war stories.” He gave her a sad smile. “But I hate knowing you’ve seen such ugliness. I wish I’d have known you then and been able to shelter you from such hard things.”

  Kylie kissed that callused fingertip. “Thank you, but I don’t think I carry it around with me the way you do, Aaron. Maybe in some ways, the fact that I was pretending to be someone else, a man, makes it easier to leave it all behind. And Pa was already planning to take advantage of our service exemption, so we headed west as soon as we all got home. Bailey was the slowest getting there. I’m not sure why. She never would talk about it. But she returned months after Shannon and I did. Then, just days after she came walking up our lane, Pa told us our disguises would have to stay on. He loaded us in a covered wagon and we headed west. We weren’t leaving much behind. We always had a miserable little farm that didn’t produce much. And we were all pretty beaten down by the war. Letting Pa take charge was easy enough. We weren’t giving up a nice place like you did, with a long, prosperous family heritage.”

  Aaron pulled Kylie into his arms and kissed her. By the time he let up, she was breathless. Aaron rested his forehead against hers.

  “The war is going to rage on there in the Shenandoah Valley, in small, vicious ways until the entire generation is gone. I wish I could take you back to the beautiful place I grew up, but I can’t do that just by going there. I have to go back in time, too. Into the past. Because the place I love no longer exists. I’m sorry, Kylie. Can you be happy out here in the mountains?”

  Kylie saw in Aaron’s expression that he was truly grieving, for his family and for his home. She realized then that her dreams were the same as his. She was pining for exactly what he’d lost. For her to want what he would love to give her but couldn’t made him feel like the worst kind of failure, a man who couldn’t make his wife happy. That was how marriages became laced with bitterness over a lifetime. Hers wasn’t going to be like that.

  “My home is where you are, Aaron. I’m happiest when at your side. We’ll find our own place and make a life together.” She smiled and made sure he saw only acceptance in her eyes. If she sometimes pined for nicer things and gentler ways, she wouldn’t be the first woman to give up a few bits of comfort in exchange for peace at home.

  There was hope in his eyes, and it made her heart sing. Her respect and caring for him grew into something different, something deeper, which both pained and stretched her heart in ways she hadn’t known before. It was the most beautiful ache in the world.

  She knew nothing about womanly love for a man, but she wondered if she might be falling in love with her husband. He kissed her, and she decided that she’d just go ahead and decide it was exactly that.

  “Kylie, can you be happy out here? I wish I could give you that old life. I know that’s what you want, but—”

  “Right now, an old life isn’t what I want at all, husband. What I want is you.” She silenced him as her arms tightened around his neck.

  She felt the world tilt, and suddenly she was lying on the pallet with Aaron above her. He brushed her hair off her forehead as his lips caressed her eyes and wandered across her cheeks to find her mouth once again.

  21

  The next morning, Kylie served him a surprisingly tasty breakfast cooked over an open fire. He knew she didn’t particularly like doing it, but he was already learning that his wife was competent at many things, including a lot of manly chores. Just because she liked things civilized didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of roughing it.

  It made him want to give her the comforts of a settled land all the more. He needed to get her stove moved over, but today he had to make some headway on the land rush.

  He stepped out of the cabin with a list of things to do and looked back at her, worried. “I don’t like it, Kylie. I just finished promising you and myself that you weren’t going to be alone in the wilderness.”

  His kind smile lit him up and touched her all the way to her heart. “Riding with Bailey, Shannon, and Sunrise isn’t the same as being alone. That’s why you said yes.”

  “I know.” They’d hashed this out last night, and he’d agreed, yet now that he was leaving it seemed like a bad idea.

  “I can ride the few miles to Shannon’s without an escort, Aaron. I’ve made the trip dozens of times. And now that Myra Hughes and her brothers are taken care of, I’m all right on my own.”

  “I’ll ride along. That’s proper and that’s how I’ll do it, Mrs. Masterson.” Aaron laced his words with a smile, but he wasn’t letting his wife hare off alone in these woods, no matter if it’d save him some time. Sunrise had gone back to Kylie’s homestead to sleep, so she would meet them there.

  They were on the trail to Shannon’s within minutes.

  “Bailey will come to Shannon’s,” Kylie told Aaron, “and we’ll meet up with Sunrise at my old cabin. Once we’re all together, we’ll stay together. Bailey helped me move the stove to my place. She complained about it nonstop, because no wagon could handle the narrow trail. My big sister makes a lot of noise, but she always gets done what needs doing. She built a travois, and we pulled the potbellied stove along the trail that way. I’m sure we’ll move it to our new home that same way.”

  Aaron tugged at his hat in frustration. He should be doing this. But he was already guilty of shirking his job. His negligence wasn’t honorable. When they were within sight of Shannon’s holding, Aaron pulled Kylie’s horse to a halt and gave her a sound kiss. “I probably won’t see you until near sunset. I’m sorry to leave this all to you.”

  “You’ve done precious little work this week, Aaron. Moving what’s left of my things isn’t that big a chore. Now stop worrying.” Kylie, looking demure, which didn’t fit on her face very well, said, “I’ll see you tonight at our place.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Aaron said, “Just see that you don’t wait there alone.” He kissed her one more time, then rode away while he still remembered why it was a good idea to leave his pretty wife’s side for even a minute. And he regretted being separated from her for a lot of reasons. Worrying about her safety was only one of them.

  Aaron had gotten in a good morning of work. He could see the land rush was already tapering off. The worst would be over before the snow cut the area off, but Aaron had to accept that he and Kylie would be spending the winter in the house they’d just built. Moving on would have to wait until spring.

  He wanted to be higher in the mountains, so that meant a late start because the mountain passes didn’t open early, and . . .

  The door to the land office slammed open, and Myra Hughes rushed in. She was taut as a drawn bowstring, but then when she saw Aaron, she seemed to relax a little. “Good, y’all are here.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “A man, he said some strange things. At first it didn’t worry me, and then this morning I thought I’d better tell you.”

  “What is it?”

  “A man came in the general store yesterday, asking after you. I didn’t even think about him being anything but a homesteader. He asked about the land agent, and I told him you’d gone home. He was right friendly at first and seemed to be a talker. He mentioned that he knew Kylie. But he sounded so friendly, I told him some about Kylie and her family and how you’d built a cabin and she’d given up her claim. This morning I got to thinking. He seemed to know too much about you for a homesteader just coming into the country. You haven’t had any trouble, have you?” Myra wrung her hands nervously.

  “No.” Aaron moved to the door and stepped outside. He looked around at the quiet little town. Strangers came and went with little notice, if they didn’t cause any trouble. “He knew too much. You mean like he’d been asking around?”

  “Y-you know what I did to Kylie. I only mention that because of the
way he said her name, like he was familiar with her.”

  “How did he say her name?”

  “It was strange is all. He whispered it, real soft, until a body might think she was hearing a breath of air instead of a name spoken. It was strange. ‘Kylie.’ He said it twice. Then he started muttering about the war and left the general store real sudden-like.”

  “But who was it? Did the man have a name?”

  She nodded. “He made a point of telling me to say hello if I saw you. He said to tell you to be watching out for him. Said his name was Neville Bassett.”

  Aaron was stunned, stumbling against the open door.

  Kylie. Like a name spoken on a breath of wind . . .

  Memories of his childhood friend raced through his mind. Nev swimming with him, climbing trees, chasing bullfrogs, riding horses, dreaming about working their land and marrying the pretty girls who lived nearby.

  Playing war as boys. Playing a life-and-death game of war when they came home.

  Then he thought of Kylie. Riding with her sisters and Sunrise. Thinking the people threatening her were locked away. All her troubles were over.

  Nev, standing in that cellar doorway, had said before going for his rifle, “I swear before God that if you had any family left, I’d shoot every one of them and make you watch.”

  Aaron ran for his horse with only one thought: get to Kylie before Nev took his hate out on the woman Aaron only this moment realized he loved.

  22

  If you could get married and not tell us, how come you couldn’t move and not tell us?” Bailey liked to complain, but that didn’t stop her from throwing her back into shoving the potbellied stove across the floor of Kylie’s cabin.

  They’d emptied everything else out first and strapped it on the backs of the horses. Bailey had arrived at Shannon’s with a string of her mountain ponies. Bailey didn’t like admitting it, but she was a really nice big sister.