Suppressing a sigh, she tiptoed down the hallway and into the main room. She just needed a breath of fresh air. The porch had a nice swing she could relax on for a minute. After that, perhaps sleep would come easier.
The porch, however, was not empty.
“Can’t sleep?” Cyrus asked from the swing.
Kitty pressed her palm against her chest, waiting for her rushing heart to calm down. “No. It is late, I imagine. Why are you awake?”
“Don’t know, really. Maybe it’s just being in a new place.”
Kitty nodded then remembered he could not see her. “Yes. I understand that.”
“Take a walk with me?” Cyrus stood and offered her his good arm. The doctor had stopped by to take a look at the other one earlier, and he declared there were no signs of infection. Cyrus was healing up just fine.
They left the porch and walked around the yard inside of the fence before going into the stable. There, Thunder spent his first night in his new stall. The horse that Cyrus had ridden through the mountains was there as well. Taking the lantern from the hook by the door, Cyrus lit a match. Light filled the barn.
“We’ll have to think of a name for this one,” Kitty said, going to the second horse and rubbing its side. Thunder noticed the attention and knocked his nose against the stall.
“And you,” Kitty murmured, touching Thunder’s mane. She bent her head and inspected his flank. It was hard to make out his cut in the poor lighting, but it had looked fine when she observed it earlier in the day.
“Him what?” Cyrus asked. He stood in the stable’s doorway, lantern in his outstretched arm.
Kitty swallowed. “I was just… worried about him.” Out of nowhere, emotion-filled her heart and voice. She wound her fingers through Thunder’s mane and pursed her lips, worried they were shaking.
Cyrus stepped up close and rested his hand on the small of her back. “Are you upset about the horse or someone else?”
She turned her wet eyes to his. She did not like to cry in front of people, but she and Cyrus were to be married, after all. Likely, he would see her cry many more times before they died.
“She is different,” Kitty whispered. “And I worry that she never will be the same again.”
Cyrus’ jaw tightened, and he nodded in understanding. “It’s to be expected. Helen went through a lot.”
Instead of comforting her, his words made another wave of despair wash through Kitty. “What can I do?”
Cyrus inhaled long and deep. A faraway look entered his eyes, made more mysterious by the flickering light. “I think all that you can do… all we can do… is be here for her.”
Kitty nodded. She could do that. Taking care of Helen was all she had done her entire life. It had always been the priority.
“That is all I know how to do,” she admitted.
“You know, I’m here for you as well,” Cyrus said. “You don’t have to do anything on your own, Kitty. That includes worrying about Helen. I’m gonna be your husband. I’ll take all the load I need to.”
Kitty smiled in appreciation. More tears blurred her eyesight, but this time they came from a place of joy. “Thank you,” she whispered. “And what of the… the men selling…”
She could not even bring herself to say the words.
Cyrus sighed. “Well, we’ll have to see what the news is once Dan returns… But don’t worry. It should be good. There’s no way the ring’s leader could know we’re onto him. If Ferguson’s lawmen play it right, they’ll be making a fair amount of arrests.”
Kitty nodded. As what always happened when her thoughts steered in the direction of what Helen almost had to endure, anguish shook her torso.
“I think you have one more thing to share with me,” Cyrus suggested.
She looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Your friend in the woods. Is there anything you would like to tell me about that?”
Kitty thought about it. She could not keep secrets from her soon-to-be husband. But what could she say about John Thunder? He had been a mysterious force, one that entered and exited her life in a shroud of uncertainty. She had never discovered just why he chose to live all alone in the wilderness, and she had never learned anything about his life, save for the fact that he was half-Indian.
He had wanted it that way. As Mr. Thunder told her the last time they spoke, all he wished of Kitty was that she continue to show the kindness he had bestowed upon her.
Kitty turned her gaze back to Cyrus. “He was an enigma. A gift from God when I needed it the most.”
That was the full truth, but she knew the answer would not satisfy a practical mind such as Cyrus’.
Which was why she was so surprised when he nodded. “All right.”
“All right?” she asked in puzzlement.
“That whole mission… it was something I can’t understand. When it comes to you, anyway, I can’t. You survived that river. In the middle of the mountains, where no one but bandits should have been, someone came to you and helped you.” Cyrus’ face scrunched up, and he looked like he was thinking very hard. “There’s something special about you, Kitty.”
“No,” she immediately answered. “There is not.”
“Then how come things work out so well for you even when everything else is falling apart?”
“It is not me,” she earnestly responded. “It is God. He makes all things possible.”
“Hm.” Cyrus’ face became unreadable, but he nodded. “All right then.”
“It is fine if you do not believe me, Cyrus. While I must admit that I would love to have a husband who possesses faith equal to mine, it is not a requirement.”
“Hold up. I didn’t say I don’t believe you.”
She eyed him. Next to her, Thunder turned in his stall.
“I’m open to things I wasn’t before.” Cyrus peered into her eyes. “How about that for an answer?”
Kitty was not able to respond. Cyrus had pressed his hand to the back of her neck, sending a sweet feeling through her. With his touch, she lost her ability to speak.
A brief thought flickered across her mind: she longed to retire not to Helen’s bedroom that night, but to Cyrus’. To the room, they would soon share as man and wife. She did not want his loving and tender touch to end. She yearned to have it every moment—to fall asleep to it and wake up to it.
Allowing her eyelids to flutter closed, she sighed in relaxation and pleasure. Cyrus ran his thumb along the back of her neck and shuffled closer. Tenderly, he kissed the top of her head.
“It’s time to go to sleep,” he said.
Kitty frowned. She had been hoping he would mention something about their wedding. They still had not spoken about it at all. With everything that had occurred, she knew she could not push it. Their union, like everything else, would happen in its own time.
Cyrus killed the lantern, and Kitty waited while he closed the stable up. From the corner of their property, she could see the corner of the hotel. One light shone in the dining area. Further down the street, another light lit up one window. Other than that, the town was dark—and completely silent.
Instead of scaring her, the silence seeped into Kitty’s heart and warmed her. The mountains had taught her to appreciate silence. When nothing was happening, you were alert, awake. Ready for whatever came next.
“I believe I will enjoy it here very much,” she murmured as they walked for the house.
“Good.” Cyrus’ smile could be heard in his voice. Kitty liked that—being able to decipher his mood from hearing one word. It meant they were getting to know each other on another level.
In the hallway between their bedroom doors, they paused.
“Goodnight,” Cyrus whispered.
Butterflies fluttered in Kitty’s stomach. “Goodnight,” she whispered back.
Cyrus lifted her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, and Kitty nearly sighed. Without another word, he slipped into his room.
Silently as she
could, Kitty let herself into the second bedroom. Helen slept in the same position as before, her chest slowly rising and falling. Kitty smiled to herself and quickly changed back into her nightgown.
A thick streak of worry over Helen’s safety still wound through her heart, but she knew it would likely always be there. It was just something she would have to learn to live with. They had escaped the bandits and were safe in a new town. A new home.
Slipping under the covers, Kitty lightly kissed Helen on the cheek. With her head on the pillow and the quilt pulled up to her chin, she fell asleep right away.
Chapter Thirty
30. Cyrus
Chapter thirty
“Every once in a while you’ll get a complaint in from one of the ranchers about cattle going missing, but it usually ends up the animals wandered off on their own accord.” Sheriff Mayes leaned back in his chair and inspected Cyrus. “Think you can handle it all?”
Cyrus tried not to smile even though there was a hint of humor in the man’s question. “I should.”
“Right then.” Sheriff Mayes’ lips twitched. “I’m looking awful forward to getting out to that farm and doing a whole load of nothing. Got me a slew of hands to do all the work. It’ll be me and the good ole’ life each and every day.” He chuckled.
“That sounds nice.” Cyrus glanced out the window. They’d been walking around town all day, with Sheriff Mayes filling him in on the basics of life in Shallow Springs and introducing him to everyone they passed. Kitty and Helen were home, giving the house a thorough spring cleaning. He hadn’t been gone a full day yet, but having Kitty out of his sight didn’t sit well with Cyrus.
“Here.” Sheriff Mayes unpinned his badge and extended it across the table.
The metal star was heavy in Cyrus’ hand. He ran his thumb over the surface, catching his distorted reflection there. It was an odd feeling that came with the badge. One of permanence. Security.
He liked it.
“What about Nelson?” Cyrus asked. The traitor was still locked up in the small cell behind the office. He hadn’t said much of anything the couple times Cyrus had taken him food and water, and that was fine. Nelson had given his confession. It was time for him to sit with his conscience.
“You’re the sheriff now. What do you think?”
“He lived through what happened. The other outlaws can’t say that. What comes next, in my mind, is a fair trial.”
“He’ll get that in Cheyenne. If’n you want to go through the trouble of shipping him there.”
“Cheyenne it will be,” Cyrus decided, wanting only to wipe his hands clean of the whole mess. “Say, I need to run on home for a bit. Check on the women. They’re still adjusting after their recent ordeal.”
Mayes nodded in understanding. “They’ll adapt. There are a handful of young ladies their age around here. Most of them are married, so that’ll probably make Miss Helen real popular with the fellas,” he chuckled.
Cyrus smiled, but he wondered if, after what Helen had been through, she’d ever look at the opposite gender in a positive light.
Leaving the office, Cyrus strode down the street. The badge weighed his shirt down—a nice-feeling reminder of just how far he’d come in life. With a job and home secured, he had just what he’d come to Wyoming for—plus more. He had love.
At the thought of Kitty, he picked up his pace. In no time, he was at his fence. The front door was propped open with a piece of firewood, and Kitty emerged in the doorway, sweeping a pile of dirt across the porch and into the grass. The sleeves of her blue dress were rolled up, and she’d plaited and pinned her hair into a big bun. No more tangles and ripped dresses for her.
“Hello, miss,” Cyrus drawled.
Kitty looked up, smiling as she saw him. “Oh, you’re so silly. I thought it was a new neighbor.”
Her eyes sparkled as he sauntered up to her. “Where’s Helen?”
The joy vanished from Kitty’s eyes, and she bit her lip. “Right inside,” she whispered.
Getting the sense that he should stuff a sock in it, Cyrus leaned around Kitty to look through the doorway. Helen sat at the table, hands folded in her lap, looking out the window at the fields beyond.
“I do not know what to do,” Kitty whispered, so softly her words could hardly be heard.
Cyrus rested his hand on her shoulder. “It will just take time,” he answered quietly.
“Hello!” a new voice called.
Kitty started, and Cyrus turned around to see a young blond man on the other side of the fence. He smiled wide, showing off white teeth, and lifted his hat in greeting. “How are you doing? Sheriff Ross, is it? And Mrs. Ross?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Cyrus did a quick once-over of the young man. He decided not to correct him on the way he’d addressed Kitty. She’d be Mrs. Ross soon enough—once they got settled enough.
“I just wanted to stop by and give a welcome. I was visiting my Ma and Pa and heard the new sheriff is in town. The name is Nat Keenan.” He stepped forward, and Cyrus accepted the handshake.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Keenan,” Kitty spoke up.
“You as well, ma’am. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
To be fair, it was just that. Cyrus cleared his throat, ready to suggest Nat come back later, but a noise behind him made him turn. Helen stood in the doorway, watching the three of them in interest.
“Good afternoon,” Nat said, a new quality to his voice.
Cyrus’ head nearly snapped off, he turned it back around that fast. Nat stared at Helen with an expression of pure rapture, his eyes wide and his lips slightly parted.
“Good afternoon,” Nat repeated, taking his hat off again.
Cyrus stifled a laugh.
“You said that,” Helen answered.
“Helen,” Kitty warned.
Cyrus stopped her from further chastising with a touch on her arm and a look that said wait.
“Nat Keenan, miss,” Nat told Helen. He still stared at her like there was nothing else in the whole world.
“Mr. Keenan,” Kitty spoke up, “This is my sister, Helen.”
“Helen,” Nat repeated, savoring those two syllables. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You as well,” Helen answered, and, lord and behold, there was the shimmer of a smile on her face.
Nat blinked as if waking up from a dream and looked back to Cyrus and Kitty. “I hope you all are getting settled in well.”
“We are,” Cyrus answered.
“That’s nice.” Nat twisted his hat around in his hands, suddenly looking nervous. “I’m not sure if you know about this, but there’s a new town hall here. Was just built last month. Anyway, there’s gonna be a dance there next weekend. Were you planning on going?”
Cyrus felt Kitty’s eyes on him. Catching a quick look at her happy expression, he nodded in confirmation. “I think we’ll be there.”
“Good to hear.” Nat cleared his throat. “It should be, ah, a real nice time… I can… If you would like, I’m going and… I can escort Miss Byrum.” His hopeful gaze darted back to Helen.
Cyrus’ chest shook from holding back laughter. Poor Nat. He must have been fresh out of the egg.
“That sounds lovely,” Helen answered.
Nat looked back to Cyrus, and, with a start, Cyrus remembered that he was the man of a house now. Nat was looking for his approval.
“Yes,” Cyrus answered. “An escort would be nice.”
Nat’s smile nearly cracked his face in two. “All right.” He slapped his hat back on his head. “I’ll see you all next Saturday.” His gaze lingered on Helen. “I look forward to it.”
“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Keenan,” Kitty said, breaking the moment.
“You as well, Mrs. Ross.”
Still grinning like a fool, Nat strode off down the street. Once he rounded the corner, Cyrus burst into laughter.
“Stop,” Kitty scolded.
“He was handsome and kind,” Hele
n said, raising her chin. Her face abruptly fell. “I can go to the dance with him, can’t I?”
“Of course you may,” Kitty quickly responded. “I do not know why Cyrus is laughing.”
“I’m laughing,” Cyrus chortled, “because that boy was as nervous as a hog in a slaughterhouse.”
Helen’s cheeks turned pink, and she and Kitty exchanged a smile.
“Oh!” Helen suddenly cried, covering her mouth with her palm. “What am I going to wear? My nice dress was ruined.”
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