Barring that, she found a piece of paper and wrote down J.T.’s description, noting the color of his hair and eyes, the scar on the back of his left hand. She wrote down how they had met, and everything she could remember about his mother and father and grandmother. She put the pretty little fox he had carved for her into a box, along with their Indian clothing and moccasins. And when that was done, she wrote about the time they had spent with the Crow and the Lakota.
J.T. walked in on her one afternoon when she was writing about Wicasa Tankala and Chatawinna.
“What are you doing?” he asked, peering over her shoulder.
“I’m writing a diary.”
“A diary? For what?”
“I want to write everything down while it’s fresh in my mind, so I don’t forget. I thought our son would like to have it someday.”
J.T. nodded. Going to the dresser, he opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the rattle his grandmother had given him.
“Here,” he said, “give this to my son when he’s old enough to understand what it means.”
Brandy held the rattle close to her heart, knowing how much it meant to J.T., how painful it must be for him to give it up. “I will.”
“We’re leaving in the morning,” he said.
Brandy nodded. She was going to miss this place. She was even going to miss their landlady. “I’ll be ready.”
Leona Thomason shook J.T.’s hand. “Take good care of that girl,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am, I will.”
A faint smile curved Leona Thomason’s mouth. “You surprised me, John Shayne. When I took you in, I fully expected you to rob me blind.”
“Yes, ma’am, I know you did.”
“Take care of yourself.” Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a small leather pouch. “Here, take this. You earned it.”
J.T. shook his head. “You’ve done enough already.”
“Don’t argue with me, young man. You’re gonna need a few dollars to tide you over until you get settled, so you just swallow your pride and take it.”
“I’m much obliged, Mrs. Thomason.”
“All I ask is that you let me know when the baby’s born.”
With a nod, J.T. stepped back so Brandy and Leona could say their goodbyes. He hadn’t expected it to be this hard to leave Copper Flats, or Leona Thomason. In the few short weeks since they’d been here, he had learned what his life could have been like. For the first time, he had lived in a town where he thought he might have been happy, where he might have been able to settle down and make a home for himself and Brandy. No one in Copper Flats seemed to hold his Indian blood against him. Some of the townspeople had eyed him warily at first, a few had snubbed him outright, but for the most part, the people had made him feel welcome. He wondered if the resentment, the fear, the derision he’d always felt in the past had been of his own making. He saw the tears in Brandy’s eyes as he lifted her onto the back of her horse, and he cussed himself for being the cause of those tears. No doubt she’d have reason to shed many more before he was out of her life for good.
Jaw clenched, he swung aboard his own horse and headed out of town. It was March twenty-first. He had twenty days left; twenty days to get Brandy to Cedar Ridge and get her settled into a room somewhere.
His hand curled over the leather pouch in his pocket. Twenty days to make a stake so she’d have enough money to live on until after the baby was born.
J.T. cursed softly. He knew two or three sure-fire ways to get his hands on a lot of money in a hurry, but he was damn sure Gideon wouldn’t approve of any of them.
* * * * *
They made camp that night in a small thicket near a quiet stream. After dinner, J.T. drew Brandy into his arms, his eyes closed as he let himself absorb her nearness, imprinting every detail in his mind, the way she felt in his arms, the way the firelight danced in her hair, the way she sighed, soft and contented, when he held her close.
“I’m going to miss Leona,” Brandy remarked after a while.
“Yeah,” J.T. replied. “Me, too. Tell me about your life in Cedar Ridge, Brandy. All this time we’ve been together, and I really don’t know much about you.”
“I teach school, like I told you. Third grade. I have a big old ranch-style house on the outskirts of town.” Brandy paused, wondering if her folks had sold her house and her truck, wondering what had become of her horse and the goat and the lamb, her two dogs, the chickens, the countless cats and kittens.
“What you do when you’re not teaching?”
Brandy shrugged. “Not much. I like to read and go to the movies. I like to go horseback riding. I have a pretty little Morgan mare named Athena. And a lamb named Mary, and a goat named Ichabod. And two dogs named Pat and Mike.”
“A real animal lover, hmmm?”
“Guilty as charged. I’ve got a bunch of chickens, too, and more cats than you can shake a stick at.”
“What do you do when you’re not teaching, and you’re not looking after a yard full of critters?”
“I started refinishing an antique chest of drawers. This summer I was going to see my folks during summer vacation…”
“Guess I sort of put a crimp in your plans.”
“I don’t mind.” She forced a smile. “I’ll just think of this as an extended vacation, sort of like a trip to a dude ranch.”
“A what?”
“A dude ranch. It’s a place where people go to pretend they’re cowboys.”
“Why would anyone want to do that? Being a cowhand is a rough life, and sure doesn’t pay much. Hell, a cowboy’s lucky if he makes a dollar a day.”
“Well, it’s been glamorized in the movies. Cowboys and gunfighters have become legendary. Hollywood used to make a lot of movies about Wild Bill Hickok and Jesse James and Wyatt Earp.”
“Yeah? I met Hickok once.”
“Really? When? Where?”
“Three, four years ago in Abilene.” J.T. frowned. “It was April or May, as I recall. He’d just been appointed marshal. I met Earp a couple of times, too, in different places.”
For the first time, it occurred to Brandy that these famous men were still alive, that if she didn’t make it back home, she could go to Dodge City or Abilene and watch history unfold.
Brow furrowed, she tried to recall what she knew of Wyatt Earp. In 1875, he’d been a lawman in Wichita, Kansas; the following year, this year, she thought with a shake of her head, he’d be a deputy sheriff in Dodge City, along with Bat Masterson.
“Wyatt Earp lived to be an old man,” Brandy said. “He died in Los Angeles in 1929.”
J.T. whistled under his breath, surprised that a man of Earp’s character and temperament had managed to avoid being gunned down.
“What will you do if you can’t get back to your own time, Brandy?”
“I’ll try to find a job teaching school.”
“And if you can’t?”
“I’m sure I can.”
She couldn’t help grinning as it suddenly occurred to her that if she couldn’t find a job teaching in the Old West, she could probably earn a living as a fortune teller. Wyatt Earp would probably pay a pretty penny to know exactly what was going to happen at the O.K. Corral. And what would it be worth to Wild Bill to be warned to stay away from Deadwood on August 2, 1876, the day he was shot in the back?
“You remember your promise?”
“I remember.” She turned in his arms, her gaze seeking his. “I’ll never love anyone else the way I love you,” she said fiercely. “Never!”
“Brandy…”
“No, hear me out. I don’t want anyone but you, but if some nice man comes along who loves me and will love our son and he asks me to marry him, I’ll say yes because I promised you I’d find a father for our son, but I’ll never love another man as much as I love you, J.T. Cutter. Never in a million years.”
Breathless, she hid her face in the hollow of his shoulder. She was determined not to cry. There would be plenty of time for tears later. But
they came anyway. Buckets of tears that soon soaked his shirt.
When she’d cried herself out, J.T. lifted the hem of her skirt and wiped her eyes.
“I’m sorry, love,” he murmured. “If I’d known I was going to cause you so much pain, I’d have left you in Cedar Ridge.”
“No! We were meant to be together, J.T.. I’m sure of it. Why else would I be here?”
He had no answer for that. Right or wrong, he knew only that he was glad of the time they’d had together. She had swept into is life like a hurricane, made him feel things he’d never known existed, given him an appreciation for life, let him have a taste of love that had changed him forever.
With a sigh, he drew her up against him, his arms around her waist, resting lightly over her womb. The baby stirred beneath his hand. A son, to be born in the spring.
Brandy covered his hands with hers. “Do you know how precious your are to me, J.T? Do you know that I love you with all my heart and soul?”
“I know,” he replied, his voice thick. “I love you, too. Both of you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
J.T. stared at the lights of Cedar Ridge. They pierced the darkness like fireflies, blinking out one by one until everything was dark except for the saloons.
He could see the outline of the gallows silhouetted against the night sky only a few yards away. He had stood there a year ago and watched the sun rise on what he had thought was to be the last day of his life.
He felt his throat tighten as, all too clearly, he remembered the stifling closeness of the shroud over his head, the gut-wrenching fear that had held him in its grasp when the hangman dropped the rope around his neck.
It was April the eighth.
“We’d better say our goodbyes here,” Brandy said. “I don’t want anyone to see you.”
“No. I’ll take you the rest of the way.”
“You can’t. It’s not safe.”
“I don’t give a damn about safe, Brandy. I want to make sure you get settled in a nice place, that you’ve got someone to look after you. There’s a lady in town, Nora Vincent. She’ll look out for you until the baby comes.”
“Who’s Nora Vincent?” Brandy asked, unable to keep the edge of jealousy out of her voice.
“Just a friend. You’ll like her. And she’ll like you.”
“You never mentioned her before.”
J.T. shrugged. In truth, he hadn’t thought of Nora until now. “She owns the hotel. Come on.”
The hotel was located at the other end of town. J.T. led the way, avoiding the main street, staying to the shadows.
The hotel was dark save for a single light that glowed in the lobby.
Despair sat heavy on J.T.’s shoulders as he lifted Brandy from the back of her horse. This was the last night they would spend together.
Taking her hand, he opened the door and stepped into the lobby.
A tall, thin man was sitting behind the front desk, his arms folded, his chin resting on his chest.
J.T. rapped on the desk top. The man came awake instantly.
“Sorry.” He stood up, running a hand through his hair. It was obvious, from the way his gaze darted from J.T. to Brandy, that he wasn’t happy about having Indians in his establishment. “May I help you?”
“I’d like to see Nora.”
The man slid a furtive glance at the Colt tucked into the waistband of J.T.’s trousers. “I’m afraid Missus Vincent has retired for the evening. Perhaps you could come back in the morning?”
“No.”
The desk clerk ran a finger around the inside of his collar. “I’m sorry, but I can’t…that is, I don’t…” The man cleared his throat.
“I’m an old friend of Nora’s,” J.T. said. “I’m sure she’ll want to see me. Now.”
“Well, I…uh, very well.”
Keeping one eye on J.T., the desk clerk emerged from behind the safety of his desk and rushed down the hallway.
“Do you have that effect on everyone you meet?” Brandy asked dryly.
“Almost.” J.T. squeezed her hand. “Not on you, though. You were never afraid of me, were you?”
“Not really. J.T., I…”
“J.T. Cutter, is that you?”
Brandy glanced past J.T. to see a short, plump woman with outrageous red hair hurrying down the hallway.
“Hi, Nora.”
“Landsakes, boy, last time I saw you, you were swinging at the end of a rope! How’d you manage to walk away from that?”
“It’s a long story.”
“And interesting, no doubt. You can tell me all about it in a minute, but first, who’s this pretty little thing?”
“Nora, this is my wife, Brandy. Brandy, this is Nora Vincent, best cook in the territory.”
“Wife!” Nora pressed her hand to her breast. “My, you have been busy. Well, come on,” she said, taking Brandy and J.T. by the hand. “I can see we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
Nora ushered the two of them down the hall toward her suite, then closed the door. Hands fisted on her hips, she studied Brandy, her blue eyes widening as she got a good look at Brandy’s rounded belly.
“J.T., what you doing dragging this girl around. A woman in her condition ought to be in bed.”
“That’s why I brought her here, Nora,” J.T. replied dryly. “I need someone to look out for her until the baby comes.”
Nora nodded. “Sit down, dear. Would you like something to eat? To drink? A glass of cool water, or some tea, maybe?”
“I’d love a cup of tea,” Brandy said, smiling at the older woman.
“J.T., you come help me in the kitchen,” Nora said.
Brandy sat down on a green-and-white-striped damask sofa. With a sigh, she stretched her legs, then glanced around the room. Frilly white drapes hung at the windows; colorful rugs covered the floor. There was a large, comfortable looking chair in one corner. Numerous pictures hung on the walls, together with several shelves that held small porcelain figurines of every bird and animal imaginable.
A few minutes later, Nora and J.T. returned. Nora placed a heavy silver tray laden with a silver tea service and three china cups on the table beside the door.
“Married!” Nora shook her head in wonder as she filled the tea cups. “I can’t believe it. Cream, dear? When did all this happen?”
“Recently,” J.T. said. He grimaced as he accepted a cup of tea. “Dang it, Nora, when are you gonna start keeping coffee in the house?”
“Never. Can’t abide the stuff.” She handed Brandy a cup of tea, poured one for herself, then sat beside Brandy on the sofa. “Now, I want to know everything. Where you met, when you got married…” She fixed J.T. with a hard stare, “How you escaped the noose. But first I want to know what insanity brought you back to Cedar Ridge?”
“It’s Brandy’s home. I…I’ve got to leave in a day or two, and she wanted to stay here until the baby came.”
“Well, of course. I’ll be glad to look after her, and the baby, too, but…”
“Nora, I’m really not in the mood for questions tonight.”
“Of course, it’s late.” Nora smiled at Brandy. “You need your rest.” She took the cup from Brandy’s hand and set it aside. “You take the room at the top of the stairs. The one on the left. It’s the biggest, and the nicest. The key’s in the door. I’ll see you get water for a bath first thing in the morning.”
J.T. put his cup on the table, then helped Brandy to her feet. “Thanks, Nora, I really appreciate this.”
“I’m glad to do it.” She gave Brandy a hug. “Don’t you worry about a thing. I know all about babies. Had seven of them myself. Not a runt in the bunch.”
Brandy smiled. Nora Vincent was easy to like.
“I’ll see you two down here for breakfast in the morning,” Nora said. “Not too early. Here, take this,” she said, handing J.T. one of the lamps from the mantle. “We can’t have Brandy tripping on the stairs.”
“Thanks, Nora.”
“Don’t
mention it. Goodnight.”
“I like her,” Brandy said as they walked up the stairs.
“I knew you would.”
“How are you going to explain your miraculous escape from the noose?”
“I won’t have to,” J.T. said. He took the key from the lock, opened the door, and placed the lamp on the top of the dresser.
Brandy swallowed the lump that surfaced in her throat. For a moment, she’d forgotten that J.T. was leaving. She stared at his back as he closed and locked the door. His time was almost up.
When he turned to face her, she knew he was thinking the same thing. This was goodbye. Silent tears filled her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.
“Brandy, don’t.”
“I can’t help it.”
Whispering her name, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I don’t want to leave you. You know that.” He closed his eyes as pain knifed through him. “I love you. I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. More than my own life.”
“I can’t live without you, not now.”
“You can, and you will.” He drew back, forcing a smile. “You’ve got to be strong for both of us now. My son is depending on you.”
She shook her head. “How can I go on, never knowing what happened to you? It isn’t fair for you to just disappear from my life.”
“I know,” he murmured helplessly. “I know.”
Gently, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed, then sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms, wishing that he could make love to her one last time.
She held him tight, her face pressed to his chest. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he’d misunderstood Gideon. Please, please, don’t take him from me. I love him so much. I need him. Our son needs him. Please don’t take him away…
“Brandy, if you can’t get home, don’t be afraid to stay here with Nora. She’ll take good care of you. She’s a fine, decent woman.”
She nodded, hardly aware of what he was saying. Dawn was brightening the horizon. If J.T. was right, he only had one day left. Twenty-four hours. And he couldn’t stay here. It was too dangerous. If someone should see him…
She sat up with a start as someone knocked on the door.
The Angel and the Outlaw Page 26
