by Jodi Thomas
Andrew shook his head. “There are only two endings, dear. The make-believe husband has to die, or you have to take him back to your family to prove he’s real. Either way, they’ll accept you and believe you as long as whichever ending is true.”
“You’d come back with me and play the part a little longer?” She hadn’t thought of that as a possibility, but it might work. “You wouldn’t have to stay long, and when you left, we could make up some reason. You’d write me letters for a while explaining that you were working, researching new places, hearing new stories, and when the letters stopped, we’d just wonder where you were.”
He shook his head. “If I did that, you’d be left with everyone thinking you were married. Your chances of finding someone else and having a family of your own would be zero. I couldn’t do that to you, Beth, not even if you were my imaginary wife.”
Beth leaned back against the table. “That’s it, then. The only way this story will end is if I shoot you.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she hurried on. “Oh, don’t worry. I’d claim I thought you were an intruder. They’d never send me to jail. In fact, I’d even wear black and visit your grave every year.”
She liked this ending. It sounded so tragic, so sad. “Then, after I buried you, of course, I could go home as a widow. There are a great many men out there who wouldn’t mind marrying a widow if I decided on that. Or, I can see myself continuing to wear black and becoming an independent woman. I’ve always looked good in black. As a widow I could set up a house in some big town and go to lectures and plays all by myself.”
“And would you think of me fondly?”
She stood and moved close, circling his neck. “Of course I would.” Without hesitation, she bent and kissed him. Not a light, playful kiss, but exactly the kiss she’d been wanting.
He pulled her onto his lap and returned the kiss as one of his hands moved along her hip.
Before she could get too far lost in pleasure, someone pounded on the door.
Andrew stood slowly, moving his hand over her body as if apologizing for leaving. He motioned for her to move back into the kitchen, then walked to the door.
The pounding came again before he could turn the knob. Beth watched from the shadows as Andrew widened his stance and prepared to face whoever stood on the other side. He didn’t look afraid, only cautious as he pulled the door.
Sunshine spilled in. All she could see was a huge shadow blocking out half the light.
“You Andrew McLaughlin?” a voice boomed.
“I am.” Andrew didn’t budge.
“Then I’m here to see my daughter.” The giant pushed his way in and, to his credit, Andrew had the sense to step aside.
“Papa?” Beth whispered, and ran toward him. “Oh, Papa!”
Teagan McMurray lifted her high as if she were still his little girl, then pulled her into a bear hug. She had been only a toddler when she’d met him, but she’d known, just as her mother and sisters had, that this man was their safe harbor and he always would be. He was gray around the temples now and had more wrinkles, but he was still solid as an oak.
When he set her back on her feet, she asked, “How did you find me? How did you know I was here? Oh, Papa, I’m so glad to see you.”
Teagan took off his hat and slapped it against his leg to dust it off. “I was north of here delivering some horses when your mother telegraphed me and told me I’d better stop and check on her baby before I started home.” He grinned. “And you know I always do what she says.”
Beth laughed. Her father was stubborn as granite with everyone but his Jessie. Beth swore that if her mother told him to walk to the moon, he’d be halfway there before dawn.
“But how did you know where I was?”
“We knew your telegrams came from Fort Worth. I bribed the man at the office to tell me who’d been sending messages to Whispering Mountain and he said, Mrs. Andrew McLaughlin. From there it was relatively easy. I just walked the blocks asking someone on each street if they knew where the McLaughlins lived. Fort Worth’s not that big a town and I guessed I could mark off a few neighborhoods. When I got to this street, everyone I passed pointed me to this door.”
Her papa finally took the time to look around. “Why are you and the senator staying here with the McLaughlins? I thought you’d be on your travels, not stopping off to visit folks.”
Beth took a deep breath. “I didn’t marry Lamont. I’ll explain later about what a fraud he was, but first, Papa, I should tell you that I’m not staying with Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin, I am Mrs. McLaughlin.” She pointed at Andrew, who was still holding the door like a hotel doorman. “Papa, this is Andrew.”
She couldn’t tell if he was angry or confused. On her papa, the expression was about the same.
After a long silence, he turned and offered his hand to Andrew. “I’m Teagan McMurray,” he said without smiling, then added, “If you hurt my daughter, I’ll bury you.”
Beth tried to laugh, but it came out more like a hiccup. “He says that to all the sons-in-law. Come on in, Papa, and I’ll make you a pot of coffee. You might as well stop growling at my new husband.”
Teagan glared at Andrew, then walked back out the front door. “I’ll water my horse first and be right back. I need a while to chew on what you just told me. I was finally getting used to the fact that I’d have to put up with Lamont and now you switched husbands on me.”
She and Andrew stood in the doorway, watching him walk his horse over to the nearest livery. He was a big man who fit with the land and didn’t seem to belong in a town.
“Is it too late for you to kill me?” Andrew whispered. “If I get a vote, I’m leaning in that direction after meeting your papa.”
She put her arm around him and held tightly, fearing he might yet run. “I’m afraid we’ll have to go with plan A. From now on we’d better be married as far as he knows. My papa isn’t a man who’d take well to being made a fool of.”
“I kind of had that feeling. He wears two Colts,” Andrew whispered, “and carries a rifle.”
She smiled. “Maybe he needs them. He’s got three sons-in-law. And right now you’re his least favorite.”
They stood in the doorway watching the street until Teagan returned with his saddle over one shoulder as if it weighed nothing. Wind kicked up dust and clouds darkened the morning as he headed straight toward them.
“Great,” Andrew whispered as he watched Teagan pull his saddlebags and rifle off the saddle he left on the steps. Then Beth’s father turned like a man facing trouble and headed straight toward him.
“He’s not staying, is he?” Andrew managed.
She offered, “I’ll ask him.”
Andrew had the look of a man who’d heard bullets flying and was just waiting for them to hit.
“Storm’s coming,” Teagan said as he passed Andrew.
“I have no doubt,” Andrew answered without looking at the sky.
CHAPTER 21
AN HOUR LATER, ANDREW SAT ACROSS FROM HIS almost-father-in-law and tried to think of something to say. The man had the conversational skills of a broom and smelled of trail dust and horses.
Strangely enough, he was exactly as Beth had described him in her stories of the ranch. Bigger than life. A boy who had to become a man before he was twelve and had to fight to keep his land. A man strong enough to face any crisis head-on.
Andrew wished he could tell Teagan McMurray how much he respected him. Teagan had thought of nothing but his family and the ranch until twenty-three years ago, when a little widow showed up at Elmo Anderson’s trading post with three tiny girls. He’d taken Jessie and her daughters in as his own, and Andrew had no doubt that he loved them dearly.
Teagan was a breathing legend.
Beth told her Papa about meeting Andrew on the train and how he saved her life when the wreck happened. She said that she felt it was her duty to care for him at the hospital and couldn’t help falling in love with him.
She described how Lamont had act
ed and mentioned a few of the cruel things he’d said about women. “I couldn’t marry him, Papa. I just couldn’t after I saw what he was.”
“Of course not,” Teagan agreed. “If I ever run into him again, I may just pound some sense into the man.”
“Exactly what I thought,” Andrew said, trying his best to jump into the conversation.
Teagan McMurray looked like he couldn’t have been more surprised if the coffeepot had talked.
Andrew figured he’d stay out of the conversation.
When the boys and Madie came in, Teagan tipped his hat politely to Madie and shook hands with Levi and Leonard, taking great care to learn their names and ages.
“I got two brothers,” he said to Levi. “It’s good if brothers stick together. I’m sorry to hear about your father being missing, but we’ll help you find him. He’ll be proud of the way you two took care of each other when he gets back.”
Andrew was surprised how he talked to them as if they were older, and the boys responded by straightening.
Beth’s father knelt to one knee and put his hand on Levi’s shoulder as he asked, “While Mr. McLaughlin is waiting for your father to pick up one of the messages he’s been leaving around town, how would you two like to visit my ranch? We got a whole wing of rooms we’re not using, and I’ll cut you out a few gentle horses to ride.”
The boys were too stunned to say anything.
Teagan addressed Madie next. “My daughter says you are between homes, Miss Madeline. Is there a chance you’d join us and maybe help me with these little fellows? You’re welcome to visit as well.”
Madie glanced at Beth. “Does he mean it?”
“My papa never says anything he doesn’t mean.”
The girl turned back to Teagan. “When do we leave? I promised I’d leave word at the ranger station for Colby if we moved on. He traveled with us from Dallas, and he’s coming back to check on me.”
“We could leave tomorrow, I’d think. Take the night train as far as Anderson Glen. I’ll telegram them to have wagons ready. We could be at Whispering Mountain in forty-eight hours.” He looked at Andrew, and his face hardened. “I know there were circumstances to be considered, but you shouldn’t have married my daughter without asking me first and looking in her mother’s eyes so she’d know you meant to take care of our baby girl.”
“I agree.” What else could Andrew say? He was still thinking about Teagan’s promise to bury him. He considered bringing up the fact that Beth certainly wasn’t a baby but a full-grown woman. Only he feared Teagan might ask him questions as to how he knew.
“Then we leave tomorrow evening. I have some business in Dallas to attend to, but I’ll be back in time if I take the train.” He stood. “Bethie, make the arrangements and close this house. You all will be staying with us at the ranch till spring.”
Andrew stood silently watching as the big man walked out the door without bothering to close it. Part of him felt as if he’d just met his first bear, and he saw no point in arguing with the grizzly.
“If I could get that man down on paper, I’d have the perfect character to represent Texas.”
“Good luck,” Beth said. “My papa is not an easy man to figure out.”
He put his arm around her, wondering how all the women in Teagan’s life survived. “What do we do? Surely he’s joking about us moving to a ranch until spring.”
“He’s not joking,” she answered. “I suggest we pack. By the way, he likes you.”
“Really, how could you tell?”
“You’re still breathing.” She didn’t even smile, just seemed to be stating a fact.
Andrew stood in the center of the room and watched as everyone around him went into action like an ant army hearing thunder. “I can’t leave,” he finally said. He saw himself as a man who always drifted with the wind, but this was too much.
“Of course you can.” Beth brushed his elbow as she circled around him giving orders. “I know you voted for being shot earlier, but it looks like we were forced into the other idea. You’ll have to play my husband a little longer, I’m afraid. If you back out now, I’m not going to be the one to explain how we’ve been living together for two weeks without really being married.”
“Well, I’m sure not going to tell him.” Andrew didn’t want to think about what Teagan would do.
“Then you’d best pack,” Beth whispered as Levi circled through the kitchen.
Andrew shook his head. “Until spring,” he whispered, as if it were a death sentence.
A few minutes later, Beth bumped him as she passed with a box of kitchen supplies. When he didn’t move, she looked up into his face, and he had no doubt that she saw his fear.
“Andrew, honestly, here in the middle of everything is where you plan to make your stand? When you jumped from the train you didn’t hesitate to save me. When you faced Lamont and the sheriff and lied, you stared them down even though you were too weak to stand from loss of blood. You walked the streets unarmed. But now, when all I ask is that you come back to my home, you look as if a firing squad stands beyond the door.”
She set her box down and stood in front of him with her fists on her hips. “Andrew, what is it?”
“I don’t think I can do this, Beth. Maybe we can come up with another plan. I’ve liked having you and Madie and the boys here, but a house full of people on a ranch, I don’t know. I won’t get to walk the streets at night and think. I couldn’t write with all the people around. I couldn’t work.” He closed his eyes and added, “All I know is work. I don’t know people.”
“Just pretend they’re characters in your stories. Believe me, a few of them would fit right in.” She didn’t laugh at her joke, and he saw how worried she was.
“I don’t know.”
“Consider this trip research. I’ll even set you up a study in one of the empty bedrooms.” Her hand moved down his arm. “You’ll be able to work there. You’ll see. I’ll make sure you have your time and a place. It won’t be for long, a few months, that’s all.”
His tired eyes closed and, when they opened, reason had won over panic. “All right. I go to a ranch, unknown territory to me, and stay with a wife who’s not mine and children who don’t belong to me and people who have threatened to kill me. Sounds like the only reasonable thing to do.”
She patted his cheek. “When you put it that way, how could you resist? I’ll pack your study and arrange for everything to be freighted. You go have your mail forwarded to Anderson Glen in care of Whispering Mountain Ranch. I’ll pack up the house and it will be here waiting for you when you get back.”
He grabbed his hat and coat and walked out looking like a man who’d been hit with a cast-iron skillet. She wanted to go home, he must understand that. She needed her family, but how cruel was it to ask him to come along with her? He hadn’t started this marriage thing, she had.
He liked living alone. He probably wanted it that way. She guessed he needed his solitude. If he went with her he’d have to play her husband, when he’d just finished telling her that he couldn’t handle even being a make-believe lover.
She was asking too much. He should just tell her that the game she played ended here.
Gulping down a sob, she realized maybe he had tried but she hadn’t listened. Most of the men she knew would have stomped and stormed, but Andrew had given in, not because he wasn’t strong enough to fight, but because he knew it was important to her.
Beth didn’t want to admit that he was broken somehow when it came to love. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make him love her, and that was a first for her. This one man could be attracted to her, even want her, but he never said the word love. Maybe he was telling the truth when he said he had nothing left to give.
Maybe he’d also lied to her about where he lived. It seemed to her that Andrew lived in books and merely survived in real life.
He hadn’t wanted to let her down, so he hadn’t argued. Beth fought back tears. She was forcing him into th
e real world and she had no idea how to stop. She only hoped he cared enough to go along with her lies.
CHAPTER 22
A WEEK HAD PASSED SINCE COLBY DIXON LEFT FORT WORTH with the rangers, and they were no closer to catching the outlaws who’d raided his ranch than they had been the first day.
Slim Bates thought the men had sold the stock fast and then turned toward the border. The young ranger had the theory that the outlaws must have been close, maybe even seen Colby come back home, but since Colby rode in with a marshal and rangers, they gave up on their plan to get the deed. His ranch was good-sized, but not worth a shootout with the law.
After three days on the trail, Marshal Butler gave up talking altogether and started complaining. He was ready to call off the search, but he wouldn’t turn his horse around before the others agreed.
On the fourth day, they found two dead men on display at a mission fifty miles from Colby’s ranch. Apparently, they’d tried to rob a stage and only collected lead for their trouble. Among their belongings was a coin purse that Colby said looked like his pa’s. The undertaker had set the bodies out in front of the mission hoping someone would identify them. With the cold weather they’d barely started to smell.
The marshal put his hand on Colby’s shoulder. “Go home, son, get your affairs in order. You’ve got a ranch to run. The trail is cold. I’ll do my best to see if I can find out the names of the two dead men. From there we may be able to get a lead on who they rode with, but it doesn’t look promising.”
Slim reluctantly agreed. “If there is a third man out there still alive, he’ll brag to someone some night when he’s drunk and the rangers will hear about it. I’ll circle by your place one day with good news.”
Colby didn’t want to stop looking, but he saw their reasoning. He needed to be home.
He turned his horse toward home, already thinking of all that needed to be done at the ranch. When he got time, he’d write Madie and the others, telling them everything that had happened. He didn’t know if he’d aged since he’d seen them, or if he was simply so tired he felt old.
