The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride

by Stacey Kayne

  He forced himself to look away, toward the ranch coming into view. She’d be safe with Jed and Rachell. His foster parents wouldn’t hesitate to invite her and Reginald into their home. Hopefully she’d be tucked into a bed and sound asleep by sundown—giving him the opportunity to recover her cash box.

  “Günter will be meeting us here?” she asked.

  “Likely late tonight or in the morning.”

  “Are you sure we should wait?”

  We?

  She either had more gumption than any woman he’d ever met, or she didn’t have a clue as to what they were dealing with. Either way, she clearly wasn’t going to make this easy on him. “Lily, I’m not taking you into a den of outlaws, and I don’t plan to charge in without some backup.”

  “What happened to them just being lumberjacks with good intentions? If that’s the case, why can’t we just reason with them?”

  “Those lumberjacks are traveling with men who come from a family of outlaws. I don’t know if it was a Chandler who killed your guard, but—”

  “Mr. Dobbs,” Lily said, her brow pinched in a frown.

  “Right. Point is, when tensions run high the loudest voice tends to dominate. Based on what we heard from Emma, that voice is one of the Chandler boys.”

  “There’s more than one?”

  “Two that I know of for sure. Cousins.”

  “When did you learn this?”

  “I knew we had two men by the name of Chandler on a cutting crew. I didn’t realize they were from the same Chandlers who once lived near the Double D until Emma mentioned the valley with flat-topped ridges.”

  Lily glanced at Reg, who’d ridden up beside her, before looking back at Juniper. “They could be gone by morning.”

  “Those men worked a full shift on the mountain, then rode as hard as we did. They’re just as worn-out and hungry as we are.”

  Lily didn’t look convinced, her eyes revealing a mind fast at work as she chewed on her lower lip. “When Günter arrives, I want to be included in your plans.”

  “My plans start with food, a bath and a bit of rest. Hungry and exhausted is no way to start an ambush.”

  “Are you sure it’s wise to take us along?” asked Reg.

  “No,” Juniper answered with quick honesty.

  “We’re not lawmen, after all,” he said to Lily.

  “You convince her of that,” Juniper said, “and I’ll forfeit my two-months’ worth of back wages.”

  “I want to see them held accountable.”

  “As do I,” said Reginald, “but we all serve our…” His voice trailed off as his gaze locked on the ranch up ahead, a maze of fences spreading out from a massive two-story house and a cluster of outbuildings. “Now that’s more like it.”

  Juniper shared his enthusiasm, increasing their pace, anxious to see his family. They stayed on the main road, riding past the Darby house and beyond a wide stretch of barns and stables, toward the entrance to Jed’s home farther out on the open field.

  “Who lives in the first house?” Lily asked as the farmhouse disappeared behind the barns and stables separating the two properties.

  “Jed’s partner and his family.” Juniper hoped Ben’s son, Jake, was around and in the mood for some late-night possum hunting. He could use an extra gun on his side.

  Part of the tension coiled inside him relaxed as he turned onto the path toward Jed and Rachell’s house. Coming home always seemed to ease the raw loneliness buried in the shadows of his heart. Jed’s place stood farther out from the ranch, another two-story house of similar size. The wide covered porch faced the tall peaks of the Sierras. The only other structures in the yard were a stable and a chicken coop. Isaac stepped from the stable as they rode into the yard.

  “June!” Twice the height of most seven-year-olds, he barreled toward him with the size and speed of a bull calf.

  “Hey, sprout,” Juniper greeted, dismounting in front of the house. “You keep growing at this rate and you’re going to be eight feet tall and too big for the barn.”

  “Won’t, neither,” he said, laughing as Juniper ruffled his wavy black hair.

  “Juniper?”

  He turned to see Rachell standing on the porch. Her face lit with a smile as she rushed down the steps.

  “It’s about time,” Rachell said, grabbing him up for a tight squeeze.

  He returned her embrace. “Work’s been hectic.”

  “April!” May’s voice rang out from somewhere inside the house. “June’s home!”

  “You gonna stay for a while, June?” Isaac asked from beside him.

  His answer was cut off by a high-pitched squeal from inside, just before his sisters raced out the front door. April leaped past the steps in a flutter of plaid skirts, her long auburn braids trailing behind her as she ran toward him.

  “June!”

  He opened his arms as she launched herself at him. Laughing, he hugged her, then lowered her to the ground. Lord, it did feel good to be home. May was next. Juniper planted a kiss on the top of her head. Her black hair, usually bound in braids, spiraled down her back in loose silky coils.

  “What’s with the new hairstyle?” he asked, touching one of the ebony candlestick curls.

  “May has decided she’s too old for braids,” said Rachell.

  “Mother. Don’t tell June such things. He and Daddy will lock me in the hayloft until I’m eighteen.”

  “More like twenty-five,” Juniper amended.

  Everyone gazed curiously at the guests standing behind him.

  Lily realized belatedly that she was the only one still sitting in a saddle and quickly dismounted. She’d been distracted by Juniper’s exuberant welcome and the sight of him surrounded by his family.

  “Rachell, this is Miss Lily Carrington and her cousin Reginald Carrington. They’re the new owners of McFarland’s lumber camp.”

  “Madam.” Reginald gave a regal bow. “These lovely ladies must be your sisters.”

  The girls giggled, and Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

  “My daughters,” said Rachell. “April and May.”

  “Ah, the fairest of months of spring,” Reginald said, pressing a hand to his chest: “When the red-cheeked, dancing girls, April and May, trip home to the wintry, misanthropic woods…even the barest, ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send forth some few green sprouts, to welcome such gladhearted visitants.”

  “Melville,” said the girl with ebony curls, her gray eyes alight with recognition.

  “Melville?” said her sister, her amber eyebrows pinching inward.

  “You know, April. The book Moby Dick,” her sister explained.

  “Oh. Yeah.”

  April, May and June. The combination sent a shiver across Lily’s skin. She glanced at the woman who was clearly Juniper’s foster mother. Had she intentionally named her daughters after him?

  “Have you had a rough journey?” Rachell asked, her gaze skimming over Lily’s ravaged dress.

  “To say the least,” said Juniper. “We ran into quite a bit of trouble.”

  “A mountain of trouble,” Reginald agreed.

  Rachell’s eyes widened with concern.

  “Juniper’s taken good care of us,” Lily said, forcing a reassuring smile, glancing only briefly at Juniper’s look of surprise.

  “We could all use a meal and a warm bath,” he said. “And Miss Carrington is in need of a fresh change of clothes.”

  “Certainly,” said Rachell. “I just pulled some bread from the oven and I have plenty of dresses. We seem to be about the same size.”

  “I’m truly grateful.”

  “Happy to help,” she said with a smile. “Please, come inside. I left supper cooking on the stove and had just started a pot of tea.”

  “My dear woman,” Regi said, following her across the wide porch, “if you have sugar to go with the tea, I may just weep at your feet.” The girls giggled beside him.

  “I’ll take care of the horses,”
Juniper said from behind them.

  Halfway up the steps, Lily stopped. She turned as he took a step back. Despite wanting to be rid of him all day long, she suddenly didn’t want to let him out of her sight. She didn’t want to be alone with his family.

  “I’m not leaving,” he assured her. “I’ll come inside after I’ve finished.” The gentleness in his tone suggested he recognized her distress. “You go on in and get something to eat.”

  “Hey, June,” said Isaac, yanking on his sleeve. “You got a hole in your boot.”

  Lily stiffened.

  Juniper chuckled and dropped his hat over Isaac’s black hair. He draped his arm over the boy’s shoulders and started toward the horses. “Another example of why a man shouldn’t be dangling guns from his britches.”

  “You shot yourself in the foot?”

  “Pretty much, sprout.”

  “I want to help!” His youngest sister rushed past Lily.

  “Come on then,” Juniper called back, he and Isaac already gathering the horses.

  April looped her arm through his as all three walked toward the barn.

  I really don’t want to be here.

  Lily dragged in a deep breath and went inside. Her gaze swept over a grand front room beautifully decorated with lace and floral drapes, the deep greens, golds and browns matching the rich tapestry of the furniture. Polished oak tables supported an array of exquisite vases, each filled with fresh spring flowers.

  Her mother had always loved fresh wildflowers. Lily had loved gathering them for her from the meadows around their home.

  Her gaze moved to a massive stone fireplace taking up the entire end wall. The sound of Regi’s voice and the heavenly scent of fresh bread drew her through the dining room, beyond the long table and a wide curio cabinet displaying very fine china. She glanced twice at the crystal chandelier hanging from the high, polished wooden ceiling.

  Stepping into a kitchen as grand as any Lily had seen, she realized this was not the home of simple country folk, as her parents had been. Polished cabinets with glass fronts lined the walls. Ornate canisters, an apple peeler and other gadgetry sat on a wide expanse of countertops.

  Her overly dramatic cousin sat at a smaller table, his hands in motion as he chattered away with an ease she’d always envied. May sat across from him, her elbows on the table, her chin propped between her hands, listening intently as Regi detailed one of his favorite adventure novels. Regi could make friends wherever he went, whereas Lily preferred to slip in and out without notice.

  Rachell turned from the stove, smiling as she held out a cup of tea.

  “Thank you,” she said, taking the cup and noticing the stylish cut of Rachell’s dress. Not some homespun number, but a finely tailored gown.

  Ranching must be good.

  “Would you like something to eat now or would you prefer a bath first? We have a tub upstairs.”

  “Could I grab a bite of bread to take with me?”

  “Certainly.”

  She hoped some nourishment and a bath would soothe her frazzled nerves.

  “I’m anxious to hear what has happened to bring you so far north with June.”

  Regi’s voice fell silent. He and May glanced up, staring questioningly at her.

  So much for soothing her nerves.

  Chapter Nine

  “I ’m always up for a little excitement.” Jake Darby tugged off his leather gloves and tucked them beneath the buckle of his dusty chaps. “I got your back, cousin.”

  The words came as no small relief as Juniper accompanied him into Jed’s barn. A few years younger and a few inches shorter than Juniper, the curly-haired cattleman wasn’t blood kin, but they’d spent their adolescence working together on this ranch.

  “I appreciate the help.” There wasn’t a man he’d rather have as backup than Jake or his older brother, Kyle. Unfortunately, Kyle hadn’t come around much in the past four years. A marriage engagement gone awry had sent his best friend into a life of yondering, and Juniper right along beside him. They’d traveled together for better than a year, having a fairly good time while working odd jobs—until Kyle had chosen an occupation Juniper couldn’t follow him into, and had tried to talk him out of. Bounty hunting meant looking for trouble. June tended to find plenty without tracking it down.

  “Heard from your brother lately?”

  “Not in nearly six months.” Jake reclined against the hay bales stacked up just inside the barn. “Last letter came from Montana. Said he wouldn’t be writing home for a while and not to worry. He was infiltrating a band of outlaws. How he expects his family not to worry after delivering that bit of information is beyond me.”

  June grinned. He’d received a similar letter about six months back and thought the same thing. He sure missed the simpler days when their biggest challenge was breaking in new horses or rounding up an ornery bull.

  “What I want to know,” said Jake, “is why the hell you’d bring your boss lady with you when you’re chasing after bandits?”

  Juniper sighed. Taking down an ornery bull would be a welcome task over his current situation. “Frankly, she’s not an easy woman to ditch. She’s not easy to deal with, period.”

  “Come on, now,” said a gruff voice from across the barn. Jed stepped from a horse stall. His foster dad tugged off his hat, revealing sweat-dampened black hair streaked with lines of gray. “The new boss can’t be all that bad. I’ve heard of Carrington Industries and the shrewd, feminine mind behind its success.”

  Juniper groaned and sat heavily onto a hay bale beside Jake.

  Jed grinned as he strode toward him. “Real spitfire, is she?”

  “You could say that,” he said, raking his fingers through hair still damp from a quick rinse beneath the pump outside. “You know me, Jed. No matter the circumstance, I’m usually the most patient man in the room. But this lady, she makes me…crazy.”

  “She a looker?” asked Jake, his dark eyes sparking with interest. “Maybe you ought to invite me to supper so I can meet this Miss Lily Carrington.”

  “Not yet. She can’t know we’re heading out tonight. She’s hell-bent on going after her payroll. I’m hoping the girls will distract her so I can tiptoe off the place. As soon as the moon is up, we should have a decent view of the Chandler homestead.”

  “I bes’ get home before my own supper is cold then,” Jake said, pushing up and turning to leave. “Meet you on the north rim after sundown.”

  June and Jed followed him out and started for the house.

  “You got enough men riding along?” asked Jed.

  “We should be good.” Juniper knew Jed wouldn’t hesitate to help him out. But he had his family to look after, and Juniper wasn’t about to put him in any kind of jeopardy. “Günter should be bringing a marshal and any other lawmen he can round up on the way here. I’m counting on you to keep Lily from following me into a den of outlaws.”

  “Most women would avoid such hostile situations.”

  “She’s not ‘most women,’” Juniper said. “She’s the most domineering, outspoken, opinionated woman I’ve ever met.”

  “Reminds me of another spitfire,” Jed said with a grin.

  No. Rachell might be headstrong at times, but she trusted Jed. Lily didn’t trust him any further than she could toss him across the yard. He shuffled up the front steps, reluctant to reveal her connection to his past. Having Lily at their supper table would be disconcerting enough without disclosing that bit of information.

  “I better go wash up,” Jed said as they stepped inside, and headed for the stairs.

  Juniper removed his gun belt and tucked it on a shelf above the door just as he used to do during the years he’d lived here. In the dining room the table had been set. Rachell’s bright voice carried out from the kitchen, along with the voices of his sisters. He breathed in the soothing combination of Rachell’s baked bread and fresh flowers. She’d given him everything he’d missed out on as a kid, a home full of warmth, commotion and laughter
. Seven months without a visit had been too long.

  Having scrubbed up at the pump outside the stable, Juniper went to retrieve a pair of old boots he’d left with some other clothes and personal items up in his room. Isaac raced down the steps.

  “Did you clean up for supper?” Juniper asked.

  “Yeah. Mama had me fill all the washbasins in the rooms on account’ a that funny feller’s still takin’ a bath. Long as he’s been in there, he ought to be clean enough for a whole month.”

  Juniper grinned and headed up the stairs. He pushed open the first door on the left to the bright glow of a lit oil lamp. Too late to catch the door, it floated open as his gaze locked on Lily near the center of his room. Bent forward, she was gathering the long length of her hair with both hands. Her clean floral scent invaded his senses.

  A lily that smells of lilacs.

  She straightened and looked into the mirror above the chest of drawers. A line of hairpins protruded from her mouth. Even as she reached up, twisting her hair, the full burgundy skirt touched the floor. He doubted she was a full five feet to his six and a half.

  Focused on coils of gold and copper curls, her beautifully determined expression was trained on the top of her head. Tiny curls sprang free at her hairline as she began poking in hairpins. His gaze trailed down her slender neck. Black lace poked up from a high burgundy collar.

  She made the modest gown damn appealing. The fitted waistcoat molded to the swell of her full breasts and showed off her tiny waist. A scalloped lace trim at the bottom lay neatly against her narrow hips.

  The clatter of hairpins hitting the dresser snapped his gaze back up. Her green eyes tagged him in the mirror.

  “Juniper?”

  “Sorry to bother you,” he said, walking into the room. “I just need to grab a pair of boots.”

  Lily turned and watched him walk to the tall wardrobe on the far wall, still startled by catching his heated gaze in the mirror.