by Chloe Carley
“I’ll make sure and pass that along.”
“Thank you. Now, how is Carl doing? Is the infection handled?”
James nodded. “It seems to be under control.”
“He’s young and strong. He’ll be okay in another week or so,” Jace spoke of his nephew. He had his arm around Lily as she navigated the steps down to the ground. “I’m going to get Lily home before she becomes completely exhausted.”
Everyone watched Jace escort a very pregnant Lily to the wagon. As they drove out of town, Gideon realized he was extremely jealous of the ranch foreman. He wanted to be driving his wife home. He wanted to be the one anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new son or daughter.
He was just about to take himself off home when the sheriff called, “Gideon. Hold up.”
“I wonder what he wants?” Sara Jane murmured as she came to stand by Gideon’s side.
“We’re about to find out,” Gideon murmured. His parents, Shawn, and Jace were still standing around, as was the preacher and half a dozen other congregants. No one had been in a hurry to get home after church service today, as they wanted and needed to socialize with their neighbors and talk about what had transpired in their sleepy little town. Over time, the stagecoach incident would fade, but the deaths, and destruction of the mercantile, would live on in people’s memories for quite a while.
“Sheriff,” Gideon greeted the man when he reached their group.
“Gideon.” The sheriff nodded. He looked around and included everyone else in a second nod. “Good to see you all this morning.”
“And you, as well. How’s the head?” James asked.
“Just a little headache now and again. I wanted to talk to you about the incident with the Johnston gang. I sent word back to El Paso, notifying the proper authorities there that the entire gang had been apprehended in one way or another.”
“That had to have made some people very happy,” Shawn surmised.
“Yes. It took a huge load off of the army which has been hunting them the last several months. I just got word back late yesterday and they are wanting to know where to send the reward money.”
“Reward money?” Gideon asked. “I didn’t realize there was a reward.”
“There was reward money offered for six of the men involved in the robbery. It looks like Tseena might have hired the additional six between here and El Paso to help with this one job.”
“That makes sense.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Sara Jane spoke up, “The money should go to Riley. After all, without her coming here, most of us probably would not be having this discussion.”
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement. Riley had risked a lot to come and warn the town and it was only because of that advance warning that things had turned out the way they had. “I agree,” James Lawson replied.
“Sounds like that’s where the money belongs,” the preacher added.
“You’re all in agreement?” the sheriff asked.
“It looks like it. I’ll let Riley know when I get home. Exactly how much reward money are we talking about here?”
“Five hundred dollars.”
Gideon’s mouth dropped open in amazement, before he asked, “Five hundred dollars?”
“Each,” the sheriff added, smiling as he realized the shock he’d just delivered.
There was a moment of stunned silence before James cleared his throat. “Well, it looks like little Riley is going to have to make some decision about what to do with her new wealth.”
“That’s three thousand dollars,” Sara Jane repeated unnecessarily.
“That’s right. Once word gets out about that, she’ll have every cowboy in the county after her,” Gideon announced sourly.
“Who says word has to get out?” Shawn asked. “No one outside of Rio Arriba needs to know about the reward and where it went.”
“That’s true,” the sheriff added. “Anyway, the money will be sent up here and should arrive sometime later in the week. I also got word that the safe needed for the bank is already on its way and should appear the week after next.”
“Good, I’d hate to think we’ll have a repeat of the Johnston gang coming to our town to try and take the money before then.”
“We’ll be on our guard for anyone new coming to town. I think visitors will also find out people just a little more standoffish than before.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” Gideon commented.
“No. No, it’s not. Well, I just wanted to share that good news with you all. Tell Miss Riley to come and see me next time she’s in town or by Friday at the latest. We’ll get the reward money transferred over to her then.”
“I’ll bring her on Friday, you can plan on it.”
“Good. Have a good rest of the day, folks.”
“Same to you, Sheriff,” James stated.
Gideon split a grin with his family and friends. “Can you believe that?”
“Yes. You gonna go tell her?” Shawn asked with a knowing spark in his eye.
“You betcha. Right now, in fact. See you all later tonight. I’m thinking we might go for a little excursion.”
“That cat’s still out there,” Jace warned him.
“No one’s seen any signs of her in days. “It’s possible she died of her wounds, inside her den or up in the mountains.”
“That’s a possibility, but we still need to be vigilant.”
“I’ll do that.” He took leave of his family a few moments later and rode Storm straight for the ranch and home.
He couldn’t wait to tell Riley what the sheriff had shared with them. He left Storm saddled and waiting in the yard and strode for the front door. He called out as he stepped into the house, “Riley!”
When she didn’t answer, he decided to check the barns, but all he found was Carl who stated she’d gone back indoors. He called to her once more at the house, but again, he got no response. He checked the downstairs and headed to the second floor.
He reached the door to the guest bedroom and hesitated only a few seconds before lightly rapping his knuckles on the wood. “Riley? Are you in there?
He tried the doorknob, smiling when it turned. He pushed the door open and stood watching Riley. She was stretched out on the bed with his ma’s quilt wrapped around her, fast asleep. She was beautiful. Plain and simple. If he’d had any doubts about the direction he wanted their relationship to go, he had only firm answers now.
He walked to the bed and gently shook her shoulder. She blinked her eyes several times and smiled up at him.
“Hi,” he whispered. “Tired?”
“I was, that’s why I laid down.” Riley panicked and sat up, trying to get to her feet.
“What’s wrong?”
Riley glanced at the open doorway once more.“You shouldn’t be in here.”
“No one is home but me so stop for a minute and tell me what’s going on in that head of yours,” he urged her.
“What if your mother or father sees you in my room?”
“Firstly, I just told you that no one else is home but me. Secondly, given your situation, you wouldn’t be getting the lecture. I would. Now, I was hoping maybe we could take a small ride before supper? I also have some news to share with you.”
Riley sat up and bringing the quilt with her. “You want to go right now?”
Gideon smiled down at her. “You game? I thought maybe we could ride out to the pond and I’ll show you my favorite spot while I was growing up. I told Ma I was going to put together a small picnic for us and that we’d see them later tonight.”
Riley considered his offer. “A picnic sounds nice.”
“Good. Put your shoes back on and I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.” He stared at her for a long moment and shook his head and muttered, “I don’t know what I did to deserve you but thank you God.
Chapter 28
Riley bit her lip to hide a smile. Gideon was always saying things like that. She waited until he left her room
and then she hurriedly put her boots back on.
She was wearing her borrowed trousers today and a green button-down shirt that Sara Jane was almost certain had once belonged to Gideon. It fit Riley perfectly and she guessed it had been a long while since the shirt had fit either Gideon or Shawn.
She met him in the main room, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the house to where he’d left Storm saddled up and ready to ride. He threw saddlebags over Storm’s withers, and turned to her and asked, “Front or back?”
“Front,” she immediately replied. This was one of the obvious perks of the Indian saddle Gideon used. There was no way she could ever ride in front of him on a Western saddle.
Gideon smiled, and her stomach flipped. “Good choice.” He helped her mount lifted her and swung up behind her. He took the reins, once more caging her body between his arms, and she found herself naturally leaning back against his chest. Gideon sighed and Riley echoed the sentiment—being in his arms just felt right.
“This is where you belong,” he murmured against her head.
“I like riding this way,” she said with an honesty most people avoided. Riley could see no reason to prevaricate. Life was short and she didn’t want to miss anything by pretending to not feel something just for the sake of propriety.
“I like you,” Gideon said. He guided Storm out of the yard and into a pasture to the east. They rode for a while, and then he reined the horse toward the mountains at the edge of the meadow. The shadow of the pine trees was welcome after the hot sun beating down on them.
“This is one of my favorite places on the ranch. It’s such a difference from the sandy desert.”
“It’s very peaceful here.”
“That it is,” he replied. He guided Storm off the trail, and they ended up on a small rise, overlooking a placid pond, surrounded by ferns, small rock outcroppings, and towering trees.
Riley sat up straighter and gazed in wonder at the beautiful setting. In the middle of the pond, a fish jumped.
“Do you fish?’ Gideon asked in surprise.
Riley nodded, flooded by memories of fishing with her father. Roy used to come with them, but she could always out-fish them both. Thinking about Roy stole some of the joy from the memories before a little voice inside her head reminded her that his sins were not her own. She’d struggled with that the last few days. Roy had been her brother. No one else’s.
“Hey, what thoughts just went through that head of yours?”
“I was remembering going fishing with my father. Roy would sometimes come …”
“I get it,” Gideon assured her. “You don’t have to continue. I didn’t think to bring fishing poles this time, but next time I will. There are some really nice trout in the pond.”
“That sounds nice,” she said, forcing herself to get back to being happy and at peace.
Gideon dismounted and reached up for her. He lifted her down, holding her steady in front of him for a long moment before releasing her and taking her hand. “There’s a big rock over here that looks out over the pond. Sometimes we can see deer or other small critters down by the water’s edge.”
Riley smiled at him and allowed him to spread out a blanket on the rock before she settled. She sat with her knees bent and her hands folded on top. She rested her chin on them and took in the scenery.
“Beautiful,” Gideon murmured beside her.
She lifted her head, intending to agree, but he wasn’t looking at the pond. He was looking at her with an expression in his eyes she’d seen a few times before now and which had always been followed by the twirling sensation in her tummy.
There it is! That funny warm feeling in the pit of my stomach. It always seems to happen when Gideon looks at me like that.
“I was talking about the pond.”
“I know. I wasn’t.” Gideon didn’t elaborate. He didn’t really need to. She got his meaning.
Riley blushed; she couldn’t help it. “How was church service?”
“It was fine. In fact, I wanted to tell you something. The sheriff stopped me afterward and shared some exciting news with us all. Want to know what he said?”
“I guess,” she hedged.
“Well, I know you’ll want to hear this.”
Riley let out a breath. “Okay. Tell me.”
“It seems that there was a reward for the Johnston gang.”
Riley nodded. “I saw the posters when I was in El Paso.”
“Did you happen to notice the dollar amount they were offering?”
“No. Why would I?”
Gideon smiled. “You wouldn’t. But there was a reward for the apprehension of six of the men involved in the stagecoach robbery.”
“Only six? I thought Shawn said there were twelve men.”
“There were, but Sheriff Parmele thinks Roy might have hired some extra men for this job on his way up here. Anyway, there were rewards being offered for six of the men. Roy, of course. Ollie, Slim, and three others.”
“I imagine who-ever was offering the reward is happy now.”
“Extremely,” he said. “The Johnston gang has been eliminated and that means their banks, trains, and coaches are once again safe. At least, from that threat.
“The sheriff brought this to our attention because the reward money is being couriered to Rio Arriba by the end of the week.”
“What?” Riley asked.
“Yes. They asked the sheriff to ensure the money gets to the right person. Everyone agrees that person is you.”
Me? Riley stuttered, “But … but … I didn’t do anything …”
“Yes, you did. Without you coming to warn all of us, we would have likely suffered the same fate as the other town the Johnston gang attacked.”
“But … all I did was warn people … you all did the work.”
“No. That’s not how everyone else is seeing it. We all agreed the reward money should be yours.”
Riley immediately shook her head. “I don’t want it. Any of it.”
“You don’t even know how much it is,” Gideon reminded her.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want it. How could anyone think I’d take money for doing what any decent person should have done?”
“What an extraordinary person did,” Gideon fired back. “Riley, you could have stayed on that train back to Missouri. You would have never known anything about our town, about my family or me, and you likely would have never known what happened to your brother. But you didn’t. You were brave and you stepped out into the unknown to do the right thing.”
“You make me sound like I was on a crusade or something,” she mumbled.
“That’s exactly what you were on. A crusade to save our town and hopefully give your brother another chance. Just because the latter didn’t work out doesn’t mean you weren’t successful. There’s an entire town waiting to tell you how thankful they are for your willingness to come here.”
