Daring

by Sylvia McDaniel

  In the darkness, she could feel him bristle and knew she’d just said the wrong thing.

  “Fun! You take reckless chances with your life, thinking you’re going to live forever. Well, my wife and child are dead. I had to bury them. Your father is dead. You had to bury him. Life is fragile. You’re not invincible.”

  Silence filled the darkness, as Deke seemed to finally run out of steam. Ruby didn’t know what to say. Jumping that cliff had been scary, but the thrill of what she’d done had made it all worthwhile. She’d do it again, if she got the chance.

  “I’m never going to be a woman who just sits at home and does needlepoint. Never.”

  Deke ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t get it. I’m not asking you not to be who you are. I’m frightened I’m going to witness you dying. And that scares the hell out of me.”

  How could she respond? What she did was a dangerous occupation. He knew that firsthand. But it gave her freedom, independence, and a chance to do something different than most women. She wasn’t just another pretty woman getting married and raising kids.

  She was unique.

  “I’m not going to watch you die,” he said. “One day, Ruby, you’re going to run out of luck, and it’s going to kill you.”

  She threw her hands up in the air. “Deke, you worry too much. I’m fine.”

  Shaking his head at her, he closed his eyes. “This time you’re okay. But what about the next stunt where you take a foolish chance? When are you going to miss the water when you jump off a cliff? Or when will someone recognize you in a saloon and pull out a gun and shoot you right there? Or think you’re a whore and take advantage of you? When will I get there too late to save your pretty little behind and find you dead?”

  Apprehension trickled down her spine. She knew she was taking chances, but she would be okay.

  “Deke, stop. If you’re trying to scare me, it’s not working,” she said, though several times his words had worried her. It could happen if she didn’t have a trustworthy partner.

  “We make a good team. We could bounty hunt together and make lots of money,” she said, raising her voice excitedly. “This could be our first trip.”

  She knew with certainty this was what she yearned for, to work with Deke to bring in outlaws, until they tired of the hunt, and then maybe they’d settle down and get married, but she wasn’t in any hurry. Could he want the same things?

  He shook his head empathically. “I’m not staying around to watch you die.”

  “I’ll be more careful. I won’t take as many chances,” she said. This was her dream, for the two of them to hunt side by side.

  “No. I’m quitting. As soon as we turn Rivera in, I’m getting out of the business and starting a horse farm. I’m giving up bounty hunting.”

  A sigh escaped her lips. “I thought we could find criminals together.”

  Closing his eyes, he sighed. “I can’t. I can’t take a chance on being a part of your death.”

  “Would you stop saying I’m going to die. I’m not going to get killed,” she said, raising her voice, her hands on her hips.

  They stood there in the darkness, staring at each other, the puppy sitting beside Deke, watching them. Ruby didn’t know what to say any more. She wanted being with Deke to continue, but he didn’t seem interested and that wounded her pride. She was good at what she did and hungered to continue what she and Deke had. She wasn’t ready for them to end. She wasn’t ready for him to leave her.

  “Is Hannah watching Rivera?” he asked suddenly.

  “He’s still asleep. I gave her a gun and told her to yell at me if he woke up.”

  “Does she know how to use a gun?” Deke asked, quickly striding toward the camp area. “After everything we’ve done to catch Rivera, I can’t believe you’re taking a chance on him escaping.”

  Ruby hurried to catch up. “He’s asleep.”

  Deke all but ran back into camp, with Ruby and the pup following closely on his heels. When they approached where they had spread their bedrolls, they saw Rivera held the gun against Hannah’s forehead.

  “About time you guys got back. Now get me a horse. I’m not going back to jail.”

  Ruby’s stomach tightened into a cramp at the sight of Rivera holding the gun on Hannah. She wanted to call herself nine times a fool. First with Deke and now with Rivera. All the work they’d done in the Hide Town was now going to be for naught. Hannah looked frightened and who could blame her. The man had her up against his chest with Ruby’s gun being held against her temple. One wrong move and he would kill her.

  “I’m sorry, Ruby,” she said, tears swimming in her eyes. “He tricked me.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, wanting to kick herself for being such a fool. He must have been faking sleep this entire time.

  “I’ll get you a horse,” Deke said.

  “No, I want that bitch there that tricked me to get the horses. She’s going with me,” he demanded.

  The dog growled a menacing sound.

  “Keep that mutt away from me or I’ll shoot it.”

  “Shh, girl,” Deke said, holding his hand down.

  Fear spiraled through Ruby, and she wished she could go back in time and never leave Hannah alone with the outlaw. This was all Ruby’s fault. She should never have taken the risk. Now Deke and Hannah were in danger because of her.

  “Ruby’s not going with you,” Deke responded.

  Rivera cocked the hammer on the gun and twisted it to point at Deke and then back to Hannah. “Do you want me to put a bullet in her head?”

  “No. Just let the woman go. I’ll ride back to town with you,” Deke promised.

  “Oh no, the women are going with me,” he said.

  Ruby knew in that instant he intended to kill Deke. She wanted to get the horses and check to make sure she still had her little petticoat pistol. She’d yanked off the heavy petticoat to keep from drowning and to make everyone think she’d died.

  But had she gotten rid of her petticoat pistol? Even if she found the gun, would there have been time for the flint to have dried?

  “It’s okay, Deke. Let me get the horses,” she said and stepped into the darkness where the man couldn’t see her. She yanked up her skirt, praying the gun was still there.

  In the darkness, she sighed with relief when her fingers felt the steel barrel. Thank God. She untethered the horses and pulled them with her, carefully concealing the gun in her skirt.

  When she walked back into camp, they were all waiting. Staring at Hannah, she hoped the girl could somehow get her message. Saying a quick prayer, she whipped the gun from its hiding place just as Deke dove toward Hannah.

  Ruby’s gun fired, flashing in the darkness, but so did Rivera’s. She thought she’d feel a bullet slamming into her body any second, but nothing happened. Rivera fell to the ground a bullet wound to his head. Hannah kicked his gun away where he couldn’t reach it any longer.

  In slow motion, Ruby watched as Deke sank to the ground. Her chest exploded with pain as she realized he was hurt. A scream ripped from her throat. “No. Deke. No.”

  Oh, my God, where was he hurt?

  She rushed to his side and rolled him over. “Deke, talk to me. Deke, tell me where you’re hurt.”

  Unconscious, he didn’t respond.

  The puppy whined and moved closer to Deke. The animal licked his hand and nudged him with her nose, but Deke didn’t move. Tears filled Ruby’s throat.

  “Is he alive?” Hannah asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Ruby’s fingers touched the side of his neck, searching for a pulse. She could feel his heart racing, she could feel his breath on her fingers, but his eyes were shut. Blood trickled from the edge of his forehead. She pulled him into her lap and carefully examined the head wound.

  As she stared down into his face, her heart swelled with fear and longing. She loved this man. Had probably fallen in love with him when she was a young girl. He’d never left her heart, and watching him fal
l to the ground, fearing he was dead, she’d realized she loved Deke.

  Rocking him in her arms, tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks. He wasn’t dead; she had to take care of him. She had to protect him.

  “What’s wrong?” Hannah asked.

  “He’s wounded. It’s not deep. The bullet made a path across the top of his forehead.” She ripped a strip of her petticoat and held it against the wound, stemming the seeping blood.

  Hannah knelt beside her. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I think so. I’m hoping the bullet just knocked him out,” Ruby said, holding his head in her lap, gazing at him. Was this how Deke had felt today when she’d jumped into the river?

  This overwhelming sense of loss and pain and heart wrenching, gut seizing agony? What if he didn’t wake up? What if she’d lost him forever? What if he died before she ever had the chance to tell him she loved him?

  The dog lay as close to Deke as she could get, her head resting on his leg.

  “What can I do to help?” Hannah said.

  “Say a prayer that he’s okay. I’m so scared.”

  *

  The next morning, Deke woke feeling like he’d been kicked in the head by a bull. Groggy and weak, he felt his forehead. Touching the bandage caused a whole new round of insistent, painful rat-a-tat-tat in his brain. The skin around his wound was swollen and tender. And then like the rising of the sun, he remembered.

  Rivera holding a gun against Hannah’s forehead, intending to kill Deke, and Ruby firing her little pistol, the searing burning sensation in his forehead and then darkness. Deep, dark blankness had filled Deke’s mind until the lightening of the sky this morning.

  How long had he been out? He glanced around and noticed it was still their same camp, only now a dead body lay several feet away, wrapped in a blanket and tied with ropes.

  Rolling over, Deke searched the bedrolls. Hannah lay curled up not far from Ruby’s empty blankets.

  When he moved, he awakened the dog, which had been sleeping next to him. She jumped up and licked his face, covering him with dog slobber, whining and jumping excitedly, beside herself with happiness.

  He rubbed the back of her ears and tried to settle her down, so as to keep his head from pounding even worse.

  The sound of retching reached his ears, and he glanced around. It had to be Ruby. He started to rise to check on her. Had the jump from the cliff somehow injured her internally? Had she been hurt after he’d been shot?

  Slowly coming to his feet, he stood for a moment, swaying side-to-side, trying to get his balance under control. Finally, he felt steady and walked out of the immediate area, searching for Ruby with the puppy close at his heels.

  He found her sitting on a rock, not far from the bedding.

  “Deke,” she said. “Oh, my God! You scared me. You shouldn’t be up.”

  “I bet I look better than you do. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Then why are you over here vomiting?”

  “It’s the weirdest thing. I woke up this morning nauseous and feeling like nothing would sit on my stomach. As soon as I stood, I had to run to get out of camp before I threw up.”

  Deke stared at her, fear making his heart pound in his chest in time with his head. The memory of Laura throwing up every morning for the first two months she’d learned she was expecting sent tremors of terror spiraling down his spine. It had only been a week. It was way too early to know if Ruby was expecting, but still he’d heard of women being sick from the moment of conception.

  No, not Ruby. She could die.

  “When was the last time you had your monthly flow?” he asked.

  “What kind of question is that? Is it any of your business?”

  How could he have done this again? After everything he’d witnessed with Laura’s death, he’d gotten another woman with child. He’d broken his vow to himself, and now Ruby would pay the price for his lust.

  “No, but what if you’re pregnant? What if you’re experiencing morning sickness?”

  “No. I’m not having babies at this point in my life. I refuse. My independence is much more important.”

  “You may not have any say,” he said, “if you’re already expecting.”

  Part of him understood her reasoning and part of him was disappointed she didn’t want their child. But then again, he didn’t want her expecting. How could he feel so confused? So torn? This was such a mess, and it was all his fault.

  She turned on him, her blue eyes flashing. “Let’s get this straight. I’m not pregnant. I’d know it. I’d feel something. Besides, it’s only been a week since we…”

  “You wouldn’t know at first,” Deke said quietly. “It hasn’t been that long since we were together, but still you could be with child.”

  “No,” she said, her eyes suddenly worried. “Just no.”

  What more could he say? Panic clenched inside him at the idea of risking another woman’s life. He wasn’t going through labor and delivery again and losing mother and child both in the end. He couldn’t do it.

  He couldn’t lose Ruby.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “Lousy,” he murmured. All he could think about were the sounds of her retching and the consequences of them being together.

  Never again. He’d sworn never again to get any more women pregnant and here he’d gone against his word. And if Ruby weren’t with child this time, if they kept on doing what felt so right between them, she’d soon find herself expecting.

  And Ruby would be very upset with him, not to mention he’d be devastated. He’d made a vow the night Laura died. He needed to remember that oath and get away from Ruby before he impregnated her.

  She stood, and they began the short walk back to camp. A sigh escaped her lips. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I’m better.” The sooner he got Ruby home, the quicker he could ride away and put distance between the two of them…unless she was expecting his child.

  “What happened last night? How did you get shot?”

  “If I knew, believe me, I would have avoided that bullet,” Deke said, reaching up and touching the bandage. All he remembered was lunging for Hannah and then darkness.

  Ruby shook her head. “I was watching Rivera, and the next thing I know you’re on the ground and I’ve shot him.”

  “When I heard the explosion, I moved to knock Hannah out of the way. He fired at me and not at Hannah, but when I moved, I missed most of the bullet.”

  Ruby stopped and threw her hands around his neck. She pulled him to her and hugged him tightly. Her embrace was like a burst of energy, filling the empty places in his soul, but he couldn’t enjoy the feel of her arms any longer. No more.

  “Thank God, I didn’t lose you or Hannah yesterday,” she whispered against his neck.

  “Rivera is dead,” he said, enjoying the feel of Ruby’s body snug against his own. Soon, he had to put distance between them. Soon, she’d be back in Zenith, and he’d be down the road, separating them forever.

  “We’ll turn his dead body into the sheriff, but we’re going to need to get back quickly. Are you able to ride?”

  “I think so,” he said, stepping out of her arms. “We better wake Hannah and get going.”

  She tilted her head and gazed at him. “By tomorrow, we’ll be back in Zenith.”

  “Yes,” he replied. He’d stay until he learned if Ruby was pregnant or not, but then he had to leave and he couldn’t go near her again. He couldn’t take the chance, though that was going to be harder than rounding up outlaws.

  *

  The next day, Ruby knew she wasn’t pregnant. This morning, her monthly flow had come to visit, leaving her achy and moodier than a bull next to a fenced pasture of heifers in heat. Sometime today, they would arrive home, and she was quite ready for this adventure to end.

  Since his shooting, Deke was acting different. She couldn’t tell if he was hurting or if something was botheri
ng him.

  Since his shooting, she understood a little more about how he’d felt the day she’d jumped off the cliff. Watching him laying there, blood trickling from his head wound, she’d felt more fear than she’d ever experienced in her life.

  The thought of Deke dying had frightened her worse than Annabelle’s disappearance. He’d been shot because of her, and she felt bad enough about that. But if he’d died, she wouldn’t have been able to live with herself. She could never tell him she loved him.

  Holding him in her lap while he hadn’t responded to her urgent cries for him to wake up had been the worst moments of her life. And yet during that time, she’d realized she loved Deke. She loved him more than her next breath. She loved the way he made her feel, how he cared for her, how he was right. Someday, there would be a bullet with her name on it, if she stayed in this business.

  Yet, she didn’t want a life like her sisters. She liked being independent. She liked earning her own money and doing something unique and different than most women. She liked the look of surprise on a criminal’s face when he realized she was bringing him to justice.

  How could she love Deke and keep doing what she enjoyed? How could she give up bounty hunting to be with Deke? But how could she live without him?

  She didn’t know. She didn’t even know if he felt the same about her. For all she knew, he would get her to Zenith and leave her with her memories of the two of them.

  Half a mile out of Zenith, she thought she should tell him the truth before they rode into town and her family descended upon them, giving them no time alone.

  She rode her mustang close to his. He glanced over at her, his gaze not his usual warm and friendly look, but cautious. Withdrawn and moody the last couple of days, she felt like he was already riding away from her.

  “I’m not pregnant,” she said.

  “We’ll see.”

  “No, I know I’m not expecting a child.”

  His brows went up. “How?”

  “Now that’s a stupid question to ask a woman,” she responded.

  “Oh,” he said, suddenly understanding. “I’m glad.”