Chase the Wind (Apache Runaway Book 2)

by Madeline Baker

  “How about December 20 so we can spend Christmas together as man and wife?” Dusty suggested. “That’ll give me time to swear in an extra deputy and show him the ropes.”

  “December 20,” she agreed, feeling as though her heart would burst with happiness.

  “Do you want a big wedding?” Chase asked.

  “No, just your family and a few friends, if that’s all right with you.”

  “Fine by me,” Dusty said. “Where would like to go for your honeymoon?”

  “Anywhere you want.”

  “We can decide later,” Dusty said. “Right now, let’s go out and tell my folks.”

  “Do you think they’ll approve?”

  “I know they will. Come on, let’s go.”

  * * * * *

  Jenny looked up from the stove as Dusty and Rebecca stepped into the kitchen. “Hi, you two,” she said. “You’re just in time for supper.”

  “We’ve eaten,” Dusty said. He took Rebecca’s hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Where’s dad?”

  “Out in the barn. One of the horses went lame, and he wanted to check it one more time. He should be up anytime now.” Jenny wiped her hands on her apron. “What’s up? You look like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary.”

  Dusty grinned at Rebecca. “Should I tell her?”

  Feeling as though she would burst, Rebecca nodded. She had always loved Dusty’s family, could hardly believe that she was actually going to be a part of it at last.

  “I asked Becky to marry me, and she said yes.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Jenny exclaimed. “I’m so glad.” She hugged Rebecca. “Welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you, Missus Fallon.”

  “Here now, no more of that missus stuff. You might as well call me mother, or Jenny, if that would be more comfortable. Oh, I’m just so pleased.”

  “Pleased about what?” Ryder asked. Taking off his hat, he hung it on the peg beside the kitchen door.

  “Tell him, Dusty.”

  “We’re getting married.”

  “No kidding? That’s great. Congratulations, Son, you’re a lucky man.” Ryder took Rebecca’s hands in his, then bent and kissed her cheek. “I wish you all the happiness in the world,” he said sincerely. “And if he gives you any trouble, you just come and see me. I can still whip his behind if I have to.”

  Dusty shook his head. “Don’t tell her things like that. She might believe it.”

  “Hey, you know it’s true,” Ryder said. He clasped Dusty’s hand in his. “I’m happy for you, Son. Well, this calls for a celebration. I’ve got some brandy in the den. I say we toast the bride and groom.”

  They were all in the parlor when Chase and Beth entered the room a few minutes later.

  “Come on in,” Ryder said, lifting his glass. “We’re celebrating.”

  Chase draped his arm over Beth’s shoulder. “What is the occasion?” he asked.

  “Dusty asked Rebecca to marry him.”

  There was a momentary hush. Dusty glanced at Beth and bid her a silent farewell, then he looked at his brother and smiled.

  “Congratulations, Dusty,” Beth said, meaning it. “And to you, too, Rebecca, I know you’ll be happy together.”

  “Thank you,” Dusty said.

  “Yes, thank you,” Beth replied.

  The door opened and Lester stepped into the room. “Hey, did I miss something?”

  “Come on in and join the party, Les,” Ryder said, handing him a glass of brandy. “Dusty and Rebecca just got engaged and we’re celebrating.”

  “Oh, well congratulations to both of you,” Lester said, and lifting his glass in a salute, he took a drink.

  “Well, I just couldn’t be happier,” Jenny said. “When’s the wedding?”

  “December 20,” Rebecca said.

  “That’s wonderful. Dorinda’s coming home next week.” Jenny smiled at Ryder. “This is going to be our best Christmas ever.”

  Lester looked over at Beth, wondering if she was thinking the same thing he was, that their wedding was supposed to be on the seventeenth. Yep, he mused, taking another drink, it was going to be some Christmas, all right.

  * * * * *

  Beth stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. She had tried to rationalize her fears away, telling herself she hadn’t missed her monthly curse, she was just late because she’d been under so much pressure, because traveling with Chase had upset her.

  But she couldn’t lie to herself any longer. She’d been sick to her stomach the last three mornings, her breasts were tender, and now that she thought about it, she hadn’t missed one cycle, but two.

  She was pregnant.

  How could she tell her parents? How could she tell Chase? Would he be glad? They had never discussed children. She had always wanted a large family, but not so soon, not until she had a home of her own…

  She whirled around as her mother knocked at the door.

  “Lester is here, Elizabeth. Are you ready?”

  “Yes, I’ll be right down.”

  Grabbing a heavy navy-blue wool coat, she slipped it on, then hurried downstairs.

  Lester was waiting for her at the foot of the staircase. He smiled as he took her hand and kissed it. “Good afternoon, Elizabeth,” he said warmly. “Are you ready to go for our drive?”

  She nodded, unable to speak.

  “It looks like rain,” Theda Johnson remarked. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to stay in this afternoon?”

  “No, Mother,” Beth said quickly.

  “Try to be home in time for supper, won’t you?”

  “We’ll be here, Mrs. Johnson,” Lester said, and turned on his most charming smile. “Let’s go, Elizabeth,” he said, and practically dragged her out of the door in his haste to get to the Fallon ranch.

  Lost in the anticipation of seeing Dorinda again, it took him several miles to realize Beth hadn’t said a word.

  “Beth, is something wrong?”

  “No.”

  Les frowned. Turning to study her face, he noticed she seemed unusually pale. There were dark smudges under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept well, and she was fidgeting with the folds of her skirt.

  “Beth, I can see that something is bothering you. Why don’t you tell me what it is? Maybe I can help.”

  “You can’t. No one can.”

  “Is it Chase? You haven’t had a disagreement, have you?”

  “No.”

  “Is there a problem with the wedding? Don’t tell me your dress arrived and it doesn’t fit,” he said, chuckling.

  “Oh, Les,” she wailed, and burst into tears.

  Startled, he reined the team to a halt. “Beth, it can’t be that bad.”

  “It is,” she sobbed. “It’s worse.”

  She was crying now, tears welling in her eyes, running, unchecked, down her cheeks.

  With a sign, he drew her into his arms. “Tell me.”

  “I’m…I’m…” She couldn’t say the word.

  “You’re what?”

  “I’m going to have a baby.”

  The words hung in the air like a thick fog.

  “A baby.” Lester looked at her as if she had just sprouted horns and a tail. “You’re pregnant?”

  “Yes.” The admission brought a fresh wave of tears.

  “Well, that shouldn’t be a problem,” he remarked, hoping to console her. “I mean, he loves you, and you love him, and you’re planning to be married anyway…”

  “What if he doesn’t want a baby?”

  “Well, I think it’s a little too late to worry about that,” he muttered wryly.

  “How can you joke at a time like this?” Beth exclaimed. “You know how people are, how they talk! Oh, what am I going to do?”

  “Just let me think a minute,” Lester said, patting her on the back. “It took a while to get into this mess. It might take me a bit to think of a solution.”

  “There is no solu
tion. By the time we’re supposed to get married, I’ll be almost four months pregnant. Everyone will know! Oh, Lester, my father’s going to kill me.”

  “No, he won’t. Here, now, crying’s not going to help.” Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew his handkerchief. “Dry your eyes and blow your nose. I’m sure Missus Fallon will be able to think of something.”

  “Missus Fallon! I can’t tell her! What will she think of me?”

  “Beth, she knows you and Chase are…” Lester cleared his throat. “Well, you know what she knows. She’s not going to think any the less of you.”

  “I can’t face them,” she said, dabbing ineffectually at her eyes. “Take me home.”

  “You’ve got to tell them sometime,” Lester said, taking up the reins, “and it might as well be today.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  They were all at the ranch—Ryder and Jenny, Dorinda, Dusty and Rebecca. And Chase.

  Jenny opened the door at Beth’s knock, a smile of welcome lighting her face.

  “Beth, how pretty you look!. Hi, Les. Come in, come in. We were just relaxing over cake and coffee.”

  Forcing a smile, Beth followed Jenny into the parlor, grateful for Lester’s comforting hand at her waist.

  “Good afternoon, everyone,” Beth said.

  She hardly heard the words of welcome from the others as Chase rose from the sofa and walked toward her. She felt a catch in her heart as she looked at him. He was so tall, so incredibly handsome. He wore a white shirt that complimented his dark skin and hair, and a pair of black whipcord britches that emphasized his long muscular legs and thighs. He moved with unconscious grace, his moccasins making no sound as he crossed the hardwood floor and took her in his arms.

  Smiling down at her, he kissed her lightly on the cheek.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said.

  “I’ve missed you, too. Can we go somewhere and talk?”

  Chase nodded, his gaze reflecting his concern as he caught the tremor in her voice. For the first time, he noticed the shadows under her eyes.

  He ran his knuckles over her cheek. “Are you all right?”

  “Please, Chase, I need to talk to you. Alone.”

  “Beth and I are going for a walk,” he said to no one in particular. Grabbing a sheepskin jacket from the rack by the door, he took Beth by the hand and they left the house.

  It was cold and gray outside. Chase glanced up at the dark clouds gathered overhead and knew it would rain before nightfall. The wind stirred the leaves on the trees and blew a tumbleweed across their path. Beth shivered.

  They walked in silence until they reached a picnic table situated beneath a cottonwood tree.

  “What is it?” Chase asked, drawing her down on the bench beside him. “What’s wrong?”

  Beth looked up at him, eager to tell him everything in hopes that sharing the burden would make it lighter, and yet afraid to say the words. Once said, there was no going back. Once said, the child would no longer be an abstract problem to be dealt with, but a reality, a tiny human being who would be the living, breathing proof of her love for Chase.

  What would he think when she told him?

  Her mother had told her time and again that a woman must zealously guard her chastity and protect her good name. Men, Theda Johnson had explained in a voice thick with contempt, never thought of the consequences of intimacy before marriage, nor did they have to bear the disgrace. It was all right for a man to “sow his wild oats”, but a woman’s reputation must be above reproach.

  The disgrace. She was pregnant and unmarried, at least in the eyes of the church. How could she tell her mother what she’d done? How could she face her father, her friends, Chase’s family?

  She tried to feel guilty, tried to feel as though she had made a terrible mistake, waited for the mortification her mother had spoken of to engulf her, but she felt neither shame nor guilt. Right or wrong, in her heart she was married to Chase, and she wanted this baby.

  But what if Chase didn’t?

  “Beth.” He drew his knuckles across her cheek, then kissed her tenderly. She wore a dark-blue dress that seemed to emphasize her wan complexion. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  “I…” She took a deep breath, her gaze sliding away from his as she placed a hand over her stomach. Please, she prayed, please let him want this child as much as I do.

  “Beth?” Her silence frightened him, making him fear the worst. He took a deep breath. “Tell me. Whatever it is, just say it.”

  “I’m going to have a baby.”

  Chase stared at her. Of all the things he had expected her to say, all the things he had feared, he had never considered this.

  “A baby!” he exclaimed softly. “We are going to have a baby? When?”

  “I’m not sure. In June, I think.”

  “A baby,” he repeated. “A baby. In June.”

  A sudden chill made her shiver. He didn’t want it. He didn’t want her.

  She turned away from him so he couldn’t see her tears, couldn’t see the pain that must surely be in her eyes. She wouldn’t beg him to marry her. She’d run away. She’d…

  “Beth, look at me.”

  “I can’t. I’m too ashamed.” She hadn’t been ashamed before, when she thought he loved her, but now, knowing she’d have to face the town alone, pregnant and unmarried, she understood what her mother had been talking about. She would be ridiculed, or shunned…

  “Ashamed?” Chase drew back, feeling suddenly numb. She was ashamed. Of him, of bearing his child.

  Silence stretched between them.

  Chase stared into the distance. The sky had turned from gray to black. He smelled rain in the air, heard the distant rumble of thunder. She was ashamed. He had been kidding himself all the time, thinking she loved him.

  Beth saw his hands clench into tight fists. Try as she might, she couldn’t think of anything to say. If only he’d take her in his arms and tell her it didn’t matter, that everything would be all right, that he wanted this child as much as she did, that he still loved her.

  “What do you want me to do?” he asked, afraid she would tell him it had all been a mistake, that she didn’t love him, had never loved him.

  Beth looked up at him then. “What do you want to do?” she asked, afraid he would tell her he was through with her, that the baby was her problem, not his.

  “I will not let you keep the child from me.”

  She looked surprised. “Why would I?”

  “Because you are ashamed of me.”

  “Ashamed of you! I’m not ashamed of you. Why would you think that?” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m the one who should be ashamed. The one people will point at and talk about. They’ll say it was all my fault, that I…that I’m a…a…” She couldn’t say the word.

  “You have no need to feel shame,” Chase said quietly. “We have done nothing wrong, you and I. In my heart, you are my woman, my wife. If necessary, I will protect you and our child with my last breath.”

  “Oh, Chase,” she murmured, “I was so afraid you’d think badly of me.”

  “It is a proud thing, to bear a child,” he said. “Only a white woman would think it shameful.”

  Beth placed her hand over his. Her skin was the color of honey, his the color of dark bronze. “I am a white woman,” she reminded him.

  He covered her hand with his. “No, you are my woman, a part of me. There can be no shame in what we have done unless you, yourself, are ashamed to be carrying my child.”

  “I’m not, I swear it. I’m just so afraid of facing your mother and Ryder, of telling my parents.”

  “Do not be afraid, shi-aad.” He drew her into his arms and held her close. “No one will harm you.”

  All her fears, all her doubts, disintegrated like morning mist. He loved her, and she loved him, and between them, there was nothing they couldn’t handle.

  It took her a moment to realize it was sprinkling. Hand in hand, they ran for the house.

&nb
sp; A little of her confidence waned when they reached the porch. She removed her coat, shook the raindrops from her hair, and took a deep breath.

  Everyone looked up when they entered the room. A fire burned cozily in the hearth; the glow from several lamps brightened the room.

  Lester was sitting on the sofa beside Dorinda. He gave Beth a smile of encouragement, then winked at her.

  Chase put his arm around Beth and drew her close against him. “I have good news,” he said. “Beth is going to have my child.”

  “A baby! That’s wonderful!” Jenny sprang to her feet, the mending in her lap falling, unnoticed, to the floor as she hurried toward them.

  She gave Beth a quick hug. “How do you feel, dear? Here, sit down and put your feet up. Ryder, find me a blanket. There’s a chill in here.”

  “I’m fine, really,” Beth said. She looked up at Chase, feeling helpless, as Ryder spread a quilt over her lap.

  “When’s the baby due?” Dorinda asked. She slid a foot stood under Beth’s feet, straightened the quilt, placed a pillow behind her back.

  Chase grinned down at her, then shook his head. He knew little of childbearing, but he knew enough to stay out of the way.

  “A toast,” Ryder said, taking a bottle from the liquor cabinet. “We need a toast!”

  “A baby,” Rebecca said, smiling first at Beth and then at Chase. “How exciting.”

  Ryder poured drinks for everyone, except Beth. “Not good for expectant mothers,” he said, and handed her a glass of buttermilk instead.

  Dorinda lifted her glass. “To my brother and his bride,” she said. “A long and happy life.”

  “Here, here,” Jenny said.

  Beth looked up at Chase and knew she that if she lived to be a hundred, she would always remember this moment, the adoration shining in the depths of his dark eyes, the warmth of his family’s love and acceptance.

  “I hate to be the one to pour cold water on this happy occasion,” Dusty said, his voice as wry as his expression, “but isn’t Beth supposed to be marrying Lester next month?”

  “That she is,” Lester replied. He grinned as he clapped Dusty on the shoulder. “But not to worry, young man. I have a plan.”

  * * * * *

  “Delay the wedding?” Ralph Johnson fixed Beth with a piercing look. “Why?”