A Rancher’s Surrender

by Michelle Beattie

  “It’s me you’re after. It’s me you’ve been after from the beginning. Let him go.”

  Harvey pointed his revolver at Jillian’s heart. “I’m about done with your orders.” He cocked the hammer.

  Jillian froze. Sweat ran cold down her back. She didn’t know what to do but she had to try, couldn’t let anything happen to the little boy who’d defied his father because of his love for a dog. Knowing Harvey hated strong women, she lowered her gaze, raised her hands in surrender.

  “I’m sorry. You’re right. You have the power here. What would you like me do?”

  “That’s better,” he said.

  Though she couldn’t see him his voice at least sounded less volatile. But he didn’t move, nor did he say anything more. What if he didn’t let Jacob go? She counted the passing of time by the thumps of her heart and hoped fervently that the reverend had a few more prayers in him.

  “Come here.”

  Jillian raised her head. As she’d assumed, he was looking straight at her. She took a breath and forced her frozen limbs to move.

  The moment she stepped before him Harvey shoved Jacob aside and grabbed her. Though she’d expected it she shuddered when he pressed the cold barrel of the gun against her temple. And prayed her life wouldn’t end this day.

  He backed them toward the barn. There, next to the bunkhouses was his tethered horse. So he had come in during the hullabaloo, which meant he’d known the men weren’t going to be there. Oh, God, he’d set the fire.

  The men were all in town, and she doubted the reverend would come after her since he was a man sworn to God, not to violence. Which meant Jillian was on her own. If she hoped to get out of this alive, she had nobody to rely on but herself.

  *

  They were making so much dust it felt as though his eyes were being scoured with sand. Despite that, Shane smelled smoke. They were getting closer.

  Suddenly his reins were grabbed the same way he’d grabbed Silver’s moments ago.

  “I’m heading back,” Wade said, not wasting any time. “I have a bad feeling about this. Harvey disappears and now we have a fire that’s drawing every man away? Seems handy.”

  Shane agreed, but he looked ahead. Through the rumbling hooves and churning dust, Silver plowed on. Dammit, he couldn’t leave her.

  “Can you spare me?” Wade hollered over the noise of passing riders.

  “Do you have a weapon?”

  Wade jerked his thumb to the scabbard tied to his saddle.

  “I can’t go with you. I need—”

  Wade slapped him on the back. “Go! I’ll see you later.”

  Before Shane could tell his friend to be careful, he was gone.

  *

  Wade’s heart was thudding faster than Whiskey’s hooves, which was saying something since the countryside was flying so fast beside him it was nothing but a blur. The animal was breathing hard, but he nonetheless gave Wade everything he asked. The wind whistled in Wade’s ears. He was over Whiskey’s neck until he was almost parallel to the ground.

  God, he hoped he was wrong. Let the fire be just a random thing, and not the trap I think it is. If it was a trap that meant Black had been ready and Wade could be riding hell for leather toward God only knew what. He nearly choked thinking of those he loved being in danger. Or worse.

  Though Whiskey’s hooves ate the ground, it felt like an eternity before Wade saw the ranch, saw the crowd outside. Were they all right? He couldn’t tell; he was still too far away. They turned as he approached. He knew, holy hell, he knew, something was terribly wrong when his ma burst from the crowd and ran to meet him.

  Whiskey’s hooves skidded on the road as Wade reined him in. The animal’s hide was lathered, its sides heaved.

  “What, Ma? What’s wrong?”

  Her cheeks were streaked with tears. Her lips were white.

  “He’s got her! He took her!”

  The leather cut into Wade’s hands. “Who, Ma? Who does he have?”

  “Jillian.” She pressed her hands over her heart. “Harvey Black took Jillian.”

  Wade pushed his fear and panic aside. If he was going to help her he needed to keep a clear head. “How long ago?”

  “Not long. Maybe ten minutes. They went that way.” She pointed in the direction they’d headed.

  “Where’s Annabelle?”

  “In the house with Jacob. Harvey had him first, but let the boy go when Jillian offered herself instead.”

  Wade knew a moment’s relief for his daughter’s safety. It was quickly followed by heart-stopping fear for Jillian. He couldn’t lose her, not before he told her he’d been a fool. Before he told her he loved her.

  “Was Harvey alone?”

  “Yes.” She wiped her cheeks, but horror lingered in her eyes. “Find her, Wade. She was so brave; she can’t-she just can’t—”

  He leaned down, touched his ma’s cheek. “She won’t, Ma. I’ll bring her back.” He wheeled Whiskey around. “Sorry, boy, a little longer.”

  And once again they were racing over the ground.

  *

  Terror left a tinny taste in her mouth. Or perhaps that was blood, since she was biting her lip as she tried to think of a solution. Unarmed and jammed in the saddle in front of Harvey, she was in no position to jump off without risking getting her skull trampled. Even if she did manage to keep her head intact, she feared he’d simply shoot her.

  Which meant it wasn’t escape she needed to concentrate on; it was getting his revolver. A difficult task as it was currently lodged in the small of her back. What she needed was to get them off the horse. Then maybe she’d have a chance.

  She turned her head, grimaced as his fetid breath fell over her face.

  “I’m not feeling well,” she said.

  And the more he breathed on her, the truer her lie became. Between being jostled about, the fear of having a gun pointed at her and his terrible breath, her stomach was in knots.

  “I don’t give a good goddamn how you’re feeling.” He rasped.

  “You want me to be sick all over you?” she asked.

  For good measure she made an act of swallowing back hard, pressed her hand to her mouth as though she’d vomit. He jerked on the reins, tossed her to the ground before the horse had even stopped. She landed hard on her hands and knees. Her palms and knees burned but she kept to her ruse. Moaning, she clutched her belly, rocked back and forth. Soon his dusty boots were in her line of sight. She willed herself to be sick, tried envisioning all manner of disgusting things, but she was a doctor and as such had an iron stomach.

  “Well?” he said.

  She inhaled deeply, wiped her mouth, and met his gaze. “Now that I’m not being tossed about in the saddle, my stomach’s settling. Maybe if we stopped for a few—”

  His hand came from nowhere, caught her across the cheek, and snapped her head back. When the spots cleared from Jillian’s eyes and she met Harvey’s, she saw that his were wild, mad. He leaned over her, fists curled.

  “You think you’re smart? You think you can outwit me? Well, you can’t! You’re nothing! Nothing, do you hear me?”

  Panic filled Jillian until she shook with it. She was out of ideas. She wasn’t physically strong enough to best him. He had the revolver. Even if she could get to the shotgun tied to his saddle, she had no idea if it was even loaded.

  “I asked if you’d heard me?” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth.

  “Yes. I heard you.”

  He nodded. “Get up. We need to keep going.”

  She rose to her feet. “To where?”

  “Where you’ll never cause trouble again.”

  If she was going to die, Jillian decided with sudden determination, then she was going to die on her terms.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said and took a step back. “You want to kill me for being a doctor? For taking on a man’s role? Then you can do it here.”

  Chin high, shoulders back, knees trembling harder than the last leaf hang
ing in the fall, Jillian stood her ground.

  Harvey’s lips peeled back. The devil himself looked at her from eyes colder than a rock in the dead of winter. He cocked the revolver, raised it.

  “Just remember when you’re rotting in hell, that you brung this on yourself.”

  “I know about your missing wife. It won’t be me going to hell. It will be you, for murdering two women.”

  “Bloody meddlin’ sheriff,” he grumbled. “Well neither he nor anyone else can prove anything.”

  “Then you did kill your wife?”

  He laughed. “’Course I killed her. Women voting. Whoever heard of such nonsense? Just ’cause Wyoming and Utah did it, don’t mean the rest have to follow. But she insisted. Was gathering a group of women in our town, making noise about women’s suffrage.”

  Madness gleamed in his eyes like a sharpened knife. “She needed to be stopped, just like you need to be stopped. All’s I need is a place to bury you where you’ll never be found.” His gun didn’t waver, but his eyes left her as he looked around. “Goddammit! How the hell did he catch up so fast?”

  His gaze swung round to Jillian but hers was on the rise of dust and the lone rider heading their way.

  Harvey reached for her, but Jillian was ready. She leapt back, turned to run.

  “No, you don’t!” He grabbed her by the hair.

  Jillian screamed as pain exploded from every hair on her scalp. Quickly she blinked away the tears that filled her eyes. The rider was gaining. All she had to do was buy time. Drawing back, she plowed her elbow into Harvey’s ribs.

  He grunted, but recovered quickly. Then, with the revolver still in his hand, backhanded her. She spun to avoid it, but the blow caught her on the temple. A blinding pain burst through her skull. She staggered, blinked furiously, but her eyes had stopped working. She reached out for something to grab but met nothing but warm air. She felt darkness creeping in. Her knees were buckling.

  Dimly, as though through fog, she heard hooves. Was it the rider approaching or Harvey leaving? She thought she heard shots fired, but why did they sound so far away? She tried to focus, but it was impossible. Everything seemed too far out of reach. The more she tried to make sense of what was happening, the less it seemed to.

  She finally gave up trying.

  *

  Wade had never aimed a weapon at another man. He never would have considered himself capable. But when Harvey hit Jillian, when her body swayed then collapsed from the blow, Wade didn’t hesitate. Guiding Whiskey with his thighs, Wade raised his shotgun.

  Harvey, however, wasn’t going without a fight. He shot; the bullet whistled past Wade’s ear. He wouldn’t get another chance. Wade adjusted his aim, fired. Harvey jerked, staggered. With shock widening his eyes, he fell dead to the ground.

  Wade reined in his horse. Not wasting a moment looking at Harvey’s worthless, lifeless body, he raced for Jillian. She’d taken a hard blow to the head, and judging by the bruise darkening her cheek, Harvey had struck her more than once.

  Bastard.

  Wade knew nothing about doctoring or medicine but he remembered when he’d hit his head after falling from the rafters that Jillian had said head wounds bleed a lot. His fingers carefully skimmed where he’d seen Harvey hit her, but all he felt was the warmth of her scalp. No blood. Was that good or bad?

  He lifted her, cradled her in his lap. He took comfort from her even breathing which tickled the hair at his throat. But his heart had yet to beat normally. He’d feared he’d lost another woman he loved. Only this time, she’d die before he could tell her the words.

  He kissed Jillian’s forehead. “I need you. Annabelle needs you.” His heart felt as though it would burst with emotion. He rocked her back and forth. “Wake up, Jillian. I need to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?”

  Her voice was gravelly but it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. Relief made him weak.

  Gently he set her on the grass. Her eyes seemed clear, her color was good. “Are you all right?”

  She brought her fingers to her temple. “I think your whole herd is stampeding right here. Otherwise I think I’ll live.” She tried to sit up, moaned, and lay back down.

  “Easy. Take your time.”

  “I thought I heard shots. Where’s Harvey? Did he get away?”

  “No. And he won’t be bothering you or any other woman again.” He cupped her cheek. “I was so scared.”

  Her smile was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “Me, too. He killed his wife. Shane suspected so but Harvey admitted it. All because she wanted the right to vote. It’s why he came after me, because I threatened what he believed, that women are lesser than men somehow.”

  “He was wrong. Can you sit up?”

  He helped her, kept his arm around her back until he was sure she could sit on her own. Then he took her hand, laced her fingers with his.

  “I was a fool. I was willing to let you go because I thought Annabelle needed a mother who’d be home with her, who’d stay on the ranch and never leave her.”

  He scoffed at his own naivety.

  “But what she really needs is someone to love her, to teach her compassion, to teach her to stand up for what she believes in. I want my daughter to feel safe and loved enough to be the woman she’s destined to be, whatever that entails. I want her to be exactly like her mother and exactly like you.

  “I was wrong to think you weren’t good enough for my daughter.” His eyes swam with emotion. “I was wrong not to admit that I love you.”

  Her frown chilled him. Was he too late?

  “And if the town changes its mind? If folks learn to accept me as a doctor?”

  He raised her hand to his mouth, kissed it. “I hope they do. Justin sought you when he needed a doctor and his horse is fine. It’s only a matter of time until someone else will call on you.”

  Jillian shook her head and immediately regretted the motion. She placed a hand to her head and held up the other when he moved to help.

  “I’m fine.” She took a moment, drew some deep breaths then lowered her hand.

  “What if you change your mind, Wade? What if a horse kicks me or a cow knocks me over? Then what?”

  Fearing he was losing the battle, Wade hurried to reassure. “Then you’ll scare a few years off my life, but I won’t stop you from doing what your father spent so much time teaching you. Jillian, I know you have reason to doubt me. Hell, I’ve given you more than enough reasons, but I’m saying I’ve changed. I want you to be a doctor because without it, you wouldn’t be happy.”

  “But with it, will you be? You weren’t happy when Amy became a midwife.”

  He sighed, felt his heart start to tremble. “You were right. When she became a midwife I felt I wasn’t enough for her. That I couldn’t make her happy. But looking back with fresh eyes, I see what you said was exactly right. She wasn’t unhappy with me, she never was. And”—he hung his head in shame—“she’d told me so. I was just too stubborn to hear it.”

  It hurt to admit. To know that, despite his wife’s words, he hadn’t believed her. Hadn’t believed enough in their love to accept her words were the truth. He’d let his pride get in the way.

  He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

  He guided Jillian to her feet and then took both her hands. “I love you, Doctor Jillian Matthews, and I’d be honored to be your husband. I promise to cherish you, honor you, and respect the fact that you’re a damn fine veterinarian. I’ve seen your work. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I kept that talent from helping others.

  “Be my wife, be Annabelle’s mother, and I promise I’ll love you and our life together for as long as I live.”

  *

  Jillian couldn’t hold back the tears. They pushed against her eyes as hard as the love that pushed against her breasts. She’d moved west to be a doctor. To work at what she loved, to prove to herself, Clint, and every other person who’d doubted her that she could do it.

  A
nd, in the end, she’d gotten so much more.

  With her heart bursting, she wiped the tear that crept down his cheek.

  His jaw trembled. “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “You won’t.” She smiled. “I’d already decided that without you, being a doctor wouldn’t make me happy. You’re my heart, Wade. You’re my home. But I had to ask, had to know you were sure.”

  “I am. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” He cupped her cheek. “You really would have given it up for me?”

  “I really would have.” Then she smiled, threw her arms around his neck. “But I’m really glad I won’t have to.”

  *

  The feed mill was gone. By the time the men had gotten to town, there was nothing they could do. The buildings next to it had damage but nothing that couldn’t be repaired. Four hours after the men had ridden out, they’d ridden back in, faces drawn and clothes smelling of smoke.

  Wade had remained at the ranch with Jillian, saying nothing of what had happened to Harvey when Annabelle was within hearing range. She and Jacob, who’d rebounded quick from his ordeal, were busy talking and stealing cookies when they thought the adults weren’t watching.

  “You going to go get his body?” Wade asked Shane.

  Since Eileen had insisted the rest of the wedding celebration continue, Wade and Shane had availed themselves to some whiskey.

  “Yeah, but he can wait. He’s ruined enough of my day already.”

  “Amen to that.” Wade drank deeply. The burn helped soothe the last of his frayed nerves.

  “You all right? I’ve shot a man before. I know that can linger.”

  Wade shrugged, his gaze on Jillian, whom he hadn’t let get too far out of his reach. “It was him or me. I figured I have more to live for.”

  “I can’t believe you’re getting married.”

  “Yeah.” He grinned. “Think you’ll ever do the same?”

  Shane froze but he was saved answering when Scott sidled up. “Are we going to eat soon? All that firefighting’s made me hungry.”

  “What fighting? We mostly just watched it burn.”

  Scott grinned. “Like I said, it made me hungry.”

  Wade saw Steven and his wife approach Jillian. Though she was with Silver he wasn’t sure what the hell Steven was up to and Jillian didn’t need any more aggravation.