The Texan's Reward

by Jodi Thomas

  Jacob started to say he wouldn’t let Nell go near the river without him along, but he decided he’d be wise to keep his mouth shut. He wasn’t sure Mrs. O’Daniel was all that fond of him. If she thought he’d be trouble, she might insist she could handle Nell alone, and Nell was so determined to follow Mrs. O’Daniel’s advice, she might tell him to stay put.

  In less time than he thought possible, the four of them were in the buggy heading down to the river. The preacher and Mrs. O’Daniel rode in the front. Jacob and Nell were in the back.

  He braced his arm around her so the sway of the buggy didn’t hurt her. She seemed more excited than frightened. That was his Nell, he thought. Never afraid to face anything.

  “You all right?” he asked as the buggy bumped along.

  She nodded. “It took me a while, but I finally managed to sit. I hated it at first when I had to lie in the back of the wagon.”

  “Me, too,” he added, remembering how she’d looked more dead than alive when they’d brought her home.

  When the preacher reached the river, Brother Aaron pulled the buggy as close to the water as he dared. Nell stood on a blanket and removed her skirt, petticoats, and shoes. Her blouse hung down well past her waist, and her pantaloons were thick with ruffles.

  “I’ve ordered a bathing suit,” Nell told Jacob. “But it won’t be in for at least a month.”

  Jacob wasn’t sure what his job would be, so he tugged off his boots. “Does it come with a hat?” Not that he cared, he thought, but the hats on pictures he’d seen always looked strange.

  “The water’s going to be cold,” Mrs. O’Daniel warned, “but it will do wonders.” She pulled off her dress to reveal a bathing suit that covered her completely in dark blue.

  When she turned to test the water, Jacob whispered, “She’s going to scare the fish to death. We’ll be picking them up off the top of the water in no time.”

  Nell laughed and leaned against him for support. “Come in with me?”

  He frowned, but it was Mrs. O’Daniel who answered, “He’s not going into this water until he’s healed. I’ll not have that shoulder getting infected.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “You’re on your own. I’ll walk you in until the water hits my waist.”

  The preacher must have decided his duties were over, for he climbed up a small hill and sat down to read his Bible aloud. He was far enough away that the reading sounded more like rumbling than scripture.

  Nell slowly moved down the bank, laughing as cool mud oozed between her toes. Mrs. O’Daniel tied the thick leather belt around Nell’s waist and had a firm hold on her patient, even though Jacob was on the other side.

  As water lapped against his waist, he stopped and watched her move on. True to her word, the nurse never let go. When she stepped into shoulder-high water, Mrs. O’Daniel widened her stance and told Nell to hold onto her shoulder and let her body float.

  Nell did and laughed as she yelled back to Jacob. “I can move without pain.” She splashed with her legs. “It feels so good.”

  He watched as she moved her long limbs gracefully in the water, dancing slowly around the nurse. When she tired, she floated free in the water.

  For an hour, Mrs. O’Daniel held to the belt and instructed Nell to do first one exercise and then another. She never let go of her patient as Nell moved and splashed in the river.

  Jacob walked back to the shore, dried off as best he could, and sat watching them. She reminded him of a little girl again, playing and laughing. For the first time in his life, he wished they’d been the same age. He would have liked to have been a kid the same time she was; then he wouldn’t have always had to play the parent role.

  “Now,” the nurse finally shouted back toward the shore, “it’s time to go.”

  Jacob waded out when he saw them returning. Nell smiled, but he saw the exhaustion in her eyes. Without asking, he lifted her and carried her to the buggy. She curled against him, feeling boneless in his arms. With towels and blankets wrapped around her, the preacher drove them home.

  “Take her right upstairs,” Mrs. O’Daniel ordered as she stepped in the doorway. “Marla,” she yelled, “bring up the hot water as fast as you can and more towels. I don’t want her catching a chill.”

  By the time Jacob got Nell upstairs, Marla and Harrison were lugging steaming buckets in and filling a hip tub by the fireplace. Even though the day was warm enough to open the windows, the fire was blazing in her room.

  Harrison and Jacob went back downstairs as Marla stayed to help Nell with her wet clothes and Mrs. O’Daniel disappeared to change. Jacob could hear the women moving about and was glad Nell would be warm, for she’d shivered in his arms most of the way home.

  Gypsy passed Jacob and frowned. “You’d better get out of those wet clothes, Ranger, before you even think about sitting on that couch.”

  Harrison smiled. “Yes, Ranger, we wouldn’t want you catching a chill.”

  If Jacob had enough energy left, he would have taken a swing at the bookkeeper, even though the man did offer him a towel.

  Jacob hadn’t really thought about how wet he was. He’d been too worried about Nell. He changed out back in the mud room off the kitchen and washed up. The idea of a bath sounded good, but he knew if he got his bandages wet, Mrs. O’Daniel would have a fit.

  Gypsy opened the door while he stood with only long johns covering his legs. She glanced up and down his long frame, stopping to study his bare chest.

  “Did you need something?” he asked. “Or did you just come to stare?”

  She shrugged. “I figured if I was goin’ to get a look, I might as well have a good one. And I came to give you this new shirt Wednesday made for you, not that you don’t look mighty fine without it.” She batted her eyes in a gesture that once made her look pretty but now had a spooky effect. Then she crossed her arms and continued to gawk.

  He wasn’t sure if he should thank her for the shirt or arrest her for staring. The thoughts she had in her head would probably make him blush. He took the blue shirt and slipped one arm into the sleeve. The material was heavier than any store-bought shirt, and he guessed it would wear well.

  “She double stitched all the seams.”

  “It fits,” he said, surprised. Most of the shirts he bought in the general stores were too small. The sleeves were always an inch too short, the yoke tight across his shoulders. But this one . . . this one was made for him.

  “Of course it fits. That girl is magic with a needle. She made Harrison a shirt he said was the finest he ever owned.”

  Jacob smiled. He hadn’t had a shirt made for him since his mother died. “Tell her thanks.”

  “You can tell her yourself. She and the baby are coming down to supper in an hour.”

  “I thought women were supposed to stay in bed for a month after having a baby?”

  Gypsy shrugged. “I don’t know. Mrs. O’Daniel just said if she feels like it, she can come down for a little while.”

  By the time he finished shaving, it was almost dark, and Wednesday had changed her mind about coming down. She ate in her room with Mrs. O’Daniel and Gypsy watching the baby. Everyone was invited to join their little dinner party, but Harrison said he’d keep Marla company in the kitchen, and the preacher decided he’d better go to town and check out sinners.

  As he left, he swore he’d not touch spirits while he was gone, but Jacob had his doubts.

  When Jacob went upstairs to thank Wednesday for the shirt, he asked if Nell was awake.

  Mrs. O’Daniel said she wanted to have dinner in her room since the night without sleep and then the exercise had tired her.

  He went downstairs and offered to take Nell a tray. Marla didn’t comment when he filled it with enough food for two.

  As Jacob pushed her door open, he saw her sitting by the window. Her hair was combed down, flowing across her shoulders, and she was already dressed in her robe and gown.

  “I thought I’d have supper with you tonight, if you’
ve no objections.” He set the tray down on the table beside her and pulled up one of the ladder-back chairs.

  “I’d like that.” She smiled. “But I may be too tired to be good company.”

  “Maybe you did too much,” he worried.

  “Wasn’t it wonderful? I felt like I was walking.”

  He couldn’t point out that she looked tired. She was too pleased with herself.

  They ate and talked of all that had happened in one day. He stretched in the uncomfortable chair and thought how nice it was to be with her.

  When Mrs. O’Daniel checked in to say good night and ask if Nell needed anything, she frowned at Jacob sitting by the window, but she didn’t say anything except to warn Nell not to stay up late.

  Jacob stood to leave. “Want me to carry you to bed?”

  “I’d like that.” She raised her arms.

  As he lowered her in the covers, he decided it was time to get a few things straight before he kissed her good night.

  “I’ve been thinking,” he started, “as soon as things settle down and I know Hank is safe, we should get the preacher to marry us.”

  He felt her stiffen. “Oh,” she said softly. “When did I agree to marry you?”

  “Now don’t start this, Nell,” he tried to keep the anger out of his voice. “A woman doesn’t go around kissing a man and letting him touch her, unless she’s going to marry him. I’d say you’ve already said yes with your actions.”

  He knew she was just pestering him, like she’d done all her life, and he wasn’t about to let her get away with it. “You don’t sleep with a man and not marry him.”

  “Is that so? My mother did. Fat Alice did. Every woman I knew until I was half grown did.”

  “They don’t count. You know what they were.”

  “They were women,” she answered. “Or didn’t you notice?”

  “How could I not notice? Most of them walked around downstairs half naked. But I never climbed the stairs with a one, and you know it.”

  She grinned. “I noticed. But your being a virgin doesn’t mean I’m going to marry you just because you touched me.”

  “I’m not . . .” He stopped. He had no intention of telling her about his past. He’d had a few women over the years who’d come willing to his arms. He hadn’t paid them, and he wouldn’t talk about them.

  “I didn’t think you could be naive and kiss like that.” She laughed.

  “And what do you know about it?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. If he could take the question back, he would before she told him.

  For lack of a plan, he leaned forward and kissed her. At first the kiss was hard, meant to silence her, but quickly it turned into something else. The taste of pleasure . . . of desire . . . of passion. The shock of it rattled him to his boots, and he reached down to dig his fingers in her hair as if he’d fall off another cliff if he didn’t hang on tight.

  She opened her mouth and welcomed him to deepen the kiss. Suddenly, he didn’t care where she learned it. He just enjoyed it.

  As carefully as he could, he lowered beside her without breaking the kiss and felt her mold against him. A hunger built inside him unlike anything he’d ever known. He kissed her long and lovingly as if his survival depended on it.

  A need for her grew inside him, hungry for more of her even as they touched.

  When he finally broke the kiss, he buried his face in her hair. “Marry me, Nell, or shoot me. I don’t care which.”

  CHAPTER 25

  DAWN CREPT INTO HER ROOM WITH THE FOG. NELL pulled herself up and stared at the open window. The air smelled of rain again. A part of her wanted to slip back under the covers and sleep another hour. She’d had a fight with Jacob last night, and an uneasiness pestered her dreams because of it.

  He wanted her to agree to marry him. In fact, he seemed confused that she’d even hesitate. She knew him well enough to almost read his thoughts. In his mind he would be her best choice for a husband. He knew her, she trusted him. He’d also proven in the past few days that he was definitely attracted to her, though he hadn’t said he loved her.

  She smiled. But, then, there was his touch. It said volumes. His touch did something deep inside her, but was that enough to build a marriage on?

  Her ranger had always been the one who thought he knew what was right for her, but now, Nell had to think about what was right for him. No matter what he claimed, he deserved more than she could offer as a mate.

  Marla slipped silently into the room with Nell’s tea. “I guessed you’d be awake,” she whispered.

  “Thanks.” Nell took the cup. “Who else is up?”

  “The baby and Wednesday. They’ve been awake an hour. And the ranger. I must have woke him when I started the fire. He’s pacing around downstairs like a caged cougar.”

  Nell wasn’t surprised. “What about Mrs. O’Daniel?”

  “I think I heard her in her room.” Marla glanced down. “Would you like me to help you dress?”

  “Thanks,” Nell answered. “What little muscles I have left are sore from the swim.” She stood, a bit steadier than she’d been a week ago. “If you’ll hand me my clothes, I can manage the rest.”

  One by one the layers went on. Marla had helped enough to know when to do things for Nell and when to let her take care of herself. Usually, Nell put her own hair up, but this morning she relaxed and allowed Marla to do it for her. By the time she rolled her wheelchair down the hallway, Nell looked every inch the proper lady.

  “It may rain all day,” Marla said from behind her. “If it doesn’t, do you want to go into town to see Hank with us? Mrs. O’Daniel said yesterday that she’d be going, and Mr. Harrison offered to take her.”

  “I might,” Nell agreed. She’d been worried about the boy since Mrs. O’Daniel described his wounds.

  When Nell turned into Wednesday’s room, the young mother greeted her with a grand smile. “He likes my milk,” she said. “I was worried yesterday ’cause he wouldn’t take much, but this morning he ate like a pig. Because of me, he’s going to grow into a big man.”

  Nell laughed. “Good.” She looked at the baby wiggling beside Wednesday. “You have to think of a name soon or some nickname will stick, and he’ll never get rid of it. Believe me, I know.”

  Wednesday held his tiny hand between her finger and thumb. “I was thinking of calling him HD after Mr. Harrison and Ranger Dalton on account of them being the two finest men I’ve ever known.”

  Nell nodded. “I think that would be grand.”

  “How about DH?” Jacob’s low voice sounded from the doorway.

  Wednesday grinned. “You wouldn’t mind if I used your name? He ain’t got a pa to be named after.”

  “Yes he does.” Jacob took a step into the room. “You just haven’t found a man worth being his pa yet. But one day maybe you will.”

  Wednesday liked that answer. Nell and Jacob stayed while she ate the tray of food Marla had brought up, then she told everyone it was time for her and little DH to take a nap. Making a nest of pillows and blankets, she cuddled in with her son.

  When they reached the landing, Jacob bent down to lift Nell. She was almost in his arms when a blue and white uniform stepped in front of them.

  “Stop right there,” Mrs. O’Daniel said in her all-business voice. “Miss Nell will walk down the stairs.”

  “But I’m . . .”

  Nell let her arms slide down his chest. “I’ll walk down,” she added, ending any argument Jacob had planned.

  He let go of her reluctantly.

  While Mrs. O’Daniel strapped the thick belt around her waist, Nell watched her ranger hurry down the stairs. She knew he didn’t want to watch her struggle with each step. Not when he could have carried her.

  Mrs. O’Daniel was right about one thing. Each time she forced herself to move down and up the steps, it got a little easier. The nurse always let her set the pace, but Nell noticed the grip on the belt, though firm, no longer carried most of her weight. Each time he
r leg took a step, pain throbbed along her spine, but she told herself over and over she wouldn’t quit until she passed out. She’d learned to brace for the pain. As long as she could stand ready against it, she could take it. The problem came in those times fire shot through her spine unexpectedly.

  When Nell finally joined the men for breakfast, she thought of doing the same thing that Wednesday did and announcing it was time for a nap. Only, Nell knew if she wanted a nap, Mrs. O’Daniel would make her climb the stairs again. So Nell took the lesser of two evils and decided to work with Harrison on the books.

  As the day passed, the rain continued. Jacob paced, edgy at being walled in. He finally decided to ignore the rain and go to the barn. To Nell’s surprise Mr. Harrison joined him after lunch.

  She read and forced herself to work on a needlepoint, while Gypsy slept in her favorite chair and Brother Aaron worked on a sermon at the dining table. Mrs. O’Daniel divided her time between Wednesday and the baby’s care and Nell’s exercises. Nell took her first few steps alone, without the belt. She held onto a chair to balance, but still for a few seconds she felt she was walking, even if Gypsy did remind her that she looked more like she was falling in the general direction she’d been planning to walk.

  When Jacob and Harrison returned from the barn an hour before supper, Jacob seemed in a good mood. He talked and joked and, she noticed, paid very little attention to her. He was still angry she hadn’t agreed to marry him.

  When he went to the porch to watch the rain, Nell joined him. It wasn’t like them not to face their problems head-on. She’d just have to make him understand that she needed time. And maybe, during that time, he’d see that she wasn’t right for him as a wife and begin to look for someone else. She pulled her chair within a few feet of him, but somehow he still seemed distant.

  Rain fell in a steady sheet off the porch roof. “It makes me feel closed in,” she opened the conversation, their first alone since the night before.