by Stacey Kayne
And just that fast, her smile faded.
"Wait 'til you taste what these do to a bowl of potatoes."
Rachell did her best to shrug off her emptiness as her gracious hostess turned with a handful of pungent herbs. They walked past the squash and okra and leaned on the garden fence.
"You have a wonderful garden."
'Thank you. I love it. I was limited to a few potted bushels when I lived in the higher elevations."
Closing the gate behind her, Rachell glanced around at the stables and a bunkhouse in the distance among corrals and feed troughs. As they reached the back steps, she realized there was only one house on the Double D. Ben and Corin had a beautiful home, but nothing inside it resonated of Jed.
"Does Jed live here with you and your family?" Rachell asked as she followed Corin up the back steps.
"No. He lives in the bunks."
Rachell's step faltered. She grabbed the banister to steady herself as she glanced back at the long bunkhouse. "The bunkhouse?"
"I suppose that will change when he comes back." Corin turned back and noted Rachell's surprise. "It's a nice bunkhouse, with his own private quarters. He built it himself, a year before he built this house for Ben."
"How long has Jed had this ranch?" Rachell asked, a sense of dread washing over her.
"Going on four years. I suppose he didn't feel he needed a whole house for himself. He's known to leave on a whim for weeks at a time. In the bunks, there's always someone else to take care of the upkeep while he's gone."
She'd be a complete disruption to his life.
I'm not a marrying sort of man...once you get to California, you'll see that.
She was seeing it, and the reality of his words was scaring her half to death.
"Rachell?" Corin descended a few steps and stood beside her. "I'm sure that will change. It's just habit. When you're raised constantly on the move, as I was with Jed and he was with Shuhquoy, staying put takes some getting used to."
That was the problem. Jed didn't want to change. "He doesn't want a wife," she said. "He never intended to marry me."
Corin's smile was as warm as the setting sun and twice as pretty. "That may be, but I don't think anyone intends for what life brings them. I surely never planned to be any man's wife, much less the mother of children, but I didn't know love until I met Ben and his sons. Now I can't imagine how I ever got by without them."
Neither could Rachell. But Jed didn't share her affliction.
"When Jed comes back, you'll see," said Corin.
When Jed came back, they would be the ones who would see, and she'd be unwed. How would she face Jed and this family when he brought back the proof that he didn't want her?
Chapter Twenty-Five
He was close. Finally. For three days Jed had been chasing a kid who knew how to cover his trail.
He traced his finger across the tracks in the fine dust sheltered from the wind by two straight cliffs. A horse had traveled through this narrow pass within the last twenty-four hours. Juniper's horse.
Jed stood and led Sage through the channel in the rock that opened into a small secluded meadow. Sage spotted tall green grass and tugged at Jed's hold on the reins. "Go on, boy," Jed said, releasing his horse to graze. He pulled off his hat and glanced toward the sun setting in the west, the same direction he wanted to be traveling. The cool breeze whipped at his hair, carrying the whispered sound of Rachell's voice to his ears. He closed his eyes to see her pretty face.
Damn it, kid. If you don't show yourself soon, I 'm giving up and heading back to the woman who sings to me through the wind.
A horse whinnied in the distance. Jed scanned the area.
Damn if a black mustang, still saddled, didn't emerge from a thicket of trees just a few yards from where Sage was grazing. Jed's gaze whipped around the surrounding perimeter. Spotting a cove of rock that would provide the most shelter, he started toward it. His stomach twisted into knots when he saw a long
bundle of blankets tucked into the crevasse beneath a stone overhang.
"Aw, hell," Jed sighed, crouching beside the boy shivering in his bedroll. June's blond hair was drenched with sweat. Perspiration dotted his upper lip. Jed placed a palm to his scalding forehead, and still Juniper didn't open his eyes. Jed didn't need to peek under the blanket to know the wound in June's shoulder had become a mess of infection. The fever gave it away.
Why hadn't he gone into town and sought help? They couldn't be but a few miles from one. "Hang on, June," he said, lifting the lanky youth as he stood.
"Leave me be," Juniper groaned, attempting to struggle against Jed's hold.
"Boy, if you don't get some doctoring, you'll be bait for the buzzards by sunup. Your arm is infected."
He hoisted Juniper into his saddle, nearly sending his limp body toppling over the other side. "Come on, June! Help me out," he said, trying to hold him steady so he could mount up behind him.
Juniper roused, turning his head to meet Jed's gaze. "Jed?" he said, his eyes glazed, unfocused.
"Don't die on me, kid." Jed mounted and reached around Juniper to take the reins. "Rachell would never forgive herself."
Not an hour later, Jed had Juniper laid out on a doctoring table. The boy was nearly out of his mind with fever, but the moment he opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of the gray- haired physician inspecting his shoulder, the skinny kid gained the strength of ten men.
"Get him off me!" he screamed. He shoved the doctor to the floor and proceeded to leap off the table.
Jed grabbed hold of him and hauled him back down. "Calm down, June. The doc's trying to help you."
"Get him away from me!" Juniper continued to shout, struggling against Jed's hold. Tears filled his blue eyes as his gaze locked with Jed's. "I'm sorry, Jed. I'm sorry. Please let me go. Don't let him cut me."
Undiluted fear swept across Juniper's face. The boy was obviously terrified of doctors. Being held down surely wasn't going to help his fear none, but Jed didn't have any other option.
"June, you need doctoring."
"No!" He nearly threw Jed off of him. "I won't be butchered like my pa!"
"You better knock him out in a hurry, Doc," Jed advised the elderly man as he rose from the floor, "before he rips us both to shreds."
The doctor nodded and doused a cloth with pungent liquid. He held it over Juniper's mouth and nose until he finally stilled, his arms falling limply at his sides.
Once the doctor had cleaned and sutured June's wound, Jed enlisted a few men to help him move the unconscious boy to the local hotel just a couple of doors down from the doctor.
June didn't take his doctoring any better at the hotel. He'd ripped his stitches out more than once from carrying on. Despite frequent doses of laudanum, Juniper put up such a fight every time he woke, Jed had resorted to binding his left arm to his side, and the other to the bed frame.
A week had passed before the doc finally said June was well enough to travel. Jed took it upon himself to get the kid some new duds. He couldn't wait to ride out of this town. Two weeks away from Rachell was wearing on him-his fear and uncertainty of how she'd greet him kept growing with each passing day.
Opening the door to his hotel room, Jed was greeted by the usual shouts of threats and profanity. Jed ignored them and shut the door.
"You hear me, you dirty rotten bastard!" June ranted. He sat on the side of the bed in the smelly nightshirt he'd worn for a week, glaring at him. He yanked at his bound wrist, the other sleeve flopping aimlessly, his arm bound at his waist beneath the nightshirt. "How long do you plan to hold me prisoner?"
Gone was the polite kid who had flashed smiles at Rachell as he devoured her stew. But it was good to see him sitting up. Now all Jed had to do was figure out how he'd get him to California without tying him to a saddle.
"I ought to just shoot you and be done with it." He tossed the package of new clothes onto the table and slumped in the chair beside the bed. "But then I'd have to face Rachell."
At the mention
of Rachell's name, some of the fight seemed to fizzle out of June, bringing a sense of vulnerability into his big blue eyes. Jed was struck by the look of youthfulness about him. He studied the baby-smooth skin of Juniper's face, as he'd done many times in the past week. He'd had plenty of time to clear his head and figure out that it wasn't a crush June had for Rachell, but pure respect and affection. The feelings a boy would have toward his mother.
"How old are you, June?"
"What do you care?" he bit out, yanking at his restraint.
"Just curious," Jed said mildly. He propped his boots on the bed and crossed his ankles. "You've got the height of a grown man, but that baby face and all your belly-achin' over a bit of doctoring is telling me you're more boy than man."
"I'm sixteen!"
"If you really believe that, I can only guess that you don't know how to count."
"I do too," he said in a lighter tone. "I'm fourteen, you old codger, and I ain't goin' to no orphan home."
"Orphan home?" Jed chuckled, shaking his head. "What the hell would some orphan home do with a fourteen-year-old gun slick? They've got young'uns to protect from kids like you."
"Then just let me go!"
"Go where?"
"Anywhere I please. There ain't a person on this earth who cares if I live or die."
"That's not true. Rachell's eyes teared up the second I told her you'd run off."
June's expression softened. "Miss Rachell's the sort who cares about everybody. It ain't in her to be mean."
"Perhaps. Or maybe she's taken a keen liking to a skinny little hothead who doesn't have the sense to know when he's in the company of folks who care about him. You ever thought about working on a cattle ranch?"
Juniper hissed a breath of air through his teeth. "Ain't no cattle ranch gonna hire me. I ran off from my uncle once and tried to get hired on at a few outfits. I got laughed off of every one. They all said I was too young."
"With your cocky attitude, it ain't a wonder. I happen to have a cattle ranch in California. You learn to harness that mouth of yours and I could be persuaded to hire you. 'Course, Rachell will want to fuss over you. She'd probably make you say bedtime prayers and scrub behind your ears and all. I could see how that would go against the grain of an independent young man like yourself."
As Jed spoke, the anger in Juniper's narrowed blue eyes turned to blatant interest.
"You serious?"
"I wouldn't have said so if I wasn't."
June frowned, seeming to contemplate his proposal. He nodded toward the table. "What's in the package?"
"Your new clothes."
His blue eyes widened. "Why would you buy me clothes?"
Jed wasn't sure what bothered him more, the fact that June didn't know how to take kindness, or that he flat out didn't expect to be shown any.
"Because you need 'em," he said, an obvious truth. "Here's the deal, June. Doc says you've healed up enough to travel, so long as you don't start waving that arm about anytime soon. I need you spiffed up and able to ride. So we're gonna take a walk down to the bath house, and you're gonna behave. Understood?"
June stared at him for a long moment. "Why are you helping me?"
"You helped Rachell. You saved her life. It's only right that I save yours in return. All my efforts won't be worth the word of an Indian agent if I let you ride off and get yourself killed."
"What if I don't want to go to California?"
"Boy, I didn't chase you all over Nevada to go home empty- handed. When I go home, you're comin' with me."
"You sure Miss Rachell will want me?"
That was the only thing he was sure about. God willing, she'd want the both of them. But then, he'd been the fool to suggest she'd be better off with another. The one who'd be filing for the annulment, giving up his legal tie to the only woman he'd ever want.
It's the only way. To make a clean break.
His whole life, he'd never shied away from taking risks. For the first time, his heart kept pulling toward the other side of caution, the future that included Rachell at any cost.
Realizing June was growing anxious for his answer, he said, "I'm sure she'll want you."
Juniper surprised him by flashing a wry smile. It only lasted a split second but it was the first time the boy had smiled since he'd last seen Rachell.
Jed shifted his feet to the floor and stood. "I'm gonna untie you. But I'm warning you, June, you start swingin' your damn fists and I'm swingin' back. I don't care if I have to keep you hog-tied until I dump you at Rachell's feet."
Juniper actually laughed, while calling him a bastard.
Definite progress. Jed began to think he might get Juniper back to his ranch without having to use force.
If Rachell was to be his, he'd win her the same way. On her own terms, of her own will.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sundays were the worst. Buck stayed home most of the day, enjoying his wife's company.
Rachell slipped out the back door of her sister's house, desperate to get away from the happy couple who clearly looked forward to the one day they were able to spend together. She didn't begrudge them their happiness. She just couldn't bear the constant reminder of all she didn't have, the life Jed hadn't been able to envision them sharing.
She followed a worn dirt path away from the bustle of the horse ranch, into the serenity of rolling green hills, stepping in and out of the shade offered by the gnarled and twisting branches of oak trees. The sound of water trickling over rocks drew her away from the trail. Wildflowers grew among the tall grasses, white and yellow butterflies fluttered above them. Gathering the bulk of her full brown skirt, she sat in the soft grass, finding some relief in the beauty of her surroundings.
Beyond the gentle ravine, the vast green hills rippled toward the snow-capped mountains of the Sierras. It was the same view she'd stared at for four days on the Double D. Two weeks ago she'd thanked Ben and Corin for their offer to stay, and had gone home with her sister, certain being away from Jed's ranch would help ease the pain of his absence.
But it hadn't. As much as she'd enjoyed the past few weeks of catching up with Elizabeth, she was still too close. She wasn't sure why she waited. For what? Further proof that she'd fallen in love with a man who wouldn't accept her love, who wasn't able to love her back? Of the desperate hope that he'd come to his senses and realize he loved her just as deeply?
She supposed she could go to Sacramento to find work, and still be close enough to Elizabeth to visit.
That thought brought the burn of fresh tears-it just wouldn't do. She'd cried enough in the past two weeks to last a lifetime.
Resting her head on her raised knees, she brushed her palm over the lush green beside her and remembered the feel of cool grass against her back when she'd experienced her first taste of passion. She closed her eyes. Silver-gray eyes stared back at her from the shadows of her mind, and the pain inside her eased ever so slightly.
"Hello, Rachell," said the deep voice from her dreams.
Rachell opened her eyes and gazed up at Jed standing on the path. The windblown length of his hair and dark stubble coating his jaw matched the turbulent look in his eyes.
Her pulse quickened as she skimmed over him from his black hat to his boots and back up again, but she still wasn't sure she believed what she saw.
The most devastatingly handsome man she'd ever known.
He pulled off his hat and strode toward her, and Rachell found the sense to scramble to her feet.
He stopped before her, his gaze unreadable.
She struggled to breathe and had to fight the urge to leap into his arms.
"I missed you," he said.
"You did?"
"I did." He bent down and brushed his lips across hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt him shudder as she deepened the kiss. He pulled away too soon, stepping back as he reached into the pocket of his long coat.
"I brought you something."
The annulment. Tears stung he
r eyes, spilling across her cheeks as her emotions scattered in wild disarray. Suddenly, the world tilted.
"Rachell!" Jed's arms closed around her, steadying her. "Honey, are you-"
"I'm okay," she said, pushing his hands from her hips. She'd promised she wouldn't hold him. "If.. .the annulment... is what you-"
"I couldn't do it," Jed interrupted, pulling her closer.
"What?"
"I should have. I intended to. But I couldn't."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to lose you. I love you, Rachell."
Her smile was instant. She'd been so afraid to hope.
He eased back and opened his palm, revealing a small black box.
"Jed," she breathed, lifting her gaze. She was shocked by the fear she saw in his eyes. Could he really doubt her love for him?
"I know I don't deserve such a strong-spirited, beautiful bride, but if you'd-"
"I will," she said in a rush. "I choose you, Jed. I do."
A hard sigh broke from his chest. He staggered back. In the next instant his arms were locked around her, hugging her tightly against him. "Thank God," he breathed against her hair. "Ben told me you'd gone to Buck's ranch, and I've never been so scared in my life."
She smiled up at him. "Courage is not something you lack, Jed Doulan."
"It is where you're concerned. The feelings you stir in my heart scare the hell out of me."
"I love you," she said in a scarce breath.
"I'm damn glad." She heard the squeak of the tiny hinged box being opened. "How about you give me your hand so I can slip this ring onto your finger and make you mine."
"I've been yours since the moment I first looked into your silver eyes," she said, the certainty in her words piercing Jed's heart like an arrow.
Lord, help me to never disappoint her, he silently prayed as she lifted onto her tiptoes to kiss him. He eagerly returned her fervent kiss. When the kiss broke, he forced his muscles to loosen his hold on her.
"Don't you even want to look at the ring?"
She stepped back. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the diamond gleaming inside the velvet-lined box. "Jed!"
He slid the gold band onto her slender finger. "Do you like it?"
