One Hot Forty-Five

by B. J Daniels

  She wondered if Tamara knew about the house-arrest tracking device strapped to her ankle. Dede’s jeans covered it. The alarm would go off at the sheriff’s department if she went only a few yards farther than the back of the barn.

  Tamara hadn’t threatened her. Not yet, anyway. But Dede had already decided that she would have to find a way to step out of her specified area—and soon. Something about the woman’s demeanor warned her that Tamara’s visit wasn’t a friendly one.

  “So you probably wonder what I’m doing in Montana,” Tamara said, glancing around the barn. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

  Dede could tell that the woman was watching her out of the corner of her eye. “Not really. I should get back to the house. Everyone will be looking for me.”

  Tamara laughed. “Not likely, since there was a fire behind the house and both women are out there right now fighting it in that awful wind. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the blaze burned all the way down here to the barn?”

  Dede’s heart fell at the thought of Kate and Juanita being in danger because of her. As she caught the smell of smoke, she glanced toward the end of the barn. The mare was still standing there, waiting. Behind the horse, the horizon was an odd color, almost pink in the darkening sky. The snowstorm. It was probably already snowing in the Little Rockies.

  If she could make a break for it, run to the end of the barn and out into the corral—

  Dede felt the full weight of the woman’s gaze. “My brothers are dead because of you.”

  The mare had picked up the scent of the smoke and was moving nervously. Dede shifted on her feet, saw Tamara tense.

  Dede knew she had to do something. Now. “You blame me for your brothers’ deaths?” she demanded, taking a step toward the woman.

  Tamara reacted instinctively by taking a step back. The move gave Dede a little more room for when the time came to run.

  “Your brothers tried to kill me,” Dede said.

  Tamara was clearly taken aback by this confrontational manner of Dede’s. She had obviously expected Dede to cower in fear. Not that Dede wasn’t shaking in her boots. She just couldn’t let Tamara see that fear.

  But there was also an underlying anger. Because of this woman who professed such a bond with her brother, Frank was dead. She said as much to the woman.

  “He’d be alive if he hadn’t married you and betrayed his own family,” Tamara shot back. “You turned him against us. You poisoned his mind. Frank would never have—”

  “Double-crossed you otherwise?” Dede demanded. “The police have the duplicate necklace. They know about the other burglaries. They’ll soon figure out who masterminded all of it—including killing Frank and sending your other brothers after a worthless necklace and to their deaths.”

  Tamara looked livid. Spittle came out of her mouth when she finally was able to speak. “You bitch.”

  Dede knew the woman would go for her throat. She’d been ready. As Tamara charged, she stepped to the side, managing to trip her up. Tamara stumbled. Dede didn’t look back as she ran toward the end of the barn.

  She just hoped this monitoring device worked.

  But even if it alerted the sheriff’s department, it would take someone awhile to get out to the ranch, and Dede was all out of a plan to escape as she heard Tamara shout for her to stop.

  Dede had almost reached the end of the barn when the wood of one of the stall supports splintered in front of her as a popping sound echoed through the large old barn. Another pop.

  Dede felt a sharp pain in her side, felt her feet stumble. Something was wrong. Her hand went to her side and came away covered in blood.

  THE PICKUP ROARED INTO THE ranch yard. Lantry was out of it before the truck came to a stop. He ran toward where his stepmother and Juanita were dousing the last of the flames.

  The dried grasses of fall had made perfect tinder for the flames that skittered across the back of the house chased by the wind.

  But the two women had managed to narrow the blaze and now had it almost out.

  “Lantry,” Kate cried over the wind when she saw him. She had one of the fire extinguishers kept at the back door. Juanita was manning the garden hose. “We can’t find Dede. I think she’s down at the barn.”

  He could hear a horse whinnying. It had smelled the smoke.

  “Go find her,” Kate ordered.

  He took off at a run as an unsettling thought lodged itself in his gut. Dede had grown up on a ranch. The moment she smelled the smoke, she would have come running. Wildfires were always a fear.

  As he neared the barn, he saw the horse in the corral. It ran in a tight nervous circle. There was no way Dede wouldn’t have heard the horse if she was in the barn.

  He burst into the barn, surprised to find it dark inside. Reaching for the switch, he snapped on the lights and blinked.

  “Dede!”

  “Down here” came a female voice he didn’t recognize.

  “Lantry, no, she has a gun!”

  The chilling sound of Dede’s words rattled through him. He took a step, then another in the direction her voice had come from.

  “Tamara?” he said as he neared the back end of the barn. “I heard you were in town.”

  “Good news travels fast,” she shot back with a laugh that turned his blood to ice.

  “Are you all right, Dede?” he asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

  “She’s bleeding like a stuck pig,” Tamara answered. “But she’s still alive. Why don’t you join us?”

  That was exactly what he planned to do. He wasn’t about to let Dede spend another second alone with the woman.

  As he drew closer, he saw a pair of jean-clad legs protruding from the end stall.

  “That’s close enough,” Tamara said and peered around the end of the stall nearer Dede’s feet.

  It wasn’t near close enough, so he kept walking.

  “Are you hard of hearing?” Tamara asked. “I said that was close enough.”

  He kept coming. So far he hadn’t seen the weapon Tamara had used to shoot Dede. The stall walls were tall enough that she’d have a hell of a hard time shooting him over one of them. She’d have to step out and take aim. That meant he would have a few seconds before she fired.

  “I said stop!” Tamara’s voice rose, shrill even in the echo.

  He was almost to her, coming fast. He knew he couldn’t give her time to think. She had to fear him. If she had time to think, she would threaten Dede—the only thing that could hold him back. Instead, he had to make her fear for her own life if he reached her. He had to get her to turn the gun on him.

  Tamara stepped out of the stall, leading with the barrel of the pistol just as he’d hoped she would. He was so close now that she didn’t have enough time to aim. The gun made a popping sound. Wood splintered on the stall door next to him.

  She tried to fire again, but she’d forgotten momentarily about Dede. Dede kicked Tamara’s feet out from under her. A grunt escaped the woman’s lips as she hit the ground, going down hard.

  The gun popped again. Dust sifted down from the barn ceiling. But by then, Lantry was on her, twisting the weapon from her fingers and pointing the barrel at Tamara as he dropped beside Dede.

  “Are you all right?” he cried, seeing her lying in the straw bed of the stall holding her side, her angelic face pinched with pain.

  She nodded and smiled. “I am now.”

  He started to pull out his cell phone to call his brother, but before he could, he heard sirens. He looked up confusion at Dede.

  She pointed to her ankle monitor. The light was flashing. She’d managed to set it off.

  “Nice work,” Lantry said. As the barn filled with uniformed officers, he handed over Tamara Ingram Fallon’s weapon and lifted Dede into his arms. “I’m not waiting for an ambulance,” he said to his brother. “I’m taking her myself.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dede woke Christmas morning to find Lantry sleeping in a chair next to her
bed.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said, opening his eyes.

  She couldn’t believe this cowboy. After the doctor told him that her gunshot wound wasn’t serious, he’d hired a nurse and brought her back to the ranch.

  “It’s Christmas. I’m not having you spend it in a hospital,” he’d told her.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked now.

  After waking up to find him next to her bed? Wonderful. “A little sore, but other than that, pretty good.”

  He smiled. He really did have a great smile. “Ready for Christmas?” He sounded like a kid, anxious to see what Santa Claus had left him under the tree.

  “Ready,” Dede whispered as Lantry carried her into the living room. All the family was gathered around the tree.

  Dede smelled hot apple cider. It mingled with the scent of evergreen. Outside it was one of those amazing Montana days. All blue sky and sunshine, making last night’s fresh snowfall glitter like diamonds.

  For just a moment she couldn’t help but think of Frank. She felt nothing of the old pain, only a twinge of sadness. Her heart didn’t ache. It felt like a helium balloon allowed to fly free again, she thought as she looked over at Lantry.

  All around her there was laughter mingling with the sound of happy chatter. These Corbetts, Dede thought, shaking her head. What a big, boisterous family. The kind she’d always dreamed of being a part of.

  She wiped at a tear, caught Lantry looking over at her with concern.

  “Are you sure you’re up to this?” he whispered, leaning close.

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” She smiled at him and hastily brushed away the moisture at the corner of her eye.

  For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her.

  The room seemed to have gone quiet, everything stopping in midmotion. All she could hear was her heart in her chest banging like a drum as she looked into Lantry’s blue eyes and remembered the tickle of his mustache, the feel of his lips on hers.

  “Better open this one,” someone said, handing her a present. The room came alive again as Lantry leaned back, the moment lost.

  Dede watched as the family tore into the presents spilling out from around the tree. There were ohhs and ahhs and laughter and hugs as the pile of paper and ribbons grew.

  Kate had been kind enough to do some shopping for Dede since she couldn’t leave the ranch with her monitoring device. The older woman smiled over at her now as family members opened the presents she’d bought from Dede. Kate had great taste, and Dede smiled back her thanks.

  “Well, is that it?” Grayson asked as the frenzy slowed down. The family was sprawled around the tree, many sporting their presents of new slippers or sweaters. “Then let’s have breakfast.”

  Everyone started getting up to head into the large dining room. The talk turned to Juanita’s Christmas Day breakfast. It sounded like quite a spread.

  Lantry didn’t move until everyone else had left but he and Dede. “That’s not quite it,” he said as he got to his feet and went to the tree. From deep in the thick green boughs he took out a small velvet box.

  Dede felt her heart set off at a gallop as Lantry came back over to the chair where she sat and knelt down in front of her. She was already shaking her head.

  “Dede, there are some things I have to say. I used to figure if two people were stupid enough to get married, then they deserved whatever happened to them.”

  “Like me and Frank.”

  He shook his head. “Frank loved you. I believe that. He wouldn’t have changed his name and tried to make a new life with you if he hadn’t. You made him want to be a better person. It wasn’t your fault that his family had such a hold over him.”

  “That whole ‘blood is thicker than water’ thing?”

  He nodded. “I can’t go back to what I used to do. I’m not cynical enough about love and marriage anymore. It’s not a requirement for being a divorce lawyer, but it helps.”

  She let out a nervous laugh. For a while she’d been so afraid to dream that Lantry might feel the same way about her that she felt about him.

  He pulled her close. “I’d never known what falling in love felt like. I had no idea the crazy thoughts that come into your head. It’s no wonder people get married. Wait, I’m not saying this right.”

  He took her hand. Behind him, the lights of the Christmas tree glittered brightly. Somewhere in the house, “Silent Night” was playing. The room seemed magical, something out of a fairy tale.

  “Lantry, what are you doing?” she asked, scared.

  “I’m trying to ask you to marry me,” he said, his voice breaking. “This is just our first Christmas together. But I want to spend the rest of them with you. I love you, Dede. I want to marry you.”

  She couldn’t believe this. “Marriage?” Had he really said the M word?

  “I’m as surprised as you are. I never thought this day would come. But then, I’d never met anyone like you. I can’t imagine a life without you in it.”

  “Aren’t you worried about the odds of us making it?” she had to ask, fearing this couldn’t be real.

  He shook his head. “You and I are going to be in that fifty percent who spend our lives together and die within days of each other when we are old because we can’t stand to live without the other.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “That sounds awfully romantic, cowboy.”

  He grinned and placed the small velvet box in the palm of her hand. “I know it’s too soon. I know you’re going to need time. But I can’t let you just walk out of my life.”

  “This is happening too fast,” she said, unable to trust this moment. Hadn’t her heart wanted this? Ached for this from the moment she’d fallen in love with this man?

  “I know. That’s why I’m suggesting a long engagement. Not for me,” he added quickly, with a laugh. “If you’d have me, I’d marry you this afternoon right here in front of this Christmas tree.”

  She touched his handsome face. “This is so not like you.”

  “I know, but, Dede, I want to be that couple who wears out their wedding bands from years of marriage. I want that with you. I believe you and I can have that kind of marriage, or I wouldn’t ask you. Just say you’ll think about it and that you won’t go back to Texas.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you’re staying on here at the ranch?”

  “My father is expanding the ranch. He’s offered me a job and some land south of here for a house.”

  Dede wanted to pinch herself. Being here on the Trails West Ranch had reminded her how much she’d missed the ranch she’d grown up on. How much she’d missed this country and the lifestyle. She might even get over her fear of horses—with Lantry’s help.

  With his love, she knew there was nothing she couldn’t do.

  “DON’T MAKE UP YOUR MIND right now,” Lantry said, his heart in his throat. He knew it was too early. He also knew she’d been hurt too badly by her first marriage. She would be afraid to trust.

  But he couldn’t just let her walk out of his life.

  She looked down at the box in her palm.

  “You can open it if you’d like. Or you can wait until you’re ready.” He wanted her to open it. Hell, he wanted her to accept his proposal and wear the ring.

  Slowly, she opened the box and let out a small gasp.

  “The ring belonged to my grandmother. She and my grandfather were married sixty-three years. I figured if it worked for them…” He shrugged.

  Dede leaned down and kissed him. “It is perfect.”

  “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

  “One day, I will, yes.”

  Epilogue

  The weddings of the last of the two Corbett brothers were huge affairs, with everyone in three counties invited.

  There was dancing and Mexican food and a celebration that lasted for several days. Weeks later, everyone was still talking about how pretty the brides had been and how handsome those Corbett brothers were.
>
  Lantry looked up to see his father framed in the doorway. “Dad?”

  Grayson seemed to hesitate before he stepped into the room. “I suppose you’ll be going back to Texas now that the wedding is over and you’re back from your honeymoon.”

  So that explained his father’s serious look.

  “Actually,” Lantry said, smiling at his father, “I’ve decided not to go back to being a divorce lawyer. I figure I’d better stay around my family given how much trouble this family gets into.”

  His father registered surprise. “I just assumed since Dede is from Texas…”

  “Well, you know she grew up on a ranch in Wyoming. So this country up here feels more like home to her than Texas ever did.”

  His father grinned. “I couldn’t be more pleased. I think I mentioned that there’s a nice section to the south that would be a perfect place for a house. But in the meantime, no reason for you two not to stay in one of the cabins close by.”

  Lantry laughed. His father had gotten what he wanted, what their mother had wanted. The Corbett family had all settled in Montana on the Trails West Ranch. Not only would Grayson have his family close by, he now had five daughters-in-law—all strong-willed and independent—and grandbabies on the way.

  “So tell me, Dad. Was there ever really any letters from our mother?”

  Grayson smiled. “You were always such a skeptic. I suppose you were destined to be a lawyer—at least for a while.” He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a yellowed envelope. “This one is for you, son.”

  Lantry saw his name printed on the front in a small, neat hand. His heart dipped and rose as he took the letter from the mother he could barely remember.

  “I just gave your brothers theirs,” Grayson said. “They wanted to wait until you all were married and had your letters before they opened them. I’ll leave you to it,” he said and left him alone.

  Lantry turned the envelope over in his fingers. He had one clear memory of his mother he’d held on to all these years. It was of her leaning into his crib and touching his cheek as she sang softly.