Wild Texas Flame

by Janis Reams Hudson

  “You mean you don’t think those two events were accidents?”

  Sunny had to hand it to Baxter. He did a credible acting job, actually managing to look shocked. She felt like applauding his performance. Instead, she said, “I believe they were attempts to scare me off the ranch. But I don’t scare easily. I have no intention of leaving my home, no matter what happens.”

  Baxter narrowed his eyes. “You sound as if you’re trying to tell me something.”

  “Do I?”

  “I’m certainly no threat to you, Miss Sunny. You know that. McCord, here, however, is a different story.”

  “This has nothing to do with him,” Sunny said.

  “Doesn’t it?” Baxter asked. “Who more than the former owner would want to see you up and leave? It used to be his home. Now it appears he wants it back. I warned you not to trust him. You’d do well to reconsider my earlier offer. I’m still willing to marry you.”

  Beside him Maria jerked. Baxter’s proposal to Sunny was obviously news to Maria. Unwelcome news.

  “How kind of you,” Sunny forced herself to say. “But I’m afraid my answer remains the same.”

  Baxter sighed, then nodded. “I thought it might. But Sunny, you be careful. If you’re right, and the fire and stampede weren’t accidents, no telling what could happen next. You could be in danger. I’d chose my friends carefully, if I were you.” His gaze moved meaningfully to Ash. “Very carefully.”

  “Thanks for the advice,” Sunny said. “But I trust my friends. Good day, Mayor. Maria, we’ll have that chat soon.”

  The sudden look of fear in Maria’s eyes made Sunny frown. Before I’m finished with you, you’ll tell the truth, Maria. So help me, you will.

  While Tom helped Sunny climb up to the wagon seat, Ash mounted his horse. Low voices from the front of the store reached Sunny’s ears.

  “What do you suppose the mayor is up to?”

  “Who can tell, with a man like him? I always said Ian Baxter bore watching.”

  “Why, Harve, you did not. You always said what a fine, upstanding gent he was.”

  “Skeeter’s got you there, Harve. You always did say that.”

  “Ah, hush up, the both of you.”

  Chapter Twenty

  At dawn the next day Tom Wilson and the men from Cottonwood Ranch headed the herd north. From a small rise to the east, Sunny and Ash sat on horseback and watched.

  She sighed. “There they go.”

  “You don’t sound very excited about it. You’re doing the right thing, Sunny. This was a good idea. I’m proud of you.”

  His words, the first nice ones he’d spoken to her in days, were a balm to her soul.

  “So what’s wrong?” he asked.

  Sunny shook her head. “Nothing, really. It’s just that things are so uncertain still. I don’t know how I’ll be able to sleep until the men get back.”

  “Why? When they sell the herd, they’ll bring the money home and you can pay off the loan. Then the ranch will be yours, free and clear.”

  “If they get the herd to market, if they get back with the money. After yesterday in town, I trust Ian Baxter even less. It’s a long way to Dodge City. Anything can happen. And I never did find that receipt from the payment Daddy made.” She turned her mount toward home. “If something goes wrong, I could still end up having to marry Ian Baxter or someone like him.”

  Ash grabbed her bridle and jerked her horse to a stop. Stunned, she stared at him. His jaw ticked; his eyes shot cold, blue fire. “Over my dead body.” The words, hissed out between clenched teeth, were soft and low. They sent cold chills down her spine.

  Sunny shook herself and glared at him. “Well I certainly hope not, but I’ll do whatever I have to do to provide for my sisters.”

  “The hell you will.”

  “The hell I won’t! Whatever it takes, I’ll do it, to keep what’s left of my family together.” What do you care? her heart cried. You don’t want me. “I’m responsible for my sisters. I’m all they’ve got now.”

  “If you’re trying to make me feel guilty—”

  “Why should you feel guilty? This has nothing to do with you.”

  She watched, amazed, as a dull flush crept up his cheeks. “Oh, I get it. You mean because of what happened that night after the picnic.” He actually flinched at her words. “You don’t owe me anything because of that, Ash.”

  The word that came out of his mouth sounded so foul she was glad she had no idea what it meant. The instant he released her bridle she kicked her horse and raced for home.

  Ash kept his fidgeting mount on the hilltop and watched Sunny ride away.

  Dear God, what had he done to her? His soft, golden Sunshine had turned from a sweet innocent girl into a cold, cynical, calculating woman.

  If only he’d been stronger that night. Stronger from the beginning.

  The best thing he could do for her now would be leave. But he couldn’t leave. Not as long as Ian Baxter still represented a threat. Short of killing the bastard—the thought did have merit—there wasn’t much Ash could do except see that Sunny and her sisters were safe. Hell, if he had any money, he’d pay the damn loan off himself.

  But a man doesn’t collect pay in prison.

  Sunny took care of her horse, spoke with Erik for a moment, then fled for the sanctuary of the house. She couldn’t believe she’d said those things to Ash. How utterly stupid of her. How cruel.

  She knew, perhaps better than Ash did, that he still wanted her. She knew, too, that he would deny himself and her for the rest of his days if he thought it was best for her.

  Stubborn, stubborn man.

  Foolish, foolish woman.

  She’d said those things this morning out of fear and frustration. She’d sounded like some kind of martyr. She prayed to God she’d never have to do any of the things she threatened.

  Angry with herself, she worked the frustration off by planting squash and melon seeds in the newly tilled patch of ground just past the cellar. Before she was halfway through she was trembling. Her back protested her stooped position.

  When she finished planting, she cleaned out the chicken house. The manure went in a pile in the corner of the garden, where it would compost into some of the best fertilizer available.

  By the time she finished that, she didn’t have the energy to be afraid or frustrated or anything else. She barely had the strength to prepare her own bath, but she forced herself to do it. She couldn’t stand the dirt and sweat another minute.

  By the time the girls came home from school Sunny was clean, and somewhat revived. At dinnertime she sent Katy to call Ash and Erik to the table.

  The meal wasn’t the most pleasant Sunny had ever experienced. Ash was silent and grim. Erik, she knew, was depressed over missing out on the trail drive because of his broken leg.

  If the silence hadn’t been filled by the girls’ chatter, the evening would have been unbearable.

  “Does it hurt bad, Mr. Erik?” Rachel asked about his leg.

  “Naw,” he said. “Not now. I remember when we were kids, my little brother broke both his legs at once. Now that was awful.”

  “I didn’t know you had a brother,” Sunny said.

  “Yes ma’am, back in Tennessee.”

  “I wish I had a brother,” Amy said. “Tommy Cavendish has a new baby brother. He said his daddy gave it to his mamma. Why can’t we have a baby brother, Sunny?”

  Sunny didn’t dare look up from her mashed potatoes. “You said it yourself, Amy. We’d need a daddy and a mamma.” She glanced up at Amy. “We don’t have either anymore, sweetheart.”

  Amy hung her head. “I know.”

  Sunny breathed a sigh of relief that the topic was ended so easily.

  “But Ash is kinda like a daddy,” Amy said. “He could give the baby brother to you, and you could be the mamma.”

  Heat like she’d never felt before nearly suffocated her. From more than one place around the table there came muffled, choking sounds. If sh
e looked anyone in the face, she knew she’d die on the spot.

  But it was as if she had no control over her eyes, for against her will they slowly raised until she looked Ash McCord straight in the face. Thunderation, he was blushing. She didn’t blame him. This entire conversation was embarrassing in the extreme.

  Yet there was something else in the bright blue depths of his eyes. A surge of longing that took her breath away. And fear so sharp it made her want to cry.

  “It doesn’t work that way, Amy.” Katy’s voice filling in the taut silence was a godsend. “They’re supposed to be married first.”

  Dammit, Katy, shut up!

  “Well, then they can get married,” said the ever-practical Rachel.

  And through it all, Ash held her gaze with his. She answered his longing with a yearning of her own, more powerful than anything she’d ever felt. For his fear, she only felt anguish. He feared she might be with child from their night together. She wanted to weep, because she knew she wasn’t.

  She saw the change come over him when he finally interpreted her look. He knew there was no child. The relief in his eyes made her ill. She’d give almost anything to have his child.

  The thought startled her at first, then settled into her heart like a warm wish. A child of his. With bright blue eyes, sandy hair, and a smile to break your heart.

  That, too, he read on her face, for the fear was back in his eyes. She knew him so well now. The fear was for himself. Fear of wanting what he thought he shouldn’t have. Fear of giving in to her. Again.

  He shot out of his chair and tore his gaze from hers. “Sorry, girls,” he said with a tight smile, not really looking at anyone. “I’m not good daddy material.”

  It was several minutes before her vision cleared enough to see, her throat enough to speak. “Well, who wants dried-apple pie?”

  Ash stalked across the bare dirt yard and rounded the far corner of the bunkhouse, cursing under his breath. Ash…could give the baby…to you.

  “Good God.” He leaned against the back wall of the bunkhouse and closed his stinging eyes. A baby. For one eternal moment back there at the table, his heart had stopped. Fear like he’d never known in his life had strangled him. A baby.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew something like hope had tried to spring free, but he had purposely let the fear smother it.

  If he thought he’d left Sunny with child…

  But no. He had seen the truth in her eyes. She wasn’t with child. And he’d seen the disappointment, too.

  He refused to let himself speculate on making a baby with Sunny.

  He tried to roll a smoke, but his hands shook so hard he spilled most of the tobacco on the ground.

  “Well, pooh!” Amy said.

  Sunny was almost afraid to ask what that meant. If it was disappointment over not getting a little brother, Sunny wouldn’t know what to say.

  “I still didn’t get to show Ash my new ‘R’. And now even Erik’s gone to bed.”

  Sunny dried her hands and hung the dish towel on the hook by the back door. “I’m sorry, honey. Why don’t you leave it out on the table and show it to him at breakfast?” If he comes back for breakfast.

  “Okay,” Amy said, satisfied. “It’s my best ‘R’ ever. See?”

  Amy smoothed the small rectangle of paper down on the table.

  “I see. Yes, it’s beautiful,” Sunny said.

  “And I even still have the paper it came from. I like it because it’s smaller than a newspaper.” The child smoothed out another rectangle of paper, this one with a corner cut away.

  Sunny smiled. Amy, the little pack rat, always kept everything. “Yes,” she said giving the piece of paper an appropriately admiring glance. “It’s pretty.”

  Something about the two pieces of paper drew Sunny’s attention. She leaned closer. The ‘R’ was indeed fancy. One of the fanciest in Amy’s vast collection. She looked at the piece of paper it was cut from and read the rest of the script. “—e -c -e -i -v -e -d -o -f.” There the script ended, and in nearly illegible handwriting, “Ross Thornton.”

  Sunny picked up the paper. It rattle in her hand. This was it! She scanned the date—February 14. The day of the dance. This was the receipt she’d searched for for weeks! And all the time, Amy had it. Sunny cried out with relief.

  She didn’t know whether to scold Amy or kiss her. She kissed her. “Amy, honey, where did you find this?”

  Amy shrugged. “On the floor, I think, by Daddy’s desk.”

  With a flash of pain, Sunny remembered the things that had fallen from her father’s vest pocket the night they’d brought him home. The receipt must have been part of what fell, and she must have simply missed it.

  Thank you, God!

  They were saved! This should keep Ian Baxter off her back until she had the money from the sale of the cattle.

  Of course, that money wasn’t in her hands yet, and wouldn’t be for weeks. But still, she felt part of the load on her shoulders lighten. She wanted to share this with Ash. But that would have to wait until morning now. In his present mood, she didn’t dare go to him in the bunkhouse, in the night. He wouldn’t let her within thirty feet of him.

  In the morning. She’d tell him in the morning.

  But in the morning, he was gone.

  Fear streaked through her. “Gone? Gone where?” she asked Erik.

  “Said he wanted to check again for tracks around the canyon.”

  “Oh.” Relief. Sweet relief. He hadn’t left her. Not yet. “Did he say when he’d be back?”

  “Didn’t say, but I wouldn’t expect him ’til dinner if I was you, Miss Sunny. Looked like a man with a lot on his mind. Said for you to send the girls on to school. He’ll catch up with them just over the hill.”

  Sunny ignored the questions in Erik’s eyes. She couldn’t wait for Ash to get back. She had to get the receipt to town.

  As soon as the girls were fed and off to school, she quickly told Erik her plans.

  “I don’t know, Miss Sunny,” he said. “I don’t much like the idea of you going to town alone. I’ll go with you.”

  “Erik, you can’t! That leg of yours is in no shape to be bounced around all the way to town and back. It’ll never heal right. No, I’ll be fine.”

  “McCord ain’t gonna like it.”

  She smiled. “I’ll worry about McCord.”

  Sunny hitched up the team, tucked Amy’s precious “fancy” carefully into her handbag, and headed for town. She left the wagon at the livery and went to the jail looking for Sheriff Jamison. There was no way in the world she would show her receipt to Ian Baxter without a dependable witness.

  She found the sheriff at his desk and, without going into detail, convinced him to accompany her to the bank.

  “I’d like to see Mayor Baxter, please,” Sunny told the teller.

  She and the sheriff followed the nervous little man to the door of Baxter’s office. “Thank you,” she said. She opened the door and stepped inside the office, the sheriff right behind her.

  “Miss Sunny,” Baxter said, plainly surprised to see her. His surprise turned cautious when he spotted the man behind her. “Sheriff,” he said with a nod. “What can I do for the two of you?”

  “It’s just me, actually.” Sunny managed to sound calm despite her racing heart. Behind her, Jamison closed the door. “I’ve brought the sheriff along as a witness.”

  Baxter twirled the pencil in his fingers. “Witness? I don’t understand.”

  Sunny sat on the chair in front of the massive mahogany desk. Before she could explain, the door burst open and Ash barged in. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I came to ask you that same question.”

  “I have business with the bank.” How she managed to keep her voice so steady, she never knew. “It’s not particularly private. You’re welcome to stay if you’d like.”

  Ash narrowed his eyes for a moment, then nodded. He closed the door behind him and leaned against the w
all, looking for all the world like he hadn’t just ridden hell for leather to catch up with her. Her heart warmed at the thought.

  But she had business to conduct. Important business. Her heart would have to wait.

  She turned back and faced Baxter. “Do you remember when we discussed the loan payment my father made the day before the bank was robbed? The payment you said you had no record of?”

  Baxter eyed her cautiously and nodded.

  “That’s when you told me I was in danger of losing the ranch. You said if I couldn’t come up with enough money to catch up the back payments, or couldn’t at least show a receipt for the payment my father had made, that I’d have to leave.”

  “Now, Sunny—”

  “Shortly after that you asked me to marry you so you could end my financial worries.”

  Baxter flushed. She’d plainly caught him by surprise with that one. When he made no comment, only shifted in his chair, she continued. “I was…flattered by your offer, but…unable to accept.”

  He seemed to breathe easier.

  “That night someone set fire to my barn.” She saw him stiffen. Before he could speak she went on. “A couple of weeks later, someone snuck up on one of my men who was standing guard on my herd and hit him from behind, then started a fire and stampeded the cattle.”

  “I don’t see what any of this has to do with me.”

  Sunny ignored his comment. “All during these past weeks I’ve been searching for that receipt of my father’s, and last night I found it. Your agreement with him, as you explained it to me, was that the payment he made would be enough to keep you from taking our ranch. You agreed to wait for the rest of your money until he sold this year’s herd. Do you remember telling me that?”

  Baxter studied the top of his desk like his life depended on it. He looked up slowly. “Of course I remember. But Miss Sunny, I made that agreement with your father, a man with considerable ranching experience. As I told you before—”

  “You told me that you weren’t sure my father ever made that payment, but that if I found the receipt, you’d extend the same offer to me.”