Arizona Embrace

by Leigh Greenwood

  Victoria could hardly believe how much the Judge had changed. He had stopped actively running the ranch after his accident ten years earlier, but he had always been a proud, outgoing, handsome man.

  He had become terribly thin and complained constantly of burning in his throat and stomach. His skin was much darker, as though he’d been spending too much time in the sun, and his face and legs seemed swollen, especially about the ankles and eyes. He seemed to be swearing, but his skin had felt cold and clammy when he embraced Victoria.

  Even his personality had changed with his illness. He was querulous, lethargic, and unwilling to leave the house.

  “I don’t blame you for what you did,” Victoria said.

  “How can you not?”

  “I used to, but I’ve learned a lot about life and people since then. I realize there’s a great deal in everyone’s life they can’t control. We also make a great number of mistakes.”

  “I suppose you mean I shouldn’t have made you marry Jeb.”

  “You didn’t make me marry Jeb any more than my father did. You just wanted me to do what you thought was best for both of us. Unfortunately, Jeb and I weren’t at all suited.”

  “I supposed I spoiled him too much. But after his mother died, I didn’t know what else to do.”

  The Judge went into a spasm of coughing. He had been doing that ever since Victoria arrived. Victoria was unhappy Myra should have chosen this afternoon to go visiting.

  “Could I get you something? Do you have any medicine?”

  “I have too many, and none of them do any good. I would like a cup of coffee. That always seems to put the fire out for a little while. Would you mind making some?”

  “Not in the least,” Victoria said. “You stay here and rest.”

  “I suppose I shouldn’t have any,” the Judge called to Victoria through the open doorway. “Myra said I was to wait until dinner. The doctors say it’s not good for a weak heart, but it’s gotten so I can’t do without it. I didn’t used to drink it much. Before I married Myra it was whiskey. When the doctors took me off alcohol, I started in on coffee. Myra keeps a pot of her own special brand going practically all day. I never saw anybody drink so much coffee.”

  Victoria couldn’t really understand what he was saying, but she let him keep on talking.

  It seemed strange to be in the kitchen once again. Almost without thinking she went unerringly to the container with the freshly ground coffee. Just enough for four cups. After she put the pot on to boil, she looked through the cupboards for the extra coffee. She had been brought up to refill a container when she used the last. Their cook had drummed that into her head time and time again.

  Victoria wished Myra were here now to take care of her husband or at least tell her what to do. He must have medicine to take. Coffee might make him feel better, but it certainly couldn’t do him any real good.

  She found the extra coffee behind a tin of lard. More than half of the contents had been used already. She put exactly as much coffee in the coffee container as she had taken out, replaced the rest behind the lard tin, and took down three cups. Even though he had refused to come inside, Ben might like some. At least she could offer him some after he rode so far with her.

  “That’s good,” the Judge said after he’d taken a few swallows. “You’ll have to tell Myra what you do. I don’t know when I’ve tasted coffee this good. I want you to come live here with us,” the Judge said, changing the subject. “You’re my daughter-in-law. Your home should be here.”

  “Thank you, but I can’t.”

  “Don’t say no because of what I did,” the Judge pleaded. “I’ll do anything I can to make up for that. As Jeb’s widow, you have a considerable amount of money coming to you.”

  “Please, I don’t want Jeb’s money. If we’d been married longer or had children, it would be different, but Daddy left me more than enough.”

  “It’s yours. Jeb put it in his will.”

  “I know, but he really didn’t like me. It wasn’t his fault. We just didn’t suit. I wouldn’t feel right taking his money.”

  “What are you going to do, go back to Arizona?”

  Victoria felt herself blush. She guessed she felt a little embarrassed talking to the Judge about her happiness when he was so unhappy. “I’m going to get married.”

  “To your uncle’s foreman, the boy who broke you out of jail?”

  Victoria felt herself blush even more. “No, to Trinity Smith, the man who brought me back to Bandera.”

  “Are you crazy?” the Judge nearly shouted. He sat up like he’d been shot. “You can’t marry a bounty hunter.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “He’s not a bounty hunter” Victoria shot back. “He only goes after people because nobody else will.” Even as she explained Trinity’s reason for his work, she recognized her own accusations in the very words the judge used. How ironic she should have to defend Trinity now.

  “I still don’t like it,” the Judge said. “You realize people won’t take to him. You’ll never get invited anywhere. And what about your children? You might as well be marrying one of the outlaws he chases.”

  “I know that,” Victoria said, finally realizing the price Trinity had paid for his dedication to his task, “but Trinity is a great man. I’ll be only too happy to share his isolation. If people refuse to associate with him, it’ll be their loss.”

  Just as quickly as he got upset, all the steam seemed to go out of the Judge, and he sank back in bis chair. “You always were a sensible girl, a sight more sensible than I was. You bring your young man by, and if I like him I’ll see what I can do. There aren’t many people in Texas who’ll stand against me. There’s nobody ready to go head-to-head with Myra.”

  “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t think Trinity cares much about social acceptance.”

  “You tell him it’s for your children. He can spend all his time with his cows if he likes, but your children will have to make their own way in the world. A few friends along the way will be a great help.”

  “It’s very generous of you …”

  “No, it’s not. After what I did, it’s the least I can do.” The Judge stopped, like he had just remembered something. “You say your young man believes his stepmother killed his father?”

  “Yes, but he has no proof. It happened in Galveston fifteen years ago. He tried to get the sheriff to investigate, but he wasn’t interested.”

  “Shame I didn’t know about it. I’d have gotten them on it fast enough. What happened to the woman?”

  “She disappeared.”

  Victoria couldn’t bring herself to tell the Judge that Trinity believed his wife was Queenie. She probably should tell him. If Myra really were Queenie, he ought to be warned. But if she weren’t and Victoria believed she wasn’t, it would cause a tremendous amount of trouble for nothing.

  “How’s he going to support you?”

  “He owns a ranch.”

  “Where?”

  Victoria didn’t want to explain why they weren’t going to stay on the Demon D. “In New Mexico.” She didn’t think she would mind her appropriating his ranch just this once. “But he intends to buy a larger one.”

  “I suppose you’ll want control of your own money?”

  “Yes, I would.”

  “Does he know he’s marrying a very rich woman?”

  “Am I rich? No one ever told me how much Daddy left me.”

  “Over two hundred thousand dollars.”

  Victoria sat forward in her chair. “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  Victoria felt elated. There was more than enough money for Trinity to buy the biggest ranch he could. And cows. And horses. There would be plenty left over for building a house and having children and doing all kinds of things she had dreamed of while she was locked away in Arizona.

  “It’s a good bit more than that now,” the Judge added. “One investment I made worked out rather nicely.”

 
“You take it.”

  Enough of his energy returned for the Judge to act hurt by her suggestion. “Absolutely not! Why should I?”

  “For looking after everything for me. You didn’t have to.”

  “Yes, I did. I wanted to see Jeb’s murderer hang, but I never wanted to hurt you. Can you understand that?”

  Victoria understood it very well.

  “I’m glad. I didn’t want to dislike you either, but you frightened me. You were so very determined to bring me back. Will you try to find out who did kill Jeb?”

  The Judge seemed to wilt again. “I don’t know. I just don’t care much about anything anymore. I feel so tired all the time. If I didn’t have Kirby, I don’t know what would become of this place. He’s still young, but he does the work of a grown man.”

  “Kirby’s always admired you,” Victoria said. “I think he feels like you’re the father he never had.”

  “He’s a good boy. I’ve grown very fond of him. I just wish Myra would give him a little more rein. She’s such a strong woman she doesn’t realize she’s suffocating him. I tried to get her to let me send him away to school, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

  Victoria felt uncomfortable. She had never liked it when she became involved in any disagreement between the Judge and Myra. She didn’t like it any better now. She saw Ben get up from his seat under the trees and head for the house. She latched onto that as an excuse to bring her visit to an end.

  “I have to start back,” she said, getting to her feet. “It’s along ride back to Bandera.”

  The Judge started to get up but settled back into his seat. “Come again soon and bring your uncle. You’ll always be welcome.”

  “I will. And you take care of that cough. Have you seen a doctor?”

  “Dozens of them, but they all scratch their heads and mumble behind my back. I think they’re afraid to tell me I’m dying. If they only knew that I don’t care. I don’t care at all.”

  Ben looked nervously about him. The quietness of his surroundings didn’t seem to comfort him. He approached each patch of brush or clump of trees as though he expected an ambush. It didn’t take long for his skittishness to communicate itself to Victoria.

  “I wish you’d stop jumping about. You’re making my horse nervous.”

  “I don’t know why you had to visit that old man today. I’ve had a bad feeling ever since I got up this morning.”

  “You just didn’t want to get out of bed.”

  “You’re right, I didn’t. Trinity told me to stay in that hotel and keep an eye on you, and I was perfectly happy as long as I did just that. But I wasn’t content with doing what I was told. I had to let you talk me into coming on this jaunt.”

  “And it’s been perfectly uneventful.”

  “Except that I got a feeling someone’s got dead aim at my back.”

  “There’s nobody here, certainly not anybody who wants to bother us.”

  Ben sighed resignedly, but he didn’t look convinced. “You’re probably right. You know, before I took up with that man of yours, I was an easygoing kind of man.”

  “What do you mean by ‘that man of yours’?” Victoria demanded.

  “I hustled a few cows, drank a little whiskey, chased a few women, and listened to a lot of trail talk. Never had a worry in the world and slept like a baby at night.

  “Since I took up with him I been saddled with a herd of cows I didn’t want, and I’ve taken to looking over my shoulder so often my neck has a permanent crick in it. I been chased by bad men from New Orleans to California, I’ve slept on the ground so often I’ve forgotten what a bed feels like, and I’m so nervous I can’t eat good. Now I’ve taken to escorting young women on daylight outings to visit old men.”

  “From desperados to debutantes. My, you have come down in the world.”

  “It ain’t the coming down I mind. Chaperoning is a nice safe job. For the most part it’s quiet and restful. It’s the rest of it. Every one of those men he brought in has a bunch of relations that’s as sore as a nest of rattlers. No telling when they might decide to even things up a bit. Associating with your young man ain’t none too safe. Maybe you ought to reconsider.”

  “You think I ought to marry someone else?”

  “You might think about it.” Ben grinned ingratiatingly.

  “You have any candidate in mind?”

  “It’s not for me to say. You’d be doing the marrying.”

  “I know, but as a friend, you might give me some advice.”

  “Well he ought to be an obliging fella, one who won’t expect you to rustle up the grub or mess up your hairdo chasing about on horseback.”

  “You think I would enjoy having a cook and a closed carriage?”

  “It’s the only way to live. A pretty little thing like you wouldn’t be wanting to arrive at parties all rumpled and dusty. People would gossip.”

  “Maybe I ought to find a husband who would like to live in town, one who wouldn’t mind sleeping late, eating too much rich food, and going to parties all night.”

  “Not many men who can keep up that kind of pace.”

  “Do you think you could?”

  “I might.”

  “But that would be stealing your best friend’s girl!”

  “When it comes to a gal like you, ain’t no man going to worry his head about a best friend.”

  Without warning, Ben leaned over and grabbed Victoria, practically pulling her out of the saddle. Furious that he could be so stupid as to take her nonsense seriously, she hit him as hard as she could. Her blow landed on the side of Ben’s neck and nearly cut off his air.

  “There’s somebody on that ridge with a rifle,” Ben gasped.

  Immediate corroboration came in the sound of a rifle shot and a bullet splitting the air over Victoria’s head.

  “Ride like hell!” he shouted and brought his hand down on Victoria’s mount’s rump.

  A second rifle shot reinforced his command.

  “Whoever they’re after, they mean to get both of us. Make for that clump of brush.”

  “We’ll get killed if we try to ride through there.”

  “We’ll get killed if we don’t.”

  Victoria closed her eyes and rode straight for the wall of thorns.

  Trinity was thoroughly angry.

  He had arrived in Bandera feeling rather pleased with himself. He had handed the affidavit to the judge in Austin. Victoria was free. Now all he had to do was ask Victoria to marry him and decide where to live. He had spent the weary miles on the way back to Bandera going over every part of the country he had seen, considering each for suitability for a ranch. There were hundreds of spots exactly like what he was looking for.

  But he had also looked at them from the standpoint of a home for Victoria and their children. That changed everything. He didn’t want to end up somewhere in the panhandle of Texas, the wilds of New Mexico, the mountains of Arizona or Colorado, or the plains of Wyoming or Montana. He came to the conclusion that the ideal place was right here at the Demon D, situated between Bandera and San Antonio.

  It would be perfect… except for Queenie.

  He had tried to put Queenie out of his mind, but once more she was forcing him to do something he didn’t want to do, to make a decision that was not the best for him and his future family. Hell! He’d be damned if he’d let her do that again!

  Okay, so I mean to stay at the Demon D. What can I do about Queenie?

  He knew Victoria didn’t believe Myra was Queenie. She had never said so, but he knew. He could understand. Myra had changed everything about her, even the smallest details, but Trinity never had any doubt. He’d have known her anywhere, anytime.

  He was certain Queenie wouldn’t stop until she poisoned Victoria. And if she ever remembered who he was, she’d try to poison him as well.

  It went against the grain to run from Queenie. Even worse, it galled him to be chased away from his home. But he also had to be reasonable. Could he always protect Vi
ctoria? How about his children? They would be perfect targets for Myra’s revenge. Would he always be around to protect them? Was his pride worth a lifelong vigil?

  Queenie would never give up.

  Trinity hadn’t reached any conclusions when he arrived at the hotel, only to be informed Victoria had gone to visit Judge Blazer and wasn’t expected back until late afternoon. It would take the clerk about ten years to use all the new words he learned that afternoon.

  “Her uncle is due in this afternoon,” Red said. He had come to the hotel looking for Victoria. He waved a telegram David Woolridge had given him. “He still thinks she’s dead.”

  “You stay here and wait for him,” Trinity said. “You can explain what happened. I’ll go bring her back.”

  Trinity cursed himself for choosing to ride Diablo. He had been riding the stallion a little each day since he returned from Uvalde. He never wore spurs or carried a riding crop. But even though he was very careful never to use his heels, guiding Diablo entirely with the bit and his knees, the horse still fought him.

  “If I had the time, I’d take you back,” Trinity told Diablo as the stallion circled and bucked and generally took twice as long to cover a hundred yards as he should. “But Victoria said you were as fast as the wind, and I need your speed today.”

  Diablo apparently wasn’t in the mood to give it. He whirled and covered twenty-five yards in the wrong direction before Trinity got him turned around again.

  “Damn you. I’ve never known such a contrary beast in my life.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Trinity was still trying to convince Diablo to cooperate when he noticed a rider coming from the direction of Bandera at a gallop. When he recognized Kirby Blazer, he pulled up.

  “He’s going to kill Victoria,” Kirby shouted as he shot by without stopping.

  Digging his heels sharply into Diablo’s side at the same time he brought his open palm down on the stallion’s rump, Trinity set him in pursuit of Kirby. Diablo responded with a glorious burst of speed.