She closed her eyes. “Maybe they won’t.”
“They will. And I’m still not leaving here—not until Lloyd is standing and walking. And there is one other thing we haven’t talked about.”
“I don’t want to think about it.”
“We have to. Brad Buckley is still out there somewhere, so if I get hauled away—”
“Don’t say that!” She stood up and turned to wrap her arms around his middle. “Jake, I just want to go home to the J&L.”
“Believe me, there is nothing I want more.”
Someone tapped on the door then. “Jake? Mrs. Harkner? It’s me—Pepper. Cole is with me.”
Randy pulled away, wiping at her eyes. “Just a minute!” she called out. She turned around so Jake could finish buttoning her dress.
“Jake, I told them they should get the grandsons and Ben when they go home, and bring them back here.”
Jake finished her buttons and walked over to pick up his gun belt. “I don’t want my grandsons involved in this.” He buckled the gun belt.
Randy hurriedly straightened the still-unmade bed. “Stephen has a right to see Lloyd, Jake, and having him here might help Lloyd heal faster. And Ben will be worried sick once he finds out what’s happened. He gets so scared when he thinks he might lose you. He and Little Jake will both want to see you’re okay. I want them here, whether you like it or not.”
Jake scowled. “Well, those precious little granddaughters should be left at the ranch.”
“I agree.”
“Anybody out there in the hallway?” Jake called to Pepper as he approached the door.
“No. Just us.”
Jake opened the door and quickly let in the two men while Randy opened a carpetbag and retrieved the papers they needed. The men glanced around the room nervously, feeling uncomfortable in Jake’s private room. Pepper looked Jake over as though fearing he might pull a gun on him.
“Relax,” Jake told them. “I only blow the heads off my enemies, not my friends.”
“Well then, I reckon we’re glad you consider us friends,” Cole joked, trying to lighten the moment.
“We’re damn sorry about Lloyd, Jake,” Pepper told him. “It’s a goddamn shame. I ain’t never had a kid—none that I know of anyway—but anybody can see how close you two are. And Lloyd is a damn fine man.”
Jake nodded. “Thank you.” He took a cigarette from a tin on a nearby dresser and lit it.
Pepper and Cole removed their hats and nodded to Randy. “Ma’am, this must be awful hard on you and Jake both,” Cole told her.
“We are all praying for him,” Randy answered, “and you know God will certainly listen to Evie’s prayers, if no one else’s.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Pepper told her. “No doubt about it.”
“Lloyd woke up and moved his legs last night,” Jake told them, “so we’re hopeful.”
“Good! That’s damn good,” Cole told him.
“And right now you need to run a few errands,” Jake added, taking a drag on the cigarette. “Randy already told you what you need to do. She has a note to give you for the bank. After you pick up supplies, I want you to go to that garden supply place over on Eighteenth Street and buy as many yellow rosebushes as they have. Take them home and have Rodriguez plant them all around the veranda of the main house. A few red ones are okay, but mostly yellow. I want them there for Randy when we get home.”
“Yes, sir.”
Randy felt like crying over the fact that in the midst of all that was happening, Jake remembered her roses.
Pepper watched Jake tie his holsters to his thighs. “You okay, Jake?”
“I will be when Lloyd is up and walking. He spoke last night and moved around quite a bit.”
Cole nodded. “You’ve got everybody scared to death after what you did to Mike Holt,” he told Jake. “Not even Denver’s finest police want to come up here and try to arrest you.”
“Good.” Jake took a drag on the cigarette as Randy handed Cole the papers.
“Lloyd has a long way to go,” Jake told them, “and I still might be facing an arrest, so I don’t know what’s going to happen or how soon we’ll make it back to the J&L. Make sure the men there are taking proper care of everything, and give my baby girls hugs for me.”
“You trust us no-goods to be huggin’ those little angels?” Pepper asked.
“Of course I do. And I don’t want them to know that anything bad has happened. Make up whatever story you want to tell them, and make sure Stephen and Ben and Little Jake understand they’re not to tell those girls anything that would make them scared or make them cry.”
Cole nodded. “We’ll tell them.”
Pepper shook his head. “I never knew a man who could blow—” He hesitated. “Who could do what you did and then worry about somebody givin’ hugs to two little girls.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I’m two different men, and my poor wife has to live with both of them. I try to be the good Jake, but the bad one just can’t help some of the things he does.”
“They surely won’t send you to jail, Jake,” Cole assured him. “For God’s sake, the man shot your unarmed son. Lord knows if Lloyd had had his own gun with him, that never would have happened. He’s as good with a gun as you are.”
“I just wish I’d realized what was happening sooner. That sonofabitch should never have been allowed into that dance. I’ll see to it that the woman who let him in goes to jail herself for aiding in an attempted murder.”
Pepper nodded to Jake then. “Well, in the meantime, we’ll get those roses and other supplies to the ranch and come back here with the grandsons. I’m sure by now the rest of the men will be glad to give Little Jake over to us for a while.”
That got a grin out of Jake. “I don’t doubt that one bit.” Jake took another drag on the cigarette. “You don’t need to be in a big hurry. After a couple of days of excitement at seeing a city, those boys will get bored real fast, and we know Lloyd has a good two weeks of recovery ahead of him, maybe a lot longer. Nothing is going to happen anytime soon.”
Pepper nodded and put his hat back on. He started to leave, then hesitated. “Oh, by the way, there are a couple of men downstairs askin’ about you, Jake. One’s a fancy-lookin’ dude—like a big city lawyer or somethin’, and I heard the other one say he was a reporter from Chicago. Wears round wire glasses and looks more like a kid than a man.”
Randy gasped. “Jake! It must be Jeff!” She looked at Pepper. “Jeff Trubridge is the reporter from Chicago who spent time with Jake and Lloyd back in Guthrie and wrote the book about Jake. He came to visit once the first year we settled here, before you and Cole even worked for us.”
“Well, him and the other man was askin’ your room number, but the clerk downstairs said he wasn’t allowed to give it out,” Pepper told her.
“Go ahead and tell them where we are,” Jake told them. “The man with Jeff—” He shared a look with Randy, strong memories of another man who’d loved her hitting home. “He’s probably a lawyer friend we also knew back in Guthrie. His name is Peter Brown.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Pepper told him on his way out.
Both men left, and Jake locked the door and leaned against the wall beside it. “I’ll be damned. We haven’t seen Jeff in a couple of years, and we’ve never seen Peter Brown since—”
Since he left for Chicago because he loved me too much to stay in Guthrie, Randy thought. She saw the same thought in Jake’s eyes. “Jake, he must be here to try to help us. Hear him out. Personally, I’ll be relieved to see both of them. It gives me a little more hope.”
Jake looked her over with a strong hint of “you belong to me” in his eyes. “Maybe he’s just here for you. If things go bad, you’ll need someone to turn to. I’m sure Peter would gladly help out.”
“Jake, don’t start. Jeff told us
in that letter a year ago that Peter’s married now.”
“That doesn’t change how he’ll always feel about you.” He walked over to a dressing table and snuffed out his cigarette. “Don’t worry. I’ll be good.”
“He did so much for us.”
“I am well aware of what he did, and I’m also aware he did it all for you.”
“And if he’s here to help you, it only shows what a good friend he is to us—both of us. He does care about you, Jake. That was obvious when he worked so hard on that petition to get your sentence shortened.”
Jake raked her over with his gaze as she walked closer. “I love you,” he told her.
Randy saw the flash of past regrets in his eyes. “And I love you, way more than you can ever imagine.”
Someone tapped on the door. “Jake? It’s Jeff Trubridge. I have Peter Brown with me.”
Jake kept the cigarette between his lips. “Anybody else?”
“Just us.”
“This had better not be a trick. There are a few people out there who’d like to see me hang.”
“Jake, for God’s sake, how well do I know you?” Peter spoke up. “You’d still like to shoot me, and I have no doubt you are wearing guns right now. Do you think I’d add to your wrath by bringing someone up here to try to cart you away?”
“Well, I don’t know, Peter.” Jake winked at Randy. “If they hang me, that leaves Randy a widow. Pretty convenient for you, wouldn’t you say?”
“It would be if I wasn’t already married to someone else.”
Randy smiled.
“Jake, stop joking around and let us in,” Jeff spoke up. “I have coffee with me, and it’s still nice and hot.”
“Well, since Peter is married now, I guess it’s okay.” With his back still to the wall, Jake opened the door and peered into the hallway, seeing no one else. “Come on in.”
The men walked inside, and Jake closed and locked the door. He fought old jealousies and reminded himself Evie was praying for miracles. If Peter Brown was here to try to keep him out of prison, maybe Peter was just another answer to those prayers. Keeping him out of prison this time would take a miracle.
Twenty-three
Jake just watched as Randy embraced Peter, keeping his feelings in check. Peter Brown was responsible for his being released from his sentence to serve as U.S. Marshal in Oklahoma so he and the family could finally come to Colorado. He was responsible for a lot of help in other ways…but Jake knew it was all for Randy.
“Oh, Peter, it’s so comforting to see old friends right now,” Randy told him. “You did so much for us back in Guthrie. Did you bring your wife? I so want to meet her.”
She pulled away from Peter but kept hold of his hands, while Jeff set a silver tray that held a decanter and four coffee cups on a dresser.
“Not this trip,” Peter answered. “I figured I’d wait until things are back to normal for you and we’re sure you and Jake can go home. Then maybe I can bring Treena out to the ranch for a visit. Jeff has told me how beautiful it is.”
“He’s right, Peter! It is beautiful!” Randy agreed.
Jake watched Randy finally let go of Peter’s hands and turn to Jeff for a hug. He caught the way Peter watched her then. Yes, the man was most certainly still in love with her.
“I’d love to see both of you and your families come to the J&L,” Randy was telling them, grasping both their hands then. “Once all this is—” She hesitated, her smile fading. “Over.” Her eyes suddenly teared. “You did come here to help, didn’t you, Peter?”
“When I heard the news, I knew I had to come.” Peter turned to Jake. “I’m so damn sorry about Lloyd, Jake. Sorry about everything. Jeff and I came as soon as we could. We took a train from Chicago. Thank goodness we can travel to places a lot faster than we used to.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah.”
Jeff turned and looked up at Jake. At six feet four inches, Jake towered over his five-foot-eight-inch frame. He reached out to shake Jake’s hand, and Jake jerked him closer, slapping the young man on the back.
“Jeff, it’s damn good to see you! Damn good!”
“You, too, Jake, but I don’t like the circumstances that brought me here.”
“Well, my good friend, you are always looking for a headliner story. You know me. I can always provide one for you.” Jake stepped around him and closer to Randy. “It’s been a mess.”
Peter noted the tired, strained look in Jake’s eyes. “We knew this would be hell for you, Jake.” He glanced at Jake’s guns. “I have to say you’re looking a bit intimidating at the moment. Are things really so bad that you have to wear those guns?”
“They are. You must know by now everything that’s happened, and I’m not leaving this hotel until I know my son is completely well. These guns are keeping the law from coming for me.” Jake put out his hand. “Thanks for coming.”
Peter took his hand a bit hesitantly. He knew Jake Harkner well, and that meant being careful when he was in the kind of mood Peter guessed him to be in. Neither of them needed to say it. Peter had come as much for Randy’s sake as anyone’s. They shook hands firmly…two men in love with the same woman…two men as different as sand and water. But that woman had eyes for only one of them, as devoted a wife as a man could ask for.
“Jake, you’re in every headline in every newspaper across the country by now,” Jeff told him. “I know for a fact you made the Chronical in San Francisco and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It hit the papers in Chicago the very next day after the shooting, and Peter and I knew right away you might need some help out here. Thanks to the railroad, we were able to get here in just a couple of days.”
“Oh, my goodness, I didn’t know half the country knew about this,” Randy exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest. She cast Jake a worried look.
“There are people milling around outside and in the lobby,” Jeff added. “Mostly reporters, all of them wanting to get a look at the infamous Jake Harkner. Half of them expect some kind of shoot-out.”
“There will be if they try to come for me before Lloyd is up and walking,” Jake told him. “He’ll need a lot of care, and he’s a big man. Katie and Evie are both with child, so I need to be here to help move and lift Lloyd and help keep him bathed and all the other things that need doing for something like this.”
Peter smiled softly. “So, you have two more grandchildren on the way.”
“We do. I always have trouble believing our growing family is really mine. That’s something I never dreamed would happen to me.” Jake turned to Jeff. “I’m not leaving my son’s side, Jeff. You know how it is between me and Lloyd.”
“I know all too well,” Jeff answered. “A man doesn’t ride with the likes of Jake and Lloyd Harkner like I did and forget it anytime soon.”
“Jeff, how is your wife?” Randy asked. “We were so happy to learn you got married.”
“She’s fine. She is also going to have a baby. I was afraid the trip might be too much for her, so I left her back in Chicago.”
“You be sure to let us know when the baby is born,” Randy asked. “We’ll want to send a gift.”
“Congratulations, Jeff,” Jake told him with a grin. “That’s good news. It won’t be long before babies are popping out all over the place.”
“Yeah, well, Peter is here to see that you’re around to welcome all of them.”
Randy put a hand to her forehead and turned away. Jake took her arm and led her to sit down on the edge of the bed. “Jeff, pour us some coffee. Sorry, but there are only a couple of chairs in here. If we’d known you two were coming…” He sat down with Randy on the bed. “You can take the chairs.” He put out his cigarette in an ashtray on the bed stand, noticing how Peter looked at Randy with love and concern. Jake moved an arm around her. “How’s married life, Peter?”
Peter smiled at the instant possessive e
mbrace and the obvious hint in his question. “Very good. Katrina is a beautiful woman. I knew her when she was married to a friend of mine, a business acquaintance who died a few years ago. Katrina hired me for some legal work involving one of his businesses, and, well, one thing led to another, and now we’re married. We have a home north of Chicago, and my practice is flourishing.”
“I’ll say!” Jeff put in. “His home is more like a stone castle.” He handed some coffee to Jake and Randy. “I visited him there once when…” Jeff hesitated. “Well, when Mike Holt was released, I thought I’d go talk to Peter about it. We were both a little concerned, Jake. Turns out that concern was well placed.”
Jake sobered. “Yeah.” He drank some of the coffee.
Randy did the same, clinging to the cup and closing her eyes to enjoy the warm steam that helped her relax. “It’s been a nightmare,” she said softly. “That man walked right up to poor Evie and…”
Jake tightened his arm around her. “Evie nearly passed out,” Jake continued. “I don’t even know yet what he said to her, but you can bet it was something that brought all that ugliness back for her. Lloyd noticed what was happening, and so did Brian. Both ran to help her. By then, I couldn’t shoot because they were both in the way. It all took place in maybe three or four seconds. That sonofabitch turned on Lloyd and fired.”
The room hung quiet for a moment until Peter spoke up. “And you, being a man used to dealing his own justice, decided then and there to be judge and jury and executioner of the shooter.” He spoke the words more with sorrow than condemnation.
Jake stared at his coffee cup. “I thought Lloyd was dead. He’s my son! All I could think of was that sonofabitch robbed me of the chance to even…” His voice caught in his throat. “¡Me quito a mi hijo y ni siquiera tuve la oportunidad de despedirme de él!”
“I know you sometimes turn to Spanish when you’re upset, Jake, but I need English,” Peter told him.
Jake breathed deeply and rose, walking to a window. “He took my son from me, and I didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye. That’s what I was thinking. I didn’t get to…hold him and tell him I love him…before he died. That’s what was going through my mind. ¡Debería de haber sido yo!”
Love's Sweet Revenge Page 24
