Dueling the Desperado (Brides of Blessings Book 4)

by Mimi Milan

  “My father?” Araceli asked, incredulously. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Even if it was, I don’t care.” Her lips began to quiver and her voice broke. “You are a liar and worse… and I never went to see you again.”

  His voice turned gruff. “You don’t mean that.”

  Araceli abruptly stood and raised the gun.

  “Yes, I do. Now, get out of my house.”

  Standing, Miguel met her challenge. “Go on, then. Skin it if you think you can.”

  He walked right up to her and pushed his chest into the pistol. Her hand immediately lowered.

  “I can’t.”

  He smiled at her confession, which only served to infuriate her more.

  “You think something is funny? Huh? You think you can come in here and cook a meal, wash up and look so handsome… and then I’m just going to forgive you?”

  His grin grew even wider. “So, you think I’m handsome?”

  She grumbled. “Don’t try to be cute, because you’re not. You hurt my family. You stole our lands and took my brothers. I will never forgive you.”

  Miguel sighed.

  “We’ve been beating this bear for a good while now. I don’t know what more I can tell you to make you understand that I’m innocent. That is, I’m guilty of a lot of wrongs in my life. However, I didn’t have a hand in what you’re accusing me of.” He reached out and tucked a wayward strand of loose hair behind her ear. The small touch made her eyes flutter and her breathing slow. “Aw, Chel. I wish you’d believe me. I don’t want to wait until I’m some hummingbird before I can kiss my woman.”

  She came undone at the idea of them belonging to one another, and melted into the curve of his hand against her cheek.

  Then images of the past flooded her mind again. She reluctantly pulled away.

  “I want to believe you. I really do. I can’t unless you have proof, though. Can you prove what you say?”

  “I don’t know,” Miguel said. “You’ve got my word that I’ll try, though. I’d go all the way to Mexico if that’s what it took to prove myself to you, Chel.”

  “I might just hold you to that.” She gave him a glimmer of hope, but then snatched it away with the following breath. “Until then, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “I really wish you’d reconsider.”

  “I’m sorry, but I just don’t think that it’s wise you stay. At least, not until I’ve spoken with my father.”

  “Alright. If that’s the way you feel about things, then I’ll go.”

  “Thank you.”

  Miguel calmly ambled out of the room, his gait still plagued with a slight limp. He disappeared from the room, but she could hear him on the steps—up and down again. He reappeared, his satchel swung over one shoulder.

  “Well, I guess I better head on out.”

  She only nodded and followed him to the front door, opening it to show him the way out. He stopped on the porch.

  “You know, maybe I was wrong. Maybe the roles are reversed.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You’re the one still fighting the battle. I’m the one waiting for you… I always will be.”

  He turned and left then, leaving her to wrestle with a war of emotions.

  Chapter 10

  Araceli paced the office floor back and forth. Two days. That’s how long it had been since she ran Michael off.

  Michael? Miguel?

  Oh, bother. She didn’t even know which name to call him by. Not that what name he chose to go by should be her biggest concern at the moment. Equally upsetting was that her father had never made it back home. The first day he failed to return, the men at the mill had seemed unconcerned. Come day two, people were starting to express a bit of unease.

  “It was only supposed to be a short trip down the river to see what was causing the back-up,” said their foreman, Roberto. “I could see that taking a full day if he decided to clear the area himself. This is a bit alarming, though. What if he was trying to move a log by himself and got trapped under it?”

  “Oh, please don’t say that.” In a rare moment, Araceli crossed herself. “Surely, he wouldn’t try to do anything so dangerous.”

  She knew her words amounted to little more than wishful thinking, though. Her father believed he was still capable of doing the same things he did as a young man. That was what happened at the mill when Michael… Miguel…

  Sigh.

  When he was injured.

  “I’m going down there,” she decided.

  “You can’t go by yourself,” Roberto insisted. “Besides, it’s best to let the sheriff know what’s going on. You never know where trouble will pop up.”

  “You’re right,” she conceded. “I’ll ride into town and get the sheriff. You get a few of the other men and ride on up to the cutoff where the lumber usually gets hung up. We’ll meet up with you and keep searching from there.”

  Men began lining up when Roberto asked for volunteers, one going off to hitch a wagon in case it was needed. Araceli went for her horse. She rode him hard into town, slowing only when she got on Main Street to avoid any accidents with other passerby. She pulled up at what was once the mine’s security office, now turned into a sheriff’s office with the bedroom transformed into a jail cell. She quickly tied up her horse and marched in, hardly anticipating what she would find.

  “You!” She skidded to a halt, shocked to find Miguel sitting on a cot in the ironclad cell. She frowned. “Well, I guess that explains why you never came back.”

  “What are you talking about?” Miguel stood and strode over to the cell door, easily pushing it open. He laced an arm through one of the bars and leaned against the frame. “I’m just sitting around, waiting for Pete to get back with news.”

  “Of my father?” Araceli asked, hopeful.

  Miguel’s brows narrowed. “No… of word regarding my… Wait a minute. What’s going on? What’s going on?”

  Araceli wrung her hands, pacing the small confines of the sheriff’s office. “He never came back. You know, from the day he left? The day you said he was going…” Her eyes grew wide. “You were the last one to see him that day.”

  “Whoa, now. Just hold on before you go getting any kind of wild thoughts in that pretty little head of yours. You saw me leave out of your place. I was doing good just keeping myself upright. Even now, I’m still having some difficulties getting around. So, there’s no way I could have been involved in anything having to do with your father going missing.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Araceli admitted. She didn’t add that it was a relief to realize that he couldn’t possibly have had anything to do with her father’s disappearance. Nor did she mention how thankful she was to see that he was free to come and go of his own accord—meaning that perhaps he really had been telling the truth all along. Of course, that was an issue for a later time. Right now, she had to find out what happened to her father. “Alright. A group of us are going up to the river and search for him. Would you please let Pete know?”

  “Are you serious? I’m not sitting here while my future father-in-law is facing possible danger.” Araceli’s mouth dropped open at his bold statement. Miguel gave her a satisfied nod. “That’s right, darling. I’m stating my intentions right now just so you don’t get any surprises later on when I prove I’m innocent and ask you all formal like to marry me. Like I said two days ago, I don’t want to wait until Heaven to kiss my gal. So, we better get on with the search jack rabbit quick-like.”

  Miguel strode over to Pete’s desk and searched around until he located a piece of charcoal. He looked around for a piece of scrap paper and then pulled open Pete’s desk drawer. He pulled out the old wanted poster with his mug on it. “Turns out this thing was useful for something after all.”

  He scribbled on the back of it, leaving a note as to where they were going and for Pete to join them as soon as he could. “Alright. Let’s go.”

&
nbsp; They rushed out of the jailhouse.

  “That’s a nice mare. Where did you get it?” Araceli asked as they each mounted their horses.

  “Old man Atherton gave it to me this morning,” he said. Then they rode out, silence settling between them until they reached the river. “So, you have an idea where he was heading?”

  “About a couple miles downstream,” she said. “There’s a spot in the river that narrows a good bit. Beavers seem to enjoy picking that particular place to dam up.”

  “Then I guess that should be our first stop,” Miguel said and urged his horse on. However, they only got about halfway to their destination when they saw several of the sawmill workers, a group of Miwok Indians straddling some of the most magnificent horses they had ever seen and…

  “Papá!” Araceli raced Inesh up to the group and dismounted, rushing over to the wagon. Her father laid there, unconscious. “What’s going on? Is he okay?”

  “He will be fine,” a young Miwok woman spoke. “We gave him some medicine to help his restless spirit. Now he sleeps.”

  “Restless spirit?” Miguel asked, dismounting as well. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “They said they found him wandering several miles out,” Roberto offered. “Almost like he had been coming from Calderon. He was rambling on, too, about some woman and her brother or husband. Something like that.”

  “What’s Calderon?” Miguel asked.

  “The next town over,” Araceli said. “If you can call it that. It doesn’t have but maybe a couple dozen residents. Still, they somehow manage to survive just fine.”

  “Well, they said he was clutching this when they found him.” Roberto held out a necklace for Araceli to examine. A piece of metal had been fashioned to look like a claw of some sort. In its grip was a stone that looked very much like a ruby shaped into a perfect ball.

  “How strange,” she said. Then she slipped it into the pocket usually reserved for her six shooter. She walked back over to Inesh and mounted the horse. She addressed the Miwok woman who had spoken earlier. “My apologies, but I didn’t catch your name earlier.”

  “Kela Tukumu.”

  “Well, thank you, Ms. Tukumu, for taking care of my father in his time of need. What do we owe you?”

  The woman gestured with her hand as if running it across a smooth, flat surface. “All debts are paid.”

  Araceli wanted to say more, but the young woman turned and rode off without a single word more, her party following her.

  “I guess they aren’t much for talking,” Miguel said.

  “You wouldn’t be either if you had been forced off your land.”

  “No, I guess not.” He looked to change the subject. “That’s a mighty fine piece of jewelry. Might want to be careful shoving it in that pocket. It might get scratched up.”

  “It won’t,” she promised. “It’s the only thing in there right now.”

  “Really? What about your—”

  “I didn’t see much point in carrying an empty pistol.”

  “Empty?” Miguel looked confused, but only for a moment. “You mean to tell me—”

  “I never reloaded it after that day of our shooting lessons.” She gave him a sheepish grin. “You were never in any real danger during our little… discussion.”

  He gave her a winning smile. “And yet you lowered it anyway.”

  “Oh, don’t go looking so pleased with yourself. You still haven’t proven your innocence.”

  “I will soon enough. I’m going to ride back into town and let Pete know what’s going on.”

  “We’ll ride with you,” Araceli offered. “We’re closer to town than we are to our house and I’d like Doctor Edwards to take a look at my father—just to make sure he really will be fine. Besides, Ms. Priya’s home is on the way and I’m sure she’d like to know what happened.”

  The group rode on in silence until Priya Dayal’s house came into view.

  “That’s where she lives,” Araceli pointed out. She instructed the men, “We’ll stop here for a moment and let her know what has happened.”

  She and Miguel had barely dismounted when two teen girls appeared in the doorway, followed by Priya with a swaddled infant in her arms. Araceli knew of Priya’s older girls from her first marriage. However, she was confused as to where the baby had come from. Now wasn’t the time for questions, though. She approached Priya and informed her of what had happened.

  A worried look crossed the Indian woman’s face, making her appear much older than the late thirties Araceli knew her to be. The woman pushed the baby into her arms.

  “Here,” she said before rushing back into the house. She appeared a minute later, a small bottle of smelling salts in her hands. She made her way to the wagon and opened the vial, waving the salts in front of the resting man’s nose. His eyes popped open and he coughed. Priya sighed with relief.

  “Thank God, Juan! I was sure something had happened when you didn’t come by to kiss the baby goodnight, but I didn’t know what to do.” She turned to the girls, still standing in the doorway and instructed the oldest. “Go get Bapa’s pipe.”

  “Baby?” Araceli approached, confused. “Bapa? Why does that word sound so much like ‘papá?”

  Her father slowly sat up in the wagon. He looked first at his daughter and then at Priya who gave him an encouraging nod before turning to the men who had accompanied them. “There is some naan on the table. The girls will show you where you can wash up.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Dayal,” the men chorused and followed her daughters, eager to try the delicious bread. Araceli returned her attention to her father once more, raising a curious brow that stated she waited expectantly for the truth.

  “I’ve wanted to tell you for so long now,” he began. “I just didn’t know how. I didn’t want you to be upset.”

  “Upset about what?” she asked, straining to keep calm as the daughter appeared with a small object in her hand. Araceli immediately recognized it to be her father’s pipe. He took it from the young girl, thanking her with a pat on the head, and lit the tobacco inside. He took a few short puffs off it, exhaling peacefully.

  “Chel,” he said, “this is my family.”

  The woods around her spun a little. Araceli felt like she would topple, but Miguel hastily dashed to her side. He straightened her up while Priya took the baby from her arms.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, dazed. “How can this be your family? You already have one.”

  Señor Arroyo sighed. “Araceli, you will always be my beloved daughter—now and forever. I promise you that. However, your mother has been gone many years now and I don’t want to live alone anymore.”

  “I didn’t want to be alone either,” Priya added.

  “Ms. Dayal was widowed with two young girls to raise and I wanted another chance at life,” her father continued. “It only made sense that we should marry.”

  “Marry?” Araceli asked, looking down at the baby in awe. He appeared to be only a few months old. “The two of you are married? For how long?”

  “A little over a year now.”

  “And the baby?”

  “He is your half-brother, Jagara Dayal Arroyo.”

  “Brother?” Araceli reached out for the baby, but then pulled back. She looked up at Priya with imploring eyes. “May I?”

  The woman smiled broadly at Juan and then his daughter. “Of course you can.”

  Araceli wrapped her arms around the boy and cuddled him close, breathing in deeply. Tears filled her eyes as she caressed his soft cheeks. “Aw, you smell so sweet. Yes, you do… and so handsome, too. Why, I think you’ve got my papa’s eyes.”

  The child cooed at her observations.

  “You’re a natural,” Priya declared. “You will do well when you have your own children.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Miguel said and Araceli was suddenly aware that his arm still rested against her shoulders. She slipped out of his embrace.

  “I’m afraid I ma
y never know,” she replied and handed the baby back to his mother.

  “Why in heavens not?” her father demanded. “Chel, I have seen you attend to this young man for quite some time now. I can understand how you weren’t interested in the others, but this one is your perfect match.”

  “Papá,” Araceli discreetly whispered, “how can he be my perfect match when he helped cause all our pain?”

  “Hija, please, you’re not making any sense.”

  “Don’t you understand, papá? He wasn’t just a soldier… He’s the one who stole our land!”

  Her father pulled the pipe out of his mouth. He leaned back in the wagon with a tired sigh and gently folded his hands, resting them on his paunch. “Araceli, where did you get this idea that someone stole our land?”

  “What do you mean where did I get the idea? You yourself called the soldiers ladrones.”

  “Yes, hija. I did call them thieves, but only because I thought the general had cheated me out of a fair price. In truth, he hadn’t. I just wanted a little more.”

  “What do you mean ‘cheated’ you? Are you trying to say—”

  “That I sold the land.”

  Stunned, Araceli slowly began to sink once more and, once again, Miguel was there to support her. “You… sold it?”

  “Yes, I did. It felt like the right thing to do at the time. Your brothers were gone, as was your sweet mamá, and I didn’t see the use in having so much space for just the two of us. Besides, I didn’t want to stay in a place with so many sad memories. I thought a change in scenery would be good—for the both of us. So, I sold it. I figured they could have taken it if they wanted to anyway. Better to get some money out of the deal than to lose it for nothing.”

  “But what about the fire?” she looked up at Miguel.

  “I promise I had nothing to do with that.”

  “He’s right,” her father confirmed. “That was an act of few spiteful men being unaware that the land had already been sold—just as I had been unaware that your brothers were harboring stolen goods.”