Western Winter Wedding Bells

by Cheryl St. John, Jenna Kernan

  Rachel raced into the house and got the things she needed to wrap Mikey Ray’s chest. When she returned, she found Johnny in the corner of the bunkhouse, exploring with ever-inquisitive eyes. Cooper stood right where she’d left him, his gaze trained on her son, watching him.

  She spent the next twenty minutes with Mikey Ray, wrapping him with yards of white gauzy fabric she’d planned on using to make a new petticoat. The boy tried hard to be brave, but his pain was evident. When she was finished, she whispered quietly, “Try to sleep. We’ll have the doc out here as soon as we can fetch him.”

  She rose and stretched out her back and the kinks from her neck. Johnny had latched on to her skirts and she touched his little shoulder. She found Cooper watching her with dark, hooded eyes. There was a hardness to them that didn’t soften the way most people’s eyes did when they looked at her with Johnny.

  She didn’t have time to dwell on Cooper, though he was beginning to fascinate her. “Will you stay with Mikey Ray while I ride into town to get the doctor?”

  Cooper took a deep breath and stared into her eyes. “I have a better idea. I’ll go. I can get there much faster than you. Be sides, I wouldn’t know what to do, if the boy…the boy needed anything.”

  Rachel took a pitying glance at Mikey. She knew Cooper was right. But he had already done so much and he had injuries, as well. “Can you make it? You’ve only just begun to recover.”

  He nodded, a look of confidence written on his face. “I can make it just fine. I’ll need a horse and directions into town. How far?”

  “About six miles.”

  He nodded and strode to the door. “Show me your fastest horse and I’ll mount up straightaway.”

  Rachel walked outside with him, holding Johnny in her arms. “I’m grateful, Cooper. For all you’ve done today and—”

  “You saved my life, Rachel,” he said briskly. “Fetching the doctor is hardly repayment.”

  “You saved Mikey Ray. He might have been crushed to death if not for you.”

  “I did what anyone would do.”

  Rachel wouldn’t argue with him, yet she wondered why Cooper found it so hard to accept her thanks.

  They headed to the corral. The horses seemed to have calmed down some, as if they’d forgotten the imminent danger they’d been in just minutes before. They stayed somewhat huddled still, but they looked at peace.

  “Have you had predators threaten the ranch before?”

  “Only a hungry wolf or two, trying to get at the chickens. Never a mountain lion. They usually don’t come this far into the valley. The ranches closer to the Sierras have more of a problem.”

  “They’re starving,” he said. “The one I shot was skin and bones. Makes them desperate. You’d be smart to keep that Winchester close at hand from now on.”

  Rachel shivered and hugged Johnny closer to her chest. Cooper’s gaze flickered just a moment when he looked at Johnny and then he turned away to peer into the corral. “I bet that gray is fast.”

  Rachel smiled at his astute observation. “You know your horses. That’s the one I was going to choose. You’ll find what you need in the barn.”

  She raced to the house and came out with Josh’s fur-lined suede jacket and Cooper’s hat and handed them to him, then gave him directions to town. She watched him saddle and mount the horse. “Doc Reynolds’s office is on the edge of town. You won’t miss the sign above his door. He’ll recognize you.”

  She waved to him from the barn door and Johnny mimicked her actions. Her son loved to wave hello and goodbye to people, smiling and expecting a similar reaction in return.

  Cooper glanced at them both, then nodded curtly and was gone.

  Cooper managed to push his mount and get to Cedar Flat in less than an hour. As he approached the outer buildings of town, his heart strummed hard against his chest with expectation. He’d come this far to find the man responsible for murdering his family. Finally in Cedar Flat, he couldn’t waste a second to get the doctor for Mikey Ray. Yet he scanned every alleyway and the sidewalks leading to the livery, saloon, bathhouse and other establishments, cautiously looking for the scarred man as he made his way down the main street.

  The onetime gold-mining town still showed remnants of the Rush with an assay office and an emporium selling mining equipment, but from what he’d learned, most people who’d survived the played-out claims nowadays earned their living by ranching. Cooper had a lead that a man with a terribly scarred face worked one of the ranches up here.

  He pressed his hat farther down on his head and continued on to the far edge of town, feeling a measure of disappointment. It couldn’t be that easy, could it? That he’d find Brett Hollings, or whatever name he was using now, on his first ride into town. The unbearably cold weather didn’t help matters. Most men on the street wore woolen scarves that covered half their faces. It wouldn’t be hard for Hollings to disguise himself while out in public.

  He reached the house with a sign overhead that read Doctor’s Office and reined in his mount. Without pause, he knocked on the front door and was greeted by a kind-faced woman with graying hair. “I’m here from the Double J Ranch, ma’am. My name is Cooper. Is the doctor in?”

  The woman shook her head and said with apology, “Not at the moment. He’s checking on a patient but he’ll be back soon. Would you care to come in and wait?”

  “No, ma’am, but thank you for the offer. Will you give him a message for me?”

  She smiled as if she was used to this request. “Certainly.”

  “One of the ranch hands at the Double J nearly got crushed by a corral full of horses this morning. Mrs. Bodine wrapped his ribs, but he’s in great pain.”

  “Oh, dear. Yes, my William will want to see him. What’s his name?”

  “Mikey Ray. I don’t know his last name.”

  She pulled in her lower lip. “Yes, I know the boy. I’ll be sure to give my husband the message. He’ll want to ride out to check on him. I expect him back very shortly, Mr. Cooper.”

  Cooper didn’t correct her. He’d deliberately given her only his first name. He’d been careful not to alert anyone through his travels of his surname. He didn’t want to tip off Hollings that he was after him. To all, he was simply Cooper. Which reminded him that he’d given Rachel his full name while he was nearly unconscious. He’d have to do something about that when he got back. “Thank you, ma’am. Oh, and by the way, I’m searching for my half brother. He’d been burned in a fire not long ago. Wonder if the doc ever mentioned a man he’d treated with a burned face and neck?”

  The woman thought for a second then shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard of such a man. Maybe you could ask my husband directly when you see him.”

  “I will. Thanks again, ma’am.”

  He tipped his hat, left the doctor’s house and headed straight for the sheriff’s office. Luckily, the sheriff was in and he spent the better part of the hour explaining who he was, what crimes had been committed against him in Nevada and his search for Brett Hollings. He’d explained how he’d come to be at the Double J Ranch. Sheriff O’Reilly asked him a passel of questions about his being shot and left for dead and took down a written report. The sheriff’s arched brow and tone of voice told him he was skeptical that Cooper’s shooting had nothing to do with his wife’s killer, but Cooper knew in his gut that the two incidents weren’t linked.

  Like every other sheriff in every other town, O’Reilly first gave Cooper an admonishment not to take the law in his own hands. Cooper hid his true intent by nodding. Fact was, Cooper wanted to avenge his wife’s and son’s senseless deaths himself.

  And then came the sheriff’s vow to keep an eye out for the scarred man. Again to Cooper’s disappointment, the sheriff hadn’t seen or heard of a scar-faced man working in the territory. Cooper had accomplished what he could for now. He shook hands with the sheriff and mounted his horse.

  On the ride back to the Double J, Cooper’s mind whirled and a plan formed in his head. He didn’t h
ave a dime to his name at the moment, Hollings having robbed him of most of his ready cash. The fire that killed his family also destroyed all his belongings, but he did still have the ranch and about eight hundred head of cattle. While he’d recuperated from his burns, he’d sold off half his herd to meet his payroll for the year and fund his search. He’d instructed his trusted foreman to keep the ranch going, but Cooper wouldn’t ever live there again. He couldn’t go back to stay. He wouldn’t rebuild.

  Memories of Jocelyn waving farewell to him, holding little Donny in her arms in front of their home that last day haunted him. He’d been bent on building his herd and had taken off that morning to make a deal with a neighboring rancher. It had taken nearly the entire day of negotiating and by the time he’d returned home, all was lost.

  He’d let his family down. He hadn’t protected them and almost equally as bad, he was starting to forget them. Each day, the memory of what his life was like ebbed just that much further in his mind.

  He couldn’t remember the exact color of Jocelyn’s caramel eyes now. He could barely recall Donny’s toothless smile or the dimple on his right cheek. He’d forced those memories away in order to survive the torment, but the guilt stayed with him, always with him. And now…now all that was left was bitter hatred of the man who’d claimed their lives and the revenge that Cooper would someday claim.

  Hollings was in the vicinity. He had to stay on here and find him. This was as close as he’d come to catching him. As he approached the Double J, he saw Rachel in front of her house waiting with watchful eyes. Her son stood clinging to her skirts again.

  They reminded him of what he’d once had and of all he’d lost. She’d saved his life yet he could hardly abide seeing the two of them together. When he looked at them, all of his own failures slashed through him, worse than the stinging ache burning in his abused shoulder. Worse than the weakness in his body now. He’d taxed himself today and felt the drain of fatigue claiming him.

  He pulled up and noted stiffness in Rachel’s stance. “The doctor was here already,” she said, trying to keep accusation from her tone. “He gave Mikey Ray laudanum. The boys are hitching up the wagon. They’re gonna take him to his folks to rest up.”

  Cooper didn’t want to notice the clear blue in Rachel’s eyes. Or the way the bodice of her dress clung tight to her curves. He didn’t want to note how pretty she was or the kindness in her heart, but he did and that alarmed him. “That’s good.”

  He dismounted and came face-to-face with her. Blond waves, like golden wheat, framed her face as the cool breeze blew by. She pulled those strands back behind her ear. “The doc says he’ll be okay, but it’ll take weeks for him to heal. What, uh, what took you so long?”

  Did she think he wouldn’t return? Did she think he’d take her horse and leave town? Was that why she stood rigid, her eyes sharp with curiosity. “After I delivered the message to the doctor’s wife, I went to see Sheriff O’Reilly.”

  “Oh.”

  “I explained about the shooting. He took a report from me.”

  “I see,” she said, nibbling on her lower lip. “I, uh—”

  “I came back, Rachel.”

  She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. After all you’ve done today, I should have known.”

  Cooper took her arm, a simple gesture that he’d done a thousand times with Jocelyn, yet the heat of the contact struck him like lightning. He ignored the sensation and the way Rachel gazed up at him. “I need to speak with you. Inside.”

  She nodded, and he kept his hand under her elbow, helping her up the steps of the house. “Come on, Johnny,” she said and her son obeyed, following them into the house. She pulled her arm free the second they were inside.

  “Have something to eat,” she said immediately, a rosy blush coloring her face. She made herself busy pulling muffins from the oven. The room smelled of warm cinnamon and sugar. “They’re from yesterday, I didn’t have time to bake this morning with all that’s happened. I’ll make eggs for you. You must be famished.”

  “I am,” he said honestly.

  “Thank you for going after the doctor. And for…everything else.”

  Cooper was dog-tired and took a seat at the table. Johnny crawled up on the chair next to him and watched him with wide eyes. Cooper’s heart lurched in agony; the boy was so beautiful and it was hard to look at him and not feel miserable. But Cooper had no choice now. He had to put his plan in action.

  “Looks like you’ll be shorthanded, with Mikey Ray gone.”

  Rachel tossed her head back, a derisive laugh escaping her throat. “We were shorthanded with Mikey Ray here. Now, it’ll only be harder.”

  She set a mug of coffee in front of him. He warmed his hands around the cup. “Doesn’t have to be.”

  Rachel looked at him.

  He stared back.

  She was a smart woman. She knew his intent.

  “You?”

  “I need work, Rachel. I have only the clothes on my back.” He glanced at the shirt he wore, one of her husband’s. “Well, not even that.”

  She blinked and became thoughtful.

  “It would only be temporary. Until you didn’t need me anymore.”

  Rachel put her head down, staring at the tips of her boots. “I suppose that makes sense. You know ranching.” Then she gazed into his eyes, almost talking herself out of it. “I can’t pay you much. That’s why I employ boys. They don’t expect—”

  “Whatever it is, will be fine.” Cooper paid his ranch hands thirty dollars a month, the going rate. He figured Rachel paid her men half that amount, but he didn’t care. What he needed and wanted was a legitimate reason to stay in Cedar Flat.

  Rachel hesitated a moment and he imagined she wasn’t easily fooled—his exhaustion must have shown on his face. “You were shot four days ago. You’re still recuperating. Are you up to it?”

  He could only answer with the truth. “I will be. I’m getting stronger every day.”

  “I see you as my patient first. I won’t expect you to do too much.”

  “I’ll do my share,” he told her with a healthy dose of pride.

  She smiled and set the eggs and muffins in front of him. “I forgot how stubborn you are.”

  “Do we have a deal?”

  Rachel sat down with a mug of coffee of her own. “Yes. We have a deal. Tomorrow, you’ll move into the bunkhouse, Mr. Garnett.”

  Cooper set down his coffee cup. “About that. From now on, I’m just Cooper. It’s safer for all concerned that nobody knows my real name.”

  “But Jess and Mikey Ray know—”

  “I’ll have a talk with Jess later.”

  “But why?” Rachel blinked and took hold of Johnny, who was trying to climb up onto the table. She set him back into the chair and turned to gaze into Cooper’s eyes.

  “I told you, it’s safer that no one knows I’m here. Do you want to back out of our deal now?”

  She shook her head quickly. “No. We need the help.”

  He nodded. He wouldn’t put anyone at the Double J in danger. If Hollings got wind of it, he might try something and Cooper would die before allowing that to happen. “Then I’ll be your patient one more day. Tomorrow, you’ll be my boss.”

  Chapter Three

  Rachel had jumbled feelings about giving Cooper a job at the ranch. She needed ranch hands desperately. With Josh gone and now Mikey Ray laid up, the Double J would suffer. The boys were working twice as hard for half the pay. It wasn’t fair to them, she knew, but there was little she could do about it. So in that regard, hiring Cooper had been a blessing. He was capable and intelligent and he did know ranching.

  On the other hand, he was a mystery to her and kept to himself. She wouldn’t pry into his life, but she wanted to know more about him. The incident this morning confirmed to her that he could be trusted. He’d saved Mikey Ray and come back to the ranch, when for more than a few moments this morning she’d wondered if he would.

  With Johnny in her arms, she m
arched out to the henhouse to gather the day’s eggs. Even with all that had happened today, ranch life was constant. The chores didn’t go away just because there was strife. She’d already laundered clothes and baked two loaves of bread.

  As she approached the henhouse her thoughts turned to Mikey Ray and she prayed he would recover quickly without a great deal of pain. She’d kissed his forehead as a way of farewell and bundled up her day-old muffins to send home with him. His family had a homestead on the other side of the valley, so he would be cared for, which gave her a measure of comfort. It was times like these that she missed Josh the most. He was her stability and her center. His love had always made ranch life bearable.

  She was alone now, and with the Christmas holiday approaching, sadness she wouldn’t display to her ranch family surrounded her. She’d do her best to make the holiday cheerful. With that resolve in mind she helped herself to today’s offering in the henhouse. “Be careful, Johnny,” she said, allowing her son to pick up the last egg and put it into the basket. It was a ritual she’d started a few weeks ago with her boy.

  “Careful, Mama.” With infinite care, her son set the egg on top of all the others.

  She squeezed him tight. “That’s good, baby. You did that just right.”

  Johnny looked at her with pride. “I…good.”

  She chuckled. “Yes, you are.”

  With a smile on her lips, she exited the henhouse and walked around the corner of the barn. What she saw then stopped her short. Cooper Garnett, with his bare back to her, held a long blade to his soapy face. Scars that had healed well spread across his back, but they didn’t blur the perfect image he made, broad of shoulders and rippling with bronzed muscles that led down to a waistline hugged by his well-fitting trousers.

  Rachel reminded herself to breathe.

  Lord above.

  After Cooper returned from town, he’d been so exhausted he’d gone into Johnny’s room to rest. Rachel figured he’d be sleeping the entire day and night.