Nervously she began to chatter. “You should see Jamie. He’s crawling everywhere and getting into everything. I can’t wait until he’s walking. He’s already trying to do just that. He pulls up to everything and …” She ran out of things to say the minute she glanced up to look at Cole’s face.
Oh goodness, why do I have to be so flustered? It’s just Cole. I’ve talked to him a hundred times. I’ve even yelled at him a couple of times. Her cheeks grew hot at those memories. She looked away quickly.
“Remember the blizzard the day you left with the cattle?” She didn’t wait for a response but hurried right along. “Well, it got really bad at the ranch and I was out checking the horses and milk cows while Uncle Bram got extra wood and water. Next thing I know the wind is so fierce, I’ve fallen. I had no choice but to crawl and before I knew it, I was being lifted up. You’ll never guess who had come to my rescue.”
“Bram?” He finally spoke.
Dianne laughed nervously, now wishing she’d never brought up the story. “Ah, no. It was … Koko’s brother. Takes-Many-Horses.”
“I thought he was on the run from the law,” Cole said, not sounding in the leastwise happy to hear the news.
Dianne finished putting away the dishes and hung her towel over the side of the wagon. “I don’t think he was running from anyone this time,” she said. “He was very pleasant. Very nice to talk to.”
Cole pushed off from the wagon. “What did you talk about?”
Dianne shrugged. “He talked about the Indians and conflicts with the whites. He also loved my apple pie.” She bit her tongue, wishing she hadn’t said that. There was no sense in it.
“You do make good apple pie,” Cole admitted. “What else did you talk about?”
Dianne’s face grew hotter. She looked to the ground. “Well, really not much.”
“You seem upset. Did he say something that upset you?”
Cole sounded angry now. Dianne looked up abruptly. “No, not at all. He was very kind. He even teased about marrying me.” Cole’s eyes widened and Dianne decided then that perhaps that hadn’t been the best thing to mention. “I assured him he wouldn’t want me for a wife,” she continued, trying her best to sound lighthearted. “I can’t chew leather.” She smiled, hoping Cole would relax his rigid stance.
“Would you walk with me?” Cole asked.
“What?”
“Walk with me,” he said, almost making it a command. Quietly he added, “Please.”
Dianne took off her apron and hung it alongside the dish towel. “All right.” She pulled on her wool-lined coat, as the evening had grown chilly. She couldn’t imagine what had come over Cole. He was acting like a nervous schoolboy one minute and a jealous husband the next.
They walked away from the camp, strolling at a slow pace as if they were visiting a park. In truth, Dianne had never seen a lovelier park anywhere. The grandeur of God’s splendor was vastly superior to anything man could order or create.
“My father and I came to Montana in search of gold,” Cole began softly. Dianne almost had to strain to hear him. “Instead, I found true love. Or what I thought was true love. Her name was Carrie. She was young and sweet and totally unspoiled. Her father had come for his fortune, as well, but before long his ways led to breaking the law and he found himself on the wrong side of the vigilantes.”
“The ones who went around hanging highwaymen?” Dianne asked.
Cole’s expression grew pained. “Yes. My father was a member. He wanted badly to prove his mettle to his peers. He forced me to come along with them on the day they went to confront Carrie’s father. It had already been proven by several eyewitnesses that the man was a murderer and a thief, and because the sheriff would do nothing about it, this group of men felt they had to act.
“I didn’t want to go, but my father made it clear that I would go and assist or that I was no son to him. He would send me back to my mother. Well, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I wanted to make him proud— to please him. But I didn’t want to do it this way. I didn’t believe in taking matters into my own hands. I felt confident something else could be done. I went along hoping to change their minds, but that didn’t happen.”
Dianne nodded, still not understanding why Cole was suddenly telling her all of this. She’d wanted to know the truth for a very long time, but now without warning here he was telling her everything without being prompted to do so. She couldn’t help but wonder why.
“I learned when they planned to hang Carrie’s father and arranged for her to be in town with a friend. I didn’t want her to witness the ugliness. So with that taken care of, we went out to her place. The men accused Carrie’s father and prepared to hang him. Then there was a noise in the brush. It appeared to be an ambush. The men drew their weapons, and as Carrie came screaming into the clearing, my father shot her. She died in my arms.” He said it all so matter-of-factly that Dianne wasn’t at all sure how to respond.
Cole reached out and took hold of Dianne’s forearms. Her eyes widened and she swallowed hard. In spite of the thick coat, his touch sent tingling charges up her arms. She met his eyes, watching, waiting for what would come next.
“I promised Carrie I’d never love another woman. I determined in my heart to spend my days alone.”
It wasn’t at all what she’d expected him to say. But then again, she really didn’t know what she’d expected him to say.
“Dianne, I’ve had a lot of time to think out here this winter. I can’t keep my promise to Carrie.”
“Oh?” Dianne barely uttered the word. Her mind was running in a hundred different directions as she tried to understand exactly what Cole was trying to get across.
Cole closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. He let it out slowly, mesmerizing Dianne with his action. He opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on her face.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Dianne. In case you haven’t figured it out before now, I’ve fallen in love with you.”
CHAPTER 36
“YOU WHAT?” DIANNE ASKED IN DISBELIEF. SHE HAD OFTEN dreamed of hearing Cole’s declaration of love, but now that it’d come, she was stunned.
Cole took hold of her chin. “I love you, Dianne. You’re all I could think about out here. I didn’t plan to fall in love with you, but it’s happened, and I need to know how you feel.”
Dianne swallowed hard. Cole’s touch was doing strange things to her stomach and knees. She felt her breath quicken. “I … uh … I …” Dizziness gripped her like the time when they’d found Betsy’s lifeless body. Dianne fought against it this time, however. She didn’t want to faint and miss out on the very moment she’d longed for.
“I feel the same,” she whispered.
Cole grinned. “The way you lost all your coloring just now, I wasn’t sure what you were going to say.” He hugged her close, then quickly released her, totally catching Dianne off guard. “Sorry,” he murmured as if embarrassed, “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” Dianne said, not in the least bit sorry for the embrace.
“Well, we aren’t engaged and even if we were, it would be a bit forward of me. I wasn’t raised to be a cad about these things.”
Dianne grinned. “Good thing. I’ve no interest in cads.”
“How about simple cowboys?” he asked, his gaze boring into her soul.
Dianne reached up and tenderly touched her fingers to his face. “I have a fascination for them. Especially one in particular.”
Cole closed his hand over hers. “So should we talk to your uncle?”
Dianne felt her entire body tremble. She nodded slowly, then remembered the conversation she’d had with Uncle Bram about the ranch. “But there’s something you should know first. Something that might change your mind about everything.”
“What?”
Dianne pulled away. “My uncle just informed me this morning that he’s putting my name on the deed to the ranch. Koko and Jamie can’t inherit it because in the eyes
of the law, they’re Indian. I told him I’d stay here and make a good home for them if anything happened to him. I gave him my word, Cole, and I can’t go back on that.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Cole replied. “It’s a surprise to be sure, but I’d already decided after spending the winter thinking things over that I would get me a piece of homestead land and build my own ranch. I’d be just as happy to help your uncle—if he agrees to it.”
Dianne sighed in relief. “I’m sure he’ll be delighted, Cole. Probably happier than you or me about this whole thing.”
“That isn’t possible,” Cole said, his expression growing quite serious. “No one could be happier than I am.”
“Nor I,” Dianne whispered. And in her heart, she knew the truth of it as joy washed over her in waves.
Trenton had hoped for a nice quiet dinner at his hotel, but at the first sign of Annabelle and her brother Geoff, he knew that wasn’t to be. Grimacing, he raised a glass of wine to his mouth to keep from allowing them to see his displeasure.
“I told you we’d find him here,” Annabelle said to her brother as they ignored the waiter and pushed their way to Trenton’s table.
Trenton stood, setting his glass aside. “Is something wrong?” He hoped whatever the problem, they would state it quickly and leave. People were already staring at them, and it made Trenton most uncomfortable.
“Is it true you plan to leave town?” Geoff asked, his voice holding a serious tone.
“Tell him what you told me,” Annabelle demanded.
Trenton hoped to put an end to the encounter as soon as possible, but having them stand there questioning him was only drawing additional stares. “Won’t you sit down?”
Annabelle smiled sweetly and took the chair beside Trenton’s while Geoff took the one opposite. “I ain’t never been to this place before. It’s sure pretty.”
Geoff grunted. “Expensive too. That’s why you ain’t been here before.”
Annabelle ignored him and turned her attention back to Trenton. “You look upset. Are you mad that we came here?”
“I hate to draw attention to myself,” Trenton said honestly. “I didn’t like folks gawking, that’s all.”
“Well, we had to come. I told Geoff what you said about leaving.”
“Why would that be of interest to your brother?” Trenton asked.
Annabelle shifted her gaze to Geoff, then to her hands. She nervously twisted a handkerchief that had seen better days. “Well, given how we feel about each other, I thought it only fair to tell him your plans.”
Trenton shook his head and met Geoff’s hard stare. “How we feel about each other? I don’t think I understand.”
Annabelle sniffed. “Now, don’t be pretending our time together meant nothing to you. You told me otherwise.”
For months on end, the only thing Trenton had felt for Annabelle and her brother was complete contempt. They fought constantly, came to him for money whenever things were tight, and generally made a nuisance of themselves. Annabelle seemed to believe she could somehow be found to be more respectable through association with Trenton. Why she figured that was beyond Trenton. Sure, he frequented more upscale hotels and restaurants than Annabelle could afford, but he was still a gambler. No matter how he painted himself, facts were facts and his social standing was no better than hers.
Trenton leaned back in his chair and waved the waiter off when the man started to approach the table. Annabelle took note of this.
“Ain’t you gonna buy us dinner?”
Trenton shook his head. “No. In fact, as soon as I pay my bill, I’d planned to retire for the night.”
“You ain’t playing tonight?” Geoff asked.
Trenton wondered at his motive. “No. I never travel with much money.”
“See, I told you he planned to leave,” Annabelle wailed.
“Where are you headin’ and when do you plan to be back?” Geoff asked.
Trenton began to feel as though they were backing him into a corner. “I don’t know. I don’t have a destination in mind. I may go visit my sister in Montana Territory. I’ve been telling her I’d do that for a long time now. As for returning, well, I really don’t have any plans of returning soon. I’ve had my fill of Omaha.”
Annabelle began to sob into the handkerchief, totally baffling Trenton. Again other patrons began to stare, and Trenton longed only for the quiet solitude of his hotel room.
“So you were just plannin’ on leavin’ her like this?” Geoff asked coolly.
Trenton looked to Geoff, then back to Annabelle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Geoff leaned forward rather menacingly. “You’ve been makin’ my sister promises, and now you’re just gonna head out of town, easy as you please. I think you better reconsider.”
“I’ve never promised your sister anything. I’m not in any position to make promises.”
“You did too,” Annabelle declared in a loud obnoxious cry. “You promised to marry me and make me an honest woman.”
Trenton’s mouth dropped open. He was flabbergasted. “I … well … you … I never made any sort of suggestion.” Trenton couldn’t begin to see himself married to a whining, argumentative woman like Annabelle Tevis.
“You callin’ my sister a liar?”
“Both of you need to calm down and listen to reason.” Trenton turned to Geoff. “I have nothing to offer your sister. I don’t have a good name. I don’t have a steady job. I don’t even have a horse. I sold him a few days back to get money for a game. I gamble when I can get a game and move on to another place when that town is tapped dry. What kind of life is that for any decent woman?”
“I don’t care. I wanna go with you. You promised we’d always be together,” Annabelle said, dabbing at her eyes.
Trenton could see now that she wasn’t crying real tears at all. She was merely giving the pretense of tears to convince her brother and drive home her point. Feeling the heat of Geoff’s gaze, Trenton shook his head very slowly.
“I did not promise any such thing. Annabelle, you have to be fair and tell the truth.”
“You are callin’ my sister a liar!” Geoff declared, his raised voice again drawing stares from the people around them.
“I’d prefer to think Annabelle is simply mistaken.”
“Well, she ain’t and I expect you to do right by her.”
The waiter approached the table. “Sir, the management would appreciate it if you would take this discussion elsewhere. You are disturbing the other customers.”
Geoff got to his feet. “Well, ain’t that a shame.”
Trenton immediately stood as well. “Here,” he said, handing the man more than enough money for his bill, “I was just leaving.”
“No you ain’t,” Geoff called after him.
Trenton continued walking through the restaurant and into the hotel lobby. He walked past the clerk at the desk and went to stand by the front door while Annabelle and Geoff caught up with him.
Once the trio was again together, Trenton led them outside. “Please hear me out,” he said, trying hard to stand his ground and pacify Geoff, knowing the man’s penchant for losing his temper and killing his adversaries. “I have never made any promises to Annabelle, and if she thinks I have, then she’s mistaken. I do not ever plan to marry—not Annabelle or anyone else. I have no reason to consider my conduct toward your sister as anything but honorable. In fact, my conduct with both of you has been above reproach. I’ve given you money when I had extra to spare. I’ve paid for many a meal and even helped pay for repairs to your house.
“Added to this, I’ve helped to keep Geoff out of the reach of the law on more than one occasion, lending you my horse so that you could get away and even hiding you in my hotel room. I’ve been the best friend I knew to be, even though you two aren’t the easiest folks to be around.”
Geoff and Annabelle looked rather surprised at this declaration, but Trenton was feeling brave and continued. “I do
n’t know why you think I would want to stick around for the constant fights and draining of my purse. I’m just as tired of the both of you as I am of Omaha—maybe more.”
Geoff had taken all he was going to. Stepping forward, he grabbed Trenton by the collar. “You’d better stop right now before you say something you’re really gonna regret. You’ve made my sister promises of marriage, and I intend to see you go through with those promises. I’ll give you a couple of days to think it over, but you’d better come up with the right answer and a ring for my sister’s finger. She’s got her heart set on being respectable.” He released Trenton with a backward push. Trenton landed with a loud plop on the boardwalk.
Staring up in silent fear, Trenton wasn’t sure how to deal with the situation. He wasn’t about to marry Annabelle, but on the other hand, he really didn’t want to encourage her brother’s wrath.
“We’ll be here day after tomorrow with the preacher, Chadwick. You’d best not try to get out of this either. Otherwise, I’ll hunt you down and put a bullet in that thick skull of yours.”
Trenton got to his feet as Geoff led Annabelle down the street. He knew he would have to leave Omaha tonight in order to give himself as much lead time as possible. Hurrying to his hotel room, he took only what was absolutely necessary. That way if he ran into Geoff on the street, it wouldn’t appear he was headed anywhere but to a game. Of course, he’d already told Geoff he wouldn’t be playing tonight.
Well, if he sees me tonight, I’ll just tell him that given the change of events, I need more money and will have to play a game or two. It seemed reasonable to Trenton. What didn’t seem reasonable was anything else that had happened in the last hour. How had his life managed to get so convoluted?
Memories of running from Jerry and Sam Wilson came to mind and Trenton shuddered. He could still feel the fear of stealing away in the dead of night—listening for footsteps in the dark. He broke into a cold sweat. Again he was on the run. There was no time to plan his moves— no time to buy a horse and gear. He’d have to see about catching a steamer. He knew there were boats that went to Fort Benton in the Montana Territory. He’d researched that much. The trip ended there, however, and he’d be completely on his own to find a way to Uncle Bram’s ranch. The idea of traipsing around in Indian country, especially given the most current reports of problems, didn’t appeal to him in the least.
Land of My Heart Page 37
