by Kit Morgan
But not the way her father did. No, this was so much different.
“Cozette,” he rasped. “You have to go into the house. Now!”
The urgency in his voice startled her, not to mention the use of her first name, and she sucked in a quick breath.
Duncan moaned again. “Now, Cozette!”
He removed his hand from her shoulder, groaned and turned away. “Go!” He snapped when she didn’t immediately comply.
She shook her head at the slight sting the scold gave and lifting her dress, turned and ran for the house. She reached the back door and glanced to him one last time before going in. His posture was tight and strained, his face to the sky. Was he praying? Both hands were now balled into fists and she wondered what could possibly be wrong? He was fine until he’d gotten closer to her, then he got angry with her. But she didn’t do anything wrong, did she? At least she didn’t think so. But what did she know? She didn’t really know much about him, other than he was a good shot and had two very nice sisters in law.
And that he makes you feel all warm inside and protected... Cozette felt herself moan though no sound escaped as it had when she sighed. She then reluctantly turned from the sight of Duncan, went inside, and quickly closed the door behind her.
“Where’s Duncan?” Polly asked. “Is he still here?”
A horse suddenly neighed and Cozette ran to the front of the house just in time to see Duncan mount his stallion and kick him into a gallop. He rode away as if his very life depended on it. The sight hurt, and Cozette fought against the cold shudder that came over her. But she couldn’t fight against the tears that followed.
* * *
Duncan pushed Romeo hard. He passed Clear Creek, giving it a wide berth, and raced toward home. If he hadn’t left when he did, he didn’t think he could control himself any longer.
He wanted her. He wanted her with everything he had and vowed to make her his. But why? He didn’t understand what he was feeling let alone the incredible strength of it. Its power confused him. Was this normal? Did Harrison go through this? Colin? But he didn’t have time to think about them. He had to get himself calmed down before he faced his brothers back at the ranch.
Duncan slowed Romeo as he came to the beginning of a trail that led away from the main road to the ranch. He took it and let the horse canter along at an easier pace. He wanted him to be able to cool down a bit before they got to their destination. And once there, Duncan planned on cooling down himself.
A short time later he reached another trail and took it. The trail led down to Clear Creek and the natural swimming hole his family had discovered shortly after settling in the area. It was considered Cooke land now, and others respected that ownership and didn’t venture out there much anyway. It was a several miles out of town for one, and a rough trail down into the canyon itself, another. And for that Duncan was glad. He was going to need the privacy.
He reached the end of the trail where a beautiful meadow spread out before him. A huge oak tree, one his mother dubbed His Majesty when she first saw it years ago, shaded part of the swimming hole and Duncan rode directly to it. He dismounted, let Romeo begin to graze, dropped his gun belt, stripped, and dove. Just like that, quick and clean. Then...
Cold. The water was incredibly cold. It didn’t seem to get decently warm until August. Which wasn’t far off. Another reason he needed a good dunking.
Duncan came up out of the water and took a deep breath. He’d stayed under as long as he could before needing a good lungful of air. If able, he could remain underwater all day. The quiet cold was calming. But it only temporarily stopped the throbbing ache and relentless pounding of his heart. A heart that kept telling him to take Cozette. Take her and claim her for his own, before it was too late. But why? This seemed to go way beyond the stipulations of the will. In fact, this felt more like if he didn’t give in to his own instinct, one or both of them would suffer. But suffer what?
Duncan dove again and swam to the bottom of the swimming hole. He tried to stay under as long as he could, counting the seconds, letting the cold tame his wild heart, before he could stand it no longer and had to come up for air.
But when Duncan came up, he was no longer alone.
Eight
“Ye dinna seem the type o’ man to leave yerself so unguarded. Nor yer horse for that matter.”
Duncan immediately scanned the area. The huge Scotsman he’d met in town a few days ago sat against the trunk of His Majesty and casually toyed with Duncan’s own gun.
“What do you want?” Duncan asked threateningly. Probably not the best thing to do as the stranger had his gun and Duncan himself was most definitely unarmed. Among other things...
“Nothing, just out exploring ‘tis all. Saw yer horse, but dinna see you til now. Water must be frightfully cold. Is it a habit of yers to bathe here?”
“No. At least not until recently.”
“Odd time to be taking a bath. Should ye no be out wi’ yer brothers tending yer stock?”
Duncan swam closer to him to see what the Scotsman would do. “I had other business to attend to this morning.” The Scotsman continued to play with the gun but seemed amiable enough. “I say, would you mind putting that away? You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”
The Scotsman looked at the gun in his hand. “Only a disadvantage if I were here to do ye harm, man. Which I’m not. But I canna say the same for the water. Yer lips are turning blue, ye ken.”
Duncan swam closer and stood. The water reached his waist. “In that you are right. This is bloody cold.”
“There’s only one thing I can think of that ‘twould send a man into a pool o’ freezing water at this time o’ day.”
Duncan knew it too. He began to wade toward him. “If you don’t mind,” he said and pointed to his pants. The Scotsman reached for the pants which lay nearby and tossed them to Duncan. He got out of the water, quickly put them on, then reached for his shirt.
“What’s the lassie’s name?”
“Cozette.”
“The Frenchie’s lass? Weel now. There’s a fetching prize to be sure.”
Duncan froze, his hand automatically at his side to draw his gun, only it was still in the hands of the Scotsman.
“Dinna fash yerself, laddie. I’ve no interest in the pretty wee thing. Och, I’ve my hands full wi’ my own wife!”
Duncan relaxed as he recalled the incredibly beautiful woman who joined the Scotsman and his companion when they first came to town. “I remember her. She’s lovely. You’re a lucky man to have such a woman.”
“Aye, I’ll no argue wi’ ye on that. Trust me when I say, there’s none like my Shona. But tell me, what brings ye here to cool yer frustration? Can ye no marry the lass?”
“Marry her? I haven’t gotten the chance to ask her. I’m still courting her. Or at least trying to.”
The Scotsman cocked his head to one side. The action reminded Duncan of Cozette. “And how are ye going about it? I hear the lass canna speak o’ word.”
News obviously travelled fast. How else could the Scotsman know of his brothers and their cattle ranch? “It’s not easy, but I’m managing it.”
“Aye, by dunking yerself in a freezing cold creek.”
“The fact she cannot speak does make things different but not difficult. In fact I’d say she enjoyed our time together this morning as much as I did.”
“Oh? And where d’ye suppose she’s taking a bath?”
Duncan glared at him. Why were they having this conversation anyway? But it gave Duncan an overwhelming sense of relief to be able to talk about it with someone. Even if it was the Scotsman.
“If you must know I asked her to escort me to a dance my family is hosting at our ranch. In fact, one of us was going to ride out and invite you and the rest of your company to attend.”
“Aye, and so ye did. Yer younger brother, Harrison is it? Came out a couple o’ hours ago. Told me I should come to the dance and come here to admire this bonny tree, which
I’ve now done.”
Duncan smiled. It was just like Harrison to be the first to invite the settlers. “So will you come?”
“Aye, we’ll be there. Seems some o’ the families like yer wee town. Might even decide to settle here. A dance ‘twould give them the chance to get acquainted wi’ more o’ the townspeople.”
“And what of you and your wife? Are you thinking of staying?”
“Nay, laddie. We’ve business to attend to elsewhere, but I wouldna mind coming back to visit. Perhaps by then you and the lass will ha’ had a wee bairn.”
“A baby? I need to marry her first! The problem is... well...”
“Ye dinna quite know how to go about it?”
Duncan turned and looked at the water. “She’s so different from other women, and I’ve never had a woman affect me so. It’s like everything my mother or father ever taught me about how to court a girl is... I can’t explain it.”
“Wrong? It won’t work? None o’ it applies?”
Duncan slowly turned around and stared at the Scotsman. He looked him over carefully, as if expecting him to suddenly disappear. For some strange reason he felt like he’d had this conversation with him before.
“Yes. It does feel like that. But if that’s the case, what am I to do? How am I to communicate my feelings for her without frightening her away?”
The Scotsman stood. “Och laddie, that’s easy.”
“Easy?”
“Aye. A long time ago, I felt the same way ye do now and a man gave me some advice.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said, ‘Sometimes the best thing to say to a woman, is nothing. Nothing at all.’”
“Did it work?”
“Aye, laddie. It did. She’s now my wife.”
Duncan couldn’t help but smile. As odd as the conversation was, the advice he just heard made sense. Especially when it came to Cozette. “Thanks, I’ll have to give that a try.” He held out his hand. “I’m Duncan Cooke.”
The Scotsman gave him a slight bow, then took Duncan’s hand and gave it a healthy shake. “’Tis a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cooke. MacDonald’s the name. But you can call me Dallan.”
* * *
On the Fourteenth day...
Duncan drove Sadie and Bell out to the Van Cleets to deliver their invitation. He was nervous as a cat and dropped the reins three times already since leaving the ranch.
After the fourth time Sadie said, “Duncan Cooke! What is the matter with you? And are you sweating? It’s not that hot yet!”
“I’m fine.” He growled.
“Oh, you’re something all right, but fine isn’t it.” Belle commented. “One would think you didn’t want to see Cozette today.”
Duncan’s eyes flashed. Not in anger at Belle’s comment, but at the thought of not seeing Cozette that day. Yesterday he’d forced himself to go back to work after his so called bath and conversation with the wagon train’s Scotsman. And today he wanted to put the advice the tall Scot had given him to use. But he didn’t want to do it without reinforcements, so thought it a good idea to offer to drive Sadie and Belle out. This way he’d have three chaperone’s at the ready.
When they got to the Van Cleet’s Polly was in front of the house weeding a small flower bed she’d planted. Cozette was no where to be seen.
“Good morning, Mrs. Van Cleet!” Belle called. “How are you?”
The older woman stood up from her work and waved at them as they approached. “Fine! What brings you out? Cyrus is in town working on the hotel you know.”
Duncan pulled back on the reins to bring the team to a stop. “We know. But we wanted to deliver this to you and the women want to visit.”
Polly smiled. “How nice. Deliver what?”
Duncan jumped off the wagon, set the brake, then helped Sadie and Belle down. Sadie pulled an invitation out of her reticule. “We want to give you this.” She handed the envelope to Polly.
She looked from one face to another before she opened it. She read the brief words and smiled. “Oh how wonderful! My but this is so formal! Of course we’d love to come. Let’s go inside and have some coffee and you can tell me what sort of help you need.”
“That’s why we’re here!” Belle said as they followed her inside.
Duncan was last and closed the door behind him just as Cozette appeared at the top of the stairs. She flinched slightly when he looked at her, then froze, as if her feet had suddenly become glued to the floor. Duncan gave her a tender look so as not to frighten her, and tipped his hat. Hello
She looked at him, her face void of emotion, before she squared her shoulders, held up her chin, and descended the stairs. She was angry with him for some reason, he could see it in the set of her jaw.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and made to push right past him. He gently took her arm and held her in place a brief moment, if only to convey he was sorry. For what he wasn’t sure, but had a good idea. He’d left pretty abruptly the day before.
He looked down at her, pushed his hat from his forehead, and smiled. He then made his hand like a gun and blew on one finger as if he’d just shot it. She looked him up and down in confusion.
He released her arm, and bowed. I’m sorry. You really are a good shot.
She stood straight when he again looked at her. You should be. Yesterday was hardly fair.
He held his hands slightly out to either side of him, palms up, and gave her another tender look. Forgive me?
Cozette looked away and took a deep breath, deciding if she would take his apology. When she turned back she smiled, one eye brow raised, and took his gun from his holster. He allowed it, his hands out, palms still upturned. She wanted a rematch.
Duncan again bowed, a slight gleam in his eye, and gave her a single, curt nod of acceptance. She smiled and by God if she didn’t actually sashay down the hall in triumph. Duncan swallowed hard, and followed.
Cozette walked into the kitchen.
“Coffee, Cozette?” Polly asked.
Cozette gave a casual wave of her hand. No. And continued right out the back door.
Duncan entered the kitchen.
“There’s coffee and pie here, Duncan.” Polly said.
He too kept walking, dismissing her offer with a wave of his hand, his eyes glued to the woman now stepping off the back stoop and heading for the barnyard.
Polly, Sadie, and Belle looked at one another before looking to the open back door. Duncan hadn’t even bothered to close it.
“Oh my.” Belle said. “Do you think we should follow them?”
“They had a shooting match out there yesterday.” Polly commented, her eyes just as glued to the back door as the others.
“A shooting match?” Sadie exclaimed.
“Ohhhh dear!” Belle said flatly.
“Why Belle, what’s the matter?” Polly asked.
Belle’s eyes widened. “You do realize Duncan is trying to court Cozette? However, doing it with a gun isn’t exactly how I thought he’d go about it.”
Polly laughed. “I gathered that yesterday while watching them. But why do you look so worried?”
“Well, the Cooke men are... different.”
“How well I know, dear. We’ve known them a lot longer than you have. But I don’t see the harm in letting them shoot a few things off a fence post. In fact for Cozette, it puts them on common ground so to speak and would make her feel more comfortable around him.”
“I think I’d feel more comfortable too if I had a gun to point at him!” Sadie said with a laugh.
“Well I don’t know what the two of you are worried about,” Polly commented as she began to slice up the pie. “After all, between the three of us there are enough chaperones, don’t you think?”
Belle and Sadie gave each other a quick look. “Mrs. Van Cleet,” Belle began. “You wouldn’t happen to know where we might find a few rocks, would you?”
Sadie burst out laughing while Polly could only stand and stare at the two girls. �
��Now whatever would you need rocks for?”
“It’s how one chaperone’s a Cooke!” Sadie pushed out through her giggles as she stood with Belle. They left the kitchen to go out front and search for a few. Just in case they needed them.
* * *
Duncan watched as Cozette expertly handled his gun. She hit everything he’d placed before her and then some. And now it was his turn. He reloaded, waited, and took the shot the moment she threw one of the bottles they’d found into the air. He was surprised she could throw it as high as she did. In fact, he was impressed at how well she handled a gun period. He was even more impressed with her. All of her. Every last delicious inch.
He found that now he wanted to impress her.
Duncan shot again, obliterated his target, and laughed. It felt good to laugh, and she was laughing too, albeit silently. They looked at each other, smiling, then quickly set about finding more targets. But there were none to be found. They’d gone through all of them.
Cozette turned to him, disappointment on her pretty face and shrugged. There are no more! Now what?
The disappointment on her face was almost more than he could bear. There had to be something else they could use. He took one last look around before Cozette came to him. She stood and made a motion of shooting a bow and arrow, her eyes bright, then lifted her skirts and ran for the barn.
A bow and arrow? Duncan had never shot one. Now this should be interesting. What was also interesting was the fun he was having. Who would have thought not saying a word would be so effective? And she was having just as much fun as he was.
A moment later she emerged from the barn, a bow and quiver of arrows in her hands. And the biggest smile he’d ever seen on her face. She was going to enjoy this immensely. She probably knew he’d never shot a bow. Most cowboys hadn’t. Why would they when they had guns at their disposal?
She placed the quiver of arrows over her shoulder then motioned for him to follow her. He did, and she was returning to the barn. The Van Cleet’s barn wasn’t very big, but big enough to serve their purposes. Inside were several barrels, boxes and various tools hanging from nails pounded into the posts and walls. A cot had been placed in a stall and Duncan guessed it must belong to Mr. Duprie.
