by Dee Burks
“I’ll be up in a minute.”
He joined her on the porch. They stood side by side in silence for a few minutes.
“Taos?”
“Hmmm?”
“Are you happy with this situation?”
“What do you mean?”
She let out a long breath. “I mean you didn’t have much say in the fact that we’re married, and I just wondered if you were happy with how things have turned out.”
“Well, it was kind of handed to both of us, but I think it’s turned out well. Are you not happy with things?”
“Yes, I am. I just feel like we went from being enemies to being married in a big hurry, that’s all.”
“So, are you saying you want to be courted?”
“Well, that would be a good place to start if you’d like.”
“No, I would not like. Why should we go through all that when we’re already married?”
“You suggested it,” Her words were etched with irritation. “I just agreed it might be nice.”
“I’m not one of those poetry readers and I don’t know anything about courting a woman.”
“That’s not true.” The evening they spent in the rose garden popped into her mind. “You have the ability, just not the want to I guess.”
Samantha turned and went inside and up to her room and stayed there. She sat on the edge of her bed and listened as he got ready to go to sleep in the room next door. Her thoughts swirled, circling from irritation to sadness. Irritation at the thought that he wasn’t willing to put out any effort for her, though she would do almost anything for him. It seemed a very lopsided trade off.
The emptiness filled her at the notion that he was just making the best of a bad situation. She wanted this place and that man so much, but was she willing to live here under those terms? To love and not really be loved? The hours didn’t solve the questions.
Taos waited for her to come to his bed, but she never did. He lay awake for most of the night, sleep finally claiming him as the first light of day touched the sky.
The creaking bed in the next room coaxed Taos’s eyes open. A small wedge of light poked out from under the connecting door between them. He stretched and ran his open palm over the sheet next to him. She should be here. She was his wife.
The sound of water splashing and the soft hum of her voice drifted across the distance. He imagined her standing in front of the mirror naked, water trailing from her hands into the washstand. Every part of his body tingled as the sound of the water added reality to his vision. He swore he heard the liquid dance over her face and drip slowly down her neck toward the dark crevice between her. .
He groaned, rolled over and pulled the pillow around his ears. Torture. She was determined to push him beyond all possible restraint. She was humming again. The muffled sound sent pin pricks up his spine.
Taos grabbed the other pillow and pounded it on top of the first one, determined not to let it affect him. He drew a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh. He wasn’t even convincing himself.
He had never been good at courting. In truth he hadn’t really done much of it. Sharisse had flat out chased him, but she had ulterior motives. What he needed was help. Some good advice. Someone who could keep their mouth shut. Names streamed through his mind as possible sources of information.
Darren? Well, keeping quiet was definitely his strong suit, but he had done even less courting than Taos. A cocky grin came to mind. Charlie. Now he had certainly done his share. Must be good at it, too, the way the girls always swooned when he walked by. Charlie would be great with advice, terrible at keeping quiet. The whole town would know he had to ask for advice about how to court his own wife inside half a day.
He knew she was still humming. He couldn’t hear it, he could feel it. Like a tiny string vibrating from her heart to his. How could she not feel it? Maybe because she was the one plucking the string and he was the nimrod at the end of it.
Maybe someone married would offer better advice. Blake? He’d been married once, but that had to be over twenty years ago. To hear him tell it he was a great husband. Of course, he never married again. If he was so great, why was he alone? Taos pounded the top of the pillow again. No, Blake wasn’t the one to help, besides he had already laughed enough at Taos’s expense.
What about the preacher? He and his wife held hands a lot at church. Taos chuckled softly. If the preacher gave him advice, they might be holding hands and nothing else for years. Definitely not what he had in mind.
He rubbed the pillow with his thumb as he imagined tracing the softness of her skin, the smile on her face, as he reached out and . . .
A hand touched his arm. He sprang to a sitting position and shoved a pillow over his lap to hide the evidence of his thoughts. The other pillow tumbled off the bed.
“Are you coming down to breakfast?” She looked at him and frowned, leaning over to place her hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat as he regained control. “I mean, I’ll be down in a minute.”
She still frowned. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Yes!” His impatience turned the word into a near shout as he squirmed on the bed.
She pressed her lips into a tight line. “I was just concerned, that’s all.” The door slammed behind her.
Great job, Romeo.
Taos threw the pillow in the floor and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stared out the window at the rising sun. It wouldn’t matter who he asked or even if he asked. He wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Taos gritted his teeth.
She knew this courting business wasn’t anything he was good at. She just wanted to humble him, put him in his place. Well he wasn’t about to start getting henpecked this soon. He moved around the room gathering clothes and throwing them on as his temper built to full steam.
The kitchen was alive with activity as Tommy relayed the latest news from the fishing hole and Darren tried to help cook.
“. . . And just as the sun peeked up, I saw ’em start breakin’ the surface.”
“Uh huh.” Darren was only half listening as he flipped over a piece of ham sizzling in the skillet. Steam rose and the smell filled the kitchen. Samantha placed the last of the biscuits in the pan and put them in the oven. No one seemed to notice Taos’s arrival.
“Know what that means, Uncle Darren?” No response. “Do ya?” The boy tugged impatiently on his sleeve, demanding an answer.
Samantha grinned at Darren, who heaved a long-suffering sigh.
“What does that mean, Tommy?” She asked, ignoring Taos as he sat at the table.
“They’s hungry, that’s what.” He hopped off the chair and scooted it toward the table.
“So am I.” All eyes turned to Taos, and at least one brow raised at his tone. “What does a man have to do to get some coffee around here?” His mood was sour and his temper short. Frustration etched his face.
Darren cast a questioning expression at Samantha, who shrugged and fluttered her eyelashes in feigned innocence.
“Have a long night, did ya?” Darren asked.
Taos frowned and grunted at his brother.
Samantha filled a cup with coffee and plunked it on the table in front of him, sloshing brown liquid over the rim. He ignored her until she turned her back then glared at her.
Darren squelched a chuckle. “Like two cats in a toe sack.” His mumbled comment brought a grunt from Taos and a smile from Samantha.
All things considered, breakfast was a quiet affair. Taos’s dark mood cast a shadow over the entire house. Even Darren steered clear of him, finished his breakfast in record time, and headed out toward the northern range.
“We goin’ fishing?”
Samantha smiled at the boy: egg on his lower lip, a stubborn cowlick in his dusty brown hair, blue jeans tucked into his boots.
“You have work to do first. Better get to it.”
Tommy’s face
fell and his shoulders drooped at Taos’s command. He shuffled out the back door toward the barn.
“What is the matter with you?” Samantha grabbed the wet dishtowel that was slung over her shoulder and snapped it across his arm.
“Nothin’.” He set his jaw.
“Nothin’?” she said. “Then why are you pouting like a child?”
He rose to his feet, intending to intimidate her. “I don’t pout.”
She looked thoroughly unconvinced.
“I just don’t like being told that I have to put on airs for my wife.”
“Put on airs? I just thought it would be nice to have a little courting, that’s it.”
“I just don’t see what it matters now if I pick you a bunch of daisies or not, we’re already married. It’s not like it’s going to make any difference.”
Samantha turned and stood perfectly still with her back to him.
Taos shuffled his feet in the silence. He finally went over to the coffee to get a refill and glanced sideways at her face. The pot stopped in midair. Tears streamed down her face as she stared straight ahead.
He put down the pot and cup and reached out to touch her arm, but she flinched away from him. He dropped his hand to his side and just stood there.
When she looked up, her voice was strangely calm. “I thought you understood. I don’t want you to go through the motions of you treating me like I’m someone special. I wanted you to really believe it.” She stared into his eyes then looked away. “You know, you’re absolutely right. It’s a big waste of time for a man to pretend he loves his wife.” She turned and walked out the back door.
Taos felt like a hole had opened up in his chest. How could she think he was pretending? Hadn’t he shown her? Been willing to give her what he’d sworn to withhold from any woman? Loved her in their bed like the sun would never rise?
The silence of the kitchen amplified the pounding of his heart to a loud drum beat. His feet were rooted to the floor as his mind raced, then suddenly, soft as a butterfly’s wings, he heard something.
He strained to hear the sound again, and there it was. He walked to the open window that looked out toward the barn. It was almost a giggle, like a baby’s laugh. He started toward the back door to investigate.
“Taos!”
Samantha’s scream stabbed his heart. He grabbed a pistol from the holster hanging on the wall and burst out the door just as a loud shot blast echoed from the barn.
Chapter 25
Just as Taos reached the barn, Tommy slammed into his legs.
“He’s got her, Pa!” The boy’s eyes were wide with fear and he struggled to catch his breath.
“Who’s got her?”
“The bad guy. He jumped out and dragged me behind the wagon. Said he’d shoot me if I yelled. He waited ’til she came out and then he let me go and grabbed her.”
Taos’s blood ran cold. “Go to the house, and stay there!” He shoved the boy in the direction of safety and crouched near the barn door. He peered around the corner, catching a quick flash of white lace in one corner of the dark building.
Tommy crawled next to him, stirring a choking cloud of dust in the process. “He tried to shoot me when I ran, but Momma bit him.”
Taos hesitated. Momma? It barely had time to register as he realized Lawson had just tried to shoot his son. “Go to the house!”
“You gotta save her Pa.” Tommy ran for the house.
Taos gazed through a crack in one of the barn boards, trying to see. A wet nose against his ear made Taos nearly jump out of his skin. He grabbed the dog’s thick coat and dragged him to the doorway. “Get him, boy!”
The dog darted inside, barking at the top of his lungs. Taos peered around the corner just as the large black dog jumped and snapped at Lawson’s gun arm. Lawson thrust Samantha between himself and the hairy mutt, but the dog darted around her skirts, nipping and biting his legs. Taos cocked his gun and edged forward, trying to get a clear shot as the dog antagonized Lawson.
“Taos!”
The urgency in her voice brought Taos through the opening and to a dead stop as a bullet whizzed past his ear. Lawson clung to a struggling Samantha with one hand and tried to hold the gun steady with the other.
His appearance was disheveled. Hay matted Lawson’s black hair and his once-shiny boots were now scuffed and caked with dirt. His face was pale and the black marbles within reflected a sinister mixture of desperation and insanity. Lawson ranted as the gun waved in a deadly arc.
“You’ll see. It will be even better this way.” He aimed the gun at Taos. “Throw that down, over in the corner.”
Jimbo jumped and snapped and Lawson moved the gun from side to side, directing it first at the dog, then at Taos again. Taos quickly realized that he and Samantha could both be shot purely by accident. He did a quick mental inventory of his options. Getting the gun away from Lawson seemed to be the top priority.
Taos held up both hands and dropped his gun a few feet away.
“Kick it over there,” Lawson growled.
Samantha squirmed and slid to her knees. Lawson yanked her up and tried to get a better grip as the gun continued to wave back and forth. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders and partially into his face.
“As a widow, you get everything he has too. Then we can make a new start. A new life together. You’ll just have to trust me that this is best.” He spoke to the back of Samantha’s head as the arm with the gun drooped.
Taos stood still and looked for the opportunity to make his move. “Let her go, Lawson.”
Samantha twisted in Lawson’s grip, trying to kick out. The gun moved upward.
“Oh, no. She’s mine. She was always meant to be mine. No cowboy could ever take care of her like I can. You’ll see. You’ll all see.”
Taos darted to one side and shoved the gun away. Lawson’s arm snapped back, the gun pointed right at Taos. A shot rang out, followed by another.
Taos smelled the gun powder, heard Samantha scream, then his knees buckled.
Samantha tore from Lawson’s grip, falling on her knees at Taos’s side. The bullet had cut a path through his left shoulder, and warm sticky red liquid oozed from the wound and dripped into a growing puddle in the dirt.
“I’m fine,” Taos whispered.
She nodded through tears and stuffed her handkerchief under his shirt to help stem the bleeding. A new fear gripped her, dwarfing her terror of the last few minutes as his life drained away. The puddle grew, and blood combined with her tears as she pressed her hand against the wound.
“Where did he go?”
Taos’s whispered question made her jump, and she looked to where Lawson had been standing. He was still there, though not standing. The gun lay in his hand, but his long slender fingers had gone limp. Lawson’s eyes stared into a glassy nothing and blood trickled from a large hole in the middle of his chest.
Taos raised his head trying to look.
“He’s dead.” Samantha looked toward the door, trying to locate the source of the bullet that killed Lawson, and saved them both. Darren must have heard the commotion and come back to help them, she reasoned. The sun silhouetted a form, but he seemed too far away.
“Darren!” she called.
Taos groaned and motioned toward his brother. The form walked a few feet closer.
A small hand gripped a still smoking gun.
Samantha stared. “Tommy!”
“Tommy?” Taos tried to focus his gaze on his son.
“Yes sir,” Tommy came closer. His face seeming to age with each step.
“Where did you get that gun?” Samantha could hardly rationalize what her mind told her had happened.
“It’s the ’mergency gun.”
The two adults stared at him in stunned silence.
“Well, it looked like a ’mergency to me.”
The pounding hooves thundered toward the trio. Darren jumped off his horse and ran to Taos’s side, skidding to a stop on his knees. He lifted the handkerchief an
d looked at the wound.
“Not as b-bad as it c-could have been.” He strained to pull Taos to his feet with Samantha’s help. “We need to g-get him in the h-house. I’ll get D-Doc Bentley.” He glanced over at Lawson. I’m glad Taos plugged him with one s-shot.”
“He didn’t,” Samantha positioned herself under Taos’s arm and tried to steady him. “Tommy did.”
“Is Pa gonna be alright?” Tommy asked.
“He’ll be fit as a fiddle in no time, he just needs some r-rest.” Darren assured him. He tousled the boy’s hair. “You did good, Tommy.”
Darren and Samantha half carried, half dragged Taos to the house.
The boy walked toward the still body in the barn. He nudged Lawson’s knee with the toe of his small boot. “I’m real sorry, mister, but I didn’t have no choice.”
Tommy stared at the unseeing eyes. “I thought there would be angels or something.” He mumbled and knelt down, laying a small hand on Lawson’s shoulder. “Maybe bad people don’t get no angels.” He started toward the door, then looked back. “I’m sorry you didn’t get no angels, mister.”
Chapter 26
Doc Bentley snapped his black bag shut and removed his small spectacles, cleaning them with a neatly pressed handkerchief. Taos lay on the bed, his shoulder bandaged, his skin chalky white. Samantha paced at the foot of the bed waiting for the doctor to say something. The room was stuffy and confining. Small tendrils of hair stuck to the moisture on her forehead.
“He’ll pull through.” He returned the spectacles to their position on his nose.
“Seen worse, young lady.” His penetrating eyes assessed her up and down, and he seemed to nod his approval.
“You’ll take fine care of him I’m sure,” He picked up his bag and started toward the door. Samantha released a relieved breath and stared at Taos.
“He’ll be fine, really. Up and working in a week or so.” The doctor patted her shoulder and left.
Taos’s chest rose and fell with each breath. Samantha moved to the edge of the bed and leaned over, placing her hand lightly over his heart. A small drop of moisture slid down her cheek as she felt it beat strong under her fingers. The arguments of the past few days melted away. She stared at his face willing him to open his eyes. Her tears gathered reinforcements, refusing to stop their mad rush down her cheeks. They clouded her vision. She swiped her hands across her cheek.
