Flint Hills Bride

by Cassandra Austin

  Jake hid his grin from her as they followed a dim road that skirted the narrow fields along the creek. The shock of finding a mob coming up fast behind him had been followed by an even greater shock when he recognized Emily. And that had been followed by a calm acceptance. Of course she would find a way to catch up with him. He should have expected it.

  And now here she was, beside him again, where she belonged. His heart felt lighter than it had all day. How he had missed her!

  He wanted to see her face, but it was hidden by her hood. He leaned forward to peer up at her. A frown creased her forehead; she was deep in thought and didn’t notice his scrutiny.

  He straightened, concerned. Could she be in pain? “Emily?” he said, regretting the alarm he heard in his voice.

  She straightened abruptly. “What?”

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “I just…are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  She hadn’t looked fine a moment before. “Emily, don’t think your little trick with the sheriff has somehow ended your right to complain. If you need to rest, I want you to tell me.”

  “Jake,” she groaned, frustration clear in her voice.

  “What?” he asked gently. “What did I do?”

  She sighed and glared at him. He was completely at a loss. It hit him, then. The kiss. She was bothered by the fact that he had kissed her. She was probably afraid to be alone with him, now. And he wanted very much for her to feel safe.

  The kiss had been an awful mistake. He had known all along that if he ever gave in to the temptation he would regret it. It had just seemed so right at the time. And he could have sworn she kissed him back.

  He remembered every detail. Her body softly pressed against his. Her hands clutching his coat. Her lips, warm and pliant, returning the pressure of his kiss.

  So that was what was bothering her. The fact that she had returned the kiss. She had been unfaithful to Berkeley.

  He tried to stop the grin he felt spreading across his face. He had never been quite so aware of his own ego before this moment. He felt too damn good to even consider apologizing.

  He glanced her way and discovered her scowl had deepened. “What?” she demanded. “Why are you grinning?”

  “You first,” he said, making an effort to be serious. “Why are you frowning?”

  “You’re impossible,” she said. “I should hate you!”

  “Why?” He truly was bewildered now. “Because I left you? Or because I kissed you?”

  “Yes. Yes. And for other reasons. I should hate you. But I can’t!” She slammed her gloved hand down on the saddle horn and it made the softest of thuds.

  He laughed. He knew he shouldn’t. He should take her unhappiness seriously, no matter how little sense it made. “You’re angry because you can’t hate me? Of course you can’t hate me. We’ve been friends forever. That’s what friends do. They get angry, and then they forgive each other.”

  “I don’t want to forgive you,” she muttered.

  “I wish you would forgive me, but that’s your choice. You know, I could be angry at you for bringing that sheriff down on me like you did.”

  “I know,” she said through gritted teeth as if that somehow made it worse. She took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. “Tell me why you were grinning.”

  He grinned again. “Because you kissed me.”

  “I took the blame because I had thrown myself at you for the sheriff’s benefit. But I didn’t kiss you.”

  He nodded. “I was there. You kissed me.”

  She was angry again. “Oh, this is good. This is better. I can be mad at you for this. I didn’t kiss you. How could I kiss you? You’re taller than I am.”

  Jake laughed, though half of what she said hadn’t made any sense. “I didn’t say you were the only one kissing. I’m just saying I wasn’t, either.”

  She glared at him, opened her mouth, but he spoke first. “The next farm.” He pointed to the house a few yards in front of them. She had evidently been unaware of it until now.

  Emily lagged behind a little as Jake approached the house. She had to get her temper under control. She knew she was being unreasonable but he had been so…so…solicitous. Here she was trying to fall out of love with him, and he was worried that she didn’t think she could complain anymore.

  Then he laughed! The arrogant bastard thought she was worried because of the kiss! As if she had even given it a second thought. And he hadn’t been the only one kissing, he said. Well, she liked kissing. That’s all there was to it. She would even kiss him again if he wanted to. It didn’t mean anything!

  Lord, had she gone crazy? She didn’t dare kiss him again!

  Emily joined Jake in the yard. He hadn’t even dismounted before an old man stepped out of the house holding a shotgun.

  “Good afternoon,” Jake said pleasantly.

  The man seemed able to resist Jake’s charm, even if she couldn’t. He didn’t lower the gun. “Whatcha want?”

  “We’re following a man. He would have come through here early yesterday afternoon. A young man, early twenties, medium height, thin, with straight blond—”

  The man swore and spat. “Little thief.”

  “That’s the one,” Jake said.

  Emily gasped indignantly, but Jake ignored it.

  “He come ridin’ in askin’ to buy some feed for his horse. While I was off to the barn, fillin’ a nose bag, he come inside and took my wad. Thirteen dollars I had saved. Didn’t notice it was gone till this mornin’.”

  “Sir, you must be mistaken. Eldon wouldn’t—”

  “He was headed toward the Fuller place,” the man said, ignoring Emily completely. “I’d a gone over to check on ‘em but my horse is lame.”

  “I’ll check on the Fullers,” Jake said. He dismounted and walked toward the man. “Can you find their house on this map for me?”

  The farmer set his shotgun aside to study the map.

  Emily watched them as they conferred. She should dismount and stretch her legs, for who knew how far it was to the Fullers’. But she didn’t think her legs would hold her if she tried to stand. Could Anson have really robbed this poor man? She looked around the plain but tidy yard. He couldn’t easily spare any thirteen dollars.

  She fumbled with her reticule under her cloak. She still had more than twenty dollars left. She counted out thirteen, wondering what the man would say if she offered it to him. She hesitated until Jake turned to remount his horse then kneed hers closer to the farmer.

  “Eldon,” she began. “The man who was here, I can’t believe he stole your money.”

  “Somebody did, lady, and weren’t nobody else around.” He started to turn away.

  “If Eldon stole it, I can get it back from him,” she said quickly, handing him the roll of bills.

  The man took the money hesitantly. “He kin?”

  “Of sorts,” she said, wondering if that would make it easier for him to take it.

  “Keep him away from me,” he said, entering the house.

  Emily turned the gelding around and joined Jake. They left the yard side by side.

  “Are you going to live your life paying Anson’s debts?” Jake asked.

  “Please, Jake,” she murmured. “Anson didn’t take any money. I just wanted to help that old man.”

  A glance at Jake’s face told her he didn’t believe her. She wasn’t sure she believed it herself. “How far to the Fullers’?” she asked, wanting the subject changed.

  “Just a few miles.”

  The few miles were ridden in silence. Emily wondered what Jake was thinking but was afraid to ask for fear he was gloating. Anson was living up to all his predictions, or so he thought. She wasn’t sure what she thought anymore. She shivered under her cloak, knowing that the cold that crept into her limbs came from the inside.

  The clouds that had lifted almost unnoticed seemed to lower again. More snow, Emily thought, but it hardly mattered.

  * *
*

  The Fuller farmstead finally came into view. It was a tiny place, barely more than a shanty. A young man stepped out as they drew up near the door. He looked younger than Emily, at least younger than she felt.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  Jake dismounted and began his now-familiar description of Anson. The boy nodded. “Came through here yesterday afternoon. Watered his horse but didn’t stay long.”

  As he spoke a girl, wrapped in a worn shawl, stepped out behind him. He drew her close to his side. Emily stared at them. They looked so young.

  “Did he take anything?” Jake asked, drawing Emily’s scowl.

  The couple looked at each other and shook their heads. “Don’t have much,” the boy said. “Leastwise nothin’ he could steal.” He and the girl exchanged fond smiles.

  “Want to come inside and warm up?” the girl asked. “I got coffee on.”

  A polite refusal was on the tip of Emily’s tongue when Jake spoke. “Thank you. It’ll be good to stretch our legs.”

  He turned to Emily and helped her dismount as the boy took up the reins. “I’ll water the horses at the creek for you,” he said.

  “Why are we stopping?” Emily hissed in Jake’s ear as they walked toward the open door. “Shouldn’t we be hot to the trail of your supposed thief?”

  “You’re cold,” he said, bringing her inside.

  “Come on over,” the girl invited. She had moved two chairs close to a little iron cookstove, the only heat in the small cluttered cabin. When they were

  seated, she pressed chipped mugs of coffee into their hands.

  “Did yesterday’s visitor say much?” Jake asked their hostess.

  “Well,” she said, and crossed her arms and frowned. She hadn’t taken a seat herself; Jake and Emily occupied the only two in the house. “He was interested in how long we’d been here, how we were gettin’ on. We thought he might be looking for a place for himself.”

  “Did he ask if you were puttin’ any money aside?”

  Emily wanted to kick Jake for asking such a question, but she was too intent on waiting for an answer.

  The girl nodded slowly, her little face showing alarm. “I told him how I’d just put three dollars butter-and-egg money in the bank.”

  “He can’t get it there,” Jake said, sipping his coffee.

  “If I hadn’t mentioned the bank, might he have tried to rob us?”

  Jake gave her a charming smile. “You’re safe now,” he said.

  The boy came into the house, shucking his heavy coat. “That man through here yesterday was a robber,” his wife told him.

  Emily rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

  “Just be a mite more careful with strangers,” Jake suggested, rising. “Thanks for the coffee.”

  Emily set her half-finished coffee aside, muttering, “We’re strangers.” She reached for her cloak the same moment Jake did. Their fingers brushed and she drew away. If he noticed, he showed no sign. He settled the cloak around her shoulders as he thanked the boy for caring for the horses.

  In the saddle again, Jake led the way to the road. He unfolded the map and studied it. “There are two more farms here along the creek, then we need to head up into the hills toward a ranch.”

  “Where are we spending the night?” Emily asked.

  Jake turned toward her. “Tired?”

  “Disgusted.”

  He grinned. “Want me to take you back to town?”

  “Jake, whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

  He didn’t answer. She watched him refold the map and stick it inside his coat. “We can try a couple more houses before we stop for the night. It’ll get dark early, though.”

  He seemed to be oblivious to the desperation she found closing in around her. Of course, he didn’t know about the baby. All he cared about was catching Anson; he had already decided the worst about him.

  But she had to believe it wasn’t so. If Anson was really a thief…

  No. She wouldn’t jump to conclusions. And she wouldn’t borrow trouble. She had plenty as it was.

  The next farmhouse was barely two miles from the last. It was larger and older than the young couple’s. A man walked from the barn as they rode into the yard. He seemed wary at first but relaxed when he noticed one of his visitors was a woman.

  “We’re looking for someone,” Jake said, dismounting and walking toward the farmer. He launched into his description. The man listened carefully, nodding when he finished.

  “You a friend of his?” There was open accusation in his tone.

  Jake opened his coat, revealing his badge. “He’s a fugitive,” he said.

  The man nodded grimly. “He was here. The missus offered him supper while I took care of his horse. I came inside to find him poking around. I ran him off.”

  Emily closed her eyes. She wanted to believe he was just curious, looking at some books or something. Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to voice the suggestion aloud. Then another thought occurred to her, and she threw herself off the horse. “Mister,” she said, rummaging through her reticule as she came toward him. “Did he look like this?”

  He took the small framed picture she held out to him. After studying it a moment, he handed it back saying, “That’s him.”

  Emily sighed, replacing the picture. She had a sudden need to lean against Jake, but he didn’t seem to notice she was even standing beside him.

  “Which way did he go?” Jake asked.

  The man pointed north. “Off across country. I told him I was going to warn my neighbors up and down the road.”

  “Did you?” Jake asked.

  The man scuffed one toe on the frozen ground. “Naw. I figured the threat would be enough. I didn’t want to leave the missus alone for fear he’d come back.”

  Jake nodded his understanding and thanked the man as he turned to help Emily remount. Emily followed him out of the yard. They headed north, across open prairie.

  “Do you know how helpful that picture would have been in Council Grove?” he asked.

  She looked at him, glad that he didn’t seem angry with her. “I didn’t want to be helpful,” she responded. It was only half the truth. She had forgotten she had the picture with her until this moment. It wasn’t as if she looked at it every night.

  “But you’re willing to be helpful now?”

  Emily studied him for a moment. Why hadn’t she realized how handsome he was until it was too late? And kind. Even when he was angry he was unfailingly kind.

  “I had to know for sure,” she whispered finally.

  He kneed his horse closer to hers. “It’ll be all right,” he said, resting one gloved hand on hers. “You’ll see.”

  She nodded, turning away. She didn’t believe it for a moment. They rode on in silence. The prairie was slower going than the road, however crude it had been. The horses picked their way carefully between clumps of dead grass and rocks and prairie dog holes.

  The sky was taking on an ominous cast by the time they neared the ranch. Emily noted with some satisfaction that the house was stone, but it was small, unlikely to have a spare bedroom for passing strangers. The thought was reinforced when a man stepped out of the house, followed by a round-faced youth, and half-a-dozen little faces peered at them through a large window.

  A few minutes later, Emily found herself being ushered into the house. Six pairs of eyes studied her from across the cramped little room.

  “He come through here all right,” the man was saying. “Spent the night.”

  Emily’s eyes met Jake’s, and she saw him hesitate for a moment. Turning back to the rancher, he asked, “Was anything missing?”

  “Missing?” He seemed perplexed for a moment, then realization dawned. He moved across the room, lifting a battered tobacco tin from the clutter on a stone ledge above the fireplace. He opened it, stared inside and seemed to deflate before their eyes.

  He turned to the flock of children. “Did any of you see that man take
our money?”

  Six little heads shook from side to side in unison.

  He muttered a curse and replaced the can on the ledge. “I just didn’t think about it at all. It was late and cold and the man needed a place to sleep. Hate to think it ain’t safe to offer a man Christian hospitality.”

  Emily hadn’t realized her knees had gone weak until she felt Jake’s arm slip around her waist, supporting her.

  “Ah, the lady’s plum wore-out,” the man said, helping her into a rocker that sat before the fire. “Maybelle, see how Ma and April are coming with dinner.”

  The tallest child, who might have been eight, scampered away.

  Jake and the rancher took seats. Emily half listened to their conversation as she rocked, feeling the warmth of the fire dissipate the chill, except for the chill around her heart.

  Before she could slip too deeply into self-pity, the youngest child, a toddler not much more than a year old, started edging toward her. He was watching the chair more than her, rocking his little body occasionally in time with it.

  Emily smiled at him, leaning forward slowly. When she reached her arms toward him, he crossed the rest of the distance and let her lift him to her lap.

  “August! Don’t you be botherin’ the lady,” his father said gruffly.

  The baby’s response was to snuggle deeper into her lap and close his eyes.

  “You’re going to spoil that young’ un.”

  None of the children were alarmed by their father’s harsh tone. His bark, Emily concluded, was worse than his bite. “Am I in your mama’s chair?” she whispered to the little boy.

  A sticky little hand reached up and touched her mouth for a second then curled under his chin again.

  The remaining four children were slowly creeping closer. One little girl put her hand on Emily’s knee and was surveying her lap as if looking for room for her. An older child pushed her back.

  “August thinks if you don’t talk to him you’ll forget he’s there and rock him longer,” explained a boy who might have been six. “Ma falls asleep sometimes when she rocks him.”