He began laughing and nodded his head. “Yes, yes it is.” He placed his napkin on his plate also and stood. “Are you ready for a hot bath, Colton Jones?”
She felt a tingle shoot through her body as he called her by his surname. It had a nice sound to it and she quickly ran the name, Colorado Jones, through her mind. That sounded even more delicious and a shudder ran through her body. Knowing she was being ridiculous, she shook it off and stood. “Yep. I’m ready.”
The made their way up to their room where two tubs stood, filled with steaming water. Sutter cleared his voice. “I’ll let you go first.”
She shook her head. “That’s not fair. The water will be cold by then,” she looked at the tubs knowing that they both deserved a hot soak after the hours they put in. “If you will let me get in first, then I will turn my head and let you get in. We will just take turns getting in and out of the tubs.”
Sutter was too tired to argue and his exhausted mind and full belly convinced him it was a great idea. “Okay. I’ll turn around. Just let me know when you are in the tub.”
She waited until he turned around before undressing quickly and stepping into the tub. She groaned in pleasure as the hot water eased her aching muscles.
“Are you alright?”
She giggled. “Yes. Sorry. It just feels so good. I’ll close my eyes now.”
He turned to make sure she wasn’t looking and instantly cursed himself. The swell of her breasts were just above the water line, her hair dangled over the back of the tub. Despite the soot streaked across her face, she looked delicate and feminine. How could anybody be fooled by her disguise? Remembering her groan of pleasure, he imagined that sound as he made love to her. Would she make that exact sound?
“Are you in yet?”
Her voice broken his running imagination and he quickly stripped down, stepping in before she could see his arousal. “Yes, I’m in now.”
He felt the heat soak into his tense muscles and wanted to groan himself. It felt divine.
The sat there without speaking, taking in the heat until it was gone. When it started to become chilly, Colorado glanced over at Sutter.
“We didn’t talk about how we were going to get out.”
“I’ll close my eyes and let you get out first. Then I’ll go.”
She smiled. “Such a gentleman. Promise you aren’t going to look?”
He returned her smile. “Promise.” He made a big show of closing his eyes but when he heard the water slosh in the tub, couldn’t help but peek. Keeping his eyes squinted, he watched as the water slid down her long, slender body. It was as smooth and light as freshly churned milk. Rivulets of water ran down her hips and her buttocks. While her body still held the slender figure of youth, it wouldn’t be long before it turned into a curvaceous and beautiful figure. There would be no way Colorado would be able to hide it. She needed to find another career option to keep her secret.
She wrapped her towel around her body and turned to face him. “Done. I’ll go in the bedroom and get dressed so you can get out of the tub.”
“Thank you. Don’t forget to place your clothes outside. If you don’t, I have a feeling she would break down our door to get them.”
Colorado laughed. “I have a feeling you are right. I’ll do it after I get dressed and put my hair up.”
“Just leave them with me. You just got your hair washed. No sense in going to the trouble putting it up again if we are just going to sleep.”
“Thank you, Sutter.”
She disappeared into the bedroom and he quickly got out of the tub and dried off. He really didn’t have any clean clothes. They were expecting to return to the ranch in one day. Unsure of what to do, he wrapped the towel around his waist. He spun around when he heard Colorado’s voice.
“Are you dressed…”
Her mouth dropped open as she faced this half naked man. His chest was well sculpted as she had imagined, seeing how his muscles bulged against his shirt, but she hadn’t expected it to be so…nice.
He smiled, slightly embarrassed. “I don’t have any clothes.”
“It’s okay. I’ll place them outside the door. I’ll just make sure nobody is coming.” She cracked the door open and peeked outside. When she didn’t see anyone in the hallway, she quickly threw both of their clothes in a pile outside of the door. She slammed it shut and leaned against it. “See? Quick as a flash.”
He laughed and moved over to the sofa. Wrapping a blanket around his body, he sat down on the end cushion. Colorado sat down on the opposite end and shook her head. “If you would’ve told me I was going to be a wrangler at a cattle ranch and a firefighter within a week’s time of coming to Denver, I would’ve called you daft.”
“You definitely keep things interesting, Colorado.”
She sighed. “Yes. Excitement seems to follow me.”
“Well why don’t you hold off on anymore excitement until we get home?”
She smiled at him. She liked the way it sounded when he said home. “Okay. I’ll try.”
6
Colorado was relieved when they didn’t have any more incidents and were an hour away from the ranch. They had found their clothes clean and hanging on the door latch in the morning. The wagon’s axle had been repaired and the team hitched up easily, seemingly eager to go home too.
The conversation between Sutter and Colorado flowed smoothly and the laughter came easily. The more she got to know Sutter, the more she was confused as to why he was single. He should be surrounded by a loving family by now. She took a deep breath and decided to broach the subject.
“I know that the ranch takes up so much of your time but wouldn’t a wife and some children make your life a little easier?”
His demeanor immediately changed and he glared at her. The look was filled with so much hate and anger that she wanted to retreat back into her own skin, instantly regretting asking the question.
“Why. So I can be lied to, taken advantage of and worked to death?”
“Sutter, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything…”
He dropped his head but didn’t say anything for a very long time. She watched him warily out of the corner of her eye but tried to pretend she was taking in the scenery. He finally lifted his head and spoke.
“Seven years ago I was happy, in love, newly married and thought the world was beautiful. I had everything I wanted. A beautiful wife at my side, the beginning of the cattle ranch I had fought for and the future in front of me.
“I had to go to Texas to negotiate the purchase of a prize bull I wanted. I was expecting to have a real fight on my hands and told my bride I would be gone for two weeks. The man I was buying the bull from was a gambler and I won that bull the first night I was in Texas. I immediately came home so I could see her. I was so excited that I didn’t even put away my gelding. I tied him up right out front of the house and ran in to embrace her.
“To her credit, she didn’t try to even lie. She had married me for stability, what I was going to be able to provide for her and children but she was still in love with her childhood sweetheart. He had followed her and set up a cabin not far from the house so that he could come see her when I was gone. I petitioned for a divorce, claiming she was barren, and she left.”
Colorado wasn’t sure what to say. Of all of the situations she had imagined of why he was unattached; this wasn’t one of them. “I’m so sorry, Sutter. I shouldn’t have pried.”
He gave her a sad smile. “It’s not your fault. Demons I’ve been dealing with for a long time. People wonder, a few come to their own conclusions, few ask.”
“I’m still sorry. Not all women are as deceitful as your wife. My parents were married for twenty wonderful years before Mum passed.”
“I don’t plan on going through that pain again. I have my ranch, I have my cows and I have my horses. I’m happy and content.”
“Are you though?” she challenged. “What about when you are older? And what about carrying on your bloodlines, y
our name? Sutter Jones, I never took you for a quitter.”
He twisted and leaned back, staring at her incredulously. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t back down from anyone or anything. You jump in with both feet to help someone so isn’t it about time you help yourself?”
“I don’t need to get married to help myself, as you say.”
“You deserve happiness, love and tons of children running around with your beautiful eyes and giving soul.”
He sighed. He wasn’t going to win with her. She saw things her way and when she had her mind set, there was no changing it. He found it amusing that he knew her that well already to acknowledge his defeat. “I don’t have time to meet anyone. Calving season is here, I’ve got rustlers poking about and a man/girl living under my roof.”
She didn’t argue with that and he was relieved.
“Well, when things calm down, you need to reconsider your life priorities. A family would do you good.”
He chuckled but then pulled the team up short. She opened her mouth to say something but he squeezed her knee. She followed his gaze and saw the flash of light in the trees off to the left of them. He set the brake and then stood up, exaggerating a stretch.
“I need to go take a leak. Stay here and do as your told.”
He pulled his shotgun from behind the buckboard and walked over to her, his back towards the trees. Slipping a pistol into her hands, he spoke quietly. “I’ll go around and draw them out. If they come towards you or the wagon, shoot to kill. You do know how to shoot, don’t you?”
She nodded her head. “Frank taught me.”
“Thank god for Frank.” He turned and walked over towards a large cluster of boulders that he could disappear behind and make his way over to the trees without being seen. She watched him go. There was no movement from the trees and she began to wonder if they had been mistaken when two men came racing out of the trees towards her. Both had their faces covered with kerchiefs and wore dirty brown hats. Colorado recognized one of the horses as the gelding she had been riding from the livery stable. His eyes were wide and she saw whip and spur marks on his sides. Seeing the injuries to him flared up her anger and she cocked the pistol and took aim at the man riding him. She squeezed the trigger and the man’s head jerked before his body fell off of the back of the gelding.
His riding partner shouted and glanced back at his fallen comrade but another shot came from the side and he also fell from his horse. Sutter ran towards the fallen man, standing over him with his shotgun pointed in his face.
The gelding, seeing other horses ran over to the team and stopped, nickering nervously. The second horse stopped feet away from the wagon and dropped its head to eat. Colorado climbed down off of the wagon and gently approached the gelding. He sniffed her hand and then dropped his head in submission.
“Good boy. The bad men won’t hurt you anymore.”
She gathered his reins and tied him to the back of the wagon before catching the other horse. The mare was nervous but quickly calmed at Colorado’s soothing tone.
Once the horses were secure, she ran over to Sutter, who was busy tying up the fallen man.
“I missed and caught his ribs. He’ll live, until the sheriff can hold a proper trial for him. I imagine he’ll hang since he’s one of the horse thieves.” He glanced up at Colorado. “Nice shot.”
She looked over at the fallen man and shrugged. “Frank always said shoot to kill. We ran into rustlers back home one afternoon and had to defend the herd. I didn’t miss then either.”
“Remind me never to make you mad,” he said soberly.
“Oh, I’m sure you will make me mad, Sutter. Just don’t choose to be my enemy.” She turned to walk away then threw a wink over her shoulder. “I’ll bring the wagon over so we can load him up and deliver him to the sheriff.”
The outlaw glared at Sutter before staring after Colorado as she walked towards the wagon. “That kids got an incredible aim.”
“You have no idea.”
***
They made it back to the cabin around the midnight hour, both of them agreeing that they just wanted to be in the comfort of home. Despite it being her home, the cabin was the closest place she had since she had left New York.
She crawled into the cot while Sutter settled in the chair in the living room. She was too tired to worry about whether or not he was comfortable. The darkness overtook any rational thoughts that tried to emerge.
She slept like the dead but the smell of coffee brought her out of her dreamless sleep. She stretched comfortably, slipped on her trousers and padded out to the living room. The coffee pot was on the top of the stove, rolls were baking inside but Sutter was no where to be seen.
She poured herself a cup of coffee and walked over to the door. He was sitting on the steps, his back towards her.
“I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up.”
“How did you hear me?”
“The pitter patter of small feet,” he teased.
She came out and sat down beside him, taking a drink of the hot liquid. “How long have you been awake?”
He shrugged. “A few hours. I don’t sleep well in the place.”
She frowned at him. “I know it could use some fixing up but it seems quiet enough.”
He took a drink of his coffee and leaned back. “It’s his cabin.”
She choked on the coffee that was in her mouth. “This is his cabin? Why are you here?”
“I bought it. After the divorce. Forced him out if you want honesty.” He glanced around the porch as if seeing it for the first time. “I couldn’t stand the thought of them being so close to me, to everything I had built. And I didn’t want her presence to tarnish my happy place. So I forced them out. Paid them enough money that they ended up moving back to South Carolina.
“I come here to remind myself of what I lost and to allow that anger to keep me strong and steady.”
“Then where is your main house?”
“Over the ridge, north side of Golden where the summer pastures are. I can take you there when we take the cows over. I need to be getting back anyway. I’ve been gone longer than expected.”
She frowned. “Who would be expecting you?”
He stared at her for a moment. “People who depend on me.” He stood up and walked towards the door. “I’ll tell you everything once we’ve eaten and we get the herd back out to the summer pastures. Now that the rustlers have been caught, I can get them back out there safely.”
She tried to stop the stories in her head from spinning, trying to figure out all of the possibilities of what he might tell her. Patience was never one of her virtues but she was proud of herself for not interrogating him while they ate or saddled the horses. They were thirty minutes on the trail before he started speaking again.
“That morning in Denver, when you woke up and I was gone. I was at the telegraph office.”
A queasy feeling filled her gut. “What were you doing there?”
“I was talking to your father.”
Her heart dropped into her stomach and she felt like she was going to be sick. “He knows I’m here?” The sides of her vision went black when she saw him nod. It was over. Her father was going to send his goons to come get her and she was going to marry that horrendous walrus of a man.
She began to sway in the saddle, her vison spinning when Sutter came up beside her and stopped her gelding. “He’s not coming here, Colorado.”
She shook her head. “No, he wouldn’t but he’ll send his goons.”
“He’s not sending them either.”
“Why?”
“I’ll get to that in a minute. I need to get this off of my chest.”
They began riding again, the cattle moving forward uniformly as if they understood the intensity of the conversation.
“I knew who you were the minute you told me your name. There aren’t too many women named Colorado let alone coming from New York.
“I’ve known your
father for a very long time. He printed an article on my father’s ranch twenty years back. He followed my father’s success that subsequently became mine when he passed. He got in touch with me six years ago to see if I would go in business with him but I refused. I wanted to make a name on my own. It was bad enough that my father had made a name for himself and I was the beneficiary of it, I didn’t need the Stanwick name to hold me down too.”
She felt the air rush from her lungs as if she got punched. She’d been holding out hope that maybe he had mistaken her for another woman but when he repeated the Stanwick name, she knew there was no mistake.
“He made a mistake by trying to trick me into business with him. It backfired and I came home with a prize bull. The bull that would change the bloodlines of my ranch forever.”
She whipped her head towards him. “Daddy’s calf he went down to Texas to get.”
He nodded. “He offered me the calf in exchange for fifty percent of the ranch but I rejected his offer. He thought to get me drunk and trick me into it during a poker game but I had learned from the best and kept my liquor off to the side. Your father is the one who ended up getting drunk and losing. I won the bull fair and square with no strings attached.”
“I remember when he got home from that trip. Frank asked him where the bull was and Daddy turned beet red saying that he had been hustled and it wasn’t worth shipping back to New York. He got a different bull a week later.”
“He doesn’t hold grudges and we’ve kept in touch. He would ask my opinion on bloodlines and I would keep him updated on land prices here in Colorado. He always loved it here and had hoped to move his family before your mother died.”
“He’s always loved Colorado.”
“He loves you too. I think he’s grieving and you are right, he loved your mother so very much. He’s terrified that he will die and leave you defenseless and vulnerable.”
She snorted and shook her head. “I’ll never be vulnerable.”
“I agree.”
They rode on in silence. She was putting all of the pieces together and he was waiting for her questions. He knew there would be many.
Rescuing Colorado Page 5
