Sam held his hand out to White Buffalo, who grabbed it and shook it. “McKenzie is a good man. If you are his friend then you too are a good man.” He turned back to Cassie. “I have your horse. I was tempted to keep him but he is not built for the harsh conditions, our mustangs are.”
“Thank you for catching him. I was afraid that I’d lost him entirely.”
“You are welcome. You have always been a friend to me and my people.”
Cassie nodded. “I will see you again soon.”
Cassie tied a rope to Samson. For having been out all night, he was very calm and went along willingly.
*****
They were so close to Cassie’s valley, she decided to show it to Sam. She led the way to the valley that she and Michael had bought not too long after they’d married.
They came over a steep rise and Cassie stopped. The valley spread out before them. Pristine. As yet untouched by human hands.
“What do you think? Michael first laid eyes on this land fifteen years ago. After we got married we finally bought it. We’d planned on raising the thoroughbreds here but that was before I inherited the place we have now.”
It was a beautiful valley with a stream running along one side. Aspen groves shone bright in the sunshine. She remembered the first time she’d seen the valley. Michael brought her here for a picnic one day. She’d seen a herd of deer and a bull elk with his harem including several calves. But most magnificent of the animals she’d seen that day was a cougar. The big cat was stalking it’s prey, one of the young deer.
The cat was magnificent. With a flash of power he turned ninety degrees, pounced, grabbed the deer’s neck and brought it down. They’d been down wind and the scent of blood left a metallic taste in her mouth.
Cassie had stared, mute with fascination and horror. At once it was beauty and grace, then blood and brutality.
Necessary for survival never just for fun. She’d lived in these mountains long enough to know there were men who would kill a bull elk for it’s bugle teeth and leave everything else to rot. Such a waste of an animal. Hundreds of pounds of meat that could have fed a family all winter, left to spoil in the sun and rain. It disgusted her. Even though scavengers would feast on the carcass for days it still appalled her.
*****
Every Saturday for the last four weeks, Sam had gone to Creede with Cassie and the kids. They didn’t usually stay overnight so Sam was surprised when Cassie said, “We’re getting such a late start today, I’d like to stay overnight in town if you don’t mind. I know it’s an imposition on you but I’d hate to drive back here in the dark. It’s not worth the risk to the horses.”
Okay? He’d been dreaming of just the two of them being together. Maybe now would be that time. He loved the kids but they did take up a lot of time. Time he could be spending with their mother. Time he could be spending courting her. If she could forget her dead husband long enough to let him to court her. He didn’t begrudge her her memories but she was still a young woman with a full life and a lot of love ahead of her. If she’d just let it happen.
Going to town would give him an opportunity to talk to her alone and that wasn’t an opportunity he was going to waste.
“No, that’s great. It’ll be good for you to have someone else cook and you need the break from the chores. Do you stay at Peabody’s boarding house or at the Creede Hotel?”
“I always stay at Mary Peabody’s if possible. She has clean rooms and the best food in town. We can order our supplies at Sadie’s and pick them up tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Will the kids be coming with us?” Please say ‘no’. He really wanted it to be just the two of them
“No. We have to get grain for the horses as well as our regular order. There won’t be room for them, so they’ll stay here with Bridget. She is the closest thing to a grandmother they will ever have. They couldn’t have any better either. You’ve seen how she dotes on them.”
“I know. She tries to be all blustery with them, but all they have to do is turn on the charm and she’s feeding them cookies and milk. I’m not complaining mind you. It also works to get little girls to let go of your neck.” He laughed at the memory.
The rattle of the buckboard was the only sound for a while. Sam was still awed by the beauty of the countryside, alive with color here in early June. Columbines, Indian paint brushes, bluebells, and honey suckle dotted the valley floor. The June grass was high in the meadows. Long enough to tickle a horses belly when you rode through it.
The Rio Grande river ran next to the road and was high due to the spring run off. He supposed someday he’d take it all for granted but it was so different than the dusty Texas town he’d lived most of his life.
Sam wanted to say what was on his mind, but instead he asked about Michael. He needed to know what kind of relationship she had with her first husband. She mentioned him a lot, he needed to convince her it was time to move on.
“Tell me about your husband.”
“Michael was a good man.” She got a kind of dreamy quality to her eyes as she continued. “I met him eleven years ago this summer. He was kind and gentle. Something I’d never known from a man before.” She looked away, the dreaminess gone. “You see, I lived with my brother John. I’m sure Cat and Duncan told you about him. He was the reason Cat’s father asked Duncan to come back. John was causing all kinds of problems.”
“Yes. I remember. Duncan said he was obsessed with Cat and thought there was gold on part of the JC ranch’s land. Duncan ended up having to kill him.”
She nodded her head. “John’s greed is what got him killed. The gold was fool’s gold. John was the biggest fool of all.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be. I lost John when he was a boy. I’m not sorry to have lost the man he became. He wasn’t a good man and betrayed me most grievously. You see, I was assaulted by one of Johns employees. A man named Roy Walker. Did Duncan tell you about him as well?
“He did. Said he disappeared during all that mess and just before Duncan was forced to kill John.”
“That’s right. But before he disappeared he assaulted me. And John did nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“How could he do nothing? It was one of his employees for God’s sake. At the very least he should have fired the man and had him arrested.” Sam barely contained his rage, not only at Cassie’s attacker but at her brother, too.
“He said he needed him and that those things happen. Michael convinced me otherwise. He knew about the attack and didn’t blame me, like John did. He assured me it was not my fault. I was twenty-four years old and the most naïve person you can imagine. I’ve learned a lot over the years. I’m not naïve anymore.”
“I think you’re very capable.”
Cassie laughed. “It’s not exactly what a woman wants to hear from a handsome man, but I take it as a compliment.”
“It is one.” Sam put the reins in his right hand and reached across his body to take her chin and lift it with one gloved knuckle. “I’m sure all the men tell you how beautiful you are. That you have the silkiest blond hair I’ve ever seen. And if I’m not careful, I could get lost in your blue eyes.”
She didn’t laugh now. “Truly?”
“Truly.” He leaned in close and let his lips touch hers ever so lightly. He didn’t want to scare her just wanted her to know he was interested. “I’ve been dying to do that for weeks.”
“Sam.” Cassie sighed. Then she pressed in closer. She returned and deepened the kiss then broke away. “We shouldn’t”
“We’re adults.”
“The kids…”
“Aren’t with us.”
Cassie grabbed his head and brought him close. She kissed him hard, ravaging his mouth. Plundering him like a desperate woman. He returned her kiss and her ardor. He was a starving man. Starving only for this woman.
They broke apart. “Wow.” said Cassie
Sam grinned. “Yes. Wow. We should have tried that a long t
ime ago.”
“I’ve wanted to but was afraid you’d think I was too forward.”
Sam shook his head. “We’ve wasted precious time.”
“It couldn’t be any other way. Not really. I’ve got children. They come first. They will always come first.”
“Understood and agreed. The kids should always be first.” He kissed her again. “That doesn’t mean I can’t court you.”
“Court me? You mean court us? Me and the kids. Well in your case, me and RJ. You already belong to Sarah.” The sweet tinkle of her laugh was music to his ears. She hadn’t turned him down.
“So what now? I haven’t courted anyone in years. I’m not sure I really remember how.”
“You know, that even if you court me, I won’t necessarily marry you. I don’t know if I ever want to get married again.”
“I’m willing to take the chance that I can change your mind. It’s not everyday that I get my socks blown off by one kiss. That’s special Cassie and I think worth exploring. Don’t you?”
She nodded. “I suppose it is. Tell me about Jane. We need to get to know each other after all.”
“What is there to say? Jane and I married for the wrong reasons, well the right reasons, but love wasn’t one of them. Jane was pregnant and it was the right thing to do. We were planning on getting married anyway. She was the daughter of the towns banker and I was an up and coming Texas Ranger. Her father thought it was a match made in heaven.”
“But?”
“But except for sex, Jane and I didn’t have much in common. She was used to servants and such. I was never going to have servants, not on a Texas Ranger’s pay. I wanted a simple life. Wife, home, kids. That’s all. Not much to ask.”
“What happened?”
“I was getting cold feet. I started talking to Jane about postponing the wedding.”
“And she didn’t want to.”
“No. She was ready to get out from under her fathers thumb. She seduced me. I was young enough I didn’t realize why she did it until later. She wanted a father for the baby she already carried.”
Cassie put a hand on his leg and a lightning bolt traveled from there to his loins. “Oh Sam, I’m so sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter now. I loved that baby girl. She was mine as far as I was concerned. The fact she was a little tow head should have alerted me, since Jane and I both have dark hair, hers almost black. But I didn’t think about it, I just thought somewhere in her family there must have been blonds.”
“What happened when they were killed?”
“Frank Borden thought to capitalize on the fact Jane was the banker’s daughter. He figured he could ransom her and the girls for a lot of money. He was mistaken. The only thing Jane’s father loved more than his daughter was his money. But it doesn’t matter. That’s not what killed them. Borden had them tied up in the parlor of our house. Jane tried to escape and knocked over a kerosene lamp. It caught the curtains on fire and then the rest of the house.”
When he looked over at Cassie, there were tears, silent tears running down her face. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m crying for those babies, for that young woman who made mistakes but didn’t deserve to die. I’m crying for you, Sam. You. Because you blame yourself for something that’s not your fault, just like I did.”
“It was my fault. If I hadn’t let Borden escape Jane and the girls would still be alive.”
“You didn’t let him escape. It just happened. He would have escaped no matter who’s jail it was, it just happened to be yours.”
“No,” Sam shook his head, the reins shaking in his hand. “No. It was my fault….”
Cassie wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “No. It wasn’t and the sooner you realize that the sooner it’ll stop eating at you. It was not your fault any more than Roy Walker attacking me was mine.”
They were just outside Creede now. Cassie sniffed and rubbed her tears away. “How do I look?”
“You look beautiful as always.”
“Seriously, Sam. Do I look like I’ve been crying?”
“A little. You’re eyes are red and so is your nose.”
“We’ll go to Mary’s first then. She’s not a nosy, busy body and won’t say anything to anyone about my showing up in town with a new man and in tears. It wouldn’t be good. Trust me.”
“Okay. I don’t get it but I trust you.”
“They all know what happened with Walker. Now do you see what they’ll think. You’re new. They’ll think something happened, again. And it will prove to them that it’s me whose to blame. I won’t let that happen, so we go to Mary’s first and I freshen up before we go to Sadie’s mercantile”
“I understand.” He slapped the reins and the horses sped up from their slow walk to a fast one. “Lets see if we can avoid putting on a show and just get to the boarding house.”
“Agreed.”
CHAPTER 6
“Whoa.” Sam pulled back on the reins, coming to a stop in front of Peabody’s Boarding House.
Cassie jumped down before he could come around to help her. She patted her hair, brushed the dust from her jacket as much as possible then used her hat to dust off her pants. Then she took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m ready. How do I look?”
“Good.” He wanted nothing more than to kiss all her tears and her fears away but knew he couldn’t. At least not yet. “Most of the redness is gone. You can claim to have hay fever if anyone says anything.”
She nodded. “I should have thought of that myself. Let’s go. I don’t think you’ve met Mary yet since we haven’t stayed overnight before. Mary is going to want to meet you.”
“Yeah, I know, any friend of Duncan’s. I’ve gotten that a lot since I came to Creede. Duncan seems to have made quite an impression on folks in these parts.”
“He has. He’s the small town boy made good. He was famous as a dime novel hero before he came back to town and some folks give those penny dreadfuls more credence than they deserve.”
Cassie walked beside him up the stairs. He smiled. “I remember reading one that called him tall, dark and lethal. I laughed my ass off. Not that I disagreed with the description, mind you, I just knew how Duncan would look at it and it would not have made him happy.”
“Gosh. That story had to have come out twelve years ago now. Hard to believe it’s been that long. Catherine showed it to me. Tall, dark and lethal. If only they could see him holding Conner. He doesn’t look so lethal then.”
“He would be if anyone threatened his family. Then watch out. You’ve heard how a mama bear protects her cubs? That’d be nothing compared to Duncan.”
They entered and the screen door banged shut behind them. Mary Peabody looked up from behind a desk, where it looked like she was working on her books. She saw them and sprang up as fast as any thirty year old. Amazing considering Mary was past sixty.
“Cassie. I haven't seen you in ages. Where are RJ and Sarah?” she asked as she looked behind them.
“They’re home.” Cassie waved her hand at Sam. “This is my new foreman, Sam Colter. He’s a friend--“
“Of mine,” said Duncan from behind them. Cat followed holding baby Connor.
Sam and Duncan shook hands.
“Let me hold that sweet baby,” said Cassie taking Connor into her arms. Sam thought she looked perfect holding a baby. He’d like to see her holding his. “What are you two doing in town?”
“Getting supplies and a much needed break from three little hellions. They’re with their grandparents and we’re here for the night. What about you?”
“Supplies, too and it’s time for grain for the horses. It takes the whole buckboard so no kids this time for us either. Since we got such a late start, I thought we’d stay here at Mary’s. If she has rooms available.” Cassie looked over at Mary.
“’Course I do. My last two.”
“I’m looking forward to some of that peach cobbler you always serve on Saturdays. My mouth is watering just thinking
about it.”
Sam, finally able to get a word in, held his hand out to Mary. “Pleased to meet you.” She had a firm handshake. He liked her already.
“Sam Colter. Duncan’s told me stories about you,” said Mary.
“I deny everything.” Sam said with a laugh.
“They’re all true.” defended Duncan.
“If you really want to get into a story swapping contest…”
Duncan held up his hands. “No. Thank you. I try to avoid those. I always lose.”
“Well,” said Cassie, “we need to go get our supplies if we’re going to get back here in time to get cleaned up for supper at six.”
“Sharp, ” said Mary. “You know I don’t hold supper for anyone.”
“I know,” said Cassie. “I’ve missed meals here in my day.”
He and Cassie left and walked two blocks down the street to the general store. The store’s proprietress, Sadie, was behind the counter, counting the till. She looked up at the ding of the bell on the door when they entered. “Cassie. I didn’t think I’d see you today.”
“We got a late start. How’ve you been? We need grain on our order today.”
“Good. Good. Hello, handsome,” she said to Sam as she always did. “Say, Sam, there was a man in here earlier asking about you. He was kind of rough looking so I said I didn’t know you. Skinny, average height, dirty blonde hair and beard. You know him? Should I send him out to the Rocking C if he comes back?
“Thanks, Sadie. No, you did right telling him you didn’t know me.”
“Okay, you got it.”
Cassie looked at him, her forehead furrowed and her mouth tight. “Sadie, can I give you my order and pick it up tomorrow? Mary doesn’t hold supper for anyone you know.”
“Don’t I know it. Gordon and I stayed with her when we expanded the store and needed to build us a house. But she does have the best food. Now what do you need this week?”
Cassie took out her list. “Two fifty pound sacks of flour. Fifty pounds of sugar. Twenty-five pounds of beans, thirty pounds of coffee, nine tins of milk, half a pound each of lemon drops and hard rock candy, a pound of salt, quarter pound of pepper and five hundred pounds of grain for the horses.”
Tame a Wild Wind Page 6
