Donald laughed again, this time while moving close to Catalina. He lifted a hand to her cheek. Her eyes closed tightly as Donald ran a finger down her cheek. “She is very sweet, isn’t she?” He dropped his hand to her chest, which was heaving. He ran his finger over the edge of the fabric covering her. She fought against the bindings on her hands. Oliver lunged forward. Donald pulled out the missing revolver and pointed it at her side.
Everything froze. Oliver was afraid to lunge. Catalina’s already wide eyes were darting back and forth between Oliver and the gun pointed at her side. She had stopped struggling against the ropes holding her hands and was now trying to breathe through the fabric that Donald had stuffed in her mouth. Oliver’s eyes never left hers. He held them while she calmed herself, allowing her breath to become his, pulling in air through his nose and out his mouth. The dust in the air coated his tongue, stinging the back of his throat. He swallowed. “She isn’t and hasn’t ever been a part of this. What purpose could this possibly serve?”
His maniacal laughter cut through Oliver. The man before him had once been his friend, one of his closest confidants. It was preposterous to think that he’d ever end up in this situation.
“What purpose did leaving me to die in that village serve?”
The venom with which Donald spat the words at him burned a hole in his chest. Oliver shook his head. “We had no choice.”
Donald pushed the gun into Catalina’s side, causing her to bend over and her panic to rise again. “You always have a choice. You could have stayed. Could have seen what they were doing, but you left. Both of you left, and I was there. Alone. For far too long.”
He walked slowly around to the front of Catalina, moving the gun, dragging it across her belly. “She looks like her. It’s the only reason…” He turned back to focus his attention on Oliver.
Oliver held his breath, hoping that he could keep a straight face. Little Isaac’s head peeked out from behind Catalina. He had a huge grin on his face. It looked as if he was working the ropes binding her hands.
“She looks like who?” Oliver didn’t remember Donald ever having been with a female. Couldn’t even recall him mentioning one.
“Ampa.” Donald turned fully toward Oliver, the gun swinging freely in front of him.
With Catalina’s life no longer in danger, he subtly nodded to Isaac. “Ampa?”
“She saved me. That barbaric chief and his tyrant of a son were going to kill me. But it was her tent I had slid into. She claimed me. Told them I was there with her.” He smiled broadly. It made Oliver shiver. “Bedding her.” He started to spin but Catalina hadn’t gotten away yet. She was still partially tied to the post.
“You were in there for a long time before the men woke. We almost went in after you. Were you bedding her? Had you been the whole time?”
Donald stalked over to Oliver and pointed the gun at his chest. “I would never betray my team, my country the way you did.”
“So you weren’t? She was just a kind stranger? One willing to sacrifice herself to the wrath of her chief to save a white man?”
Donald’s eyes clouded over, and his shoulders dropped. “We weren’t exactly strangers. We’d met at the stream a few times.” He poked Oliver with the barrel of the revolver, spinning the cylinder. “I didn’t touch her though.”
Oliver could tell he was being truthful. He hadn’t touched the woman before that night, but he also knew that night everything changed, not just their relationship and Donald’s status with the Army. “That still true?”
Donald slammed the gun against Oliver’s sternum. He winced. “I loved h—”
Oliver opened his eyes to Nathaniel standing above a fallen lump of man, Donald. He’d hit him over the head with the butted end of one of the rifles. The two let out simultaneous sighs of relief before Catalina knocked Oliver over rushing to embrace him. “I’m so sorry.” She turned quickly to find Nathaniel. “Thank you, but we need to go!”
The urgency in her voice was unmistakable.
“What did he do with the others? Where’s Judith and the girls?”
Catalina was shaking her head. She’d kissed Oliver on the cheek hard before rushing to the spot she’d been tied up to pick up the ropes. Without much of a glance at either of them, she bound Donald’s hands. “We’ll bring him with us. Load him in the wagon. We have to go!”
Isaac started trying to drag Donald by his boots toward the wagon. Oliver watched as Nate stepped up to his wife, his face etched with worry but his voice full of anger, “I asked you where my wife and children are.”
Oliver stepped forward, but Catalina stopped him with a hand. He was both proud and angry with her at the same time. “Minda is mine. Mine and Oliver’s. She is not your child.” Her spine was stiff and straight, and her eyes were dark. She was an exquisite, ferocious momma bear…until she started to ramble. “Though I am very grateful to you and Judith for caring for her and Oliver both for so long and so well. You’re really wonderful people…”
“Where are they?” Nate wasn’t backing down. His voice more angry than it had been moments ago.
“Safe. In town. I was on my way to the ranch on my own.”
Oliver hadn’t moved but did then. He went to her side. “Why would Judith send you out here on your own? That was neither smart nor sa…”
“The baby!”
Chapter Ten
Nate hustled to his son and scooped up Donald’s lifeless body. Catalina knew he’d wake eventually, and she’d have to see his dead eyes, but for now she was grateful for the warmth of the wagon and that her husband was driving it. She was nestled in between Isaac and Jasper, Jasper with a rag held to his head and Isaac prattling on and on about how he’d untied her and gotten to see his father attack the bad man. She could tell that Jasper was upset he hadn’t gotten to be a part of the action as well. He was sulking with his chin on his knee.
“Thank you for keeping the wagon safe, Jasper,” Catalina said to try to cheer up the boy. The wagon was jostling all over the place, in such a hurry back to Shady Creek.
“I didn’t do nothin’ and Isaac got to see everything. It’s not fair.”
Catalina laughed a little with the realization that she’d been correct in thinking the boy was upset. She nodded. “Yes, Isaac was a great help this evening, but you were here protecting everything. We still don’t know if that man was alone.” She nodded to where Donald’s still sleeping form lay, hopping around on the floor like a Mexican bean.
“Naw. Pa gots him, and once we get to Shady Creek, Sheriff Owens will get to the bottom of things.”
Jasper had perked up at the talk of the sheriff. Catalina wondered if the boy had more interest in being a sheriff than a rancher. “Either way…you kept the wagon safe, and that was very important. Maybe this Sheriff Owens will allow you to be there when he questions him. Maybe you can help out? Watch over his cell while the sheriff takes care of other business. I think we’ll be in town for a day at least.”
Jasper almost got to his feet. Thankfully she remembered his injury before he hit his head on the roof of the wagon. “You think?”
The boy was obviously excited. Catalina loved the spark she saw in his eye. She wanted every child to have that. To know that feeling of truly caring about something you do. She nodded. “I bet he will. A strong young man like yourself. I bet he could use the help. Welcome it even.” Madam Wiggs had encouraged the girls to have practical knowledge as well as book learning knowledge. Catalina had thought of adding something similar to her school, and after seeing the look of wonder and excitement on Jasper’s face, there as no way she couldn’t now.
The wagon lurched and stopped much sooner than Catalina thought possible. Nathaniel opened the flap, and the boys crawled out, Oliver taking his place as soon as they were gone. “I thought we’d let them see Judith and find out what’s going on while we took care of this.” He nodded to where his long ago friend was starting to stir.
Catalina nodded. Oliver held out a hand
to her. She took it. She felt herself smile as the tingle that always accompanied his touch ran up her arm. She wondered if she’d ever get used to it. She planted her feet in the dirt outside the wagon. Oliver looked down at her, their hands still connected. “He loved whomever that woman was.”
Oliver’s eyes were darker but had glints of gold she hadn’t noticed until the moon shone on them. He nodded.
Catalina’s breath caught in the back of her throat. She had heard some of herself in the undertones of Donald’s desperate story. “It took me a long time to realize that my past didn’t have to define me. Actually, I just have fully accepted it since I’ve been here. With you.”
Oliver’s lips twitched but he stayed silent, giving her hand a quick squeeze.
“I don’t think that Donald has gotten to that place.”
Oliver shook his head. “Probably not.”
“I want to apologize.”
Catalina was surprised when his eyebrows lifted and his eyes crossed. “For what exactly? Putting you in danger? Me not having been your husband for even two full days before you were in mortal peril? That’s on me, Catalina. That’s on me.”
Catalina shook her head. “No! Lord, no. None of that is your fault. I want to apologize because I came here under one pretense and with one intention, and I shouldn’t have. I was woefully unprepared for life here with you and want you to know I plan to do better, to be better and embrace this experience, our marriage fully.”
Oliver reached for her other hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing it softly. “You came here without all the information…something else that is wholly on me.”
Catalina stepped forward, shaking her head. “You’re not going to turn this situation around, Mr. Wilson. And in any case, you’re not hearing what I’m saying. I came here contractually and with the intention of opening a school. Becoming a teacher and doing what I had to for your home and being your wife. Now, I want to be your wife fully. To grow with you. To love you. To be a parent with you. To share my life with you.”
Oliver smiled as he looked down at her. The insecurity in his eyes hurt her heart. She’d put it there, or maybe someone else had, but she’d not done anything to releave it. She’d not said or done anything that would make him think she wanted him for more than convenience and that she’d care for him and Minda because she was a good woman and not because she’d grown to love them. Catalina wasn’t sure when that would happen. She knew she already cared for them deeply, just after the last two days. She’d protect both of them with her own life were it to come to that. Catalina slowly stood on her tiptoes, dropping her hands from Oliver’s. She reached up slowly and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pulling his head down to her before she pressed her lips against his.
Catalina’s eyes closed as the tingling from each point of contact between them raced through her body, consuming her, setting her ablaze. She felt herself step forward and pull him closer at the same time, wanting nothing more than to be as close to her husband as humanly possible. Relief washed over her as he lifted his arms and pressed a hand to between her shoulders. Holding her against him. Her chest pressed against his, restricting her breathing and causing the tingle to pool in her belly and shoot down her legs. Her toes prickled as need took over. Catalina sighed into him, tilting her head and loosening her lips, letting her husband take over, his lips firm and commanding against hers. She breathed heavily, wanting to feel their bodies touch.
“You’ll pay for this, Wilson!”
Catalina jumped at the sound. It jarred her to reality, where she tried to pull back quickly from Oliver. His lips released her, but his hands held her firmly against him. His taste lingered on her tongue. He watched her eyes as they came together one more time for a brief kiss before he released her and said, “The past only matters in pieces; together we moved forward as a whole.”
Little Josephine was the most adorable baby that Catalina had ever seen. Judith had labored the whole time she’d been gone, but they’d gotten there just in time. Doc Landry had delivered Josephine and right after stitched up Jasper’s head. Judith was a mess of worry as they recounted the story to her. And her other boy being that close to a madman but helping to save her new friend… the emotions had been too much for her after such a daunting, exhausting task.
Nathaniel held the small bundle in his arms as Oliver and Catalina walked in the room. His face was brighter than the mid-day Arizona sun. Catalina wasn’t sure anyone could ever look as proud as he did in that moment. “A sister for Issie.”
Catalina smiled at him and then at Judith. “You did amazing!” She went to her friend’s side.
“Sounds like I should be saying the same to you. How on Earth did you not panic?”
Catalina laughed. This was the part she wasn’t proud of. “Oh, I panicked. I screamed as I came up to the tall rocks and the shadow in the trail turned into a man. I screamed even louder when that shadow reached up and pulled himself onto my horse. From what I’ve learned since, that scream was the only reason that Oliver and Nathaniel were able to find me.”
Catalina looked at Nathaniel. “Thank you. You, Oliver, and your boys saved me. I’m sure he wouldn’t have waited for you all to show up much longer. The things he was muttering were horrible.”
Nathaniel passed her the baby. She took the small pink bundle in her arms. Baby Josephine was wrapped in a white blanket, her skin a soft, brand new pink. Catalina inhaled her scent. New babies smelled like new beginnings to her. Fresh and clean, without the marks of the world on them yet. They were completely innocent. Tears started to fill her eyes and run over down her cheeks. Nathaniel put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re family, Catalina. We look after family.”
Judith and Josephine stayed at Doc Landry’s, but the rest of them rented rooms in town at the hotel. Catalina was glad to share a room with her little family. She and Oliver shared the bed but with Minda between them. Catalina was surprised with herself. She hadn’t known Oliver nearly long enough to be having the feelings she was having. She was grateful for the small body that kept them apart.
Minda had been full of energy when they returned. She and Issie had made cookies with Bethany and played with their dolls, but she was very happy to see both her pa and Catalina when they took her in to meet the newest, tiniest Harvey. Minda had kissed her little head ever so gently, whispering a song that Catalina had never heard before. She looked at Oliver.
He shrugged. “She’s always sung it. Her mother must have taught it to her.”
Catalina smiled at the little girl. “Will you teach me your song, my little Minda?”
Minda bounced on the balls of her feet and sang while tears streamed down Catalina’s cheeks. “Ho, ho what tay nay. Ho, ho what tay nay. Ho, ho what tay nay. Key oh kay nah. Key oh kay nah.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
“I think that’s the last one.”
Catalina stood back as her husband lined up small desks and chairs in the big, open room. They’d been building the school for three months now. Most of the town had come out to help. It looked just as she’d imagined on the train ride from New York to Shady Creek. There were three rooms, one for the younger children, one for the ones that were actively reading and writing, and one for the older children who would come and assist her with the younger ones at different points in the day.
“Thank you all so much for everything you’ve done to help make this possible.” Catalina stepped forward, closing the distance between herself and her husband. She put a hand on his shoulder so he’d turn and face her. She moved in fast, kissing him hard and thoroughly right there in front of everyone. She knew it embarrassed him, but she’d long since given up caring. She’d fallen in love with her husband and didn’t care who knew it.
Catalina laughed softly, her lips against Oliver’s as he seemed to forget their audience and fell into their kiss. Pulling her tight against his body and coaxing her lips apart with his tongue, he had the world melting aw
ay for her too, their only obstacle her growing belly between them.
Catalina remembered the moment she’s realized she’d fallen in love with Oliver like it was yesterday. It had happened far sooner than she’d ever thought possible—not that she’d ever really thought love was possible for her. She breathed softly as Oliver lightened his hold on her waist and slowed the movement of his mouth against hers. It was the day Judith had given birth. The same night that Oliver had saved her from his former friend. She often wondered why it hadn’t been that moment that had endeared him to her, when it fact it was something much less thrilling. Something more simple and mundane. As she’d just handed the new bundle of joy back to her mother and Nathaniel, Oliver had put a hand on the small of her back. The way it fit there had been uncanny, like the two of them had been carved from the same piece of stone and tossed into opposite bodies of water, only to search for and find each other later in life. She’d inhaled sharply at the sting of it, and she’d turned to look at him, only to find him staring at where his hand touched her back with his eyes wide. They’d not been able to blink or look away for several long seconds before she breathed, “You felt it too?” When Oliver had nodded in response, her world shifted. It was as if everything slid to the side to adjust to its new center. His smile had burned and branded the place in her heart where he resided from that moment, and she was sure he’d be there forever.
Catalina pushed back with a soft hand on Oliver’s chest. “Momma! Momma! The boys are chasing Sophia again.” Little Minda was tugging on her skirt, pulling her toward the door. The Harvey boys had been coming to help with the building, but Catalina had managed to get them to sit in on some classes as well while the men worked at erecting the magnificent building. Catalina smiled at her husband, who smiled back broadly in return. “Duty calls, husband.”
Catalina’s Cause: The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides Book 3 Page 9
