It lifted Becky’s heart to hear Nate speak so highly of her. Especially since she was starting to notice her whole body ached where she’d been wrenched while she clung to the tree and swung herself out to knock Skleen over.

  “You did one thing wrong, though.”

  Becky narrowed her eyes and realized she could see him. It was still dark, but the coming dawn was starting to brighten the eastern sky.

  “What did I do wrong in your opinion?”

  “You made two highly trained U.S. Marshals look bad.” Then he laughed. “I’m proud to work with you.”

  19

  She matched his quiet laugh and wasn’t ready at all when he kissed her.

  A kiss in the dark from a man who’d kissed her before. She liked it even more this time.

  She was a little surprised when she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him like a burr. His strength, the breadth of his shoulders, the muscles of his arm, the softness of his hair beneath his Stetson—they all called to her, a lure she wanted to chase after.

  He smelled like the forest and the mountains, the wild, and some scent that was uniquely his. She drew the scent into her lungs even as she drew him into her arms.

  His arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her to her toes. Her arms tightened, and her breath caught.

  His head tilted sideways, and the kiss, which began much like the one he’d given her earlier, went deeper and gained power. It consumed all the space in her head until she could only think about and enjoy the kiss.

  An owl swooped close overhead, enough to make Nate jerk his head up. Becky jumped out of his arms.

  Then the silence returned, and Nate turned to Becky. It was no longer full dark beneath the canopy of trees on the narrow trail. His eyes gleamed in the morning light.

  Brutus nosed Becky’s fingers, and she remembered they weren’t alone. The dog, the horses. A ranch waiting down the trail.

  Nate took Becky’s hand. “We both pretended that first kiss didn’t happen. Or at least pretended it was a mistake. A cowhand hadn’t oughta go around kissing a woman who can hire and fire him, after all. But I’m not going to be able to pretend this time, Becky.”

  She didn’t know what to say except “I didn’t do all that well pretending last time. Reckon there’s no sense trying now.”

  His fingers, work-roughened and strong, held hers and gave her something she hadn’t had in a long time. Maybe never. Someone to hold on to. Oh, she’d had Mariah and Nell, who were wonderful. But now, with them married, she realized just how lonely she’d been.

  Which made her think of Pa.

  “What’s going to happen, Nate? You’ve worked with the Marshals. You understand them.”

  He tugged her closer. His other hand rested on her arm, slid up and down. A comforting stroke. “I’m not sure. I don’t think they can just ride out to your pa’s place, tell him we’ve arrested half his cowhands and now it’s his turn.”

  “Finding those men heading out from the Circle J before the Marshals got into place made it harder, didn’t it? There was no chance to study them, watch them confer with Pa. Maybe sneak up close and hear Pa discussing a plan with Skleen or any of them.” Becky swallowed hard. “I wonder what happened to the Marshal who went in there to work? He wasn’t among these men, or at least Owen didn’t say he was. But all the hands must know what’s going on, so how can a Marshal work there and not be found out?”

  Nate’s arms came around her again but without a kiss this time. He just held on. She felt as if she’d needed this for years, to be held and hugged.

  “I chose a solitary life, mostly because of Pa.”

  Nate took a gentle but firm grasp of her upper arms and drew them around his neck, then went back to hugging her even more closely. “You needed to stand on your own. And you could afford to do that, thanks to the generosity of your grandparents.”

  That eased Becky’s hurt a bit, pulling her thoughts away from Pa. “Ma took me to see them once when I was young. It was after my two little brothers died. I think Pa tried to stop her. I can’t remember much about it except it was an unexpected trip. I think there was some shouting, but I might not be remembering that right.

  “We rarely left the Circle J, even to go to town. But Ma took me, and we rode in a wagon to see my grandparents. It was a new world for me of hugs and smiles. Grandma and Grandpa lived in a big house with beautiful furniture and servants and delicious food of all kinds. They were, I now realize, rich. As a child I just felt their kindness and generous giving. And their faith. My grandparents were churchgoing people, and when we were with them, my ma’s faith showed itself in ways I’d never seen before. It was a wonderful trip. I didn’t want to go back home.”

  Nate kissed the top of her head.

  “Less than a year later, Ma was dead. A new baby went with her. And it was only Pa and me, alone. I went to work and became a ranch hand. I suppose it would’ve been more proper for me to tend the house, but Pa had no interest in propriety. I was too young to stay in the house alone, so I went to work with him.”

  Nate nodded. “And then your life with your pa became unbearable and you inherited a lot of money. Your grandparents were smart enough not to let your pa get his hands on it, and you were smart enough to set a life up for yourself.” He kissed her again. “And reckless enough to go chasing after an outlaw gang . . . and wonderful enough to let me kiss you here as the sun’s rising. A new day.”

  She rested her hand on his cheek.

  “I think it’s time you made some changes so you’re not as alone as before, Miss Pruitt.”

  She smiled. “Oh, you do, do you?”

  “Yes, I do.” He stole a quick kiss. But then it wasn’t stealing if she handed it over to him, now, was it?

  “But let’s talk about it back at the Idee. After we make sure the cows haven’t stampeded down the trail chasing the rest of the herd.”

  Becky flinched at the thought. “They’d be all the way to Denver by now.”

  He grinned, his white teeth flashing. Then he let go of her, stepped around his horse, and swung up into the saddle.

  She was right behind him. Looking forward to getting home and talking more with Nate Paxton.

  20

  Nate was overwhelmed by what had happened between him and Becky.

  His normally sensible mind had shied away from letting anything grow between him and his boss. It felt wrong, a poor man like Nate pursuing a wealthy woman like Becky? He was coming to her like some kind of beggar.

  Yet he knew he was a good cowhand. He was helping her. She counted on him and trusted him. Even when she sometimes looked as though she wanted to punch him.

  The things inside him that made him a strong man told him to ride away. Go make something of himself. Come back with some honor. But he couldn’t ride away now, not when Becky’s cowhands were all gone. The three Marshals who were using her ranch to set up the capture of the Deadeye Gang were also gone. And the danger would only increase if word got out the Marshals were connected to Becky, with the rest of the men at the Circle J setting out to punish her for her part in harming their criminal enterprise.

  No, he couldn’t leave, not now. But could he marry her?

  Brand Nolte had married Nell, who was a woman of some influence around town, plus she’d made a decent living sewing together chaps for her cowboy customers. Becky had told Nate just how much money Nell made with her chaps, so there was good reason to believe she went into the marriage worth far more than her husband. Brand’s sole possession was a homestead he was still four years from proving up on.

  Nell had even homesteaded her own claim before the wedding; her homestead bordered Brand’s. So, along with all her money, the business stretching out for years, and the power of being the town’s justice of the peace, she’d doubled Brand’s property holdings in one fell swoop.

  Mariah, Becky’s other good friend, had brought a blacksmith shop into her marriage. Clint was well established, though, nearly equal in wealth to his wife.

  Nate had nothing. Not even a homestead.

  He could offer to homestead and add a few acres, bring that into the marriage, but then he had to live on the land, and Becky already had a fine house. She wouldn’t want to move to a homestead cabin, and Nate would never ask her to. Besides, would adding one hundred and sixty measly acres really mean much to a woman who already owned ten thousand?

  He looked sideways at Becky. They needed to talk, figure such things out together.

  Or maybe they needed to put off talking about anything serious. He just didn’t know.

  Becky, riding beside him, reached across the small distance between the two horses and rested her hand on his elbow. She smiled, slid her hand down his arm, and entwined her fingers with his.

  “I can sense you over there thinking, mulling over big problems. You’re worried about my pa, aren’t you?”

  Which told him she was worried about her pa. It made him disgusted with himself for the selfish direction his mind had gone.

  “Do you think they can hold those men they arrested? Is it against the law to hide overhead of a trail? They didn’t do anything. We can almost know for sure they were going to, but that’s not going to survive a trial.”

  Nate thought it over. “Yeah, but those men are part of the Deadeye Gang.”

  “I agree, but—”

  “Let me finish.”

  It was light enough now that when Becky arched one brow at him, he could tell she didn’t like being cut off. He couldn’t blame her.

  “Sorry about that—I just wanted to tell you what was running through my head.” Now that she’d distracted him from feeling quite so dishonorable for kissing his boss.

  “Go on.” He heard the humor in her voice. And just a faint note of irritation.

  “My point is, you’re right. We know a few facts, but that’s not the same thing as having solid evidence. Up to now, this gang has gotten away with murder because no one survives their robberies. No witnesses. That’s allowed them to stay in the same area and hit stagecoaches and freight wagons again and again. Well, those days are over.”

  “True. But if they leave the area to find new hunting grounds, we’ve just turned our problems loose on someone else.”

  Nate nodded. “Three of them are wanted men—that group’s going to jail. They may even hang, depending on what they’re wanted for. By the time the Marshals comb through the wanted posters, they might be able to hold more of them without having to prove what they were up to last night. As for your pa, I think what Owen intends is to separate those men and get them to point a finger at the others. Get the men without wanted posters to hand over information about the known outlaws—your pa and the other men at his ranch. Maybe more of them out there are known and wanted men.

  “Thing is, we probably shouldn’t’ve taken those men. We should’ve waited until we saw them drawing a bead on some passing freight wagon. Owen didn’t handle this right.” Nate shook his head. “But now that we have them, it doesn’t suit me at all to arrest a bunch of killers and not punish them for the worst crimes they committed.”

  “They killed Mariah’s pa and brother. They need to pay for that.”

  “They’re hard men, and they aren’t likely to fess up to their crimes or turn on their saddle partners. Not easily anyway. I’m sure, though, Owen has his methods to get them to cooperate. He may have information we don’t know about. We just have to hope for the best.”

  They emerged from a heavily wooded trail to an open space just as the sun rose fully over the horizon. Their episode of spying and trailing and acting as lawmen was finally over.

  It was back to ranching now, the life Nate loved. With a woman he respected above any he’d met before. A woman he could love forever.

  Becky said, “Let’s make tracks for home.”

  They picked up their pace, and with better, wider trails, they made the hours and days they’d spent following the outlaws shrink to a pleasant ride.

  “You’ve created a monster.” Leland stomped through the door to the courthouse.

  Nell looked up. She was used to Samantha storming in, usually crying. This was new. “What happened now?”

  “Samantha wants to become a suffragist. She wants to give speeches and travel from town to town like Mrs. Mussel is doing.” His angry expression was suddenly overtaken by sadness. “She doesn’t want to be married to me anymore.”

  For one terrible moment, Nell saw Leland’s eyes glaze over with tears. First, Samantha wanted to leave him because she was homesick, or that was Nell’s guess. Now she wanted to leave him to work for a great cause.

  At the root of it, it seemed she just wanted to leave him. And they were both fine people. When they weren’t bickering, they appeared to have a true affection for each other.

  What was wrong with these two youngsters?

  Nell sat at her judge’s desk, which was really just an old dusty table she’d found in the upstairs of what was an abandoned building. She stared at Leland, prayed, thought for a moment, yet no great splash of genius occurred to her.

  “What happened?” she asked Leland.

  “You and Mariah told her to work for the paper. As if my wife needs to work. As if I can’t support us both with my homestead. It’s insulting.”

  “I work, Leland. Mariah worked until just recently with the baby coming. And she still does the more intricate work that Willie can’t manage. Becky works. For heaven’s sake, she may not have had a job on the homestead, but your ma was the most hardworking woman I’ve ever known. Why would you find it insulting to have your wife work? Especially”—Nell spoke quickly because she saw him getting ready to argue—“when she’s not doing it for the money. She’s doing it to use her mind, to sharpen skills she’s still discovering she has. Frankly it’s a very rude thing to say to me, a working woman, that your wife working insults you.”

  Leland opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and stared at Nell. Which gave her a chance to talk more.

  “She can’t have arranged to travel. How would she do such a thing?”

  “No, she hasn’t. It’s all just talk at this point.”

  “And the trails aren’t safe so long as the Deadeye Gang is around. It’s doubtful we can get an entire cavalry unit to come and escort her every time she finds a place to give a speech. So she’s not heading out anytime soon.”

  “You’re saying I’ve got a wife who’s not ready to leave me until the trails are safe? That’s not comforting, Nell.”

  It truly wasn’t.

  Nell had no great ideas, so she just said what came to mind. “Go get Samantha and bring her here.”

  “She’s with Mr. Kintzinger. He’s teaching her how to set the type on the printing press. She’s been there every morning for the last four days. She comes home late. I’ve been cooking our meals. It’s that or I don’t eat. So now she’s working and I’m not. Warren is doing more than his share around the two new homesteads just to keep things running.”

  Because Nell was a businesswoman, she asked, “How much money is Percy paying her?”

  It’d better be more than a dime a day because Nell would pay her that. The orders for chaps kept coming, and her work as justice of the peace was taking up too many hours of the day. She was falling behind even with Cassandra and Michaela helping out. And Joy, Leland’s sister and the new schoolmarm, was coming in, too. She’d asked if she could earn a dime a day, too, until school resumed.

  “He’s not paying her. She’s so excited to learn about the paper that she’s working for free. And she’s writing stories about what she reads in The Revolution. She loves that, too. So she’s doing it all just for the love of it.” Leland’s voice was laced with scorn.

  Nell rather thought he had a point. “Well, you can’t say she’s not letting you support her. That part of your complaint isn’t valid.” Her thoughts grew dark. The newspaperman had found himself some free labor, and that didn’t set right at all. “You said she’s at the newspaper office right now?”

  Percival Kintzinger had a printing press tucked into a corner of the land office.

  “Yes.”

  “Leland, go home. I’ll go have a talk with your wife and with Percy. I may be able to straighten this out.” Nell had a few things on her mind concerning Percy’s treatment of his employee.

  Leland scowled.

  Nell could see he was an adult man, one with his own homestead. He worked hard every day to provide for himself and Samantha. Still, she was tempted to give his ear a good twist.

  “Let me see what I can do, Leland. You’re right about one thing. This is at least in part my fault.” It was not in any way, shape, or form her fault.

  It was Mariah’s fault.

  Although both of them had to be declared innocent. If this were a court case, Nell would rap her gavel and hand out no punishment. Then she might rap her gavel a second time—over Percival Kintzinger’s head.

  21

  Becky’s chickens had indeed survived her absence.

  The cows and pigs, too. But then she’d fully expected them to get by without her.

  She and Nate were alone at the Idee. While she scattered corn across the ground for the chickens and gathered their eggs, Nate cleaned out the coop, where he found a few of the hens nesting.

  When at last they got the chickens cared for, Becky said, “Come on into the house. It’s late for dinner, but I’m hungry. We’ll have scrambled eggs. We’ve got a week’s supply of them. And then we can talk.”

  He looked up and gave her the most serious smile she’d ever seen in her life. “I think we need that.”

  Becky got to work making enough eggs to feed two people who’d been living on meager camp food for three days. She filled glasses with milk they’d collected from her very disgruntled cows. She had five milk cows, but two had dried up and would stay that way until their calves were born.

 

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