Beyond the rage, the turmoil of waiting, and the pain in his hand, it was fear that drove Joshua the most. If his men came back with that gold, Joshua could finally pay off the man he owed and get his ranch back in his own hands. If they didn’t show up, Joshua was trapped. Just like he’d been ever since Becky betrayed him.

  He wanted out. He wanted to go back to making an honest living, like he was doing before his daughter stabbed him in the back. Joshua thought of Nate Paxton’s cold eyes when he’d stopped Joshua from using his fists on Becky. He couldn’t just ride over there and drag her home, not with Nate at her side.

  Like a wild horse with the bit in her teeth, sometimes it took doling out a little pain.

  Talk about treachery!

  He looked over at Buck, sorry he’d shared his thoughts with the cowhand. He’d always been one to keep his own council. Yet another thing owing money to the wrong man had taken from him.

  “Buck, get one other man and ride out to where that gold shipment was to pass through. You were there when we talked about the route. Find out what happened.”

  “You’re sure, Boss? You’ll be mighty shorthanded around here.”

  Joshua scowled. “Do as I say.”

  “On my way,” Buck said, then turned and strode over to his horse.

  Joshua stormed toward the house. Once he was inside, he’d bandage up his hand and do all his fretting in private.

  When he reached the house, fuming about Becky, he considered how alone she was over there. Her crew had taken the cattle to market, and she always sent her foreman along with them. Knowing her, it was likely she’d not told anyone about the run-in she’d had with her pa in town.

  Now Nate, who’d stood between a daughter and her pa, would be gone to Denver. A drive that long took more than a month.

  Becky would have a few hands still, but few men would do as Nate had done.

  Carefully, Joshua slid off his glove and assessed the damage he’d done. Ugly, the skin ripped up. He flexed his hand, and though it was injured, no bones had been broken.

  He decided to give his men a few more days to get back with the gold. If they came, everything would be settled and he could return to normal life. If they didn’t come, or if they hadn’t gotten the gold, then Joshua was done waiting for Becky to come to her senses.

  He’d pick his moment, head out in the dark of night.

  He hesitated when he thought of those dogs, but then there were quiet ways to kill a dog.

  Noisy ways too, yet that would give her a warning.

  Poison? Bow and arrow? Traps?

  He’d study on it, make some plans. If he had to, if his fellow gang members failed, he’d get his daughter and drag her home.

  And if she refused to cooperate, a bitter-cold part of him took pleasure in knowing that he was her only heir.

  23

  Nate took Leland and Samantha to check one of the herds. Both were eager to work outside.

  Becky took with her Brand, Warren, and Cassie. Brand was by far the best at ranching, but still not great. Warren was a decent hand, too. Cassie rode a horse well and willingly followed orders.

  Not a one of them could rope a cow and throw her if she was limping or in any way needed attention, though Brand had animal-doctoring skills if Becky hog-tied any calves.

  Joy went to the house to get supper cooking and do some cleaning. She also had orders to milk the cow, gather eggs, and feed the chickens and pigs, then check to see what was ripe in the garden. She didn’t even flinch when they rode out and left her to it.

  Becky was right now kicking herself for forking dirty straw out of those stalls in the barn. Warren wasn’t much of a cowhand, but he could have handled that.

  They all worked their hearts out through a long afternoon and into the evening. When they finally headed in for supper, Becky felt better. “I’m going to hold this ranch together, thanks to all of you. I appreciate that you came out here. I’m hoping Joy has a fine meal for all of us.”

  Brand tugged on his hat. “Glad to do it, Becky. But no supper for Cassie or me. I’m late getting myself to town, and Nell will be so weary making chaps for the day that she’s bound to scold me. Cassie and I will be back early in the morning.”

  As Brand and Cassie headed for town at a gallop, Becky led her meager work crew to the barn, where they unsaddled. Before they were done, Nate came in with Leland and Samantha. They finished putting up the horses, then walked together toward the house.

  “Can Joy cook?” Becky hadn’t given that much thought.

  “She’s a hand in the kitchen,” Leland said. “There’ll be something hot to fill our bellies that won’t leave behind an ache.”

  Becky thought that was less than glowing praise. But at the same time, it was all she felt like asking for.

  With Michaela’s help, Nell had finished an entire pair of chaps. It’d been a long day. When Brand finally showed up, the family rode home together. They ate a meager supper because it was too late to cook much. Cassie had moved into Brand’s old room, while Michaela slept in the loft by herself.

  Once they were settled in bed, Nell decided to cross-examine her husband. “So, what’s going on?”

  “Something strange for sure,” Brand told her. “Becky having no cowhands at all? It’s not normal.”

  “She’s as smart as any rancher I’ve ever known.” Nell didn’t admit that she hadn’t known that many. “She’d have never left herself with Nate and three unreliable cowhands. She usually keeps more hands at home from the drive, and the ones she keeps back are dependable. What’s going on?”

  Nell’s asking the question the second time didn’t help.

  “Do you want me to guess?” Brand propped himself up on his elbow and gave Nell a quick kiss.

  “I think it’s for the best if you do. It’s called brainstorming. Toss out ideas no matter how farfetched and then we’ll see if we can’t come up with something.”

  “This isn’t how you act when you’re a judge, is it? Don’t you demand facts?”

  “I’m guessing it has something to do with her pa.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “You’re not doing it right.” She kissed him back. “Build on my ideas. They say in brainstorming there are no wrong ideas.”

  “Guesses, not ideas.” Brand sighed. “Okay, well, maybe her pa realized how few hands she had working for her, and new ones at that. And he came over in the dark of night and bribed them to come work for him so Becky would face trouble. Nate’s brother probably wouldn’t have taken a bribe, so maybe Joshua came over after he’d left. And he’d’ve known Nate wouldn’t agree to abandon Becky. So he lured the two newcomers away, and that’s how she ended up with no work crew.”

  Nell arched a brow. “That’s a pretty good guess.”

  “Thanks, ma’am. Now it’s your turn to guess.”

  “Maybe Joshua staked out Becky’s ranch. Waited until her two new cowpokes were separated from Nate and Becky . . . and then he killed them.”

  Brand gasped. “That’s a mighty bloodthirsty guess.”

  She nodded. “Besides, he’d’ve probaby had to shoot them, and that would be noisy. Becky would’ve heard the gunfire. And what about the horses? If Joshua Pruitt has turned to murder and horse thieving, he could hang for it.”

  “A better guess than mine, not in the sense of it being right, but just for pure entertainment value.”

  Nell gave a little laugh. “Brand, I think Becky was embarrassed about hiring those kids today.”

  “Leland is about two years younger than her, and she started her ranch over two years ago. Calling him a ‘kid’ doesn’t seem fair.” Brand rolled onto his back and propped his hands behind his head. “I watched Nate and Becky work today. Those two are highly skilled. Roping and riding. Hazing cattle and handling green-broke horses. By their standards we were all kids.” He stared at the ceiling.

  Nell stayed on her side, tossing ideas around. “Could it have something to do with Mrs. Mussel and her speech?”

  Brand’s head snapped around. “What made you think of that? How could her speech have anything to do with this?”

  Nell shrugged one shoulder. “It’s just all I can think of that’s happened recently that’s different. And her pa causing trouble. That might’ve made him mad enough to do something nasty to Becky.”

  “That speech and the Deadeye Gang are all that’s going on around here, seems to me. I don’t know how the speech could have anything to do with stagecoach robbers.” Brand rolled back to his side. “Do you have any ideas for sneaky questions I could ask tomorrow to try to trick some information out of them?”

  Nell smiled. “Give me some time to think it over. I’ll see if I can come up with something. One thing’s for sure. Whatever happened to her cowhands, it wasn’t normal. Becky wouldn’t have let herself get into a situation like that to begin with.”

  Brand kissed her, long and slow. “While we were brainstorming, I had an idea that’s got nothing to do with Becky and her problems.”

  Nell kissed him back. “They say there are no wrong ideas.”

  Their guessing game was over for the night.

  “Clint, I think the baby is coming.”

  Clint’s feet hit the floor with a hard thud. He turned up the lantern and spun around to stare down at his wife.

  Mariah had to wonder if she was on fire or had turned purple or what exactly because Clint stared at her as if he’d been stunned beyond words. Then he shouted, “Doctor!”

  He whirled around and took one step. His feet were tangled in the blanket he’d dragged off the bed when he jumped up. He fell face-first on the floor, so hard that the cabin shook. Mariah got up and rounded the bed. She always took the side nearest the window. She stared down at Clint, who seemed temporarily stunned. Then he began kicking himself free of the blanket, and Mariah figured she had only seconds to stop him.

  “You’re not going for the doctor. Don’t even think about it. I shouldn’t have even told you I’d had a labor pain.”

  “Not tell me!” Clint surged to his feet. “Did you really think you could get through the entire business of having a baby and I wouldn’t notice?”

  Mariah sighed. “You’re mostly a very sensible man, but I can see this is too much for you. Fine. I’ll be in charge. My understanding of having a baby is that it takes a long time. An entire day of laboring isn’t unusual. I regret waking you up, but I was lonely.”

  Her heart pinched a little when she thought of how she’d wanted him to be with her through the labor. And now she was kicking herself.

  “We are not going to wake Doc up and drag him out here so far in advance.”

  “You don’t know anything about having babies.” Clint came close, caught both her upper arms, and lifted her to her tiptoes. “We should get the doctor and let him tell us what to do. He can come over and visit with us for a while, then come back later if he decides it’s too early.”

  Mariah looked out the window. She saw a familiar constellation to the south. “Come and sit outside with me for a time. Just sit. It’s a cool night, after a hot day.”

  “That’s another thing. It’s not the end of September. The baby is coming too early.” Clint’s voice was rising. She had to distract him before he went into a panic.

  “It’s not that much too early. Let’s go.” She took his hand, found she had to rip it off her shoulder, then dragged him out of the bedroom toward the front of the house. They had two rocking chairs out there.

  “Mariah, we’re not going outside. You need to get back to bed.”

  He sounded stern, but whether he just couldn’t bring himself to haul her back to the bedroom or was so addled he didn’t notice what his feet were doing, Clint came along quietly.

  She stepped outside, where starlight peeked through a light cloud cover. A cool breeze ruffled her oversized nightgown made of white flannel. A gift from Nell. The moon was so bright that the stars close to it looked overpowered. At the edges of the sky, the stars shone more faintly. She tugged Clint to his chair and pushed him into it, then sat down beside him.

  They faced the town. A clump of trees blocked their sight of the town, but it was close by. They walked into the diner most mornings.

  Mariah gazed up at the Cirque of the Towers. No snowcapped peaks, but the mountains gleamed white in the moonlight. Their chairs faced the Towers, and Mariah thought she’d let Clint have a minute to get ahold of himself. She hoped she could tell him about what she was going through. After a few moments of silence, she thought he might be ready.

  “I’ve had about ten labor pains.”

  Clint shot out of the chair. “Ten? And you just woke me up now?”

  Waking him up was a major mistake, and one she wouldn’t make when their next child came along.

  “Sit back down, honey, please? Try and relax. It only makes me fretful to watch you jumping around. Surely I’m the one who should get to do any worrying. Bringing this baby into the world falls much more heavily on me. So calm down.”

  Clint slowly, reluctantly sat.

  “Doc’s wife told me what to expect. She said the pains would be a fair stretch of time apart at first, and mild-like. In fact, I think I’ve been having these pains since just after the noon meal. When I say I’ve had about ten, in truth I didn’t recognize them as such until just recently. I’ve had two since we went to bed. Once I realized I was in labor, I thought back, and I now believe the mild cramps and back aches that had come and gone all day are all part of my laboring. I didn’t deliberately keep anything from you—I just didn’t recognize it.”

  Her stomach tightened again. “There goes another one.” She reached across between the chairs and took Clint’s hand and pressed it against her belly. “Feel how tight it is?”

  Clint’s hand, at first reluctant, relaxed and rested on their child. “You’re sure it’s not just the baby moving? Sometimes I think I can feel her little head, and it’s hard like this.”

  “Her?”

  Clint met her eyes. “Daughter or son, it doesn’t matter. I’m not sure why I said her.”

  “We’ll know more before another day is out.”

  “No breakfast or dinner for the fine people of Pine Valley.”

  She patted his hand. Together they felt her stomach relax. “You might well have time, but I’d like you here with me.”

  “You think it’ll be that long?”

  Mariah shrugged. She wasn’t that thrilled about it taking that long herself. “Mrs. Preston said some come fast, some slow. The first one is usually the slowest of all. She said twelve to twenty-four hours is normal.”

  “Twenty-four hours?” Clint collapsed back into his chair. In the moonlight she saw the horrified expression.

  “Or twelve. And if these pains started at noon, then I’m almost at twelve hours already.”

  “You can count the ones you didn’t know were happening?”

  Mariah shrugged. “I’m counting them. If it’s twenty-four hours, we’ll have a baby at lunchtime.”

  “Seems appropriate.”

  “When morning comes, I’ll want you to go fetch the doctor. I’d like it if Nell could come, too. It would be nice to have Becky here, but she’s a long way out and it sounds like she’s shorthanded. Best not to pester her.” She leaned forward and rested a hand on Clint’s precious face. “And you. I want you here. We’re going to be all right.”

  Clint drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Let’s say a prayer. Then we’ll sit here and see if your labor pains—that’s a terrible name for them, by the way—come closer together or get stronger. We’ll sit here and get through it together.” He leaned forward and kissed her. Holding both her hands, he said a heartfelt prayer that almost brought tears to her eyes.

  And with those tears held inside, she said her own quiet prayer. Before she could finish it, her voice broke and she quit talking, hoping Clint hadn’t noticed.

  He was watching her too close. He took her hand and asked quietly and so calmly it was a wonder, considering how he’d been acting, “What’s the matter?”

  “It’s st-stupid.”

  “Well, I reckon I’ve been acting stupid since you woke me up. Thanks for taking a turn. Tell me what’s making you cry.”

  Mariah’s throat felt thick until she couldn’t talk. Tears escaped her eyes. She was so determined to handle this child-birthing business calmly. And now . . . “I w-want my mama.”

  A sob cut off whatever other foolish thing she’d been going to say, and she wasn’t able to fight the tears at all. Sobbing, she was barely aware of Clint’s arms tightening around her. Soon she was sitting on his lap.

  He pressed a handkerchief into her hands. Surprising he had one when they were both sitting outside in their night clothing.

  Clint held her close, gently but firmly, pressing her right against his body. They rocked for a long stretch of minutes while Mariah cried out her foolish tears. Might as well wish for a magical flying horse to swoop down and carry her to the doctor’s office . . . or wherever magical horses took a person. She imagined, in this one case, the horse would take her to heaven to see her mama.

  Finally, her tears ebbed. They rocked in silence for a while longer, through another labor pain.

  Clint whispered in her ear, “I want my ma, too.”

  She started crying all over again.

  They passed the night that way—rocking and praying, whispering and, sometimes, Mariah crying.

  Once all her tears were shed, they sat in the cool mountain night, looking out at the magnificent mountains. Clint rested his big, strong hands on the curve of her belly and prayed each time a pain came. When at last the sun brightened the land and washed the peaks of the Towers in a dazzling red, her pains coming closer and stronger, Mariah said quietly, “It’s time to fetch Doc Preston. Help me inside first. And please ask Nell to come out, too. If it’s too early for her to be at her shop, leave a note.”

 

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