Chapter Seven

The following morning, Jesse found Coy kneeling before the graves in the family cemetery. The small plot encased by a black wrought iron fence was anchored by a lone Gambel oak and a smattering of wildflowers. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him standing over his brother's and parents' granite markers.

Without turning around, he spoke. "'Bout ready to head for town?"

"How did you know I was standing here?"

"Hard to miss that scent you wear. What is it anyway?"

She hoped he didn't turn around and see the blush creeping up her cheeks. "A combination of lilacs and rose water." Describing the scent brought back fond memories of her husband. "Cain returned from one of his trips to St. Louis and surprised me with a small vial. It's called Illusion."

"You must have held a lot of love for him."

How she wanted to see his face right now, look into the fathomless depths of those smoky eyes, but he hadn't moved a muscle. "What makes you say that?"

"Your face softens when you speak his name, and something passes through your eyes." He shrugged. "I don't know, longing maybe, sorrow."

"I miss him, that's for sure."

"Is that why you talk to him? You do, you know, out loud."

She looked away to collect her thoughts. After a short time lapsed, she spoke. "You heard me that day in the bedroom."

"Grange hears you talking to him too. I'm not judging—"

"He talks to me. At first," she paused and took a breath. "I thought it was all in my head but now, as impossible as it sounds, somehow he's still here. I think…I think he's caught between two worlds."

"The old Indian told Grange there's a ghost in the house."

She clapped a hand to her mouth. "So my brain is not pickled?"

"Not according to Kajame. Kind of sets one back on their heels, doesn't it?"

"Yes." She released a sigh. "I don't know whether to be relieved or awe-struck."

At last, he turned and faced her. "A man loving you from beyond the grave, I'd take that as the highest compliment one can give a woman."

"I suppose it is." She fisted her hands to keep from reaching out to touch him. What was it that drew her to him like a match to kindling? "Do you like it?"

His eyes narrowed. "What, that he loved…correction, loves you so much?"

She shook her head. "No, my perfume."

"Haven't found one thing I don't like about you, Jesse." He stepped toward her until they were mere inches apart. "That's why it's going to be so hard to leave."

"You don't have to." God, had she whispered the words?

She held her breath when he moved so close they were almost touching. The sun seemed to stop shining and the birds stopped their merry chirps. Everything came to a halt, no sound intruded on the insulated world shrouding them.

He took her hand, the gray eyes searching every feature of her face. Had she walked into his arms or had some magic propelled her forward? Every cell in her body wanted him. He lowered his head, that sensual mouth hovering inches above hers.

Kiss me. Kiss me.

And he did. The kiss was everything she'd dreamed of for days…and more. Their lips melded perfectly, as if they'd been searching for one another for a lifetime. Like the man himself, it vacillated between sure and possessive and then morphed into a demanding, bold assault on her senses. She couldn't recall a time Cain had ever kissed her with such passion, such feeling. All thought fled from her mind, except one; she wanted to kiss him forever. She wanted him to hold her in his arms through endless days and nights, vow to make her feel safe and sheltered, as she felt now.

A voice near the house broke the spell between them. "Wagon's ready and the horses are stomping their feet!"

"Grange," she said, taking a step back from Coy.

He looked toward the yard. "The kid has great timing." Still holding her hand, he tugged her forward. "Guess we best not keep everyone waiting."

Grange stood by the buckboard while they climbed aboard. "Keep an eye on that cow in the pen, son. This is her first calf, remember."

"I promise, Ma."

"Don't forget your chores and don't go running off to see that old Indian."

"You've said that ten times now."

Seated next to Coy, she looked down from the seat of the buckboard and smiled at her son. "Guess I'm jumpy with everything that's going on."

"Ain't nothing I can't handle while you're gone."

"All right, then. We'll see you in a few hours."

Large swaths of wilderness interspersed with sweet-smelling Ponderosa Pine, Gambel oak and juniper traveled with them during the five-mile trip to Red Butte. In the background the low-scattered mountain range provided the perfect backdrop.

Delinquent taxes and a conversation she planned to have with Sheriff Jessup occupied her thoughts, and Coy seemed content with the silence. A hundred questions about his past rambled around in her mind too, but she didn't want to press her luck. He agreed to stick around for a time, and the last thing she wanted to do was chase him away with her curiosity.

Coy hadn't said a word until they entered town and hit Main Street. "Not much has changed in fifteen years. The saloons are both still here, Los Diablos and Blue Mesa, and as busy as ever."

Jesse looked toward the shoddy structures nestled side-by-side and to the stream of traffic going in and out. She didn't fail to notice the old codgers, regulars, she assumed, engrossed in lively conversation on benches outside both establishments.

"Porter's Dry Goods and Mercantile is still here too but a new hotel went up last year down the street, The Bradshaw."

"Where to first?" Coy asked.

"The Post Office, next to the Mine-Assay building."

"Now there's one place I thought would be out of business."

"The Assay office? No, there's still miners around hoping to find something thousands left behind. Cain always thought the Torres brothers wanted the land…our land," she corrected herself, "because of the old mines on the property."

"And picking off the cattle is one way to make sure you leave."

"Starve us out without rousing suspicion in an all-out war." The buckboard came to a halt in front of the Post Office. She jumped down from the seat and said over her shoulder, "I'll just be a minute."

Inside, Jesse asked the clerk behind the window if he had any mail with her name on it. When he returned with a letter from the P.S.I. Agency her hopes rose like sails on a ship. Envelope in hand, she returned to the wagon, climbed aboard and tore open the seal with trembling fingers. She skimmed over the words in a rush, glanced at the other document behind the letter and then held it to her chest.

"I'm going to assume by that smile on your face, you have good news there?"

"Oh, I do, Coy. For the first time in months, I have something to smile about." She passed him the letter. "Read it out loud in case I'm dreaming."

He snapped it open.

30 June 1885

Dear Mrs. Santos,

It is with deep regret we note the passing of your husband, Cain. He was a wonderful man and one of our finest agents. His colleagues in St. Louis took up a collection. A bank draft in the amount of five-hundred dollars is enclosed.

We know this doesn't compensate for your loss but it's our fondest hope the funds will help in some small way.

We also hope you take comfort in knowing how much he will be missed.

Faithfully yours, Nat Tremayne

P.S.I. Agency

Coy returned the letter. "Guess it's time for me to eat crow."

"I won't ask you to do that but I will ask you to drive me to the bank." She clapped her hands in a small show of glee. "Oh, do you know what this means? I can pay the back taxes on the ranch now."

Jesse paid the taxes at the bank and took the remaining two-hundred dollars in cash. After she paid her outstanding bill at Porter's, she'd still have enough money to purchase all the supplies on her list. On the way to the mercantile and lost in thought about her good fortune, she didn't see Sheriff Jessup walking toward them until Coy's body tensed beside her.

Niall Jessup twirled his long handlebar mustache and then tipped his Stetson toward her before addressing Coy. "Heard you were back in these parts."

Jesse didn't miss the sarcasm in Coy's voice. "Word sure travels fast around here."

"One of my deputies said he heard a rumor, that's all."

"Well, here I am in the flesh, Niall, so guess it's no rumor."

"Now don't get all riled up, son. I just want to make sure you're not packing any trouble along with the gun at your hip. I run a peaceful town here, want to head things off before—"

"You know, my ma always said a man can never outrun his past."

The Sheriff put his hands out at his side, palms up. "That's not fair, Coy. When I heard about that little problem you ran into in Tucson, I wrote to the Governor…and the prison warden on your behalf, told them I've known you since you were knee high to a grasshopper. I vouched for you, did everything I could to get you an early release from that hell hole."

Did he say warden? Prison? Dear God, Coy was in prison? Next to her, she felt the muscles in his thigh clench, saw his jaw twitch.

His anger came hard and fast. "I didn't ask you to."

"I know you didn't, damn it. I did it for your ma and pa, did it because I knew you got a raw deal."

Coy looked away from the man.

"Look, I just want what's best for you, want to make sure you don't do anything foolish and end up back in Yuma."

"I don't have any plans to do anything foolish, but if that changes, Niall, you'll be the first to know."

"Fair enough, son. If there's anything I can do, you know where to find me."

"I know one thing you can do, get to the bottom of why the Torres brothers can steal cattle from Ranchero Santos and get away with it."

The Sheriff caught and held her gaze. "Like I told Mrs. Santos, you bring me proof of their cattle-rustling, and I'll toss their sorry asses in jail. Without it, my hands are tied."

"Man catches another man in the act of stealing his cattle he has every right to protect his property."

The Sheriff flicked his gaze back to Coy. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Like I said, you bring me proof and I'll take care of it. You got that, Coy?"

"Yeah, I got that." He clucked to the team and backed them up. "You have a nice day, Sheriff."

Jesse finished her business at Porter's Mercantile and Dry Goods and helped Coy load the supplies into the back of the buckboard. On the ride back to the ranch, silence reigned. She wanted to kick herself for being so naïve, so desperate she'd convinced herself something good had finally come along. How could she have been so taken in by his looks, his self-confidence and sweet-talking ways? What did she really know about Cain's brother, someone her husband rarely mentioned, someone who hadn't shared any part of their lives in fifteen years? She had to think of her son now, couldn't expose him to an ex-convict, an outlaw, according to the sheriff.

Coy hadn't said a word since they left Red Butte. In fact, he'd withdrawn, his demeanor now sullen and introspective. Here she was, traveling across a vast wilderness with a dangerous man, albeit a very handsome man. She had questions and she needed answers, but alone with him now she didn't dare press him.

"What do you call your horses?" He stole a sideways glance at her. "The team pulling this wagon?"

"That's Mae on the right and Maude on the left."

"I have to stop. Looks like Mae's picked up a stone. If I don't dig it out she's going to be a lot worse off by the time we get back to the ranch." He brought the team to a halt, bounded down from the seat and spoke gently to the mare as he approached her. He looked back to her with a devastating smile. "Might be easier if you hold the bridle."

Jesse slid from the seat, crossed the short distance to the horses and grabbed hold of the strap near the mare's mouth. He removed a knife from his boot, and in a soft, low tone, cajoled the horse into lifting her front leg. She had to hand it to him; he had a way with horses.

When he finished his task, he looked up and held her eyes, his gaze so intense, it stole her breath. The air around them sizzled with an electric current she hadn't felt in years, and she knew in an instant he felt it too. "Guess you must have a lot of questions 'bout now?"

Had the cat stolen her tongue? She heard him speak and yet couldn't seem to find the words to answer.

"I'll save you the trouble of asking. You want to know why I was in Yuma, don't you? And you've already branded me an outlaw; I see it in your eyes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask, and besides, I didn't see the need since I was leaving soon."

She dropped her hold on the bridle and faced him with hands on hips, trying to appear much braver than she felt. "Then tell me now."

"I told you the truth about working cattle and mining." He ran his hands through the hair at the sides of his head. "After one of the drives, we went into town like we often did. A friend got into a scuffle over a woman and the other man shot and killed him in cold blood. When he turned the gun on me, I shot him before he could do the same to me."

"That sounds like self-defense."

"Yeah, well the town sheriff didn't see it that way." A scornful huff left his lips. "Could be because I shot his nephew."

"What about the witnesses in the bar?"

"Some came forward but the other side had just as many to counter. The judge sentenced me to ten years." He looked away from her but not before she saw the pain in his eyes. "After serving five years, I was pardoned. Guess I can thank Niall for that."

When their eyes met again, it seemed the world had come to a stop. She couldn't explain the emotion he invoked in her. Was it because he was Cain's brother, an inherent belief instilled in her that one could and should trust family? Or was she just terrified of what loomed in her future? Worse, did she need to believe there had to be more to life than being a widow at thirty-two, that one day she'd find shelter and safety in a man's arms again?

She knew now that Cain had come back in spirit form. Somehow, he'd managed to walk between this world and another, if only for a short time. He would have warned her of danger, told her to run as fast as she could if a man with evil intent was about to ride in on a Piebald. But he'd said the opposite: "Help is on the way." And…"It's your job to convince him to stay, Jezebel."

This was too soon. He'd only been in their lives for a short time, and yet in so many ways he reminded her of Cain. She had the undeniable urge to run to him, fall into his arms and devour his strength. If only he'd stop looking at her in a way that made her heart pound, her pulse race and her legs feel like corn mush. If only she'd taken time to look deep into his eyes after that kiss in the cemetery. Her mother always said, "The truth lies not only in the way a man kisses you but what passes through his eyes when it's over."

As if drawn by a magnet, she walked toward him. His eyes left hers for a brief moment and focused on something behind her. He drew his gun and seemed to point it at her. No, no, no! She'd fallen for his sweet-talk again.

"There's a rock behind your foot. Don't take a step back. In fact, don't move a muscle, he said through clenched jaw.

The drum of her heart rang in her ears and then the gun discharged, the sound deafening. Instinctively, she lunged backwards and then the hard ground rose up to meet her. White-hot pain tore through her arm. Dear God, he shot her! She tried to rise but another wave of pain ripped through her ankle. Coy was kneeling beside her as the world spun out of control.

The glint of metal blazed under the sun and descended. She closed her eyes and waited for the blade to puncture her skin. Would it hurt much? God, it couldn't hurt more than the radiating throb down her arm. Grabbing her shirt, he tore it from the seam at the shoulder and cast it aside. "What…what's happening? What are you doing?"

"Lay still, Jesse. You've been bitten by a rattlesnake."

She felt the knife cut into her skin, or was it the result of the bite? His lips met her arm and then she felt a sucking sensation. Confusion stormed through her brain. She felt hot and then cold all over. Dear Lord, was she going to die?

He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, his words coming to her through a tunnel. "Stay awake, Jesse, do you hear me? Stay with me! You hang on, do you hear me?"

They were the last words she heard before her world went black.