Love's Sweet Revenge (31 page)

Ben and Stephen rode in circles, chasing each other off and on as the whole family headed home after disembarking a train at Boulder. The horses that originally brought them to Denver, along with the wagons and buggy, had also been loaded onto the train so the family could bring everything back home. Now they were on Harkner land, wagons, buggy, horses, and all, heading for home and family and peace. Jake, Lloyd, Cole, and Pepper had their own mounts, and Lloyd bought two more horses in Boulder so the boys could ride. All three women and Lloyd rode in the buggy with Brian driving, and Cole drove the covered wagon.

Today was warm and sunny. Lloyd asked the women to put down the folding top of the carriage for a better view. They were getting close to home base, and he wanted to drink in the sight.

Little Jake rode with his grandfather, and he seldom left Jake's side when off the horse. When they passed Fire Valley, the boy insisted on getting down to collect a few rocks. Jake had to dismount and yank him back from peering a bit too far over one area that had a steep, rocky drop-off.

“Little Jake, do I have to tie you to a tree to keep you from doing these crazy things?” He plunked the boy back onto his horse.

“That's my valley, Grampa—all that great big hole with all that yellow grass.”

Jake remounted. “Who told you that?”

“Mommy told me. She said someday her and Daddy would rename it Little Jake's Valley.” He yelled to Evie. “Didn't you, Mommy? You and Daddy said this was my valley.”

Evie smiled. “We haven't discussed that with your uncle Lloyd yet.”

“Your mother can call this valley anything she wants,” Lloyd called to the boy.

“I think there is gold in it,” Little Jake shouted in reply. “Maybe me and Grampa will find it together.”

“And maybe we'll just stick to ranching,” Jake told him, pressing him close. “Grandpa has climbed around enough rugged places like that and slept on the ground off and on for too many years, Little Jake. I prefer the comforts of home.”

“Aw, you're tough, Grampa,” the boy answered, holding up a fist. “Did you use places like that to hide out when you were an outlaw?”

Jake just shook his head. “We definitely need to talk.”

“Go fast, Grampa! Catch up with Ben and Stevie!”

Jake kicked the horse into a faster lope, and Evie shook her head. “Mother, that boy might as well live with you and Daddy full-time so Daddy can have complete control of him. He wants to be just like Daddy, including being an outlaw.”

“Jake will straighten him out,” Randy answered. “He's just a little boy who sees his grandfather as a hero and doesn't understand how bad it really was for Jake.” She took her daughter's hand. “Don't worry, Evie. Little Jake has your goodness in him, and three good men in Brian and Lloyd and Jake to teach him how to be an equally good man.”

“First we have to cure him of cussing and wanting to smoke,” Lloyd spoke up.

“Oh, and you and Daddy are great examples,” Evie teased.

“Sure we are,” Lloyd answered, “although right now I could use a cigarette.”

They laughed, and Randy couldn't remember feeling happier. She reached into the back seat and grasped Lloyd's arm. “We're going home, Lloyd. It feels so good to be on J&L land!”

“It sure does.” Lloyd yelled out to Pepper, who rode nearby, “Saddle me a horse, Pepper!”

“Lloyd, no!” Katie objected. “You aren't strong enough yet.”

“I damn well am! Stop the carriage, Brian.”

“Lloyd, you really shouldn't—”

“I can't think of a better cure!”

Reluctantly, Brian halted the carriage, and Lloyd climbed out. “Give me
your
horse, Pepper! Go saddle one of the extras for yourself. There are two new saddles in the supply wagon anyway, and they need breaking in.”

“You sure about this?” Pepper climbed down.

“Damn sure!” Lloyd stepped into the stirrup. Grimacing with pain, he mounted Pepper's big roan mare.

“Lloyd, please be careful,” Katie called out.

Lloyd took the leather tie from where his hair was wrapped into a tail at his neck. He shook out his hair. “Thanks, Pepper!” he yelled as he rode off to catch up with Jake, letting out an Indian-like war whoop.

“Oh, Brian, do you think he should be doing that?” Evie asked her husband.

“He's a Harkner.” Brian turned to meet her gaze. “Have I ever been able to stop
you
, or even Little Jake from having your way?”

Evie smiled. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “And you are the most patient man on the face of the earth. Do you know how much I love you?”

Brian wouldn't let her get away with just a peck on the cheek. “I think I do.” He grasped the back of her neck and kissed her warmly on the lips.

“Would you two like to go ride inside the covered wagon?” Katie teased.

Evie smiled, grasping Brian's arm as he snapped the reins to get the buggy moving again. “We can wait till we reach home. I can't think of anything more wonderful than being in our own house tonight, can you, Mother?”

“No, I can't, Evie.” She watched Lloyd catch up to Jake, getting more anxious to reach her own home and to bake bread again and hold her beautiful granddaughters and have the whole family together. She watched Jake turn his horse to greet Lloyd. They exchanged words, and she knew Jake was likely telling Lloyd he shouldn't be on a horse yet. Ben and Stephen caught up with the men, and they all rode side by side, Little Jake still riding proudly with his grandfather.

“Those boys are turning into men,” Randy told Katie. “I think Stephen will be tall like his father, and I'll bet Little Jake won't be so little in a few years.”

“What a sight,” Katie answered. “I hope Lloyd will be okay.”

“I think getting on a horse and heading home is better medicine than anything else could possibly be,” Randy told her.

For the next two hours, they rode over rolling foothills, cattle grazing here and there in scenes that seemed more like paintings. Anxious to reach home before dark, they didn't stop to eat or take breaks. Even though it was late July, the surrounding mountains still showed white caps, some of the snow streaking down into deep, still-cold purple crevasses. The tree line of dark pine and white aspen decorated the mountainsides in colorful glory. Before them lay a sea of green and yellow grass, and here and there huge boulders lay piled up as though God had taken them from the nearby mountains and placed them there by hand. Wildflowers in red and purple were scattered everywhere, and the sun came out to light up the colors in a welcoming scene that had never looked so good. They crested a rise…and there it was.

Home!

“Oh, Mother, what a sight!” Evie exclaimed.

Below lay the three homes, the biggest one nestled into pines at the edge of the valley. There were the white clapboard outbuildings, the bunkhouse, fenced corrals with beautiful horses running around in some of them, old Gus grazing in another corral, a few milk cows with calves scattered here and there.

“Yee-haw!” Pepper shouted, charging past them to catch up with Jake and Lloyd, who along with the boys were already riding hard down the hill toward the valley, all of them yipping like Indians. Some of the men below mounted horses and rode out to greet them.

Randy put a hand over her mouth and cried. Shopping and fancy balls and going to the opera meant nothing compared to this. She was sure Peter's mansion of a home in Chicago couldn't compare either…not to this. Her log home was just as much a castle as any in Europe, and the J&L was their own personal kingdom.

“Mother, this is God's creation. It's not like anything man can build, is it?”

Randy could barely talk. They were home. Jake was free. Lloyd was actually well enough to ride a horse. And now, even from the distance as Brian drove the buggy downhill, she could see two little girls running from the main house to greet their grandfather.

Brian drove the buggy through the main gate, over which hung the sign
J&L RANCH
, and underneath
Jake and Lloyd Harkner, Owners
.

“Let me out, Brian,” Randy told her son-in-law.

Brian slowed the buggy to a halt.

“Mother, you're crying!” Evie exclaimed.

Katie moved an arm around Randy. “She's just happy. You want to walk in the rest of the way, don't you, Mom?”

Randy nodded, not quite able to find her voice.

“I'll walk with you.”

Katie and Randy climbed out, and Brian drove the buggy slowly beside them. Moments later, Jake and Lloyd turned their horses and started riding back toward them, each of them with a little girl in his arms. Little Jake had stayed below to go to the barn and get his own horse.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Both girls were squealing the word. Jake stopped and left Sadie off with Evie, who pulled the dark-haired little girl into the seat between her and Brian. Lloyd rode up to meet Katie, Tricia's bright red hair such a stark contrast to her father's dark skin and long black hair it was almost comical. No one who didn't know better would ever believe the girl belonged to Lloyd. Katie reached up and took Tricia into her arms, and the little girl wrapped her arms around Katie's neck.

“Come on up, and I'll ride both of you down,” Lloyd told Katie with a grin.

“Lloyd, you'd better get off that horse and lie down as soon as you get to the house,” Randy told him. She thought how happy he looked, but he needed to gain some weight, and right now, she could see pain in his eyes.

“Well, this time I'm not going to argue with you, Mom,” he told her. “I'm feeling pretty shaky at the moment. Pepper is coming over to help with Katie. I just want to ride in together.”

Pepper reached them and dismounted to lift Katie up behind Lloyd. He handed up Tricia, and Lloyd turned the horse to head back down the hill at a slow walk.

Randy saw Jake coming closer. He rode up to her and reached down. “How about a ride the rest of the way in with your husband?”

Randy smiled through tears. “Gladly.” She reached up, and Jake lifted her as though she weighed nothing. She settled in behind him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his back. “Jake, I can hardly believe we're back home. I don't want to go into a city as big as Denver again for a long time.”

“Well, for the next year we don't have much choice. I'll settle for Longmont and Boulder. Pepper and some of the others can take the cattle in next summer.” Jake turned the horse and headed down. “Damn pretty sight, isn't it?”

“I've never appreciated home more. The J&L is everything we dreamed about for so many years.”

Jake wished he knew for sure what had happened to Brad Buckley. Jeff had promised to wire Guthrie and tell friends to get a message to Jake if Brad showed up there. Right now, at this very special moment, he wasn't about to bring up Brad Buckley in front of anyone in the family, but he knew Lloyd was just as concerned.

He ran a hand over the arms Randy wrapped around him. “I've never loved you more. That big bed in the loft is going to be well used tonight.”

Randy smiled and hugged him tighter. “We'll see.”

“We'll see? What does that mean, woman?”

“It means I'm very tired.” She rested her head against his back.

“Then we'll just
sleep
in that bed.”

Randy smiled more. “We'll see.”

Mid-August

“Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.

Let the water and the blood from Thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin, the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.”

Evie finished the hymn before praying. The gathering for at least one hymn and prayer had become a Sunday ritual for the family ever since living close in Guthrie—a big dinner, usually chicken, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and apple pie, followed by prayers that Evie offered up as easily as if Jesus Himself were sitting among them. She sang another hymn with no bashful reservation, her voice lovely and her faith something she loved to share.

The entire family occupied every chair and settee in the great room, Jake sitting in the big, red leather chair.

“Daddy, I wish you would let that traveling preacher baptize you the next time he comes around,” Evie told her father after she finished the second hymn.

Jake glanced at her with a deep sigh. “Since you keep asking that, baby girl, I guess you should know I've
been
baptized.”

The entire family looked at him in astonishment, even Randy. He'd never mentioned any such thing. Evie put a hand to her mouth in a tiny gasp. Lloyd frowned in surprise, and Ben and Stephen glanced from Jake to each other, confused. Jake lit yet another cigarette and shifted in his chair before looking at his entire family, who all sat practically gawking at him. He inhaled deeply, then set the cigarette in an ashtray. “For crying out loud, don't anybody pass out over it,” he joked.

“
When?
” Evie asked.

Jake looked away, taking up the cigarette again.

“Your father doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to,” Randy told Evie.

Jake glanced her way, and in that moment, she saw what sometimes showed through the man. She saw the boy.

“I was eight,” he answered, keeping his eyes on Randy as though it was only there he could find the strength to talk about it. “My father wouldn't let my mother go to church, but in the rare times he'd pass out from drinking—and I say rare because the man could drink a whole fifth of whiskey or a bottle of tequila straight and still function…” He shifted in the chair again.

“Pa, you don't have to tell us any of it,” Lloyd spoke up.

Jake took another drag on the cigarette and set it back in the ashtray. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and stared at the braided rug in front of his chair. “It's all right.” He paused, and Randy ached for what she knew was something hard for him to talk about.

“Anyway, when my father was passed out, my mother would sneak out and go to a nearby Catholic mission so she could take Communion. She always took me and my brother with her because she refused to leave us alone with…
him
.”

“Grampa! You had a
brother
?” Little Jake asked.

Jake studied his namesake. “I did, but he died.”

“How?”

Jake glanced at Randy as though to ask for help.

“Little Jake, me and Ben already know,” Stephen told the boy authoritatively. “Grandpa said he'd tell you when he's ready, so you shouldn't ask him.”

“It's just hard for Grandpa to talk about,” Brian gently told his son, seeing the concern and disappointment in Little Jake's eyes. “Let him tell you another time, all right?”

Little Jake puckered his lips. “I'm sorry, Grampa.”

Jake met the boy's curious gaze and smiled sadly. “You don't have to be sorry. It's a natural question, and I
will
tell you, but you have to let me decide when. All right?”

The boy pressed his lips together and nodded.

“Maybe we'll go for a ride tomorrow out to Fire Valley and talk about it. How's that? Just you and Ben and Stephen and me. I'll let all three of you shoot my rifle, but only under my say-so. Maybe we will find a few wild mustangs while we're at it and bring some in. And we can officially rename the place Little Jake's Valley.”

Little Jake brightened. “Okay!”

Jake looked at Evie. “To answer your question, it was one of those times she snuck out for Mass that my mother asked the priest to baptize me. He baptized my little brother also. I remember it because the next day my father—” He suddenly stopped talking and reached for the cigarette. “Let's just say that my mother and little brother were no longer with us the next day. You know why. The end result of that baptism is why I've never talked about it. It's not something I care to revisit too often. I remember how much Mass meant to my mother. That's why I wear her rosary beads under my shirt. After she…died…my life went to hell, so I figure already being baptized wouldn't help much. If I get the chance to meet the Lord when I die, before dark angels take me elsewhere, I'll just have to hope already being baptized will save me from the flames.”

The room hung silent except for the sound of steam softly drifting from a kettle on the stove and quiet giggles from Tricia and Sadie, who played with dolls in a far corner.

“Daddy, I know without one doubt that God will welcome you with open arms when the time comes.”

“Well, I guess that's something only I will know, isn't it…and probably sooner than later.”

Little Jake kept his big, dark eyes focused on his grandfather. “You didn't like your daddy very much, did you? He wasn't very nice. And that mean man in that courtroom yelled that you killed him,” the boy said.

More silence. Jake never took his eyes off Little Jake. “Do you think that makes me a bad man?”

Randy closed her eyes and looked away. She knew what the conversation was doing to Jake.

The boy slowly shook his head. “No.
He
was the bad man. Did your daddy kill your mommy? I bet that's why you said her and your brother were gone the next day.”

“Little Jake!” Brian scolded. “Your grandfather told you to wait with your questions!”

Jake still held his grandson's gaze, amazed at the boy's insight and seeing himself in those dark eyes.

Thick tension over how Jake might react to the conversation permeated the room. Jake said nothing for several long seconds.

“Yes,” he finally answered honestly. “My father was the meanest man I've ever known, Little Jake, and I've run with some of the meanest. I was pretty damn mean myself for a long time after I killed him. I want you to understand that, Little Jake. You're anxious to get your hands on my guns, and some day they'll be yours, but by God, you are going to learn to respect them for what they are and never think of them as something to play with or that they're famous just because I was good with them. I've done a lot of bad things with guns, things I'm
not
proud of. I don't want you or Ben or Stephen bragging what a great man your grandfather was, because he wasn't. I wasn't anything more than a lost young man who robbed and looted and gambled and drank—and when I drank, I sometimes got as mean as my father did. That's why you've never seen me drink around any of you, and you never will. And you need to realize that when you kill a man it stays with you, sometimes forever. I hope to hell none of you ever has to know that feeling. People think it doesn't bother me, but it damn well does, more than anybody knows, except possibly your grandmother. I just never talk about it.”

Jake pointed to Randy. “That beautiful woman over there saved my life, Little Jake. I didn't know a damn thing about love until she came along. She is the only thing that keeps me from falling right back into that old life. When I start falling, she pulls me right back. They don't come any better than your grandmother. I want all three of you boys to remember that, and you respect her and love her like nobody's business. Understand?”

All three boys nodded, wide-eyed.

“The same goes for your own mothers. I can tell you for a fact that a good and loving mother is something to be treasured and respected and loved and cared for. If my mother were alive today, she'd be living right here in this house with me, and she'd not be allowed to do a lick of work. And if she wanted Mass every single day, I'd find a way to make that happen. And when I'm no longer here on this earth—and it's a damn miracle I
am
still here—all you boys need to take over watching out for your grandmother and your mothers.”

He looked at Ben and Stephen again. “And I want all of you to remember what can happen to people you love if you fall in with the wrong kind of men. Once you do that and you take the wrong path in life, it never really leaves you, and innocent people suffer. When it's the people closest to you, it hurts… It hurts forever.” He pointed to where his gun belt hung high on a hook near the door—too high for any child to reach. “And it all started with a gun—me shooting my father. So when you start learning how to use guns yourself, you respect them for what they're meant for—hunting and protection and nothing more. Not for bragging, not for thrills, and not for committing crimes. Do all of you understand what I'm telling you?”

Little Jake sniffed and angrily wiped at tears. “Don't talk about when you aren't here to take care of Grandma,” he told Jake. “I don't wanna think about you not bein' here with us. And you're
not
bad, Grampa. You're
not
! I want to grow up to be just like you 'cause there ain't nobody better.”

“
Isn't
, Little Jake, not
ain't
,” Evie corrected him softly. “And you're right. There's nobody better. If you want to be just like Grandpa, that's just fine.” She looked at Lloyd. “What do you think, Lloyd?”

Lloyd glanced at Jake and slowly nodded. He suddenly grinned, looking over at Evie. “Well now, actually…” He scanned the room. “I could tell all of you some very interesting stories from back in Oklahoma—”

“Lloyd Harkner, be serious!” Evie chided. “I used to sock you when I was little, and I'll do it again.”

“Well, there
was
Dixie's place, and—”

“Lloyd!”

“—then there was that fight in the tavern in Guthrie when Pa busted that whiskey bottle and shoved it—”

“Oh, I really
will
sock you!” Evie held up a fist.

The boys giggled.

“
Do
it, Mommy!” Little Jake told her.

“I'm just trying to be honest,” Lloyd teased.

Randy knew exactly what Lloyd was doing. He always knew when his father was falling into a bad place. Katie was sitting on Lloyd's lap, and he suddenly rose, picking her up with him. “Boys, I think your grandpa needs to think about something else. Things are getting way too heavy in here.”

Katie pouted. “Are you talking about
me
?”

“Well, whatever is in this belly of yours isn't any lightweight,” he teased.

“She's got a baby in there, just like Mommy does,” Little Jake spouted with a giggle.

Everyone broke into laughter, and Randy loved her son for quickly changing the subject.

“What's yours gonna be, Mommy?” Little Jake asked her. “A boy or a girl?”

“I just hope whatever I have, he or she minds me better than
you
do sometimes, Little Jake—and better than your Uncle Lloyd, who I
can
beat up.”

“Hey, I never socked you back because Pa would have taken away every privilege I ever had and probably would have made me write down ‘I will not hit my sister' about a thousand times.”

“Well, speaking of babies, I am having a boy,” Katie declared, wrapping her arms around Lloyd's neck and resting her head on his shoulder. “I just know it.”

Jake turned to tamp out what was left of his cigarette. “I think it's time for pie and coffee,” he announced.

“Sounds good to me,” Lloyd answered. He kissed Katie and set her back down in the chair they'd shared. “I'm still hungry.” He leaned down and whispered something in Katie's ear, and Katie shoved at him, her face turning a soft pink.

“Can't you two keep your hands off each other?” Brian joked.

“You're one to talk,” Lloyd shot back. “You didn't get my sister pregnant just by holding her
hand
.”

Evie let out a little screech and covered her face while everybody else broke into uncontrolled laughter.

“I'd like to remind you, Lloyd, that Evie was pregnant first last time, and she was first again this time,” Brian answered, “so I might ask you—who is the better man?”

That brought little screams of embarrassment and laughter from the three women. For Brian to make that kind of remark was highly unusual. Lloyd covered his eyes and groaned. “Brian Stewart, I sure didn't see that coming. Not from you!”

“You two be careful, or Katie and I will start comparing notes,” Evie told both men.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Lloyd put up his hands. “Enough!”

Everyone quieted a moment until Lloyd threw in a last jab. “You should notice, Brian, that as soon as we found out about Evie, it didn't take us any time at all to catch up. When I set my mind to something, I get it done.”

Katie turned beet red and bent over to hide her face, and Little Jake looked puzzled, not sure what they were laughing about.

Randy loved all of them for what they were doing. She watched Little Jake run up to his grandfather and hug him around the middle while Lloyd escorted Katie to the dining table, and Randy told everyone to sit down for pie and coffee. Evie started helping her mother cut the pie.

“I love you, Grampa,” Little Jake told him. “I'll always take care of Mommy and Grandma.” He leaned his head back to look up at Jake. “But I'll be a big, grown man then, 'cause you're gonna live a real long time.”

Jake knelt down, wincing from the pain in his hip that often flared up from an old bullet wound suffered in the shoot-out in California. “I hope you're right, Little Jake. Right now, let's go have some of Grandma's apple pie. Nobody makes it better, do they?”