Noah (3 page)

Noah laughed.

By the time supper was ready and on the table,
Noah and Levi had both managed to scrape the mud from their faces, rinse it
from their hair, and don clean clothes.

The savory scent of newly cooked meat wafted
through the air.

Steak.
Noah’s mouth watered at the thought.
Bacon.

He hadn’t eaten since breakfast and his stomach
protested loudly.

“Now, where is that baby?” Noah asked, ready to
hold the newest addition to the Deardon family—at least the newest for now.

Lucy, his baby brother Lucas’s wife was due to
have her new baby at the end of the next month. Noah loved the smell of clean
babies and knew that Emma had just given Auggie a bath. He made a mental note
that he should make the trip to Montana next month just to hold Lucas’s baby.

Jonah stepped up from behind him and placed
Auggie into his arms.

Noah’s lips stretched into a grin he was sure
consumed his entire face.

Max and Gil stole a questioning glance at their
mother. She nodded with a closed lip smile, but did not get up from the table.
Their eyes brightened immediately. Noah crouched down, the babe still wrapped
in one arm, and he opened the other to the young boys who immediately moved to tackle
him around the neck with all their enthusiasm, knocking him backward enough he
had to catch himself from falling. Little Owen, the three-year-old, hopped down
from the table and joined in with his adorable giggle and short little arms.

“Boys,” Emma called after a minute, “that’s
enough. It’s time to settle down for supper,” she announced, standing and reaching
out for her youngest son.

The two oldest climbed up into their chairs,
but Owen stood up straight, unmoving from his spot, and tilted his head way
back to look at Levi. After a moment, he tugged on the leg of the man’s trousers.

Levi dropped onto his haunches with a smile.
“What is it, little man?”

“Is it true you came to take Uncle Noah to find
a wife?”

Levi’s smile fell and he looked up, ‘guilty as
charged’ written all over his face.

Noah looked from Emma to Jonah, who both
avoided his gaze, and back at Levi.

A wife?

“A wife?” he repeated, this time aloud.

Levi scooped up the boy and laughed loudly.
“Well, I actually came to see if he was interested in taking over a ranch of
his own.”

That piqued Noah’s interest and he raised a
brow.

“And, it might…” Levi paused, “…come with a
wife,” he added with a sheepish, but toothy grin.

Noah’s jaw dropped.

“Let’s all sit down,” Emma suggested. “We can
discuss this while we eat.”

He was well aware that his sister-in-law knew
he wouldn’t be able to turn down her cooking and, as luck would have it, she’d
made his favorite…steak, fresh-picked corn, and buttery biscuits. Noah salivated
as swirls of steam rose from the large pot of her delicious bacon-infused beans
and drifted beneath his nose. She must have thought he’d be more keen to go
along with whatever scheme she and his brother had cooked up with a full belly.

She was probably right.

As hungry as he was, he wasn’t sure he wanted
to hear what Levi had to say—especially if it involved another marriage for
convenience’s sake. He turned to walk away.

“I have blackberry custards,” Emma tempted.

He stopped.

“With cream,” she added.

She’d gotten him. His weakness.

Reluctantly, he slid into a chair at the far
side of the table nearest the door. Emma sat down next to him, a satisfied grin
on her face.

“So, Levi,” Noah asked as soon as grace had
been said, “what’s this about a ranch?” He might as well get it out in the open
rather than skirt around it through an uncomfortable supper.

His cousin set down the biscuit he’d already
raised nearly to his mouth. “It’s one of the largest in Laramie.”

“Wyoming Territory?”

Levi nodded.

He proceeded to recount the misfortune of how the
ranch owner had gotten himself shot, leaving his only daughter to run their prospective
fortune.

“And this marshal is just going to get away
with killing a man in cold blood?” Noah asked incredulously.

“Not if Kate has anything to say about
it—though there’s not enough proof to have the man arrested,” Levi said with an
appreciative chuckle. “She’s one of the most determined females I have ever
met.”

“What do you know about the man?” Jonah asked,
now leaning forward in his chair.

“More than I want to,” Levi responded
emphatically. “He’s been causing havoc in that town since before the railroad
arrived there.” Levi leaned against the table. “Eight men, brawling in the
street, had the nerve to disregard his warning to stop and five of them were
shot dead as a repercussion.”

“Is he a gunslinger?” Max asked, his eyes wide
and focused on Levi.

“What happened to the other three?” Gil
followed quickly with his question. “Did he chase ‘em down and kill them too?”

The twins both sat on the edges of their seats,
leaning against the table like their father.

Emma shot a horrified look at her children,
then at Levi.

“’Fraid not. Only one of those men still lives
in Laramie though. The others upped and left with their families. Hey, did you
know that I’m a twin too,” Levi said as if letting them in on some special
secret.

“Really?” Both of the boys’ eyes grew wide and
their grins spread across their faces.

“Where’s your brother?”

Before Levi could answer them, Emma placed her
hand on Levi’s arm, concern etched on her features. Then she turned to look at
Jonah. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

“I’ll tell you after supper,” Levi whispered to
the children.

“My brother can hold his own, my love” Jonah
said, confidently. “He might be able to help bring justice to that little
town.”

Noah shook his head as he swallowed a bite of
his food. “Sounds like that ranch, what did you call it, comes at quite a steep
price.”

“White Willow. One of the neighbors has been
working on forming a Vigilance Committee to rid the area of all its
lawlessness. It’s only a matter of time before the deputy marshal’s caught.”

“But, like you said before Noah, at what cost?”
Emma asked.

“Are they sure it was this Long fella?” Noah
asked. He needed more information.

“The Callahan’s foreman took a shot at whomever
it was riding away, but the culprit was too far off to identify.”

“And now,” Noah wanted to clarify, “this
Kathryn Callahan has taken out an advertisement for a husband? Like one of
those mail-order-bride fiascos, only it’s a mail-order-husband?”

“Something like that,” Levi said with a
chuckle. “But don’t ever call her Kathryn,” he warned. “She doesn’t like that.”

Noah bit into his steaming biscuit, pondering
the information Levi had just provided, and was momentarily distracted by the rich
taste of butter melted over the hot, flakey morsel. He closed his eyes with
enjoyment.

“Her ad simply asks for a hardworking man who
knows how to run a cattle ranch, is young and able-bodied, someone who is kind
and will be faithful. I would tell you to start a correspondence with her, but
I’m afraid she won’t wait. I know this woman, Noah. If she’s looking for a
husband, she’ll get one. With the Deardon name, combined with the Callahan
stead, you’d be a fool to say no. Besides, she’s something to look at and very
smart. I had a mind to answer her ad myself, but my duties lie elsewhere.”

“So, she’s all alone right now, trying to
protect her land from this Long fellow? It’s not a short jaunt from Wyoming to
Oregon. What makes you think she’s not married yet?”

“You remember my friend, Eamon Walker, the
Pinkerton? He’s out at her place with a few others keeping watch until I
return. And…” he hesitated for a moment, “I may have stopped most of the ads
from actually going out.”

“You what?” Emma sounded genuinely shocked.

Levi held his hands up in the air. “However,
there were two different newspapers I couldn’t get to before she’d sent out the
information. In my defense, Noah is the right man for this woman, and for the White
Willow Ranch,” Levi said matter-of-factly. “And I think they are exactly what
Noah needs too. It’s what you’d call a perfect fit.”

A perfect fit?
Noah snorted. “When
are you heading back to Wyoming?” he asked, trying to wrap his head around the
whole idea.

“First thing tomorrow morning.”

Noah swallowed hard. “You don’t give a man much
time to process, do you?”

Levi, Jonah, and Emma chuckled nervously.

He studied the food on his plate, then glanced
over at his four nephews. Wyoming was not just a quick ride into town. If he
accepted Levi’s offer, the children would likely be grown the next time he saw
them and the thought alone made his heart hurt. He popped the last bit of
biscuit into his mouth.

It’s time.

“You’ll have my answer before dawn.”

Laramie,
Wyoming, October 28, 1868

“Kate!” The urgency in Dell’s voice snapped her
eyes open. “Kate! Get up!” The foreman pounded on her bedroom door and she shot
out of bed faster than she’d thought possible after the kind of day she’d had.

“What is it?” she asked, trying to restrain the
impatience she felt as she threw open the door, one eye still half shut.

He looked at her with surprise.

I must look a sight.

She stood up straight, threw her hand up to her
mussed hair, and then felt down her body, relieved she wasn’t in her simple
nightshift.

She’d been exhausted when she’d retired to her
room early and had barely managed to pull off her boots before she’d fallen
onto the bed, still dressed in britches and one of her father’s old button-down
shirts.

“They’ve done it, Kate! They’ve finally caught
him. Whatever you said to Stella the other day must have worked, because when Long
went home with a bullet in his leg, he confessed to her how he’d killed that
Hard Luck prospectin’ fella in a shootout out at his panning site in the river.
After the deputy marshal fell asleep, Stella snuck out to Boswell’s place and
told him everything she’d learned.”

Kate snapped out of her groggy state and
grabbed her boots.

“Rollie Harrison is dead?” she asked as she
pushed past Dell and hopped toward the front door, attempting to pull on one
boot, then the other.

“Yep.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” She grabbed
his arm and pulled him along with her. “I can’t believe Nate didn’t come get me.
He wouldn’t have anything on the man if it weren’t for me.”

She couldn’t really be surprised. Nate Boswell,
owner of the neighboring ranch and her friend, had been putting together a
Vigilance Committee for months and had been extremely vocal about it being no
place for a woman. But, rather than accept that, Kate had gone directly to
Long’s fiancée to plead to her humanity. To her sense of right and wrong. Of
justice. It didn’t hurt that Stella had been nursing a fat lip when she’d
arrived.

Kate opened the front door to find that the Pinkerton
Levi had left behind to protect her while he was gone had three horses saddled
and ready to ride. Eamon Walker had understood her need for justice and didn’t
worry about offending her womanly sensibilities like all of the other men in
town. She found him refreshing and nodded at him in gratitude.

When she’d first arrived in Wyoming, the idea
of riding into town astride a horse at dusk would have scared the life out of
her, but she’d ridden enough over the last year or so that it was almost second
nature now.

The sun had not completely descended behind the
hills, offering enough light for travel as they made their way into town. It
didn’t take long to reach Laramie from White Willow, as the ranch house sat
only a few miles to the east. Commotion surrounded the Frontier Hotel. That had
to be where they were taking the brute who’d killed so many people for his
greed and pride. Rather than dismount at the livery, Kate rode straight up to
the three-story building, dismounted, and left her horse tied to a hitching
post out front. As discreetly as she could, she followed the small, hollering,
male-dominated crowd around back—Eamon and Dell at her heels.

Kate pushed her way through the mob of men who’d
congregated in a clustered mass. Riotous shouts and cheers of vindication and
rogue justice rose into the air in waves. When she finally broke through, she
stopped short at the gruesome sight that greeted her, but she could not make
herself turn away.

Deputy Marshal Long and his half-brothers, the
town’s lead marshal and the justice of the peace respectively, dangled dead
from the rafters of Mr. Olson’s unfinished cabin. Kate’s legs turned to mush. She
dropped down into the dirt and sat there, staring up at the now lifeless man
who’d murdered her father.

For some reason, she’d believed that seeing him
pay for his crimes would make her feel better, but instead, the hole that had
taken residence in her life still sat empty. In that moment, she felt sorry for
Stella. The one person in town who would be mourning the deputy marshal’s
death.

“Kate? You shouldn’t be here.” Nate strode
across the room, a flaming torch in his hand, and reached down to pull her up
by the shoulder. “You shouldn’t have to see this. I’ll take you back to my
place and Mary can warm you some milk.”

She looked up at him and wriggled her arm from
his grasp with indignation.

“How dare you deny me my say, Nathaniel
Boswell? You’ve been a good friend through all of this and I know you were
trying to look out for my best interests, but I lost more to that man that
you’ll ever understand with your wife and daughter at home, safely tucked in
their beds.” She exhaled heavily and breathed in slowly, calm taking over her
hasty reaction. She closed her eyes briefly and quieted her voice. “I deserved
to say my piece.”

After a short silence, Nate put a hand on her
shoulder. “You’re right.” He paused for an uncomfortable length of time and she
looked away from him. “But now, the folks of this town will have some peace,”
he said. “They’ll be able to walk down the streets of town without fear for
their lives or that of their loved ones. You, of all people, should understand
that.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Let me take you home.”

“There’s no need.” Levi Redbourne’s low,
familiar voice resounded in the air as he stepped out from behind the crowd, a
lit torch illuminating his handsome features. Eamon, Dell, and a tall, chisel-jawed
stranger stood like intimidating pillars behind him. “I’ll take it from here,
Boswell.”

Emotion welled up inside of her at the sight of
the man. She didn’t make friends easily, but somehow, Levi Redbourne had become
like family to her over the last couple of years. He’d been the brother she’d
needed to help her get through the move from Chicago and each of the tragedies
they’d experienced since arriving in Laramie.

She could confide in him.

Trust him.

Nate nodded. “Good to see you, Redbourne,” he
said, extending a hand. “Take care of our girl.”

“We intend to,” Levi responded, then turned to
her, handing the torch to Eamon.

“Levi!” Kate cried, running into his open arms.
Tears that she had been holding back since her father’s death suddenly found
their way down her face.

After a moment, he pushed her shoulders away
from him to look down into her face.

“It’s done, Katie” he said simply as he slid his
arm around her shoulders.

She took a moment to compose herself,
breathing, and trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

“It’s done,” she echoed in a whisper, tears quickly
dissipating and hope returning. She pulled her handkerchief from the back
pocket of her britches and wiped her wet face. “Just look at me. I’m a mess.”
She fiddled with the cloth and self-consciously played with some loose curls at
the nape of her neck.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Levi said as he
pulled her back in for a hug. “Let’s get you home.”

With another deep breath, she concluded she
needed to walk away. To look forward and not back. She couldn’t change the
past, only work hard and have hope for what the future might bring.

A future free from evil men like Deputy Marshal
Long
.

“Come on,” Levi said, keeping one arm around
her as he guided her back toward the horses.

As they passed by the stranger who’d come with
him, Kate looked up into the most handsome face she’d ever seen. She imagined
he looked like one of the Greek gods she’d read about in one of her books. His
eyes, aglow with firelight, sent a wave of gooseflesh down her arms and she
shot her gaze forward. Surprised by her reaction to him.

No man had ever affected her that way. She’d
certainly seen good-looking men before. She was standing right next to one, for
heaven’s sake, but this was different. There was something about him, in the
way he’d looked at her that warmed her from the inside out. She looked over her
shoulder to find that he was following them. She’d never seen the likes of him
in town before and guessed that he must work with Levi for the railroad.

“I brought you something,” Levi said, his
lighter tone pulling her from her musings and immediately lifting her spirits.
“Brought it all the way from Oregon. Hand-delivered you might say.”

“What
kind
of something?” Kate narrowed
her eyes at him, partly because it was hard to make out his features in the
waning light, but mostly because she didn’t like the mischievous sound in his
voice.

Levi Redbourne was always up to something. Though,
from some of the stories he’d told her about growing up with his twin brother
and all the trouble they’d gotten into back then, she guessed that the war had
taken a lot out of him—as it had everyone. But, for those who’d actually witnessed
the heart of battle, she imagined it was that much worse. He could be playful
without a doubt, but she had a hard time imagining him as a ‘hooligan.’

Levi looked back over his shoulder at the
stranger and smiled.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now
would it?” he finally answered. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Should I be scared?”

Levi chuckled. “It’s exactly what you asked for.”

“That doesn’t help.” Kate could not think of a
single thing for which she’d asked him or anyone else. And nothing she’d
expressed interest in would come from Oregon.

They passed by several men whom Nate had
recruited for the committee and several more who she guessed had been at the
Belle of the West saloon when Long and his brothers had been arrested. Most of
them were excitedly mumbling amongst themselves and barely gave notice to her
and the others as they walked by. The town seemed to finally be able to breathe
with the reprehensible lawmen gone.

When they reached the boardwalk in front of the
hotel, a woman leaned quietly against the log-lined walls, her face hidden
behind a handkerchief, her shoulders shaking.

Kate stepped out from beneath Levi’s arm and
walked over to her, reaching out and placing a hand on her arm.

“Stella?”

The woman whipped her head up as if startled,
then met Kate’s eyes. Dark-colored tears streaked her face and colored her
cloth tissue. One of her eyes and her cheek were swollen, the bruising
detectable beneath the face painting cosmetics Stella generally wore.

To the devil with that man.

Kate bit back the words, but it irked her to no
end when she learned of any man who would lay a heavy hand to the woman he
claimed to love or intended to wed. She placed her fingers under Stella’s chin
and raised it slightly to get a better look at her in the beams from the torchlight.

“He can’t hurt you anymore,” she spoke in a
quiet, coaxing voice, raising a finger to wipe away another tear that had just
escaped the corner of the woman’s eye.

Without warning, Long’s fiancée sprung into Kate’s
arms and continued to sob, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. Kate stroked
her hair, holding the woman while she cried. While she mourned the loss of the
man she’d thought to love.

After a few moments, Stella hiccupped as she
pulled herself together.

“It was you, Miss Callahan. You gave me the
courage to do what was right. I didn’t mean to get him hung, but he wasn’t a
good man, and I had to stop him from killin’ any more folks.” She looked up at
Kate with wide eyes. “I’m so sorry about your pa. If I’d been stronger before…”

“Shhhh…” Kate shook her head. “What happened to
my da wasn’t your fault. You were very brave going all the way out to Mr.
Boswell’s ranch and telling him what you knew. Thank you.”

Stella nodded.

Hiccup.

She raised her fingers to cover her mouth.

“Do you need anything?” Kate asked out of
habit.

Stella shook her head.

“There’s nothing left for me here in Laramie. I
think I am going to head up to Montana. Reverend Jones just obtained a job with
a new parish and Cindy, I mean Mrs. Jones,” she corrected, “invited me along.
Says there are a lot of good men looking for wives there.”