“I see.” She lifted the heavy hair off her neck. “We all have a story. Whenever you want to tell me yours, I would like to hear it. You have heard mine and of my disgrace, such as it is.”
Hatless, looking at her with inscrutable dark eyes, his sleek hair loose around his shoulders, Cole just stood there and leaned one hip against the porch rail until he murmured, “In your story, you are blameless, and in mine…let’s just say it isn’t the same.”
”You’d never hurt anyone on purpose.” She could say it with conviction.
“Without cause, no,” he corrected softly, “but I’m sorry, on purpose, yes.”
That took a moment, but she understood after her recent experiences what he was saying. Self-defense was a necessity here, be it animal or man. Victoria nodded. “When you had to.”
“Only then,” he agreed, his expression inscrutable. “I’ll give you that. I don’t like violence if it can be helped.”
“I never doubted that.”
“But I would think you would.”
“Doubt you?”
Abruptly he moved away down the porch, his long-legged stride as noiseless as ever but his stance radiating tension as he stopped and half-turned away. “You have no reason
not
to doubt me.”
Victoria disagreed. “Cole, I have trusted you from the beginning…since the first moment I opened my eyes to find you looming over me.”
“You were scared half to death,” he argued.
“I was startled and didn’t know where I was and you are rather…large,” she admitted, watching as he stared over the valley to where the mountains thrust up against the sky, the ridges darkly lined with pines and the soft green shimmer of aspen leaves.
“Thanks.” He turned back, a small, wicked smile touching his mouth. “No man objects to hearing that.”
She couldn’t help it, she laughed, though she could feel a blush suffuse her neck and creep into her cheeks at the clear sexual innuendo. “I didn’t mean necessarily in
that
way.”
“No? Maybe I need to refresh your memory later.”
They would be alone now for most of the week, and she’d assumed all along he’d share her bed, but that wasn’t the discussion at hand. Maybe it was best to just ask outright. “What have they accused you of doing?”
Cole gazed at her directly, brawny arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t get it wrong, Victoria. It’s not an accusation. I did it, all right. I killed a man in a place called Little Rock. It would have gone better for me if the witnesses didn’t hate Indians, but the truth is, he needed killing and I took care of it. I’m actually accused of killing two men, but that isn’t true.”
Even as she opened her mouth to ask why, he shook his head, his ebony hair brushing his shoulders. “I’m not going to say more. You say you trust me. Prove it by taking my word that what happened was because he deserved it. There are some things I’d just prefer you don’t know. Not because I am ashamed of anything, but because the burden is mine, not yours.”
She did believe him. It was in the set of his jaw and the uncompromising look in his dark eyes. “I won’t press you then,” she said quietly. “But how bad is it?”
“Fifteen thousand dollars, dead or alive,” he told her frankly. “Or that was it the last I knew.”
The amount was a bit shocking. It took a moment but she said, “I suppose I understand now why you aren’t anxious to be recognized.”
“I could have chosen to not come here, but I figure if I lay low, maybe no one will bother me. I’ve friends in these parts, so they know I’m wanted, but not everyone believes that I deserve that price on my head. I fell in love with this valley and with the ranch. Life is too short to just give in to fear. I don’t believe in it. I wanted this place, and my father left me some money…so I took a chance. Sure, someone might turn me for the reward, but then again, that might happen anywhere.”
“Your family—”
“My mother’s people know I’m still alive.” His voice was curt. “My father was a lawyer. His partner helped me buy this place under another name, which isn’t a problem since I’m not legitimate anyway. It’s all nice and legal. This ranch is my new life, and I want it.” His voice dropped in timbre. “I glad you’ll be a part of it too. In case you didn’t notice, all three of us agree pretty strongly that finding you after that massacre was like the spirits smiled on us.”
The comment was so at odds with her traditional upbringing that she had to laugh, lifting her face to the breeze. Perhaps tradition had its place, but it wasn’t here, not with the magnificence of the landscape surrounding them, the glory of the rugged peaks in the distance daunting but not nearly as much as his rangy presence. She countered, “Or maybe they smiled on
me
.”
“Glad you look at it that way.”
“How else could I?” Victoria hesitated and then decided she wasn’t ashamed to admit she was happier now than she’d been in a long time. “I love England. It’s my home, the estate where I grew up steeped in the history of my family, and the idyllic green of the countryside I will always remember. But I also recall London and the noxious smells, the incessant noise and of course, the horrible whispers and disdain once it was known my father was bankrupt and every bit of property he owned was forfeit.” She shrugged, but it took some effort to feign nonchalance as the memories were still very painful. “Supposed gentlemen offered me something quite different from marriage and a place in society, once they knew I was vulnerable and alone.”
“I’ve met those sorts of
gentlemen
,” Cole responded, shifting his weight just a little, his voice brittle. “It seems Boston isn’t all that different from London. Those bastards.”
“It was humiliating,” she admitted, inhaling a deep breath of clean, crisp air, remembering the despair but also the resulting resolve that had changed her life. “Then again, it drove me to not stay in England. There was nothing for me there any longer except a sort of servitude I can’t even imagine.”
“Any man would be a fool to not offer you the world.”
“They offered me the world as they know it,” she replied without hiding the edge of bitterness in her tone, looking past him to the vast blue sky. “Why pay the ultimate price of bachelorhood when you might get what you wish for at a much less telling cost?”
“Only they didn’t get anything from you—instead you sailed away. Doesn’t surprise me at all. Courage comes in different forms, and you have a lot of grit under that delicate exterior.”
The compliment warmed her more than the brilliant sunshine.
He went on quietly, “I can understand the wishing to have you. Jace and Robert and I have been guilty of that too, but not the dishonor of the insult. That’s not what we are offering here. Not a one of us would have touched you unless you gave it freely. It isn’t like that between us.”
It was the second time that day he’d made such a sweeping comment, and she wasn’t quite sure what to say. Cole, of the three of them, was least likely to talk about his feelings.
“If I didn’t think that,” she responded with as much dignity as possible, “I would never have invited you to join me in the river.”
The light breeze stirred her hair, sending a tendril across her cheek, the scent of the wind spicy with sage and a hint of smoke from the fire they’d made to cook breakfast. Cole nodded. “We’d better go saddle up. I’m going to ride up to the north pasture and see if there are any of the cattle the previous owner swore he had that strayed up there, and while we might be decent men, there’s some in this world who aren’t. You’re coming with me. Pack light, but we’ll most likely have to camp tonight.”
Chapter Ten
“This is more wide open than I expected,” Jace murmured, riding next to Robert with his usual easy skill, his blue eyes narrowed.
“Much more,” Robert had to agree, guiding his own mount down the dusty street.
Rio Verde was bustling, the main thoroughfare crowded as dusk closed in, and Robert took in the saloons and stores with a wary eye. He saw the hotel right away, and he and Jace nudged their mounts that direction since they needed a room. Their shopping could be done in the morning, and hopefully they’d be back on the road not long after. Two days out from the ranch and he was already missing the quiet splendor of the valley.
And more than that. The rundown hacienda with the shaded courtyard already felt a lot more like home than Boston ever had, and a great deal of that had to do with Victoria.
This trip was necessary though. They were going to buy enough supplies to get the ranch set for the next few months and get back to the Crescent Moon as soon as possible.
Home was a nice concept after so many years. Boston had fit for only long enough for him to realize he really wasn’t interested in the superficial culture of the wealthy families that were the reigning
beau monde
. He’d never been sure why it hadn’t felt right, but it just hadn’t, despite his family’s elevated status in society. In essence, he was probably as blue-blooded as Lady Victoria Mead by the standard of American society, even if the provenance of his heritage was not linked to royalty and exalted titles.
But none of that mattered here. He was just another cowpoke watching a line of horses trot by, their riders coated in dust, heading for one of the local saloons. For himself, he was much more interested in a hot meal and place to stable their horses and purchase the wagons they needed.
“Good thing Cole didn’t come along.”
Robert glanced over. “Rather be him than us, but I agree. His attempt to be inconspicuous never works, and keep in mind, you don’t do all that well at it either. Just at a glance a person can tell you’re from Texas. Keep it quiet, cowboy, and that’s not just advice, but a suggestion that might keep us both alive.”
“You insinuatin’ I’m a hothead?” Jace drawled, a soft laugh in his voice as they slid off their horses in front of the hotel. “If so, I deny it. I get a mite riled when I need to, but otherwise I’m pretty much like jest about anyone else.”
“Only about four times quicker on the draw,” Robert said dryly as he secured his horse and nodded at the stable boy. “I’m just here to remind you that a demonstration of your skill would
not
be a good way to start this trip. We want to lie low, remember?”
In response, Jace shot him a look that was surprisingly sober. Usually, when they got to a town, he was a bit on the wild side, especially with money in his pocket and ready women available. “Hell yes, I remember,” he said curtly and stalked toward the wooden sidewalk in a melodic clink of spurs. “Do you think I’d disappoint her?”
Robert grinned. He couldn’t help it. Apparently love was a more powerful force than redeye whiskey or easy women, and it was actually a blessing. “If you got tossed in the local jail, you might. Does this mean I don’t have to ride herd on you all evening?”
Jace growled out with his usually flippancy, “Fuck off.”
Robert laughed, not at the sentiment but at the way it was expressed. He understood; this wasn’t a pleasure trip, life had changed, and as they changed with it, adjustments were being made. “Let’s go to the livery stable after we get a room and ask about buying two wagons.”
Jace driving a wagon loaded with dry goods and cloth for making curtains and other household items was a sight different from his usual wild persona, but Robert welcomed the twinge of amusement. He’d always been pretty sure, of the three of them, that with his reckless disregard for his personal safety, Jace would be the one most likely to get himself killed.
“I agree. Then let’s find a hot meal.” Jace pushed his hat back on his head and surveyed the street with narrowed eyes. “That’ll suit me jest fine.”
He’d just as soon sleep on the hard ground under the open sky anyway, so any bed would do. Jace was up by daybreak, restless, and donned his clothes, boots and hat after splashing water on his face, deciding not to shave before leaving the hotel. He wasn’t really notorious, but he was still wanted, and he’d rather stack the deck in his favor and keep a slightly disheveled appearance. Cole was familiar with these parts, but maybe it was time to acquaint himself better with the town.
A morning reconnoiter found it sleepy as the sun came up, the streets dead, but the livery was full, like the night before, and he wondered, because a few casual questions at the dinner table the night before had revealed no one was moving cattle through at the moment.
He had breakfast in the hotel lobby, the waitress a young woman with fair hair and a nice smile, and in the past he might have been tempted to at least flirt a little…but not now. He finished, left her a nice tip and got down to business.
“Howdy.” A young man glanced up at the sound of his soft step into the general store. “Can I help you, sir?”
Jace dug into his pocket. “It’s early, I know, but I have a list about a mile long. Can we get started?”
The clerk nodded. “Sure.”
That was where Robert found him an hour later, piling supplies into the wagon. Coffee, flour, sugar, the gingham for curtains, two new pitchforks, barbed wire, salt, nails… Robert lost no time but started to pitch in and help load. Several hours later they had two fully laden wagons, had paid the bill with cash, and all would have been well if Jace hadn’t stepped out onto the wooden sidewalk and straight into the path of one of the men he hated most in this world.
“Thought that was you,” Frank Saxon said, coming to a halt just about a foot away. “You never have been one to keep it low, Vance.”
On the contrary, he and Robert
had
kept to themselves, which made him damned suspicious that Frank might have been on the lookout for them.
So much for Cole’s determination to shake off his past. Still it was much better to run into just Frank than any of the rest of the Saxon gang.
While Lawrence Saxon, his infamous older brother, had a reputation for ruthlessness and an indifference to the law, Frank was definitely the weakest of the bunch.
“Damn, how’d I get so lucky as to run right into an old friend like you, Frank?” he drawled with evident sarcasm. It would have been better if he wasn’t holding an armful of supplies. He contemplated dropping it all, but face to face Frank wasn’t all that good. Jace still calculated he could dump the stuff and outdraw a weak drunk like the red-eyed man before him. “What the hell are you doing here in Rio Verde?”