The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride (13 page)

Stepping into a kitchen as grand as any Lily had seen, she realized this was not the home of simple country folk, as her parents had been. Polished cabinets with glass fronts lined the walls. Ornate canisters, an apple peeler and other gadgetry sat on a wide expanse of countertops.

Her overly dramatic cousin sat at a smaller table, his hands in motion as he chattered away with an ease she’d always envied. May sat across from him, her elbows on the table, her chin propped between her hands, listening intently as Regi detailed one of his favorite adventure novels. Regi could make friends wherever he went, whereas Lily preferred to slip in and out without notice.

Rachell turned from the stove, smiling as she held out a cup of tea.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the cup and noticing the stylish cut of Rachell’s dress. Not some homespun number, but a finely tailored gown.

Ranching must be good.

“Would you like something to eat now or would you prefer a bath first? We have a tub upstairs.”

“Could I grab a bite of bread to take with me?”

“Certainly.”

She hoped some nourishment and a bath would soothe her frazzled nerves.

“I’m anxious to hear what has happened to bring you so far north with June.”

Regi’s voice fell silent. He and May glanced up, staring questioningly at her.

So much for soothing her nerves.

“I
’m always up for a little excitement.” Jake Darby tugged off his leather gloves and tucked them beneath the buckle of his dusty chaps. “I got your back, cousin.”

The words came as no small relief as Juniper accompanied him into Jed’s barn. A few years younger and a few inches shorter than Juniper, the curly-haired cattleman wasn’t blood kin, but they’d spent their adolescence working together on this ranch.

“I appreciate the help.” There wasn’t a man he’d rather have as backup than Jake or his older brother, Kyle. Unfortunately, Kyle hadn’t come around much in the past four years. A marriage engagement gone awry had sent his best friend into a life of yondering, and Juniper right along beside him. They’d traveled together for better than a year, having a fairly good time while working odd jobs—until Kyle had chosen an occupation Juniper couldn’t follow him into, and had tried to talk him out of. Bounty hunting meant looking for trouble. June tended to find plenty without tracking it down.

“Heard from your brother lately?”

“Not in nearly six months.” Jake reclined against the hay bales stacked up just inside the barn. “Last letter came from Montana. Said he wouldn’t be writing home for a while and not to worry. He was infiltrating a band of outlaws. How he expects his family not to worry after delivering that bit of information is beyond me.”

June grinned. He’d received a similar letter about six months back and thought the same thing. He sure missed the simpler days when their biggest challenge was breaking in new horses or rounding up an ornery bull.

“What I want to know,” said Jake, “is why the hell you’d bring your boss lady with you when you’re chasing after bandits?”

Juniper sighed. Taking down an ornery bull would be a welcome task over his current situation. “Frankly, she’s not an easy woman to ditch. She’s not easy to deal with, period.”

“Come on, now,” said a gruff voice from across the barn. Jed stepped from a horse stall. His foster dad tugged off his hat, revealing sweat-dampened black hair streaked with lines of gray. “The new boss can’t be all that bad. I’ve heard of Carrington Industries and the shrewd, feminine mind behind its success.”

Juniper groaned and sat heavily onto a hay bale beside Jake.

Jed grinned as he strode toward him. “Real spitfire, is she?”

“You could say that,” he said, raking his fingers through hair still damp from a quick rinse beneath the pump outside. “You know me, Jed. No matter the circumstance, I’m usually the most patient man in the room. But this lady, she makes me…
crazy.
”

“She a looker?” asked Jake, his dark eyes sparking with interest. “Maybe you ought to invite me to supper so I can meet this Miss Lily Carrington.”

“Not yet. She can’t know we’re heading out tonight. She’s hell-bent on going after her payroll. I’m hoping the girls will distract her so I can tiptoe off the place. As soon as the moon is up, we should have a decent view of the Chandler homestead.”

“I bes’ get home before my own supper is cold then,” Jake said, pushing up and turning to leave. “Meet you on the north rim after sundown.”

June and Jed followed him out and started for the house.

“You got enough men riding along?” asked Jed.

“We should be good.” Juniper knew Jed wouldn’t hesitate to help him out. But he had his family to look after, and Juniper wasn’t about to put him in any kind of jeopardy. “Günter should be bringing a marshal and any other lawmen he can round up on the way here. I’m counting on you to keep Lily from following me into a den of outlaws.”

“Most women would avoid such hostile situations.”

“She’s not ‘most women,’” Juniper said. “She’s the most domineering, outspoken, opinionated woman I’ve ever met.”

“Reminds me of another spitfire,” Jed said with a grin.

No.
Rachell might be headstrong at times, but she trusted Jed. Lily didn’t trust him any further than she could toss him across the yard. He shuffled up the front steps, reluctant to reveal her connection to his past. Having Lily at their supper table would be disconcerting enough without disclosing that bit of information.

“I better go wash up,” Jed said as they stepped inside, and headed for the stairs.

Juniper removed his gun belt and tucked it on a shelf above the door just as he used to do during the years he’d lived here. In the dining room the table had been set. Rachell’s bright voice carried out from the kitchen, along with the voices of his sisters. He breathed in the soothing combination of Rachell’s baked bread and fresh flowers. She’d given him everything he’d missed out on as a kid, a home full of warmth, commotion and laughter. Seven months without a visit had been too long.

Having scrubbed up at the pump outside the stable, Juniper went to retrieve a pair of old boots he’d left with some other clothes and personal items up in his room. Isaac raced down the steps.

“Did you clean up for supper?” Juniper asked.

“Yeah. Mama had me fill all the washbasins in the rooms on account’ a that funny feller’s still takin’ a bath. Long as he’s been in there, he ought to be clean enough for a whole month.”

Juniper grinned and headed up the stairs. He pushed open the first door on the left to the bright glow of a lit oil lamp. Too late to catch the door, it floated open as his gaze locked on Lily near the center of his room. Bent forward, she was gathering the long length of her hair with both hands. Her clean floral scent invaded his senses.

A lily that smells of lilacs.

She straightened and looked into the mirror above the chest of drawers. A line of hairpins protruded from her mouth. Even as she reached up, twisting her hair, the full burgundy skirt touched the floor. He doubted she was a full five feet to his six and a half.

Focused on coils of gold and copper curls, her
beautifully
determined expression was trained on the top of her head. Tiny curls sprang free at her hairline as she began poking in hairpins. His gaze trailed down her slender neck. Black lace poked up from a high burgundy collar.

She made the modest gown damn appealing. The fitted waistcoat molded to the swell of her full breasts and showed off her tiny waist. A scalloped lace trim at the bottom lay neatly against her narrow hips.

The clatter of hairpins hitting the dresser snapped his gaze back up. Her green eyes tagged him in the mirror.

“Juniper?”

“Sorry to bother you,” he said, walking into the room. “I just need to grab a pair of boots.”

Lily turned and watched him walk to the tall wardrobe on the far wall, still startled by catching his heated gaze in the mirror.

It wasn’t as though he’d caught her half-undressed, but his presence was nonetheless unsettling.

He pulled a pair of brown boots from the slender cabinet. It dawned on Lily why he’d walked into the room with such casual familiarity.

“This is
your
room.”

“Used to be.” He sat on the edge of the bed and tugged off one of his boots. “Now I’m just a guest from time to time.”

Lily turned back to the mirror. Working quickly, she shoved in the last few hairpins Rachell had given her, but couldn’t quite keep her gaze off Juniper. He’d taken the time to clean up. His hair rippled across his scalp in damp blond waves and he wore a blue-and-green plaid shirt she’d not seen before. His second boot dropped to the wood floor, and she noticed his left foot had been wrapped in a thin ivory bandage.

“How’s your foot?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Better,” he said, though his jaw clenched as he shoved his heel into the boot. “Jed makes a salve that helps fight off infection. I’m sure it’ll heal up just fine.”

Had he told them how he’d really gotten shot or, worse yet, her intentions to kill him? He stood and her gaze automatically went to his waist. She found only the thin brown belt threaded through his dark trousers and a knife scabbard at his side. He wasn’t wearing his holster. Lily’s gaze slid up the length of him. She was stunned by how very different he appeared without his gun belt.

“You look real nice,” he said.

“I, uh, thank you.”

He stood there, the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. He looked quite handsome, though she wasn’t about to say so. Something about his relaxed posture, the way he looked at her, stirred a wave of emotions both familiar and frightening. Suddenly the room felt smaller. Too small.

“Shall we go down?” she said, and darted for the door.

“Yeah.” He grabbed up his damaged boots and quickly put them away before catching up with her in the hallway.

“Miss Carrington,” said a low, gruff voice from behind her.

Lily turned and instantly knew where May had gotten her gray eyes and ebony hair. An older man every bit the size of Juniper strode down the dimly lit hall. His long straight hair hung past the broad span of his shoulders.

“Hello,” she said.

“Lily, this is Jed Doulan.”

“Pleased to meet you,” he said. “And sorry to hear about your guard and the trouble you’ve had up at Pine Ridge.”

“Thank you.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised. I never did care for McFarland. June’s had to work real hard to keep that place from going up like a shooting match.”

“The man did put in an effort, late as it was,” said Juniper.

“The man’s an ass,” Jed said flatly. “He couldn’t find any common sense if he kept it in a paper sack.”

Lily suppressed a smile. “I’d have to agree.”

“No sense in us standing here in the hall. I’ll follow you two downstairs.”

Lily turned and led the way.

“June tells me you have a real mind for business,” Jed said as they entered the front room. “Your firm has made quite a name for itself in the past few years.”

She glanced back at her host. “You frequent San Francisco?”

“I’m in ’Frisco and Sacramento far more often than I’d like. Someone’s got to ride herd over those politicians. If it was left up to them they’d starve every last Indian Nation out of existence.”

“To the table,” Rachell called out as she placed the roast on the table. The girls came in behind her, each holding a steaming dish. Isaac was making his way around the table with a pitcher, filling glasses with what appeared to be tea.

“There’s my little lady,” Jed said as he reached Rachell’s side. His long arms wrapped around her, all but absorbing her into his much larger body. His lips brushed her cheek before he released her.

The sight pierced Lily’s heart with a shaft of pain.

“Behave,” Rachell scolded, tapping a finger on Jed’s chest. A smile broke through her scowl before she turned away from him.

“I always behave,” Jed said, and followed her into the kitchen.

Lily’s mind filled with similar images, a set dinner table, her father’s playful antics, her mother’s radiant smiles, enough warmth in the atmosphere to melt winter snow.

“Lily, you can sit here.” April pulled out the chair beside her.

Distracted by the laughter coming from the kitchen, she forced a smile. “Thank you,” she said, moving around the table to sit beside Juniper’s youngest sister.

Juniper and May sat down directly across from them, and Lily figured she’d give just about anything for a few hundred miles of distance. To hell with the mouthwatering meal spread across the table—all she needed was the solitary safety of her office and a soothing pot of hot chocolate.

Jed and Rachell came in from the kitchen. He pulled out the chair beside May as Rachell set a basket of bread near the platter of sliced beef roast. His wide, callused hand closed over his wife’s shoulder, which she covered with her own hand and squeezed before he took his seat at the head of the table, neither looking away from the other.

Realizing she was staring, Lily glanced around at the others. No one else seemed to notice the affectionate couple. All of them were collecting their napkins and talking to one another as they began filling their plates. The cold, hard weight in her chest expanded, sending a chill to every part of her body despite the warmth in the room. It wasn’t just the sweetness between Jed and Rachell that pained her,
but everything.
Everyone’s ease with one another, the blatant interest and affection shared between them—why did their warmth make her ache inside?

“It appears I’m just in time,” Regi said, stepping up to the chair at the other end of the table, drawing everyone’s gaze.

Lily sighed with relief, happy to have a familiar source of strength to focus on. His hair was slicked back in the usual style. The rest of him, however, was unrecognizable. He’d clearly borrowed some clothes of Juniper’s. The plaid shirt positively swallowed him, ballooned out above the cinched waistband, and the cuffs of the dark trousers had been rolled up several times. Borrowing clothes from the boy would likely have been a closer fit.

“You made it,” said Isaac, sitting up on his knees in a chair beside his father. “I figured you’d have pruned up to nothin’ by now.”

Regi laughed and took his seat.

“Isaac,”
Rachell said, giving her son a stern glance from across the table. “Mind your manners and put your feet down.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so in need of a thorough scrubbing.” Regi collected his napkin from the table and snapped it out before draping the yellow linen over his lap. “I feel like a new man.”

“Your own clothes should be dry by morning,” said Rachell.

“I do appreciate your kindness.” He smiled at Lily and passed her a bowl of steamed green beans. “You look like your normal self again,” he said.

She didn’t feel anywhere near normal, but said, “Yes.” She glanced at the other end of the table and smiled appreciatively at Jed and Rachell. “Thank you so much for having us in your home.”

“You’re welcome to stay as along as you need,” said Jed.

“We will likely be leaving once Günter arrives,” Lily said, fighting to keep her tone from revealing the desperation tearing at her insides. She looked across the table to Juniper. “Isn’t that right?”

“Günter?”
May’s posture stiffened. “Günter is coming
here?
”

“She’s sweet on him,” April announced, flashing a wide grin.