Unbroken Hearts (28 page)

    
"Guess I win the lady," said
Cal. His mouth set in a taut line.

    
Crane hung his head. "Yah. If you
know where to find her."

    
Cal drawled. "Oh, I 'spect she's on a
ranch."

    
Crane flashed a glare up at Cal.
"Which ranch?"

    
Cal's dark eyes narrowed and his voice
tightened. "Mine."
 

    
Crane's face instantly registered surprise
and then anger.

    
Crane bolted up and caught the table
underside, toppling it over. Drinks crashed on the rough wood floor, and cards
went flying.

    
Crane went for his gun too late. He'd
barely unshucked, and Cal was on his feet firing with blinding speed. His bullet
hit Crane's hand and sent his weapon skidding across the room.

    
Crane was angry and defenseless. Roy and
Ned guffawed and collected up the scattered bills, gold coins, and nuggets.

    
"You boys can't ride away with this.
I'll git the law!" Crane's face was scarlet with anger.

    
Roy pitched back his head and laughed.
"Ain't you heard mister? This here's Montana Territory. We ain't got no
fancy law."

    
Cal lowered his weapon. He peeled $400
from a roll of notes and threw them on the table.
 

    
"Call it even Mister. Take your money
and go home. But if me, or any of my men see you nosing around here looking for
Sarah, we'll shoot first and ask questions later."

    
Crane had soiled his pants. He clawed the
bills off the table and, humiliated, backed out the door.
 

    
"I don't expect we'll see him
again," Roy laughed.

    
"No, don't expect so." Cal
holstered his weapon. "But just to make sure, Benton will escort his sorry
backside out of the territory."

Chapter 26

    
Cal, Roy, and Ned rode into a golden
glowing sunset. The homebound ranchers atop their horses cast long shadows
across the trail.
 

     
Cal was busy rounding up stray
thoughts and herding them in one direction. He thought about how to tell Sarah;
he considered truth to be the best path, but then again a woman could up and
get surly about her man playing poker, especially when she was the bet. So in
his mind Cal began to weave a version of events that would satisfy his lady. He
reckoned Crane was history, and it was all she needed to know.
 

    
Thinking about Sarah made Cal want her. He
relaxed in the saddle and let the feeling wash over him. He knew it was going
to be terrific between them, and he could hardly wait.

    
Roy took one look at lost-in-the-back
pasture Cal, rolled his eyes, and decided to chew the fat with Ned.

    
"Heck Ned," he laughed,
"was that a real deed for your gold mine? Looked more like the pieces of
paper they give for deposits at the bank."

    
Ned indignantly tossed his head. "I
needed to come up with somethin'. As you boys had golden eggs, I decided as I'd
hold the goose."

    
Cal heard Ned's comment, broke from his
reverie, and he laughed and joined the banter.

    
"Brother, how could you give the
vulture three aces? Three aces! One of those was 'sposed to be mine, for a
royal!" Cal hung his head in mock disappointment. "Damn lucky I got
the straight flush."

    
At first Roy looked sheepish. Then his
saddle groaned as he stiffened. 'Yep, brother, you
are
lucky. Me? I win a string of scrawny mules playing at
poker but you,
you
win a beautiful
woman." He waved his hand wildly. "And, that's the
second
time I've had to fix a bidding game so
you
could have her."
 

    
Cal flinched at the reminder of Roy's bid
to win Sarah at Lola's. "Sure, she's worth every bit of it. I'm plannin'
to step off the trail and make her my wife."

    
Roy's blazing eyes stabbed at Cal, but his
grin was a keeper. "Damn straight you will. She's a treasure, same as her
sister."

                                    
                  
*
    
*
    
*

    
As soon as she saw them on the homebound
trail Emily rang the bell. She'd been keeping an eye out most of the afternoon.

    
The men were oddly mute during supper.
Afterwards Emily and Roy disappeared outside. Cal rushed to help Sarah clean
the dishes, and then guided Mama into the parlor.

    
Positioning his large frame on the long
sofa Cal motioned for Sarah to sit next to him. He eagerly took her hand firmly
into his own, and a broad smile reached to his eyes.

  
  
"Sarah, we were in town for a
spell today." His gaze fell into emerald green eyes, and he wondered why
it was that every time he saw her he felt he'd been away far too long.
 

    
"After you fetched those lost
cattle?" She frowned.

    
He cleared his throat. "Well, it
turned out not many were lost," he replied, nearly as smoothly as Roy
would have done. He figured it was almost the truth, and he trotted on before
she could say more on the topic. "A stranger blew into town today, fellow
by the name of Ansel Crane."
 

    
Sarah gasped, and a look of horror raced
across her face.
 

    
It was over. She'd secretly hoped Crane
would meet with some unfortunate accident before he stepped into Montana
territory.

   
Her shoulders slumped forward, and she hung her head like a condemned
outlaw, waiting for Cal to tell her exactly when Crane was coming to fetch her.
Anticipating the blow, she squeezed her eyes shut and bunched her hands into
tight balls.

    
"This Crane fellow asked about you.
Said you owed him some money, or at least your uncle did." Cal smiled at
her again and placed his hand over her fist, gently loosening the fingers and
coaxing them to wrap around his own calloused hand.

     
She trembled, and opening her eyes
to a squint she studied Cal's face.
How could the man smile about her
misfortune?

     
"Yes, he did." Sarah's
voice quavered. "But honest, I didn't know about the d-debt when I came to
work for you." She was nearly choking now. "I never meant to bring
t-trouble to your house. I only found out when I received a wire, which came
the same day I said . . . I said I couldn't marry you." She sobbed on the
words as though a rock had lodged itself in her throat.
 

    
Cal quietly nodded as she continued her
story.

    
Sarah was burning with humiliation, but
there was nothing for it now. She forged on.

    
"A man from the telegraph office came
by while you were out with the Sheriff and Mr. Peck."
 

    
Cal squeezed her hand and spoke rapidly as
he suddenly wanted to give her relief from the pain and horror so clearly
visible in her eyes.
 

    
"Listen, Sarah, love, I have very
good news for you! For us! As it turns out, Mr. Crane is a gambling man. He
wanted a poker game," he grinned, "so we obliged him, down at the
Copper Strike. He lost $400 to us. And we gave it back to him to pay your
uncle's debt." His brown eyes shone. "There's no debt."

    
Sarah's jaw dropped several inches and she
stared blankly. "You didn't use your own money to pay him?"

    
"No. no," he nodded his head
furiously. "Honey, we used his money. The money we won from him.
His
money. It cost us nothing." Cal figured he might
have to repeat himself again because she hadn't shaken the stunned look of
disbelief from her face.

    
Sarah tried to comprehend the importance
of what had passed. Cal knew the instant it hit her.

    
"Did you cheat?"

    
Cal looked flustered. He couldn't see how
as this was important, but he opted for telling the truth. "Yes. But just
a little. Knowing how to blink in code helps," he added, with a nod.

    
Sarah laughed, bolted up, and a joyful cry
broke from her lips. "Yes!"

    
It was Cal's turn to be confused.
"Yes? You approve of our gambling and cheating?" His face held a
bewildered expression.
Well hell,
he thought,
maybe he could tell her she was the bet
.

    
She laughed. "Crane is
despicable! Oh, I don't know how I can thank you and
Roy." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

     
Her heart was singing with delight.

    
"I almost can't believe it."
Then a wrinkle of concern swept across her brow. "Where is Crane
now?"

    
"On his way home. I sent a man along
to make sure he clears out. Don't you worry, sweetheart. He won't be coming
back."

     
Sarah sighed and collapsed onto the
sofa. "Well, thank you again." Her hands were full of nervous energy
so she worked them, smoothing and arranging her skirts. Yet she wondered: Now
that Cal knew her story, would he still want her? It was too much too hope for.

    
Taking her unruly hands Cal clasped them
between his, and he drew her into his smoldering gaze. "You could do
something to show your gratitude." His tone was dead serious.

    
Sarah sucked in her breath.
"What?"

    
"Marry me."

    
Sarah's heart caught in her throat. She
threw herself into his embrace. "Oh, oh!" She buried her head in his
neck and cried. Her heart was bursting with joy. Then she thought of something,
pulled back and shook a finger at him. "No more gambling."

    
He smiled and gave in to his need to kiss her
deeply. She responded instantly, passionately. He pulled away, breathless.
"I agree to your terms," he whispered.

    
Sarah threw back her head and laughed. To
Cal's ears it was full and rich and beautiful. He hauled Sarah tightly up
against him and trailed kisses down her cheek and neck.

    
Then Cal looked at Mama, sitting across
the room. Tears filled her blue eyes as she blinked her congratulations. He'd
fought his own loneliness, never admitting to it, for so long. Somehow Mama
knew it. Roy knew it, too, and that was why he brought Sarah home to him, to
the place she truly belonged, in his heart.

    
"Sarah," he whispered inches
from her ear. "You make me proud. Without even trying you woke feelings in
me that were long dead. You gave me the strength to try again. Loving you is
worth any risk."

    
Unashamed, she wept. "Cal," she
sobbed in a small voice. "I never expected a fine man to want me. You gave
me back my dreams, and then you made them come true."

    
They held each other close for long
minutes.

    
After a time Roy and Emily came back in
from the barn, and Cal announced their good news.

    
Sarah took out her fiddle. The bow danced
across the strings as she played all the joyful music she knew. Emily danced,
and they sang until it was time to fall into bed.
 

    
After Cal lifted Mama into her bed, he
took Sarah's hand and led her back into the hallway to say goodnight. He pulled
the silver combs and pins from her hair to watch it fall freely to her waist,
and he threaded his fingers into the silky darkness. Then his gold-brown eyes
coaxed her close up against him. He inhaled her heavenly honeysuckle scent, and
kissed her slowly and tenderly.

    
"I want to marry you on Saturday in
the parlor," he murmured, his mouth against her ear.

    
She shivered. Thinking she was cold, Cal
wrapped his arms more snugly around her and softly nuzzled her neck.
"Oh." She smiled coyly up at him. "You know I can't wait."

    
"Neither can I," he
whispered.
 
But I will.