A Taste of Heaven (39 page)

Joe put out his hand. “Tyler, I'll be sayin'
good night.”

Tyler took the hand and pulled Joe close for
an instant in a backslapping embrace. “Thanks, Joe. And—if you
remember who those two men were, you thank them for me, too.”

He smiled and started toward the stairs.
“That I'll do.” He gestured toward Libby's closed door. “Don't keep
that gal waitin' too long.”

*~*~*

Just before dawn, Libby rolled over when she
felt the empty side of the mattress sag beneath Tyler's weight.
Even though it was dark, she knew it was him. Despite the day and
night he'd had, he still smelled like fresh air and clean hay.

“Tyler?”

“Sorry, angel. I thought I'd be able to sneak
in and get into bed without waking you.” His bare skin was cold and
he sounded exhausted. She pulled him over to rest his head on her
shoulder.

A tired groan escaped him. “God, you're nice
and warm.” He burrowed against her and she tucked the quilt up
around his neck.

“How is Rory?”

“He'll be fine. He's young and strong. I
forced some salt water into him and I changed the dressing on his
leg. The wound looks good. It's clean and as long as we take care
of it, we should see proud flesh forming in a few days. And I
expect him to be strong enough to attend our wedding.”

Libby was relieved it had turned out so well,
but she felt a twinge of conscience for some of the hard things
she'd snapped at him in the kitchen. “Tyler?”

“Hmm.”

She stroked his thick, soft hair. “I-I'm
sorry I said those awful things this afternoon. I don't really
think you're a coward.”

He sighed and was silent for a moment before
answering. “Libby-girl, I didn't think I was either, until you
forced me to take that hard look at myself. But over the last five
years, I got scared. Mostly I was afraid of the shadows and ghosts
deep inside. I guess the part of me that was the strongest got
broken somehow. I didn't know how to fix it, so I just kept backing
away from anything and anybody who tried to get too close.
Including you.”

The echo of desolation in his voice brought
tears to her eyes and they ran from the corners of her eyes to the
pillow. “I think you're the finest man I've ever known.”

His voice was light and a bit slurred with
exhaustion. “If I am, it's because you made me that way. You gave
me back my soul.”

As he drifted away into sleep, Libby
whispered, “It was a fair trade, Tyler. My heart for your
soul.”

*~*~*

“And do you, Tyler Michael Hollins, take this
woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, for better, for worse, for
richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health as you both shall
live?” Sheriff Jack Watkins peered over his reading glasses at
Tyler, fixing him with a stern look.

“I do.”

Libby felt Tyler squeeze her hand as he
spoke. Although he tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, she
heard it quaver just a tiny bit. He looked so handsome in his dark
gray frock coat and black silk tie. She never would have dreamed
that the man she'd seen dressed only in chaps and jeans could be so
breathtakingly handsome. No Chicago gentleman ever looked
finer.

Beaming at Tyler's answer—as if he might have
responded another way—Sheriff Watkins said, “Well, then, by the
power vested in me by Montana Territory in this Year of Our Lord
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, I now pronounce you husband and
wife.” He gestured at Tyler. “All right, son, you can give your gal
a kiss now.”

Tyler took Libby into his arms and gave her a
short, tender kiss that held the promise of something much more
exciting and intimate later. One glimpse at his blue eyes, eyes
that matched the endless sky over them, vowed the same. He dipped
his head to take her mouth again. Just before his lips touched
hers, he whispered, "I love you, honey.”

“All right, all right,” Sheriff Watkins said,
clearing his throat “That's enough, Ty.” He put his hands on their
shoulders and turned them toward their guests. “Friends, I'm
pleased to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Michael
Hollins.”

They were greeted with cheers and whooping
the likes of which Libby had never heard, but then, there were
people present from five ranches. She and Tyler laughed like
youngsters and held hands as they stood on the front porch of the
Lodestar to meet the people who had become so dear to Libby.

She let her gaze scan the sea of cowboy hats.
There was Rory, who was healing well, and Joe, the Cooper brothers,
Noah, and all the rest. She dabbed her damp eyes with her
handkerchief. Finally, she had the family she'd yearned for.

Finally, here in Montana, Liberty Garrison
Hollins was home.

J
oe ambled over
to Rory, who paced in front of Libby's flower beds. Most of the men
had found some excuse to stay close to the house this June morning.
And for once, Joe couldn't find a better reason to pull them back
to work, especially since he was slacking off as much as the rest
of them. Jim Colby was showing Noah how to improve his hooley-ann
throw—Noah just couldn't seem to get the way of that roping trick.
Hickory and Possum were showing Kansas Bob the finer points of
mumblety-peg.

“Heard anything yet?” Joe asked Rory.

“No, dang it, and I'm just about worn
down.”

Joe laughed. It was good to see the boy back
to normal again. It had taken awhile, but he was young and strong.
When he thought of that awful day a year ago, and Rory stretched
out on the kitchen table, more dead than alive—

Joe pushed back his hat. “Maybe we should
tell Tyler to hurry things along. We've got work to do out
here.”

Just then, the front door opened.

Tyler walked out on the porch, drying his
hands on a towel. Looking at the men gathered in the yard, he
chuckled. “What is this? Somebody's birthday or something?”

Joe called back with a grin, “I don't know,
Tyler. Is it?”

Tyler flung the towel over his shoulder and
let his eyes rest on each face turned in his direction. Unable to
keep them in suspense any longer, his laughter rang free then.
“Yes, by God, it is! We've got a new man on the place—Charles
Joseph Hollins. His mama is doing fine and he'll be out here
teaching Noah that damned hooley-ann before we know it.”

The laughing and cheering that followed
brought tears to Tyler's eyes. To have such friends and such a
wonderful wife, he felt like the luckiest man on earth.

He felt like a man who'd been allowed a
taste of heaven.

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