Beautiful Bandit (Lone Star Legends) (35 page)

For the first time since meeting him, Kate saw fear on Frank’s face. Clearly, he knew he wasn’t just outnumbered, but surrounded, as well. She took full advantage of his distracted state and crawled on her belly toward Josh’s pistol. Frank’s eyes glittered in the firelight as she pulled back on the hammer, prepared to force him to surrender. They narrowed to mere slits as he raised his gun arm and took aim. Shoot or be shot, she told herself. Shoot or be shot!

In less time than it took to blink, Kate realized Frank’s six-shooter wasn’t aimed at her but at Josh. The deafening discharge captured every man’s attention, and, for the second time in less than a minute, the prairie fell silent.

Frank looked down at the growing red stain in the middle of his own shirt. His eyes were wide and unblinking, and one corner of his mouth lifted in a wry grin. “Why, I do believe you’ve killed me, darlin’,” he said before toppling like a freshly hewn tree.

42

Dr. Lane wiped his hands on a white towel. “He’s lost a lot of blood, but I think I’ve got him patched up. Main worry now is infection, so we need to watch for signs of fever.” He tossed the towel onto the foot of Josh’s bed and focused on Kate. “He’s young and strong. If you can get plenty of liquids into him and keep him from moving around and tearing those stitches, he’ll come round.”

Kate held her breath, waiting for one of Josh’s relatives to take her to task for putting him in this situation. For putting them all in this situation. “I’ll stay with him night and day.”

“Won’t be easy,” Matthew said. “That boy’s as stubborn as—”

“—you?”

The others chuckled at John’s remark.

Eva stepped away from her only son and put her hands on Kate’s shoulders. “It’s a mother’s place to see him through this.”

Kate took a breath, intent on asking her, pleading with her, to let her stay with him. The family had been so good to her, and, besides, Josh had saved her life—more than once. It was the least she could do. But the sob in her throat stalled her speech long enough for Eva to deliver one of her own.

“You’ve already done so much for us, dear girl, caring for Esther the way you did.” She tucked several wisps of Kate’s hair behind her ears. “We know you never intended to stay this long.” Tears filled her eyes when she pressed her fingertips to Kate’s cheeks. “It’s a mother’s place to be with her son at a time like this, but.…”

Kate’s heart ached, and her gaze shifted to Josh. But I love him, she wanted to shout, so it is my place to see him through this! But she was stopped by the ugly fact that she was the reason he lay still and pale, fighting for his life.

“But I can’t be in two places at once,” Eva spoke again. “Susan needs me, too.”

“Susan?” Matthew said. “Has something happened to the baby?”

Eva tucked her lips inward in an effort to stanch her tears, and the men murmured and muttered. Clasping both hands under her chin, she said, “We could tell this would be a difficult pregnancy. That’s why we didn’t want to make an announcement, in case….” She shook her head. “So much blood,” she whispered. “I’m afraid that….”

As Dr. Lane filled the momentary gap with a brief explanation about the complications with Susan’s miscarriage, Kate drew Eva close and held her tight. How horrible for the woman to have two of her three children so close to death at the same time! “Don’t you worry,” she said when the doctor finished. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thank you, Kate,” Matthew said. “You’ve been a blessing to this family.” With that, he led his wife from the room, murmuring comforting words, as Dan stepped up to Kate’s side. “If you’re serious about staying with Josh,” he said softly, “you really ought to clean yourself up.”

It had been Dan and Kate who’d stayed behind while half of the Neville men had gone to fetch the doctor and the other half, including Matthew, had gone for the wagon. And it had been Dan and Kate who’d tried to hold the compress in place during the rough and seemingly endless ride back to the Lazy N. She looked from her own bloody clothes to Dan’s, then fixed her gaze on Josh. “I know I should, but—but I can’t leave him.”

Dan slid a brotherly arm across her shoulders and led her into the hallway, where the doctor stood, shrugging into his coat. “You don’t want that stale, old blood to contaminate him, now, do you?” Dr. Lane asked her.

“Of course not.”

“Then, clean yourself up. Dan will stay with Josh until you get back.” He picked up his medical bag and started down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he looked up. “Get lots of liquids into him, and keep him cool. I’ve left a bottle on his bedside table. If it seems he’s in pain, give him a spoonful every few hours.” And then, he was at the door. “I’ll be back tomorrow to check his dressing and to look in on Susan.”

Kate gripped the banister so tightly that her fingers ached. She wanted to call after him, plead with him to stay. Lucinda appeared at the bottom of the landing and came up to her. “The poor man needs to rest now,” she said gently. “He been here since George got him to take care of Susan. Thank the Lord he had not left when Josh come back hurt.”

From where she stood at the top of the stairs, Kate could see him, lying still and pale, in his room. She could hear Willie down the hall, asking why his mommy was crying, as Sam quietly assured his son that in no time, God would make things right.

One by one, the Neville men filed from Josh’s room. Luke said, “Thank you,” Mark offered a word of encouragement, and both sentiments were echoed by the others as they walked past her. Only Dan remained, and when the rest had left the house, he echoed the doctor’s words, adding, “If you’ll fix me something to eat after you’ve cleaned yourself up, I promise to sit with him.”

Not trusting herself to speak without breaking into tears, Kate smiled and touched his forearm, then hurried down the hall to wash up and slip into one of Sarah’s dresses, hanging in her wardrobe. “Wait,” she said, whirling around to face Dan again. “Where’s Sarah?”

“Took the morning train to Amarillo to visit with Mee-Maw’s sister, remember?”

No, she didn’t remember. In fact, this was the first she’d heard of Sarah’s trip. Still, Kate expelled a sigh of relief. The family must have made those plans while you were busy feeling sorry for yourself, making plans to confess your sins to Josh and then run off to Mexico like the spoiled, self-centered brat you are. What a horrible human being she’d become! How ironic that these good, Christian people considered her a hero and a helpmate all rolled into one. So much for faith in their all-knowing, all-powerful God! Where had He been as one tragedy after another fell upon their devout shoulders? And why hadn’t He lifted the veils from their eyes so they could see her for what she was?

She was angry at God on the Nevilles’ behalf. They worked hard, from the oldest to the youngest of them, to live lives of faith. Worked hard turning what had been barren wasteland into a place where even the livestock flourished. And how had He repaid them for their devotion? With death and loss and heartache. She couldn’t worship a God like that. Wouldn’t worship a God like that.

Instead, she’d dedicate herself to the family that had welcomed a stranger as if she were one of their own. She’d tend to Josh until he was on his feet, hale and hardy, and keep right on doing it for as long as they’d let her—or until the Rangers came to collect her for the sins of her past.

43

Kate wasn’t in the mood for tea, but she brewed some, just in case Dan needed something to wash down the thick slabs of cold roast beef, left over from supper, which she’d arranged on his plate. With the additions of a small sliced apple and one heaping spoonful of Lucinda’s rice pudding, the meal was ready to carry upstairs.

Leaning stiff-armed against the sideboard, Kate planted a palm on either side of the tray and hung her head as hot tears filled her eyes. Don’t give in to them, she urged herself. Be strong, for Josh’s sake!

“Kate?”

The quiet baritone startled her so much that she nearly upset the mug of hot tea. “Daniel!” she said, putting one hand over her pounding heart. “Who’s with Josh?”

He slid Lucinda’s kitchen stool closer to the sideboard. “Easy,” he said, perching on it. “Uncle Matthew is with him. Said he was only getting in the way in Susan’s room.”

A wavering sigh escaped her lungs. “The poor man. What a horrible welcome home from all that mayhem.” There wasn’t a blessed thing she could do about Susan’s condition, but what had happened to Josh on the prairie had certainly been her fault.

“Were you crying just now?”

“No. Of course not.” If her words sounded hollow in her own ears, surely Dan had heard the falseness in them, too. Kate tried covering the fib with a too-loud, too-long giggle. “What in the world do I have to cry about?” Frowning, she cupped her elbows. “I’m not the one who lost a baby tonight. It isn’t my son hovering near death’s door, and I didn’t just bury a beloved relative. And—”

Dan stood up again and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “Kate. In the short while you’ve been with us, you’ve become one of us. So, the losses you just listed? They hurt you, too.”

She looked up into eyes as clear and blue as the Texas sky. Eyes that, if framed by thick, blond lashes, could have been Josh’s. The thought conjured a mental picture of him, lying silent and still, with a bullet wound in his chest—because of her.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it isn’t your fault,” Dan continued.

“Oh, isn’t it?” She didn’t feel deserving of the comfort of his touch and took a step back from him. “Then whose fault is it? If Frank hadn’t followed me to your doorstep, if Josh hadn’t insisted that all of you come after me, if I hadn’t come here in the first place—”

“If,” Dan interrupted her. “The biggest little word in the dictionary.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t change the facts.”

His smile vanished, replaced by a hardened glare that made him look far older than his twenty-six years. “You’re a wonderful woman with an amazing spirit, and your nurturing did wonders for Mee-Maw. But the fact is, you’re just an ordinary human being, nowhere near powerful enough to have prevented the things that have happened.”

“And I suppose you’re going to tell me that your precious Lord is in control.”

The blue of his eyes darkened as both brows dipped low in the center of his forehead. “I don’t know what has made you so bitter and angry with God. Don’t know what sort of childhood you had, or what your life was like before Josh brought you home. But, based on what I’ve seen, you were a follower—once.”

Dozens of Sunday-go-to-meetings flashed through her mind as quickly as a card shark shuffles his deck. She remembered sharing the hymnal with her mama as they stood, side by side, praising the Lord in song. Remembered standing at the altar, singing solos that made the good ladies of the church cry. There had been picnics and weddings and funerals, and, on her twelfth birthday, after Pastor Anderson had dunked her in the murky waters of Flintstone Creek, she’d gasped for air and dried herself with the towel he’d offered, feeling clean and holy and every bit a baptized-in-the-blood Christian.

“Yes,” she whispered, “I was a follower once. But that was a long, long time ago.” A lifetime ago, she thought, before her father was killed and her mama died and her stepfather tried to use her as payment for a gambling debt and—

“I’m sure you believe you have solid reasons for abandoning God, but it’s never too late to come back to Him, you know.”

He’d spoken softly, and yet his words sliced into her soul like the wail of a banshee. Daniel had lived his whole life on this ranch, surrounded by beautiful vistas and wondrous things and a loving family. What could he possibly know about near starvation and homelessness and the fear and desperation that drive young girls to leave the only home they’ve ever known to search for food and shelter? How would she ever explain to this devout man, who spent countless hours poring over Bible passages, that God had abandoned her, not the other way around?

“You sacrificed yourself to save us.”

Kate shook her head. “I’m the one who put you all in danger in the first place. There was nothing self-sacrificing about what I did.”

“Say what you will, but love like that is described in the Good Book! You were willing to die at the hands of that madman to protect us.” The kitchen mantel clock ticked three times, then four, before he added, “You’re the stuff heroines are made of.”

She stood there, blinking in silence, because he’d meant every word, as evidenced by his earnest expression. Her cheeks grew warm, and Kate knew the blush had been brought on by shame, not Dan’s compliment. When he’d called “if” the biggest little word in the dictionary, oh, how right he’d been! If she’d taken a different path in life, if she hadn’t been so naïve and gullible, if….

There was little point in dwelling on what might have been. Especially since she could see in Dan’s gentle face that her silence had led him to believe he’d insulted rather than flattered her. “I know you mean well,” she admitted, “and I appreciate it.”

Dan only shrugged.

“Your tea is getting cold,” she said, sliding the tray closer to him.

He took a sip, then took a bite of meat. “Didn’t realize just how hungry I was,” he said, taking another bite.

It seemed her tactic to distract him had been successful. But, just in case Dan was merely being polite—again—Kate decided to add to it. “Think I’ll fix a little something for Josh’s father. I’m sure he must be famished, too.”