Guardian Bride (7 page)

"I think I'm going to lie down for a bit," he said soberly.

"Oh," she jumped to her feet. "Let me help you."

He didn't refuse and though he didn't give verbal approval,

she took his silence as acceptance. Lifting his bad leg as he

swung the good one onto the bed, she carefully set it down

and then pulled the sheet up. She stopped before laying the

material across his chest.

"Do you want to take your britches off?" Her cheeks

warmed.

"No."

She let the cover fall over his chest and carefully tucked it

around his legs. "Would you like some laudanum?"

"No," he said, eyes closed.

An incredible urge to lean down and kiss his forehead like

she did August when she tucked him in overcame her. Jolting

upright, she stepped away from the bed. "I'll be in the

kitchen. Let me know if you need anything."

He didn't make a move, not even an eyelash flickered. All

of a sudden exhaustion settled on her like a winter snowfall.

She rubbed her arms, moving toward the door.

"Summer," he said before she pulled the door shut.

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"Yes?"

"Thank you for rescuing me. I most likely would have died

if you hadn't caught up with me when you did."

"You're welcome, Snake."

He turned his head and opened one eye to look at her. A

tiny smile graced his face before he closed the lid and rolled

his head back onto the pillow.

Regret. Shame. Disgrace. Something of that sort swelled

her throat. She swallowed the huge lump. It hit her stomach

so hard she barely made it outside before losing her lunch.

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The merriment in the other room was enough to wake the

dead. Snake rolled onto his side and using his good arm

worked his body around until he sat on the edge of the bed

again. The nap had helped, he felt stronger and more alive

than earlier today, but a rock of hurt or anger, he wasn't sure

which, still sat in the pit of his stomach.

His mother had always been a bit unseemly to some, but

he'd never doubted she loved him and his brothers, that is

until he'd been told she'd been more worried about a poker

game than his life. More worried about getting him married

off than about him living to see tomorrow.

He slapped the mattress.
Damn, if that don't beat all
.

The door opened just then, and Summer Austin poked her

head around the edge.

His heart skipped a beat or two. Why the hell did Ma have

to marry him off to the prettiest woman around? Couldn't she

have found an ugly toothless creature so he could be really

pissed off?

"Hi," she said, slipping in the room as graceful and

precious as a butterfly. The door clicked shut behind her. "I

wondered if the noise woke you."

"Hi," he greeted, unable to keep a smile from forming. Her

grin was so adorable his stomach did cartwheels. Ignoring the

commotion in his guts, he asked, "What's going on out

there?"

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"The harvest is over for one." She moved closer. "For two,

your brothers just learned that when you woke up today"—

she avoided looking his way as she straightened out the

bedding he'd managed to twist into a tangled mass—"you

weren't very happy with your mother."

The flipping in his insides had worked its way into a laugh

that bubbled out before he had a chance to stop it. "Really?"

She moved to his other side, straightening out the pillows.

A tiny giggle escaped before she answered, "Yes, really."

Her long, black hair hung over her shoulder, blocked him

from seeing her face. He reached up to brush it aside. When

their gazes met, it was as if he'd been shot again, dead

center.

The door opened, and Kid stuck his head in. "You are up."

Pushing the door wide his oldest brother strolled into the

room. "How you feeling?"

"Not so bad," he admitted.

The room filled up quickly. His sister-in-law, Jessie,

wrapped him in a soft hug and kissed his cheek. Bug slapped

him hard enough on the shoulder he almost tumbled off the

bed. His nephew, Joel, ran across the room on chubby little

legs, and Snake caught the child moments before he jumped

up on his bad leg. Placing the child on his good one, he

hugged Joel and realized just how lucky he was that he didn't

die. Overall he had a good family. A damn good family.

Ma hung back, a nervousness he'd never seen before

flittered about her. He stared at her until she couldn't help

but meet his gaze. No matter how mad he was, she was his

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mother, and damn-it-to-hell, but he loved her. He grinned

and winked at her.

Ma let out a little squeal and hopped across the room. She

wrapped both he and Joel in a hug. "Don't scare me like

that," she said. "My heart's getting too old for such

shenanigans."

"It wasn't all my fault." He kissed her wrinkled cheek.

"But, I'll try to not let it happen again."

"You do that." She pinched his chin. "I need my boys, all of

them."

Kid lifted Joel from his knee when Ma stepped aside.

"Come on, little brother. We'll help you out to the table." He

handed the child to Jessie. "Supper's almost ready. Bug, get

his other side."

Summer had disappeared. Snake searched the room for

her as his brothers half-carried him to the door.

"She's cooking," Kid whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, thank God," Bug said in the other.

Both of his brothers hooted like jackals. When they

lowered him into a chair, Snake would have laughed, too, if

their rough movements hadn't made his chest and leg hurt

like hell. No one else restrained themselves, and soon

merriment filled his mother's house.

The meal had been delicious, certainly not prepared by Ma,

Snake conceded. Her foods were either raw or burnt. She'd

never mastered that in-between stage. They'd never noticed

it growing up, not until Hog started cooking anyway, and they

all got a flavor for what food should taste like. Ma said it was

because she didn't like cooking. Which was no surprise given

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she was always in her bedroom, kicking away on her stitching

machine. The thought made his gaze wander to Summer.

A silver colored skirt flanked her hips and fell to the floor,

streamlining her trim form, and a pristine white blouse was

tucked into the waist line. The ties of an apron, long and

white, dangled from the big bow tied in the small of her back.

She and Jessie stood at the sink, doing dishes, talking as they

washed. A single white ribbon held Summer's long black hair

together at the nap of her neck. The glistening strands flowed

down her back like a long rope, swaying now and again as

she moved.

An odd, not unpleasant sensation filled his chest, and he

frowned, wondering what it was. Another consciousness, that

of being watched, tickled his spine, and he turned slightly.

September Austin, as light as her sister was dark, glared

at him across the table. Snake raised a brow, staring back at

the young girl with her faded blue eyes and wheat colored

hair. The girl had yet to speak to him, even when he'd

greeted her earlier; she'd merely sent him a quick and

somewhat disgusted glance.

He smiled and gave her a slight nod. Her eyes narrowed,

and she grabbed the plate in front of her holding a piece of

peach pie they'd had for desert. The legs of her chair scraped

the floor loudly as she pushed away from the table.

Snake continued to watch as the younger sister carried her

dish to the sink. As soon as she set it on the counter,

September turned back to the table.

"August," she snapped haughtily.

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"Uh?" The brother, who'd all but plastered himself against

Snake as soon as he sat down, looked up, chewing the food in

his mouth with all his might.

"We have chores to do," September said, moving to the

door.

"What chores?" Snake asked.

She ignored him. "August!"

"I ain't done eating yet."

September, her blond curls bouncing, stormed across the

room and reached for the boy's plate. "You can finish it later."

August clutched the plate with one hand, shoveling the pie

in his mouth with the other. His mumbled answer couldn't be

understood, but his actions proved he didn't want to go.

"What's so important it can't wait until he's done?" Snake

asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

September's glare became downright hateful. Her little

nose wrinkled up, and her eyes all but fired buckshot. "We

don't take charity from anyone. We work for our keep."

Snake, taken aback, couldn't come up with a response

quick enough. Or maybe Summer, used to the girl's behavior,

was just that much quicker.

"September," she said with warning. When the girl looked

at her older sister, Summer continued, "You can wait until

he's done with his pie."

"He is done." September grabbed the now empty plate off

the table. She stomped across the room and plopped the dish

on the counter. Her gaze snapped to her brother, and she

tipped her head to the door.

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"Come on, partner, I'll help you," Bug said, lifting August

from his chair.

The glare September sent Bug wasn't any too friendly

either. "We don't need help. We know what needs to be

done."

Kid stood. "Jessie and I should head home. Bug, would you

mind harnessing the horses while I help Snake back into bed?

"

"Sure. You want me to help get him back to bed first?" Bug

asked.

"I'll help," Summer said from her stance near the sink.

The slam of the door, behind September as she bolted

outside, rattled the windows.

Summer, drying her hands on her apron, glanced toward

the door. Jessie laid a hand on her arm. "I'll go see if I can

help her. You help Kid with Snake."

Snake had never been around children much, his nieces

and nephew were little more than babies, but he'd been

around plenty of pissed off people before, and something had

September Austin madder than a hornet. And the fire blazing

in her young eyes had told him her sting would be much

worse than an insect's.

"I don't need any help. I can get back to bed on my own,"

he said.

Shouts of, "No!" filled the room. Summer at least had the

decency to sound nervous. While Ma, Kid, Jessie, and Bug

sounded downright rude. Annoyance vibrated his spine, he'd

been shot, but he wasn't some kind of an invalid. With his

good hand, he pushed away from the table and planted both

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feet on the floor. Agony raced up his leg, he tried to ignore it,

grasping the edge of the table. Everyone stepped forward.

Snake leveled a steely gaze at the crowd.

Kid hooked an arm around his good elbow. "Come on."

Snake wanted to protest, but his injuries said whether he

liked it or not, he needed help getting back to bed. To make

matters worse, he needed to use the water closet.

Sometime later, after he'd grudgingly asked Kid to help

him restore his britches before his older brother helped him

back into his bedroom, Snake laid his head on the pillow and

closed both eyes. His shoulder and leg throbbed as if a good

sized mule kicked him every other second. He gritted his

teeth, breathing through the pain as Kid slid his pants off.

"You need some medicine?" Kid asked, covering Snake's

legs with the sheet.

Snake shook his head.

"It'll help. I have it right here."

His eyelids flew open. Had Summer been in there the

whole time? While Kid undressed him? The undeniable heat of

a blush racing over his face made Snake swallow and close

his eyes again. He didn't have any drawers on beneath his

britches. What was Kid thinking, letting her be in the room

like that?

"No," he snapped. "I don't need any medicine. I just need

to be left the hell alone. That's what I need."

He didn't bother to open his eyes to make sure she left the

room, but at the sound of the door clicking shut the sting of

shame hit his guts. He hadn't meant to sound so rude, Ma

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didn't abide bad manners no matter what the situation and

would probably come storming into the room at any moment.

When the door remained closed and the hushed voices in

the other rooms faded, he let the muscles bunched up around

his neck relax and begged the constant ache surrounding his

wounds to ease. Ma must have put his boorish behavior off to