Sunrise Ridge (Redemption Mountain Historical Western Romance Book 3) (31 page)

She’d been watching Joker, his beautiful lines, the way he raised his head and shook it. “I’ll give Joker a try.”

“Good choice.”

Twenty minutes later, he finished cinching a saddle on the horse and handed the reins to Abby. “Give me a minute and I’ll saddle my horse.”

“It’s all right, Dirk. I’d prefer to go out alone, see how we do together.”

“Pardon me, but I don’t think that’s wise, Miss Tolbert. I have total faith in him and you, but you’re new to each other. At least let me ride a couple miles with you.”

She saw his concern, heard it in his voice, and relented. “All right. A couple miles.”

“Fair enough.”

“Let me go once around the barn, then we can head out.” Abby led Joker outside, then mounted, reining him around the barn at a walk before moving him into a jog. He felt good beneath her. Not like Hasty—no horse had ever felt as right as him, but still solid.

“Ready?” Dirk asked as she joined him near the house.

“Yes.”

For the first time in weeks, Dirk witnessed the smile she’d been unable to share since her father’s death. Radiant and unguarded, it caused an upward tug at his own lips.

“All right then. Let’s go.”

They took the long road out of the ranch entrance and turned toward town. She let Joker move from a walk, to a jog, to a lope before reining him back.

“He responds so well. How did we get him?”

“I don’t rightly know. He was part of the remuda when I arrived. How about taking the trail to the left?”

Abby nodded, then spotted a lone rider coming toward them. Too far away to recognize, she leaned forward, squinting against the sun, then jerked upright when he lifted a hand in greeting.

“Dirk, I believe that’s Noah Brandt riding toward us.”

He rode ahead a few feet, then turned back and smiled. “It is. And he’s leading another horse.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Noah hadn’t expected to encounter Abby. He hoped to leave Hasty with one of the men, then return to town without ever seeing her. Now he had no choice. Straightening in the saddle, he continued forward, feeling his chest constrict further as Tempest moved ahead.

“Afternoon, Abby, Dirk.” He touched the brim of his hat with a finger. The sight of her after all this time knocked the breath from his lungs, a pain he hadn’t expected enveloped him, causing him to shift in the saddle to find relief.

“Hello, Noah. It’s good to see you.” Abby’s world tilted. She could almost feel the heat radiating from his body, reaching out to her and drawing her in. Gripping the saddle horn with both hands, she leaned forward, trying to clear her head.

“Dirk tells me you have an interest in acquiring Hasty.”

Abby saw something pass across his face as his eyes bored into her, but it disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

“You know I’ve always loved riding Hasty. I’ve never felt a connection with any animal the way I do with him.”

He nodded, turning in the saddle to look at the horse, remembering how she looked astride him. Noah swallowed the growing lump at the back of his throat and twisted back toward her. Nudging Tempest with his heel, he moved alongside her and held out the lead rope.

“He’s yours.”

She stared at his large hand, her lips parting before her gaze caught his. “Are…are you sure?”

“Yes. You belong together.” He held his hand further out, wishing she’d take the rope and be done with it.

Her hand shook as she reached toward his, feeling a jolt as she wrapped her fingers around the rope, her skin brushing his palm. Neither moved for a moment, then Noah let his arm drop away.

Beside them, Hasty danced and snickered, his reaction not surprising Noah.

“Thank you, Noah. If you have time to follow us back to the house, I’ll get the money and pay you.”

“I don’t want money for him. As I told Dirk, I can’t sell Hasty. He’s a gift.”

“Noah, I can’t—”

“Take him, Abby. Ride him whenever you can and embrace the freedom. You deserve more, but that’s all I can give you.” His face clouded a moment before his gaze darted away from her. “I need to get back.” He reined around and moved Tempest into a lope, trying to put as much distance between him and Abby as he could.

“Noah, wait!” She handed the rope to Dirk and took off, encouraging Joker to move faster. “Noah, please wait.”

He let out a deep breath, realizing he could ride all the way to Splendor and she’d probably still be right behind him. Reining Tempest around, he watched her come to a stop, glaring at him, a mixture of irritation and confusion clear in her expression.

Anger and uncertainty knotted inside her. She could feel her hands tremble as icy fear twisted her heart. She edged forward, so close she could’ve reached out and placed her hand on his.

“You have to tell me what I did to ruin everything. Did I say something, do something to turn you away? I have to know why you no longer want me.” She choked on the words as pain radiated through her. “Please, Noah. I have to understand…”

He never intended to have this conversation. He thought after this long, he could avoid declaring his reasons for walking away. She’d never understand, think him a fool and a coward, the same as Gabe, Bull, and Nick. He had his reasons, whether anybody else understood or not.

The silence lengthened between them as he came to terms with what needed to be said. He rested a hand on his thigh, trying to relax and figure out what to say so she’d accept his decision and move on.

“Abby, I’ve had a lot of time to think, come to terms with my feelings for you. What I learned is I care for you a great deal, more than any woman I’ve ever known. When I’m with you, life is right, good.” He stopped, trying to calm the thundering in his chest, telling himself this was right. “I’ve always known it wouldn’t last. We’re much too different for a life together. I’m a simple man. I work, spend time at my cabin, hunt, fish a little, and enjoy a game of cards. It’s no life for you or any lady. Your wealth will allow you opportunities beyond what a blacksmith could ever offer. You may not believe it now, but at some point, my lack of money would create a chasm we’d never be able to overcome. Once you think about it, look at my life and yours, you’ll know I’m right.”

“Lack of money and the inability to use mine? What does that mean?” Her voice shook as her gaze remained steady on his. “If we built a life together, I thought we’d share all we had. There’d be no yours or mine.” She glanced behind her, seeing the ranch house and barn in the distance, wanting to share it all with this man. Abby turned back toward him. “I can’t do this without you, Noah.”

He reined Tempest a few inches closer. “Of course you can.” He reached over and ran a finger down her cheek. “I could never live on your money, Abby.” The look in her eyes, the pain flowing across her face, tore at his insides. It took all he had not to drag her off the saddle, settle her on his lap, and crush his mouth to hers. Instead, he reined Tempest away.

“You’re a coward, Noah Brandt.” She thought her words hadn’t reached him until he stopped, his back going rigid. He sat for long moments before his shoulders slumped and he slowly turned toward her.

Abby’s mind reeled in confusion and shock. Her body shook so hard, she thought she’d fall from the saddle. She’d always prided herself on her ability to remain calm in difficult situations. Staying in control had been required while her father was alive. Now her emotions, her entire body felt out of control, ready to explode into a thousand pieces. She wanted,
needed
, to hold on to her pride, but she felt it slipping away, like everything else.

Gripping the reins so tight her hands ached, she lifted her gaze to Noah, seeing regret on his face. She opened her mouth to speak, then realized she had nothing to say. He’d made his decision. Begging wouldn’t change it, nor would she allow herself the humiliation of trying.

She spared Noah one last look, then straightened her spine, loosened her grip on the reins, and turned toward the ranch. Lifting her head and jutting her chin out, she saw that Dirk still waited, along with Hasty—a gift she no longer wanted.

“Let him loose to go back to Noah.”

“But, Miss Tolbert—”

“Please, Dirk, do as I ask.”

He shook his head, but let go of the lead rope, swatting Hasty a couple times on the rump to get him started toward Noah, who stared after Abby. Dirk didn’t know when he’d ever seen a more miserable, disconsolate man, even though Noah tried to hide it behind a stone-faced resolve. Dirk glanced at Abby. He’d been close enough to hear voices, but not what was said. Whatever had happened between them shattered every ounce of joy she’d shown earlier.

He waited until Noah reached for Hasty’s rope and pulled the horse toward him. His expression didn’t change as he turned and took the road to Splendor, never looking back.

“It’s time we head back, Miss Tolbert.”

Abby nodded, retracing their path to the ranch and a life she never thought she’d be forced to live—one she didn’t want. What she dreamed of, almost had in her grasp, had disappeared with the twist of a few words.

“This was a mistake, Archie. We should’ve gotten as far away from here as possible. Gone back to Colorado or Wyoming.” Lem took a long draw from his cigarette, blowing out the smoke in a rushed exhale. “We don’t have to stay. We owe these fellas nothing.”

“Maybe not, but they’ve ridden with us for months.” Archie glanced over his shoulder, making sure the others couldn’t hear. “And don’t forget they helped us avoid the posse in Idaho, even when they knew we wouldn’t be able to keep the herd. They’ve gotten nothing for their efforts, except a small amount of money from the Splendor bank robbery.”

“You getting soft now that Drake’s not around?”

"Hell no, but I’m not anxious to do something that will get us killed, either. We ride out, what’s to stop them from coming after us?”

“We’d leave them the herd,” Lem protested.

“Thirty head isn’t worth the time to drive them to market. I’m telling you, Hal and the others will ride after us. He won’t ignore betrayal.” Archie watched as Hal stood up from his seat near the fire, fingering the scar on his face as had become his habit when agitated. “They’re restless. We need to finish this, split the money, and take off.”

“Why Tolbert’s place? We don’t need that kind of risk.” Lem tossed his smoke to the ground, snuffing it out with a twist of his heel.

“I’m with Hal on this one. With Drake dead, they’ll figure the chance of us coming back is low. The daughter doesn’t understand ranching. We’ll grab her cattle before she knows what happened and can round up the men to follow us. This will be the easiest take we’ve ever had.”

“One hit and out, right? Then we take what we have and hightail it out of Montana.”

“We’ll go after the cattle he keeps on his eastern border. It’s big enough to make us some cash, and small enough to control them during a drive south. A herd that size will give us the grubstake we need to start over someplace else.” Archie nodded as Hal approached.

“Problems?” Hal eyed both men, not trusting either one.

“Discussing which herd to go after and when.” Archie crossed his arms, tossing a look to the men who followed Hal from the campfire and now stood behind him. “Lem and I are thinking we’ll ride to Tolbert’s, make sure the cattle are still in the same section of land.”

“You and I will go, Archie. Lem can stay here with the others.”

Lem stepped forward. Archie reached out a hand and stopped him. “Any reason you don’t want Lem along?”

“Nope. Just being cautious.” Hal kept his gaze locked on Archie, ignoring the anger he saw on Lem’s face.

“All right. We should head out tomorrow. It’ll take a day to get there and another to ride back. We’ll need a count of the number of cowhands guarding the cattle. My guess is it’ll be down from when Tolbert was alive. With Drake dead, the woman won’t be watching for us. Should be easy.”

“Nothing about any of this has been easy. I don’t expect that will change.” He shifted toward the men behind him. “Biff, you handle the men and herd until we return.”

“Sure thing, Hal.” Biff sent a menacing look at Lem, daring him to challenge Hal’s order. All the men had been loyal to Drake, not to Archie or Lem. When word of Drake’s hanging reached the gang, they’d looked to Hal as their leader. His orders were followed, the same as Drake’s.

“We’ll go forward with plans to raid the spread north of here tomorrow, then you and I will leave for the Tolbert ranch. Any objection?” Hal narrowed his gaze on Archie, knowing he’d go along with the raid.

“No argument from me.” Archie stood rooted in place as Hal and his cronies walked back to the fire, then muttered a string of curses. He couldn’t control the unease spreading through him. Hal held no love for either him or Lem. He’d have more reason than not to put both in the ground once he knew where to find the Tolbert cattle. Perhaps Lem was right. He’d have to think on it, make a decision soon. Right now, the odds were neither he nor Lem would be participating in any profit from the stolen cattle.