The Bounty Hunter's Redemption (23 page)

Debby’s chin trembled. “That’s not his fault. I get emotional about his leaving and...”

“Deborah Sue, time you—”

“Sir, I have a sketch of Stogsdill.” Nate reached inside his vest. “And information about his height and weight. One look should settle the matter.”

“Come inside,” Pence said, steering Debby ahead of him.

Nate followed them to a yellow-painted kitchen where the aromas of a hearty breakfast teased his nostrils. He’d left before Anna had awakened. His breakfast a hardboiled egg he’d found in the icebox. But filling his stomach was not the point of his visit.

Gray hair twisted into a knot at her nape, Mrs. Pence stood with her back to him at the blackened mammoth cookstove, scooping fried potatoes from an iron skillet onto a platter.

“Mother,” Pence said, “this here’s Nate Sergeant, that bounty hunter.” Mrs. Pence walked to her husband’s side. “He wants us to take a look at the picture of an outlaw he’s after.”

“Whatever for?” she said, wiping her hands on the apron wrapped around her middle, her wary eyes giving Nate a tongue-lashing. Obviously the woman didn’t trust him.

Pence merely pointed to a table in front of the window, then grabbed a magnifying glass lying on the counter beside an open Bible. “Put the paper there where the light’s good.”

With a nod, Nate strode to the table, the heels of his boots clomping on the wood-planked floor. He unfolded the wanted poster, smoothed the surface with both hands, then stepped aside.

The family edged closer, slowly, as if approaching a venomous snake. Head bent over the poster, Debby looked and then quickly looked away.

Nate held his breath, but didn’t have long to wait.

As her gaze traveled back, a horrified gasp rose from Debby’s lips, every drop of color leeching from her cheeks. She gripped one of the chairs. “It...it can’t be.”

Holding the magnifying glass over the picture, Pence leaned closer. As the glass clattered to the table, Pence’s mouth moved and his Adam’s apple bobbed, but he emitted no sound. Then he turned, his gaze locking with Nate’s. “It’s him.”

“Miss Pence,” Nate said gently, “do you agree the man on the wanted poster and your fiancé are one and the same?”

Her lower lip quivering, Debby crumbled into the chair, hunching forward with her elbows on the table, her face in her hands. “I had no idea,” she said, then began to cry softly, her shoulders shaking.

Her grandmother bent close, pressing her cheek to Debby’s. “There, there,” she said.

“That poster says Rory killed a half dozen folks, maybe more. No wonder he wouldn’t attend church. Probably feared the wrath of God.” Pence sat on his haunches beside his granddaughter’s chair and took her hand. “Debby, you know what this means. To make sure that scoundrel won’t come near you, you gotta break off the engagement.”

“Do you know how to contact him?” Nate said.

Mrs. Pence pulled a hanky from her apron pocket and handed it to her granddaughter.

Debby wiped the square of linen over her cheeks. “He told me to contact his sister. She could get a message to him. Only in an emergency, he said.”

“Patricia Schubert.”

“Yes.” Her face crumpled and a high-pitched wail slid from her lips, shattering the quiet kitchen.

Mrs. Pence pulled her granddaughter to her feet and into her arms, rocking back and forth, crooning softly in her ear.

Nate released the breath he’d been holding. Debby’s reaction to that poster either proved her innocence, or she was an amazing actress. Nate tamped down the thought. Years as a bounty hunter had left him jaded. Even he couldn’t deny this young woman was heartbroken.

Pence lurched to his feet, grabbed his hat from the hook by the back door and slapped it on his head. “I’m riding to town. I’ll send a wire telling that sidewinder Debby ain’t marrying him and he’s never to darken our door again.”

“I’ve got a plan I’d like you to consider. A plan that would ensure Stogsdill is caught. For the plan to work, he can’t know we’re on to him. I’ll need your help, if you and your granddaughter are willing to play along.”

Her grandfather paused, weighing Nate’s words, and then motioned to a chair. “Take the weight off, Sergeant.”

Mrs. Pence tilted up Debby’s chin. “You up to listening to Mr. Sergeant’s plan?”

With a nod, Debby took the chair across from Nate.

“Mother, a cup of your strong coffee may help this plan go down a little easier.”

Mrs. Pence served steaming coffee in ironstone mugs, then set sugar and cream on the table. As Nate took a swig of coffee, she took a seat beside her granddaughter. The food grew cold, but no one had an appetite.

This cheerful, orderly kitchen laden with mouth-watering aromas didn’t fit the sinister situation. Nate leaned forward and explained his plan, hoping they’d agree to do their part.

Pence looked at Debby. “You must love the man. You okay with this?”

“I thought I loved him, Grandpa, but...” Debby heaved a sigh. “He can be cruel sometimes. Now I know why.”

At Debby’s words, her grandfather’s brow furrowed. He sat studying his hands while the pendulum of the clock clicked its steady beat. “That bruise on your arm last month wasn’t from banging into the barn door like you claimed, was it?”

Without a word, Debby hung her head.

“That chicken-livered coward. What kind of man could harm a woman?”

Nate’s heart stuttered in his chest. Had Richards left bruises on Carly’s arms? Or worse?

“Then it’s decided,” Pence said. “Someone’s got to stop him. We’ll do as you suggest, Sergeant. That plan of yours makes sense.”

With a nod, Nate set down his half-empty mug. “Thanks for the coffee, ma’am. I’ll leave you to your breakfast.”

“Mr. Sergeant,” Debby said, her sad eyes imploring. “Please tell Carly I’ll be in to pay for the dress.”

“Knowing Carly, she won’t allow it, but I’ll tell her.”

Nate would pay the bill. The least he could do for Carly and for the young woman Stogsdill had deceived. “Miss Pence, this isn’t your fault. The man preys on the defenseless and the innocent.”

“That’s kind of you to say, but I’ve been a fool. All I could think about was getting married. I didn’t want to examine my misgivings closely.”

She reached up and unclasped the chain around her neck, then turned watery eyes to his. “I once thought this ring was beautiful. Do you suppose Rory stole it, even spilled blood to get it?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised.”

Debby shivered, dropping the ring, chain and all, to the table. “I can’t stand the sight of it.”

“I’m not expecting the worst, but if Stogsdill should arrive at your door, you should be wearing that ring and call him Rory. Play along. Your lives could depend on it.”

Tears sprang to Debby’s eyes. “I’m so sorry I brought all this on you,” she said to her grandparents in a wobbly voice.

“God will see us through. My Winchester won’t hurt none neither.”

Pence escorted Nate out, letting the door slam behind him. And gripped Nate’s hand. “I’m beholden to you. Can’t bear to think what might’ve happened to our granddaughter if she’d got herself hitched to a murderer.” He exhaled. “I’ll keep my guns loaded,” he said when they were out of earshot of the house.

“I’ll stop by the sheriff’s office and tell him our plan.”

Pence gave a nod.

“Let me know if you see or hear anything suspicious or alarming.”

“I will. Can’t understand why an outlaw would cotton to a sweet girl like my granddaughter.”

The same thought had occurred to Nate. He motioned to the horses grazing in the pasture. “If Debby talked about her life here when she met Stogsdill, maybe those thoroughbreds and this farm enticed him,” he said, unhitching his horse and swinging into the saddle. “This would be a good spot to hole up.”

“Reckon so.”

Nate rode toward Gnaw Bone. No matter what he’d said to Pence, Stogsdill might have seen in Debby a woman he could control, a woman who would give him children and keep her lip buttoned.

If Stogsdill had grown weary of his life, Nate would see that the outlaw didn’t get his wish.

He didn’t want Stogsdill anywhere near Gnaw Bone, anywhere near those he cared about, but once he got that telegram, Stogsdill would come.

Nate spurred his horse faster. For once, he would have the advantage over Stogsdill and he intended to make use of it, if it was the last thing he did.

Chapter Seventeen

C
arly shrugged her shoulders, trying to loosen her tight muscles after hours spent hunched over the sewing machine.

Across the way, Anna hand stitched the opening of the collar she’d turned.

They were making progress, close to completing Vivian’s trousseau. The bride had come in that morning for final fittings on several garments. Only two more dresses to make before the Schwartz wedding. Three days to finish, which gave Vivian that week to pack as she’d wanted.

With an hour till closing time, Carly was tempted to lock the door and turn the sign in the window to Closed. But, if she did, her customers might question her reliability. Once the judge arrived, she’d have no choice. Weary as she was, Carly hoped nothing interrupted their progress.

The bell over the door jingled. Maizie rose from the floor, tail wagging, eager to greet the newcomer. Carly stopped pedaling, pasted on a smile and faced the door.

Hat in hand, Nate stood in the entrance, his rugged jaw dark with stubble, his gray eyes probing, his holstered gun riding his hip. He reminded her of their first meeting here in this shop. She’d thought him dangerous then, and he looked dangerous now.

Her heart tripped in her chest. Dangerous and oh, so tempting.

He moved closer, his stride loose, confident, almost a swagger. Carly’s traitorous thoughts zinged to his kiss. To the softness of his lips, the hard muscles of his chest beneath her palm, the wild beating of his heart.

As wild as her erratic pulse now. He stopped near her, his smoldering eyes locking with hers, then lowering to her mouth.

He must be thinking of their kiss. That kiss had left her exhilarated, full of yearning, and oh, yes, of trepidation, leaving her as unraveled as a tattered tea towel.

“Nate,” Anna said, her alarmed tone jerking Carly’s foot on the treadle. “From the look on your face when you came in, I’d say you have bad news.”

“I’m afraid so,” he said, then explained Debby Pence’s fiancé was none other than Stogsdill, the villain he’d been trailing for years.

The news sank to Carly’s stomach like a stone. “Poor Debby must be devastated, but at least she won’t endure a lifetime of misery.” Or what might feel longer than a lifetime.

“Debby’s insisting on paying for her wedding dress, but I’d like to take care of the bill.”

Nate might look hard and dangerous, but he often showed a softer side, a considerate, even tender side.

“That’s kind of you to offer, but once we’ve finished the Schwartz order, I’ll rework the dress so completely, Debby wouldn’t recognize it if she met a woman wearing it on the street.”

“You’re very talented,” Nate said, his gaze dropping to her lips and lingering there.

Was he suggesting she had an aptitude for kissing? Heat flooded Carly’s cheeks, and she quickly focused on the fabric under the pressure foot. She stifled a sigh. A crooked seam she’d have to take out and sew again. A reminder that Nate Sergeant would thwart the straight path she’d chosen.

“Will you and Anna have everything stitched by the deadline?”

“Yes, even after taking a couple of hours to drive out to visit Betsy. She and Morris leave Friday. While I was there, I met his sister, Florence. Seemed like a nice woman, able to handle the farm chores.”

“That’s good to know. Morris came by the livery. He hopes to return to Gnaw Bone when his house or the livery sells. If Betsy’s not up to the trip, his sister will handle things.”

Henry slammed through the door, a bundle of smiling energy. Carly glanced at her watch. That hour helping the Harders paint the corral fence had flown.

Her son gave not one glance to Anna, not one glance to Carly. All he had eyes for was Nate. He raced to him, the white smears on his cheeks and overalls proof he’d done his part. The ecstatic joy on her son’s face confirmed Henry still had Nate on that pedestal, a precarious position. One blunder and Nate would tumble off that lofty perch and shatter her son’s heart.

“Hi, buddy,” Nate said, squatting in front of her son. “Looks like you tangled with a paintbrush.”

Henry stepped into Nate’s arms, gazing up at him. “I helped paint a fence. I got some on me, but lots more on the boards.”

The smile on Nate’s face lavished her son with approval. “You’re a good worker.”

“I can ride good, too.”

“Yes, you can. You and Lady are a team.”

“Can we ride to the creek and have a picnic?”

“Soon as I can find time.”

“When?” Henry asked, his eyes sparkling with eagerness.

Nate rose to his feet, his expression closed. “Can’t say for sure.”

Maizie padded over. Henry got down on his knees and hugged the dog’s neck, burying his face in the fur, oblivious to the fact Nate had evaded his question.

But Carly had noticed. After being married to Max, she recognized when a man was keeping something from her, from her son, from them all. Like Max, would Nate disappear from their lives one morning? Just leave a note and ride off?

Carly rose from the bench. “Henry, your snack is in the kitchen.”

“’Bye, Nate,” Henry said, the disappointment in his voice confirmation her son could be easily hurt.

Henry disappeared into the back, Maizie trailing after him.

Nate shifted on his feet. “I’m heading to Kentucky tomorrow. Should be back in a couple days. Three at most.”

“Is it a good idea to leave now?” Anna asked. “Once Debby breaks off her engagement, Stogsdill might come here looking for trouble.”

“Don’t worry.” Nate’s gaze slid to Carly. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

When had Max protected Carly from anything? Instead he’d been the reason she’d kept alert for trouble. All those years she’d had to protect herself and her son. The reason she’d bought a gun and learned to shoot. The prospect of firing at a human being left her weak in the knees, but Carly knew to save her son’s life, she could use it.