The Heart's Pursuit (30 page)
Silver refrained from looking at the prisoner, who was secured to a tree a good distance beyond where Jared had slept. She tried not to dwell too much upon the fate of her parents if there wasn’t a reward to collect. She needed to cling to the hope that there would be.
Jared appeared over the top of a rise and descended the incline, his arms laden with firewood. He glanced at the prisoner first, then at Silver, and finally dropped the wood and began to rekindle the campfire.
“Where are you taking me, Newman?” Carlton demanded, breaking the silence of the morning.
Silver liked it better when he kept his mouth shut.
Jared answered, “We’re taking you to Denver. And then maybe on to Central City.”
Silver took satisfaction in the surprise that flashed across Matt Carlton’s face. He’d been so smug before, so sure of himself. Even Jared’s knowledge of the scar hadn’t shaken him. But the name of the town in Colorado did. Good. It should worry him.
“You’ve got the wrong man,” the prisoner blustered. “I’m not who you think I am.”
“I haven’t got the wrong man, and we both know it. You remember Felicity. You worked in the same saloon with her. She didn’t die, Carlton, like you thought she would. She’s waiting to testify against you. You hid your face well, but she remembers that scar. And she remembers everything you said to her.” Jared left the fire and walked toward Carlton. “My sister didn’t live long, but she lived long enough to describe that scar and to let me know what you did to her. And you’re going to swing for it.” His right hand dropped to the revolver in his holster.
An alarm sounded in Silver’s head. “Jared?”
He didn’t turn around.
Louder this time, “Jared.”
This time, he heard her. His hand moved away from the gun as he faced her.
She shook her head and tried to tell him with her eyes that hate and revenge wouldn’t serve their purpose. All they had to do was make it to Denver with their prisoner. Then they could forget Matt Carlton and never think of him again.
The need for revenge had burned hot inside Jared for many years. In the past, those feelings hadn’t disturbed him. He’d nurtured them, even. Hate had kept him going when he was tired or hungry or discouraged, when he remembered his
parents and sister, when he thought about the other victims Matt Carlton had left behind. But something was different now. He was different now. Silver had changed him. She’d made him want a different life, made him believe he could have something better.
Be
something better.
As he’d done all the way to Nevada, Jared pushed the horses and their riders hard. The small party stopped around noon for a quick meal before moving on. The overcast sky grew darker as the day lengthened. He hoped the rain would hold off. The journey was hard enough without being wet through.
As their first full day on the trail neared its end, Jared’s thoughts began to darken like the skies overhead. Doubt replaced hope. Who was he kidding, thinking he might make a life with Silver? Even with a reward for Carlton’s capture, he wouldn’t have anything to offer her. Her parents wouldn’t want her to marry a man like him. He’d thought at one time that finding Carlton would allow him to go home again, but he knew better. Fair Acres belonged to someone else. The gentleman’s son he’d once been was gone too. Forever gone.
He hadn’t told Silver he loved her. She’d never said she loved him. Sometimes her eyes seemed to say it, but maybe that was his own wishful thinking. She’d joined him in this venture because she was desperate to save her family from ruin. She’d joined him because she believed herself to be the cause of those troubles. But once they returned to Colorado,
once she was surrounded by family and friends, she would forget the bounty hunter. As she should.
With luck, they’d be in Denver in four weeks. Just four more weeks. That was all the time he had left with Silver.
A
fter five days on the trail, it all felt familiar to Silver again. Rise early. Eat something unappetizing. Break camp. Ride hard. Make camp. Eat something unappetizing. Tend the horses. Fall into their bedrolls exhausted. Everyone seemed too tired to talk, and the days were filled with silence once again. Sometimes the routine seemed like the only life she’d ever known.
The first quarter moon hung suspended above the eastern horizon as Silver sat on her bedroll. The campfire over which they had prepared their supper had burned low, hot coals turning from red to white. Jared stood just beyond the pale glow of the fire with his back toward her, his stance nonchalant, yet she sensed an underlying current of tension. He was always on alert, always looking for danger. She
might have asked what troubled him, but he’d erected an invisible barrier, keeping her at arm’s length.
How she wished she could go to him, put her arms around him, help shoulder the burden. How she wished she could tell him all that was in her heart.
Loving Jared Newman, she had realized, was the single most important thing she’d done. And she hadn’t done it to please anyone else. She’d spent years trying to conform herself to be what her stepmother expected. Or, failing that, doing her best to be the opposite of what was wanted. But she loved Jared because of the good man he was, the man she could see even when he couldn’t see it himself.
A sound came from behind her. It was Dean, thrashing in his sleep. Another nightmare. He’d started having them the first night on the trail. Traveling so close to the killer of his parents had driven away the fragile peace he’d found at Miss Corinne’s house.
She reached out, placed a hand on the boy’s back, and murmured some comforting words. A short while later, he quieted, but Silver didn’t move away. She remained, still touching him, as she prayed for all of them—Jared and Dean and herself—that they would find a stronger and lasting peace in their hearts when they reached Denver and were rid of their prisoner.
Jared watched Silver as she comforted the restless boy. She was a natural with children, whether she knew it or not. A firm but kind voice. A gentle touch. She would make some lucky kid a good mother.
As if sensing his observance, she turned her head, found him with her eyes, and smiled. Then she rose and came toward him. “I think he’ll sleep peacefully now.”
“We probably should have left him with Corinne Duvall.”
“I’ve wondered the same. But I couldn’t do it. He’s . . . he’s like family to me now.” She placed her fingers on his forearm. “Besides, he needs to see justice done. You must understand that better than anyone.”
“He didn’t see Carlton when his parents died. He can’t testify against him.”
“No, but he remembers the aftermath. He—” Her voice caught and tears welled.
Jared couldn’t help himself. He drew her close, wrapping his arms around her, loving the feel of her cheek against his chest. It didn’t matter that there were dozens of reasons why he wasn’t good enough for Silver. It didn’t matter that he had nothing of value to offer her. Right now, what she needed most was comfort—and that much he could do for her. “You need to get some sleep,” he said softly near her ear.
She drew her head back and looked up at him. “I don’t need sleep as much as I need you to hold me.”
Satisfaction that she’d actually voiced her feelings warred with his reticence to act on them. He sighed. “I’m no good for you, Silver. You know that.”
“You’re wrong about that. You’re so very, very wrong.”
“I’m not much better than he is.” Jared jerked his head toward Matt Carlton, asleep by the tree to which he was chained. “I’ve wanted to kill him with my bare hands. I’ve wanted to watch him die, slowly and painfully.” He released her and took a step back.
“But don’t you see? That’s what makes you different from him and others like him. No matter how badly you want to dole out punishment, no matter how much you desire revenge, you don’t take it. You didn’t kill Carlton and pretend it was justice.”
“I’ve killed other men.”
“Men who were shooting at you first. You saved the life of the sheriff back in Green River. Remember?”
“Silver, it isn’t—”
“I’ve seen the man you really are, Jared.” She framed his face with the palms of her hands. “You are good and tender and caring. With me. With Dean.” She moved one hand down to press flat against his chest. “I’ve seen the love you’ve hidden in your heart. I’ll wait until you see it too.”
Even if all she said was true, even if he was the man she thought him to be, it didn’t change what he’d done or how he’d lived these past six years. It didn’t change that he still had nothing to offer her.
“Don’t wait, Silver. You’ll be wasting your time.”
Before he could forget himself and kiss her, he turned and walked into the darkness.