The Outlaw and the Lady (25 page)

Alejandro shook his head. “There are other trees.”

Eduardo’s face registered disappointment. He was only fifteen, as old as Damon had been when he’d decided to become Lee Raven. He clapped his youngest brother on the back. “Eduardo, I think that
is
a magnificent plan.”

D
amon was ready for the celebration to end.
Damon Montgomery.
He didn’t know if he’d ever get used to the name or learn to respond to it. Both his families were with him in the small ballroom of the hotel.

Celebrating his unconditional pardon.

He had read stories of Kit Montgomery. Angela had told him Montgomery was influential.

Still, he’d had a difficult time breathing as, just that afternoon, he stood in the telegraph office and listened while the man behind the counter tapped out the steady staccato rhythm. Captain Christian Montgomery’s request to the governor that an unconditional pardon be granted to Damon Montgomery, alias Damon Rodriguez, alias Lee Raven.

“We’ll wait for a response,” his father had told the clerk.

Damon had stood by the window, gazing out, wondering what he would do with the rest of his life, if he had one. When the tapping began less than an hour later, he’d closed his eyes and prepared himself to accept disappointment with honor. He thought only a refusal of the request could come that quickly. The tapping had stopped almost as soon as it had begun. He’d faced his father.

His father smiled broadly. “Granted.”

Damon had stared at him. “That’s it. That’s all he had to say.”

“It’s all he needed to say.”

“So it is over.”

“For Lee Raven, yes. For Damon Montgomery, I hope it’s just beginning.”

So they’d come to the hotel where everyone had taken rooms, and everyone was waiting. Amid a round of cheers, toasts, and jubilation, Damon Montgomery was once again officially born.

His mother had wept as she held him close to her. Even his new sister, Mercy, whom he had just met, had cried. She strongly resembled her mother in both appearance and temperament.

Angela seldom left his side, but she was quiet and pensive, and he wondered if it was difficult for her to feel comfortable where there was so much noise. As much as he wanted to spend time with his family, he wanted to be alone with Angela.

Damon’s gaze swept over the room. Juanita sat in a large stuffed chair in a distant corner, away
from everyone, curled around Miguel, who sat on her lap asleep. She had explained to Damon that she wanted to be Miguel’s mother, not his sister, to know the joy of motherhood. He had been with her when she’d tried to explain the truth to Miguel. The boy had accepted her words, but Damon didn’t think the child truly understood all the implications. He was too young, too innocent, which was no doubt for the best.

But what would happen when he grew older and wanted to know of his father? What would she tell him then? And how would he feel when he learned his uncle had killed the man responsible for his existence?

Damon narrowed his eyes as he spotted Spence on the other side of the room—watching Juanita. He didn’t like the speculative expression on his brother’s face. He brought Angela’s fingers to his lips and kissed them lightly. “Excuse me for a moment.”

In long strides, he crossed the room to Spence. “Stop looking at Juanita like that.”

Spence jerked back as though he’d been asleep and suddenly awakened. “Like what? Like I find her intriguing? Like I think she’s beautiful?”

“Like you want to bed her.”

Spence’s face burned beet red. “Are you always so blunt?”

“She has no interest in men.”

“Yes, I can see that.”

“She has had a hard life.”

“Yes, I can well imagine that having you for a brother was a constant torment.”

“That is not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant. You and I are not that different,” Spence said quietly. “The veneer of civilization is quickly and easily stripped away when someone we love is threatened. On the off chance that you’re not as smart as you appear, I think you should be aware that Father never would have let Shelby hang you. He might have gone along with your part of the plan that allowed us to exchange you for Angela so we could get her out of harm’s way, but that noose never would have gone around your neck.”

“He might have had no choice.”

“No offense intended, but Father possesses wisdom and experience that you and I have yet to attain. That you were willing to die so readily impressed even me. But I assure you it never would have come to that.” A corner of his mouth quirked up. “By the way, congratulations on the pardon.”

“Even if it means you are forced to give up your inheritance?”

Spence shrugged as though shooing away a pesky fly. “It was mine by default. You were born to it. It’s the English way. I have no quarrel with that. Ravenleigh. Lee Raven. Who would have thought?”

With a simple turn of his head, Spence dismissed him and returned to studying Juanita. “Introduce me to her.”

“You haven’t met her?”

“Not officially, no. Besides, you owe me.”

“Oh,
sí
, for the book.
Gracias
.”

“Not for the book. Once the excitement died down a bit, I rode to the county courthouse to check on deeds. I located the original land grant. No doubt about it. It’s Rodriguez land.”

Relief swamped Lee. Everything was finally falling into place. “I do owe you.”

“Then introduce me to your sister.”

For a full minute he debated the wisdom of the request. Juanita seemed so isolated, withdrawn. “I will probably regret this.”

He crossed the room with Spence dogging his heels like a puppy who anticipated being tossed a bone. Juanita looked up and smiled shyly as he approached. She shifted in the chair and Miguel awakened. He smiled brightly. “Lee!”

Damon knelt in front of Juanita. “Uncle Damon, remember?”

“Oh,
sí
. I forgot.”

He ruffled the boy’s hair. “We will probably all forget for a while.”

Juanita’s eyes widened with alarm when Spence knelt beside Damon. Damon was more convinced than ever that this idea was a bad one. Spence poked him in the ribs with his elbow.

“Juanita, this is my new brother, Spence.” He had expected Spence to do something stupid like try to take Juanita’s hand. Instead, Spence just smiled warmly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said with sincerity. “Who is this handsome lad?”

Juanita shifted her gaze to Damon, then to
Miguel, and finally to Spence. “He…he is…my son.”

“What a fortunate lad, to have such a lovely mother. What is that behind your ear, Miguel? Dirt?” Spence slipped his hand behind Miguel’s head and brought it forward holding a coin.

“A peso!” Miguel laughed and slapped his hand over his ear.

“What a funny place to keep your money,” Spence said as he handed Miguel the coin. “Best to keep it in your pocket, I think.”

“Do you know another trick?” Miguel asked.

“I know many tricks. If your mother will allow you to come with me, I’ll show you how to make cookies disappear.”

“Can I?” Miguel asked Juanita. “Can I go with him?”

Juanita looked at Damon and he gave her a quick nod of assurance.

“
Sí
,” Juanita said quietly. “You can go.”

Miguel scrambled off her lap and slipped his hand into Spence’s as he stood. Spence winked at Juanita. “I won’t keep him long.”

Damon watched them walk toward the table laden with refreshments.

“He seems nice,” Juanita said softly.

“I think he is a good man.” He took her hand. “Do not be so afraid, Juanita. Most men are not like Floyd Shelby.”

She nodded. “I know. It is just hard sometimes to remember that.” She gave him a tiny smile. “You are going away.”

“Not for a while yet. But even when I go away, I’ll never stop being your brother.”

Damon Montgomery, with the woman he loved at his side, stepped onto the boardwalk outside the hotel.

He heard a movement and turned. Standing in a corner, Christine smiled at him. “It’s been a long journey, Damon.”

“
Sí
. We are celebrating inside. You should join us.”

“I think I will.”

“I can’t thank you enough for telling Kit everything,” Angela said softly.

“We should have gone to the authorities long ago, but since the sheriff is one of my father’s lapdogs, everything seemed hopeless. We assumed the murder of Ramon and his parents would go unavenged. We were so young.”

“What will you do now?” Angela asked.

“I have a small home near one of the schools. I’ll probably teach.” Reaching out, she touched Damon’s cheek. “I brought someone I’d like you to meet.”

Tightening his hold on Angela’s hand, Damon nodded. He followed Christine to the end of the boardwalk where a buggy was parked. “Between the buildings, a little boy is tossing a ball to a young woman,” Damon explained to Angela.

“Mary is his governess,” Christine said.

“What does he look like?” Angela asked.

“Black hair and dark brown eyes,” Damon said. “He is my brother’s son.”

“Raymond,” Christine called out.

Damon watched with an ache in his chest as the boy smiled and ran to his mother.

“Raymond, I want you to meet Mr. Montgomery.”

“Howdy.” The boy beamed up at him.

Damon crouched, aware of his knees popping and his heart bursting. “You can call me Uncle Damon.”

“Are you my uncle?”

“
Sí
. You have many more uncles, and we all have many stories to tell you about your father.”

“Mama says he was a good man.”

“He was the best of us,” Damon acknowledged quietly.

Damon stood on the boardwalk outside the hotel, staring at the moon. The celebration had finally ended, with everyone retiring to his or her room. He knew he should go to bed as well, but he’d needed a few moments of solitude to sort through events, to contemplate the serpentine path he’d traveled to arrive at his present destination.

He could only remember fragments of his life before he’d been abducted. He’d been happy. The events that had led him to the Rodriguez family were vague. He didn’t dwell on them because he was convinced they were better forgotten. He preferred to acknowledge that he’d been fortunate to know the love of two good families.

He spotted a silhouette wandering through the darkness, a familiar shadow. His father ap
proached, stepped onto the boardwalk, leaned against the railing, and looked at the moon. “Couldn’t sleep,” he said simply.

“Neither could I,” Damon admitted.

“I like the Rodriguez family,” he said.

“They are good people, but I have been searching the recesses of my mind for long-ago memories, memories before I became Damon Rodriguez, and I can find so little,” he said quietly.

“You were a good boy, a joy to me and your mother. And you are again. Your life will change considerably when you inherit Ravenleigh.”

Ravenleigh. How had the name become so jumbled in his child’s mind?

“My life has changed before. I can adjust. I have much to learn before I will be ready to become the earl, however.”

“We have lots of time to teach you. I think your mother is rather looking forward to having you here for a while. Well, I’d best be off to bed. She doesn’t go to sleep until I turn in, and she needs her rest.” He moved toward the door.

“Father?”

His father stilled, and Damon felt the expectancy shimmering on the air between them. From the moment he’d realized who Montgomery thought he was, Damon had avoided addressing him, had failed to recognize his place in Damon’s life. “I remember a silver star…”

“I cut it from the bottom of a tin can. Not an uncommon practice among law enforcement officials who needed a symbol of their authority. I believe you wanted to be a sheriff.”

“I wanted to be like you.”

He heard his father swallow hard. “It’s better to be your own man. I think you’ve succeeded at that.”

“When I was boy and you had to leave, I was afraid that you wouldn’t come back,” he rasped.

“I always came back, didn’t I?”

“Do you remember what you’d do when you returned?”

His father’s arms were suddenly around him, and Damon clung to him as he had when he was a child and his father had returned home after being gone so long. “I love you, Damon.”

“I love you more.” He spoke the refrain he had repeated so often in his childhood.

He felt a tremor ripple through his father. “Dear God, but it’s good to have you back, Damon.”

He was lost, so lost, stumbling in the darkness, searching for home…warmth, security, love…but they remained beyond reach. Perhaps he didn’t deserve them.

Shaking, cold…blood, too damned much blood. Screams, cries…tears. An explosion. The loss of all his dreams.

He swirled through the haze until he saw them, waiting for him, arms outstretched, eager to welcome him home. But he couldn’t go home, not now—not after what he had become.

Then she was there. His angel, holding out her hand, beckoning him forward. He slid his hand into hers.

Damon awoke with a start. Something was
wrong. He wasn’t bathed in sweat. He wasn’t breathing harshly. He touched his cheeks. No tears. Yet he was sad.

He scrambled out of bed, snatched his britches from a nearby chair, and put them on. He crossed the room and walked into the hallway. It was quiet, so quiet.

He crept down the corridor to the room where Angela slept. Gingerly, he turned the knob, grateful it was unlocked. Tiptoeing into the room, he closed the door behind him. Like a shadow, he glided to the bed.

Angela lay on her back, her hair fanned out across the pillow, the moonlight dancing over her face. He’d almost lost her. First because of his pride, then because of his past. But she was his future. He knew that as surely as he knew his name.

He unfastened his britches, shucked them off, slid beneath the sheets, and drew her against his body. She sighed and burrowed into him. He rained kisses over her face. A thousand little kisses, then larger kisses until he wanted more. With his tongue, he tasted her. So sweet.

“Damon?” she asked groggily.

“
Sí
.”

Moaning low, she undulated her hips against his. Passion ignited within him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

If she didn’t know, then he needed to work harder at being a lover. He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her slowly, gently, as though she’d been spun from moonbeams, delicate and fragile.