The Outlaw Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides) (32 page)

She took a deep breath, went to the basin, poured some water into the bowl, rinsed her face, and dried it on a towel that lay nearby. The sooner she left the ranch and all the memories and reminders of Tanner, the better she’d feel. She couldn’t look at Travis and Tucker without thinking of Tanner.

Quickly, before she lost her resolve, she finished packing the rest of her clothes into her trunk and valise. With a last glance she checked the room and then picked up her bag and walked out the door.

She squared her shoulders, tilted her chin up, and made her way down the stairs. She could survive without her mail-order husband, Tucker, but Tanner, whom she’d given her heart to, would be harder to get over.

As her foot touched the bottom of the stairs, she glanced up to see almost the entire clan waiting for her and felt her heart rise up in her throat. Only Rose was missing, and she was ill.

“Tucker, would you please take me to town? My things are all packed, and I just need my trunk loaded,” she said, a determined note in her voice.

Travis cleared his throat. “I’ll bring it down for you.”

He went up the stairs and disappeared into the bedroom.

Eugenia stepped forward and took both of Beth’s hands in her own. “I’m so sorry, Beth. I was wrong to write those letters and sign my son’s name to them. I love my children so much, and sometimes I do things I shouldn’t trying to help them.”

Beth felt the tears well up inside, but she bit her lip, trying hard to keep them at bay. Eugenia’s apology, while heartfelt, was premature; Beth was far too angry about the wrong that had been done her.

Eugenia squeezed her hands as if to try to reach her, and it was all Beth could do to keep from yanking her hands away.

“Please, Beth, stay here with us. Don’t go. You can stay here as long as you need.”

Beth shook her head. “I can’t. I need to put this all behind me.” She needed a fresh start, without the memories and the pain.

“You’re too upset right now. Stay here and take some time before you make any hasty decisions,” Eugenia pleaded. “I promise no one will try to influence you in any way. Just stay for a while longer.”

“No. I can’t stay here and watch for—I’ve got to go, now,” Beth whispered knowing she had to get away or break down and start crying again. She released Eugenia’s hands.

Just then, Travis came back down the stairs carrying her trunk in his hands. “I told Rose I was going to go with you, Tucker.”

“Okay,” he said looking at Beth. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

She took a step toward the door. “Yes, let’s go.”

He cleared his throat and then grabbed his hat off the rack on the inside of the door. “ ’Bye, Mother.”

Eugenia sighed. “You’re always welcome here, Beth.”

“Good-bye,” she said hurrying before she started to cry again. She stepped through the door, wishing somehow she could leave behind her broken heart.

The two men helped her onto the wagon and then piled in beside her on its seat, tying Tucker’s horse to the back of the wagon. Travis would bring the rig home later that day.

With a flick of the reins, Tucker had the wagon rolling out of the yard of the large white ranch house, through the open gate, and down the lane that led to the road to town.

Beth glanced back behind her, taking one long, last look at the place she’d hoped to call home, where she thought she had found the family she wished could replace her lost one, when she’d realized how much she loved the thief.

She swallowed the tears that threatened to fall once more and glanced ahead. Once again, she’d taken the wrong road in search of her dreams. Once again, she was on the road to a new life, but this time she wasn’t going to search for a man to take care of her. She wasn’t going to look for a family to replace her own.

She was going to find a job, make her own home, her own life. She would take care of herself and not entrust her destiny to someone else.

The wagon bounced along, the silence tense as they sat rigid on the seat, bouncing on the wooden bench.

Tucker leaned forward and asked his brother, “What time do you think Tanner left this morning?”

Travis glanced at Beth. “I don’t know. What time do you think he left, Beth?”

“Before dawn. I went to his room early, and he had already left,” she said, her voice sounding dull even to her own ears.

Tucker frowned, the look on his face questioning. “Why did you go to his room?”

She shrugged, knowing that Travis wondered why she was in Tanner’s room this morning, unwilling to tell him why. “I went to his room early this morning to talk, and like you said, his things were all gone.”

No one said anything for a few moments as the horses clopped along on the rough road. Travis was staring at Beth as if he were trying to understand. “There’s more to this, isn’t there, Beth?”

A warm early-morning breeze teased wisps of hair around her face. She brushed back her auburn locks. The day would be a hot one before noon.

“You were crying when I found you,” Travis said softly.

Beth glanced at the man who looked like Tanner and felt her heart almost break. She was reluctant to talk about this with them. She didn’t want them to interfere in Tanner’s decision, but she could not deny that she loved him.

“I... I went because I had to tell Tanner that I could not marry Tucker. I could not deny my love for Tanner anymore, and I didn’t think it was fair to Tucker.” She sighed. “But he was already gone.”

She watched the two men exchange glances, but she didn’t care. It was out in the open: She loved Tanner, and she didn’t care who knew the reasons for her tears.

“Why did he leave?” Tucker asked.

“He doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of me. That’s all I know. When you find him, you ask him why he left. But me, I’ll be gone.”

“Stay in town for a couple of days, Beth. Let us try to find him before you leave. What if he loves you?” Travis said. “The Burnett men are a pretty stubborn bunch when it comes to saying those three little words.”

“No. I’ve got to go; he doesn’t love me or he would never have left without saying good-bye. He wouldn’t have left me behind.”

Tucker glanced at her quickly before returning his attention to the team of horses. “Did he mention anyplace he was going, where he’d been? Can you think of anything that would help us to find him if he’s not still in town.”

Beth shook her head; she knew more, but nothing that could help them find Tanner, that would help them get back the brother they were missing, the lover who had left her behind.

They were on the edge of town. Soon it would be time for them to part company. They would take her to the stage office, where she could catch the next coach out of town. She would leave the Burnetts and their problems here in Fort Worth and try to get her own life in some kind of order.

“So what are we going to do, Travis?” Tucker asked his older brother.

“After we find out when the next stage leaves and get Beth settled, you go check in at your office. I’m going to locate the doctor and see about him going out to the ranch. Tanner is a grown man. Something’s been bothering him since he came back, and he’s just not ready to talk about it yet. I hope that wherever he’s gone, he’ll come back when he’s ready.”

“You’re right. But it’s damn selfish that he couldn’t at least say good-bye. If he’s decided to take off again, that’s fine. But he could have the decency to tell us he’s leaving.”

“Tanner knows where we’re at. If he wants to be with us, he’ll come home,” Travis said.

Beth sat in silence thinking of Tanner, her heart fractured and hurting, knowing the exact issue he was dealing with. The death of his best friend, and his father and the fact that the law wanted him were enough to send most people to the loony bin. No wonder he’d run, but still it hurt. Tucker was right in asking why he couldn’t say goodbye? Why couldn’t he have told her he had to go, asked her to wait for him, told her he loved her?

Because he didn’t love her or he wouldn’t have left her.

She bit the inside of her lip. God it hurt so much, but she loved him, had wanted him enough to risk it all.

They turned onto Main Street, traveling past the brothels, the saloons, and the shops. The wagon rolled down the street, passing horses tethered outside busy shops. It was another typical day in the frontier town, and Beth was oblivious to her surroundings.

She knew her time was just about up. The dream was rapidly coming to a close, and she was going to leave behind the very people who could have the most contact with Tanner. God how his very name made her want to cry.

They pulled up in front of the El Paso Hotel, and Travis jumped from the wagon. “I’ll go check on the next stage.”

Beth twisted the strings of her reticule in her hands.

Tension gripped her, and she told herself to hold on just a little longer.

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out, Beth. I hope you don’t hate me for going along with my mother’s deception,” Tucker said looking at her as if she were a fragile piece of china that would splinter at the slightest bump.

“No. I don’t hate you. In fact, I’m grateful you didn’t marry me out of obligation. You’re a nice man, Tucker; you just weren’t meant for me,” she said her eyes swimming with tears once again. But they were tears for Tanner not Tucker.

“So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I just want to get out of this city as quickly as possible. After that, I’m not sure.”

“Stay in town a few days. Don’t rush off without thinking this through.”

“I can’t. I need to get out of town as soon as possible,” she said.

Travis walked back up to the wagon, interrupting their conversation. “Stage has already left for today, and the next one won’t be until Saturday.”

“But that’s almost a week away. Is there nothing else?” Beth asked, her voice anxious. God, she felt so desperate to get out of this town, away from the Burnetts.

“Not until Saturday,” Travis replied.

“We’ll get you settled into the El Paso until then,” Tucker said, setting the brake on the wagon and climbing down.

“But that hotel seems so expensive. Isn’t there something cheaper?” Beth asked, thinking of the scarce amount of cash she had left.

Tucker smiled. “Not that I’m going to let you stay in. This stay is on my mother; after all, she owes you.”

Travis spoke up. “We insist. Then, on Saturday, you can catch the stage and save your money for when you get to your new home.”

Beth glanced at the two brothers. “I don’t want your mother’s money.”

“We know. But we insist,” Travis said. “Believe me, you are not the first person to experience my mother’s matchmaking.”

***

Tucker went to the jail after he’d checked Beth into the hotel, while Travis searched out the doctor for Rose. So far, between the scene with Beth this morning and then bringing her into town to catch the stage, it had been a hell of a day. He’d hated telling her the truth, that he hadn’t wanted to marry her.

He sat behind his desk, going over some paperwork, checking to see what had happened while he’d been out at the ranch, wondering where his brother had gone. What had caused Tanner to leave this time?

“Marshal, there’s someone here to see you,” the deputy said, interrupting his thoughts.

Tucker glanced up from his paperwork and saw a man who looked somewhat familiar.

He stood, and the man grasped his hand. “Marshal Tucker Burnett?”

“Yes.”

“My name is Federal Marshal McCoy.”

“Have a seat. What brings you to Fort Worth?”

“Your brother Tanner.”

Tucker stared at the man, his heart plunging to his feet. “What about my brother?”

Tucker eased back down into his chair, his mind rapidly contemplating all of the possibilities as to what this man wanted with Tanner, none of them good.

“I spoke with your brother this morning. Until then I didn’t know anything about you or I would have come to see you sooner.”

“You spoke with Tanner this morning?”

“Yes, right before he left town.”

Tucker nodded. “Where did he go?”

“That’s why I’ve come to see you. I think he needs your help.”

Tucker gazed at the man. “What makes you think Tanner needs my help?”

The man stared at Tucker oddly. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what? My brother just came back after being missing for ten years. We thought he was dead, and then, several weeks ago, I saw him at the El Paso Hotel with Beth Anderson.”

“Yes, Miss Anderson.”

“That was the first time we’d seen Tanner in ten years. We thought he was dead.”

“Tanner has spent the years since the end of the war robbing banks.” The man paused, letting Tucker absorb the shock.

“Tanner Burnett? Why didn’t I hear about it? I would have known who he was,” Tucker said, disbelief evident in his tone. “I would have seen his Wanted picture.”

“Ever heard the name Jackson Carter?”

“Yeah, he’s the bandit who only stole from Yankee owned banks,” Tucker said. “Are you saying that my brother Tanner has been the famed Dixie Bank Robber, known for robbing Yankee banks?”