To Love a Stranger (19 page)

Then a miracle occurred. Pierce saw more than a dozen men riding like demons toward them. The vigilantes were too stunned to do more than watch as the riders converged on them, their guns drawn and at the ready.

Pierce wanted to cheer when he recognized his brothers and the hands from the Delaney spread. But greeting his brothers was the last thing on his mind as he ran on wobbly legs toward the fringe of bushes. Moments before he reached the spot where Reed and Zoey had disappeared, Reed came staggering out, holding his crotch and limping.

He saw Pierce’s brothers and cursed. “What the hell is this all about?”

“Looks like we interrupted a lynching,” Ryan said tersely.

“We’re the law in these parts,” Reed charged.

“The judge will have something to say about that,” Chad growled.

“For God’s sake, untie me!” Pierce ordered
harshly. “I don’t know what Reed did to Zoey. She could be hurt or …”

Chad freed Pierce with a slash of his knife. But before Pierce took two steps, Zoey crawled out from the bushes. Pierce raced to her, scooping her up into his arms and cradling her against him.

“Did he hurt you? I’ll kill the bastard.”

Zoey shook her head, unable to utter a word. She was still shaken over her close call. She’d been naive to think she could stop these ruthless men on her own, but Pierce’s life was worth the risk to her.

“I didn’t touch her, Delaney,” Reed said. “Even if I had, you couldn’t do a damn thing about it. You’re still not off the hook. Just because your brothers stopped a lynching doesn’t mean you’ll live through this. Old Judge Walters will have something to say about that.”

A friend of Hal Doolittle’s stepped forward, thrusting his face into Pierce’s. “You bedded my friend’s sister, got her with child, and then tried to beat her to death. You’re gonna pay, Delaney.”

Reed knew a lynching was out of the question now. He’d have to bring Pierce back to town and keep him under lock and key until the judge came through. Anything could happen in town, Reed thought slyly. The townspeople were riled up enough to storm the jail and lynch Delaney on their own. And he’d be helpless to stop it. On the other hand, Hal Doolittle might insist that Delaney marry his sister and cheat the hangman. A damn pity.

Chad stared at Pierce, puzzled by what he’d just seen. It wasn’t like Pierce to express so much concern for a woman. He acted as if he truly cared
about her. “What happened?” he asked, bursting with curiosity. “Who’s the woman?”

“Put me down, Pierce, I can stand on my own.”

Reluctantly Pierce placed Zoey on her feet. She held on to him for a moment while composing herself to meet Pierce’s brothers. Ryan came up to join them.

“Chad, Ryan,” Pierce said solemnly, “this is my wife, Zoey. Zoey, these are my two younger brothers, Chad and Ryan.”

Zoey held out her hand. “Pierce has spoken often of you both. Thank God you arrived when you did. Another few moments and …” She shuddered delicately. “I think you get the picture.”

“Your wife!” Chad and Ryan exclaimed together. Finally remembering his manners, Chad shook Zoey’s hand, then released it to Ryan. “When … how … why …” Chad was clearly stunned.

“It’s a long story,” Pierce said.

“Married? You’re married?” This from Reed, who appeared as dumbfounded as Chad and Ryan. “Cora Lee and Hal ain’t gonna like this. Cora Lee has her heart set on marrying into the Delaney family. Hal is already planning on asking for a loan once you and Cora Lee get hitched.” He shook his head. “The townspeople ain’t gonna be happy about this. You should have let us hang him now and get it over with.”

“No one is going to hang my brother,” Chad announced with authority. “The judge will determine what must be done, if anything. After evidence is presented, there isn’t a judge alive who will find him guilty.” He didn’t for a minute believe that, but he wisely kept his reservations to himself.
“Let’s go. We’ll be right behind you. Nothing is going to happen to my brother while we’re here to prevent it.”

Ryan nudged Pierce and gestured toward Zoey. “What about her?”

“Zoey is returning to the Circle F,” Pierce said in a tone that brooked no argument.

“I’m not!” Her chin jutted out belligerently. “I’ve come this far, I’m going all the way.”

“There’s nothing more you can do here,” Pierce persisted. “What about your ranch? You’re needed there.”

“I hired the Culpepper boy to look after things until Cully and the boys return.”

“I’d prefer that you returned home where you belong. You risked your life to follow me. Do you realize what almost happened to you? Reed and his men would have raped you and thought nothing of it. There’s no real law to stop them from doing what they want.”

Chad listened to the exchange between Pierce and his wife and didn’t know what to make of it. The very idea that Pierce had a wife was mind-boggling. He couldn’t wait to hear how a man dead set against marriage had gotten himself hitched.

“Don’t worry about Zoey, Pierce. If she wants to come to Dry Gulch, Ryan and I will see that no harm comes to her.”

“Thanks,” Pierce said dryly. How could he dissuade Zoey from following him to Dry Gulch when his brothers were so damn accommodating?

“It’s settled then,” Zoey said smugly. “You’re not going to get rid of me yet, Pierce Delaney, not until this mess is over and done with and your
name is cleared. I can help your brothers find the man responsible for Cora Lee’s predicament.”

Pierce glared at her, suddenly recalling Willoughby’s words. “Why are you so set on seeing me free when you’re the one who told Willoughby about me?”

Zoey’s expression registered shock. “You can’t really believe that!”

Pierce knew Zoey couldn’t be responsible for his capture, not after the way she had risked her life to save his, but he wanted her to return home where she’d be safe. He had no intention of dragging her down with him.

Reed approached Pierce with a rope, clearly intending to tie his hands before heading out. “No need for that, Reed, I’m not going anywhere,” Pierce said. “I’m as anxious as you are to find the man responsible for Cora Lee’s problems.”

“We already got that man,” Reed sneered. But he left Pierce’s hands free. With the Delaney brothers and their ranch hands forming a protective circle around Pierce, he had no choice but to relent.

Zoey pondered long and hard on Pierce’s cruel words as she rode beside him. She had no idea why he thought she’d betrayed him. Did he really think her capable of such duplicity after making love with him? It was true they had bantered about it one day, but she had been jesting. His accusation had hurt her dreadfully, but she tried to ignore the pain. Pierce was under great stress. He’d been so close to being lynched that just thinking about it made her tremble.

“Are you all right, Zoey?” Chad asked, riding up beside her.

“I’m fine, Chad. It’s your obstinate brother I’m worried about.”

Chad chuckled. “Pierce
is
a mite hardheaded.” He pinned Zoey with a hard look. “I’m damn curious about why and how your marriage came about. Pierce isn’t … That is …”

“I prefer to let Pierce do the explaining.” Zoey knew it would sound less condemning coming from her, but she wanted the Delaney brothers to hear his version no matter how harshly he dealt with her in the telling.

They camped that night in a clearing. Jerky and hardtack were produced, and Zoey gnawed on hers, not really tasting it. Pierce wasn’t allowed to visit with his brothers or Zoey, and Reed set a guard on him to make sure he didn’t try to escape during the night. Surrounded by Delaney men, Zoey rolled up in her blanket and tried to sleep.

She closed her eyes, but the image of Pierce making love to her, sharing the most intimate of acts, floated behind her eyelids. He had loved her with such consummate tenderness, she found it difficult to believe his caring hadn’t been genuine. Yet it hadn’t. Even as he kissed and caressed, his mind rejected her. Even as he spent his seed inside her, he abhorred their marriage. And knowing all that, she had recklessly fallen in love with him.

They left their campsite at dawn the following morning. Zoey felt as bad as she looked. She hadn’t slept well last night and wondered if Pierce was as miserable as she. She glanced over at him, but he refused to meet her gaze. She knew he was angry at her for refusing to return to the Circle F, but she
didn’t care. At least he was alive. If she hadn’t arrived when she did, Pierce would have been lynched for sure. His brothers hadn’t come until much later. By then it would have been too late to save him.

Pierce wanted to look at Zoey but didn’t dare. He had no idea how all this would end, and didn’t want Zoey to witness his hanging. Pierce knew if Riley Reed had his way, he wouldn’t live to face the judge. Furthermore, old Judge Walters was known throughout the area as the hanging judge. What chance did he have? Pierce wondered. Had he not already been married, he could have gotten himself out of this mess by marrying Cora Lee. Hal Doolittle would have liked that.

Marrying Cora Lee was no longer an option, not that he would have married her under any circumstances. Pierce could see Hal Doolittle’s fine hand in all this. Hal was in desperate need of money, and Pierce was handy. Dimly he wondered who had gotten Cora Lee with child. If he knew that, everything else would fall into place.

The combined group of vigilantes and Delaney men rode into Dry Gulch at high noon. People came out of stores and houses to watch. By the time the group reached the small shed that served as a jailhouse, a large crowd had gathered. Among them was Hal Doolittle. He swaggered up to Pierce, blowing his drunken breath in Pierce’s face, shouting, “You made my sister your whore, Delaney! It’s time you accepted responsibility and married Cora Lee.”

“You’ve got the wrong man, Doolittle,” Pierce argued.

Hal’s eyes narrowed. “If you don’t own up and do the right thing by my sister, we’re gonna have a lynching.”

“Shut up, Hal,” Riley Reed warned. “I got some bad news for ya.”

Hal gave Reed a surly look. “What are you talking about?”

“Pierce Delaney is already married.” He pointed to Zoey. “That little lady is his wife.”

Hal’s face reddened with fury. When Cora Lee turned up pregnant, he’d been furious. Then he’d hatched a plan he felt certain would work. Cora Lee would have a husband and he’d have unlimited use of Delaney funds. He didn’t like having his plans thwarted.

The Delaneys would pay for this, and pay big.

Z
oey yearned for a private word with Pierce before Riley Reed locked him in the airless little shed that served as a jailhouse. But things moved fast after Hal Doolittle learned that Pierce was already married. Cora Lee’s scheming brother was livid with rage, directed at both Pierce and Zoey. Then the crowd got ugly and Chad and Ryan tossed her into her saddle and led her away from the chaos Doolittle was creating. She was still in shock when she reached the Delaney ranch.

Zoey had no idea feelings would turn violent against Pierce. What had the Delaney boys done in their wild youth to alienate themselves from so many people? she wondered. Returning to Dry Gulch as a married man hadn’t helped Pierce’s cause any. Hal Doolittle had worked the townspeople into a wild frenzy. Had Pierce returned to Dry Gulch, meekly admitted impregnating Cora Lee, and married her, in time he would have been forgiven. But Pierce had committed the unforgivable, and the general consensus was to lynch him.

Zoey was grateful to Chad and Ryan for organizing
the Delaney hands to provide around-the-clock protection for Pierce. It seemed the only way to prevent an illegal hanging before the judge came through town on his regular circuit. With so much to worry about, Zoey’s sleep that night was sporodic and fitful.

Zoey wandered into the kitchen the next morning and helped herself to a cup of coffee, carrying it to the table where she could continue her silent musings while she drank.

Chad walked into the kitchen, saw Zoey, and asked, “What do you think of the ranch?”

Zoey had been too exhausted the day of her arrival to do more than eat the excellent dinner the Delaney cook had prepared and go to bed. This morning she’d had time to really look at Pierce’s home. In some ways it was grander than the Circle F and in other ways it couldn’t compare.

“It’s impressive,” Zoey admitted, gazing out the window at the snow-topped mountain peaks rising in the distance. “Your house is bigger than mine but missing a woman’s touch.”

“We have a housekeeper who comes in daily, but the only woman who’s lived here since our mother left was Pierce’s first wife, and she didn’t last three months. This has been an entirely male household for as long as I can remember.”

Fearing she had resurrected painful memories, Zoey said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply …”

“Don’t apologize,” Chad said harshly. “My brothers and I don’t need pity. I’d rather hear how you and Pierce came to be married. I know my brother, Zoey, and he isn’t the marrying kind.”

“I meant it when I said I’d prefer to have Pierce tell you.”

“Since he’s not able to do so at this time, I’d like to hear it from you.”

“What’s going on?” Ryan entered the room through the back door, saw Chad and Zoey sitting at the table, and wandered over to them.

“Sit down,” Chad invited. “Zoey was just about to tell me how she convinced Pierce to marry her.”

“That ought to be some tale worth hearing,” Ryan said, pulling out a chair with his booted foot and dropping down into it.

Zoey studied the brothers from beneath hooded lids. Both were handsome, well-built men. A little hard around the edges, but beneath their crusty veneer she detected a layer of caring. She predicted that one day these special men would find women worthy of their love. Right now she couldn’t blame them for being concerned about their brother’s hasty marriage.

Ryan pierced Zoey with a calculated look. “Go ahead, Zoey, tell us how you coerced Pierce into marrying you.”

Zoey stared into Ryan’s green eyes, so like Pierce’s it was uncanny. The bold slash of his eyebrows above those distinctive eyes was lowered now into a scowl. The hard planes of his face were stark against the taut white lines of his mouth. His hair was a shiny brown, not quite as black as Pierce’s but dark enough to enhance his tanned features and give him a certain dangerous appeal.