Bushedwhacked Groom (8 page)

That was when she noticed him, stopped singing
and sashayed over to the window, pertly tipping her
face toward him. “Well, hey there, Handsome. Quite a
rest you had. How ya feelin’?”

Lucky scowled, clutching the quilt tightly about
him. “Don’t you go trying to sweet-talk me.”

She chuckled. “But you look mighty fetching with
those bedclothes wrapped around you.”

Lucky was hardly immune to the vixen’s teasing, a
fact that was confirmed by a second rush of heat to his
privates. “Well, take a good look, lady. It’s all you’ll be
getting.”

She pouted. “Would it be so horrible to marry me,
cowboy?”

“By God, if you don’t have a one-track mind.”

“Well, would it?” she wheedled.

“Anything short of leaving the state you’re in would
be torture.”

She tossed her curls. “Well, I know better. I saw you staring at me just now—and earlier.”

“Yeah,” he sneered, “I’m not a man to turn my back
on my enemies.”

She chuckled, wagging a finger at him. “That’s not
the look I caught you giving me. That look was hot and naughty, like you were aiming to—”

“Strangle you?” he provided pleasantly.

“Well,
something
physical,” she teased back.

He glared.

“Cowboy, why are you so ornery?”

“No reason I can think of,” he shot back. “Certainly
not having every bone in my body near busted when I was hurled into a canyon, then being kidnapped off to live with a bunch of lunatics who think the Old West
has risen again.”

She appeared perplexed. “Just what are you saying?”

He muttered to the heavens. “I’m saying you’re delu
sional, lady. I’m saying I’m not going to let you use me.
I’m not gonna let you marry me just so you can win some
crazy contest with your brothers.”

“But if you don’t hitch up with me, what else can
you do?” she cajoled. “Seems to me you blew in here
just like tumbleweed, and now you’re stuck. You got
no horse, no roof over your head, not even a pot to
piss in—”

“Lady, I don’t need you to rescue me.”

“All right, then, simmer down.” Expression turning coy, she tried a different tack. “I ain’t saying you got no
grit, seein’s how you did survive that stagecoach
crash—”

“No shit.”

“So why don’t you tell me a little about where you
came from.”

“Like what?” He eyed her narrowly.

Her expression grew rapt. “Well, you came from the future, just like my ma, didn’t you?”

He waved a hand. “Please don’t start up with that
nonsense again.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? Why don’t you just admit it?” Fer
vently, she continued, “All my life my ma’s told me her
stories about the future—the zooming automobiles,
buildings hitting the sky, rockets flying to the moon. Now we’re seeing it all happening with the Wright
brothers’ flight, those shiny horseless carriages and the
newfangled skyscrapers they’re building in
Chicago
and
New York
. Heck, last fall we saw a genuine air
plane fly over the ranch—some French fella, it made
all the papers—and Pa took us all to see the new nick
elodeon in
Colorado Springs
. Why, we even know what
germs are now, thanks to Louis Pasteur—”

As she spoke Lucky’s jaw slowly dropped open. “My
God, are you totally out of your mind? Just what year
do you think we’re living in, anyway?”

“Like I told you, it’s 1911.”

“And I’m Zane Grey,” he ranted. “The Wright brothers
and Louis Pasteur—give me a break.”

She waved him off. “Cool down, stranger, before you
give yourself apoplexy. I asked Ma about you at dinner,
and she said you’re just confused right now, and you’ll
see the lay of the land in time. I’ll get those stories out
of you soon enough.”

Lucky could not believe he was having this absurd conversation with this nutty woman. “0h, I’m plenty
perplexed, all right. And has it occurred to you that
you shouldn’t be pushing my buttons while I’m in my
current state?”

“You got buttons?” she teased, looking him over in
an unabashed manner that made his face go red.
“Why, darlin’, I’m just dying to pop ‘em.”

“Damn it, woman.”

“Whew, if you don’t got a temper on you.” She
winked. “That’s why I’ve decided to give you till tomor
row to marry me.”

And she sauntered off down the steps, swinging her
fanny at him. Lucky bellowed curses, then yelped as
his knees buckled beneath him.

***

“This has been some day, hasn’t it, darling?” Cole
asked.

Sitting in bed in her nightgown, Jessica Reklaw smiled at her husband, who stood across from her at the dresser, stripped to the waist, washing up in
the soft glow of the lantern. Their twenty-three years to
gether had been wonderful ones, and Cole remained a
strikingly handsome man, every line on his face
beloved to her, every tuft of gray hair a monument to
his manhood.

“Has it ever,” she replied vehemently. “Especially with
Lucky showing up here in such an outlandish fashion.”

He frowned pensively. “Yes, it’s strange how he ar
rived—right after I issued my challenge.”

Jessica snapped her fingers. “You know, you’re right;
it was almost as if you’d summoned him here. How
amazing. It certainly never occurred to me that we
might have a new visitor from across time. I’ve been
asking myself all day what his presence here means.
He seems a decent enough young fellow. And to think he came here in Lila Lullaby’s old stagecoach, just like
I did.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty spooky. So you really think he came here from the twenty-first century?”

She nodded. “His clothing, the items in his wallet,
the things he says
. . .
I just don’t think he could have
faked all of that, Cole. In fact, I’ve been dying to ques
tion him all day—”

“So maybe you can learn more about your time—
like what happened after you left?” Cole cut in tensely,
giving her a pained look.

She stood and went over to hug him, taking a towel
to wipe moisture from his beloved face and inhaling
his stirring scent. “Darling,
this
is my time. Never doubt
that. But, yes, Lucky’s arrival here has definitely
aroused my curiosity. If it’s true that he’s come here
from the year 2004, five years after I left the present,
then he surely knows some things about the future that I don’t know. I want to find out more about him—for Molly’s sake, for all our sakes. But right now, he’s too
confused, too much in shock, just like I was when I
first arrived here.”

“He’s fit to be tied, all right,” Cole concurred with a
chuckle.

“I need to help him understand what has happened to him, but there’s no point trying to reason with him
as long as he’s so determined to fight every step of the
way.” She squeezed his arm. “Cole, when he feels better,
you need to take him around, show him Mariposa, so
he can see for himself where he really is.”

“Good idea. You know, I almost feel sorry for the
poor boy. Molly really has her sights set on him, insist
ing on an instant wedding and all.”

Jessica sighed. “She’s so headstrong, Cole, just like
you.”

Cole tweaked her nose. “And her ma isn’t stubborn?”

“Well, I sure wouldn’t jump at the chance to marry a
stranger.”

“Like me and my four brothers did?” He nestled her
closer and spoke with fond remembrance. “Nabbing
you off that stagecoach, fighting over you . . .” His voice
dropped a sexy notch as he nuzzled her hair with his
lips. “Doin’ some friendly persuading—”

“Until the best man won,” she finished ecstatically,
kissing his strong jaw. “Although I’m very proud of your
brothers, too. Twenty-three years ago all of you were
outlaws. Then you found wives, we all moved to
Wyoming
—”

“And Gabe, Luke and Wesley remain there as pros
perous citizens to this day,” Cole finished. “Still, I’m glad
we decided to return here a decade later, and Billy
and Dumpling came with us. Wyoming was a raw,
beautiful land, but when Ma kept bellyaching about
missing Colorado and the old homestead
 
. . . Plus,
poor Dumpling’s pa took ill, after caring for both
spreads all that time . . . Anyway, it was good to settle
back here once the coast was clear.”

“
You mean, once the statute of limitations ran out.
And speaking of legal matters . . . .” She sighed. “I was so
disappointed to see the boys land in jail again.”

He nodded grimly. “I know. I plan to make it clear to
my sons that the next time they indulge in a donny
brook like that, I’m not going to come rushing down to
the jail to bail them out.” He paused, grinning ruefully.
“Otherwise, guess I can’t be too hard on them, being a
former hot-blood myself.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “You still are one.”

“And plenty proud of it,” he quipped.

“I just fear our children are too much like you, Cole,”
she fretted. “This business about the robberies—”

“That is a strange one,” he agreed. “Especially to hear
of trains and stagecoaches being stuck up in these
modern times.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “Well, if memory serves
me correctly, Mr. Reklaw, the last recorded stage
coach robbery in this country won’t be until 1916, in
Nevada
.”

Cole grinned ruefully. “You know, I never have quite gotten used to the idea of being married to a walking his
tory book—especially one that opens into the future.”

She chuckled. “I’m afraid it doesn’t help me that
much with
our
futures, though. I just pray our sons
aren’t involved in these holdups. I don’t think Cory would break the law, but as for the others . . .”

He kissed her chin. “Cheer up, sweetheart. I have a
notion this contest may help distract the boys, and
could even force them to grow up.”

“If they don’t end up hating each other over it,” she
fretted. “The whole competition idea still makes me
uneasy.”

He squeezed her close. “Darling, don’t worry. Truth
to tell, this won’t be much of a contest. I’m banking on
Molly.”

“Why, Cole! I know she’s the apple of your eye, but to
hope she’ll win over our sons—”

“But our sons weren’t sent a potential spouse from
across time, were they?”

“Yes, that’s true,” Jessica admitted with awe. “Not to
mention, Molly is the only one of our four children
who ever really came to believe that I actually traveled through time. Mind you, Ma may have given the idea
lip service, but as for the boys . . . well, we just had to
drop it with them, remember?”

“Molly’s the only true believer, all right,” he con
ceded. “And I’m figuring that if Destiny brought you and me together, then—”

“She and Lucky may belong together, too,” Jessica finished wisely. “Don’t think I haven’t been pondering
that all day. But we must be careful, Cole. The Fates
could always fool us.”

Cole winked. “No lie, honey. Why do you think I’ve
been holding the reins on my headstrong daughter? There’s no way I’m gonna let her rush into wedlock with a stranger
and possibly make a huge mistake.”

“I agree we should take our time until we figure w
hat kind of man Lucky is and what his presence here really means.” Jessica
frowned. “What should we tell folks about his being
here?”