Dashing Druid (Texas Druids) (45 page)

“Lil, no,” Tye said. Nearly tripping over a chair, he managed to place himself between her and Howard, blocking her line of fire.

“Look out!” she shrilled, sidestepping in the other direction.

He blocked her aim again and moved closer, determined to get her out of here before Howard lost control of his hired guns. “Ye can’t mean to kill the man in cold blood, surely.”

“I will if that’s the only way to keep you alive.”

“Nay, ye won’t, for you’ll have to shoot me first.” He held out his hand. “Give me the gun, colleen.”

He couldn’t be sure but thought she shook her head. Backing up, she sought to evade him, but her father and David stood in her way.

“Give it to me, love,” he coaxed, closing in on her. “Please. I’ll not have ye do murder for my sake.” Releasing a broken cry, she let him take the gun from her hand. Gently, he drew her into his arms.

“Y-you should’ve let me do it!” she wailed, desperately clutching him.

“I couldn’t,
mavourneen,
” he murmured, absorbing the shuddery sobs that tore through her.

“Devlin, you’ve got quite a woman there,” Howard said gruffly behind him. “I reckon she’d fight the devil himself for yuh.”

Tucking Lil against his side, Tye turned toward the older man. “Thank you. For keeping your word.”

Lil lifted her head, choking back tears. Tye felt her confusion as she glanced from him to the Texan.

“I’ve known that gal since she was a pup and I don’t aim to see her killed,” Howard said. He started to say more, but was interrupted again, this time by Del.

“I’m grateful to you, Judd, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t get in the way again. Come on, Lil, you’re only making things worse.”

“No! I’m not going anywhere,” she declared, arms locking tight around Tye.

Del, Jeb and David, even some of the ranch hands laid into her, trying to make her listen to reason, while Tye sought and failed to break her tenacious hold on him without hurting her. Fearing the two hired gunslingers might get nervous and start shooting, he was about to drag Lil out of the saloon when Judd Howard put a stop to the commotion.

“Quiet!” he bellowed. “Damnation! Can’t a man even speak his piece around here?”

The room went silent as a tomb. Not liking that unpleasant thought, Tye wished for his sight back more than ever. He’d love to see the startled looks on the faces surrounding him. He’d also very much like to see the face of the man who wanted him dead. He had to settle for listening to his testy voice.

“As I was saying, Devlin, before everybody came busting in, I likely would have killed you that day at the ranch. But I didn’t have the stomach to shoot down a blind man.”

Howard shifted, making the plank floor squeak. “Then your wife set me straight on a few things, and since then I’ve done some thinking. About how you risked your hide to help save Taylor’s little gal. I found out she’s your niece, but even so that was a decent thing to do. And then there’s that business about yuh blowing up the cave and damn near getting killed. That’s not what I’d expect from a coward.”

“Aye? So what are ye saying?”

“Just that I’ve also done some hard thinking about Frank. I loved that boy, but I know what he was.” Howard’s deep voice developed a catch. “And I made him that way.”

Tye felt pity for him and experienced the same emotion from Lil.

Collecting himself, Howard admitted, “I heard Frank swear he’d kill yuh for taking Lil away from him.”

“But I was never his,” Lil blurted, causing Tye to tighten his arm around her shoulders.

“I know, but he didn’t see it that way. And he hated you, Devlin, for the whupping you gave him that time on the trail north. He wouldn’t let it go. I put him on the train for home, hoping he’d get over it with time. Shoulda known better. Frank hated to lose to anyone. Over anything.

“It’s my doing,” he added in a heavy tone. “I never said no to him, never taught him what it means to be a man. So I reckon I’m the one who got him killed, and that’s something I’ll live with for the rest of my days.”

Tye couldn’t shut out the man’s guilt and despair, much as he wanted to. It surged past his mental barriers, causing him to screw his eyes shut and nearly making him groan with the pain of it. Perhaps he did make some sound because Lil reached up to touch his face.

He caught her hand and opened his eyes to the cloudy light, fighting to regain control. “Exactly what are ye saying, sir?” he managed to ask as the pain receded.

Howard cleared his throat. “I’m saying you’ll have no more trouble from me. I sent those four gunnies I hired on their way two days ago. Marsh and Daly, here, work for me permanent. I only hung around to say my piece to your face, Devlin. Now that I have, I’ll be heading home.

“Just one thing,” he said, stepping close enough for Tye to smell the whiskey on his breath. “Take good care of this gal, boy, or I’ll be back.”

Tye nodded. “I’ll take very good care of her, sir. Ye have
my
word on that.”

“Good enough.” With that, Howard turned and walked out, followed by his two faithful guardians.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Del muttered, “I can’t believe it.”

Thinking the same thing, Tye tightened his arms around Lil.

“It’s over,” she whispered tremulously. “It’s really over.”

He grinned. “Aye, love, and saints be praised, I’m still alive to kiss ye!” And he did, cheered on by a loud chorus of male voices.

* * *

Reece Taylor, Senior passed on ten days later. He was buried next to David’s mother on a small hill not far from the homestead. Afterward, Lil helped Jessie prepare and serve dinner for the family – including her own parents. Her father had gotten his wish, if not in the way he’d expected. They were all related now, through blood and marriage.

Dinner was somber at first, with little conversation. Gradually, though, they began to share memories of Reece, even having a laugh or two over old times. By mutual consent they avoided speaking about the war and the wedge it had driven between David and his father, as well as between him and Lil and her folks. Some things were best left in the past.

Eventually they talked themselves out. Lil glanced at Tye, who’d listened quietly to stories he’d had no part in. She suspected that wasn’t the only reason for his silence. There’d been no further improvement in his eyesight over the past week and a half. They didn’t talk about it much because he refused to, but she knew he feared his near blindness would be permanent. So did she.

Her father cleared his throat, drawing her attention. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with y’all, uh, if you don’t mind, David.”

Seated at the head of the table, David replied, “Go ahead, Del. We’re family now. Say whatever you want.”

Pa looked at her and Tye. “Maybe I should have brought this up with you two first, but I figure it concerns all of us. See, your mother and me and your Uncle Jeb have been doing some talking. We’d like you and Tye to come live with us. Uh, if you’ve a mind to.”

Lil stared at him in astonishment. This was the last thing she’d expected him to say. Beside her, Tye stiffened in his chair. Looking at him, she read wariness in his expression.

“’Tis kind of ye to offer, Del,” he said, “but why would ye be wanting us? Or should I say me? I’ve no doubt ye want Lil back home, but I’d be no good to ye like this.” He gestured at his eyes. “Tis bad enough I’m a burden on my sister and David.”

“Tye! You’re no burden,” Jessie hotly denied. “Is he, David?”

“No, of course not. You’ve already started helping out around the place, Tye.”

“Oh aye, by shoveling horse dropping and spreading fresh hay in the barn, ye mean? A child can do that. I’ll never be able to round up or brand cattle, much less go on another drive. I’m no more than –”

“But ye may still get your sight back,” Jessie interrupted. “Ye haven’t given it time enough.”

“Och, I’m not seeing any better than I did two weeks ago, and I never will. I’m no good to myself or anyone else.” he said bitterly.

“Don’t say that!” Lil cried. “You faced down Judd Howard., didn’t you?”

“Begorrah!
Faced him down? What nonsense! If he hadn’t decided to give up his thirst for revenge, I’d be dead right now. And so might you be, need I remind ye?”

“Jumping Jehosaphat!” Pa burst out. “I know just how Judd felt in that saloon. Quit your arguing and hear me out.”

“Fine,” Lil groused. “But it won’t do any good. He’s too busy feeling sorry for himself.”

“Daughter, let your father speak,” Ma said in her sternest, listen-or-else voice.

“Thank you, Rebecca.” Pa leaned across the table toward Tye. “For what I’ve got in mind, you don’t need to see a whole lot. That’s if you’re as good at breaking horses as I’ve heard.”

Tye’s scowl faded. “I’m listening,” he said.

“It’s like this. Morg Bayliss is looking to expand. He’s hired on a couple hands to help him round up wild mustangs. He plans to keep some of the better ones for breeding with his own mares, but he wants to sell the rest either to the army or to other outfits. The only thing is he doesn’t have a good bronc buster. He wants it done proper so they don’t turn mean.”

Pa eagerly shifted in his chair. “I know you’ve done some breaking for David, and Luis Medina once told me you’re a natural at it. Coming from him that’s high praise. Now, I’ve got in mind making a deal with Bayliss, where he’ll drive the wild stuff straight to our place and you’ll work the fight out of ’em. Jack can help if he sticks around. Then Morg will do the marketing. I’ve already talked it over with him and he likes the idea.” Pa leaned back. “So, what do you say?”

Tye thought it over for a moment, then turned to Lil. “What d’ye think, darlin’? D’ye want to move to your folks’ place and have a horse breaker for your husband?”

Lil’s first thought was that breaking horses was dangerous. He could be trampled, stove up, even killed. But she didn’t say any of that. Seeing the excitement in his bluebonnet eyes, she said, “I think I’d like that fine.”

He grinned and nodded toward her father. “You’ve got yourself a bronc buster, Del.”

Smiling, Lil cleared her throat. “Uh, I’ve got some news too. Come spring Tye and me are gonna have a baby.”

Their family broke out in jubilant calls of congratulations, but it was Tye’s thunderstruck expression that held Lil’s attention.

“You’re sure?” he asked in a husky voice.

“Yup. You’re gonna be a daddy, Devlin.”

He gave a loud whoop and dragged her into his arms. Laughing joyfully, Lil looked forward to a new beginning with her dashing Irish Yankee.

EPILOGUE

Three months later

The young woman drew her shawl more snuggly about her shoulders, brushed a red-gold lock of hair from her face, and studied the two-story house in front of her. It was a hodgepodge of logs and sawn wood cobbled into an odd looking whole. Off to one side, a new addition was being built, no doubt for Tye and his wife.

“Are ye ready?” Jessie asked, cuddling her blanketed three-week-old son, Seamus, close against the chilly November breeze.

“Aye.”

Gathering their skirts, they mounted the steps to the front door. Jessie was about to knock when the door suddenly opened. A tallish woman with light copper skin, a long dark braid over one shoulder, and a slightly rounded belly stood inside. She smiled in welcome.

“Howdy. I’ve been watching for you. Come on in,” she invited, stepping aside to allow them entry. The interior consisted of one long room divided into a kitchen on one side and a parlor on the other.

“Lil, I’d like ye to meet my baby sister, Rose,” Jessie said. “Rosie, this is Tye’s wife, Lil.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Lil said, smiling again and extending her hand.

 Rose hesitantly accepted it and was a bit taken aback by the other woman’s strong, mannish handshake. “I . . . I’m glad to meet ye too.”

Lil gestured toward the parlor. “Come and sit down. Tye’s over at the corral with Pa, and Ma’s out back feeding her chickens. Where’s David?”

“He went to fetch your dear husband,” Jessie replied as she and Rose took seats on a leather-bound sofa. “We caught a glimpse of him as we rode in, although I don’t think he noticed us. He was trying not to let the bucking monster he was on toss him head over heels. Ye haven’t told him about Rose, I take it.”

“Nope. I kept quiet like you said to do in your note.”

“Good. If he knew she’d arrived, I’m sure he would’ve insisted on ye bringing him over to greet her. This way he’ll be surprised to see her and perhaps he’ll go along with our plan more easily.” Unwrapping baby Seamus, who was fast asleep, she added, “Besides, Rose will do better without the other children underfoot. Isn’t that so, Rosie?”

“Aye, it works best if I can have quiet.”

“That makes sense.” After a brief silence, Lil asked, “Would y’all like some coffee? I just made a fresh –”

She was interrupted by the sound of booted feet on the steps outside.

Removing his hat, Tye walked in wondering what big surprise David was so impatient for him to see. Not that he could actually see it, he thought sourly.

“Lil?” he called as Del and David followed him inside.

“Here. We’ve got company,” she replied from the parlor. She sounded strange, nervous and excited both, like the feelings he’d been picking up from her of late, because of the child she was carrying, he’d supposed.

“Oh? And would that be Jess, by any chance?”

“Aye, I’m here, and I have someone with me.”

“Hello, Tye,” a woman’s soft voice said.

He didn’t recognize it at first, but then he detected a certain familiar cadence. As her shadowy form approached he caught the scent of roses and knew her.

“Rosie!” he cried.

“Aye, ’tis me,” she confirmed with a sob, reaching to gently stroke his cheek.

“Rosie, how did ye get here?” he asked, drawing her into a hug. “And how did ye escape the convent?”

She gave a choked laugh. “That’s a long story, one for another day.”

“Indeed?” Stepping back, he touched her face and hair, her shoulders and arms. “You’re all grown up. I doubt I’d know ye if I could see ye.”

“That, brother, is the reason she’s come,” Jessie said, “so that ye might see her. And the rest of us.”

Tye focused on her voice. “What d’ye mean? Ye know I see nothing but shadows.”

“Now ye do, but with Rosie’s help, I . . .
we
hope that will soon change.”

“You’re not thinking she can restore my eyes with her hands,” he scoffed. “It’s been too long, and besides, you’ve never tried anything like that, have ye, little sis?”

“No,” Rose admitted.

“D’ye think it’s even possible?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll try if ye let me.”

“’Tis kind of ye to offer and to come all this way, Rosie, but I think not. Getting my hopes up along with everyone else’s, only to have them dashed . . . no.” He shook his head. “’Twould make it that much harder to accept my fate.”

“Why do you not believe in your sister?” Rebecca Crawford questioned from the back entry, where she must have been standing, listening. “Lil has told me this sister has a healer’s touch. You should not turn her away.”

“He has good reason not to trust me,” Rose said in an anguished voice. “Our mother died because of me, because my hands brought her illness instead of healing.”

“Rose, that’s not true!” Jessie protested. “You did everything you could to save her. She was just too weak to survive the typhoid.”

“Sissy, ’tisn’t that I don’t trust ye,” Tye said.

“Then let her try,” Lil urged, coming close and slipping her arms around him. “Please, Tye. If it means you might see our baby, isn’t it worth taking the chance?”

Recalling the tiny flutter he’d felt under his hand last night, when he caressed the small mound of his child growing inside her, Tye swallowed hard. He couldn’t deny her, or his own desperate desire to see his son or daughter.

“All right, Lily. For you and the babe.”

A short time later he lay stretched out on the sofa with Lil standing behind it, holding his hand. Rose bent over him, fingers lightly examining his eyes and the scar on his forehead. She straightened and he heard the shush, shush of her hands rubbing together, drawing heat to her palms and fingertips. He’d seen her do this in the past before healing someone’s injury.

“Lie still now,” she instructed, bending close again.

At first her touch brought only a pleasant warmth, but the heat gradually increased as she probed and pressed along his ragged scar. It burned, and Tye had to fight not to move. Gritting his teeth, he was on the verge of telling Rose to stop when a jolt of searing pain shot through his head. He jerked and cried out, squeezing his eyes shut, hearing Lil gasp as he nearly crushed her fingers.

Rose immediately removed her hands. “Ye mustn’t move your head. I could do more harm than good.”

“Sorry. It felt like a bolt of lightning hit me.” Releasing Lil’s bruised hand, he rubbed his eyes, opened them and gasped at the sudden brightness. Slamming them shut, he waited a second or two, then cautiously opened them again.

“Sweet Jesus!” he blurted, sitting bolt upright. “I can see!

Cries of amazement sounded from Del and David, and Jessie burst out crying, causing David to wrap her and the baby in his arms. Rose muttered a prayer of thanks. Looking up at Lil, Tye saw she was quietly weeping, with a look of utter joy on her lovely face. Rising, he gave Rose a quick hug and whispered a heartfelt, “Thank you.” Then he went to his wife. Drawing her into his arms, he kissed the tears from her rose-gold cheeks and gazed into her radiant dark eyes.

“Ah,
mavourneen,
you’re the most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen.”

“Oh, Tye, I’m so happy. You’ll be able to see our son or daughter.”

“Aye, and God willing, many more,” he said with a grin and a teasing wink.