Hunter's Moon (Hunter Family Saga; Half-Moon Ranch 1) (25 page)

"That's the first time you've smiled in quite a
while," Hank said, as he watched Brent ride a newly
broken mount around the corral.

"It's the first time I've felt like smiling," Brent
responded.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about going to town tomorrow and
visiting a pretty little lady."

"You seeing Crystal again? Or are you going to see
Melinda this week?" Hank asked with a grin. "It sure
must be tough having two of the best-looking
women in town after you."

The other ranch hands chuckled at his humor.
They had all heard the story from Abby about what
had happened with Melinda out at the cabin a few
weeks back.

Brent scowled at them, but it was a good-natured
scowl. They laughed at him again.

"Crystal's the only woman for me," he answered.

"I can understand why," Hank agreed.

The following day Brent made his getaway. He
took a room at the hotel in town again and got
ready to go to the Lone Star to watch Crystal
perform.

Tonight was his to enjoy himself, and Brent
intended to do just that.

Crystal stood before the mirror in her dressing room,
staring at her reflection. It was almost time to go
onstage. It was almost time to see Brent again.

Crystal's mood was frantic as she tried to come to
grips with all that was tormenting her.

She turned sideways and studied the fit of her
dress. She breathed a sigh of relief. She looked the
same. No one would be able to tell-yet.

Pregnant.

Crystal finally allowed herself to face the truth.
She'd tried to deny it for days but her cycle was as
regular as clockwork. There could be only one
reason she'd missed her monthly flux.

She was going to have Brent's child.

The knowledge frightened her. She wasn't sure
what to do. How could she care for the child by
herself when she was on the run from the law?

During the time she'd worked with Dan, Crystal
had known a saloon girl who'd found herself in the
same situation. She had been horrified when the girl
had gone to an old woman who had aborted the
baby.

Crystal rested a hand protectively on her still-flat
stomach. Growing within her was Brent's childand her child. She would never cause her son or
daughter harm. She was going to do everything in
her power to protect her baby.

Her baby.

Crystal drew a calming breath and told herself
there was no need to panic. She still had time to
figure out the best thing to do.

There were moments when Crystal considered
running away-just disappearing again, as she had in
San Antonio, but in her heart she knew she
couldn't-not this time. She had to tell Brent the
truth about the baby.

Love him though she did, Crystal hadn't been
able to justify marrying him when he had proposed before; she hadn't wanted to involve him in the
danger surrounding her. She knew how he felt about
his father, and she was terrified he'd feel the same
way toward her when he learned of her past.

Now, though, Crystal realized that marrying
Brent was her only hope. If she tried to continue on
alone and the law caught up with her, their baby
would suffer. If she and Brent were married, at least
their child would have a home and be loved, no
matter what happened to her.

All Crystal needed to do now was find the inner
strength to tell Brent about her pregnancy. She only
prayed that he still wanted to marry her.

As ready as she would ever be, Crystal looked up
at her own mirror image once more and forced
herself to smile. It was time to go to work. She had
to transform herself into Ruby now and go entertain
the customers.

Then Crystal remembered that Brent would be
there in the saloon waiting for her when she went
out, and her smile was no longer forced. It lit up her
face with joy.

The Lone Star was already crowded and more than a
little rowdy when Brent arrived.

"Ruby's sure drawing them in tonight," Ken said
with a big grin as Brent came to stand at the bar.

"She's the reason I'm here," Brent agreed as the
bartender set his usual beer before him. He relaxed
at the bar, waiting for her first performance to begin.

"I just hope the rest of these boys behave
themselves," Ken told him.

"It's payday," Brent said easily, looking around.

"Yeah, it's payday, all right," Ken answered,
always glad when the ranch hands had money to
spend. "But they just seem wilder than usual
tonight. Some fellas are new here in town. I haven't
seen them before."

"Maybe they heard that the Lone Star is the best
place to come to have a good time."

"They'd be right then, wouldn't they?" Ken
laughed as the piano player began the song to
introduce Ruby.

The men in the saloon cheered, knowing Ruby
was about to come out. All attention was riveted on
the beautiful, mesmerizing redhead who appeared
before them. The audience watched in drunken
delight as she moved about the stage, singing with
the voice of an angel. Some of her songs were
ballads and some were fun and fast-paced, but no
matter what she sang, the men applauded
enthusiastically.

Brent enjoyed her performance, too, but he was
eager for the evening to end so they could be
together. He would have to bide his time, though,
for she still had several performances that night.

Crystal had seen Brent standing at the bar the
moment she'd first come out. Just knowing he was
there inspired her. When she finally finished her last
song, she left the stage to mix and mingle with the men in the audience. She made her way slowly and
deliberately toward Brent.

"Evening, Ted. Good evening, Rick," Crystal
said, flirting with some of the regular patrons as she
passed by.

Crystal regretted there were no older men at the
Lone Star like Andy. She'd always had a soft spot in
her heart for the old man in San Antonio and found
herself missing him on occasion. Andy had been a
gentleman, and that was rare. She made her way over
to a group of cowboys she didn't recognize.

"Evening, fellas," she said. "Welcome to the Lone
Star. Are you having a good time tonight?"

"We are now that you're here!" Tex Bradley told
her with a lascivious grin as he openly ogled her.

"Well, that's good to hear," she managed, but
something about the man repulsed her.

"You can help me have a better time-if you want
to, little lady," Tex said, giving the other men at the
table a knowing look as he reached out to grab her
hand.

Crystal avoided his touch and stepped away. "I'll
try to do just that-in my next performance."

"That ain't what I had in mind," he said in a
growl, turning red-faced and feeling humiliated as
his buddies laughed at him.

"Take it easy, cowboy," one of the men at the
next table said. He'd been watching and sensed
trouble might be brewing. "Ruby ain't no saloon
girl. She's a lady."

Tex glared at the man for interfering and then
looked back at Ruby. He didn't say anything, but
the lust he felt for her was still evident in his
expression.

"I hope you have a pleasant evening," Crystal said,
moving off. She couldn't get away from their table
fast enough.

"Everything all right?" Brent asked in a low voice
when she finally made it to his side. He'd been
keeping an eye on her and had noticed the men at
the poker table giving her some trouble. He knew
how good she was at handling rowdy men, but he
was always ready to go to her aid if she needed him.

"Yes, I'm with you now," she told him as relief
flooded through her. "I missed you all week."

"I missed you, too."

Brent looked down at her, and their gazes met.
For a moment it was as if the whole world
disappeared and it was just the two of them-alone.
The moment of peace didn't last long, though.

"Hey, Ruby! Come on back over here for a
while!" one of the men at Tex's table yelled at her.
"We got a poker game going, and I need you here
with me to bring me some good luck!"

"I'd better go." Crystal did not want to leave
Brent, but she was working.

"I'll be right here waiting for you," he promised.

Crystal made her rounds again, finally stopping
by the cowboy who'd called out to her. She didn't
like being around the card playing. It reminded her too much of the time she'd spent with Dan. Even so,
she stayed on, knowing Ken counted on her to keep
the customers happy.

"All right, let's see you win this big hand,
cowboy," she said encouragingly.

"My name's Wes, sweetheart."

"Good evening, Wes."

"My luck's bound to change now that you're
here." Wes was confident and more than a little
arrogant.

Crystal was surprised by the tense mood at the
poker table. She'd assumed these men were friends,
but she realized now that they weren't.

The stakes in the game were very high, and each
man was guarding his hand carefully.

When the play came around to Wes again, he
matched their bets, raised them another hundred
dollars, and called.

"Let's see what you got, Wes," Tex challenged,
after throwing his money in.

"Three of a kind," Wes announced proudly,
casting a triumphant glance up at Ruby as he spread
three jacks out for them to see.

Two of the other three men threw down their
hands in disgust, but Tex was smiling broadly.

"I hate to tell you this, but I don't think the little
lady brought you any luck at all. I think she brought
me all the luck," Tex said as he laid his hand down
on the table for all to see. "My full house beats your
three of a kind."

The other players were shocked. They'd thought
for sure that Wes was the winner.

Wes was furious.

"You cheated!" Wes declared hotly, staring down
at Tex's hand in disbelief. He'd just lost all his
money, and he was furious.

"I don't have to cheat to beat you," Tex sneered,
raking in the big pile of cash.

"Why, you...

Drunk and beyond reason, Wes surged to his feet
in one violent move. He shoved the table so hard
that he knocked it over. The cards and money went
flying as he went for his gun, determined to put an
end to what he believed were Tex's cheating ways.

Wes drew his gun, swaying unsteadily on his feet
as he got off a shot at Tex.

Crystal gasped and rushed to try to get out of the
way. She'd seen these kinds of fights before and
knew they could be deadly.

Tex wasn't about to go down without a fight. He
dove for cover as he drew his sidearm, too, and
began firing.

When things had first begun to get ugly, Brent
had started in Crystal's direction. He hadn't wanted
her anywhere near the two drunks in case real
trouble broke out.

And now it had. Everyone in the saloon was
running for safety as Tex and Wes fired wildly.
Brent drew his own gun, ready to do whatever was
necessary to protect Crystal.

Behind the bar Ken grabbed his shotgun. All
evening he'd been feeling like there was going to be
trouble tonight, but he hadn't thought it would be
anything this serious. He wanted to put an end to
the shooting, but he couldn't get a clear shot at
either one of the troublemakers.

"I can't get 'em, Brent! Can you?" Ken shouted to
him.

"I'll try!" Brent struggled toward Crystal, frantic
to keep her from being hurt. He prayed he could
reach her in time.

Chaos reigned as Crystal sought safety behind a
fallen table. She huddled down as more shots rang
out. Screams and terrible, pain-filled shrieks echoed
in the room.

Brent crouched low as he moved forward, trying
to get off a shot at either one of the drunks to stop
the bloody violence. He cast a quick look around
for Crystal, but saw no sign of her anywhere.
Terror unlike anything he'd ever known before
filled him.

Had Crystal been shot? Was she lying hurt and
bleeding somewhere?

A protective rage pounded within Brent as he
realized just how deeply he cared for her-just how
much he loved her. He had to put a stop to this
now!

When Wes rose up to get another shot off at Tex,
Brent saw his chance. He fired and hit Wes squarely
in the shoulder. The force of the shot spun him backward, knocking him to the floor. Brent turned,
ready to take on Tex.

"Hold it!" Ken shouted, his shotgun pointed
straight at the other gunman.

Tex dropped his own sidearm as he looked down
the barrel of the bartender's shotgun.

"Somebody get the sheriff-and the doc!" Ken
ordered as he kept his gun trained on the drunken
troublemaker who was still standing.

Two other customers lay on the floor, bleeding
from gunshot wounds. Brent checked to make sure
they were still breathing, then began his frantic
search for Crystal.

She had to be safe! He couldn't bear it if
something had happened to her.

He loved her.