Jenny (32 page)

"Here in town. Why?"

"Do you have any witnesses to that fact?"

"I could probably find some. Why, Marshal? What
happened?"

Richard couldn't imagine what had happened. All
he'd done since Jenny had returned to the ranch was
drink, gamble, and take his pleasure of the girls in
the saloons. It had been a rather relaxing time for him,
actually, but he didn't feel very relaxed right now
with the lawman glaring at him, demanding answers.

"Get dressed. I want you to come down to the office with me."

"You still haven't told me why," Richard insisted,
growing worried and a bit angry at being a suspect.

Jared quickly explained.

"Jenny was shot?" Richard went still. He was completely shocked. "Oh, no! Is she all right?" His concern was real.

"The doctor's on his way out to the Lazy S."

"But what have you heard? How serious is it?
She's going to be all right, isn't she?" Though he'd
been furious at Jenny for her lack of interest in him,
Richard had never wished any harm to come to her.

"I think so, but we probably won't know for sure
until the doe gets back to town."

"Why do you want me?"

"Because right now you're a suspect, Donathan."

"Me!" Richard truly was in shock.

"That's right. Let's go. I want to question you some
more down at the jail."

"Give me a minute to get dressed?"

"I'll wait in the hall for you."

Jared started from the room, but Caroline stopped
him. She sashayed in front of him and let her wrapper
gap open so he could see all her assets.

"You know, I do have a hankering for lawmen. If
you ain't busy later, come on back here and see me,"
she said in a sultry voice, looking up at the handsome
marshal with a hungry gaze.

Jared gave her a half-smile. "I appreciate the offer,
but I'm a happily married man."

"There aren't many of those around," Caroline
said, not giving up yet.

"I'm one of them. I'll be out in the hall."

He moved away from the predatory saloon girl and
left the room, closing the door behind him.

Richard emerged from Caroline's room a few
minutes later and accompanied the marshal downstairs.

As they reached the saloon, Jared noticed Wayne
Jameson at the bar.

"Wait here," he directed Richard as he went to
speak with the rancher. "Wayne-"

Wayne looked up, surprised by the marshal's appearance and wondering what he wanted. Fear stirred within him, but he kept it disguised. "Evening, Marshal Trent."

"I wanted to tell you rustlers hit both the Branding
Iron and the Lazy S over the last couple of days. Have
you had any trouble out at your place?"

"No. Everything's been quiet."

"Well, keep a look out. Things are getting dangerous out there right now."

"What happened?" Wayne was instantly worried as
he remembered his sister's angry mood. When she'd
left the house, he'd sneaked away into town to have
some fun while she was gone. He'd never imagined
he'd end up hearing news here.

"Somebody ambushed Jenny Sullivan, and one of
her men."

"Oh, my God!" Wayne's eyes widened in horror.
He recalled far too clearly his sister's hatred for
Jenny. "How is she? She's not dead, is she?"

"She's alive, but her ranch hand was killed. I just
thought you'd want to know about the rustling."

"Thanks for telling me."

Wayne was furious as he glared at Mira. He had ridden straight out to the ranch after talking to Marshal
Trent and had roused Mira from a sound sleep. He
could barely contain himself as he faced her down.

"What the hell did you do, woman?"

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, angry that he'd awakened her in the middle of the night.

"I'm talking about you shooting Jenny Sullivan!"

"I killed her and the man riding with her. So
what?" she shot back at him, feeling quite pleased
with herself.

"Like hell you did! You didn't kill her. She's still
alive."

"What? Where did you hear that?" Mira was instantly awake, and suddenly she was more than a little frightened. She didn't know if Jenny had gotten a
look at her or not.

"I heard it straight from Marshal Trent at the
Mother Lode. He said she was still alive. He also
knew all about the rustling at the Branding Iron and
the Lazy S, and he was warning me to keep a look
out for trouble here."

"Did he have any idea who shot them or why?"

"The barkeep told me the reason the lawman was
in the saloon was to question that Eastern dude who
was staying out at her ranch."

Mira started to tremble as relief flooded through
her. "Good. They don't have any idea who did it."

"Yet" Wayne sneered. "I can't believe you did this.
I can't believe you tried to kill Jenny after you called
me stupid for killing her father! You've just made
things even worse for us!"

"Damn that slut for being alive!" Mira was growing
more and more angry with the situation. She'd always
prided herself on her marksmanship, and she couldn't
believe she'd missed such an easy target.

"You should never have tried to shoot her," Wayne
said.

"If you hadn't killed her father, none of this would
have happened in the first place!" Mira retorted, not
about to take the blame for all that had happened.

"Hell, if you'd been a better shot, we wouldn't be
in this mess right now! We just need to shut up and
wait and see what happens. Maybe that Richard won't be able to prove where he was, and they'll arrest
him."

Mira slowly got a grip on her fury. She began to
plot what to do next. The fact that Jenny was still
alive changed everything. Mira's expression grew devious as she considered what to do about Cole.

"Where was Cole? Did you hear anything about
him?" she asked.

"No, no one said anything about him, other than
the news about the rustling on the Branding Iron. If
you want, after I get a couple of hours of sleep, I'll
ride over to the Lazy S and see what's going on. I
can tell them I heard what happened in town and
came to see if I could help them out."

"You do that," she agreed.

"How is she?" Cole was the first one to meet Dr.
Murray as he came down the stairs after examining
Jenny.

Rose, Frances, Dan, and the others came out of the
parlor, too, eager to hear the news. Evelyn had gone
up with the doctor and had stayed upstairs to nurse
Jenny once he had finished treating her.

"She's going to be just fine," he assured everyone.

"Thank God," Cole said out loud, not caring if anyone heard him. Ever since the doctor had arrived, he'd
been sitting there in silence, waiting for his report on
Jenny's condition and praying she would be all right.

"There may be a scar, but other than some initial
weakness and headaches, she'll eventually make a full recovery. Jenny was one very lucky young woman,"
he told them earnestly.

"Thank you, Dr. Murray."

Everyone was immensely relieved that her wound
was not more serious.

"Is there anything special we need to do for her?"
Frances asked.

"I gave Evelyn the instructions upstairs. She knows
what to do. Basically, Jenny just needs a lot of rest
for a day or two." He looked at Cole. "Do you know
who did this?"

"Not yet, but I sent word to Marshal Trent, so
maybe he'll have something to tell us soon."

"I hope so," the doctor said. "Let me know if
there's any change in Jenny's condition."

"We will," Cole promised.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No. We're just thankful that Jenny's going to be
all right, Dr. Murray," Frances said, smiling at him
with heart felt gratitude. "Thanks."

"I'm glad everything is turning out this way. It
could have been a far different story."

"Thank you," Rose said.

"I guess it's time for me to be heading back to
town," the good doctor said, starting for the front
door.

"I'll ride with you," Dan said.

He had only stayed around to make sure Jenny was
going to recover. With the doctor's good news, he
knew he could leave and not worry about her.

Dan noticed the quick, surprised look that Rose
sent his way. He didn't care. He just knew that he
needed to get away. Ever since he'd heard Rose declare her regret that she had ever come to Durango in
the first place, he knew there was no reason for him
to stick around. There had never been anything between them, and there never would be.

"Good night, Dr. Murray Dan," Frances said as
they left.

"Good night, Dan," Rose called out.

She was confused by the way Dan was suddenly
ignoring her. On their picnic, they'd talked endlessly,
and when he'd kissed her, it had been wonderful. His
kisses had been arousing, and his touch had been
heavenly. Now, though, he didn't even seem to want
to talk to her, and she wondered what was wrong.
She wondered if she'd done something to anger him.

Rose went after Dan, following him outside. She
was determined, in her straightforward way, to find
out what was troubling him. She didn't want to let
him leave until she'd had a chance to speak with him.

"Dan? Do you know when I'll see you again?" she
asked straight out.

Dan had already mounted up. He looked down at
her, his expression unreadable.

"No," he answered and offered no more.

Dr. Murray stowed his bag in his carriage and
climbed in. He picked up his reins.

"Are you ready?" He looked at Dan.

Dan nodded, then spoke to Rose one last time.
"Good-bye, Rose."

With that, he wheeled his horse around and rode
out, staying alongside Dr. Murray's carriage as they
headed for town.

Rose was bereft as she watched them go. She didn't
understand what had happened to change Dan so dramatically. Earlier, he had seemed as if he really
wanted to be with her, yet just now, it had seemed as
if he couldn't get away from her fast enough. She'd
never felt this way about a man before, and she was
at a loss to know what to do.

Rose remained where she was on the porch, staring
after Dan long after he'd disappeared from sight.

Cole was not sure what to do after Dan and the
doctor left. He wasn't certain if Jenny was going to
be feeling well enough to see him anytime soon, but
he wasn't going anywhere. He planned never to be
apart from her again, and he wanted to tell her that
as soon as possible. In fact, the sooner, the better.

Cole started out to the stable. He wanted to find
Louie and talk to him about the shooting. He needed
to know if Louie had any ideas about who might have
done it.

"Cole-" Evelyn had just appeared at the top of
the stairs as he was going out the door, and she
wanted to stop him before he left.

He stopped and looked back to find Jenny's aunt
hurrying down the steps toward him.

"Jenny wants to see you," Evelyn told him.

At her words, his spirits soared. He hurried upstairs
to her room. He hesitated and glanced back toward
Evelyn.

"Go on in," she told him, waving him inside. "If
you need me, I'll be downstairs with Frances."

Jenny was lying motionless on the bed with her
eyes closed. A white bandage swathed her forehead,
and she was very pale. Cole had always thought Jenny
a strong-willed woman, but in that moment he realized just how delicate and fragile she was. He realized, too, how close he had come to losing her. He
loved her. Jenny meant the world to him, and he
planned to spend the rest of his life proving it to her.

Cole stood immobile in the doorway staring at her,
trying to deal with the turmoil of his own emotions.
Someone had tried to kill Jenny. Why?

He wondered if Richard had been jealous enough
to want to do her harm, or if rustlers had been in the
area and wanted her out of the way. He tried to figure
out what anyone would gain by Jenny's death, but he
could find no answer.

"Jenny?" he finally said quietly.

Her eyes opened at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, Cole I'm so sorry about Gene-"

"We'll find whoever did this," he promised
fiercely.

"Thank you." She smiled up at him. "I was afraid
you had gone-"

He moved to her bedside and sat down in the chair
there. He reached out and took her hand in his. His
voice was husky with the power of what he was feeling for her.

"I'm never going to leave you again," he promised.
"I love you, Jenny. I have always loved you, and I
don't want to live without you."

Jenny's eyes widened at his words. "I love you,
too, Cole. It just took me a while to realize it, but I
do-with all my heart."

Cole leaned forward and kissed her. It was a gentle,
cherishing caress that spoke of devotion and tenderness. When he ended the kiss, he shifted reluctantly
away from her. He wanted to make love to her endlessly. He wanted to take her in his arms and never
let her go, but in view of her condition, he had to go
slowly. There would be time later for loving. Now,
he was just thrilled that she was going to be all right.