Stained Snow (14 page)

His thoughts felt like a betrayal to his family. He should have found justice for them by now, should have avenged their deaths. It was a betrayal to George as well. The man had saved his life. The way to show gratitude wasn’t by having lustful thoughts for his daughter.

She constantly touched him. A simple brush of fingers against his shoulder, a hand on his arm. She smiled at him, and something rolled over in his stomach. The dreams were the worst. He couldn’t push them aside like he did the waking thoughts. She tangled up in them, and the feeling of betrayal ate away at him.

She moved away from him, and he could finally breathe again. If he wasn’t able to leave soon, these feelings would either kill him, or he’d end up doing something that would make him an even lower varmint. He needed to get away from here.

“How long until you think the trails will open?”

George shook his head. “It’ll be a while. Couple months at least.” His face softened. “I’m sorry, Will. I know you want to find him, but there’s nothing you can do.”

He dropped his head, feeling the weight of everything on his shoulders. This was never going to end. He couldn’t rest until he’d brought Thomas in, but at this rate, he’d never find him. George stood up. “I’m going out to check on the horses.”

“I’ll have dinner ready in a bit, Pa.”

He nodded. “I’ll eat when I get back in.”

William didn’t even move when the door slammed closed again. It stopped snowing, but the wind hadn’t settled down. Maggie’s footsteps came from behind him, but he didn’t move, staring into the dark liquid in his cup. Her hand was on his shoulder again. His body tensed as his breath struggled to release from his chest. “You need to stop touching me,” he said, his voice strangled.

She stumbled back a step, and he cursed in his head. “I-I’m sorry, Will,” she stammered.

He shook his head and finally turned to look her. “No, I am. Your pa isn’t in here, and if you keep putting your hand on me, we’re going to be in a bad position when he returns.”

Her face flushed. Her mouth opened a couple times until his name came out. He set the tin cup to the side as she came around in front of him. His hand came up, and he brushed his thumb along her chin. “You do something to me, Maggie,” he murmured. “I shouldn’t feel these things. I loved my wife.” He finally gave voice to his earlier thoughts.

She settled down on the bench beside him. “I know, Will, but she’s not here. You’ve made me feel something since the day Pa showed up with you in the wagon. Sometimes it makes me want to strangle you,” she added with a smile. “Sometimes I just need to touch you.”

He closed his eyes. “This isn’t right.”

“It’s not wrong either, Will. We’ve done nothing wrong.”

“My thoughts are enough to cast me to Hell.”

Her hand came to his face, turning it to look at him. “We’ve done nothing wrong,” she said again.

“And we won’t.” He pulled back from her. “I won’t do this, Maggie. I’m riding on as soon as I can. I won’t use you just because you’re here.”

Her eyes dimmed, then he touched her. A finger along the curve of her jaw. Her head came up with it, and he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. “Yes, straight to Hell,” he murmured.

He would have kissed her then. She was right there, and their lips were inches apart. Feet stomped on the porch outside, and he jerked away from her. “We won’t do this,” he said before picking up his cup and turning to stare into the fire.

Chapter 16

Barnes Ranch, Colorado

March 12, 1888

William threw another forkful of soiled straw into the wheelbarrow. At least they hadn’t had to shovel another path to the barn in the last two months. There hadn’t been more snow for the last week, but there was still too much to ride out. Still there wasn’t much to do around the ranch right now other than care for the horses and make sure the supply of firewood stayed full. George was out taking care of the latter right now, while William handled the horses. Lifting an ax was still a little too much for William’s shoulder.

With the last stall mucked out, he tossed the dirty straw outside the barn and spread clean on the floor before going out to let the horses back in. As he let the last one in, another horse approached the front of the barn. He hurried to the door, grabbing the rifle leaning against it as he went. He didn’t recognize the horse trotting into the yard, but he did remember the man on his back. He returned the rifle to its resting place and stepped outside.

Adam reined in the horse. His gaze moved around the yard before focusing on William again. “Everyone okay here?”

William nodded. “George is at the wood stack. Maggie should be in the house. You want me to take care of your horse?”

Adam scowled as he looked back down at William. “What are you still doing here? Thought you were riding out.”

“Can’t get through the trails. Trust me, I tried.”

“Don’t know why you’re so eager to get away. George treats guests well. Figured you’d scavenge as much as you could like that last varmint.”

“I told you before, I’m not here to take advantage of them. George saved my life. I don’t want to take more than I can give back.”

Adam stared at him for a moment before swinging down from the saddle. “I’ll take care of my own horse. I don’t need you to do anything for me.”

William shrugged. “Fine.” There was more than distrust in the other man’s attitude, which he understood. He almost seemed to hate him, which he couldn’t. What had he ever done to Adam?

He stepped inside the house, and Maggie turned from the fireplace with a smile for him. “Will. I put some coffee on. I figured you and Pa would want some when you came inside.”

“Adam just rode up.”

Her smile wobbled slightly then came back. “Well, there’s enough for him, too.”

William pulled off his gloves and shed his coat before walking over to the fire. He should have dealt with the cold instead of warming his hands over the flames. Being so close to Maggie ignited another blaze inside of him. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t do this. He’d told her he wouldn’t do it. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?

Her hand came down to his arm, and he opened his eyes again. She was right there, and he barely bit back a moan. “Maggie.” His voice sounded strained through his lips.

He’d told her to stop touching him, and she did it more. Like she taunted him, testing his power to resist her. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could do that.

Her mouth brushed over his jaw, and all his past arguments flew out the window. He turned his head until his lips met hers, and she gasped against his mouth. He kept his hands at his sides, afraid of what he would do if he touched her. Only the slamming of the door broke them apart. He dragged in a breath before turning his head. Adam stood there, his face even darker than before. His eyes had gone nearly black.

“Not going to take more than you can give back, huh?”

Maggie turned away from him to face Adam. “I kissed him. What are you doing here anyway?”

He didn’t even bother to look ashamed. “First time we could get through. I wanted to check and make sure you were all right. I thought it was just you and your pa here now.”

William noticed Adam didn’t mention checking on anyone else, only Maggie. The other man’s anger toward him started to make sense, even if there was no real reason for it.

He still took a step away from Maggie, putting some distance between them. She turned toward him, her smile just as bright. “I’ll get both of you coffee, and breakfast will be ready soon.”

She brushed his arm again as she moved back to the fire. The touch was enough to heat his blood. He took a deep breath and settled down at the table. He couldn’t deny his feelings, but he didn’t have to act on them.

He couldn’t stay, no matter how much he suddenly wanted to.

#

William started down the hallway but stopped at the loud, hacking cough. He hurried on then stopped in the doorway to George’s room. Maggie sat on the side of the bed, trying to hold her father down. “What’s going on?” he asked, taking long strides to her side.

“He’s sick,” she said. “He needs to stay in bed.”

“I have a ranch to deal with, girl. Get out of my way.” His last sentence was barely understandable through the coughing fit.

“I can take care of things, George,” William said.

“Not on your own. You’ll end up in bed, too.”

“I’ll help.” The gravelly voice came from behind him, and William turned his head to see Adam standing in the doorway. It was the first time he’d heard the other man speak since he’d walked in on William and Maggie the morning before.

George looked between the two of them then nodded before letting his head fall back to the pillow. Maggie glanced at her father once more before turning to William. “Thank you.” She lifted a hand to his cheek. “He needs to stay in bed today. He should be back up in another day or two. There’s not much that keeps him down for long.”

William stayed there for a moment, liking the way the simple touch felt. He finally took a step back. “We’ll be back once the animals are taken care of.”

He walked past Adam without another word. He could have handled the barn chores on his own. The wound in his side had nearly healed. He doubted it would open again. The shoulder wound healed slower, but it didn’t bother him unless he lifted something over his head.

When they got outside, William said, “I’ll take care of the animals while you cut some firewood.”

“Why don’t we switch?”

William finally turned to him. “The reason George sent you out here with me is so I don’t end up back in bed with another torn open wound. Which cutting firewood would do. I’d rather not risk that happening.”

“Why would it open a wound?

“Because I was shot four months ago. I would have died if it wasn’t for those two in there. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure George doesn’t have to worry about patching me up yet again.”

Adam fell silent, and William walked on to the barn without looking to see if Adam went to the woodpile or not. He didn’t really care.

He fed and watered the horses and was brushing his horse before moving on to the others when Adam’s voice came from outside the stall. “What’d you do to get yourself shot?”

William nearly dropped the brush at the question, then his grip tightened, and he continued his grooming. He took a moment to clear his thoughts before answering. “I was tracking down the man who killed my wife and son and burned my home to the ground. I caught up to him, and he shot me twice. I should have died out there. George didn’t let that happen.”

Silence fell over them, and William kept stroking the brush down his horse’s side. A long moment passed before Adam spoke again. “Did you take him down with you at least?”

The laugh burst out and surprised William. It wasn’t funny. “No. He left me for dead and rode away. I haven’t been able to ride out and track him down again. The first time took me weeks. I didn’t even start until my wife had been buried for almost six months.”

“What took you so long?” Adam had come closer now and bent to grab a hoof pick. He lifted the horse’s hoof to clean it.

“My son had a bullet in his back. We thought he would pull through, but he got an infection and the bullet moved. He bled to death inside, and we didn’t even realize it was happening.”

Adam released the horse’s leg and dropped back to his heels. “That’s awful. Who would do something like that?”

William dropped his hand and looked over the horse’s back, even though he saw nothing. “My brother.”

Adam cursed behind him, but William shook his head. “I will find him and bring him in. Right now, we have four more horses to take care of before we can go inside. Let’s get to it.”

Adam didn’t say anything as they worked together to groom the rest of the horses.

#

March 20, 1888

A week passed since George had been laid up in bed, and he'd been forced to work with Adam. Something had happened, a tenuous thread of understanding forming between them. Even with George back on his feet, Adam found excuses to stick around.

William hauled a dead log over to an already burning pile of wood. More debris like this lay around the ranch. Not good for in the fireplace, but it still needed to be removed. He tossed the log at the fire, maybe a little harder than necessary.

He didn't have any more excuses, either. His shoulder still ached and was too weak to lift much. He wasn’t too worried about it. The snow hadn't all melted, but the trails were passable. He should ride out.

He couldn't bring himself to saddle his horse.

Maggie crossed the yard toward him. She was the only excuse left. They had only kissed once more, a brief caress of lips before George had come down the hall. He couldn't stop thinking about her or wanting her.

He should ride out. Thomas would never pay if he stayed here. Yet he kept letting one more day pass by.

He stepped back from the heat of the flames. Sliding his hat back on his head, he wiped his sleeve over his forehead. Her hand brushed over his back, and he stiffened. "You shouldn't be back here, Maggie."