Summer Breeze (41 page)

snit when he heard you survived. It wasn't as if he could finish the job, not without raising suspicion again. You went into seclusion, making it almost impossible for him to try to kill you and make it look like an accident. One good thing came of it for Ray, though. With your father dead, all the hired hands quit, and only Darby was left to work your ranch. By exercising a little caution, Ray was able to go to and from the mine with scarcely any risk of being seen. That's a big spread, and Darby couldn't be everywhere at once."

"So he contented himself with that and worked the mine for all these years."

"Precisely. It wasn't an ideal situation. He had to do all the picking and digging and hauling on the sly. But judging by what I've seen, it was very profitable. Maybe he hoped to eventually play the mine out, pull up stakes, and live like a king somewhere else. I only know that he left you and Darby alone for a good long while."

"Until Darby rode up into the rocks, searching for a stray."

"Ray apparently believed that Darby had seen the mine. A fortune was at stake. So Ray shot him in the back. When Darby came riding into my place, my first thought was that he'd taken a stray bullet. But Darby insisted it was too much to be a coincidence and believed he'd been shot by the same person who murdered your family."

"And you came to my house to look after me." Rachel smiled sadly. "Something lovely to make up for all the bad, that. I met you."

He lifted her hand to nibble at the base of her thumb. "Yeah, and just for the record, Mrs. Paxton.

I'm as thankful for that turn of events as you are. But I want to finish this." He smiled and winked at her. "Contrary to what Ray evidently thought, Darby hadn't seen the mine. And the new marshal, David, was as baffled as Estyn Beiler had been five years ago, with no real clues to solve either shooting incident. It's highly unlikely that Ray would have done anything else to arouse suspicion if Buddy hadn't seen or heard him up in the rocks yesterday, raised sand to alert me, and then taken off up there.

"I'll never know how that dog knew that Ray Meeks was a polecat, but somehow he did. He wasn't barking a friendly hello, like he normally does. Buddy knew the man was dangerous.

When I called him back, he didn't listen. He just charged on up the hill, and Ray hit him in the head with something to shut him up. When I went looking for my dog, I found the damned mine."

"And the secret was out."

"Essentially, and Ray stood to lose a veritable fortune in gold. Even worse, everything else was going to hell in a handbasket as well. His mother had suddenly up and decided to get married. He realized that Darby, as her husband, would have legal right to her property and could probably contest her will, cutting Ray out cold. They were planning to marry in less than a week. He panicked and hatched a plan to kill his mother and you both. He hoped to make Amanda's death look natural—she is old, after all, and Doc might have thought her heart just stopped. And your death could appear to

be the murder it actually was, with all the evidence carefully laid by Ray to implicate the Pritchards.

"It was a pretty clever plan, actually. He apparently eavesdropped on Darby's conversation with Amanda last night and knew of my and David's decision to round up a posse to search Jeb's property at ten this morning. Sometime last night, Ray sneaked into Jeb's barn to plant a couple bags of gold. Then bright and early this morning, he cut Jeb's fence wire, herded the Pritchard cows off the property, and then went by Jeb's place to tell him that his cattle were running all over hell's creation. When we got to Jeb's, no one was there. Then Buddy came racing in, acting deranged and trying to make me follow him." Joseph's eyes went bright with wetness. "I'm so glad now that I had the good sense to pay attention to that dad-blamed dog. He knew you were in danger."

Rachel shivered, remembering. "Right after Ray showed up, Buddy started snarling. When Darby scolded him, he ran off and wouldn't come back. I didn't know he was going to find you, but I'm ever so glad he did. If you hadn't come—"

Joseph laid a finger over her lips. "Don't say it, Rachel. It's a miracle you survived. Right after I entered the courtyard, a birdhouse exploded from sheer heat. I've never seen anything like it."

"Buddy saved my life by going for you, Joseph. I can't leave that unsaid. He knew Ray meant to harm me. Somehow he
knew"

"Maybe dogs can smell evil in a person just like they smell fear. When I reached your place and got you out of the courtyard, I would have believed Ray's

story in a heartbeat if it hadn't been for Buddy snarling at him. If not for that, everything Ray told me would have played into what I already believed, that the Pritchards were behind everything. I knew Jeb and his boys had been gone from their place when we got over there. Then Ray said he'd seen them riding away from your house right before it went up in flames. It all fit, and I would have believed him, I think." He sighed. "I feel bad about that now. Jeb's dirty and unlikable. I almost made a terrible mistake, something I never would have forgiven myself for, all because I don't like the man."

Rachel glanced around. "Where is Buddy, by the way? I owe him a big thank-you hug."

"I figured he deserved a treat and let him go home with Ace tonight so he can play with Cleveland until he drops."

Rachel laughed softly. "Good. He does deserve a reward. When he comes home, you need to kill a steer so I can feed him steak until it comes out his ears." "What about me? Don't I get a reward?" Rachel pushed up on an elbow to hook an arm around his neck. "Oh, yes, but I've something better in mind for you."

Rachel smoothed his hair, kissed him just below his ear. "It's over, Joseph. It's finally, truly over.

From this moment forward, I don't want to think about Ray Meeks ever again. I want to concentrate on our life together and on making you happy."

"I can go for that," he said with a growl. "You sure you're feeling up to it? You had a pretty horrible experience today."

A nightmarish experience, and Rachel wanted to put it completely, forever behind her. "I feel fine, thank you. I just need you to help me think about something else."

Within seconds, he went from serious to passionate, tearing at her clothing, laving her body with kisses. Rachel forgot about the fire—forgot about Ray Meeks—forgot about Mannie.

She was alive, and that had to be celebrated.

Later when they lay satiated in each other's arms with only a film of sweat separating their naked bodies, Joseph whispered, "Shit."

"What?"

"I just ripped your shirtwaist, getting it off you."

Rachel tasted his ear, wanting him again. "It's okay. I didn't like that shirtwaist very well, anyway."

He nibbled just below her jaw. "It was your
only
shirtwaist. Every other stitch of clothing you owned went up in flames."

Rachel realized he was right and burst out laughing. "Oh, dear. I guess I'll have to run around the house stark naked."

"Hmm. Now there's a thought. Stupid me. I was thinking more along the lines of going shopping to get you new clothes."

She nipped the underside of his chin. "Shame on you."

He grinned and kissed her. Against her lips, he whispered, "No worries. I'll get you one of my shirts to use as a nightgown for tonight, and tomorrow I'll go shopping." He trailed his mouth toward her breasts. Then he went still and let loose with another curse.

Rachel grinned and ran her hands into his hair, trying to direct him to where she desperately wanted to have his mouth. "What now?"

His wonderful hands cupped her breasts. "Ace boarded off the hallway. I forgot to get any of my clothes out of the bedroom."

Rachel started to giggle. She was still laughing when Joseph thrust himself deeply into her.

Suddenly all thought of laughter abandoned her.
Heaven on earth.
Caitlin had told her exactly right.

Some time later, Rachel stood before the fire, her only covering a blanket from off the sofa. A loud crash of breaking glass came from the back of the house. She smiled and turned to warm her backside.
Joseph, breaking through a window again.
Except for it being in his house instead of hers, it seemed they'd come full circle, with one small difference.

This time, she wouldn't shoot at him when he reached the kitchen. The man had his fine points and was definitely a keeper.

Rachel sat in her new courtyard on a bench fashioned for her by No Name's only sawyer, Ron Christian. It was a gorgeous July afternoon, and she had nothing better to do than enjoy the sunlight that poured down through the iron bars to warm her skin and make her roses and violets bloom.

Heaven.
Jesse Chandler, the chimney sweep, had built her another trio of birdhouses, and his wife, Dorothy, a gentle, soft-spoken blonde who made gorgeous candles, had decorated each of them. Harrison Gilpatrick had defied his wife yet again to bring her several more rosebushes, and the first spring buds had now matured into gorgeous full blooms. The patches of lawn were a brilliant summer green. Her new school of goldfish loved their new pond. Everything in Rachel's world was absolutely right. Joseph had seen to that.

Just as he'd promised, he'd created a safe world for her at his ranch. She had everything she could possibly need at her fingertips within her living area: a

water closet, a brand-new washing machine, retractable clotheslines to dry the laundry, and designated areas for comfortable living—a kitchen, a dining room, a bedroom, and a parlor—the only remarkable difference being that now her area was larger because, without knowing it, Joseph had built his house just for her, combining his kitchen, dining area, and sitting room into one large open section. In the days since her near brush with death, he had added on a vestibule, just as he'd promised, and Bubba White had fashioned more ironwork for the doors, ceiling, and gate, making her feel absolutely safe.

Everyone had worked so hard to create this world for her, and Rachel loved it. She truly did. The courtyard was even larger than the first one. Joseph had slaved from dawn to dark building the walls, taking them out much farther from the house this time so she wouldn't perish in the event of another fire. The thought brought tears to her eyes. So much love, and so much
work.
When she thought of all the hours of labor that had been invested, she didn't know how to tell Joseph that she no longer needed any walls.

Directly after Ray Meeks' death, Rachel had needed the barricades, just like always. Boards over the windows. A shotgun within easy reach. No doors that opened onto the outdoors. Only somehow, over the weeks that followed the fire, something within her had inexplicably healed, and she awoke one morning wanting the boards off the windows so she could see out. And once outside in her courtyard, where before she had always felt so miraculously free, she suddenly felt imprisoned, all that was within her yearning to see the world beyond the walls.

She didn't know what to do. Joseph had spent a small fortune adding on to the front of his house to build her a vestibule. And he'd neglected his ranch to build these fabulous, impenetrable walls of rock for her. How could she tell him that she no longer needed or even wanted them?

She heard a conveyance pull up out front. No urge came over her to run into the house to hide.

The demon that had haunted her dreams for so very long no longer existed. Maybe it was Doc, coming to check on her again. Or maybe it was someone from town, bearing yet another sweet gift to make her little world more beautiful.

Only she wanted the real world now. She wanted to go walking through the fields with her wonderful husband. She wanted to go horseback riding and lie on her back in a shady place, watching the clouds drift by and listening to the birds.

Rachel had prayed for so long to get well. For
years.
And she had despaired, convinced she never would. But that was before Joseph. Before Buddy. Before Joseph's wonderful family. Maybe she would pretend to be sick a while longer. She'd lived in a dark cave for so long. She could surely do it for a few more months. Then everyone who had worked so hard on this beautiful courtyard might not feel quite so deflated when she informed them that she no longer needed it.

"Rachel?"

That voice. It was one that Rachel had adored all

her life. She sat frozen on the bench for a moment. Then she twisted to look over her shoulder.

There, gazing at her through the bars, was Aunt Amanda.

"I'll go if you want," she said shakily. "I'll understand if you hate me. I truly will. But I had to at least try to see you one more time."

Tears filled Rachel's eyes, nearly blinding her. "Mannie."

"Yes, it's me. I'm a little worse for wear, I'm afraid." She curled a shaky hand around a bar. "I won't stay but for a minute, sweet girl. Only for a minute. I just want to say that I'm so very sorry.

I loved him, you know. My Raymond." Amanda grabbed for breath and shakily exhaled.

"Sometimes when we love a child so very, very much, we're blinded to his faults. I won't lie to you. Deep down, I think I always knew. But I couldn't
believe.
Does that make any sense?"

Rachel tried to nod, but the muscles in her neck seemed to have turned to stone.

"As a mother," Amanda continued, "I couldn't believe it of him. So I found others to blame, and I pretended he was all that I wanted and needed him to be, the wonderful son that I had lost and found again."

Rachel pushed slowly to her feet. Her throat had closed off, and she couldn't speak.

"I just need you to know that I never stopped loving you.
Never.
I was an old fool, and you and your family paid the price for it. I can never undo that. I will never forgive myself for the pain I've caused you. I just hope that someday, when you hold your own little boy in your arms, you'll come to some sort of understanding and finally be able to forgive me. There's no love like the love a mother feels for her child.
Nothing
compares. And when that child goes wrong, it is so very hard to stand back and see him for what he really is, without the love clouding your vision."