Tall, Dark, and Texan (19 page)

Lifting her head, she forced herself to begin. “I had to tell you I was waiting for relatives. You wouldn’t have let me come if you thought I had nowhere to go.”

He didn’t answer.

“I didn’t lie about Eli’s mother. I knew she would take the girls from me. I had to run. There was no time to plan what I would do when I got to Texas. Once I was here, I thought if I could just rest a few days at the ranch, then I would think of something.” Fighting back a sob, she added, “I never thought she’d find me here.”

“A woman alone with three small girls wouldn’t be hard to track.” Teagen didn’t look at her.

Long past tears, she buried her head in her hands and shook with fear. If she were brave, she’d grab one of the guns and kill the lawyer. But he was just doing his job, and Eli’s mother would simply send another. She didn’t even have the money to run, and it would only be a few months before the baby she carried would make it hard for her to work. If they found her all the way here, they could find her anywhere.

When she finally raised her head, Teagen was gone. She wasn’t surprised. She’d lied to him. If he were this angry over one lie, she didn’t want to think what he would be like when he learned that she’d written the last letter, or worse, if he ever knew that she’d written all the letters. Every single one. The friend he thought he had in Chicago all those years had been her, not Eli.

She forced herself to shove every fear aside as she stood and tried to think. The bright, sunny day might as well be a storm. Sheriff Brown stood out by the carriage with the carriage driver. Both men seemed to be passing the time of day with Sims. The lawyer had removed his hat and coat. He still looked uncomfortable sitting in one of the porch chairs. A half-empty pitcher of tea stood on the table beside him. He looked as hard as oak, and Jessie guessed tears wouldn’t affect him. He was just doing a job. One he was paid well for if he were willing to follow her here.

It took her a minute to realize that the judge was missing. With his width, he wasn’t the kind of man one could miss in a crowd, but none of the others seemed to notice.

Jessie turned as Sage came in. “I made you a glass of tea with cold well water. The day’s already too hot for coffee.”

“Thanks.”

Sage glanced around the empty room. “Did Teagen finally calm down?”

Jessie shrugged. “He hates being lied to. I think right now he probably hates me.”

“Probably, but he can just get over it.” Sage joined her at the window. “You had good reason to do what you did. Three good reasons.”

Jessie managed a smile. She had a feeling Sage would be on her side. “I can’t let them take the girls. You don’t know what Eli’s mother was like. She spoiled my husband all his childhood, and when he turned out to be just what she’d made him, she disowned him. After buying him a little bookstore to keep him from starving, she claimed to wash her hands of him, but every year she’d come around to check on him and remind him of how dearly he’d let her down.”

“But she must have loved the girls. She’s fighting for them now.”

Jessie shook her head. “Eli told me she stopped by when she heard I’d had a baby just to see if it might be a boy. I never saw her. Eli said she told him he couldn’t do anything right, not even father a son. She blamed him, and he blamed me. The only reason she wants the girls now is because he’s dead. But I can’t give them to her. I can’t.”

“Of course not,” Sage said without a second’s hesitation. “They are your daughters. They belong with you. It’s not right for that lawyer to even think of taking them back.”

“When we got to the trading post, I only wanted to stay here long enough to rest. I was afraid Teagen wouldn’t let me stay if he knew no one was planning to come after me.” Jessie shoved a tear away. “So I lied about relatives coming to pick me up.”

“That doesn’t matter now. What matters is that man thinks he’s got a right to the girls.” Jessie turned back to the window. “I’m guessing Mr. Wenderman brought both the sheriff and the judge so there would be no mistake that he was within the boundaries of the law. He might have guessed we’d shoot him accidentally for a snake if he came alone.” Sage touched the gun holstered at her waist.

“Would you?” Jessie whispered.

Sage shook her head. “Probably not, but Teagen would. He’d do whatever he had to do to protect family.”

Jessie felt a lump in her throat grow. She wasn’t family, but Sage had included her.

Both women turned as Teagen walked in with the round judge right behind him.

The old man nodded at both women, then looked around the room. “I’m not fond of tea, but I’ll take something stronger if you have it, Mr. McMurray.”

Teagen took a bottle from a cabinet and poured him a shot of whiskey.

The judge smiled with pleasure, making his cheeks as round as apples. “Delightful,” he said as he took the glass. “I haven’t had a drink all day.”

No one in the room mentioned that it was still morning. They just watched as he downed the alcohol. His huge throat reminded Jessie of the toad Rose had found.

When he finished the whiskey, he wiped his mouth on his ham of a hand and smiled. “Now, down to business. Which one of you lovely ladies is Jessie Barton?”

“I am.” Jessie stepped forward.

“Are you the mother of Emily, Rose, and Bethany Barton?”

“Yes.” Jessie could see no point in denying it.

“The court papers that rattlebox of a lawyer carries say that you are a widow without family or means to support your children.”

Jessie raised her head but didn’t answer.

Judge Frazier looked like he could use another drink. Finally, he continued, “There’s not much I can do in the matter if the facts are true. I understand from Wenderman that the grand-parents are quite wealthy and can provide a fine life for the children.” He shook his head. “But I don’t cotton much to the law taking kids from a parent. It don’t seem nature’s way. Now, if you had family or were remarried to someone willing—”

“We’ll be her family.” Sage stepped beside Jessie.

The judge shook his head. “Saying you’re family and being it is two different things. I talked to Wenderman about taking this lady back with the girls, but he swears the grandmother wants only the little ones. If your husband’s people would take you in, they could be your family, Mrs. Barton.”

Jessie stared at the floor. She’d never been welcome in their home, and she knew she never would be. Eli had married her, but he’d never treated her like family. She’d never spoken to Mrs. Barton until the week before Eli died, and then the woman hated her so much she wouldn’t even say her name. It had taken Jessie a long time to figure out why. Finally she’d realized that because of her, Eli had been able to live the way he wanted to live. If she hadn’t been around to run the store, he would have failed and had to go back to his mother.

Judge Frazier’s voice lowered. “I’m real sorry. I don’t always agree with it, but my job is to uphold the law.”

Jessie couldn’t move. She wanted to run, grab her girls, and head for the trees. She’d live on the land and eat berries and nuts. She’d build a shelter of twigs. She’d do anything, but she wouldn’t give them up. She couldn’t. They were her life.

For a minute Teagen’s words didn’t register. “Judge, did you say if she were remarried that would change things?”

The old man nodded. “If she were married to a man who could provide for the children, I don’t see how the grandmother would have any rights.”

Teagen spoke only to the judge. “Do you think I could provide for a family?”

“Of course you could.” The judge studied Teagen. “Are you saying you’d marry Widow Barton?”

“I am.”

Jessie stared at Teagen, but he didn’t look at her as he added, “She can stay here until the baby she carries now is born; then I’ll buy her a house in town and see that she has enough to live on. You have my word.”

The judge looked suspicious. “That’s mighty generous of you.”

Teagen’s face was hard. “I’m not doing it for her. I’m doing it for the girls and my one friend, Eli Barton. If he hadn’t asked me to take care of his family, I wouldn’t bother, but he was my friend, and to my way of thinking, I should put no boundary on his request. He must have known his mother would try something, or he wouldn’t have written that last note.”

The judge seemed to see Teagen McMurray for the first time, and when he spoke again, he said, “The child she carries . . .” He couldn’t finish without being disrespectful.

“Is my husband’s,” Jessie finished. “If it’s a boy, his mother will want it a hundred times more than she’ll want the girls.”

Frazier seemed to understand. He looked directly at Jessie. “If you marry this man, any child born of that marriage will be his, even if it’s born a day after the wedding. Do you understand that?”

She nodded. “Eli’s mother will never be able to lay claim.”

The fat judge ran his fingers through his hair and handed Teagen the empty glass. “I need a drink. There are a few questions we’d better get through.”

Teagen poured another whiskey and said, “The only question I have is, can you perform the ceremony? Make it legal?”

“I can,” the judge answered as he tested the strength of the chair behind the desk, “but I don’t do this kind of thing lightly.”

Once he settled in, he seemed in his element. Behind the desk, he appeared taller, more powerful. “First, do you love this lady?”

“No.” Teagen’s words were cold.

The judge turned to Jessie. “Do you love this man?”

Jessie closed her eyes and admitted what she’d felt for years. “Yes.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Teagen countered. “She’s lying because she thinks the truth will mean you won’t let her keep the girls.”

“It doesn’t matter, anyway.” Frazier poured himself another drink. “Half the folks I marry don’t even know what love is.” He downed his whiskey. “Now, and more important, will you be true to this man as long as you live?”

“I will.” Jessie knew she would.

“And you, Teagen McMurray. If you marry, even under these circumstances, will you swear to be husband to her for as long as she lives?”

“If I marry, I’ll keep every rule of marriage.”

Then Frazier motioned for them to step in front of the desk. “Are you agreeing to this, Jessie Barton?”

“I am.”

“And are you agreeing to this, Teagen McMurray?”

“I am.”

“Then I’ll draw up the document. Ask one of your men to come in and witness it. No one would dare question a Ranger’s word.”

“That’s it?” Sage finally spoke. “No wedding service, no vows, no kiss at the end?”

“Under these conditions, I don’t think it will be necessary. Once I write up the paper, they are just as married as they would be in a big church.”

Jessie ventured a glance at Teagen. He did not look happy. In fact, he looked like a man who needed something to hit. She knew he was still angry at her, probably always would be, but he’d offered her a way out, a way to keep the girls.

And he’d done it not out of caring but because of his friend’s dying request.

A request written and signed by her.

A MINUTE AFTER THE JUDGE SAID THEY WERE MARRIED, Teagen walked on the porch and told the lawyer the news. To his credit, Wenderman took the development with disappointment but grace. Teagen couldn’t help but think maybe a small part of the man didn’t like the job he’d been hired to do. He asked if he could be allowed to see the girls before he departed so that he could give a report of their well-being to his client.

Teagen saw no harm in the request. “All right, but they are not to know why you’re here.”

“Fair enough,” Mr. Wenderman agreed.

Sage offered the men lunch, and everyone began moving into the dining room of the house.

To his surprise, the sheriff looked happy about the marriage. He pumped Teagen’s hand and wished him the best, then kissed Jessie on the cheek. He’d be repeating the story when he got back to Austin. The McMurrays were a well-known family in Texas, and Teagen’s marriage would be news.

Teagen told himself he felt nothing. He’d done the right thing. He always did the right thing, no matter the cost to him. The friend he’d had for years had asked him to take care of his family, and he’d done just that.

He heard the women welcoming Martha and the girls out of the cellar, but he was gone before everyone sat down to lunch. He rode toward Lookout Point, needing to be alone. Sage would tell them he had ranch business to see about. That was what she’d told the few people who asked about him from time to time.

Once on the point, in the shade of the hills, he stood, looking over his land. The spread was big, one of the biggest in Texas, the land rich and perfect for pasture. He could breed twice the horses and ten times the cattle if he wanted to. Before he turned forty, he could be one of the most powerful men in Texas if he wanted to be, and no one could take this place from him. That had been his dream for years, not the power but the security.

Only why, now, did he feel so alone?

He’d always done what was right, done what he had to do. He’d never put himself first, and no matter how much it hurt, he’d always told the truth. Then why did doing the right thing hurt so badly deep down inside?

The marriage didn’t matter. He’d never planned to marry, so if Jessie needed his name to be safe, it seemed a small enough gift. The girls would be fun to watch grow up. They already meant more to him than he’d admit.

So why did what he’d done eat away in his gut?

Teagen climbed back on his horse and began to ride. He crossed the hidden trail his father had been shown by the Apache thirty years ago. Only Teagen didn’t follow the path. This time he wasn’t riding to the trading post. He was riding away from the ranch house and as far away from Jessie as he could.

It was almost nightfall when he circled around to the summit of Whispering Mountain. He left his horse and climbed the last few hundred yards. Finally, after a few scrapes because of his own carelessness, he reached the summit where the land leveled out onto a flat plane. There, with trees surrounding him and the sun turning the sky to a pale red, Teagen stopped running.