The Angel and the Outlaw (26 page)

J.T. whistled under his breath, surprised that a man of Earp’s character and temperament had managed to avoid being gunned down.

“What will you do if you can’t get back to your own time, Brandy?”

“I’ll try to find a job teaching school.”

“And if you can’t?”

“I’m sure I can.”

She couldn’t help grinning as it suddenly occurred to her that if she couldn’t find a job teaching in the Old West, she could probably earn a living as a fortune teller. Wyatt Earp would probably pay a pretty penny to know exactly what was going to happen at the O.K. Corral. And what would it be worth to Wild Bill to be warned to stay away from Deadwood on August 2, 1876, the day he was shot in the back?

“You remember your promise?”

“I remember.” She turned in his arms, her gaze seeking his. “I’ll never love anyone else the way I love you,” she said fiercely. “Never!”

“Brandy…”

“No, hear me out. I don’t want anyone but you, but if some nice man comes along who loves me and will love our son and he asks me to marry him, I’ll say yes because I promised you I’d find a father for our son, but I’ll never love another man as much as I love you, J.T. Cutter. Never in a million years.”

Breathless, she hid her face in the hollow of his shoulder. She was determined not to cry. There would be plenty of time for tears later. But they came anyway. Buckets of tears that soon soaked his shirt.

When she’d cried herself out, J.T. lifted the hem of her skirt and wiped her eyes.

“I’m sorry, love,” he murmured. “If I’d known I was going to cause you so much pain, I’d have left you in Cedar Ridge.”

“No! We were meant to be together, J.T.. I’m sure of it. Why else would I be here?”

He had no answer for that. Right or wrong, he knew only that he was glad of the time they’d had together. She had swept into is life like a hurricane, made him feel things he’d never known existed, given him an appreciation for life, let him have a taste of love that had changed him forever.

With a sigh, he drew her up against him, his arms around her waist, resting lightly over her womb. The baby stirred beneath his hand. A son, to be born in the spring.

Brandy covered his hands with hers. “Do you know how precious your are to me, J.T? Do you know that I love you with all my heart and soul?”

“I know,” he replied, his voice thick. “I love you, too. Both of you.”

J.T. stared at the lights of Cedar Ridge. They pierced the darkness like fireflies, blinking out one by one until everything was dark except for the saloons.

He could see the outline of the gallows silhouetted against the night sky only a few yards away. He had stood there a year ago and watched the sun rise on what he had thought was to be the last day of his life.

He felt his throat tighten as, all too clearly, he remembered the stifling closeness of the shroud over his head, the gut-wrenching fear that had held him in its grasp when the hangman dropped the rope around his neck.

It was April the eighth.

“We’d better say our goodbyes here,” Brandy said. “I don’t want anyone to see you.”

“No. I’ll take you the rest of the way.”

“You can’t. It’s not safe.”

“I don’t give a damn about safe, Brandy. I want to make sure you get settled in a nice place, that you’ve got someone to look after you. There’s a lady in town, Nora Vincent. She’ll look out for you until the baby comes.”

“Who’s Nora Vincent?” Brandy asked, unable to keep the edge of jealousy out of her voice.

“Just a friend. You’ll like her. And she’ll like you.”

“You never mentioned her before.”

J.T. shrugged. In truth, he hadn’t thought of Nora until now. “She owns the hotel. Come on.”

The hotel was located at the other end of town. J.T. led the way, avoiding the main street, staying to the shadows.

The hotel was dark save for a single light that glowed in the lobby.

Despair sat heavy on J.T.’s shoulders as he lifted Brandy from the back of her horse. This was the last night they would spend together.

Taking her hand, he opened the door and stepped into the lobby.

A tall, thin man was sitting behind the front desk, his arms folded, his chin resting on his chest.

J.T. rapped on the desk top. The man came awake instantly.

“Sorry.” He stood up, running a hand through his hair. It was obvious, from the way his gaze darted from J.T. to Brandy, that he wasn’t happy about having Indians in his establishment. “May I help you?”

“I’d like to see Nora.”

The man slid a furtive glance at the Colt tucked into the waistband of J.T.’s trousers. “I’m afraid Missus Vincent has retired for the evening. Perhaps you could come back in the morning?”

“No.”

The desk clerk ran a finger around the inside of his collar. “I’m sorry, but I can’t…that is, I don’t…” The man cleared his throat.

“I’m an old friend of Nora’s,” J.T. said. “I’m sure she’ll want to see me. Now.”

“Well, I…uh, very well.”

Keeping one eye on J.T., the desk clerk emerged from behind the safety of his desk and rushed down the hallway.

“Do you have that effect on everyone you meet?” Brandy asked dryly.

“Almost.” J.T. squeezed her hand. “Not on you, though. You were never afraid of me, were you?”

“Not really. J.T., I…”

“J.T. Cutter, is that you?”

Brandy glanced past J.T. to see a short, plump woman with outrageous red hair hurrying down the hallway.

“Hi, Nora.”

“Landsakes, boy, last time I saw you, you were swinging at the end of a rope! How’d you manage to walk away from that?”

“It’s a long story.”

“And interesting, no doubt. You can tell me all about it in a minute, but first, who’s this pretty little thing?”

“Nora, this is my wife, Brandy. Brandy, this is Nora Vincent, best cook in the territory.”

“Wife!” Nora pressed her hand to her breast. “My, you have been busy. Well, come on,” she said, taking Brandy and J.T. by the hand. “I can see we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Nora ushered the two of them down the hall toward her suite, then closed the door. Hands fisted on her hips, she studied Brandy, her blue eyes widening as she got a good look at Brandy’s rounded belly.

“J.T., what you doing dragging this girl around. A woman in her condition ought to be in bed.”

“That’s why I brought her here, Nora,” J.T. replied dryly. “I need someone to look out for her until the baby comes.”

Nora nodded. “Sit down, dear. Would you like something to eat? To drink? A glass of cool water, or some tea, maybe?”

“I’d love a cup of tea,” Brandy said, smiling at the older woman.

“J.T., you come help me in the kitchen,” Nora said.

Brandy sat down on a green-and-white-striped damask sofa. With a sigh, she stretched her legs, then glanced around the room. Frilly white drapes hung at the windows; colorful rugs covered the floor. There was a large, comfortable looking chair in one corner. Numerous pictures hung on the walls, together with several shelves that held small porcelain figurines of every bird and animal imaginable.

A few minutes later, Nora and J.T. returned. Nora placed a heavy silver tray laden with a silver tea service and three china cups on the table beside the door.

“Married!” Nora shook her head in wonder as she filled the tea cups. “I can’t believe it. Cream, dear? When did all this happen?”

“Recently,” J.T. said. He grimaced as he accepted a cup of tea. “Dang it, Nora, when are you gonna start keeping coffee in the house?”

“Never. Can’t abide the stuff.” She handed Brandy a cup of tea, poured one for herself, then sat beside Brandy on the sofa. “Now, I want to know everything. Where you met, when you got married…” She fixed J.T. with a hard stare, “How you escaped the noose. But first I want to know what insanity brought you back to Cedar Ridge?”

“It’s Brandy’s home. I…I’ve got to leave in a day or two, and she wanted to stay here until the baby came.”

“Well, of course. I’ll be glad to look after her, and the baby, too, but…”

“Nora, I’m really not in the mood for questions tonight.”

“Of course, it’s late.” Nora smiled at Brandy. “You need your rest.” She took the cup from Brandy’s hand and set it aside. “You take the room at the top of the stairs. The one on the left. It’s the biggest, and the nicest. The key’s in the door. I’ll see you get water for a bath first thing in the morning.”

J.T. put his cup on the table, then helped Brandy to her feet. “Thanks, Nora, I really appreciate this.”

“I’m glad to do it.” She gave Brandy a hug. “Don’t you worry about a thing. I know all about babies. Had seven of them myself. Not a runt in the bunch.”

Brandy smiled. Nora Vincent was easy to like.

“I’ll see you two down here for breakfast in the morning,” Nora said. “Not too early. Here, take this,” she said, handing J.T. one of the lamps from the mantle. “We can’t have Brandy tripping on the stairs.”

“Thanks, Nora.”

“Don’t mention it. Goodnight.”

“I like her,” Brandy said as they walked up the stairs.

“I knew you would.”

“How are you going to explain your miraculous escape from the noose?”

“I won’t have to,” J.T. said. He took the key from the lock, opened the door, and placed the lamp on the top of the dresser.

Brandy swallowed the lump that surfaced in her throat. For a moment, she’d forgotten that J.T. was leaving. She stared at his back as he closed and locked the door. His time was almost up.

When he turned to face her, she knew he was thinking the same thing. This was goodbye. Silent tears filled her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.

“Brandy, don’t.”

“I can’t help it.”

Whispering her name, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I don’t want to leave you. You know that.” He closed his eyes as pain knifed through him. “I love you. I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. More than my own life.”

“I can’t live without you, not now.”

“You can, and you will.” He drew back, forcing a smile. “You’ve got to be strong for both of us now. My son is depending on you.”

She shook her head. “How can I go on, never knowing what happened to you? It isn’t fair for you to just disappear from my life.”

“I know,” he murmured helplessly. “I know.”

Gently, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed, then sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms, wishing that he could make love to her one last time.

She held him tight, her face pressed to his chest. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he’d misunderstood Gideon.
Please, please, don’t take him from me. I love him so much. I need him. Our son needs him. Please don’t take him away…

“Brandy, if you can’t get home, don’t be afraid to stay here with Nora. She’ll take good care of you. She’s a fine, decent woman.”

She nodded, hardly aware of what he was saying. Dawn was brightening the horizon. If J.T. was right, he only had one day left. Twenty-four hours. And he couldn’t stay here. It was too dangerous. If someone should see him…

She sat up with a start as someone knocked on the door.

“Cutter! We know you’re in there. Open up.”

J.T. swore under his breath as he recognized the voice of Marshal Aaron Dinsmore.

Brandy stood up and went to the window. A narrow balcony spanned this side of the second floor. She opened the window and peered outside. The street below was empty.

“Go, J.T.,” she said urgently. “Hurry!”

“Dammit, I wanted more time.”

“I know.”

“Open up, Cutter!”

“Hurry,” Brandy said.

J.T. grabbed her, kissing her hard, tasting her tears. “I love you, Brandy.”

“I know. I love you, too. Go with God, J.T..”

He nodded, then stepped out the window and vaulted to the street. Behind him, he heard a loud crash as someone broke down the door. He risked a quick glance behind him, and then he was running.

He heard Brandy scream, felt a sudden burning pain slam into his left leg. The sound of the gunshot echoed in the stillness of the morning as he sprawled facedown in the dirt.

When he looked up, he found himself staring into the dark maw of a double-barreled shotgun.

“It’s over, son,” the lawman said. “Welcome home.”

Ignoring the ache in his leg, J.T. paced the confines of his cell. It was late afternoon, April 9th. Tomorrow, they were going to hang him. Again.

The thought made his mouth go dry and brought a fine sheen of sweat to his brow. Not again, he thought bleakly. Please, not again.

At least Brandy was safe. He had seen her that morning. He would see her again tonight. Nora had come by earlier in the day and promised to take care of Brandy and the baby.
Don’t worry about anything J.T.
, Nora had said, squeezing his hand.
I’ll make sure they don’t want for anything.

J.T. stopped pacing. Resting his head against the cold stone wall, he closed his eyes. He could trust Nora. She’d keep her word. Brandy couldn’t be in better hands.

In the distance, a clock chimed the hour, reminding him that he was sixty minutes closer to the end.

Pushing away from the wall, he began to pace again, grimacing as pain shot through his leg. And still he paced, grateful that he was still alive to feel the pain.

She came at six, more beautiful than he had ever seen her. Motherhood agreed with her, he thought. She forced a smile as she walked toward him, but he saw the sadness in the depths of her eyes.

“You’re lovely, Brandy,” he murmured, taking her hands in his.

So lovely. She wore a dress of soft gray wool that was the same color as her eyes. Her hair had been pinned up on the sides, but left to fall in loose waves down her back. Lifting one hand, he ran it through the heavy black silk of her hair.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Fine. They searched me, J.T.. Can you believe that?”

He smiled, amused by her indignation. “What did they find?”

Brandy shrugged. “Not much. A gun. A knife.”

“Sounds like you were plannin’ a jail break.”

She nodded, unabashed. “J.T., what can I do?”

“Nothing, love.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “Did you really think you could break me out of here?”

“Not really, but I thought you might be able to escape, if you had a weapon.”

J.T. nodded, wishing she had been successful. If he had his druthers, he’d much rather be killed trying to escape than have to face the hangman again.

“Are you all right, J.T.? Can I bring you anything?”

“No.” He was glad it was almost over. Last night, his nightmares had come back to haunt him. “I’d just like to know how Dinsmore knew I was in town.”

“That worm who worked the desk, he recognized you and turned you in. Did you know there was a reward out for you? Five hundred dollars.” Brandy grimaced. “I hope he chokes on it.”

She glanced at the blood-stained bandage wrapped around J.T.’s thigh. “You shouldn’t be standing up.”

“Neither should you.”

“I’m fine. If it’s any consolation, Nora fired that skunk this afternoon.”

“Not much,” J.T. allowed with a wry grin.

Brandy reached through the bars, wrapping her arms around him, clinging to him, wishing she could keep him safe, wishing she could hold him forever. And yet, strange as it seemed, she could feel unseen forces at work and she knew that nothing she did could alter the future.

With crystal clarity, she realized that even if J.T. had somehow managed to escape last night, he would have been brought back to this moment in time. And she knew, just as surely that, one way or another, Fate or karma or whatever you wanted to call it would have brought them both back to Cedar Ridge. She remembered J.T. saying that it had all started here, and it would end here. Had he known, even then, that he couldn’t escape his destiny?

Brandy stiffened in J.T’s arms as she heard footsteps approaching the cellblock.

“Time’s up, ma’am,” Dinsmore called.

“Please let me stay a little longer.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Please?”

The lawman hesitated, then shrugged. “What the hell,” he muttered. “You can stay a few minutes if you want.”

“Thank you,” Brandy said fervently.

“Dinsmore!”

“What do you want, Cutter?”

“Bring her a chair, will ya?”

“Sure, why not.”

Brandy smiled at the sheriff as he brought her a battered-looking ladder-back chair from his office. “Here you go, ma’am.”

“Thank you.”

With a nod, Dinsmore left the cellblock, closing the door behind him.

Brandy sighed as she sat down on the chair.

“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?” J.T. asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

J.T. dragged the cot over to the bars and sat down. Brandy immediately reached for his hand, pressing it to her belly. “It seems like he’s moving all the time now.”

“He’s got a strong kick. Does it ever hurt you?”

“No. He makes it hard for me to sleep sometimes. Seems like he wants to do somersaults just when I’m ready for bed.”

They sat without speaking for a moment. J.T.’s gaze moved over Brandy’s face, conscious of the relentless passage of time. With every moment that went by, he was closer to the gallows, closer to losing Brandy.

“Tell him who he is, Brandy. Teach my son to be proud of his Indian heritage.”

“I will,” she promised. “You know I will.”

“I have a feeling you’ll get back home.”

“Do you?”

J.T. nodded. “I can’t explain it, but I think we would have ended up here in Cedar Ridge no matter what.”

“I was thinking that, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She leaned forward. “Kiss me,” she murmured. “I’m dying for you to kiss me.”

His arms slipped through the openings in the bars and curled around her waist, holding her gently as his lips explored hers, his tongue tracing the outline of her mouth. His hands slid up and down her rib cage, his thumbs brushing against her breasts.

Wanting to hold her closer, he stood up, drawing her with him, pressing himself against the cold iron bars that separated him from the only woman he had ever loved. His hands roamed over her back, slid across her belly, cupped the fullness of her breasts.

He felt the heat of her, the desire that made her clutch at his shoulders as her mouth opened to his, their tongues mating in a timeless dance of yearning.

Never again
, he thought,
after tonight, he would never hold her again, never kiss her, never see her smile. Should Gideon send him on to Heaven, it would seem like Hell without her. Brandy, Brandy…

He groaned softly as he contemplated an eternity without her.

Brandy melted against him, reveling in the touch of his hands even as her own fingers hastened to explore every hard-muscled inch of his body, committing to memory of breadth of his shoulders, the thickness of his hair, the long ropy muscles in his arms. She ran her cheek over his jaw, memorizing the way his whiskers felt against her skin. She kissed him, and kissed him again, absorbing the touch of his lips, the taste of his tongue.

Never again
, she thought,
after tonight he would never be hers again. Please, Gideon, he’s a good man. Take him to Heaven. Please don’t let him suffer… I love him so much… Please don’t take him from me…

“Time to go, Missus Cutter.”

“No.” Brandy clung to J.T., her gaze moving slowly over his face. “Please, not yet.”

“Sorry, ma’am, you’ll have to go now.”

“I love you, J.T.. I’ll always love you.”

“I know.” His arms tightened around her, and he kissed her one last time. “I love you, Brandy. I’ll love you through eternity.”

Dinsmore cleared his throat. “Ma’am?”

“God bless you, J.T..”

“And you.” He took her hands in his, his eyes dark with torment. “Don’t come to the hanging, Brandy.”

“But…”

He shook his head. “I don’t want you there. Stay with Nora ’til it’s over. Promise me?”

She nodded, unable to speak.

“Goodbye, Brandy love,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Tears trickled down her cheeks as she leaned forward and kissed him one last time. “Go with God, J.T..”

“Missus Cutter?”

“Yes, yes, I’m coming.”

J.T. released her hands. “You’d best go now.”

Brandy gazed deep into his eyes. “I love you.”

“I know.” He clenched his hands to keep from reaching for her. Dragging it out wouldn’t do either of them any good.

With a strangled sob, Brandy turned away from the cell and walked blindly down the aisle toward the door.

Hands wrapped around the bars, J.T. watched her walk away and knew his whole life was going with her.

She turned when she reached the doorway. He saw her take a deep breath, and then she smiled at him, her beautiful gray eyes shining with tears, and then she was gone.

* * * * *

“There, there, dear,” Nora crooned, “you go on and cry. You’ll feel better.”

“He…he doesn’t want me to be there tomorrow.”

“Well, of course he doesn’t,” Nora said, patting Brandy on the back. “A hanging’s a horrible thing to see. I know, I’ve been to a couple.” Nora shuddered with the memory.

“But it’s my last chance to see him.”

“I know. But, believe me, dear, you don’t want your last memory of J.T. to be watching him hang. It’s a sight that will haunt you the rest of your life. I don’t understand why anyone would want to watch.”

“Who was it?” Brandy asked, her own sorrow momentarily forgotten. “Who did you see hanged?”

“My brother, Samuel. He was only twenty years old.”

“Oh, Nora, I’m so sorry.”

“He was one of those boys who was always looking for trouble,” Nora explained sadly, “and when he was eighteen, he found it. He started robbing banks, and then one day when he was running away from a bank he’d just robbed, he killed a man. I was the only family he had, and he asked me to be there for him. It was terrible. You have no idea how awful it was to stand there and know there was nothing I could do…” Nora took a deep breath. “It’s late. You should go to bed. You need your rest, you know?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to go to sleep.”

“Try to get some rest then.”

“Nora, where did you meet J.T.?”

“Here, in Cedar Ridge. He spent the night in my hotel a couple of times.”

“How did you get to be such good friends?”

“I’m not sure. I guess he reminded me of Sam. When J.T. was arrested, I made sure he got enough to eat and a change of clothes.” Nora shrugged. “Somehow, we got to be good friends.” Nora placed her hand on Brandy’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Goodnight, Brandy. Try not to worry.”

“Goodnight. Thank you for everything.”

Lying in bed, Brandy closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come. Hands resting lightly over her womb, she wept silent tears, crying for J.T., for herself, for the child who would never know what a wonderful man his father had been.

She rose with the dawn. Wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, she went to the window and stared down into the street.

In spite of the early hour, a crowd had gathered at the far end of town. She could see the gallows, looking like an ugly brown stain against the brightening sky.

A movement across the street caught her eye and she saw the jail door open, saw J.T. step onto the boardwalk, followed by Sheriff Dinsmore and his deputy. Both lawmen carried rifles.

In the distance, the courthouse clock chimed the hour.

She watched J.T. walk down the step to the street. His hands were shackled behind his back. He paused at the bottom of the stairs and glanced over his shoulder toward the hotel. His gaze met hers for one brief sweet moment. She saw his lips move, knew he was telling her he loved her, and then Dinsmore was prodding him in the back with the rifle, urging him down the street.

With a sob, she turned away from the window and fell across the bed, her hands pressed over her ears to block out the sound of the chimes that were ticking away the final moments of J.T.’s life.