The Texan and the Lady (25 page)

They were to the corner of the barn before he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?”

“Did it matter?” Her question was matter-of-fact, without any emotion.

Austin shook his head. “I’m not sure I could have stopped even if I’d known. Maybe you did tell me, but I didn’t believe you.”

“Are you sorry you touched me?” Her voice was so low he wasn’t sure she’d asked the question.

“No.” He suddenly pulled her against the blackness behind the barn. His hands gripped her shoulders hard as he leaned close so that his words were only an inch from her ear. “Of all the things I’ve ever done in my life, touching you is one I’ll never be sorry for.”

He’d meant to talk to her and leave without weaving his life and her lies together any further, but her nearness infected him with a fever he wasn’t sure he’d ever recover from. Even now she looked up with those eyes that promised more than he’d ever be able to accept.

“Jennie,” he whispered as he pulled her close. “Why can’t you trust me with the truth? Why won’t you believe that I’d never hurt you if you trusted me?”

She didn’t want to answer. She wanted to feel his hands warm her once more. Her mouth opened slightly as she raised her lips to his. Hers were yielding, his firm. Yet when they touched, passion burned through them both like a wildfire out of control.

Their kiss was long and complete, making him forget all the promises he’d made to himself about not touching her again. She was heaven in his embrace. Touching her was like being struck by lightning on a clear night; there was nothing he could do but feel his need for her burn all the way through him.

Raising her arms around his neck, Jennie leaned her body’s full length into his, loving the way he met her gift with a warm wall of strength. She could feel his heart pounding against her breasts, and his arms were loving bands around her.

“Jennie,” he whispered against her ear as his mouth moved along her throat, lightly tasting her skin. His large hands spread wide across her back, molding her against him. “Answer me, Jennie,” he said as the last ounce of logic gave over to pure pleasure in his mind.

She cupped his face and gently forced his lips to hers, wanting to taste passion once more before she had to lie to him again. How could she ever tell him that it wasn’t her lie to tell? That she had to protect Delta?

His mouth was hot with need as his kiss reached her very soul with longing. Jennie closed her eyes and pretended there was no world but Austin’s arms. He was more wonderful than she’d ever dreamed a man could be. He made her feel a passion she hadn’t even known existed in this world.

“You folks gonna kiss all night?” True stepped from the corner of the barn.

Jennie jerked backward so violently she would have fallen if Austin hadn’t caught her.

“I’ve been waiting, but a fellow can only wait so long on folks doing something as silly as lip touching.”

Austin laughed and grabbed True by the shoulder. “Someday you’ll do the same thing, son.”

True struggled to break free. “I don’t think so. It seems like something I could do without in this lifetime. Unless of course my partner had a wad of taffy already soft and was waiting to share.”

“True!” Jennie tried to sound stern, but she couldn’t contain her giggle. “Little boys shouldn’t talk of such things as kissing. Or spy on folks.”

“Well, if I don’t watch, how am I going to learn so I can someday practice like the marshal seems to think I will?” True’s question was direct.

“Good point.” Austin took Jennie’s hand as they stepped into the light of the barn. “Why don’t you wait until you’re a tad older and I’ll tell you all about it?”

“Thanks.” True made sure she was several steps ahead of them before she continued. “But I think I’ll ask Audrey instead. When her and Wiley kissed, she let out a hoot and told him he was a better kisser than the boys in seven counties back home. I figure that kind of woman can give me some advice.”

“Does Audrey know you eavesdropped on her and Wiley?” Jennie looked at the child she’d grown to love.

“Nope.” True danced in front of them. “Folks don’t take too kindly if you interrupt them while they’re spoonin’.”

“Then why’d you—”

True didn’t allow Austin to finish. “I bothered you because Audrey told me to come get you fast.”

“Colton?” Jennie breathed in the word.

“Is he already dead, son?” Austin doubled his speed and pulled Jennie toward the house.

“Worse than that, sir.” True ran to keep up. “He’s gone and asked Del—Mary Elizabeth to marry him tonight.”

“No!” Jennie and Austin both said at once.

True jumped up on the porch. “Yes, ma’am. Seems he wants to leave a widow.”

JENNIE WAS THE first to reach Colton’s room. Link blocked the door like a self-appointed border guard. The boy’s eyes were tired. He’d aged a step further into manhood during this day of waiting for death.

Colton didn’t look any better than he had at the jail, except someone had pulled a clean shirt over his unharmed shoulder and the shadow of a dark beard framed his chin.

Before Jennie could ask any questions, Spider Morris hurried into the room, with the undertaker plowing the same row just a step behind. Since the town had no official minister, the choice for a preacher was usually between these two men. Most of the time when a minister was needed, one or both of them would already be on hand anyway.

“Barkley?” Spider moved slowly toward the bed, figuring his job would soon be passed to his companion. The undertaker looked as if he were studying Colton’s body for the size of the box.

Colton glanced up, his eyes as black as buried death. “Sheriff, sorry to have to ask you to hurry, but I don’t know how much time I’ve got.”

“I understand, son.” Morris sounded more like a priest than a lawman. “What can I do for you?”

“I want you to marry Mary Elizabeth and me.”

“But—”

“I’m not sure I have the strength for much discussion. I’ve talked to her, and she agrees to become my wife tonight.” He closed his eyes, allowing the pain to win a battle. “We’ve made a pact. She’ll inherit half my ranch if she’ll marry me.”

Delta looked up at the others and, with her voice shaking, finished his terms. “The other half will be divided up between the employees. The land I get will contain the grave of Colton’s first wife. I’ve promised to never sell it. When Colton dies, I’ll bury him next to his wife then be free to marry and live wherever I like.”

Before anyone could stop her, Delta darted from the room. She ran up the stairs and vanished through the panel behind the watershed before anyone but Jennie could catch her. Jennie slipped behind the water container and slid along the narrow tunnel until she touched Delta.

The small woman was curled into a ball, softly crying. “I can’t go through with it. I’m not strong enough.”

“Then why did you agree?” Jennie whispered as she slid her arm around Delta.

“He’s dying,” Delta answered. “He said he had no relatives and he doesn’t want to die alone.”

“He doesn’t know who you really are, does he?”

“I don’t think he cares.” Delta wiped her eyes on the now filthy green dress she’d been wearing for over twenty-four hours. “I’ve been called trash all my life, but I don’t want to even think about what folks will call me if I marry a man on his deathbed.”

“It doesn’t matter what folks think.” Jennie couldn’t believe she had spoken against what she’d been taught all her life. “You’ve got to do what you believe to be right.”

“If Colton dies and I don’t marry him, I’ll be alone with nowhere to go. At least this way I’d have a home.”

Jennie could feel trouble riding double toward them. “You don’t have to worry about your stepbrother finding you. I talked to him today, and he’s on the train back home by now. I convinced him you were dead. I even gave him the trunk.”

“I don’t care about him anymore,” Delta answered. “I know what I have to do. I have no choice but to marry Colton.”

“No, you have a choice.” Jennie had always thought people married because they wanted to spend their lives together, not because they wanted someone to come to their funeral. “You can leave. Even if Colton dies, we can find the money somewhere for a train ticket.”

“The only option I have is to marry.” Delta’s cry was soft but marinated in sorrow. “Audrey told me this afternoon why I’ve been sick these past few weeks. I think I guessed it but didn’t want to face the truth; I’m going to have a baby.”

“No!” Jennie now knew trouble had just stampeded into their lives.

Delta raised her head, pulling together her last bit of pride. “I knew it was bound to happen sometime with Ward forcing me every time he got drunk. Now I could never go back. He’d take the baby as his and raise it to be like him and his father. I could never stand by and allow that to happen. Unlike my mother, I’m going to plan for my child. If Colton lives, I’ll go back someday and claim my family land for my baby and kill all the Halls if I have to.”

“And if he dies?” Jennie asked.

“Then my child will have Colton’s land. Either way he’ll never be homeless trash.”

Jennie pulled Delta close and held her while she cried. Delta seemed to be crying for the life she’d had and the future one she was about to give up by marrying a man who didn’t want a wife as dearly as he wanted a widow.

Chapter 23

D
early beloved.” Spider cleared his throat. “We are gathered here together—”

“Cut out all the extra, Sheriff,” Audrey ordered, “or the groom may not live through the ceremony.”

Spider nodded and jumped to the only part he knew to be vital. “Do you Colton Barkley take this woman to be your wife?”

Colton didn’t smile but stared at the sheriff with dark, determined eyes. He’d insisted on being at least raised to a sitting position for his own wedding. “I do,” he said in his low voice that seemed to always rumble with anger.

“And so does she, Sheriff, so get on with it,” Audrey added. Patience was a trait only slightly visited in Audrey’s tour of virtues.

Spider agreed once more to hurry. “Then I pronounce you man and wife.”

“And I witness it,” the undertaker added. “So when the judge makes it by here next month, we’ll swear it was all legal.”

Jennie looked around. Now that the wedding was over, everyone in the room seemed to be just standing by waiting for the groom to die so they could console the widow. Audrey, Link and True had been watching him all afternoon. Now Spider and the undertaker everyone called Mr. Hatcher looked determined to join the group. Jennie couldn’t stand the sight. Maybe Austin had been right to disappear before the wedding started. “I think everyone should leave.” When no one but True and Link moved, she added, “Now!” in a voice sounding more like Audrey’s than her own. More meekly she continued, “We should give the bride and groom some time alone.”

Spider and Mr. Hatcher followed True and Link out. Jennie heard the undertaker ask Spider if he thought they should just wait downstairs, for in his words, “it can’t be long.”

Audrey stood at the door with her hand raised toward the man’s back when Jennie rushed to his aide. “He doesn’t mean anything. It’s just his job.” Jennie knew Audrey wouldn’t understand, but she’d grown up with her father discussing what the widow might donate at the mourners’ dinner.

Audrey looked every inch a redheaded warrior. “Well, he may be waiting on himself if he doesn’t watch his manners. I don’t like the idea of everyone thinking Colton’s going to die. I figured out about half an hour ago that any man strong enough to face marriage on his deathbed just might surprise everyone and live.”

Glancing back at the newlyweds, Jennie noticed Delta gently lowering him back into the covers. Jennie didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but pause, listening to them whisper.

“Thanks for marrying me,” Colton said in a voice that sounded hoarse. “I didn’t think you would after what I told you this morning over at the jail. And to tell the truth, I wouldn’t have blamed you.”

Delta lightly brushed the midnight hair from his forehead. “I know you were saying whatever you thought you must to get me to safety.”

Colton slowly shook his head. “No,” he started.

Delta continued to brush back his hair. She’d discovered she enjoyed doing the little gesture, and he didn’t seem to mind. “It doesn’t matter what happened before we met,” she said. “All that matters is now. I promise I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me to.”

“And if I die?”

She looked down. “Then I’ll carry out our bargain.”

Colton reached up and took her hand. “Why? When you arrived, I’d already heard Lawton was on his way, and I knew I’d be the first one he wanted between his sights. I figured the best thing for me to do was stay away from you until our month was over, then hand you a ticket. But you didn’t seem to notice. You settled into winning the hearts of all my staff and even bringing True to stay with us like you thought my ranch could be a real home.” His voice sounded very tired. “Now you marry me without knowing anything about me.”

“But you know nothing of me either.” She looked down, afraid to face him. “Maybe if you did, it would be you who didn’t want to marry me.”

“I knew all I needed to know when you told me you wanted to take care of True just because the kid needed someone. I figured a woman with that big a heart might someday learn to care for me.”

Delta lowered her head and cried softly against his pillow. “Would you care for a child who wasn’t yours?” she whispered between sobs. “One without a father who needed love to have a chance to grow up and be somebody?”

“I would,” he answered, “if I had the opportunity.”

Jennie’s eyes were so filled with tears, she couldn’t see to leave the room. When she glanced at Audrey, Jennie found her in much the same predicament.

As she closed the door, Audrey announced, “That man’s gonna live if I have to fight the grim reaper myself for his soul. I don’t care if he stuffed his first wife down a dry well, he’s going to make a damn good husband to Delta if he pulls through this.”

Smiling away her tears, Jennie added, “I’ll go down and tell Mr. Hatcher we won’t be needing him tonight.”