The Texan's Reward (18 page)

“Would you go find Jacob and tel him I need him as soon as possible?”

Wednesday looked confused but waddled off toward where Jacob had been working with the horses in a field

past the barn. They’d all seen him from the window earlier.

Brother Aaron stood from the porch swing and moved to Nell’s side. Without taking his attention off the

approaching wagon, he whispered, “He’s moving too slow not to be trying to transport something lightly. I fear

we have trouble arriving.”

“I know,” Nell answered, straining to see if it could be Randolph Harrison riding in the buckboard. The

bookkeeper said he was meeting Parker. She calculated the hours. Three, maybe four, since Mr. Harrison left.

He’d had time to reach town and from there ride out to the turnoff to the Stockard place. But, she reasoned, he

hadn’t had time to get there and back. If Harrison was in the wagon, something had happened to him before he

got to the Stockard place. But what?

The only enemy she could think Harrison might have would be Walter Farrow, and he could handle himself well

enough to stay out of the bossy man’s way. Also, even if they met in town, Farrow seemed more like a man who

might take an enemy to court, not cal him out.

The sheriff drove as if trying to make the trip as easy as possible on his cargo.

“Can you see anything?” she asked Brother Aaron.

The preacher shielded his eyes. “There’s something in the back, but I can’t tel what. I’l go down and open the

gate so he doesn’t have to stop.”

Nel tried to remember to breathe as the sheriff pul ed his wagon up in front of the house. She could see

blankets in the back. And a body, covered completely. It had to be a body.

Grabbing the railing, Nell forced herself to stand. She’d forgotten to lock the chair, and it rolled backward, but

she hardly noticed. “Mr. Harrison,” she whispered. If he were dead, it would all be her fault. He wouldn’t have

been checking the ranch if she hadn’t asked him.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jacob running toward the wagon. He must have come to the same

conclusion.

“Morning,” Parker said. The sheriff smiled as if nothing were wrong.

Jacob reached him. “What is it?”

Parker lowered himself from the bench seat. “Oh, nothing much. I just thought I’d bring out the new nurse.”

Nell almost collapsed. It wasn’t Randolph Harrison.

Jacob leaned into the buckboard. “Is she alive?”

Parker laughed. “I wouldn’t bring you a dead one, now would I?”

The ranger didn’t look like he appreciated the joke.

Throwing back the blanket, the sheriff added, “There was a train robbery northwest of Fort Worth this morning.

I didn’t get a lot of the details. Got my deputies col ecting statements now. But from what I gathered, the

passengers decided to buy samples from a liquor salesman so they could steady their nerves. Drunkest bunch of

folks I ever saw arrived on the noon train. I couldn’t just leave a snoring woman laid out on the platform, so I

brought her here.”

“Lord! Lord!” the preacher yelled. “The devil’s taken to riding trains.”

THE NURSE SLEPT IN THE BACK OF THE SHERIFF ’S wagon like a logger after a hard winter. Jacob placed the

blanket back over her face to muffle the sound. “She seems fine,” he yelled at Nell, who stood watching from

the porch.

Sheriff Parker grinned and whispered to Jacob, “If this were one of them fairy tales, she’d be Sleeping Ugly.”

“How long has she been out?” Jacob swore he could smel her breath through the quilt covering her.

“Ever since I picked her up. She was the only single woman that got off, or rather got carried off, the noon train.

I figured she had to be the nurse that Nel sent for to replace Mary Ruth.”

Jacob tried to judge her weight by the bump she made in the blanket. He’d guess her almost double Nel ’s width,

but the woman would be shorter by a head.

The sheriff read his mind. “We could let her sleep it off in the barn. I could borrow one of Nell’s wagons for the

ride back to town.” He tried to make himself not sound like a coward. “It don’t seem fair to wake a woman up

after all she’s been through this morning.”

“Maybe we’d better ask Nel . I have no idea what to do with a drunk nurse.” Jacob glanced toward the porch in

time to see Nell start to crumple, her hands peeling away from the railing as she fell.

He ran around the wagon and was halfway up the walk when her legs no longer held her. She was alone. No one

stood near enough to help.

Panic gripped his heart as he watched her melt like a rag dol . At first she seemed to drift to the planks. Then he

heard her head hit the wood, a hol ow, sickening sound. He would have taken a bul et not to have seen her fal .

In what seemed like a heartbeat, he leaned over her and lifted her into his arms. “Two Bits,” he whispered,

wishing her eyes would open. “Nel , are you all right? Answer me!”

She didn’t move.

Suddenly, everyone surrounded him, buzzing like flies, asking questions, trying to get closer, trying to help. He

didn’t care what they had to say. He held Nel as gently as he could in his arms and stood. The only voice he

wanted to hear was hers.

“Get her upstairs,” Gypsy ordered. “I’l get cold towels. She always bumps her head when she fal s.”

“Should I go for the doctor?” Parker asked. “I could toss the nurse out of the buckboard and make it back in

minutes.”

“You know he wouldn’t come.” Gypsy swore beneath her breath. “That’s why Dr. McClellan wants her to have a

nurse. He knows the town doc never has the time to care.”

Wednesday started crying as she waddled back and forth across the porch like a windup toy. The girl was

starting every sentence with “I should have . . .”

Jacob knew he had to do something, anything, fast.

“Gypsy, soak towels in wel water. That should be cold enough. I think you’re right; she did hit the back of her

head.” He turned toward the entrance. “Wednesday, hold the door and then find Marla.” He looked at Parker.

“Help me get her upstairs, Sheriff.”

Everyone ran at once, glad to have something to do besides panic. Parker walked ahead of Jacob as if clearing a

path. Everyone but Gypsy climbed the stairs in slow motion.

About the time they reached her room, Nell moved in his arms, moaning as she reached for her head. Jacob

took the first deep breath since he’d seen her fal . He rol ed her slightly so that her head rested against his heart.

“You all right?”

She rubbed her face against his chest. “I think so,” she whispered as he laid her down on top of her bed. “What

happened?”

He knelt on one knee. “You about scared the hel out of me! You should have . . .”

She closed her eyes and moaned in pain. He forgot what he’d been about to say.

The human flies were back, buzzing around Nel , taking off her shoes, pulling the pins from her hair, covering her

with blankets, putting a cold rag behind her head. Suddenly everyone had something to do but Jacob.

Jacob stepped back, feeling helpless.

The sheriff lit the fire in her small fireplace as if there were a chill in the air.

Jacob crossed to the windows, surprised at how anger had replaced fear. He couldn’t believe he wanted to yel

at Nell for falling. Why had she stood in the first place? Didn’t she know how fragile she was? Couldn’t she think

ahead? She might have been really hurt in a fall. Hell, she might be hurt right now for all he knew. Gypsy had

said something about Nel usual y bumping her head. Didn’t the woman learn anything?

He stared out the window, forcing himself to calm. Yelling at Nell would do no good. What kind of fool gets mad

at the fool who lets herself get hurt? They were dueling idiots.

Jacob watched the preacher help an unsteady nurse out of the back of the wagon as Brother Aaron tried to

introduce himself to a drunk. She seemed more interested in straightening her hat than in talking to anyone.

“Are you married, woman?” Brother Aaron bellowed in his town hall meeting voice.

The stout woman in her forties nodded. “I’ve been wed three times and widowed three times.” She hiccupped

and tried to keep her words from slurring together. “I took care of them all until they decided to go meet their

maker. When the last one died, I decided I might as wel take up nursing. It already seemed my chosen

occupation.”

The preacher bowed. “It appears, madam, we are in the same business. We’re both sending souls to heaven.”

She took his arm and let him lead her up the walk. Just before they disappeared from view, Jacob heard the

preacher ask the nurse if she’d like a cup of coffee before she went up to meet Miss Nell.

Jacob thought that would be a great idea. What good would a drunken nurse do Nel now? He’d already decided

to tell Nell to send her back on the afternoon train. He smiled, remembering the preacher’s night out and

Gypsy’s drinking almost every Friday night. They already had their quota of drunks around the place. The nurse

would have to look for employment somewhere else.

He glanced back at Nel . A tiny blue bottle rested on her nightstand. Jacob knew what it was: opium. He wanted

to ask how much she took each day, but his question could wait. Right now he was just happy to see she wasn’t

reaching for the bottle in pain.

Gypsy rol ed the wheelchair in and shoved it near the window so it would be out of the way. When she passed

him, the little woman patted his arm. Her light blue eyes were filled with tears. “She’s going to be all right,

Ranger. Just took a fall, that’s all.” He wasn’t sure if she said the words to him or to herself. “I’ve tumbled down

the stairs twice in the last year and look at me.”

He’d rather not, so he pointed with his head toward the bottle. “How often does she take that stuff?”

“She is not deaf,” Nell answered before Gypsy could say a word.

Jacob smiled, but his words sounded harsh. “Wel , it’s surprising, because she’s certainly dumb.”

Gypsy darted out of the way as if expecting something to fly between them at any moment. “I’l be in the

kitchen helping Marla if you need me.”

The sheriff ushered Wednesday out. “We’d best get downstairs. Miss Nell is fine; she needs a little rest,” he said,

sounding almost as if he knew what he was talking about. “You’ll call us, Dalton, if she needs anything.”

Jacob walked over to the door and slammed it closed. “I’ve got a few words to say to you, and now’s as good a

time as any.”

Nel rose to her elbows. “I’m not listening to anything when you talk to me in that tone. Go away. I have a

headache.” She closed her eyes as if to make him disappear.

Jacob crossed to her bed and sat down beside her. “You’l listen to me if I have to tie you to the bed.”

She opened one eye as she folded her arms across her chest. “Al right, Dalton, say what you have to say.”

“I don’t want you thinking you can stand when no one is near to catch you. I want you to promise me you’l not

try. Promise me there will be no repeat of what I saw today.” He took a deep gulp of air, wondering if she had

any idea how close she’d come to scaring him to death. He’d rather face down a band of horse thieves than see

her fall again. “You are never to do such a thing again.”

“Or,” she said calmly.

Or I’l what? he thought. She was too old to threaten. Too much a woman to punish. In a way what she’d done

had been what she had always done. She’d taken a risk. He realized he loved and hated the same thing about

her. She wouldn’t be Two Bits if she wasn’t a fighter, and a fighter would never accept being tied to a

wheelchair, even if it meant that every time she stood, she took the chance of fal ing.

“End of discussion,” he said, realizing he was making no sense. Her half of the argument had been one word.

What bothered him most was that she’d won.

When he turned away, wanting to disappear before he made an even bigger fool of himself, she reached out

and gripped his hand. He froze, not knowing how he’d explain his actions if she asked him to. How could he

explain how much she meant to him?

“Jacob, I’m al right. I’ve got a bump on my head. That’s all.” To his surprise, she smiled at him. “I know you’re

worried, but I’m fine. We al get bumps from time to time.” She brushed the bruise on his forehead.

He leaned down, his face only a few inches from her. “I was . . .” He couldn’t find a word that expressed how

he’d felt. He was not a man to admit to being frightened.

Her fingers brushed across his hair. “I know.”

Jacob told himself he wouldn’t get so close to her again. Last night had to be a onetime thing. She’d made it

plain she wanted a husband in name only. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you look?” The words were out

before he could stop them. He closed the distance between them and brushed his mouth lightly over hers. As

she lifted slightly and kissed him back, their bodies touched.

He leaned lower, pressing his chest against the softness of her breasts. He could feel her heart pound as he

tasted her lips once more, and her mouth opened in invitation. She wasn’t going to make the “in name only”

part easy for him, but he decided he’d take al the punishment he could before complaining.

She felt so right against him. Like a part of him had always been missing. He breathed her in, filling his lungs with

the fragrance that was only Nell. Wildflowers, he thought. She smelled of wildflowers.

For a moment, she clung to him, drawing him closer; then she moved her hand from his hair and gently tried to