Thunder on the Plains (45 page)

“You asked for my opinion,” Colt growled. “You
got
it!”

There came another clap of thunder, and the rain came down so hard that one could not see more than a few inches beyond the torrent just outside the window.

“I asked for your opinion about the danger of the situation, not about the U.P. and what it can and cannot afford to do. What the hell would you know about the business end of this thing anyway? I'll remind you of your place, Mr. Travis, and if you want to
keep
your job with the U.P., you had better be a little more supportive of the railroad that pays your salary every month!”

“That's enough, Mr. Canary,” Sunny spoke up, also rising. “Colt Travis is one of our best scouts. Mr. Casement can tell you that. I value his opinion, and he is upset only because he understands the Indians so well.”

Canary looked him over scathingly. “He ought to.” He held his chin haughtily, his thin nose high in the air. “In this particular case, I have to wonder just whose side you're on, Mr. Travis.”

“Listening to you, I'm beginning to wonder myself,” Colt sneered.

“Now, now, we have a problem here, and this is not the way to solve it,” Casement broke in. “I have a crew out there laying two miles of track a day. Before long we'll reach this burial ground, and I've got to know what to do.”

“White Buffalo ain't gonna budge,” Quinn added.

Colt turned. “White Buffalo! Is that who's out there making all the trouble?”

Quinn nodded. “He sent a messenger to the interpreter working with the graders after their attack—said to tell the Great White Father that White Buffalo would never allow the iron horse to go through their burial grounds.”

Colt turned to Sunny. “White Buffalo is the man who saved my life when I was wounded by the Pawnee. I lived with him and his people for months. Maybe I can talk to him.”

He saw the fear in her eyes. “It would be too dangerous now,” she answered. “He would look at you as the enemy.”

“He would value our friendship enough not to harm me. Just let me tell him the U.P. will go around the burial ground. You've got pull, Sunny. You can do it.”

Lightning continued to rip the sky outside, and a loud clap of thunder made Sunny jump again. It took all the self-control Colt could muster not to grab her and hold her. He saw the terrible indecision in her eyes, and at that moment he also saw how their differences were going to always be pulling her in two different directions.

Sunny stood there, feeling helpless, while the rest of them watched, wondering at the familiar way in which Colt had called her Sunny instead of Miss Landers. Canary thought the whole situation very strange, Sunny Landers out riding alone with such a wild-looking man, half Indian, no less. He wondered if Blaine O'Brien knew.

“I don't have that much pull,” she told Colt. “In something like this, it's a matter of a majority vote. If it was up to me—”

“You're getting too sentimental, Miss Landers,” Canary said. “It isn't like you, not the woman I've seen at our board meetings. You know the U.P. comes first, and you know what Dr. Durant wants. I vote to go through.” He looked at the other five men present, and they all nodded. “I might add that we wired your fiancé,” Canary added, “and Blaine O'Brien also votes to go through, as did the other two men who could not be here.”

Colt looked at the man, no longer able to bear the torture in Sunny's eyes. “It's easy to vote on something like that when you aren't out there to see for yourself what you're up against,” Colt said angrily. “You aren't the ones risking your lives.”

“No, we aren't,” Canary answered. “That's what soldiers and you scouts are for.”

Quinn stiffened, and Colt just glared at Canary. “Yes, we're all
expendable
, aren't we? A small sacrifice for the U.P.!”

“I didn't mean it that way—”

“I know what you meant,” Colt growled. He looked at Sunny. “Quite a bunch you run with, Miss Landers.”

“Colt—”

He turned away from her to face Casement. “Let me go talk to White Buffalo. Give me at least that much. Maybe we can work something out. Let me go see him alone first.”

“No! It's too dangerous,” Sunny said, unable to hide her personal concern for him. Some of the others watched in shock when she touched Colt's arm.

“White Buffalo would never harm me,” Colt assured her. He looked at Canary. “Just give me a couple of days, then send the soldiers forward, but stay a mile or so back from the site. Have the lieutenant wait for me before doing anything rash. Whatever White Buffalo has to say, we can wire back to Omaha and get a decision. For God's sake, the
least
you can do is let me talk to the man!”

“We'll lose time in this storm. The site is at least a two-day ride from here, I'm told, a hard ride at that. With this storm—”

“I'll leave right now. I've ridden in this kind of rain before.”

“Colt, this is no ordinary rain,” Sunny protested.

He didn't seem to hear. He turned to the lieutenant. “You can wait and leave when the storm lets up. Just be sure to hold back like I said. I'll see if I can reason with White Buffalo.”

“He's gotten pretty mean and nasty, Colt,” Quinn said. “Lost a lot of family at Sand Creek. I doubt he's the man you remember.”

“I know what it does to a man to lose his family. I understand him perfectly.”

Sunny's heart went out to Colt at the remark, and she vowed that she would never let him be hurt again. He would always have the support of her love.

“Come to the kitchen quarters with me,” she told him. “I'll make sure you have plenty of supplies.”

“Good luck, Colt,” Casement told him. “You watch yourself out there.”

Colt nodded to the man, then glanced at Canary. “Just give me a couple of days. You and the others might as well go on back to Omaha. There's nothing you can do here.”

Canary nodded. “Try to smooth things over, Travis. We don't want to lose too many men, and whether you believe it or not, we can't afford any more lost time or labor.”

Colt held his eyes a moment, thinking how pleasant it would be to rub the man's pointed nose in horse dung. He made no reply. “Follow me,” Sunny told him. She led him through the other end of the car, past her private quarters and to a little enclosed area just before the platform, where shoes and capes could be stored when first entering the car. She closed the door and looked up at him, both of them close in the tiny compartment.

“I didn't really mean it about taking you to the kitchen,” she told him, reaching up around his neck. “I just had to get you alone once more, Colt.”

He pulled her close but hesitated before their lips met. “It's always going to be this way, isn't it?”

“What way?”

“You and I arguing over what decision to make. I can't put money and a company before what's morally right, Sunny.”

“Colt, I told you if it was up to me, I'd go around. But this is something I can't control. Surely you can see that. Don't be angry, not now, when we have to be away from each other.”

He sighed, his eyes changing to the look of gentle love that made her want him so. “The only thing I see is that in spite of all this I could never stay away from you. I love you, Sunny. Get yourself to Omaha and back here so when this is over we can be together again. We can shout it to the world that we're in love.”

She smiled, tears in her eyes. “I was afraid you were already changing your mind.”

He grinned then, leaning down and meeting her mouth. “You know better,” he told her between light kisses. “I just wish to hell I could take you back in there to that bed and make love once more before I leave.” The kisses grew hotter, deeper. He moved a hand to her bottom and squeezed lightly, already aching to be one with her again.

She moved her lips to kiss his neck, breathing in the scent of him. “Oh, Colt, I'm scared for you. I don't want you to go.”

He kissed her hair. “I've been taking care of myself for a lot of years. You know you don't need to worry about that.” He drew back a little, putting a big hand to the side of her face. “Besides, White Buffalo and I were good friends. He won't be real happy that I'm working for the railroad, but he won't hurt me. Of course, if I have to fight him, that's another story.”

She closed her eyes, turning her face and kissing his palm. “I don't want to be apart, Colt,” she whispered, the tears coming again. “Every time you leave me I wonder if I'll ever see you again.”

“You'll see me, all right. You go back to Omaha and do what you need to do, and I'll go do what
I
need to do. We'll meet again wherever the work camp is by then, and we'll pick up where we left off. We'll find a way, Sunny, just like I promised. I'm sorry I lost my temper in there. I'll try to learn to get along with people like that.”

She laughed through her tears. “Canary has always been an ass. When Durant isn't around, he likes to play the big cheese just because he's his right-hand man. He doesn't like me because I'm a woman, but I've never let him badger or snowball me.”

Colt smiled lovingly, rubbing a thumb over her cheek. “I could see that. You amaze me, the way you handle yourself in those situations.”

She reached up and touched his lips. “I can handle any man—except you. You completely undo me, Colt Travis.”

He licked her fingers, taking one between his lips suggestively and nibbling at it. “Good. I like it that way.” He sobered, touching her hair lovingly. “I'm glad you came out here, Sunny. I hated you for it at first. I thought I was going to have to go through the pain of wanting you again but being unable to touch you.” He leaned down and kissed her, a sweet, promising kiss this time. “I love you,” he whispered. “Come back soon, Sunny.”

“You know that I will.”

“You'll have to be very strong.”

“All I have to do is think about how much I love you and need to be with you. Hold me, Colt, hold me tight.” They clung to each other a moment longer. “I don't think of you as just my lover,” she told him. “You're my best friend. You've been my best friend for the longest time.”

He kissed her hair. “We might as well get this over with,” he told her. “Bye, Sunny.”

Oh, how she hated those words! She had heard them before, more than she cared to remember. “Good-bye,” she whispered. “God be with you.”

He pulled away, and she saw tears in his eyes. He hurried through the outer door to the platform, and Sunny followed, standing there out of the rain while he ducked into the torrent and literally disappeared. She strained to see, finally making out his form not too far away. She saw him pull something from his supplies and realized it was some kind of rubber rain gear. He threw it around himself and mounted, and the ground splashed beneath Dancer's hooves as he rode off. It took only a few seconds for her to be unable to see him anymore because of the rain.

A sick feeling engulfed her, and she went back inside, going to sit down on her bed. She rolled to her side and curled up, wondering how she was going to bear the next days or possibly weeks before she saw him again.

“Sunny?”

Sunny recognized Mae's voice. “I don't feel well, Mae. Please go tell the others I'm sorry, but I won't be able to rejoin them for a while. Maybe they should go ahead to Omaha. I'll be leaving myself soon.”

Mae stepped closer, reaching out hesitantly and touching her shoulder. She noticed Sunny was not wearing her engagement ring. She well knew how Sunny felt about Colt Travis, although it amazed her. Still, she couldn't blame her in some ways. He surely was a man's man. “I'm here if you need me, Miss Sunny,” she told her.

Sunny remained turned away, but she reached up and took her hand and squeezed it lightly. “I know. There's really nothing you can do, Mae. Thank you.”

Bye, Sunny.

The words rang in Sunny's ears until she felt like covering them. She never realized love could hurt this much. The last two days had been like a wonderful dream. To have to part so suddenly left her in shock. This was not how she had planned their parting. Now her Colt was out there riding through that awful storm, headed for so much danger. Still, she was headed for a danger of her own, having to tell Blaine she could not marry him. She and Colt would both have to be very strong now, trusting in the special, beautiful love they had found to carry them through the days when they could be together again. “God protect him,” she whispered.

The enclosed carriage came to a stop in front of Sunny's home, and Sunny waited for her driver, a young Mormon named Matthew, to come and open the door for her. Her heart beat a little faster with a note of dread at the news Matthew had given her, that Vince was waiting for her at the house. He had arrived that morning. Sunny wanted to be glad he had come, since he had finally expressed an interest in the railroad and their holdings in Omaha; but even when it was for something good, she could not feel comfortable around him.

She wished he had picked a better time. She had wanted to have the next couple of days to herself, to think about Blaine, the Indian trouble, the danger Colt was in. She needed time to prepare herself for reality, to build up her courage, and to come down off the cloud she had been on since finally finding the only true love of her life. She wanted to be alone and lie in a tub and think about how it had felt to have Colt make love to her. The last two days had been so special, and she actually hurt from the want of Colt's reassuring arms around her again, especially now that Vince was here.

She hoped Blaine would arrive soon so that she could get the painful breakup over with. She didn't like doing that to him, but how could she marry him now? Her heart and body and soul belonged to someone else, the only man she had ever really loved. Dissolving the engagement was the only right thing to do. For once she was going to be truly happy, be with the man she had loved for ten years.

She climbed out of the coach, leaving a sleeping Mae inside. The train ride back had taken ten hours, and it was dark outside. Sunny had not bothered to change since leaving that morning, and she still wore her riding skirt and blouse. She had left the construction site within the hour after Colt had ridden off, her own train following the one that carried back Canary and his men. They would all wait now for a message from Casement.

Sunny had considered staying, wanting to be closer if something happened to Colt; but she knew that what was most important to him for now was that she come back home and get her personal life in order so that she could go back to him when the Indian trouble was over. There was nothing she could do at the site, since all the trouble was many miles farther ahead at the Indian burial grounds. Canary had said Blaine would be here in a few days, and she preferred to break the news to him in Omaha than to have him come to the construction site.

Matthew unloaded some of her baggage and followed her into the house. It had rained all the way back, but the downpour had finally let up, and a sultry humidity hung in the now-still night air. By the light of outdoor lanterns that hung in the portico, Sunny caught sight of a few spring flowers that were beginning to bloom around the front steps. She smiled, thinking of the wildflowers in the sweet prairie grass where Colt Travis had first claimed her. Her cheeks burned at the memory of the things she had let him do to her, and she felt suddenly hot. She was not ashamed or embarrassed. It had all been so natural. After all these years of loving him, she had wanted to give herself totally, to please him in whatever way he took that pleasure. She wanted every intimate part of her to be owned by her handsome, brave, precious Colt; and she knew he revered her body, knew he touched and tasted and made love to her out of true love and passion and devotion. A woman couldn't want for more, and if all he could afford to buy her was a plain gold band, then that was good enough for her. It would mean so much more to her than the expensive diamond Blaine had given her, which was still packed away. She would not wear it again.

“I'll go get the rest of your things, ma'am,” Matthew told her, setting down the baggage he had brought in.

“Thank you, Matthew. I guess you'll have to try to rouse Mae. Tell her to come in and go to bed. I don't need her anymore tonight.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Sunny ordered a housemaid to take her bags upstairs. “Your brother is in the parlor, ma'am,” the maid told her.

“Thank you, Sarah.” The woman took some of her bags and headed up the stairs, and Sunny stood in the entranceway a moment, breathing deeply for courage, never knowing how she was going to be greeted by Vince. It irritated her that he had chosen this particular time to show up, and she had hoped that he would at least have already gone to bed so that she didn't have to talk to him until morning.

She headed for the parlor, thinking that she should be tired herself after the long trip, but being with Colt, being so hopelessly in love, had given her a new energy. How could she ever sleep again? She wanted to be awake so that she could do nothing but think about her magnificent lover, her precious friend, her breath of fresh air, the man who made her feel alive and wonderful and loved—oh, so loved. No one had ever loved her like Colt did, except for her father; but even he had not understood her inner being like Colt did.

She entered the parlor to see Vince sitting near the hearth, smoking a pipe and reading the latest edition of the Omaha newspaper. A silver tray with coffee and biscuits sat on a table in front of him. He looked up when she entered, and she did not miss the rather scathing look in his eyes as she greeted him. “Hello, Vince.”

“What the hell are you doing dressed like that?” he asked.

“For heaven's sake, what difference does it make? Can't you give me a normal greeting?” She tried to smile, walking closer and sitting down in a cabriole chair on the other side of the coffee table.

Vince shrugged. “I'm disappointed that you weren't here when I arrived this morning. I went over to visit with Stuart, got a look at the U.P. offices. Stuart filled me in on some of the operations and all, but he said he had no idea why you had gone out to end of track alone.”

Sunny caught the accusatory note in the words. “I often visit the construction site. Stuart knows that. You both know how important the railroad is to me.” She leaned over and poured herself some coffee. “It's good to see you,” she lied. “Have you come just to see our operations here then, or is something wrong back in Chicago?”

“I came for several reasons. I have to admit, my curiosity got the best of me. I would like to see more of the setup here, have a look at the businesses you've invested in—maybe even go out to end of track with you and get a firsthand look at the construction site.”

How could she tell him that the next time she went out, she wouldn't want him along? She would be going back to be with Colt.

“Well, I'm glad you're interested,” she answered, sipping the coffee. “I'm afraid that for the moment it's too dangerous. I came back because of Indian trouble. Some of Dr. Durant's men had also gone out to the site. They came back, too, just ahead of me.”

“Oh, so you weren't alone out there after all?”

She held the cup of coffee in her hands, watching his eyes. What was he after? “Yes, I was when I first went out a couple of days ago. Durant's men didn't show up until early this morning.” She looked at a grandfather clock that stood in a corner of the room. It was a little after ten p.m.

“How bad is the Indian thing?” he asked, leaning back in his chair and puffing on the pipe.

“Pretty bad. They expect this summer to be worse than last summer.” She sipped more of the coffee. “Right now our biggest problem is that the best route out in the Nebraska sandhills goes right through an Indian burial ground. Some Cheyenne leader called White Buffalo is raising Cain about it. He's already killed a couple of our graders. A Lieutenant Tracer has taken some soldiers out there, and the scouts are going to try to talk to the Cheyenne first, see if we can come to some kind of compromise, but we don't expect to get any concessions. I'm afraid a real battle lies ahead.” A sick feeling moved into her stomach at the thought of Colt being in the middle of that battle. Maybe she should have insisted he come back with her after all, but then Vince would have been here. She would rather Colt faced the Indians.

“Do you have good scouts?” he asked. “They know their business?”

She watched those searching blue eyes that had always frightened her so when she was younger. This time he looked at her as he had years ago when he had made the remark about who she slept with. She could see it in that damn smug look of his. He knew about Colt! But how? “Excellent,” she answered. “One of them is very experienced with the Cheyenne.”

“Mmmm-hmmm.” He puffed the pipe a moment longer. “Well, I came out here to tell you you've won. I'm interested in investing some of my personal money in U.P. stock. This thing with Harrison Steel has really paid off. You made a smart move there, Sunny. You're quite a businesswoman after all, and Landers Enterprises is doing better than ever.”

She breathed a sigh of relief, but his face was still a little flushed, as though he were angry about something. “Well,” she said, setting the coffee cup aside and leaning back in her chair. “I guess I should say thank you, but then, after all the other things that have happened between us, it's a little difficult to thank you for anything. Is Eve with you?”

He snickered. “You kidding? She thinks of Omaha as nothing but a cow town. She won't step foot out here. She
is
looking forward to you and Blaine returning for the wedding though. That's another reason I came. I've never gotten to know Blaine too well, considering he's had to kind of take sides between you and me. But we have a lot in common, I think. I'd like to get to know him better, travel back to Chicago with you and him. Since we're going to be brothers-in-law, I guess we ought to get some kind of rapport going between us. I figured that would make you happy.”

Sunny tingled all over with dread. How she wished he had at least waited until morning for this. Telling Vince she wasn't marrying Blaine would be harder than telling Blaine himself. She felt herself shaking a little. It was easy for her to stand up to Vince when it came to business, but this was different. She knew good and well how he would treat Colt if she went through with this, and it pained her to think of it, let alone the tirade he was going to throw over the whole dilemma.

She rose, walking over to close the parlor doors, then turned to face him. “I'm not marrying Blaine,” she told him. “I've changed my mind.”

She stepped a little closer, wishing she could read those eyes that she hated. He sat a little straighter, his big frame overpowering even when he was sitting. He was looking more and more like his father, his heavy thighs filling out the pants of his silk suit, his stomach beginning to bulge, his hair thinning a little now and showing a trace of white at the temples. The only thing different was that Vince did not look at her with dancing, loving blue eyes like Bo Landers had looked at her. Vince's eyes were like slices of ice, and their coldness moved through her blood, making her shiver.

He took the pipe from his mouth and set it in an ashtray, then rubbed his hands together as though trying to control himself, his face getting even redder. “It's that blood-sucking, renegade half-breed, isn't it?” he snarled. He looked her over as though she were a whore. “I know all about it, Sunny! I came out here in a great mood, ready to give in and admit that everything you've done has been right, ready to wish you and Blaine my best! And what happens?” He rose, stepping closer and towering over her. “I find you gone, and when I wire the work camp, I'm told you aren't there—that you're out riding,
alone
with Colt Travis! What in God's name are you
doing
, Sunny! Now you come back saying you aren't marrying Blaine? I wired this morning and learned you had left
yesterday
! You stayed out there all night with that goddamn worthless
Indian
! Did he
fuck
you, Sunny? Were you his
whore
?”

Her eyes widened, and she felt almost faint at the way he had put it. Without taking a moment to think, she slapped him hard. He instantly grabbed her wrist, squeezing it so tightly that it hurt. She felt the tears coming then, but she fought not to cry openly, the tears more from her terrible anger at his opinion of Colt than what he had called her. “I
love
Colt,” she answered boldly, her teeth gritted. One tear slipped down her cheek. “And Colt loves me! If I was worth five cents, he would
still
love me! But that's something you would never understand, because
your
first love has always been
money
!”

“And you honestly believe Colt Travis isn't thinking in dollar signs? For God's sake, Sunny, how can you be so smart about business and so goddamn stupid about
men
!” He gave her a light shove. “You're more like your mother than I thought!”

She shivered, blinking back tears and rubbing her wrist. Her mother! What did he mean?
Colt
, she groaned inwardly.
How
I
wish
you
were
here
after
all
. She wiped a tear with a shaking hand. “I'm twenty-five years old, Vince! I have a right to marry whomever I please—and marry for love! All my life I've tried to live up to everyone else's expectations of me! And why should I even
care
what
you
think! You've always hated me! Why, Vince? What did you mean about my mother!”

He sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes. “Damn you, Sunny. I thought if you married Blaine, none of it would matter.” He whirled. “Did you sleep with Colt Travis?”

“That's my business.”

He waved her off, his teeth gritted. “I can tell just by the
look
of you,” he snarled. “All this time you've behaved like such a lady, saved yourself for Blaine! I was a little worried the night that half-breed interrupted your dinner party, but thank God he left right away. I thought he was out of your life for good this time! When in hell did you hire him for the railroad?”