Six

“Jake?” Randy called his name in a near whisper. She pulled her robe tighter around herself and retied it. It was 1:00 a.m. and everyone in the hotel was in bed. Somehow she knew Jake wouldn’t be. He stood at the end of the hall looking out a window that faced the side street. He turned to face her, wearing only his denim pants and an undershirt and no shoes.

“You should be sleeping,” Jake told her.

“And not you?”

Jake shrugged. “Too many nights sleeping under the stars over the years and keeping one eye open for varmints, sometimes the human kind.”

Randy walked silently on her own bare feet to stand next to him so they could talk quietly. “I know you too well to think you’d be sleeping,” she told her husband. “I had a feeling today’s events would eat at you.”

“Yeah,” he answered. He pulled her close. “But I’m also awake because I miss you too. I’d rather be lying next to you right now instead of having about six arms and six legs tossing and turning in the same bed. I’m too old and have too many aches and pains to sleep with Stephen and young Jake and two-year-old Donavan.”

Randy smiled and moved her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. “Yes, well, I’m fighting Tricia and Sadie Mae. That’s the only bad part about these trips. The kids are all getting so big, we’ll have to rent more rooms next time.” She leaned up and kissed his chin. “It’s the leg, isn’t it?”

Jake sighed deeply. “It’s always the leg. Young Jake tosses and turns and ends up sideways, poking me with a foot. It’s impossible to sleep with him.” He moved his arms around her. “It’s also Tommy Tyler. That first time at the ranch, I just reacted to him wanting to get into a gunfight and then the way he talked about you. And today, I saw him making Sadie Mae cry and I wanted to kill him for it. But when he told me to go ahead and beat him…”

“You saw yourself at his age,” Randy finished for him, still resting her head against his chest.

“One big difference. I got into gunfights and fistfights and had a smart mouth…but I never would have teased little girls or threatened women.”

“Even so, there is a lot of anger and rebellion in that young man. Maybe in his case he didn’t have such a loving mother. Maybe he was beaten by both parents.”

Jake sighed deeply, rocking her in his arms. “Maybe. All I know is, I was just about his age when I killed my father.” He kissed her hair. “Part of me wants to try to talk some sense into that little bastard, and I don’t know why.”

Randy leaned back and looked up at him. “Jake Harkner, you have changed. Do I dare believe you are actually able to control that anger and funnel it into helping someone?”

He frowned. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

Randy smiled. “Believe me, after thirty-three years I know better.” She stepped back but kept hold of his arms. “You see a chance to stop a young man from going down the path you took at his age. There is nothing wrong with that. You’re always preaching to our grandsons about the same thing, and you and Lloyd went a few rounds back in the day when you tried to stop him too.” She reached up and touched his face. “Jake, do you remember Evie’s words before you left for Mexico? When she was praying for you, she asked God to make you understand that the way you handle guns is actually a talent that can sometimes be used to help someone. You came very close to losing your life to save a girl you didn’t even know. For all the bad in you, there is so much good, and you can help young people. It shows through beautifully when you talk to your grandsons. They are growing up respectful and brave and will be good men who can handle themselves well. Maybe the Good Lord doesn’t want you to stop there. Maybe He sent Tommy Tyler to you. That young man has invaded our lives twice now in just a couple of weeks. Maybe you can help him.”

“Yeah, well, he needs the shit kicked out of him, and now that I know he’s only eighteen, that’s hard for me to do. He’s just a kid.”

“Then let the men at the bunkhouse straighten his tail out. Give him a job at the J&L. A couple of weeks living with those tough J&L men will make him see the light, I’ll bet.”

Jake finally grinned. “You have a point.”

“Talk to Lloyd about it.”

“We’ll see.” He pulled her close again. “How about if I go into your room and we make up some kind of bed on the floor so we can both get some decent sleep?”

Randy laughed. “When those little girls wake up, they’ll be climbing all over us, so if you want to sleep in there, get ready for a rude awakening in the morning.”

“I’ll manage. At least I can hold you for a while. You always say you can’t sleep without my arms around you.” He leaned down and kissed her deeply. “I’ve gotten so I can’t sleep without holding you. After all those months of pain and missing you, I can’t get enough of you anymore.”

Randy put her arms around his neck. “Good. I like hearing that.”

They kissed again.

“Too bad we can’t be alone,” Jake lamented.

“You’ll just have to wait until we get back home, Mr. Harkner.”

“And you’re still too beautiful to resist, Mrs. Harkner.”

“Well, that isn’t going to last much longer,” Randy answered with a smile. “I’m working hard at preserving what’s left.”

“And you’re doing a good job. You are very well preserved.”

They both laughed and headed into Randy’s room, where Tricia and Sadie Mae slept sideways in the bed. Randy shook her head.

“I couldn’t get back into that bed now if I wanted to.” She grabbed extra blankets and pillows she’d ordered earlier, certain this could happen. She threw them on the floor. “Not the most comfortable bed in the world, but let’s try to get some sleep.” She and Jake managed to make a bed out of blankets and rugs and finally settled in together.

“I’m not sure I can do this two nights in a row,” Jake complained. “I am going to try to get an extra room for tomorrow night. This family is getting too damn big.”

Randy snuggled her back against him, and Jake pulled her close.

“This is just as comfortable as that wagon we were in the first night you made love to me,” Randy told him, smiling at the memory.

“Yeah? Well, there are two little girls nearby, so don’t remind me of that first night, woman. It’s too hard on me.”

Randy kissed his arm. “Then go to sleep.”

“Easier said than done.” Jake sighed deeply. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The silence.” He kissed her hair, thinking how thick and golden it still was, and brushed out long, the way he liked it. “Back in the old days, we would have heard the tinkling of barroom piano music, the screeching laughter of whores, and the yelling and fighting of drunks—maybe even shooting in the streets.” He hugged her closer. “Things sure have changed out here, haven’t they?”

“It’s called law and order, Jake.”

“Yeah. I used to set my own laws and had my own ways of keeping order.”

“You certainly did, and it usually got you into trouble. I’m enjoying the peace and quiet of the normal life we have now. After the last couple of years, I don’t think I could take much more, so leave the law to men who wear badges.”

“I used to wear one. And Boulder still wants me to be their sheriff.”

“Jake! You promised—”

He leaned over and cut off her words with a kiss. “Don’t worry. I’m too damn happy with you and the family on the J&L. Last winter I thought I might never see Colorado or my family again.” He kissed her neck, her hair. “Go to sleep.”

Randy settled against him, wondering if she would ever get over the glory of being in his arms again…where she was always, always safe. The whole family was safe, as long as “Grandpa Jake” was around.