Chapter Seventeen
Sheridan opened her eyes and smiled at him. Emotions poured through Elijah in an unfamiliar wave. Relief, fear, joy, and love welled out of the dark place where he’d buried it so long ago. Then the fear rushed back crippling and visceral when she opened her mouth and blood bubbled out. It took him a moment to realize that the low raw sound of a trapped animal came from his throat.
Her eyes closed and she paled further.
“Sheridan hold on. Don’t die.”
Her eyes fluttered open weakly and met his. “I won’t die, Elijah, you need me.”
He did not correct her on the seriousness of her wounds. He tore his shirt off and stuffed her wound. Her cry of agony as he staunch the blood flow had him breaking out in sweat. God, please not Sheridan. He did not know where he found the strength to calm the rage and the nightmares. Someone had shot her and he knew who. He had failed another woman in his life once again.
The thunder of hooves sounded behind him and he glanced up to see Miguel and a few ranch hands.
“We need the Doc.” Elijah tried not thinking how far away the town was. He felt like his heart was being ripped away from his soul. He could not lose her. He frantically felt for her pulse and stilled. Its beats were faint and erratic. The faint thrum was all that kept Elijah from sinking into the despair and darkness, which had tried to engulf him the moment he had seen her body lying bloodied. With fingers that shook, he probed gently around the wound. He shifted her looking for an exit. The bullet had travelled straight through.
“What can I do?” Miguel asked quietly.
“Get Doc, and get him quick. Tell Joshua I have need of him. He is at the hotel.”
Miguel nodded grimly and rode off.
Elijah lifted her in his hands and passed her to one of the cowhands gently. He launched into his saddle and she was transferred up to him. Hell. He wished he had the wagon. He was grateful she was unconscious for it was a rough ride back to the main house. Within minutes he reached and clambered with her inside. Beth cried out when she saw him, but he moved into action right away.
He tried thinking over the fear that was beating at him. He waited for the terror to roar, to paralyze him, but instead he was only filled with a calm determination to not lose her. He had seen many men die on the battle field from far less serious injuries. Hers was a shoulder wound, but she could die from bleeding out. He needed to stop the bleeding, and wait until the doctor came. And God the baby. He hoped the stress of her body would not make her lose the baby.
“Bring me a basin with hot water. Clean linens,” he said to Beth and Mrs. Murphy.
He took Sheridan to his room and laid her gently on the bed. With quick movements he gently relieved her of most of her garments, cutting away those that required for her to be shifted too hard. She lay in her pantaloons and chemise looking pale as death.
He kept pressure on the wound watching the shallow rise and fall of her chest. He prayed to God for the first time since he had lost his family.
***
A shift in the darkness alerted Elijah to his brother’s presence. He looked away from Sheridan for the first time in hours. The icy fear that had been wedged in his chest had been slowly thawing as he watched her.
“How is she doing?” Joshua’s voice was a mere whisper.
“Good.” Elijah was silent for the longest time before he spoke again. “The baby is alive, and Doc said they will both recover as long as the fever does not set in.”
“Baby?”
He swallowed. “Yes.”
Elijah rose and walked over to the table where his Winchester lay. He felt Joshua’s stare as he slowly thumbed cartridges into his gun.
“You headin’ somewhere?” his brother demanded.
“Sullivan will not live.”
Joshua quietly drew one of the great chairs to Sheridan’s bedside and sat. “I can take care of it for you,” he offered.
“No. My eyes will be the last Sullivan looks into. I warned him and he still had someone shoot her.” Elijah cleared his throat as his voice broke. “I never believed I could feel such terror again until I heard the shot and saw her bloodied form.”
“You love her?”
Elijah hesitated almost too afraid to say it. But he would be dammed if he allowed fear to rule him anymore. What he felt for Sheridan was deep. More complex than anything he’d ever felt before. And he felt like a heel for not admitting it sooner. He could have lost her and she never would have known how much he cherished her. How much he looked forward to her smiles and the simple pleasures she took in life, to relax him, to center him. He couldn’t bear the idea of her being unhappy, living without the family and home she’d always hungered for.
The west was not made for women from her background. It was rough, savage and left no room for the weak. But she was not weak. She had dared to reach for love and he had almost crushed her for it. She had dared to find him when she was threatened, risking her life, knowing the wall he had erected around his heart. Many would have succumbed to Sullivan’s advances. Many would have wilted under the force that had been Thomas’s personality. But not her. She was his woman and he would not shy from it anymore.
“More than life itself. I cannot bear the idea of her being unhappy. I was pushing her away because of fear, Joshua, and it was damn stupid of me because no matter when I lose her, now or fifty years from now, it will leave me a shell of a man. I am determined for us to have years together, years filled with laughter and love.”
Joshua nodded. “Was wondering when you would take your head out of your ass and see what was in front of you. I know the fear you feel in losing those you love. What happened to Emma and Nathan was a tragedy I would never want to see befall our family again. You deserve peace, brother, and you deserve happiness with a woman who loves you. Losing Emma and Nathan, even almost losing Sheridan today, these are not your failures, we have no control over our fate, but we can control our reactions to them. We can control the despair when it tries to steal our soul. And the baby…Are you sure?”
Elijah smiled. “The doctor confirmed.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Why won’t she wake?”
“It is a good sign that she is snoring.”
He looked at Joshua. Snoring? Elijah listened and realized that was what the soft puffs of sounds were.
“I know you have been avoiding the ranch because of Beth. So thank you for coming.”
Joshua’s swift intake was loud in the room, but he did not respond.
Elijah strode to the door. “I am heading to the Double Diamond. Sullivan will not see me coming, so cease your worrying.”
Joshua snorted and Elijah smiled. “Do not leave her alone even if you hear Beth’s approach. And if Sheridan wakes before I return. Let her know I am coming back.”
Without waiting for Joshua’s reply Elijah slipped from the room. Calm settled over him. Sullivan would indeed not see him coming and he would put a bullet in his head for the vicious way he acted against Sheridan. And Elijah would have no mercy.
***
Sheridan woke to the soft chirpings of birds, or were they cicadas? She groaned, her body feeling stiff. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared around the room bewildered. Where was she? She shifted and pain slashed through her right shoulder. She felt for the source and froze when she felt the bandages. Memories rushed in of cantering on the range, the crack echoing in the basin, and the burning pain. The horror she had seen on Elijah’s face and then the abyss. Then hands half waking her to force her to swallow broth, and cool waters bathing her. She had been shot.
Panic surged through her and she pressed her hands to her stomach. Her baby? She felt no pain or tenderness. Her stomach growled. She eased herself into a sitting positing wincing at the pain as she reached out to grip the table.
She blinked at the amount of flowers in the room and on the table. Where was everyone? She tried to reach for the bell and paused when she noticed the letters. Five of them in total. She reached for the one closest to her and unfolded it. It was to her…from Elijah? Oh God had he left? Seeing her hurt would have reinforced all of his nightmares and proved to him why she was unsuited for the west.
Tears filled her eyes as confusion rushed in at the words
Sheridan
You will wake today. I sang for you last night to the amusement of Joshua. You have been sleeping for five days and you need to wake.
She stared at the letter in amazement. She looked at the remaining four. Elijah had written her a note every day?
She plucked up another.
Our baby is well. Doc Martin says the baby will be fine. You will only know that when you wake. I brought you lilacs.
Relief powered through her and tears pricked her eyelids. The baby was safe. It took a while for her to realize he said our baby. Sheridan made to reach for another and her eyes caught the basket under the table. Dozens of crumpled paper lay inside. And suddenly those were the ones she wanted to read, his failed attempts.
She made to reach for the bell and hesitated. She wanted to read the crumpled notes in privacy. She looked around and noticed the cane by the headboard. She reached for it and used it to hook the basket and draw it to her. Then dipped and winced at the sharp bite in her shoulders and lifted it onto the bed.
Sheridan did not understand why it was so important to read his failed attempts but she needed to. She was hungry, achy, and more than apprehensive and she knew if she rang the bell, Beth or Mrs. Clayton would come running. She dug her hand in the basket and took out one of the crumpled ball.
I ache to see your smile, the joy in your eyes
Her thumb ran across the words as if she could erase the line he had drawn through the words. She reached for the next crumbled ball. Her throat went tight with emotion.
I have been an ass. I love you so much I
She was almost afraid of the wild elation surging through her blood. With trembling hands she rested the basket on the bed. She dealt with the remaining three notes on the table. They were all terse commands about why she needed to get well, nothing about love. And she instinctively knew the crushed ones would follow in the same vein of loving words.
She placed the basket on the ground, rang the bell and eased onto the bed fully already tiring from her slight excursions. Within less than a minute Elijah swept through the door and her heart melted. His beard was gone, his hair was shorn closer to his scalp, revealing the strong lines of his handsome profile. The sleeves of his blue chambray shirt were rolled to his elbows and his jeans looked like they had barbed wire holes in them. He had never seemed more perfect to Sheridan.
“You’re awake.” He sounded gruff.
Her throat worked as she swallowed. “Hi.”
Her stomach chose that moment to rumble. He disappeared before she could say anything, to return a few minutes later with a tray. He walked over to her and placed it on the table. The scent of soup wafted up and her mouth watered. With efficient but gentle movements he placed a few pillows behind her and placed the tray in her lap.
She gave a small smile. “Thank you.”
He sat in the chair beside the bed and watched her with an intensity that had heat fluttering in her stomach. Her heart was singing and she wanted to shout at him that she knew he loved her. But she held her composure with a will she had not known she possessed and took small sips of the soup. The warmth hit her belly and for a few minutes she knew nothing as she demolished the bowl. She expected to feel the heave in her stomach, but it was thankfully calm.
He took the tray and placed it on the table.
She stared into his serious mien, her heart clamoring. Why was he so closed away? Fear suddenly surged. What if the reason he had crumpled the letters were because he was not sure if he loved her and he was still going to leave?
“We need to talk. Are you feeling well enough?”
She nodded as dread and anticipation combined beating inside her heart. If he told her he was leaving she would smack him over the head with the cane. She would then wait until she was healed and then follow him up to his mountain until he relented and could do nothing but love her. For her the moment of clarity when she had been shot had been knife sharp. Elijah was home for her whether it be with him at the Whispering Creek, in the mountain cabin or at the Triple K, and she would be damned if she allowed him to take the coward’s way out.
***
“Sheridan.” Elijah felt her start when he gripped her hand and laced their fingers together. She gazed at him with weary determination, and then looked down at their clasped hands.
He paused glancing away for long seconds. He did not know how to offer soft words. When they had been together he had communicated with touch, with passion, yet he felt he could not do so now. “You are the strongest woman I know, and I would be honored to have you for my wife, if you will have me.”
He chuckled at the look of sheer shock that bloomed on her face. He dipped and pressed a hard kiss to her parted lips. Before she could respond he lifted his head. “When you got shot, I almost died. My world went dark and I was almost useless to you. I always believed I was not strong enough to lose someone I loved again and survive. Not brutally. Not bloodied and broken.”
Something twisted within Elijah, something very close to the emotion he had felt the first time he took her in his arms. “I am not an easy man. Nor do I think I will be singing you songs, but I will bring you flowers every day except during the winter time.”
She laughed and it wrapped around his heart and warmed him in ways he never expected. “I will protect you and our children until my breath leaves my body. And I will equip you and any children we have with the ability to survive in this land. More than survive it. I will teach you how to remain strong in the face of danger and hardship. How to fight when something is worth fighting for. How to defend, how to love, and how to never abandon hope.”
She nodded happily. “I will marry you Elijah.”
She tried to hug him and winced.
“Move easy,” he said and ensured she was propped comfortably.
“You are happy about the baby?” she asked him and he hated that she still seemed anxious.
Sometimes he found simple honesty to be the best response. “Yes.”
Her smile dimmed. “Do we know who shot me?”
He exhaled shortly. “Yes.”
“Sullivan?”
“I visited him and he swore it was not him.”
Her eyes widened. “You visited him?”
Elijah gave her the unvarnished truth. “Sullivan woke as the sun was rising to see the barrel of my Winchester in his face.”
She sucked in a harsh breath. “Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief filled her blue eyes. “Why did he do it?” She whispered, her hands going protectively to her belly.
“He swore he did not give any such order nor did he pull the trigger himself.”
“You believed him?”
Elijah thought back on the man’s fear. He’d believed that Sullivan in his bitterness had ordered for Sheridan to be killed. But beyond the terror of facing down a rifle at such close range, he had seen the truth behind Sullivan flustered speech. Elijah had warned him a final time that Sheridan was his and he would marry her. So if there was any thought to harm him to get to her, they would have to take on his brothers and the triple K. But Sullivan had pointed the fingers at Bartley and Joshua had gone hunting. And it seemed spot on, for Bartley had left the crazy eight shortly after. But Elijah was confident Joshua would find him. It had curdled Elijah’s gut to tell Joshua to bring Bartley in to face the law and not kill him. Joshua had treated Elijah to a cold smile, and he had known in that moment he would never see Bartley again.
“I believe him. Sullivan will never hound you again. I have made it known to all that you are my woman, and you will be my wife.”
Her shoulder relaxed and she bestowed on him the sweetest smile he’d ever seen from her. “So confident of my response were you?”
He nodded. “Very”.
She chortled and then sobered. “I love you, Elijah, more so every day.”
“I know.”
“And I will endeavor to be a woman that you are proud of, a strong woman.”
He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, “You already are, Sheridan. You’re already that woman.”
Then he claimed her lips in a kiss.
Three months later…
Elijah and Sheridan exchanged their vows overlooking the prairie with Joshua and Beth as their witnesses. Sheridan stood under the gazebo Elijah had built for her, staring at the daunting beauty of the mountains. The gazebo was a replica of the one she’d had as a child at her Somerset home in England. A smile curved her lips as she remembered the many ways Elijah tried to bring a piece of her England back to her. She rubbed her distended stomach in gentle motions. She had four more months to go and she was anticipating the birth of their child so much. Joy squeezed her heart as strong arms wrapped her from behind and Sheridan relaxed into Elijah.
She was home.
The End
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