Six

The tightness of his tone told Jessie everything she needed to know. Duel loathed the idea of marrying her. The plot on the hill owned his heart. And, she suspected, he wasn’t asking for the motherless little girl. That left one clear reason. He pitied her. Somehow he’d figured out she had no place to go. The man offered her a home and his name for all the wrong reasons.

“Don’t you think marriage is a drastic step?” she began slowly. “A little more than a week ago you weren’t even aware I existed.”

“You care for Marley Rose, and that’s all that concerns me.”

Old pain sprang forth. Duel saw her as property, the same as Jeremiah had.

“Seems to me a man and a woman should feel something for each other to take vows. They should have some reason besides a child to bind them together.” Much as the thought of wedded bliss with this noble Texan tempted her, she would never allow it. Not with bloodstains on her hands.

“Look at it as purely a business arrangement,” he insisted. “When—”

“No! I can’t!” The strangled sound coming from her mouth wasn’t due to hands around her throat, as had more often been the case. It came from a sense of honor—and from fickle fingers that threatened to pluck her heart from her chest.

Stumbling from the farmhouse, she clawed her way up one hill, then another, until she found herself alone, staring down at the raging water of the mighty Colorado.

* * *

“Son, was that Jessie I saw runnin’ up the hill like a banshee was chasin’ her?” Walt rubbed his chin whiskers.

“Pop, do me a favor? Watch Marley till I get back.” Duel didn’t wait for an answer. His long stride had already taken him to the door.

“What’s goin’ on? I only came to talk about plantin’ time.”

“Later, Pop. Mind the child for me. Please.”

He lunged in the direction where he saw the flash of skirts disappear. Questions turned and twisted in his mind while he chastised himself for springing Vicky’s lame-brained idea on Jessie so suddenly. The least he could have done was prepare her a little. No wonder the woman bolted from the house like an unbroken stallion.

“An idiot,” he muttered to himself, “a full-fledged dunce. I should’ve taken Jessie’s delicate state into account.”

He thrashed through the tangle of brush, searching for signs of Jessie, heedless of breaking limbs that fell to the ground in his wake.

Just when he had lost hope, a fragment of blue waved from the thorny branch of a mesquite. The snippet must have torn from Jessie’s skirt.

So intent was he on the fabric, he didn’t see the low branch in time to duck. The whack sent his hat flying. Shaking off the pain, he picked up his hat and tore up the hill. He could hear the roar of the river and knew a dead end lay at the top.

If Jessie went this way, she had gotten herself trapped.

By the time he reached the bluff, he was huffing and puffing. Then the crushing hooves of wild horses stampeded in his chest when he saw her.

Jessie turned, then took another step toward the edge of the cliff.

“Wait!” Duel stretched both hands in the air, palms up, to indicate he wanted only to talk. His blood raced as he took a tentative step.

“Go back. This is the best way.” Tears left a trail down her cheeks. She wiped them angrily away, and his breath stopped when she poised to jump.

“Please.” He prayed for the right words that would keep her from plunging to her death. “Jessie, don’t.”

“There’s no other way.”

The sob in her throat released waves of panic. She meant to end her life for whatever reason. He had to stop her. Not because he felt it his duty, and not for his need to provide Marley Rose with a caretaker. Deep down, he realized he couldn’t bear to lose one more soul. And if he wanted the honest truth, she’d become a balm for his ache. Loneliness hadn’t inflicted its breath-stealing grip on him quite so tightly. The chill inside had almost begun to thaw.

“There are always other choices. A person just has to find them, that’s all. I’ll help you.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done. I won’t bring my worries to your doorstep. I can’t.”

He watched her stare into the water below. Resolute commitment that had shown so clearly on her face a second ago now wavered with last-minute indecision. Taking hope, Duel forced himself to remain calm.

“Let me be the judge of that. I’m sure you can make amends for whatever it is you believe you did.”

Jessie met his gaze. “Why? Why would you worry about what happens to me? I’ll only bring trouble.”

“Because the three of us—you, Marley Rose, me…we’re broken. But together we somehow work.” He inched forward.

“Do you really think so?”

He took advantage of the opening. “And Marley Rose needs you. You can’t deprive that child of the love I know you’re capable of giving. You can’t snatch away the little bit of kindness Marley’s known.”

“Better she learns early the cruel facts of life.” She turned back to the violent view below her.

The shuffling of her feet sent pebbles rushing down into the water. Duel had to be quick, or the next movement would send her hurtling over the edge. Conversation had bought him precious moments to creep closer. He lunged.

“I won’t let you die!” His arms shook as he held her tightly. He’d almost missed her.

“I’m already dead. The only difference between now and when they put me six feet under is I’m still breathing. An inconvenience I could’ve remedied if you hadn’t meddled.”

He wasn’t sure what he expected, but her deep anger caught him by surprise.

“I couldn’t let you die.” He struggled to change her focus. “I never had a woman kill herself just because I asked her to marry me. Wouldn’t set well.”

A startled expression swept her face. Then she rewarded his humorous efforts with a wan smile. “You’re something, Mr. McClain. Making light at a time like this.”

He couldn’t answer in that instant, because holding her this close, seeing the softness in her blue eyes, made his legs shake. Tenderly, he lifted and carried her a safe distance from the precipice.

“Wasn’t joking,” he mumbled, all humor gone.

She dropped wearily onto a log tinged black by lightning. “Any woman would give her eyeteeth to wed you. Even if she knew it was nothing more than a business arrangement…if she was of the marrying kind.”

He lifted his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. Unsure of the ground on which he tread, he twirled his hat in his hands. “Truth is, I merely wanted to protect you.” He berated himself for listening to Vicky and Roy. “I’m sure I can find another way. A lady fine as you deserves a better man. I don’t blame you for spurning a broken-down sodbuster like me.”

Jessie’s head snapped up to stare at him, her face becoming a cold mask. “How little you know of what I deserve.”

“I’m sure as shootin’ you didn’t do anything wrong, and certainly nothing that would merit the treatment you’ve suffered.” He watched the blood slowly drain from her face, leaving it chalky white.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her words were razor sharp.

“I saw the brand you wear.”

Her lips compressed in a thin, tight line. Her resolute control brought an overpowering urge to take her in his arms, if only to give her a moment’s peace. The kind she’d given him by allowing him to watch her with the babe.

“I killed my husband.”

She delivered the calm statement as if she’d just announced she had a tangle in her hair or a piece of food stuck in her teeth.

“If…if he’s the one responsible for your condition,” Duel began, slowly adjusting to the shock, “I’d say you had a mighty good reason.”

“I broke the law.” Her voice cracked, and the rest of her confession became barely audible. “I’m wanted for murder.”

What could he say that would ease her agony? He stuffed his hat back on his head and lowered himself to the log beside her. With a shoulder touching hers, he offered her his handkerchief.

“Was he the one who hurt you?”

A trembling chin betrayed her as she nodded.

“Well, I can’t imagine wasting sympathy on a wife-beater.” Anger and hate left an acrid taste in his mouth. “From what little I can see, you were more than justified.”

“Lord knows Jeremiah was the most mean-spirited human ever put on this earth. It still didn’t give me the right—” She blew her nose and straightened.

“I imagine you’d had enough that night you wandered into my camp.” Her delicate hand rested in her lap. Wanting merely to comfort, Duel took it in his. He was relieved when she let him.

“It didn’t start off that way. When Jeremiah Foltry and I exchanged vows, I believe he truly loved me. Our first married year had its ups and downs, but we dealt with them. Then he changed. Drank too much, hung around with the wrong men, became obsessed with his possessions—the ranch, his land, which at fifty thousand acres was never enough—and me. The next seven years became a living hell.”

Jessie Foltry. At last Duel knew her name.

He looked down at the long fingers nestled in his palm. Despite their condition from harsh travel and work, they were as dainty and fine as the heart of the woman they belonged to. He had to battle the temptation to bring her hand to his lips. Jeremiah Foltry had to be the worst kind of fool to have tried to destroy the bounty he’d had in his grasp.

“I’m sorry. If you’d rather not talk about it anymore…”

“It actually feels good to tell someone after all these years. I’ve kept it inside far too long.” When she shifted her gaze to meet his, a little of the pain had left. The brilliance of her honesty shone like a beacon in the midst of a great storm.

“Your husband owns—owned—the Diamond J ranch?”

“He was so obsessed with that damn land he strung that newfangled barbed wire around every inch of it and put his brand on everything that walked inside it.”

“Including you.”

Worry clouded the blue orbs. “I wish you hadn’t seen that. I didn’t mean for anyone ever to see the mark my insolence earned.”

“I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.”

“Have you ever been so scared you thought the next second was going to be your last? You’re looking in the face of the devil and wondering how on earth you can keep him from taking your soul? Have you been that scared?”

Annie’s cold, lifeless body flashed across his mind’s eye.

He’d placed her in that wooden coffin. He’d folded her stiff arms around their son. He’d thrown dirt over the two most precious beings he’d ever known. Then he’d ridden off, knowing he’d be alone for the rest of his days.

“Yeah, I’ve been there.” The hand he’d cradled in his palm dropped onto her lap.

Suddenly Jessie turned. “Marley Rose! You have to get back.”

“Don’t worry. Pop’s getting acquainted with his new granddaughter.”

“I shouldn’t have run out like that, but I didn’t know what else to do. And I meant what I said. I won’t bring you and the girl trouble.” Jessie twisted the handkerchief into a knot. “You know they’ll come for me sooner or later.”

“That’s one more good reason for taking my name. They won’t be looking for a married woman with a child. I can protect you if you’ll let me.”

“Think what that would do to Marley six months or a year down the road. Just when she got accustomed to me, to lose her mother all over again. Would you want that?”

Anguish wrapping her words reaffirmed his faith that Jessie’s love for the child ran far more than surface deep. She worried not about what the future held for her or how to protect her secret, but how to shield the little girl whom life had abandoned.

“Forget the marriage idea. I told Vicky it wouldn’t work. I want to help you though, if you’ll let me. I think I have a plan.”

“You don’t have to do this. It isn’t your problem.”

“The heck it ain’t. You think I want that little darling growing up not ever knowing the love of a mother?”

“She has you. And your kinfolk.”

“Not the same. Here’s the deal. You can live with Vicky and Roy and come to the farm every morning. I’ll plant sorghum. I happen to know there’s a big need for sorghum. We’ll use the money from harvesting to hire you one of those high-priced lawyers and clear your name.” Duel tried not to look smug. While far from perfect, his plan was a good one.

“Won’t hold water.” She had twisted the handkerchief so tightly he was sure it would never be the same. She kept her head lowered, refusing to meet his confused look.

“I think it will work if we give it a chance.”

“You saw how Victoria and Roy are stumbling all over themselves in that small house. I won’t move in with them. Besides, your plan wouldn’t stop gossip. We’d still be together every day. Unchaperoned.”

“Well, it sure beats jumping off a cliff into the Colorado.” Jessie’s face darkened. Duel wished he could take back those words. Someday he’d learn to keep his trap shut, or at least think about the words before they popped from his mouth. Before he could apologize for the slip, she shot him a dubious look.

“You’re taking back your offer of marriage?” Her Wedgwood gaze further buffeted his composure. Was that roar in his ears from the river below?

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t pester you again.”

“That’s too bad, because I’ve changed my mind. I accept.”