Chapter Ten

Seth

The Mercantile was crowded with a line of people waiting for a sales clerk. Seth sighed with impatience. Laura had given him a short list of things she needed for her sewing basket. He was anxious to procure what she’d asked for and to be done with errands in Colter Canyon.

She’d wanted to come into town with him, but he said no. That morning, they’d lain in bed and she nestled in his arms trying to convince him. It wasn’t safe, he argued. Two months after his and Laura’s wedding and Melvin still swaggered around town, swearing up and down to anyone who would listen, that by rights Laura was his.

Seth gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

He’d tried to buy Melvin out, offering a fair chunk of change for the man’s miserable ranch. Melvin turned him down. Seth was certain Melvin was enjoying the dust-up he’d created and the small bit of notoriety that ensued.

A movement near the door caught his attention. Nick stood in the doorway, scanning the shop. Seth lifted his hand.

Nick nodded and crossed the store to come to his side.

His brother looked haggard. His lips pressed in a grim line and the lines around his mouth seemed too deeply etched.

Nick had been happy a month ago. He’d been planning out a life with a woman he scarcely knew, but the day Louisa was supposed to arrive, a letter came, explaining she’d had a change of heart. She would have liked to return the money but since she was in the family way, she’d need every penny.

Since then, his brother had been as irritable as a rattlesnake.

He’d announced that he would never marry, and aside from his kind and honorable sisters-in-law, most women weren’t worth the trouble.

“Seth,” Nick growled. “I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Was I supposed to tell you?” Seth asked in a joking tone. “Ask permission or something? Or did you want me to pick up a bottle of whiskey from the Magnolia?”

Nick’s lip curled.

Seth sighed. He wanted to cheer his brother up, but the man was too bitter to see the humor in anything. “Never mind. I’m just giving you a bad time, Nick. What’s the matter?”

“Melvin’s drunk and he’s on his way over.”

Seth narrowed his eyes. “The hell you say?”

“He’s coming to the Merc to settle a score with you. Is Laura here?”

“She’s at home. Thank God.”

The sound of a man shouting drifted through the doorway. Seth and Nick strode to the door. In the middle of the walkway stood Melvin, red-faced and swearing at passers-by.

“I can’t believe my girl almost ended up with that fool,” Seth muttered. “I’m done with him. I’m going to kill him.”

Nick gave him a hard look. “You’re not either. He’s not worth having trouble with the law, Seth.”

Seth growled. “No one would lock me up for killing Melvin Campbell.”

“Let me talk him down.”

Seth was certain there was no reasoning with the man, but said nothing. The crowd parted as Nick approached Melvin. More people arrived to see the altercation. The folks of Colter Canyon always enjoyed a good brawl. They wouldn’t get one today. If Melvin was a big enough fool to start something with Nick, who stood a head taller, the fight would be over quickly.

Melvin swayed. His eyes shone. Nick spoke quietly. It was just as he did when he came upon a wounded or traumatized animal. His movements were slow and deliberate. Melvin grabbed his side, searching for his gun. Fortunately, he was unarmed.

A movement in the crowd caught Seth’s attention. Melvin’s brother lurched past the onlookers. He snarled and muttered a string of curse words. Seth pushed through the people, trying to reach Nick. His brother could handle himself in a brawl, but something about the two men felt off. Before he could reach Nick, Melvin raised his hand. A blade flashed in the sun. Melvin brought his hand down, striking Nick.

Seth shoved people out of the way. Nick roared with anger and drove his fist into Melvin’s face.

Gunfire erupted. Women screamed, and the crowd scattered.

Sheriff Holden stood in the clearing, his pistols smoking.

Melvin Campbell and his brother lay on the ground, both shot dead.

Seth stared at the men in disbelief. Nick snarled with disgust, blood streaming down his face.

Holden holstered his gun and spat. “These two Campbell boys were bragging how they were planning an ambush.”

Nick wiped his face with a bandana, but that did little to stanch the flow of blood. The wound didn’t look too deep, but it was long and jagged, starting near his eye and ending by his chin. Blood dripped off his chin. His eyes flashed with rage.

Seth thought about taking Nick to the doctor that had just opened shop in Colter Canyon, but knew that Nick would refuse. The crowd drifted back to the scene.

Those Campbells never were any good…

Melvin still owes me for that bull I sold him…

Just a matter of time…

One of Sheriff Holden’s deputies arrived with a buckboard and some of the men in the crowd helped load the bodies. Seth stood beside Nick, still in a state of disbelief, and watched the wagon disappear down the road. With nothing more to see, the townsfolk wandered back to their errands and tasks. That was three men shot and killed in the space of just a few months. The townsfolk would have plenty to keep them talking for a long while.

“Good riddance,” Nick muttered.

“Come to the house and we’ll fix you up. Laura will have supper ready at six.”

Nick agreed, grudgingly. In the slant of the afternoon sunlight, they rode home in silence. Halfway home, Seth recalled he hadn’t picked up the things requested. Laura’s sewing supplies would have to wait for another day.

By the time they reached the ranch, Nick’s bleeding had stopped. They tended to the horses, untacking them and feeding them before returning to the house.

“Think how handsome you’ll look with that scar,” Seth muttered.

Nick shook his head and frowned, but his lips quirked as he tried to suppress a smile. “I’m already too good-looking.”

Seth chuckled and slapped Nick’s shoulder. It was true, or at least that’s what the women in Colter Canyon always said, that Nick Travis was as fine-looking as the day was long. A handsome devil with an angelic heart…

Sadly, most of the women in Colter Canyon were either elderly, married or worked for Clarice. Nick’s odds of finding a woman to marry were slim to none, especially since he refused to seek another mail-ordered bride.

When they got inside, Laura fussed and fretted, but moved quickly to bring Nick salve for his cut. By the time they sat down to dinner, Nick was in better spirits in no small part to the whiskey Laura continually poured into his glass. They spoke of the brawl and of how the sheriff had brought it all to a swift end. Seth didn’t go into many details, and Laura didn’t ask.

Nick pushed his dessert plate aside, refusing an offer for more cherry pie.

“Take the guest room,” Seth said.

Rarely if ever, did Nick accept an invitation to spend the night. To Seth’s surprise, he agreed, and waving off any help from either him or Laura, trudged upstairs, muttering about needing his beauty sleep.

When he was gone, Laura turned her startled gaze to Seth. “I declare, that poor Nick hasn’t had much luck lately. Do you think that cut will scar?”

Seth sighed. Both Laura and Charlotte used the phrase ‘poor Nick’ too often. They schemed and planned, trying to come up with ways to find Nick a suitable wife. Nick indulged them, explaining he wanted a blonde who cooked as well as Laura and sewed as well as Charlotte. She needed to be sweet, gentle and biddable. He preferred a lady who had never been married, but wouldn’t insist on that point.

Both Seth and Will knew Nick didn’t mean a word of it. He’d told both Will and Seth he had no plans for a wife. He liked his peace and quiet.

“You better not let my brother hear you or Charlotte call him ‘poor Nick’.” Seth reached across the table and wrapped his fingers around Laura’s hand. “He’d be mighty annoyed that anyone felt sorry for him. A man has his pride.”

She nodded. Her face looked pale, her eyes wide with worry. “I never held any ill-will to Melvin, even when he maligned me, but part of me can’t help feel a little relieved he’s gone.”

Seth tugged her hand, coaxing her off her chair and closer to him. He pushed his chair back from the table and pulled her onto his lap. She looked small and fretful, and while he always wanted her in his arms, he needed to hold her when she looked so vulnerable.

He gathered her close, lifted her chin and kissed her gently. “I’m very glad both of them are gone. The Campbell brothers have cheated and threatened half of Colter Canyon. It was just a matter of time before they stirred up real trouble.”

They sat in silence for a long moment. Outside the wind stirred and an owl hooted. Laura sank against his chest. Seth could almost feel her exhaustion.

He recalled that last night he’d found her asleep in the parlor and he’d carried her to bed. A smile tugged at his lips with another memory, the way her breasts filled the palm of his hand more than they had in the past.

“You’ve got something you want to tell me?” he asked.

She sighed. “Maybe I do.”

“Laura…”

She lifted her head and smiled at him. “I was going to wait until I was certain.”

His heart beat double-time. He waited. He’d made love to her in every room of the house since they’d married. Some days, they stayed in bed till noon. It came as no surprise that she might be expecting, and yet it still seemed like nothing short of a miracle.

“I think,” she said softly. “That come December, I might have a special Christmas present for you, Mr. Travis.”

 

 

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Alix