Daniel (11 page)

She felt the hard length of him even through the layers of clothing between them and wanted him as well. The huskiness in his tone called to her. In spite of this being a saloon, she knew that if he asked her to, she would eagerly spread her legs for him. She wanted him inside her. Ached for him. Enough that she forgave him for the spanking.

Jennie hugged him back, aching now more in worry than because of her sore bottom. "Be careful, Daniel." She wanted to beg him not to go, but she couldn't.

He gave her a last shuddery squeeze and then tipped her head up so he could kiss her. His fingers threaded into her hair, nearly causing the braid wrapped up so intricately to fall. He kissed her like a desperate man and she didn't want him to let her go. She held onto him just as tightly.

He eased her away from him, looked regretful and moved toward the door. "We'll talk when I get back." His expression hardened and he glanced down to where she was rubbing her bottom. "I want you to really think about everything while I'm gone. I mean it, Jennie."

Tears misted her eyes and she nodded as he left the room.
Oh, Daniel, I love you so much.
She reached down and winced as she pulled up her drawers.
Maybe a bit less when you spank me, though.

* * *

Jennie tossed and turned all night, waking more tired than she'd been when she had finally fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning. She had dreamed that Daniel had gotten shot and lie dying, calling out for her. Another time she had dreamed he had come back to her and ordered her to return to Boston. He had told her he didn't love her, had never loved her, and would never love her. And the last dream had been about her begging him to give her another chance.

She sat up in the rumpled bed, tangled in the sheet, felt the grittiness in her eyes, and a lingering tenderness to her bottom. Determination filled her. She was going home to wait for Daniel. They were going to talk out their differences, find a way to make their marriage work. She didn't care if he spanked her every darn day; she loved the stubborn man.

Climbing from the bed, she winced. All right, she'd rather he didn't spank her every day. He could kiss her, hug her, make love to her every day and that would be perfect. But she suspected there would be more than one spanking in her future.

Two hours later she walked downstairs and found Angelica seated at one of the tables talking to her bartender, Rex. She strode right to them and boldly said, "I need to go home."

Angelica smiled. "I've been waiting to hear you say that." She looked toward the large, balding man. "You'll have just enough time to take Jennie and her trunks back to the ranch and get back here before we open."

* * *

Damn he hated riding on a posse. Daniel shifted uncomfortably in the saddle. They had ridden for two days hunting down the gang of outlaws supposedly headed for Dryfork. The wire had been false. But yesterday they had caught up with two other posses also having been warned the gang was headed for their towns. All of them feeling angry about being led wrong, they had decided to stick with tracking the outlaws rather than give up yet again. Daniel and the other sheriffs were determined to find the men and end this game they had too long played.

They were just over the rise on the east side of Dodge City and the sun was blasting down on them. The horses were anxious, whinnying and prancing nervously. The two dozen men in the combined posse were even more anxious. All knew this cat-and-mouse game with the outlaws would end today. Hopefully none of the men on posse would get hurt, but all of them knew it could happen.

"We've been spotted!" one of the men from the Pratt posse yelled out from where he'd been looking over the top of the hill. "They are saddling up!"

Not a man among them was letting the outlaws get away this time. Almost recklessly a group of men closest to the crest of the hill took off riding hell-to-leather down the hill, guns raised and firing away.

"No!" Daniel roared. "Wait!" Fools, all of them. Were they looking to get killed?

He spotted young Tom Balders, the nineteen-year-old son of his neighbor, riding at the back of the group. The fool had bragged about how he was certain he couldn't be killed. How he was a damn good shot. Good shot or not, he was asking to be taken down, riding off that way like an idiot.

Daniel tore off after Tom, his gut telling him to ride harder. Warning him...

He watched in horror as Tom spurred his horse and raced by the other men who had gone with him. He managed to surprise one of the Walton brothers and wing him in the shoulder, but his victory was short-lived. Paxton Walton, the eldest brother and leader, spun around and gut shot Tom off of his horse.

Almost all of the other posse men sped by the fallen kid. Daniel reined in next to him, jumped from his saddle, and raced to the groaning young man. He futilely tried to staunch the wound, but Tom couldn't be saved.

Tom, too, knew it as he looked up into Daniel's eyes. "Tell Ma..." Tom gasped out painfully as he fought for breath. "Tell her I..."

Daniel held his hand against the gaping wound and blood flowed between his fingers from the dying boy. It sickened him. Guilt plagued him for not convincing this hotheaded young man to be more careful. Now it was too late. He spoke as soothingly as he could. "I'll tell her you loved her."

Tom gave a curt nod, a weak smile, and stopped breathing.

Daniel pulled in a steadying breath and stood. Around them men had been shooting and crying out. He had ignored it all in his focus on the dying man.

Now he was mad. The Waltons had killed their last man, as far as he was concerned.

* * *

Jennie blinked back tears as she stood on the dirt road in front of the stage depot and hugged each of her three friends good-bye. The stagecoach was already loaded, except for her, and the driver was ready to leave.

He called down impatiently from his high perch, "Are you getting in or not? 'Cause I'm leaving in another minute."

Annabelle let go of Jennie and glared up at the scroungy-looking man with thinning hair hanging from beneath his battered hat. "This is hard for her, can't you see that?"

He shrugged, but didn't respond otherwise.

"Maybe I shouldn't go," Jennie said through a voice raw from crying. "Daniel..."

Angelica and Faith both hugged her before stepping back. Faith looked her square in the eye and said, "This is your mother. You have to go. Daniel will understand."

Jennie felt numb all over. She had gotten word that the posse would not give up this time until they found the outlaws. That had been two days ago. She'd been worried nearly to death ever since then. She sensed something bad was going to happen this time and she feared it would have to do with her husband. She desperately needed to see him, needed to hold him, needed to be sure he was all right.

"Are you coming or not? I ain't askin' agin," the stagecoach driver interrupted her tortured musings.

Angelica gently turned her toward the stage and gave her a nudge. "Go. Your father needs you."

Jennie wasn't really sure about that, but her mother did. She'd gotten a wire just hours ago while she'd been having breakfast at the cafe with Faith and Angelica. Her mother had been badly hurt in a buggy accident the day before. She was unconscious and the doctor wasn't sure she would live. Her father wanted her to come back to Boston. Actually, he'd ordered her to come back. But, of course, she wanted to see her mother, needed to see her. And it had seemed it was God's will that she did so, since the stage happened to be in town today and leaving this afternoon. But Daniel...

She raised her chin and forced back her shoulders to face her friends one last time. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Make sure Daniel understands that."

Her friends nodded, but she noticed the way neither Faith nor Annabelle looked confident. Only Angelica held her gaze and said firmly, "He will."

Still, as Jennie stepped into the stage and took her seat between two elderly women, she worried. She had left Daniel before--in a way--but she hadn't left town. He still thought she preferred Boston over Dryfork, but he was wrong. She just had to convince him of that, which would be impossible to do with her headed back to Boston now. But she had to go to her mother. She had no other choice.

* * *

Daniel glanced back at the other exhausted men riding home with him. Every one of the surviving men looked more saddened by losing one of their own than triumphant at having finally captured the Walton Gang and left them in Dodge City. Two men, as well as himself, had been shot, though not seriously. Young Tom Balders had died basically in Daniel's arms and the memory still haunted him. Fool kid. Tom's body was draped over the horse being pulled along by Adam. He would be buried at his folks's place and mourned by all.

He turned forward again, reaching up to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead. It was hotter than Hell today. He was ready to get home. Ready to have a bath and wash away over a week's worth of grime and grit. After that, he could easily flop onto his bed and sleep for a full day or two. But first he needed to see Jennie, needed to hold her close and...

"I'll check in with Andy so you can stop at the saloon," Caleb said as he rode up next to Daniel. "Unless you want to have Doc look at your arm first."

"It was just a flesh wound and it's healing fine." Daniel looked over at Caleb, who had cleansed and sewn up the bullet wound on his upper left arm. "You did a good job."

Caleb nodded. They shared a look, both grateful their other brothers hadn't gotten wounded, too. "Like I said, I'll handle things for you."

Daniel shifted his gaze back toward the town just ahead. His gut tightened. Something didn't feel right. They had stopped at his ranch, but Jennie hadn't been there, for which he'd been glad. He had hoped she would stay in town until he got back. He hadn't liked the idea of her being at the ranch alone. Finally he answered his brother. "I'd appreciate that. I need to talk to Jennie."

They rode through the center of town, drawing people from the buildings to watch their return. He saw the disheartened faces as their fellow townsfolk spotted Tom's body over his horse. This was bad enough, but it could have been worse. Still, he dreaded having to go tell his neighbors that their son had been killed. First he would see Jennie, then clean up, and then go to the Balders' place.

Adam trotted up next to him. "I'll take Tom's body to the undertaker." When Daniel faced him, Adam added grimly, "I'll go tell his folks. You just see to your wife."

Daniel was grateful to his brother, although he knew it really should be his job to break the bad news. Somewhere along the trail and time away he'd made up with his brothers. They had been through a lot over the years, had each other's backs many a time when their father had gotten a little crazy. They might have disagreements from time to time, but their bonds were strong. Now he needed to strengthen his bond with Jennie.

He pulled up in front of the saloon where only a couple of horses were tied to the hitching post this early in the day. He slid from his horse. It took him a second to adjust to being out of the saddle. Damn he was sore.

He'd just put a foot up onto the boardwalk when Angelica walked out to greet him. Her eyes looked worried, her expression determined. He felt certain that he was about to find out just what that something he'd sensed was wrong was all about. And he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like it.

"Jennie?" he asked, his stomach knotting.

Angelica lifted her chin almost defensively. "She left for Boston three days ago."

Daniel felt gut punched and then he cursed a blue streak. Dammit all! He'd known that sooner or later she would leave him and return to Boston. She'd stopped hounding him about going back, but clearly she hadn't given up on the idea. She probably thought he'd go racing after her. Bring her back here and make her stay. The hell he would! She'd made her choice...and he wasn't it.

He spun away and mounted his tired horse again. He wheeled the mare around, intending to head back to his ranch. And then what, he didn't know.

"She had to go, Daniel. Let me explain," Angelica called after him as he spurred his horse and raced away. "Daniel!"

* * *

Jennie made her wobbly way from the train station's restroom in Boston. She felt lightheaded and nauseous. Again. It seemed like she had been sick ever since she'd left Dryfork several very long days ago. She hadn't eaten much, couldn't keep anything down. She missed Daniel so much. Evidently it was affecting her body.

An elderly woman who had been in the restroom with her walked up and gently touched her arm. She gave Jennie a smile of understanding. "When is your baby due, dear?"

"Baby?" Jennie blinked in puzzlement.

The woman tsk-tsked. "You are with child, are you not?"

Oh my heavens! Was she? Jennie thought about it for a minute and hope filled her. In that instant, she was certain that she was carrying Daniel's child. She put a hand gently over her very flat stomach. "Yes. Yes, I am." Lord, please let it be so.

For just as instant, she considered buying a ticket for the first train headed back west. But then she remembered why she had come all this way. Her mother. She needed to see her mother and she prayed her mother was still alive.

Chapter Seven

Jennie paced her mother's bedroom as she'd been doing for the last couple of hours. She stopped to stand at the window overlooking the immaculately cared for back lawn and its acre of trimmed grass and the exquisite gardens in full bloom with so many colors and so many different kinds of flowers. The roses below this window were her mother's favorite. Through the partially opened window, she drew in the sweet fragrance and wondered if her mother could smell them in her current state.

She swallowed a lump in her throat and blinked back tears. Her dear, often contrary, mother. The still beautiful woman in her late 40s, now lying so pale in the big bed, had yet to open her eyes from the terrible accident. Thank God, she had begun to shift restlessly for the first time yesterday. A good sign, the doctor had told them. Jennie had arrived here two days ago with such hope in her heart. She and her mother had not been close by any means, but she loved her anyway. And Jennie desperately wanted to share her special news with her.