A Ransomed Heart (23 page)

Annabelle pulled her horse to a stop
, willing herself to jump to the ground. Her leg, however, would let her go no farther. The pain was blinding, almost too much to bear, and she fell to the dust-covered ground. Jace hurried to her side, picking her up under one arm and supporting her.  They only had seconds before the shooting would start but they were too far to stop anything from happening. Even in their rushed limp they would never make it in time to witness someone’s death.

Annabelle could see
Logan’s back, his hat tipped on his head, his shoulders set firmly square. He was ready and it terrified her. What if he never knew she loved him; what if he died by the hand of this horrible man? Tears sprang to her eyes and she tried to hurry but her leg played no part in her desperation. Even with Jace’s help she was helpless.

Logan felt compelled to speak just one last thing, so if
he never spoke again, everyone would know, even the man he hated. He needed to defend his mother because she was not there to do it herself. It was as if she needed him to do this one last thing before she was gone. Opening his mouth he felt her come though him and out into the air. “She loved you, too; she always loved you, Father.”

It was as if a train had hit everyone in the
crowd and in the same instant, pistols glimmered in the sun and shots rang in the air. Logan watched, stunned as his father was knocked backwards onto the ground. He looked down at his own unfired pistol then around at the crowd which had gathered around him. He caught a glimpse of half a dozen pistols being holstered and then their owners turned and walked away, leaving Logan unsure of what had happened exactly. The sound of Sevier’s coughing brought Logan to the man’s side.  Logan gazed down at the man who looked so much like himself. His wounds were fatal and Sevier’s breath was rapid, his eyes taking on a glazed look. Suddenly he reached one bloody hand towards Logan. For a moment Logan didn’t know what to do with it and then he knelt and took it. They were too close together for anyone to hear.

“I never stopped loving your mother
,” he whispered.

“Then why did you leave?”
Logan’s voice was strained with years of hurt and anger.

“I knew I could make a better life for us, for you
, if I came west and mined us some gold.” He drew a ragged breath. “But everything came apart out here, like it does in the west, and I was left with nothing but regrets.” His voice rattled in his chest.

“You know she would have taken you back.”
Logan’s eyes became wet with the thought; if he had come back they could have been a family.

“No, son, I couldn’t have, I was a broken man.”

“But this,” Logan looked around, “this gave you the same kind of joy?”

Sevier
shook his head then coughed up a spot of blood. “Nothing gave me joy like you and your mother did.” His hand tightened around Logan’s and he looked at him, the light gone from his eyes. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Everything was tangled up inside. Logan didn’t know if he could ever forgive the man. He had hurt him so deeply, left his mother to die alone, not to mention the
sadness that Annabelle would have felt had she married the man. Robert Sevier was a selfish man who had lost his soul, but at some point in life didn’t all men lose a little piece of their soul? A single tear slipped from his eye and fell to the dust next to the man he should have called father. Instead he was a stranger, and in the end, just a sad, broken man. Nodding his head, he gave the man a single token of forgiveness. Then he watched the blue eyes close for the last time. Had either of them found what they were looking for? Logan had no answer to give and probably never would. He let go of Sevier’s hand and let it fall to his chest. Then he stood up and wiped the sticky blood on his pants. It was done.

No one rushed into the street to carry away the body. Mr. Mousse stood shaking in his boots watching Logan
warily. The cowboys who had been so anxious to serve the dead man stood watching then turned to go back to their games, women, and drinks. There was no one there to take Logan away and shut him into the jail as he assumed would happen. He hadn’t shot his pistol a single time yet his father died from six bullet wounds. Instead people lowered their eyes and walked away. Turning from the gruesome scene his eyes fell upon Annabelle. She stood there her face white, her body trembling. She was dressed much like she had been the day she had been shot. His heart leapt in his chest when he saw her, but she seemed so unmovable he was almost afraid to approach her.

Annabelle looked first at the man on the ground, his life gone from his body
, and then at the man she loved standing so alone in the dusty road. Pink colored his shirt and bloody handprints smeared his pants. Annabelle understood now, Mr. Sevier was Logan’s father. Her mind raced to put the pieces together. She remembered the story that Mama had told her, how Logan had been left alone in the world, a mother dead and a father who didn’t care. Standing there she could see the resemblance of the two men, but in her mind Logan was different, he was a hero. He had become someone he didn’t know he could be, someone who saved families from a life of nothing, a friend who was honorable and trustworthy, and a man who was willing to risk his life for someone he loved, even if it meant he may never have all the things he wanted in life. At that moment everyone in the town of Regency could see Logan was not his father at all.

They
both stood there looking at each other unsure what to do or how to proceed. Both of their goals had been obliterated the moment Sevier had died. Annabelle had been so prepared to forgo her own happiness for her beloved family. And all Logan had wanted was to help the people he considered family. Now both of those things were gone, done, and finished. It wasn’t until Mr. Mousse slinked off toward the carriage that they were able to move from their respective spots.

Annabelle threw herself forward pushing her throbbing leg to follow after the other,
hurrying towards Logan. He in turn ran in her direction, dropping the pistol which had remained in his hand; nothing mattered now but getting to each other. It didn’t matter who was watching and soon they found each other. Logan gripped tightly to her, pulling her little body against his chest, nearly crushing her with his strength. Annabelle couldn’t breathe but it didn’t matter all she cared about was that he was safe. She buried her head in his neck and sobs pushed their way up and out of her mouth. Unsure why she was crying, she just held tightly to him and felt him all over her body.

For a long time they just held each
other while the world went on around them.  Logan pushed her away, suddenly frustrated she had risked herself to come to him.

“Why are you here?” His eyes
appraised her and lingered on her leg, the pants caked with blood. “Bella, you shouldn’t have come, you aren’t well enough.”

She glared at him, “And you are
? Look at your arm, you are hurt.” The cut had started bleeding again either from the tension of the day or his crushing embrace.

“It isn’t anything
, I am fine. How did you find me?”

“Little Bear told me what you were doing and I had to see you. I had an idea that could save us all, but I guess I am to
o late.” She hesitated to look at the dead man. “I hoped if my family could join us that I wouldn’t have to marry Mr. Sevier and we could be together.”

His eyes
widened at her comment. “Do you want to be with me, Bella?”

She nodded her head
, unable to speak.

“But when I left you made it sound like…”

She put her finger over his lips and looked at him. “Logan, I didn’t have a plan then, I didn’t know what to do. Being in love is confusing.”

A smile spread across his lips under her finger. “You love me
, Bella?”

“Yes
, Logan, very, very much.”

Taking her hand in his he moved it away from his face then ever so gently he pressed his lips to hers. For a brief moment he drank in her smell, her feel, her touch, and
it was perfect. “I love you, too, Bella,” he said smiling, and then he kissed her again.

Annabelle felt as if her head would burst. It rang and popped and
crackled in her brain as he kissed her. She wanted to push herself into him so they were one person, and she did her best to pull as closely as she could with her one free arm. It didn’t matter to her, the throbbing in her leg or the fatigue she had felt for the past two days; none of that mattered at all now. The pain of love ached far deeper than any mortal wound could touch. She smelled his familiar scent and knew she had found what she had been looking for all these years in the plains of the Wyoming Territory. She had found her cowboy.

From somewhere behind them Ja
ce watched, amazed at the sight. His baby sister was in love, and from what he knew about Logan, he was glad she had found him. Life had been hard for all of them, but now she would be protected and loved like she should be. The only thing left was to actually meet the man who had stolen his sister’s heart. After all, they were creating quite a stir with the people who had again moved about the boardwalk. During their rendezvous, the doctor and a helper had removed the body and the town had taken a collective breath. It was unsure what would happen to the town now, but that was as it always had been in the wild west, only the strongest would survive.

Approaching
the couple and clearing his throat, he tapped his sister on the shoulder. She pulled away and looked at him a bit embarrassed at her actions. Pink colored her cheeks and she looked shyly to the ground. Jace smiled, unfazed by what he had witnessed. Looking the young man over, he stuck his hand out and nodded his head.

“Ja
ce Casey, I see you know my sister.”

Surprise
passed over his eyes, but Logan kept his composure. He had every intention of finding Annabelle’s family and first offering them a home in Hope and then asking for Annabelle’s hand in marriage, but it seemed they had come looking for him. Smiling a wide toothy grin, he took the man’s hand and pumped it twice up and down.

“Logan Bailey…
Sevier.” It sounded strange to all of them, but especially to Logan; he had dropped the name years ago, but now it seemed alright to refer to himself by the name. Things had changed and he could feel it in his soul.

“Well Logan, Annie tells me you kidnapped her, you want to explain that
?” The smile hadn’t left his face and the joking air was refreshing to all of them.

Annabelle wanted to respond
, but Logan’s quick wit had taken over. “I guess I found her so irresistible I couldn’t just leave her out there in the desert.”

She was shocked and slapped him playfully
on the chest. “You were the one who caused the accident.”

He winked at her and smiled, “Well
, I guess that’s true.”

Bashfully she looked up at him and giggled. “And I was so helpless you felt the need to protect me.”

His eyes danced and he looked at Jace. “Well, that point is debatable.” Both men laughed and Annabelle blushed deeply this time. Then they all turned to gather their horses. Annabelle limped along next to Logan feeling stronger all the time. There was time now to talk and learn all about each other. She was curious to hear his story, but also to show him what a family could feel like. Finally it could be over.

Walking
through the streets with their horses following behind, it felt as if they were leaving one life and moving into another. Then Annabelle remembered she didn’t know how the rest of her family was. She stopped and both men looked at her questioningly. “Jace, are Mom, Dad and Peter safe?”

He furrowed his brow and looked confused. “They were fine when I left.”

She felt Logan’s hand on her shoulder. “I sent Kit to warn them and offer them a home with us.”

The last weight had been lifted. Everyone was going to be fine now. Snuggling under
Logan’s arm she smiled and nodded.

They were almost to the end of the buildings when Mr. Mousse stepped out from around the corner
, pistol drawn and aimed at Annabelle’s head. Logan and Jace went for their weapons but Mousse’s squeaky voice scratched at their ears:

“Don’t even think about it.”

The warm feeling left her body and she stood there looking down the barrel of the gun. Ever so slowly Mr. Mousse took one step and then another towards the little group. Those who had been watching them leave now came to see what was going on. Mousse looked ridiculous, the gun shaking in his hand, his mustache twitching furiously on pale his face, but no one was willing to risk Annabelle’s life to confront him. When he was inches from the girl’s face, one wimpy hand slipped into his pocket and he removed a white envelope. Thrusting it towards Annabelle, he held it there waiting for her to take it.

“Take it!”
he nearly shouted, the gun wagging dangerously close to her face.

She reached out and grabbed it
, clutching it to her breast. No one moved, no one breathed and then he moved backwards one step at a time, keeping his gun trained on her. Then suddenly, he dropped the weapon and ran, disappearing behind the buildings. They all stood there amazed at what had transpired. Finally, when they were sure he had gone, both men and the rest of the bystanders directed their gaze to Annabelle.