Beloved Texas Bride (22 page)

“Will you be okay?” Cole asked lightly and knew he was fighting a losing battle. Lack of sleep was taking its toll on his body. He could not help it. Each night, he lay down next to her after they had made love and listened to her drift off to sleep. Every fear he could think of ate at him and every single noise kept his heart thumping with adrenaline.

Today, when Beth was fixing breakfast, she dropped an egg and at her exclamation, he had pulled his gun in response. He would never admit it, but he had been terrified that he could have shot her by mistake from his exhaustion. He was stretched thin and something had to give. Beth’s suggestion of a nap seemed to be the only acceptable compromise. Maybe with a bit of rest, it would not bother him to stay up once again tonight.

 
“Of course I will, silly,” Beth chided and pushed him towards their room. “You need to rest and I need a break from your anxiety. I know you mean well, but when you are nervous, I am nervous,” she revealed as she put him into bed. Sitting beside him, she saw his fatigue written all over his face.

“Get some rest, love,” she said softly. “I will be here when you wake,” she added and watched him nod, closing his eyes finally.

 
Beth stepped away from the bed and gingerly shut the door. He needed sleep badly and would not admit it to himself. How could he expect to protect her if he was practically falling asleep standing up? She was glad he was finally resting and would keep herself busy around the house.

Unfortunately, it seemed that everything she did caused some sort of noise and Beth flinched at each sound, expecting to wake Cole from his nap. Cutting apples made a thump sound each time the knife hit the cutting board. The floors creaked from her steps and she had never noticed it before. Opening the pantry made a loud click that echoed through the house. Heck, even flushing the toilet had her cringing at the rush of water and vacuum it created.

Beth had to get out of the house if he was to sleep at all!

 
Gingerly opening the front door, she flinched with the hinges scraping softly and the clicking of the lock. The noises confirmed her decision: find something to do outside of the house! Shuddering at the thought of grabbing another damned snake, she would avoid gathering the eggs and, instead, settled for checking their garden.

Picking up her basket from the bench on the front porch, she happily walked towards their large plot in the bright sun. Their garden was doing well and her hands had not suffered again since that first day.

Small shoots of green were still coming up, but they were able to see their harvest in the future now. Tiny bell peppers were on the stalks, the bean vines curled towards the sun as the tendrils wrapped around the lines Cole had strung. Beth pulled a few small carrots and decided upon stew for their dinner tonight. She was heartily sick of beans and desired a bit more variety. When Cole woke, she would return to chopping the apples and try her hand at a pie – or something that would resemble a pie with her lack of culinary skills.

There was a breeze today that was most welcome and the summer heat was not as unbearable as it had been a few days ago. It had been a little over two months since she had left her home and almost as long as Cole’s wife. They had seemed to mesh together so very well and had fallen into place until the recent events with Elias Barney. She hoped he was gone for good!

 
Happily humming, Beth pulled at a few weeds and moved to check the figs on the tree. Cole explained to her that this particular tree would provide fruit twice a year and they would be ready when it was a deep purple, not green like she had picked. Shivering, she was reminded about the foul taste it had left and was excited to see what a ripe fig would taste like. Lost in her thoughts, Beth did not notice until too late that she had company. Whirling around at a noise behind her, she dropped her basket and gasped upon seeing Elias Barney standing between her and the house.

 
“Is that sweet little song for me?” Elias asked sarcastically watching Beth carefully. “Where is that charlatan that has attempted to take my place? I don’t take kindly to people stealing my things and that includes my bride-to-be,” he warned, pulling his gun lightly from its holster.
My intended had avoided me twice now, there would not be a third time,
he thought grimly as he watched her eyes dart around him looking for an outlet of escape.

 
Beth could not believe he was here, at her home, of all places! Had he followed them from the picnic? How had he found their home? Beth could feel her heart hammering against her chest and wondered if Cole was okay or if Elias had entered the house first. How could she have not heard him walk up or seen him? Her gun was in the pocket of her skirt, but right now her hands were shaking so badly at being surprised, she wasn’t sure she could fire it steadily yet!

“What are you doing here? How did you find me again?” she asked before she could stop herself. She didn’t care how, but she did want to know what gave away her location because she would run again if she had to! There was no way she would let this man find her again if he had hurt Cole. If Elias had hurt him, she would make sure he would never hurt another man again.

 
“I’m here to escort my fiancée back to Chicago where she belongs,” Elias said and then laughed lightly. “Well… now you aren’t a fiancée are you? A fiancée is an untouched woman that is promised to someone. You’ve been touched, haven’t you?” he sneered.

“You’ve probably been touched a lot and enjoyed it, didn’t you, whore? You’re not my fiancée, are you? No, you are my chattel that is returning with me as my wife until I can get rid of you and marry again. I have no plans on marrying you, you are used goods. You will never speak otherwise, though, if you are smart,” he explained as he pointed the gun towards her, the threat unspoken.

“The money that your father gave me for you is gone and I require a bit more funds to live comfortably. Women love widowers, so you are going to attract me a nice sum of money once you die after your coming out in society in Chicago. I can see it now across the headlines: ‘Beloved doctor loses his bride in a tragic accident’. Those rich bitches will be knocking down my door to comfort me in my time of grief,” Elias explained with disgust evident on his pale face.

“You’ve nothing left here and nothing left to lose.” Seeing Beth’s eyes glance away from his, he barked out a laugh. “You think I would seriously come for you without taking care of him first? I’m not stupid. I’m a doctor, remember?” he said confidently.

“Now, get moving,” he ordered and gestured once again towards the road where she could see his horse off in the lane that led up towards the house.

 
Beth felt like she was going to be ill. Was Cole dead? Had she been so very preoccupied that she didn’t hear anything going on? Had her kiss goodnight before his nap been the last time his tender, warm eyes would look at her?

He could not be dead!

Beth felt her legs collapse underneath her as she could no longer hold back the despair beating at her. Had he struggled? Did he cry out for her? Could she have helped him at all? Hearing a keening wail, Beth did not realize it was her own cry until she felt a sharp sting across her face.

 
“Shut up! Get moving and let’s go!” Elias screamed at her and shook the gun in her face. “Get up now and quit that caterwauling for him. You are to be my wife. Now act like the gentile lady you were raised to be,” he railed and grabbed her arm roughly.
 

Nausea overwhelmed her and tears threatened to choke as she felt such hate rolling over her. She would not go willingly and Cole’s death would not be in vain! She would shoot him and make sure no one would ever suffer at his hands again.

Beth pushed the despair down inside of her and grasped at the anger that was spilling forth. Oh, she would shoot him and make sure he suffered greatly. Looking down, she could not meet his eyes because she was afraid he would see the resolution in her face. Her gun was in her right pocket, just at her thigh and within reach. Nodding, she heard him praise her like a dog with a sickening “good girl” as he pulled at her left arm.

Beth moved with him, allowing him to aid her to her feet for her retribution! He would die on this land but she would be damned if she would bury him on the Hale property! Beth smothered a laugh at the thought of dragging him to the trail for someone to find.
I’m losing it
, she thought,
I’m losing my mind or it’s completely gone
. She was plotting his death and heartily ready to commit murder as justice for her husband’s life.

Standing, she shook her skirts of the dust but, in fact, she wanted to make sure she could get her hand in the pocket of it easily. Her gun was a heavy weight against her leg and ready to spring free at a moment’s notice. Beth looked at Elias through her red-rimmed eyes and smiled coldly. She didn’t think she had it in her to kill but seeing his face cemented it in her mind.

“Get moving, stupid. Don’t just stand there smiling at me,” Elias barked, giving her arm a harsh shove in front of him.

Beth took a deep breath, her hand in her pocket. She could feel her pulse in her finger that gently rested on the cool trigger. Turning towards him, her right arm moved fluidly in one movement pulling the small gun free of the folds.

Raising it, she smiled ever so sweetly and fired it towards him. Feeling the recoil burn through her upper arm, she expected to see him drop in front of her and could practically picture him bleeding on the ground. Instead, Beth heard him scream and she was flung bodily to the ground.
 

“You bitch! How dare you shoot me?” Elias roared angrily. Elizabeth had shot at him and grazed his side. Even now, he could see the blood staining his pressed shirt from under his jacket. He paid good money for the fitting of the coat and now some careless chit had put a hole through it and would leave him scarred? “Perhaps my ‘bride’ will have died tragically on our travels, instead,” he snarled and cocked his gun towards her.

 
Beth lay there in the dirt path where Elias had thrown her down. She wanted to roll over and curl up in remorse but, instead, was stunned that she had missed. She failed and there would be no recompense for Cole’s death. No one to mourn him once she was dead. Her family would never meet him and his own was long since gone. There would be no children with his warm brown eyes or smile. Her arm still stung from the recoil of the gun, but that was all right because, soon, nothing would hurt anymore… not even her broken heart. She would miss Cole’s smiles and his teasing but above all, she would miss the way he held her and loved her.

Isn’t this done, yet? I don’t want to live without
him,
she thought sadly and put her hands on her torso as if to help the crushing feeling in her chest. She stared up at the sky above her and let the tears roll down her face into her hair. Silence was all around her as she waited for the telltale shot to end her pain.

Cole awoke to the loud pop of gunshot and a man’s voice screaming. Leaping out of the bed and cursing his need for sleep, he felt ashamed that he had even taken the nap and should have just fought through the exhaustion that had been beating at his body. He was certain, with as nervous as Beth had been, that they would both just stay hidden indoors. Him sleeping, her lying low.

He knew she was independent but surely she would have the foresight to stay inside and not leave the premises. She knew to fire only if in danger and if it was a kill shot because her gun only held one bullet. Cursing and flying out of the house, he held his rifle at his side and saw the scene in front of him. His Beth lay on the ground with a hand over her heart and Elias Barney stood over her angrily pointing his gun towards his wife.

 
“BETH!” Cole screamed in disbelief and fear at the scene in front of him. Was the shot he heard Elias Barney’s gun and not hers? Was she dead? Enraged, Cole yanked up the rifle in a swift, practiced movement and let out his breath in a rush when he saw her look at him in shock.
 

“Cole? Oh, my Lord! Cole, he told me you were dead!” she said attempting to scramble to her feet in the bulky, pleated skirt. Her heart beating furiously at seeing him, she dashed the tears off her face happily as she forgot Elias Barney beside her.
 

“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Elias said frustrated. “You could not leave well enough alone, could you Elizabeth? We could have left peacefully…and you?” He gestured towards Cole standing on the front porch with the rifle trained on him.

“You could not just stay put. You are always getting in the way. Took my fiancée. Took her innocence and it all belonged to me. Well, I will be the one to take it all, not you,” he spat, taking aim at Beth on the ground.

“She is mine and, as her husband, it will cement my stake in society. I don’t need her but I won’t let you have her, either. I’m better off a widower, instead. That way I can pick someone whose appearance I find pleasing and will obey me,” Elias said, hatefully, staring at her figure on the ground preparing to stand.

 
“Beth, stay down!” Cole barked and was glad to see her obey him quickly as she flattened immediately on the ground. “Buckshot sprays everywhere and I don’t want you hurt, wife,” he said deliberately as he stared down the barrel with a vicious smile.

“You’re trespassing and attempting abduction of my wife. Did you not see the sign when you rode up my drive?” he asked calmly. Cole continued on with his sight trained down the long gun and stepped forward with smooth, deadly accuracy like a snake moving into position for the strike.

“You are on private property and you have about two seconds to get off of it before I shoot.” At seeing Elias start to open his mouth to speak, Cole cut him off once again from speaking.

“…and if I allow you to live, you will never return here. Do we understand each other?” he asked, carefully watching Elias for any indication that he would harm Elizabeth.