The Stafford Collection, Historical Western Romances (17 page)

Chapte
r
18

N
ext morning Sabrina elected to stay home. She didn’t need any more self-conscious encounters. She hadn’t had time to talk to Brock much and wanted to think on it some more. It made sense for her to wait to talk to Mr. Swanson first. He was always so good and kind to her. She wanted him to know first.

Another week had passed and the piano was finally finished. Some of the strings were broken but she was able to tune the others. She felt proud of her accomplishment and Mac was astounded. Brock, knowing her background and her love for music, was not surprised. With the piano finished, she decided to stay at the house to see what she could do to make the place more homey.

Since her hand was now fully healed, she decided to tackle the vegetable garden. She also wanted to talk to Brock about perhaps getting some chickens and maybe a cow. She did not know how he would feel about that. In some ways, he seemed as reluctant as she to conform.

Dragging herself away from her thoughts, she got busy. The garden was not going to weed itself. Heading to the barn she grabbed a hoe and a small spade. Looking at the ragged patch, she pondered where to start. It seemed a formidable task but she was glad for the distraction.

Choosing a corner nearest the house she went to work. Although harvest season was over, she wanted to do what she could before winter set in. The more work she did now, the less work would be needed in the spring. She grabbed the spade and began hacking away at the weeds strangling the vegetable vines. It was hard work and after only two hours, her shoulders and arms burned from the effort. She did not know how the fragile Sarah McAllister handled it by herself for all of those years. Apparently, she was a lot tougher than Sabrina gave her credit for.

She stopped for a quick break to stretch out her back and arms. She took a couple sips from the water bucket and wiped her brow. She looked down at herself covered in dirt and smiled. She was filthy but had made a lot of progress so far. It felt good to work again.

She heard a horse in the distance and frowned. Brock usually did not stop by in the middle of the day. She really hoped that it was not Thomas. Her hand was fine now.

Using caution, she snuck around the house so she could see the trail. Peeking around the corner, she could only see one person and it was neither Thomas nor Brock. It was a stranger and, strangers, even if there was only one of them, was one too many. She cursed herself, recalling that the gun that Mr. Swanson had let her keep was still inside, hanging up in the holster on the wall.  She watched as he dismounted and let himself inside the house. She snuck back and grabbed the spade as she tiptoed closer so she could peek through the window. There was not much inside the house worth putting up a fight for, so she wondered what he was doing. She held her breath as she leaned forward and peered through the window. She was surprised and angry as she realized that he had lain down on their bed as if he owned the place.

Her anger outweighing her common sense, she moved quietly over to the door and lifted the latch. The door was thrown open with a bang. Before she could react, she found herself on the ground with an extremely large Indian on top of her. Her hands were held above her head, the spade still clutched tightly in her fist.

Sabrina couldn’t tell if the man’s smile was lecherous or good-natured . His legs were on either side of hers. Sabrina’s instincts kicked in as she brought her knee up as hard and fast as she could. He let go immediately, doubling over, as she sprang to her feet. Frightened, she held the spade in front of her as if it was a long sword.

The man cursed in pain as he looked up at her. Pushing himself up he sat back on his haunches with his knees firmly together. Staring at her closely, his whole demeanor changed. He actually chuckled as he spoke. “I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t realize…”

She glared down at him, interrupting. “How did you know?” she asked a bit nervously, as she backed up a couple more steps, trying to stall as she ran through the options in her head.

“No man would do that. It is either an act of a coward or a woman. You are no coward. It also explains why Brock wanted me to wait for him in town instead of coming here to rest after my long journey.”

“You know Brock?” Sabrina asked, relaxing slightly.

“He is my brother.”

She frowned at that, Brock had never mentioned having a brother before. She studied the man in front of her, still sitting patiently. Yes, he definitely looked similar to Brock, though Brock’s lips were more full. The man’s hair was perfectly straight and black and hung down to his shoulders. He appeared younger than Brock---around her age, perhaps.

Slowly lowering her weapon, she took another step back and gave him room to stand. He jumped to his feet in one lithe movement. She looked up at him, way up. He was taller than Brock, and Brock was a tall man.

“You should never lower your weapon when you are unsure,” he advised her. “How do you know I’m telling you the truth?”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “First of all, if you meant to do me harm you would not have been so careless when you had me down in the first place. Second, you look a lot like Brock. Third, I stepped back so I could grab my gun. A much better weapon than a spade, don’t you think?” she asked, bringing the gun out from behind her back and leveling it at his chest.

He laughed aloud with mirth. “Pretty and smart. Shame that Brock found you first, but I’m willing to share,” he said as his gaze raked over her.

They heard a horse in the distance and they both watched out the window as Brock rode up running Troy hard. He hopped off before the horse had even come to a complete stop and swung open the door.

He stopped short, taking in the scene before him, as he scowled at his brother. “I told you to wait for me. You okay, Will?” he asked stepping towards Sabrina. “I’m fine,” she assured him, lowering her weapon.

Brock took a deep breath trying to calm down. “Will, this is my brother, Chase. Chase, my friend Will.”

“Friend, huh?” Chase said smiling even wider as he held his hand out for Will to shake. Sabrina took a reluctant step forward and shook hands. His larger hand engulfed hers completely and she ended up having to jerk it away as he held on longer than was necessary. Watching the exchange, Brock scowled.

“He knows,” she stated simply.

Chase laughed again. “Kinda hard not to tell when you’re lying on top of a woman.”

Brock took a menacing step towards him but was stopped by a small, but firm hand on his chest. “There was a scuffle; I kneed him between the legs.”

It was Brock’s turn to laugh. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side as if to claim his territory.

“You two talk; I’ll take care of Troy,” Sabrina said kissing his cheek before she left.

Chase raised an eyebrow. “She takes care of your horse too? Where on earth did you find her?”

Brock sighed, sitting down on his bed as his brother sat on one of the chairs at the table. “I met her at the livery in town,” he answered honestly, even though he knew that the truth would only raise more questions. He changed the subject. “How is father? Explain what happened.”

His brother’s usually carefree face clouded over with worry. “Not good. He was out trapping mink and stepped into a bear trap, breaking his leg.  He was able to make it back to the house but he refused to see a doctor even though the bone had broken through the skin. Mother tried to reset the leg herself but a bad odor has set in and he has a fever. He still refuses to see a doctor. He does not want to lose the leg but is too stubborn to realize he may lose his life instead. Mother thought maybe you could talk some sense into him. “

Brock sat quietly in thought before answering. “Of course I will go. Sabrina will have to come with us; I cannot leave her alone.”

“Sabrina?”

“The girl.”

Chase smiled. “Ahh… If she refuses, I can stay with her,” he offered jokingly, trying to lighten his brother’s mood. “Mother will not be pleased. You have not informed her you have found a
friend
.”

Brock sighed. “It came about very recently. I’ll go talk to her about the trip.”

Brock stood and headed to the barn, he knew that Sabrina would be angry if he answered for her. She was so strong and willful. It was that passion that he admired and drove him crazy at the same time.

In the barn, Sabrina had already rubbed down Troy and fed him. She had left the saddle on, not knowing what Chase’s presence here meant. A sinking feeling that Brock may be leaving her made her uneasy. Sensing her worried emotions, Justice snorted in distress. Sabrina went over to try to comfort them both.  She heard the barn door creak open and set her chin up high turning to face Brock. She waited for the news, good or bad.

Seeing her, Brock swallowed hard. The light filtered in through the cracks in the weathered wood giving her an almost celestial appearance. Like an angel, he thought. How on earth had he ever thought she was a boy, he asked himself for the millionth time. Her pert mouth, slender nose and huge green eyes just screamed ‘girl’.

“What’s wrong?” she asked taking a hesitant step forward.

“My father is very ill. He mangled his leg and refuses to seek medical help. My mother thinks that I can persuade him to have the leg removed.“

Sabrina went to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his back giving him comfort as he buried his head into her shoulder. He did not cry but took long, deep, unsteady breaths. Sabrina closed her eyes as she thought of her own proud and stubborn father. She did not know which way he would have chosen and she was glad that she never had to face that decision.

“When are we leaving?” she asked with just a hint of uncertainty in her voice. What if he didn’t want her to go? What if he was embarrassed to introduce her to his family?

Brock hesitated and her heart almost stopped. “Tomorrow morning; I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go with us. Or if I should even go.”

“Well, of course you have to go! If I could have had one last chance to see my father before…” She trailed off, closing her eyes tightly. “You have to go. We’ll go together if you want me too.”

“Naturally I want you to go. I can’t leave you here by yourself; no telling what kind of mischief you could get into being left alone. And I would be proud for my family to meet you.”

“How come you never mentioned you had a brother?”

“I don’t know. It’s not a secret, it just never came up, I guess. I actually have a brother and a sister. Twins. They were younger than I was so I have not really had much contact with them since I left home.”

Sabrina accepted his answer as reasonable. After all she could not judge him for not staying in contact with his family members---not when she had been ignoring Warren for so many years. In that instant she was sure that sending Warren the letter was the right thing to do. In fact, she should have sent it a long time ago. Family was important. She wanted to meet his family. Moreover, she really wanted them to like her. Looking down sadly at her clothing, she realized a longing for a dress; she didn’t want them to think she was odd.

As if reading her mind, Brock lifted her face back up to look at him.  “I don’t care what you wear and neither will my family. In fact I prefer it when you wear nothing at all.” He leaned down, capturing her lips in his and kissed her deeply. She returned the kiss with equal abandon. She felt Brock’s hand slide from her back to her bottom pressing her pelvis against his excitement.

“I take it she’s coming with us?” a voice interrupted and Brock hissed as Sabrina pulled away quickly.

“Thought you were tired,” Brock commented wryly.

Seeing the deadly look thrown his way Chase backed out of the barn and headed to the house to take a nap. Brock saddled Justice for Sabrina, ignoring her objection. Together they headed into town to gather the supplies they would need for the trip.

To move things along she took the list to the mercantile while Brock went to notify the council he would be gone for
a while and make arrangements for the deputy to take over in the meantime. Sabrina checked her sheet of paper while she shopped and added a couple of items of her own. She put it on Brock’s tab and gathered up the bulky packages. Carrying the parcels outside, she filled the saddlebags and tied the rest to her saddle horn.

She grabbed Justice’s harness and led him down the street to Brock’s office. Tying him next to Troy, she stepped onto the boardwalk and went inside. She was surprised to see Brock talking to Thomas. He saw her at the doorway and nodded for her to come in.

“Hey, Will,” Thomas said, patting her shoulder as she joined the men. She nodded to him a bit awkwardly and looked at Brock.

Brock looked at her and hesitated before speaking. “I was talking to Thomas about my father’s condition and he volunteered to go with us.”

“Sure,” Sabrina said promptly. She wanted to say a whole lot more but would have to wait until they were alone. She did not think ‘Will’ would elaborate too much on the subject. She nodded to them and mumbled something about waiting by the horses.

She grabbed onto Troy’s harness as she tried not to panic. She was looking forward to being able to be with Brock and his family with no secrets. Now she would either have to keep up her masquerade or confess to Thomas. She knew she did not want to start her life with Brock’s family based on lies, so she would have to tell him the truth. Thomas had always been very kind to Will especially since he had returned from the physicians’ school. She trusted Thomas; it would be okay.