Wildfire in His Arms (39 page)

It was sweltering hot during the day, but they had to light the coach brazier for the night ride. When Degan had said she should consider the problem of getting stuck in a stagecoach with Grady and Saul solved, she never figured that he would buy up all the seats so they could ride alone. She couldn't stop laughing about it. But knowing Grady, he'd probably only be about half a day behind them, maybe less, since Degan had convinced the driver to extend their last two stops so their mounts could rest.

But it wasn't that long a trip from Fort Worth to Bingham Hills, less than two days. They left the stage a few miles out from Bingham Hills so they could circle around on their horses and get to the farm without passing through town. She wanted a peaceful reunion with her family before Carl found out she was home.

Then she saw it—the house she'd grown up in. She'd never realized how dilapidated it looked from a distance, which was how Degan might be viewing it. But it wasn't. It just needed a fresh coat of paint that she hadn't been there to see to.

Built mostly of lumber, only the front of the house had a stone facade, which had been added after Carl had set up his quarry right near town. One story but decent-size, the house faced the woods and the rest of the property on which her grandfather had never gotten around to planting crops. On one side was Gran's vegetable and herb garden, and on the other side was a small stable that housed their three horses and the buckboard her grandmother used to go to town to sell her eggs. Max had always preferred to walk when she did the deliveries, even before the town had grown and edged closer to the farm.

The chicken coops were at the back of the house, facing the road into town. She could see now why Carl might get so annoyed by the sight of the coops that he'd want to do something about it. Maybe Degan was right that Carl's interest in her stemmed from his desire to get his hands on her family's farm—so he could get rid of it. But that just meant someone was going to end up unhappy. She still couldn't see any resolution to the problem that would satisfy everyone.

Then she saw her grandmother in the backyard on her way back to the house with her basket of eggs in her hand, a sight Max had seen hundreds of times before, so familiar, so heartwarming. She didn't see any deputies posted at the house, but then Carl thought he'd won when he'd gotten that guardianship decree, so they were no longer needed.

“Are you crying?” Degan asked, standing beside her.

“No.” She laughed as tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks. “But I'll race you home.”

“G
RAN! GRAN, I
'
M HOME
,” Max shouted as she ran to her grandmother.

Ella was so surprised to see her that she dropped the basket of eggs in the yard and rushed toward Max with tears running down her cheeks. “Finally! I wasn't sure if this day would ever come.”

“Me either. I've missed you so much!” Max cried as she held her grandmother tightly in her arms. God, she'd missed the smell of this woman, her gentle touch, her boundless love.

“Thank the Lord you're home. I've been so worried about you!”

Max's tears wouldn't stop, neither would Ella's, yet they were laughing, too, as Ella led Max through the back door into the kitchen. Ella immediately went to the stove to pour them coffee while Max sat down at the kitchen table. She glanced around the room. She'd missed this house, too. It was filled with everything her grandparents had collected over a lifetime. Every wall was covered with pictures Ella had painted. She used to paint a lot before Max's grandpa had died. She didn't find much time for it after that.

Ella was only in her early sixties. She'd married young, had her kids young. Of her children, only Maxwell had survived to give her grandkids. Her blue eyes were still sharp, her hair only just starting to turn gray, which was hard to see since her hair was ash blond like Max's. But she looked thinner than Max remembered And had more frown lines than before Max had left. These last two years had taken a toll on the Dawson family.

Ella joined her at the table, bringing a slice of peach cobbler for Max to go with the coffee. Max smiled. Ella was a firm believer that food wasn't just good for the body but also for the soul. She always had some sort of pie or pastry ready to serve. Grandpa might not have wanted to farm here in Texas, but he'd still planted a lot of fruit trees for his wife.

“How long can you stay?” Ella asked.

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“Didn't Sheriff Pike bring you back?”

Max grinned. “He tried to. But I have a good friend who's helped me to get around the mayor's newest scheme.” Then she whispered, “Degan Grant married me to put me out of Carl's reach—but it's just temporary until we find out what Carl ­really wants.”

Ella's eyes flared, then started to water. “You're married? And I didn't get to witness it?”

They were holding hands across the table. Max squeezed Ella's tightly. “It wasn't a real wedding . . . well, it was, but we did it knowing it wasn't going to be permanent. We may have to wait until I'm twenty-one to annul it, though, if Carl won't give up.”

Ella sighed. “I know what the mayor wants, but I didn't when you left. It had been so long since he tried to buy the farm that it didn't occur to me yet that he was trying to get it a different way—through you. I realized it after I got summoned to court for those ridiculous incompetency charges. I didn't even get to say a single word in my defense. I just had to sit there listening silently to what a terrible parent and grandparent I was.”

“You were no such thing!” Max said hotly.

“It doesn't matter now. You figured out a way to ruin his plans. Rumors were swirling around town that Carl distributed wanted posters for you outside of Texas in order to get you back here. But no one had the gumption to confront him about it.” Ella shook her head. “I've lost respect for a lot of people in Bingham Hills. I confronted him about those posters, but he told me I was crazy and then he filed those charges against me.”

“It's true, Gran. Carl turned me into an outlaw with a thousand-dollar price on my head.”

“I despise the man, but I'm so proud of you, Max, for surviving on your own and figuring out a way to best him.”

“It wasn't my idea to marry, it was Degan's, but, yeah, Carl won't like it that he got outsmarted by a simple clause in the document he finagled to get drawn up. But how does his being my guardian get him the farm?”

“It gave him the power to marry you to whoever he wanted, including himself or his son, if he ever comes home, and it wouldn't matter what you had to say about it.”

“Wait, what happened to Evan?”

“He left town shortly after you did for parts unknown. I believe he really cared for you, Max, and hated what his father was doing to you. Anyhow, once one of the Binghams married you, Carl would be the oldest male in our family, which would give him the legal right to make decisions for all of us. No one would bat an eye if one of those decisions was to tear down this place.”

“That's
not
going to happen, Gran. Degan is now the oldest male in our family.”

“Where is this temporary husband of yours?”

Max knew Degan was giving her some private time for her homecoming and to explain why he was with her. “He's seeing to the horses. You'll meet him shortly.” But then she warned, “He's a gunfighter, Gran, but you don't need to be nervous around him.”

“Is he capable of butting heads with the mayor?”

Max chuckled. “Dealing with trouble like this is his line of work, Gran. But why did you never say that Carl tried to buy the farm from you? When was that?”

“You and Johnny were still children. It was right after your grandfather died. Carl offered me a decent price for the farm, then a higher price, then a ridiculous price.”

“You never considered it?”

“I love this house, but more—”

Ella didn't get to finish. Degan appeared in the doorway, all six feet three inches of him filling it. He tipped his hat to Ella before removing it, then to Max's amazement, he smiled at her grandmother. Max quickly introduced them, but it still took a moment for her grandmother to find her voice. Even with that smile, at first glance you just knew he was a dangerous man.

But then Ella ordered, “Sit. For whatever reason you're helping Max, you have my gratitude.”

Max grinned. “He's probably going to want a bath first, Gran.”

“You read my mind,” Degan agreed.

“Second door on your right, and we have pumped water for the tub, just not hot,” Max told him. “But I'll heat some for you now.”

She got up to do that while Ella suggested, “You can put your things in my grandson's room, Mr. Grant.”

Max swung back around. “He's not going to share a room with Johnny.”

“It's fine, dear. Johnny sleeps elsewhere.”

“Degan shares with me. We have to keep up appearances, Gran.”

Degan backed out of the room, merely saying, “Let me know what you decide.”

Max glared at his back before he disappeared. He obviously wanted no part of this explanation. She put her arm around Ella's shoulders and whispered, “It's okay. We had a wedding night.”

“Maxine Dawson!”

Max winced and decided lying might be the quickest way to end this embarrassing conversation. “We had to. Grady was spying on us. If Carl finds out this marriage isn't real, then I'm going to get stuck under his thumb and he wins—everything.” But then Max admitted in an even lower whisper, “Besides, I—I like sharing a bed with my husband.”

“So you're keeping him?”

“No, but—”

“You're keeping him,” Ella cut in with finality.

Max rolled her eyes. She was never good at butting heads with Ella. Max could explain later, after Degan moved on, why keeping him hadn't been an option.

Right now she wanted to know “Where
is
Johnny?”

“At the mayor's house, I reckon. He likes it there. The mayor's got him bamboozled with fancy new clothes and servants waiting on him, and talk of sending him to school in the East come fall.”

“That's really his choice after he shot that man for me? He's not being forced to stay there because of that dumb guardianship decree?”

“It's a change for him, Max, and I don't begrudge him that. He was so lonesome and bored after you left. All he ever talked about was going to sea like his pa.”

Max frowned. “He wasn't going to leave you here alone, was he?”

“No, he was waiting for this nightmare to end, for you to come home—one way or another. The mayor assured him you'd be here before he left for school. And he still comes by every day to help me with the chores, so you'll see him tomorrow if not sooner.”

“But he can come home now. Degan's being a part of our family negates that damn guardianship decree for both of us.”

“I'm not so sure Johnny will want to come home. In fact, if he thinks you're back for good, he'll probably head for the nearest port.”

Unlike her father and her brother, Max had no desire to visit other countries. She'd already seen far more of her own country than she'd ever wanted to see. But Johnny had told her about his dream to see the world. So she wasn't all that surprised by Ella's speculation.

“Whatever he decides, he's old enough to be on his own, so you won't have to worry about him, Gran.”

“I'll always worry about the two of you,” Ella grumbled. “Habit.” Then she tsked and headed for the sink. “And you haven't even started that water for your man.”

Her man? How was she going to convince Ella that Degan wasn't when Max wished he were?

“G
RAN IS MAKING SOMETHING
special for your dinner. She went out to get two chickens for it. I suspect she thinks you're a big eater.”