Texan's Touch

NINETEEN

““WHERE’S ADAM?” NICHOLE tried to keep her voice calm as she approached the cook fire where Wes stood talking with Lloyd. “I have to see him.”

Wes pointed to a place beneath the trees where several bedrolls were spread. On a warm night like this, there was no need for the men to sleep by the fire. A single lantern blinked like a firefly amid the trees. “He’s checking on one of my men who has an infected cut on his leg.”

Giving his full attention to Nick, Wes studied her as he continued. “Franky claims it’s nothing, but I’d rather Adam took a look at it since he’s already out here. He’ll be right back.” Wes moved closer and motioned with his head for Lloyd to finish banking the fire. “What’s wrong, Nick?”

“Nothing,” she lied, instinctively gliding her fingers over her gun belt. “I just need to talk to Adam.”

“Don’t try and fool me, kid. Something’s bothering you.” Wes rolled a cigarette and knelt to touch a stick to the fire.

Nichole didn’t want to alarm Wes without reason, but he had a right to know. “Adam told you how I was on the stage that got attacked?”

“He told me and I wasn’t at all surprised you survived.” He brought the tip of the burning stick to his cigarette, then stepped away from the fire with her at his side. “Nick, I know you’re a beautiful woman. Adam can’t seem to keep his eyes off you, but I never forget you were a Shadow. To have stayed alive, you must have senses most people don’t. During the war, if you went through half what those men did-”

“I went through all that the men did,” she countered. “And while I’m correcting you, Adam doesn’t care about me in the way you think. He looks at me as only someone he should protect until Wolf comes. I’m only part of a promise he made to my brother.”

“Like hell he does,” Wes mumbled. “But before we argue that, tell me what you see in the darkness that I’ve missed. You walked over to the horses to toss the water, but you returned with the movements of a seasoned fighter on enemy ground.”

Nick explained about how she’d hid near the stage and saw men watering horses after they’d robbed the stage. “One of the raiders rode a paint marked just like the one over there,” she ended, pointing toward the horses.

“There are lots of paints,” Wes added.

“Does the rider have a belt with silver conchos on it?”

“Maybe.” Wes nodded. “But most of the good herders come from Mexico and several of them wear the belts.”

She grew frustrated with his denial. “Your circle of guards will do no good if the enemy infiltrates the ring. They can kill your men one at a time if they are already among them.”

“Without anyone hearing?” Wes shook his head.

Nick moved her finger across her throat. “Somehow they were able to slit the throats of both the men driving the stage without me hearing a word.”

“But how-”

“The stage line reported one male passenger. I remember him as young, about average size. He could have gotten as close as your men would let the bandits, since they’re working for you. They’d each die before they could make a sound.”

The grim facts finally settled over Wes’s face. “The men are already on post for the night. What do you suggest?”

“They won’t make their move until the camp’s settled down. It’s to their advantage to have as many men sleeping as possible. When are you moving out?”

“A few days, maybe a week. I pulled in early. My partner, Vincent, is picking up a few hundred head southeast of here. He’s due in by the end of the week.”

Nick shook her head. “Then my guess is they’ll attack tonight or tomorrow night. These men don’t want to put in too many days of honest work, and once you’re on the trail there could be other complications.

“Once your partner is here, that’s more men to worry about, so they have to strike before he arrives. Here they know exactly where their backup is. The way this land rolls, raiders could be waiting unseen within a mile or two to help with the stolen herd. By dawn you and your men could be dead, and they’d have the herd moved out before your partner arrived. No one would be the wiser. We’d just never hear from you again, and we’d have no idea if you were killed in Texas or Kansas.”

“I see your point about tonight or tomorrow,” Wes answered. “And I let ten of the men who’ve been with me for a month go into town for the night. That’s ten men I can trust that are gone.” He tossed his smoke into the fire. “The latest to be hired are the ones with me tonight.”

“And, I’m guessing, three you can’t trust are here with you,” she hesitated, “maybe more.”

“Maybe,” Wes said. “But most of the others have been with me for a while.” He walked a few steps toward the sleeping men.

Nick followed, allowing him time to think things out for himself.

“If they’ve got any sense, they’ll go after me first,” he mumbled. “Take out the leader if you can get to him. Then the men would have no one to follow. A few of my hands might try to fight, but most will run if given the chance. They hired on for a cattle drive, not a war.”

Wes paused. “I’m trapped in the darkness with no law close by or backup in sight. I’m not even sure who’s on my side.”

“You’ve got one ace in the hole.” Nick patted him on the shoulder.

“I do?” he asked.

“Sure,” she answered. “Me.”

Wes stood beside her and watched Adam walking toward them. “I don’t want Adam here. This could get ugly, and it’s not his fight. I used to worry during the war that if he were ever forced to fight, he’d hesitate a moment, deciding what was right. And that moment would get him killed.”

“If it’s your fight, it’s his. He’s your brother,” she answered. “But I know what you mean. Men like him weren’t born to listen for danger and smell trouble on the wind. He’s worth too much to this world to die with a bullet in his back.”

Wes pushed her gently with his shoulder. “And I am worth so little?” he teased.

“Definitely, and a waste of lead at that,” she answered, and nudged him back with double the force he’d used.

Wes laughed. “Better watch it, kid, or I’ll take you down a notch off that high horse you’re riding on.”

Nick shoved again. “You and what cavalry, old man?”

Both laughed, releasing tension the way soldiers do waiting for the dawn of battle.

Adam watched them as he walked toward the campfire. The realization of how well they fit together struck him like a blow. He’d never seen Wes laugh like he did around Nichole, and even in the firelight shadows he could tell they were teasing one another about something. They were alike in so many ways. A matched set.

This could be the answer, Adam thought. If they married, Wes would settle down and finally lose the coat of hardness he’d molded during the war. And Nichole would have a man who understood her. She loved the free life, the wild life, and she’d have that with Wes in Texas. His big brother needed a wife who could keep up with him, who didn’t mind the hardness of the land or the wildness of the country. They were perfect for one another.

Adam took a deep breath. If they were so right for each other, why did he feel like he’d had rocks for supper?

“How’s Franky?” Wes asked when Adam was within ten feet.

“He needs the cut cleaned properly and stitched,” Adam answered. “Otherwise there could be a bad infection.”

“I hate to leave him behind,” Wes grumbled. “He’s so excited about going. Plans to use his wages to start a farm down by Austin. Got a girl waiting for him. If he doesn’t make the trip, it’ll be another year before he can start his dream.”

Adam sat the lantern down. “If we unloaded the supply wagon, I could drive him into my office and fix him up right, then bring him back by dawn. It might mean a few days riding in the wagon for him, but by a week the leg should be fine. If left as it is, it’ll take weeks to heal, and the chance of infection is great.”

“Sounds like a good plan, Adam. Take him in and do what you can.” Wes glanced at Nick. “Want to stay here, kid, and watch cattle all night?”

To Adam’s surprise, she nodded.

Within minutes, the wagon had been unloaded and the cowhand placed on blankets in the back. Adam checked the reins as Wes talked to Franky, assuring the boy that the doctor would bring him back in time.

Nichole moved behind Adam without saying a word. She was so close he could feel the warmth of her body. She had no idea of the effect she had on him, Adam decided. Just standing close made him fight the urge to reach for her.

“I wish you were going back with me,” he grumbled as though not wanting to say the words, but having to.

“I’ll be safe here,” she said. “At least you’ll know where I am tonight, and I won’t be bothering you by sleeping in your bed.”

He wanted to tell her that she didn’t bother him. This morning had been heaven with her curled into his side and he’d been a fool for suggesting she return to her own bed. But now wasn’t the place or the time. And if she spent the night talking with Wes, there might never be a time or place for him.

Adam closed his eyes and remembered the feel of her against him. He wouldn’t stand between Wes and Nichole if it was meant to be, no matter how much he might ache inside.

He pulled himself onto the wagon seat. “Take care,” he whispered to Nichole, wishing he could kiss her good-bye. The night, with her here and him back in town, would seem endless.

“Take care.” Nichole’s fingers brushed his knee. “I’ll see you at dawn.”

She watched Adam drive the wagon toward town, knowing she might never see him again. He was the one man she’d kissed, or ever wanted to. The only time she slept soundly was in his arms. This man who hated war and violence had somehow crept into her heart. He didn’t want her, he’d proved that this morning when he reminded her to stay in her own bed, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him.

She couldn’t be the kind of woman he needed, but maybe she could save Adam’s brother tonight. That would be one thing she could do for him. Wes was just the kind of honorable, straightforward fool who’d get himself killed by outlaws. He was what the Shadows used to refer to as a “predictable.” They knew by the way he’d been trained how he’d react.

“Well, he was easier to get rid of than I thought,” Wes interrupted her silence as he moved up behind her and they both watched Adam driving the wagon into the darkness. “Give him someone to doctor and he’s on his way. He didn’t seem all that upset that you were staying, kid.”

Nick wasn’t listening as she turned and watched the guards changing shifts. She didn’t want to think about how easily Adam had left. She now had a job to do. “How often do the guards rotate?”

“Every two hours a third of the men change. That way each man gets at least four hours sleep at a time. This is the ten o’clock switch.”

“It won’t be this shift,” Nichole studied the camp layout. “The moon’s still too high, and a few men haven’t settled down for the night. My guess is it’ll be midnight or two before something happens. Four would be too close to dawn and they’d have to deal with the chance the men might ride in from town.”

“What do we do in the meantime?” Wes adjusted his gun belt.

“We walk the perimeter, casual like, talking. But keep your eyes out for which guards seem to be watching us more closely than the others. If we spot him, that’s the point man. The one assigned to start, probably by taking you out of the fight first. He’ll be working this shift or the next, so that he can be in camp close to you when the fighting starts.”

Wes took a deep breath and straightened. “Sounds like a good plan. All we have to do is walk, watch, and wait for someone to make a move to kill me.”

Nichole forced her body to relax. She leaned down and picked up a handful of rocks, then casually tried to toss them into the stream.

Wes watched her. “Talk,” he said as if giving himself an order. “I feel better knowing Adam’s safe.”

Nick reached down for another handful of rocks. “He’ll be madder than hell if he finds out we let him go back to town when we thought there was going to be trouble. He’s a worse mother hen than Wolf.”

“I’ll never tell him we suspected anything,” Wes promised. “It will be our secret, just like your loving him.”

“I don’t love him!” Nick snapped, and dusted the dirt from her hands. “Love’s a weakness for fools. Something no one needs.”

“I agree.” Wes fell back into step with her. “But that doesn’t stop us all from playing the fool now and again. I fell in love once just before the war, when Adam was still in medical school.” He rubbed his scar with the tip of his thumb. “I got this in the first battle. Months later, when I made it back home, there was a big party for my return and Adam’s graduation. After one dance, the young lady I’d given my heart to told me she couldn’t live every day of her life staring at this scar.” He took a deep breath. “By the last waltz, she was engaged to Adam.”

“Bergette!” Nick let the word rush out before she could stop it. “You were in love with her? Does Adam know?”

Wes shook his head. “I figured he’d see for himself what kind of woman she was after he was around her a while, and he did.”

“Would you have stopped him if the wedding had been set?”

Wes wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they passed through low branches. “Not stopped him, but helped him see the light. When you and Wolf showed up that first night we were home, I saw my opportunity. You see, Bergette’s a schemer who always gets her way. I had no idea what you wanted of my brother, but I figured you’d help him see Bergette for what she was.”

Nick laughed. “I guess we did ruin Bergette’s plans. We were the uninvited guests.”

“When I got to the house, the minute I saw the way Adam looked at you, I knew my worries were over. Bergette would never sleep in our family plot. She can tell everyone they’re still engaged, but that doesn’t make it so.”

“He may have broken off with her. They don’t seem too friendly. But it doesn’t mean he loves me.” She wished she could believe Wes’s words. “Adam made it clear this morning and other mornings that there could be nothing between us. He’s only paying back a debt by taking me in.”

“And what about at night, kid? How does he act when you’re both in the shadows?”

Nick watched the outline of the riders on guard, not wanting Wes to see her tears. “Sometimes,” she whispered, “he holds me tight, like he never wants to let go. And when he kisses me, I can feel the heat all through my body.”

“He’s got it worse than I thought,” Wes admitted with a laugh. “I know my brother. He’ll fight his feelings with logic and rules, but he’ll lose this time.”

“But I’m not the kind of woman he needs. I’m not pretty with hair piled on my head and a dress that floats around me. I don’t even own a dress. Compared to Bergette, I must look like a toad.”

“Never. He sees what I see,” Wes assured her. “Dressed any way, even bald, you’re one hell of a woman. A man would be proud to have you at his side in war, or peace.”

“Well, I’m here with you tonight.” Nick lowered her voice. “And I just spotted our man.”

Wes slowly turned his head, looking at the three men on horseback that he could see. Their faces were in darkness and they weren’t close enough to recognize, but after a few minutes, he felt it more than saw it. One was watching him.

“What next?” he asked.

“Simple.” Nick turned back toward the camp. “You go to sleep and wait.”

“I can’t go to sleep. What do you think I am, crazy?”

“No.” She laughed. “You’re not crazy. You’re bait.”

“Oh.” Wes shrugged. “That’s comforting.”