Texas Rain

CHAPTER 27

Rainey rode toward Austin feeling as if her mind were weighted with lead. In the past twenty-four hours she'd been kidnapped, attacked, forced to murder an outlaw, rescued, and almost made love to by a man she'd told never to ask her to marry him again.

She felt like her life was galloping along at breakneck speed and any moment she'd slam into a wall and it would be over. Refusing to look back at Travis, who rode several feet behind her, wouldn't erase him from her thoughts. She couldn't decide if he'd taken advantage of her condition, or if it were the other way around. Only hours before she'd been too frightened to move. He'd comforted her, held her through the night. Then, with only a little encouragement, he'd made her feel more alive than she thought possible.

The heat of his fingers sliding across the camisole still warmed her. The way his hand had gripped her breast as he'd kissed her deep made her ache for more. Maybe she was exhausted, but she felt as if lightning had struck her beneath that tree. With his touch she'd discovered why a woman would both want and need a man.

If she were honest with herself, she did need him. She could very quickly become addicted to his kiss, his touch. But she didn't want him. She had not fought her way to freedom only to marry the first man who kissed her. No matter how fair he seemed, the fact remained that once she married she would belong to a man. She'd be like her mother, trapped.

Maybe she'd been too straightforward with him. Maybe she should have told him she didn't like his kisses. That would have put a stop to everything. How could she tell Travis that she was attracted to him but she wanted time to be on her own for once in her life? She wasn't ready for love.

It occurred to her that maybe he wasn't interested, either. He'd never said a word about love.

Rainey closed her eyes. She was too tired to even think straight.

When they crossed the creek, the other Rangers joined them. All of them seemed as happy to see her as Roy had been, and if she hadn't been on horseback, she feared they all would have hugged her. Like palace guards, they surrounded her and rode toward town.

Once on the streets of Austin, Rainey noticed people stopping to watch them ride by, and as they neared the Ranger headquarters, several shouted praise.

In front of the office Roy jumped from his horse and helped her to the ground. Travis stayed on his mount. She wanted to help him, knowing that the ride must have been hard on him, but she was surrounded by Rangers. They all hurried her into the office with Dillon shouting orders for one man to take Seth's body to the undertaker.

Once inside, Rainey tried to see over the men to find Travis, but he was nowhere in the room. They offered her coffee and Dillon asked if she needed to see a doctor before she gave her statement.

"No," Rainey whispered, overwhelmed.

Dillon was all business, but Roy stepped in at her side. He wrapped a blanket over her knees, hiding the fact that she had no shoes, then winked at her as if telling her he'd keep her secret.

Roy then stepped back all formal and said, "Miss Adams, we just need a short statement. I think I can fill in the report of how you killed Seth Norman from what you told me." He lowered his voice as if he could somehow make his statement less frightening. "Three men went into the boardinghouse after Sage McMurray. Frank Norman was shot during the attack. You killed Seth. Eldon got away. To your knowledge was there anyone else involved?"

Rainey shook her head.

Suddenly everyone started talking and asking questions at once. It appeared Governor Peace had gotten involved. For a town fighting to remain the capital of Texas, this could only look bad. The residents of Houston had been fighting for years to have the state papers and offices moved. This kind of thing would only give them ammunition. The governor wanted Rainey's kidnapping solved as fast as possible.

Roy bounced with excitement. Though it had been Travis who reached her, he seemed to be the one taking the lead. He related the details of the rescue in rapid fire, slowing only as he ended with "Travis found her this morning at the ruins south of here. She'd killed Seth with a small knife she had in her pocket after he roughed her up a bit. We brought the body in."

Rainey stared at her hands. She needed Travis, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Is there anything you need, Miss Adams?" Dillon interrupted. The older Ranger looked like he'd been petrified by the sun and wind, but his eyes were not unkind.

"I want to see Dottie," she whispered. She'd worried about her friend ever since Travis told her the widow had been shot.

"We'll take you to her in a few minutes." Dillon would have had to be blind not to notice how tired she was. "Now, tell us about the kidnapping, starting with what you and Mrs. Davis overheard from your window."

The room grew silent as she described first what she'd heard, then running down the stairs. She told of how she realized there was no time to warn the others and thought if she could reach the coat, they might mistake her for Sage.

"You were willing to risk your life for a woman you never met?" Dillon asked, his bushy eyebrows almost reaching his hairline.

Rainey nodded, thinking it best not to mention that she had met Sage at the McMurray ranch when she was dressed as a boy. If she revealed any part of that story, there would be questions asked having nothing to do with the kidnapping. "I've met Travis McMurray, and I know how much he cares for his little sister."

Dillon opened his mouth to ask another question, but Roy interrupted him. "Tell us about the three men. Every detail you remember or anything they might have said."

Rainey explained that she couldn't see anything. She heard one say that they'd paid Haskell in the saloon to get Mrs. Vivian's slave out of the way. They were afraid she'd scream and warn everyone.

Rainey explained that when they were loading her on the horse, the one who held her kept saying that Frank would follow. They couldn't have known that he was dead.

Several of the rangers mumbled. One asked if the brothers mentioned their father.

Rainey shook her head. "Can I go now?"

The old ranger held up one finger. "One more thing." He looked pained when he asked. "When you stopped at the ruins, was anyone there to meet you?"

She shook her head again, too tired to answer.

He continued. "What did Seth say? Did he give any hint that he planned to meet someone?"

Rainey gripped her hands tightly in her lap. "He said he wanted me to take off my clothes. When I refused, he slugged me and started telling how he planned to cut me up in little pieces just like he would have Sage. When he came at me again, I had the knife in my hand."

The room was silent. She stared at Dillon. "I'm very tired. May I go?"

Dillon looked like he wanted to ask her more questions, but Roy stepped before her and offered his hand. "Of course," he said. "Someone take her to where the widow is recovering." He looked sad. "I'd take you myself, but I must file a report."

"I understand." Rainey felt like a sand doll with a hole in her toe. All the sand in her was draining out fast and she needed to get somewhere where she could rest. "You've been very kind, Ranger Dumont. If you weren't already married a few times, I'd set my bonnet for you."

The other Rangers laughed and Roy looked proud of himself.

Dillon stood between her and the door. "You understand, Miss Adams, that your life is still in danger."

She nodded, wanting to ask when it hadn't been. Since she walked out of the dorm months ago, she felt like she'd been looking over her shoulder for trouble. At the time her greatest fear had been that her father would catch her. All she'd thought of was disappearing. Now she knew there were men far worse than her father.

Dillon moved aside, letting one of the others escort her to the door.

By the time Rainey got to the porch, a buggy waited for her. The Rangers helped her in, and a young man drove her straight to the Baileys' home.

"Are you sure Dottie Davis is here?" Rainey said as she climbed out.

"Yes, ma'am. She's recovering under Dr. Bailey's care. Miss McMurray insisted on it." He walked her to the door, knocked, then handed her over to Mike Saddler.

She smiled, remembering the young Ranger and thinking that he must be Sage's riding partner that Travis had been so worried about.

Ranger Saddler looked overjoyed to see her and, like Roy, hugged her as if she were kin. He directed her inside, and within minutes, Rainey was sitting in the Baileys' huge formal dining room. Dottie, wrapped in a quilt that covered most of her bandaged arm and shoulder, sat across from her while the housekeeper served them the first meal Rainey had had in two days.

Mike disappeared, saying he'd be back in a few minutes.

The two friends both talked at once, telling each other what had happened while they were apart.

"We're heroes." Dottie laughed. "Everyone in town knows about us. We're all the talk."

Rainey found that hard to believe.

Dottie shoved around food on her plate, trying to catch it using the fork in her left hand. "It's true. Everyone has stopped by to check on Sage and to tell me how brave I was having a shoot-out with the Norman boys. Even Judge Gates stopped by twice. He sat by me on the couch and patted my hand." She giggled. "I don't know if he likes me, or if he figures he was next on their list."

Rainey found it all too much to take in. "Where are the McMurrays?" She thought Sage at least would have greeted her. In fact, now that she noticed it, the entire house seemed empty.

"Travis came in half an hour ago. He told us he got you safely to the Ranger station, then said he wanted to see the doctor right away." Tears bubbled in the widow's eyes. "He collapsed a foot inside the door and Ranger Saddler had to carry him to his room with a little help from Sage and the Baileys. They're all in there now, I think. He's hurting bad."

Dottie gripped Rainey's hand. "I was so excited to see you, I forgot about him. I'm sure he'll be fine." When Mike came through to answer the knock, he nodded and said, "Travis is in good hands. Dr. Bailey is the best in Texas.'"

"But he never complained, not once." Rainey lost her appetite. "I knew he was hurting, but I didn't know…"

The widow stopped her rant. "Now, don't you worry, dear. Men can be all brave and silent for just so long. As soon as they get home, they let a wall down and stop pretending they're invincible. He had a job to do, and he did it." She smiled. "And I'm guessing he didn't want you to see how badly he was hurting. You should have seen the look on his face when he discovered you'd been kidnapped. I almost felt sorry for the outlaws."

Rainey watched the door as she nibbled at her food. She wanted to run and find Travis, but maybe Dottie was right. Maybe he didn't want her to see him as less than her man-of-oak.

After dinner Rainey curled into the chair feeling warm and safe. For a while, they didn't talk, they just relaxed. Then the housekeeper came in to tell Rainey that her room was ready.

"But I have to go back to the boardinghouse."

"It's been closed," Dottie whispered. "The three sisters refused to stay there after the kidnapping. They moved into their half-finished living quarters over their shop. The last I heard they were helping with the hammering."

"What about Mrs. Vivian?"

"She refuses to leave her home. The sisters said she was bolting all the doors and windows as they were leaving." Dottie shook her head. "She thinks her husband is coming back to that house and nothing short of a fire will get her out of there."

"But I can't afford to live here." Rainey looked around her at the fine furnishings.

"There is no charge," the housekeeper said. "Dr. and Mrs. Bailey would like you and Mrs. Davis to stay here as their guests."

"Really?"

"I have the room next to Mrs. Davis made up for you and a bath is waiting." The housekeeper smiled a true welcome that Mrs. Vivian would have never given away.

Rainey almost said she would sleep here in the chair, but a bath sounded wonderful. She followed the housekeeper up a flight of stairs and into a bedroom four times larger than her little place at the Askew House. It had curtains over the windows and a rug that almost touched the walls on all sides of the room. A big bed with a nightgown folded atop the covers stood to the left, a tub in front of the fire to the right. A teapot warmed on the bricks and crisp white bath sheets waited in a chair next to the tub.

"Will there be anything else?" the housekeeper asked.

Rainey turned to thank the housekeeper. "Would someone let me know how Ranger McMurray is when they know something?"

"Of course," the housekeeper said as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Rainey slowly removed her clothes, feeling every sore muscle and bruised place on her body. She looked in the mirror, seeing a dark spot along her ribs and an almost black circle on her hip. Her cheek had turned several different colors of skin and her left eye had a mark so black it looked like she'd spread a finger-width of coal across it.

Slipping into the tub, she let the warm water wash across her tired body, soothing all the aches. She washed her hair and scrubbed the dirt from her hands with a soap that smelled like a flower garden. Her feet were finally warm. She leaned back in the tub and closed her eyes.

She was almost asleep when she heard a knock at her door.

Rainey jumped, surprised that the water had grown cold. Splashing out, she wrapped in a towel, then crossed the room and slipped into a nightgown that someone had laid out for her. "Yes?" she said, finally answering the door.

"It's me, Sage McMurray."

Rainey opened the door, and the strange thing that had happened to her very few times in her life before today happened again. Sage rushed toward her and hugged her.

"Thank God you're safe," Sage said when she stepped back. "I was so worried about you."

When Rainey only stared, Sage's eyes widened. "You are Rainey Adams, aren't you? Don't tell me I got the wrong room."

Rainey smiled. "I am."

Sage relaxed. "I can't believe you were so brave. I'm so glad Travis found you. I wanted to come along, but he wouldn't let me. You could have been hurt or killed."

"I'm fine," Rainey answered. "How is Travis?"

Sage put her arm around Rainey as if they were old friends. They moved to the fire. "He's sleeping. The doctor gave him something to help him rest. We'll know tomorrow if he did any damage to the muscles, but Dr. Bailey is having his leg wrapped in hot towels every two hours to increase the blood circulation. After seeing him hurt months ago, I should have been prepared, but I swear I feel his pain." Sage rambled on. "He's my big brother and I can't stand it when any of them are hurt."

"He shouldn't have come after me," Rainey whispered.

"No one could have stopped him," Sage answered, her eyes wide with surprise that Rainey didn't seem to understand. "He said you were his." She said the words slowly, watching Rainey's reaction.

"I am his friend," Rainey managed to say.

"Would you mind if I stay for a while?" Sage tilted her head. "You look familiar."

Rainey pulled a lap quilt around her shoulders and pointed to the two chairs by the fire. She was glad for Sage's company, but she needed time to figure out how to tell Sage that their paths had crossed once before. "Please, sit down. We have lots to talk about." She didn't meet the girl's gaze. "I think the housekeeper left tea in that pot. Why don't we have a cup?"

Sage looked nervous but got right to the point. "You mean a great deal to my brother. Have you known him long?"

"No." Rainey wasn't surprised by Sage's directness, and she had no idea how to answer the girl.

"You don't have to tell me anything, you know." Sage laughed. "We're going to be best friends either way."

Rainey handed her a cup of tea.

Sage smiled. "Mrs. Bailey does love her tea. Travis hates the stuff, you know."

"I know," Rainey answered before she thought and caught Sage's blink of a smile at her words.

As they drank Sage talked about all that had happened after Rainey had been kidnapped. Finally she noticed Rainey fighting to keep her eyes open.

"We'll talk tomorrow. Or maybe I'll listen tomorrow because tonight I seem to be the one doing all the talking." Sage stood.

Rainey nodded and walked her to the door. She said good night and climbed into bed without turning off the light. Before her body warmed the covers, she fell asleep.

Deep in the night Rainey woke with a start. For a moment she couldn't remember where she was. All she knew or felt was a deep need to make sure Travis was all right. As sleep left her brain she feared someone looking for her might have gotten into the house. What if the Norman brother who got away had returned to kill Travis or her?

With a lamp she slipped from her room and climbed down the stairs to the left wing, telling herself she'd check on Travis and be back in her room before anyone knew.