Devils on Horseback: Nate Page 19

  “I love you, honey. You know I do.” He hugged her so tightly, his arms shook.

  “Now let’s get you cleaned up and into town to the doc. God knows he’s going to make a fortune from this crew.” She grinned. “Now I’ve got to go paddle some fourteen-year-old behind.”

  She helped Nate to his feet and a wave of pain hit him. Going to the doctor was sounding better and better. When they emerged from the bedroom, they found Gideon crouched next to O’Shea.

  “He’s unconscious, and his pulse is thready. We need to leave now.”

  Elisa’s grip tightened to the point of pain on his arm. “I’ll hitch up the wagon.”

  She ran out the door, red locks flapping behind her.

  “I don’t think he’s going to make it,” Gideon confessed to Nate.

  Nate was afraid of what that would do to Elisa. She’d lost so much in the last year, he didn’t know what she’d do if she lost the father she’d just found.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Elisa stepped outside and found the aftermath of battle. She was expecting it, but it was still a shock. Growing up on a ranch got a person used to seeing blood and life’s beginning and end. This, however, was something completely outside her experience.

  Her stomach rolled and heaved at the amount of blood staining the ground and grass. The Earth absorbed it as if it was thirsty. Elisa couldn’t contain the shudder at the thought of all the killing that went on just because of one man’s greed. A man she had killed.

  She’d been shooting at the men just as Nate and his friends were, but the strangers had been far enough away that all she saw were bodies falling during the battle. Killing Rodrigo was easy in the second it took her to do it. He was about to murder the man she loved. Her brain didn’t have to work, just her body. Afterwards when Nate was covered in the gore from it, she realized just how much it would affect her. Killing wasn’t for the faint of heart.

  It would be a day forever etched in her memory, a day that would change who she was. Elisa had considered herself grown before meeting Nate, now she knew differently. The image of pulling that trigger would never leave her. Neither would the carnage outside.

  “Elisa!” Daniel rushed at her, arms spread wide.

  She opened hers and hugged the stuffing out of him. “Daniel, you took ten years off my life when I saw you riding in with the sheriff. Don’t you listen?” She pulled back and punched him in the jaw.

  He reared back while she dealt with the pain in her knuckles.

  “Ouch. Dammit, what was that for?”

  “For not listening. From now on, Daniel Sean Taggert, you’re going to listen to me.” She grabbed his arm. “Now help me get the wagon hitched up. We’ve got a passel of hurt folks who need the doc.”

  Including my father.

  After a brief conversation with the sheriff, Elisa and Daniel made it to the barn. Together, they had the horses hitched quickly and pulled the wagon up to the house. Gideon and Zeke carried O’Shea out, while Lee helped Jake. Nate followed, limping and holding a piece of linen to his neck. His dark hair was matted with blood and his face a mass of bruises and cuts, but he looked beautiful.

  Elisa smiled and he climbed up on the wagon next to her. He hissed when his bottom hit the hard wooden seat.

  “Daniel, get that pillow from my room.”

  Daniel, duly chastised from his run-in with his sister’s fist, ran in the house and appeared moments later with the embroidered pillow her mother had made her work on. The stitches were crooked and the pattern wrong, but she’d kept it as a reminder of what she shouldn’t ever do again.

  “Lift up.”

  Nate raised a brow. “You want me to sit on your pillow?”

  “Yes, stupid man. It will staunch the bleeding and help ease the pain, now lift up.” She shoved the pillow under him then he sat back down again.

  “That does feel better.”

  “See?” She glanced behind her, ignoring Nate’s impatient look.

  Nate’s four friends sat around O’Shea like a human pillow, positioned to keep him as stable as possible. Gideon nodded at her.

  “Hiyah!” She got the horses in motion and prayed they’d make it in time.

  When did she care if O’Shea lived or died? She’d spent the last three years hating him and now she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him. So many unanswered questions still rolled around in her head. The crinkle of paper in her pocket reminded her that her mother had yet to speak. After everyone was patched up, Elisa intended on listening.

  Fortunately, Doctor Fredericks was a young man who’d recently replaced the aging Doctor Elijah. The new doctor had come from Houston and had lots of experience with surgery. He grimly mentioned that he’d been a surgeon during the war. An immediate bond was formed between Nate’s Devils and the doc.

  Elisa didn’t let it bother her. As long as Dr. Fredericks did what he was supposed to do, that’s all that mattered. She even pitched in fetching hot water and bandages. Elisa was surprised when Zeke assisted the doc. Apparently he’d been the medic for their cavalry unit during the war. He successfully patched up Nate and Jake while the doc focused on O’Shea. Jake had been first because he had a head wound, then he and Lee went to the saloon for a drink.

  Elisa figured a shot of whiskey would taste mighty good, but she didn’t even think of going yet. She stayed with Nate as he was doctored. The booze could wait, her nerves couldn’t.

  “What about your arm?” Nate asked as Zeke stitched up the wound on his fanny.

  “It’s a graze. I don’t need any stitches.” She pretended not to peek at the expanse of bare skin exposed when his britches were down.

  “I don’t care. You’re going to let Zeke take a look.” His black eyes bored into hers.

  “Don’t be bossy.”

  “Don’t be stubborn.”

  “Can’t help it.”

  “Neither can I.”

  Zeke cracked a smile. “You two are more entertaining than a show at the theater.”

  “Shut up, Zeke,” Nate and Elisa chimed in together.

  Zeke continued to smile as he put a bandage on the wound. “You were lucky, Nate. It went right through you, so I didn’t have to dig anything out.” He leveled his gaze at Elisa. “You’re next.”

  She frowned. “You’re as bossy as Gideon.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He finished Nate’s bandage and went to the basin beside the examining table to wash his hands.

  “It wasn’t meant to be,” Elisa grumbled.

  “Now help your man with his trousers so you can get up here and let me look under your shirt.”

  Elisa snorted. “I didn’t know you were funny.”

  “You don’t know me at all.” Zeke raised one blond eyebrow and Elisa laughed again.

  “Stop flirting with my woman,” Nate snapped.

  “Don’t get your drawers in a twist, Nate.” Zeke slapped Nate’s behind. “And get off the table.”

  “Ow!” Nate tried to smack Zeke, but he dodged out of the way.

  “Boys.” Elisa stood and helped Nate pull up his trousers enough so he could slide off the table and fasten them.

  “Your turn.” Nate grabbed her by the waist and plopped her on the table. “Do you want me to help you take your shirt off?”

  Elisa glanced at Zeke who grinned broadly. “Both of you turn your backs.”

  With a dramatic groan, they turned around. Elisa slipped off her shirt, which was caked with dried blood, and wrapped a clean sheet around her, leaving the wounded arm exposed.

  “You can turn around now.”

  Nate’s gaze traveled up and down the exposed skin of her shoulders and arms. “You know how to tempt a man.”

  She shook her head. “Go check with the doc for me.”

  All teasing forgotten, he gave her a quick hug
and a peck on the lips. “I’ll be right back.”

  Zeke untied the makeshift bandage from her arm so gently, she almost didn’t feel it. As he cleaned the wound, she bit her tongue to keep the moan of pain from escaping.

  “Do you love him?”

  She had expected the question, but not from Zeke. This smiling, flirting man was in complete contrast to the quiet, intense man she’d come to know. That put her on guard.

  “None of your business.”

  “Listen, Elisa, everything to do with my friends is my business.” The intense man was back and his brown eyes burned into hers like hot coals. “If you’re looking for a man to warm your bed for a spell, then let him alone.”

  “I don’t need a man,” she scoffed. “Nate isn’t warming my bed.”

  “Really?” Zeke’s tone told her he knew different.

  She fought the blush that threatened. “I mean, that’s not what I want from him.”

  “Then what do you want?” He patted the wound dry.

  “Everything.”

  Zeke studied her face for a full minute before nodding. “He’s the man for that. Now are you going to answer the question?”

  Elisa gritted her teeth as he dabbed some kind of paste on her. “I did.”

  “No you didn’t, but you’re very clever.” He picked up a bandage from the table beside them. “Do you love him?”

  “Yes, I do. Satisfied, you bully?” She hissed as he tightened the bandage.

  “I’m not a bully and you know it. Nate is my brother as much as Lee is. I will never let anyone hurt him, including you.” He handed her a clean shirt. “Doctor Fredericks left this for you.”

  “Thanks.” She glanced down at her hands, still faintly stained by blood. “I won’t hurt him.”

  Zeke nodded. “I believe you.”

  Nate poked his head in the door. “He’s awake and asking for you, honey.”

  Elisa’s heart jumped to her throat. “I’ll be right there.”

  Zeke washed his hands, then gathered up the soiled linens and with a nod to both of them, left the room. Nate stepped in and walked over to her. She fought back the urge to throw her arms around him.

  “You all right?” His brow was furrowed in concern.

  “Yeah, I just need to gather my courage.”

  He saved her the trouble and wrapped his arms around her gently. She rested her head on his shoulder.

  “After you talk to O’Shea, we need to talk.” He kissed her temple. “Now get your shirt on and we’ll go together.”

  She let the sheet fall, unembarrassed by her nudity, and pulled the shirt on with Nate’s help. He buttoned her up, then pressed his lips to hers.

  “Ready?” Nate asked.

  “No, but let’s go.”

  With Nate by her side, she headed toward her father, and the conversation that would steer the course for the rest of her life.

  Lit only by a single kerosene lantern, the room sat in shadows. Elisa stepped in with Nate at her heels. O’Shea was tucked into a bed, as pale as the sheets surrounding him. His eyes opened and Elisa’s step faltered.

  “Come in here, girl. Leave him outside. Ain’t none of his business.”

  She looked at Nate over her shoulder. He nodded and kissed her forehead.

  “Call me if you need me.” He shut the door behind him.

  “Come closer. I ain’t gonna bite.” O’Shea’s normally booming voice sounded so small.

  Elisa stepped toward the bed and saw a stool placed right next to it. It took more courage to sit on that stool than it did to face down Rodrigo and his men. Her heart hammered as loud as a woodpecker in spring.

  “You read those letters yet?”

  She fingered them in her pocket. “No, haven’t had a chance. Been busy.”

  He chuckled. “That you have. I hear tell you killed that bastard Rodrigo. I thank you for it. He about stole me blind.”

  “I didn’t do it for you.” She clenched her fists beneath the voluminous shirt.

  “I know you didn’t, but I’m grateful just the same.” He sighed. “I thought you should know how you came to be and make peace with it.”

  “I’m listening.” The last thing she wanted to be doing, but knew it had to be done.

  “I met your mother when we was just kids. Fifteen or sixteen. Full of heat and love just like any young’uns. Ah, it was magic, girl, pure magic. We loved and before we knew it, she had caught pregnant.” O’Shea blinked rapidly. “Her daddy was an important man in town, ya know. Had piles of money and knew how to throw it around. I was just a cow puncher who worked on the Grayton ranch, a nobody with no more than two bits to rub together. He used his money to get me put in prison for a year on some trumped-up charge.”

  “You were in prison?”

  “I sent her piles of letters but never got any in return. By the time I was released, she’d married Sean Taggert and you were a wee babe. My heart near broke when I found out. I tried to see you, but old man Grayton threatened to put me in prison for life, or string me up from a cottonwood.”

  O’Shea finally looked her in the eye again. “You were a year old afore I got a look at you. Melissa was scared her daddy would do something so she told me to stay away. I made a vow to her that I’d get enough money to please her daddy so she could marry me. Only it never happened. I got the money all right, but she never left Taggert. Melissa wasn’t strong enough to fight him. Her daddy died when you were eight and by then it was too late. She’d forgotten how much she loved me.”

  He reached out and touched her arm with a shaking hand. Elisa stared at the fingers, her rancor toward O’Shea fading.

  “I gave you that horse. That was the first gift I could ever give you. I used to watch you ride it from that hill up near your house. You took to him like a duck to water.” He smiled weakly. “You have your mother’s beauty but you have my strength. Your mama, well she didn’t want my money but she put it away for you. Everything I have is yours. I thought Sean had been killed in the war, I needed the stream for the cattle and I wanted to take care of both of you. I bought the land for more than it was worth, so you could be safe and have money to live.” He shook his head. “Then when your ma died, I tried to help you, to take care of you, but dammit, girl, you fought me. When Sean came home, I didn’t know what to do. I’d paid the two thousand and didn’t get my land or my daughter. Sean was like a ghost, leaving you and your brother to work like dogs. I just wanted to help. Do you understand that, Elisa?”

  Elisa had trouble swallowing the lump in her throat, but after she did, she was able to speak again. “I’ve hated you for three years. Lived, breathed and ate hate. I never knew…she used to stare out the window toward the north. I thought she just…I don’t know what I thought. Now it all makes sense. It’s going to take me some time to get over the hate.”

  Her mother had always been melancholy, never laughing and joking with the rest of them. A dark cloud seemed to hang over her head, as if joy had been sucked from her soul.

  “I know. Read the letters. She wrote them while I was in prison, but never sent them to me. After her daddy died, she gave them to me. I…” He wiped his eyes with his left hand. “I loved her until she died. Never believed she killed herself.”

  The memory of finding her mother hanging from the roof rafter slammed into Elisa. She took two deep breaths and forced herself to focus on the here and now.

  “From what Marchand tells me, Rodrigo killed her. One less person between him and my money.” O’Shea sounded as bitter as she felt.

  Anger surged fresh. “Damn, I wish I could kill him again.”

  O’Shea chuckled. “Ah, daughter, you and I, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

  “Was he the one who tried to kidnap me too?” Elisa remembered that awful time when she hid in the woods for half a day from the men who’d tried t
o take her.

  “I didn’t know about that. Son of a bitch. I’m sorry that happened, Elisa.” He reached out again and touched her.

  Elisa glanced down at the hand on her arm. Slowly she turned her hand until it was palm up, then slid it under his. He closed his hand around hers.

  It would take time, but she’d taken her first step toward the rest of her life.

  * * * * *

  Nate paced outside the room, straining to hear what they were saying. Their voices were too low, though, and he wished for the hundredth time that O’Shea had not thrown him out. He heard a commotion out in the front of the doctor’s office, but ignored it. Elisa was more important.

  When she stepped out of the room, he couldn’t tell if she needed him or not. “Are you all right?”

  “Yep. We’ve made our peace.” She stepped past him and walked down the hallway.

  “Wait, Elisa.”

  She turned and he saw a slight trembling in her chin. That was all he needed to know. As natural as rain falling in spring, she went into his arms and fit beneath his chin. He stroked her back without saying a word, giving her the time to compose herself.

  “Will you marry me?” He had intended to make a romantic proposal, but sometimes his heart didn’t listen to his brain.

  She reared back and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Is it because my real father is rich?”

  It was Nate’s turn to narrow his eyes. “I’ve been living with next to nothing all my life. Why would money be important now?”

  “Are you sure?”

  Nate knew he’d found where he was supposed to be and the woman he was supposed to love. “Yes, sweet Elisa, I’m sure.”

  “Well then, I guess I’ll marry you.” She sounded as if she was agreeing to swallow castor oil.

  Nate didn’t care. He hooted and swung her around in a circle.

  “Quit it, you’re making me sick.”

  He set her back down and kissed her long and hard. When he finally released her lips, he grinned. “I love you, Elisa whatever-your-name-is.”

  She finally cracked a smile. “I love you too, Frenchie.”

  The commotion in the front of the office grew louder. Gideon was shouting. Nate grabbed Elisa’s hand and ran toward the melee.