The Bounty Read online

  Nicky’s father frowned at the bandito just as hard as Tyler was frowning. He would love to hear her explain this relationship to her papa.

  Suddenly the hackles on the back of his neck rose. Tyler whirled to see Owen pull a derringer from his sleeve and aim it at Nicky’s head. In an instant, it was over. Two shots split the air. One was Tyler’s, the other Jack’s. Hoffman lay on the ground with two bullets through the center of his chest. The two men glanced at each other and would have grinned if the situation had not been so grim.

  “Well, don’t that beat all, Nicky,” said the sheriff. “Danged if you weren’t telling the truth about Owen. What a low-down conniving bastard.”

  As Jim walked up to speak to Nicky and her family, Tyler strode away and mounted his horse. Breaking free from her family’s embrace, Nicky grabbed hold of Sable’s bit before Tyler could ride away. She gripped the leather tightly.

  “And where do you think you’re going, Calhoun?” she said testily.

  “You’re free, Nicky. Time to get on with your life. Get a real husband, have a couple of young’uns, grow old.”

  Let go, magpie. Please just let me go.

  “I already have a real husband. For better or worse,” she snapped. “And if you don’t want this Malloy posse to hunt you down, I suggest you come on back to Papa’s ranch with us. I won’t even mention what Hermano would do for me.”

  Tyler tightened his lips to a thin white line, but he didn’t ride away.

  As Nicky’s father approached, Tyler sighed, dismounted and met him head on.

  “Tyler, this is my father, John Malloy.” She linked her arm with Tyler’s as he shook hands with her father. “Papa, this is my husband, Tyler Calhoun.”

  “Husband?” His graying brows nearly met with his hairline.

  “Yes, Papa, I’ll explain everything.”

  ———

  It was on the way to the Malloy ranch that Tyler saw the stable boy again. He had a bedroll tucked under one arm and was walking in the opposite direction. His head was tilted downward, and his posture drooped, as if in defeat. Tyler was transported back in time eighteen years and saw himself. It was a long, lonely road for a poor boy with no family, no luck, and no hope.

  “Be right back,” he said to Nicky before he turned and headed toward the boy.

  Tyler knew the moment the boy saw him coming. He looked determined not to run from the thundering black horse and its equally dark rider. If nothing else, the boy apparently still had pride.

  Tyler brought his horse to a stop a foot from the boy. He hadn’t flinched or tried to run, which raised Tyler’s opinion of the boy considerably.

  “What’s your name, boy?”

  He cleared his throat when his first attempt to answer didn’t work. “Noah Harper.”

  “Tyler Calhoun. Where you headed, Noah?” Tyler tilted his hat back and leaned his arm on the saddle horn with a leathery creak.

  Noah shrugged. “Don’t know for sure. I just knew I didn’t want to work for Mr. Hoffman anymore.” He paused a moment. “He sent you, didn’t he?”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, he’s dead, son. Not coming after anybody anymore.”

  Noah’s smile transformed his face. He was a truly handsome lad with a thick head of light brown hair, brown eyes, and a strong chin. Tyler could see the hint of the man he would become.

  “You have any family, Noah?”

  “No, sir.”

  Tyler rubbed his chin for a moment. “Neither do I.”

  Noah’s eyes widened. “What about all those folks waiting for you over yonder?”

  Tyler glanced over at the Malloys, and he thought sourly about Hermano and his group, who indeed were waiting for him on the next rise. “That’s my wife’s family and friends. My family is dead and buried nearly twenty years now.”

  “I never knew my pa, but my ma died about two years ago. She used to cook for Mr. Hoffman, so I already was working in the stable. He let me stay, but…” Noah trailed off, his cheeks coloring. Tyler surmised he didn’t want to admit to anyone that he’d lived the life of a beggar, existing on scraps from a man like Owen. He had lived that life himself.

  “Been there myself, Noah. More times than I’d like to remember. There’s no shame in doing what you have to.” Tyler held out his hand to the boy. “If you have no destination in mind, I’ve got need for a ranch hand like yourself.”

  “Me?” Noah’s voice was incredulous.

  “Sure, young and strong. Eager to learn and help. It’s not much of a ranch yet, Noah, but I’d be happy if you could join me.”

  Noah looked at Tyler’s hand with more than a little trepidation, as if he expected to reach for his hand only to have it snatched away.

  “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you, son.”

  Noah took a deep breath and placed his hand in Tyler’s. He swung the boy up behind him on Sable.

  “Hang on.”

  Noah wrapped his skinny arms around Tyler and held on as they raced back across the field toward the future.

  Chapter Nineteen

  As it turned out, the Malloys had been alerted through Ray’s quick thinking. He’d sent a message to his father after he’d met up with Tyler and Nicky in Hawk’s Bend. How Hermano knew what was going on was anybody’s guess. The man seemed to be a living shadow. The rescue parties arrived in time to stop Owen’s mad revenge.

  The celebration at the Malloy ranch was in full swing. Brothers came out of the woodwork to glare at Tyler like a fly at the dinner table. Ray’s blonde, pretty wife, Regina, was there as well. He didn’t like the way she looked at him either, but it sure as shooting wasn’t with hostility.

  Noah was welcomed like a younger brother. He was given a bed in the bunkhouse and swaggered around like he was near to bursting with happiness. Tyler made it clear to the other hands that Noah worked for him, putting an extra measure of pride in the boy’s step.

  They were gathered in the great room at the Malloy house. It was a huge room encompassing the kitchen, eating area, and a living room, of sorts. Nicky’s brothers hugged her so many times, he thought she was going to be sporting bruises from all of it.

  Her mother, Francesca, wept copiously as she clenched her daughter’s hand tightly. “Cherié, at long last,” she kept murmuring.

  Nicky told her story to the rest of her family. Jack and Ray had heard it earlier at the sheriff’s office. It still twisted him up in knots to listen again. Francesca gasped in pain when she discovered how Logan had truly died.

  Vengeance was jumping up and down in the eyes of the Malloy brothers, but Owen was dead, and there was no one to visit their wrath upon, so it was swallowed down, and maybe eventually digested.

  Nicky was pale and shaken when she had finished, waiting for the recriminations for what she had done that caused Logan’s death, but none came. What he saw on their faces was more like regret mixed with respect. She had survived on her own for years, proving to them what her parents had known all along. The lone Malloy sister was stronger than they had ever suspected.

  “Okay, I’ve kept my tongue long enough,” Ray’s voice boomed. “How in God’s name did you marry this bounty hunter, Nicky?”

  Tyler stiffened. Hermano’s chuckle could be heard through the open window. Tyler knew he should have ridden away. Too many pairs of eyes turned to glare at him. He felt distinctly uncomfortable, a feeling that was completely foreign, and definitely unwelcome.

  “None of your business, Raymond John Malloy. Tyler loves me, and I love him.” She narrowed her eyes as she surveyed her five brothers. “And that’s the end of it. I catch any of you giving my husband a hard time I’ll beat your asses black and blue.”

  She turned to march upstairs. “Mama, can you help me?”

  Francesca smiled as she followed her daughter.

  After the two women left the room, Tyler’s discomfort increased tenfold as Nicky’s father regarded him steadily. “Is this a true marriage?”

  “Yes, sir, it is.” Tyler t
hought honesty was best at this point, but he readied himself for a fight.

  “Good. Boys, make yourselves useful. This is a ranch,” he barked. The Malloy brothers shuffled out of the room with more than a few hostile glances at Tyler, which he pointedly ignored. Regina paused to give him another saucy wink before she disappeared into the kitchen. He reminded himself to steer clear of that woman. Trouble with a capital T.

  John turned to Tyler. “Welcome to the family, son. You can call me John.”

  As John reached out to shake his new son-in-law’s hand, Tyler felt a strange tightening in his chest. He hadn’t been called son in nearly twenty years.

  “We’re fixing to have a party tonight to celebrate Nicky’s homecoming. Folks are bound to be curious about you, Tyler. Do you think you can handle it?”

  “Being married to your daughter makes me ready to handle just about anything.” Tyler grinned wryly.

  John slapped his knee as he chuckled at Tyler’s comment. Obviously, he knew Nicky pretty well.

  “You can’t imagine how glad we are to have our little girl back.” He shook his head slowly. “I knew in my heart that Logan was dead, but somehow I knew she wasn’t. She’s a survivor, a fighter, and I’m damn proud of her. You’ll do right by her, won’t you, son?”

  Tyler hesitated. He didn’t want to promise forever to Nicky’s father before things were settled with her.

  “I love her, John. I love her more than I ever thought I could. If it’s in my power, she’ll never want for anything. I will always be there when she needs me.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. She’s my only little girl, after all, and I don’t want to see her suffer any more than she already has.” His eyes were haunted. “She’s been through hell and back, and I take a good part of the blame. I didn’t see Owen Hoffman for what he really was. I pushed Nicky into getting engaged to him, and it cost me my youngest son. I’m hoping she’ll get her own piece of heaven with you.”

  Tyler’s heart felt almost too full. He had a wife whom he loved to distraction, and a new family. How could he turn his back on something so precious? He’d never be able to find it again in a thousand years. It was time to make his peace with Nicky so they could start living the rest of their lives, together.

  ———

  Tyler didn’t see Nicky again for hours. He went outside and helped his new brothers-in-law set up for the party. As they worked to hammer together picnic tables and make space for dancing, he felt their eyes full of mistrust skimming over him constantly. Only Jack seemed to be friendly to him. Jack, of course, was still a kid at twenty-three, but Tyler took an immediate liking to Nicky’s favorite sibling, anyway.

  That goddamned Hermano was still hanging around like a bad penny. His group of merry men seemed to have disappeared, but unfortunately, he promised Nicky he’d stay for the party. And then hopefully he’d ride off for good.

  Noah was running back and forth delivering needed supplies of nails and lending a hand when needed.

  “You’re kidding.” His brothers echoed Jack’s look of astonishment. Noah stopped in his tracks to gape.

  “No. It’s the absolute truth.”

  “She started a saloon brawl?” Jack laughed heartily. “I can’t believe it. Nicky sure did learn a thing or two from her brothers, didn’t she?”

  “I noticed a yellowed bruise or two,” said Ray grimly. “I was hoping to find out how she got them.”

  “She saved my ass, and her own,” Tyler said. “Nicky’s a helluva woman.”

  His proclamation was met by silence.

  “Yeah, she is a woman now, isn’t she?” Ray’s voice was contemplative. “I guess we’ve always thought of her as our baby sister.”

  “She has a spine of, how you say, iron,” Hermano interjected from his lounging position under a tree. “Strong and tough.”

  “I knew she was tough,” said Brett as he bracketed his hips with gloved hands. He had the look of Jack with dark brown hair and blue eyes. “But I didn’t know how tough. Are you sure you can handle her, Calhoun?”

  “Well, I might need some help now and then.” Tyler’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “Have you seen her when she’s mad?”

  All five brothers, and Hermano, burst into raucous laughter at Tyler’s question. Tyler had found their baby sister, and had come away with respect, a family, and a wife to love for the rest of his life.

  “I think you’ll do fine,” said Brett as he clapped his new brother-in-law on the back.

  “Si, you will be fine,” Hermano said.

  ———

  As twilight settled in at the Malloy ranch, the crowd of partygoers was growing larger by the minute. Although three of the Malloy brothers, Jack, Trevor, and Brett, weren’t married, the unmarried females at the party seemed to flock to Tyler like he was a shepherd and they were the sheep. Their bleating, flirting, and tittering were driving him mad. He kept trying to get away from them, but they followed him like a herd.

  “Jack, Trevor, come over here.”

  Jack and Trevor were smiling as they approached him.

  “Have you seen Nicky?”

  “I heard Mama say she was coming down soon.”

  Tyler leaned over and whispered to Jack. “Help me out here, Jack. Get rid of this pack of hyenas.”

  Jack’s smiled broadened. “I guess they like a hero, Tyler.”

  Jack and Trevor sauntered away, leaving Tyler with five tiny females surrounding him. And that’s how Nicky found him.

  Nicole. He blinked twice at her image and promptly forgot to breathe. In a man’s clothing she was beautiful. In a light blue dress with her curls sporting a matching blue ribbon, she was exquisite. The fabric hugged her curves like a loving hand, accentuating her delicious figure.

  Nicky frowned at Tyler’s flock of women, and promptly disappeared amidst the throng of people.

  As soon as the breath whooshed back into his lungs, Tyler tried to push his way through the crowd of women surrounding him.

  “Nicky,” Tyler called as he fought to disentangle himself from the flock.

  “Mr. Calhoun, where are you going?” twittered one of the sheep.

  “Away from here,” he growled. “To my wife.”

  Searching for Nicky in the party crowd, Tyler bit back a groan of frustration as her mother waylaid him on his quest.

  “Mrs. Malloy.” He looked down into his mother-in-law’s face. He saw Nicky, as she would be in twenty-five years. She was a beautiful, older version of his wife, making him wish all the more that he could find her.

  “Please, you must call me Francesca.”

  “Francesca, do you know where Nicole is heading?”

  “Probably to the stable with the horses. It is her favorite place.” Francesca paused. “She does not know she is beautiful, monsieur. She thought you’d see her in a dress and go running.”

  He grimaced at her words. “She is the most annoying, frustrating, gorgeous woman on this side of heaven. And I’ll be damned if I let her get away from me.”

  Francesca smiled. “Go.”

  He groaned aloud when Hermano stopped him a minute later.

  “I am leaving.”

  “Glad to hear it. Not soon enough.”

  Hermano smiled slowly, his black eyes laughing. “I love your wife, too, you know. She is, and always will be, in my heart as my hermana. I keep my ears open. If she needs me, I will hear.”

  Tyler couldn’t accept his words as anything more than a threat. “Are you threatening me, amigo?”

  “No, no, not at all. I have said goodbye with Roja. She knows she can find me if she needs help. And you, señor, since she loves you, for why I don’t know, you can count on me, too.”

  With that, Hermano disappeared into the inky black of the night beyond the house. Tyler shook his head. What a strange bandito Hermano was. Perhaps one day they may need his help, for example, when the igloos got crowded in hell.

  He found her in the stable, talking quietly to his horse. Sable was nudging
her playfully with his nose. Stupid horse was as lovesick as his master was.

  “Nicky,” he bellowed.

  She jumped a foot at the sound of his voice. He grinned from ear to ear.

  “Just remembering,” he said as he grasped her and pulled her close. “When you walked out wearing that dress.” He nibbled on her earlobe. “I had all I could do not to drag you into the nearest bedroom, tear it off you, and show you how much you mean to me.”

  “What about all those women out there, Calhoun? Obviously, you could have your pick of them.”

  “They’re sheep.”

  “Sheep?”

  “Mmm. Like a herd of sheep I couldn’t get away from fast enough to catch my Nicole, my wife, my love.” He nuzzled her neck and breathed in her fresh scent. She smelled of flowers again.

  “I love you, Nicole. We’ve spent our time hurting and punishing each other, and I’ve had more than my share of that. I want you to be with me, always. I was so afraid of what we might have, of what we could lose that I almost lost you. I almost spent my life without you.”

  She pulled back to look into his eyes. He knew she found only love, more than she would ever need for a lifetime.

  “I love you.”

  “Oh, Tyler, I love you too.” She kissed him fiercely.

  Dragging his lips from hers, he buried his nose into the crook of her neck. “Mmm, you smell so good. I want to make love to you, magpie.”

  “Please.”

  He backed her into an empty stall and laid her down in the sweet hay. They became a tangle of arms and legs. He briefly wondered what would happen if one of her damn brothers walked in, but decided he didn’t care.

  After a bone-melting kiss, he took a much needed breath. The wonder of being with her was filling his heart near to bursting. Tyler stared down into her gorgeous green eyes and swam in the love he saw shining up at him. She waggled her eyebrows and he smiled.

  “Mr. Calhoun, I think you’re trying to take advantage of me.”

  “I sure as hell hope so.”

  Nicky wrapped her arms around his neck and before he knew it, he was flat on his back and she was straddling him. Her warmth enveloped his erection, making it strain that much harder against his trousers. Her dress was partially unbuttoned allowing a tantalizing glimpse of freckled skin. Freckles he’d love to taste.