Braddock dropped his head to massage his brow as Lorelei had done. Splitting headaches were catching, and he knew it wasn’t from bad water. He said, “I can’t risk it, Lorelei. I just can’t.”
God, how he wanted to. He’d never thought he would want to take a chance on a normal life. Settling down with one woman, having children, and pretending you could have a nice, quiet life seemed as substantial as a daydream when one knew the thousands of things that could befall you. The world waited to explode with violence. It was too easy to die, or worse. But the desire to keep Lorelei safe made Braddock’s decision, though the pain in his chest almost talked him into saying anything to hold on to her.
The crackle of the fire punctuated the abrupt lull in the conversation. A sudden clap of thunder couldn’t be any louder than the quiet tension. Something had to break, and Braddock was sure it would be him.
“You’re knocked up,” Corey blurted.
Archie stirred from his slumped position. “I love babies. Who’s having a baby? That’s what’s wrong with the New Mexico territory: not enough babies. Who’s having the baby?”
Braddock lifted his gaze to Lorelei, sure lightning had just ripped through the top of his head and surged out the heels of his boots.
She shook her head. “I’m not with child.”
Braddock’s horror at Corey’s accusation must have shown on his face, because Lorelei’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You’ll have no tie to me. You don’t need to worry.”
“That’s not it,” Braddock began, but stopped himself before he hurt her more. There was nothing he could say to make the situation any better.
“Don’t you worry, little lady. You’re a young thing. All you and your husband need to do is spend a little more time together. You’ll be in the pink in no time. A little less horse riding though,” Archie said in a loud whisper, presumably for Lorelei alone.
“Oh, no. He’s staying away from my sister if he wants me to tell him where to find Mulcahy.”
To Braddock’s relief, Lorelei swung her angry gaze to her brother. “Just stay out of this, Corey. You’ll tell Braddock about Mulcahy so we can be done with this mess.”
Archie desperately gulped whiskey as if he wanted to pass out again as soon as possible. “I don’t know anything about Mulcahy, and I don’t want to know.”
“I’m not telling him anything until we see this friend of his.” Corey folded his arms over his chest and cocked his hip in a determined stance.
Braddock stood. “Fine. Once we get to Jay’s farm, you can tell me about Mulcahy.”
“And if I don’t like him, we’ll just have to make other arrangements.”
Braddock picked up his rifle. He would check the perimeter of the camp to make sure they weren’t followed from Coyote Pass. Sleep certainly wasn’t an option. “You’ll like him. He and his wife are good people.”
Corey snorted. “Then why are they friends with you?”
Braddock paused to glance at Lorelei, who packed away the dishes they had used for dinner. She stilled when his gaze touched her. The way her shoulders stiffened told him she was still angry. Better angry than hurt, which didn’t make him feel any better.
“Guess their luck isn’t any better than yours,” he answered at last. Then he walked away, half fearing he would finally see a hint of forgiveness in Lorelei’s eyes, and half fearing that he wouldn’t.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Braddock rode Lucky onto the neat dirt perimeter that marked Jay Hartman’s front yard and braced himself. The sea of milky topped cotton that threatened to swallow the small homestead lulled him into such a false sense of ease, he thought he’d arrived at the wrong farm. But as he drew closer, he recognized the single-story ranch house.
Despite everything, Jay appeared to be getting on all right. The house’s planked front had a fresh coat of white paint, and an adobe addition peeked from the back. A swing creaked on the porch, and beds of flowers bloomed in the surrounding shadows. The last and only other time Braddock had visited his friend’s place, he hadn’t counted on Jay’s lasting a year. If it weren’t for the occasional letters that reached him, he would have assumed the Hartmans had moved back east to live with Jay’s folks.
Braddock glanced to his companions, who followed at a wary distance. Compared to the night he had sworn to let Lorelei and her brother go, their journey had been uneventful. Even Archie had behaved. Though not quite sober, he wasn’t painting the town red drunk. Braddock suspected he was rationing his supply of booze. He didn’t doubt Archie needed the stuff for medicinal purposes. Archie was so hooked on it, he probably wouldn’t have survived the two days of hard riding without it.