And they do find that peace…for a while…but the Harkner name just seems to bid trouble, and trouble isn’t yet finished with Jake and his son Lloyd. In Colorado they face new challenges that test Jake and Randy’s deep love for one another, and challenges that bring Lloyd and Jake to a new reckoning—a final coming together of the Harkner family that leads Lloyd and Evie and the grandchildren into a new era of law and order…and peace at last.
Following is Chapter 4 and part of Chapter 5 of Book 3, Love’s Sweet Revenge. I am using this chapter because although this story opens with a beautiful moment of serenity and lovemaking between Jake and Randy, and the following two chapters help the reader see that this family is strong and together but trouble is coming, Chapter 4 shows you both the continuing sweet relationship between Jake and Randy, and it also shows you that Jake is still…well…Jake, when it comes to facing his adversaries. I might add here that dealing with rustlers is just the beginning of what is ahead for this family. The real trouble hasn’t even started yet! Be sure to watch for the continuing story of the Harkners in Book 3, Love’s Sweet Revenge!
Four
April 1896
“You getting sore in all the wrong places from too much riding?” Jake asked Miranda, turning his horse to face her.
“It’s not the riding that’s got me sore in all the wrong places,” she quipped, taking up the reins of their packhorse.
Jake laughed in that teasing way he had, making her feel embarrassed.
“On a trip like this, a man your age should be too tired for frivolity, Mr. Harkner.”
“Don’t underestimate what a man my age is capable of, Mrs. Harkner.” Jake winked at her as he lit a cigarette.
“In your case, I don’t underestimate anything,” Randy shot back.
Jake grinned and turned his horse again, heading down a pathway toward the valley below. Randy followed behind him, pulling the packhorse along. “Just don’t be underestimating me, dear husband. I’ve been just fine on this trip. I’d rather put up with the hard ground and lack of home comforts than to be home worrying about what’s happening when you’re gone for too long at a time. We went through enough of that back in Oklahoma.”
“Well, I’m sure as hell not bringing you along every time, so don’t be thinking that’s going to happen. It’s been nice, and we needed the time together, but out here a lot of things can go wrong. Even so, being a marshal back in Oklahoma proved more dangerous than all the grizzlies and bobcats and renegade Indians and rustlers put together out here.”
“Are you giving me orders, Jake Harkner?” she called out.
He kept the cigarette at the corner of his mouth when he glanced back at her. “You mean by telling you you can’t come with me next time?”
“I mean exactly that.”
He turned away. “Then I am giving you orders. What if something goes wrong? You’re a distraction. I might not be as alert as I should be.”
Randy smiled. “I like being a distraction. That means you’re still attracted to me. A woman my age needs to know that.”
“Easy, Midnight.” Jake pulled up on the reins to the black gelding he favored over the other horses he owned. The path had suddenly banked steeper, and small rocks tumbled as Midnight whinnied and stepped lightly to his master’s command. “Stay there!” he told Randy.
Randy slowed her horse, a gentler gray gelding called Shortbread. She watched Jake and Midnight half slide down to a flatter pathway. Jake dismounted and tied his horse, then grasped at trees and rocks and anything else he could to keep from slipping as he climbed back up to where Randy waited. She noticed how worn-looking his leather boots were in spite of being fairly new. That’s what ranch life did to a man’s clothing. She wore leather boots herself, and a split riding skirt. She shivered under the extra sheepskin jacket Jake had made her bring along, and she was glad for his advice. Mountain mornings could be very cold, even when the weather was warming in the valleys.
Jake reached her and took a last drag on his cigarette, then threw it down and stepped it out. “Get down. We’ll walk down using the trees to keep from falling and let Shortbread and the packhorse make their own way down. They aren’t as sure-footed as Midnight, so I want you off Shortbread. The last thing I need is for you and that horse to take a fall out here where there’s no help.” He reached up and grasped her about the waist, helping her down.
“I do have help,” she teased. “You’re here.”
“Yeah, well, I’m no damn doctor.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. “And why on earth would you think I’m not still attracted to you, after the two days we spent up in that cabin?”