Randy moved an arm around his neck and nestled her face against him. “I want to breathe in…the smell of you,” she said softly. “Don’t let go, Jake.”
“I’m right here,” he reassured her yet again.
“I killed him, Jake. I did it…for you…so they can’t…take you away.”
“I would have figured out a way to keep that from happening,” he told her.
“They did…a terrible thing,” she repeated. “You never…made me do that.”
“You’re too beautiful and perfect and honorable.” He kissed her eyes. “I respect you too much as the woman I love.” He smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead.
“Jake, I’m not yours anymore.”
He held her tighter. “Don’t ever say that again. Who do you belong to?”
She jerked in a sob. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” he said softly. “Say it.”
She hugged him tighter around the neck. “You.”
“Say my name, Randy. Who do you belong to?”
She curled so tightly against him it was as though she was trying to crawl inside him. “Jake Harkner,” she whispered.
“You bet. Nothing has changed that, and nothing ever will.”
“Tell me you’re not in trouble, Jake.”
“I’m not in trouble.”
“You won’t go away?”
“Never.”
“No one’s coming to get you?”
“No one’s coming to get me.”
“I was always scared…you’d never come back…back in Oklahoma. Don’t take that job, Jake…that…ranger job. I don’t want you to go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Don’t let go. I love…being in your arms.”
“And that’s where you are right now.”
“I knew you’d come.”
“I’d walk through the fires of hell for you.”
“Everything…hurts.”
“We’ll fix that.” He kissed her eyes again, traced a finger over her lips, struggling against a rage deep inside over realizing the hideous thing they’d done to her. The corners of her mouth were cracked and bleeding.
Lloyd kept quiet as he cooked some bacon, thinking about how ruthless Jake Harkner could be. He’d been prepared to shove hot coals into Brad Buckley’s mouth, and he would have done so if Randy hadn’t shot the sonofabitch instead. Now Jake sat there holding his wife as though she were a fine piece of china. Such were the complexities of Jake Harkner. “I’m heating some extra water,” he told Jake. “We have to get her to eat something and get that laudanum in her so we can clean her up.”
“Brian will help me.”
“She’s my mother. I’ll help! It’s okay, Pa. Besides, this is really hard on Brian after what happened to Evie. He’s been through a lot, too, over the years. I’ll help, and once she’s cleaned up and asleep, I’ll rip that goddamn bed up and take it outside and burn it! She’s not going to lay back down on that filthy piece of shit! We’ll make up something for you and Mom on the floor. In the morning, the men can head back with Brian and the boys, and you and I will head for the line shack.”
“Don’t worry about the bed. I’m having the men burn down the whole cabin when we leave.” Jake kissed Randy’s hair again. “As far as the line shack, I should have taken her last summer. She wanted to go back there, but we were always too busy.” Jake closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the chair. “She’s had such a hard life, Lloyd. How can I ever make it up to her?”
“You don’t need to, Pa. All she wants is for you to love her, and God knows you’ve done that. I’m the one who needs to make things up to her. I’m the one who left when you went to prison, and she and Evie had to make do on their own. I’ll never forgive myself for that. And she came with you and risked her life right alongside of you when you rescued me from that mess on the Outlaw Trail and then had to go through hell getting me off of alcohol. I’ll always take care of both of you if need be, and Mom if she’s left alone. That’s a promise. Let me help you clean her up, and I’ll help you get her to that line shack safely. I owe her.”
“Lloyd, you’ve more than made up for all of that.”
“I’ll never make up for it.”
“Jake, don’t let go,” Randy whispered again.
“I’m right here,” he answered, wondering how many times he would have to keep reassuring her he wasn’t going anywhere. He managed to reach inside his pocket to take out another peppermint stick. He traced it over her lips.