The Last Outlaw(8)

Jake just shook his head. Things had changed dramatically since his younger days. And through all the changes in a growing West, and what he and Randy had been through, the love they shared had never changed…until now.

He wished he could kill Brad Buckley over and over again for what he’d done to Randy. He’d like to see the man come back to life in screaming pain, his privates still blown off, and then he could torture and kill the man on a daily basis, just for the satisfaction of seeing him beg.

He looked around for Randy, always worried if she was all right. He’d urged her to go shopping on her own, without him by her side. Earlier, she’d gone into a hat shop a few doors down with Teresa and their precious little granddaughter, Tricia.

He watched the hat store and saw no sign of them at the moment, but when he looked farther up the street, he spotted something far in the distance that didn’t look right. He squinted, adjusting his hat to keep the sun out of his eyes. What he saw was just a cloud of dust, the kind stirred up by stampeding horses or cattle. Some rancher probably bringing in a few steers to sell in town.

He turned his attention back to the hat store and finally spotted Randy coming out with a hatbox in her hand. She looked around anxiously, and it broke his heart to see her almost childish panic. Damn it, Randy, how can I help you get over this? People didn’t understand why she’d become so skittish, or why she hated letting him out of her sight. No one knew about last winter…or the men who’d died for what they’d done. No one would ever know. Brad Buckley and those with him had simply disappeared from the face of the earth, and Jake took great pleasure in picturing them screaming from pain as they lived in the tortures of hell.

He stepped farther into the street so Randy could see him. Teresa had hold of Tricia’s hand. When Randy spotted him, he nodded to her, and she smiled, looking relieved. She hurried down the boardwalk toward where he stood.

Jake stepped back up on the boardwalk and watched her lovingly. Did the woman ever age? Lord knew he’d put her through enough that she damn well had a right to be totally white-haired and shriveled up—yet at fifty-one, she was as pretty and well preserved as any thirty-year-old, but for being so thin. He’d always admired her blond tresses and those mysterious eyes that were sometimes green, sometimes blue, but over the last few months, he’d lived in fear she’d get sick and die. What the hell would he do without her?

“New hat?” he asked when she reached him.

“Yes. You don’t care, do you?”

“’Course not.”

“I’m going to the bank with Teresa. She has something to take care of there for Rodriguez. Do you care if… I mean… Can I take more money out of our account? I saw a dress I just love, and that fund-raising fair is coming up.”

“Take whatever you need,” he told her before she finished.

“You’ll go to the fair with me, won’t you? It’s a fund-raiser for that new luxury resort Boulder wants to build—some kind of place for people to come and listen to concerts and readings from the great novelists and noted speakers and such.”

Jake took hope in the fact that she wanted to go at all. “I’ll go.”

“They will even have preachers come. I’ll bet Evie would love that. I’d really like to go, but I’d rather you were with me, even if Evie and Katie and everyone else goes too.”

Jake smiled, sad inside at the plea in her eyes and the way she nervously rattled on. “I said I’d go, Randy.” How many times had he been compelled to remind her he was right here and she was safe, especially nights when she clung to him, insisted that he never leave the house at night, and sleep with his arms around her? “Lloyd is pretty much running things on his own now,” he added, “and I’m getting a little old to wrestle down steers. This is our time, remember? I’ll do whatever you want to do.”

Randy blinked back tears. “I’m sorry, Jake. I know you didn’t even want to come into town—”

“Stop,” he interrupted. “There’s nothing I like more than being with you.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Besides, I like it when we get away from the ranch. Tricia can stay with Teresa tonight again so you and I can be alone.”

Two women who were walking by had seen the quick kiss and heard his remark. They whispered and reddened as they hurried away. Randy put a hand to the side of her face. “Honestly, Jake, you shouldn’t say those things in front of people.”

Jake took a cigarette and match from a small pocket inside his jacket. “Hell, it gives them something to talk about.” He paused to light the cigarette. “And last night wasn’t bad, was it?” He smiled for her.