After Sundown (26 page)

“Thank you, Lily,” Annie said warmly, smiling at her before giving Lucas a frown. He should be offering gratitude to their rescuer, not disapproving just because she happened to be a woman. Lily had risked her life to help them. “We’re both grateful. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t found us.”

“ ’T’ain’t nothing. Folks in Eminence stick together.” Lily walked over to the mule. “Lucky you two made it to old Peavy’s dugout here. Nobody’s seen weather like this since sixty-seven. I brought provisions and blankets and such.” Lily started untying the canvas-wrapped bundles from the mule’s back. “But you better eat and change right quick so we can skedaddle back to town before it gets any worse.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait out the storm?” Annie asked, walking over to help.

“Wait it out?” Lily shook her head, laughing. “Blamenation, Annie, we’re about as high up in the Rockies as anyone can be, ’less they’re a mountain goat. Snows only get worse from here on. We don’t want to get stuck out here ’til spring.” She handed over a small bundle. “Hard enough that we’ll be stuck in Eminence ’til spring.”

“What?” Annie blinked at her in surprise.

“What?” Lucas echoed sharply, walking over to them. “
What
did you say?”

“Storms started early this year.” Lily shrugged. “Passes usually don’t close up for another couple of weeks, but seems they’ll be closing right quick. Nobody gets in or out after that.” She handed him a bundle. “Not even the mule trains will try to make it through now.”

“We’re
stuck
?” Lucas repeated. “In
Eminence
?” His expression turned as stormy as the clouds overhead. “
All winter?
”

Annie stared at Lily, shock and disbelief tumbling through her, then exchanged a glance with Lucas.

“Only if we get a move on and get back through that pass while we still can,” Lily explained impatiently. “Otherwise, we’ll be stuck
here
. Old Sugarfoot’s an ornery cuss and he don’t cotton to strangers, so I’ll ride him.” She untied another pack and handed it to Lucas. “You and Annie can share the horse.”

~ ~ ~

Lucas had made himself a promise yesterday evening, while he was out hunting. He had resolved that he would start acting more like himself—steady, clearheaded, unemotional. Sane.

But just looking at Annie was enough to turn his thoughts to a muddle. Touching her was pure torment. And if she didn’t quit wriggling in his lap, he was going to give in to his desire.

To deposit her in the nearest snowdrift.

“Would you stop that?” he growled.

“Sorry.” She went still, settling back against him, her head tucked beneath his chin. “You were the one who insisted on riding this way.”

Lucas grumbled a curse. He knew she was only trying to gain a little space between them, but it wasn’t possible. Before they left the dugout, he had decided it would be safest if she rode in front of him rather than behind, so he could hang on to her while the horse picked its way over the icy trails.

As they followed Lily along a snowy ledge with a sheer drop on their left, he kept one arm locked around Annie’s waist, holding her securely against his chest.

Which was the problem. Even though Lily had given her a pair of trousers, two shirts, and a twill slicker to wear. Even though Lucas had wrapped her in two blankets before scooping her up onto the horse, none of it helped.

No doubt it helped
her
keep warm, but it wasn’t helping
him
at all.

He was still aware of the shape of her body beneath all those layers, the softness of the curves pressed against him. The way she fit so perfectly in his arms... which reminded him of how the two of them fit so perfectly together in another way.

She turned her head, looking at the sheer wall of rock that stretched above them on the right, her cheek resting against his throat.

Lucas realized he was holding his breath, forced himself to exhale. A few more hours of this and he’d be ready to dive into a snowdrift himself. Or check into an asylum. It was difficult to keep his attention on the trail and on Lily a few yards ahead of them.

Though Lily’s mule seemed to have an innate, almost uncanny knack for choosing secure footing, the drifts had gotten so deep, they had actually debated turning back at one point.

Annie faced front again. “I didn’t know,” she said quietly, for the third time since they’d left the dugout.

“Right,” Lucas finally responded. “It was just convenient that your ribs needed five or six weeks to heal,” he said sourly.

“I don’t control the weather—”

“No, but I’m sure Holt was thinking of this from the start. He knew if I waited around long enough we wouldn’t be able to get off this godforsaken mountain—”

“How could Daniel have planned this? And it
did
take me almost five weeks to heal,” she pointed out. “I only got here a few weeks before you. How was I supposed to know anything about snowstorms in the Rocky Mountains and passes closing?”

Lucas didn’t reply. He knew he couldn’t blame her for the weather. But the possibility that they might be stranded in Eminence for the next few months put him in a foul mood.

“You’re upset because you’re still planning to take me back to Missouri.” Annie’s voice was soft with hurt. “You still don’t believe I’m telling the truth.”

A muscle worked in his jaw. “It doesn’t matter what I believe,” he told her honestly. “I’m a federal marshal. If I let you go, I’d be breaking the law.”

“And you’re nothing if not devoted to law and order. Good and bad, right and wrong—”

“If I don’t take you in, someone else will. Another lawman, another bounty hunter—”

“And you’d rather it be you.”

Lucas grimaced and looked away, out over the cliff. “I am not a judge and jury.”

“No, of course not.” Her voice held an edge of pain, and resignation. “I understand.”

Lucas’s hand clenched around the reins.
I’m sorry
.

The words seemed to get stuck in his throat.

I’m sorry.

His whole life, he had rarely apologized to anyone about anything. For the first time, he wished he’d had more practice.

But he didn’t want her forgiveness. Didn’t want anything to add to this attachment growing between them. At first, he had been able to explain it away as simple, perfectly understandable desire. But it had changed and shifted somehow, into a different feeling.

One he couldn’t recognize. Didn’t trust.

All he knew was that this woman had turned his entire life upside down. And it wasn’t just her beauty and her soft curves. It was her heart, her sweet gentleness—and her unexpected flashes of steel and fire.

Lucas clenched his jaw. Only days ago, he had been studying train schedules and planning to return to Missouri as quickly as possible. Planning to hand Miss Antoinette Sutton over to the courts and let them make sense of the evidence. Put all this chaos behind him. Meet up with his deputies on the Rio Grande and get back to his work. Back to
himself
.

But now he had a decision to make: If they really were stuck here, what was he supposed to do—keep her in a prison cell all winter?

As a marshal, his duty was clear: There was a warrant out for her arrest, he had taken her into custody, and he had to keep her in custody until they reached Missouri.

As a man, nothing was clear in his mind when it came to Annie.

And he didn’t trust his motives for wanting to keep her with him.

He scowled into the falling snow, feeling unsure of himself. Unable to reach a decision.

And he hated the feeling.

It wasn’t until sundown the next day that they finally approached Eminence, after spending an uncomfortable, sleepless night in a sheltered area of the pass. All three of them were worn out and half-frozen, and the animals were finished, stumbling the last few miles, ice crystals clinging to their muzzles and manes.

Lucas had never thought he could actually be
glad
to set eyes on Eminence, but when they came over a rise and spotted the town in the distance, he practically wanted to shout a hallelujah. As they rode, they came upon a few of the other searchers—a prospector, a miner, even a shopkeeper, each one sending up a whoop and a holler at seeing the objects of their search alive and well.

Lucas could hardly believe that these townsfolk—strangers, really—had willingly risked so much to save two people, or that they could feel so happy to find them safe. One man rode ahead to tell those who were waiting for news that “Annie and the marshal” were both all right.

Darkness had fallen by the time they rode into Eminence’s main street, the town transformed by snow and moonlight into something that looked like a picture out of a kid’s storybook, drifts sculpted into fanciful shapes against the buildings, everything glittering with ice, the roof and spire of the stone chapel at one end of the street blanketed in white.

But the deep snow and frigid temperatures didn’t keep a noisy, happy-looking group from turning out to greet them—mostly Annie’s friends, some carrying lanterns or torches.

Rebecca Greer came bustling ahead of the pack, her crimson cloak fluttering behind her. “Annie!”

Lucas barely had time to rein in and lift Annie gently to the ground before Mrs. Greer smothered her in a hug.

“Oh, you poor, dear lamb!”

“Rebecca!” Annie fell into her friend’s arms and held her just as fiercely. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“Are you hurt?” The older woman set her back at arm’s length, looking her up and down and squinting at her worriedly before shifting her attention to Lucas. “What in the blazes happened?”

“Bounty hunter.” Lucas stepped down from the saddle, biting back a groan as every frozen muscle in his body clenched up in protest.

“By the horn spoons, I
told
you she was in danger!” Mrs. Greer blustered at him. “I told you somethin’ terrible must’ve happ—”

“Rebecca, I’m all right,” Annie interrupted, gently deflecting her friend’s anger. “The bounty hunter was going to turn me in for the reward, but the marshal rode all night to find me and...”

While she started filling them in on everything that had happened—or rather,
almost
everything—Lucas took his saddlebags from the back of Lily’s horse.

“You all right, McKenna?” Holt turned toward him after checking on Annie and Lily. He lifted his lantern and frowned at the bullet wound along Lucas’s temple. “Better let me take a look at that.”

“What’s the rush, Doc?” Lucas gave him a dry look. “Sounds like we might be around another three or four months—not that that’s news to you.”

Holt furrowed his brow as if he didn’t understand. “And how’s that my fault? Snows came early this year.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Lucas glanced at the dozen or so people gathered in the street, noting one conspicuous absence. “Where’s Travis? He’s not—”

“He’s resting at home. Told him to stay off his feet for a while, but he’ll be fine.”

“First good news I’ve had all day.” Lucas flung his saddlebags over his shoulder.

“Can we go inside, please?” Rebecca wrapped her crimson cloak around Annie’s shoulders, interrupting Annie’s glowing description of Lily’s heroic rescue. “Both these girls have near caught their death already out in this weather. Poor lambs!”

Lucas noticed that Mrs. Greer didn’t seem to give a fig if
he’d
caught his death.

Holt gestured for them to follow him. “Think I’d better take a closer look at all three of you.”

“I’m fine,” Lily said tiredly, still receiving hugs and hearty congratulations from everyone around her. “I’ll be heading for the livery, Dr. Holt. I owe Sugarfoot and Wrangler here two nice big bags of oats.”

Lucas led her brown gelding over. “Miss Breckenridge.” He gave her the reins, then extended his hand. “Thanks. Not sure we would’ve made it back here without you and that mule of yours. Next time I need a guide through these mountains, I know who to ask.”

She looked surprised, blushing and ducking her head as if she weren’t used to receiving such praise. “I’d say we’re even, Marshal.” She returned his smile as she shook his hand. “Just glad I could help.”

Lily headed off toward the livery and the crowd started to disperse, a few following her to help with the animals, others heading home, all chattering at once about the latest bit of excitement to hit their half-empty town. Annie and Mrs. Greer trailed the doctor, who was leading the way toward his place.

Lucas followed them.

Once they were all inside, Mrs. Greer helped Annie get settled on a couch near the fireplace.

“Look, McKenna,” Holt said as he closed the front door. “I don’t know what you think I had to do with winter storms hitting us early—”

“Five or six weeks,” Lucas drawled. “Timing just seems a little convenient to me.”

“It wasn’t a lie.” Holt gave him an annoyed look as he walked through the parlor toward his adjoining office. “Broken ribs take a month or more to heal, but everyone’s different.”

“Land sakes, this critter thinks we were plotting to
keep
you two here?” Mrs. Greer asked Annie as she helped untangle her from the blankets she was wearing. She squinted up at Lucas. “We were not hatchin’ any kind of snow plot—”

“I already explained that to him,” Annie told her, sounding tired and frustrated.

“Well, he is
the
most suspicious, ornery—”

“Rebecca, he did save her life,” Holt said as he returned to the parlor with his medical bag. “And if that bullet had hit him a half-inch to the left, he wouldn’t be here right now.”

“And neither would I,” Annie added softly.

Lucas arched one brow, surprised to hear them defending him. “I was only looking after the welfare of my prisoner,” he said quickly, not sure who he was trying to convince. “And now that she’s healed up, what are our chances of getting home to Missouri before next year?”

“There’s no way out of here until spring.” Holt set his bag on the chair and opened it, taking out some vials and nasty-looking instruments. “February maybe, March at the latest—”

“And I’m just supposed to take your word for that?”

“You don’t believe me, give it a try,” Holt retorted. “Passes around here are littered with the bones of idiots who got trapped by winter storms. First they eat their pack animals, then the leather straps on their packs, then their shoes. Then they die. Some were experienced mountain men.
That’s
how dangerous it is trying to get through these passes in the winter.”