Julie Garwood - Come the Spring

friend to tell the truth, but I can't change the past."

"Come back here." She was too tired to argue and did as he ordered.

"I'd like to go to bed."

"You're too upset to sleep."

"How do you know how I feel? " "I can see it in your face.

I know I shouldn't have raised my voice to you, and I'm sorry about

that, but I'm damned well not going to apologize for my anger. I lost

the only two women I'm ever going to love, and I don't care how scared

Jessica was. She and you should have come forward." The impact of

what he had just said was devastating, and she realized for the very

first time just how much his opinion had come to matter to her. He had

just told her he could never love again, and, dear God, she was already

falling in love with him. She wouldn't let that happen. Only a fool

would love a man who couldn't open his heart to her.

i "Why did you kiss me? " The question caught him off guard. "I

wanted to." She folded her arms across her waist. "Don't ever do it

again. Promise me you won't." He wouldn't make a promise he had no

intention of keeping, and so he said nothing at all, until she pushed

him.

"I want your word, Daniel."

"No."

"No? Do you mean . . . after what just happened . . . you would want

to kiss me again? " "Yeah, I would and I will."

"Have you figured it all out yet, Daniel? " Cooper's raspy voice

intruded.

Daniel jumped to his feet. "You're awake." Grace rushed to his

side.

"How do you feel, Marshal? " "Like I'm in the middle of a war.

What's the matter with you two, fighting with a dying man between

you?

" Daniel was so relieved to see his friend awake a huge grin crossed

his face.

Grace was teary-eyed. "I'm sorry we disturbed you."

"You shouldn't shout at a lady, " Cooper told Daniel before turning to

Grace. "And you should have told us what you knew. Now, don't cry,

darling'."

"You're not dying, are you, Cooper? " Daniel asked.

Cooper would have laughed, but he didn't have the stamina. He felt as

weak and used up as a hundred-year-old plow horse. "I don't suppose I

am, " he said. "I asked you a question, " he reminded him. "Help me

sit up, fetch me a glass of water, and then tell me if you've figured

it out yet." Grace hurried to place two pillows behind the marshal's

back while Daniel lifted him up. A moment later, Daniel handed him a

glass of water, then pulled his chair closer to the bed.

Grace felt Cooper's brow, smiled because it didn't feel overly warm to

her, and then politely excused herself and tried to leave the room so

that they would have privacy for their talk.

"Grace, come back here, " Daniel ordered.

When she went back to the chair across from him, Daniel shook his head

at her and motioned for her to come to him.

"Are you going to introduce me to the lady? " Cooper asked.

"My name is Grace Winthrop, " she said, and instinctively started to

curtsy.

"She's Lady Grace Winthrop, " Daniel told his friend. "She already

knows who you are, Cooper." He patted the side of the bed next to

Daniel. "Sit with me, darling'."

"She isn't your darling'."

"She isn't? " he asked before taking a long swallow of the cool

water.

"No, she isn't, " Daniel replied. "She's mine." Grace stumbled and

fell on the foot of the bed. She was too astounded by his comment to

argue. Did all men make so little sense? Daniel had kissed her, then

shouted at her, and then he said the most ridiculously romantic thing

she'd ever heard.

She simply had to get away from him as quickly as possible before he

turned her mind into mush.

"Cooper fancies himself a lady's man, " Daniel remarked.

"I am a lady's man, " Cooper corrected.

Daniel settled back in his chair and relaxed. His friend was going to

make it. Now it was time to talk about what had happened. He was

pretty sure he had it all figured out, but he wanted confirmation.

"So tell me, Cooper, did Rebecca shoot you or was it someone else? "

Grace was so taken aback by the question, she jumped to her feet to

protest. "You cannot be serious, Daniel. You can't possibly believe

that sweet Rebecca had anything to do with this." Images of Rebecca

cuddling little Caleb flashed in her mind. She remembered how worried

and frightened Rebecca had been when she first arrived at Tilly's house

after the fire. What would they have done if she hadn't stepped

forward to take charge in their time of need? No, Grace thought,

Daniel was wrong.

"Rebecca did the shooting, " Cooper said quietly. "I never l saw it

coming, never once suspected. There was a man there, but I only got a

fleeting glance at him before I was blown into the hallway. I was

going down when she shot at me again. The last thing I remember is the

sound of glass breaking." Grace was too stunned to speak.

Cooper told Daniel every detail he could recall, including the fact

that Rebecca had been naked. "I opened the door and was so surprised

by the sight of her, I think I hesitated before I went for my gun.

Those seconds almost cost me my life. I should have been prepared for

any eventuality." Grace fell back on the bed. "She's one of them? "

she gasped, trying to come to terms with the truth. "The fire, " she

cried out. "Did she start the fire? Did she hit me? " By the time

she finished her questions, she was shaking.

Daniel nodded. "Most likely, " he said. "Unless one of the other men

stayed behind, but I don't think that happened. All Rebecca had to do

was sprinkle some kerosene around the house and light a match. She was

real sure of herself, " he told Cooper. "She went inside the houseţ"

Grace jumped to her feet again. "And helped herself to an apple, " she

blurted out. "She tried to kill all of us . . . Tilly and Caleb and

Jessica . . . and she wore black, Daniel. Didn't she? She was

dressed all in black." Daniel noticed that Cooper grimaced in pain

when Grace sat on the bed again. She didn't realize that every time

she moved, she was causing him discomfort. Knowing Cooper the way he

did, he also knew he wouldn't say anything to her. Daniel gently

pulled Grace toward him and deposited her on the arm of his chair.

She barely noticed she'd moved, so caught up was she in the horror of

Rebecca's treachery.

"She's a good actress, " Cooper remarked.

Grace tried to stand again, but Daniel put his arm around her waist and

held her down. "Yes, she is a good actress, " she agreed. "She was

complacent and smug, and I thought she was my friend. Can you believe

that, Marshal Cooper? I believed she was my friend." Cooper nodded.

"I felt sorry for her."

"Everything was a lie, wasn't it? She pretended to be so worried about

Jessica and me, and she kept telling us we had to stick together."

"When you were locked in the jail together? " Daniel asked.

"Yes, " she answered. "She told us what she was going to say to you.

She went over it again and again until we had all but memorized it. "

"Did she try to find out which one of you was the witness? " "No, she

didn't."

"She had probably already made up her mind to kill both of you ."

Grace visibly shivered. "She almost succeeded. If you and Cole hadn't

come when you did, we all would have died. Jessica would never have

left the house without Caleb and Tilly and me, and the smoke would have

gotten her."

"The very first robbery . . . wasn't the building burned to the

ground? " "Yes, " Daniel answered. "The first thought all of us had

was that someone was trying to cover embezzlement. The bank manager

swore that the receipts balanced every night. Every penny was

accounted for, " he added. "And we ran a thorough check on all the

officers and employees.

Every one came up squeaky clean."

"Marshal, can you ever forgive me?

" Grace asked. "If Jessica and I had told Daniel the truth, you

wouldn't have been shot. All of this could have been avoided. "

"That's one way to think about it, " Cooper told her. "But there's

also another. If you two had told the truth at the beginning, Rehecca

wouldn't have said she was the witness. She could have happily gone on

her way and let her friends go after Jessica. We might never have

known that Rebecca was involved."

"Then it wasn't terribly wrong of Jessica and me to withhold the

truth?

" "Grace, if you're expecting me to thank you, it isn't gonna happen, "

Daniel said. "You should have told me the truth." His mind was

consumed with Rebecca. "I let her slip right through my fingers."

"I bent over backwards to accommodate the woman, " Cooper admitted. "I

even let her . . . Ah, Daniel, I told her Grace and Jessica were going

to meet her in Red Arrow, and I also let her send a telegram. She told

me she wanted to let her friends know she wouldn't be joining them, but

we now know that was a lie. If you go into Red Arrow, they're going to

be waiting for you."

"What about Cole and Jessica? " Grace whispered. "They'll be walking