Julie Garwood - For the Roses

"February seventeenth," he answered.

He didn't ask her to tell him her birthday. He assumed she didn't know the actual date and that her brothers had made one up so she would have her own celebration.

Besides, he already knew the date of Lady Victoria 's birth, January second.

"January second."

She said the words a scant second after he'd thought them. He couldn't believe he'd heard right. Then he thought he had inadvertently said the date out loud.

"Did you just… What did you say?"

"January second," she repeated. "My birthday. Is there something wrong with January second? You look a little stunned. Honestly you do."

He couldn't answer her. His throat had already closed up on him. Stunned? That had to be an understatement. His mind was reeling with all his impossible possibilities. How in God's name could she know her actual birthday?

"Adam's birthday is November twentieth, Cole's is April fifteenth, although to be perfectly honest with you, he really isn't sure of the date because he doesn't have any proof, but a neighbor remembered him and thought he was born then, so he decided to use it for his celebration date, and Douglas's birthday is the very last day of March. I didn't leave anyone out, did I?"

He shook his head again. "Did you make up your date for your birthday or do you have proof you were born on January second?"

"I have proof," she answered. "I came with papers."

Harrison leaned back in his saddle. The words were echoing in his mind over and over again.

She came with papers.

Everyone was waiting for them. Eleanor was pacing back and forth on the porch, Adam was standing in the doorway, and Douglas and Travis were both sitting on the porch railing, leaning against the posts.

Cole had just walked out of the main barn when Douglas shouted to him and pointed in their direction.

The hotheaded brother's hand, Harrison was quick to note, immediately went to his gun. The expression on his face indicated he was thinking hard about using it.

Harrison let out a weary sigh. Honest to God, he didn't have time for this nonsense. He felt like hell. His side was on fire now. His day wasn't going to get any better though, because he had finally made up his mind not to wait any longer. One way or another, Mary Rose's future was going to be decided before he went to bed. He was going to tell the brothers about their sister. He would get the information he needed first, of course, and if he had to resort to shooting a couple of them in order to find out what he wanted to know, then by God, that's exactly what he was going to do.

He wouldn't procrastinate any longer. He'd be married with six children if he didn't do something soon.

" Harrison, don't frown."

"Sorry. I was thinking about shooting your brothers."

"Please don't," she whispered. "Smile, for heaven's sake."

"They look like a lynch mob."

She turned to look at her brothers again. Harrison was right. Three of the four did look like they wanted to string Harrison up from the nearest tree. Eleanor appeared to be ready to fetch the rope. Her hands were on her hips, and she was glaring at them.

"Adam looks happy to see us. I'm sure he'll be reasonable. Just give your explanation quickly before Cole…"

"Sweetheart, we didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why do I feel like we did?"

He smiled when he realized he felt the same way. "I'll take on Cole. You start on the others."

"You take on Cole, and I take on four? Sounds fair to me," she teased.

She turned to watch him head for the barn. Millie wanted to follow, but Mary Rose forced the mare to move toward the house.

"Take off your gun," she suggested to Harrison in a loud whisper. "Cole doesn't usually like to shoot an unarmed man."

Harrison shook his head at her and continued on. He slipped off MacHugh when he was about a yard or so away from Cole. The stallion continued on into the barn. Harrison would see to his needs after he'd dealt with the brother.

Cole came storming over to face him. "You low-down son-of-a-bitch. If you…"

He'd reached Harrison before he finished his threat and decided to punch him instead.

Harrison was ready for him this time. He caught Cole's fist in the palm of his left hand and held on tight. Then he started applying pressure.

"If I what?" he challenged in a voice as cold as January.

Cole's expression went from rage to astonishment in the blink of an eye.

"If you… Damn, you're quick. Let go of me. You're squeezing my trigger finger."

"Are you going to try to hit me again?"

"No. I'm thinking about shooting you now. Then I'm gonna shoot Mary Rose."

"I'll kill you first."

"Hell."

"Nothing happened, Cole. We got caught in the rain, that's all. Walk with me into the barn. I got shot. I want to find out how much damage there is without letting Mary Rose know."

Harrison let go of Cole's fist and walked inside. His legs felt weak to him, but he was certain food would take care of that.

"What happened to you? Did you try something with Mary Rose? Did she shoot you?"

"Of course not," he snapped. He paused near the kerosene lamp and waited until Cole got the flame going.

"Where'd you get hit?"

"In my side. The bullet just nicked me. It passed through."

"Let me have a look."

Cole was all business now. He moved Harrison 's arm out of his way and slowly pulled his shirt up. Then he bent down to get a closer look at the injury.

He inwardly blanched when he saw how serious the wound was.

"It's just a scratch, isn't it?"

Cole straightened up. He wondered if Harrison knew how puny his voice sounded. He was fading fast and in need of immediate care.

"Just a scratch," he agreed.

Harrison started to retuck his shirt in his pants. "Some coward tried to ambush us near the ridge. I went after him, but he'd already jumped into the river."

"Did you get a look at his face?"

Harrison nodded. Then he started to walk outside. "I should talk to Adam before I clean up."

Cole moved to his left side and put Harrison 's arm around his shoulder. He forced him to lean into him.

His voice was mild. "He'll give you something to put on your puny cut. You were a gentleman, weren't you? I sure as certain wouldn't have been if I'd been with a pretty girl. Of course my sister's different. I would have had to kill you if you'd touched her."

"I'll be sure to let you know if I do," Harrison replied.

Cole thought it was strange Harrison didn't seem to notice he was holding him up. His worry intensified. It wasn't like Harrison to be so agreeable.

"I'm taking you to the bunkhouse. Adam will come to fix you up. The little scratch is actually deeper than I let on. It's still puny, of course, but you being a city boy and all, well, it should be looked after. I'll go save Mary Rose this time. You've already had a turn with the bushwhacker."

"What are you going to save her from?"

"My brothers. Why do you think everyone was upset? You took Mary Rose off and left us with the witch. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that. She took a shot at Douglas. She said it was an accident, but he doesn't believe her, not after she 'accidentally' shot at the stagecoach driver. None of us believe her. We're giving her the boot before she kills one of us."

Harrison managed a weak smile. "Then you weren't worried about your sister's virtue?"

Of course he'd been worried, but he wasn't about to admit it. He'd seen the way Harrison stared at his sister. Mary Rose had been just as busy staring at Harrison.

"No, I wasn't worried about you two. I was going to say that if you go off with Mary Rose and leave us with Eleanor again, we'll all take turns killing you. That's what I was going to say. I decided to punch you instead. I figured a good punch would get my point across much quicker."

Harrison staggered, regained his balance, and continued on. He thought he'd stepped on a rock and that made him stumble.

"Ah, hell, you're going to make me carry you, aren't you?"

Harrison didn't answer Cole. He couldn't. He'd already passed out in his arms.

Mary Rose let out a shout, picked up her skirts and came running toward them. Everyone followed her.

"What did you do to him. Dear God, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Cole shouted back.

She didn't believe him. "What happened to him?"

She bent down and looked at Harrison 's face. She saw how pale he was and promptly burst into tears.

Douglas was the next one to reach them. "Did you kill him, Cole?" he demanded.

"No."

The injury was serious, but it wasn't life-threatening, and in Cole's mind that meant Harrison was still fair game.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

Cole's grin was devilish. "He fainted."

January 15, 1866

Dear Mama Rose,

Yur suns are mean to me. Adam make me sit by myself at the table just kause I kicked Travis. Adam is a bad boy. Tell him I don't have to sit there by myself. I made a picture for you.

Mary Rose

They were never going to let him live it down. No sir, not ever. Fainting was apparently something mountain men never did, and all of the brothers, including Adam, took fiendish delight in telling him so. Over and over and over again.

Harrison suffered through it, but only because he didn't have any choice. He was too weak to strike back, and once he'd finally regained his strength, three of the four brothers had taken off. Adam stayed home, of course, but Harrison left him alone. The oldest brother had to keep Eleanor calm, and Harrison believed that was enough punishment for any man to suffer.

Now that he'd made up his mind to tell the brothers about Elliott's daughter, he was impatient to get it said. He was forced to wait for all the brothers to come back to the ranch, because he felt it was the only decent thing to do. It wouldn't be right for any of them to get the information secondhand. No, Harrison was determined to tell all of them at the same time.

Waiting made him surly. Adam went up to the ridge with Mary Rose on two separate occasions so she could visit with the woman she now referred to as her dearest friend, and both times they were away, Harrison got stuck entertaining Eleanor. It wasn't a difficult chore, just mind muddling. All he had to do was sit on the front porch and pretend to listen to her complaints.

It took him a good two weeks to get his strength back, and just when he was beginning to feel fit, he got stuck taking Eleanor into Blue Belle.

Cole had finally returned from his hunting trip. On his way home, he had taken time to pick up a couple of items Harrison had requested he look for if he was near Hammond, and so Cole thought he was due a favor in return. He wanted Harrison to accompany him into town. Travis and Douglas had also gone hunting with their brother, and they were now waiting in town for the two of them. Several strangers had arrived in Blue Belle, and Cole wanted Harrison to look them over. If one of them was the bastard who had shot him, well then, Cole would take care of him.

Harrison was more than ready to go anywhere as long as he could get away from Eleanor. He was sitting on the porch with his booted feet propped up on the railing when Cole suggested the outing. Eleanor was seated next to Harrison. She was fanning herself with a week-old newspaper while she complained about the heat.

Cole ignored the woman. He had gone into the kitchen to get something to eat and came back out a few minutes later. He leaned against the post while he told Harrison what he wanted him to do. Eleanor stopped complaining long enough to listen.

She decided she wanted to tag along. "I believe I shall go with you. I have to buy that rude man a new hat."

"No, you can't come with us." Cole gave the denial in a downright mean tone of voice. It was the first time in over two weeks that he'd spoken directly to Eleanor.

She didn't pay any attention to his refusal. She stood up, tossed the newspaper on the floor, and marched inside. "We'll just see about that," she muttered.

"See how easy it was?" Cole remarked. "Am I the only one who can handle Eleanor around here? I said no and she left."