Jodi Thomas - Texas Rain

His words didn't sound harsh, but they weren't loving, as she'd hoped for. He was ordering her again. Doing his job, nothing more.

Rainey picked up the cold coffee cup and moved toward the door. She wanted to turn around and run to him. She wished she could make the gentle man who held her in the night be the man who faced her in the day.

"What is it?" He stood behind her.

Rainey didn't turn around. "I wish… I wish…" How could she tell him? He'd had to be strong to survive. He needed to be strong for them all to be safe, but she needed to know how he felt. Just saying he loved the way she felt wasn't enough. Just telling Mike that she was his didn't matter. "I wish," she tried again. "I wish I could write to you about how I feel. I wish you could write to me. Somehow in your letters I saw you clearer. I felt closer to you all the time, not just at night when we touch."

"I've never had time for words," he answered.

"I know. I understand, but I still need them. Maybe because I never had them, either."

He grabbed her shoulder and turned her against a dusty table. Standing behind her he shoved with his body until the table pressed into her legs. Then, he leaned over her, bending her down until his hand touched the thick layer of dust.

Rainey fought down a cry. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but she wanted gentleness, and, except for the shadows, Travis didn't seem to have any.

He slid his free hand around her waist and held her tightly against him as his fingers moved in the dust, printing boldly three words.

I love you.

When she didn't move, he wrote them again and again and again. His hold around her was tight, his body stiff behind her, but he wrote the words over and over.

Tears filled her eyes and dripped atop the dust.

She fought his grip and twisted in his embrace. "How many times are you going to write it?"

He stared down at her, his jaw set in granite, his body unyielding, his eyes filled with need. "Until you believe me."

Travis knew if trouble found them, it would be before sunset. He'd talked with Roy and Dillon after breakfast. The three old maids seemed to think the Rangers protecting them were gentlemen callers. They were happy to be in protective custody.

Dillon said he had one Ranger follow behind Mike and Sage as they left Austin. After a few miles they were well ahead of him, so the shadow stopped and waited. No one else followed the couple. So Travis assumed Sage was safely on her way home.

Travis almost laughed. If Mike Saddler thought he had trouble with him, wait till her met her other two brothers.

Mrs. Vivian's slave was still missing, but at least they hadn't found a body. Travis considered that good news.

Dillon planned to bring Haskell in for more questioning, but he thought the saloon owner was probably only guilty of wanting to make some fast money.

That left Dottie and Rainey to watch over. Whoever was trying to wipe up the mess left from the kidnapping would want them the most. Dottie had shot one of the brothers, and Rainey had not only ruined their plan, she'd killed another brother. If Eldon wanted revenge on Travis before, he must be double mad at the women.

Travis leaned against the wall and tried to sleep. Anyone trying to enter the restaurant from the front would have to make some noise and he'd long ago trained himself to come fully awake at the slightest sound.

In a few hours the saloon would open next door and they'd no longer be able to slip into the place through the cellar. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out where they were and came after Dottie and Rainey. He thought of taking them and running, but he didn't want either woman to spend her life looking over her shoulder.

He hoped they'd get this mess straightened out before anyone found Rainey or the widow. The Ranger station was half a block away. Close enough to hear a shot if Travis needed help.

Travis fell asleep and dreamed once more of the smell of tea around him. He was reading in a chair by a fire and all was right with the world. He shifted in his sleep and the dream shifted as well. Now he was standing before a man holding up a Bible. Travis looked down into the man's eyes and saw a question, even though he stood silently in front of Travis. As before in his dream, Travis knew the Bible held a gun.

The light touch of a little hand on his arm woke him.

Travis growled at Duck. "Morning, son."

Duck smiled and growled back. He climbed into Travis's lap and stared up at him.

Travis patted the boy's head. "I needed to talk to you," he began. "If trouble comes…" He hesitated, thinking of how to word what needed to be said. "If I pull my gun or anyone else does, I want you to disappear as quick as a rabbit jumping in a hole."

Travis looked at the boy. He knew there would be all kinds of trouble if he tried to make Duck leave him, but he didn't want to think about the boy being in harm's way. "Do you understand?"

Duck nodded and leaned against Travis.

Travis whispered, more to himself than the boy, "They'll be coming after Rainey, if they come. I'll need to be protecting her, so I have to know you're safe."

Duck pulled the knife Travis had given him from his pocket. It wasn't large, but it was still too big for him to open.

Travis smiled. "I guess we're about as ready as we can be."

Duck nodded and slipped his knife back into his pocket. He pulled out a string and began playing with it. Travis watched him for a while in the silent stillness of the morning.

Roy wandered in with a cup of coffee and sat down across from Travis. He watched Duck for a few minutes and said, "Beats me how kids and women take to you, McMurray. You're about as friendly as a rattler. I never see you say one nice thing to that pretty little Rainey Adams, and you growl at the kid like you're a bear fixing to eat him."

"Mind your own business," Travis said without looking away from the window.

"You see." Roy pointed at him. "That's what I mean. We've been riding together off and on for years, and I didn't even know you have a ranch north of here. Wouldn't know now if Rainey hadn't told me."

Travis changed the subject. "Do all women talk so much?"

Roy laughed and straightened. Now they were on a subject he considered himself an expert in. Women. He opened his mouth to start twice, then stopped. Finally he simply said, "Yes."

They sat in silence watching the street beyond the boarded window come to life.

Roy finally remembered his coffee. After he took a drink, he put his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "They found some interesting things in Mrs. Vivian's room last night. It seems she was a bit of the thief. She not only stole from her boarders from time to time, but she lifted things from homes around her block when she knew her neighbors were away. Even furniture. She must have had some help because there was no way one woman could haul a dresser down the street."

Travis listened without being surprised.

Roy continued. "She'd been selling some stuff off. According to her accounts at stores around town, she was in deep debt, but the day of the kidnapping she paid for everything with cash."

Travis grew more interested. "You think someone paid her off to be gone during the kidnapping?"

Roy shook his head. "I think someone paid her to tip them off that Sage was coming that morning."

"But she knew I was a Ranger and always traveled with Sage."

Roy nodded. "I think she was planning on that. She took the money and tipped the Normans off thinking that you'd be in the foyer like always and you'd save the day. Then her house would be talked about in a good way. Sage would be safe. The Normans would be in jail or dead, and she could keep the money. I think the old crow thought she'd come out ahead."

Travis agreed. "And since she was gone at the time it happened, no one would look in her direction."

"Right. There was only one person close enough for her to pass the message to when Sage came."

"Haskell," Travis answered. "No matter which way we turn, his name keeps coming up."

Rainey stepped into the front room. "Morning," she said, aware that she had broken up their conversation. "Sorry to interrupt."

Roy stood and offered her a chair, claiming she'd always be a welcome interruption.

Travis studied her. Something had changed about her. She hadn't said a word all morning, but he could tell something was different. She moved with more confidence. There was a glow about her. He grinned, wondering if it could be something as simple as the fact that she knew she was loved.

"Rainey," Roy commented. "Are you sure there were four horses?"

Rainey frowned. "It all happened so fast. I could be wrong."

"The undertaker put Seth's out front of his store yesterday as soon as he got the box made. Several people walked by and identified him before they nailed the lid on." Roy glanced at Travis. "We kept a man watching. No sign of Eldon or Old Man Norman."

Rainey looked from one to the other. "You were hoping Seth's body would draw them out?"

"It was a chance. We'd like to get this wrapped up."

"It would be a bigger chance of him coming out if he knew where I was."

Travis wanted to call her a liar. But she was right. He also knew she was drawing a target on her back.

Rainey straightened her shoulders. "Tell Dillon I'm tired of hiding. Dottie and I have been talking about opening this place back up as a bakery someday. Tell Dillon someday is coming tomorrow."

Roy said he'd be back as soon as he could and left. When he was gone, Travis said as calmly as he could, "You shouldn't have done that." He'd considered yelling but knew it wouldn't change her mind. She'd run into trouble full speed since the night she'd met him and thought she was saving him from the cowhands. She'd done it again to save Sage.

She faced him. "I can't hide forever. I've been thinking about it. If Eldon knows where I'm at, he'll come after me. I've got you and Roy to protect me. Mamie may be hiding somewhere with no one watching over her."

Travis read her mind. "You know where the slave is, don't you?"

She raised her chin. "I have a good idea."

"This isn't a game, Rainey. Mamie may already be dead. You're betting your life here."

"Then why didn't you stop me?" She moved closer.

He shrugged. "Because I'd have done the same thing. The longer we wait, the less the threat seems real. In a few days, a week, we'll get reckless, take chances we shouldn't. If trouble's coming, I'd just as soon face it now."

He circled his arm around her. "And if trouble comes for you, he'll have to step over me to get you."

At twilight Rainey lit the lamp in the kitchen and felt a shift in the air. A breeze, as if someone had opened a window in another part of the house. Only there were no windows in Dottie's kitchen.

She glanced at Travis and saw him lift his head ever so slightly. He'd felt it, also, but he made no sudden move.

The day had been exhausting but they were still both on full alert. First, when Roy returned just before noon, he brought two Rangers with him. He said that if she wanted to make pies, they'd go get her supplies from the Langland place and bring it over. He also said Dillon had told him to unblock the front door. The restaurant might not be open for business, but they were no longer hiding. The Rangers would bring her supplies in through the front.

When Rainey nodded, Roy winked and added, "We all think you are one brave lady, and we'll do our best to protect you."

"Thank you," she said, hoping the best would be enough.

An hour later Dottie's dead husband's partner showed up to demand they leave. He claimed the smell of pie was filtering through to his half of the building, and he was losing customers. Apparently the smell reminded the drunks that they needed to go home.

Dottie stood up to the man. She was surprised how fast he backed down and started acting respectful. She didn't see Roy standing behind her checking his gun. By mid-afternoon the little kitchen was as busy as a train station with Rainey making pies and Dottie visiting with people who stopped by to see what was going on.

The judge dropped in to tell Travis the group of lawyers had approved him to the bar. Judge Gates promised if he'd hang around for six months and intern, the judge would sign his state license to practice.

Rainey was surprised at how little the news seemed to matter to Travis, but she had a feeling the judge understood.