Chapter Sixteen
L evi sat on that log long after Walker left him. He sipped his whiskey, watching the sun descend upon the snow-capped peaks. Wind swept through the valley, a chill settling deep inside his bones. Follow the river. The old man was right, goddammit. And with his path laid out in front of him, he stood. He only prayed it was the right one.
“Where in tarnation have you been, Levi Gantry?” With her hands on her hips, Mary Alice let out a loud sigh. “We’ve been holding supper for you.”
“Sorry, I was talking with Josiah. Lost track of time.”
She glanced across the camp to where Walker sat eating with his daughters, then lowered her gaze to the bottle in his fingers, and with a lift of her brow, gave him a pointed look.
“The stew sure smells good,” he said to appease her. “Where’s Eli?”
“I’ll go and fetch him.” Victoria jumped up from a rickety wood stool at the mention of his name.
“Do that.”
At supper, Elizabeth sat on Victoria’s lap, a bowl of stew cradled in hers. Eli gazed at the elder twin, flush darkening his cheekbones, while he sopped up gravy with a chunk of fresh- baked bread they’d gotten at the fort. If Levi didn’t know better, which he did, he’d swear the man was smitten with his sister. “This is a mighty fine supper, Victoria. Mighty fine.”
“But I didn’t—”
“Would you imagine that? I managed to fix a meal without burning it.” Her tone haughty, Mary Alice set Elijah straight and thumbed her nose at Levi. “And without a proper stove, too.”
“Practice,” he said with a wink, ignoring her petulance. “Didn’t I tell you?”
She folded her arms across her chest with a harrumph.
Levi turned his attention to Eli. “After supper, I need you to help me round up all the families. Me and Walker need to talk to ‘em.”
“Why?”
“We’re at a crossroads here, good brother.” Literally and figuratively . Levi set his bowl down, pursing his lips to the side. “This is where every man has to decide whether to continue on to California, Oregon, or spend winter here and pick up again come spring.”
“We are going to California,” Mary Alice insisted, kicking her foot at the ground. “Papa said so.”
“Well, father isn’t here anymore, is he?”
“I will not stay here, Levi. Do you hear me?”
“And I will not risk losing you ,” he shouted, holding onto her shoulders. Levi looked into her innocent, doll-like eyes and calmed his voice. “Or your sister. We’ve lost far too much already.”
Their mother. Their Father. Caleb. Elijah’s parents and his sister, too.
“What are you saying, brother?”
“It’s too late, Victoria.” He gazed at her, the child on her lap, as if he’d failed them somehow, his hands falling away from her twin. “We’ll never make it through the mountains.”
“So, we’re staying?” Elijah asked.
“No.”
“Where are we going, then?” Her lip trembling, Mary Alice placed her hand in his.
He squeezed it. “Home.”
Only Levi couldn’t tell them exactly where that was yet. Following the Prairie Hen north was the only workable option. With winter looming, he couldn’t risk taking them into the Rockies, and the trading post was no place for young Elizabeth and his sisters. They understood that. Elijah did, too.
The man he called brother came to his side. “You reckon we’ll be able to convince the others?”
“Not even gonna try,” Levi said, pushing the hair out of his face. “All we can do is tell ‘em what their choices are. Whichever road they choose is up to them.”
He just nodded.
“One more thing.” And he hooked his arm around Elijah’s neck. “Lucy is coming with us. I’m going to ask Josiah for her hand.”
Mary Alice gasped.
Looking at her twin, Victoria grinned. “Told you so.”
“Is that all right with you, little sister?”
“Well, I suppose so.” She pretended to mull it over for a moment, then a smile came over her face and she giggled. “Lucy is a far better cook than I’ll ever be.”
The head of every family in their party gathered around the campfire. Elijah opened a bottle of whiskey and passed it to Archer. Levi handed a second bottle to Lewis while he and Walker told it to them straight.
“I say we keep goin’,” George Dalton said. “We got another month, maybe two, before the snow comes.”
“Heh.” Walker took the bottle from Lewis, and after downing a swig, he wiped off his mouth on the back of his hand. “That’s what the Donner folks said, too, and y’all know what happened to them, don’t ya?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
“A damn tragedy, George, that’s what.” With a shake of his head, he passed the bottle to Dalton. “Just last year, they got caught in an early storm up in the Sierra Nevada. Thirty-nine souls perished, and the ones who didn’t? Well, rumor has it they had to eat the flesh of the dead to stay alive.”
“Don’t believe it.” He waved Josiah off and raised the whiskey to his lips. “I still say we keep goin’.”
“If that’s what you wanna do, ain’t no one gonna stop you.” With a half-hearted shrug, Walker looked away, his gaze flitting from one man to another. “Y’all are gonna have to decide for yourselves. Sleep on it. Tomorrow you can rest, but unless you plan to make arrangements with Bridger to shelter here, you’d be wise to get movin’ by the following morning.”
Dalton turned from the fire with a nod, taking the bottle of whiskey with him.
Then, one by one, the others got up and followed.
Levi cast his glance to Lucy, who sat over by the wagons with Fallon, Elizabeth, and his sisters, and, taking in a lungful of courage, he tapped on Walker’s shoulder. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Go on, then. Ask.”
“I find myself in love with your daughter, sir.”
“I know.” Cracking a grin, he picked up the bottle Archer had left and tipped it into his mouth.
“I want to take her with me.” Levi took the whiskey from his hand and set it down. “So, I’d like your permission to ask her to be my wife.”
“Yup, seen it comin’.” Walker bent his neck back, and gazing skyward, he closed his eyes. “You have my blessing, young man, but know, you have to take her sister, too.”
It never occurred to him that Lucy and Fallon wouldn’t want to be separated. Perhaps it should have. But was their father prepared to say his farewells to them both? Because it was likely that once they left this place, they’d never set eyes on each other again, and the mountain man would be all alone.
“But what about you, Josiah?”
“Never mind me.” His golden eyes glowing in the firelight, he sat back on an elbow and held the bottle poised at his lips. “I’m an old man, Levi. Raised ‘em as best I could. I’ll be able to rest easy knowin’ my girls will be cared for, settled, and loved. This ain’t no kinda life for ‘em.”
That he understood. It’s what Levi wanted for his sisters, wasn’t it? He only hoped that when the time came to let them go, he’d prove to be as selfless.
“Of course.” He patted Josiah’s shoulder, offering some comfort. “Fallon is welcome to come with us, if that’s what she wishes.”
“She does.” And he drank. “My daughters will favor you with many sons.”
Daughters?
“Sir?”
“You heard me right. Did you mistake my meaning?” Laughter bellowing from his throat, Walker put the bottle in his hand. “Judgin’ by that look on your face, I reckon you did. See, if you want my Lucy as your wife, then you’ll be weddin’ my Fallon, too.”
Every person who’s ever been, whether living or dead, is connected to everyone else. The ripple effect of their existence, their contribution on this earth, great or small, indelibly marks it. Jennifer Brogan Brooks might not have been among them for very long, but her absence was keenly felt. Forever woven into the rich tapestry of their story. Life in Brookside would never be quite the same, but it would go on, all of them fortunate to have known her.
The circumstances of her tragic demise remained a mystery. She was only thirty-six, yet the coroner ruled that since there were no indications of foul play, her death was because of an unknown natural cause. In the two months since Jennifer’s passing, folks hadn’t stopped talking about Matthew’s curse and the similarities in the deaths of his three wives. And who could blame them?
Because Jake wondered, too. He had his theories, but kept them to himself. What good would it do to voice them? The only thing that mattered now was being there for Arien, Matthew, and his sons, helping them out at the ranch, and giving them whatever they needed to heal.
In summers past, on any other pleasant Sunday morning, Jake, his brother, Tanner, and Kellan would saddle up the horses and ride out to the lake to go fishing. Bring home the trout they caught for supper. He missed those days. They didn’t have a care in the world back then.
“Billy, wake up.” So what if it was six a.m.? He crossed his brother’s room and plopped down on his bed.
He rolled over. “Fuck off, Jake. I’m sleepin’.”
“C’mon, bro.” He pulled on Billy’s shoulder. “I got an idea.”
“Chrissakes, what is it?” And he sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“I was just thinkin’ about when we used to take off for the day and go fishin’.”
Billy’s eyebrows squished together, and rubbing his temple, he tilted his head to the side.
What? Did ya think I woke you up to reminisce?
Hardly.
“Let’s go get Emily. Take her to the lake.” His brow raised, Jake nodded, tugging on the ends of Billy’s hair. “What do ya say?”
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Smitty’s meetin’ us over at the house today, remember?” Billy leaned back against the headboard, tucking a pillow behind his head. “He’s helpin’ out with the electrical.”
Shit .
“I forgot, dammit.” And he’d been the one who scheduled it, too.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Tyler Smith gave up cowboying for his trade. For the past one hundred and twenty-five years, once they could harness the energy of the mountain’s running stream, it was his family who gained the skills that powered Brookside’s homes. Hell, master electricians, the Smiths probably wired half of the houses from Jackson to Dubois. Ranching was in Tyler’s blood, though. Same as his. Every year, they jumped back in the saddle to round up the cattle for market in the fall.
“We both don’t need to be there.” Stretching his arms out over his head, Billy closed his eyes and smiled. “Take Em to the lake. She’d love that.”
“She would.”
“With everything goin’ on at the ranch, she could do with a day away.”
Her devotion to those she loved was unmatched. Emily was there, sunup to sundown, doing anything she could to ease her uncle’s sorrow or see her cousins smile.
How lucky was he to be loved by her?
Pretty darn lucky .
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” he said, and with the sleepy smile never leaving his face, Billy turned onto his side. “Now, go.”
“She’s gonna ask where you are, bro.” And the same as he’d done since they were kids, with a parting noogie, Jake stood. “What am I supposed to tell her?”
“Tell her I’m workin’ on building our future.”
Indeed.
But Jake couldn’t exactly say that, now could he?
And just the same, he couldn’t lie.
The dapple gray and sorrel gelding walked side by side, their gait unhurried, along the bank of the clear-running stream. With a forceful chuff, Blaze cleared the dust from his nose. Named for the wide, white marking that ran down the middle of his face, while not very original, it fit him. Jake patted the horse’s smooth mane, taking his gaze from the beauty beside him to a small copse of trees up ahead.
It was the perfect spot. While picking up a picnic lunch at Harry’s, he decided the lake wouldn’t do. Anyone could come upon them there, and Jake wanted Emily to himself. Here, at a bend in the stream, they could hide away from the world, on a blanket in a shelter of pine.
He pointed to it. “We can stop there.”
“Okay.” Shielding her eyes from the sun, she smiled over at him. “Why didn’t Billy come with you?”
What did I tell you, bro?
Prepared, the answer rolled off his tongue. “He wanted to, but he promised Tyler he’d do some wiring with him today.”
“Oh.” She didn’t question it. Thank fuck . “Have you heard from Kellan or Tanner yet?”
“No.” Jake glanced at her. With green eyes sparkling and her grin wide, Emily looked positively giddy. Bursting at the seams, it was apparent to him she was having a hard time holding something in. “Should I have?”
“Eek! They’re gettin’ hitched, baby,” she exclaimed, bouncing in her seat.
“No shit?” Not that he was surprised.
“No shit.” Emily dismounted, leaving Ruby to graze by the trees. “They’re announcing the news at supper tonight, so act like you didn’t know, but Arien called and told me this morning.”
“When?”
“They don’t have a date yet, but soon.”
“Every good thing in the world is born of something not.”
Levi’s words rang true. The sun always shines after a storm. Tragedy gives way to happiness. Matthew’s vision realized, they truly were meant to be. Did it take her mother’s death for Arien to see it? Maybe. But then, without the bad, it’s difficult to appreciate the good.
“Arien said it was all thanks to you—for talkin’ sense into her.” Emily stepped into the circle of his arms, her pretty greens gazing up at him. “What in the world did you say?”
“Didn’t say nothin’.” He let his fingers slide through her hair. “We can all see it. They love her. She loves them. I just asked her why she was fighting it.”
What’s in your head can fuck you up, but your heart can’t lie .
Leaning into him, Emily palmed his cheek. “I guess she couldn’t find a reason to fight no more.”
“There never was.”
“Now, we can all find our way back to happy.” And with a pat on his chest, she turned from him and spread the blanket on the grass.
“I am happy.”
He had her.
“Kiss me, cowboy.”
And he did.
Holding her close, Jake slammed his mouth on hers. He breathed in primrose, beebalm, and the fresh scent of pine, sliding his hands inside her denim shorts. His fingers on smooth, bare skin, he pushed her softness into the hardness in his jeans.
Rubbing the sweat on his neck with her lips, Emily whimpered. “Yes. Jesus, touch me.”
He took off her shirt, then his own. Her breaths quickening, he watched her chest rise and fall. Big, rosy nipples protruding against transparent lace, he lowered the cups and freed them.
Teasing her a little, his thumbs skimmed around the areolae. He loved how the contractile flesh puckered at his touch, how the goosebumps sheeted her skin. But those dusky-rose nipples beckoned for his attention. Barely there circles, flicks, and pinches, and rubs. He toyed with them, listening to her sounds, watching them swell. His mouth watering for her, Jake sucked a swollen bud into his mouth.
As if she had milk, he fed from her, his cock throbbing at just the thought. Someday, she’d give birth to their babies, and with her breasts round and full, he and Billy would lie in their bed beside her, suckling on her nipples, their fingers fucking her warm, wet cunt. God, how he longed for it. All of it.
Sharing Emily with his brother.
Breeding her together.
Seeing her grow big and round with their child.
Drinking her milk from her breasts.
He hoped they had a dozen babies, though he’d be just as happy with one. She and Billy were the two people he loved most in this world. He’d do anything asked of him, risk life or limb, for either of them.
“Fuck, Jake, I’m dyin’. Please, baby, I need your hands all over me.”
I need that, too.
“We’re alone here, michante .” Sliding her shorts and panties down her legs, Jake lowered himself to his knees. “And we’ve got all day.”
I wanna worship this pussy .
“I don’t care if the whole damn town is watchin’ us.”
He looked up at her. Her pupils were as big as saucers. “I think you’d like it if they were.”
“I just might.”
He’d gladly give her that if she wanted it. Jake knew Emily enjoyed watching. Maybe she was into being watched, too.
“My wild, dirty girl.” He kissed the bare lips of her pussy, his tongue sweeping over her clit as he parted her thighs. “Spread.”
That’s my girl .
Sweet essence dripped from the place his dick ached to stretch open. With his hand in his pants, Jake stroked himself, slurping the juice from her hole. She held onto his hair, squirming against his tongue that circled her clit.
“Wider.” He slid two fingers inside her. “Yeah, baby, just like that.”
“Don’t go easy, Jake,” she said on trembling thighs.
“You tell me when it’s too much.”
Because I’ve got to ruin this pretty little pussy, baby. Stretch it wide and fuck you hard .
It was his duty to prepare her body to take them inside her someday. Emily wasn’t the only one who dreamt of them fucking her together. He and his brother dreamt of it, too. They spoke of it often. Many a night, they jerked themselves off, imagining what it would feel like with their dicks side by side in her pussy, especially now that Billy couldn’t touch her.
“Never.” Emily rode his fingers and, bearing down, she took him in deeper. “It’ll never be too much.”
And it’ll never be enough .
Not until his brother was free to love her with him.
He fucked her hard for them both, telling her how they couldn’t wait to stuff their cocks together into her tight little hole. How he watched his brother beat his dick, blowing like a freight train, every time they talked about it.
“Oh, Jesus. Fuck.”
Jake watched the cum spray out of her. Holding her lips open, he slapped her clit over and over again. And she kept on coming.
He pushed his fingers back inside her. “Again?”
“Yes, please.” She widened her stance. “And this time, fuck me even harder.”
This. Girl.
He and his brother were so incredibly favored. No one on this earth could love them better than their wild and beautiful Emily. And no one would love her better than them.
A few weeks later, he and his brother watched Emily in Miss Lilly’s lavender dress as she preceded Arien down the aisle to meet Kellan and Tanner at the stones. Jake glanced at Billy. He gave his hand a squeeze. Neither one of them had to say it. In their mind’s eye, they saw her as a vision wearing white.