2
"If you could quit playing games with everyone and get to what you want," Elizabeth said, pressing against my left side as if trying to keep me still. Not that I needed to be kept still. I wasn't going to let my emotions get the better of me while there was so much danger. My emotions had always got me into trouble before. I needed to be as clearheaded as possible and hope Ambrose didn't rile anyone up enough to get him or anyone else killed. "That would be better for all of us."
"Well, that's easy," he said, eyeing her. "Originally, I was going to say your daddy would make sure no one touched us as we left. We take him, and we'll be out of your hair."
"Like hell ," Ambrose growled from the ground.
"Come on," I coaxed. "What else?"
Elias smirked. “And you as well. But you'll enjoy your time with me a lot more than he will...if you behave."
"Yes, and behaving has always been what I'm known for," I said dryly.
"I let you get away with too much before," he said with a snort. "I won't make the same mistake again. You'll learn to behave."
"Disgusting," Joseph piped up because he’d never been able to keep his mouth shut, apparently . "You really lowered yourself to...that?"
The question was directed at Ambrose from the way Joseph glared, but Elias answered, turning around to look at him. "Don't be so rude, Joseph. I assure you my Sammy can be quite persuasive when he wants to be."
"Stop," Joseph hissed, and I stared at him, my mouth parting in surprise. I felt Elizabeth nudge me, letting out a soft sound like a whimper. I barely noticed that her movements accidentally knocked the knife attached to my upper arm loose and forced it to slide down the sleeve of my shirt and onto my pant leg.
"Holy shit ," I managed to gasp, staring at Joseph in open shock. "No fucking wonder you were so hellbent on making it seem like they weren't in the area, like they weren't active. You've been working with them . And you're going to judge us ?"
"It wasn't supposed to go like this!" Joseph snapped, shooting to his feet and jabbing a finger at us. Elizabeth flinched, and I felt her twist, hand gripping the knife that had fallen out. I couldn't help but admire her tenacity and self-control. Despite what was happening, she was still thinking ahead, and I quickly got to work sawing through my ropes. "They were just supposed to cause trouble in the area, chase the other ranchers out, and make the town rely on us more! They?—"
"You son of a bitch!" Ambrose roared, getting almost all the way to his feet before leaping forward. Even Elias was caught off guard and didn't have a chance to grab hold of him before Ambrose slammed into his brother, bringing them to the ground with a tremendous crash. Elizabeth shrieked and flailed on the ground, legs kicking, but it seemed no one noticed the knife she'd taken from me sliding across the floor to stop between her father's legs or that I had sliced through my ropes.
Which made complete sense as Ambrose was bellowing and Joseph wasn't much better. Even with his hands tied behind his back, Ambrose was getting some good blows in. Most involved slamming his forehead into Joseph's face and using his knees to slam into whatever else he could reach. It might have been a little ridiculous if it wasn't for the fact that Ambrose was going at it full force the whole time.
"Now, don't be doin' all that," Elias said with a laugh as he bent to grab Ambrose off the ground and yank him up. I looked around the room, surprised to see the two men who’d brought the three of us in were gone, apparently having left when Elias had said to and not just backing up. That left only Elias and his two men, all three of whom were distracted.
I winced as Ambrose slumped, body sagging as Elias drove a fist into his gut. All three were still distracted, and I tucked my legs under me, hoping my back didn't give me too much trouble, and pushed forward. One of the two guards twisted as I leaped at him, but there wasn't much he could do as my knife found a spot between his ribs and drove into his heart. I twisted it, and all he could manage was a soft gasp, his body going rigid then limp. I caught him fumbling with the gun in his holster, but I got hold of it before the other man barreled into me, apparently much quicker than his buddy had been.
I grunted, and the gun flew from my hand as the body and I hit the ground, unable to stop the gasp that was torn out of me as my back hit the floor. Pandemonium had erupted in the room, and I heard shouts and bangs as I fought to get my breath back and try to help. With another heaving gasp, I forced myself to roll over and push to my feet and, upon getting partially up, saw the room was a disaster area.
The other two men apparently hadn't retreated far and had come bursting in. The man who had tackled me to the ground was still there, a hole in his back and his eyes unseeing. The source was clear as the only gun in the room was the one in Elizabeth's shaking hands. Well, they were shaking, but they still managed to hold the gun toward Elias with a sufficiently steady hand.
"I mean it," Elizabeth said, her voice far steadier than it had any right to be. "Pull your guns or make another move, and it will be your boss with a hole in him, not just one of your friends."
"I have to say," Elias said, still holding onto Ambrose, who looked like he’d taken another blow while I was down, "you were not the one I was expecting to give me trouble. You sure you can hit me before they get to you?"
"My hand is plenty steady," she said. "Enough to shoot you anyway."
"And when they gun you down for shooting me?"
"You'll still be dead. I'm sure you don't want that."
"I do like living," he admitted. "Maybe after all this is over, I'll take you and Sammy with me. The both of you will be such?—"
No one had been paying attention to Ambrose, who straightened so quickly there was no way he hadn't been faking how badly he was hurt. I saw his hand slide from inside of his boot, and the flash of a knife was followed by a bright red line across Elias' neck. The blood dribbled down his neck and shirt, soaking it.
His two goons were quick to step forward, but Elizabeth and her father were quicker. The man might have been older, but he drew fast from his belt, and Elizabeth had been right. Her aim was steady enough to shoot again, just not at Elias. Father and daughter each took down a man as Elias stumbled forward, his hand going to his neck, eyes wide with shock.
One bloodied hand reached for me, and I took a step back. “I think not, Elias. You're going to Hell without anyone giving you comfort."
Ambrose kicked the back of Elias' knees out and shoved him to the floor. “I told ya I was gonna kill ya. Now die quick."
It was a brutality I’d never seen from Ambrose, but not one part of me was intimidated or worried. Elias had come to the ranch, willing to burn the whole place down for a chance to enter Ambrose's home to round up his family. He had planned to take his father and then...well, whatever I was to him—and had followed it up by threatening to take Elizabeth as well. Elias' greatest mistake had been threatening everything Ambrose held dear and then underestimating how dangerous a desperate and protective man could be.
For once in his life, Elias did as someone else ordered him to do and died in seconds. He still had that shocked look on his face when he gave a long, rattling breath, a final attempt at clinging to life that was never going to happen. I imagined he would still have that same stupid look on his face when he rolled into Hell, not believing someone could get the jump on him so easily. In the end, his death had come, as I'd once told him, from an unexpected place and because he was too arrogant to see how dangerous a situation was. That wasn't my way of separating from a former lover, my current one killing him, but it was the cleanest way.
"And you," Ambrose snarled, twisting around to find his brother still standing by the chair, utterly dumbfounded.
"Woah woah woah!" I called out as Ambrose advanced on him, knife clenched in his hand. I wrapped my hand around his wrist and held tight. "Ambrose...don't."
"He's the reason all of this happened!" Ambrose snapped at me, tugging at my hold, but I gripped him tighter. "Do you know how many men died because of him? And he was just going to sit there and let them take our father, our sister, and...and you ."
"I know," I told him softly, tugging his wrist so I could set a hand on his chest. "But this is your rage and your pain talking, not you. We both know you would never be able to live with yourself if you killed your brother. He's dung, no, he's lower than that because dung actually has a use around here. He's a foul, backstabbing traitor who was willing to help a murderous bunch of outlaws hurt people because of his own ambitions. And he was willing to sit there and do nothing as the people you love were threatened by one of the foulest men I've known. But if you kill him, you will never be able to take that back. You will have to live with it for the rest of your days. Are you prepared to do that?"
His chest heaved under my touch, but the tugging against my hold abated as he stared at me with wide eyes. Eventually, he snorted, turning away from his brother and tossing the knife aside. "I could. But I don't want to. He isn't worth it."
"You're damn right he's not," I said with a smile. "There are ways to deal with people like him that don't involve killing him."
"Fine, we'll..." His jaw tightened, and without him saying anything, I knew what was going to happen, so I stepped back. Sure enough, Ambrose twisted around and drove his fist into his brother's jaw. Joseph went rigid, eyes rolling up into his head before he dropped to the ground in a slump, "deal with him later."
"That's…fuck!" I snapped as the front doors burst in, and we all whirled around. We calmed immediately when we saw Walter and a handful of men, fully armed, pushing into the house. "Jesus Christ, Lord above, what is wrong with you all?"
"We heard gunfire," Walter said, looking around as he gripped a rifle in his hand. "Got a few men together and came as quick as we could."
"And about sent me onto the great beyond in the process," I huffed. "There's still some men in the?—"
"They're gone," a new voice piped up, and we turned to find Hipolita walking out. I raised a brow at the iron pan in her hand, which I'd seen her use before, but?—
"The blood stain is new," I noted.
She smiled. “Those boys were awfully nice not to tie me up as tightly as they did you. When everything started happening, some of them ran out. The others didn't know what they wanted to do. All it took was a good smack, and the rest made up their minds and fled. Can't imagine they'll get very far, but?—"
"But not our problem," I said with a smirk. "I knew I liked you."
"The fire?" Ambrose asked, turning to Walter.
"As good as it's gonna get right now. We got it under control," he said, looking around again. "Kinda looks like you got everything under control here, 'cept your brother, that is."
A harsh shadow crossed Ambrose's face. “Speakin' of, take him and...you know what? Lock him up where we were keepin' these three. We can find other places for 'em to stay because all three of 'em proved themselves several times, especially tonight. Lock it up tight. I don't want him gettin' out while we figure out what to do with him."
It was the first time I'd seen Ambrose give an order and be met with hesitation. It was unsurprising that it was Walter who recovered first, giving a nod. “Alright, we can do that...tell me more later?"
"Sure," Ambrose said with a grunt and nod. "Get everyone back on duty to keep that fire contained. We'll set up a work and sleep roster for the next few days for the clean-up. I'll be out there soon."
"You got it," Walter said, and he and another man grabbed Joseph's unconscious body and carried him out, nodding respectfully toward us before leaving.
"Lord," Hipolita sighed. "This mess is going to take forever to clean up. We might do with a couple of men to get the bodies out of here. The girls and I can take care of the blood. Suppose it's only right that I get the cooks going on some meals. It sounds like we're going to be busy."
"That...is a good idea," Ambrose said, frowning at her. "We'll get the bodies out soon."
"Good, then I'll get the girls moving and the cooks back to the kitchen," she said, bowing to us and leaving.
"She...did not seem particularly bothered by all this gore," Ambrose said with a frown.
"Clearly, she's seen a lot in her lifetime," I said with a shrug. "Haven't you learned that people can surprise you?"
He glanced at me, smiling. "Yeah, I guess ya got a point there."
Elizabeth set her gun down and turned to her father. “Where are the kids?"
"My office," he said, the first words he'd said during the whole thing. "It's the only place with a lock, so they wouldn't need a guard."
"Where is the key?"
"Where else?"
"Right."
Elizabeth walked over to Elias' bloody corpse and bent down to search his pockets and his belt, pulling out a ring of keys. She slid them around until she found the one she was looking for and walked off. I figured she’d be back after checking on the children but wouldn't bring them with her. As much as kids in this part of the country got used to seeing violence and blood, there was no point in unduly exposing them to it when they were still so young.
"You know," I said after a moment. "I imagine Joseph probably had plenty more to say on his behalf. In fact, I'm sure he had a book's worth of reasons for what he did, and you cut him right off."
"He can't make this right," Ambrose said. "And him tryin' to explain it away is just gonna make me wanna punch him again and maybe not stop."
"Understood," I said, turning to his father. "You seem awfully unsurprised and calm about all this."
"I'm usually calm," he told me.
"One might even say cold and uncaring."
"One can exist without the other."
"So you aren't cold, but you are uncaring?"
Ambrose sighed. “."
I chuckled. “Sorry, sorry. I'll try not to be an antagonistic ass for a while."
"I give you two minutes before you break," Ambrose said, turning to his father. " Are you alright, Father?"
"As good as I can be considering the losses we've taken today, not the least of which is a betrayal not only from within but one of my own children," he said with a shake of his head. For a moment, I saw his expression waver, catching a flash of pain before it disappeared. "My father told me the world was not as gray and bleak as some made it sound, for even in darkness, there is light to be found if you look hard enough."
Ambrose blinked, a little surprised, but cleared his throat. “What light is that?"
"That my family's teachings rang true because we have plenty of people here willing to fight for this place and this family. No fire can take that from us, only the buildings which can be replaced. I might have lost my oldest today, but I discovered that my other son and my daughter are more than capable of handling things. There was nothing I could do to fix this problem, and yet you two," he said and glanced at me, "and you, as well, all found a way to fight back. Whether it was the fire or the attack that was meant to be hidden by the fire, you all found a way. If I were to die tomorrow, I would die knowing this place is not going to fall apart without my part being played."
"You're still important here," Ambrose said, eyes wide with shock.
"For now," came the reply. "But it's about damn time you realized you're better than you think you need to be. I taught you as best I could and tried to guide you in my way, so now it's time for you to take whatever you learned from that and start using it. Stop playing a backstage role and acting like you belong there. You are your mother's son in your heart, but the rest of you is an Isaiah...and today marks the first time I've seen you prove that."
I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut because it was obvious Ambrose was at a complete loss for words. That wasn't exactly the rousing 'I'm so proud of you, son' speech Ambrose had been hoping for all his life, but it was far more than he'd ever believed he'd hear. I thought it could have been a little more heartfelt, but considering that heartfelt wasn't my style either, I would keep my comments to myself.
"Now, I'm going to go see how progress is doing with the ranch," he continued, straightening his back. "I'll expect the two of you to pitch in as well."
"Of course," Ambrose said.
"Will you be bunking the other two former outlaws with the rest of the men?"
"Father?"
"Well, I imagine will be bunking with you for the foreseeable future and?—"
Ambrose choked. “Father?"
The older man snorted. “Don't give me that. Be better than to deny it."
"I just...it's not?—"
I took pity. “I think what Ambrose is trying to say is?—"
"I know what he's trying to say, but there's no point in having a conversation about it. I need someone who will take my place one day, and that will be him. What he does otherwise is between him and the Lord...and you, I suppose," he said, turning away. "Now, the other two?"
"If they...want to bunk with the men, sure. But if not, don't see why we couldn't give them the choice to leave and be free men if they want."
"Think they're ready?"
"Yes."
"You're willing to stake our reputation on it?"
"Yes."
"Are you?"
" Yes ."
"Good, see to it then."
We watched him leave, with Ambrose still looking confused and worried, and I was just...bemused. "You know, every time I think I have your dad figured out, he turns around and does something that completely throws that theory out the window."
"I never thought I was gonna understand 'em," Ambrose said with a slow shake of his head. "This just proves it."
I snorted, turning toward him and looking him over. "They roughed you up pretty good. Are you okay?"
"I'm going to be feelin' it, that's for sure," he said, a hand going to the wound on his head and another over his stomach. "But I'll live."
"I'll give you a look over later, in private," I said, turning toward him and reaching up to touch his cheek. "If our cabin didn't get burned down."
"It didn't."
"Good."
"Hey, ?"
"Mhm?"
"Did you really...I mean...with him?"
"Remember when I said I did a lot of things I'm not proud of in order to survive?"
"He was one of them?"
"If not top of the list, it's close."
"But you never?—"
"I never went along with his plans or his schemes, no. I left when I couldn't stomach pretending to be into him anymore or that I was okay with what was happening. Couldn't do anything about it at the time, so I just...left. I don't want to think about what he did after I was gone either because he was getting worse even then."
"?"
"Yes?"
"I don't care that you were with him. Not just because it was someone else, but I don't care about your past that much anymore."
I squinted at him. “You still kind of care."
He smiled almost shyly at that. “A little, but I know how to live with it until it goes away. Too much happened today for me to worry about stuff like that."
"I suppose we'll call that a victory," I said, leaning forward and kissing him. "We'll celebrate another time. There's still plenty to do."
"Will you...not leave my side tonight and maybe the rest of the day? This could've gone wrong in so many ways, and the thought that I could've...well, I'd feel better with you there."
"You got it," I said, laying my head against his chest and letting him wrap me in his arms. "But hey, uh, Ambrose?"
"What?"
"Earlier, I said that Joseph let Elias threaten everyone you love."
"Right, why are ya remindin' me?"
"Because Elias threatened me."
"Right, yeah...okay?"
"Does that mean you consider me someone you love?"
He peered down at me, a flurry of emotions flying over his face and in his eyes before his expression finally softened. "You know, I guess I do."
I snorted. “That's the worst proclamation of love I've ever heard, you know that?"
"Do you think o' me as someone you love?" he asked wryly.
I grimaced. “I don't know...yet?"
I was a little surprised to see him continue to smile. “That's alright. We got time to figure it out...don't we?"
And I thought I knew what he was asking because he’d just talked about giving the other two the chance to leave if they wanted to be free of the ranch. Which meant the option was open to me as well. That would mean going back on the road and being free like I'd enjoyed, but away from here...away from him. Because against all odds, he had managed to find a way into my heart. Whether that was a place of love or something building to that, I didn't know, but what he wanted to know was if I was going to stick around long enough to find out.
"We do," I said, closing my eyes and resting my face against his chest again. "We've got plenty of time."