Chapter 5
Blade was worried about Millie. Finding Margaret dead must have been a horrible shock, and he could only hope that it didn’t set back her progress.
Blade knew that there was a good chance Millie would never speak again.
Dr. Masterson had treated people like her before and had warned Blade not to get his hopes up.
Blade wanted nothing more than to see Millie happy again.
She used to love singing and dancing. She was such a happy child.
Austin and his men had taken that from her.
They had destroyed everything Blade and Millie held dear.
Blade’s anger toward his uncle grew exponentially.
After all these years, he still couldn’t understand how Austin could kill his own brother.
Even as a child, Blade had known that Austin was unstable.
His father had warned him never to trust his uncle Austin.
The man drank too much, gambled, and liked to get into fights.
Despite all of that, Blade’s father still loved his brother and wanted to help him.
Obviously, Austin did not feel the same.
Blade was feeling uneasy and needed to be grounded.
His anger at his uncle was overwhelming, and one of the few people he knew could calm him down was Dakota.
She understood him more than anybody else and shared his anger and pain.
Blade and Millie weren’t the only ones who lost their parents; Dakota did, too.
Luckily, she lived not too far from them, and her house was on the way to Wolfe’s office.
Dakota was out front, brushing her horse. Their love for animals was another thing that Blade and Dakota shared. As soon as she saw him, a huge smile formed on her face.
“You done for the day?” she asked as he approached.
Blade shook his head, unable to return her smile.
The expression on Dakota’s face changed from happiness to worry. “What happened?”
“Margaret’s dead,” Blade replied. “Looks like her heart finally gave out.”
Dakota rushed closer, the brush falling from her hand. “I’m so sorry. What can I do to help?”
“Keep me company while I sort everything out?”
“Of course,” Dakota agreed immediately. “Let me just saddle up Riot.”
Blade watched Dakota carefully, trying to distract himself.
He had known her all his life. They were the same age, separated by only two months, and grew up together.
Unlike Blade’s parents, who were born and raised in America, Dakota was of mixed heritage.
Her father was a white man, born in Texas as far as Blade knew, while her mother came from China.
He had known both her parents. They worked for his parents on the ranch and were good people. They had been murdered along with his family.
“Ready,” Dakota announced as she mounted Hawk. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to go get Wolfe, and then I guess we’ll have to bury Margaret. I don’t want to wait to do it.”
Dakota nodded. “That’s understandable. How’s Millie coping with it?”
Blade let out a deep breath. “Not well. When I got home, I found her sitting on the kitchen floor, holding Margaret. To make things worse, Margaret must have fallen because it looked like she had hit her head on the table. Millie was covered in blood.”
“Oh, that just . . .”
“Yeah, not good at all. She was having one of her episodes.”
Dakota placed a hand on Blade’s arm. “She’ll be all right. Millie is stronger than you think.”
Blade hoped that Dakota was right. She had known Millie just as long as she had known him.
Despite that fact, Dakota had always been better friends with him.
She wasn’t like other girls. She preferred wearing pants and shirts instead of dresses and insisted on training with him. She had better aim than Wolfe.
The two of them made their way to Wolfe’s office. Unless something happened, he should be there. Wolfe preferred being in places where people could find him if they needed him. It didn’t take long to get there, and soon enough, Sheriff Wolfe was accompanying them back to Margaret’s house.
The first thing Blade did when they arrived home was check on Millie. She was still lying on her bed where he had left her, but she had fallen asleep. That was a good thing. She needed her rest after an episode.
Feeling a little better now that he knew Millie was all right, Blade showed Wolfe and Dakota Margaret’s body.
The old woman didn’t have any family left, so it would just be the four of them at her funeral.
It was actually pretty sad. Blade hadn’t given much thought to anything but getting revenge, but in that moment, he hoped he wouldn’t end up dying alone.
“I’ll help you dig,” Wolfe offered as they made their way outside.
Blade quickly fetched two shovels from the shed, and they got to work.
“I can help too,” Dakota offered.
“That won’t be necessary,” Wolfe replied. “We’ve got this.”
Between Blade and Wolfe, it didn’t take long to dig Margaret’s grave.
Blade didn’t want to wake Millie, but he knew she would be upset if he didn’t.
She deserved to be at Margaret’s funeral, even if it was only going to be a small one.
Knowing what he had to do, Blade headed inside and woke Millie.
“Come on,” he said with a soft smile, not wanting to cause her any more stress.
“Sheriff Wolfe and Dakota are here. We’re going to bury Margaret. ”
Millie was still shaken and looked pale as they stood around the grave.
They kept the whole thing short. Wolfe helped Blade place Margaret’s body in the grave, and then Blade said a few words.
Dakota offered a prayer, and Millie threw a pink wildflower into the grave. It was Margaret’s favorite color.
When they were done, Wolfe headed home, and Millie went to bed, leaving only Blade and Dakota. They sat outside on the porch under the night sky. The sun had set, and Blade had lit a lantern and placed it on the small wooden table that stood on the porch.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Dakota asked.
Blade tilted his head to the side. “You mean with Millie now that Margaret’s gone?”
“Yeah,” Dakota confirmed with a nod.
“I don’t know. I mean, she’s eighteen, and I know she is capable of taking care of herself and the house, but I can’t help but worry.”
“Do you get to keep the house?”
Blade hadn’t even thought about that. The house belonged to Margaret. He knew she had a will drawn up years ago when she first found out about her heart, but he had no idea what it said.
“I don’t know,” he said again. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
“You can always move back to the ranch. I mean, you’re both old enough to live on your own now.”
At the mention of the ranch, Blade looked in that direction.
It belonged to him, but since he was so young when his parents died, there were a lot of technicalities.
For one, he and Millie were too young to live on their own; that was why Margaret had taken them in.
The next problem was that the place had been ransacked, and all their money and valuables had been stolen.
The money that his father had in the bank was still there.
In his father’s will, it stated that when he died, the money should be split between his wife, if she was still alive, and his three children.
Blade’s stomach twisted at the thought of Annie. It’s not like he actively tried to forget about her, but remembering her hurt too much. Both Blade and Millie had physical and emotional scars that they carried with them, but they were alive. Annie, their younger sister, had not survived.
“They won’t put the property in my name until I’m twenty-one,” Blade reminded her.
Dakota shook her head. “That’s what they said when you were ten. I’m sure Wolfe can help get it sorted so that you and Millie can at least live there.”
“Maybe,” Blade agreed. “I’m not sure if Millie would be all right living there, though.”
“She still hasn’t gone back inside, has she?”
“No.” Blade shook his head. “And I don’t want her to do anything she’s not comfortable with.”
“I wish things were simpler, but whatever happens, I’m here for both of you.”
Blade smiled at Dakota. “You always have been.” It was true. Out of all the people in the world, Blade knew that he could always count on Dakota to have his back.
“So,” he said, changing the subject, “on a completely different note, I have something interesting to tell you.”
Dakota’s face lit up. “What is it?”
Blade took the badge out of his jeans pocket and handed it to her. “Wolfe made me deputy.”
“Are you serious?” she asked, looking between Blade and the badge in her hand.
“Sure am. I couldn’t believe it, but Wolfe is convinced that it is a good idea, and I have no reason to decline.”
Dakota leaned closer and pinned the badge to Blade’s shirt. “It suits you.”
***
“Where have you been?” Dakota’s aunt asked as she stepped into the house. “You missed dinner again.”
“Sorry,” Dakota said, even though she wasn’t sorry at all. “Margaret Garrison passed away this afternoon, so I was helping Blade and Millie.”
Her aunt hesitated for a second. “Still, you could have at least told me. I was worried.”
Dakota didn’t believe her aunt’s words. The woman didn’t care about her, never had. She simply enjoyed finding reasons to fight with Dakota.
“Sorry,” Dakota said again. “It slipped my mind, but I’ll be sure to tell you next time.” Being friendly with her aunt wasn’t easy, and apologizing when she didn’t mean it went against everything Dakota believed in, but she was tired and really not in the mood for a fight.
“You better,” her aunt scoffed. “And while we’re on the subject, why didn’t you change into something more decent? It was a funeral, wasn’t it?”
Dakota let out a deep breath. Her aunt wanted a fight, and when there was nothing else to complain about, she always resorted back to Dakota’s clothes.
“It was just me, Blade, Millie, and Sheriff Wolfe. They don’t care what I wear.”
“Dressing like that”—her aunt gestured toward her clothes—“isn’t very ladylike. You’re never going to get a decent husband looking like that.”
Dakota looked down at herself. She had on pants and a shirt with boots. She liked the way it looked. Around her waist, she carried her father’s gun belt. It made her feel better to have weapons on her at all times.
“I’m not looking for a husband, and if I ever decide that I want one, he’d have to accept me the way I am.”
“You’ll be single all your life!” her aunt exclaimed. “Is that really what you want?”
No, it isn’t what Dakota wanted, but she wasn’t willing to sacrifice her own happiness and peace of mind to satisfy somebody else’s wants and needs. Yes, she wanted to get married and have children, but she also wanted to wear pants and shoot guns.
“I want to be able to be myself without being judged.”
Her aunt shook her head. “That’s not how the world works. Not for women.”
Dakota knew that, but she didn’t care. “Then the world needs to change, not me.”
“Your parents would have been so disappointed,” her aunt spat, red in the face.
Her words hurt. Not because Dakota believed them, but because her aunt was trying to guilt her by using her dead parents.
Dakota balled her hands into fists at her sides, trying to suppress her anger.
She had so many things she wanted to say, but none of them would change anything.
Her aunt was a hateful woman, and Dakota didn’t want to lower herself to her standards.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” her aunt asked.
“I’m tired,” Dakota replied as she walked past her aunt. “I’m going to bed.”
Behind her, Dakota could hear her aunt yelling and complaining, but she ignored her. Once she was in her room, Dakota closed the door behind her and positioned a wooden chair under the handle so that it couldn’t be opened.
Dakota walked to the full-length mirror and took in her appearance.
She looked much more like her mother than her father, but she was okay with that.
Her mother was a beautiful woman, after all.
She placed her hand on the old Colt she carried with her at all times and smiled.
It had belonged to her father. Dakota’s aunt believed that what she had said was true, but Dakota knew that her parents would have been proud of the person she was.
They had always encouraged her to be herself and would have been happy that she was following their advice.
Sitting down on her bed, Dakota thought about everything that had happened.
Margaret was a sweet and caring woman who treated Dakota better than her own aunt ever did.
Dakota couldn’t believe that she was gone and wondered how her death was going to affect Blade and Millie’s lives going forward.
She really wasn’t sure what they were going to do, but she did know that Blade wasn’t going to wait until he turned eighteen to go after Austin.
The same anger that lived in Blade also lived in Dakota.
Sometimes it faded a little, and other times it soared.
She knew how to recognize it in herself and in Blade.
He might not have mentioned it, but she could see that he was angry.
Finding Millie while she was having an episode must have triggered it.
Over the last couple of months, he had been growing more and more restless, and Margaret’s death could be the thing that set his plan into motion.
There was, of course, a possibility that she was wrong, but Dakota wasn’t going to take any chances.
She had decided a long time ago that she wasn’t going to let Blade go on his own.
Not because he wasn’t capable, but because she wanted revenge too, and more importantly, she couldn’t stand the idea of being without him for a day, let alone months.
Getting up, Dakota walked to her cupboard and opened the doors.
Inside hung an array of dresses that her aunt had bought for her.
Dakota ignored them as she took her father’s old gunnysack and saddlebags out of one of the drawers.
It was time to pack so that she would be ready when Blade decided to leave.