Chapter 27
GRANT
“Damnit, Reggie, wait a minute!”, I scream after him as I watch him push Bells hard, leaving the main drive of our cabin. Saddling Rebel up, I swing a leg over him just as Lauren rushes out with a few things in her hand.
“Grant, here, tuck this in your saddlebags for later. I love you and be careful. There is more going on here than either of us knows, but one thing was obvious. When she arrived, she was in love, and the last time I saw her, she was lost and broken.”
“Love you too, I’ve gotta go. I’ll be back late.”
Lauren steps out of the way, and I know she’s watching me until I’m out of sight. Rebel eats up the miles, and just as I round the corner coming into town, looking around for Reggie or Bells, I hear a whistle. I turn only to find old man Harvey trying to wave me down.
“Reggie is headed toward the stagecoach, but he doesn’t know about the mountain pass.”
“How long has JD been gone?”
“About four hours now.”
I tip my hat at him and turn Rebel toward one of the side alleys and a trail that only a few locals know about. Since I’ve been over every inch of this ground for miles around, I know exactly where to go to cut that stagecoach off.
“Come on Rebel, let’s go save the girl for Reggie.”
Pulling my handkerchief up over the lower part of my face, I let Rebel have his head as we have traversed these trails many times, and he knows where we are heading.
We have been traveling for several hours when I hear the stagecoach on the ridge below us.
Leading Rebel down the hill, we come around the bend just as the coach is climbing up the embankment.
I wait until it’s leveled out before throwing up an arm and maneuvering Rebel in front the horses so that they have to stop.
I see JD raise a gun toward me as he doesn’t recognize me with this handkerchief on my face.
“What the hell do you want, cowboy? I’ve got a scattergun pointed straight at that big head of yours, and I’d advise you to move on. Ain’t nothing here worth dying over.”
“It’s Grant Hayes, JD. You’ve got a passenger I need to speak to.”
He lowers the gun about the time I pull down this face covering. “You’ve got four minutes, Grant. I’ve got a schedule to keep.”
The side door swings open, and Jessica steps out. “Mr. Hayes, what are you doing here?”
“Trying to find you before Reggie loses his mind.”
“I think you are mistaken, Mr. Hayes. After all, I am just a maid. If I recall it correctly, that was one of the things he made sure you knew right off the bat. If he needs someone to clean his new place, he’ll simply have to hire someone else.”
She turns to get back in.
“Miss Welch, if you have no feelings for Reggie at all, you go ahead and climb on up in that coach, and I will step to the side.”
Jessica turns back to me with fire in her red, puffy eyes. “I am not the one who discarded the other, Sir.”
“Let me clear something up for you. When a man comes hundreds of miles to rebuild his life, but all he can talk about is Jessica can do this and Jessica can do that … you are not being discarded.”
“Excuse my language, but bullshit! I stood right on the other side of the door when he told you not five minutes after you met me that I was a maid … your maid to be exact, even though you don’t remember me …
because being the maid makes most of us invisible to people like you and Reggie.
He also said that we were forced together because my ticket for the train was issued wrong and that pretending was the only way he wouldn’t have to leave me behind. ”
“Is that all you heard?”
“That was enough.”
“So, you missed the part where he told me that in the course of pretending things turned real for him, and that if I wanted you back as the maid, I was going to have to fight him because he was madly in love with you, and that he was going to marry you as soon as possible. If you need to know how serious he is about you, never in my cousin’s life has he ever said he loved anyone but his parents.
No woman has ever had his attention for long. ”
The fight seems to leave her, and I see her small shoulders slump.
“He didn’t say that.”
“Are you sure? Because the moment he realized you were missing this morning, he about killed his favorite horse to get to town, only to realize you’d run. He is chasing you as we speak.”
JD’s laughter makes me realize I’ve held him up for far longer than I meant to. “Sorry to hold you up, JD. If she has any bags on top, can you throw them down?”
“The Miss has all her belongings with her, and I will say this is the first time I’ve ever been stopped for love. I think it was worth it. Now, if you’ll gather your things, Miss, I have a schedule to keep.”
A small carpetbag and a blanket are handed out the window to her, and before I can tell her to get out of the way, the stagecoach is once again moving at a fast clip away from us.
She stands before me with her head down, which only makes me realize just how small she is and how overwhelming everyone’s emotions are right now.
I am just getting ready to dismount when I hear hooves coming fast our way, and I know who it is before he even makes the turn.
The moment he sees us, Reggie pulls the horse’s reins back and abruptly jumps off the saddle, grabbing her in his arms. She’s dropped her bag in the process, and the horse from the livery almost runs off until I reach out and catch his reins before he gets too far away. It takes Reggie a minute to notice me.
“How did you beat me here, Grant?”
“Lived here a long time, cousin, and been all over these hills. I arrived in town shortly after you had left. Old man Harvey was waiting on me and told me where you were headed.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome. Here, you may want to hold on to him unless you two are planning on walking back. I’ll leave you both to work things out and head back to what I hope is a hearty meal. Will I be seeing you two later?”
“No, we have some things to sort out, and I plan on heading home afterward.”
“I’ll see you in a few days then.”
I leave them standing in the middle of the road, not envying the argument but smiling because I know how much fun making up is. Heading toward my own home and the woman who has completed my life, I nudge Rebel.
“Come on, boy, let’s go home.”