Chapter Six
Remington’s men had disappeared completely by the time Cash went back outside.
The place looked the same as it had yesterday, except for a little extra gunpowder mingling with the dust, but everything felt different now.
He couldn’t place what it was. He scowled as he glanced over his shoulder, into the house, thinking of the chest where Miss Tate had hidden herself and Samuel.
She’d looked so scared when he lifted the lid, curled up like some sort of frightened animal.
The sight of it had hit him in a place he didn’t like to acknowledge.
Not your problem, Montgomery.
That was what he had been trying to repeat to himself over and over again… but it was a lie. She was here. And that made her his responsibility. His problem.
But he didn’t want any problems.
So what am I gonna do?
He had brought in a stray, and that stray hadn’t left yet, despite her promises.
But he knew it wasn’t because she liked being here, or because she was just a freeloader looking for an easy meal.
Whoever this Randall Pierce was—her husband, Samuel’s father, or who knew what—he had clearly put some kind of primal terror in her that couldn’t be easy to shake.
And if he comes knocking…
Grumbling and forking his fingers through his hair, he went back inside to the kitchen, where he found his brothers already bickering.
Beau, always the first to start barking orders, was in the middle of telling Luke to check the fences.
Luke had just opened his mouth to protest when Cash interrupted gruffly.
“He’s right, Luke. Remington wants this place, and he’s not gonna stop until he gets it or until we put him in the ground, so we need to make sure the fences are good. ”
Luke lifted his arms defiantly in the air. “The fences are fine!” he shouted. “What’s our real plan?”
Cash’s jaw tightened. “We grab some ranch hands from town and put them out in the bunkhouse—”
“You mean that old shabby barn Pa built over a decade ago?” Beau asked irritably. “Hank doesn’t even sleep in there! He sleeps out in the tack room! And small wonder; Pa built that place as a temporary holding cell for that one escaped horse thief!”
Cash crossed his arms and tried to keep his calm as he explained. “I think it’s a good spot for some rugged men lookin’ to make a couple extra bucks. They sleep there when they’re off-duty. When they’re on duty, they keep an eye out. No one comes or goes without one of us knowing about it.”
Beau nodded, looking less irritated. “S’ppose that makes sense. We should check supplies, too. Make sure we got enough to last if they decide to cut us off from town.”
Cash rubbed a hand over his jaw, massaging it. That wasn’t a bad idea. He felt a little proud of his older brother.
He knew Remington. He knew what the man was capable of. But he hadn’t even thought about Remington cutting them off from supplies.
It was more than likely. The man practically owned Austin these days. Even if he couldn’t get the ranch, he could easily keep them from anything they needed from town if he wanted to. As low-brow as he was, he wasn’t stupid. Blocking supplies was a smart move. Starve them out.
“I was already planning on heading into town today,” he announced. “I’ll take Luke.”
“Lucky me,” Luke muttered, rolling his eyes.
Compared to Beau, Luke still had a long way to go. Cash shot him a warning look. “You want food to eat? Stop your bellyaching and let’s go.”
***
The ride into town was uneventful, but Cash felt wired, as though his muscles couldn’t quite relax. It was like his blood was rushing strongly through his body He was still angry that Remington had gotten the jump on him… but that wasn’t the only thing.
Part of him was still mulling over last night, and again today, with Josie and her baby.
The way she had looked at him.
The way Samuel had felt in his arms, and how he’d soothed him when even his mother hadn’t been able to. It was like running the gauntlet of uncomfortable feelings.
He needed to shake it off. All of it.
“Alright, what’s got you so doggone broody?” Luke asked as they finally hit the main road into town.
Cash scowled. “I ain’t broody.”
Luke snorted. “Yeah, sure. You look like you’re fixin’ to bite someone’s head off.”
Cash ignored him. He wasn’t angry. He was just fired up, in so many different ways that he couldn’t begin describe them. So there was no use in trying. Instead, he focused on the town up ahead.
Austin was growing pretty fast, hence why men like Remington were getting bolder.
The man wanted to carve out a little empire before all the dust settled.
His plan was apparently to suck up as much land as he could while the getting was still good.
But if Cash had it his way, Remington wouldn’t see another inch of land.
As they galloped in toward the general store, Luke gave a shout and pointed toward the bakery. “Hey, is that—?”
Cash’s gaze followed his finger, and immediately his chest tightened, and his mouth went as dry as the ground beneath his horse’s hooves.
Jane.
His stomach twisted before he could stop it.
She was standing beside a man. Her husband. Her no longer new husband, judging by the little girl whose hand she was holding. Their daughter had to be two or three by now.
Jane was laughing. At something he’d said, no doubt. Cash could only faintly hear the sound, but it was soft. Happy. She looked content. Like she had never seen a day of pain, like she had never known anything before her family there.
Like she had never shattered Cash and left him to pick up pieces of his old life alone.
He forced himself to look away, but the damage was already done. Every ounce of warmth in his chest had iced over.
Luke must’ve noticed, because he asked, “You alright?”
Cash’s jaw clenched. “Fine.”
Luke didn’t push. “I’m sorry…” he muttered, but Cash scowled and clicked his tongue.
“No reason to be sorry,” he grumbled. “Let’s get these horses posted up and get our supplies.”
He lingered a second longer, hating the fact that he wanted to look at Jane, how his eyes followed her as she disappeared into the bakery.
He shouldn’t care.
He didn’t care.
He wasn’t ever going to be a fool like that again.
***
By the time they got back to the ranch, Cash was in no mood for talking.
He’d been brooding a bit before they’d left, but now, he really was angry.
At least Luke had picked up on it pretty quick.
As soon as they got back, he’d headed off toward the bunkhouse to get it ready for visitors, leaving Cash to himself.
Cash took his time unloading the supplies, taking as much time as he could, trying to work through the irritation of seeing Jane after all this time.
They’d gotten a lot of supplies. Feed, grain, rope, coffee, tea, soap, some spices, tobacco for Beau, and a few other odds and ends.
It was a good haul, but seeing Jane had derailed his entire day. He could’ve spent the rest of his life without seeing her, and it would’ve been too soon. He didn’t need to see how easily she’d moved on. How she was living the life he’d wanted to give her, once.
Before she left.
And when he walked inside the house and saw Miss Tate, his mood darkened even more.
She was sitting at the kitchen table, rocking the baby in her arms, whispering something soft to him. For a second—for just a split second—the ice in Cash’s chest cracked.
But then he remembered Jane.
How easy it had been for her to walk away. How she’d been his fiancée one moment, and the next called him cold, unavailable. How she’d been suddenly indifferent. Heartless. How she’d made him feel like he wasn’t enough.
His jaw tightened, and he stopped in his tracks at the kitchen door.
Miss Tate glanced up then, her emerald green eyes wary, as if she could sense the shift in him. “You alright?” she asked hesitantly.
Cash took a deep breath. No need to scare her. It was clear she didn’t trust men. And in her case, that was probably for good reason.
Whoever Randall Pierce was, he couldn’t mean anything but bad news for Miss Tate or her baby. Any man who sent a woman, the mother of his own child, fleeing to strangers for shelter, couldn’t possibly be a good man.
But Cash didn’t explain his frustration. Instead, he crossed his arms and ignored her question. “You settlin’ in alright?”
It came out a little harsher than he intended, but getting close to her seemed like a bad idea. No reason to encourage any… unnecessary attachment.
She hesitated. “…Yes.”
Good. That meant she could leave soon.
One less problem for us to deal with.