Chapter Twenty-Five
Seth saddled Skip that morning, thankful that his friends had given him their spares. The leather reins felt rough against his palms as he adjusted them against Skip’s neck before casting a single glance back toward the house.
June stood on the porch. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were burning with worry.
Etta was beside her, wringing her hands as she threw glances between Seth and Henry, who was at the barn checking his rifle.
Jack was there, too, standing next to his own horse a few feet away.
His face was impassive, but there was tension in his shoulders.
Each man had pistols strapped at their side. Ready.
Needless to say, they were all a little on edge.
June didn’t want him to do this. He knew that, but what option did he have?
He paused for a moment, his hands stilling on the saddle. He took a deep breath. “I’ll be back soon,” he called to her. “We have to do this. You know we do.”
“But this isn’t right!” she shot back, stepping down from the porch.
Dang it.
Her boots kicked up little puffs of dust as she ran to close the distance between them. “This is our fight and you’re leaving us here while you go off and... what? Make some grand plan without us? Get into a shootout?”
She gestured to Henry’s gun. “What happens if you don’t come back?”
Seth could hear the emotion in her voice and a lump formed in his throat. He met her gaze, steady and unwavering. “I will come back,” he said. “We’re just trying to gather some information and make a plan.”
“You can’t promise that you’ll come back,” June said, her voice cracking.
“You’re riding into something or you would let us come!
And I’m telling you, Seth Whitman, you have no idea what he’s capable of—and it’s like you’re shutting me out.
We’re not doing this together at all. And we agreed to do this together. ”
“It’s not about shutting you out,” he said, stepping closer.
He could feel the heat of her anger, as well as see the glistening tears forming in her eyes.
“It’s about keeping you safe. You and Etta and Ada.
This really isn’t your fight, even if you think it is.
You three are our wives. This is our fight now, but I didn’t say we were fightin’ anybody! ”
The truth was that they were. The men had all agreed privately. They were going to go in, find Trey Bishop, and end him—once and for all.
June threw up her hands, clearly exasperated. “Trey came after me. After us. You think I can just sit here and wait for the men to come riding back, hoping you’ll all still be alive after you’ve ‘come up with a plan?’ I’m not a damsel in distress! None of us are!”
Ada laughed from the porch. “Y’all can be my knights in shining armor! I don’t want to look Trey Bishop in the face again. I’ll be a damsel if it means I can avoid that!”
Seth couldn’t help but laugh, and Jack chuckled from behind him.
“It’s not the time for jokes!” June snapped.
He reached out to calm her and brushed her arm lightly. “I can’t risk you getting hurt,” he said, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Her expression softened for just a moment, but the fire in her eyes remained. “And you think I can risk losing you?”
He didn’t say anything else. He just stared at her for a moment, letting the silence take hold of them. For a second, no one else was there. It was just the two of them.
Until June exhaled suddenly. Her shoulders slumped. “Fine. Go. But don’t expect me to like it.”
“I don’t,” Seth whispered. “But at least you’ll be safe.”
He gave Etta a tight smile before turning to mount Skip. Henry and Jack were already riding to join him atop their own horses. With the tip of a hat from both Henry and Jack to their wives, the three men turned their horses and rode out to the main road.
Seth didn’t dare look back. Except once.
June was back on the porch, sitting on his rocking chair. He wished he could turn around and kiss her, but he needed to focus on the road ahead.
***
The ride up north to town was somber, the three men riding their horses in complete silence. It wasn’t like them not to talk. But if Henry and Jack’s minds worked even half as fast as Seth’s, they were all too busy to speak.
He thought of his wife.
Of June.
She was so stubborn and fiery, and even though she’d been a pain in the rear and challenged him at every step, that was part of what he loved about her.
He had never expected to feel this way about anyone. After everything he had lost, he thought he had built a wall taller than anyone could reach. But June, she’d leapt over it. Miles over it.
By the time they reached the edge of town, Seth found himself hardening. He was very likely about to get in a fight out here, and it wasn’t about survival—it was about her.
He figured they’d be at the saloon. Asher Burns seemed to be planting himself there since he’d gotten to town—and playing Hazel like a fiddle.
The weathered saloon looked all but abandoned, and Seth supposed it was, considering Turner hadn’t been there in days. But still, it was the first place to look for Trey Bishop. After all, this was where the women had seen Asher Burns moseying about.
As they dismounted, Seth could hear it: the faint sound of raised voices.
Heated, but not angry.
He motioned for Henry and Jack to follow as he made his way toward the back of the building, where the voices grew louder. Seth glanced back to give Henry and Jack a single nod, and then he pushed open the back door.
Hazel and Asher Burns were there, and both were pacing frantically. Seth watched as Hazel’s hands balled into fists. She was rounding on Burns, her voice sharp. “We need to leave now!” she yelled. “Before it’s too late! If you love me, we’ll leave!”
“And go where?” Burns snapped in frustration. “You think Trey won’t find us? That we can just disappear? He can find anybody!”
“We have to try!” she insisted, tugging at his arm, clearly not seeing the three intruders yet.
“What’s going on here?” Seth asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he strode into the room.
Hazel spun around, her face pale as she clutched Burns’s arm. “Seth Whitman! You scared me half to death.”
Burns scowled, stepping slightly in front of Hazel as if to shield her. “What do you want?”
Seth scoffed. “I want answers,” he replied bluntly, his hands falling from his body, his right hand itching to grab his pistol. “What are you two running from?”
He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear them say it.
Burns hesitated, his eyes darting past Seth to Henry and Jack.
“It’s none of your business,” he said finally, before brushing his fancy tan suit.
“Wrong,” Seth shot back. “It’s every bit my business. I heard Trey Bishop is in town, and I want to know what he’s doin’ here. So start talkin’.”
Hazel glanced nervously at Burns, who clenched his jaw. “We’re leaving,” he said. “That’s all you need to know.”
Seth took a step closer, his voice dropping dangerously low. “Trey Bishop, too?” he asked. “Because it doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing.”
Burns shook his head. “Me and Hazel.”
“You think running’s going to solve anything?” Seth scoffed. “Trey doesn’t seem like the kind of man to just let people go. You think he won’t come after you, just like he’s goin’ after our wives?”
Burns opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“What’s his plan?” Henry asked, stepping up next to Seth. “You know something, so tell us. Don’t make us drag it out of you.”
Burns hesitated, then sighed heavily. “He’s been recruiting,” he admitted.
“Bringing in men from other places—hired guns, thugs, anyone willing to fight for the right price. He’s got money, connections.
He’s after June, Ada, and Etta—but that’s not all he wants out here. He wants as much as he can get.”
Seth’s stomach turned.
Trey wasn’t just a threat to them—he was a threat to everyone in this town.
“And where is he now?” Seth pressed.
Burns shook his head. “He slept here the first night, but after that—I have no idea. I’ve been trying to avoid him.”
“You’ll help us,” Seth said, fixing Burns with a hard stare.
Burns hesitated, glancing at Hazel, who looked stricken. “I want to leave… with Hazel…”
“You’ll help us first,” Seth reiterated, warning him.
“Don’t do this,” Hazel pleaded with a trembling breath. “Asher, please. Let’s just go.”
Burns’ expression seemed to soften as he looked at her, in a way that Seth had once looked at her, all those years ago. “We will leave,” he promised. “But he’s right. I do need to help.”
Then he looked at Seth. “I’ll lead you to him, and I’ll tell you what I know—but then I’m gone.”
Hazel’s shoulders slumped, and she stepped back. Seth looked between her and Burns. Her face was pale and drawn.
He sighed. The way that Hazel looked at Burns made his chest tighten. He was glad to see her in love with someone. In truth, it reminded him of June. That was the exact same expression he’d seen on her face just before he’d left the ranch.
He walked out with Henry and Jack, and the saloon door creaked shut behind them. He hated this—hated the uncertainty, the gnawing fear that he might not be able to keep June safe. He wanted to promise her the world, to tell her that no harm would come to either of them.
But promises like that didn’t mean much in a place like this. This was the Wild West. Outlaws made their own rules out here, and he’d have to find Trey before he could even begin to promise her anything.
“Let’s talk,” he said to the other two, his voice gruff.
He knew one thing deep in his gut: he would fight. He would fight for June and for whatever future they might have together.