Chapter One
Barton Creek, Texas
Morning came too soon on the day Nash planned to leave. The sky hung low over Barton Creek, a wash of dull gray that reminded Kate Cain of old army blankets: coarse, heavy, and full of shadows, best forgotten.
Inside the cabin, Kate felt a similar weight settling over her chest, thick and cold, preventing her from drawing a deep breath. Dread sat in her heart like a stone, and every passing moment carried Nash closer to the road that would take him away from her.
I don’t want you to go…
Standing beside the black range, Kate waited for the snap of kindling to let her know the fire was hot. Even though she’d spent a restless night, unable to sleep for dread of the dawn, she wanted to send her husband off with a hearty meal.
Dear God, bring him safely home. He came safely through the war. Surely he’ll come safely home this time, too.
The prayer had been in her heart all through the night.
Even with Nash lying safe and solid beside her, fear and longing had tangled tightly inside her like a shroud.
Now, dressed in a cheerful green print dress, Kate wished she could be strong, the wife Nash deserved.
A wife who could send him off to do his duty with a prayer, a meal, and the assurance that he’d come safely back to her arms.
Even knowing she needed to be strong, Kate felt as shaky as a newborn colt.
A deep sigh passed her lips.
The coolness of the night hadn’t lifted yet.
A fresh morning breeze rustled the cheerful, blue-checked curtains at the window.
Light scents blew through the kitchen window of their tidy cabin: mud, horse manure, and a whiff of woodsmoke from other breakfast fires in Barton Creek.
A hint of fragrant bluebonnets perfumed the air, faint but pleasant.
Kate tried to take comfort in her normal, everyday routine as she reached for the iron skillet, added a dollop of lard, and waited for it to melt.
Breakfast. Clean clothes for Nash’s knapsack. A packet of lunch for noon.
Oh, Nash! Don’t leave me!
Trying to still the rapid beating of her heart, Kate cracked eggs with a trembling hand. Fragments of shell landed in the popping grease, and a small curse passed her lips. Shoving the skillet off the hot lid of the range, she sighed in frustration.
Nash is leaving for who knows how long, and I’m worried about eggshells!
Intending to get her fill of him while he was still near, Kate went to the window and stared into their backyard.
Bracing her hands on the sill, she watched Nash saddle Brandy in the pale blue-gray light of early dawn.
His every movement was as plain and familiar to her as her own body.
He worked in silence, checking the cinch twice.
Lifting his bedroll, he placed it over the back of the saddle, then checked the rifle scabbard hanging down the horse’s side.
There was nothing hurried in Nash’s movements, nothing uncertain. Looking at him, Kate could almost imagine he was preparing for any ordinary ride, to the next town, perhaps. She wished desperately he weren’t going so far south toward the border.
“Now, Kate,” he’d reassured her when she first protested his going, “I’m the law, and the folks in Laredo reached out for help. You know trouble has a way of growing deep roots and spreading. If I can help make peace, I’m honor-bound. You know I can’t turn my back.”
Oh, yes, she knew, all right. She’d figured that out the first day she’d met Nash Cain in her brother Ethan’s office.
Nash had brought in Daniel Whitlock, Barton Creek’s newspaper editor, after finding him wounded on the road.
Nash’s sense of duty to help an injured man had outweighed any thought of his own safety.
That day, she’d known in her bones that he’d once been a soldier. That he’d been a lawman. Later, she’d learned that towns further west spoke of Marshal Cain like a storm that passed through, never quite tamed.
Marriage had tamed him somewhat, but certainly not completely. Kate didn’t begin to assume herself that persuasive.
No one could fully reign in a man as strong-willed as Nash Cain.
Outside, the town of Barton Creek began to wake up.
A dog barked; another answered. Down the rutted main street, a wagonload of logs rattled, the horses’ harness jangling.
Kate heard the clatter of pans coming from the boardinghouse kitchen, accompanied by an Irish woman singing a jaunty, full-throated tune.
The sounds proved that the town of Barton Creek had resumed its calm, peaceful existence after all the trouble last year.
Men had died here—both good and bad. Blood had spilled in the street and washed away in spring rain.
Violence and corruption had shattered the town before Nash rode in, but after he’d taken over as marshal, peace flourished.
But, as Kate knew well, peace never lasted long for a man like Nash before trouble came along to shatter it.
As her brother, Ethan, had often said, “Peace in Texas is often only the stillness between storms.”
With a final pat to Brandy’s mane, Nash looked up and met Kate’s eyes through the window. The slow smile that curved his lips never ceased to make her heart skip.
She thought back to the first time she’d laid eyes on him.
Her husband was the sort of man you looked at twice. First, because he was so tall and broad across the shoulders. Solid. Sure. Then, you looked again, because something in those dark brown eyes, the deep color of a dirt road after rain, stilled a room.
“I’m all set to travel, Katie,” he said, coming into the kitchen, filling the room with his presence.
Kate hurried forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. Pushing her face into the rough, sun-scented linen of his brown shirt, she wished she could hold on forever. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
Nash sighed, deep and troubled. “It’s not like I want to go, either… but Marshal Holt asked for my help, and I feel honor bound to go to Laredo. Tracking down cattle rustlers is a dangerous job.”
“But why you, Nash? Can’t someone else help?”
“Now, Kate, we’ve been over this before. The rustlers are operating along the Texas border. Right now, they’re in Laredo—but what if they come north toward us? Barton Creek has peace now. Let’s keep it that way. We don’t want any trouble like last year.”
“I know…” Hot tears filled her eyes as she struggled to hide her fear.
The past year, she’d watched Nash’s struggles against the horrible cattle baron, Pike, and his evil men.
Kate knew only too well the danger that followed Nash; she’d seen it firsthand.
The thought of losing him weighed heavy on her heart, especially now, when their marriage was so new and filled with joy.
What would I do without him? How could I go on living?
“You knew the kind of man I am when you married me, Sweet Katie,” he said, kissing the top of her hair and gathering her closer against him.
Kate clung to him as though she could hold him there by sheer force of love, her cheek pressed to his chest as she listened to the steady beat of his heart.
In that moment, she longed to stop time so she could stand there forever in the shelter of his arms, breathing in the clean scent of soap, of leather—the warm, familiar smell that was only Nash.
Yes, I know the kind of man you are. No matter how much you’d rather stay, you’ll never turn your back on a man in need.
“This goodbye won’t last forever,” he murmured, his lips brushing her temple, then the curve of her cheek. Then, he drew back to cradle her face between his hands, his dark eyes steady on hers. “As soon as I’m finished in Laredo, I’ll tear out and ride home as fast as Brandy can carry me.”
“You promise?” Kate hated the quiver in her voice. Her whole body felt unsteady, as if the ground beneath her had begun to shift. The thought of this house without him, silence at supper, an empty place beside her in bed, was almost more than she could bear.
“I swear it,” he said, and the quiet certainty in his voice made her eyes burn all over again. He brushed his work-worn thumb across her cheek before a single tear could fall. “I will come back to you.”
“I’d like to believe that with all my heart, Nash,” she said softly, “so I’ll do my best to hold your promise as long as you’re gone—only, don’t ask me not to worry at all. I love you too dearly to promise that.”
He kissed her, long and deep, as if he never wanted to leave.
With a shudder, Kate smoothed her palms down the skirt of her green dress and lifted her chin. “Well, at least let me see to your breakfast before you go,” she said, doing her best to steady her voice. “You’ll need something warm in your stomach on a morning like this.”
Nash opened his mouth, likely to protest, but Kate turned away and hurried to the stove to fry eggs and ham. Before long, she was setting the food before him, then sitting across from him at the small table and forcing herself to speak of ordinary things while flames crackled softly in the stove.
“Did you pack enough coffee? I hope I put enough clothes in your knapsack.”
He answered with a tenderness that nearly undid her. “Kate, you’ve done plenty. I’ll be fine.”
She tried to eat, but the food tasted like sawdust in her mouth. Swallowing felt like trying to force rocks down her throat. She longed for these last few minutes to feel warm, peaceful, and full of love, not sorrow.
But, at last, there was no putting it off.
Nash wiped his mouth, stood from the table, and reached for his wide-brimmed tan hat.
The simple action struck Kate like a knife to her heart. She walked him to the door, then followed him to where Brandy stood patiently tied to a hitching post. The stallion stamped and tossed his head impatiently, ready to travel.
“Love you,” Nash whispered, pulling Kate into his arms, and kissed her as every bit as passionately as he had when they married. All too soon, he pulled away and touched her cheek with his callused hand. As he climbed into the saddle, her heart broke.
Kate folded her hands together at her waist. “Ride careful,” she said softly.
“I will. You take care, now. If you need any help, you’ve got Ethan in town.” He smiled down at her. “I’ll be back sooner than you think.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Nash touched the brim of his hat, turned Brandy toward the road, and rode away just as a shaft of sunlight pierced the gloomy clouds.
Standing where he’d left her, Kate held her back straight and her chin high, despite the hot tears spilling unchecked down her face. She lifted her hand, waving bravely as he disappeared over a slight rise past town. Only then did she let a sob break out.
Weeping as if her heart had broken in two, she turned and went back to the too-silent cabin.