Read Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides Page 41
They reached the corner of the fence where two pastures joined. Chuck leaned against the fence and turned his face up to the moon.
Violet sighed. “Thank you for what you did in there.”
Chuck’s eyes snapped back to her face. “What for? I didn’t do anything.”
“I mean,” Violet explained. “For getting me out of there. I appreciate the way you stepped between Cornell and I, and I’m grateful you pulled me off of him when you did. I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Chuck told her. “If I hadn’t been there, none of this would have happened. Besides, you’re the one who beat the stuffing out of him. I was lying on my face on the floor. Who knows what Cornell would have done if you hadn’t been there. I should be thanking you.”
Violet giggled. “Do you really think so?”
“I tell you what,” Chuck replied. “Let’s forget all about it. We’re here to get to know each other better before we get married on Friday. I thought we agreed we weren’t going to talk about Cornell anymore, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Let’s just pretend like it never happened and go back to being happy to be together.”
Violet looked up at the stars. “It isn’t fair to you, but I don’t think I can ever forget it. I wish I could. I wish I could pretend it never happened, but it did. I don’t know what to do about it, but I don’t think anything will ever be the same, especially after I told him to pack his bags. Now all of us are against Cornell. I was the last person to back him, and now I’m not. Things could get ugly.”
Chuck took her hand and pulled her closer to him. “I hate to tell you this, darlin’, but things are already ugly. He just attacked both of us, and you smashed his head against the stairs. It doesn’t get any uglier than that.”
“I suppose not.” Violet said, and blinked the sting of tears out of her eyes.
Chuck pulled on her arm again. “Look at me.”
Violet surveyed the ground at her feet. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“Look at me,” he commanded again, and this time, she peered into his eyes. The moon reflected off the shining surface of his eyes, and his nostrils flared not so very far from her face. “Listen to me, Violet.”
Had he called her by her name before? Where were they, anyway? Were they in the middle of the pasture, with the Montana frontier stretched out for miles in every direction? Was she Violet Kilburn? Was she Violet Ahern? Did it really matter anymore?
“Listen to me,” Chuck continued. “This was not your fault. You don’t have to apologize for anything. You’ve done everything anyone could to stop this from happening, and what you just did to Cornell is the same thing any sane person would have done. I would have done it myself if he hadn’t got the jump on me. If you ask me, you’re a flamin’ hero.”
Violet burst out laughing and touched the corner of her sleeve to her eye. “Do you think so?”
“Absolutely,” Chuck declared. “You saved both of us, and I’m delighted to find out what sort of a woman I’m going to marry.”
“Really?” Violet squeezed his hand.
His mouth cracked into a broad grin, and the moon shone on the surface of his teeth. “Really. Now, honestly, can we stop talking about Cornell for just a little while? I didn’t come out here to talk about him and I’ve had about all I can stand of him for now.”
Violet laughed again. “Okay.”
Chuck pushed himself off the fence. “Where should we go? Do you know a place we can sit down together?”
“I know a place,” Violet told him.
“I hope it’s not the barn,” Chuck remarked. “Mick and Iris could be in there, or Jake and Rose, or even Mick and Iris and Jake and Rose.” He pretended to look around the ranch. “Where can a person get off alone around here?”
“Don’t worry,” Violet assured him. “Where we’re going, we will definitely be alone.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” she replied.
“How can you be sure?” he asked.
“I’m just sure,” she replied. “Trust me. No one will be there.”
Chuck shook his head. “All right. I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”
“No one will be there,” she repeated. “But if they are, we can just go somewhere else. I can guarantee you, Mick and Iris and Jake and Rose will be together, wherever they are.”
“That’s for certain,” Chuck muttered.
They came around the corner of the field, and the house swung around to the other side of them. Violet led Chuck a little further and then he looked right and left as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Here?”
Violet smiled. “Yes.”
“Are you certain?” he asked again.
“Listen,” she told him. “No one will be in here. They’ll be off together somewhere. They definitely won’t be here, because they’ll want to be alone. They’ll be too worried about someone coming. They won’t be here.”
Chuck glanced up at the Fort House. Its windows stood cold and dark in the moonlight. The house was deserted. “All right. Let’s go in.”