“When are you going after the brothers?”
“I’d like to stay here for a day or two and rest. But I better go tomorrow morning.”
He stripped down to his long underwear and examined her leg one last time. “It’ll be fine in a week. You just need to keep off of it as much as you can until the swelling goes down.”
“All right.”
“I’ll sleep in the other bedroom tonight.”
She watched him limp stiffly away. And then, for reasons Betty did not even try to understand, she left her bed and hopped into the other bedroom to be with him all through the night.
The Assassin slept late. He awoke to hear the Ute woman bumping around in the kitchen. She was humming and he could smell pork cooking.
Betty could have gotten up, found a butcher knife, and put an end to me, he thought. She could have killed me in my sleep. Cut my throat or done anything she wanted. But she’s cooking us breakfast and damned but isn’t it nice to hear a woman humming in the kitchen again.
Smith crawled out of bed and washed the sleep from his eyes. He was astounded that the Ute woman would be up and around. She had to be in considerable pain. But then again, he recalled that his father had once told him that some people had an enormous capacity for blocking out pain. They could just put it out of their minds and go about their business. Others, however, were always moaning and groaning over even the slightest discomfort.
Smith pulled on his clothes, thinking about how he and the woman had not made love but had lain close in each other’s arms. It had been very good just like that, and he had slept better than he had since losing his family.
“Hey,” he called, standing in the doorway. “You’re not supposed to be up and about!”
“My leg feels a lot better this morning,” she told him with a smile. “And I was hungry.”
“So am I,” he said, marching over to drop down at the kitchen table. “Maybe, if you cooked some extra, I could take it along for my next few meals.”
“I’ve thought of that,” she said. “I want to go with YOU.”
“No.”
“I’m coming,” she said without equivocation. “I know those people. I can help you.”
“I don’t need any help.”
“You do this time.”
“You can hobble around in this kitchen, but you can’t ride a horse.”
“Did you see the buggy in the barn?” she asked, coming over to pour him a cup of coffee. “We could take that.”
“Yesterday, you hated me. I saw it in your eyes. And you said that I was crazy.”
“You are only a little crazy.”
“Then you should stay here.”
“And spend the rest of my life wondering what happened to you? I don’t like that idea.”
“You just can’t come,” he said. “This ranch, who does it belong to now?”
“To me.”
“Good! Then stay here and settle in. Find an honest husband. One who doesn’t kill a lot of men and who will make you happy.”
“Last night, you made me happy,” she said, limping over to sit down beside him. “I saw something in you that I like.”
“You saw me kill Red. It was pretty ugly, Betty. That’s a side of me that not many have seen and lived to tell about.”
“Maybe we could come back here and live.”
He laughed, but it was a cold, hard laugh without humor. “Have you forgotten that there are two dead men in your yard and another that is hog-tied in the barn? What do you think he’s going to do if I let him go?”
“I don’t know. Randy is a good boy. He likes me.”
“Not enough to hide my murder.”
Smith reached out and took her hands. “It’s just no good, Betty. I don’t know why you were here and what happened to us last night. How you went from hate to … to something completely opposite. But I can’t stay here at your Bar S Ranch. There will be federal officers after me and they may be here today.”
When she said nothing, he added, “If you really want to help me, send them off on a wild-goose chase.”
“You need me to be with you when you face those brothers!”
“After six months have passed, I’ll write to you. You can come to see me.”
“You won’t live six months! Not if you go after those men by yourself.”
Smith drank some coffee. “Let me think on this a little while. I’ll bury Red and that other one out in the trees somewhere and cover their graves with leaves and pine needles. After that, we’ll talk some more. Okay?”
She nodded. “You need to eat something.”
