Brandy. He liked that name on her. His nickname for her, because her hair looked just like the color of golden brandy when the sun hit it, and heck, with her last name of Brandywine, that name just fit.
The sun was hitting her hair that way right now as she strolled closer, the golden blonde strands waving like spun gold drying in the wind. He remembered from his previous stay here that she liked to air-dry her hair while going on solitary walks after bathing.
She looked really pretty. Even prettier than when he and Durango had left to join his cousin’s gang. She even reminded him a little of his wife, Betty. She’d been a blonde, too, and they’d been so in love and recently married when the Catastrophe had come calling. Betty and he had been at her parents’ house over in Calgary when the solar flares had flashed against the windows.
He’d thought it had been lightning, and he’d looked toward one window, his gaze leaving his startled wife one final time, his hand letting go of her hand as he thought about getting up to go and see what was going on.
At the same time he’d heard moans from around the table where he’d been sitting with his wife, her parents, and her two sisters, sharing the news that Betty was four months pregnant with twins.
One minute they’d been there, the next minute flashes of fire, grey smoke, and a really bad smell of burning flesh had burst through the dining room. When he’d swung his head to look, thinking maybe some sort of gas explosion had occurred, the woman he loved and her family had been piles of smoking grey ashes on their seats.
A really cold, creepy feeling slithered through Landon at remembering how he’d been stunned for hours afterwards. How the icy goose bumps had scattered along his arms and lasted for months after that day. He preferred not to think about that day. Preferred not to relive it.
Hell, he still had lots of nightmares about it. Still had lots of dreams of what life might have been like with Betty still alive and with two toddlers running around following him while he did the household chores. He pushed the anger and the despair back down inside himself where it belonged. He figured it was best not to ponder on it during daylight hours. Nights, he had no control over.
Instead, he preferred to focus on Brandy. She was his future. Their new future. He would protect her with his life. He would protect their children. That is, if she agreed to having a couple kids with him. He didn’t want her to think she was a baby-making machine, but yeah, he’d dreamed of having a couple of kids. Maybe it was some weird twisted dream to replace the two he’d lost? He hoped not.
Truthfully, he had probably fallen in love with her the minute he’d seen her when Durango had brought him home from Heart Creek, the nearest town where he’d been looking for work. He’d been half starved, and he’d been willing to work for food and a roof over his head. Durango had said he and Liz had just moved into the old place and that it needed fixing up big-time. He’d said they’d picked the quaint century-old home because it was the sturdiest abandoned building they’d come across and it was far away from the chaos of town, yet not so far that people who needed doctoring couldn’t find them.
Yeah, he’d liked her right from the start. Liz was a tall woman. Thin with curves in all the right places.
While working around the house he’d seen that look of interest flare in her pale blue eyes when she thought he didn’t see. But he also knew interest didn’t mean she wanted sack time with him. It was very obvious she was in love with Durango, and so he’d watched the two lovebirds and had tried hard to remain neutral. Had managed fine until that day Durango had told him he wanted to share Liz. With him.
That’s when his old world had shattered and his new world had been born. Unfortunately he was still the one on the outside looking in. He wanted to change that, but he didn’t want to make the move. It would have to come from Durango or Liz herself because she knew she had Durango’s blessing.
As she neared, he noticed her stiffen, and as if sensing she was being watched, she snapped her head up and gazed directly at him.
Shit. Too late to move from the window. He’d been caught.
Hesitantly she lifted her arm and waved. She smiled, and his heart warmed at the sight. She looked really pretty when she smiled, especially when her dimples exploded in her cheeks like they were doing now. He didn’t waste any time in waving back.
A couple of minutes later he heard the front door open as she entered. The hinges creaked as they had early this morning when they’d arrived. Durango had knocked the signal they used, not too loudly because he hadn’t wanted to frighten her if she’d been home and asleep. But he said she would recognize his knock, and if she wasn’t still really pissed off, she would answer. She hadn’t answered. Upon discovering her horse wasn’t around, Durango had thought maybe she’d gone to visit a client or maybe she’d moved out altogether.
Although, her moving from this place hadn’t been too likely, because before coming here, Durango, Tyrell, and he had visited Landon’s brother Logan where he now lived with two men at a farmhouse on the other side of this valley. They said they’d spoken to Liz only a couple of weeks ago, and everything had been fine then.
Logan and two other gang members had given up the gang for a cute pleasure girl they’d taken a shine to. Landon had to admit she was a very nice-looking woman and very pleasant to talk to. Seeing his brother happy and settling into farm life made him want to settle down, too. With Liz.
He hoped Durango and Tyrell were on the same wavelength. Although he didn’t know exactly how they could swing it with a vigilante wanting to hang them. It would most definitely be a problem. But since there was no real law to speak of, they could surely work around any potential mob by shooting at them and forcing them off the property.
He could hear Liz moving around in the kitchen. Could hear some pots clanging and knew she would set upon making something for everyone to eat. She was like that-enjoyed cooking-and Landon had never gone hungry when he’d lived here.
On the bed, Tyrell and Durango stirred, and their movement prompted Landon to hobble away from the window. Thankfully, the bed was so close that he didn’t have to put pressure on his bad leg more than a couple of times, because his thigh was still pretty sore, and most likely would be for some days to come. He should lie down and go back to sleep. Rest. Get reenergized for when the time came to take Liz.
“You should go out and talk to her. Get reacquainted.” Durango’s sleepy voice zipped through the air, making Landon tense. It still felt odd sometimes thinking that Durango had agreed to share his girl with him. And that Durango wanted to share her with Ty, too. Not that Landon had a problem with sharing. He and his wife had been swingers. That’s how they’d met, at a swingers club.
Throughout their relationship he’d shared his wife with other men. That’s how he’d known Liz would be acceptable of it. She had the same twinkle of curiosity in her eyes as his wife, Betty. But Betty and he had been confident in their relationship. They enjoyed swinging and having sex with others. But at the end of each session, they knew they belonged to each other and went home together, to their own bed.
“She needs time to get used to the idea,” Landon replied, grimacing back a shard of pain that zipped through his wounded thigh as he slipped back under the comforters beside Ty, who still slept.
“She’s had months to get used to the idea,” Durango said. “Deep down inside of her, she knew I’d eventually come back. She was pissed off back then, and it clouded her needs. She’s ready. I know it. I know her.”
Landon nodded. Yes, Durango knew her, and Landon knew her as well. She was ready. She just needed to be pushed.
“What about after we recuperate? After we take her? We can’t just leave her here, like before. Something is going to happen to her. We can’t have somebody protecting her all the time while we’re gone. It would have to be one of us. Someone we trust.” Like me, Landon replied silently. He hadn’t told Durango that he would quit the gang before he left Liz on her own again.
Sure, they had his brother, Logan, dropping in and keeping tabs on her. Durango, as well, sent members of the gang here to get checked out before Liz sent them to the pleasure girls in her care. But what about in between those long periods when she was alone out here? Anything could happen. People were getting desperate as the climate continued to grow cold.
A woman living alone would be easy pickings for the gangs of men who were now roving around looking for easy prey, as well as the cannibals who preferred eating humans. Those were just a couple of dangers.
She was a doctor. She would be a valuable asset for someone who wanted to kidnap her and sell her services. It was only a matter of time before something bad happened, and he wanted to be here to make sure it didn’t.
Durango didn’t say anything, and Landon glanced over to see his friend staring up at the ceiling, his mouth pursed in thought. He could see the wheels grinding in his friend’s head. Knew he was most likely thinking of the
