'Why, you little —' Malachi began.
'Stop, stop!' Kristin begged, reaching for the gun. She couldn't imagine trying to explain to Cole Slater why they had murdered his brother. 'Shannon —'
'He's a Reb, Kristin. He's probably one of Quantrill's —'
'Don't you know a regular cavalry uniform when you see one, girl?'
Kristin lost patience and swung around. 'Mr. Slater, please, just for a minute, shut up. Shannon, this is Cole's brother.'
'Brother?'
Her eyes wide, she looked at Malachi, then at Kristin again. 'Are you sure? They don't look much alike!'
'We have identical big toes,' Malachi snapped sarcastically. Shannon stiffened.
Then, suddenly, there was the sound of another explosion. The three of them stared at one another blankly. Wood chips flew as a second bullet struck the barn wall above their heads.
'Get down —' Malachi began.
'Drop that gun!' The order was spoken in a commanding, masculine tone.
Shannon wasn't about to obey. She spun around, aiming. Malachi swore and slammed his fist down on her wrists. The Colt fell to the ground, and Shannon turned on Malachi, swearing and flailing at him with her fists. Malachi swore in return, and Kristin wondered how the two of them could be going at one another this way when someone else was firing at all three of them. They were warning shots, she realized. She stared blankly across the yard and saw that another man had come out of the shadows of the porch. He was younger than Cole and Malachi and dressed like a rancher in high boots, a long railway frock coat and a slouch hat that sat low on his forehead. Malachi paid no attention to him. As he came forward, the stranger tipped his hat to Kristin.
'They've got a set of rotten tempers between them, huh?'
'Do they?' Kristin crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the young man who had been doing the shooting. Shannon was still shrieking, fighting the hold Malachi had on her. Kristin ignored them both and kept staring at the newcomer. 'Why were you shooting at us?'
'I thought she meant to poke a hole right through old Malachi there,' he said solemnly. He had cloudlike blue-gray eyes and tawny hair. He smiled again. It was an engaging smile, and Kristin almost smiled, too, in spite of herself.
'I take it you're another Slater? Or are you a friend of the family?'
He stuck out his hand. 'Jamie, ma'am.'
Malachi let out something that sounded like a growl. 'Damned brat bit me!' he thundered.
'Shannon!' Kristin implored.
She might have bitten Malachi, but the bite didn't keep him from maintaining his hold upon her, his arms around her waist. Her toes were barely touching the ground.
'Ah, Malachi.' Jamie shook his head sorrowfully and said to Kristin, 'He met Grant at Shiloh but he can't handle a little wisp of a girl.'
'I'm not —' Shannon began.
'You are a foolish little brat!' Malachi said, releasing her at last and shoving her towards Kristin. She would have swung at him again, but Kristin caught her sister's arms. 'Shannon, please!'
But Shannon was still staring at Malachi, seething. 'I am not a brat, Reb. You attacked my sister —'
'And you attacked my brother,' Jamie said pleasantly. 'We're all even. And if Cole were here he'd say the entire lot of us were a pack of fools playing around with firearms. But then, Cole isn't here, and that's why Malachi and I are. Maybe we ought to try and start over.'
'Cole sent you, too?' Kristin asked Jamie.
'Yes, ma'am, he did.'
'I see,' Kristin said stiffly.
Jamie grinned broadly. 'No, ma'am, I doubt if you see at all. He had some business to attend to.'
'I told her,' Malachi said.
'My brother is a cavalry officer,' Shannon snapped at Malachi, ignoring everything else. 'And if he knew you were on his property he'd skewer you right through!'
He shook his head, looking as if he were about to explode. Then he exhaled in an exaggerated display of patience. 'I thought I was supposed to be looking out for Quantrill, not a two-bit piece of baggage!' He shoved his hat down hard over his forehead and started walking toward the house. Kristin, amused, stared after him. Shannon, amazed, placed her hands on her hips.
'Where do you think you're going?' she called.
Malachi stopped and swung around. 'In. For coffee and breakfast. And if you don't like it, little girl, that's just too damned bad. You take it up with Cole the next time you see him. He asked me to be here, and I'm here, and I won't be leaving, not until he gets back. Until that time, you do us both a favor. You stay clear of me. Way clear.' He paused, then swore softly again. 'Hell, I could still be out there with the Yankees. It'd be a hell of a lot less nerve-racking than a morning here!' Once again he turned. Kristin saw that Delilah was on the steps, watching them. She was grinning broadly.
'You must be Mr. Malachi.'
Delilah's voice floated down to Kristin, and Kristin arched a brow at her. She and Shannon hadn't known that Cole's brothers were coming, but Delilah had. Cole had told Delilah what he was up to, and he hadn't said a word to them.
She gritted her teeth, damning Cole a thousand times over. What was this business he had to attend to? They had made a deal. Zeke was still out there somewhere. She didn't need a pair of baby-sitters. She needed to have Zeke taken care of.
And she needed to have Cole talk to her, to tell her about his life, not just walk away from her when the sun came up.
'You come on in,' Delilah was saying to Malachi. 'Breakfast's on the table, boys. Breakfast's on the table.'
Kristin felt Jamie watching her. She turned to him, and she flushed, surprised by the knowing assessment she saw in his eyes. He had been reading her mind, or else he had been wondering about her relationship with his brother. No, he seemed to know what their relationship was already. She could read that in the look he was giving her.
Then he smiled, as if he had already decided that he liked her, and so she smiled, too. She liked Jamie. And she liked Malachi. She even liked the war he was waging with Shannon. She had felt like laughing as she'd watched them and she hadn't felt like laughing in a long time.
'I'm awful hungry, too,' Jamie said. He offered her his arm. 'Shall we go in for breakfast?'
Kristin hesitated, then took his arm, and they started toward the house. She paused, turning back to her sister. 'Shannon?'
'I'll skip breakfast,' Shannon said heatedly, her bright blue eyes still on Malachi's retreating back. 'I don't rightly feel like sitting down with —' She paused when she saw that Jamie was studying her intently. 'I'm not hungry.' She spun around and stomped off to the barn. Kristin looked at Jamie again.
'Just where is Cole? I don't need looking after like this, you know. Cole and I had a — an agreement.'
She studied his eyes, trying hard not to flush.
'You talk to Cole about his whereabouts later,' Jamie said flatly. Neither of the Slaters was going to say a thing about Cole's absence, she realized. 'And we're here 'cause of your agreement. We know Quantrill and his boys. We're just here to see that you're safe. Do you really mind? Terribly?'
'No, I, uh… of course not. You're both very welcome,' she said, forcing herself to smile. They were welcome, they really were. It was just that…
It was just that she wondered where the hell Cole had gone. She wondered if it had to do with another woman, and she wondered if she could bear it if it did.
Don't fall in love with him! she warned herself again. But he was gone, and she was aching, and it was too late. He wasn't involved and she was, and it was gnawing away at her. She forced her smile to remain in place. 'Jamie, you are very welcome. Come on. Delilah makes an incredible breakfast.'
He rode southeast the first day. The farther east he went in Missouri, the more closemouthed and careful people were about Quantrill and his gang.
