Texan's Touch

“Listen, kid, if it hadn’t been for you, we’d all look like Lloyd this morning. They might have moved around in the night and killed us one by one. I owe you a great deal, Nick.”

“I’m glad I could help.” She sat down beside him as he leaned back against a tree. “I’m glad my skill could be of some use.”

He opened his arm in a friendly gesture and she leaned against it, letting all the tension of the night pass away with the sound of the stream dancing over pebbles and the sun warming her face. It felt good to be with Wes. He was the kind of friend who she knew she could always count on. The kind who would save her from any situation or anyone, even herself.

Wes closed his eyes and relaxed at her side. Within moments, they were both sound asleep.

Neither heard the wagon approaching from the direction of town.

TWENTY-ONE

ADAM HELPED THE men unload the wounded cowhand named Franky from the back of the wagon as he looked around for Wes and Nick. Stitched properly, Franky’s leg would heal nicely, leaving only a thin scar to remind him of his days on the trail.

Several men told Adam what had happened during the night and how Nick had saved the camp. A few of the men confessed they’d been shy in thanking a woman, but that didn’t stop them from praising her to Adam. By the time he finished reloading the wagon, some were bragging about her as though they were the proud papa of such an outstanding woman.

A rider had already left to fetch the deputy so he could take the raiders off their hands. Everyone felt sure that the cattle thieves would confess who rode with them after a few days in jail.

Lloyd’s body was wrapped in a blanket his wife had quilted and would be buried as soon as the deputy had a look at him. Several of the men thought it would be a good idea to use the extra horses as packhorses so that Franky would have more room to ride in the wagon till his leg healed.

When Adam had heard the stories more than once, he asked about Wes. Someone pointed to the trees and commented that they thought the boss went to wash up an hour or so ago.

Adam moved slowly toward the creek. He felt relief that Wes and Nichole were all right, and a nagging anger that they might have known something was amiss before they sent him off last night. What was he, some child to be pushed from harm’s way? Did his brother think him so weak or helpless he didn’t want him around during any battle? Did Nichole think him a coward?

The two were alike… born to fight. Surely they understood his fights were elsewhere. Logic told him they both understood him, but Adam couldn’t help feeling a little left out.

As he turned into the trees, the sight that greeted him shattered any remaining calmness. Wes leaned against a tree trunk, his cheek resting on the top of Nichole’s head. Adam saw her curled against Wes’s side as easily as she’d curled against his own. Both of them were sound asleep.

Fury and hurt blended with the relief that they were both safe.

“This is what you wanted!” He voiced the words in his mind, slamming them against his brain. But no matter how many times he repeated them, he couldn’t stop the pain of seeing Wes and Nichole together.

Adam watched as though made of stone as Wes’s fingers touched her hair. The hair Adam loved to touch. She stretched against his brother as she awoke. Adam felt his blood stop moving.

This is right, Adam told himself, but if it was right, how come he felt so wrong inside? He’d thought Wes and Nichole were well matched, would be good for one another… but he’d never thought of Wes touching her hair, or of her resting her head against Wes’s heart and not his own. He’d never thought of them sleeping side by side.

“We’d better get back, kid,” Wes mumbled as he squeezed her shoulder.

Nichole rubbed her eyes with her fists like a child and leaned forward, stretching her body awake.

Wes looked up and met Adam’s gaze.

Adam couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move, and he knew he wasn’t hiding any of the anger he felt inside. Wes could always read him. If Wes read him now, he’d better walk softly.

But Wes took Nichole’s hand and helped her to her feet, keeping her back to Adam. He bent close to her and whispered something, then kissed her full on the mouth. If he cared that Adam was watching, he showed no sign of it.

Adam stared as she tilted her head slightly, just as she’d done when excepting his kiss. Only it wasn’t his kiss, it was Wes’s. He stayed only long enough to see that Nichole did nothing to shove Wes away, then he turned and walked back to camp feeling like something had died inside him. Somehow in his world of logic the sun was dark at midday, the earth had stopped rotating, the air was liquid and he could no longer breathe.

Within minutes, Wes and Nichole joined him. She seemed happy and excited about all that had happened the night before. Adam didn’t miss the way her smile came easy to Wes, or the way his big brother touched her lightly, comfortably, like old friends.

Adam thanked her for saving his brother’s life. He knew his words were too formal. Her stare told him as much, but he couldn’t help himself. He felt like someone had plowed through his heart. The logic he’d always depended on didn’t work now. Why waste time telling himself that this was what he wanted to happen between them? That they were right for one another? That Wes deserved a little happiness? All the reasons in the world couldn’t explain the way he felt.

What made matters worse was that Wes kept smiling at him. He was still smiling when he helped Nichole on her horse and told them he’d drop by later to let them know how it went at the sheriff’s office. He even laughed about going out on the town now that Nichole had no reason to hide. When she didn’t say no right away, he offered to buy her a dress, something that had never crossed Adam’s mind.

Touching his hat in farewell, Adam didn’t wait for Nichole before kicking his animal into a gallop. As he rode out of camp, he thought he heard Wes laugh.

It took her a half mile to catch him. Adam might claim to be no great horseman, but today he was riding as though racing a twister.

“What is it?” she yelled. “Is something wrong back in town?”

“No.” Adam wouldn’t look at her. He couldn’t look at her and hold to his pride at the same time. “I just want to get back.” He urged his horse faster.

Nichole fought to stay even. “What’s wrong, Adam?” Her mind filled with all kinds of worries that might have happened. “Is Nance hurt? Sister? What’s happened?”

“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong!” His words were so angry they boomed like sudden cannon fire.

“Stop!” she shouted. “You’ll kill our horses at this pace.” The ground was too uneven for such speed. Surely Adam knew this. But he’d gone mad.

“Stop!” Nichole yelled again as Adam turned into the high buffalo grass. “This grass is full of prairie dog holes.”

“No!” he yelled back without looking at her.

She couldn’t endure another moment of his insanity. Without hesitating, she pulled her feet from the stirrups and jumped toward Adam, hitting him hard and full against his side.

He rolled from his saddle into the tall grass with her knocking the breath from him as she landed on top of him. Shaken, he jumped to his feet and turned on her. “You could have gotten us both killed.” Finally, he was too angry to allow the beauty of her to affect him. He faced her. “Must you always be so wild? We could both be dead with broken necks right now.”

She dusted herself off, moving her head from side to side as if testing her neck. “Better killed than crazy.” She shrugged. “Which is exactly what you are, Doc. I knew I might kill you by hitting you like that, but I had the horses to consider. They don’t deserve to break a leg because you’ve gone loco.”

Adam marched away from her for several feet, then turned and stormed back. “I’m not the one who’s crazy. You knew there was trouble in that camp last night before I left. That’s why you stayed, but you didn’t bother to tell me.”