Then he would pay the church for the damage.
The door to the study slowly opened, pulling Winter fully awake. He studied her in the firelight as Kora tiptoed into the room. Pretending to be asleep, he watched her move silently about. She put another log on the fire, then picked up his dirty clothes and placed clean folded ones on the chair.
She turned to go, then hesitated before crossing the rug to where he lay. Very slowly she leaned over him and lightly touched her lips to his. It took all Winter’s strength not to pull her to him. He made his body remain still as she kissed him, then vanished a moment later.
‘‘The deep water may drown me,’’ he mumbled to himself as he rubbed two fingers over his bottom lip.
• • •
Win finally gave up even trying to sleep and pulled on his jeans. He opened one of the tall study windows and stepped out onto the long dark front porch. The captain had built the back of the house to face all the activity of the ranch and the front to face the prairie. For as far as he could see in the moonlit sky was his land. Only tonight it failed to bring him the joy it always had.
Hardly noticing the cold air, he took a deep breath, trying to clear the thought of Kora in another man’s arms. He knew she’d probably be leaving by summer, but that seemed a lifetime away. Until then she’d promised to be his wife. Adams’s appearance had changed all that.
He moved silently across the wooden boards toward the steps. Win was almost atop Kora before he saw her sitting on the first step wrapped in a quilt.
‘‘Excuse me,’’ he grumbled, hating that he wasn’t alone.
Turning to leave, he almost didn’t hear her whisper, ‘‘Don’t go.’’
He thought of ignoring her request. He owed her nothing. She’d lied to him and made a fool of him. But she’d also been kind. ‘‘What is it?’’ He didn’t turn to face her.
For a long moment she was silent and he wasn’t sure she was going to say anything.
Then softly her voice drifted on the breeze. ‘‘I like to come out here. The back porch is always so busy, but around here you can almost believe you’re alone on the land.’’
Win turned slightly, but all he could see was her outline on the steps. ‘‘If you’ve got something to say, say it.’’
‘‘I don’t know where to start,’’ she whispered.
‘‘With the truth would be a new spot,’’ he answered. ‘‘And at the beginning.’’
He watched her head lean forward as she tucked her knees to her chin. She looked so tiny. It was hard to believe she’d come up with such a whopper of a lie.
‘‘My first memory of my father was when he died early in the war. Mama came from a family who had a little money, and Papa had already sold all his land trying to keep her happy even before the war. When he died, we had nothing. Dan was tall enough to run off and fight, leaving me with newborn Jamie and Mom.’’
Kora wasn’t looking at him but out at the darkness. He could tell the words came hard.
‘‘We made do until Dan returned. Mom just gave up trying after that, not caring about anything but being with him. I’m not sure how long she lived after he came home all shot up and silent like he is now, two winters, maybe three. Then we were alone.’’
She leaned her head back against the wood of the porch brace and took a deep breath. ‘‘For a while we lived by me gathering food from other folks’ gardens at night and from the garbage bins in winter. Finally I was old enough to work, and Jamie could watch Dan.’’
Kora laughed suddenly without humor. ‘‘I guess you didn’t mean so far back.’’
Win moved to the other side of the porch steps and folded his arms. ‘‘Continue.’’
‘‘There were months, years that I didn’t see sunlight. I worked at any job that would pay, sometimes two, and Jamie ran the streets. Several years ago we heard about a land where the sun shines every day of the year-
California. So we saved enough to get to Galveston and from there to Houston, then Bryan. We planned to work our way across the West.
‘‘But Dan got sick a year ago, and the doctor’s fee put us in debt. I started working at the mercantile, and Jamie ran the mail.’’
Win shifted. ‘‘What does this have to do with Andrew Adams?’’ He had the feeling she was stalling.
‘‘Everything,’’ she whispered. ‘‘A woman who picked up her mail at the mercantile started writing him and agreed to marry him by mail. But she found another a few days before he arrived and tossed his letters in the trash. Just out of curiosity, I read them and decided to meet the stage, wondering what such a man would look like.
‘‘The stage was late. When it came in, all were dead but Adams. He had four bullet holes in him and the doctor said he’d never live the night. I’d read the letters, I knew he had no relatives, and he’d already signed the proxy. All I had to do was sign the paper, and I’d be a widow with a farm somewhere northwest.’’
‘‘So you lied.’’ Win’s words were hard. ‘‘About him and then to me.’’
‘‘The lie to him only moved us to another place to starve.’’
‘‘But you thought the lie to me would get you to your sunshine in California,’’ Win snapped as he stood.
‘‘That’s right,’’ Kora whispered without looking up.
‘‘If the paper is legal, there’s not much you can do. The law wouldn’t step between a man and wife.’’
‘‘And if it’s not?’’
‘‘Then you stay till full summer with me. I’ll see that you don’t break this agreement.’’ He looked away from her. ‘‘When the six months is over, I want you gone.’’
The sound of him walking away was all she heard.
TWELVE
‘‘HOW ABOUT I KILL THEM BOTH?’’ JAMIE OFFERED AS she leaned against the counter watching Kora cut out the morning’s biscuits. ‘‘Then you’d have no husbands and we could start over fresh.’’
Kora smiled, thankful that her sister was speaking to her once more. She had all the problems she could handle without Jamie’s anger. ‘‘I’ll think about it.’’
‘‘It wouldn’t be that much trouble. We’ve already paid for Andrew’s funeral, and Win’s got enough land around for burying. After what he did to Wyatt and me last night, I’d slit his throat without a second thought.’’ Her eyes danced with excitement. ‘‘Then, of course, I’d have to become an outlaw. I could branch off into bank robbery and be a gun-for-hire, that kind of thing. And I’d still see Wyatt, of course. We’d be the gambler and the outlaw everyone makes up legends about.’’
Kora smiled at her sister’s outrageous daydream. ‘‘You’ll not start your life of crime on one of my husbands. But as for the gambler, what did happen between you two last night?’’
Jamie raised her eyebrows up and down, then shook her head. ‘‘You wouldn’t understand.’’
‘‘Is he interested in marriage?’’ Kora asked as she agreed with Jamie about not understanding. Except for the kiss she’d shared with Win in the barn, she’d never found men as fascinating to be around as Jamie seemed to.
‘‘He’s interested in me,’’ Jamie offered. ‘‘As for marriage, I think he feels about like I do concerning that black curse.’’
‘‘It’s not a curse.’’
Jamie laughed. ‘‘It’s a curse by which you’ve been doubly blessed, dear sister. I’d call that witchin’ luck for sure.’’
Both women grew silent as Winter entered the kitchen. He was dressed in the clean clothes Kora laid out, but he didn’t look as if he’d slept at all. His hair was still damp from the washing, and a touch of shaving soap brushed the corner of his mustache.
‘‘Mornin’,’’ he mumbled as he pulled a cup from the rack. ‘‘Any coffee yet?’’
‘‘I’m not speaking to you!’’ Jamie shouted as she folded her arms.
Kora wrapped a towel around the pot handle and filled his cup. Her hand shook slightly, but if he wanted to pretend nothing was wrong, she would, also.
