There was that sound again. He glanced down. She was standing solid on her two feet, so it couldn’t be a nail.
“What’s the matter?” He’d asked that before, but no answer had been forthcoming. At least not one he could make any sense of.
“Do you think that maybe you should have told me about this?” She spoke in an odd way, slowly, one word at a time. He was pretty sure her teeth were clenched.
“I’m telling you right now, Deb.” He should have told her before. He was listening, learning.
She drew in a deep breath. She flexed her hands, and it was only then that he noticed she’d made them into fists.
“I mean, leaving the ranch, heading out on a mission that might just get you killed. Seems to me like the sort of thing a married couple should discuss. Not a simple announcement that you’re leaving and you’ll be back once you’ve either captured or killed three brutal murderers, all by yourself. As if you weren’t leaving on a life-or-death trip and might never see me again.”
Well, he didn’t plan on dying, but then who did? “We’ve talked about me guarding that trail. I’m The Guardian. I know we talked about that. How could this come as a surprise?” He paused to study her. “But it has. I expected you to know what I had to do, and you didn’t. So I am sorry. And now, would you like to sit down and talk about it? About why I think I have to go and protect those people?”
As he said it, he felt his temper stir a little.
He’d talk her through his plans, slowly, give her lots of unimportant details. Of course, he hadn’t really thought of the details. Pack food, head for the trail. What other details were there?
He caught her arm and guided her to the table and tugged on her overly stiff knees to get her to sit down. He dragged a chair around to sit in front of her.
“I never for a second thought of this as something that would get me killed. I’m not reckless, and I won’t face down three armed men. I’m smarter than that.” Yep, temper again. She was insulting him, though she might not quite realize it.
“I want to get there ahead of the wagon train so I can scout the area. Given time, I’ll find the likely spots where the dry-gulching cowards will hole up. The best overlooks on a trail are easy to see. Then I’ll find shelter for myself of some kind. I’ll be out over several nights because, by my reckoning, the wagon train won’t be coming through the most dangerous stretch of the trail for at least three more days, maybe as many as five, but I think three ’cause they’ll be pushing hard. They need to get through the last bad stretch before the weather turns bad. The outlaws will get there ahead of them and find their hiding spots. I’ll be waiting for them when they arrive.”
There, he’d said a powerful lot of words right there. That’d make her happy.
“I am furious, Trace.”
Or maybe it wouldn’t. He listened real close so he could figure out what had upset her. None of the men had said a thing when he’d told them he was going, except Adam had teased him about hiding out because he didn’t want to help build the barn, and Utah had offered to come along.
He couldn’t believe they might get that barn built this fall. He’d never dreamed—
“I married you just two days ago.”
Oops, he’d meant to listen . . . had she been talking long?
“Now without so much as a by your leave, without talking one word of this over with me—”
How could she not know he had to go? Surely that’d been as plain as the nose on her face. Of course he was going. Did the woman have no common sense?
“—you make a decision to leave that might end in your death. You might never come home.”
“I’m really good at guarding a trail, Deb, and sneakin’ up on men in the wild. I move quiet as a ghost. Wolf and Black are knowing critters, and nothing can sneak up on them without their knowin’ it, and they’ll be going with me. No man will hear me. No man will attack me. If I have to run, no man can catch me.”
“Can you outrun a bullet, Trace?”
The woman had a sharp tongue, and that was that.
“It’s honestly an easy way to catch these bushwhackers. They’ll split up and watch the trail. They’ll be separated, and I can get them one at a time, tie ’em up tight and, before you know it, I’ll have ’em slung over their horses, and I’ll parade ’em right to Ringo and hand ’em over to the marshal. They’ll never be able to hurt anyone again. And since I saw them, you won’t even need to testify.”
Of course, Deb had been the one to see them in the act of murder, so he’d best not make any promises. “Or if you do need to testify, I’ll ride home and fetch you.” He smiled and hoped that was enough. His throat was startin’ to hurt from all this yammering.
She surged to her feet and jammed her hands on her hips. Trace stood to face her. He was a newcomer to this husband business, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t the way a woman stands when she’s cheered up and the talkin’ is over. Then her arms dropped, and the angry expression faded from her face. She launched herself right into his arms.
He held on to her tight and forgot figuring her out. It was way more fun to hold a live, warm woman in his arms.
“Trace, I know we’re new at being married, and I’m not going to try and convince you not to do what you think needs doing. You’re a good and honorable man, and that’s one of the
