A Western Romance: Love Storm - Western Historical Romance: (Western Fiction, Western Books, Western Brides) (Leap of Love Series Book 4) (7 page)

"I will return shortly. If I left you untied, would that be a problem?"

Bianca could not believe the words she heard from Red. "It will not be a problem at all."

She did not want to push her luck. Red packed a bag, and Bianca could not see exactly what was in it. He hoisted another bag onto his other shoulder, nodded, and walked out of the door. Bianca watched out of the window as he mounted a horse and rode off.

She stood there for a moment, trying to take in the gravity of the situation. Had he just left her there in the house unattended? And if he did, for how long?

Bianca paced in front of the window, waiting to see if Red was returning. After an hour, an anxiety settled in. Maybe he had gotten his ransom and simply left her there. Or maybe he was going to come back shortly and if she left, it would cause more of a problem for her.

Whatever he was doing, she had to start putting her plan in action. He had not left her with a horse, but she would need to do whatever she needed to do to get to safety and most of all, get home to her family.

*

When Red first came to Eagle Valley, he had not planned on falling in love. He was there, passing through after completing a job for some desperados and then expected to leave. At that time, the West was open and unchartered territory. He had no family to speak of and at twenty years old, he had to make a way for himself.

Red could still remember the day that he rode into Eagle Valley. It was a small village and not yet incorporated. When Red rode in, he had simply wanted a place to lay his head and to get something to eat for the night.

Instead, what he found was the love of a woman named Samantha. She was young. They were both young and impressionable and neither one of them knew what love was. But they took it for what it was. A raw, consuming passion for one another.

Samantha worked for the local laundress, and when she came in to deliver the clean laundry to the inn where he was sleeping for the night, Red turned that one night stay into a week, and then into a month. Anything to be with the beautiful raven haired girl with the smile that lit up his life in a way that he never knew was possible.

They were so much alike. Both were free spirits, looking for all that life had to offer them, but willing to do what was needed to secure all of their dreams and goals. Red could not remember what those goals and dreams were now. He did remember sitting under the stars at night discussing those dreams and goals with Samantha and feeling like they had the world in the palm of their hands.

But he was not able to stay in Eagle Valley indefinitely. He promised her that he would return. She did not understand, or like the work that he did for the desperados. She wanted him to be more stable and stay there with her and build a family, build a life for the both of them. But that wild spirit in Red would not allow him to stay put. He had to make money and make his own way in life, and at that time, he was not willing to let anyone, not even the woman he loved, tell him where he had to be in life.

So he left, in search of the very thing that was right there with him the entire time. As a young man, he had no clue that he did not have to go on a search that led him away from what he already had. Instead, he spent his days pining over a woman who had been in his reach, in his arms. When Red figured out how stupid he had been to leave, he set out to return to her. But that had not been as easy as he thought that it would be.

It took over a year to get back to Eagle Valley. Between being under contract to complete jobs for the desperados, and then being imprisoned in a jail in Mexico for over six months, he had not been able to get back to Samantha. He thought of her every day, to the point that it interfered with his ability to work.

A break came when he was assigned to a job in Eagle Valley. He was not completely clear on all that he was supposed to do, but he took the chance to go back to the place where he had found the love of his life.

Red was not sure what he expected to happen upon his return. What he wanted was for Samantha's face to light up and be full of love and desire when she saw him. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms, and to let her know that he would do this one last job and then be hers forever. He wanted to kiss her and caress her and inhale the scent of lilacs in her hair.

But when he arrived, nothing went as planned. It took him a day to even find Samantha. It was as if she did not want to be found. He found out that she was married to Lou Simmons, a big time rancher who had political connections and lots of money. And not only was she married, but she had a daughter.

When he heard, it knocked the wind right out of him. And when he could breathe, he became full of anger. If she had married someone else, he could deal with that. Red knew that she really did not love the man she was with as much as she loved him. But to marry him and have a child, it seemed more final. Samantha belonged to another, and there was nothing that Red could do about it.

Red made his mind up that he would do the job he was being paid for and walk away. It was the only answer he could think of. He received his orders, and went out on a stakeout for his target.

Sitting in the woods, he waited patiently for the man that he was supposed to kill. Red had no clue who had commissioned the work. It did not matter to him, as long as he got clear directions and his pay.

Crouched behind a large overturned log and hidden behind the trees, Red waited, gun cocked and loaded. He was told that his target would be a large, stocky, white haired man. He was on the edge of a wooded area near a lone house that stood on the southern edge of the city.

No one came or went as he sat there for the next hour. Suddenly he heard the crunching of twigs and the rustling of the grass. He turned quickly, on guard to shoot, when he saw Samantha come running toward him.

"What are you doing out here?" His voice was a stern, loud whisper. Red snatched her and pulled her to the side.

She was almost out of breath. "I had to come and tell you."

"What was so important that you came out here?" he asked. Then he paused. "How did you even know that I was out here?"

No one should have known that he was on assignment. No one but his boss who gave him the assignment.

"That's the point. It's all a set up. Lou is setting you." And that was all that came out of her mouth before she fell into his arms.

Red did not even hear the gun shot, and when Samantha fell into his arms, his hands were suddenly colored crimson. He wanted to scream, but he could barely breathe.

"Samantha! Samantha!" he called out to her. Her eyes fluttered.

"Lou, set up," she managed to say.

"I get that. I get that. Please don't talk."

Red looked around, surveying his surroundings as he tried to figure out what his next move would be.

The only thing that he could think to do was to take cover. He did not know where the gunshot came from, and there was no time to figure things out. The love of his life lay dying in his arms.

As he found a safe place for both of them, Samantha opened her eyes.

"I promise that you will be okay. Just stay with me. Please, Samantha."

She squeezed his hand, and Red could tell that she was trying to comfort him from the inevitable.

"No matter what, I love you." The words came out breathlessly.

Hearing the confession made his heart melt. It was too much too late for so many reasons.

"I love you too."

When she took her last breath, he was there with her. There with the woman he loved. And to know that she loved him just as deeply made it just a tiny bit easier to deal with losing her.

He knew that he had to get out of there. Red did not want to leave her there all alone, but he knew that there was nothing else that he could do at that moment. He had to go.

One last kiss, and Red knew that he had to leave Eagle Valley for good. He had no intent on returning.

His heart was forever broken, and Red knew that there would be no way to mend it. So when he sat around for the next twenty years, hurt and anger boiling in his system hardening his heart, he was led back to Eagle Valley.

When his feet were back on Arizona soil, he could feel Samantha's presence. It had been way too long and so much water under the bridge, but the swell of anger came rushing back.

He had found out directly after Samantha's death that she had told him the truth about Lou setting him up. The only assumption that Red could make was that Lou knew that Samantha still loved him and that any time Red returned could be a threat to Lou and Samantha's relationship.

Men had egos that were delicate, especially when the love of a woman was involved. Red had returned to the place that he had made his home, only to find out from his boss that he would not get paid for the job he had been sent on. That was the nail in the coffin, and Red knew from that point on that he would never let Lou Simmons live down the fact that he had taken away the only woman that he ever loved.

As far as Red was concerned, Lou Simmons owed him a debt that he could never repay. He vowed that he would come back and collect when Lou would least expect it.

And he did just that. Just as Red was unaware that Lou had set him up, Lou was unaware that Red had abducted his daughter. Red never had any intention of harming Bianca. He simply needed her as leverage to get what he wanted. What he wanted most was for Lou to be filled with the same anger and hurt that he had lived with for so long. And he wanted his money, which would not make up for his loss, but it would cushion the pain that he still felt about losing Samantha.

The plan seemed easy at first. He came back to town, knowing that no one in particular would recognize him by this time. His name was pretty infamous, but he was also known for committing a few crimes that he actually did not commit. When he saw the home where Lou resided, the rage and anger fueled again. This man, the very man that was responsible for his own wife's death, was able to move on to live extravagantly. Red wondered how Lou lived with what he had done.

It was not his cross to bear, so Red set about his plan. He'd been in town a few days, casing the Simmons family, learning their every move. When he felt like he knew more than enough, he sprang into action, abducting Bianca. Looking at her, Red knew that she was her mother's daughter. Seeing Samantha's eyes, he knew that he could not harm the girl. He simply used a little scented oil to cause her to go into a deep sleep, mostly so that she would not look at him with her mother's eyes. He tried to treat her as best as possible. How could he harm the daughter of the woman that had stolen his heart? Bianca was totally innocent in all of this. A man's war of egos. 

Lou was willing to give him the ransom much easier than he thought he would. When he did, Red knew that it was time to leave. He made one last stop to the place where he'd left his heart, and knew that once Eagle Valley was behind him, he would never be able to step foot there again.

And that was all right. He had lost way more there than he ever anticipated, and Eagle Valley was a memory that he would need to forget in order to keep living. So he simply left Bianca in the small clapboard house, alone. Red knew that she would figure out eventually that he would not return. And if she did not figure it out on time, Lou's search party would find her safe and sound and take her home.

Red set off to nowhere in particular. Men like him did not have a home base. Red preferred the wide open range and the freedom to roam, the very lifestyle that had cost him a life with the only woman that he loved.

"Red Davies, come on out! U.S. Marshals. We have you surrounded!"

Guns drawn, the Marshals surrounded the clapboard house. They kept their eyes glued on the windows and the door.

"Let's end this calmly Red. No one has to get hurt." Boyd did his best to keep the situation as peaceful as negotiating the surrender of a kidnapper could be.

Fingers poised on the triggers, all three men were ready for anything. The door flew open.

"Please don't shoot. Scout! Please! It's me. Bianca. I am in here alone. Don't shoot!"

"Bianca!"

Scout edged closer, gun still drawn just in case. Bianca came tearing out of the house, and practically knocked her brother to the ground.

Boyd and Beau took a brief moment to regard what was happened, but neither man let their guard down.

"Are you all right?" Scout turned his sister around, checking her for any signs of bruising or wounds.

Tears rolled down the woman's face. "I am fine. Really. And he is gone."

Beau continued to secure the perimeter. "How do you know that for sure?"

Bianca used her sleeve to wipe away the tears. "He took the bag he always carried, and the horse and wagon is gone. In the week that I've been with him, if he left shortly, he left the wagon. I think he got the ransom and left for good."

The siblings embraced. Boyd was happy to see the love between the two.

A clap of thunder rolled, and then lightening lit up the graying sky.

"Maybe we had better take shelter," Bianca suggested.

"I don't think it's such a good idea to stay in this house. We do not know if Red is returning and who he could return with," Beau commented.

"We have food in here and besides, I think we are about to get caught in a torrential rain storm."

The men contemplated what she suggested. Bianca was right. There was no reason to travel for the immediate moment, and all become soaked to the bone in the rain. The men stepped inside just as the skies opened up and dowsed the earth with rain.

Boyd watched as the rain soaked the earth. "Looks like we found shelter just in time."

"Thank goodness you all found me. I hope that your journey to me was a safe one."

"Yes Ma'am. It was our pleasure." Beau tipped his hat to the woman and then took it completely off of his head. Scout and Boyd followed suit.

"To whom do I owe the unending appreciation of saving my life?"

Scout held out his hand. "My sister, please meet Boyd and Beau Abbott. They are the wonderful United States Marshals that led the search efforts to find you."