A Western Romance: Love Storm - Western Historical Romance: (Western Fiction, Western Books, Western Brides) (Leap of Love Series Book 4) (8 page)

"Why thank you." First she walked over to Beau, offering a curtsey, then to Boyd, offering the same. In Boyd's presence, she lingered just a second longer, holding his gaze.

"Thank you, gentlemen. I will never be able to repay you for all that you have done. I pray that the efforts to find me have not taken you too far away from your families."

"As a matter of fact, sister, the two of them are twins, which you can most likely tell. And they have moved to Arizona from South Carolina."

"Well, that is impressive. I have never been that far away from home. And the two of you doing so together is even more of a testament to the power of family. As you see, my brother and I are different, but very close."

Beau responded. "Your brother Scout has recounted the story to us, Ms. Simmons. We are just happy to be able to help, and looking forward to living here."

Bianca clasped her hands together, a tired smile coming across her face. "I can only assume how tired and hungry you all must be. I am one hundred percent confident that Red Davies, my captor, will not be returning. So we can stay here and wait out the storm with a cabinet full of food items."

The rain sounded like it was going to come straight through the roof. Boyd was not sure how secure their shelter was, but it would have to do. Fortunately, the horses were corralled behind them in the barn so that they would be safe from the weather. Thunder crashed, and lightening illuminated the sky. Without it, there was gray and it was too dark, although it was day time. Bianca bounced around, obviously full of anxiety. Scout tried to calm her, and reassure his sister that they were there to protect her.

"Who does this house belong to?" Boyd questioned.

"I really don't know. I assumed that it belonged to Red. He was pretty familiar with his surroundings while we were here."

"Well, I don't want to get too comfortable. We need to head back as soon as the weather lets up."

"Boyd is it?" Bianca asked politely.

"Actually Ma'am, I'm Beau."

"I'm so sorry about that. Beau, I think that you have spoken a truth. I really would like to get home as soon as possible, if you all do not mind."

"We will make that happen, sister. It is not the smartest idea to get out in this weather, especially without a covered wagon. Being out on the range with the land wide open, lightening is way too dangerous."

Thunder rumbled so hard that it shook the house.

"Apparently not," Bianca replied, and the tension and anxiety in the room broke immediately.

Bianca busied herself making coffee for everyone. Beau and Boyd never truly left their posts near the windows. As far as they were concerned, there was potential for Red Davies to return at any moment, and they wanted to be prepared.

"I don't think that he's coming back," Bianca commented.

Boyd looked over in Bianca's direction. "You can never be too sure, Miss Simmons."

Their eyes met. All of a sudden, Boyd felt giddy, dizzy with an unknown emotion. It was as if when their eyes met, his world all of a sudden went off kilter.

Bianca blushed. "Coffee?" She walked over to him, and offered him his cup personally.

"Thank you."

Bianca shrugged like it was not a big deal. "It's black. There is nothing else to offer to go with it."

"It's fine." He sipped his coffee, which was strong and black just as he needed in this moment. "Thank you very much."

Bianca stood there as if she was thinking and wanted to say something, and then walked away.

Boyd sipped his coffee, his mind newly on the woman standing in front of him. She was gorgeous. Her spirit was infectious. Her smile was genuine, although she looked to be a bit exhausted, which made a lot of sense.

He tried to turn around and focus on something else. Seeing Bianca in person was practically mind blowing. This is the woman who they had searched for, the woman that he heard about, but had not known or seen in person.

It had been storming for at least on hour, but it looked to slack off briefly before starting back steady again.

Neither Boyd nor Beau let up from their watch. As far as Boyd was concerned, there was no way that he was going to back off of his job until Bianca was home in her father's house.

The rain was coming down in sleets, to the point where visibility was not present.

Scout was not letting Bianca out of his sight, and Boyd understood. If he had a sister, he would fiercely protect her at all costs. He sympathized with Scout's fight to preserve his family.

"Ms. Simmons, I know that it is still a delicate time, but it would be best if you described for us what happened during your abduction. It would be helpful to know so that when we locate Red Davies, we can lodge the correct charges against him."

A scowl came across Scout's face. "Beau, I really don't think that this is the time to discuss such things."

Boyd did not want any issues to arise between his brother and Scout, but he agreed with Beau.

"I agree with my brother. It's best to hear your sister's account of things as long as they are fresh in her memory. The longer we wait, the more the memories start to fade or get confused."

"What else is there to know? Red Davies, that devil of a character, kidnapped my sister and held her for ransom. When he got the money, he ran off and it was the best thing that he could have done. End of story."

Boyd knew that he had to tread lightly. "Scout, we are all glad that it's over, but it is important to know what happened. What if your sister needs to see a doctor? And we need to make sure that we have a full account of what transpired. It may be difficult to hear, but we need to know so like Beau said, when we catch Red, and we will catch Red, we will be able to put him away for good."

Scout gently massaged his sister's hand. "I just really don't want to listen to what he did to hurt her." Scout's jaw was clenched when he spoke, and it was apparent that he was full of rage.

"It is all right, Scout. It would be better for me to get it off of my chest. Talking about it will make it better, and I would like to do whatever I can to make sure that Red is caught."

Bianca closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to recount everything that she could remember about the past week.

*

The second Red revealed that he had been in love with her mother, Bianca knew that the man would not harm her. She could tell by the look in his eyes when he told the stories and mentioned her mother's name, that he could not harm her. And she had a certain respect for him as well. After all, no one had ever shared any stories with her about her mother.

Now Samantha seemed more real to her. A woman in love. Torn between two men. It was the kind of tragic love story that one read about in poetry books.

So for the duration of her abduction, she held on to the fact that this man had once not only known her mother, but loved her mother. That had to count for more than the anger that he possessed for her father.

She still was not sure what exactly Red used to make her pass out all of those times, but she was just happy that he gained more trust in her. Bianca knew that if she played it smart, she would go home alive, and that was her goal the entire time.

Red did not talk much. He also did not bother her much either. The entire time, it was as if he was lost in his own thoughts. Bianca took it for what it was, and appreciated the fact that her abductor did not harm her.

Bianca explained how they traveled back and forth along the path, how they came to this clapboard house twice, and how they camped out in a place that she thought she had been familiar with.

"It was a trip that my father and I took once. I am almost certain that I passed by there before. At least I felt like it was familiar."

"So you are saying that he did not harm you?" Beau questioned.

"Except for whatever that was he used to render her unconscious," Scout added.

"Yes. I am saying that I am fine. After making camp, I actually did the fishing and we sat to eat."

 Scout bolted out of his seat. "You speak of this man as if you became friends with him."

"Brother, calm down."

"I can not calm down! It is as if you have developed a sweet spot for the man. I do not understand what is going on here with you." Scout held his head in his hands.

Bianca rushed to his side, trying her best to make him understand.

"I do not have a sweet spot for him. I, more than any of you, understand the circumstances here. But I have to have the tiniest bit of respect for the only person to ever share any information about my mother with me."

Bianca was standing by now as well, and in protest, she stamped her foot on the ground.

Scout regarded what she was saying.

"You, my brother, your parents may not be together in a conventional way, but you have grown up with both of them in your life. Me on the other hand, I did not have my mother to guide me and to nurture me through what it is like to be a young woman. I only had my father."

"But you had my mother as well. She was always willing to be there for you."

"Brother, I tell you that it was not the same. But I know you do not understand that. You do not know what it is like to always wonder what your mother's laugh sounded like, or what it would be like for her to scold you for taking too many cakes before dinner. I do not know what it is like to share secrets with my mother and confide in her about falling in love. And while your mother was there for me, it is just not the same."

The pain on Scout's face would be unforgettable. Bianca did not know how else to make him understand how she felt, so she decided to leave well enough alone.

"We had gone to a small town, and Red stopped at the telegram office. He came back the next day, and threw a huge bag in the back of the wagon. I dared not touch it. Red admitted that he asked for ransom, and I knew from that point that he would get his money because Father would rather give in to a ransom than see me unsafe. After we returned here to this house, he asked me if he could trust me to stay here if he left for a while. I told him he could, and he was off."

"So you are saying that Red did no real harm to you?" Beau asked again.

Bianca shook her head. "No. Nothing. Like I said, he told me stories about my mother, and I could tell that he was in love with her. So very in love. I knew that he would not harm me."

"That was a strong faith that he would not harm you. You did not really know for sure that he would not. After all, didn't you say that he was using something that was making you go to sleep and you did not know what it was?" Boyd wanted Bianca to see that, although it seemed that Red Davies had some sort of redeeming quality, it did not negate the fact that he had preyed upon her, kidnapped her, and held her for ransom.

"I get what you are saying, Boyd. But sometimes, when life seems that it has given you something that you can't handle, you are much stronger than you anticipated."

Boyd tried not to crack a smile. The woman was right. Not only was she beautiful and obviously possessed of a quiet strength, she was also intelligent and able to fend for herself. It made her all the more attractive.

He shifted his attention out of the window. It was the only way to handle the butterflies that were swirling in his stomach. With Bianca standing so close to him, he was not sure what it was that he was feeling. He had never been in love before, or even close to feeling love for any woman, so he was not sure what it was that was going on, but he had not missed the way she looked at him. At first, he thought that her expression was appreciation for being part of her rescue. But Beau had been part of the rescue, and Bianca was not giving his brother the same attention.

Their eyes met once again, and Boyd undeniably knew that there was something brewing between them.

The storm slacked up enough that everyone agreed that it was best that they leave. There were only three horses, so Boyd suggested that Bianca ride with him. Scout was against it, but Boyd reminded him that as a U.S. Marshal, he was officially on duty. Boyd did not want Scout to feel like he was overstepping his position as Bianca's brother, but he wanted him to know that he took his job seriously. Scout and Beau began riding at a pace that spoke to how quickly they wanted to get back home.

Boyd wanted to get Bianca home safely so that they could wrap up the case and move on to other work. Being so close to Bianca was making him nervous, and making his anxiety grow by the minute.

Steam vapors rose from the ground. Their clothes were sticking to their skin, hair damp. The humidity was making the ride almost unbearable and the mosquitoes taking a jab at them were making the ride impossible.

Out of nowhere, the sky opened up and sheets of rain poured from the heavens. Visibility even within an inch ahead was not possible. Boyd tried to look for Beau and Scout, but could not see.

He made the quick decision to turn back and go the house, and he just knew that Beau and Scout would return as well. The horse's hooves were getting stuck in the mud, and there was no way that they could go forward.

Boyd pushed the horse as far as he would go. He knew that they would have to dismount and walk the rest of the way. He leaned in and explained his decision to turn back. Bianca did not object.

Once they were close to the house, Boyd instructed Bianca to run to the house and go inside while he put the horse in the barn.

She did so, waiting at the door for him as he ran from the barn to the front door. They were both completely soaked, and chilled to the bone.

"I have never seen it rain like that," Bianca exclaimed. She tried to shake the wetness off, but to no avail.

Boyd started looking around for firewood. They needed to dry their clothes and shoes and warm themselves.

"There is a bedroom back down the hallway and there are clothes in there. Plus we can probably find some blankets or something to warm us up."

"Well, you go ahead first and change. I'll stoke the fire." Boyd tried not to stare at Bianca. Her long hair was wet, and the fact that her clothes were dark colored was the only reason that he was not seeing more than he was seeing of her body. She was not dressed in what women wore normally; full skirts, women's shoes with a small heel, and long sleeves with a high collar. Instead, she had on a pair of men's pants that looked to be made of burlap or some heavy material, and a long sleeved, dark colored, button down shirt.