Give My Love to Rose (31 page)

“
What are you doing,
Marston?” Gilliam snapped. “Untie me now and bring my daughter back
here!”

Marston simply shook his head and smiled as
he pulled his knife.

Gilliam’s eyes widened and he tried to scoot
away only to smack his head against the wooden floorboards.
“Marston, what are you doing? You’ve lost your damned mind!”
Marston took a step forward and Gilliam blanched. “I’ve never done
a damn thing to you.”

Marston paused and nodded. “You’re right.
You haven’t.” He put his knife away and left the shack. He took the
whip from the saddlebag of Gilliam’s horse. He held that braided
piece of leather in his hands and imagined the pain it had
inflicted on the woman he loved—the pain it had been dealt to that
innocent little girl in the woods.

Once again rage flowed through his veins
like blood itself. His fist clenched around the handle and an
animalistic growl rumbled from his chest.

“
What are you going to do
with that?” Gilliam gulped when Marston reentered the
shack.

Marston snorted. “I’m going to hit you with
it obviously.”

“
Why would you want to do
that?!” Gilliam’s voice rose with hysteria.

“
Why would you want to hit
Rose with it?” Marston countered, his temper rising.

“
W..who?” Gilliam
whispered, recognition dawning in his frightened eyes.

Marston grinned as he tossed the whip over
his shoulder. “I know you’re dumb as a brick, Gilliam, but even you
must remember your own daughter. Rose? Tell me, was it that red
hair that made you pick her out of all those other girls? Or was it
her deep blue eyes that you figured men would like?”

Gilliam swallowed hard and his eyes darted
about the shack as if hoping someone would come out of the shadows
and save him. “Why do you care?” he whimpered.

Marston clicked his tongue. “Because Rose is
mine now and I don’t much like thoughts of what you did to
her.”

“
I never did nothing to
that girl but make her earn her keep!” Gilliam
countered.

Marston growled. “Wrong answer.” He snapped
his wrist and the whip cracked through the air, landing sharply
across Gilliam’s chest. The man’s shirt tore and blood quickly
seeped through.

Gilliam’s cry of pain echoed through the
shack.

“
Hurts doesn’t it?”
Marston mused as he once again laid the whip gently over his own
shoulder.

Gilliam was sniveling at Marston’s feet and
pleading for his life. Marston sneered down at the man and spit at
him feeling an overwhelming disgust ash over him.

This man at his feet took pleasure in
hurting those weaker than himself. He used his fists, his knives,
and his whips to prove he was tougher and stronger. He starved
them, beat them and used them up until they had nothing left. Yet
when that man was faced with someone he couldn’t so easily control,
he folded like a whipped pup and sobbed like a babe.

“
What do you want me to
say?” Gilliam whimpered as fat tears rolled down his rough
cheeks.

Marston glared down at him with pure,
unfiltered hatred. “You might as well be honest about what you did
to Rose. It won’t save your worthless life, but it might just cause
the almighty to take a bit of pity on you.”

“
And what about you?”
Gilliam whispered, pleading at Marston with his eyes. “Will you
have mercy on me? Will you make it quick?”

Marston chuckled. “Not a chance.”

***

Marston joined Kaitlyn at Buck’s side after
more than an hour of being away. “Are you ready to go, little
one?”

He heard her gasp at the sight of him and he
glanced down at himself and saw that he was covered in blood
splatter. He could feel those same crimson drops drying upon his
face and he realized he should have attempted to clean up at least
a little before returning to her.

Marston had been told on more than one
occasion that the look in his eyes after he murdered someone was
cold enough to freeze hell. He didn’t want to scare the poor girl
who already trembled like a leaf. Marston closed his eyes, took a
deep breath and then opened again and smiled comfortingly.

“
Are you ready to go now,
Kaitlyn?”

She spared a glance at the cabin and nodded
as she bit her lip. “Is he dead?”

Marston took his revolver from her hand and
holstered it before sliding onto Buck’s back. He helped Kaitlyn up
behind him and waited as she adjusted the blanket around her
shoulders.

Marston glanced over his shoulder and saw
her green eyes darting in every direction as she gnawed at her
lower lip. “You don’t have to be scared anymore,” he assured her.
“He won’t be coming after you ever again.”

She nodded and pressed her cut cheek against
the back of his duster coat. Marston urged Buck forward and patted
her hand where it rested on his middle. “How old are you,
Kaitlyn?”

“
Eleven,” came her quiet
response.

Marston growled. What was it about little
girls that made men like Gilliam want to steal their innocence?

“
I have a boy about your
age. I’m sure you and him will get along just fine.”

Her head raised. “You’re taking me home with
you?” she gasped.

Marston heard that same awe in her voice
that had been in Langley’s when they’d first met and it made
Marston feel just as damn awkward as it had when Langley had done
it. Hell, he didn’t want people looking up to him—he didn’t want
them thinking he was something that he wasn’t.

“
That’s right. My wife
Rose will be happy to have another woman around. She’s always
sewing, cooking or cleaning something.”

“
Yes, I can help with
those things!” Kaitlyn vowed, sounding almost happy about the
prospect.

Marston hoped that meant he’d rescued the
girl before she’d been damaged too badly. “Good,” he replied with a
nod.

His heart swelled when Kaitlyn’s tiny arms
tightened around him. It looked like he’d ridden off looking for
vengeance and was coming home with a daughter.

***

“
Hello, the
house!”

Vincent Sharp moaned upon the blood-soaked
floorboards of the cabin when he heard the voice calling from
outside. He dragged himself several feet to the open door.
“Hello…..” he called weakly.

“
Holy hell!” a man
exclaimed as he jumped from his horse and ran to the shack. Vincent
collapsed once again, all his energy spent. “What the hell happened
here?”

The man’s eyes went past Vincent and he
gagged and covered his mouth with his palm when he saw Gilliam in
the corner. Vincent had been doing his best to not look at Gilliam
too often. The man was an unrecognizable mess of shredded flesh and
blood.

“
Get me to a doc…” Vincent
pleaded, dragging the man’s attention away from the dead
body.

“
Who did this to you?” the
man asked as he pulled Vincent up and dragged him toward the
waiting horse.

Vincent felt hatred burn in his gut.
“Marston Jacobs.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Langley had been feeling his worry grow with
every day that Marston was gone. It had been over two weeks since
Marston had left and the note he’d left Langley had been very
clear—he might not be coming back. Langley pulled that worn and
folded piece of paper from his pocket for the hundredth and didn’t
have to read it to know what it said.

Langley

I have some business to take care of and I’m
going to be gone a while. I expect you to keep up with your chores
while I’m away and mind your mama.

If something happens while I’m away and I
can’t come back to you and your mama, I want you to know how much
having you both in my life has meant to me. I didn’t tell your mama
that there’s a chance I won’t come back because you know how she
worries, but I wanted you to know.

You are a good young man and if I can’t come
back then you’ll be the man of the house and you’ll have to keep
your mama safe and keep her company because she’ll be sad. You’ll
have to be strong for her but I’m not worried because I know you
can be.

I should be home in a couple weeks but in
case I’m not, thank you for letting me be your pa.

Marston

Langley carefully folded the letter and
slipped it back into his pocket. It had been over two
weeks….Langley was beginning to think that Marston wasn’t coming
back. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run out
into the world, find his pa and bring him back. But Langley
couldn’t do any of those things. Marston had asked him to look
after his mama and that’s what he was going to do.

When he heard his mama in the kitchen,
Langley stood from his bed and walked out of his room. He studied
her closely and wondered what she was thinking. It was clear that
she was worried and it was also obvious that she hadn’t been
sleeping well while Marston had been away. Her hair was messy, her
face paler than usual and there were dark circles surrounding her
distracted eyes.

“
Good morning, mama,”
Langley greeted as he sat down at the table.

Rose barely glanced over her slumped
shoulder at him as she kneaded bread dough. “Good morning,
baby.”

Langley didn’t remind her that he was no
longer a baby. She placed a plate of oatmeal and peaches on the
table in front of him and Langley frowned. “Aren’t you going to
eat?”

Rose shook her head, avoided his gaze and
went back to her bread. “No, I’m not hungry this morning.”

Langley sighed as he picked up his spoon and
began to eat. He knew his mama needed to eat but he also knew that
she wouldn’t. Arguing would be a waste of time. Lately she hadn’t
been doing much other than staring out the window as if hoping to
see Marston riding in at any moment.

“
Eat your breakfast,
Langley. Then we’ll feed the animals and head into town. I need to
speak with Doctor Brinkley.”

Langley dropped his spoon into his bowl.
“What’s wrong with you?”

His mama met his gaze for the first time and
Langley could feel her sadness it was etched so deep into her face.
He wanted to help her, to protect her, but he had no idea how. The
ghost of a smile curved her mouth. “Nothing,” she promised. “Why
would you think something was wrong with me?”

Langley’s eyes narrowed. “If nothing is
wrong then why do you need to see Doctor Brinkley?”

Rose gaze wavered slightly. She opened her
mouth but before she could speak the sound of a horse approaching
reached their ears. “Marston!” Rose exclaimed.

Langley knew it wasn’t safe for her to just
run out of the cabin without ensuring it was indeed Marston but
before he could shout a warning the woman was gone.

Langley sprang from the table and followed
after her just in time to see Marston slip from Buck’s back and
take off at a sprint to meet his mama halfway.

Rose couldn’t believe her eyes and her heart
soared as she jumped into the familiar pair of strong arms. She
breathed in Marston’s scent and clung to him with fierce
desperation as tears slipped down her cheeks.

“
God, how I’ve missed
you,” Marston growled gruffly against her hair.

“
I’ve missed you more,”
she vowed and his hold on her tightened.

“
I wasn’t sure you’d want
to see me again,” Marston admitted.

Rose pulled away just far enough to look up
at his face. She stared into the golden depths of his eyes, laid
her hand on his stubble covered cheek and offered her softest
smile. “Of course I wanted you to come home.”

Marston smiled and kissed her soundly. “Is
the business done?” she whispered breathlessly after he’d released
her lips.

Marston smoothed her hair from her face.
“Yes, it’s done.” His eyes narrowed. “You haven’t been
sleeping.”

“
No, I haven’t,” Rose
agreed, knowing that arguing would be pointless.

“
You haven’t been eating
either,” he accused.

“
No… I’ve.. I’ve been sick
to my stomach.” She bit her lip. “There’s something we need to talk
about…”

“
Pa?” Langley’s voice came
from the porch and reminded Rose that they weren’t the only two
people in the world.

“
What is it, Langley?”
Marston replied, his worried gaze was not leaving Rose’s
face.

“
Who is she?”

Rose followed Langley’s gaze and saw the
young girl sitting atop buck. She was skinny, pale, had a scabbed
cut on her cheek and appeared frightened and skittish as she
watched them closely.

“
Yes, who is she?” Rose
questioned.

Marston stepped away from Rose and went to
Buck. He took the girl by the waist and lifted her from the horses
back before setting her on her feet beside him. “Her name is
Kaitlyn,” he replied. “She’ll be staying with us now.”

Rose swallowed hard. “Where did you find
her?” she whispered, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the
answer.

Marston’s voice was tight. “At
Gilliam’s.”

Rose and Kaitlyn’s eye met and each felt an
instant moment of kinship—of similarity born from a common past.
Rose stepped forward, dropped to her knee and wrapped her in a warm
motherly embrace. Kaitlyn stiffened momentarily but managed to
raise one arm and pat Rose’s back.

“
Kaitlyn?” Marston said
once Rose was standing once again. The girl looked up at him
questioningly. “This is my wife Rose. She’s the lady I was telling
you about. Gilliam adopted her too.”

Rose smiled. “It’s nice to meet you,
Kaitlyn.”

“
Hi, Kaitlyn!” Langley
bounced off the porch, clearly having come to the end of his
patience sitting quietly. “My name is Langley.”