Give My Love to Rose (7 page)

“
Loading your damn cart,”
he growled.

Rose realized that charming façade he’d
attempted in front of the sisters was now gone. Langley was
grinning ear to ear as he loaded the smaller goods into the cart as
well.

“
Her husband is still warm
in his grave and she’s already moved on to the next one,” Hester
whispered harshly to Hattie as the two woman made their way back to
the door. Rose was thankful that Langley hadn’t seemed to hear the
comment, but she could tell that Marston had, by the way, his eyes
burned holes into the sister’s retreating backs.

Rose quickly pitched in to help Marston and
soon the loading was done. Rose could only hope and pray that these
supplies would last them a good long time. She wished there was
enough money to hire someone to make repairs to the cabin and
outbuildings, but that would simply have to wait. Rose didn’t want
to spend every single dime that Langston had sent to them.

“
Thank you for the help,”
Rose offered once they were finished.

Marston pulled off his hat and wiped his
sweaty brow on his shirt sleeve. “I told you to quit thanking me,”
he growled. He plopped his hat back on and walked to the front of
the cart. He held his hand out toward her and Rose frowned. Marston
rolled his eyes skyward. “I was gonna help you on the damn cart
unless you’d rather just do it yourself.”

Rose flushed and quickly made her way to
him. She hadn’t wanted to appear rude. It had been ten long years
since a man had helped her into a cart and Rose hadn’t been
expecting Marston to offer.

She laid her hand in his and their eyes
locked. Blue and gold met and warred with an intensity that shocked
them both. Rose had never felt this kind of shock or awareness when
touched by any other man. After what had happened to her all those
years ago, the thought of being touched by any man had always
filled her with uncontrollable fear and unreasonable terror.

The feel of Marston’s big, calloused hand
wrapped around hers caused her to feel anything but afraid.

Rose was still trying to wrap her head
around what was happening when Marston jerked her arm and hoisted
her up onto the cart. He released her quickly as if she’d scolded
him and wiped his hand on his pants as stomped over to his
horse.

“
I’ll come with you,” he
stated, never meeting her gaze. “You’ll need help unloading
everything.”

Rose smoothed out her skirt and took the
reins in her hand as she nodded. Her brain couldn’t seem to form
words and so she said nothing. Langley clambered up into the cart
beside her and the trio started down the long road to the
cabin.

Chapter Six

Unloading the supplies didn’t take long and
Marston knew it was time for him to be moving on. He made his way
to the gray and was preparing to hoist himself into the saddle when
Langley came barreling out of the barn.

“
Mama! Patty is
gone!”

Rose came out of the house and Marston
noticed instantly that she had removed her bonnet and her long red
curls were in a long braid hanging down her back. Marston’s hand
still burned from her touch and that unnerved hm. Damn, he wanted
to lay with her.

But that couldn’t happen. Not only because
he still didn’t complete trust a woman who would marry such an old
man but also because that voice in his head kept saying crazy
things about how he was starting to care about the woman and her
annoying son.

“
Who’s Patty?” Marston
asked.

Rose sighed. “Our horse.”

“
That skinny nag that was
in the corral yesterday?”

“
Yes. She must have
escaped the corral.”

Marston snorted. “Not much of a corral to
speak of.”

Rose’s blue eyes flashed with temper
reminding him of yesterday when she had held him at gunpoint. “We
do the best we can!” she snapped.

“
Mama, we have to find,
Patty!” Langley insisted. “She’s lost and scared.”

Marston grumbled under his breath and tried
to turn his back on them. Not his problem. Not his problem. Not his
problem. These people were not his problem.

“
I’ll find your damn
horse,” he muttered, before swinging himself into the saddle and
heading off into the woods, following the horse tracks in the muddy
ground.

He didn’t to travel too far before he found
her. “There you are, you flea-bitten old hag,” he grumbled as he
jumped to the ground. Her halter had gotten tangled on a branch and
she was just too old and weak to do much about it.

Marston crossed the wet ground and held up
his hands when the mare tossed her head nervously. “It’s alright,
girl,” he purred gently. “I won’t hurt you.”

Only with animals did Marston ever let his
softer side show. He’d had a soft spot for critters ever since he’d
been a young boy. He had once found a kitten when he’d been a boy.
The kitten had been starving and cold and so he’d brought it back
to the orphanage with him. He had hidden it in his dresser and
snuck it milk and water. Each and every night, he would get that
kitten out of the drawer and it would curl up to him and purr.

He had loved that smelly, skinny, ugly
feline.

Then the headmaster had discovered it and
had laughed at the pathetic excuse for a cat. In an attempt to
assert his dominance with the children and teach them not to hide
things from him, the headmaster had bashed that tiny kittens head
open against the brick wall beside Marston’s bed.

Marston had learned an important lesson that
day about life and death. Weak meant dead. Marston would be damned
before he ever let himself be seen as soft or weak. The minute you
got soft, someone slammed your head against a wall and put your
brains on display for the world to see.

Marston grabbed the mare’s halter and broke
off the branch it was tangled on. He rubbed her thin head to help
soothe her and led her over to his gray. He used his rope to secure
the horses together before using his hands to check the mare’s body
for injuries. Other than being terribly malnourished, the horse
seemed to be fine.

He wondered what in the world had spooked
her into leaving the safety of her corral.

As if on cue, the gray and the mare both
perked their heads up and began sidestepping as they tossed their
heads. Marston’s senses sharpened and he heard a twig snap just
before a terrible growling filled the air. He turned just in time
to see the coyote lunged at him.

Marston threw his arm over his face to
protect himself and the coyotes teeth sank deep into his flesh.
Marston was faintly aware of the horses making a run for it as he
brought his fist down upon the coyote’s ribs. The best let out a
whimper and released him.

Marston pulled his gun just in time to shoot
a second coyote that was preparing to lunge. He heard a noise
behind him and turned but couldn’t aim his revolver in time to stop
the third coyote’s attack. It sank its teeth into his leg and
Marston let out a howl of pain before bringing his gun down hard
against its head, shattering its skull.

Before he could recover from that attack two
more beasts were on him. Marston lost his footing on the slick
ground and fell backward, striking his head against a rock. It felt
as if an explosion had taken place inside his skull. He felt
consciousness failing him as teeth sank into his shoulder.

The blow to his head was making everything
fuzzy and the world was fading in and out. Marston nearly laughed
when another coyote took a chunk out of his thigh. He pulled his
knife and sliced out blindly, feeling the smallest bit of
satisfaction when he heard the cry of pain—but he knew it wouldn’t
be enough.

He was about to lose his hold on
consciousness and then he’d be a goner. An entire lifetime spent
not giving a damn about anyone and now he was going to die because
he’d decided to help someone for the first time.

The two remaining coyotes suddenly took off
into the woods, obviously deciding that this meal was fighting back
a bit too hard. Two coyotes lay dead next to him, but Marston felt
no thrill of victory.

He was in terrible pain, bit to pieces,
bleeding like crazy and about to pass out. He was a dead man.
Marston closed his eyes and the world went dark.

***

“
It sure is taking Marston
a long time to get back with Patty, mama,” Langley noted as he
walked up to the chicken coop.

Rose nodded, but her attention was on the
hens she was feeding. She hoped that now that they’d be getting
regular meals once again, the hens would get back to laying eggs.
It had been a long time since they’d had fresh eggs for
breakfast.

“
Do you think something
happened, mama? Maybe he got lost. Or maybe Patty is hurt!” the
ten-year-old exclaimed, his wild imagination no doubt painting lots
of pictures in his mind.

“
I’m sure everything is
fine, Langley,” Rose assured him as she moved to the washtub she’d
filled up with water and began scrubbing at the stains in Langley’s
shirt.

She had changed into her worn blue gingham
work dress that was fraying at the seams and she wiped her brow on
her sleeve before blowing a loose strand of red hair from her face.
She wished for just one day the work could all be done.

“
I’m sure you’re right,
mama. After all, he does seem like the kind of man who can take
care of himself, doesn’t he mama? Doesn’t he seem like that kind of
man to you?”

Rose nodded. Marston definitely seemed like
that kind of man to her.

“
You know it could be nice
to have a man like that around here. To help with all the chores
and stuff, wouldn’t it mama? A man like that could help fix things
back up.”

Rose watched her son gather up some wood
from the box beside the cabin. “Marston isn’t staying here,
Langley. He has his own life he needs to be getting back to.
Hopefully next summer we’ll be able to hire someone to come and fix
things up.”

“
If it stays standing ‘til
next summer,” Langley grumbled.

“
What did you say?” Rose
snapped, her gaze narrowing.

“
Nothing mama!” Langley
quickly raced into the house to deposit his armload.

Rose heaved out a sigh as she gave up on
getting the stains out of Langley’s shirt and tossed it over into
her basket. If Rose were being completely honest, she’d tell her
son that yes, it would be nice to have a man like Marston
around.

Rose had been on her own for ten long years.
She had lived in this house with Langston for nearly nine months
before he’d been taken away and while they had never lived as true
husband and wife, they had been friends. Rose missed that the most.
She missed having a friend. She missed having another adult around
to help carry the load—and with Marston’s broad shoulders, he could
certainly handle quite a bit of the load.

Rose smiled at the foolishness of her
thoughts. Marston was clearly a man with a dark past and many
demons. More importantly, he didn’t seem to have any interest in
staying around. As a matter of fact, he seemed annoyed that he’d
been pulled into doing what he had.

Rose couldn’t shake the memory of what his
touch had felt like against her hand. The thought of sharing a bed
with any man terrified her, Rose couldn’t help but wonder what it
would feel like to have him sit beside her on the sofa at night.
She wondered what it would mean to her to have him beside her in
the firelight and talking about the day. How safe and protected
would she feel with his strong arm around her? Rose sighed
wistfully, knowing her dreams were pointless but enjoying them
anyway.

Her daydreams were suddenly interrupted by
something large trampling through the woods. Rose was preparing to
run to the house to grab the rifle when Marston’s gray came into
the clearing. Patty was secured to the other horse, but they were
alone. There was no rider in sight.

“
Marston?” Rose called,
rushing to the horses and grabbing the gray’s reins. Panic clutched
at her heart, but she forced it back down. Panic would not help a
single thing. Marston had to be fine. Rose needed a friend so he
had to be fine.

“
Why are the horses back
without Marston?” Langley asked as he stepped out onto the
porch.

Rose glanced back at him. “I’m sure it’s
nothing. You go back in the house and lock the door. Keep the rifle
handy just in case.”

Langley nodded and did as she said and she
couldn’t help but feel proud of the young man she was raising. She
waited until he was in the house and then led the skinny mare to
the barn and secured her inside, giving her a handful of oats.

Rose stepped back outside and looked at the
gray. The horse was massive. It took her several tries but finally
she managed to get herself up in the saddle. Never before had Rose
ridden a horse this broad and tall but with Marston’s size, she
figured a horse this large was a necessity.

As rose followed the muddy tracks and broken
branches into the forest, she prayed that she would find Marston
alive and well. Surely God would not send such a blessing to her
and Langley only to rip him away from them so quickly.

Her breath caught in her throat when she
caught sight of dead coyotes ahead and then her heart stopped
beating when she saw Marston lying motionless on the ground beside
them.

Rose leaped from the horse and ran to him,
falling to her knees on the damp forest floor. “Marston?” she
whispered, running her hand over his beard covered cheek.

He gave a little moan and his eyelids
fluttered, but he didn’t awaken. Rose let her gaze go to his body.
There was a bloody bite on his shoulder and another on his lower
leg, but the worst was on his thigh where a chunk of flesh had been
ripped away.