Lily's Cowboys (17 page)

Lily shook her head. “I don’t know who he was. I had gone to check out the house Allen, Ethan, and Caleb had grown up in while they checked on the barn. When I went into the kitchen he came up behind me. He hit me with something and I don’t remember anything more until I woke up in his car.”

Allen moved to sit on the bed so he could pull Lily into his arms. He hated how she had started shaking again. “It’s okay, Lily. Just tell us what you remember.”

Lily took a deep breath and sank back against Allen. “He said he wanted something but I didn’t understand what he meant.” Lifting her hand to the side of her face, she touched her bruised cheek, “He hit me. He said he was going to hurt me and anyone I loved if I didn’t help him.” Lily’s eyes filled with tears as she remembered the look on the man’s face. “I didn’t say anything else. I was so afraid. He was insane. I knew I had to get away from him. When I saw the bridge I knew he would have to slow down. I thought if I could jump from the bridge he wouldn’t be able to get me. It didn’t look as high as it was. Then the ice broke and I couldn’t get out. I don’t remember anything else. I’m sorry.” Lily closed her eyes, exhausted.

Caleb stood up and brushed a gentle kiss across Lily’s forehead. “That’s enough, Matt. Lily’s exhausted and needs to rest. You can ask more questions later if you need too.”

Matt nodded and picked up his hat, walking toward the door with Ethan he turned at the last minute, “I’ve posted a man here at the hospital to keep an eye on Lily. I know you three won’t be leaving her side any time soon, so I feel better. Ethan, if you have a moment I’d like to talk to you out in the hall.”

Ethan nodded and looked at his brothers. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Both men nodded. Allen was gently laying Lily back down. She had already fallen back asleep.

Matt waited until the door closed before turning to look at Ethan carefully.

“
What is it? I don’t like being away from her right now for very long.” Ethan said impatiently.

“
A funny thing happened when I did a search on Lily’s name.” Matt began.

Ethan looked sharply at Matt. “How could you do that without knowing her last name?”

“
Helen told me. I don’t think she realized you and your brothers didn’t know it. I saw her last night when I went out to check on the evidence Trace and Brent had found.” Matt shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

Ethan braced himself. “What did you find?”

“
Nothing much at the house. Whoever it was they had standard camping gear. We haven’t been able to pull any prints. With the cold weather the bastard probably wore gloves. We are checking to see where the equipment was purchased to see if we can trace it through a purchase receipt or if a store employee remembers him.” Matt looked hard at Ethan before continuing, “What do you know about Lily?”

Ethan’s mouth tightened, “My brothers and I know everything we need to know about her. Why?”

“
I told you a strange thing happened when I put her name through the system. Seems there have been a number of strange disappearances concerning a girl with her name.”

“
What does that have to do with Lily?” Ethan asked impatiently not liking where this was leading.

Matt ran his hand through his hair, looking at the closed door before answering. “This is going to sound crazy, Ethan, I thought I was going nuts at first but after looking at the girl in that room and looking at the photos I have in my office I know I’m not. I just don’t know how it’s possible.”

Ethan put his hand on Matt’s arm. “Does it matter who she is? All I know is she is here now and Caleb, Allen, and I are going to do whatever we can to make sure she stays here with us. You don’t have to understand it anymore than we do, just accept she means everything to us and help us catch the bastard who almost killed her.” Matt studied Ethan’s face for a moment before letting out a relieved sigh. He really didn’t want to have to express his findings out loud. Ethan was right. Nothing mattered but keeping Lily safe.

Nodding his acceptance, Matt squeezed Ethan’s arm. “We’ll catch the bastard and keep Lily safe. She is a part of our community. We protect our own.”

Ethan smiled his gratitude before turning to go back into the room with Lily and his brothers. “Thanks, Matt.”

Lily was released from the hospital two days later. The men had been adamant she let them carry her everywhere. Her hip and leg still hurt so it was difficult for her to walk without assistance. Once home, Allen wanted to carry her upstairs but she begged them to let her lay on the couch. She was tired of being cooped up in a small room although the master bedroom could in no way be described as small. Ed, Clive, Brad, and Harold all welcomed her home. Clive told her Helen was going to come over later to visit. Right now, Lily was snuggled up under the quilt Caleb had tucked around her and staring at the fire Ethan had built in the fireplace. Allen had brought her some of the books she had set aside in the den she had been planning on reading. He sat at the end of the couch with her feet on his lap and picked up a book.

“
Guess it’s my turn to read to you.” Allen said with a grin. He was rubbing Lily’s feet and she let out a contented sigh. She wanted to feel him rubbing her in other places. She slid one foot over his crotch smiling when she felt his body jerk and his cock grow under it.

“
Behave, Lily.” Allen said huskily, his eyes growing darker with desire. “You need to rest and heal before we make love to you again.”

Lily’s lower lip poked out in a pout. “I want you, Allen.”

“
I want you too, honey.” Allen said tenderly. “Soon.”

The days passed quickly. The men always made sure at least one of them stayed with her. Helen came over almost daily and her and Lily’s friendship grew even deeper. For the first time, Lily felt like she could be herself. Helen had confided she had read Lily’s journal before she had given it to Ethan. She asked Lily questions and Lily answered them as best she could. A week after Lily came home she and Helen decided to make Christmas cookies for all the ranch hands. Caleb was sitting at the table eating some of them. He said he was the official taste-tester to make sure they were edible.

“
Lily, can I ask you a question that has been bugging me?” Helen said as she placed more cookie dough on the cookie sheet.

“
Sure.” Lily said reaching for the oven mitts.

“
How old are you?” Helen inquired.

Lily paused as she took another batch of cookies out of the oven. Turning she looked under her eyelashes at Caleb. He had a cookie half way to his mouth. His eyes jumped to Lily.

Lily blushed trying to think of how to answer the question. “I’m almost eighteen if you go by the age I died.” She looked nervously at Caleb before adding, “But, if you calculate it from the year I was born I’m one hundred and nine.”

“
You were only seventeen when you died?” Caleb choked out turning pale.

“
I was a month away from my eighteenth birthday.” Lily insisted. “Many of the girls who were my age had already married and had children. Why, James Butler asked for my hand when I was fifteen.”

Caleb stood up and walked toward Lily menacingly, “You are only seventeen?” He seemed to stress each word.

Lily looked pleadingly at Helen, “No, not if you look at the year I was born. I might look seventeen but I’m not technically. It really doesn’t matter. I mean. If you really want to look at it I’m older than all of you. Isn’t that right, Helen?”

Helen choked back a laugh. “I think I’ll go see if Clive would mind going with me to drop a batch of these cookies off.”

“
Traitor!” Lily called desperately at Helen’s retreating back. Looking at Caleb who looked like he was about to have a stroke from the color of his face, Lily reached out her hands beseechingly, “Caleb, it doesn’t matter.”

“
Like hell it doesn’t matter. Shit, Lily. You would be jailbait.” Caleb ran his hands through his short hair pacing back and forth. “Shit!”

Allen and Ethan were coming it the back door when they heard Caleb’s loud expletive.

“
What’s wrong?” Allen asked looking back and forth between Lily’s pleading eyes and Caleb’s pale face.

“
Wrong? Wrong?” Caleb shouted. “I’ll tell you what’s fucking wrong. Lily’s only seventeen. That’s what’s fucking wrong. What we did to her was what is fucking wrong.”

Lily drew back as if Caleb had hit her. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over as she stared at him.

“
You regret making love to me?” Lily asked in a strangled voice. Caleb just turned and stared at her silently.

“
Do you regret making love me?” She said louder starting to get mad. She turned to the other two men staring at her in disbelief and horror. “Do you? Do you regret making love to me?

“
Lily, you don’t understand. What we did to you? The three of us…” Ethan said in a strangled voice. “I’m almost old enough to be your father.” He said with a shudder.

Lily pulled back from them. She looked at Allen who was having a hard time looking her in the eye. “Allen?” Lily called out softly. When he still refused to look at her she pressed, “Allen. Do you regret making love to me?”

Allen cleared his throat and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Lily looked at the three men with growing anger.

“
Well, let me tell you this. I don’t regret it. What you did to me was beautiful and I want more. I need more. My body may be the body of a seventeen year old but the rest of me isn’t. I love you, all of you. I want to be with you, if you can’t accept that then figure out a way to get over it.” Lily said hotly. She turned off the oven and glared at the men one more time before she grabbed her jacket and stormed out the back door.

“
Shit.” Ethan said as he leaned against the refrigerator. “I knew she was young but not that young.”

Allen looked at his brothers. “What are we going to do?”

Caleb and Ethan both shifted uncomfortably. Ethan was the one who replied, “I need a drink.”

“
I’m with you.” Caleb said standing and grabbing his hat.

Allen let out a defeated sigh, “Me, too.”

Grabbing their jackets and hats the three men headed outside. Ethan started the truck, “Allen, go ask Ed to keep an eye on Lily. Tell him we’ll be back in a few hours.” Allen nodded and jogged over to the barn.

“
Hey, Ed.” Allen called. Ed came out of the little office they had built in the back of the barn.

“
Yeah, boss man.”

“
Can you keep an eye on Lily for a little while? My brothers and I need to go to town.” Allen said uneasily.

Ed studied Allen carefully before replying, “Sure thing boss. Just make sure you think twice before you screw up. Lily’s different. I’d sure hate to see her hurt.”

Allen just nodded before turning and heading back to the truck. Ed stood watching as the tail lights faded into the distance. When he turned around Lily was standing behind him. She stared at the retreating truck with tears in her eyes. Ed let out a deep sigh before putting his arm around her shoulders.

“
Give them boys’ time. They’ll come around. In the meantime, I have a present for you from Clive. Seems at least one little guy misses you.” Ed said as he opened the door to the warm office. Walking in Lily heard a small meow. Dropping to her knees she picked up the little kitten and held him close to her.

“
Oh, Edison.” Lily held the kitten tight to her scratching him behind his ears as he purred.

“
Clive kept him in here. Figured it was safer than taking him home. He’s got a big hound dog and didn’t want to take a chance of your kitten getting hurt.” Ed said as he went to sit down on the old couch. He had a small television on turned to the weather channel.

“
Thank you, Ed.” Lily sighed again as she stood up and went to sit in the old arm chair. Placing the kitten on her lap she watched the weather for a little while before speaking.

“
Ed?” Lily asked softly. “Do you think I’m too young?”

Ed looked at Lily carefully before replying, “You’re special, Lily. There’s something different about you like I told Allen. You may be wrapped up in a young package but your eyes…your eyes say a different story. Kind-of like you’ve lived for a long, long time.” He paused a minute before turning back around. “No, girl. I don’t think you are too young at all.”

Lily stood up holding the kitten tight against her. Moving to the couch she leaned over and kissed Ed’s withered cheek. “Thank you. I think I’ll go up to the house and clean up. The kitchen is a mess.”

Ed nodded. “Lock the doors. I’ll be around and so will some of the other men but I’d feel better if you had the doors locked.” Lily murmured her agreement as she walked out.

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. Lily had finished cleaning not only the kitchen but the rest of the house. Just when she thought she would go nuts she heard the sound of a truck outside. Hoping the men had come back early in a better mood she peeked out the front door to see Brad and Harold getting out of the truck and hopping up the front steps. Curious to see what was going on, Lily opened the door before they had a chance to knock.

“
Hey, guys. What are you up too?” Lily asked as she pushed a stray strand away from her face.

“
Kidnapping you!” Harold said. “Ouch! What did you do that for?”