Promises Kept (37 page)

“I know my mother always planned on going to San Francisco.”

“Why did you want to see her after all these years?” Colt asked.

“I reckon I just wanted to make up for the past, the way my pa ran off and left them. I didn’t want her making the same mistakes I made. It’s the reason I’ve stayed in one place so long.”

Colt could hear the pain in her voice, but from what Victoria had confided in him about her mother, and what Gage Hardy said, Ruby wasn’t the kind of woman who wanted to be burdened with family. He didn’t think she would want to hear from L. B., or Victoria.

“A smart woman told me one time that women make their own decisions about their professions,” Colt reminded her.

L. B. remembered that conversation. “Yes sir, I guess I did. By the way, Lucy left town with that Gage Hardy. There’s no need to be worried about him.”

“That’s good news.” Colt saw the relief on Victoria’s face. He hadn’t seen Hardy at Wallace’s, but he had planned on finding him soon and setting him straight.

L. B. stood to leave and directed her parting words at Victoria. “You let me know if you need anything. Seeing as who you’ve chosen for a husband, I think he will treat you kindly, but if he doesn’t, you come to see me. I hope God blesses you with a big family. That’s something I always wanted.”

Victoria smiled at her. She’d never thought she would have a large family, but with Colt she thought anything was possible. She left Colt’s side and linked her arm through L. B.’s. “Let me walk out with you.”

While they were still in earshot, Colt heard Victoria ask L. B. to come to dinner one night.

Colt heard L. B. say, “You can call me Laura Bea.” Life was full of surprises.

Victoria left Colt’s room to put the boys to bed while Jake was keeping Colt company.

“Jake, I’d really like it if you decided to stay,” Colt said.

“You sure you want me to do that?”

Colt had always felt it was his fault his brothers left the ranch. “I made a mistake letting you leave in the first place.”

Jake laughed. “It wasn’t your call.”

“I made you and Lucas feel like there wasn’t a place for you here.”

“That wasn’t the reason we left, big brother. You always knew you wanted to run the ranch. Lucas and I needed to find out what we wanted, not what the old man wanted for us.”

Colt looked at him thoughtfully. “I always thought I ran you off.”

It had never occurred to Jake that his brother was under that impression. “You didn’t run us off. We needed to find out what else was out there. This ranch was in your blood from the time you were born. It wasn’t that way for us. When you left to search for Creed Thomas you had a chance to see things, other places, and to think things through without the old man pressuring you. After you came back, your future was settled. We were envious of that.”

Smiling, Colt felt such a sense of relief. He hoped his brother wasn’t just saying that for his benefit. “I guess it was one and the same for me. Yeah, I knew the old man wanted me to take over here and keep the ranch going. But it was an easy decision after I came back. Nothing else would have made me happy.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like what I’m doing,” Jake explained. “But now that I see what you have, well, I’m thinking I might want to settle down.” Jake had already made his decision. All he needed to know was that his brother wanted him to stay. After all, Colt was the one who single-handedly managed the ranch and made it such a success. And that wasn’t the only thing on Jake’s mind. If he stayed he had to be careful where his soon-to-be sister-in-law was concerned. After just a few short days, he was already half in love with Victoria. He was happy Colt had found someone to share his life, but also envious as hell. Logic said it was infatuation because she was such a beautiful woman with a heart to match, and his feelings would fade with time.

“I can’t tell you how happy that would make me,” Colt told him. “Now if we could get Lucas back here . . .” His words trailed off as he found himself becoming emotional again.

“I heard he was in New Mexico, so I sent a telegram to a friend of mine to check around for me.”

Colt should have known his brother’s thoughts were close to his own. “How long ago?”

“Two weeks. My friend will telegraph us here.”

“Good.”

Their eyes slid to Victoria when she walked back into the room. She sat beside Colt and he put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side.

“By the way, I’ve heard Creed Thomas is in Colorado,” Jake said.

Hearing that bit of news made Colt’s senses go on alert. His eyes snapped back to his brother. “How do you know?”

Victoria felt the change in Colt’s entire body. She glanced at his face and was surprised at what she saw. Only one other time had she seen that deadly look on his face: when he’d smashed Wallace’s face. She wondered who this man was who earned such a reaction from him.

“I’ve had everyone I know keep a lookout for him for years. I knew you would want to know.” Jake’s eyes cut to Victoria before he asked, “You going after him?”

“Yes.” Colt always knew this day would come. He’d never gotten over his hatred for Creed Thomas, just stuffed it deep inside, knowing that one day he would kill him.

Victoria’s mind was racing. Who was this man? she wanted to ask, but was almost frightened by Colt’s demeanor. A feeling of doom coursed through her veins.

The room had grown quiet, and Victoria worked up the courage to ask Colt about this man, but Jake broke the silence with another surprising comment.

“There’s one more thing I need to talk to you two about,” he started. “I was in Abilene right after that fire in the saloon. There was some talk that one of the gals there started the fire. She went by the name of Kitten.”

“That’s the boys’ mother,” she told him.

“The owner said she stole some money from the safe and he also suspected she set the fire. We have a witness to the theft. You don’t happen to know Kitten’s real name, do you?”

“No, everyone called her Kitten,” Victoria replied.

Colt noticed Victoria looked lost in thought. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I was just remembering the night of the fire.”

“You were there that night?” Jake exclaimed.

“Yes, that was the night I left.” She hadn’t told Jake about the events with Gage Hardy; that was something only Colt needed to know. Her mind drifted back to that night. After the bartender saved her from Hardy, she’d made up her mind to leave. While she was gathering her few belongings, she heard someone screaming
Fire!
She opened the bedroom door and ran to look over the railing of the balcony. Flames were devouring the front of the saloon. She raced down the hallway to the room where the boys stayed. They were alone in the room, so she snatched them up and ran. “I barely made it out with the boys,” she muttered.

“You didn’t see who set the fire?” Jake asked.

“No, the front of the saloon was on fire when I left my bedroom. When we reached the bottom of the stairway, the ceiling was falling in over the bar, so we got out through the kitchen.”

Colt recalled how frightened she’d looked the night of the fire near Tom and Helen’s cabin. “Sounds like you were lucky you got out.”

“We were very lucky. I was planning to leave anyway, but after . . . well, it was the perfect time.”

Colt understood she was talking about what happened with Gage Hardy.

Jake could tell there was something they were not telling him. “Do you think Kitten could have set that fire knowing her boys were upstairs?”

Giving him a level look, Victoria said, “Yes, I do. She didn’t have a conscience. She cared for no one except herself, and the boys were going to be taken to an orphanage.”

“Do you think your mother was involved?”

“It’s possible. They were making plans to go to San Francisco together,” she said bluntly.

Jake stood. “I’ll let you two get some rest.” When he reached the door he turned around to give them a piece of good news. “As my wedding present to you, I will speak to the judge about getting you permanent guardianship of those boys. Their mother abandoned those boys, and this way you won’t ever have to worry about someone trying to take them away from you.”

Colt’s voice broke with emotion when he said, “Thanks, Jake, that’s one heck of a wedding gift.”

Victoria ran to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Get away from him, or he might think of a way,” Colt grumbled. He was only half teasing. He’d seen how quickly his brother had become smitten with Victoria. It reminded him of Tate following her around like a lost puppy. How he missed that boy. He had Tate to thank for making him admit he was in love with Victoria. He knew he’d miss him until his dying day.

“Well, I figure I owe you something for making you handle all the work around here without our help,” Jake teased. “Good night.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Having convinced Victoria that they would not be disturbed at the late hour, Colt coaxed her to stretch out beside him. He gazed into her eyes. “Are you okay? I know it upsets you to talk about your past.”

“It does bring back painful memories, but the more time that passes, the fainter they become,” she replied softly. Since they were alone, she decided to ask him about Creed Thomas. “Colt, who is this man you are going after?”

Colt had expected the question since Jake had mentioned Creed Thomas. He explained the events surrounding his mother’s death, and how he’d left home for a time searching for the man who had caused the events that day. “I vowed I would find him one day and make him answer for what he did.”

“Why did you come back before you found him?”

He thought a minute before answering. “I was tired, and I missed my family and the ranch.”

“I’m glad you came back,” she said softly. “Yet you still blame that man?”

“Thomas goaded Gaines into a fight that killed my mother,” Colt said unwaveringly. “He’s going to answer for that.”

She leaned up on her elbow and touched his cheek. “Colt, I don’t have the right to ask . . .”

“You can ask me anything.”

She took him at his word. “Please don’t go looking for him.”

He set his jaw. “You can ask me anything but that.”

“I don’t want to lose you. And what would I tell the boys if something happened to you? They need you. I need you. I love you.”

Her words touched him, but he was determined. “Nothing will happen to me.”

“You are a fair and honorable man, and deep down you know this man didn’t kill your mother. Do you think losing your mother in such a cruel way has tainted your thinking about him?”

“Victoria, I won’t change my mind about this.” He spoke with resolve.

She put her head on his shoulder and her arm around his waist. “Just ask yourself if killing that man will make you forget your mother’s death, or bring her back. What would your mother want?”

Colt closed his eyes and thought about what she said. He would never forget his mother’s death that day, no matter what happened. But Victoria was right; he now had a family to consider, and he knew what his mother would want for him.

He was quiet for so long Victoria thought he’d fallen asleep. She wouldn’t ask him again not to hunt down Creed Thomas. She knew the kind of man he was, and had confidence he would come to the right decision. She would always support him, no matter what. “Colt?” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“I know what you have prayed for all of these years. You wanted your brothers to come home.”

It surprised him that she knew him so well. “Yes, I wanted them home. And when Lucas shows up, I’ll be an even happier man, if that is possible.” He turned his face to her and kissed her forehead. “I have so much more than I ever deserved with you and the boys.”

Bandit let out a puff of air, telling Colt in his canine way that he’d excluded him.

Colt scratched him behind his ears. “You too, boy.”

They were both quiet, each lost in their thoughts of the events that brought them together. Victoria came to Promise in the hopes of finding a man she could trust, but she’d found even more than that. “Mr. Barlow promised me a home and to always care for the boys. He kept his promise.”

“Chet was a man of his word, and it doesn’t surprise me he found a way to keep his last promise.” Colt was more grateful to Chet than he could say. “I give you that same promise. You and the boys will always be the most important thing in my life. I will protect you with my life.”

“I love you so much, Mr. McBride,” she told him, her voice cracking with emotion.

Colt leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. “I love you, Victoria McBride.”

She liked the sound of that. “Thank goodness I responded to Mr. Barlow’s letter.”

Colt gave her a curious look. “How many letters did you receive?”

“Mrs. Wellington told me after I left for Promise they continued to arrive daily. She said she stopped counting after one hundred.”

Colt could hardly believe that many men had responded to a newspaper advertisement. “One hundred? Why did you respond to Chet’s letter?”

Recalling how she’d felt when she read Mr. Barlow’s letter the first time, it wasn’t a difficult question for her to answer. “Besides his promise to provide us a home, I thought he sounded trustworthy. And he was the only man who didn’t mention my
wifely duties
,” she added.

Colt laughed. “That would be the first thing on any man’s mind.” All he had to do was take one look at her to know that would be on the top of his list.

“And, of course, he said he was a farmer and not a cowboy,” she teased.

Colt pulled her into his embrace. “What do you think about cowboys now?”

She batted her eyelashes at him. “I think I’m partial to them now.”

He grinned. “Not afraid of me anymore?”

She almost laughed. It was difficult for her to remember why he’d frightened her in the first place. “No.” She turned serious. “Colt, thank you for showing me I hadn’t lost my faith. You were right about my prayers. Having found you, I have everything I’ve ever prayed for and more. I just needed patience. I should have listened to Mrs. Wellington the night you were at the boardinghouse.”