The Circle Eight: Tobias (24 page)

The ten minutes to the house turned into less than five. The Circle Eight had a beautiful, sweeping house, built for the big Graham family, and Tobias had a hand in constructing it. Of course if he hadn’t come chasing after Vaughn Montgomery who’d been hiding at the Grahams, then Tobias wouldn’t have burnt the ranch house. His life had never been easy or typical, and his decisions were almost always the wrong ones.
 

Except for falling in love with Rebecca. She was the only choice he’d made that was the right one.
 

Will howled with laughter behind him. The warm wind whipped across Tobias’s face and he found himself laughing along with his brother. They rode into the yard in a cloud of dust. Matt raised one arm and let out a hoot of victory.
 

Four women came out of the house but Tobias couldn’t see who they were through the dust. He patted Will’s hand.
 

“Hop down.” Tobias needed to see her more than he needed his next breath. To his relief, Will listened and jumped down. He sported bruises on both sides of his face, and dried blood on his nose, but his hair was tousled and his grin stretched from ear to ear.
 

“I like racing!” Will raced in a circle with his arms pinwheeling.
 

Tobias jumped down and walked toward the house. He spotted Rebecca the same moment she spotted him. She had her arms crossed and damned if her eyes weren’t swollen like she’d been crying. He didn’t know if she’d been worried about him or if she was upset over everything he’d confessed earlier. Either way he had to hold her. Needed to. He ran toward her, and thank God, she opened her arms and ran toward him.
 

He scooped her up and hugged her, breathing in her scent, reveling in her softness. Her arms looped around his neck and she hung on, shaking and breathless.
 

“Thank God you’re all right. I was so worried, Tobias.” She buried her face in his shoulder and to his surprise, wept.
 

He’d never expected Rebecca to be the type of woman who cried, and she wasn’t. That meant this situation, with her tears, was for him and she truly was worried. He didn’t know whether to be insulted that she thought he and James wouldn’t accomplish what they set out to do, or if he should revel in the knowledge she cared enough to cry for him.
 

“Miss Becky!” Will clapped her on the back hard enough to make Tobias stumble. “I got a few cuts that hurt.”
 

Rebecca let go of Tobias with obvious reluctance. She wiped her tears away and smiled at Will.
 

“I have my bag in the house. Why don’t you and Eva go in and she’ll give you something to quench your thirst?” Rebecca’s gaze moved to the housekeeper who held out her arm to the chattering Will. The two of them walked into the house leaving the rest to talk.
 

“I’m sorry I worried you.” Tobias didn’t know what else to say. No one except Pops had ever cared enough about him to worry.
 

She shook her head. “Nothing to be sorry about. It’s what people do when they love someone.”
 

Tobias’s body tightened to a knot that centered somewhere between his heart and his gut. “Do you love me?”
 

“Silly man.” She leaned up and kissed him quickly.
 

Matt picked that particular moment to walk over with his wife Hannah, whom he’d been smooching. “We have some talking to do.”
 

Rebecca frowned at her brother. “I can kiss whoever I want to.”
 

“That’s not what I mean.” He gestured to the trail behind them. “Caleb, Nick, Ben and James are bringing in the three men that kidnapped Will. One’s been shot, the other two might need a bit of doctoring.” Matt’s gaze locked with Tobias. “We gotta figure out who’s behind all this so the Gibsons can live their lives in peace.”
 

Tobias had momentarily forgotten about Johnston, Bekins and Travers. “I don’t suppose you’d let me question them?” His bloodthirst had not been slaked by the altercation with Travers. He needed to avenge the crimes against his brothers, at a minimum, turn them over to the law for a proper trial, followed by a hanging.
 

“Not alone, but you and I can do it together.” Matt glanced at his sister. “Does that get your approval?”
 

Rebecca chuffed a laugh. “Never thought I’d hear that come out of your mouth.”
 

He shrugged. “Tobias cares about his family. I care about mine. You care about both. What do you reckon we do now?”
 

Tobias didn’t want to discuss his future with Rebecca in front of Matt and his wife. His discomfort only grew when the blacksmith of the family, Aurora, walked up. She was tough as hell and her amber eyes went straight through a man. He’d heard about her prowess with a hammer and was glad she’d never shown him firsthand how powerful her swing was.
 

“I think we leave Rebecca and her man to make their own choices. I damn sure wasn’t the choice you would have made for Caleb.” She patted Rebecca’s arm. “Follow your heart.”
 

Tobias blinked, nonplussed by the vote of confidence from Aurora. The world beneath his feet tilted at the very real possibility he could marry the woman he loved with her family’s blessing. A heady thought.
 

“You too?” Matt’s mouth twisted. Hannah cleared her throat. “Aw, hell, and my wife? Are all the women in favor of letting Rebecca make her own choice?”
 

“You’ve raised your sisters to think for themselves, Matt. What did you think would happen?” Hannah smiled at Tobias and Rebecca. “I for one know true love when I see it and he didn’t pick her because of her first name.”
 

With that Hannah left her husband and walked back to the house.
 

“Her first name?” Tobias had no idea what she was talking about.
 

Matt’s cheeks colored. “Long story. My wife likes to tease me about it even after fourteen years.”
 

Rebecca shook her head. “Matt painted himself into a corner by telling the government he had a wife named Hannah. He had to find one in thirty days. Hannah was sweet enough to say yes, even though she was taking on seven younger siblings. I think it turned out to be the right thing to do, especially after four children.”
 

Matt shrugged. “She does know true love when she sees it.”
 

Tobias found himself smiling. He hadn’t known the story of how the eldest Graham sibling had met and married his wife. Theirs was an untraditional courtship too, or lack of one. He wondered if the rest of the Grahams had interesting stories to tell of how they met their husbands and wives.
 

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of horses. The rest of the group arrived at the ranch kicking up less dust. Tobias’s good mood vanished at the sight of the men who had done so much damage to his family.
 

Caleb pulled up to Matt, a scowl on his face. “Briar Creek don’t have a lawman right now. We need to get a Ranger.”
 

Aurora stepped up to her husband’s horse. “You best be careful, cowboy. I’m not there to protect you.”
 

The look Caleb gave her could have set her forge afire. Aurora patted his leg and returned to the barn, giving the three criminals a wide berth and a sharp-eyed glare.
 

“Get going then. Take Javier with you. He’s over in the east corral working with the two foals.” Matt nodded at Nick and Ben. “We can keep these three busy until you get back.”
 

Caleb apparently needed no further instructions. He wheeled his horse around and set off at a gallop. Tobias had never been glad Rebecca’s brother was an ex-Ranger until now. If they were lucky, the law would arrive within a day or two. In the meantime, he was stuck at the Circle Eight again. It had been five years since he slept in a small tent, apart from the Grahams, while they built the house.
 

His position in the pecking order was unknown. After all, he was not a popular person with the Grahams, even if there was a potential shift in their opinion. He couldn’t sleep in the house and neither could his brothers. They weren’t about to leave the three men in the Grahams’ care and return to Briar Creek.
 

“What do we do with them?” Nick tugged on the reins of the men’s horses. They were tied up tighter than a Thanksgiving turkey.
 

“We tie them up in the barn and then find out what they know.” Matt’s smile was anything but friendly.
 

“You can’t keep us prisoner.” Travers couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
 

Matt turned to Tobias, his brows raised. To his surprise, Matt was looking to Tobias to respond.
 

Tobias walked over, his anger bubbling back up through his gut. “You bet we can keep you prisoner. Not only did you try to kill my brother and me, you kidnapped him and tried it again. There ain’t no fucking chance you will be free again. Ever.”
 

James grunted. “Damn straight.”
 

“You’re no lawman, Gibson. You’re a goddamn drunken fool with an idiot brother. You ain’t got no reason to hold us,” Travers shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.
 

Tobias’s fury began to rise up his throat, choking him. This man assumed to call him names, and worse, call Will names. His hand crept
toward his pistol and for a second, he saw himself shooting Travers in the head, splattering the dusty ground with blood and brains.
 

Instead of acting on his impulse, he stood in one place, trying to swallow back the darkness. He didn’t need to be ruled by his temper—he needed to rule it. To his surprise, the urge to kill the bastard began to fade. He envisioned seeing the man hang for what he’d done instead. That was a satisfying image.
 

“No but I do.” Matt nodded toward the barn. “You kidnapped a man and were about to kill two more. I got the right to hold you until the Rangers get here. If you don’t like it, you can take it up with the judge when you see him.”
 

Matt, Nick and Ben took the reins of the men’s horses and led them into barn. Tobias took the rest of the horses in beside Rebecca. James followed them all in with a glower on his face and a hand on the pistol riding his hip. His younger brother had a temper too but he was far less volatile and instead, bottled everything up inside. One day it was all going to come out in an explosion. Tobias was afraid of how ugly that would be.
 

The Graham brothers secured their prisoners in an empty stall that seemed to hold just hay. The men continued to grouse and complain, Travers being the loudest of them.
 

Rebecca stepped into the stall and Matt held a hand out to stop her. Tobias resisted the urge to punch him, sister or not.
 

“What the hell are you doing?” Matt’s brows slammed together. “These men are dangerous. This ain’t no place for you.”
 

She frowned at him, rivaling any of her brothers’ dark looks. “Each of these men needs medical attention. That’s my job. Now step out of my way, Matt.”
 

“I don’t like it.” Her oldest brother hadn’t moved an inch.
 

“I don’t care if you don’t like it. Move. Now.” She pushed at his shoulder and although he could have easily stopped her, he moved. His expression was full of frustration and annoyance mixed with pride. Tobias understood every emotion.
 

The five of them stood by like a formal guard over her as Rebecca perched on a hay bale and tended to the prisoners’ wounds. Tobias had never felt a kinship to the Grahams before now. Standing there with their arms crossed, he was surprised to find he was connected to them. Their love for the petite woman was shared.
 

He liked it. Damn but he liked it. Never expected that to happen with a family he had started off at cross-purposes with. If he were honest, it was
more than that—they were blood enemies at the beginning. Then they had an uneasy truce. Now he almost belonged.
 

Almost.
 

Rebecca cleaned, stitched and bandaged the three men. She put the soiled cloths in a separate basket and stood up with her bag in the other hand. That’s when Travers made his move.
 

He tried to wrap his bound hands around her neck, but she was too fast for him. She was too fast for all of them. Rebecca dropped her bag and basket, twisted out of his reach, kicked him in the balls and one small fist cracked across his nose. More blood flew, splattering Bekins and Johnston.
 

All the men flinched at the sound of her boot destroying Travers’s balls. Like an egg shell breaking over a frying pan. She jumped back and held up both fists, ready to fight.
 

“Damn, Rebecca, you could at least let us pretend to protect you.” This from Matt.
 

All of her brothers hunched their shoulders looking put out. James scowled and shoved Travers closer to a hitching ring. After tying the other man to a ring so he couldn’t move an inch, James threw him a disgusted glance.
 

Ben patted her shoulder as if to say he was proud of her. The boy who hadn’t talked much all his life still had little to say. It was strange to see the young teenager as a grown man, a big man with a physique to rival his brothers’. The youngest Graham had had different experiences than the rest of his family. His hooded gaze didn’t meet anyone’s as he walked out of the stall.
 

Matt crossed his arms. “Now that my sister kicked your ass, are you ready to talk?”
 

Travers’s couldn’t wipe away the blood streaming down his face. It pooled around his mouth like a ghoulish mustache. “Fuck you. I ain’t saying a word ’cause I ain’t done nothing.”
 

Tobias snorted. “You are gonna hang, you son of a bitch. I’m gonna enjoy hearing your neck crack at the end of that noose.” There was so much he hated about these men, but it was Travers who wanted to kill Will, and attempted to already, twice.