Caleb's Rain Lily Bride (Texas Frontier Brides Book 1) Read online

  The thunder of hooves sounded on the street as the riders moved down from the store, pistols still blazing away at the shops. A sound of a shotgun, followed by a horse screaming, told her that they weren’t just there for the people. They were there for revenge.

  Maggie sat back down for a moment and closed her eyes, feeling her body tremble inside. Old memories flooded to her mind and she pushed them away. How many times had she and Gram huddled in the fruit cellar, just waiting for soldiers to pass? Gram’s rifle had always been with them, but the woman had never used it on another human. Today just might be different. Reba Barkley could only be pushed so far.

  “Maggie. Are you alright? Can you shoot?”

  Wally’s voice calmed her nerves and she opened her eyes and turned on her knees at once. “Yes. I’m fine,” she said, glancing at him.

  Beads of perspiration lined his lip. Rifle sites to his eye, he had the weapon trained on the door. Barely older than herself, he had been too young to fight in the war, but she had no doubt he would have been a brave soldier.

  As if on cue, another round of shots reverberated further down the street and the sound of voices yelling reached their ears. Maggie was up again and fired several rounds through the window.

  The shots fired were followed by horse hooves pounding on the street. Another volley of bullets sounded and then all was silent.

  Maggie waited, barely able to breathe. Were they gone? Or just waiting for someone to step outside so they could take them down?

  Footsteps sounded on the board walk outside the store. “Don’t shoot!” A man shouted. Matt Baker appeared at the shattered window opening and called to them. “Everyone in here OK?”

  Wally lowered his rifle and they all began to stand. “We’re fine,” he called. Up from the floor, he headed out the door, rifle still in hand.

  “What about you, Susie? Are you hurt?” Maggie stared into the frightened blue eyes of the child.

  Susie shook her head. “No. Just scared.”

  Maggie hugged her and gave her a reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be alright, now. But let’s stay here a while, alright?”

  Letting go of Susie, she walked to Hallie, still crouched on the floor. Kneeling down, she put her hand on the woman’s quivering shoulder. “You can get up now, Hallie. It’s over.”

  Hallie’s round, gold spectacles barely hung from one ear. She grabbed them and pulled them into her hand. Her eyes met Maggie’s. “I’ve never been so frightened in my life!”

  Maggie hugged her and gave a shaky laugh. “Neither have I.” It was mostly true, except for that incident with Hobart a few weeks ago. “Now, let’s get you off the floor.”

  She helped Hallie stand and quickly straightened the woman’s blue knitted shawl. Light brown tresses sprawled around her face. The black straw hat she had been wearing had fallen from her head and was dangling, pinned tight in her long, thick hair.

  “I must look a mess,” Hallie smiled, reaching for her hat and pulling it to the top of her head.

  Without her spectacles and her hair mussed from its usual severe bun, she was an attractive woman, Maggie observed. Hallie might not be a spinster school teacher for long, once the men got to know her.

  “You look fine,” Maggie said, patting her on the back.

  Lola and Lila were standing together, their arms around each other, both sobbing. Maybe the two of them were finally coming to terms with their quarrel. “Are either of you hurt?” She asked the sisters.

  They both shook their heads and stepped away from each other, wiping their faces with hankies they pulled from their sleeves and reticule. For a moment, everyone stood silently, looking at one another, a mix of fear and relief on their faces.

  “I hope Mr. Stoner is OK,” Susie‘s small voice broke the hush in the room.

  Maggie nodded to her. “All of you stay here and I’m going to go check on him.” And especially Gram.

  She stepped out the door and saw a group of men in front of Bailey’s. One of them was Caleb. On the hard street in front of them lay a body, sprawled in an odd position. Her heart jumped into her throat. They had killed someone. But who?

  Without another thought, she started running down the street. Her eyes went immediately to her grandmother’s shop. She could see the window was broken, but Gram was standing in front, staring at the gathering in front of Bailey’s.

  Slowing, she took a deep breath and waved at Gram. Then, she headed toward the assembly of men. Stopping just short of the group, she stared at the man lying on the dirt. It was the rider of the white horse, one of the three men that had arrived when she was putting up the posters.

  Caleb knelt down and turned the man on his back, his fingers searching through the coat pockets. He pulled out a wad of paper bills and a gold watch. He looked up at the group of men. “Any of you know him?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  Maggie stared at the pale face. He was an older man and his dark eyes were open, as if death had startled him. Up close, she could see even more of the fine stitching on his suit, the tailored cut of his shirt, and the expert craftsmanship of his boots. Whoever he was, he hadn’t been a poor man.

  ***

  Out of the corner of his eye, Caleb caught site of Maggie. Relief washed through him. Stoner had said she hadn’t been hurt, but he needed proof with his own sight of her. She walked to him and touched his sleeve.

  It took everything within him not to order her over to her grandmother. But she would never forgive him if he treated her like a frail, fainting woman. Maggie Price might be soft as cotton on the inside, but she kept up a tough appearance.

  He turned as she arrived at his side. “Have you ever seen this man before?”

  She nodded. “I saw him ride in with two others awhile ago before the shooting started. They stopped here at Bailey’s,” she said glancing at the saloon. She turned her eyes to his. “They were dressed so nice, I figured they were gamblers here for a game.”

  She looked stricken, as if she had somehow failed to recognize them as the hired killers they were. He longed to put his arms around her and comfort her, but he was sure she wouldn’t stand for it in front of the crowd.

  He cleared his throat and rested his hand on her back. “There’s no way you could have known who they were. I would have thought the same.”

  “So you figure the Sayers hired them?” Wally spoke up.

  Caleb dropped his hand from Maggie and studied the man on the ground. But he could think of no explanation other than Stoner’s. “Well, I think that’s what we have to assume. And he doesn’t seem to have any papers on him.” He glanced at Bill Royce, dawdling at the back of the group. “Bill, why don’t you go see if you can find that new photographer you hired and get him to take a picture of this fellow. We’ll get it to Austin and see if they know anything about him.”

  ***

  Maggie swept the floor for the third time. “It doesn’t matter how many times I do this,” she exclaimed. “It’s like glass keeps growing on the floor!”

  Reba laughed and took the broom from her. “I reckon we’ll be sweeping up shards for a month or two. And no telling where else all those little pieces went besides the floor boards. We’ll have to shake out every bit of cloth we have.”

  Maggie sighed and picked up a dusting rag. “I’ll start on the shelves. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of glass up there.”

  Dragging a black Windsor chair under the shelves, she glanced at her grandmother before she began to remove the boxes and dust them. The older woman seemed fine, not a bit rattled by all the commotion earlier. She had seemed tense when Maggie first arrived home, but had calmed at once when she found the only one killed was one of the shooters.

  Amazing, Maggie thought. All those bullets and no one else even shot, except for one of the aggressors. Thank you for keeping Your hand on us, Lord. I know I’ve been–

  “Maggie! Come here!” Gram’s quick words broke through her prayer.

  The chair w
obbled and Maggie lost her balance, barely managing to catch herself before she fell. “What is it?” She climbed down and hurried to her grandmother, who seemed to be mesmerized by something outside.

  “There. Just look at that!” Gram pointed.

  Maggie’s breath caught. Job Sayer, calmly riding his big roan down the street, as if nothing had happened to the town. Come to gloat over the damage. They watched him slide down from the horse. He gave a casual glance in their direction and threw his reins over the hitching post in front of the Saloon.

  “Well he’s got some nerve,” Maggie spoke, barely above a whisper. “I’d better go find Caleb.”

  Reba grabbed her arm. “Oh no you don’t. You’re staying right here with me, young lady. Caleb is the sheriff, now. I’m sure folks have already notified him of who it is that just rode in.”

  Maggie held her tongue. Gram was right. She would be of no help if she went running down the street to the office. She felt guilty enough that Gram had been alone earlier today. “I’m going upstairs and watch,” she said, pulling away from her grandmother’s grasp. She reached for the rifle she’d left leaning against the wall.

  “I’ll go with you,” Reba replied, stopping to get her Winchester off the counter.

  Maggie breathed softly and stared out the window. The street was quiet as a graveyard on Christmas Day. She swallowed hard and glanced at her grandmother’s calm face. She’d never seen the woman look so determined, so ready to take a stand.

  Gram stiffened and Maggie turned her gaze back to the scene below. Caleb, followed by Wally Stoner, and Milt Brown, the blacksmith, were walking down the sidewalk, Winchesters in their hands. They stopped in front of Bailey’s and went inside.

  No. Maggie’s mind flashed back to two years before. Like Caleb, Ian had gone into the saloon. After a conversation with Hobart Sayer he had left, letting the doors swing behind him. Only a few steps into the road, crossing the empty street to their town home, Hobart had stepped out of Bailey’s and put a bullet in Ian’s back.

  Her breath caught as her emotions took a familiar swirl. It all could have been avoided if Ian had never taken the job as sheriff. If they’d just stayed out on the ranch. But no, he was stubborn. He said the town needed his help. He was obligated. And now, Caleb was doing the same.

  Maggie turned and pressed her back to the wall and tried to steady her breathing. It just couldn’t happen again. It couldn’t. Please, Lord! There had to be some way to stop it.

  “Maggie? Maggie, look at me!” Gram’s voice was loud in her ear.

  She opened her eyes and felt a hot wetness roll down her cheek. Her fingers wiped the damp tears away. She stared into her grandmother’s kind face.

  “It’s alright, honey.” Reba’s cool fingers wiped more of Maggie’s tears away.

  “I’m sorry, Gram, I just–”

  Reba shook her head. “No, child. It’s about time you cried some tears. Remember how it is when the summer gets so dry and then it finally rains? Then, all those beautiful Rain Lilies start blooming. That’s how it is with us when we finally let go of the pain. We can leave the dry past behind and start to bloom again. I just didn’t realize how much that fellow over there meant to you.”

  “Now, Gram,” Maggie began to argue, turning her face away. “ That’s not it. I just don’t want history to repeat itself. You don’t need to be thinking I’m sweet on Caleb. To him, I’m just someone to help around the office.” She gave her grandmother a look to let her know that the conversation was finished.

  Her grandmother smiled and raised her eyebrows. “Is that what you think that man thinks about you?”

  Maggie picked up her rifle and turned back to the window. “Just stop it, Gram. I don’t want to talk anymore nonsense today. We‘d better be watching in case they need us to help out down there.”

  Chapter 19

  Caleb was mostly silent as he ate the supper Reba had cooked. He hadn’t said much while he helped Maggie board up the big front window of the shop, either.

  “I’m sorry it’s only beans, potatoes, and cornbread,” Reba voiced again. “I didn’t have time to get any greens. But there is buttermilk pie,” she added.

  “It’s more than fine,” he assured her with his smile. But his expression gave away the fact that his mind wasn’t much on the meal anyway.

  Maggie dropped her fork onto the plate and sputtered, “I just can’t believe he rode in here like that, feigning ignorance of what happened! And to think he’s still sitting over there, drinking, like everything is normal. There must be some way we can prove that the Sayers were behind the shooting!”

  Caleb sighed and stabbed a chunk of potato on the plate. “Something will come up.”

  Maggie folded her arms and stared at him. His face showed a day’s growth of beard and his eyes looked tired, like a man that had labored all day in the sun and hadn’t accomplished anything. “What you really mean is that we have to wait for something else to happen, isn’t it?”

  He put down the coffee cup that he had picked up. “I’m afraid that’s about all we can do, right now. If we hear something from Austin, after we get that picture sent off, maybe we’ll have a little more information. It should be developed and brought to me in a few hours. But if you have some ideas, Maggie, I’d be willing to hear them.”

  She pulled her eyes away from the draw of his deep blue stare. Where would she get any ideas? Maybe she was wrong to think Caleb was the man to answer the town’s problems. Maybe he wasn’t the man that Gram had been praying would come to their rescue.

  But her heart told her she was wrong. God had sent him into their lives. And now, they had to wait to see how He was going to use him. Why am I so impatient, Lord? Help me to trust you.

  Without answering him, she stood and reached for her grandmother’s plate. “I’ll get the pie and then do dishes tonight.”

  “And I’ll help,” Caleb said, pushing his chair back.

  Maggie drew her lips into a straight line. She would just as soon he stay out here and visit with Gram. Her feelings for him were too confusing. How could she feel doubt for a man her heart was convincing her to love? And worse, he was a man in love with someone else.

  “You most certainly will not,” Reba insisted, scrambling to her feet and taking his plate. “You’ve got a job to do and don’t need to worry yourself with something like a pan full of dirty dishes!”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Reba,” he smiled, taking the blue willow plate back from her hand. “I do some of my best thinking with my hands in a pan of hot, soapy water.” He looked at Maggie and winked. “And maybe Maggie will come up with something while we’re busy being helpful.”

  ***

  Maggie poured hot water from the kettle into the dishpan. The scoop of soap began to melt and dissolve. She swished it with her hands and enjoyed the sensation of the warm water. Despite the afternoon heat, the day’s events had left a coldness inside of her. Caleb, busy scraping the few scraps from the plates, looked at her and smiled.

  Her heart took a bounding leap and she looked away, reaching for the cups next to the pan. All that talk with Gram had teased her heart into believing she was falling in love with him. But she would have to ignore it, no matter how hard it might be.

  Only this morning, she had seen him in deep conversation with Nancy Rollins. A moment later, they were both headed back inside the sheriff’s office. So interested in their talk, neither had noticed her watching from across the street.

  “You’re awful quiet tonight,” his voice broke into her thoughts. “You…you weren’t hurt or anything were you? I was worried about you.”

  She smiled at the concern in his voice. “No. I guess I just don’t know what to think.” He handed a plate to her and she plunged it beneath the steaming water, glad to have something to look at besides his handsome face.

  Caleb picked up a butter knife and accidentally dropped it back into the wash water. He reached in after it and grabbed Maggie’s hand instead.
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br />   Her breath caught in her throat, as her heart took off like a galloping horse. Their fingers entwined for a moment. She gasped and pulled away. He quickly let go of her and took his hand out of the warm water.

  Their eyes met and she was paralyzed, unable to look away. For a moment he leaned closer, his breath on her cheek. “Maggie. . .”

  Maggie tilted her chin up just as he took a step back.

  His eyes pulled away from her and he concentrated on the knife in his hand. He cleared his throat and returned his gaze to her. “Maggie, once things are cleared up around here, I’d like to talk with you about something.”

  She stared at the murky dishwater, wishing for more items to clean. “Sure. About what?” As if she didn’t already know. But for that brief moment. . .she blinked hard. Just please don’t let it be tonight, Lord. I don’t want to hear about the two of them just yet.

  He straightened his shoulders and began to dry the cups. “Just something that’s on my mind. You see, I‘ve decided to–”

  “Now just look at you two,” Reba interrupted as she brought the empty cornbread plate into the room. “With both of you working, this mess will be cleaned up in no time! It’s always nice to have an extra pair of hands, Caleb,” she smiled, patting him on the arm.

  He took the tin from her and nodded. “I’m plenty glad to be of assistance, Reba. You feed me better than a man deserves.”

  “Oh, go on, will you,” she laughed, heading back to her sewing machine.

  Maggie, glad of the interruption, took the plate and washed it. She handed it to Caleb and picked up the pan of water. “I’ll just go dump this out back.”

  Caleb put down the cotton towel. “I’ll take it. I don’t want you and Reba outside at night until this situation is over.”