the
wheelchair. “Let me walk you to your door, miss.”
Nell started to argue, then lifted her arms to circle his neck. He swung her up and walked toward the stairs. He’d
carried her like this before in the first weeks after the accident. He knew how to lift her so that she didn’t suffer
too much pain.
“If you take me up, you’ll have to carry me back down tomorrow morning.”
Jacob smiled. “I’ll do that if you’ll feed me breakfast. When I’m gone, I miss Marla’s cooking.”
“So, you’d leave me upstairs to starve if it weren’t for my cook?”
“Pretty much. Or, marry you off to Walter Farrow.”
Nell tapped her fist against his chest. “He was a terrible man.”
Jacob laughed. “True, but he loved you sight unseen.” He slowed, in no hurry to reach the top of the stairs. “At
least as long as you came with land.” They passed Stockard’s painting halfway up the stairs. “Maybe you should
have tossed in that painting his uncle did. Then he would have fought a little harder for your hand.”
They paused, looking at the ugly drawing.
“I always thought it looked like dying flowers fuzzy with decay.”
Jacob turned his head to the side. “I thought it was an ocean washing on a dirty beach.”
“It’s midnight in the mud,” Gypsy yel ed, “and worthless.”
Jacob laughed. “Then Walter must have loved you.”
“He loved my land sight unseen,” she added. “Why do you think he was so interested in the Stockard place? It’s
probably the worst ranch I’ve got. It’s small, rocky, and full of rattlers. I’ve heard the stream dries up by
midsummer, and the water in the well isn’t always fit to drink.”
Jacob shoved Nel ’s bedroom door open with his shoulder. “I don’t know. Some say Zeb Whitaker hid out there
for a while. Maybe Walter’s looking for the old buffalo hunter’s gold.”
Nell turned her head away from him.
“I’m sorry,” Jacob said, realizing his mistake. Nell had been shot because of the lost saddlebags of gold. Zeb
Whitaker had always claimed three women robbed him after they knocked him out and left him for dead in the
middle of nowhere. Only all three women swore they never took a single coin. They’d all three married good
men and were Nell’s adopted family. She took it personal when Zeb and his gang came after them. The old
buffalo hunter died searching for his lost gold.
“There’s no need to say you’re sorry,” Nel whispered. “It’s not something I forget about. Every day I think about
what my life would be like if I hadn’t borrowed the buggy Lacy always drove to visit Bailee and Carter’s ranch.
Zeb and his men thought they were shooting at Lacy, not me, but I can’t help but think, what if I’d driven slower,
would the buggy have overturned? Or, if I’d been going faster could I have somehow outrun the bul ets?
Sometimes I even panic and think, what if Lacy had been there? She could barely handle a horse. She might have
died.”
Jacob carried her to the side of the bed but didn’t lower her. His arms held her to him a little longer. “If you’d
been going slower, they might have had time to aim and pump more shots into you. If you’d been moving faster,
the fal when the buggy rol ed might have kil ed you.”
Nel ’s laugh had no humor. “So, you’re tel ing me I’m lucky.”
“No,” he whispered against her ear. “I am. You’re still alive.”
Nell leaned back and stared at him.
He saw confusion in her brown eyes, maybe a little anger, and hope, as well. Maybe if he could ask her to marry
him, he could tel her how much she meant to him. Surely she knew she was a part of him, his past, his future.
He couldn’t imagine them not being friends.
Gypsy clambered into the room with her load of blankets, and they both looked at the old woman as if neither
wanted to face what they saw in the other’s eyes.
“I’l turn down your bed,” Gypsy said as she hurried
wheelchair. “Let me walk you to your door, miss.”
Nell started to argue, then lifted her arms to circle his neck. He swung her up and walked toward the stairs. He’d
carried her like this before in the first weeks after the accident. He knew how to lift her so that she didn’t suffer
too much pain.
“If you take me up, you’ll have to carry me back down tomorrow morning.”
Jacob smiled. “I’ll do that if you’ll feed me breakfast. When I’m gone, I miss Marla’s cooking.”
“So, you’d leave me upstairs to starve if it weren’t for my cook?”
“Pretty much. Or, marry you off to Walter Farrow.”
Nell tapped her fist against his chest. “He was a terrible man.”
Jacob laughed. “True, but he loved you sight unseen.” He slowed, in no hurry to reach the top of the stairs. “At
least as long as you came with land.” They passed Stockard’s painting halfway up the stairs. “Maybe you should
have tossed in that painting his uncle did. Then he would have fought a little harder for your hand.”
They paused, looking at the ugly drawing.
“I always thought it looked like dying flowers fuzzy with decay.”
Jacob turned his head to the side. “I thought it was an ocean washing on a dirty beach.”
“It’s midnight in the mud,” Gypsy yel ed, “and worthless.”
Jacob laughed. “Then Walter must have loved you.”
“He loved my land sight unseen,” she added. “Why do you think he was so interested in the Stockard place? It’s
probably the worst ranch I’ve got. It’s small, rocky, and full of rattlers. I’ve heard the stream dries up by
midsummer, and the water in the well isn’t always fit to drink.”
Jacob shoved Nel ’s bedroom door open with his shoulder. “I don’t know. Some say Zeb Whitaker hid out there
for a while. Maybe Walter’s looking for the old buffalo hunter’s gold.”
Nell turned her head away from him.
“I’m sorry,” Jacob said, realizing his mistake. Nell had been shot because of the lost saddlebags of gold. Zeb
Whitaker had always claimed three women robbed him after they knocked him out and left him for dead in the
middle of nowhere. Only all three women swore they never took a single coin. They’d all three married good
men and were Nell’s adopted family. She took it personal when Zeb and his gang came after them. The old
buffalo hunter died searching for his lost gold.
“There’s no need to say you’re sorry,” Nel whispered. “It’s not something I forget about. Every day I think about
what my life would be like if I hadn’t borrowed the buggy Lacy always drove to visit Bailee and Carter’s ranch.
Zeb and his men thought they were shooting at Lacy, not me, but I can’t help but think, what if I’d driven slower,
would the buggy have overturned? Or, if I’d been going faster could I have somehow outrun the bul ets?
Sometimes I even panic and think, what if Lacy had been there? She could barely handle a horse. She might have
died.”
Jacob carried her to the side of the bed but didn’t lower her. His arms held her to him a little longer. “If you’d
been going slower, they might have had time to aim and pump more shots into you. If you’d been moving faster,
the fal when the buggy rol ed might have kil ed you.”
Nel ’s laugh had no humor. “So, you’re tel ing me I’m lucky.”
“No,” he whispered against her ear. “I am. You’re still alive.”
Nell leaned back and stared at him.
He saw confusion in her brown eyes, maybe a little anger, and hope, as well. Maybe if he could ask her to marry
him, he could tel her how much she meant to him. Surely she knew she was a part of him, his past, his future.
He couldn’t imagine them not being friends.
Gypsy clambered into the room with her load of blankets, and they both looked at the old woman as if neither
wanted to face what they saw in the other’s eyes.
“I’l turn down your bed,” Gypsy said as she hurried
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