The Gambler (13 page)

Chapter Seven

Emmaline was startled awake by the stagecoach
driver yelling and the coach jerking to an abrupt stop. She
blinked, staring at the empty seat across from her before leaning
up to reach for the window covering. Her fingers brushed the fabric
moments before the door was snatched open. Seeing Tristan standing
there glowering at her caused her heart to skip a beat. He looked
furious.

"Get out."

She lifted her chin and met his gaze. "You
don't own me, Tristan, so stop trying to order me around." She
leaned back in her seat, stared straight ahead and crossed her arms
under her breasts.

Her heart was beating a steady rhythm against
her ribs and she found it hard to breathe as Tristan seemed to suck
the air from the coach. He was still by the door, his gaze locked
on her and she was almost scared to look over at him. He must have
found the deed was missing. She couldn't imagine anything else
would cause that look on his face.

Thinking of the deed, she remembered her
earlier musing about telling Tristan of the gold. Seeing how angry
he was now, she decided against it. Knowing him, he'd just take the
deed and send her on her way with nothing but the clothes he'd
bought her and what was left of the money he'd handed her back at
the stagecoach station.

He was silent for long moments before
slamming the door closed. Emmaline exhaled. She hadn't realized she
was holding her breath until that moment. She could hear him
talking to the driver, their hushed voices muted by the walls of
the coach and the scrambling of things moving on top of the coach
caused a bubble of dread to lodge in her throat. The driver was
unhooking her bag from the top of the coach. She didn't have to see
to know he was.

Tristan appeared at the door again moments
later and didn't say a word. He just reached in, grabbed her around
the waist and hauled her out of the stagecoach, her startled scream
echoing in the silence. He placed her on his horse, climbed in
behind her and they were headed back to Willow Creek before her own
anger calmed enough for her to speak. She turned in the saddle, met
his gaze and unclamped her teeth. "You have no right, Tristan. Now
let me go."

He kissed her instead. She gasped at the
sudden move and felt her heart give a powerful thump as he forced
his tongue into her mouth. Thoughts of being angry at him fled the
instant she tasted him. His arms banded around her waist, his hold
on her tight, his mouth demanding as his tongue plunged into her
mouth again and again. Emmaline's entire body felt strung tight
when he raised his head and looked down at her. "I promised to
protect you, Emmaline, and that's exactly what I plan on doing.
Hate me if you want but I'm not letting you go."

Something in the way he said those words made
her think they meant more than the obvious. The look on his face
was intense, his hand fisted into her hair held her captive against
him and the warmth of his breath against her damp lips caused goose
bumps to pimple her skin. "Why?"

He blinked and some emotion she couldn't name
moved in his eyes. His hold on her loosened but he didn't let go of
her. "Because I don't want to." He said no more after that and
neither did she. She couldn't have if she'd wanted to. He didn't
want to let her go? What did he mean by that?

The question rolled around in her head until
they made it back to Willow Creek. He stopped in front of the
stagecoach station again and climbed to the ground, lifted her off
and placed her on her feet before tying the horse's reins to the
hitching post. When he turned to face her, the land deed she still
had stuffed into the bodice of her dress burned like fire. She
averted her gaze and sighed.

Tristan untied her bag from the back of the
horse's saddle and walked into the stagecoach station without a
word. Emmaline followed. He was talking to Ellie when she entered
the room, their heads bowed and their voices in quiet, hushed
tones. Tristan handed the woman something then turned, walking down
the short hallway to the room she'd been given earlier.

It took every ounce of strength she had to
follow him. He was unpacking her bag when she stepped into the
doorway.

"I've given Ellie enough money to cover your
meals for a week." He turned to look at her, his gaze still hard.
"Ellie said you paid for the stagecoach ticket yourself so I'm
going to assume everything I gave you is gone so I don't have to
worry about you leaving again but I do want that deed back,
Emmaline. As long as it's here in Willow Creek, I know you will be
too."

"Why does it matter if I'm here?"

"Because it does."

Emmaline felt her anger resurface. He talked
in circles most of the time. "What do you want from me,
Tristan?"

He didn't answer right away. He stared at her
for long moments, his gaze penetrating. "I want you to be happy,
Emmaline. I want you to sleep in a room with heat enough to make
you sweat. I want you to wake everyday to a table full of food and
not have to work until there's blisters marring your hands. I want
you to be safe, to enjoy life and know that nothing will ever hurt
you again."

Tears burned the back of her eyes when he
stopped talking and she blinked them away before leaning back
against the doorframe. She couldn't look at him. She barely knew
him but he cared more about her than anyone had since her mother
died and she didn't know why he did. He moved into her line of
sight and she lowered her head so he wouldn't see the tears in her
eyes.

"I just want to take care of you, Emmaline.
I've done things in my life that I'm not proud of and you make me
forget they still haunt me."

She glanced up and the sincere look on his
face nearly broke her heart. She didn't deserve his kindness. She'd
done nothing since the moment she met him but try to steal her land
deed back and deceive him as to why. The tales she'd heard of how
gold affected people were true. She knew it was as she looked at
him. Greed had blackened her heart and made her lie, steal and
cheat. It turned her into a person her mother wouldn't approve of
and she sighed before reaching into the bodice of her dress and
pulling the deed out. She held out her hand, offering it to him and
stared at his chest.

He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss to her
mouth. "You need anything, you just tell Ellie. She'll get word to
me out on the ranch. I'll be back tomorrow to check on you, all
right?"

Emmaline nodded her head and watched him walk
away, tucking the land deed into his jacket pocket. When he rounded
the corner and was out of sight she knew the plans she'd made were
just a dream. She'd never get to that gold now unless she told
Tristan about it and she didn't think he'd let her have it once he
knew. He'd fall into the same trap she did. The greed that darkened
her heart would infect his as well and turn him into a person she
wouldn’t want to know.

Someone just like her.

* * * *

Tristan stopped in the same place he had
earlier to look at the ranch and the people he'd seen in the yard
earlier were still there. The little girl he'd seen was still
running, her braids flopping against her back as she hurried across
the yard and the woman was on the porch steps, one arm wrapped
around the banister. His curiosity got the better of him and he
nudged the horse and crossed under the arched entryway onto his
family's land with a racing pulse.

He was spotted within moments, everyone in
the yard staring at him. When he stopped in front of the house, the
woman smiled and two people from the barn stepped out to look at
him. He grinned when he saw Colt and Holden. Their eyes widened
before both took on identical hardened features.

Climbing down from the horse, he waited. It
only took a few seconds before Holden, or was it Colt, to yell at
him.

"I'm going to whip you bloody, boy!"

Tristan laughed. "Funny. Morgan said almost
the exact same thing."

His older, twin brother's joined him, stared
at him for long moments before shaking their heads and grabbing
him, hugging them to him, each in turn, before letting him go.

"Where the hell have you been?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "A little bit of
everywhere." The woman and kid walked over and Tristan was shocked
to learn he had a niece. Introductions were made to Holden's
daughter, Alexandra, and Colt's new wife, Sarah. When he asked
about his pa, everyone seemed to have somewhere else to look. "He's
not any better?"

Colt shook his head. "Better in the past
couple of months but nowhere near the man he was when you
left."

Tristan looked toward the house. "He in
there?"

"Yeah. In the parlor."

He handed the horses reins to Holden and made
his way to the house, his heart slamming against his ribcage. He'd
been seventeen when he last saw his family and his pa had been the
last face he saw as he rode away. He could still hear his voice as
he yelled out to him, that if he left, not to come back. That was
nine years ago. He hadn't seen any of them in all that time and had
only exchanged two letters with Ellie to ask how his family was
doing.

The house still smelled like home and once
the screen door closed behind him, a sense of belonging swept over
him to the point he wasn't even sure why he left. He crossed the
hall, looked into the parlor and felt his stomach drop as he got
his first look at his pa.

He looked nothing like he remembered. He'd
aged considerably in the nine years he'd been away. His hair was
completely white. The lines on his face more profound and Tristan
felt his heart sink as he watched his pa talk to someone who wasn't
even there.

Crossing the threshold, he entered the room
and made his way to the empty chair across from his pa. He sat and
stared at the man who used to instill fear in him with a single
glance. Now, Tristan felt nothing but sadness and a longing for
days gone by he'd never get back.

His eyes misted and he blinked to erase them,
cleared his throat and reached out, touching his father's hand.
"Hey pa." The old man never looked up but he stopped mumbling. "I
know you said for me not to come back but you know how stubborn I
am. You should have known I wouldn't listen to you."

It took a few minutes but his father finally
did look up. His eyes brighten for a second before they became
unfocused again. Tristan sat for more than half an hour talking to
him, not getting any sort of response and was just sitting up to
leave when Colt's wife walked into the room. She smiled at him
before crossing the room and bending down next to his father.

"James. Have you told Tristan about your
plans for the new garden come spring?"

His father looked up, his eyes glistening as
he looked at Sarah. Tristan watched him smile before straightening
in his seat. "Damn kid never listened. Won't make no matter
now."

Sarah smiled and laid her hand on James's
shoulder. "I think you have his undivided attention." She looked
over at him and winked. "See, look," she said, turning back to his
father. "He's right across from you. Don't you have anything to say
to him?"

James looked up, his gaze landing on Tristan.
He squinted at him, looked him over from head to toe before he
huffed out a breath and lifted one bony hand to point a finger at
him. "You stay out of that saloon or I'll strip the hide off ya."
He squinted, shook his head and made a face. "And go change your
clothes. You look like one of those no good gamblers dressed like
that."

Tristan's heart leaped in his chest. Sarah
laughed, rubbed his father's back and whispered softly to him
before she stood and walked away. His father's gaze was riveted to
her as she crossed the room and it wasn't until she turned the
corner, her profile silhouetted in the sunlight streaming in from
the door that Tristan realized why she looked so familiar. His gaze
was drawn to the portrait over the fireplace, his mother's loving
face smiling down at him. He stared at her likeness before looking
back at his pa and was astonished to see him smiling.

His father turned his head, looked at him and
the smile stayed. His eyes seemed so clear now and when Tristan
leaned forward, grabbing his father's hand, he knew coming home had
been the right decision. "I'll stay out of the saloon, pa. I
promise this time."

He stayed until his father went back to
ignoring him. Until his eyes became unfocused and he started
mumbling again. It broke his heart to see him like that but knew
from Ellie's letter a few years back it was bad. Hearing it and
seeing it were two very different things, though.

When he finally managed to find his room, his
bag already sitting on the bed, Tristan breathed in the scent of
the air, let his gaze fall on all the belongings he'd left behind
and smiled in amazement everything was still there. Time had stood
still in his room and for the first time in years, the thought of
being home filled him with happiness. Maybe leaving again was
foolish. Maybe he should stick around for a while, get to know his
new sister-in-laws and niece and try to help out on the ranch a
bit. With Emmaline in town, he now had more than one reason to
stay.