Three Men and a Bounty (18 page)

140

Gigi Moore

Chris trembled and released in Troy’s mouth on a rough grunt that James smothered with his eating kisses.

When James finally pulled away and let the kid up for air, Chris murmured, “Can I take off the blindfold, please?”

James glanced at Troy, and Troy glanced back.

He had moved back up to the head of the bed and had one hand buried in Chris’ soft locks, massaging the kid’s scalp. With his other hand, Troy caressed Chris’ chest, circling the hard, swollen nipples with a finger.

“What do you think, wolf? Should we put him out of his misery?”

Troy grinned, liked the way James had taken to calling him
wolf
, using the word as both a nickname and a term of endearment. He nodded, reached for the blindfold, and paused at the intense look in James’ eyes before he slid the blindfold down the kid’s face to hang down around his neck like a kerchief.

Chris’ gaze bounced between them several times before finally landing on Troy. He reached up a hand to cup Troy’s face, and Troy shuddered at that penetrating knowing expression in Chris’ eyes. The expression proved unexpected from the likes of someone so young and innocent.

“I think it’s time you both stopped looking at me as a helpless little kid.” Chris moved his glance from Troy to encompass James.

“I’m not either.”

“Been awake a while, then?” James asked.

“Long enough.” Chris turned back to Troy. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

Troy didn’t say anything, just stared, heart filling with all the concern that Chris and James showed him. He hadn’t had anyone who cared about him so much except maybe Josie and Josiah. Jack hadn’t ever cared about him as a person, not really. He’d just been eager to groom a young’un in his image—that of a cold-blooded killer and thief. It proved an image Troy couldn’t live with, not for very long.

Three Men and a Bounty

141

And now Jack’s brother, Cain, had him in his sights because of Troy’s defection.

How long would it take before he added James and Chris to his sights too because they were close to Troy?

Troy put his hand over Chris’ and closed his eyes, just reveling in the feel of the kid’s warmth and affection.

“When we go back to town, I want you to stay here with Lucy and Caesar,” James said in his commanding voice.

Troy opened his eyes to see Chris’ expected reaction, the kid glaring at James.

“I want to go with you. Why do
I
have to stay behind?”

“Because I say so.”

“It’s safer that way,” Troy put in, his tone as conciliatory as James’ was not, but Chris didn’t buy it anyhow.

“I’m
not
a kid you can boss around, and if Troy can go back with you, so can I.”

“Troy’s different.”

“Why? Because he’s a wolf and can take care of himself?”

“That’s part of it. A bigger part is that he has a complete life there.”

“You two can stop talking about me like I’m not sitting right here.”

“Like you two were talking about me a little while ago, I reckon?”

Chris jumped up from the bed to stand and began pacing the length of the bedroom. He shot visual daggers at both James and Troy as he paced.

The situation seemed so ridiculous the way they all insisted on protecting each other from their enemies that Troy fought laughing.

Nonetheless, he agreed with James. He wanted Chris to stay here, away from the prying eyes of everyone in Wolf Creek and beyond. He wanted Chris to be safe the same way James did.

He knew he and James could take care of themselves.

142

Gigi Moore

“I know about the outlaw gang that’s after you. I’ve heard the talk in town,” Chris said.

“More reason for you to keep your distance,” Troy said.

“What about James?”

“I’m a lawman.”

“You’re not indestructible.”

Troy watched the two men staring each other down. He admired the way the kid stood up to James though they all knew in the end he had no chance of winning this argument—not with two against one since Troy just happened to agree with James on the issue.

Surprisingly, James conceded first. He stood, took a deep breath, and pulled the kid’s stiff form into his body, holding him in a gentle but firm hug.

“I just want you safe, Chris.”

“I know.”

James pulled back to look at Chris, the love he felt for the boy plainly shining out of his brandy eyes. “So you’ll stay here, then?”

Troy heard the appeal in James’ voice. He knew how hard it was for him to make peace and soften his tone. He was a man of authority, used to men and women following his commands without question.

That he deferred to the kid enough to consider his feelings and make a request said a powerful lot.

“I reckon,” Chris murmured.

“It’s settled, then.” James gave Chris a squeeze, then reached over to grasp Troy’s shoulder right before a knock sounded on the door.

“You boys awake in there? Breakfast is about ready.”

“We’ll be down directly,” James called, and an answering snicker sounded through the door as Lucy retreated.

“I’m thinking Lucy wouldn’t mind seeing you stay on until we get back,” James said, and Troy laughed, knowing that the woman had instantly taken a motherly shine to the kid. He wondered why she and Caesar didn’t have any kids of their own and remained curious to know their story.

Three Men and a Bounty

143

“I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind staying on to help out around the ranch, do my part.” Chris smiled.

James took his face between both hands, drew him close, and gave him a deep and resounding kiss on the lips. “I’m thinking you do more than your share to help out around the ranch just keeping the owner happy.”

Troy’s heart stuttered in his chest when James included him with an intense, secret look that told Troy he had finally found a home here with James and Chris.

144

Gigi Moore

“What bee got in your drawers, chil’?”

Chris glanced up from grooming the horse Troy had loaned him and frowned. “Huh?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me. You’ve been moping around here since those other two left like you done lost your best friend.”

Chris shrugged and continued grooming the horse’s mane.

Lucy put a hand on his to stop him. “Any more grooming and you’ll brush the hair right offa this’un’s hide.”

“Sorry.”

“What’s vexing you, chil’?”

He didn’t want Lucy to think he didn’t appreciate her company.

She and Caesar had been going out of their way to make him feel welcome, especially since James and Troy had left. After downing Lucy’s big, appetizing, multi-course breakfast, Chris had gone on a tour of the ranch with Caesar. Just as amiable as Lucy but not as talkative, Caesar took Chris riding with him, then let Chris help him tend the horses and other animals.

He knew that the couple tried to keep him busy so that his mind wouldn’t be on James and Troy. He appreciated their efforts and concern. He didn’t know how to answer Lucy without insulting her, though, or making her think that he’d rather be with James and Troy than her and Caesar, even if the latter proved true.

“You’re missing your friends.”

Chris nodded, but still didn’t say anything.

Lucy came to his side and put an arm around him.

Three Men and a Bounty

145

Chris did his darnedest to keep up a brave front, refusing to cuddle close and act like the little kid that James and Troy insisted on treating him as.

“I bet they’re missing you just as much.”

“They didn’t act like it. They acted like they couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

“What get rid of? Leaving you here in this grand home with trusted friends and caretakers is getting rid of you?”

Chris looked at her and chuckled. “You know what I mean. They wanted me to stay behind because they thought I’d be safer here than with them.”

“Can’t fault them for wanting to take care of you.”

“They treat me like a little kid.”

“Well now…” Lucy grinned and arched a brow without finishing.

She ruffled his hair like she agreed with James and Troy’s assessment, and Chris laughed. He couldn’t help himself.

“How old are you anyways, chil’?”

“Twenty-one.”

“You ain’t nothing but a baby. Where your parents at?”

He hadn’t told anyone what had happened to his parents. No one had ever showed any interest, except for James and Troy, and whenever they tried to get any personal information out of him, he’d always shut down and shy away. The most he had revealed to anyone had been last night at dinner, and even then he’d only revealed where he’d come from, not anything more personal.

“They’re dead. Died in a cholera outbreak back in New York.”

“Oh, my poor baby! You’re all alone in the world.”

“Not anymore.” He said it with more confidence than he felt.

Despite James and Troy’s assurances and Lucy currently gushing all over him, he felt like he
was
all alone in the world. Not to mention he feared what would happen to James and Troy on the road or when they got back to Wolf Creek. He feared that Cain outlaw getting a hold of them.

146

Gigi Moore

“I reckon you got a point there,” Lucy agreed. “Those two do care a lot about you.”

“How can you tell?” Chris asked, curious to know what she saw and heard that he didn’t.

“Well, for one thing, I’ve never seen James so happy before, so free and laidback, and I’ve known him a good while to see the difference in him.”

Chris just nodded, keeping his own counsel, waiting for her to go on because he knew she would, and Lucy didn’t disappoint.

“And your other fella, I see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching him, the way his eyes shine. And I hear how his voice changes when he talks to you, all husky and low.

There’s a lot of love there.”

He liked the way she referred to James and Troy as
his.
Still, he didn’t want to blind himself to the possibility that Lucy was wrong.

“Could just be plain hankering.”

“Or indigestion.”

Chris laughed out loud at Lucy’s crack, and Lucy squeezed him close to her ample side and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“You shouldn’t doubt their feelings for you, especially since you’re a right lovable little nipper.”

“I am?”

Lucy nodded. “If James and Troy don’t take care of you the way you should be taken care of, you just remember you’ve got a place with old Lucy and Caesar.”

He wanted to believe her, but he wasn’t so sure Caesar would feel the same way as her about what she was suggesting. “Why don’t you and Caesar have any kids?” Chris blurted, and when he saw the gloomy look that came into Lucy’s dark brown eyes, he immediately regretted letting his mouth run away with him.

“We’ve tried and tried over the years. Reckon it just ain’t in the cards for us.”

“I’m sorry.”

Three Men and a Bounty

147

“Don’t be. I’ve had a good life. We both have. And we’re happy together. It would have been nice to have a few nippers to spoil.”

Chris knew that she would have spoiled them rotten, too, and felt plumb bad for her. He loved her positive attitude, though, and hoped with a little luck that some of it would rub off on him the more he stuck around her, which he planned to do given the chance.

“I reckon I’ve had a good life, too, despite everything.”

“Well, like I said. You’ve got us now—me, Caesar, James, and Troy. You’ve got family, and family looks after each other.”

“So I’ve been adopted, then?”

“For certain.”

Chris wrapped his arm around Lucy and allowed himself to find the comfort he had denied himself earlier, sinking into her warm hug, inhaling her unique woman’s scent. She smelled like fresh-baked apple pie and cinnamon. She smelled like home.

“Anybody ever tell you you’d make a great mother?”

“James has mentioned it a time or two when I get on his hide about one thing or another I think he’s doing wrong or should or shouldn’t be doing.”

Chris laughed and could imagine Lucy mothering James and him allowing her to.

He’d gotten a taste of their relationship last night at dinner and this morning at breakfast, had seen the genuine affection that they had for each other—no judgment—and longed for that in his relationship with James. He longed for the marshal not to see him as a little kid but as a man who was in love with him and wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.

The thought of rejection put a mite anxiety in his heart, but if he listened to Lucy, and she proved right, then he had nothing to worry about.

The approach of a horse and wagon interrupted Chris’ quiet moment of reflection, and he looked at Lucy and raised a brow.

148

Gigi Moore

Lucy arched a brow in response and headed toward the barn door, Chris on her heels. They exited just as the horse and wagon with a woman at the helm pulled up several yards away from where they stood.

Recognizing Hannah made Chris’ heart pound for no other reason than he thought she came with bad news of Troy and James. What other possible reason could there be for her to be out here? And when she hurriedly scrambled down from the seat and rushed toward him with an anxious and frightened look on her face, his stomach immediately lurched to know that his instincts might prove right.

“I’m so glad I found you! Troy gave me good directions, he did.”

Chris approached the breathless girl, briefly eyeing her unaccustomed garb of trousers and flannel shirt that she wore. “What happened?”

“There was a shootout. Troy and that Negro marshal were bushwhacked by some gang come to Wolf Creek for Troy.”

“Are they okay?” Chris and Lucy chorused.

“They wanted me to come get you and take you some place safe.”

Lucy placed herself between Chris and Hannah as the young woman reached for his arm. “Well now, I don’t think he’s going to be going anywheres with you. You haven’t answered our question.