Way Out West (16 page)

“When the Sheriff was
nowhere to be found.” He winced as he tried to sit up higher.

She took his shirt off
and hastened to wrap it above the wound, pulling the sleeves with all her
strength. “Okay, can you make it to the horse?”

“No, I can’t. You’ll
have to go by yourself.”

She looked at the horse
and fear tightened her chest.

“It’s the only way,
Callie. I can’t wait for you to walk it. I’ve lost a lot of blood, I don’t know
how long I’ll stay conscious. As for him—“

Callie looked toward
Tyler who tried to lift himself out of the ditch with one hand. Rand aimed the
gun and shot, knocking the hat off Tyler’s head. He ducked back down in the
ditch.

“You wait, Randall.
You’ll get yours!”

Rand
looked at Callie, his eyes glowing with promise.
Softly, he said, “I certainly hope so.”

She smiled back,
touching his clean-shaven face with her hand. Little beads of perspiration
dotted his pained face and his eyes became glossy. At that moment, she knew
she’d do anything for this man. Even ride a horse.

“Okay, I’ll go. Will you
be okay here?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Grimacing at his knee,
she shook her head. “I guess not.”

“We need to do something
about him though,” he motioned weakly with the gun toward the ditch. “In case I
do pass out.”

Looking around, Callie
thought for a minute. “Wait. I got it.” She picked up the gun and started
toward Tyler while calling back to Rand. “Cover me.”

She chuckled to herself.
This western stuff is catchy.

When she reached Tyler she kicked the roll of duct tape into the ditch and aimed the gun at him. “Okay,
scumbag. Wrap that around your ankles.”

“In your ear,” he
grumbled, holding his wounded hand.

She cocked the hammer
and pointed the gun at his feet. “Do as I say or you won’t have to worry about
having feet anymore.”

Something in his
contorted face told her he believed her. “How can I wrap them? My hand is
injured.”

She stood her ground.
“You’re an industrious kind of fellow.
You
figure it out.”

Grumbling his dissent
and groaning an occasional “Ow,” Tyler proceeded to wrap the tape as ordered.

“Okay, now hand me the
tape and lift up your hands. Both of them.” When he did, Callie tightly wrapped
his wrists.

“You wait, you little
wildcat, you haven’t seen the last—“

Tearing a big piece of
tape off the roll, she slapped it on his moving mouth. “No, but I’ve
heard
the last of you.”

Callie turned away and
tossed the tape on the ground where it landed near the machine Tyler had been setting up. She stepped over and gave the box of metal a swift, hard kick.
Pieces flew everywhere. Tyler’s muffled objections fell on deaf ears as she
strutted away, smiling with satisfaction.

Kneeling beside Rand, she wiped his perspiring forehead. His eyes were half closed and he felt very warm.
She helped prop him against the rock and adjusted his hat to protect him from
the sun. Gently, she leaned over and kissed his dry lips.

He raised his eyelids
with obvious effort. “Callie, I have to tell you about me, about Way Out West.
I—“

“Shhh,” she soothed. “I
know all about it.”

“But I couldn’t tell
you. I had to be sure—“

She pressed her mouth on
his again, then ran her finger along the naked upper lip. “It’s okay. We’ll
talk about it later. I have to go get help now.”

Nodding, he sighed
heavily and slumped against the rock. “I love you, Callie.”

“I love you, too.”

* * *

Callie rode in the
ambulance with Rand to the nearest hospital ten miles away. He’d lost so much
blood, she feared he might not make it, though the paramedics assured her over
and over he’d be fine.

As she waited outside of
the surgery ward, she tried to sit, but her bottom was too sore from the hard
horse ride into town. She’d never actually made it into town. She’d more or
less veered the horse toward Abe’s blacksmith shop and waited for the horse to
come to a stop at the trough.

Abe had dispatched one
of his waiting customers to go find the Sheriff and wire for medical help while
he hitched up his wagon and hustled Callie onto the seat near him. Bless him
for having a wagon. The big man had lifted an unconscious Rand onto a bed of
straw in the back and pillowed his head with blankets before heading out for
the road.

They’d reached the road
just as the Sheriff arrived and instructed him where he could find Tyler. Abe then directed his creaky old wagon down the road and came to the way station
just as the ambulance eased through the gate. Rand had regained consciousness
only once during the ride and Callie had held his hand tightly. “Rand, hold on. Don’t leave me now.”

He’d attempted a weary
smile. “I won’t. Not when it took me so long to find you.”

That was the last time
she’d heard his sweet words. Now, as she faced the heavy doors that kept her
from seeing him, she desperately wanted to hear his deep, melodic voice again.
She wanted to hold his hands, kiss his lips. He’d become a part of her and she
couldn’t imagine living without him.

The doors swung open and
a surgeon came out. “He’s doing fine. We removed the bullet and a lot of bone
fragments, but I don’t anticipate any long-term disability.”

Callie sighed with
relief. “Can I see him?”

“I’m afraid he’ll be out
for some time. I’ll have the recovery nurse summon you when he wakes. Why don’t
you take care of yourself now.” His eyes skimmed her dirty nightgown and messy
hair. “I’m sure you’ll want to look your best for him.”

* * *

Callie took a taxi back
to the way station. She headed for the locker where she’d stored her clothes
but a security guard stopped her.

“Miss, you can’t go in
there right now. It’s after hours.”

“But, I need to get my
clothes and money to pay for the taxi. I have to get back to the hospital.”

“Hospital?”

“Yes, my friend is in
recovery there. He was the one taken away in the ambulance earlier.”

“Oh, Mr. Randall? Of
course. You must be Miss Sumner. Come with me.” The man led the way down a
corridor.

“Where are we going?”

“Tom Lawrence, Mr.
Randall’s right-hand man, says you have carte blanche. We’ll take care of the
taxi.”

He ushered her into Rand’s plush office furnished with everything she needed to clean up. Left alone, Callie
admired her surroundings. So this was her Rand. This was all his.

Everything looked neat,
tidy, perfect, even a huge computer printout pile on his desk was stacked to
perfection. Beside that was a file folder with “Tyler Thornton” printed in bold
letters across the front.

Rand
had come here when he left this morning. She
knew. His scent was everywhere and it filled her with longing. She ran her
finger over the file, the file he’d held in his big strong hands only hours
before. Somehow, it gave her strength.

She flipped open the
cover and scanned the dirty deeds this criminal had been involved in. A shiver
went all the way down her spine as she thought about how close she’d come to
becoming another entry on Tyler’s rap sheet.

She closed the folder as
a woman knocked and came in with some fresh outfits from the wardrobe room. “If
none of these are suitable, I’ll get more.”

Rand
had people who did whatever he said, even in his
absence. He had money, power, and more brains than she’d know what to do with.
How could she even think of a life with him? She had nothing to offer him.
Nothing at all. She didn’t fit into this world any more than she fit into Way
Out West.

After blinking away
tears over her regrettably impossible situation, Callie went to the bathroom to
clean up. A razor sat on the edge of the sink and residual globs of shaving
cream mixed with black hair clung to the porcelain. A sad smile turned her
lips. It had been a beautiful mustache.

Hurriedly, Callie
showered then padded on the thick pile carpet to Rand’s dressing room. There,
behind the door, hung his black gambler outfit. He’d cut such an imposing
figure in that suit, no wonder Tyler had backed down from the showdown in the
saloon. No wonder she’d fallen in love with him.

Tears misting her eyes
again, she quickly changed into a long white cotton dress with a scooped
neckline and short puffy sleeves. She chose a pair of comfortable moccasins,
pushing aside all the boots the woman had brought.

Tom Lawrence met her in
the hallway when she left the office. “May I drive you back to the hospital?”

She accepted his offer
and learned more about her mystery man as they rode in the darkness. He’d left
his electronics firm in the hands of his executive staff after the legal battle
caused by Kyle Thornton’s antics, but he was still the CEO and he occasionally
got involved with new projects. Lately, he made more and more frequent visits
to Way Out West, the refuge he’d built five years ago out of his frustration
with modern living.

“He’s seen a lot of
unhappiness in his thirty-five years. Way Out West is the only thing that makes
him happy.” He turned to look at her. “Until now.”

She lowered her head.
“I’m flattered, but I don’t think I fit in his world.”

“Forgive me for being
blunt, Miss Sumner, but that’s hogwash. I’ve never seen Mr. Randall look so
alive as he did when he sat across from me this morning and said he finally
knew what he wanted in life. I learned more about you in five minutes than if
I’d spent a month with you.”

“But we’re so completely
opposite, from two different worlds. I don’t know if I could change enough to
please him, and I could never ask him to change for me.”

Tom Lawrence kept his
eyes on the road but his words came straight from his heart. “I think you’d be
surprised what he’d give up for you. As for you, I’d venture to say you already
know you were meant to be together.”

Callie sympathized with
Tom Lawrence. He wanted to see his employer happy. He didn’t want anyone to
mess up the delicate balance of the present and the past in Rand’s life.

He dropped her off in
front of the hospital, saying, “Now go make him happy.”

She thanked him for the
ride and went to the nurses’ station. They said he’d been awake for about an
hour. She quietly stepped into the private room he’d been moved to. He looked
so big and dark propped up in the small bed surrounded by white sheets and pillows.

“Hi,” she murmured,
closing the door behind her.

A smile brightened his
pale face and his hand reached out. She quickly took hold of it, surprised at
how cool it felt, and eased herself into his embrace. When they kissed, there
was nothing cool about his lips. The fire still burned within.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Me? How are you? You’re
the one who just came out of surgery.”

“The doctor says I’m
fine. In a few weeks I’ll be good as new, with a very attractive limp.” He
brushed his hand through her long hair. “You were pretty tough out there today.
A regular Annie Oakley.”

She smiled, feeling a
blush color her cheeks. “I was, wasn’t I? Tyler just got me so mad. He’d been
bossing me around all day and—“

“Hey,” Rand interrupted
with a finger to her lips. “Let’s not talk about Tyler. Let’s talk about us.”

“What about us?” she
asked, her voice suddenly timid.

“Callie, after today, I
know if there’s one thing I want in this life, it’s you. I realize it’s unfair
of me to ask you to share my life when you know nothing about it, but I’ll tell
you anything you want to know and give you all the time you need to get to know
me. Hopefully, you’ll like what you learn.”

She raised her hand to
his head and ran gentle fingers through his thick dark waves. “Rand, I’ve already learned all I need to about you. You’re a good man. You work hard for
what you want and you have very high standards. I just don’t know if I can meet
those standards.”

He grabbed her hand.
“What are you saying? I just told you, you are everything I could ever want.
How could you think any less of yourself?”

“Because I have nothing
to give you.”

“You’re wrong. You can
give me one thing no one else can.”

She tilted her head.
“What?”

“Happiness.”

Her heart jumped, but
she cautioned herself. He’d just suffered a near death experience and his
perception of life was a little biased right now.

“Rand, I’ve drifted most
of my life. I’ve gone from one bad relationship to another. I have no job, no
education.”

“You do have a job.
You’re a saloon girl at Way Out West. And a darn good one.”

“Oh, put
that
on
a resume.”

“Callie, I employ a lot
of people there. They’re well paid and very happy with what they do. You should
be proud of your job, too. You’re good at it.”