Page 200 of Conveniently Wed
“There, ye varmints. Keep yer hands out where I kin see ‘em. You, too, Goliath.”
Jenson groaned as he unwrapped his hands from around his abdomen and raised them toward the sky. Pain twisted his already ugly face.
A movement in the back of the wagon caught Gideon’s attention. Walters had one hand raised in obedience to Ol’Mose’s command, but the other was stretching toward a rifle just a few feet away.
“Don’t move.” Gideon barked the command as he left the woods and sprinted toward the back of the wagon. He kept his gun loosely pointed in Walters’s direction, until he could move far enough over so Leah wouldn’t be in front of his bullet. He hadn’t let himself look at her yet. He would lose all the focus he needed to keep on these criminals.
Walters must have thought his loose aim was an open door, because in a quick movement, he jerked forward to grab the rifle. Gideon shot without allowing himself to think. Walters dropped the rifle and screamed as he reached for his right shoulder.
“There’s more where that came from if you can’t follow directions.” Gideon ground out the words while he kept the Colt focused on the man. The scoundrel didn’t need to know there wasn’t any more where that had come from. He was out of bullets.
Walters moaned as he leaned back against the side of the wagon, gripping his shoulder still.
“I think they’re understandin’ things a mite better now,” said Ol’ Mose, still holding a gun on the two men in the front of the wagon. “Why don’t ya see if ya can find some rope to tie ‘em up? If ya don’t find it in their wagon, I’ve got some in mine just over yonder hill.” He nodded behind him where the road disappeared over a knoll.
Still keeping his empty revolver on the moaning Walters, Gideon finally turned to look at Leah. She sat in that rough wagon like a princess—a disheveled one, but no less beautiful. Her hair had pulled completely free of its pins, but her eyes shimmered. “You okay?” He hated the quaver in his voice, but he couldn’t control the reaction that flooded him at the sight of her.
“I’m fine.” Her voice flowed out like music, a little breathless, but the perfect melody. His chest might just explode from the emotions whirling through him.
Yet her hands and feet were still bound.
With his left hand, he pulled out his hunting knife and moved toward Leah, keeping a wary eye on the wounded man beside her. “Let me cut your ropes.” He kept his voice soft, his words meant only for her.
He took his gaze from Walters long enough to slice the rope around Leah’s wrists. Raw flesh glared at him before she flipped her sleeves down. A flood of anger swept through him.
“I can cut the rope at my ankles, just let me hold your knife.” Leah must have seen his expression, or else she wanted him to focus on pointing the gun at the men.
Either way, he relinquished the antler handle of his hunting knife and reached forward to grab Walters’s rifle. He holstered his own pistol and aimed the Winchester at the man.
As soon as Leah cut the rope around her ankles, she stretched her legs forward and rubbed her wrists.
Time to get her away from the danger. “Leah, get out of the wagon and come over here.”
He stepped back ten feet, and waited for her to hobble to him. “I want you to hold this gun on Walters while I tie him up. Hold it just like I showed you, and don’t be afraid to shoot him if he moves. Just pretend you’re hunting, and he’s a deer.” Gideon said the last part loud enough for all the men to hear, even though Leah had never actually shot a deer. What the men didn’t know could only help him.
As she took the rifle from him, her hands shook. Her face wore a mixture of fear and uncertainty, but also a fierce determination. He gave her an encouraging smile and brushed her upper arm with his hand. “You’ll be fine.” And she would. She was the bravest woman he’d ever met.
It took a few minutes to get all three men tied securely and loaded in the bed of the wagon. Ol’ Mose and Leah both kept their guns aimed until he had the ruffians settled. The minute that was done, Gideon strode to Leah and took the gun from her hands.
For a moment, he drank her in. There were so many things he wanted to do and say, but what first? She made the decision for him when she flew into his arms, wrapping herself around him like a leaf blown against a tree trunk. It was what he’d wanted her to do, and he clutched her with all of his might.
He breathed in the sweet scent of her, savoring the feel of her wrapped in the shelter of his body. He’d come so close to losing her for good. What would he do if he’d lost her? Moisture burned his eyes, but he closed them against the sensation.
They stood there for several moments, and he would have gladly stayed like that all day, holding Leah, gently stroking her shoulders. But she finally leaned back in his arms, turning her beautiful face up to him.
“Thank you.” She spoke the words softly, as if handing him a gift.
He swallowed the knot in his chest.
A throat cleared not too far away from them. He hated to, but he turned away from Leah to face Ol’ Mose, keeping an arm around her waist. There was no way he was letting her get away again, whether his friend was standing there or not.
“Wooo-wee!” The old man’s face split into a toothy grin. “Weren’t it somethin’ the way God took care o’ that little mess?”
The words caught Gideon off guard. “God?”
“Yessiree. Jest when you was outnumbered three to one, I got to be the army of angels to fight off the Midianites.”
What in the world was he rambling about? Poor ol’ fellow must finally be losing it. “Been out in the sun too long, have ya, old man?”
