Page 130 of Texas Glory
She spun around so quickly that Boyd stepped back.
“You haven’t seen my dramatic display yet.” He smiled condescendingly. “Calm down, Cordelia.
This behavior isn’t like you.”
“It’s exactly like me … now that I’m free of the oppression I lived under in this house.”
Boyd walked across the room and took his place behind her father’s chair. “You’ve made your point, Cordelia. You didn’t need to air our dirty laundry in front of others.”
“My point, Boyd?” Cordelia asked, the quivering in her stomach intensifying, but not yet spreading into her voice. “I haven’t begun to make my point. You need to move your cattle away from Dallas’s river. In the morning, our men will take the fence back to where it stood the day Dallas married me. Any of your cattle that remain will be confiscated.”
Her father struggled to his feet. “Have you lost your mind? Your husband gave his word—”
“Yes, he gave his word that he would pull the fence back if I married him. He kept his word. I just watched him flayed to within an inch of his life because one of my brothers paid Cooper to kill him.”
Boyd remained motionless, Duncan lowered his gaze. Her heart sank.
“Oh, Duncan, tell me it wasn’t you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dee.”
He lifted his gaze, and she saw the truth within his eyes. The plan had been Boyd’s, and Duncan had known of it.
“You knew,” she whispered. “You knew what Boyd planned, and you went along with it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he repeated. “Cooper was a drunk. Whatever he said was a lie.”
“Duncan’s right,” Boyd said. “It’s our word against Cooper’s. Who are you going to believe? Family or a drunk?”
“Cooper and his associates are dead,” she said with resignation, “so the sheriff won’t make any arrests because we have no proof. But let me make something perfectly clear. If Dallas dies, I inherit his land, and unless a blizzard blows through hell, you will never possess that property. So you gained nothing, and lost everything. Get your cattle off our land.”
She spun around.
“Cordelia!”
She staggered to a stop and slowly turned as her father’s voice reverberated around the room.
“You just accused your bothers of trying to commit murder.”
“No, Father. From this day forward, Cameron is the only brother I have. If you allow these two to remain in your home after what I have just told you, then I also have no father.”
“You’re as high-spirited and stubborn as your mother. I warned Leigh that he needed to keep a tight rein on you, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“Dallas isn’t one to follow in other men’s footsteps. Giving him permission to marry me was the finest gift you could have ever given me.”
Dallas grew warmer with each passing hour. When he shivered, Cordelia didn’t dare bring the blankets up to cover him. Dr. Freeman had told her Dallas’s raw back needed air. Even if that weren’t true, she didn’t think he could have survived anything touching him.
Night had fallen by the time they returned from the McQueen spread. Houston had taken Amelia and the children home. Austin had ridden to town. Rawley slept soundly, not even stirring when she’d brushed the hair back from his brow.
She had taken up her vigil beside Dallas, placing her hand over his. Such a strong hand, with a gentle touch. Such a strong man, with a tender heart.
He would deny it, of course, but she had seen too much evidence not to recognize the truth. For all his gruffness, he had a heart as big as Texas.
She heard shuffling and turned to see Rawley standing in the doorway, his black hair sticking straight up on one side. She held out her hand. “Come sit with me.”
He hurried across the room and stopped just short of her reach. “I can’t, Miz Dee. I tricked you. He said he’d kill you if I didn’t. I didn’t know he was gonna hurt Mr. Leigh. Honest to God, I didn’t know. I won’t do what he says no more. I swear to God I’ll let him kill me before I do what he says.”
She reached out for him, and although he was resistant, she finally managed to work him into her embrace, onto her lap. She began to rock back and forth, her heart breaking for the life this child had endured.
