Josie shook her head, choking on her tears as she clung to his arms. “I’m a murderer, Travis. I’m a wanted felon in your house. I’m raising your children. How can you justify that? You should kick me out and turn me in. You can collect an award or something.”
Travis cupped her chin, turning her face towards him. “No, I won’t do it. If they come for you, I’ll take them down one by one with my bare hands. Nobody is going totouchmy wife.”
Josie’s eyes poured tears. They were painful sobs, freeing her body of the aches she had nursed while harboring the secret for months. Now, secrets gone and bare with no burdens, she was free, so free.
“I wish you had told me sooner, but I’m grateful you’ve told me now. It means the world to me that you’re starting to trust me.”
Josie buried her face in Travis’s chest. Her tears stained his nightshirt, but Travis seemed not to care. In the pitch dark, he rubbed her back in small circles.
“I will protect you, Jo. No harm will come to you now.”
Josie wanted to believe Travis’s words. She kept them locked inside her heart because they gave her warmth. She could trust Travis, but the promise to keep her safe was something he couldn’t control. If the law came, she’d have to surrender. But for now, she wanted to cherish their embrace, for one day she might never experience the sweet taste of love again.
Chapter Forty
Generalgroanedaloudashis horse trotted through the old crummy so-called town. Yes, traveling with an ignorant and ill-mannered trapper had been a curse to his pride, but the solo ride had been more his taste. Fifteen miles behind him, he left the sled safe and secured within a cave. He brought enough food in his saddlebags to last the journey to Cheyenne. It would have been smarter to bring the sled with him, but he couldn’t cause too much attention—it would spoil the surprise. His wagon would be there when he made his way back. If not, he had the money to buy another one from one of these crude towns on the way.
The townsfolk stared up at him with curious glances. A child bundled in fur pointed and laughed at him, and a mother pulled him away.Ill-mannered brat. Ever seen a man with a scar before?All these prudish peoplewere the uneducated and worthless country folks who were inferior to him. They werenothing but paupers who struggled to pay their taxes, so they came out west to a place that was entirely dirt and rocks.
General hated wasting his money on an exhausting journey. All that time with Buck had been a pain in the behind—all his chatter about love and treating women folk gently. General was anxious to find his wife and take his heir—so he could be raised as a proper gentleman, not an ignorant cowboy.
The so-called “streets” were nothing but mud and ice. Where were the shovelers? This road was a hazard. General continued riding until he saw a small—what he assumed to be—church in a field up ahead.Maybe some nice Christian folks won’t hold back.The horse maintained its steady pace until General reined him in before the building. He dismounted and shifted his weight onto the creaking porch steps, the old wood squeaking beneath him as he took his first step.Rotten boards. Don’t they have enough trees to make more equipped steps?
Josephine was raised to be a proper woman, and he could only imagine the suffering she endured here with manual labor, but it wouldn’t be anything like she’d experience soon.
General opened the church door and peered around, finding it to be vacant. He removed his hat and closed the door behind him.
“Hello?” he called out. “Hello?”
After a minute went by, General huffed and put his hat back on.Josephine’s wasting my time and money.
“May I help you, sir?”
General looked up to see a man dressed in a brown shirt and suspenders. General cleared his throat and put on the friendliest smile he could fake. He couldn’t let the gentleman think any less of him. To him, General would be a simple Christian man, looking for information. That’s all. He wasn’t a man hunting down his wife and child, only to save one and kill the other.
“Hello, sir, my name is . . .”Think of a name. Make it believable.“Frank Shelton.”
The young gentleman gave a welcoming smile and put out his hand. “I am the town’s pastor, Reverend Caleb Levingston. What can I do for you this cold morning?”
General gritted his teeth as he continued his friendly voice and grin. Josephine would get a good beating for making him appear a fool. “I’m looking for someone, and I need information.”Think of an excuse.“She’s my niece. I was passing through Bozeman on business and thought I could drop by and pay her a surprise visit. I heard she lives this way, but I never got the direct information.”
The reverend folded his arms and nodded. “Well, welcome to Willow Grove. We’re a small community, but we know everyone, so you won’t have a problem finding your niece. What’s her name?”
“Josephine,” General answered.
“Ah, yes,” the reverend said, holding up a finger. “You must mean Mr. and Mrs. Blythe. I recently married them about seven months ago. She came from North Carolina. You must be from there too?”
General’s fists tightened behind his back.Married?Heat boiled in his core. Josephine was getting too far out of hand. She was an embarrassment to him, a dirty harlot. She thought she could kill him and slip away into another man’s bed.Keep up the act, General. Don’t be weak.
“Married, you say? I haven’t heard.”
“Yes,” the reverend said. “I thought you might’ve known since you’re her uncle and all. This must be quite a shock.”
“Indeed,” General muttered through his gritted teeth. He was ready to snap his wife like a twig and hear her bones break between his hands.
“Well, they live about three miles that-a-way,” the reverend explained, pointing to the right of him. “They are in a scattered location, but once you get to a rock that is in the shape of an arrow, you aren’t too far. You won’t be able to miss them. If you do, I’m sure we can find someone to drive you there.”
General performed another polite smile. “Thank you kindly, Reverend. You’re a good man.” General reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. “For your help.”
