Give Me A Texas Ranger. Jodi Thomas

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СКАЧАТЬ the firing started he’d shoved her to the muddy floor of the coach and demanded she stay there. When they’d pulled up at the station, he’d almost ripped her arm off, jerking her from the stage and telling her to run. When she’d turned to grab her small carpetbag, she swore she had heard him growl at her.

      As Annalane opened her mouth to finally point out a few of his faults, she froze, seeing only cold steel across the depth of his winter blue eyes, and she knew he wouldn’t care. For one second, she wished he’d let down his guard and she could see what was inside this hard shell of a man. Surely something lay beneath.

      Had he ever wanted to belong somewhere, just for one moment in time? Wanted it so badly he would believe a lie to think he was needed? Wanted it so desperately that he tried to mold himself into something he wasn’t?

      For one blink, she thought she recognized a loneliness that matched her own, but she doubted he had the hunger to belong somewhere as she’d had for ten years. The need to belong to someone ached in her sometimes like an open wound, but need and dreams had no place in her life.

      She’d held to a dream once, then it had been shattered by one bullet. Annalane guessed this Ranger had never known love, not even for one minute. McCord had probably been born to this land and hard times. She’d not reach him with sentiment and crying.

      Honesty was her only weapon and she prayed it would work.

      “I have no husband to lock the door at night. I was married once for an hour before he left for the war. When he returned, his body was nailed into a box. I joined the army of nurses needed, and for four years moved between hospitals and battlegrounds.” She knew she was rattling on, but she had to reach McCord. “I was baptized into battle medicine at First Bull Run, Virginia, in ’61 and was there at the last in Bentonville, North Carolina in ’65. There were dozens of other places where blood soaked the earth. Until last month, I worked at the Armory Square Hospital.”

      Something changed in the Ranger. He shifted. “I was at First Bull Run with Terry’s Rangers. Hell of a battle.”

      She almost commented that a few of the bullets she dug out of Northern soldiers were probably his, but she remained silent. The war was over, had been for five years, even if the nightmares still remained.

      “What do you want to know?” His voice was as low as the rumble of thunder outside.

      “What are our chances? What options?”

      The corner of his mouth lifted slightly and she had the feeling he hadn’t smiled in a long time. “Spoken like a soldier.”

      She accepted the compliment. “One thing, remember.” She held his stare. “The truth.”

      “I’m not in the habit of lying, Mrs. Barkley.”

      “No sugarcoating. Nothing left out.” She’d been lied to enough to last two lifetimes. Even as she’d packed, she’d known her brother wanted her help for something other than to set up his medical practice. The silver lining in her predicament was that she’d spoiled whatever plan he had for her tonight by being late.

      “Fair enough.” She felt the Ranger’s words against her cheek more than heard them. “I guess for what you did during the war and afterward, you deserve my respect. I saw nurses handling chaos that would bring most men to their knees. One angel in blue stopped by me in the shadows of a battle once. She wrapped my leg tight and whispered for me to hold on.” The side of his mouth twitched in almost a smile. “I’m not sure I would have made it if that woman hadn’t been so determined I would.”

      He looked at her and raised one eyebrow, as if wondering if she could have been that angel.

      Annalane didn’t answer. She’d done such a thing many times, as had all the other nurses. When they moved among the blood of battle they didn’t think of sides, only of helping.

      McCord shrugged. “I don’t guess it matters now. You wore blue and I wore gray, but I figure we were in the same hell. You’ll have your whole truth and my help if you want it.”

      She nodded, accepting his offer.

      The German station manager passed around cups and offered coffee. The stage driver doctored his with whiskey. The gambler stared into the empty cup as if inspecting it for bugs before he allowed the station manager to pour coffee.

      “Our chances?” Annalane whispered.

      “The men waiting out there for this rain to let up before they attack are a mixture of the worst men in Texas, led by a devil who calls himself Randolph Thorn. I’ve been chasing them for four months. I got a tip that they planned to rob the stage for the mailbag. They think there’s something in it worth crossing into Indian Territory and risking their lives for.”

      “Is there?”

      He hesitated, then, as if remembering his promise, answered, “Yes, but I wouldn’t be worried about that if I were you. The problem you face is that Thorn and his men tend not to leave witnesses.”

      She saw his jaw tighten, but he forced out the truth. “If you got a gun with you and they get past me, you might want to use it. I’ve seen the way this gang treats women. If they find you here, you’ll be wishing you were dead long before they kill you. Someone told me once that he heard Thorn brag that he kept a woman alive for four days just to hear her scream. When she was finally too weak to react no matter what he did, he left her bleeding and helpless for the coyotes.”

      She swayed.

      The Ranger’s hand brushed her waist to steady her.

      “Options?” she whispered, forcing her back to stiffen.

      “If we could put a gunman at each window, the firing would keep them away, maybe even kill enough that they’d leave.”

      She looked across the room. Not one of the others looked like he could protect himself, much less her.

      He read her mind. “Can you handle a gun?”

      “A rifle fairly well, but I’ve dedicated my life to saving others, not killing them.”

      He set his cup down and gripped her shoulder hard. “I need to know, Mrs. Barkley. Can you handle a rifle and fire to kill if you have to? Not to protect some mailbag, but to protect yourself.”

      All the hundreds of men she’d bandaged and held while they cried for their mothers or wives before they died filled her mind. All the men left broken and amputated who’d stared at her with hollow eyes, as if wishing she’d left them to die in battle.

      She wasn’t a coward. She faced the Ranger directly when she whispered, “I’m not sure.”

      She’d expected to see disappointment in his eyes, but instead she saw understanding.

      As Annalane had all her life, she made up her mind and acted. “Whatever you plan, I’m going with you.”

      “It won’t be safe. I could travel faster alone, maybe bring back help.”

      “It isn’t safe here.” She glanced at the other men. None of the three looked like they would hesitate to use her as a shield. “I won’t slow you down. I promise.”

      The Ranger nodded once. СКАЧАТЬ