An Uninvited Bride on his Doorstep by Ava Winters
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jude’s arm wrapped around Winona like a vise, holding her immobile against him as he dragged her away from the house. She screamed for Logan and an instant later Jude shifted his grip and clamped her hand around his mouth, silencing her and restricting her breathing so she gasped for air.
“Hold on, Winona,” Jude said. “We’re almost out of here.” His voice shook, whether from fear or his rapidly eroding façade of sanity Winona couldn’t tell. He dragged her toward the stable a few hundred yards distant. A wagon and team of horses waited in front of the stable, tied to a post.
“We’ll make for Ohai,” Jude said as he pulled her along. “My father has business associates there who will protect us until my father sorts things out in Westridge.” He looked down at her, his face contorted in a sick mockery of affection. “Don’t worry, my love.”
In looking at her, he stopped paying attention to where he was going. A moment later, he stumbled over a rock. He slipped and cried out and though he didn’t fall, his grip around Winona loosened.
This was her chance.
She bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth. Jude cried out again and released her. The sudden loss of support caused Winona to lose her balance. She fell backward, landing heavily on her backside in front of Jude. Jude snarled, enraged, and reached for her. She kicked forward, hard. The blow landed cleanly on Jude’s chest and sent him sprawling, a surprised expression on his face.
Winona got up quickly and ran back toward the ranch, where sporadic gunfire and shouting could still be heard. She made it only a few yards before a shot rang out and a bullet whizzed past her head. She kept running but the shot disoriented her, and she stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.
“Don’t you move!” Jude shouted. “Or I’ll put the next round through your knee.”
Tears streaming, Winona rolled onto her back.
Jude approached her, a crazed smile on his face. “Winona, love, that’s enough nonsense. Now get up and come with me so we can get out of here.”
Winona looked at Jude, but her thoughts were fixed on Logan: his awkwardness around her, his strength, his rough manners, his courage, that surprisingly sweet smile he wore on those rare occasions when time spent with her was enough to drive away his demons for a few moments.
She looked at Jude and there was no longer any fear in her heart. “Jude Koch. Go to hell.”
Jude’s eyes widened in shock. Then they narrowed in anger. His grin turned malicious. “I’ll meet you there, my love.”
He raised his pistol and Winona closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate. A shot rang out, but Winona felt no pain. She wondered why that was until she heard Jude’s piercing scream.
She opened her eyes to see him clutching his hand to his chest. Blood seeped between his fingers and his gun lay on the ground a few yards away.
“Winona!” Logan’s voice called.
She turned to see him rushing toward her, smoke rising from the barrel of his drawn pistol. “Logan!” she cried.
“Get behind me, Winona,” he said.
She rose to her feet and ran behind him. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and cover him in kisses. “Oh, Logan, you came for me!”
“Of course, I did,” Logan said. “You’re my wife.”
She was bruised, bloody and exhausted from her fight with Jude and her days of imprisonment. Behind her the battle between Sterling’s men and the posse continued to rage. In front of her, Jude glared hatefully, teeth bared as he cradled his wounded arm. Despite all this, Winona was happier than she could ever recall being.
“I’ll kill you!” Jude shrieked at Logan. “I’ll kill you!”
“You can try,” Logan said sardonically. He holstered his pistol. “If I were you, I would come quietly and throw yourself at the judge’s mercy rather than mine, but a man’s got to do what he thinks is right. Not that you’re much of a man.”
Jude’s face turned a deep shade of red. “I’m more of a man in my sleep than you’ll ever be, Logan Foley.” He turned to Winona. “This is what you want? Fine. You can die with him.” He snarled and dove for his pistol.
In an instant, Logan drew and fired, his movements a blur. The round struck Jude in the chest, knocking him backward. He sat up slowly as a red stain appeared on his shirt below his shoulder, slowly spreading across his chest. He looked at the stain, a confused expression on his face. Then he looked up at Winona. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He swayed for a second or two. Then he fell and lay unmoving.
Logan holstered his pistol and turned to Winona. “I’m so sorry, Win—”
Before he could finish, she threw her arms around him and kissed him deeply. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to him. They kissed for several long moments, both overcome with the joy of reuniting. When they finally pulled away, Winona laid her head on Logan’s shoulder. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“I love you, Winona,” he said in response.
“I know,” she said. “I love you too.”
They remained in each other’s arms for a long while. The gunfire at the house slowed, then stopped. A minute later, several of Sterling’s gunmen left the house, arms raised. They were followed by several members of the posse, led by Jay. Jay waved when he saw them. He said something to the man next to him.
Winona couldn’t be sure from this distance, but it looked like Pat O’Leary from the hotel. Pat nodded to Jay and led the posse toward the gate of the ranch, where the posse’s horses waited along with two wagons meant for transporting prisoners. Winona noticed grimly that very few of Sterling’s men appeared to have survived to be taken prisoner.
Jay arrived a moment later. Logan released Winona and shared a brief but heartfelt embrace with his brother. After that, Jay hugged Winona. “It’s so good to see you,” she said.
“You too,” Jay said.
“How did you get here so quickly?” Logan asked.
“When Audrey told us about Jude’s plan at the ranch, I felt a little suspicious,” Jay replied. “Not of Audrey, but of Jude and Sterling. The Kochs are arrogant but they’re also cowards. It didn’t make sense to me that they would so brazenly advertise their plans and give you even the slightest chance to beat them. I figured they were trying to bait us into a fight on their terms and I figured those terms would most likely not include putting themselves in harm’s way.
“So, Gregory and I decided we would split the posse in half. Gregory and Sheriff Burke would lead one half to the church in case Jude was telling Audrey the truth after all. Pat and I would lead the other half to the Koch ranch in case my suspicions were correct, and the Koch’s were lying after all.” He looked contemptuously at Jude’s body. “I guess it was a good thing we did.”
“I’ll say,” Logan replied. He looked at Jay, his expression a mixture of pride, love and gratitude. “You saved my life, Jay. Winona’s too. I owe you a debt I can never repay.”
Jay shrugged. “It was what any man would have done for his family.”
“You’re a good man, Jay,” Logan added. “I’m sorry I’ve been too blind to see it. From now on, I’m going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated: as an equal partner in the ranch. We’re going to follow your plan with the cattle. It’s a good idea and it deserves to be acted on.”
“Well, we’ll worry about that later,” Jay said. “Right now, you need to get Winona back to the ranch for some much-needed rest, and Pat and I need to get these outlaws to jail. We’ll talk about the cattle later.”
Despite his words, Jay couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. Winona’s heart warmed as she witnessed the two brothers make up to each other. How lucky she was to be part of such a wonderful family.
She heard the sound of footsteps and turned to see Pat approaching. He tipped his hat to Winona. “Miss Winona, I’m happy to see you’re safe.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you for helping my husband, Pat. I’ll never forget what you did for us today.”
Pat returned a smile of his own. “It’s the least I could do.” He turned to Jay. “The prisoners are secured in the wagons. We kept Sterling separate from them, bound to one of the horses. Better not to risk him inspiring some sort of revolt with that forked tongue of his.”
“I agree,” Jay said. “We’ll take them to jail and hold him there until he can stand trial, him and that no-account judge and priest he hired. We’ll let Sheriff Burke figure out what to do with the gunfighters.” He turned to Logan and Winona. “Why don’t you two take that wagon Jude was going to use and ride back to the ranch? We can take it from here.”
Logan nodded, pride and love for Jay still etched on his features. He laid a hand on Jay’s shoulder and thanked him again, then led Winona to the wagon.
They spent the ride to the ranch in comfortable silence. Winona lay against Logan’s shoulder. After a few minutes, he shifted in the seat and wrapped his arm around her so she could lay on his chest. She closed her eyes and drank in the feel of him, his strength and gentleness comforting her. The fear, and pain, and worry of the past two days seemed only a distant memory. She was safe now. She was with the man she loved—the man she was truly meant to be with, and all was right with the world.
She smiled at the thought and drifted slowly into a deep sleep.
She woke to the sound of Logan’s voice. It was close by but muffled. She stirred and opened her eyes. She was in Logan’s room at the ranch, the room she’d occupied when she first arrived what seemed like a lifetime ago. Logan’s voice came from the parlor. She recognized several other voices: Gregory, Jay, her parents and the sheriff.
She relaxed a moment longer, her body luxuriating in the softness of the mattress after days spent strapped to a chair. Then she got out of bed and walked into the parlor.
Logan stood in the middle of the room, talking with Sheriff Burke. Gregory and Jay stood a few feet from them. Her parents sat on the couch. Heath had his arm around Audrey, who leaned against him, her eyes red from crying. Winona couldn’t recall ever seeing her stepmother look so vulnerable. She felt a wave of compassion for Audrey. She was far from a good mother to Winona growing up but after her intervention at the Koch ranch yesterday, Winona could see now that in her own way, Audrey did love her after all.
When Audrey saw Winona, she stood and ran to her, throwing her arms around Winona and sobbing. “Oh, Winona!” she cried. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”
Winona held her stepmother as the older woman cried in her arms. “It’s okay, Audrey,” she said. “I’m okay.”
Audrey wiped her eyes tremulously. “There’s more, I’m afraid, and I want to get it all off my chest.” She looked at Logan briefly but couldn’t hold his gaze and dropped hers to the floor. “When the Kochs and I were conspiring against the Foley Ranch, we planted a ranch hand among your help when you hired two or three new men. His name was Tom. He didn’t stay long—just long enough to introduce some tainted feed. That’s why you lost some of your herd to sickness. Tom lost his nerve, however; that’s why he disappeared so suddenly.”
Heath’s head snapped up and he shot a startled look at his wife. He said nothing, but a deep frown creased his face.
“I’m so sorry—sorrier than I can say,” Audrey continued, pale from her husband’s sudden reaction to her unexpected revelation. She also met Logan’s shocked expression with remorse and honesty.
“Well, that explains it,” he said. “I couldn’t figure how it happened so sudden, and why isolating the sick horses didn’t help.” He was silent for a moment, and then he looked up at Audrey. “The important thing is that we got Winona back and the Kochs are out of our hair.”
Heath looked at Audrey, and then Logan. “Son, just let me know how many head you lost, and I’ll make it right,” he said with a nod. Logan nodded back.
Then Heath took a deep breath, stood, and walked over to his family, smiling. His expression was tired almost to the point of haggardness, but he stood tall, as though a weight he’d carried for years was finally lifted from his shoulders.
“Hi, Pa,” Winona whispered.
Heath’s smile wavered and as tears came to his eyes, he wrapped both Winona and Audrey in a bear hug, holding them for a long time. Winona squealed and the others laughed as the Rosses relished their long-awaited reunion.
When her parents finally released her, Winona turned to Gregory. “It’s so good to see you.”
The middle Foley brother smiled and walked to her, sharing his own embrace. “Same to you,” he said. “You had us worried senseless for a while there.”
“Really? From the way you and Jay handled everything you seem to have kept your senses about you rather well.”
Gregory chuckled. “Well, what can I say? I guess we just had the right motivation.”
Winona turned to Logan who smiled lovingly at her. “Good morning, Winona.”
“Morning?” she asked. “How long was I asleep?”
“Since yesterday afternoon,” Logan replied. “I brought you to bed when we arrived at the ranch. I figured it was best to let you sleep as long as you needed.”
Considering how refreshed she felt, Winona couldn’t argue with that. “Thank you, Logan,” she said. “Thank you all.”
Sheriff Burke nodded. He wore his typical stoic expression, a slight smile the only indication of his own happiness. “We’re all right pleased to see you home safe,” he said.
“What happened yesterday?” Winona asked. “At the church, I mean?”
“Well,” Gregory said. “We were waiting on a signal from Logan to attack the men guarding the church. When we never got that signal, we knew something had gone wrong. We came out of hiding and told the men guarding the church they could come quietly and live through the day, or they could try to fight and we’d bury every one of them. We outnumbered them about five to one, so they decided to live.”
“Where are they now?” Winona asked.
“Sterling, Petticock, and Pent are in jail awaiting trial. We’ve sent word to the Texas Supreme Court. We allowed all but a few of the gunfighters to leave town after taking their weapons and making them promise never to come back. Some were wanted for previous crimes. We’ve held those men for trial.”
“You let them leave?” Winona cried, aghast.
“They won’t be back,” Burke assured her. “Men like that are opportunists. They won’t pick a fight when there’s no money involved. You won’t have to worry about them coming back.”
Winona nodded. She paused a moment then looked at Burke. “Sheriff, I want to be there when Sterling stands trial. I want to see him put away for the crimes he’s committed against this town and against my family.”
“We’ll all be there,” Audrey added. “We all deserve to see that rat put away for good.”
Burke nodded at Winona and Audrey in turn. “You can count on it.”
Gregory rubbed his stomach and interrupted. “All this talk of trials and gunfighters is making me hungry. What do you guys say we break for dinner?”
Logan smiled. “That just might be the best idea you’ve ever had.”
Gregory chuckled. “Well, I might not be a future cattle baron like Jay over here, but I’ve been known to have a good idea or two.”
They all laughed, and Winona smiled gratefully at her family. At long last, she had the life she’d always wanted, the one she’d dreamed of since she was a little girl.
She was home.