Breaking Magnolia_A Contemporary Western Romance Read online

  Luke, another of Edward’s brothers and newly married, lay in wait on the other side of the ravine. Even though Grace knew he’d never hurt her, there was something dark about him. With his jet-black hair and ice blue eyes, he was striking in an alarming way. Not like Edward, who silently seethed with power but held his respectability around him like a shield.

  The sound of rowdy men echoed down the narrow ravine toward them. Luke held up his hands, signaling he was about to light the fuse. It was the first time Grace had ever seen dynamite up close, but the moment he’d arrived with it in tow, his icy gaze danced with excitement.

  He’d held up one stick, tossing it end over end. “This ought to do the trick.”

  Grace had nearly fallen over with fright, but Edward, ever the calm one, simply laughed and waved his brother away. “Put it away before someone gets hurt.”

  Luke had given him a sideways glance. “Time certainly has changed the doctor. Hasn’t it?”

  Edward cleared his throat and glanced toward her. “I’ve put that behind me now.”

  “Glad to hear it. ’Fraid I didn’t have the stomach for it.” Luke clapped him on the shoulder. Grace suspected something unsaid was going on with the two of them, but when Luke pointed toward the opening between the two cliffs, she let it go. “Let’s load up some fire, shall we?”

  They’d buried enough dynamite in the ground to take down a herd of wild horses. It was an explosive trap for the criminals that could possibly kill them all.

  Now she waited, her pulse hammering in her ears and her trigger finger itching to take them all out.

  Edward leaned in close to her, his earthy, masculine scent enveloping her. She breathed him in, loving his heady scent.

  His lips were only a hair’s breadth away from her ear. His breath brushed across her skin as he whispered, “Just stay low. I can hear them comin’.”

  Turning toward him, she lifted her lips in a half smile. “You plannin’ on stayin’ low too? Or you just want me to hide out?”

  Over the past few weeks, Edward had shocked her at every turn. In the West, women were expected to stay at home and raise a family. It’s not that Grace didn’t want a family, but she had a wild hardness people didn’t understand or like, until Edward came along. When he looked at Grace, she knew he understood her perfectly.

  “Woman, where you go, I go.” His lips nearly touched hers.

  A sharp whistle brought their attention back around to the incoming banditos. Grace cleared her throat and waved to Luke. With his hands balled into fists at his sides and the muscle in his jaw ticking, he looked about ready to stamp across the ravine and throttle them.

  Beside her, Edward stiffened. With two sharp movements, he pointed his finger at Luke then to the dynamite. The banditos grew closer; their voices were loud and clear.

  Grace peeked over the boulder and counted fifteen in all. They ranged in all shapes and sizes, but they were all ragged, dirty and looked on the verge of doing murder. With guns, knives and other weapons strapped about their bodies, they’d lay waste to any town they fell upon… including Grace’s.

  Just ten miles north of where they were, this same gang of criminals had sacked a small village. Grace watched the survivors trickle through the canyon, searching for refuge. Edward dutifully bandaged people up, while Grace directed them toward Montero Ranch where she knew Colton and Lily would help them. Seeing what little life there was left in those people had hardened Grace to the fate of these men. In her eyes, they weren’t men; they were less than animals who preyed on the weak. They deserved what was about to happen to them.

  On the other side, Luke drew a match from his pocket. He flicked his finger against the tip, and it flared to life. Match in hand, he crouched down and lit the fuse. Time seemed to slow as the fuse burned away, then suddenly it stopped. Panic overwhelmed her. Her eyes darted to the spot where it had extinguished and back to the banditos closing in. If any of them ran out to try to relight it, they’d give themselves away.

  Edward slid his gun into the holster at his hip. “Wait here.”

  Grace dropped her rifle into the dirt. “The hell you say.” She ran forward, making it only three steps before his long arm snaked around her waist and yanked her back against him.

  “What’re you doing?” he hissed in her ear. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

  The banditos were nearly on top of them. It was too late. How would they take out this many men now?

  A pebble landed at her feet. She looked back to Luke who rolled his eyes. He pulled a stick of dynamite from his back pocket, lit the fuse and tossed it into the middle of the rest of the sticks they’d buried.

  Edward wrapped both his arms around Grace and pulled her to the ground. Draping his big body over hers, he covered her from head to toe. At the last minute, the banditos began to yell in a panic, but it was too late. The bed of the ravine exploded at their feet.

  The explosive vibrations ran up her body as one stick after another detonated. When she peeked around Edward’s shoulder, a cloud of dust washed over them, covering Grace and blocking her vision. They lay there for what felt like forever but was mere moments. The deafening noise made her ears ring. She pressed her hands to the side of her head. Fallen rock rained down on them.

  Edward tucked her head back down under his chest. “Get down and stay down. Damn it, Grace.”

  The canyon shook like the whole thing would come down on them at any moment. Would they be buried alive or would the crushing rock end them for good? She curled into Edward, silently praying it would end soon. When she pressed her hands harder against her ears, she heard the thundering of her own heart and sharp breaths wracking her chest.

  Then the explosions stopped, and a heavy silence hung in the air. Edward crawled off of her and sat back on his heels.

  He was covered in so much dust she could barely make out his chiseled features. Even his once white shirt was now a dark brown. With a shaky hand, he pulled the hat from his head and smacked it against his leg. Yet he still hadn’t looked at her, hadn’t checked to see if she was okay.

  Grace sat up on her elbows. “Are you hurt?”

  “Shhh.” He pressed his finger to his lips, giving her a cutting glance. He crawled up beside her and leaned in closely. “Try to fight the need to be reckless, and be quiet. We don’t know who survived.”

  Was that anger in his voice? It was the first time he’d used that tone with her. When she sat up all the way, she searched for her gun and found the hilt poking from the ground, covered in dirt. Pulling it free, she brushed it clean and crept back behind the rock to look for survivors. Edward drew his pistol and came to her side. Though they were side by side like they were before, there was a tension between them. Now they were a foot apart, and his wide shoulders were stiff with tension. Gone was that easy flirtation they shared only moments ago.

  What was wrong with him? He’d never acted like this toward her before, no matter how many banditos they came up against. Not wanting to deal with whatever anger he had directed at her, she turned from him and focused on the pass.

  Large boulders had fallen from the cliffside, nearly blocking the way the banditos had come in. It would be very difficult for another band of criminals to get through now. The dust began to settle; nothing moved or made a sound. It was as if death had come to this ravine, and in truth it had. But Grace didn’t feel guilty about the men who’d lost their lives today.

  Edward crept forward. With his gun at the ready, he moved away from her.

  In a panic, she reached out and clung to his shirt, stopping him from moving forward. “What are you doin’?”

  “My brother is out there. I gotta make sure he’s okay.” He shot a warning glance over his shoulder. The look in his eyes was so cold, she had to force herself not to flinch back from him.

  “I-I’ll watch your back.” The dust-covered material slipped through her fingers. When he stepped away from her, it felt as though the distance between them was more than mere fee
t.

  The farther he got from her, the more nervous she became. Sweat beaded her forehead, and the hilt of the gun slipped in her hands. She wound her fingers tighter to keep it steady. At any moment, a bandito could rise up to attack Edward. She swung her gaze over the rubble. Carnage like she’d never seen littered the area. A breeze drifted toward her, carrying the smell of burned skin. Pressing the back of her hand against her lips, she fought the need to vomit.

  “Well, hot damn!” Luke’s excited voice broke the deadly silence.

  “Damn it, Luke. You tryin’ to get your head blown off?” Edward snapped. His normally calm, cool demeanor had given way to this man who seethed with something dark and angry. If Grace hadn’t spent the last few weeks with him, she might’ve feared this side of him. But she knew Edward. Hell, she’d made a study of him for most of those weeks.

  Just when she was about to step out from behind the rock to search out Luke, he walked into the middle of the carnage. He tipped back his hat, letting the sun shine down on his face. His dark locks streamed across forehead. “No one left to blow my head off.”

  It was true; not one body moved. Hell, there wasn’t a full body left. Some had been blown to ash, others to pieces.

  Edward surveyed the area around them. “You think you used too much?” He punched his brother in the arm.

  “How the hell was I supposed to know how much it’d take to kill off an entire posse? Better to use too much than too little.”

  “You could’ve killed us all.” Edward holstered his weapon and picked up another from the ground beside him.

  Luke smiled down at him. “But I didn’t.”

  “This time.” He moved to pick up a particularly long, jagged-looking knife.

  Grace came from behind the rock. Hesitant to join them, she tiptoed her way around the debris until she came to stand next to Edward. Normally he’d smile down at her with a softness she’d rarely seen in a man. Now he barely looked at her. What the hell was going on? What happened from before the explosion to afterward? Had she missed something or done something wrong?

  Edward cleared his throat and motioned to Luke. “You and Grace go get the horses. We need to get back to town. I’ll collect all the guns and ammo that I can. I’ll be ’round in just a bit.”

  “Wait, what? You… you want me to go?” Though she tried to hide the shock in her voice, she couldn’t. Edward had barely left her side this whole time, and now he was sending her away? Something was really wrong.

  “I’ll be along in a minute, and ya can’t go alone in case there are stragglers. Luke will look after ya.” He turned from her and retrieved an ammo belt from the ground.

  What now? “Look after me?” Gone was the concern she’d been feeling. Her temper flared to life. “Good thing I don’t need lookin’ after.”

  When he came to his full height, Edward could be an intimidating man. He stood nearly a head taller than Grace, even though she herself could be considered as tall as some men. Menace like she’d never seen crossed his face. His eyes flared wide and the muscle in his jaw ticked. “That’s right, you just run headlong into whatever danger is comin’ at you. Did you stop and think for a moment, or is it just pure carelessness that makes you shove yourself into a death wish?”

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about.”

  “Yeah, you wouldn’t.”

  She whirled on her heels, lifted her chin and marched away from him. “Come on, Luke. We’re goin’ to get some horses.”

  Behind her, Luke muttered, “And I thought she was scared of me.”

  Edward gave a humorless chuckle. “Brother, that woman isn’t scared of anything.”

  Chapter 3

  How could she have been so careless? No regard for her own life whatsoever. Edward hadn’t known anger like this since he was a young man cutting a swath of vengeance across the territory. With his brother at his side, they’d hunted down the men who’d attacked their homestead. His father had gotten a swift death at the end of a blade, but his momma—his poor momma—had endured the kind of torture no woman should have to. At a tender young age, Edward had learned what it meant to be tortured. It was knowledge he’d put to use for years afterward.

  Then after their vengeful hunt was complete, he’d learned to put his knowledge of the human body to good use. Turning his skills from hurtful to helpful, he’d found a certain kind of peace and turned himself into the gentleman his momma always wanted him to be. But now all he felt was that old anger rising up to take hold of him. Grace, his Grace, had put herself in danger one too many times. He’d been stupid to let her continue. Hunting down banditos with the Suttons was no way for a lady to live. Yet here she was on the horse next to him, riding in uncomfortable silence.

  For the tenth time, she sighed with a huff. Normally he’d ask her what was wrong, but today, he wasn’t going to say another word. Not after what she’d done, and not until he’d regained control of his anger. Instead, he clicked his tongue at his stallion, urging him to move faster. The stallion glided in front of Grace and Luke, giving him the space he needed. The clomping of hooves warned him he wouldn’t be alone for long. He looked to the horizon. When he saw their destination come into view, relief washed over him. The white church steeple rose up at the end of the main road like a beacon.

  “What is wrong with you?” Grace steered her horse so close to his, their legs nearly brushed.

  “Nothin’.” He ground his teeth together.

  “Nothin’? Really? You’ve barely spoken to me, barely looked at me.”

  How could he not look at her? Grace’s beauty eclipsed all other women. She wasn’t dainty, in need of rescuing. No, his Grace was everything strong a man could need in the West. A no-fuss kind of woman, she wore her long dark hair in a braid that ran down the side of her body, stopping at her hips. Standing only half a head shorter than Edward’s six-foot, four-inch frame, she towered over other women. Yet her curvaceous figure gave her a welcoming softness he’d recognized the moment he’d seen her. With each of her movements, it was as though her body swayed to a hidden melody only he could hear. So how could he not look at her?

  He slid her a sideways glance. “I’ve been lookin’ at you plenty.”

  “Ugh.” She pulled her horse away from his. “Men.” With a huff, she dug her heels into the stirrups, spurring the animal into a gallop, leaving Edward behind.

  Luke steered his horse beside Edward, giving him a long look, but he said nothing.

  Why was everyone looking at him like that today? Annoyance ate at him. “What?”

  “Life ain’t easy out here.” Luke motioned to the land around them.

  Edward followed his hand, knowing how harsh this land could be. At every turn there could be drought, flooding, extreme heat or cold. If the weather didn’t kill a body, the banditos or Comanche would. Images of his mother’s ravaged body played in his mind. Though he was young at the time, it wasn’t something he’d ever forget.

  “You think I don’t know that? Hell, I still see things in my sleep no boy should never witness.”

  The unspoken past hung over them while they rode in silence.

  Luke sucked in a deep breath. “You know, when I first met Eliza I thought she was reckless and maybe a bit crazed. It wasn’t until later that I saw how strong she was. That kind of strength is what the Sutton men need. And, brother, Grace has it.”

  “I know.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck. “It’s just, well, she…”

  Luke tilted his head back and laughed. “You are too much.”

  “What?”

  “You can ride all over tarnation, getting shot at. But she can’t?” He shook his head. “You got some things to work out between those ears of yours.”

  They pulled into town in time to see Grace standing on the front steps of the jail house, nose to nose with the mayor. Judging from her body language, Edward could tell a fight was brewing. She stood with her back ramrod straight, each of her hand movements was shar
p, and her voice rose above the crowd.

  He pulled his reins up short and tossed them to Luke. “I’ll be right back.”

  He quickened his steps, letting his long strides eat up the distance between him and the crowd forming around the jail house. Though he could only see her from the side, he could tell by the ticking in her jaw she was gritting her teeth.

  She fisted her hands at her hips and raised her voice over the crowd. “You’re telling me there’s no way for that to happen?”

  The mayor, a small, simple man with round spectacles and combed-back hair, stood red-faced across from her. “This here’s a serious matter.”

  She threw up her arms. “You think I don’t know that?”

  “Now, now, Gracey.” He held up his hands, motioning for her to quiet down.

  Edward snickered under his breath, knowing that would just add fuel to her fire.

  “This here’s a man’s job. Perhaps one of the Suttons?” The mayor motioned to Colton, who had drifted to the front of the crowd.

  Colton shook his head. “The Suttons aren’t interested.”

  What the hell was going on? Pushing forward, Edward wound his way through the townsfolk, getting ever closer until he came up to stand beside Colton. “What’s goin’ on?”

  Whispering low enough for only Edward to hear, he said, “Town needs a new sheriff since your woman killed Tully. By the looks of it, she’s fixin’ to take the position.”

  “She’s not my woman.”

  Colton turned to face him, his brows drawn low over his blue eyes, the same color their momma used to have. He chuckled lightly. “Oh, she will be.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. And she can’t do this.” Wasn’t it enough that she put herself in the line of bullets riding alongside him? Now she was going to add more to it by trying to clean up the town. Hell, even the Suttons ignored the small-time criminals who drank too much and got too rowdy. But he knew Grace wouldn’t; she’d take up any challenge thrown at her. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she could do it. No, he just didn’t want her taking too many steps toward an early grave. His Grace could do anything she damn well set her mind to, but this was too much.