Chapter Six

When Jessie once again made her way out of the bedroom several house later, Langley was sitting at the crooked kitchen table playing solitaire.

He noticed that she had gun belt slung around her, resting low on her hips. "Going somewhere?" he asked, forcing his attention back to his cards instead of staring at her hair which was once again loose and wild around her face. He'd never met a woman who left her hair down like that all the time.

"No," she grumbled as she made her way to the table.

Langley grinned. "I take it you're not a rise and shine type of person?"

He laughed outright when she stuck her tongue out at him before taking a seat at the other end of the table. "Is that coffee I smell?" she asked.

"Yep. I had some in my saddlebags so I brewed a bit. I'll get you a cup."

Langley stood and went to the cook stove. Jessie watched him with a frown. Was he honestly just a good person? Did he do things for people simply out of the kindness of his heart? Hell, Jessie hadn't been aware that men, or people, like that even existed.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a horse outside. How in the hell had they found her? She instantly jumped to her feet, pulled her gun and put herself between Langley and the door.

"Get down!" she hissed.

She happened to look up at his handsome boyish face and realized that he once again appeared amused. "Is there any particular reason why you want to shoot the good doctor?"

Jessie frowned as she moved to the window and realized that there was indeed a buckboard with the words, 'Brinkley M.D.' painted on it. An old man carrying a black satchel was approaching the porch.

Her face colored. "How did you know it was the doctor?"

"I know the sound of his buckboard and I can smell the...." Langley's teasing died on his tongue when he saw the sharp look she gave him. Damn but he could get lost in those unique eyes of hers but he had a feeling that a man would find himself missing a few parts if he tried.

Langley shrugged. "It also helps that I can see through the crack over there."

Jessie followed his gaze. She holstered her gun as she nodded. "Yeah, well, I'm not over six feet tall so I couldn't see the damn crack." Langley chuckled. "Don't laugh at me!" she snapped.

Langley tried hard to hold his lips still. "No ma'am."

She threw her hands in the air. "And stop calling me ma'am!"

"Yes'm," Langley agreed, still chuckling as he went to the door to let Doctor Brinkley in.

"Well, I see you're finally awake!" the doctor said brightly when he saw Jessie.

"Yeah, I'm awake," she grumbled. "And just how much damn money do I owe you for doing what I could have done myself?"

Doctor Brinkley gave Langley a questioning glance. Langley simply shrugged as he lounged against the wall with amusement on his face. "She has trust issues."

Jessie fought the urge to smack him. "I do not."

"Whatever you say, ma'am."

Jessie threw her hands in the air and growled. Langley laughed. Dealing with her was a lot like dealing with Marston. There was quite a bit of hot air involved. Langley had a feeling that Jessie used her temper and anger to cover up any sign that she might actually care of have a soft spot. But she cared. If she didn't care, she wouldn't' have put her body between his and the door when she had thought there was trouble.

Outlaws were complicated people.

Doctor Brinkley simply shook his head and went about checking Jessie's wound. He nodded as he moved away and she tucked her shirt back into her buckskin trousers. "You're healing nicely. You should take it easy for a week or so but I don't think you'll have any other problems."

Jessie nodded. "Yeah, I could have told you that. Just how long did you go to school?"

"You've got a real charming woman there, Langley," Doctor Brinkley muttered as he made his way to the door.

"I'm not his woman," Jessie snapped, pouring a cup of coffee. "Now how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing." Doctor Brinkley tipped his bowler cap. "It's been taken care of."

Langley closed the door after the doctor had gone and he poured a fresh cup of coffee for himself. When he glanced at Jessie, he realized she was staring hard at him with her lips hovering over her cup.

"I'll pay you back," she vowed. Then she frowned. "You're not faking are you?"

Langley raised his brow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jessie sighed. "You really are just a good man."

Langley wondered why she said that as if it were a bad thing. He nodded. "I try really hard to be. My mama raised me to be good and my pa taught me respect."

"Your family means a lot to you," Jessie noted.

Langley smiled when he thought about them but there was an ache in his chest. He missed them. "Yes, they do. I have two sisters. One that's about a year older and one that's six now. My mama, she's the type of person that'll help anybody no matter what you've done in the past or what your rank in life is. She genuinely likes people."

"That was lucky for Marston," Jessie replied.

"Yeah..uh.. she really loved him," Langley agreed, hating that he was telling a lie. His mama hadn't loved Marston—she still loved him. But Langley couldn't let her know Marston was still alive. At least not yet.

"Sad that he died," she added.

"Yes, it is."

Jessie snorted. "You're a terrible liar."

Langley grumbled under his breath. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can't lie. Your left eye twitches when you do."

Langley raised his fingertips to that traitorous eye. "How did you notice that and what exactly am I supposed to be lying about?"

"I'd have to guess at what you're lying about," Jessie admitted. "Mind reading is just above my abilities." She smiled. "But if I had to guess, I would say that Marston isn't dead. I've heard rumors."

Langley took a sip of his coffee. "What kind of rumors?"

Jessie leaned back in her chair. "Rumors that he didn't truly hang that day."

"He hanged," Langley promised.

"Well then someone cut him down," Jessie amended. "And his neck wasn't broke when they did. I've heard too many rumors that he's still alive."

Langley shrugged. "Maybe people just don't want to believe that someone so strong could have died that way."

Jessie scratched at her arm and it was clear she was doubtful. "I guess that might be it. I remember meeting him once. I was only about nine then and I can remember thinking that he was the biggest damn bastard I'd ever met in my life."

Jessie smiled at the memory of the man who had caught her pa cheating at poker and had knocked a few of her pa's teeth loose. Jessie had found it strange then that Marston hadn't killed her pa for cheating but her pa had told her that he and Marston had once been friends.

"So, how'd you end up shot, Jessie? You might as well tell me since we're gonna be here a few days letting you heal up."

"I don't reckon I'm gonna tell you that."

"You don't trust me?"

"Nope." She shrugged. "But I don't trust anyone so don't take it personal."

Jessie began gathering up the cards Langley had been playing solitaire with and began shuffling them with a flare he'd only seem matched by Kaitlyn. He watched her and sipped his coffee. "It must be awfully lonely when you don't let anybody in."

Jessie's hands faltered a bit but when she looked at him, her expression was guarded and impossible to read. "I'm not the one who ended up in jail because I trusted somebody."

Langley felt hate for his uncle burn in his gut. "I learned my lesson when it comes to Jeremiah. But there are still plenty of other people I trust."

Jessie's gaze met his for a moment but then she shook her head and looked away. Trusting someone had killed her pa. And Jessie had trusted her whore of a mother until the woman had walked away from her. Trusting people only ever ended with pain and Jessie wouldn't do it again.

"Do you play?" she asked, waving the cards.

"Yeah, I play," he replied. She dealt out a hand of stud and Langley sighed as he gathered his up. "I'll earn your trust, Jessie."

She shrugged. "I'm really not worth the trouble."

Langley realized that she had just shown him a vulnerability even though he was sure she didn't realize it herself. He could sense that she was being honest and it hurt him to know that she didn't think she was worth an effort.

It made him want to protect her and take care of her. Hell, maybe Langley was more like his mama than he realized. Jessie was telling him to give up on her just the same as Marston had told Rose in the beginning but his mama hadn't listened and Langley wasn't about to either.

***

Langley was sleeping soundly on the sofa two nights later. Two days of Jessie all but ignoring him and him simply waiting patiently for her to give up a bit of her tough act.

The sound of a horse blowing out woke him suddenly. He might not be an outlaw but he'd been raised by one and he knew well how to sleep with one eye open.

The clinking of spurs told Langley that someone had just hopped from horseback to the ground below. He slipped off the sofa and moved silently to the window. Keeping out of sight, Langley peeked out and saw a man walking toward the porch with his gun drawn.

Langley frowned. Could this be the man that had shot Jessie? Langley planned on finding out. There had to be some reason the man was showing up in the middle of the night and looking for a fight. Langley might be the trusting type but even he knew when someone was up to no good.

Langley grabbed his own gun and slipped to the door, waiting silently for it to open. His heart was pounding and his hand shook a bit. The door creaked as it opened and the man stepped in, his revolver out and ready.

Langley rose from his crouched position, unseen beside the doorway. He cocked his own gun and pressed it to the man's graying temple. The air cracked with tension as both men stood motionless.

"What are you doing in my home?" Langley asked, doing the best impression of his pa that he could. If he let it show just how scared he was right now, he knew it would be all over for him.

"I'm here for the girl," the man growled and Langley could hear a definite accent in his words. He sounded like he might be French.

"What girl?"

"It doesn't concern you, boy," the man replied. Without warning, he grabbed Langley's arm and jerked the gun back while swinging his own arm up and firing a shot.

Somehow Langley managed to twist his body to avoid taking a bullet and he ran at the man, using his momentum to propel the Frenchman out the door. They went tumbling off the porch in a tangle of arms and legs.

***

Jessie came racing out of her room at the sound of a gunshot filling the cabin. Her eyes widened with horror when she saw Langley wrestling around on the ground with another man. She could see their guns and she wanted to help but she couldn't get a shot at the other man without taking a chance at hurting Langley.

Another shot rang out. Both men stilled.

Jessie's heart stopped.

Surely Langley hadn't been shot....Jessie couldn't stand to have his death on her conscience when she knew this man must be here for her. Langley was too good a man to die that way. He was nice, handsome and charmingly funny.....

"A little help here...." Langley's voice was the sweetest sound that Jessie had ever heard.

Jessie was quick to help shove the dead man's body off of Langley. She recognized the Frenchman who had shot her—only now the man had a nice hole in his chest and he was no longer breathing.

"Thank God you're okay!" Jessie exclaimed, dropping to her knees and hugging Langley tight.

Langley forced himself to forget that he'd nearly died. Forced himself to forget that he'd just killed a man. He ignored the blood he could feel soaking into his clothes and instead he focused on just how perfectly Jessie's slender body fit against him.

He felt colder when she jerked away from him and stood quickly. For a moment he thought she looked embarrassed but it could have been a trick of the moonlight. "Why did I hear him ride up?" she demanded, kicking the dead man's leg.

"Because he was quiet," Langley replied, standing slowly and swiping at the dirt on his pants.

She snorted. "Then how the hell did you hear him?"

"Just because I'm a nice guy doesn't make me helpless. Between Marston, Duke and Jeremiah, I learned a thing or two while I was growing up."

"Well I guess that's a good thing or else you'd be dead right now," Jessie admitted. She stepped to the Frenchman and began going through his pockets.

"Jessie?" Langley stuck his gun in the waistband of his trousers. She glanced up at him. "I think it's about time you get to telling me exactly how you ended up shot and what that man was doing coming here looking for you."