Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Mama, I'm fine!" Langley insisted. "I've been home for two months and you're still fretting over me."

"I'm not fretting," Rose denied indignantly. "I'm....parenting."

Langley raised a brow as she sat a fresh cup of coffee on the table in front of him. "Mama, I'm a grown man. I can make my own coffee. What's going on with you? You've been walking around on eggshells around me since I got back."

"It's just..." Rose sat down across from him and tugged at her shirt sleeve. "I don't like seeing you so sad."

"Who says I'm sad?"

Rose snorted. "Langley I've known you for nearly eighteen years! For the first half of your life it was only you and I. I can tell when you're sad and I know good and well it's because of her."

Langley's defenses rose and that scab on his heart tore a bit. "Who?"

"That Jessie woman."

Marston chose that moment to step into the kitchen with Lucy on his hip and Langley glared at him accusingly. Marston was the only person that would have told Rose about Jessie. Jeremiah and Rose didn't speak much, Delilah wouldn't have betrayed his trust but Marston? His pa was a spineless coward when it came to keeping things from Rose.

"You told her!" Langley accused.

Marston's golden eyes widened a bit as he sat Lucy down on her feet. "I tell your mama everything, kid, and you know that. Besides, you never said it was a secret," he added defensively.

"How long have you known?" Langley asked his mama.

Rose picked at the tablecloth. "He told me the day you told him. I didn't say anything because I figured you simply needed time to heal. I only mentioned it today because I'm desperate to help you."

"No one can help me, alright?" Langley snapped as he shoved himself to his feet. "The woman pretended to love me, she pretended to care. She did all that so I'd do what she wanted and then once she got her way she let go of me in a real quick hurry."

His heart was bleeding all over again as he headed for the door. "Wait!" Rose called out. "Langley, I didn't mean to make you mad. No one wants to hurt you, son. We love you."

Langley shrugged but he didn't turn back to them. "I'm not sad, mama. It's just wounded pride because I was made a fool of. And I'm not mad. I know that you and pa share everything and that's how it should be. You all are lucky to have one another. Now I'm gonna head into town and get some work done in the shop for a couple of hours."

"Dress warm, kid," Marston warned. "It's cold out there."

Langley nodded and left the kitchen.

"Me and my big mouth," Rose whispered sadly. "I just hate seeing my son so sad."

"Why is Langley sad?" Lucy asked.

Marston crouched in front of her. "Because sometimes people hurt us and when it's people we trust and love then it hurts us real bad."

"But you'd never hurt me," Lucy countered, laying he hand on his cheek.

Marston smiled and kissed her forehead. "That's right. And anybody that does hurt you will have to deal with me."

He made a fist roughly the same size as his daughter's head and she giggled. "Papa, you're silly. Why would anybody be scared of you?"

Marston tousled her hair as he stood straight. "Yeah, why would they?" he asked dryly.

He glanced toward Rose but she was staring out the window with her arms wrapped tight around herself. A tear dangled on her lashes. Marston crossed the kitchen and wrapped her tight in his arms from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"He'll be okay."

Rose shook her head. "I don't know..."

"I do. He's tough, Rose. He's your son."

"He really loved that girl."

Marston nodded and turned her around and stared down into the blue eyes of the woman he would die for. "Yeah, he did. Thank you, Rose."

"For what?"

"For never doing to me what that damn woman did to our boy."

"That woman better hope I never see her because I'll probably punch her in the face," Rose warned angrily.

Marston grinned. "Leave the punching to me. Your knuckles are too pretty to get all cut up."

***

Langley took his time riding into town. He had his duster coat pulled tight around him and his bandana tied around his face to protect him from the wind. There was a definite downside to living in the Dakotas during the winter. The wind could cut a man in two.

Langley wished everyone would stop treating him like some little kid. Was he sad? Sure, of course he was. He had lost the love of his life and learned that she hadn't truly loved him at all.

He wasn't only sad though, he also felt like a fool. He had truly thought that Jessie loved him. Even after she'd let him walk away, he had kept up some dim spark of hope that she'd come after him.

But she hadn't. It was the end of December. The new year was only days away and she was nowhere to be found. The weather hadn't been bad so far this year. Cold but not too snowy as to make travel impossible.

The truth was a bitter pill to swallow but it was one that Langley would have to swallow anyhow. Jessie was a liar and a con. She had used to him to help kill Benjamin and then she had sent him on his way. Her words of love had been nothing but lies.

Langley pulled his gloves higher and gazed at the plains around him. The Dakotas were home and he loved it here. Marston had even let him know there was a patch of land waiting just for him if he decided he wanted his own home.

Langley was starting to think that having his own place would be a good thing. He could build a tiny cabin and just hole up there like some kind of recluse. That thought made him laugh out loud. Langley liked people far too much to be a recluse.

Jessie might have destroyed a big chunk of his heart but he had a family that loved him and he loved them back. He had his books and the gun shop. He'd find happiness in all that since love hadn't worked out in his favor.

***

Langley didn't know how long he spent working. He finished with two guns and began working on a set of horseshoes someone had ordered. He was covered in oil, gunpowder and ash his arms were beginning to ache but he didn't dare stop. Anytime he stopped—stopping meant he'd think and Langley didn't want to think.

He ran his hand over his face, smearing it with soot but not caring. "Well now you look like a soot monster."

Langley smiled when he heard Kaitlyn's voice behind him. He turned to see her standing in the doorway with a blanket covered basket. "What are you doing here, doc? Don't you have patients to attend to?"

He motioned for her to come closer to the large fire and she eagerly walked toward the heat. Langley sighed. The look on his loving, caretaking, soft-spoken sister's face told him that in her mind she was looking at a patient already.

"What is it, sister?" Langley asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, holding out her basket. "I brought you something to eat. You've been locked up in here for hours."

"Hours huh?" he asked as he snatched the basket and pulled back the red-checked cloth.

"Get your hands off my cloth!" Kaitlyn scolded gently, taking the cloth from him. "It's the best one I have."

"Are you saying I'm dirty?" Langley feigned indignation.

"No, I'm saying you're filthy," Kaitlyn assured him.

Langley laughed as he reached out one dirty finger and left a streak down her nose. "Stop that!" she grumbled, fighting laughter of her own. She used her precious cloth to rub at her stained nose. "You're just as annoying now as you were when you were ten."

"I do my best," Langley winked.

"Why are you so sad lately?" Kaitlyn asked suddenly.

Langley rolled his eyes at the question he'd been hearing all too often. He hoisted himself onto his work bench and looked into the basket, his mouth watering when he saw the fried chicken and sweet bread. "You are my favorite sister."

"Lucy would kick you in the shins for saying that," Kaitlyn warned. "Now answer me. Why are you said? Does this have something to do with that girl you talked about in your letters?"

"I love her and she doesn't love me and I wish people would stop talking about it," Langley grumbled irritably. He stared down at the piece of chicken in his hand. "She used me to get what she wanted, let me believe she felt the same for me as I felt for her, and once she accomplished what she wanted, she kicked me aside without a second thought."

"I'm sorry, Langley," she offered, putting her hand on his arm.

Langley shrugged. "Not your fault. Uncle Jeremiah warned me about her and I didn't listen."

Kaitlyn let it drop and Langley dug into his food. They talked about little things like how Christmas had gone and the way Lucy's eyes had lit up when Marston had given her her first peashooter. No one's backside would ever be safe again.

Finally Langley finished his meal and swiped his dirty shirt sleeve across his face. "You really need a bath," Kaitlyn noted, curling her nose.

"I'll head home now and get me one," Langley assured her as she folded her cloth and laid it in the empty basket. "But first I'll take you home," he added, seeing the fading light outside the window. "I didn't realize how late it was getting. I'd hate to have the town lawman lock me up for letting his wife walk home alone this close to dark."

Kaitlyn just laughed lightly and looped her arm through his as he led her out the door.

***

Jessie hitched her horse at the edge of town after riding into Windfall. She might be in the town he'd always talked about but Jessie had no real idea of where to look for Langley. She hoped he really was here somewhere. If not, she'd just wasted a month of suffering in the saddle to get here after several impatient weeks in that brothel just waiting to heal.

She pulled up her gloves and wrapped her wool coat tighter around her with a shiver. She was grumbling as she yanked down her hat. It was damn cold. Did she love Langley enough to settle down in a place where her ass would freeze to the saddle part of the year?

Jessie smiled. The answer was yes. She loved him enough to do just about anything. She glanced up and down the road, wondering where to find the man. She had no real fear that he wouldn't take her back. He loved her, after all, and he was Langley.

There were several homes in town but Langley had always talked about farming and animals—she doubted his family lived in town. But he had also spoke about a gun shop that he and his pa had built. She saw a sign for a gun shop down the road and her heart raced as she headed toward it.

There was smoke coming from the chimney so her hopes were high that Langley would there. Unless it was Marston that was working. Jessie had been a young girl the last time Jessie had seen the outlaw and, though Langley spoke highly of him, Kaitlyn remembered him as being big and scary with a grin that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight.

All thoughts of Marston vanished from Jessie's mind when she saw Langley step out onto the boardwalk with a woman on his arm. The woman had a slight build, blond hair and an angelic face. Jessie's heart fell into her buckskin boots. There was no way Jessie could compete with that woman.

She had a smile that lit up her face, a clear complexion and a dainty white bonnet highlighted her innocence and made her green eyes shine that much more. She was the complete opposite of Jessie who was five and a half feet tall with sleek muscles where most women had soft curves. She was sure she had dirt on her face and her clothes were tattered from her travels.

She was tempted to turn tail and run but Jessie Burke was no coward. She had come this far to get Langley back and she wouldn't turn back now. Jessie squared her shoulders and headed toward them with determined steps. The lady saw her first and whispered something, causing Langley to turn and face her.

Shock registered on his dirty face as he recognized her. Jessie wanted nothing more than to run to him, throw her arms around his neck and feel his lips on her lips. He'd place his big hands on the small of her back and pull her body in closer....

"Hello Langley."

"Jessie," he acknowledged. There was an indifference in his tone that made her heart ache and when she searched his face for some sign as to how he was feeling, but for the first time she couldn't tell.

Kaitlyn stepped away from Langley and offered Jessie a smile. Jessie forced a smile in return though she was sure it was probably more of a grimace. "Hello, I'm Kaitlyn. I'm Langley's sister," the angelic woman informed her.

Relief filled Jessie. So the lady wasn't her competition. That was good. "I'm Jessie," she replied, before turning her attention back to the man she loved with all her heart. "Langley, can we talk?"

Langley crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his shoulder against the wall of the gun shop. "Go ahead and talk if you want to. I'll listen."

Jessie swallowed hard. She supposed she deserved his coldness and anger. She had broken his heart badly but she was here now. Jessie glanced toward Kaitlyn, wishing for privacy but knowing she'd not achieve it just yet. "I made a mistake, Langley. I shouldn't have let you leave that night. I was scared. I do love you, Langley. We went through a lot together. Can we pick back up where we left off?"

Jessie stood there in silent torture. His blue eyes that were usually so soft and expressive when they gazed at her were looking at her now with a hard coldness that nearly froze her blood. This hadn't been what she'd expected. She had thought Langley would be happy to see her. She had thought he'd be so happy to have her back that he would accept her instantly.

Langley, say something. You've never been short on words. Can we start over?" she demanded, twisting her hands together.

He shook his head and his voice was ice cold when he spoke. "No, we can't."