Reaching out, Dallas covered Dee’s hand. “Sorry. Sometimes, it’s difficult to remember that Boyd was your brother.”
Dallas could not have spoken truer words. Boyd McQueen had possessed a temperament that hinted the devil had spawned him, while Dee had the disposition of an angel.
“I have marble cake waiting in the kitchen,” Amelia announced. “We need to eat up so we can enjoy it while it’s still warm.”
Warm cake and stew, the constant smiles and innocent ways of children. Austin had taken them for granted in his youth, but he was determined to appreciate them from this moment on.
Night had fallen by the time Austin stood on the veranda and watched the wagon filled with Houston’s family lumber north. A crescent moon smiled in the black sky, stars winking on either side of it. “I can’t believe Houston has a whole passel of girls,” Austin said.
Turning his gaze in the direction of the retreating wagon, Dallas leaned against the beam. “I think another one might be on the way. Amelia didn’t eat much tonight.”
“What about you and Dee? You gonna have any more?”
Dallas slowly shook his head. “Nope. Faith was a miracle we weren’t expecting. Reckon a man should consider himself the luckiest of men if he has one miracle in his life.”
Austin understood miracles. He had one of his own waiting for him. “Think I’m gonna ride into town.”
A silence permeated the air, thick, hovering, as though something needed to be said. Permission, Austin decided. He was waiting for Dallas to give him permission to leave only he didn’t require his brother’s consent any longer. He was a grown man, free to come and go as he chose. He stepped off the veranda.
“Becky’s married,” Dallas said quietly.
Austin felt as though someone had plowed a tightly balled fist into his gut. Unable to draw air into his lungs, he feared his knees might buckle. He wrapped his arm around the beam to keep from stumbling down the remaining steps. Swallowing hard, he forced the words past the painful knot that had formed in his throat. “Becky Oliver?”
Dallas faced him squarely. “Yeah.”
“Who’d she marry?”
“Cameron.”
Cameron McQueen? Dee’s brother? Austin swallowed the burning bile that had risen in his throat. “When?”
“About two years ago.”
Austin glared at his brother. “Why in the hell didn’t you mention that little bit of news in your letters?”
“I didn’t figure prison was the best place for you to learn about it.”
“You could have told me at any time during the past few days.”
“Didn’t see any reason to ruin your homecoming.”
His homecoming? Without Becky he had no homecoming. He leapt off the porch and hit the ground with a purpose to his stride.
“Where are you going?” Dallas called after him.
“Wherever I damn well want to go,” Austin threw over his shoulder as he stalked toward the barn.
He’d never saddled a horse more quickly nor ridden as hard as he rode now. Black Thunder’s pounding hooves ate up the distance between Austin … and Becky.
As the dim lantern lights of Leighton came into view, burning into the night, Austin jerked back on the reins. The stallion protested the rough treatment and reared up, his neigh echoing over the vast plains. Austin regained control and patted the horse’s sweating neck. “Sorry, old man.”
He shifted his gaze toward the town. He could make out the silhouette of Dee’s Grand Hotel. And the train depot. The railroad tracks had reached the town while he’d been in prison. He saw the outline of buildings he didn’t recognize, streets, houses, a town … a town he’d once known … a town that was now achingly unfamiliar.
And somewhere within that town, beneath the shadows of the night, Becky was lying within the arms of another man.
The pain slashed through him, intense, overpowering.
And the tears he’d held at bay for five long, torturous years finally broke free. Bowing his head, he dug his fingers into his thighs as the sobs wrenched his body.
