The deputy ran to his side and he shoved the struggling woman into his arms. “Cuff her.” He nodded toward Humbolt, who remained on the floor, unmoving. “You better cuff him, too, before he wakes up.”
The young man smiled. “My pleasure.”
Devlin moved toward Tresia, quickly untied her and helped her to her feet, resisting the urge to draw her into his arms as he didn’t want to hurt her more than she’d already been hurt.
Tresia raised her gaze to him, tears filling her eyes, her body trembling. “I knew you’d come.” She pulled in her breath as the reality hit her. “She was going to kill me.”
“I know. Let me see that wound.” He ripped away the sleeve of her blouse carefully. “Looks like the bullet is still in there.” Hepulled a handkerchief from his pocket then looked at her. “I’m sorry. This is going to hurt.”
She nodded then stiffened, as if preparing herself for the worst. She let out a groan as he pressed the handkerchief to her shoulder.
“Hold that there,” he instructed her.
Tresia held the handkerchief in place as she looked at him, the color draining from her face. He wasn’t sure if that was from the pain or the strain of what she’d been through but her entire body began shaking. “Thank God Avery wasn’t here.”
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Genius idea to throw something through the window.”
She shrugged then winced as the movement brought her more pain. “I needed help and smashing the window seemed to be the best way to get attention.”
“Let’s get you to Doc Hart to remove that bullet.” He lifted her in his arms and strode toward the door, passing Frances, who now sat in one of the chairs with her hands cuffed behind her.
“Bastard!” she screamed, her face white except for the two spots of color on her cheeks. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is.” He fought to get his anger under control. Frances, as he now realized, was not a well woman. Perhaps, the loss of Hannah had done something to her mind. Still, he could not continue to have her be a threat to Avery and Tresia. He glanced at Sherm. “Lock her up. Humbolt, too.”
Frances spit at him though he was too far away for her to do much damage. “You can’t arrest me! You know who I am!”
“I’m well aware of who you are, Frances. You are the person who just tried to kill my wife.” He stared at her. “Hear me well. You will never hurt anyone again.”
He turned away from her then with Tresia held more closely in his arms, he walked outside to face the growing crowdof people standing on the sidewalk and the street in both directions, blocking his way. “Get out of the way,” he shouted. “She’s been shot.”
He glanced up and recognized Merrill. “Help Sherm. He’s inside.” The crowd began to part, opening a path for him.
He glanced at Tresia. Her eyes were closed, her face pale. Had she passed out? From the pain? From the loss of blood? He ran toward Doctor Ben’s on the next street over. “Don’t you dare die on me, Tresia Goodrich! I love you too much to lose you.”
She opened her eyes and smiled softly, despite having a bullet in her shoulder. “I’m not going to die, Devlin. You’re stuck with me.” She reached up and smoothed her hand along his cheek. “For the rest of our lives.”
EPILOGUE
“It’s a good letter, Lucy.” Tresia folded the thick sheaf of paper and handed it to Lucy. The action made her wince, just a little. Every once in a while, the shoulder where Frances shot her reminded her of how close she’d come to dying. “I wouldn’t change a thing.” She watched her friend wander over to the stove and pick up the coffeepot. “It must have been hard, letting Josie’s daughter know what happened to her.”
“It wasn’t easy, I will admit. I struggled a bit.” Lucy patted the pocket where she had placed the letter then poured the rich brew into cups and slid one across the table to her. “This is my fourth attempt.”
“Why did Mr. Applebaum ask you to write it? He’s a lawyer. A good one. He should know how to compose a letter.”
Lucy laughed, her face turning a lovely shade of pink as she put the coffeepot back on the stove and slid into her seat. “Because, while he’s an excellent lawyer, he has all the finesse of a bull in a China shop and the situation required a little more delicacy than he can handle. We didn’t know what Sheridan—that’s her name—knew of Josie’s life. We didn’t even know Josie had a daughter until Mr. Applebaum opened probate, so thesituation required a little more diplomacy than Mr. Applebaum possesses.”
“Well, you did a good job. I’m sure Mr. Applebaum will appreciate it. Sheridan, too.”
“He’s helping you as well, isn’t he?”
She nodded, grateful that the good lawyer was, indeed, helping. “And there’s a lot to do. As you know, Frances never stood trial for what she tried to do to me. Her mind…isn’t what it should be. The loss of Hannah was finally too much for her. She will be locked up in the sanitarium for a long time.” Tresia stirred the coffee though she hadn’t added any sugar or cream to it. “Devlin’s old friend and his wife are taking care of the ranch until Avery comes into her majority at twenty-one. Mr. Applebaum is working on all the legalities of that as well as keeping Frances where she is so the doctors at the sanitarium can continue to help her. I doubt she’ll ever leave, but she’ll be well taken care of.”
Tresia sighed and pushed her coffee cup away, unable to tolerate the aroma. In fact, it was making her stomach roil, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d been running for the chamber pot, as she’d done several times this past week. Funny that it only happened in the morning and early afternoon—by evening, she was craving the rich brew. She glanced up to see Lucy staring at her with the most peculiar look on her face.
“Everything all right? Is the coffee too strong?”
“I don’t know. I can’t get past the smell, which is so strange. That’s never happened to me before. Lately, when I’m brewing coffee in the morning, the smell is enough to make me nauseous.”
