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“I wish to hell things could’ve been different,” Damon said, shuffling past Stephanie. He went and fell to his knees beside the grave.
She was struck speechless when Damon stretched his arms over the grave, as though he was trying to embrace it, and began crying in body-wracking sobs.
Feeling as though she was disturbing a most private, intimate time in this man’s life, and seeing that his grief was genuine, Stephanie tiptoed away, then ran to her horse and stepped up into the saddle.
Confused and feeling empty inside, she turned her horse in the direction of the train hoping to find some sort of solace in her private car.
She looked over her shoulder at the “Big Tent” that she was leaving behind in Gallup. A part of her wanted to wheel her horse around and go and ask Runner to go home with her. The part of her that saw the need for Adam and Runner to become friends again caused her to ride faster away from Gallup.
Her hair flew in the wind as she leveled her eyes straight ahead.
Chapter 22
Loved you when summer deepened into June
And those fair, wild, ideal dreams of youth,
Were true yet dangerous, and half unreal
As when Endymion kissed the mateless moon.
—V. SACKVILLE-WEST
Adam grunted and groaned as he rode toward a hidden cove where he and Pure Blossom had planned a rendezvous. Not wanting Stephanie to see him before he had the chance to wash some of the blood from his face, he had not gone to his private car before coming to meet with Pure Blossom.
He also did not have the strength to go both places. He hoped to revive himself somewhat in the river that snaked beside the cove. It would be cold enough to shake anyone out of a stupor, even if it was caused by a beating.
“I’ll get even with him if it’s the last thing I do,” Adam growled out in a whisper. “He may think he’s got the upper hand now. Wait until I get through with him. He won’t know what hit him.”
He smiled ruefully to himself. He wanted to retain in his memory forever that look on Runner’s face when he had been told that Stephanie had been leading him on—that she didn’t truly love him, only playing him for a fool for her beloved brother.
His smile faded when he thought about Stephanie’s reaction. She might hate him forever. But it had been a risk worth taking. No matter what she said to Runner, in her denial of what Adam had said about her motives, it wouldn’t be all that easy for Runner to believe her, or trust her again.
He leaned low over his horse and gripped its mane. He was dizzy from the pain. His whole damn face and head seemed to be one massive throbbing. He could scarcely see through his swollen eyes. The cold river water might give him a quick reprieve.
Breathing hard, A
dam traveled onward, the horse moving at only a half trot. “How much farther?” he wondered to himself.
It seemed to him that he had been traveling an eternity. When they had chosen the rendezvous location, they had chosen a place that was between their two homes. Now he wished that he had made her come farther, which would make him not have to suffer so long, himself. Yet he had never in his wildest dreams thought that he would be in this condition.
“Damn him,” he uttered again. “Damn that son-of-a-bitch White Indian.”
Finally he saw the shine of water ahead. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, teetering as he tried to sit tall and erect in his saddle before he reached Pure Blossom.
He squinted his eyes and saw the shine of a campfire up ahead. He was almost there.
The woman who set his heart into a tailspin of rapture was waiting for him. She would have the blankets spread for their lovemaking. He hoped that he wouldn’t disappoint her too much when she discovered that he was in no shape to make love with her tonight.
He felt lucky to be alive.
He would never forget the wild look in Runner’s eyes when he had been pummeling him with his fists. It revealed to Adam that Runner surely was as close to hate as a man could get before he killed someone.
Beneath the soft rays of the moon’s light, Adam could make out a figure running toward him. He melted inside at the thought of being with Pure Blossom again. It was certain that she could make an honest man out of even the worst outlaw. The love she gave a man was born of innocence and sweetness.
A thought grabbed at him that made his shoulders sway with alarm: Runner. Runner would forbid Pure Blossom ever to see him again. Adam knew that Pure Blossom would know who was responsible for the fight after Runner talked to her.
He lowered his eyes, his chest tight, knowing that tonight would be the last night with Pure Blossom. Even if Runner didn’t order Pure Blossom not to see Adam again, he knew that it could never work out for them. It was better to cut it off now rather than later. It would be easier on both of them.
