"You must think of your health, dear… yours and our son's. You'll catch your death of cold walking around the house in bare feet."

"I hate this house. I hate the ugly floors and the brown walls. When are you going to take me away, Henry? You promised."

He patted her back. "I didn't promise, Sarah. I said I'd think about it. This ranch is a profitable business. If we do sell, and I say 'if,' it will take time to find the right buyer."

"I know it's crazy, but when I got up, I forgot that he was dead. He used to come in here at night and work on his accounts." She shuddered. "I smelled the cigar smoke, and I thought…"

"You thought I was Sam."

"Yes, no…" She sighed and turned away to stare out the window. "I'm glad he left the ranch to you, Henry. He lied to me about it. He did. He told me that he'd changed his will two years ago, that he'd made me his beneficiary. But I don't care. I never wanted any of it. I hate cows. They're smelly, horrible beasts. I need to be around people and shops. My own church. Parties and socials. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been to a dance?"

"Sam loved this ranch. All the more reason to be cautious with its disposal. I don't know why my brother didn't leave everything to you, but that doesn't matter, my dear. It will be ours, whether we sell or keep it. Fifty-fifty, a legacy for our child."

She lifted a lace handkerchief to her mouth. "Our child will never set foot on this land if I have anything to say about it." She twisted the bit of cloth. "Take me away, please. I can't stand it here. I won't stay here."

"You were happy here once."

"No." She shook her head. "Never. I was never happy here." She turned and looked at him. "I knew I'd made a mistake from the first days of our marriage. Sam changed after the wedding."

Henry scoffed. "Sam didn't change. He was always a son of a bitch. He was good at covering it, when he wanted to."

"If you won't come with me, I'll go to St. Louis alone. I want to have my confinement there."

"Not yet," he said firmly, crossing the room to take her in his arms. "As soon as Morgan brings back the MacGreggor woman, as soon as she's tried and found guilty, then we'll go."

"Can't you forget her?" Sarah demanded. "Can't you just let it go?"

"It will follow us. We need to close this part of our lives first. Then I'll take you wherever you want to go. And we'll be married as soon as a decent interval has passed."

"You swear it, Henry. You promise?"

"Absolutely, Sarah. As soon as Tamsin MacGreggor hangs for my brother's murder, we'll leave Sweetwater together."

"All right," she agreed. "I'll wait a little while longer. But if your bounty hunter doesn't find her, then I'm going. Do you understand? I will not have our baby born here in the shadow of Sam's ghost."

"We'll go as soon as the matter is settled, Sarah. We owe that much to my brother. You know what the Bible says: 'An eye for a eye.' We can't let the guilty woman go unpunished."

"You're right, I suppose," she murmured. But her eyes glistened in the lamplight, and a single tear rolled down her pale cheek.

Chapter 17

Gunfire blasted through the heavy night fog as a crowd of shouting, howling men and women stormed the Sweet-water jail. "Bring her out!" Judge Steele shouted as he edged his horse to the head of the throng. "Bring out the murdering back shooter!"

"Hang her!" shrieked a slovenly saloon wench waving a torch.

"Yes!" cried the black-veiled widow from the seat of a buggy. "She murdered my husband! Give her hemp justice!"

Illuminated by the yellow glow of a kerosene lantern, Walker stepped out onto the stoop in front of the jail, a shotgun cradled in his arm. "Tamsin MacGreggor's my prisoner," he bellowed. "Do you want her?"

"Yes!"

"Hand her over!"

"Hand over the murdering whore!"

Laughing, Walker yanked off his tin star and tossed it into the dirt. "Take her!"

As he stared in horror at the mob, unable to move, Ash heard Tamsin scream. "No! No!" he tried to say, but the words wouldn't come. His throat was dry and aching, as though a rope were tightening around it.

Two cowboys appeared in the doorway with Tamsin between them. Her calico dress was torn down the front, exposing her breasts. Her face was bruised, her mouth bleeding.

"Ash!" she cried. "Ash, help me!"

Henry Steele threw a rope over her head and kicked his mount. Tamsin tried to grab the rope, but she was yanked off the edge of the wooden walkway into the street. She screamed again as Steele spurred his horse and dragged her down the street toward the gallows.

"No!" Ash said, struggling against the bonds that held him. "No! She's innocent."

Somehow, he reached the foot of the steps. Above him, a noose swayed in the fog.

"Hanged by the neck until dead!" Henry Steele said.

"Until dead," echoed the mob.

"Ash…" Tamsin whimpered as the judge settled the noose around her neck and pulled a black hood over her face. For the barest instant, her frightened gaze met his. And then he saw nothing but blackness.

Ash felt cold sweat running down him as the trapdoor snapped open and the crowd roared.

He felt himself fall and jerk upright. He blinked the sweat from his eyes. His heart pounded against his chest wall. He sucked in air as though he were drowning.

Dazed, he looked around. It was pitch-black, and it took him a few seconds to realize that he was still in Jacob's cabin with Tamsin sleeping peacefully beside him.

"Woman, what have you done to me?" he whispered.

Devil take him, he didn't care if she had murdered Sam Steele. All he wanted to do was take her away and protect her. He tightened his arm around her, telling himself that he'd tear up her arrest warrant, ride south to Mexico, go anywhere so that they could be together.

But even as he formed the silent vow in his heart, he realized he couldn't keep it. He knew only one code, his daddy's. He had to live his life in the way he'd been raised, or there'd be no peace for him, ever.

"What's wrong?" Tamsin asked sleepily.

He looked down at her, wanting nothing more than to tell her that she'd won, but the words wouldn't come. "Nothing, hon, go back to sleep."

"The rain's stopped, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, the rain's stopped."

"What now?"

"We wait until the ground dries; then I take you back to Sweetwater for trial."

"Just like that?" The quaver in her voice turned him to jelly. "As though we hadn't…"

"No, darlin', not just like that." He kissed the crown of her head, inhaling the sweet, clean scent of her hair. "I'm going to get you a lawyer," he promised. "The best damn lawyer west of the Mississippi. And I'm going to stand with you, every step of the way until we get through this."

She made a small sound of distress. "All right, Ash. Have it your way. I'm just too tired to fight you anymore."

"I won't let you down," he promised.

"You'd better not."

A horse whinnied, and Ash reached for his gun.

"Hello the cabin!" a voice called from outside.

Tamsin rose and began to pull on her clothing as Ash motioned her to stay clear of the door.

"Be ye friend or foe?" the stranger demanded.

Ash lowered his weapon. "Jacob, you old grizzly, is that you?"

"And who else would it be in the middle of the night? Who be you, pilgrim? God-fearing or one of the wicked?"

"Not as wicked as you," Ash shouted back. "I'm opening the door. Don't shoot me." He glanced back at Tamsin to be certain she was decent. She'd given up the attempt to dress and had covered herself with a blanket.