Chapter 7

The rider raced up the lane to the Bar-T Ranch outside of a small town in Colorado and jumped from the horse.

The telegraph operator had flagged him down 10 minutes before and told him to deliver it to Brad Wheatley quickly.

Wheatley seemed surprise to see the rider but he was even more surprised at what he read.

URGENT

Mr. W. Stop.

Found man Powers knows. Stop.

Await word. Stop.

Jacob.

END

Brad stood there and looked at the man for a moment. He wondered if old Mortimer knew who the message was from or what it contained.

"Davis said I should wait for your answer," Mortimer said.

"I'll ride in and give it myself," Wheatley answered. "I got to make a stop there anyway."

Mortimer nodded. "Hope it ain't nothin' bad, Mr. Wheatley," he added.

"Nah, nothing bad," he replied. "Just something I need to attend to quickly."

Jacob left the room and found Marnie sitting in his. She was still crying.

"I'm sorry, Jacob," she said quietly when he walked in.

"Nothin' to be sorry about," he answered as he sat beside her and put his arm around his shoulder. "Well, maybe announcin' to the world that you were my wife without announcin' it to me first. Other than that, I can't think of a thing for you to apologize for."

She glanced up sheepishly.

"I guess there are two reasons for apologizing then," she said. "I'm sorry that I've put you in this position. I know you want to put that sort of life behind you."

Jacob pondered for a moment before he spoke.

"You didn't put me in this position," he answered. "I did. Jones did. Juliette did. Susan had a small hand in it but she did so innocently. You had no part in it and I won't have you feeling bad about something that isn't your fault."

"I brought you over here," Marnie insisted. "I brought Susan home with me. I set the whole thing in motion."

Jacob noticed that Marnie hadn't moved away and had instead rested her head on his shoulder.

"Well, you can't be faulted for taking in your kin," he said. "Like I said, Jones and Juliette decided to do what they were going to do. But I'm not sure they understood the consequences. Susan wants what she wants. I know she doesn't understand the consequences. I am the only one in this thing that knows for sure what my actions will bring. Marnie, I ain't opposed to killing a man. That hasn't changed. What I hate is killing men who don't need to be killed.

"That boy in Kansas, Ann's brother, killing him bothers me because I still wonder what decision he would have made if I offered to bring him back with me like I did Annie. If I made that offer to him in a private place instead of in front of the camp he might still be alive and he might be getting his life together at the Double-M."

"Or he might have snuck up behind you one night and killed you," Marnie replied.

"Or he might done that," Jacob agreed. "Least then I would have had a reason to kill him. As it was, the only reason I had was because I didn't want him to kill me. Well, that and the fact that I didn't want him to turn into me."

Marnie pulled away and turned to Jacob.

"I'm going to say this one time and one time only, Jacob Dunleavy," she said angrily. "Any mother would be happy to have a son turn out like you have. I know I hope your children turn out just like you. Jones put himself in danger by marrying the woman who promised herself to you. But he put himself in a casket by using her and dumping her by the highway. I have no doubt that what I told Susan is true. If you thought for a minute that he had changed you'd let him live. Not just because of who you have become but because of Susan.

"You try not to care about anyone but I can tell you care about her. Part of that might be because you care about me but not all of it. You can deny it if you want. But you don't want to see Susan hurt any more than you want to see Ann hurt."

Jacob nodded.

"I don't really want to see anyone hurt," he said. "I stopped to help you out for selfish reasons. I just needed someplace to be that was quiet and safe. If you hadn't been who you are — if you hadn't insisted on jumping in and helping out on everything that needed done — I would have fixed things up the best I knew how and rode off.

"I couldn't do that, Marnie. You told me that I treated you with respect. Hell, Marnie, you earned that respect. I suspect your nature hasn't changed much since you were a girl, so you probably always deserved respect. I couldn't deny you what you deserve."

Marnie blushed slightly then put Jacob's arm back around her shoulder.

"Now, about the saloon," she said. "I guess there is two reasons for what I said there, too. First, I didn't want Jones to think he'd won anything. I wanted him to know that you found someone who loves you — and someone he couldn't take away. Of course, I also wanted you to know that. But that is still part of the first reason."

Marnie stopped for a moment. Then a determined look settled on her face.

"Come with me for a minute," she said and she stood up and took Jacob's hand. She led him down next door to Susan's room. Jacob was a bit surprised that the girl was still in there — and that she was cleaning up the mess she had made.

"Susan," Marnie said quietly. The girl stopped what she was doing and turned to face her aunt. Susan still had tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Marnie," she said. "I've acted stupid and spoiled. I hope that you'll forgive me someday."

Marnie smiled.

"Oh, I already forgive you," she said. "I wasn't much different when I was your age."

"Do you forgive me, Mr. Dunleavy?" Susan asked.

"I was never upset with you other than how you acted toward your aunt and toward Annie," Jacob answered. "You've apologized to Marnie. When you apologize to Ann, I'll have no reason to be upset with you."

"I'll apologize to her when we get back," Susan said. "I'd like to leave here as soon as we can. But Mr. Dunleavy, I want to apologize for making things harder for you. First you had to whup me. I know you didn't like to have to do that but I made you. Then you're here and you're going to have to kill Jonathan. I know a part of you wants to do that but the fact I dragged you here made it necessary."

Jacob started to answer but Marnie spoke first.

"Susan, I think Mr. Dunleavy is a bit formal," she said sweetly. "I think you can call him Uncle Jacob. He's my husband."

Susan glanced from one to the other.

Jacob turned to look at Marnie.

Marnie just smiled.

"Jacob, were you going to answer Susan, dear?" she asked.

"Uh, well," he stammered. "I reckon so. Susan, uh, well."

Marnie patted his arm.

"Let me get this out of the way, Susan," she said with a hint of a smile. "I announced in the saloon — in public — that I was Jacob's wife. He didn't correct me. Now I have told the only person I still consider family. He didn't correct me."

For the first time in hours Susan smiled.

"Guess that does it then," she said. "Welcome to the family, Uncle Jacob."

Then in an wholly uncharacteristic move Susan strode across the floor and gave Jacob a hug and a small kiss on the lips.

Jacob stood like a statue waiting for one or the other to speak. He would have spoken but there were no words that came to his mind.

"Jacob, we're in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, they have common law," Marnie said after a pause. "If we announce in public that we're married and we inform our families that we're married, then we're married. It doesn't matter where or when or even if we wait 15 years between the announcements. Usually the couple announces things together. But since you didn't correct me either time when you had the chance it still works the same."

Jacob stared at Marnie who blushed.

"That was the second reason I announced it at the saloon," she said as she pulled him down to sit beside her on the settee. "But I'll give you a chance to correct me if you want."

Jacob was still staring at Marnie. He knew he loved her. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life near her. What he wasn't sure of was what all of it meant.

"Are you sure about this, Marnie?" he asked. "I mean you know about my past. What happened in Kansas and what happened today might happen again. I didn't make many friends in those places and the enemies I made might pop up from time to time. Are you going to be OK with that?"

Marnie smiled and leaned in to place a kiss on Jacob's lips.

"Yes," she said. "So long as you handle things the same way you did in Kansas and come home to me, I'll be fine."

She turned to Susan who was fighting back tears again.

"Susan, your Uncle Jacob told me a couple of minutes ago that he was sure you didn't mean for any of this to happen," she said. "That means he considers what is going on here an accident and you don't need to apologize. Is that right, Jacob?"

Jacob nodded.

Susan quickly sat down on Jacob's lap — which further confused him.

"That's Uncle Jacob," she said. Jacob suddenly had Marnie's head on one shoulder and Susan's head on the other.