Wishing for the Rancher’s Love (High Country Ranch #5)

Chapter 23

23

Rage burned in Grady’s gut. Even if Elbert hadn’t hurt Clementine, Grady wanted to kill him. Maybe not literally, but he wanted to teach him a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget.

Elbert’s heavy, flat footsteps slapped against the gravel as he raced away.

Grady’s long legs easily ate up the distance, so within seconds he was grabbing Elbert’s coat and dragging him to a stop.

When Grady had entered the alley a few minutes ago, he hadn’t known which way to go. He’d decided on the route that would lead a stalker out of town more quickly, and now he was glad he had. It hadn’t taken him but half a minute to see the two in the distance with the light from the nearby saloon illuminating them.

As he’d drawn closer, he’d realized the stalker wasn’t holding Clementine. They’d appeared to be talking. And as soon as he’d recognized the stalker was Elbert Meriwether, he’d stuffed his revolver back into his holster and instead readied his fist.

“Don’t hurt him, Grady.” Clementine’s tone chastised him.

From everything he’d been able to assess as he’d neared her, she hadn’t been harmed in any way except that she was still coatless and cold. But he wasn’t listening to her right now. He was too mad.

He yanked Elbert to a stop.

The fellow yelped.

Grady spun him around and then threw a punch. His knuckles connected with Elbert’s cheek and nose.

“Grady Worth!” Clementine shouted behind him. “I told you not to hurt Elbert!”

Elbert had closed his eyes and was cringing, clearly preparing himself for another hit. Blood was already flowing from his nose down his mouth and chin.

The man deserved at least one more hit for the way he’d terrorized Clementine, didn’t he? And it would certainly teach him that Clementine was Grady’s and that Elbert had better not look at her again—not even sideways.

“Let him go.” Clementine was hauling on the back of Grady’s vest, but even as she did so, he could feel her shaking. He didn’t know whether it was from the cold or from everything that had happened. All that mattered was getting her inside and warmed up.

Grabbing the front of Elbert’s coat, he pressed his face close. “Don’t you ever come near Clementine again, do you hear me?”

Elbert gulped, then nodded.

“She’s mine.” He practically roared the words, but he didn’t care. The more people who knew that Clementine was his woman, the better. “Mine.”

Elbert nodded again.

Grady straightened but didn’t let go of Elbert’s coat.

Clementine had cocked her head and was watching him with a scowl. “If you’re done acting like a barbarian, maybe I can explain what happened.”

“We’re getting you inside first.” He drew Clementine into the crook of his body but at the same time kept a one-handed grip on Elbert, dragging him along as he hurried them down the alley back toward the hotel.

Of course, Clementine didn’t wait to share her explanation. Instead, she told him the details of what had transpired. Elbert readily confessed to the stalking, including taking an extra key from the general store so that he could let himself in whenever he wanted.

“It’s all my fault,” Clementine said as Grady led her through the front door of the hotel after handing Elbert off to one of the firefighters with the instructions to hang on to him tightly and not let him sneak away.

“What Elbert did was wrong.” Grady guided her into the sitting room, which was untouched by the fire and now mostly cleared of smoke with the windows open.

She was still tucked against his body. “He wouldn’t have done any of it if I hadn’t given him that box of candy to begin with.”

“That’s not true, Clementine.” He swiped up the knitted blanket draped over the nearest wingback chair. “Elbert has obviously cared about you for a long time, and he was just biding his time for the right moment to express it.”

“But I should have been more careful about leading him on and making it seem like I was interested. You were right about it all.”

He crossed to the nearest window and began to close it. “A lot of what I said about your flirting was because I was jealous.” He could feel her eyes on him, watching his every move with an interest that would have sent heat shooting through him if he weren’t still too mad at Elbert and too scared by the thought of what could have happened to her if it had been anyone else more dangerous.

“What I’m trying to say”—he finished closing the first window and then moved to the second—“is that a woman’s friendliness, even when it’s too flirty, is never an excuse for a man to disrespect her.”

“I still had—have—a responsibility not to lead men on.”

“I won’t argue with you about that. But Elbert should have talked to you instead of hiding behind his notes and fake flowers.”

“Maybe with his stutter, talking is hard.”

“Having courage is hard too, but necessary.” With the windows pulled down, Grady turned his attention to the stove.

Clementine huddled beneath the blanket in the middle of the room, still shaking and still watching him, her forehead creased with worry. “What should we do with Elbert? Should we talk to him and then send him home?”

Grady knelt beside the coal bin. “As soon as I’m done here, I’m taking him over to the sheriff’s office and having him locked up in jail.”

“No, Grady. That’s not necessary—”

In the process of opening the stove door, Grady paused and leveled what he hoped was a severe look upon her. “He started a fire in the hotel.”

She opened her mouth to say more, but then pursed her lips and nodded.

“He put many lives in danger tonight with his recklessness.” Not to mention he’d kidnapped Clementine. And that was in addition to all the stalking, including the note with the death threat. Long-term, maybe Elbert would be fine and realize he’d made mistakes. But in the short term, Grady had no choice but to make sure the fellow wasn’t able to cause more problems.

Grady added fuel to the fire, stoked the flames, then situated Clementine in a chair close to the warmth. She was somber and didn’t say much as he left the room.

He retrieved Elbert and then headed down the street to the sheriff’s office, where the jail was located. Of course, with the fire having caused a commotion, the sheriff was awake and milling about on Main Street. At the sight of Grady with Elbert in tow, he crossed over and wasted no time in taking Elbert inside and locking him in the one and only cell.

Grady relayed the events of the past two weeks as the sheriff recorded the details. Of course, Grady left out the part about faking the engagement to Clementine. As far as he was concerned, their engagement was real.

The trouble was, now that they’d discovered who the stalker was, they didn’t need to get married so hastily. In fact, they didn’t need to get married at all.

As Grady finally left the sheriff’s office and stepped out into the November night, he expelled a tight breath and peered up at the black sky. Stars covered the expanse, revealing the imposing mountain peaks that rose all around the town.

What should he do?

Even though his heart tapped out a need for Clementine that would never go away and could never be denied, he also knew that they wouldn’t have been considering marriage right now, or even a relationship, if they hadn’t been facing danger. And now that the danger was gone, he didn’t want to pressure her.

Maybe it was best if they returned to Breckenridge and had time to court properly. He could work at winning over her heart so that when they finally did get married, she would be doing it because she loved him, not because she felt coerced.

Yes, he knew she was attracted to him to a degree. There was no denying the heat that flared between them. But attraction was different from love. And he wanted her love. If he was really honest with himself, he’d been wishing for it for years. A little more time wouldn’t matter, would it?

Waiting was the right thing. There would be no wedding tonight.

He lowered his head and tried to fight off the disappointment that crowded against him.