The Last Outlaw by Rosanne Bittner

Author:Rosanne Bittner [Bittner, Rosanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2017-09-04T18:30:00+00:00

Twenty-eight

It was warm enough that Jake could clean up outside while Randy slept. He finished his ritual of washing and shaving and scrubbing his teeth with baking soda. He intended to go inside and make love to his wife. Randy loved that; she was always more relaxed in the mornings.

For once, not every bone in his body ached—just his hip, where he’d taken that bullet in a shoot-out all those years ago in California. Randy was hurt that day, and he could have lost his son. It had been one of those times when he was sure his wife was better off without him and should divorce him.

He’d left her… He’d left her. He’d spent nearly two years on the Outlaw Trail, trying to forget her, but those had been the most miserable two years of his life. And when he finally found a way for them to be together again and came back, he’d found her faithfully waiting for him. And with their daughter.

“Shit,” he grumbled, dumping the used pan of water.

He hadn’t been there for either child’s birth. He’d walked out on Randy just before she’d had Lloyd, scared to death at the idea of being a father. And when she had Evie, he was getting drunk and gambling on the Outlaw Trail, trying to forget her, while she nearly bled to death. The doctor’d removed all the parts needed to bear more children, and that broke her heart. And there she’d been, going through that alone.

He kicked the empty pan in his guilt and frustration, sending it flying several feet away. He couldn’t count all the ways he’d failed her, the best woman he knew. There she lay in the cabin, almost thirty-two years since that first day, and after all he’d put her through, she still lay there sleeping, happy as a lark.

He’d never taken Miranda Hayes Harkner for granted and never would. If she’d ever chosen to leave him, he would have let her go. He had no right trying to stop her. Then again, how in hell could he have gone on with life without her in it? At times he felt he had no right to go to her bed, though nothing gave him more satisfaction. All the whores in the country couldn’t come close to what he’d found with Randy…because she loved him, and that made all the difference. He had to be one of the most unlovable men who ever walked. And when they were together, it was more than physical pleasure. That’s what made it all so beautiful and fulfilling.

He breathed deeply of the cool mountain air, the sweet smell of pine filling his nostrils. This was where he found the most peace, and Randy was a part of it. As he headed for the door, he heard a wolf howl somewhere in the distance.

He hesitated. The last time he’d heard wolves howl in daylight, it ended up being an omen. Disaster had struck the family—twice. He’d nearly lost his son in Denver…and nearly lost his wife last winter.

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