Six weeks had passed since Randee Marie Hollis and Marshall Logan, Jr. had married on Sunday, July sixteenth. Afterwards, they had recovered the five thousand dollars which they had buried outside of town on June seventeenth. The money, gold, payrolls, and jewels that Brody and his gang had stolen were being returned to their rightful owners, as were the ranches which had been wrongfully taken. Foley Timms had been captured and hanged. Lawyer George Light was in prison. In exchange for mercy, after revealing everything he knew about Brody Wade’s evil scheme, George was helping the authorities straighten out the mess which Brody had made during his reign of terror.
Marsh and Randee didn’t know it yet, but they were expecting a child, the first of three in their long and happy life together. The H/L Ranch—for “Hollis bar Logan,” their new brand—was being rebuilt, and soon would be prosperous and beautiful again.
Marsh Logan had retired from his job as Special Agent for the President. He had told Randee how he had become good friends with Sloan “Pete” Peters and what Flossie had misunderstood long ago when the saloon girl had overheard them talking and laughing about that false Nebraska incident. The adventurous and daring Miss Sloan Peters had been one of the best agents for the American government during the Civil War. The multitalented Yankee lass had met Marsh during one of her missions while he was working with the Galvanized Yankees. After Marsh became a Special Agent, they had worked together several times on other cases, especially when a couple was needed.
During that horrible war, in one of Sloan’s covert and perilous cases, she had worked against Quantrill’s Raiders by using a strategy similar to the one which Randee and Marsh had used against the Epson Gang. She had been exposed and captured one day while passing information to her contact. As punishment, Sloan had been beaten and ravished by two of the raiders and left for dead. Sloan’s illegitimate daughter had been the result of that brutal incident. Three years later while working in a small town, one of those raiders had come upon her and the child. He had demanded to know if the little girl was his, behaving as if there was a way Sloan could know which man was the father, and acting as if he had fatherly rights where the child was concerned! Fearing her daughter would be in danger and might discover her dark heritage if she were allowed to remain with her mother, Sloan had sent the girl back East to her parents, to be schooled and reared there until she could make enough money to join them. To swiftly earn more, Sloan had gone to work in the Pleasure Palace. She eventually became the owner’s mistress, then his partner, and lastly, the sole owner. But having a lucrative business which provided the money for her child’s and parents’ support, and knowing a woman could not find such a profitable job back East, Sloan had been unable to join them yet.
Without her knowledge, Fate had intruded on her dream. During a drunken bout, Sloan’s ravisher had revealed those wicked tales to a new friend named Carl Bush, who had found a way to use the information.
Neither Randee, nor Marsh Logan—who had known about Sloan’s misfortune and child—had seen any reason to tell Sloan of Carl’s vicious treatment and blackmail of Flossie. There was no need to hurt the lovely redhead, who recently had sold the Pleasure Palace and moved back East to live with her parents and to rear her daughter. A wealthy gambler had come to town, recognized the good prospects for the place in this rapidly growing area, and had made Sloan an enormous offer for it. Making sure she left no trail behind for either of her ravishers to follow, Miss Sloan Peters had joined her family to begin a new life.
Before long, the Texas & Pacific Railroad would plan and build routes along the very lines which Sheriff Brody Wade had marked on his dream map. Fort Worth would become a giant in the cattle-shipping business. The progress and expansion which George Light had mentioned also would come to pass within a few years.
Astonishingly, a letter had been found in an old mail sack from a robbery long ago— a letter to Marsh from his parents.
The President—knowing of the trouble and heartache for Marsh and his parents due to the secrecy and dark allegations which were vital to Marsh’s job—had written to the Logans to reveal their son’s position with him, and he had sworn them to secrecy to protect Marsh and themselves. But the missing letter was one which had been sent— to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands—to Marsh, in care of the President, in response to the truth which the President had revealed to them. Recently located in the discarded mail sack, it had been sent on to the President, who had forwarded it to Marsh four weeks ago.
The letter—dated only a week before his parents’ deaths— expressed their love and pride in their son and their remorse over their lack of faith in him. It revealed how Marshall had confessed his adulterous guilt to Judith, and she had forgiven him. Marshall had taken the blame for driving Marsh from home and for the trouble between them, and for what he had believed falsely about his son. The now-deceased man had gone on to explain:
“I guess I was trying to prove I was a real man after my many failures that year. We’d never been able to have a child, so I was perhaps trying to see if that failure was also mine. Although you were adopted, Marsh, we couldn’t love you more if you were our own flesh and blood. We don’t know who your real parents are. We got you at a mission in San Antonio when you were a year old … .”
Afterwards, Marsh had talked the matter over with the Durango Kid, who was almost a year younger than Marsh. The two had concluded they were brothers, and had decided it didn’t matter who or what their parents were. Marsh had signed over the Logan property near Jacksboro to Durango so his younger brother could also begin a new life on his own ranch. Randee and Marsh had insisted on Durango splitting the many rewards for the defeat of the Epson Gang so he would have money to buy, stock and to build a home and barns. Fortunately, everything was working out for all of them.
Dee Hollis Slade had sold her property in Kansas and moved to Wadesville, using the money to buy the town hotel and Brody’s home. With a place to live and a way to earn a living, Dee could be on her own. She could meet new people, and give the newly weds privacy. Dee was swiftly becoming the woman she had been before the evil Payton Slade had entered her life after her love’s stunning death.
Randee had met with her mother after the woman’s arrival so they could talk about the past and about Payton’s fate. Dee had confided shamefully, “I used Payton to get over the pain of Randall’s loss. I know it was wrong to feel betrayed and angered by his death; I even blamed him for dying and leaving me. I needed someone to fill my time and mind so I couldn’t think about your father. I was so alone, Randee, so terrified and miserable. There was so much work and responsibility for you and the ranch. I feared what would happen to us. I had no one to hold, no one to comfort me, advise me, help me, defend me. I was so selfish that all I thought about was me, me, me!”
“It was a difficult time for you, Mother,” Randee noted softly.
“Not as bad as it was for you. I pulled away from you. I used you to punish Randall for deserting me. You are so like him, Randee, and I couldn’t bear that resemblance sometimes. That was wrong and cruel, Randee, but I couldn’t help myself. Every hour of the day and night, I knew Randall was gone forever. I wanted him and missed him so much that I ached all over. I don’t know what got into me. It was like … like I went crazy for a while, as if I had to move fast, as if I would suffer and die if I slowed down or stopped to think. Something evil and powerful, was pushing me onward, was controlling me.”
“You’ve had a long trip, and you have lots of unpacking and settling in to do. You don’t have to talk about this today, Mother.”
Dee stroked her daughter’s blond hair and refuted gently, “Yes, I do. Now that I understand what possessed me, I have to explain it all to you. I have to earn your forgiveness and love.”
“You know I love you,” Randee said honestly.
“Please, hear me out while I have the courage and words. Payton entered my life and took over when I was too vulnerable and too weak to resist. All I had to do was obey his orders and he would handle everything for me. I didn’t have to think or worry or be afraid. Noth ing concerned me except love and pleasure, or what I thought was a second chance at them. I got in deeper and deeper with him and lost myself. It was as if I were walking and living in foggy woods where I could see only mist, not myself or you, or what he was doing to us. I wanted to feel young, feel carefree and whole again. I wanted to smile and laugh, to be kissed and caressed. I wanted the terrible agony and emptiness to go away. In my crazed mind, I wanted to show your father I could replace him. For a long, time, I honestly believed Payton was filling my dreams and needs.”
Dee halted to catch her breath, but Randee held silent for her to continue in a few minutes. “I know you hated and mistrusted Payton. In my crazy state, all I feared was you driving him away and leaving me alone again with that awful anguish I’d endured at your father’s death. I was tormented by terror. I was irrational, blind, stupid. Payton was so clever and enslaving that I lost myself to him.”
“What made you come to your senses?” Randee asked kindly.
A pained expression filled Dee’s eyes and her voice choked. “After the baby was lost, I saw him as he was. He was mean and cold and cruel. He dominated me and humiliated me. It was clear he only wanted Ran dall’s ranch and a respectable image, and it was clear he was only using me. Hints and signs had always been there, but I had ignored and denied them because I couldn’t face the ugly truth about myself. I was so weak, so confused, so foolish. Randall wasn’t to blame for dying; he didn’t betray or desert me. He wasn’t careless and he didn’t want to leave us through death. How could I have pushed you away and punished you so cruelly when you needed me the most? We needed each other, Randee. I’m sorry I was too dazed and selfish to realize what was happening to me. Can you ever forgive me?”
Randee embraced her mother and smiled through happy tears. “Of course I forgive you and love you. I’m glad you told me everything, Mother, and I, truly understand. Don’t continue to blame yourself for a mistake. Father loved you dearly and you loved him. I can see how his sudden death grieved you and changed you. Maybe you can let go of that pain and loss now and begin anew here.”
Dee returned her daughter’s smile and agreed, “Yes, I think the dark past has finally freed me. I’m going to have a new life here, a happy one like Randall would, want for me. I’m going to forget Payton Slade ever existed, and I hope you’ll do the same.”
Randee felt it would accomplish nothing by revealing Payton’s evil toward her, so she held silent about it. Dee had suffered enough, too much. She let her mother believethe man had come to Texas to seek possession of the Carson Ranch, an act which had gotten him savagely beaten and killed in an ambush by “bandits.” She also didn’t think it wise or kind to tell her mother about the arrests— thanks to Marsh’s Kansas contacts—of Payton’s hirelings, or of their involvement in Randall Hollis’ murder. If Dee learned she had been sleeping with the man who had slain her love and who had tried to ravish her daughter, the woman’s new existence might be endangered.
Marsh and Randee cuddled together in their bed, talking and planning. She remarked cheerfully, “I think everything is going to work out wonderfully for Mother and Durango. They both have new lives, good ones. Too bad she’s too old for your brother,” Randee teased.
“You trying to find Durango a replacement for you?” he jested.
“Nope, just trying to find Mother a man almost as great as you.”
“If you’re looking for a proper match for Dee, I might know just the man. My old friend Jim Brinson has finished his duty at Fort Richardson and is heading this way to become our new sheriff. He’s the right age and has good breeding. He’s nice-looking, kind, gentle, and strong; you know, all those traits you women love in a real man.” He chuckled and nibbled at her ear. “After you meet Jim, you can decide if we should have them both to supper on the same night.”
Randee recalled the Army officer from the attack on the raiders near Jacksboro. Yes, she remembered, he was very nice-looking, a man with a sunny smile and a muscular build. After learning Jim Brinson was arriving soon to take Brody’s place as the sheriff of Wadesville, Marsh had told her all about his old friend. Yes, she concluded, Jim was the perfect selection for Dee Hollis Slade ….
Marsh kissed the nearly healed wound on her shoulder, hating to imagine what his life would be like without Randee. Her arms encircled his neck, and their kisses intensified their cravings.
He nuzzled her ear and murmured, “It amazes me, woman, but the more I have you, the more I want you. Mercy, but I love you and I’m glad I found you.”
Randee hugged him tightly as she teased, “Settling down isn’t so bad after all, is it, my roguish drifter?”
Marsh ticked her and replied huskily, “With you, nothing is bad, Randee Logan. And certainly not this.”
Her fingers wandered over his hard body, admiring its texture of soft skin over hard muscles. He made her feel so loved, so special.
Randee hoped her mother and his younger brother would one day find a love like theirs: strong, rich, wonderful, and enlivening. She wondered, If Marsh had been the youngest child and the men’s roles had been switched by Fate years ago, would she be married to the Durango Kid? Somehow she knew she would have loved and chosen and wed this man here with her tonight, no matter which role in life he had been given, be it Marsh Logan or the Durango Kid.
Their kisses and caresses waxed bolder. They stimulated each other to higher yearnings. Their passion blazed fiercely and brightly in the dark room, and the heat of it inflamed them. As if his lips were a branding iron, he marked his possession of her from head to foot.
Greedily, Randee responded to her handsome and virile lover, her cherished husband. He was so consuming. She writhed beneath him and urged him to take her fully and rapturously, which he did.
Together they savored the bond which would never, be broken between them. Together they claimed passions wild and free ….