Page 44 of A Redemption Mountain Christmas

Lucien remembered when Ford had shown him a crude drawing of the structure the previous summer. He’d offered to stay to help Ford build the stable. It took them less than a weekto complete the structure, meant to be used for bad weather days.

Dismounting, they traded out the bridles for halters, allowing the horses to drink from the water trough and eat from wooden feed bins. Ford met them as they stepped onto the porch, holding out his hand to each.

“Just get back?” Ford asked.

Lucien nodded. “I came out as soon as Julia said you wanted to talk. The children?”

“Are safe at the Pelletier ranch. Let’s go inside. I’ll tell you what I know.” Ford opened the door, ushering them inside. “Tess and the children are at Ty’s house. She knows nothing.” He mentioned her brother-in-law who lived a few miles south.

Lucien nodded in understanding.

Without offering, Ford poured three cups of coffee. “Sit down and we’ll talk.”

The three took seats at the table, cradling the cups to warm their hands.

“Two children, a boy, Tommy, and a girl—”

“Sherilyn,” Lucien completed for him. “Tommy should be about nine. Sherilyn around six.”

“Have you gotten word about your brother?” Ford asked.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Lucien shook his head. “I figure he and his wife are dead.”

“I don’t know many details other than your brother’s attorney sent them to live with you. It’s odd, though. Bernie Griggs told me he wasn’t holding a telegram for you.”

Letting out a breath, he stared into his coffee. “Yeah. My brother and I made an agreement years ago, right after Tommy was born.” He removed his hat to run fingers through thick, prematurely gray hair. “Never thought it would come to this. I don’t even have a place to live. The ranch near Bozeman is, well…as of last week, it’s no longer mine.”

Ford nodded. He, Lucien, and Booker understood the life of a wandering man hired for his gun. The three had played many roles but never included being hired to kill. The distinction was why the three had formed what some would call a friendship, and maybe it was.

Lucien hesitated. “You say they’re at the Pelletiers’?”

“Yep. Two deputies found them a few nights ago, huddled together behind the general store. They were freezing and hungry, so the deputies took them to the clinic. Clay, Drake, and a woman doc on her way west took care of them. From what I understand, the woman is staying at the ranch, so they took the children there.”

“They’re all right then?” Lucien asked.

“That’s what I understand.”

Lucien nodded, relief flooding through him.

“One of you want to tell me what’s going on?” Booker asked, looking between them.

Ford looked at Lucien and nodded. “It’s your story to tell, my friend.”

Chapter Twenty

Leaning back in his chair, Lucien closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back to the last time he’d seen his family. Booker’s question didn’t bother him. The memories are what ate at his soul. The memories of the family farm, his brother, the wife Lucien once had, and the daughter they’d once shared. How had he let everything meaningful slip away?

“It’s not complicated, Book. I left the family farm in Missouri years ago. Changed my last name from Weber to Hunt when I started getting hired for my skill with a gun. My younger brother stayed, got married, and never left Missouri. They had two children, Thomas and Sherilyn.”

“What are you going to do?” Booker asked.

Ford stood, grabbed the pot from the stove, and poured them more coffee. Setting the pot back on the stove, he returned to his chair.

“What I promised. I’m going to ride to the Pelletier ranch and get my family.”

Booker’s eyes widened. “But where will you live? How will you provide for them?”

Lucien thought of the money in the pocket of his jacket. Enough for a ranch near Splendor or anywhere in Montana or the Dakotas.

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