Page 81 of Texas Destiny
He saw two riders in the distance. He aimed his gun, his intent to kill them both. He dropped his hand to his side when he recognized Houston and Amelia. They’d no doubt grown worried and ridden out to find him.
He wiped the fresh tears from his cheeks. He’d rather face the horse thieves again than Houston.
Houston and Amelia brought their horses to a halt. Houston was out of his saddle and grabbing Austin’s shoulder before Austin had time to blink back any more tears. “Are you hurt?” Houston asked, his voice ragged with concern.
“No, just bruised. I wasn’t paying attention.” He sniffed, wishing to God he wasn’t crying like a baby. “Black Thunder hit a prairie dog hole. Snapped his leg in two. I had to shoot him.”
Houston jerked his head back as though Austin had just slapped him. “Where is he?”
Austin hadn’t expected him to want to see the horse. He rubbed his finger beneath his nose, buying himself some time while he thought of another lie. “I heard coyotes. I don’t think you want to find him.”
“No, I don’t reckon I do.” Houston removed his hand from Austin’s shoulder and walked past him.
Austin turned to watch his brother come to a stop and drop his chin to his chest. He knew Houston was hurting, and his guilt increased because he had no idea how to ease his brother’s pain. He was startled when Amelia took hold of his hand.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Yep. I didn’t mean to lose the horse.”
“He knows that.”
She strolled to Houston and he wrapped his arm around her, drawing her against him.
Austin didn’t think they were talking, just holding each other as though that was enough. He wished Amelia had kept touching him, but he figured Houston needed her more right now. Austin couldn’t remember how he’d felt when he’d lost his ma, he just knew the ache stayed with him, always there as though a part of him was missing. He imagined Houston was feeling that right now, and he was glad Dallas had brought a woman out here to ease their hurts because he and his brothers sure as hell knew nothing about giving comfort. A glare, a shout, a slap up side of the head was all they knew.
Amelia tipped her lovely face up and said something to Houston, and Austin would have sworn the man smiled. He drew Amelia closer until it looked as though they were one person before he moved away from her and walked back to Austin, Amelia strolling along behind him.
“I appreciate that you put an end to Black Thunder’s suffering. Putting a horse down ain’t an easy thing to do.”
The tears welled back up in Austin’s eyes. “What’ll you do for a stallion now?”
“As Amelia so kindly reminded me, I’ve got the palomino. Come spring, you and me will go find another stallion. I’ll take you into the herd with me then.”
Austin felt as though Houston was rewarding him for an action that he should have punished him for. “You don’t have to take me into the herd.”
“Said I would. A man’s gotta keep his word. Why don’t you mount up behind me, and we’ll get you home so Amelia can tend to your cuts and scrapes?”
Austin nodded in mute agony. His conscience had him feeling lower than a snake’s belly.
As night fell, Amelia sat on the front porch, lanterns on either side of her providing the light by which she worked, using patience, care, and delicate stitches to mend the torn green silk, wishing she could mend the tear in her heart as easily.
Her mother had told her once that it hurt to love a man. Her mother had been crying at the time. Amelia had decided then that she would never love a man who’d hurt her.
Yet she had fallen in love with a man who was determined to hurt her as his way of protecting her. She didn’t think she’d ever feel this yearning for Dallas.
She would care for him and grow fond of him. She would be a good wife, a wonderful mother to his children. She would gain his respect, his trust, but never his love.
And he would never hurt her. It was impossible to hurt someone who had given her heart to another.
She heard the mournful strains of the violin serenade the night. She would have joined Austin on the back porch, but she sensed that he needed to be alone. He hadn’t wanted her patience or her attentions when they’d returned to Dallas’s house. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was trying to punish himself for something that wasn’t his fault.
She had admired the manner in which Houston had handled the loss of his horse: without blaming Austin. She knew Houston was hurting tonight, had lost one corner of his dream. She wished she could be with him to ease his pain, but her place was here, waiting on the porch Dallas had built for her, waiting on the future that she had once anticipated.
Dallas was the man to whom she had given a promise, a promise she would keep no matter what the cost to her heart. He didn’t deserve her doubts or the betrayal of her feelings.
Austin’s music drifted into silence just as Amelia saw the rider coming in … at long last. She’d been waiting for Dallas, needed to speak with him. He rode to the house, dismounted, and wrapped the reins around the railing.
His spurs jangling, he stepped onto the porch. He wore a vest over his light brown shirt, chaps over his dark brown trousers. He swept his hat from his head and knelt beside her, his large tanned finger touching the green silk. “What’s this?”
