When they found him, he was so motionless Pilar just knew he was dead. She jumped down while an equally distraught Alanza did the same and they ran to his side.
“Noah!” Pilar called. He didn’t move. “Noah!”
She glanced in horror at the blood pooled on the back of his denim shirt. “Oh my God. How many times was he shot?”
“Noah!” Alanza cried. The bloodstain was spreading. He groaned faintly, but the sound put tears of joy in their eyes.
Drew came thundering up and dismounted in a flash. “What happened!”
“He’s been shot,” Pilar said.
A grim Alanza told Drew, “Help us get him in the wagon and then ride for Dr. Lloyd. Have her meet us at the house.”
Between the three of them they managed to get him to his feet. His head hung forward and he was like dead weight. Pilar said encouragingly, “Querido, move your legs. Help us please. Just to the wagon.”
His eyes fluttered open. “Pilar?” he questioned in a ragged voice. She bit her lip, determined not to cry. His glassy eyes found Alanza. “Hurt so bad, Mama,” he whispered.
“I know, but you must walk, son,” she urged. “We have to get you home.”
Where he found the will, Pilar didn’t know, but he somehow managed to propel himself forward a tiny step at a time. He was breathing so harshly by the time they reached the wagon, she wasn’t sure he had the strength to climb in. He did, with aid from Drew, but not without crying out. A tear slid down her cheek and she dashed it away.
“We’ll find out who did this, believe that,” Drew pledged angrily. He’d found Noah’s gun, and after passing it to Pilar, he ran to his mount and rode like hell up the road towards town.
“We have to slow this bleeding,” the worried Pilar said to Alanza. Seeing nothing in the bed that could be used, Pilar stripped off her shirt waist, tore it in half, and stuffed the pieces against the wounds before easing him back down. “Okay, Alanza, go!”
With her unconscious husband’s head cradled in her lap, Pilar held on while a tight-lipped Alanza turned the wagon around and drove for home.
Dr. Renee Lloyd, who’d trained back east in Pennsylvania and had recently moved to the area, was blunt about his chances for survival. “He’s lost a significant amount of blood,” she told the assembled family. “I removed three bullets and cleaned and stitched the wounds. All we can do now is wait. Those of you who have God’s ear should start your prayers.”
Alanza offered her a room so she could stay with them and she accepted.
Logan and Eli, who’d set out to see if they could track down the person responsible, returned that afternoon with a man in the bed of the wagon.
“We found nothing but a Spanish man. Said he was thrown by his horse. I think his leg’s broken.”
“Spanish?” Pilar asked.
Dr. Lloyd asked Alanza, “Would you mind if he was brought into the house?”
“No.”
Eli and Logan had the hobbling man held up between them as they helped him inside. As soon as Pilar saw his face, she picked up Noah’s gun she’d laid on a table, and before anyone realized what she was about, she stuck the gun hard beneath the man’s chin. “So, we meet again.”
Everyone stilled and stared.
She told the wide-eyed man in a cold and deadly voice, “If you even blink I will blow your head off. Put him in a chair, Logan.”
“Pilar, I—”
“Do it, Logan! Now!” She drew the gun back but she watched the man with hate-filled eyes.
As he was helped to a chair, the room went quiet as a tomb and he viewed Pilar warily. “I don’t know who you think I am—”
“Oh I know who you are.” And to prove it, she said to him in her crone’s voice, “Who’s your master?”
It took him a moment to remember meeting her on the docks that morning so many months ago, but when he did, he began shaking.
“You remember now. I was in disguise the day we met, but you weren’t. And now, I’m going to ask you once. Did Gordonez send you to kill Noah Yates?”
She heard gasps behind her but ignored them.
“And don’t lie to me. Noah is my husband and this is his mother’s house. The men you see are his brothers.”
“I—don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She shot him in his broken leg. His scream filled the house.
Ignoring his sobs of pain and terror, she promised, “The next one will be between your legs. Did Gordonez send you to kill my husband?”
He looked around and pleaded, “Someone help me!”
No one moved.
Pilar pointed the gun at his thighs and he froze, took in her deadly purpose and spat out through his tears, “Yes, you bitch, he did! He and the Douglas woman! Don’t shoot me again, please!”
Eli said, “I’ll go for the sheriff.”
Pilar put the gun on the table and left the room to go sit with her husband.
The next few days were a living nightmare for Pilar and his family. Because of Noah’s perilous condition, the doctor didn’t want him carried all the way upstairs, so he was put in a spare bedroom on the first floor. Pilar asked to have a cot added so she wouldn’t have to sleep away from him and one was brought in. Family members took turns sitting vigil with her, including her mother and Doneta. She apologized for not being able to make the rest of their visit the merry time they’d all envisioned, but they understood and vowed to stay with her until the crisis passed. Alanza spent most of the time sitting by his bed, too, leaving only to go to her chapel to light candles and pray.
Logan sat with her for a while during the third day. Because she hadn’t left Noah’s side, she had no idea what happened after Gordonez’s man confessed, so she asked him to tell her.
“Doc Lloyd removed the bullet and set his leg. The sheriff arrived a bit after that and took him away. I checked with him yesterday. Lavinia has been arrested for attempted murder and the U.S. Marshals grabbed Gordonez just as he was boarding a ship to leave the country. He’s been charged as well.”
“May they all rot.”
“You stood up for Noah in a way that scared the hell out of everybody in the room, Pilar. Thank you for your fearlessness.” He kissed her cheek.
“You’re welcome.”
As three days turned into four, Reverend Paul Dennis from the local church stopped by to offer prayers of comfort, as did Tom and Amanda Foster, and longtime family friends Lucy Redwood and her daughter Green Feather, who’d be leaving in a few days for her second year at Hampton in Virginia. Even Felicity Deeb and her husband Jim came over—although most believed it was just Felicity’s attempt to get back into Alanza’s good graces after not being invited to the wedding or Noah and Pilar’s party due to her rudeness to Billie when they were initially introduced last year. Naomi Pearl arrived to sit, too, and to assist Bonnie with the food. Pilar and the family were grateful for the shows of support.
Noah made it through the first four nights, but Pilar worried. When he wasn’t lying as still as a corpse, he was moaning, crying out, and thrashing around. During one of the violent episodes, Drew, in an effort to keep him calm, took a fist in the jaw.
“I think he’s having one of his nightmares,” she said as Drew tenderly worked his jaw to make certain it hadn’t been broken.
“What nightmares?”
“I don’t know what they are about, but he wakes up shaking.” And angry, she reminded herself.
Drew eyed his now calm but still fretfully sleeping brother. “Has he told you he was shanghaied?”
She nodded. “But only that it happened. He hasn’t offered any details.”
“I wonder if the nightmares have anything to do with that time. Something terrible must have happened, because he was so different when he finally returned to us.”
Pilar couldn’t say.
“Let me get some ice for my jaw. I’ll owe him one for this when he’s up and around again.”
“I refuse to believe he won’t reco
ver.”
“He will. Noah’s too ornery to die.”
She smiled for what seemed the first time since finding him facedown in the road.
“You love him, don’t you?” Drew asked her quietly.
She didn’t hesitate. “I do with my every breath.”
“He loves you, too. It’ll take more than a couple of bullets to keep a Yates man from his wife.” Drew gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hang on. And by the way, if anything like this ever happens to me, I want you standing right next to my Billie.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” And he left her sitting by Noah’s bedside.
Drew’s prediction was right. On the morning of the fifth day, Noah opened his eyes. Pilar wanted to shout with joy but held it in so as not to scare him into a relapse. “Good morning.”
“Where am I?” he asked groggily.
“In a bedroom downstairs. You were shot by one of Gordonez’s men.” She placed her hand on his forehead. It was still feverish but not as skillet hot as it had been.
“I remember you and Mama, but not much else.” Then as if his mind finally allowed the memory to form, he went still. “I remember the pain in my back. I was shot, wasn’t I?” He looked to her as if seeking verification.
“Yes. One high, the other lower, and one in your arm.”
“Where’s the man, now?”
“In jail, along with Gordonez and Miss Lavinia Douglas. She was in on the plot as well.”
“Good, then I won’t have to hunt them down. Poor Walt must be devastated by her complicity.”
Pilar was sure he was, but she was happy. The family prayers had been answered. Noah would live.
Chapter 25
Noah’s recovery was slow, so slow that by the end of the first week, he was growling like a tiger at anyone close enough to be a target—except his mother, his wife, and Dr. Lloyd, none of whom paid any attention to his demanding to get out of bed, ride his horse, or take the train to San Francisco to begin running his business.
His brothers, on the other hand, tried reasoning with him in an effort to make him understand why he was restricted to bed rest.
“Look,” Drew said to him that morning. “Your bad mood isn’t going to help you leave the bed any earlier, so you may as well play along with Pilar and the doctor. I took care of the package you were after the day you were shot. Inside were your copies of the paperwork from Walt’s lawyer. He wired me two days ago to say your foremen are running the shipyard in your absence and doing just fine without you.”
Noah bored with him a hostile glare. If he had to stay in bed one more day he was going to go mad.
Logan added. “And were you a better patient we might throw our weight behind you to try and get you a reprieve from the wardens but you aren’t ready. No sense in letting you up just so all those stitches can break free and you wind up flat on your arse for another two weeks. Stop being such a baby.”
“Get the hell out.”
“Gladly!” Drew and Logan said in unison.
Alone, Noah blew out a breath. No, he wasn’t being the best patient, but were they in his shoes, or bed, they’d be no better. He was being forced to use a bedpan, for heaven’s sake. Where was the dignity in that? So, because he knew he was right and they were wrong, he sat up. His back protested but he paid it no mind. Breathing through gritted teeth and ignoring the sweat suddenly drenching him, he swung his legs to the edge of the bed and sat for a moment to try and catch his breath. Fueled by stubbornness and sheer will, he haltingly stood on legs that had not been consulted beforehand and they promptly gave way.
Pilar entered the room carrying a tray and found him lying on the floor. Rather than be concerned she set the tray down. “How’s the ceiling look from there, querido?”
He growled.
“No cracks or signs of water damage?”
She walked over and stooped down beside him. “You’re an idiot, do you know that? And if I didn’t love you with all my heart, I would let you lie there for oh, three or four hours just to teach you a lesson.”
His startled eyes met hers. “You love me?”
“Of course, why else do you think I haven’t gone back to Florida? You’ve been rude, short tempered, and impossible to be around.”
He smiled. “I love you, too.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “Good. Now, I’ll go and get your brothers so they can help you back to bed. Their ridicule alone should make you never attempt to do this again until Dr. Lloyd says you are ready. Are we agreed?”
“Agreed.”
And because he kept his pledge, one week later he was able to leave the bed. He couldn’t do much more than walk to the water closet, which pleased him immensely, and out to the room’s verandah to take his meals and bask in the sunshine and fresh air, but each day he got stronger.
Another week of resting allowed him to attend Naomi and Eli’s wedding. He still tired easily so they left the reception early. As they got ready for bed, he said to her. “I’m ready to make love to my wife.”
Pilar, wearing one of the nightgowns he enjoyed removing, sidled close. “Are you sure you’re up to it? Think how embarrassing it would be if I had to go get your brothers to put you back in the bed, with us being nude and all.”
That earned her a swift but playful swat. “A wife is supposed to revere her husband not poke fun at him.”
“Then you can poke me as punishment,” she took him by the hand. “Come on.”
He was very much up to it, and when they were done, she drifted off to sleep in his arms and with a smile on her face.
As October arrived, the time came for Pilar’s mother and sister to return to Florida. They’d extended their stay to help Pilar and Noah through the crisis.
“I will miss you, very much,” Pilar said through her tears as she hugged her mother at the train station. She’d become so accustomed to having them in the house when she awakened each morning, it was going to be a difficult adjustment knowing they were no longer there and thousands of miles away again.
“I’ll miss you, terribly, too, Pilar, but we’ll return, and Noah has promised me you will come and visit us.”
She turned to him with surprised eyes. It was the first she’d heard of this.
He explained, “Since your uncle and I remain business partners, I’d like to go down and look over the operation once I get caught up at the shipyard, and since Drew and Logan have invested, too, maybe the entire family will want to go, and we can chip in for a private car so we don’t have to ride with the pigs.”
Pilar thought that a grand idea. That he’d not said anything to her beforehand didn’t upset her. She was glad he’d made the pledge.
Her next hug was for Doneta. Her she’d miss the most. Billie and Mariah were wonderful sisters-in-law and she loved them dearly but her love for Doneta held a special place in her heart. “Going to miss you, too.”
“I’ll stay longer next time and maybe we can find me a husband like Noah,” Doneta said, hugging her tightly. Christopher hadn’t worked out. At some point during the aftermath of the shooting, he’d gone home, but Pilar had no idea when and Doneta hadn’t wanted to talk about it.
Pilar kissed her cheek. “You have a deal.”
The train chugged into view, spitting smoke and brimstone from its stack. Pilar was glad to see her mother throw her arms wide for a hug from Noah and he stepped forward without hesitation. “Take care of my daughter,” she said.
“Always. Travel safe.”
He and Doneta shared a hug as well.
The conductor announced it was time to board. With her tears running freely now, Pilar watched them disappear inside. Soon she saw both faces in a window and then their waves. The whistle blew shrilly and the train began to move. As it chugged away, Noah slipped an arm around her waist as if he knew she needed his solace. “I will miss them so much.”
He kissed her forehead. “We’ll see them soon. I promise.”
Pilar was a bit melan
choly for the rest of the day and that evening, as she stood outside watching the moon come up, she hugged herself in response to the chill. “How much colder is it going to get?” she asked Noah as he stepped out to join her and fit himself against her and circle his arm around her waist. “Just a bit.”
She twisted around to look into his face. “Is that the truth?”
“No.”
She playfully jabbed him with an elbow.
“But as I promised, I’ll keep you warm. In fact, how about I take you inside and warm you up right now. Give you something else to think about besides missing your mother and sister.”
“You’d do that for me?” she asked, turning fully this time to face him.
“For you, I’d be willing to make any sacrifice.”
“I’d like a nice soak in a warm tub. Do you think you can sacrifice enough to join me?”
He made a point of thinking it over. “Yes, I believe I can do that.”
She eased herself closer and purred, “Thank you. And for being such a wonderful husband you get to choose what you want me to wear after we’re done in the tub and remove it when you’re ready.”
“Have I told you I love you today?”
“Not sure but you can tell me while we’re getting warm.”
In the weeks that followed, Noah threw himself into his job as the new owner of the Douglas Shipyard and looking for a house. Noah planned to keep Walt’s name on the sign out front in honor of his passing away right after the attempt on Noah’s life. He was certain Lavinia’s involvement stole the last few precious moments her father thought he had left, but his death spared him having to witness his daughter’s trial. The man she and Gordonez sent to kill him was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony and was promptly deported back to Cuba. On the last day of the trial, Pilar and Noah sat in the courtroom as Lavinia and Gordonez were sentenced to life in prison.
“They got what they deserved,” Pilar remarked as they sat in the buggy he’d rented for their stay. They planned to return to the ranch the next day. “And in a way my father received justice today, too. My mother will be pleased.”