Only 03 - Only You

Finally he sank down with Jessi and disappeared in the meadow’s long, lush grass.
    A bitterness that Reno refused to acknowledge as grief twisted through him, memories like razors slicing him, making him bleed in secret.
    Once he had chased Eve through this meadow, caught her, and pulled her laughing down into the grass. Once, but no longer. Now even the memory of their shared passion was a pain he couldn’t face, so he shoved it down in his mind, condemning it to darkness.
    Yet the pain remained, reflected in the new brackets on either side of his mouth.
    Tried to cut a deal with Slater. Cut a deal with Slater. Cut a deal…
    Slowly Reno became aware of his brother standing nearby, watching him with shrewd gray eyes, holding a pair of saddlebags over his arms.
    “Sure is a wonder to hear Wolfe laughing,” Rafe said. “Makes a man feel good just watching them together.”
    Reno grunted.
    Rafe’s smile was a warning any man other than Reno would have heeded. Rafe had been waiting impatiently until concussion and physical pain no longer hazed his brother’s eyes. Rafe wanted to be certain that Reno would hear and understand each word with great clarity.
    The waiting was finally over.
    “How’s your head this morning?” Rafe asked blandly.
    Reno shrugged.
    “Glad you’re feeling better, baby brother,” Rafe said. “We were all real worried about you.”
    The look Reno gave his older brother didn’t invite convesation. Rafe ignored it and kept talking.
    “Yessir,” he drawled, “the story went through the countryside like wildfire. A gunfighter called Reno, a Spanish treasure map, and the girl from the Gold Dust Saloon.”
    Reno’s eyelids flinched at the mention of Eve, but he made no other response.
    If Rafe hadn’t been looking closely for a reaction, he would have missed it. But he missed nothing. His smile widened without becoming a bit warmer.
    “I was in the Spanish Bottoms when I heard you were trapped in a blind canyon and were going to be cut to bloody rags by Slater and a passel of Comancheros,” Rafe said.
    “They tried.”
    “By the time I got there, nothing was left but coyote bait.”
    Reno’s smile was a cold match for his brother’s. “It was a near thing.”
    “That’s what Caleb said. He came up on me when I was reading sign after the fight, trying to figure out which way to go. That man’s like a ghost. Near scared me out of my boots.”
    More laughter floated up from the meadow, a man and woman’s voices joined in celebration of the sheer joy of being alive.
    Reno looked away from the sunlight and grass, trying to forget the time when he had laughed and breathed in the heady fragrance of lilacs from Eve’s hair, her skin, her breasts.
    “Seems word had gotten to Cal through that Comanchero squaw one of his men keeps,” Rafe continued. “I’ll tell you, brother, that was one hair-raising trail you found out of the blind canyon.”
    “It was better than what Slater had waiting for me.”
    “Well, Cal and I decided on the sensible route.We took after Slater. He left a lot wider trail than you did.”
    “I didn’t expect friends to be following me,” Reno said dryly.
    “You left signs for me.”
    “Just covering my bets.”
    “Bets, huh?” Rafe said sardonically. “Appears you’ve turned into quite a gambler since Canyon City. Must have been Eve’s bad influence.”
    Reno’s mouth thinned even more beneath the black stubble that covered his cheeks.
    Rafe pretended not to notice his brother’s grim reaction each time Eve was mentioned.
    “We hooked up with Wolfe and Jessi on the far side of that mesa you blazed a trail over,” Rafe continued. “One of Wolfe’s Indian friends had told him you were in too much trouble to shoot your way out of alone, so Wolfe and Jessi came on the run.”
    Reno barely heard. He was too busy trying to shut out the sound of laughter coming from the meadow where Wolfe and Jessi enjoyed the sunlight and the day and each other.
    The rippling music of feminine laughter haunted Reno, reminding him of everything he wanted to forget.
    “…Caleb came on Slater’s guards just after they were changed,” Rafe said. “No sooner had he taken care of them than he heard someone go by. Turned out it was Eve, on her way to spy on Slater’s camp.”
    Abruptly Reno started to get up.
    Rafe uncoiled. A single swift motion of his foot brought his brother down. The blow was as unexpected as it was precise.
    Reno looked at his brother in