Only 06 - Winter Fire

bandaged wounds in his left leg and arm bothered him, he certainly didn’t show it.
    For Conner the exuberance of being alive hadn’t worn off in the hours since he and Sarah had ridden into the ranch yard leading mustangs laden with silver. Despite the circles under his eyes, the colorful bruises on his forehead, and two chunks taken out of his hide by bullets, he was overflowing with energy.
    Smiling, Sarah put her hands on either side of her brother’s face. Beneath her palms she felt the subtle roughening of his skin that spoke of the man he was becoming. Bittersweet pleasure twisted through her. Shelooked into clear, deep green eyes that reminded her so much of their father that her heart ached.
    â€œListen to me, Conner. Please. Take your half of the silver and go East. With an education, you can travel anywhere, do anything, be anything.”
    The smile left her brother’s face. Gently he lowered Sarah to the floor and returned her searching look.
    â€œI know,” he said. “And in a few years, I might. But first I want to get the ranch to a stage where it will feed and shelter you no matter what.”
    â€œMy half of the silver will do that.”
    Conner gave her an odd look, as though he had been expecting a different answer. His next words told her what that answer was.
    â€œWhat about Case?” he asked bluntly. “You love him, don’t you?”
    Sarah wanted to tell Conner that it was none of his business. Unfortunately, it was. He and Case had more in common than her brother guessed.
    They both owned half of Lost River ranch.
    Somehow she had to make her brother understand why the man she loved didn’t love her. She didn’t want Conner and Case to become enemies over her.
    â€œYes, I love him,” she said. “But my love alone isn’t enough.”
    â€œHell, he must love you or he wouldn’t, uh, well, hell .”
    The smile she gave her brother was as painful as her thoughts.
    â€œIt’s not like that for a man,” she said simply.
    â€œWhat kind of man would—” Conner began angrily.
    â€œA good man,” she interrupted. “A gentle man. A man who healed the wounds left by my past. A man whose own past left him afraid to love.”
    â€œCase isn’t afraid of anything.”
    â€œUnwilling, then. Or unable. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Case doesn’t love me.”
    â€œHow can anyone not love you?”
    Softly, helplessly, Sarah laughed when she would rather have cried. Then she hugged her brother very hard.
    â€œIt’s all right,” she said. “Truly, Conner. Don’t be angry with Case. He has given me more than any other man, more than I ever believed a man had to give to a woman.”
    Conner’s arms closed around her, surprising her with their strength and fierce protectiveness.
    â€œMoney doesn’t last,” he said finally. “The land does. Once I build up the ranch, you’ll never want for anything. You’ll be as free as those hawks you love.”
    â€œThat’s the same thing I want for you.”
    â€œFor me freedom is here, not in some Eastern school.”
    If Sarah had seen the least hesitation in her brother’s eyes, she would have argued.
    But there was none.
    The time for argument and persuasion was over. Whatever had been left of the child in her younger brother had died during his night of captivity and the gunfight that followed.
    Conner was no longer a boy. He was a man and he had made up his mind.
    With a long, shivering sigh of acceptance, Sarah stood on tiptoe to kiss her brother’s cheek.
    â€œAll right,” she said. “It’s your choice to make, not mine.”
    He returned the kiss as gently as it had been given.
    â€œThank you,” he said.
    â€œSo quiet?” she asked huskily. “No throwing your hat in the air and crowing your victory?”
    â€œYesterday I might have. But not today. Today it’s enough just to be alive. After the Culpeppers jumped me, I didn’t expect to see another dawn.”
    A grim look settled on Conner’s face. Up to this moment, neither he nor his sister had talked about the long night or the battle that followed. They had simply takenthe silver bullion back to the ranch and buried it even as Case and his brother were burying Culpeppers in Spring Canyon.
    Despite a bullet wound in his arm, Morgan had insisted on staying to help with