Heart of an Outlaw *First in the Crane Gang series*

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

 

          “Hey there, Gill. You look lonelier than a bumblebee in winter,” Pete said as he joined Gill beside the large oak tree that they had climbed together as boys.

          “I don’t even know what you’re talking about half the time,” Gill replied, leaning his back against the rough bark.

          Pete chuckled. “Neither do I.”

          “Shouldn’t you be with Jane?” Gill asked. They had buried Billy at just past dawn the day before and Wyatt had yet to wake up—things were tense and everyone was on edge waiting to find out if their friend was going to live or die.

          “She’s finally sleeping,” Pete replied, his shoulders falling and revealing just how run down the man truly was. It was odd to see Pete looking so down trodden. The man had always been obnoxiously upbeat. “Where’s Jeb?

          “Sleeping. He fell asleep in the barn loft and I just let him be.”

          “Our sleeping beauties,” Pete mused, attempting to force a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Gill, I don’t want to add to the tension in your broad shoulders but, those Rangers were looking for us and now they’re dead…. We’re in trouble.”

          Gill shook his head. “If those ranchers heard the shots they didn’t come investigate them. No one knows we shot them. I’m going to send their badges back to base just so their wives can have their benefits.”

          Pete gave a small humorless laugh. “You’re something else, Gill. After the way those men always treated you, the way they acted as if you were the dirt beneath their boot heels and you’re still worried about them.”

          “No, not them,” Gill countered quickly. “I just don’t want to see their wives and children pay the penalty. Ad there’s always the fact that they thought they were on a rescue mission.” Gill’s stomach churned. “I killed Rangers, Pete.”

          “I did too,” Pete reminded him. Pete’s eyes rolled when he saw Gill opening his mouth again. “There you go with that overthinking nonsense again! They attacked us, Gill! You didn’t see them shoot Billy in the back like it was nothin’! They shot him and didn’t waste time with warnings or attempted arrests. They were gonna kill all of us—even you. They never meant to take you alive and well back to Captain Morgan regardless of whether you were a prisoner or not.” Pete fixed Gill with a firm gaze. “And you know good and well that’s the truth, even if you won’t admit it.”

          Gill sighed and laid his head back against the old oak. The tree that had been his refuge when he’d been a child and climbed up into those branches, laying on his back and staring up at the leaves, all the worries of life fading away.

          He wasn’t sure why he’d come out to this tree tonight. Mostly he’d been hoping that once again the tree would take away his worries, doubts and guilt. He’d been hoping it would be just like old times…. But it wasn’t. The tree didn’t seem so vast now that he’d grown a bit bigger. It no longer held the same awe as it had when Gill had been a boy.