Saving the Gunslinger

Chapter Fifteen

Samantha laid her hand on his cheek. "People who find that kind of love are blessed, Zachary. Your parents were blessed to have one another."

Zachary gaze lowered to meet hers. Those deep brown eyes spoke words that left her speechless just before he lowered his head and pressed the lightest of kisses to her lips—barely more than a brush of skin on skin that left her legs shaking and her heart pounding.

"They didn't get a happy ending though, Sam," he reminded her as he pulled away and walked back to that boulder, sitting down on it and staring down at his calloused hands. "I was nineteen when it happened. My sisters were ten. Susan and Sara were good girls—angels really. My parents had a boy between me and the girls but he didn't live more than a few days. My mama took it real rough and I think that's why they waited so long to have the girls. Clinton Matthews had asked around and realized my family was wealthy. He tried to befriend my pa to scam him out of money but my pa saw through him especially after my mama told him that Clinton made her feel uncomfortable. He sent the bastard on his way and we thought that was the end of it."

Samantha went to the rock and was going to sit beside Zachary but he was quick to grab hold of her and pull her onto his lap, wrapping his arms tight around her. Their bodies so close together caused a strange combination of heat and peace and swirl in Samantha's blood. She didn't pull away or argue that such contact wasn't proper. She didn't care about propriety. Sharing this intimacy with Zachary somehow felt natural, and she knew that while Zachary was physically very strong, he very much needed her to help him with his heartache.

So, Samantha laid her head against his chest, looked down at the water bubbling past, and waited for him to speak again. "I had been gone playing poker and drinking and spending time with paid women—just like most nineteen year old boys do if they get a few days away from their parents. When I came home, I knew right away something wasn't right. It was mid-morning and my mama should have been out in her flower gardens. She was always humming or singing while she weeded and pruned them—she took a lot of pride in those things. My pa should have been tending to the horses. The girls should have been running around chasing chickens or playing jump rope. There should have been laughter, talking, humming, singing, happiness.... But there was nothing. Just this heavy, oppressive silence that chilled me to the core. I never imagined it would be anything as bad as it was. I just thought maybe they were ill or someone wasn't feeling well. I put Blaze up in the barn and headed inside."

His arms around her tensed. His voice was tight. His brown eyes simply stared at the grass but she knew they weren't seeing the blades swaying in the breeze. They were seeing the past. "I don't need to give you details on what I found. I don't want you having that in your head and you saw enough. Just by seeing the scene, I knew they'd been killed the night before—and if I'd have been there instead of out being foolish I could have saved them..."

"Don't do that," Samantha quickly interjected, raising her head. His brow raised as he turned his gaze down to her. "Don't blame yourself, Zachary. You couldn't have known the evil that lived inside that man or what he would do."

"But if I had been there..."

"You'd be dead." She knew her answer was blunt but she also knew it was the truth. "I saw enough to know he surprised your parents—you would have been just as surprised. And I'm sure he wasn't alone. Do you know how many people Clinton Matthews and his men have killed trying to get me? I carry that guilt, Zachary, because had I just gone with him..."

Anger flashed in Zachary's brown eyes and possessiveness deepened his voice. "He won't ever touch you, Samantha. And nothing he's done is your fault."