Saving the Gunslinger

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Zachary was pacing back and forth. His hat was clenched in one fist by his side and he kept shoving his other hand through his thick black hair. Samantha couldn't make out what he was saying but she could hear his deep voice muttering as he strode left and right. Zachary's face was a tangled mask of rage and pain.

Samantha simply stood there beside that stream with pain in her heart and the feel of Zachary's kiss still lingering on her lips. Her mind was swirling with the shock and confusion of recent events. Riding along with Zachary, laughing, feel so at peace. Opening up to him, reliving the terrible events that had led to her life on the run. Zachary holding her so tenderly against him, those strong arms making her feel safe, secure, and protected. The hunger in his eyes, the fire in his touch, and the passion in that kiss as he had all but devoured her on the streambank. His assurances that he would keep her safe, that he wanted to stand at her side. Finally saying the name she had kept hidden for two and a half years—and now Zachary's reaction to hearing that name.

It was obvious that Zachary knew Clinton Matthews. But how? Had he met him during the five years he'd been chasing his family's killer? Was he friends with Clinton? No. No, she knew that wasn't the answer. Not only was Zachary too good a man to be friends with someone like Clinton Matthews, but his reaction to hearing that name certainly didn't invoke feelings of friendship.

So, what was it?

Samantha had to calm Zachary down if she wanted to find out. The man was as lost in his pacing and his thoughts as she'd seen him the day he'd burnt the farmhouse down. Saying his name once didn't seem to reach the man so instead, Samantha approached him, stood in his path and reached out her hands, placing them firmly on his chest to stop his pacing.

Zachary's dark eyes were tormented when they met hers. Samantha swallowed hard, hating to see the man so lost—and yet knowing his expression was matched by her own. "Zachary, what is it? How do you know that name?"

His free hand was suddenly on her hip, sending shockwaves that ricocheted throughout her body as firmly yet gently gripped her and pulled her closer. "That's the bastard that killed my family."

Samantha could not hide her shock. Her jaw dropped as she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. "He.. he was?"

Zachary nodded. He glanced out over the horizon and squinted at the midday sun. "Yeah. My pa came from money—a lot of money. He inherited everything his parents had when they passed young and he had investments in oil and the railroad that made that money grow. He met my mama, and she was a dirt floor poor farm girl from Kansas. She wasn't a bit impressed by all his money when he used it to try to woo her and she refused his advances. Pa claimed she laughed at him and it wasn't until she saw him taking care of her grandmother that she realized the man was more than just his coin purse. Once she opened up, they fell in love quick and knew each other less than a month before they married.

"When my mama's grandmother passed away shortly after that, she wanted to go somewhere else with pa and start their life together. He told her she could have whatever she wanted—whatever life she craved. Big cities, mansions, foreign counties, he offered her the world."

Zachary paused a moment as the ghost of a smile curved his lips. Samantha wasn't certain why he was telling her these things or what they had to do with Clinton Matthews, but she was happy to see Zachary opening up and discussing his family—she was humbled that he trusted her enough to let his guard down and do so.

"What mama wanted, all she asked her wealthy husband for, was a simple farmhouse, some cattle, some horses, some crops, and a garden full of flowers. So that's what pa gave her. And they built that life and that family and worked side by side to do it. They were married for twenty-three years and never had a cross word between them."