Honor and Desire (Gold Sky #3) - Rebel Carter Page 0,83

the threat.

A dark chuckle went up from the other two men, but the laughter was cut short by Forrest striding forward and firing off a shot as casually as if he were asking the time. The bullet hit the man in his knee and he went down with a howl.

Forrest crouched down and jerked the man’s hands behind his back to tie them with the rope he had. “Talk like that will get you hurt, son.”

The men fell silent and thankfully all were tied and deposited in the wagon Will brought around in short order. Seylah was shaking, the earlier high of the shootout leaving her both exhausted and restless. How she was able to be both things at once she didn’t know. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath walking away from the men. She needed a moment to get herself together. She leaned against the building, the wood at her back making it easier to focus on slowing her breathing, on grounding herself into the moment. When she opened her eyes she felt steadier, she would be able to face her fathers now as a rational adult and--

“Seylah. Are you all right?” Forrest and Will were there in front of her. To everyone else these men were law men, ex-soldiers, keepers of the peace, but to her they were her parents. Two men that she saw were tired and hurt, but still looking to her comfort.

She nodded and flushed at the tears that escaped her eyes. “Yes,” she croaked and gave them a jerky nod. “Yes, I’m all right.”

Forrest enveloped her in a tight hug. “Sweetheart, you were amazing.”

“Oh, Seylah. I’m so proud of you.” Will joined the hug and the joint pressure of her father's arms around her set her to sobbing, albeit quiet sobbing. She couldn’t have the McCarron gang knowing she was soft.

“I was so scared. We went after you when there was no word and then I saw your horse,” she told Will, drawing back to give him a tearful look. “I thought I’d lost you. We had to come after you.”

“Came up on an ambush, lost the horse that way,” Will told her with a frown.

“Would have let it go but you know how your daddy is,” Forrest added, earning a glare from Will.

“That was my favorite horse. If you think I was about to let them get away with it, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Forrest shook his head and gave Will a hard eyed look of his own. “And that’s how he ended up here worrying our daughter to death.”

Will winced. “Didn’t mean for that to happen. Things went astray this morning with them.”

“As in very wrong. We’re getting too old or this, Will.”

“I know.”

“Can’t keep chasing after every outlaw that kills a horse.”

“You repeatin’ what you said a hundred times this morning won’t change that we did.”

“Does that mean you’re going to stop?” Seylah asked, looking between her fathers who were locked in a battle of stares. She’d grown up with this sort of bickering between the men, knew it didn’t mean much other than a normal parents’ spat but that didn’t change the fact that Forrest was right, they couldn’t keep on as they had been.

Will looked towards her then, his gray eyes softening. “Suppose it does.”

Forrest reeled as if he had been slapped. “Truly?”

Will gave a nod of his head and then looked back to Seylah. “Truly. And I think from what we saw here today that Gold Sky is going to be in capable hands. Don’t you think so, Seylah?”

This time it was her turn to gape at Will. “What?” she whispered not trusting herself to speak any louder.

“You did amazing here. As good as any man, as good as any deputy would have hoped to perform.” Will put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. “How do you feel about becoming Gold Sky’s newest deputy?”

Forrest chuckled at the strangled sound that escaped his daughter’s lips. “I think she likes that fine,” he said and Seylah nodded vigorously.

“Yes,” she said, bobbing her head and throwing her arms around her parents. “Yes, I--oh, Daddy you don’t know how happy that makes me!”

The men hugged their daughter and looked at the other over their daughter’s head. “I think,” Will said after a moment, “I think it’s time we talked about retirement.”

Forrest’s eyes softened, and he leaned close to drop a kiss to his husband’s mouth. “It’s about time, old man,” he said. Will sighed, but said