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Drop the
knife and get the hell out of here before I change my mind!"
    The knife clattered to the floor and Micajah was out the door
in an instant. Picking up the fallen weapon, Bodene said quietly, "Hell
be back, you know that, don't you?"
    "Yes, and I'll say it for you—next time I might not be so
lucky," Savanna muttered, not meeting his eyes. She wasn't about to
admit it, but this recent attack by Micajah had scared her. If she'd
had any doubts about the extent of his mulish infatuation, it was now
glaringly obvious that he just wasn't going to give up; he was going to
keep trying, and one of these days… Savanna shivered. If Bodene hadn't
been there, it might have ended very differently than it had, and she
was miserably aware of that unpleasant fact. Because of her own
stubbornness, Sam might have died, and it didn't bear thinking about
what she would have suffered at Micajah's hands. Bodene was right—there
was no use letting her pride destroy her.
    She glanced resolutely over at her cousin. "How long do you
intend to stay?" she asked reluctantly.
    "As long as it takes to convince you to stop being a
muleheaded little fool!" he snapped, the obstinate thrust of his jaw
very apparent.
    Her eyes traveled over to Sam, and meeting his dark,
compassionate gaze, she knew the decision that she had to make.
    Savanna couldn't remember a time when Sam and his two sons
hadn't been part of the household. While Elizabeth had been busy
tending the tavern, since his wife had died years before, it had been
Sam, in between helping Elizabeth, who had watched over all the
children and seen to their needs.
    Savanna and Bodene had grown up playing with Isaac and Moses,
who were just a few years older than Bodene. Elizabeth had been there
for soft hugs and gentle kisses, but Sam had been their main parental
figure. He'd been a kind tyrant, fair but implacable about what he
expected from them, and his hand had warmed their bottoms on more than
one occasion. As Savanna had gotten older, her mother had explained
that Sam and his children were actually
owned
by
Davalos; that since he was gone so often and he didn't want them lazing
around, he had ordered them to stay with her and earn their keep.
Savanna had been appalled, and when Davalos had died, giving Sam his
freedom papers had been one of the most satisfying acts of her life. In
the intervening years he had repaid her a thousand times with his
unstinting loyalty.
    A tender expression suddenly crossed her face. If it hadn't
been for Sam's volunteering to accompany her when she had decided to
leave Campo de Verde, she doubted that she would ever have been able to
accomplish all that she had—or that Elizabeth and Bodene wouldn't have
forcibly restrained her from setting off totally on her own. Neither
Elizabeth nor Bodene had been happy about the situation, but with Sam
willing to go with her, most of their arguments had evaporated. While
she had been recklessly determined to make O'Rourke's Tavern a success
all on her own, there had been many a time that she had been grateful
for Sam's solid, reassuring presence, and there had been times without
number when Sam had come up to her while she had been intent upon some
backbreaking task and said softly, "Well, now, missy! It looks as if
you could use some help. There is no cause for you to be working
yoreself into the ground when I'se around. Didn't I tell yore mama that
I'd look after you just as I alwus done?"
    There were many desperate situations that Savanna could have
endured, but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if Sam were
badly hurt or killed because of her. Straightening her slim shoulders,
she flashed a rueful look at Bodene. "I'll need a few days to get
things organized. There's an old trapper friend of Sam's who might be
willing to move in and take over everything until I decide what to do
with the place, but he has to be found and that might take a while."
    Bodene relaxed for the first time since he'd left New