A Worthy Pursuit (32 page)

Even as the thought presented itself, another argued. Hadn’t he promised to pursue her when Lily’s situation was resolved? A man wouldn’t say something like that unless he meant it, would he? Or unless he was a clever rogue who used promises like that to woo women into his arms. No, Stone wouldn’t do that. Her heart rebelled at the very idea. Yet hadn’t her heart proven untrustworthy in the past?

Moisture gathered in her eyes, but she bit her lip against the urge to let it roll down her cheeks. How desperate she must seem to him. The lonely spinster craving something so far above her reach. Stone Hammond—handsome, intelligent, valiant as any knight on a steed—he could do much better than her. He was just too kind to say the words. That’s why he said nothing.

She needed to leave. Now. Barricade herself in her room. Away from his pity. His apology. Charlotte jerked her arms back toward herself and shoved to her feet, her mind focused solely on escape.

His hands captured hers before she cleared the desk. His strong, wonderful hands. Hands that had rescued Lily from Franklin. Hands that had cupped her cheeks a moment ago as if she were the most precious of treasures. Hands that now held her fast, as if promising never to let go.

“Wait, Charlotte.” The raspy whisper didn’t sound like the Stone she knew. No confidence. No swagger. He almost sounded as if his throat were as constricted as hers. “Please. I . . .”

She still couldn’t bring herself to look at him, but she ceased trying to pull away from his hold.

“My feelings scare me, too.”

Charlotte’s head whipped around. Her gaze searched his face. The drawn line of his mouth. The tension working in his jaw. His eyes—gracious, his eyes. So intense. So sincere. Yet not without a flicker of unease, making the truth of his admission undeniable.

“I’m thirty-five years old, Charlotte. I’m rough around the edges, not much accomplished with book-learnin’, and I’ve grown so accustomed to the seedy underbelly of life that I’m not sure I would know how to live amongst normal folk. I’m guilty of bloodshed and violence. I’m about as far your opposite as a man can get.” He cocked a half grin at her, so self-deprecating it made her chest ache. “You’re elegant. Refined. More educated than I could ever hope to be. And the way you play the piano? I doubt even one of God’s angels could match it. You’re loyal, dedicated, protective of those in your care . . . and honey, you’re so dad-gummed beautiful it near suffocates me every time you unleash one of your smiles in my direction.”

Charlotte shook her head at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. Stone loosened his grip just enough to caress the backs of her hands with his thumbs.

“I want you in my life, Charlotte Atherton. More than I’ve
ever wanted anything. And it scares the living daylights out of me. Because no matter how hard I fight or how long I wait, I have no guarantee you’ll ever trust me with your heart.”

The first tear slid past her lashes and down her cheek. Then a second. And a third. He knew. Knew how broken she was. How afraid she was to love a man who might someday betray her. She’d learned to trust him with Lily’s safety, but with her heart? The shriveled organ throbbed painfully at the mere suggestion.

“I love you, Lottie, and I want to make you my wife.” Stone’s low voice rumbled between them. Ardent. Unwavering. Determined. “I’ll pursue you,” he vowed, “until a parson either joins us in marriage or speaks words over my grave.”

It was too much. The riotous joy. The soul-stirring terror. But it was the image of him in the cold ground, lonely and unfulfilled, and the knowledge that she was the one who had put him there that sent her fleeing. A sob in her throat, she tore her hands away from his and ran.

31

Stone caught her before she reached the door. “Don’t run from me, Charlotte.” His voice was more plea than demand. Perhaps that was why she ceased trying to pull away from him.

He loosened his grasp on her wrist, praying he hadn’t just made a mistake. She didn’t snatch her arm away, but neither did she look at him. She just stared at the floor as if the answers to all her questions lay embedded in the wood.

He knew he’d frightened her when he’d spoken of his feelings, and perhaps it would have been wiser to let her go, to give her time and privacy to work through her thoughts. But when he’d seen the fear flare in her eyes and realized she was about to bolt, he’d acted on instinct. He couldn’t let her go. Not now. Not ever.

Stepping closer, he turned his hold into a caress, stroking the pulse point on her wrist with the pad of his thumb. “We don’t have to talk about this now, darlin’.” Charlotte had a lot of years of hurt to get past before her heart would be willing to trust a man’s love again. So he’d give her time to get used to
the idea. And give himself time to prove worthy of that trust. “We have other things to discuss. Like Lily.”

That brought her face up. Stone smiled. Nothing like a little prod at the cub to get the mama bear back in a fighting stance.

“Right.” She cleared her throat and stood a little straighter. “The plan. You were supposed to explain.”

He ignored the touch of accusation in her voice. It
had
been his fault they’d gotten away from the original topic. Stone leaned his shoulder against the wall near the door, his gaze never leaving Charlotte’s face. “Lily told us about a secret book her grandfather keeps jammed in a crevice on the underside of his desk drawer. We’re pretty sure it’s a ledger, hopefully one containing blackmail evidence.”

“Hopefully?” Charlotte’s eyes narrowed.

Stone didn’t flinch. “Just hear me out to the end, all right?” Although the end wasn’t any better than the beginning. In fact, the worst part was yet to come.

Charlotte bit her lip, hesitated, then gave a tiny nod. She was trying so hard, God bless her. He wished he could make it easier, somehow shrink the chasm he was asking her to leap over, but it was what it was. No amount of pretty words would change it.

“Lily said it looked the same as the books Dorchester trained her to find in other men’s offices, and those books all contained business records. We have every reason to believe this book will be the same. And the fact that he hides it away increases the likelihood that it contains illicit accounts. Dorchester doesn’t know Lily discovered his hiding place, so he has no reason to suspect that we would make a play for it.”

“What kind of play are we making?” Charlotte asked. “And when you say
we
, you best be including me because there’s no way on God’s green earth that you are keeping me out of this. If Lily’s going, then I’m going.” She tugged her wrist from his
gentle hold and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a glare that no doubt sent lads in short pants scuttling off to schoolroom corners after being caught making mischief.

“I will never take Lily away from you, Charlotte. You have my word.” Stone gauged her reaction and inwardly rejoiced when a bit of rigidity seeped from her shoulders. “Not only are you included in this plan, you play an essential role. I can’t carry it off without you.”

Her arms didn’t uncross, but they loosened. He took that as a good sign.

“Once we get all the details settled, you will travel ahead of us to Houston and position yourself near Dorchester Hall. You’ll need some way to disguise yourself, of course, but Dan seemed to think Marietta could assist with that. Anyway, once you are in place, I will arrive with Lily in tow. After my run-in with Franklin, Dorchester will be expecting me. I’ll hand her over and demand payment. Then you’ll come barging in as if you followed me and make as big of a commotion as you can to keep Dorchester distracted. I’ll retrieve the ledger then get you out of the house.”

“What about Lily? We can’t just leave her there!” Charlotte’s arms dropped to her sides. “If Dorchester discovers what we’ve done, there’s no telling how he might take his anger out on her.”

Stone pushed away from the wall and placed his hands at her waist, afraid she might try to bolt again. “We’ll have to leave her there at least until nightfall. But I’ll have my man in Austin watching the house. We can give her a signal to use if she gets into trouble.”

Charlotte shook her head in large, fierce wags. “No. It’s too dangerous. I won’t have her at risk—”

“She already agreed to the plan, Lottie.” Stone kept his voice low, steady, hoping to calm her, but she only struggled harder.

“Of course she agreed. She’s nine! What does she know of danger? To her it’s all a big adventure, like something out of her Dead-Eye Dan novels.”

“The child just endured a kidnapping,” Stone reminded her. “She’s hardly innocent of danger.”

“But she’s naïve. She simply trusts you to save her again. She doesn’t know all the things that could go wrong.” Charlotte fisted her hands around the lapels of his coat and shook his entire torso. Or tried. “As impressive as you are, Stone, you can’t guarantee that she’ll not be hurt. You can’t control all the variables. There are too many.”

He ran his hands up from her waist to wrap them around her back and slowly pull her to him. She fought against him, but he was stronger. Little by little, he closed the circle of his arms until she stood trapped against his chest.

The fight went out of her then, and she sagged into him. He tucked her head beneath his chin and stroked the small line of skin along her nape, between her collar and her hair, doing his best to help her relax.

“You’re right, Charlotte,” he murmured close to her ear. “I can’t control all the variables. No human can. All I can do is use the experience and talents God has given me and trust Him with the outcome. There are very few guarantees in this life. The few that do exist come from God. The guarantee that He will love us and be faithful to us. He never promised us a life without hardship. In fact, I seem to recollect several places in Scripture where He promises that we
will
face such things. But even in that, He vows to be by our side through it all, to give us the strength to endure whatever comes.”

“I’m scared, Stone.” The words were barely audible, muffled as they were by his chest. But he could feel their vibrations against his heart. “I don’t want to lose her.”

And I don’t want to lose you.
“We’ll both be there, sweetheart. Watching over her. Protecting her. The minute I have the book secured and there’s no threat of Dorchester regaining possession, we’ll fetch Lily. It should take no more than a matter of hours. Ashe will help us.”

She tilted her head back, and he loosened his hold enough to let her meet his gaze. “Ashe?” she asked.

“Robert Ashe, the Texas Ranger I told you about. The one in Austin who verified your guardianship papers. I’ll wire him tomorrow after Dan and I take care of a little business with the marshal in Steward’s Mill. He’ll help us.”

“But we’ll be stealing Dorchester’s property. Surely a lawman would want no part of that.”

Stone grinned. “Ashe owes me a favor. He’ll cooperate. Shoot, he’ll probably try to get me to hand the ledger over to him so he can start building a case against Dorchester.”

“That could take months! If it ever even made it to court. Rebekah told me that her father-in-law had several judges and prominent politicians on his payroll. Even if Ashe found someone willing to testify, all Dorchester would have to do is get one of his cronies to throw out the case.”

“I suspected as much. Which is why I won’t do it. Lily’s safety is more important than making Dorchester pay for his shady business dealings.” For now. Once Stone convinced Charlotte to marry him, they could officially adopt Lily, thereby permanently removing her from Dorchester’s reach. After that, Ashe could pursue Dorchester to his heart’s content.

Charlotte’s long lashes blinked slowly over her eyes. “You’re going to use it as leverage, aren’t you?”

She was a smart one, his woman. Stone nodded. “Yep.”

Charlotte bit her lower lip. “I don’t like it. What if Dorchester calls your bluff?”

Stone raised an eyebrow. “Oh, honey. It won’t be a bluff. And I’ll make sure Dorchester knows it.”

“But what if the book isn’t what Lily thinks it is? Or what if he moved it and you aren’t able to find it? What if—?”

“Shhh.” Stone placed a finger over her lips. He wasn’t going to let her work herself up into a frenzy again. And if it took a heavy dose of reality to do it, that’s what he’d give her. “What if we do nothing and Dorchester sends Franklin or another retriever after her again? What if Dorchester puts a bounty on
your
head for kidnapping? He has three different cases he could possibly bring against you. Even if you weren’t convicted, the arrest alone could give him the ammunition he needs to seize custody of Lily. The longer we put him off, the more desperate he’ll become. And the more desperate he becomes, the dirtier he’ll play. The risk is greater if we don’t act.”

She said nothing. Just buried her head against his chest again and tightened her grip on his coat. At least she still trusted him for comfort. The rest would follow eventually. Stone rested his chin atop her head and held her.

“I love her, too, Charlotte,” he said, finally breaking the silence after several minutes. “I haven’t known Lily as long as you have, but that little girl already has me wrapped around her finger. I swear I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

Stone rubbed circles across Charlotte’s back, seeking solace for himself as well as her. “After I lost my parents, I didn’t let myself dream of family.” His throat suddenly threatened to close off, but Stone forced the words out. She needed to hear them, and he . . . well, he needed to say them. “I concentrated on physical things that could be purchased or achieved. I dreamed of owning a piece of land with a cabin that no bank could take from me. I dreamed of being a man others respected, a man who would have made my mama proud. Sometimes, in
the hardest times, I simply dreamed of a meal large enough to fill my belly.”

Charlotte shifted against him. No longer gripping his coat, her hands tunneled inside it to clasp him around the waist, giving comfort instead of taking it.

“I never allowed myself to dream of family because I knew firsthand how much it hurt to lose them.”