Denver (46 page)

“I know.”

“Mary,” Dan said, bending his knees so he would be on her level, “this is the last time I’ll go there, and I won’t touch her.”

She smiled and touched his cheek. “I trust you, Dan. That’s part of love.”

He kissed her long and passionately, his hand splayed in the small of her back as he held her pressed to him. When he stopped, his breathing was ragged and his voice husky. “I swear there will never be another woman to interest me. I couldn’t conjure up any interest if I tried. Because I did try, Mary, with Dulcie and Louisa when we came back from the mountains, and I just couldn’t…They might as well have been posts.”

She laughed and hugged him, so happy she thought she might burst with joy. “Oh, Dan! That’s absurd, but I’m so glad!”

She squeezed his waist and he swung her around for a last long kiss. He finally went to work, deciding to go to Dulcie’s about noon, when she was the least busy. He bent over a cabinet, smiling as he worked.

Mary hummed, cleaning up Paddy’s wood shavings in the parlor. She dusted the room, going over tables that were already polished and free of dust, her thoughts on Dan constantly. She stood near the front windows, pausing to watch an elegant carriage halt in front, and she wondered who could be coming to the boardinghouse in such a fine vehicle.

She stared with curiosity as a man opened the door and stepped down, striding up toward the house, packages in his hands. He was dressed in an elegant gray suit, a beaver hat perched jauntily on his head, and
her heart seemed to stop beating as she looked at his pale skin and white hair. Handsome, dashing in appearance, the man strode up the front steps and knocked at the door.

Mary’s heart thudded. Silas was home.

She went to the door, gazing through the oval beveled glass at him. He must have made his million, because he looked as if what he was wearing cost a fortune.

She opened the door and faced him.

“Mary,” he said, stepping inside and setting boxes on the floor, turning to take her in his arms. “I’m back, love, and I did just what I said I’d do, and more! A whole lot more, Mary. I’m a millionaire several times over and I’ve come home to you!”

Silas laughed and squeezed her and leaned down to kiss her. Mary turned her head and pushed against him, twisting away out of his grasp. “Silas! You’d send a person into shock!”

“Mary, I’m home! Come here.”

“This is a surprise. You should have let me know you were coming.” she said, studying him, thinking that even if Dan hadn’t come into her life, she couldn’t rush into Silas’ arms now. He was a complete stranger. He looked taller, more filled out, and incredibly successful. And flamboyant, so different from the Silas who had told her good-bye and to wait for him.

“That’s a fancy carriage,” she said, realizing he hadn’t come straight home to her. He had been to some city to acquire such elegant clothes and the expensive carriage.

“It’s a brand-new Hamilton coach I bought in St. Louis. I had it delivered here on the train. I can’t believe Denver has a railroad now!”

“You were in St. Louis?”

“Yes. I couldn’t come home to you looking as if I’d just crawled out of a mine shaft!” He laughed. “Don’t look as if you can’t believe it’s me. I told you I’d come back to you.”

“Four years ago,” she said, her thoughts running over the fact he had gone from prospecting out west to St. Louis. He had passed Denver. “Actually four and a half years ago now.”

“I know it was a long time and I didn’t write, but I
brought things to make up for it. “Here.” He thrust boxes into her hands.

“Come into the parlor,” she said, wondering if Silas had considered her feelings at all. “We need to talk.”

He followed her, glancing around, moving about the room to touch things. “Mary, I thought you’d have all this fixed up better. I sent money.”

“I wouldn’t use it.”

He frowned. “You wouldn’t take it? Did Dan give it to you?”

“Yes. He said it’s in the bank in my name. I tore the papers up and threw them at him.”

“Why? You were angry because I didn’t write,” Silas said, answering his own question. He had tossed his hat aside, and moved to stand only a few yards from her, a puzzled frown on his face. He was handsome and he would draw attention everywhere he went, and she suspected he was pleased to do so. The carriage would make everyone in town take notice. And she had a feeling that it was going to prove more difficult than she had expected to convince Silas of her decision.

“That was part of why I didn’t take the money. It wasn’t mine to use, and I’d rather have had you come home than send money. Money wasn’t that important.”

“I don’t know how you can say that. This place needs attention. I’m glad to see you did do some repairs. It has new walls all along this side.”

“Yes. We had to do that, and I used my own money. Pa had an accident and blew a hole in the wall,” she said, feeling as if she were talking to a stranger.

“Paddy is the same as ever,” he said impatiently.

“No, not quite. He’s stopped inventing so much of the time and he’s into carving more.”

“I’m sorry, Mary, that it took me so long,” Silas said. “I’ll make it all up to you, the years, the silence.” He picked up a stack of boxes and held them out to her. “Open your presents.”

“Not yet, Silas. Sit down and let me talk to you. Where did you make your strike?”

“In California. And it was a big one.” He stared at her with a frown, and she saw he was beginning to comprehend that things had changed.

She looked at the large ring on his finger, the gold pocket watch and chain draped across his satin vest, the soft woolen coat and trousers and polished boots. “You got exactly what you wanted,” she said quietly.

“Yes. We can do as we please, live where we want. I want to take you to a big city. I always thought I’d want to come back to Denver, but now I’ve seen other cities. As fancy as Denver is, I don’t want to stay on the frontier. I want to go east.”

“Silas, you were gone too long. You left me alone. I didn’t hear from you, I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive until Dan came to Denver.”

“I promised you I’d come back.”

“People can’t always keep their promises, and you know it. I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t know if I’d have to wait one year or twenty years.” She took a deep breath. “And I really wasn’t in love with you—while you were gone, I found that out.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about? I’ve dreamed of you. I’ve—”

“Silas, you’ve dreamed of a woman who was part memory, part imagination. We weren’t wildly in love when you left. You love gold a lot more than you love me. I didn’t know what love was when you left. You were good and kind and fun and handsome, but it wasn’t love.”

“What are you saying?”

“I didn’t wait for you.”

“Lord! You’re married?” he asked, standing in agitation.

“No. But I’m in love and I expect to marry him.”

“It’s just because I was gone. I love you now, and I loved you when I left Denver.”

“No, you didn’t and you don’t. You couldn’t have left me like that and never written or come back or anything. It’s over, Silas. I love someone else.”

“Give me a chance,” he urged, crossing the room to take her hand. “You have to give me a chance.”

“I know what I want,” she said, raising her chin, “just as you always knew exactly what you wanted. And you went after it.”

“I want a chance to win you back.”

“It’s far too late. I’m deeply in love, and it’s forever.”

He swore and stared at her. “I’ve dreamed about you all these years. I’ve wanted you and been true to you.”

“Silas, you were true to yourself and your wishes. I’m sorry. You could have taken me with you—you know I would have gone.”

“A man can’t prospect with a woman hanging on his coattails,” he said stiffly.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not going to give up so easily.”

“I’m getting married and I’m very much in love with him.”

“Who’s the man?”

She wondered how long it would take him to ask. This was the moment she had dreaded the most. “He fought this as hard as anyone can. I finally won him over to see that I wouldn’t wait and it wouldn’t matter when you came back.”

Silas scowled, his eyes narrowing. Anger surfaced in his eyes, changing to rage. “Who is it?”

“You have to listen to reason. He didn’t want to marry me because of you. He tried to resist what he felt and what I wanted.”

“It’s Dan.”

“Yes, it is.”

Silas swore, his voice so filled with rage that suddenly she realized how little she knew him. He had always been gentle and easygoing with her, but the man in front of her now was far from that. He spun around. “Where is he?”

“Silas, don’t harm him,” she said, becoming deeply alarmed. She had seen enough fights in Denver to
know when she faced a man on the verge of violence. “Silas, please! I could never forgive you.”

“Where does Dan work? I’ll find him if you don’t tell me.”

“Promise me you won’t do anything rash. Promise me!”

He swore and stormed out of the house to his carriage. Mary flew out the back, racing to the carriage house. She took her horse and climbed on bareback to ride astride, urging it across the back of the lot to the next street. Dan was working a few blacks away from the boardinghouse in a newer, fancier part of town, and now the distance seemed vast.

There had been no mistaking the rage in Silas’ eyes. Her heart thudded with fear. Silas had changed, and she was terrified of what he might do to Dan. And Dan would be caught by surprise. She urged Blackie faster.

Dan opened his mail as he rode down the street. He had a letter from Hattie, and his gaze skimmed it swiftly. She was answering his letter, and they were coming a week early for the wedding. He reread the letter, smiling, thankful again she had gone home with Javier. And he would get to see them both for the wedding! He let out a whoop of joy, remembered he was riding down Larimer, and looked around sheepishly, but no one seemed to be paying him any attention. He turned to head toward Holladay and rode around to the back of Dulcie’s, turning the reins over to a stablehand.

Dan strode down the shadowed hallway, going to Dulcie’s room. Her door was open and she was brushing her hair.

He tapped on the door, and she gazed at him in the mirror, turning around to face him. She wore a green gingham dress and her hair was loose, falling over her shoulders. He didn’t feel a flicker of sexual interest in her, regarding her only as an old friend.

“ ’Afternoon, Dulcie.” He looked around the room
but didn’t see any of the things he had left with her. He closed the door. “Are you busy?”

“No. Come in, Dan. You’ve become a stranger.” She sat down, crossing her legs, the gown falling open to reveal black stockings on her long, shapely legs. He sat down on the edge of a chair.

“I came to get my things and to say good-bye.”

“I wondered how long it would take. I’ve bundled up your things for you. They’re all ready to go. I’m not much of one for good-byes. One thing, Dan, I’m glad you stopped waiting for Silas or feeling guilt you shouldn’t have felt. And I’m glad it’s Miss O’Malley instead of Miss Shumacher.”

“I’m glad too, Dulcie.” His gaze swept over her. “We had some good times.”

She crossed the room to him and he rose to his feet. “Your things are in the armoire, wrapped up in your shirt. Are you in a hurry?” she asked in a sultry tone, running her hands over his chest. “We could have one last good-bye.”

Dan gazed down at her and realized how deeply in love with Mary he was. He couldn’t resist Dulcie when he had thought he would marry Louisa, but now he didn’t want to love anyone except Mary. And he couldn’t bear to betray her trust. He stepped back, taking Dulcie’s hands in his, his voice as gentle as possible, because he felt a fondness for her. Their memories were good.

“Dulcie, I really love her. I can’t do anything that might hurt her. I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Well, well! So you finally lost your heart to a woman! I never thought I’d see the day. You’re lucky, Dan, that she loves you back. That she didn’t want to marry Silas.”

“Dulcie, if you don’t think I know how lucky I am—I thank heaven every day, and all through the day!”

“Go get your things.” She heard a commotion in the hall, but someone else could see about it. Whatever it was, it didn’t involve her, and she didn’t want to lose the last minutes with Dan.

“I had a pistol here, Dulcie,” he said.

“It’s tied up in your shirt. The hammer’s on the empty, so it’s safe.”

Standing in the corner across the room from her, Dan grinned, staring at her with the bundle of his belongings in his hands. “Dulcie, thanks for the memories. They were damned good.”

“If it were anyone else except Mary O’Malley, I’d try to keep you for an hour. You two deserve each other Dan. It’s high time she had someone to look after her, and she’ll be good for you.”

“You’re a good woman, Dulcie.”

“Oh, hell! I’m not so good. I just know when I’m defeated. Think I can have a good-bye kiss?”

He laughed, moving toward her. The door burst open and a man stepped into the room, a pistol in his hand.

It took only a glance at his white hair and pale face and eyes, and Dan knew that Silas had already talked to Mary.

“You son of a bitch! You took my woman while I was gone!”

“Silas, are you going to give me a chance to explain?”

“Shut up!”

“Silas, Mary O’Malley made up her own mind,” Dulcie said. “I know Dan fought—”

“You bastard!” Silas cut across Dulcie’s words without glancing at her. “I trusted you. Trust! I brought you a present of gold ingots. Well, the hell with that, you sneaky, lying son of a bitch.”

Dan’s mind raced. His pistol was tied in the bundle of clothing. Silas’ pistol was aimed at Dan’s heart, and Dan knew how well Silas could shoot. He tried to work his fingers into the clothing, but Dulcie had it tied tightly together. He grasped the butt of the pistol, but he couldn’t pull it free.

“We’ll see how much she loves you when you’re dead! I trusted you all these years!”

There was another commotion in the hall, and Mary burst into the room, screaming at Silas.