Denver (48 page)

He was better the next day, sitting up when she came in with his breakfast, his feet on the floor. “Doc Felton will be by today. He’ll go into shock.”

“He likes a healthy, cooperative patient.”

“How would you know?”

“He told me when he was riding out to take care of Michael. He said Michael would be a good patient. And he was.”

“He hasn’t had one the likes of you.”

Dan laughed. “The move didn’t hurt me, and don’t tell me you wouldn’t rather be here than there.”

“You’re right,” she said happily.

In the middle of the morning, Doc Felton came and declared the patient was doing fine. Dan had been up and had eaten breakfast, and as soon as the doctor left, he went back to sleep. Mary tiptoed out and went down to hitch his horse to the carriage. First she went home to change clothes and see that things were running smoothly. Then she gathered up some of her things, put on her blue bonnet, and drove to the jail.

They let her into Silas’ cell to talk to him alone. He looked ridiculous sitting in jail in all his fine clothes. He had shed his coat and rolled up his sleeves, his vest hung open, and his hair fell across his forehead. He raked it back with his fingers and stood up when
she entered the cell. In spite of his rumpled appearance and the jail, he was a strikingly handsome man who looked as if he had found a million in gold.

“Dan will be all right.”

Silas looked away from her, a muscle in his jaw working. “Silas, I want you to listen to me. I don’t think it would have mattered if I had never known Dan. It was just too long a time.”

“I could have won you back.”

“Perhaps, but I love Dan in a way I’ve never loved before. And he fought it as hard as a man can fight anything. He didn’t court me or try to talk me into forgetting you. The only time he took me out was when we first met because he had promised you he would.”

“God, that was stupid!” He finally faced her. “All right, Mary. I believe you. It was a shock. All those years I’ve lived with dreams of you, dreams of what we would do together.”

“Silas, you’ve dreamed of what you wanted to do. You have no idea what I’d like.”

He blinked. “I think I could have made you happy with my plans.” He rubbed his jaw, gazing beyond her. “I guess I should have done things differently, but I can’t look back with regrets now. I’ve been luckier than most.”

“I don’t want you to hate Dan.”

“I can’t ever feel friendly toward him. I won’t try to shoot him again. Thank God he’s alive. I don’t want to hang now and never be able to use the fortune I found.” He smiled with a cynical look in his eye. “You’d give up being the wife of an enormously wealthy man to marry Castle?”

“Yes.”

He shrugged. “Sheriff!” he called. “I think we might as well say good-bye,” he said coldly, and she didn’t think he would ever understand.

She nodded and left when the sheriff opened the door. Behind him stood Dulcie, dressed in a blue faille dress with a trim hat perched on her head.

“You’re a busy man, Mr. Eustice,” Sheriff Borden
said with a note of envy. “Miss Dulcie wants to see you.”

“Come in, Dulcie.”

Mary nodded to Dulcie as she passed.

Dan was sitting up on the side of the bed when Mary came into the room.

“I thought maybe you’d left me for good.”

“No.”

He stood up.

“Should you get out of bed?”

“I want to see what I can do. Come help me.”

She put down her packages and moved to his side. He pulled her to his good side, winced as his grip tightened around her, and leaned down to kiss her. She was afraid she would hurt him, and stood with her arms at her sides, then tentatively put her arm around his waist.

Finally she moved away. “Dan, you’d better stop. I brought your mail.”

He sat down in a rocking chair, easing himself back carefully. She sat on the floor beside him, sewing tiny pearls on a strip of material for her dress while Dan read his mail aloud. She felt his hands in her hair, constantly running it through his fingers, and she leaned back against his legs, wanting to touch him.

“I’ve finally heard from all of them. Hattie and Javier will arrive a week before the wedding. Catalina wrote that along with Ta-ne-haddle and his family, she and Luke and the children will be here five days before. Here’s April’s letter, and they’re planning to come with Luke and his family. Tomorrow I want you to help me dress. I’m going to see Silas. I want Sheriff Borden to set him free. I won’t press charges and I won’t testify.”

She nodded, agreeing with him.

Six days later he could move around with ease, and she moved back home in spite of Dan trying to cajole her into staying longer. He let her go, knowing Mary deserved to be courted even the short time that was left before their wedding. He took her out at night,
and came to call during the day. Work on the Waltham house slowed because of Dan’s injury, but because of the wedding, Michael delayed his plans to leave Denver and went to work for Dan so the house could be finished on schedule.

As the wedding approached, Dan and Mary both became so busy they could see little of each other. She was sewing and tending to last-minute details about the boardinghouse, while Dan was putting in every hour possible on his work so he could take time off afterward.

And then the wedding was only a week away. It was a hot Saturday in July, the sun shining brightly, trees and lawns green and flowers in bloom. Hattie and Javier were waiting for Dan when he came home from work. He saw the carriage in the yard and ran up the front steps into the house. Hattie stood in the kitchen at the sink, getting supper ready, and Javier was seated at the table reading a newspaper.

It had been so long since Dan had seen his mother. He crossed the room in long strides to hug her tightly, his wound having healed enough that he didn’t have to favor it.

“Ma, you’re as beautiful as ever!”

“Oh, Dan, I’m so happy for you.” She leaned back. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Mary’s special. You’ll like her.” He turned to hug Javier. “Pa, God I’m glad you’re here!” he exclaimed, his gaze sweeping over Javier, who had filled out somewhat since the last time Dan had seen him. He looked better, far happier than before.

“We’re glad to be here. And we’re so happy for you, Dan. When do we get to meet her?”

“Tonight. I asked her for supper, because I thought you would get here in time.”

“Go wash up and get her so we can meet her,” Hattie said.

“Sure, Ma,” he answered, needing no urging. An hour later he returned with Mary. Hattie hugged her, and Javier gravely acknowledged the introduction.

Mary was always thankful later for that quiet evening
to get to know them. She was astounded at Hattie’s beauty, seeing where Dan got his handsome looks. In another day the rest of his family came, and Mary was lost in a bewildering group of relatives that she tried to sort out.

“Dan, the women in your family are gorgeous!” she said that night as she stood alone with him in back of the boardinghouse after a party with all their relatives.

“That they are, and we’ll have another gorgeous one in two days.”

“I don’t look like them. My word, Catalina is striking and April is so beautiful, it’s difficult to keep from staring. Lottie is beautiful. Even if she isn’t a blood relative, she might as well be. Your mother is exceptionally pretty.”

He kissed her throat and ear. “None of them are half as beautiful as you, Mary,” he said solemnly.

Happy and secure in his love, she hugged him. “You’re blind, Dan Castle, but I’m glad!”

After a few minutes she pushed him away. “I should go inside.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist to walk her to the door. “Honey, I heard today that Silas left town.”

“I’m not surprised. He didn’t want to settle in Denver. He told me he wanted to go back east. He wants a big city.”

“He took Dulcie with him.”

“Dulcie?”

“I heard he married her.”

Mary thought about his news. “If they married, I wish them happiness.”

“Dulcie could make him happy.”

“I hope I don’t hear a forlorn note in your voice.”

He hauled her around to kiss her passionately, bending over her until she had to cling to him. Finally he swung her up and released her. “Does that tell you how forlorn I feel?”

“Sometimes you make me almost faint!”

“I don’t want you to faint,” he said dryly.

When Dan went back home he sat up late talking to his family. The children were already asleep, and in a short time Hattie and Javier went to bed. Then the wives left, so Dan sat with Ta-ne-haddle, Noah, and Luke. Ta-ne-haddle and Noah finally said good night, and when Luke stood up, Dan spoke to him. “Luke, wait a minute.”

Luke sat back down, stretching out his long legs, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it open.

“I had trouble with bounty hunters a short time ago.”

“Oh, hell, I thought maybe that had ended forever.”

“There’s a man here in town who knows my identity. There are wanted posters at the jail.”

Luke’s green eyes met his. “And?”

“I want to go back and stand trial, try to clear my name. I don’t want to go through life with this hanging over me. I’d like your help.”

Luke thought about it, sitting in silence, and Dan waited. “What does Mary say about it?”

“She agreed when I pointed out that we wouldn’t want it to come up later, when we have children.”

“It’s a risk, Dan. They could hang you.”

“I know, but you’re a good lawyer.”

“I don’t know if I’d want to risk it,” Luke said thoughtfully. “Sentiment can change in a day. I can understand why you want to have it done with, but I can’t urge you to go back. I wouldn’t.”

Dan sighed, staring at the hearth. “I’ll give it some more thought, but after the last time…I was just lucky Mary’s brothers came along. Those two would have killed me and taken my body back for the reward. I hate living with that hanging over me. And if we have children and it happened later…”

“I understand completely, but the more time that passes, the less likely it is to happen. Unless you have someone who really hates you here in Denver.”

Dan shrugged. “I have enemies. Silas for one, and also another man, Reuben Knelville. The problems between us have diminished. I took out the woman he plans to marry. They’ll be married in another two
months. I don’t think I’ll ever bother him again, but I don’t know. Will you be available, say, in three or four months?”

“I’ll be available whenever you want. Give it some thought, though. I think the risks are bad.”

The day of the wedding came, a Saturday morning at Mary’s church. Dressed in ice-blue taffeta with white lace and white silk ribbons, Mary went down the aisle on Paddy’s arm, barely glancing at the rows of Dan’s family, her brothers, and friends watching. All she could see was Dan in his handsome new black suit. They repeated their vows and Dan kissed her briefly with a tight hug. Then they went back to the boardinghouse for a reception.

Finally Mary and Dan left for the new depot to take the train. It was Mary’s first time on a train, but that excitement was overridden by the excitement of her wedding. The family and guests had piled into buggies and wagons to ride to the depot to see them off. Michael and Brian set off firecrackers, sending one of the horses into a run, but they soon had it back under control.

Kissing Hattie good-bye, Dan picked up his bride to carry her aboard the train, and they waved at everyone. Dan had rented a private car and ordered champagne, and when the train pulled away, they sat at the open window waving to everyone until they were out of town on their way to a hotel in Cheyenne. As Denver slid past and out of sight, Dan turned Mary to face him. “You look beautiful,” he said, removing her veil to lay it aside. He pulled pins out of her hair, and long locks fell over her shoulders while he leaned forward to kiss her. “I want to take forever, love,” he whispered, as more locks came down, the pins discarded on the floor. He framed her face with his hands. “I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy,” he said in a husky voice. He leaned forward again to brush her lips.

His mouth was warm, tantalizing, and Mary felt love and desire fan through her with a white-hot blaze. She
adored him and longed to have him love her the rest of the day and all night long. His mouth settled more firmly, his tongue playing over hers, demanding a response she gave eagerly. He stood up, balancing with the gentle sway of the train, and shed his coat, the dark cravat, and his fine linen shirt. She drew a deep breath, reaching for him, seeing his arousal strain against the soft woolen pants. He sat down beside her, taking her in his strong arms. Her hands played over his shoulders while he reached behind her to unfasten the long row of tiny buttons down her back.

He kissed her with tenderness that changed to passion, and finally he leaned away, peeling off her dress. Taffeta rustled as he pushed it down around her waist. She felt her cheeks warm beneath his blatant perusal. Her lacy chemise hid little from his view, and he bent his head to kiss her through the material.

Dan stood up again, bracing his leg against the seat and pulling Mary up. The dress slipped down and he lifted her out of it, carrying her to the bed. Sunlight from the open windows spilled over her, making her auburn hair look like flames as it spread over the pillows. He pushed away her chemise, drawing it down and dropping it aside, pulling down her underdrawers and discarding them. He felt as if he would burst with need as he stood and looked at her while he unbuckled his belt.

Mary watched him through half-closed eyes, thinking he was handsome beyond belief and she could never tire of looking at him. His body was corded with muscles, the fresh scar on his shoulder still red, old scars white on his dark skin. His hips were narrow, his stomach rippled with muscle, his arousal throbbing and ready, yet he stretched out beside her to pull her against his long length and wrap his arms around her and kiss her. He pushed her back and knelt over her to shower her with kisses, moving down her body, his hands caressing her slender legs.

“Dan, please,” she whispered, moving so he was between her thighs. He gazed at her with a burning hunger that made her heart pound wildly. “Please,”
she said, reaching for him, and he came down to possess her, thrusting slowly into her softness. She thought she would faint from the sensations that assailed her. She wrapped her legs around him, moving with him, clinging to him while he whispered endearments.