Give My Love to Rose (6 page)

“
My pants are a little
short,” he admitted. “Do you think I could get some new pants
mama?”

Rose laughed lightly when she looked toward
his feet and realized that his pants were a good two inches above
his ankles. “I think we can manage that,” she assured him. “And the
good news is that if we hit a flood between here and town, your
pants won’t get wet.”

“
It didn’t rain that
much,” Langley insisted with a roll of his eyes and a
giggle.

Rose grabbed her bonnet off the counter and
motioned toward the door. “Well good sir, your chariot awaits.”

Rose’s hand paused momentarily over the sack
of money as she fought an inner battle over whether to use it.
There was no doubt in her mind that it was stolen money. But pride
and right and wrong be damned, they needed that money! With a
determined sigh, Rose grabbed the sack and followed her son out of
the house.

***

Marston rolled out of bed later than he had
planned. An empty bottle of whiskey lay beside his bed and one
hundred men with hammers were pounding away inside his skull. His
mouth was bone dry and his tongue felt thick—it was as if he’d been
chewing leather all night.

He sat up and felt the sunshine through his
eyelids. Marston had meant to be out of town before daylight. He
shouldn’t have had so much whiskey but once he’d let that first
drink pass his lips, memories of his past had come flooding in and
so he’d drunk more to wash them away. Marston ran his hand over his
beard covered face and clicked his tongue in an attempt to get some
moisture back in his mouth.

At least that voice in his head seemed to
have been drowned and he’d been a full ten minutes without thinking
about Rose…. Well, hell! There went that short reprieve. Already
that woman was leaping into his mind and that, of course, made
those tiny men with hammers pick up their pace.

Marston stood slowly and cracked his eyelids
so he could stumble his way to the washbasin. He splashed his face
and cleaned off the back of his neck before tugging on his shirt.
He put on his boots and hat, fastened his bandolier and strapped on
his gun belt. His rifle was slung across his back and his knife was
tied to his leg. Marston grabbed up his saddlebags and headed out
of the hotel.

Marston was making his way down the muddy
street toward the livery when he caught a flash of red hair and
turned to see Rose and Langley making their way into the
mercantile.

Without taking the time to think about the
why of it, he let his feet lead him in their direction. He paused
outside the doorway when he heard the conversation taking place
inside.

“
Now Rose, we are aware
that things are hard for you with trying to raise that boy by
yourself. We are sorry about your husband’s death and we know
you’re doing the very best you can working odd jobs, but we simply
cannot let you have any more goods on credit. We are running a
business, not a charity.” Marston recognized Hester’s voice and he
could just imagine the way the sour faced woman’s eyes would be
widening behind her giant spectacles.

“
Actually, Hester,” Rose
spoke up. “I have the money to pay for everything on this
list.”

“
Really?” Hattie’s voice
broke into the conversation. “Did you rob a bank? One hundred
pounds each of flour, sugar, and meal. Canned peaches, pears, and
apples. A five-gallon bucket of lard. Twenty yards of fabric,
shoes….”

“
I think the woman knows
what’s on her own list, ladies,” Marston said good-naturedly as he
strode into the store.

Rose turned to look at him and her eyes
widened. The man seemed to fill up every inch of space. His broad
shoulders were accentuated by the saddlebags he had thrown
carelessly over one of them. Rose found herself struck once again
by his handsomeness and by his eyes. He was dressed exactly the
same as he had been the day before and yet somehow something was
different.

Here in the mercantile he seemed more
predatory than he had inside her cabin. There was a glint in his
eyes as he stared down Hester and Hattie that hadn’t been in them
yesterday—she also noticed that he seemed to be avoiding looking at
her.

Hester adjusted her glasses. “Well of course
she does, sir, but we have to have money…”

“
What makes you think the
lady doesn’t have money?” Marston asked. He tipped his hat to Rose
and Langley without glancing their way as he made his way to the
counter. He sat his saddlebags on the floor by his feet and leaned
his bare forearms against the glass, lowering himself to the
sister’s level.

“
My his eyes are
something….” Hattie whispered, laying a hand over one watermelon
sized breast. Rose shifted her feet awkwardly and wondered exactly
what Marston thought he was doing.

“
Why thank you, Miss
Hattie,” Marston replied with a smile. “Now back to the lady and
her money. Am I correct in saying that you all are running a
business here? A business folks come in and ask you for certain
items and then you give them said items in exchange for
money?”

“
I’m impressed,” Hester
intoned dryly. “The outlaw knows the general workings of a
store.”

Marston smiled. “That’s right. Now the woman
gave you a list. You fill her order and she’ll give you money. It
should be a simple transaction.”

Hattie shook her head sadly. “Yes, but this
is nearly fifty dollars’ worth of goods and she owes us so much
already….”

“
Did you fine ladies ever
stop and ask the woman if perhaps she has the money to pay her
debts?”

Hattie and Hester gave Rose a disbelieving
glance. “Do you Rose?” Hattie asked.

“
Yes I do,” Rose replied,
her voice quiet as she picked at a string hanging from her
bonnet.

Marston grinned and swatted the counter with
his big hand. “Glad that’s settled.” He picked up his saddlebags
and stood straight.

“
It’s funny sir,” Hester
noted, tapping her chin.

“
What is,
ma’am?”

Her lips pursed even more tightly. “My
sister came in this morning to find that our whiskey had been
looted and here you are this morning smelling very much like a
whiskey vat.”

Marston’s grin just grew and her cow eyes
bulged behind her glasses. “Mighty big coincidence, I’d say,” he
stated. He tipped his hat to the sisters and then turned quickly
only to find himself face to face with Rose. Well, not exactly face
to face since the top of her head barely came halfway up his
chest.

“
Thank you, Marston,” she
said softly. “Again, I seem to be finding reasons to be grateful to
you.”

Marston wasn’t comfortable with her
gratitude and he found his stomach rebelling once again. “Don’t
mention it, ma’am,” he insisted. ‘Please!’ he added silently.
“Y’all have a good day now,” he added and with that he looked away
from those big blue eyes and left the mercantile.

He stood outside, leaned against the post
for several long moments to gather his thoughts. It just wasn’t
right for a woman to be so damn pretty, gentle or innocent in
appearance. All that soft pale skin and red hair stirred something
deep within him—and that dainty white bonnet she’d had over her
head had merely served to frame her soft face and cause her blue
eyes to stand out that much more.

Out of here. Out of here. Out of here.
Marston Jacobs needed to get the hell out of here. No more doing
favors for dead men was one lesson he’d certainly learned. He
didn’t need the complication in his life. He strode off the porch
and then heard tiny footsteps racing after him.

“
Marston wait!”

Marston cursed under his breath and turned
quickly, causing Langley to collide with his stomach. The boy
bounced off and would have fallen if Marston hadn’t reached out and
grabbed him by the arm. “You alright there, kid?”

Langley nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine thanks to
you. You sure saved my butt from being sore. You move fast for
someone so big. I was just coming out to say thanks for what you
did for my mom back there. Most folks don’t like her and that makes
me mad. My mama works hard, but folks don’t care because she
doesn’t have money. But we have money now thanks to you and my
pa.”

Marston nodded as he tried to take all that
in and begged the bastards with hammers to give his head a rest.
“Yeah, well, I gotta get going now, kid.”

Langley’s innocent, freckled face suddenly
filled with sadness and he dropped his gaze to his boots. “My pa
died,” he said quietly. “But I guess you already knew that.

Marston felt a tugging in his chest that he
chalked up to stress. It couldn’t be anything else after dealing
with the over-talkative boy. Then Marston uttered three little
words. “Are you okay?” The question shocked him because he
genuinely seemed to care about the answer.

Marston had never once given a thought to
someone else’s feelings, but he wanted the boy to be alright. Damn,
that whiskey must be messing with his senses.

‘
Or maybe you’re finally
growing a heart.’

Great. The voice was back.

“
I’m okay I guess,”
Langley replied. Marston shook his head to clear his thoughts and
focus his attention on the boy. “I never knew my pa so I really
can’t miss him, I guess. I’m worried about my mama though. I heard
her crying a lot last night and this morning she never even ate any
breakfast. She tries to hide things from me, but I can tell
something’s wrong with her.”

Marston grunted and shrugged one shoulder.
“Bad things happen, kid. There’s no point wasting time feeling
sorry for yourself or worrying,” he snapped more roughly than he
should have.

Langley nodded and crossed his arms over his
thin chest as if to shield himself. Rose chose then to step out of
the mercantile and when her eyes caught sight of them she headed
their way.

Marston realized the boy was right. Rose was
in bad shape. Dark splotches surrounded her eyes and her face was
ghastly pale. Her lips were nearly colorless and her shoulders were
slumped. The woman looked as if the weight of the entire world was
resting on her and she was plumb worn out from packing it
around.

Oh well. It wasn’t his problem and it wasn’t
his business. He had enough of his own worries without adding hers
to them.

“
They’ll have the supplies
ready shortly,” she addressed them both. “Come along now, Langley.
We have to go down to the docs and pay the credit
there.”

Marston didn’t say a word. He just turned
and walked away. Rose watched him go and wondered what his story
was. It wasn’t a good one, if she had to guess but, then again,
neither was hers.

***

Marston came out of the livery with his gray
a short time later and, much to his irritation, he found his eyes
once again drawn toward the mercantile and to Rose and Langley. It
seemed they were once again arguing with Hattie and Hester.

“
Stop being mean to my
mama!” Langley exclaimed.

Marston let out a sigh of defeat. He slid
onto the gray’s back and made his way to the boardwalk at the side
of the mercantile where they were currently standing.

“
What seems to be the
problem ladies?” he asked.

Four sets of eyes turned to look up at him.
Rose noticed that once again his face was predatory and
cold—different than it had been the day before. When he addressed
the sisters a smile curved his lips but it wasn’t a true smile. It
was cold and calculating and Rose preferred the rough and more
honest way that he had been at her cabin.

“
They have all her
supplies just sitting out here!” Langley informed him, pointing at
the large pile of goods sitting on the boardwalk. “But they refuse
to let the man who usually loads carts load mama’s and she can’t
lift all that on her own.”

Marston’s golden eyes narrowed slightly.
“Why is that?” he asked the sisters.

“
Loading costs extra,”
Hester replied with a sneer.

Rose flushed with shame and embarrassment.
The fact of the matter was that she didn’t have the extra money to
pay for loading—and they’d never charged for loading before. She
needed what little bit of Langston’s money she had left to get
through the upcoming winter.

Hattie and Hester were simply doing this to
be spiteful. They were wanting to milk every dime they could out of
her because they knew that soon she’d be back to buying things on a
credit she couldn’t pay back.

“
How much extra?” Marston
asked, crossing his arms over his saddle horn and leaning
forward.

“
One dollar,” Hattie
informed him.

Marston reached in his pocket and pulled out
a few coins that Rose knew would add up to what they were asking
for. Hester’s eyes widened as she stared up at him and then held
out her hand to expect the payment. Marston’s grin turned colder as
he closed his fist and shoved the money back in his pocket.

“
Can’t see wasting a good
dollar just to load some supplies in a cart,” he admitted with a
shake of his head.

Rose felt her heart fall. She had thought
for a moment… but no. She had no right to expect anything from
Marston. The man had done quite enough and requesting his charity
would be rude.

“
The supplies will stay
here then,” Hester snapped, her cheeks sucking further into her
jaw.

“
Like hell they will,”
Marston grumbled as he jumped from his horses and landed like a
panther on the ground below. “That would be a waste of good corn
meal.”

With a grunt, Marston hoisted one fifty
pound sack of flour onto his shoulder and tossed into the cart
before reaching down for another. “What are you doing?” Rose asked
cautiously.