Luke’s Runaway Bride (13 page)

“All aboooard,” shouted the conductor.

With alarm, Luke straightened and searched for Harley. His muscles strained. No sign of the man.

He peered into passenger windows as they rolled by. Heads bobbed up and down, but not the one he was looking for. He ran to the stationhouse and looked in the window. No Harley.

Racing to the platform, Luke felt his gut churn in apprehension. Hoisting himself to the ladder on the boxcar, he scooted between the cars to the other side of the platform. That side was empty, too.

He rubbed the back of his stiff neck. Harley wasn’t on the train. Was he staying behind to convince Jenny to return?

My orders are to take you back.

Oh, hell. Would Harley try to force her? Did Harley have orders concerning the boy, too?

Luke shook his head. No, not the boy. Harley didn’t seem interested in Adam, only Jenny.

The situation was spinning out of Luke’s control. He gulped, watching the train chug out of the station. It picked up speed, and when the whistle blasted, Luke’s pulse screamed with it. What kind of danger had he put everyone in?

W
hat should she do? The shaded boardwalk kept Jenny cool as she and Olivia strode along in silence. They’d been walking for the better part of an hour with no particular destination. The screams of frustration at the back of Jenny’s throat—directed toward Daniel—had peaked and she was finally calming down.

The shopping district of Cheyenne was crammed with Saturday customers. A mule and wagon inched by, a man shouting, “Get your knives sharpened here.”

She and Olivia were all alone to fend for themselves.

No money, no clothes, no food, no friends.

Despite her claims about wanting to stand on her own two feet, she admitted she didn’t know how. She always had either her father or a brother looking out for her.

Now they’d be at Luke’s mercy, as far as food and shelter went. The thought of being beholden to him caused her blood to heat again.

And how could Daniel, the man she planned on devoting her life to, not bother to come and get her?

Was it possible he was Adam’s father?
If
he was the boy’s father, then in heaven’s name, where did this all leave Adam?

How could she live with a man who’d deserted his own child?

And
if
Daniel was the father, then Jenny had misjudged Luke terribly.

On one hand, she praised Luke for trying to help Adam, on the other, she resented him for what he’d done to her life. The end did not justify the means!

Beside her, Olivia wiped at her tears. “Do you think there’s any truth to what Luke says? That Daniel is Adam’s father?”

Jenny slid an arm around her friend. “I’m ashamed to say it’s possible.”

“What the poor woman must have gone through.”

“I know.” It made Jenny nauseous to think of how Maria had suffered in silence. “About Luke…at one time, I thought we were in physical danger, but I don’t feel it anymore. Do you?”

The big brown bow in Olivia’s hair shook. “No.”

“Then we’ll be safe to stay—”

“But I wanna leave,” Olivia said with a tremor.

“But we’ve missed the south train, and there won’t be another to Denver for six days. Next Friday. The ones going east or west would just take us to San Francisco or Omaha.”

“The town must have a stagecoach.”

Jenny paused. “How would we pay for it?”

“We could ask Luke for money.”

“The trip would take us days. Would you really put yourself in that danger, crossing the wild land by stagecoach? What about the buffalo hunters, and cutthroat miners and thieves out there? You’ve read the gruesome stories.”

“We could telegraph your father.”

“I’m not even sure Father’s in town. You know how often he has to travel.” Jenny ran her fingers along her borrowed bonnet. “It’s become so muddled. Besides, until I know what to say to Daniel, I think it’s best to leave Father out of it. You know how he is—he’d make the decision for me. He’d force me to do what he thought best. This time, I’d like to make my own decision. You and I together.”

Jenny added with a tentative smile, “Maybe it won’t be so bad. We’re safe and sound. The sun is shining. Luke won’t hurt us. We’ll get home soon enough and everything’ll be back to normal. As normal as it can be.”

“Back to normal.” Olivia’s voice choked. “What does it matter?”

Jenny stepped back in surprise. Olivia was troubled by something more, and Jenny felt ashamed for not noticing sooner. “What do you mean, what does it matter?”

Olivia leaned over the boardwalk railing, staring out into the busy street. “Remember the night we were taken?” Olivia sniffed into her hanky. “When Luke was asking me those questions? Remember? He asked who would miss me if I was gone?”

Jenny leaned closer. “I remember.”

Olivia swallowed. “He was right. No one would miss me.”

“Oh, Olivia, that’s not true.”

The beautiful brown eyes watered. “Who would miss me?”

“Why…why Father, of course, and the Windsor sisters, and there’s—there’s…When we get back to Denver, let’s take that visit to New Orleans sooner than we planned. We’ll visit those new relatives you just discovered, and—”

Olivia flung herself into Jenny’s arms and bawled.

“Oh, don’t cry. We won’t let this diversion in Cheyenne stop us from visiting your family. I heard someone say last night that Travis’s family is from New Orleans, too.”

For some reason that made Olivia cry louder. “Travis can trace his lineage back for two hundred years, all the way back to the island of Jamaica. I don’t know anyone who can go back that far.”

“I don’t, either. He does seem like a very proud man.”

“Travis knows so much more than I do, about Lincoln, and our heritage and slavery. I’m so involved with myself and finding my family, I haven’t even bothered to look around since we moved West.” Olivia blew her nose. “Travis told me nearly thirty percent of the cowboys driving cattle here are black men, and nearly the same percentage of people crossing and settling the territories are black families. I don’t know anything. He knows it all.”

“Well, you might not be able to trace your lineage as far back as he can, but maybe he can give us some pointers when we go searching in New Orleans.”

“I don’t have family there,” Olivia sobbed. “I made it all up!”

“Oh, Olivia…” Jenny sank back into her heels. “Why?”

“I wanted to be from somewhere.”

Jenny’s throat clenched. “You are from somewhere. You’re from Boston. You grew up with me and we…we might not be blood related, but I love you like a sister. We’ll look again for your relatives. If Travis knows so much and so many people, maybe he can help us. Point us in some direction.”

Olivia blew her nose. “Travis didn’t treat me bad at all. He treated me like a princess. Especially when he found out I’m from New Orleans, or thinks I am. All I am is a big fat liar. I can’t go to him now for help. He’ll know I was lyin’.”

Jenny tried to comfort her friend. “We’ll be out of this place soon, and we’ll never have to face Travis or Luke again.”

That seemed to settle Olivia. She mopped her tears.

How long had Jenny known her dearest friend? Twenty years? And she hadn’t been able to pick up on Olivia’s turmoil of the past few months before today?

What had happened to Jenny’s accurate judge of character, the one she prided herself on? She thought she knew people. What did she know at all?

Nothing, she scoffed.

What was it Luke had said to her, the night he’d first met her?
People aren’t always what they appear to be.

Daniel wasn’t. Luke wasn’t. And neither was dear Olivia.

And what did
Jenny
appear to be, when others looked at her? Why did she keep parts of herself hidden—the part that had ached to go to college, the part that ached to start a business of her own choosing, the part that ached to stand up and disagree with her father?

She gave a weary sigh. If she thought more about it, her head would crack. They needed a diversion. “Let’s go get some lunch. It’ll make us feel better. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” Olivia gave a weak smile. She collected herself and they stepped off the boardwalk and turned the corner. A line of people stood outside Annie’s Café.

“Oh, dear,” said Olivia, rummaging through her borrowed satchel, “I don’t have any money. I spent my last copper at the train station for gumdrops.” She yanked out a coin. “Hey, here’s a bit. It was stuck in the bottom.”

“Good, because all I have is a dime.”

“Uh-oh. My coin’s bent.” Olivia held it up. “You know what that means.”

“Olivia, that’s an old wives’ tale.”

“A bent coin brings years of good luck for as long as you hang on to it. I can’t spend this.”

“But we’re
starving.
”

Headstrong, Olivia folded her arms. “I will not forfeit heaven knows how many years of future good luck for a bowl of soup now.” She paused. “We could go back to Luke’s and get a free meal. He’d give us one.”

Jenny took a stubborn step forward. “I think it’s important we buy our own meal,” she said, joining the lineup, “without Luke’s help. As a show of independence. I’ll spend my ten cents. We can split a bowl.”

She could darn well feed herself at least one good meal without Luke McLintock’s aid.

Unloading kegs of beer was hard work.

In the shaded alley behind the saloon, in the long afternoon shadows, Luke removed his Stetson, peeled off his shirt, then resettled his hat. Sweat drizzled down the bare skin of his shoulder blades.

Travis removed his own shirt. “You sure you should be lifting something this heavy?” He rolled a barrel off the wagon, his black mustache dripping with perspiration.

“The doc told me this morning that exercise is good for me.” Luke groaned with the effort and ignored the twitching in his side.

“Does that include liftin’?”

“As long as I take it easy.” It wasn’t exactly what the doc had said, but there was no way Luke intended on lying around, useless. Besides, Travis was unloading the full, heavy kegs and Luke was reloading the empty, lighter ones.

“Where do you think the women are? You think it’s wise to let them loose like that?”

“I put Beuford and Tom on their trail. No harm’ll come to them.” Luke took a minute to breathe deeply. Travis already knew the full story about Daniel being Adam’s father. Besides the judge, Travis was the only man Luke had confided in. Travis could always be trusted to keep silent.

Travis squinted. “What do you think Daniel told Harley to do?”

“I don’t know. I think we shocked Harley, meeting him at the station. He probably thought he’d have to work harder than that to locate Jenny. I’m sure he expected she’d go back with him, no questions asked. But he doesn’t look the type to sit and think for long.”

“You think he’d force her to return?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Travis stepped inside, and Luke lifted a crate of beer steins and set them on the tailgate.

He rubbed his cheek with a sweaty palm. What if Jenny refused to ever go back?

Highly unlikely. But if something like that were to happen, Daniel would never forgive him. Luke wouldn’t have a prayer at getting Daniel to ever sign release papers.

Dammit. Luke hated waiting. But it was what he had to do. He had to wait and see what Jenny would do, and he had to wait for Harley’s response, too.

Luke thought of last night with Jenny, and his pulse skipped. He hadn’t been so ripped or tired that he didn’t remember what’d happened. All that honey and laughter.

What had gotten into him? He never reacted this way with other women, and there’d been a few. Was it just because he couldn’t have Jenny, he wanted her all the more?

That was very mature of him, wasn’t it?

And in six years, he’d never taken a woman to his room before. He always courted outside the saloon, taking women to restaurants, and long walks, and visiting in their homes. What had prompted him to haul Jenny up to his room?

At the sound of crunching footsteps, he looked up. Jenny and Olivia had turned into the alley. His heart thudded at seeing her again.

“Luke,” said Jenny stiffly, adjusting her large bonnet. “We’d like to talk with you.” Her eyes skimmed down his bare chest. With a feverish intake of breath, she blew a lock of hair out of her eyes.

Beuford and Tom passed on the boardwalk behind them. Luke nodded to the men. He’d take care of the women now.

At seeing his men, Jenny flushed, then turned her eyes to him. Pools of blue, he remembered, as deep as the Rio Grande.

“You can tell them we’re not going anywhere,” she said. “They’ve done their good deed for the day. They can go in and have…have a drink, or whatever it is they do.”

He broke into a smile. So she knew she was being tagged.

“Is it necessary to have us followed? I told you we wouldn’t try to escape. We’re staying put until Daniel comes to get us.”

“You still think he will?”

“I expect him on the next train, in six days, after he gets the message—the engagement ring—I sent along with Harley. We’ll stay put, I promise.”

“That’s not why I had you followed.”

“Then why?”

“In case Harley was after you.”

“Harley? He got back on the train.”

“No, he didn’t.”

Jenny frowned and glanced at Olivia’s stricken face. “Why not?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You mean…you think he’d try to
take
us?”

He jumped down off the wagon and stood tall beside her. “I’m going to tell you the truth from now on, as it happens.”

She bit her lip and gazed away from his chest. “That would be a refreshing change.”

“I think Harley might try to take you back whether you want to go or not.”

Olivia stepped forward as Travis came through the door. She met Travis’s eyes and her gazed dropped to his chest. Suddenly flustered, Olivia looked back to Luke, and said, “You mean Harley would take us against our will?”

“Yeah.”

“We don’t like that one bit. You tell him to stop it.”

“I don’t know where he is. And until I do, I think it’s wise for you two ladies to stay close to us. In the saloon. Daniel will wonder what happened when Harley doesn’t arrive tonight in Denver. Travis, see if you can catch wind of any telegrams being sent from Denver in the next few days.”

Travis nodded, then smiled carefully at Olivia, as if he were on a fishing expedition. But she jerked her glance away. What was that all about? Luke wondered.

Jenny’s expression tensed. “Daniel would never lay a hand on me. He’s not like you. He’d never force me to go anywhere.”

Luke’s jaw twitched. He deserved that. He should have thought a lot harder that night in Daniel’s office about taking Jenny in the first place. But he never would have guessed how Daniel and Jenny would respond. Luke stepped forward and clamped his fingers under her trembling chin. Her eyes grew wide.

“It’s not Daniel we’re talking about. It’s Harley. And if he takes you, I doubt he’d wait for the train on Friday. He’d risk taking you back by horse and wagon, no matter what the dangers between here and Denver.”