Nan Ryan (41 page)

He had waited all day for her to show up.

At last, at four o’clock, she had breezed in, looking lovelier than he’d ever seen her. He had eagerly tried to take her in his arms, but Yasmine had stopped him.

Sounding just as cool as Patsy, she said, “Niles, darling, you’ve meant so much to me. And for that reason, I felt I had to come here to explain it to you in person.”

“Explain what?” he had felt his heart drop.

“You mean you haven’t heard?” Yasmine pursed her red lips. “Darling Niles, I naturally supposed that someone had told you. No? Well, the fact is I met the finest gentleman at Point Clear. He’s a wealthy Philadelphia banker and he’s simply mad about me. Oh, I know what you’re thinking, that I’ve found myself another rich old man to marry, but that isn’t the case this time.” Yasmine giggled then and happily exclaimed, “He’s seven years younger than I. He’s tall, muscular, extremely good-looking, and his prowess as a lover … well, nothing compares with youth, now, does it? Anyway, dearest, this absolutely gorgeous young man has convinced me to become his bride!”

“His what?”

“We marry tomorrow in New Orleans. Then it’s off to Europe for a six-month honeymoon. Say you’re happy for me, darling!”

Say you’re happy for me, darling!

That sentence now repeated itself in Niles’s head, a litany that was driving him crazy. He again beat on his desk with his fists. That bitch! That shallow, two-timing, ungrateful tart!

All those years he had devoted to Yasmine, putting her happiness before his own. Then she up and says she’s marrying a young boy and that, no, she can’t allow him—after having ruined his marriage—to make love to her ever again! The high-handed refusal had been her departing statement.

“Dammit to hell!” Niles Loveless said aloud now, frustrated, miserable as he’d never been in his life.

In agony he leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, opened them, and glanced listlessly out the front office windows. He immediately straightened and stared, his eyes wide with hope. A well-dressed, dark-haired woman was coming across the street toward his office. Could it be? Had Yasmine come to her senses?

Niles sighed with disappointment when he recognized Em Ellicott. Em came into Niles’s office wearing a frown that matched his own. Niles didn’t bother to rise.

“What do you want, Miss Ellicott? I’m a busy man.”

“I’ve a message for you, Niles.” Em glared at him. “Helen Courtney is willing to sell you her farm.”

Niles pushed back his chair and jumped to his feet. “There is a God!” he said, flinging his arms heavenward, his handsome face quickly transformed. “Hallelujah!” He clapped his hands like an excited child. “When? When do I get my property?”

“Helen will be at your office around three this afternoon with the deed. And Niles, she wants this kept confidential.” Em’s tone was as cold as her eyes and she quickly turned away.

“I’ll be waiting!” said Niles. “And thank you so much—”

But Em had already gone.

Excited, feeling like his old self again, Niles rubbed his hands together in anticipation and paced eagerly back and forth. To hell with Yasmine Parnell! Who needed her? He was about to become the undisputed largest single landowner in all Alabama! He’d find himself a new, prettier, younger mistress. And as for Patsy, well, he’d been tired of her for years.

Niles was still pacing and planning a half hour later when Sheriff Cooper stepped into the door of his office.

Smiling sunnily at the tall lawman, Niles said, “Come in, Coop! Come in! What can I do for you this fine September morning? A bourbon? A Cuban cigar?”

Coop shook his red head. Thumbs hooked into gun belt, booted feet apart, he stood framed in the doorway, refusing to move inside.

“I’ve a message for you, Niles,” Coop said softly.

“It’s already been delivered, my friend,” Niles smilingly announced. “Your little sweetheart was in here a while ago. She told me the good news.”

Coop frowned. “How could she? Em knows nothing about it.”

“You’re wrong, Coop. She knows. She said Helen Courtney is ready to sell me her farm! Now. Today.”

For a long second Coop didn’t speak. “I see,” he said finally, his frown deepening. “Well, I have another message for you. Captain Northway will sell you his sorrel thoroughbred. Said he will accept your last offer.”

“God almighty, will wonders never cease!” Niles exclaimed. “This is too good to be true. When? When can I get my hands on that magnificent stallion?”

“The captain will bring him this afternoon.” Coop’s tone was clipped. He backed away.

“Thanks a million, Coop!” Niles gushed, “I sure appreciate this and—”

But Coop was already gone.

Chapter Forty-five

H
ad it been a dream?

Helen considered that possibility as she carefully dressed for her trip into town to meet with Niles Loveless.

It seemed so unreal now.

As if it had never happened.

As if she had never known the wonder of his arms, the thrill of his kiss. Could it actually be that she and Kurt had gone about naked as if they were Adam and Eve before sin? Had they really made love on the parlor floor? And in the big four-poster? And in her armless rocker on the front porch? And atop Raider’s back?

Helen sat down on her bed. She laid the new sky-blue piqué dress across her lap.

It
had
happened.

She had been as intimate with Kurt Northway as a woman can possibly be with a man. And she wasn’t sorry. She loved him, loved him with all her heart, with all her soul. Loved him now. Would love him tomorrow and next year. Loved him so much it hurt.

While they were alone, Kurt had said he loved her, and she believed him. But maybe she had just wanted to believe him.

She was no naive child. Kurt had told her he loved her, but those words were spoken in the heat of passion. When he made love to her, he had murmured the sweetest of endearments and told her repeatedly how much he loved her.

But did he?

Jolly and Charlie’s early arrival back at the farm had cut short their tryst. Almost caught in bed together, there had been no time for last kisses, or promises, or whispered reassurances. No chance for either of them to say “I love you” in the naked light of day.

Since then there had not been a single opportunity for them to be alone. The farm had been a flurry of activity with people constantly coming and going. Even last evening when darkness had fallen, Jolly was still there. Exhausted, he had accepted her invitation to stay over.

So Jolly had spent the night. Charlie had slept in the four-poster with his father. And she had lain awake in her lonely room, missing the loving splendor she’d known less than twenty fours before.

During the long night alone she had gone back over the events of the day. Not once had Kurt looked at her in a way that said he loved her. He had made no move to get her alone. He had behaved exactly as he had before he’d ever touched her.

Helen sighed.

She had been a fool to suppose he really loved her. She
was
a fool. Kurt Northway wasn’t in love with her. Kurt had probably made love to lots of women. Women far more beautiful and experienced than she. Their brief little fling had likely meant little or nothing to him. Who was she to suppose that she was someone special to a man like Kurt Northway?

She hadn’t been special, she had simply been available. She had fallen into his arms practically begging him to make love to her.

Miserable, unsure, Helen sighed and rose from the bed.

She owed Kurt Northway for the summer’s work. Nothing could change that fact. She owed him and she paid her debts. She would pay this one.

Helen began pulling the blue piqué dress over her head. Bottom lip caught between her teeth, she managed to fasten the tiny hooks going down her back. She hastily brushed her hair and wound it into a shiny rope which she anchored in place with the treasured mother-of-pearl clasp.

She winced softly, recalling the last time she had worn the clasp.

And nothing else.

Shaking off the painful reverie, Helen slipped her stockinged feet into a pair of worn slippers and reached for her reticule. With steady hand she took from the bureau’s top drawer a folded packet of yellowing papers which were tied with a frayed gold cord.

The deed to the Burke farm.

Up and out at work since sunup, Kurt had not been near the house all day. Jake Autry and a crew from Spanish Fort were back again, helping out. Everyone labored throughout the morning on building a new corral. They all stopped working just long enough to eat the thick roast beef sandwiches Charlie and Jolly brought down at noon.

Then shortly after lunch, Jake and his men left. Kurt and Jolly continued working, Jolly measuring and sawing lumber, Kurt hammering it into place. Charlie did his part too, bringing them dippers of cool water from the well and gathering scattered debris left by the storm.

At midafternoon, Jolly said he’d had it. He took out a big red bandanna, mopped his ruddy face, and announced it was time for a little nap on the shaded front porch.

Kurt, perched astride the new corral fence, lowered his hammer, swung his long leg over the top rung, and dropped to the ground. He looked about, spotted Charlie playing with Dom up where the back gate had one stood.

“Jolly, there’s something I have to do.” Kurt looked the older man in the eye. “Could you mind Charlie for a couple of hours? Keep him out of Helen’s way?”

“Helen’s not here, son. She went off with End Ellicott a while ago,” Jolly said, a deep frown on hi face. “I’ll watch the sprite, you go on.”

“Thanks.”

Kurt saddled Raider, looped the long reins over his neck, and told the horse to follow him up to the house Raider patiently waited while Kurt went inside an washed up. He came out in a clean white shirt, navy twill trousers, and black cowboy boots. He swung up into the saddle and rode away, smiling and waving the Jolly and Charlie.

The smile disappeared as soon as Kurt was out of sight.

He wondered where Helen was.

He wondered what she was doing.

He wondered if he had ever really held her in his arms. Really made love to her through the long sultry nights. Really slept in the bed with her. Really felt he soft bare body—warm with slumber—pressed against his.

Was the haunting sound of her voice calling his name in ecstasy nothing but a longed-for fantasy, beautiful daydream which had nothing to do with reality?

Helen had told him she loved him, but the word were whispered in the throes of passion. Had she meant it? Even if she had loved him then, did she love him now? Now that the real world had caught up wit them? Or was she filled with remorse?

Kurt had found no chance to see Helen alone. He had no way of knowing what she was thinking or how she felt about him. She treated him no differently than she had before they ever made love. She gave no indication she cared about him.

Kurt ground his teeth.

The one and only thing he was sure of was that Helen cared about her farm. The farm meant more to Helen than anything or anyone. It was everything to her. And whether she loved him or not, he loved her and he was not going to let her lose her farm.

The clock in the Methodist church tower struck four P.M.

Helen and Em sat in the deserted dining room of the Bayside Hotel. Upon arriving in Spanish Fort, Em had persuaded Helen to go there for a cool refreshing glass of lemonade before she met with Niles Loveless. Helen had reluctantly agreed, knowing that Em was stalling, playing for time, hoping to change her mind about selling the farm to Niles.

“I have no other choice,” Helen repeated, looking across the table at her best friend. “The facts are these, Em. I owe Kurt Northway for working my place all summer. I intended to pay him with profit from the autumn harvest. Thanks to the hurricane, there will be no harvest. No profit. But there is still the debt.” She took the last sip of her lemonade, set the glass down, and rose. “I’m going to walk down to Niles’s office. I’ll meet you at the jail afterward.”

“Oh, Helen, I do wish—”

“I do too.”

The two women exited the dining room. Em hurried to the county jail as Helen resolutely made her way toward Niles Loveless’s Main Street office.

Em rushed into the jail, motioning Coop to join her at the front window. Miserably she told Coop what was happening. He shook his red head regretfully.

Helen marched determinedly down the sidewalk, nodding to people, smiling bravely. A condemned prisoner on her way to the gallows. The yellowing deed clutched tightly in her hand, she forced herself to go forward to meet her doom.

Kurt rode into Spanish Fort as Helen was taking that slow, tortured walk to Niles Loveless’s office. With single-minded purpose, Kurt cantered his beloved stallion toward the very same office.

The pair were less than a block apart when Kurt looked up, saw Helen, and stared in puzzlement, momentarily speechless. She looked as lovely as a summer day in her sky-blue dress. Her hair was swept up atop her head, held in place with the mother-of-pearl clasp he had given to her. Her lips were smiling, but her beautiful eyes were not.

In her hand she carried a rolled-up document.

It took only a second for her intent to dawn on him.

“Helen, no!” Kurt shouted loudly, stopping her in her tracks and attracting the attention of the people on the street. “No! I won’t let you do it!”

Helen stood frozen in place.

“Kurt.” She stared disbelieving. “What are you doing here? Why are you …” Before he could speak again, it hit her. “No!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, and started running toward him. “No! You are not selling Raider to Loveless!”

Helen’s shrill scream pierced the lazy afternoon silence. Passersby stopped and gaped. Gamblers poured out of the poker parlor. Drinkers spilled out of the Red Rose Saloon. Ladies peered out of the millinery shop windows and shoppers hurried from Jake’s Genera Store.

Helen and Kurt were oblivious to the gathering crowd.

Blue skirts billowing, heart pounding, Helen raced down the street toward the man she loved.