Rimfire Bride (20 page)

“Hello, Drew, aren’t you going to introduce me to—your friend?” the woman asked, setting the words
your friend
apart for emphasis.

“Jana Hartmann, this is Della Peterson. Miss Peterson is Sam’s teacher.”

Jana smiled. “Well, Miss Peterson, I’ve very pleased to meet you. Sam’s a special young man.”

“A special young man who needs a lot of work,” Della said. “I’ve tried to get Drew to meet with me so we can go over some things that could help the boy, but he’s always too busy.”

“Sam is sensitive,” Jana said. “But I’m sure you can understand why.”

“He was a very young child then. I don’t see how he can even remember the incident.”

“You would be surprised at how far back children can remember, and what vivid impressions traumatic events can make on them.”

“Oh, so now a woman who displays her body in a window for all to see is going to tell me about children?”

“Della!” Drew said sharply.

“I’m sorry,” Della said quickly, smiling and putting her hand on Jana’s arm. “It’s just that I have tried so hard with that child, and the results have been very frustrating. Please forgive me.”

“Of course.”

Della looked toward Drew and flashed her most coquettish smile. “And, Drew, my dance card is not yet filled for tonight, but it is filling rapidly.”

“I’ve no doubt that it is,” Drew said. Then, looking out over the dining area, he spoke to Jana, effectively dismissing Della.

“There’s Frank. Come, I’d like you to meet Caroline. She’s a good friend, and I think you’ll like her.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Peterson,” Jana said.

Della did not respond, and Jana couldn’t help but notice the glaring expression on the schoolteacher’s face as they moved through the crowd toward the Allens.

After the Thanksgiving
feast the diners all moved to the Sheridan House. The tables in the dining room had been pushed to the side to make room for dancing. More than a hundred couples had congregated. The hall was decorated with flags and emblems of the Pioneer Fire Company Number 1, which both sponsored and profited from the event.

The members of the fire brigade were easy to pick out because they were all wearing their red shirts, creating a swirl of bright color among those who had come to the dance.

Jana and Drew were sitting with Frank and Caroline when Liam Flannery saw them.

“Miss Hartmann, sure ’n’ I hope you haven’t forgotten, now,” he said as he approached their table with a broad smile.

“Oh, Mr. Flannery,” Jana replied, remembering her comment about participating in the kissing booth if she attended the dance. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“But t’would be a fine thing for you to do. ’Tis not a single young lad here who’d not be for layin’ down hard money for the chance of kissing such a lovely young lassie.”

“How much hard money?” Drew asked.

“It’ll be two bits a kiss, sir.”

“And how long does she stay in the booth?”

“A quarter of the hour for each of our lovely ladies.”

“So at the most, Miss Hartmann could raise about seven dollars. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Aye, we’re thinkin’ somethin’ like that.”

Drew pulled a bill from his billfold and handed it to Liam. “Here’s ten dollars. I’m buying all her kisses for myself.”

“Oh, Drew, that’s too much money,” Jana said.

“Do you want to kiss somebody else?” Drew asked.

“No, I don’t.”

“Oh, Mr. Malone, I did no’ know she was your special lady, or I would no’ have asked her.” Liam held up the $10 bill. “But ’tis thankful I am for the donation. And ’tis a promise to you that I’ll be for makin’ good use of it.”

“I’m sure you will, Liam,” Drew replied with a smile.

Caroline and Frank exchanged knowing glances as Drew took Jana’s hand and led her onto the dance floor as the music began.

The first dance was the polka, and because Jana had danced the polka with Drew on the night of the election, she felt confident she could follow the steps without anxiety. But the next dance was different, a slow waltz, and Jana was more than a little apprehensive about it.

This was the first actual dance she had ever attended, and she felt awkward. Dancing had not been allowed at McKendree College, so her only prior experience was with the occasional community barn dances held in Highland, and those dances were more a form of exercise than a sensual experience.

It turned out, as she expected, that Drew was an excellent dancer, and with him leading, the steps seemed to fall into place. So easily did the movement come that Jana found herself concentrating less on the dance and more on her partner.

As they danced, he looked into her face, and the smoldering fire in his eyes caused a dizzying current to race through her. The tiniest trace of a smile was on his lips, as if he could read her thoughts, but he neither said nor did anything that was, in the slightest, unseemly.

The dancing continued far into the night, and she found herself giving a little prayer of thanks that the floor was so crowded that no one could observe any one couple individually. The evening progressed through the polka, waltz, schottische, the Portland, and the mazurka. It seemed, as Jana and Drew moved deeper into the evening, their physical contact during the dances grew much closer and more intense. By the wee hours of the
morning, Jana could almost feel the beat of Drew’s heart, so closely was he holding her, molding the soft curves of her body against his. She enjoyed the feel of his arms around her, strong and possessive.

At two o’clock in the morning the dance came to a close, a surprise to Jana, who had so enjoyed the evening that she thought it not yet midnight.

“Two? In the morning?” she gasped. “Oh, my goodness! Greta must be worried to death!”

Drew chuckled. “My bet is that Greta was so tired from all the work she did today that she’s in bed, fast asleep, with no idea that you’re not even there.”

Jana laughed. “I suspect you may be right. It’s just that I worry so much about Greta that I sometimes forget she has her own life to lead. I know she doesn’t think about me nearly as much as I think about her.”

“That’s often the case with people who’ve taken the burden and responsibility of looking after someone else. And you’ve taken on that burden with your little sister, haven’t you?”

“I—I suppose I have.”

“Why is that? Greta seems to me to be perfectly capable of looking out for herself. The few times I’ve met her, she seems like a remarkably capable young woman.”

“She is, isn’t she?” Jana smiled. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of her, for how she’s adapted to this change in our lives.”

“What kind of change do you mean?”

“Being uprooted from comfortable . . .” Jana
paused in midsentence. “I mean from familiar surroundings.”

Drew knew that something in the way she amended her comment was significant, but he didn’t press the question.

“Well,” he said, “it seems the musicians are putting away their instruments, so that must mean it’s time to go home. I’ll walk you back to the hotel.”

“You don’t have to do that. It’s so late and the Custer is right around the corner. I can make it by myself.”

“I insist.”

The night air
was cold, considerably cooler than it had been earlier, so cold that the cape Jana had worn seemed insufficient, and she began to shiver.

“Allow me.” Drew removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

“I can’t take your coat. It’ll be too cold for you.”

“I’ll find a way to keep warm,” Drew said easily as he put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

Strangely, Jana was no longer aware of the cold, so heated was she from the feel of his arm around her. They passed out of the glow of a streetlamp and into the shadow of Beal’s Hardware store. Then Drew stopped.

“What is it?” Jana asked.

“Something I’ve been wanting to do.”

Drew pulled her against him in an all-encompassing embrace. A small warning voice told her that she should resist, but that voice was drowned out by the overpowering desire that was coursing
through her body, a desire to be held by this man, to be consumed by him. His hands found the hollow of her back and pulled her to him, much closer than she had been at any time during the evening.

She knew he was going to kiss her, and because it would be her first real kiss, she was a little overwhelmed. Would he know how inexperienced she was and turn away, or would he be amused?

He tilted his head to hers, and his kiss was slow, nonthreatening, allowing her time to build some trust so that the apprehension changed to sweetness; then she felt shivers of desire as his tongue began to trace the soft fullness of her lips. Then, shocking and thrilling her both, he opened his lips on hers and pushed his tongue into her mouth. The kiss caused a swirling sensation in the pit of her stomach, and involuntarily a moan of passion began in her throat. Her body was warmed with a heat that put a lie to the surrounding temperature. His lips left hers to nibble at her earlobe, then his tongue left a searing heat down the side of her neck and around to her throat, before moving up again to recapture her lips. The kiss went on, longer than she had ever imagined such a thing could last, and her head grew so light that she feared she would swoon, and she fell into him, totally dependent upon his strength to keep her from falling at his feet. They were in the middle of Bismarck, but she was aware of nothing save the wave after wave of pleasure that was sweeping through her.

Then, for the first time in her life, she felt, firsthand, the result of a man’s sexual excitation, for a hardness was pushing against her. Though she
had no experience in such things, she knew what it was, and she knew she’d caused it.

Finally, the kiss ended, and he pulled away from her. The abrupt end of the kiss left her hanging on an edge, aching and unfulfilled. She stood there for a long moment with her eyes closed, her mouth upturned, not sure what she should do next.

Drew kissed her again, but this time the touch of his lips against hers was light as the brush of a butterfly’s wing.

He smiled down at her. “I’m glad no one else got to kiss you tonight. Liam Flannery doesn’t know it, but I would have paid a hundred dollars just to keep your kisses for myself.” He lowered his head again, and this time he backed her up against the building, trapping her with his body as he kissed her again, demanding a reaction from her that equaled his own, and she willingly gave it.

“Did you know we’re on the main street of town?” Jana asked in a bare whisper.

Drew chuckled lightly against her lips. “You’re right. What would someone think of your improprieties, Miss Hartmann? The very idea of kissing a man in public. Why, it’s scandalous.”

“No one would notice. They’d just say, ‘It’s only that woman in Watson’s window who works at the saloon.’ ”

“Oh, is that the same woman that someone thought worked at Little Casino’s brothel?”

“I can’t believe you actually thought that.” Jana hit Drew’s chest playfully.

He caught her hand and held it, looking into her eyes with a longing—no, a hunger.

No one had ever looked at Jana the way Drew looked at her. To Mr. Kaiser she had been nothing but a hired hand; her mother’s looks were always tired, and touched with a bit of unspoken guilt for having brought Mr. Kaiser into her life. Greta had always looked at her with the affection of an admiring sister, but Drew’s looks were slow, seductive appraisals.

Finally he took a deep breath. “Come. As much as I’d like to stand here for the rest of the night, I’d better get you back to the hotel.”

When they reached the Custer Hotel and Drew opened the door, the lobby was softly lit by the low-burning, orange flames of the overhead chandeliers. Hank Thompson was sitting in one of the padded rocking chairs, his head thrown back and his mouth open. He was snoring softly.

“What’s he doing here?” Drew asked in a whisper. “Doesn’t he have a room?”

“He’s waiting for me.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“I’m very serious. He’s sort of adopted Greta and me, and either he or someone he assigns is always on watch to see that we’re where we’re supposed to be. If I’m late getting home from the store, or if Greta has to go get meat or vegetables for the soup, he gets anxious.”

“Then I’ll bet he’s had a very hard night with it being so late.”

“I don’t think so. A couple of hours ago I saw Mr. Dempsey stick his head in at the Sheridan. I’m sure he told Mr. Thompson that the dance was still in progress and that I was there.”

“You don’t think Mr. Dempsey followed us home, do you?”

“I hope not.” Jana’s whole face spread into a radiant smile. “Maybe we’d better awaken Hank and just let him know he’s fulfilled his duty.”

Jana and Drew both walked quietly over to the sleeping man. Jana leaned down and kissed him lightly on his forehead, then she moved away from him quickly as he brushed at his forehead with his hand.

“What?” he said, waking abruptly. “What is it?”

“Hank, I’m home.”

“As you can see, I brought her back, all safe and sound,” Drew said.

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Hank said. “I saw the two of you as soon as you came through the front door.” He pointed to Drew. “I had my eye on you, young man. If you’d tried any shenanigans with this girl, why, I’d have been on you like a duck on a june bug.”

“I don’t doubt it for a minute,” Drew said with a broad smile. “That’s why I was every bit the gentleman with her.”

“Yes, well, you’d better be.”

“Did you have a good Thanksgiving dinner?” Jana asked.

“Did I ever! I’ll have you know I’m stuffed plumb to the gills. I haven’t eaten me a dinner like that since the last time my own mama fixed one for me, and that’s nigh onto forty years ago. That sister of yours is one fine cook, I’ll tell you. She’s gonna make some man a fine wife.”

“You mean some
lucky
man a fine wife, don’t you?” Drew clarified.

“Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I mean.”

“Well, speaking of the cook, I’d better get up to the room and see how she’s doing. I’m sure she’s asleep by now, but just in case she isn’t, she might be wondering what I’ve been up to.”