The Circle Eight: Nicholas (11 page)

The trip back down the stairs was somber instead of full of trepidation and fear. Winnie knew as well as Ruby did
that the dying woman upstairs had little time. There might not be another visit before there was a funeral.

Two young men were downstairs sweeping the floor and polishing the wood bar. They were young and nameless, looking at Ruby as though the queen had stepped into their presence. She nodded at them and they continued their work, their gazes slipping to her every few seconds.

“Thank you, Ruby. I can’t tell you how much this meant to me.” She hugged her friend, the persistent tears she never shed still stinging her eyes.

“You are always welcome here, no matter what. You know that.” Ruby kissed Winnie on
both cheeks and hugged her tightly for a near bone-cracking moment. “It was a pleasure to meet the man who has finally made his way into Winnie’s heart.”

Nicholas blinked a bit like an owl before he responded. “Thank you for helping her. It means the world.”

Winnie wondered, for a fleeting moment, if he would acknowledge her love at all. If he never said the words aloud, she knew he loved her. His actions spoke of his feelings even if his mouth did not.

Nick didn
’t like seeing Winnie in such a state. She was scared, weeping and trembling, not at all the strong woman he’d met in Houston who had twisted his tail into a knot. He damn well didn’t want to see it again either.

A half-
Mexican baby was unexpected but not a big concern to him. People were who they were, no matter who their father’s father was or what color their skin was. Nick understood it could be hard for children who were caught between worlds. But perhaps the girl had found someone who accepted her as a child, no matter the origin of her birth.

Then again, he knew how hard the world was and the babe might have suffered a worse fate than finding an adoptive family. Much worse. He wasn’t going to mention that to Winnie
, though. She appeared to still be shaking from seeing her friends.

There was also the matter of how she was well acquainted with a brothel madam and the inner workings of a rather famous one. He was bursting to ask her but
didn’t think it was the right time. From what he knew of her father, it shouldn’t surprise him she had spent time with a madam. However, he had a feeling there was more to it than that, but he would save his questions for later.

He helped her mount the mare and
made quick work of untying the reins and getting them on their way. Winnie remained silent and she was strangely subdued.

“You want to go to the orphanage now?” Nick didn’t want to assume anything.

“Not quite yet. I think we need to ride back to Houston and have dinner. We need to have a plan before we go.” Winnie appeared to be plotting.

“Are you thinking up a story, Miss Watson?” He had been a witness to the story Vaughn and Elizabeth had concocted to trap her father, Troxler. Winnie could have written fiction with all the ideas she had.

“Yes, I am.” She glanced at him. “We can’t fail, Nicholas.”

“Then let’s make sure we have our story solid before we go.
Are you ready to step into this no matter what happens?” He was no fool. There was little chance of succeeding if they weren’t prepared. As it was, their chances were slim to find Grace, but without a battle plan, they sank lower.

“No matter what, I am ready.” Winnie had changed. Visiting the Ruby Slipper and the sisters had done something to her. He wasn’t sure exactly what, but he could hear it in her voice, see it in her face and the way she held herself.
Her shoulders were slightly slumped and a crease had appeared between her brows.

“Do we need more help?” He wasn’t sure what they faced.

“I don’t know.” She sounded unsure of herself. Another thing that he didn’t like. Not a damn bit.

“What do you know of the orphanage?”

She shrugged. “It’s on the other side of the city, privately run and funded. Troxler never ran in philanthropic circles so I don’t know
too much.”

They had to
have a plan before they got to the orphanage. Nick would have to shake her out of her un-Winnie-like behavior. Trouble was, he didn’t know how.

The next hour passed in silence
, one full of endless thoughts and unspoken words. Nick was a simple rancher. He could track a lost beeve, a deer or elk, rabbits even, but lost children in a city? He was at a loss and that bothered the hell out of him. He’d started her on this quest and now he wasn’t going to be of much use.

The dark hole that he existed in had held him captive for so long. Now when he looked up, he saw Winnie at the edge staring down at him as he hung on for dear life.
He wanted to climb up and out. This was his chance to not only escape from his prison but to fill it in with dirt. To stamp on its ground and say goodbye forever.

Trouble was, he didn’t know how again.

Frustrated and annoyed, he grew more fractious with each step the horse took. By the time they reached the outskirts of Houston, he had himself in a terrible knot. An epic knot that would take a mighty sword to cleave in two.

He couldn’t stop himself. The darkness within him grew no matter what he did.
His breathing grew labored and sweat rolled down his back.

“Nicholas?” She turned to look at him with her delicate blonde brows drawn down. “Are you feeling poorly?”

His chuckle was more of a rusty sob. “Every day of my life.”

She
rode close enough to touch him and put her hand on his. “Me too.”

Just like that, his grip on the edge of the hole tightened. Winnie had pulled him back from the shadows that reached their tendrils around him.
His eyes stung and he had to blink a few times to see straight.

Her fingers caressed his and it was as though she reached in and plucked his heart. It shook off a few more cobwebs and thumped steadily. For Winnie.

“Let’s stop for dinner.” She gestured to Houston. “There is a nice restaurant at the hotel up ahead.”

Nick followed her lead
to the building she indicated. The restaurant was nestled in the bottom floor of the Breakman’s Hotel. Not the highest quality place, but definitely had an air of well-tended ownership. They were seated by a middle-aged, balding man with a lisp.

After ordering the day’s special, Nick waited for Winnie to speak. He felt as though he was treading water
in an endless lake, still gripping her hand, and hoping like hell the shore was visible soon.

“
As I said, I don’t know much about Fuller’s Home for Orphans. I’ve heard the name before, but it’s been some time.” She clasped her hands together. “I am ashamed to know Grace was so close to the boardinghouse.”

He gripped harder and yanked himself forward
out of the hole, shaking his head. “You’ve been in the boarding house for five years.”

“Yes.” She frowned.

“You gave Grace up nine years ago. By the time you bought the boardinghouse, she might not have been there.” He focused on the timeline and on Winnie. Being together was much better than alone. Much, much better.

Her mouth formed a small O. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

He seized on an idea. “Do you think your father knew about where Josie took the baby?”

She snorted. “Of course he did. The man knew when I had a bow
el movement. He would have definitely known where my child was placed.”

This time it was Nick’s turn to reach for her hands across the table. “Then maybe she didn’t stay there long. Maybe your father made sure she was adopted straightaway.”

Her face brightened. “That’s entirely possible. He would have considered the notion I would look for her. If she was close by, then he suspected I would try to find her. I didn’t but I did leave his house for good. Mr. Troxler did not like being out of control.”

“Then she was probably not an orphan for long.”

She let out a sad sigh. “Then it might be harder to find her.”

“And she might be happy with a family who loves her.” Nick had a family who loved him, but he wasn’t happy. It wasn’t a good time to bring up that point
, though.

“If she is, then I will leave her alone. As long as I know she has a good life and is happy, then I can be at peace.”
Winnie seemed calmer than when they left the Ruby Slipper. “I need to know she is well, Nicholas.”

“I know you do and when we find her, and you see how well she is, you can
move on with other things in your life.” He didn’t want to confess his feelings yet. She had told him she might love him, but that wasn’t good enough for him to blurt out similar feelings. Oh, no, that was a definite no until he was absolutely certain of her love and only then would he ask her a more direct question.

Nick was the last person who would have considered marriage.
He thought his siblings were a little odd to fall in love and act as crazy as could be over their mates. He hadn’t understood it and had shown nothing but confusion and disdain.

Then he met Winnie.

She was a storm he hadn’t expected, blowing him over with her power, strength and her thirst for life. He had been helpless against the onslaught of emotions that raced through him when he’d met her. When she was shot by her own father, in the act of killing him, Nick thought he might have died along with her.

Nursing her back to health had given him a purpose and it was amazing how that
had transformed him. Going back to the Circle Eight had cut him off from her, as though he were a flower snipped from its stem. As with any bloom without its roots, he began to wither and die. Now that he had Winnie back in his life, albeit reluctantly at first, he felt the roots wrapping around him, pulling him to her. It would be a painful, if not fatal, experience if he were separated from her again.

“Nicholas, are you all right?” She must’ve seen something in his expression that caused her alarm.

“Just thinking about cut flowers,” he blurted, a half-truth.

“I rarely cut the flowers because they die so
quickly. If I leave them alone, they bloom and flourish over and over.” She squeezed his hands. “If I haven’t said this already, thank you for being here with me. I don’t know of another person I would like to have by my side.”

“Not even Vaughn, or Ruby?” He couldn’t help himself. Jealousy over the people she counted as friends was inescapable.

“No, although I love them dearly, they aren’t you. I need to—”

She was interrupted by the return of the waiter with their food
. After the plates were set down and napkins unfurled, the conversation turned to banal topics. The weather, the couple in the corner couldn’t take their eyes off each other long enough to chew and the old man who kept glancing at the door. Everyday things, boring and unimportant.

His mind was wrapped up in the realization he wanted to marry her. Marry. Marriage. Husband. Wife.

The very idea made his legs shake and his heart run like a thoroughbred. She, picking away at her food, had no idea of the turmoil slamming around inside him. He didn’t know if he’d have the courage to ask her, especially if the thought alone had him quaking.

“Do you agree?” She was looking at him with expectation on her face.

“Ah, sure.” What he agreed to, he couldn’t begin to imagine.

She dabbed her mouth with the napkin. “Good. I think a married couple has more of a chance of finding the information we need.”

He nearly inhaled a green bean.

She pounded on his back as he fought to pull air into his lungs instead of green vegetable. His eyes watered and his throat burned from the effort to breathe normally.

“Married?” He managed to croak.

“Well, of course. How else do you suggest we go to the orphanage? You did agree.”

Nick’s face burned as his thoughts careened around. Had she proposed to him and he missed it? Or did she have another plan in mind.

He could not ask her. He simply could not.
Whatever happened, he had to pretend he knew exactly what she was speaking of. If she wanted to allow people to believe they were married, he could do that. If she wanted to marry him, he would find a preacher.

Suddenly his thoughts around marrying her solidified, became very real. Possible. Excitement roared through him and he was finally able to take that deep breath.

“Yeah, of course I agreed.” He used the napkin to swipe the sweat off his face. Holy God, next thing, he might piss himself if things got any stranger.

“Then we should pay for our meal and ride to the orphanage now.” Her eyes sparkled for the first time since she spoke to Josie. How could he possibly refuse her?

“Let’s do it.” He reached into his pocket but she put his hand on his arm.

“Please let me pay. This entire trip is for me. I cannot allow you to pay for a thing.”

He frowned at her. “In my world, ladies don’t pay for their own meals no matter whose idea it was.” He carefully took her hand off his arm. “I will pay.”

She opened her mouth to argue and he deepened his frown to a scowl. “If we’re gonna be a married couple, then you need to let me be the man.”

She closed her mouth and nodded. Relieved, Nick left enough money on the table for their meals and got to his feet. When he pulled out her chair and offered his hand, her eyebrows went up.

As they walked out, the old man who’d been watching the door looked up at them as they passed. He smiled sadly.
“Hang onto that one, boy. She’s one to keep.”

“I plan to,” popped out of Nick’s mouth before his brain caught up with his tongue.

Winnie gifted the old man with a smile. “Thank you.”

Perhaps the old man had been waiting for the woman he loved and lost. The
lesson was not lost on Nick. He couldn’t lose her now. It took his entire life to find her.

They stepped out into the warm sunshine. He again helped her mount the mare, her seat more comfortable than she had been this morning. They were on their way i
n moments, off to the orphanage to find a little lost girl.

The
busy streets seemed to clear for them, giving them a path forward. He rode by her side, his outlook almost hopeful. Nick didn’t allow hope to enter his life often If he didn’t hope for anything, he wasn’t disappointed. Yet when it pertained to Winnie, he didn’t seem to be able to help himself.