The Golden Rules of Love: Western Romance (14 page)

Shaking her head, she reached for his hand. “You didn’t know. And you were right. I was letting my anger cloud my judgment. Most people just stay angry. They don’t go tearing off to California.”

Gathering her up in his arms, Collin pressed a kiss to her neck. “That is one of the things I love about you. You don’t let anything stop you when you’ve set your mind to it. It may be the death of me though.”

She ignored the second part of his statement. “You love me?”

“You already know that I do.” He gave her a long kiss. Annie lost herself in that kiss. She never wanted to leave his arms.

***

A half hour later, Annie had not only left his embrace but had left the boat all together. She and Mary Beth headed for the restaurant to begin another long day of work.

“If we are here fourteen days and we work every one of them, how much does that mean we make?” Mary Beth scrunched up her face.

“Seventy dollars,” Annie replied absently. She was thinking of Mack.

“Damn, I can’t quit then. I’ll be able to buy a house when I get back if I’m careful.”

Annie looked up. She wanted to ask if Mary Beth would marry Tom but he was rowing the boat and she thought it was a question best left for later. “I wish there was something else we could do to make money too. It’s a hard day and I don’t feel safe there.”

“We’ll stick together.” Mary Beth held her hand.

They pulled up to the restaurant and began climbing on deck for the day’s work. Today was slightly easier and Annie found herself getting into a rhythm. But she couldn’t get used to the way men looked at her. It was like they were starving and she was supper.

At lunchtime, a large crowd of men walked through the door. Annie scrambled to clear tables to make room for all of them, when someone put his hand at her waist. She straightened quickly and found the squinty eyes of Reverend Michaels staring at her.

“Well, hello Annie girl. What are you doing here? You and Mack separate?” He anxiously peered into her face as the smell of his foul breath assaulted her senses.

“No, Reverend. I’m just pitching in to raise money for the return trip home.”

“Mack cleaned house. He shouldn’t be sending a pretty little thing like you off to work.” He squeezed her waist.

“It was my choice, Reverend. If you will excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.” Annie turned away. In an instant two sets of eyes caught her attention. The first were Jasper Conway’s. She caught her breath. He was actually here. As their eyes met, his widened in surprise. Then, he quickly turned to leave.

Directly behind Jasper were a second set of eyes, which she could have sworn were Mack’s, and she called out, “Mack, that’s Jasper.”

The other man crinkled his brow at her, in confusion. The look was wrong and a sudden realization, she realized it wasn’t Mack at all. Annie made her way to the door. Jasper had disappeared but the other man stood looking at her with utter confusion on his face.

In an instant, Annie knew that this was Fergal. What were the odds of the two of them arriving together? Were they working together, or was it just coincidence?

“Do you know that man?” she gasped as she reached Fergal.

“No, but how did you know people call me Mack?”

“Lucky guess, you look Irish. Say, there isn’t any chance you’d chase after that guy with me is there?”

“What?” he looked even more confused as the word passed his lips.

Annie sighed. She didn’t think he would. Now she had to make a choice…get Fergal on the boat or chase Jasper. Damn, damn, damn, her brain screamed. In that moment, she wanted to find Jasper in the worst way. After reading his letter this morning, the anger burned fresh again and she wanted to demand answers from him. But she had to make a choice. Would she chase answers from her past or would she work for her future?

“Sit, I’ll get you a whisky and some lunch.” She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him toward an empty chair at a table.

“Thanks. Still can’t believe you knew my name.” Confusion still laced his voice.

Annie bit her lip. She had never asked Mack if his brother wanted to be found. Did she tell Fergal that she knew his brother? Something told her not to. Instead she asked, “What’s your name?”

“Fergal Mackinnon,” he gave her a grin that looked amazingly like Mack’s. He was a little shorter but no less handsome.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Annie Sullivan.” She gave him what she hoped was a winning smile.

“Thanks for the private escort to my table. Do you give all your customers this kind of attention?”  Annie looked back at him. Grinning like he was pleased with himself, Fergal looked and sounded just like Mack.

She arched her eyebrows and dropped her voice. “Aren’t you used to women doing nice things for you, Sugar?”

“Not ones as pretty as you.”

“Well, have a seat and let me get you something to eat. Maybe then we can talk.” She tried to keep her voice casual but she was beginning to worry. How was she going to keep him here? How was she going to keep her eyes on him so he didn’t just slip out the door? The owner had a dingy tied out front. She could take it and bring it back after she dropped Fergal off. But what if her boss noticed it was gone and called her out as a thief. At best, she would lose her job. At worst…she didn’t really want to think about that.

She doubted she could keep Fergal here until nightfall. She chewed on her lip. Just then, Mary Beth went by her down the narrow hall to the kitchen. “Fergal’s here,” she hissed. “How am I going to keep him from leaving?”

Mary Beth swore like a sailor and then said, “Get him some grub. We’ll figure something out.” The other woman headed upstairs while Annie raced to the kitchen.

She grabbed a large tray of food and started passing it out. She actually served Fergal last, as she wanted to make him wait as long as possible.

Mary Beth came up next to her. “Got any laudanum? We could put it in his drink.”

“No,” she hissed looking back at him.

Just then Tom walked through the door. He must be checking on them while he had some lunch. Annie raced for him. “It’s Fergal. Get Mack, quick!”

His eyes opened wide but he turned and sprinted back out the door.

Annie breathed a little easier. If she just gave Fergal a couple of drinks she could keep him here until Mack arrived.

She raced around feeding all the miners in record time. She and Mary Beth agreed that one of them would always be in the dining room.

She was buzzing around clearing plates when she saw Fergal toss some money on the table and get up to leave. She dropped the plates and raced over to him. “Where are you going?” she asked, anxiety filling her voice.

“Heading back out, Annie. Thanks for the grub.” He started to walk around her but she reached her hand out to grab his arm. He looked down at her hand.

She took a deep breath. “Stay,” she said in a calmer voice. “I’d like to talk to you.” She stepped a little closer, hoping she was convincing.

He gave her a long look, his eyes skimming down her. She was dressed plainly in a simple cotton gown. “Thank you kindly for the offer but I’ll hope you understand that getting to know a nice girl is not my intention here.”

“I’m not asking for anything more than a little of your time.” She moved another half step closer. “What brings you to California?”

He seemed to waver. His eyes searched her face again. She had pulled her hair back into a bun but it only accentuated her high cheekbones and full lips. “You really are a beauty, Annie. I’ve got things to take care of now but maybe…” he trailed off as she moved another half step closer.

“I can leave in a little bit. We can go somewhere and talk. Just don’t leave. Stay here. I’ll get you another drink.”

“I don’t get why you’re so interested in me….” His words died off as he looked to the door. Annie turned her head and there stood her Mackinnon.

She took a step back from Fergal and Collin crossed the room in a second. He stood by her side, his arm wrapped around her waist. “Hello, Fergal.”

“Collin?” His voice sounded stunned. Fergal looked at her. “Is this why you were trying to keep me here?”

She gave a single nod; she had deceived him a little. “Yes.”

“Then he told you that I didn’t want to see him ever again in my life.” Fergal crossed his hands over his chest. Annie looked at Mack. She had told him her entire story but apparently he had been holding back.

“Fergal, you’re the only family I have in the world. We should at least talk. Please.” Annie could hear the pleading in Mack’s voice.

Fergal gave one single nod. Mack responded with a tight smile.

Mary Beth came up next to them. “Guess what, a bunch of miners will pay us ten dollars each to have us do their laundry. Apparently they’re desperate to have a little female attention of any kind. A few also mentioned they’d be willing to pay five dollars for a pie. Can you believe that?”

“Are you saying we can quit this job and still make money?” Annie looked to Mack who nodded his approval. She untied her apron and walked over to the stairs. “Eddie, we quit. Good luck.”

A string of curses followed them up the stairs but Annie made a dash for the door. Finding Fergal was enough payment for today and tomorrow they would make it up.

Mary Beth was hot on her heels and when they stepped out, Tom was just on the other side of the door. “Is he comin’?”

“Yep,” Annie said.

“Oh good, if he’s anywhere near as strong as Mack, I was going to have a dickens of a time wrestling him into that skiff.”

Annie nodded. She was glad she didn’t have to stay at work. She wanted to find out what was going to happen between the Mackinnon brothers.

Everyone was silent as they rowed back to the ship. Annie had her hands clasped in front of her and she stared down at them. Now that she had a few moments with her thoughts, all she could think about was Jasper.

He was here and she could only hope that Mack would try to help her find him before they left. She looked over at Mack and he was staring intently at her.

She wanted to ask him if he was all right. The lines of his face looked incredibly strained. But she couldn’t ask him in front of everyone on a small boat. She turned to see Fergal in the front of the skiff. His face was equally tense.

As they pulled up to the ship, Fergal climbed up first, then Tom. The rest followed and soon they all stood on the deck. “Why don’t you come down to my quarters?” Mack asked, turning to Fergal, who nodded. “Do you mind if Annie joins us?”

“At least you’re asking me if it’s all right instead of just telling me what to do.”

Mack drew himself up. “You were a kid. I was trying my best to be a parent. I made some mistakes.”

Fergal gave a terse nod and then Mack began leading the way down to his quarters. They marched into the room in silence. Fergal looked around, then asked, “Did you sail the boat here?”

“No, I’ve been leading settlers on wagon trains and selling goods I carry. I’ve saved enough to start my own shipyard.”

“Where?” Fergal eyes pierced into Mack.

“North of Boston.”

“What about your house?” Fergal’s voice rose.

“What do you want to do with the house?” Mack’s voice was calm but Annie could see the tension in every line of his body.

“It’s your house. I just lived there. You told me what to do, where to go.” Fergal stepped closer to his brother, his fists clenching at his side.

“You were a child then, that is what a guardian does. You’re a man now and it’s half yours.” Mack’s voice was rising

“Why? So you can draw me back in? Run my life?” Fergal was yelling now.

“You were fifteen, and you wanted to join the army. I couldn’t lose you too. I was trying to protect you.” Mack’s voice rose to match his brother’s.

“I didn’t need your protection. I didn’t want it.” Fergal stepped up to his brother.

“Because you were doing so well on your own? Look at you. Your clothes are dirty. Annie was paying for your drinks. I know why a man walks out on a pretty lady. You are too down on your luck to even entertain a pretty woman. Tell me I’m wrong.” Mack’s nose was almost touching his brother’s.

“This is your big plan? Insult me?” Fergal gave his brother a small shove.

“Fergal,” Annie’s voice was soft. She stepped close so she was almost touching the two men. “Trust me, I know that Collin can drive a body mad with his meddling and his ‘I know what is best for you’ attitude.” Her hand lightly rested on each of their sleeves. They had both stopped yelling and she took a breath, praying to find the right words to help these brothers. “But under that, he is doing it because he loves you. And he will twist himself into knots to help you. If you were honest with yourself, and it took me a while to be honest with myself, you’re taking your anger out on Collin but you’re angry about something else entirely. And that’s all right because Collin is strong enough to wait for you to see the truth. I’ve never been strong in that way. I don’t understand how he can do it. But he can.”

Fergal looked at her and the angry lines of his face twisted in pain. “How do you know all of that?”