The Texan and the Lady (14 page)

When the women turned to go back into the hotel, Marshal McCormick blocked the way. “We need to talk,” he ordered.

Both girls looked at each other before staring at him blankly.

Austin frowned, knowing they were not going to make it easy on him. “I’d like some answers.”

“To any particular question?” Jennie remarked, trying not to smile. “Or shall we just throw them out in general?”

Audrey raised her hand to the marshal’s head. “Did you hurt yourself last night? Maybe a head wound? You don’t look like you slept well. Maybe you should get some rest.”

Austin shoved her hand away. “Stop this nonsense, ladies. You may have fooled everyone else, but the girl who just climbed into that wagon was not the girl I pulled from the train last night.”

Jennie couldn’t look him in the eyes. She wanted to tell him the truth, but Delta’s life might balance on her silence.

“Of course she was,” Audrey snapped. “What do you think, we went upstairs and brought down the wrong Mary Elizabeth O’Brian?”

“I’m not sure what to think,” Austin admitted. A moment ago he would have sworn the woman leaving with Barkley was Delta, but Audrey seemed so convinced he was making no sense. He looked from Jennie to Audrey. “You two are up to something.”

“Nonsense.” Audrey acted as if she were insulted by such a suggestion.

“I’m telling you that’s not the girl I pulled from the train. If I were putting clues together, I’d swear that was Delta Smith—though you two did a very good job of bandaging her face where not even her own mother would recognize her.”

“I can’t believe you’d suggest such a thing. What would be the point?” Audrey was now doing a great job of acting insulted.

“I’ve got more sense than to be fooled by a few bandages.” He looked at Jennie, silently demanding she tell the truth.

Audrey grabbed Jennie by the arm and moved around the marshal. “My Granny Gates was right,” she whispered loud enough for Austin to hear. “Some jackasses are bound and determined they have horse sense.”

The girls disappeared into the house, slamming the door behind them.

Jennie didn’t see the marshal until well after dark. She took her turn waiting tables for the few folks wanting a late supper.

When Marshal McCormick entered the dining room, she couldn’t make herself stop watching him. He moved to a back table and folded his length into a chair. Jennie could almost feel his hands touching her as he studied her from across the room. She remembered the way he’d kissed, and her body warmed to the memory. Looking at him now, it was hard for her to believe his eyes had turned liquid with desire only hours before.

Moving to his table, Jennie filled his cup while he waited in silence. “I’ll only ask one time,” he said as quietly as if they were making polite conversation. “Don’t lie to me, Jennie. I could never care for a woman I couldn’t trust.”

Jennie sat the pot down and looked directly at him. His eyes were warm with a need that frightened her. This was a man who valued honesty above all else. A man whose love would be true if he ever offered it.

“Who was the woman who climbed on that wagon this afternoon with Colton?” His gaze locked on her, demanding she tell him the truth. “Was it Delta Smith or Mary Elizabeth O’Brian?”

Jennie lifted her chin slightly. If she lied, she’d lose the one man who’d ever thought she was pretty. The one man who’d ever kissed her. He was like the heroes she’d read about in her novels, strong and tender at the same time. But he demanded one thing of the woman he cared for—honesty.

Yet she had to protect Delta. If he knew whose body was buried in the grave, he’d have to tell the truth if the family came looking. He might be a hero always honest and true, but the best Jennie could hope for was to be a true friend. “Mary Elizabeth O’Brian climbed into that wagon. We buried Delta Smith.”

“Are you sure?” She could see his tired stare fill with anger as her words pushed them apart. He didn’t believe her. She could read it in his stance, but he wanted to hear the lie one more time.

“I’m sure,” she promised. “Audrey and I will both swear to it.”

Austin stood and tossed two bits on the table. “Then I’ll be saying good-bye, Jennie.”

“Good night,” she whispered as she watched him walk out the door without even glancing back. “Good-bye, my hero.”

Chapter 13

D
elta watched Colton Barkley storm up the steps and go into the colorful mercantile. He hadn’t said a word to her since they’d left the hotel, only driven into town with a frown molded as if permanently on his handsome face. But his temper didn’t seem aimed at her. Near as she could tell, he hadn’t even looked in her direction—not even when he climbed down and went inside.

She sat very still on the bench and watched the people pass along the wooden walk in front of the stores. With only one main street in the town, most folks had seen her with Colton Barkley, and now that he’d gone indoors, they seemed to be taking the opportunity for a closer look at her.

As group after group drifted within a few feet of the wagon, Delta grew more nervous. No one spoke to her, and their sidelong glances grew bolder the longer she waited. She felt like screaming, “Don’t look at me!” but she’d only draw more attention to herself. The folks circled, unsmiling, like vultures waiting for her death before moving in. She thought of climbing down and going into the mercantile, but didn’t trust her own strength. Also, from what she’d seen of Colton, he was little more friendly than the town folks.

They reminded her of what her mother called “the good folks” in every town she’d lived in. They were all dressed in “Sunday, go to meeting” clothes, but there was no kindness in their manner. They expected a large measure of politeness from those they thought their lessers, but offered no kindness in return. Delta looked down at her hands and wished as she had a hundred times before that she could be invisible to “the good folks.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Colton startled her as he stepped to the back of the wagon. “Had a few more things to get than I planned on.” There was no apology in his tone, only low, controlled anger somewhere deep below the surface.

She didn’t miss how boldly he looked at “the good folks” or how quickly they turned away. They didn’t look down their noses at him. They didn’t look at Colton Barkley at all. Maybe he’d found the way to hold up his head and be invisible to them.

Delta didn’t say anything as Colton and a man who looked to be the proprietor of the store loaded several boxes in the back of the wagon.

The people who’d passed so close only moments before widened the boundary. They were far more cautious with their stares now that Colton stood near her.

The man who’d help load the supplies walked to Delta’s side. His girth matched his height, and his smile reflected the amount of money spent and nothing more. “Name’s Luther, miss.” He extended his hand. “Mr. Barkley tells me you’re a friend newly arrived from back east. Welcome to Florence. I’m mighty sorry to hear about you being in the train wreck.”

“Thank you.” Delta couldn’t help but like the man despite his soft hands. He reminded her of a shopkeeper when she’d been a child who’d always slipped her a candy stick whether she had money or not.

When the middle-aged man smiled, his eyes disappeared into wrinkles. “I tried to get everything Mr. Barkley said you lost in the wreck, but it may take a few days. I’ll send the goods out to the ranch when they come in.”

Looking over Luther’s head to Colton, Delta noticed he was busy tying the supplies down and didn’t look up. “Thank you,” she said to Luther, but her words were meant for Colton.

“Oh, no problem,” Luther answered. “If he forgot something, you just send me a note by the ranch cook and I’ll see you get it.”

Delta was saved from answering by Colton climbing into the wagon. He handed her a box and half saluted the shopkeeper. “Thanks for your help, Luther, but we best be on our way.” He slapped the horses into action with a nod to the store owner while he totally ignored everyone else on the street.

Watching the people look away, Delta couldn’t help but smile as most of the folks pretended they hadn’t noticed the couple moving down the middle of the street.

She followed Colton’s example and waved at Luther, noticing that the town folks were already converging on the mercantile.

“Aren’t you going to look in the box?” Colton’s voice was a low rumble.

Delta had been afraid to. After all, he hadn’t said it was for her.

Slowly, as if testing uncharted waters, she opened the box. There, resting in a cloud of thin white paper, was a wool hat of dark winter green. As she lifted it gently, she saw a matching scarf beneath the hat. She knew she was suppose to say thank you, but all she could do was softly brush the knit of one of the finest hats she’d ever seen.

“I know it’s probably not what you would have liked, but Luther said women with light blond hair look good in green.”

Delta couldn’t believe such a hat belonged to her. She’d seen women wearing hats and scarves to match, but she’d never thought she’d have something so fine on her head.

Colton moved the reins to one hand and reached behind him. “I thought I’d buy another blanket. I need it at the ranch, and you can wrap up in it on the way home. Soon as the sun lowers, it gets cold out here this time of year.” He handed her the colorful blanket. “I noticed you didn’t have a coat or cape beyond that traveling jacket so I ordered material.”

“I appreciate it,” she whispered, wondering how a man who looked cold as a winter storm could be so thoughtful. “And thanks, but you didn’t have to. I can make it just fine.”

“Like I told Luther, the railroad hasn’t found your trunk, and you had to borrow a few things from the Harvey girls.”

Delta smoothed the worn material of Mary Elizabeth’s best dress and silently agreed to Colton’s lie. Part of her wanted to tell him not to spend any more money on her for she wasn’t the bride he’d sent for. But another part of her wanted to crawl into the wagon bed and look in all the boxes. She could never remember owning anything someone else hadn’t worn first.

Slowly, as if enjoying every second of her time, she placed the hat on her head and wrapped the scarf around her neck. Since she didn’t have a mirror, she closed her eyes and pretended with all her heart that she was somebody.

Colton pulled the wagon onto the muddy road, seeming totally absorbed in driving. As the holes in the road tossed them one way and the other on the narrow bench, he placed his hand behind her back, steadying her and providing a brace.

At first she remained stiff in the seat, trying to fight the tossing of the wagon. Slowly, inch by inch, she relaxed against his arm and was surprised how much more comfortable she was.

Eventually the road turned onto one less traveled and smoother, but he didn’t withdraw his support and she didn’t move away. She cuddled into the blanket and felt herself relax. Somehow this man’s formal politeness made her feel safe.

In a low voice, he spoke as if to himself. “I figure there’s a few things we need to say to one another.”

“All right,” she answered. “If you wish.”

He drove the team for several more minutes in silence, and she decided he’d had second thoughts. When his words came, they were slow. “How bad are you hurt? No one told me.”

“My shoulder’s bruised and cut,” she answered. “Also, I bumped my head. I don’t think I need the bandages as much as my nurses thought I did.”

When he glanced at her, she pulled away, afraid he might see something about her mat told him she wasn’t Mary Elizabeth.

Colton cleared his throat and stared back at the road. “Your hair’s lighter than I thought it would be. You said in one of your letters it was yellow. But it’s so light it’s almost white.”

Delta pulled away a little more. What else had Mary Elizabeth written that might hurt the plan to fool him? “I’m sorry,” she whispered, more because she couldn’t think of anything else to say than because she regretted what she’d done.

“I don’t mind,” he answered. “You told me so little, I didn’t really have a picture of you.”

Delta let out a long held breath. “I guess I was afraid you’d be disappointed. Are you?” She bit her tongue.
Why had she asked? What did it matter?

Colton looked at her for the first time. “No,” he finally said. “I’m not disappointed. In truth, your looks are not important. That’s why I never asked. Your willingness to come out here was all that mattered.”

Now it was Delta’s turn to look at him. He had a strong, handsome face despite his dark mood. She found it impossible to believe such a man would have to order a wife by mail. “But why?” she asked.

Colton stared at the road as if into the past. “Mary Elizabeth, I’m not an easy man to live with. My land has always been more important to me than anything or anyone. Since my wife died six years ago, I’ve been alone except for the folks who work for me, and they’ll tell you soon enough I’m overloaded with a temper and shy on patience.”

She was so still, he thought she might jump from the wagon if he reached for her.

“But,” he continued, “I swear I’ll never touch you unless you want it; so there’s no reason to be afraid of me. You’ve no need to jump when I step within a foot of you.”

“I’m not afraid.” Delta steadied herself as if ready for battle. She would not live another day of her life in fear of any man. “I’ll stay a month, providing you don’t try to hurt me. That’s the only promise I make, Mr. Barkley. One month.”

“Agreed.” He looked at her closely. “Whoever turned you against men did a grand job, but I hadn’t expected you’d come without a few ghosts haunting you. After all, I have my share.”

He slowly pulled a small derringer from his vest pocket and held it out to her. “Tell you what, if it makes you feel safer, you can shoot me if I ever break my word. There’s only two shots in it, but I guess they’ll do the job if need be.”

She accepted the pistol. She’d missed the comfort her little gun had brought her. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, “I will.”

“Fair enough,” he said. “You’ll have to learn that I’m a man of my word. Until you do, the gun is yours.”