Yours Again (River City Series) (18 page)

Samantha
smiled her thanks to Mavis and tried to slip out quietly with Tommy in tow. The
patrons of the store spilled out onto the sidewalk to follow. They knew she was
going to share this incident with Taos, and heaven forbid they miss any
fireworks.

Taos
was partway across the street on his way from the Sheriff’s office when he saw
the approaching mob. His eyes met Samantha’s. He stood stone still. She hated
what she saw in his expression. Fear, suspicion, anger—what must he be
thinking? She suddenly realized that Reverend Miller was running alongside
them. Her gaze snapped back to Taos. She saw all the blood drain out of his
face, and she could just imagine the comparison of this incident to his first
marriage.

Her
mind screamed at him to run, to get them out of here and away from this crowd.
They could talk in private, and she had no desire to give the townspeople any
more fodder for the gossip mill. Instead, he stood silently and waited, as
still and immovable as a mountain.

Samantha
stopped and tried to catch her breath. “We have to talk.” She silently pleaded
with him.

The
spectators spread out, surrounding them like two prize fighters in a ring
preventing a speedy escape.

“About
what?” He glanced nervously at the crowd as it pressed closer.

Reverend
Miller timidly approached and tried to offer his assistance. “I was told there
was going to be a wedding.” He smiled, silently encouraging Taos.

Samantha
could see the disappointment in Taos’s eyes. He’d finally believed her this
morning; she felt it. He’d believed her about John, about everything. The warm,
compassionate man she’d grown to love had finally shown himself completely, but
now he was gone again, replaced by the hard, cold, suspicious man she’d first
met.

The
mountain never wavered. “You were told wrong. There will be no wedding.”

There
were gasps of disbelief, and conversation buzzed around them with a multitude
of speculation.

 Samantha
looked at Taos, willing him to put an end to this show and just get them home. “I
didn’t say I would marry anyone, so you can relax.”

Silence
descended again.

The
thought crossed Samantha’s mind at how strange quiet could be. Not even the
birds and insects seemed to move. The whole world had ceased to turn just for
this moment and her gut feeling was that she would remember this as the worst
day of her life.

“There
was a misunderstanding about something that Tommy said in the mercantile,” she
whispered.

The
sun beat down as she, and the whole town it seemed, waited. And waited.

“Putting
Tommy up to it doesn’t make it right.” He pinned her with a suspicious stare.

Of
all the things he could have said, that one hurt the most. Anger, hurt, and
absolute heartbreak rose up. “I wouldn’t marry you if you licked my boots!”

She
pointed a finger and banged it into his chest. “Don’t think for one minute that
I couldn’t do better, Mr. Williams. In case you haven’t noticed, men are a dime
a dozen. If you don’t want me, I’m sure I can find a suitable replacement in no
time!” Amid laughter she walked away with what was left of her shredded pride.

“I
didn’t say I didn’t want you.” Taos ground out the words.

She
stopped and turned. “You know damn well that’s not good enough, Taos.”

Chapter 19

Taos
sat in one corner of the saloon, alone. Dust swirled under the swinging doors
with each gust of wind. Boots scraped the floor, accompanied by the constant
jingle of spurs. Small tidbits of speculative conversation floated toward him
as he sipped his whiskey.

“Crazy
is what it is . . .”

“Would
get down and beg for a woman like that . . .”

No
one approached him or said anything directly to him. He felt like a leper,
which should have been a bad thing. But it wasn’t. He was not in the mood to
talk to anyone, and if someone had the nerve to walk over and say hello, he
just might belt ’em one. The different voices droned on, though every so often
one or two comments would seep through his thoughts.

“Out
of his mind . . .”

“First
in line, that’s where I’ll be . . .”

“Not
only a looker, she’s got that ranch and all that beautiful water . . .”

He
tried to ignore the conversation, but all that filled his mind instead were
Samantha’s last words.

You
know damn well that’s not good enough, Taos.

She
was right about that. The tone in her voice made his heart skip a beat. He
looked into her eyes and saw overwhelming sadness. The same look he had seen
nine years ago when he put her on that train. Reality shook him as he watched
her walk away. Sharisse was gone, a conquered demon that had haunted him for
eight years. The same thing had happened, but this time he had won and refused
to be manipulated. But what had he gained? There should have been excitement,
triumph, relief even. But the only thing he felt was a strange emptiness that
crept into his soul.

Go
after her.

His
heart pleaded, but his feet refused.

I’ll
never run after a woman.
This was right. This needed doing. He was getting
too attached. It was better this way, better to suffer a little now than a lot in
the long run. She’d played a dangerous game and lost. It had cost him too, but now
he had to get past it.

The
crowd had dispersed, disappointed and disgusted, and here he sat, trying to get
answers from the bottom of a whiskey bottle again. Taos concentrated on a small
speck of dust floating toward the floor. It kept him from jumping up and
releasing his urge to pound someone or something. The hum of the saloon didn’t
even pause as a slender man walked in through the swinging doors and searched
the room with his gaze.

Taos
looked him over, anything for a distraction. The stranger was dressed in black
from head to toe. His shiny black boots were a dead giveaway: here was someone
who didn’t trudge around in the mountain dirt. The man approached the
bartender, who pointed in his direction. Taos thunked the legs of the chair
onto the floor as the stranger moved closer. The way the man moved reminded him
of a spider.

“May
I join you?”

Taos
nodded. The man’s accent was definitely Eastern. The smile he flashed made Taos
immediately wary. There was something very cold and calculating about this
stranger.

“I
understand we have a mutual friend, Mr. Williams.”

“Who’s
that?” Taos sloshed the amber liquid in his glass.

“Samantha
James.”

Taos’s
instincts snapped to attention. “What did you say your name was mister?”

“I
don’t believe I said, but it’s John Lawson.” He removed black leather gloves
from his long, slender fingers. His manner was condescending, as if he were
talking to an imbecile. “She has been staying with you.”

“What
makes you think that?”

Lawson
reached one hand inside the black brocade vest and pulled out a letter. He held
it up with two fingers then flipped it across the table at Taos.

Taos
turned the envelope over. It was his handwriting. The letter to Mattie. He
swallowed hard. This confirmed Samantha had been honest with him from the start.
That one thought resounded over and over in his head like a loud thunderclap.

Taos
knew what the man across the table was capable of and what he had planned for
Samantha. Fear tempted Taos to reach out and squeeze the man’s neck until his
black marble eyes popped out and rolled across the floor. He squelched the
renegade idea as he plotted carefully. Lawson forced Samantha to run halfway
across the country straight to him for protection. And what had he done? Betrayed
her and brought the danger right to her.

He
made this mess. It was up to him to fix it. Taos sized up his opponent with a
glance. He needed to know Lawson’s exact plan and stall until he figured out
where Samantha was.

He
could buddy up to the man. Taos watched the man sip his whiskey with one pinkie
raised. On second thought, he could never pull that off. But if he could get
Lawson to think he was nothing but a dumb cowboy, it might buy him some time.
Taos affected his best country bumpkin attitude.

“Sammy’s
a great gal. Know’d her since she was a little squirt.”

“I’m
her fiancé, Mr. Williams, as well as executor of her aunt’s estate. I’ve come
to collect her.”

Panic
gripped Taos’s heart and squeezed tight. He had to remain calm. “Executor?”

“Her
aunt Mattie signed the paperwork prior to her incapacitation.”

“What
incapacitation?”

“Poor
woman is on her death bed. Just a matter of time you know.”

The
man lied like he breathed. All of Taos’s senses were on alert. Hell would
freeze over before he allowed this murderer anywhere near Samantha.

“I
believe Miss Sammy wants to stay out here for a while.”

“That
won’t be happening, Mr. Williams. I‘ll be selling her assets as quickly as
possible”—he smiled a little—“to the highest bidder, of course.”

“She
won’t stand for that.”

Lawson’s
face reflected a man on the edge of losing patience. “If you understood these
things, Mr. Williams, you would realize that this is no place for my future
wife.” He paused to let the statement sink in. “The time of our marriage is
approaching, and I came to escort her back to Boston for the festivities.”

Wife?
The emotion that word drew out of a man was incredible. Less than an hour ago,
Taos never wanted to hear it again. Now his mind stumbled over incredible fear
mixed with intense regret. If he had believed her right up front, she would be
out of reach of the evil this man had planned for her. But he didn’t and she
wasn’t, and it was his fault. The tingle started at Taos’s neck and ran down
both arms. His knuckles itched to pound the man.

“Just
seems a bit odd she never said a word to anyone,” Taos ran a finger along the
rim of his glass, “almost like she had no idea herself.”

“Brides
can be a little temperamental, but with adequate instruction most turn into
decent wives. I’m sure she’ll be no different.” Lawson filled his glass again
from the bottle on the table. “You can deliver her immediately, then?”

“She’s
not a horse,” Taos growled.

Lawson
cast an accessing gaze on him.

Now
was not the time to let his emotions get the best of him. Taos shrugged and
gave him a lopsided grin. “I mean, it will take her some time to pack and say
her good-byes. You know how attached women get.”

“I
happen to know she was traveling rather light. I’ll be waiting tomorrow at the
hotel. Say, around nine?”

Taos
nodded as the man rose and grasped his gloves.

“Mr.
Williams, make no mistake. I
am
her fiancé, and I
will
be her
husband. No one and nothing can change that.”

“What
if she changes her mind?”

The
spider laughed humorlessly. “I’ve chased her halfway across the country already.
There is only one other place she could hide.”

“Where’s
that?”

“The
cemetery.” Wicked evil poured from the black marbles that stared at Taos. “You
know the old saying, ’til death do us part?”

Lawson
almost ran over Miles Barton as he exited the saloon. The lawyer brushed past
and looked around frantically until he spotted Taos.

“Taos,
thank God.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his brow as he
approached the table. “We have to talk, boy.”

“Not
now, Miles. I have to find someone.” He rose to leave.

Miles
grabbed Taos’s sleeve as he walked past. Miles had been his father’s lawyer,
but Taos hadn’t seen the man in a couple years at least.

Miles
insisted, “Not later, now. This is important. It can’t wait.”

Taos
towered a good foot and a half over the thin, balding man. He shrugged out of
his grip and snapped, “It will have to.”

Taos
scoured the town for Samantha. No one seemed to know where she was, but
everyone had questions about what he intended to do when he found her. Single-minded
determination allowed him to dodge the nosey inquiries and continue his search
at a frantic pace.

He
had just finished combing the livery as a last desperate measure when the music
coming from Miss Sadie’s caught his attention. It was the only place he hadn’t
looked. He closed his eyes then caught himself. He had actually prayed that
Samantha was in the whore house. Lawson, or anybody else for that matter, would
never think to look there. He stalked across the distance with long strides. Hopefully,
God had a great sense of humor.