Before the Larkspur Blooms (32 page)

“Good. A group of railroad men just came in and need some entertainment.” He cocked a brow, then turned and hurried out.

She took a step to follow him, but Jake beat her to the door. “I need to get to work, Jake.” She reached up and checked the spot under his eyebrow one last time.

“I know. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been preoccupied for the last two weeks. That’s why I haven’t had a chance to stop in. All the rustling and such.”

“And Rome? I wondered. After the poker game…”

“I know. I stormed out. I’ve never lost that much money before.” A grim laugh slipped out between his teeth. “I’ve never lost
any
money before. It was foolish. After tonight, though, everything—” He closed his mouth.

Her gaze snapped to his, her eyes huge in her heart-shaped face. “Are you meeting Rome tonight? Where, Jake? Do you have the money?”

“Not the full amount yet. But he seems like a pretty decent man. I’ll work it out to pay some each month with interest.”

“Daisy!” Kendall bellowed. The word was drawn out so long, the men in the saloon laughed.

“I’m coming, Kendall.” She grasped Jake by the front of his shirt. “He’s
not
a decent man. There’s something about him that scares me. Don’t go alone, Jake. I’m begging you.”

“He’s fine, Daisy. He’s no outlaw.”

Her nostrils flared. “I’ve been saving my earnings. It’s not all that much, but it can help you make up the difference. You can have—”

“No. But thank you. I’m not taking your hard-earned money because of my stupidity.”

The sound of Kendall’s flat-bottomed boots clomped toward the storeroom. Daisy went up on tiptoe, coming close to his face. She gave him a strong shake. “Tell me where, Jake. Where’re the two of you meeting?”

The door rattled as Kendall got closer.

“Jake!”

Her distress made Jake speak. “South fork of Shady Creek. Ten o’clock tonight.”

U
pstairs in her bedroom, Hannah reached around to unbutton the waist of her skirt and slipped the yards of material toward the floor.
Oh, how I’d love to be free of long skirts and dresses. A nice pair of pants would suit me just fine.
A sharp pounding resounded loudly at the front door. Surprised, she snagged her foot in her pantaloons and spilled onto her quilt-covered bed, floundering in all the fabric. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Who in the name of anything good knocks like that?”

A little over an hour ago, she’d returned from the restaurant and now she was changing before fixing something for Markus’s dinner. Righting herself, she tussled her foot free and tossed the gravy-splattered dress into the corner for washing. She glanced at her bedside clock.

“Mother, can you get that, please?” she called loudly through her closed door. Whoever it was pounded again, setting her teeth on edge and lighting her temper.

“One moment,” she called out the window.

Bang, bang, bang.

Where is Mother?
She quickly pulled on a new skirt, buttoned up her blouse, and ran down the stairs. She flung the door open just as the offender struck it again, rattling the door in her hand.

“Dwight!”

“I want to talk to you, Hannah,” he said, stepping past her even though she hadn’t invited him in.

A noxious odor floated in with him, and she took a step back. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I’m busy.”

He scowled. He looked wildly around the room as if he expected to find someone hiding behind the furniture. When he seemed satisfied that they were alone, he turned on her. Stringy blond hair stuck out in a mess, and he had a shiner forming on his right eye. A long tear opened his shirt under the pocket, and his deputy’s star dangled. Someone had gotten the better of him.

“No. It can’t wait. I’ve been waiting for years. I don’t intend to wait anymore.”

She squared her shoulders. “What in the blazes has you so aggravated?”

Hatred shone from his eyes. “Well, let me see. Maybe it’s the fact you’ve been stringing me along. I’m sick of it. Today it ends!”

How dare he?
“I’ve
never
led you on. Either apologize or get out.” She pointed to the door with all the grit she could muster. “Actually, I prefer the latter.”

Instead of leaving, he stalked around the room like a man gone mad. Fear inched up Hannah’s spine, but she pushed it away. Dwight was not going to cow her. Not now. Not ever!

“You’ve been consorting with that Irish mick. Even after I told you—have been waiting patiently for you. You’re going to be my wife whether you like it or not.”

Hannah laughed. She couldn’t stop herself. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I never—I repeat
never
, encouraged you. The romance you’ve cooked up was only in your head. I repeatedly told you there would never be anything between us. I’m never going to marry you, Dwight. I don’t care if you are Caleb’s cousin. I don’t care if we already share the same last name. I don’t care if you’re the deputy sheriff of Logan Meadows. I’ll not marry you now or ever. I’m going to marry Thom Donovan. I
love
Thom Donovan. It’ll be Thom Donovan or no one. Do you understand?”

Dwight’s face turned three shades of purple. He clenched and unclenched his hands, and Hannah thought out in her mind the different escape routes she could take if he stepped her way.

“So you’re going to marry Thom.” It was a statement said in a flat, nasally tone.

“I would if he wanted me.”
Good.
It seemed her tirade had burst his bubble. “Which he doesn’t. He knows my feelings, and still he stays firm in pushing me away. Now, are you happy?”

The back door slammed, and the sound of running feet echoed into the living room. Roberta burst into the room. Her eyes were wide as she looked back and forth between them. Markus was next. He ran to Hannah’s side as if to protect her.

“What in the heavens is going on in this house?” Roberta gasped. “We could hear you all the way from the creek.” Markus held a slimy frog cupped in his hands. The bottom of his pants were wet up to his knees.

“She’s in love with him, Roberta,” Dwight yelled. “I can’t believe my own words. Thom Donovan!” He looked back and forth between her and her mother as if they were in the third grade and he was telling on her. Maybe he thought she’d get ten swats and then be sent to bed without any supper. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve already—” He looked at Markus and shut his mouth.

Hannah’s heart twisted as her mother stepped toward the tall, crazy-looking deputy and poked a straight finger into his chest. “I’m going to have your job for this outrageous stunt, Deputy Hoskins. I suggest you get your whiny mouth and dirty mind out of Hannah’s house and never step foot into it again. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

Dwight stumbled back, clearly shaken. “What? But—” He held out a hand to Roberta, a lost-little-boy look in his eyes.

Hannah reached down and picked up Markus. He wrapped one arm around her neck and clung to the frog with the other. His presence bolstered her resolve. “I’m sorry, Dwight, about whatever
happened to you today. I can see that you’ve clearly been upset.”
Was it Thom? Had the two finally come to blows? Was Thom hurt, bleeding somewhere, needing help?

Dwight brushed at his pants as if he could fix his appearance with the small gesture. “You and Thom,” he muttered and took a step toward the door. “I never thought I’d see the day. Never thought…” He yanked the door open and stomped out.

T
he usual peaceful feeling Chase got from the barn did little to calm his ragged nerves. He moved from one stall to the next, checking on the young horses bedded inside. Five of the finest of this year’s two-year-old crop were spending their first night ever in a barn. They’d run free until now, growing strong and clever. A colt, three stalls back, snorted and kicked the wooden slats keeping him from his prairie home.

Chase stifled a grin as he carefully opened the last gate on the aisle. The golden-colored filly swung around in fear, crowding into the corner, her silvery mane and tail rippling with movement. Her large, intelligent eyes, brilliant even in the dusky light, distrustfully looked him over. The aroma of damp horseflesh hung thick in the air. She snorted, then stomped her right foreleg in warning. Chase put out his hand in supplication, but didn’t go in. “Easy, girl.” She was a beauty. Was sure to bring a high price this fall if they decided to sell her.

He rubbed his gritty eyes and closed the stall door. A sigh slipped out. Nothing mattered except fixing this horribly cruel mess with Sarah. When would the Stockbridge people arrive? What would it do to Jessie if they took Sarah away?
And to me? Gabe and Jake? Shane?
So many questions. So few answers. He felt castrated. Unable to protect his family when they needed him most.

“Chase?”

He turned and saw Gabe silhouetted in the door. The young man entered, his footfalls silenced in the soft-packed dirt. “Hoped I’d find you out here.”

“Yeah, just finishing up.” It was just a small lie. He’d been avoiding Jessie at every turn. The pain in her face was killing him inside. He needed to do something, but he didn’t know what. Long hours in the barn, riding the pastures, and checking with Albert in town helped him stay away. As of yet, he and Jessie hadn’t shared the information about Sarah with anyone.

“The stock look good,” Chase added, motioning to the stalls. “How many more are still running up in the high country?”

Gabe offered a lopsided grin. “A good ten. We should have ’em corralled at Devil’s Gorge by the end of next week. By then this batch will be started and able to be moved to paddocks. I have my eye on her.” His nod indicated the filly in the last stall. “I think we should keep her.”

“My thoughts, too.” He opened her gate again. This time she pinned her ears and shook her head. “She’s a beauty, all right. Her dam’s as spirited as they come. Seems this girl will be the same. The wilder the colt, the better the horse.”

Gabe nodded.

Chase glanced around. “Where’s Jake? Thought he’d be with you.”

“Actually, I thought he was with you in the barn,” Gabe said. “He’s not at the house. I checked before I came out here.”

“Well, he’s probably gone into town to let off some steam. It is Friday night.”

Gabe shrugged, then looked away.

Gabe’s boyhood diversion tactic was not lost on Chase. “What? Is there something about him going to town that I should know about?”

“Nope. A man has the right to rein his life in any direction he wants, I guess.”

They were walking toward the large barn door and Chase stopped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Jake’s been chewing on a bitter pill of late. Just think he has some hard knocks ahead of him before he gets it out of his system.”

“All this from you, two years younger and still wet behind the ears,” Chase teased. Gabe knew how valuable he was to this ranch. They couldn’t have come so far so fast without him.

“I don’t have to be old to have good sense.”

Chase shrugged. “Guess not. Go on and say what you have to say about Jake and don’t feel guilty. We all love him like family.”

The two moseyed out to the hitching rails, and Chase leaned back against one. Gabe needed a little time before spilling the beans, he thought, as he looked around the tidied yard. Everything in its place, ready for the next day of work.

“It’s just that I hate to see him in any kind of trouble,” Gabe finally said.

Chase rolled on his elbow and faced Gabe. “Now, you’re getting me worried. Tell me what’s on your mind. Does it have anything to do with Hannah Hoskins?”

“No. I think Jake gave that up a few weeks ago. It’s something else. Something I heard through the grapevine.”

Thank goodness for that. After the display Thom and Hannah had made at the picnic, Jake didn’t stand a field mouse’s chance in a snake pit. “I’m listening.”

Gabe scuffed his boot in the dirt. “A coupla weeks ago Jake got fleeced in a game of poker at the saloon. Seems he lost a bunch of money.”

“You know what they say—a winning poker hand is like a cowboy’s legs, few and far between.” He chuckled at his own joke. When Gabe didn’t respond, he said, “I didn’t know Jake was interested in gambling.”