Claudia Dain (12 page)

A man's pride was a powerful thing when married to his lust and she was a mother ten times over if Jack Skull didn't have it bad for Anne. A man would need to be dead not to stir when Anne walked across his trail.

Jack Skull wasn't dead.

"I won't lie to you," she began and Jack was instantly cautious. People didn't begin that way unless they had considered lying and decided either to tell the truth or skim along the edge of it. "Anne has a beau, of sorts." Bill Tucker, who'd come to fetch her from the depot. "But he's not... they're not..."

"He's slow to the spur," Jack said, understanding in that moment what this woman wanted from him.

"That's one way of saying it."

"You want to think of some more, I'll stick around and finish my pie."

The anger in his voice was so suppressed that she barely heard it. But she felt it.

"More pie?" Sarah said, trying to coddle him into a sweeter mood.

"This is about all I can swallow," he answered, saying it all.

He was going to bolt; the fact was in every angry movement, in the shadows behind his eyes, in the set of his jaw; but he couldn't run, not until she'd set things up properly for Anne. What could she say that would get a bounty hunter to stay? Put that way, the answer was obvious.

"There's things you don't know, being new to Abilene," she said, leaning across the table, whispering. "Anne's only known Bill for a few weeks and he's been a proper enough beau, when he's here. But he's not often in Abilene. Travels all over the country, doing God knows what, and not a braggart when it comes to talking about his business. Lord knows how unusual that is; I never knew a man who made an honest dollar who didn't want to tell you every detail of the conquest. But not Bill. Off and doing only the Lord knows. And poor Anne, hoping he might want to marry her and her not certain of what to think. Of what sort of man she might be tangling with."

She was striking blind and she hit dead center. She could see it in his face, in his blue eyes, but she didn't know what she'd said that had turned him around. It didn't matter. It was clear by just looking at him that the way had suddenly opened for him to pursue Anne.

"You like Anne," she stated, certain of it. "You'll court her?"

Sarah couldn't know that he was seeing a dead girl in his mind, the breath pressed out of her. A beautiful girl lying on the prairie, dark hair splayed out like a shawl, alone in the dark. A girl who got hooked up with a man she should have steered clear of. A girl maybe too much like Anne Ross.

"Ma'am, if you'll excuse me, I'd better get to work."

He laid money on the table for the food without flourish; Sarah hardly noticed, so keenly was she watching his face. He had to get to work? She didn't know what he meant. Until he winked.

Chapter 10

The dog had his body wedged so tightly between Bill and the door frame that anyone would have thought Dammit was Bill's dog. Anyone not from Abilene. Everyone in Abilene knew that Sarah's husband, Roy, had picked the dog up somewhere on his way home from the war, named him, and given him to Sarah. At least the dog was still around. Though if Bill had even whistled, Dammit would have run after him to Powell's. Personally, Anne thought it was insulting that even a dog wouldn't have loyalty to his mistress. But Dammit was a male and that seemed to explain it all.

"Stay,
Dammit," she said, squeezing out of the door with Bill, forcing the dog to stay inside.

"I wish that dog had a different name. It doesn't seem right for you ladies to be cussing all day long because of a dog," Bill said once they were outside.

"Uncle Roy named him and Aunt Sarah won't change it. Miss Daphne doesn't like it much either."

"I wouldn't think so," Bill said.

Dammit whined on the other side of the door and scratched at the wood. They moved across the porch to stand on the steps. Another scratch. Anne just smiled and shrugged, hoping Bill wouldn't pursue it; there was nothing she could do about the name of Sarah's dog and she didn't want to be asked to try.

"How did the trip go?" she asked, changing the subject. Dammit whined and sniffed the crack between the door and the jamb. "Will you be able to stay in Abilene for a while?"

"It went well," he said. "They're going to run a line connecting Junction City and Council Grove, Emporia, Burlington, all the way to Denison on the Red River. Land prices might as much as double. Good opportunities there."

"So you'll be leaving again?"

"I'll be around for a while." He smiled charmingly. Everything he did was charming. It didn't seem as attractive as it once had, say, a week ago, before that outlaw had tumbled at her feet. "I make a good living, Anne."

"I'm sure you do," she said. She could feel her mother's eyes on her back through the lace curtain fabric. She smiled. Bill smiled in return. Surely her mama could see his smile from where she stood.

"But I want you to know," he said, pressing her hand. His hands were nice, long fingered, the nails pared, his skin cool. A bit sweaty. "We'll talk more about my prospects tonight, when I come for you. Seven, remember?"

"Yes, I remember."

"We'll eat at the Demorest, a big dinner. Eat light today so you'll enjoy it."

"I think we're having cold chicken for lunch," she said.

"That sounds perfect." He kissed the back of her hand, a gallant gesture, and backed down the steps, holding on to her hand until their arms were extended fully. He reluctantly let go of her hand. It was very romantic, almost conspicuously so. "And, Anne?"

"Yes?"

"Wear the blue dress. I can't take my eyes off you when you wear blue."

She was wearing ivory.

"Of course. The blue dress."

As soon as he left, her mama joined her on the porch. Dammit had been closed off in the kitchen.

"From his look, I'd say he'll ask you to marry him tonight."

"I really haven't known him for very long, have I?"

"I'd say long enough for him to know what he wants," Nell said, looking sideways at her daughter. Anne wrapped an arm around the porch post and leaned into it. "It's what you wanted."

"I know," Anne said softly, lying to her mama, hating it and doing it anyway. It was better than the fight that would come if she admitted that she didn't want to marry Bill or anyone else.

"He's a fine-looking man with good prospects," Nell said. "He'll give you children." A child was the best a man could give. It was what they did best. It just wasn't enough; not for her. Her life was going to be bigger than that.

"Was that how you felt about Papa? A fine-looking man with good prospects who would give you a child?"

"It doesn't matter how I felt, but I got my child. I got you, Anne." Nell said it softly, gently, her eyes full of sudden tears. "What would my life be without you?"

Anne gave her mother a quick hug, heavy with guilt, and then wrapped herself around the porch post once more. "It's just that I... I hardly know him." Better to ease her ma away from the certainty of a wedding this week; she didn't want to break her heart.

"You don't know anyone until after you're married anyway," her mother said, rubbing quick hands across her eyes.

It was a frightening thought, to marry a stranger, no matter how long you had known him, and find out years later if you had joined yourself to a friend or a foe. But she knew how it would turn out if she married. That's why she wasn't ever going to marry. But she couldn't tell her mama that, not when it was all Nell lived for.

"If you say no, you'll lose him. He's got too much pride to ask twice," Nell said.

And then she would be alone again, living in a house of women, all related by blood. The days empty and the nights eternal. No bumpy rides.

Anne blushed and tucked her face into her arms. He was the problem, the bounty hunter. Thinking about a man like that, feeling what he made her feel just by looking at her, was what got a gal in trouble every time. She wasn't going to get in trouble. She wasn't going to let a man worm his way into her life, rotting it from the inside out. She was going to be smart. She was going to use a man before he could use her, and she was going to stay free. Even if her nights were long and smooth and endless.

"Anne?"

Anne lifted her head and looked into her mother's careworn blue eyes. They all had blue eyes, with the exception of Miss Daphne, who had the blackest brown.

"It's all right, Mama," she said. No need saying all she was thinking; it wouldn't do any good and would just cause a lot of trouble. "I need to press the blue if I'm going to wear it tonight."

Nell smiled and kissed her daughter on the temple. "I'll do it. You sit and enjoy the day. The Topeka train is due soon. I'll see you at lunch."

Anne watched her mother go in and then looked back out onto the quiet street, still clinging to the porch post. She hung on to it as if it were the only solid thing for a hundred miles, which was exactly how she felt. Bill hadn't been all that much to manage; he was gone more than he was here, but suddenly he wanted to talk weddings. Why now?

She knew the answer and wanted to kick herself for her stupidity; Jack Skull, in town for just shy of a week, hadn't shown her anything but the most modest interest, and that just this morning on the platform. Up until then, he'd been almost rude; he'd certainly been eager enough to avoid her at every opportunity. She'd given him lots of opportunity. The way he'd all but run from her at the hotel had been humiliating, especially after she'd tumbled against him. Of course, today he'd been different, standing so close to her and being downright impolite. That's what had set the spur to Bill. He was defending his claim against another man. It was what a man would do. She'd wanted Jack to run Bill off and she'd accomplished the opposite. How to fix it? How to make a man leave his claim?

That was easy. Bring in more guns. Jack Skull was bristling with guns. All she had to do was get Jack to dig in and court her and Bill, if he was sensible, would run. Bill was very sensible.

It shouldn't be a problem. Jack had at least noticed her today, talked with her, stood next to her. It was a good start. She wouldn't be much of a woman if she couldn't get more out of him than that. It wouldn't be too hard.

She liked the look of him, the sound of his voice, the way his chest had felt pressed against her own for that brief instant on the stair, hard and flat and hot. She'd wanted to press herself against him, wrapping her arms around his waist, nestling her head under his chin, safe. It was fool thoughts of that sort that got a woman in trouble. Safe, indeed.

Jack was on the steps before she saw him coming, probably because her head was buried in her arms, burrowed in thought. He was beautiful; he was everything a man should be, hard and lean and rough. She wanted to wrap herself around him like a rope; she tightened her grip on the post, hanging on against the impossible urge.

"Ma'am." He tipped his hat brim.

"Hello." She smiled and then bit her lip.

"I've come to apologize for being so forward on the platform today. We haven't been introduced, not formally."

It was a good thing she was hanging on or she would have fallen over like a leaf in the wind. Never on earth would she have imagined that Jack Skull would apologize to anyone for anything he did. And certainly not for ignoring social niceties.

"It's all right. I mean, I didn't mind." Now she sounded forward and completely shameless. "I know who you are." That was better, give him an explanation as to why she hadn't minded that he started talking to her without an introduction. It wasn't a completely honest explanation, but it left her reputation a little cleaner.

"Is that a good thing?"

She wasn't sure how he meant that until she saw the glint in his eye. He was teasing her. Jack Skull was teasing her. Surely that was a good sign. Hadn't Sarah always told her that boys tease girls when they like them? But that was years ago; did men tease women?

"I don't think you need to worry."

"If you say I don't, then I won't."

He seemed to want her to continue, to say something light and fun and teasing in response, but she couldn't think of anything. She'd never had a conversation with a man that had felt anything like this. Bill never teased her. She never even teased the dog.

They stood awkwardly for a few minutes. Somehow, she'd trampled the conversation he had started and neither one of them knew how to pick it up again. Out of the corner of her eye, Anne could see the curtains twitch; it was either Mama or Miss Daphne and neither one made her feel one bit more comfortable.

"Well, that's all I came to say," Jack said, backing down the step into the dirt.

The train whistle sounded and Jack looked into her eyes with sudden eagerness, putting words in her mouth she would never have had the courage to say on her own.

"Would you like to accompany me to the train? It's coming from Topeka and should be—"

"Sure, Miss Ross, I'll escort you." He offered his arm subtly. She ignored the offer. The curtains twitched again as they turned away from the house. Jack tipped his hat... at the curtains. So, he had known they were being watched; she only hoped he understood that had been the reason she wouldn't take his arm. It must have been Mama who had been watching; Miss Daphne wouldn't have let her leave the porch with a bounty hunter.