Dorothy Garlock - [Wyoming Frontier] (26 page)

As they walked past the Chicago Hotel, the Occidental Billiard Hall, the assay office and on past the store with a swinging sign that read Mechanical Bakery, Katy kept thinking about the man in the store who had stared at her. She considered mentioning it to Rowe, but what could she say? A man had looked at her, and a cold chill had run down her spine?

They crossed the street to the building that housed the printing press, stopping at the window for a moment to watch the printer roll the ink roller over the page of set type locked into the press, and then deftly place the paper over the print.

“Have you ever watched them set the type?” Rowe asked. “It’s amazing how fast they can go.”

“I’ve watched a printer’s helper break down the page. Each letter goes into its proper slot so when the typesetter reaches for a letter he’ll know what he is getting.”

There were a number of rowdies and drunks on the street, and Katy was thankful to have Rowe beside her. One look at his large, muscular frame and dark, scowling face caused more than one man to make sure he didn’t come within touching distance of her, and usually the groups that congregated in front of the saloons quieted down as the couple passed by.

The hotel lobby was almost empty when they reached it. They went up the stairs and down the hall to the room. Rowe unlocked the door, went inside, and lit the lamp. Katy stood just inside the room. The bathtub had been taken away and the room tidied. Rowe placed the door key on the table beside the bed.

“Come on in and shut the door.”

“It’s not proper. What if Mara Shannon should come by?”

“She’d think we were sleeping together.” His voice was slightly husky. He drew her into the room and closed the door. “I only wish it were true.” His eyes looked into hers for a long, delicious moment, and tides of warmth washed over her. His hands gripped the shawl and pulled her to him. “Come hell, high water,
or
the Gallaghers, I’m going to kiss you before I leave this room.” The words came out on a soft breath.

“Nooo—”

“Yesss—everytime we kiss something wonderful happens and I just want it to go on and on.” His eyes held hers, his hands slid down her arms to grasp her hands and bring them up, around his neck. “Sometime soon I’m going to hold you all night long and love you in all the ways a man loves his mate—” His strange, thickened voice broke off.

His mouth pressed against her cheek, then slid to close over her mouth. He kissed her gently, sweetly, and she thought only vaguely of resisting. Her mouth trembled beneath the searching movement of his, and a whisper-soft sigh escaped her. He sighed, “Nightrose,” when he came up for breath, but in the next instant he was back, renewing the kiss, sipping, coaxing, and stirring her until she slowly began to respond.

She didn’t want to give in to the pleasure of his lips, the warm hardness of his body, the protective strength of his arms. She wanted to remain stiff and unfeeling, but his lips were loving hers and hers had no choice but to love him back. Feeling her melt against him, Rowe took possession of her mouth in a wild, sweet, wonderful way. His tongue began a sensuous exploration of the inside of her lower lip, his hands slid up her sides. The soft globes of her breasts against his chest were too great a temptation. His fingers stroked the sides, then moved around until the warm swells filled his hands.

The feel of Rowe’s long body against hers was wreaking havoc with Katy’s logic. She had to think, sort out her emotions, untangle the confused motivations, and decide if this was right. His hands cupped her breasts, and a slow, dangerous fire began to seep upward from her toes until it reached the top of her head. The arms about his neck tightened and she strained closer and closer, needing to fit her body tightly to his.

Rowe lifted his mouth from hers. His eyes, soft with love, drank in her face. Her hands slid down over his shoulders, her palms lay flat against his chest, but she didn’t push herself away from him. His heart was pounding and that surprised her because the rest of him was so still.

“Right now—” he began with difficulty, “I’m wondering how I survived my empty life before I found you.”

“Rowe . . . please. I think you’d better go. I can’t think clearly when . . . we’re like this.” She raised her head, her eyes beseeching and wide.

Rowe moaned and held her tightly to him. “You liked it, didn’t you? Say it. You like kissing me.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “But that only means that I’m attracted to you.” She buried her face against his chest and let him hold her.

“It means more than that, sweetheart. But I’ll not press the point.”

He wanted her to know that she was the dearest thing in his life, that she was his love until the end of time. With gentle fingers beneath her chin, he lifted her face, kissing her eyes, her nose.

“When I hold you I feel as if I have been lost and have returned home. Oh, Nightrose, we could have gone on for years and not found each other.” He rocked her in his arms. “Deep down in your heart you know we were meant to be together. Hurry, my love, sort it all out in your mind and admit it.”

She lowered her eyes to the throbbing pulse in his throat, incapable of but one thought. Oh, Lord! He’d seeped into her heart and there hadn’t been a thing she could do about it.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. Don’t pull a long face. We’ve all the time in the world.” He tilted her face up to him and gently pressed his lips to hers. “You’ll be safe here. I’ll lock the door when I leave.”

“Good night. Thank you for the supper.”

Katy stood with her head down and heard Rowe let himself out of the room, then came the rasp of the key as it turned in the lock.

Sixteen

‘I was beginning to wonder if you were coming down,” Anton said drily as he placed the newspaper on the chair beside him and rose to his feet.

“What does that mean?”

“The clerk said you took the lady to her room a half hour ago. He’s been watching to see if you came down. If not, he’d have a tale to tell tomorrow.” Anton’s usually unsmiling face broke into a grin.

Rowe didn’t smile in return. He cast a threatening glance at the clerk watching them from behind the counter.

“If I hear one word said about the lady in my room, someone will come up missing a few teeth tomorrow.” He directed his words toward the slick-haired young man who suddenly became very busy with the pigeonholes behind him.

Anton chuckled. “There’s a spare bed over at the boardinghouse if you need it.”

“I’ve got something lined up for the night. What did you find out at the courthouse?” Rowe led the way to the far corner of the lobby and Anton followed.

“Our petition was granted to cut timber on 4,000 acres. It’s a small grant, but enough to get our saw mill into operation. Later, we can buy and process from independent loggers. The Rowe-Hooker Lumber Company is in business.”

Rowe nodded as if he had expected to hear this. He took a cigar from his breast pocket, lit it, and spoke while holding the cigar between his teeth.

“Justin is in town.”

Anton’s head jerked around. “Your brother?”

“My
half
brother.”

“What’s he doin’ out here?”

“That’s what I’ve got to find out. I’m sure he didn’t make the trip out of brotherly love.”

Rowe had discussed his and Justin’s relationship with Anton and Hank one night when he was feeling rather lonely. Now he told Anton about the clerk giving his room key to a man named Rowe from back East and about getting a brief glimpse of his half brother in the mercantile.

“If I hadn’t had a suspicion it was Justin whom the manager referred to, I might not have noticed him scurrying to get out of sight when Katy and I went into the store. I saw him from the back, but it was Justin. He always wears some shade of gray and his gray bowler sat square on his head.”

“He could have heard about our petition to the Territorial governor to cut timber on public land. If that’s what he came for, it’s too late for him to do anything about it.”

“He’ll think of something. He’s obsessed with making my life difficult.”

“Maybe he’s backing another company.” Anton’s fingers went to the wire rim on the bridge of his nose, as they usually did when he was agitated. “What the hell does he know about the lumber business?”

“About as much as I did when I bought in with you in Minnesota.”

“You learned fast. From what I’ve heard about your brother, he’s not a man to start up from the bottom.”

“Justin has hated me ever since I can remember. After our father died, his hatred for me and my mother intensified until he wouldn’t stay in the same room with us. I think he may be a little mad. He’s had Pinkerton’s on me for the past year and a half.”

“How’d you find out about that?”

“There are ways.” Rowe grinned. “When I discovered it, I had a detective follow the detective. The Pinkerton was just doing a job. He must have reported to Justin that I had bought the mine and the town of Trinity. Maybe Justin came out to see what I was up to.”

“And maybe he came out to ruin you if he can.”

Rowe snorted. “There’s no maybe about that.”

“What do you think we should do about it?”

“Nothing but keep our eyes open. Has there been any news from the teamsters bringing the equipment?”

“The bookkeeper over at the bank got a wire last week. The freighter expects to have six wagon-loads in Trinity by the end of the month. Six more a month later.”

Rowe stood and grinned down at the shorter man.

“That’s good news. Now aren’t you glad we went ahead and took the chance we’d get the cutting rights?”

“I figured if we didn’t get them, you’d think of something. You always do.”

“When I get back to Trinity, I’ll give the men time off to fix up cabins so they can bring in their families. We have good people and we want to keep them.”

“What we’re getting out of that mine is barely enough to pay the cost of taking it out.”

“It served its purpose.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Anton said, pushing the wire-frame glasses up on his nose again. “Why did we ride over the mountain when we could have intercepted the stage from Salt Lake City, ridden it to Bannack, and taken the Overland to Virginia City?”

“It was faster coming by horseback, and I wanted Katy to meet Sam and Emily Sparks.”

“It was a mighty uncomfortable trip for the lady.”

“Katy handled it all right. I’m going to marry her before we leave here.”

“You’re going to
what
?”

“Marry her.”

“I knew you were attracted to her, but you’ve . . . had other women. I didn’t realize marriage was on your mind.”

“I thought you liked Katy,” Rowe said walking beside him toward the door.

“I do. But she’s made it plain that she hates this country. If you’re going to stay out here, there could be problems ahead.”

“I’m not worried about that. She doesn’t realize it, but she loves this country and would miss it if she left.”

“But are you giving her enough time to make up her own mind? You can be pretty overpowering where women are concerned.”

“I’ll not force her to do anything against her will. I want her to want and need me every bit as much as I want and need her,” he said, fixing Anton with his piercing stare.

Anton shook his head. “She’s not a weak-kneed woman. She’s got enough grit for a dozen women. Seeing her face up to that outlaw up on the mountain convinced me of that. I’m thinking you’ll have your hands full if you push her.”

“I’ll have to push her. She’s taken a stand and she doesn’t know how to back down and save her face. She’s stubborn and has far too much pride for her own good. I’ve got to work around it.”

Anton nodded. He had no argument against that.

“One thing worries me,” Rowe continued as they paused on the hotel porch. He swung around to look into his friend’s face.

“One thing? Hellfire! If I were tying myself to a woman for life, there’d be a million things worrying me.”

“It’s Justin. I’ve thought for sometime that he’d kill me if he got the chance. If that should happen, I want you to see that Katy and her sister are taken care of.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about her sister. Hank’s so besotted with her and the little girl he can’t see straight. He’d make sure that she was taken care of even if she won’t have him for her man.”

“I thought that was the way the wind blew. As soon as the Fourth is over, I’ll get a letter off to my solicitor stating that I want Katy to have everything I own except the lumber business. I want you and Hank to divide my half between you. I don’t want anything of mine, or what my mother left me, to go to Justin. If something should happen to me before I marry Katy and before my letter reaches my solicitor, Justin, as my next of kin, will step in and try to take over.”

“Is that why you’re marrying Katy in such a hurry?”

“One of the reasons. The other and most important one is that I love her.”

Anton realized that the admission was made openly and honestly. It came from the strength of the man’s character, not from any weakness. He had heard men say that they wanted a woman or needed a woman, but seldom did a man say to another man that he was going to marry a woman because he loved her.

“Where are you going?” Anton asked when Rowe went to the steps leading down into the street.

“I thought I’d check with the hotels and see where Justin is staying.”

“The smart thing for you to do is stay out of sight. I’ll check the hotels. Your brother might not have used his real name. Give me a description.”

“I don’t like piling my trouble on you.”

“I’ll have more troubles if he puts a hole in you.” Irritation deepened Anton’s voice.

Rowe clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Justin’s about my size, only heavier. His hair and brows are very light, and like I said before, he always wears gray. The woman with him may be his wife. Helga is a pretty, soft, sweet woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She was always very formal with me when Justin was near; but the few times I was able to speak to her alone, I could see a look in her eyes that bordered on desperation. I’d not be surprised if Justin abuses her. I think she’s scared to death of him, but she never as much as hinted that she wanted to leave him.”