Faith (Goldwater Creek Mail-Order Brides 1) (12 page)

F
aith was filled
with nervous excitement. She’d hurried back to Wild Heart Ranch after her trip to the safehouse and slipped back in her window unseen. She had fallen asleep right away, confident that her decision to tell Jax everything was the right one. But now, in the light of the morning, she was nervous about his reaction.

Would he be mad?

She didn’t think so. Despite his tough guy exterior, the Jax Blackburn she’d come to know was fair and kind. He’d find a way to help her.

It was such a relief to know she wasn’t going to have to lie or sneak around anymore. She’d hated lying to him. She’d hated skulking around behind his back trying to find out about the gold mine. Oh, at first she hadn’t minded, but as she’d gotten to know him it had bothered her more and more.

Faith had fallen for Jax hard and now she had everything riding on her admission of the truth. It would work out, she assured herself. It
had
to.

She took care dressing. She hadn’t had a chance to spend the gold that Jax had given her, so besides the gown he’d bought her, she still only had the two dresses she’d arrived with.

She helped Maisie fill the copper tub with hot water, then bathed with her lavender soap and put her hair up. When she was done, she grabbed the poetry book, whose cover she’d finally finished and made her way out into the hallway.

Her fist curled around the key on the brown velvet ribbon as she closed her bedroom door. Once she told Jax the truth, would she have a use for the key? Not for long. Once they were on the same side, it was only a matter of time until they truly became man and wife. The thought of that caused a warm coiling in Faith’s gut.

As she crossed by the front door, she saw clouds of dust kicked up along the road to the ranch. Hoofbeats. She recognized Jax on Indigo, making their way toward the house. Her nerves tingled with excited anticipation as she waited just inside the front door.

He rode up, dismounted and hitched the horse to the porch. That was odd, Faith thought, he usually took Indigo into the barn to brush him down. But Jax looked like he was in a hurry.

Faith’s enthusiasm plummeted. He also looked like he was angry. Had something happened with the saloon or at the safehouse?

He pounded up the steps and ripped the front door open, his eyes growing wide when they fell on Faith.

Her smile faltered at the look on his face. Maybe this wasn’t the right time to tell him everything?

His face darkened. His eyes were ablaze with anger that caused Faith to shrink back. Was that anger directed at her? She couldn’t imagine why it would be, but when he opened his mouth she knew it was.

“Do you think I’m a fool? I know what you’ve been up to. I will not have anyone who betrays me in my house. You need to pack your bags and go.” Jax’s voice was rough with emotion, his hands fisted tightly at his sides. His face was red and his eyes … they smoldered with fire.

Faith stood frozen in front of him. His stance and actions brought up memories of Charles. This was exactly how he had acted many times for no reason at all. He would come home yelling at her without provocation. And then he would hit her.

Would Jax strike her? She shrank back even further, her heart lodged in her throat.

“What do you mean? I don’t think you’re a fool,” she squeaked.

Jax’s eyes narrowed. He stepped closer and Faith clutched the poetry book to her chest as if it could protect her. “I don’t want to hear any of your excuses. I found out about your association with Lefty Brewster. I know why you came here. Now, pack your trunk and get out. Robertson will drive you to the train station.”

And with that he turned on his heel, stormed to his office and slammed the door.

F
aith stood in the hallway
, stunned by Jax’s words. He knew about her deal with Lefty. It didn’t matter that she’d done it for her sisters.
She
was responsible for her own actions and she had set out to betray him. She was no better than Lefty Brewster himself.

Robertson drove up in the buggy and came running inside just as Maisie came out from the kitchen.

“What’s going on? Why was Mr. Jax yelling?” Maisie looked from Robertson to Faith.

“I … well …” Robertson stammered and Faith knew that he knew the truth about her. She stared at her feet, unable to look either of them in the eye.

“Child, what is wrong?” Maisie bent down to peer at Faith.

Faith’s words caught in her throat. Wet tears tracked down her cheeks. She’d ruined everything. The only thing for her to do now was to leave. She turned and fled to her room, slamming the door and locking it shut.

She should have known this would happen. Jax was right. She was a betrayer she didn’t deserve to stay here. And now that he knew everything, he would never trust her again. Her plans to tell him everything and her girlish hopes that he would forgive her and somehow save her evaporated. She’d been stupid to think that, anyway. She, of all people, should know there was no such thing as a happy ending.

“Miss Faith, you okay?” Maisie’s voice filtered through the door.

“I’m fine.” Faith managed the words even though she was anything but. Her heart pinched at the betrayal Maisie would feel once she found out the truth. She’d started to feel like Maisie was family and thought the woman saw her the same way. Oh, well, better to break the tie now. “I’m packing. Leaving on the next train. I don’t need help so you can go back to the kitchen now.”

Faith winced at her own harsh words but the last thing she needed was the old woman to break down her defenses.

It didn’t take her long to pack. She didn’t have much. She took only what she’d brought from Boston, leaving the ivory gown and matching slippers in the closet.

Maybe Jax’s next wife could use them. A pang of sadness stabbed her heart at the thought of Jax married to someone else. She was sure he would divorce her or have their marriage annulled. And then he would be free to love someone else—maybe even that awful Darcy.

With her few belongings packed in her trunk, Faith turned to survey the room. She wanted to obliterate any trace of her presence. Her eyes fell on the poetry book with its new cover. Well, almost every trace … the book she would leave for Jax in the library. She knew it wouldn’t make up for everything that she’d done, but at least it was something.

She walked down the hall for the last time, eyeing the door to Jax’s office. He was in there, but he might as well have been a million miles away. Still, she wished she could see him one more time or hear his voice.

Robertson appeared at the door. “Are you packed?”

Faith nodded and Robertson headed to her room for her trunk. Faith slipped into the library and placed the poetry book and the packet of gold dust that she’d still had in her reticule purse on the table beside the blue chair. She took one tearful look around Wild Heart Ranch, then slipped out the front door, closing it—and her heart—for the last time.

F
aith sat stiffly
in the buggy as they made their way toward town. She didn’t want to talk. Instead, she kept her head turned to look at the countryside.

She remembered her first trip out to the ranch. The landscape had seemed bare and somewhat desolate compared to the tall buildings and more urban setting of Boston. But now, she could see the beauty in the wide open blue sky, the butterflies flitting around colorful flowers in the meadow and the soft trickle of Goldwater Creek as it ran beside the road, reflecting the beauty of everything around it.

Too late, she realized she would have loved to live here.

She pulled the lace hanky out from her sleeve and swiped at her eyes that insisted on producing tears no matter how much she willed them to stop. She sniffled causing a sideways glance from Robertson.

“If you don’t mind my saying, you don’t seem like the type to consort with criminals,” Robertson ventured.

Faith’s cheeks flamed. So Robertson did know all about her. It was just as well. She’d be gone from here soon and what did she care what they thought about her.

“What does it matter now?” she said.

“Oh, it matters. It matters a lot.” Robertson turned to face her, a kindness in his eyes that she didn’t deserve. “Sometimes there’s a reason that good people have to do bad things.”

Faith snorted. “Jax doesn’t care about my reasons. He hates me. I betrayed him.”

“But you didn’t,” Robertson pointed out. “Not really, did you?”

Faith pressed her lips together. “Not technically, but I planned to.”

“Really?”

Fresh tears sprung to Faith’s eyes as she realized she hadn’t really planned to. Well, at first she had, but not once she’d fallen for Jax. Her heart twisted at how just that very morning she’d planned to bare her soul to him and how hopeful she’d been that they could work things out together.

“I wanted to find another way.” Faith choked out the words and then collapsed in tears.

“There, there. Why don’t you tell me all about it?”

And Faith did. In between sobs, she told Robertson all about Charles and the debt he’d left for her to repay. About Lefty’s threat to her sisters and, finally, about her decision to tell Jax everything.

“But I was too late. I guess he’d already found out that Lefty sent me out here.” Faith blew her nose on the hanky. “He had every right. I
was
going to betray him and tell Lefty where that gold mine was.”

“I knew it had to be something like that,” Robertson said. “Jax can be stubborn and impulsive. He should have asked you straight out what the story was … but after Mary, well, it’s been hard for him to give his heart and to trust.”

And she’d made it even worse, because Jax had started to trust her before he found out what a liar she was. “What difference does it make now? It’s best I get on the next train and he can forget all about me.”

Robertson pulled the reins in and Buttercup stopped.

Faith stared at him. “What is it? What are you doing?”

Robertson turned to face her. “Getting on the next train is the last thing you should do. I’ve seen the way you and Jax look at each other. He needs you and I think you need him, too. Please give him another chance. Tell him the truth. I know he’ll see things your way.”

“He would?” Nerves gnawed at Faith’s gut. She wanted to believe it could be true, but she didn’t know if she could take it if he didn’t. Should she take the chance?

“I’m sure he would. What have you got to—”

Crack!

Robertson cried out, clutched his arm and toppled over the side of the buggy, landing on the ground with a thud.

Faith’s heart jerked in her chest. She whirled around to see two men on horseback. Lefty Brewster and Cleb Masters … and they were each pointing a gun at her.

“
G
oing somewhere
?” Lefty sneered at Faith.

Buttercup shifted position and whinnied. Faith’s blood froze. She didn’t know what terrified her more—being at the mercy of the horse or having two guns pointed at her.

“Looks like she’s speechless,” Cleb said.

“Funny, ain’t it? ‘Specially after the way she’s been running her mouth at her new husband, telling him all about my quest for the gold mine.” Lefty narrowed his eyes at Faith. “That’s right. I know you’re in cahoots with Blackburn. You doubled crossed me and I won’t let you get away with that!”

“Let’s shoot her!” Faith didn’t like the way Cleb was waving his gun around, but she was too terrified to move from her seat in the buggy. She glanced down at Robertson. He was lying very still.

Good Lord, was he dead?

Faith certainly hoped not. She had no idea what Cleb and Lefty would do to her without Robertson to protect her. Then again, how much protection could he be in his condition?

“We don’t need to shoot her. Can’t you see she’s frozen with fear? She won’t go anywhere.” Lefty snickered at Faith. “Charles told me all about your little fear of horses. And even if you could move, you’d be too late. I know you and Blackburn are conspiring to double cross me, but that’s okay. We’re gonna teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.”

Faith’s eyes grew wide and she managed to squeak out, “What do you mean?”

“I followed the two of you last night. You thought you were so clever not going together. I was sure you’d lead me to the mine, but what did I get instead? A brothel! You and Blackburn got some nerve honing in on Cleb’s girls.” Lefty glanced at Cleb who nodded vigorously.

“That’s right. And we’re gonna get even. That building is gonna go up like dry leaves.” Cleb pulled his horse near the wagon. He was so close that Faith could smell the stench of nicotine and whiskey on his breath. “And your darling husband is sitting right inside.”

Faith’s heart twisted. Jax was in the safehouse? He’d been at the ranch when he sent her to pack, but she didn’t know if he’d still been there when she’d left. He could have ridden out to the safehouse at any time … but even so, what could
she
do about it?

"No, you have it wrong. I never told Jax—"

"Sure, you didn't. Like we're gonna believe that. Lefty saw the two of you last night so your little lies ain't gonna help," Cleb laughed.

“Let’s not waste time here. She’s no threat,” Lefty said. “Doesn’t even know how to drive a buggy.”

“Sure, we got more important things to do … and once we make sure Blackburn is dead along with all those traitorous whores, we’ll have all the time in the world to find that gold mine.”

And with that, the two men spun their horses around and took off in the direction of Wild Heart Ranch.

F
aith’s heart
pounded in her chest. They were going to kill Jax and the saloon girls in the safehouse! If what Lefty had said was true about following her the night before, then they knew the path to the house from Wild Heart Ranch.

Buttercup whinnied and looked over her shoulder at Faith, sending jolts of terror through her. The horse looked wild. She could take off at any moment or throw Faith from the buggy and stomp on her like that other horse had done when she was a child.

She jumped down from the back of the buggy and ran to Robertson. She would never be able to catch Lefty and Cleb on foot—maybe Robertson could do something.

“Robertson, are you okay?” Faith’s stomach churned as she knelt beside him. His arm and side of his shirt were covered in sticky, red blood.

He rolled on his side, cradling his arm to his chest. “I’m okay. The bullet hit my elbow. Hurts like a son of a ‘b’ but I’ll be fine. I didn’t want to let on or they’da probably shot me again.”

“It’s bleeding pretty bad.” Faith tore a strip from the bottom of her petticoat and wrapped it around the top of his arm as a tourniquet. “Hold this. Let’s try to get you in the buggy.”

Robertson pushed her away. “No. There’s no time. I can’t withstand a jostling buggy ride. You have to take the buggy and warn Jax!”

Faith’s heart froze. “What? Me? I can’t …”

“You
have
to. It’s the only way. You can do it. There’s a shortcut in town. Cut in between the assayer’s building and the apothecary and you’ll be able to beat them and warn Jax! Go! He needs you! You have to save him!”

Faith’s eyes flicked to the horse, then back to Robertson. “I couldn’t … I …”

“Jax’s life depends on you now. Go!”

It hit her like a bolt of lightning. It was all up to her. Robertson couldn’t help and Cleb and Lefty already had a head start.

She leapt up and, without another thought about her fear, ran for the buggy. Jumping into the driver’s seat, she grabbed the reins and flicked them hard, making a sharp clicking noise with her tongue that she’d heard Robertson make.

As if knowing what was needed of her, Buttercup lurched forward at a gallop.

Faith hunched down in the seat, trying to keep control of the buggy and her emotions. She wasn’t sure what she’d find at the safehouse when she got there, but she
was
sure of one thing—she would not fail Jax again.