Mail Order Bride - Westward Justice: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 6) (4 page)

“My treat,” Mitch said.

Sammi decided to let it go but said, “Next time I get the bill.”

Mitch smiled at her independence.  “Ok.”

They walked over to the depot to get Sammi’s belongings.  Bart pointed to where they were and assured her that no one had touched them.

“Good.  Thanks,” Sammi said.  She went to pick up the one with her gun collection in it, but Mitch stopped her.

“I’ll get that one,” he said.

“Ever the gentleman, huh?  Ok, but it’s heavy,” Sammi said.

Mitch said, “I can handle it.”  He went to lift it and was surprised at just how heavy it was.  “You haul this thing around?”

“Yep,” Sammi said with a smile as she picked up her knife collection and other suitcase. 

Mitch picked up her bedroll and thought that was another odd thing for a woman to have.  He had a feeling that Sammi was full of surprises.

They took everything over to the hotel.  Sammi smiled at the well-endowed woman with white hair and blue eyes.  “Do you have any vacancies?” she asked.

Jolene eyed Sammi and said, “Sure thing.  Just sign the register there.”

Sammi signed it and paid for several nights.  Jolene gave her a room key and Sammi turned to Mitch.  “I appreciate your help.”

“Not a problem,” Mitch said.  “I’ll help you get these upstairs.”

Jolene leaned over the desk in her low-cut dress.  “That’s our Deputy-oh; excuse me, our
Sheriff
Taylor.  He’s always willing to lend a helping hand,” she said.

“I try, Jolene,” Mitch said and followed Sammi up the stairs. 

She went down the hall to room eleven and opened the door.  “Well look at this!  It’s really pretty,” Sammi said of the room. 

Vanilla cream walls and rich blue curtains created a cozy effect.  Sammi was glad to see that it had a decent bed and a couple of chairs. 

“Yeah, Jolene runs a nice place,” Mitch said.

“It seems that way.  She sure likes you,” Sammi said as she put one of her suitcases on the bed.

Mitch laughed.  “She’s like that with a lot of people.  Ask Joe.”

“I’ll have to do that,” Sammi said.  “So I’m sure you have to be getting back to work.”

Mitch nodded.  “Sorry.”

“Listen, I told you that I understand and I’m not one of those women who're going to pout and cry.  I’m going to rent a horse and go out to see Lacey and Joe,” Sammi said.  “See?  I can take care of myself.”

Mitch looked at her and said, “I can believe it.  I have a confession.  I’m not sure what to think about you.”

“Good.  I would hate to be boring,” Sammi said.  “Things with me are never boring.  You’ll have to figure out if that’s what you’re after or not.  So, what are you doing this evening?”

“Hopefully spending some more time with you,” Mitch said.

“So how about I come by your office about five?” Sammi asked. 

Mitch said, “Sounds good.  You’re sure you’ll be all right?”

Sammi moved close to him and said, “I promise I’ll be just fine.  No need to worry.  Now you go serve and protect and I’ll go see my pregnant friend.”

Mitch caught her scent and found that it was subtle yet intriguing.  “All right.  Well, I guess I’d better go.”

“See ya,” Sammi said.

Mitch left the room and descended the stairs.  Jolene said, “That was a quick visit, Sheriff.”

Mitch laughed.  “Just helping her with her bags, Jolene.  Nothing scandalous about that.”

Jolene sighed.  “Unfortunately.”

“Bye, Jolene,” Mitch said.

              Sammi got directions to the livery stable from Jolene and made her way down the street and turned left at the square.  She saw the stable up ahead and heard horses nicker.  Walking into the stable she encountered a stable hand.

              “Hi there,” she said.  “I need to rent a horse.”

              “Uh, hi.  You’re new here,” the young man said as he looked her over.

              Sammi said, “That’s right.  Sammi Jameson.”  She held out a hand to him.

              “Stew Williams,” he said and shook her hand.  He was surprised by the firmness of her grip. 

              “Nice to meet you, Stew.  So you got any horses right now?” Sammi said.

              “Oh, sure.  We have some nice older horses,” Stew said.

              Sammi fixed a hard stare on him and said, “Stew, do I strike you as the kind of woman who needs an old, slow horse?”

              “Um, no,” Stew said.

              “Right.  So, I would like a horse who can move pretty fast,” Sammi said.

              Stew smiled.  “You’ll like Gypsy then.  She likes to run.  I’ll get her for you.”

              Sammi watched as Stew brought a big white mare out of a stall and proceeded to saddle her.  Stew brought the horse to her and she stroked the mare’s neck.  Gypsy sniffed her hands and then shook her head. 

              “Thanks, Stew,” Sammi said and paid the stable hand.

              “No problem, Sammi,” Stew said.

              “I’ll have her back before too long,” Sammi said.  “Oh, hey, how do you get to Joe Dwyer’s place?”

              Stew gave her the directions and Sammi set Gypsy out at a trot.

              Lacey sat in the parlor trying to knit and wasn’t doing very well at it.  She wanted to be out in the barn.  She couldn’t ride, but at least she could pet the horses.  If she went out to the barn, Joe would just make her come back in.  She became very angry at the piece she was working on.  The doorbell rang and she yelled, “Come in!”

              The door opened and Marcus stepped into the foyer.  He came through to the parlor just in time to be bombarded by a ball of yarn and knitting needles.  His quick reflexes prevented one of the needles from poking out an eye.

              He looked over to see Lacey sitting on the sofa with a horrified expression on her face.

              “Marcus, I’m so sorry!  Are you all right?” she said as she tried to get up off the sofa.

              Marcus laughed.  “Stay put.  It’s all right.  Nothing I’m not used to when I go to camp.  I’m usually dealing with knives there, so knitting needles are pretty tame.”

              “I’m so bored, Marcus!  Joe doesn’t want me to do anything.  I’m tired of sitting.  My rear end hurts from sitting so much,” Lacey said.

              Marcus sat down by her.  “I think I need to talk to him.  You do need a certain amount of exercise.  I know he’s scared that something will happen, but everything is going well.”

              Lacey said, “Will you, please?”

              “Sure.  You got it.  So how are you feeling?” Marcus said.

              “Fine.  No problems.  I eat like a pig and I’m getting big as a house, but other than that, I’m fine.”

              Marcus caressed her stomach in a professional manner.  The baby moved and they both laughed.  “I love that feeling,” Marcus said. 

              “Me, too.”

              The doorbell rang again.

              “Where’s Randall?” Marcus asked referring to Joe and Lacey’s British butler.

              “He has the day off,” Lacey said.

              “I’ll get it,” Marcus said.

              When he opened the door, Marcus was surprised to see a blonde woman in pants standing on the other side.  She wasn’t too much shorter than him and she wore a cowboy hat.

              “Hi, can I help you?” Marcus asked.

              “Is Lacey here?” Sammi said as she looked the good-looking guy over.  His dark hair and gray eyes were very appealing and he was in very good shape.

              “Yeah.  Are you a friend of hers?” Marcus asked.

              “Are you?” Sammi asked.

              Marcus frowned at her slightly confrontational tone.  “Yes.  And I’m also her doctor.  Sort of.”

              Sammi smiled.  “You’re Marcus, right?”

              Marcus arched an eyebrow at her.  “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

              “I recognize you from the description Jamie gave me of you.  Jamie and Lacey speak very highly of you.  I’m Sammi Jameson,” she said.

              Marcus laughed and said, “C’mon in.  I should have recognized you, too.”

              She stepped into the foyer and her mouth dropped open.  “Holy crap.  Get a load of this place!”

              “Yeah, it’s pretty impressive,” Marcus said.

              “Marcus, who is it?” Lacey called from the parlor.

              Sammi grabbed Marcus’ arms and said, “Let me go in first, ok?  She has no idea that I’m in town.  Neither does Jamie.”

              Marcus grinned.  “That’ll be a nice surprise.”

              Sammi stepped into the parlor and saw Lacey sitting on the sofa.  Lacey saw her and her eyes became huge.  Her mouth opened and shut and then she started squealing and trying to get off the couch.  Sammi ran over and sat down on the sofa.  The two women rejoiced over seeing each other.

              Marcus watched with a smile.  His gaze roamed over Sammi and he noticed she wore a gun. 
Oh boy.  She’s just like Jamie described
, he thought as he took in her mode of dress and her tough demeanor. 
I can’t wait for everyone out home to meet her
. 

              Lacey said, “When did you get here?  I can’t believe you’re here!”

              Sammi said, “Just today.  I wanted to surprise you.  It’s so good to see you.  And there’s a lot more of you to see, too.”

              “Oh, she’s moving!” Lacey said and put Sammi’s hand on her belly.

              Sammi laughed when the baby kicked.  “That’s amazing.  You said ‘she’.  How do you know?”

              “Oh, we don’t really, but Joe is convinced that it’s a girl.  He says it’s a hunch and that his hunches are never wrong,” Lacey said.

              “Yeah, I saw him in town earlier today, but I swore him to secrecy,” Sammi said.

              “He never mentioned it.  He’s good at keeping secrets, though,” Lacey said.

              Sammi said, “So Marcus is giving you a clean bill of health and all?”

              Marcus said, “Yep.  I gotta talk to Joe about his notion that she’s just supposed to sit around all day.”

              “I’ll tell him,” Sammi said as she got up.  She held out a hand to Lacey.  “C’mon and show me your horses.  I want to see Polly, too.”

              Lacey took it and Sammi helped her to her feet.

              Marcus said, “Well, I’ll leave you ladies to your visiting.  Have a good time.”

              “Nice to meet you, Marcus.  Good to put the name to a face,” Sammi said.

              “Likewise,” Marcus replied.

              Joe saw Lacey walking towards the barn.  He recognized Sammi who was walking with his wife.  He met them at the barn doors.

              “Darlin’, what are you doin’?” Joe said.  “Hey, Sammi.”

              Sammi said, “Joe, you’re driving your wife nuts and you’re gonna stop it.  Marcus says she can go for walks and such, so quit acting like a nervous nelly and making her upset.  She’s just gonna show me the horses and I’ll be right with her.”

              Lacey said, “Joe, I can’t just sit around doing nothing all day.  I got mad at my knitting and almost skewered Marcus with a knitting needle.”

              “What?” Joe said with a laugh.

              Lacey told them about throwing her knitting project across the room and almost gouging out Marcus’ eye.  Joe and Sammi laughed.  Joe relented and let the women proceed to the barn.  At the end of an hour, Lacey was ready to sit down again so Sammi took her back to the house and had her stretch out on the sofa.

              “I’m a little tired, but it felt so good to walk around some,” Lacey said.  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

              Sammi said, “Me, too.  I answered that ad the new Sheriff put in the paper.  Of course, at that time it was Deputy Taylor.”

              “You did?  I didn’t know if you had or not.  You didn’t write to let us know,” Lacey said.

              “I’m sorry, but I wanted to surprise you both.  I like Mitch.  He’s easy on the eyes and he’s professional.  He told me that he’s not sure what to think about me,” Sammi said with a smile.

              Lacy said, “Well, you do have that effect on people, Sammi.”

              “Yep and that’s just fine with me.  So how do you like having servants to wait on you all the time,” Sammi asked.

              “It certainly frees up my time so I can train horses, so I can’t complain,” Lacey replied.

              “Good.  I’m so happy for you, honey,” Sammi said.  “I was so relieved we got you out of Walhalla.”

              “Joe saved me,” Lacey said.  “Oh, I love him so much.”

              “I can understand why,” Sammi said.  “He’s a great catch.”

              “Yes, he is,” Lacey said.  “So tell me all about what was going on back in Walhalla.”

              Sammi wrapped up her visit with Lacey around four.  She didn’t want to be late getting back to meet Mitch.  She promised she’d be back to see Lacey the next day.  Joe gave her Macbeth to use.  Sammi rode Macbeth and led Gypsy back into town.  She delivered Gypsy back to Stew and then continued on to the sheriff’s office.

              When she arrived, she didn’t see Mitch’s horse.  She tied Macbeth to the hitching post and went into the building to wait.  Sammi was slightly early, so she figured Mitch would be along at some point.  She saw a deputy badge sitting on the desk and an impish impulse made her put it on.  Looking down at it, Sammi thought it looked pretty good.

              A man came in the office and stopped when he saw her.  “Where’s the sheriff?”

              “Out on business,” Sammi said.

              He took in her appearance and the fact that she had on a deputy badge.  He was apprehensive but figured that if Mitch had deputized her that she must be qualified. 

              “Well, we need help over at the Watering Hole,” the man said.

              “Ok, I’ll tell the Sheriff when he comes back,” Sammi said.

              “You’re a deputy.  Can’t you help us?” the man asked.

              Sammi looked down at the badge again and said, “Oh, no, it’s not what—.”  Sammi broke off as her mind began turning.  If she could handle whatever situation had arisen, maybe Mitch would hire her on as a deputy.

              “Why yes, I am.  What kind of problem is it?” Sammi said as she got up.

              “Boyd Tanner is up to his old tricks.  He’s drunk as hell and pulled a gun on Jake.  Everyone else is out of the place, but he’s got Jake trapped in there,” the man said.

              “All right.  What’s your name?” Sammi asked.

              “Gus.”

              “Ok, Gus.  I’m Sammi Jameson, the new deputy.  So where exactly does Boyd have Jake trapped?” Sammi asked.

              “Back in a corner,” Gus said.

              Sammi found some handcuffs and was glad that she already had a gun in her holster.  “Ok, Gus, show me the way.”

              Gus and Sammi ran down the street to the bar.  “You just stay back, Gus,” Sammi said as she took off her hat.  “Here.  Hold this,” she said as she handed it to Gus.  She started going around the building and peeking in the windows.  She saw two men in the back of the bar.  One was sitting quietly while the other one was pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly with a gun in his hand.  Sammi went back to Gus and said, “I see them.  I want you to go back to the office and wait for the sheriff so you can tell him what’s happening if he comes back before I get this taken care of, all right?”

              “Yes, ma’am,” Gus said and took off.

              Sammi took off her boots and carried them with her as she crept in the front door.  She was glad that the door was well oiled and didn’t make noise.  Gingerly she sat her boots down and drew her gun.  Keeping down as low as she could, Sammi made her way past the bar until she reached the open barroom. 

              Jake caught movement out of the corner of his eye but tried not to look.  Boyd had been drunk before, but he’d never pulled a gun on anyone.  He was acting crazy and Jake was truly fearful for his life.  He didn’t know who had come into the bar, but he was glad they were there.