Mail Order Bride - Westward Sunrise: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 9) (14 page)

              “Look, Jake, the fact of the matter is that we need her.  I mean, it’s getting busier all the time and the empties have to be washed and restocked or you’re going to run out of glasses and you’ve always prided yourself on things being clean,” Ben said.  He felt not one bit guilty about conniving.  “You’re probably going to have to hire another waitress besides her to keep up.  Plus, it would only be until she would get pregnant.  Take her back for now and then as soon as her and Elliot are married, start advertising for a waitress so that you can get one trained before Abby becomes with child.”

              Jake said, “You’re forgetting about Elliot.  He’s not going to let her come back here.  Especially because of your feelings for Abby.  And I don’t know that it’s a good idea for that reason, either.”

              Ben looked intently into Jake’s eyes as he said, “Jake, she’s got another man’s ring on her finger.  I have never messed with a woman who’s either wearing an engagement or wedding ring.  It’s not my style.  I can find amusement elsewhere.”

              “You’re sure about that?” Jake said.

              “Positive,” Ben assured him.

              “Okay, but that still leaves Elliot,” Jake said.  The truth was that he missed Abby and she was a big asset to the bar.  What Ben had said about hiring another bouncer and tightening security measures made sense to him. 

              “You leave him to me.  I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

              “Why not today?” Jake asked.

              “Let the girl have another night to rest up, Jake.  Tomorrow is soon enough,” Ben said.

              Jake said, “Yeah and with this being Saturday, this wouldn’t be a good night for her to come back on.  Monday would be better.  Then she’ll be more rested.”

              “Right.  And, you can talk to Reckless in the meantime.”

              “How?  I don’t go to the camp and with Abby not working, he’s not around.  Oh, wait, I’ll ask Hannah if she’s going to camp today.  I’ll be back,” Jake said, and hurried out the door.

              Ben laughed softly to himself.  Everyone always said what a schmoozer Joe Dwyer was, but Ben knew he had Joe beat by a mile.  The difference was that Joe was merely mischievous about it and wasn’t out to hurt anyone. 

Ben on the other hand, played for keeps.  He was a master manipulator, something he’d learned from his father and he had learned that lesson well.  When he wanted something, he went after it and kept on going until he had it.  And he very much wanted Abby.  Elliot didn’t stand a chance.

The sound of heavy breathing filled Elliot’s bedroom.  He and Abby lay in his bed catching their breath.  “Oh, my,” Abby said.

“Yeah,” Elliot agreed.

Abby laughed.  “I missed that.”

“You’re not the only one,” Elliot said.

“Obviously,” Abby said.

He laughed.  “Yeah, I don’t know how it could get any more obvious.”

Abby cracked up rolled over to him.  She kissed him and said, “You are so funny.”

“You keep telling me that, but I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone else tell me that,” Elliot said.

“They don’t know you like I do,” Abby said.  “You make me happy.”

Elliot put an arm around her and said, “You make me happy, too.”

Abby wasn’t sure how this feminine wiles stuff worked exactly, but she thought that maybe now was the right time to try it out.  “I miss my job, Elliot.  I really do.”

“I know, honey, but Jake made up his mind already,” Elliot said.

“What if I can get him to change it?” Abby said. 

“I can’t believe you want to go back there after what happened,” Elliot said.

Abby thought fast.  “What if someone robbed the store?  Would you permanently close it or reopen again?”

Elliot blinked as he thought about that.  “Well, assuming I’m still alive, I would reopen.”

“See, it’s the same thing.  At any time, someone could come in there and shoot up the place and kill you.  Then I’d be a widow and our kids wouldn’t have a father.  But am I demanding that you close the store and do something safer, like become a librarian?  No.”

“A librarian?  We don’t have a library,” Elliot said.

“That’s what you’re worried about?  Being a librarian?  How about the part where you’re dead,” Abby said.

“I don’t want to be a dead librarian,” Elliot said.

Abby laughed at the absurd turn the conversation had taken.  “No, a dead shopkeeper.  Stay on topic, Elliot.  If I can convince Jake to take me back, do you agree that I can return to work until the time we agreed upon?”

Elliot thought about it.  There was no way Jake was going to change his mind and Abby did have a point in a way.  He would reopen if there was ever a robbery.  “Okay.  If you can convince him, I’ll be all right with it.”

Abby said, “I doubt it, but I’m going to try.”  She knew that when Jake made up his mind about something, that was it, but hoped that maybe Ben had had some luck with Jake.

“This is part of the interview, Reckless,” Jake said as he and Ben stood facing him in the barroom on Sunday.

“You want me to fight him?” Reckless asked Jake.

“Yep.  I do.  You have to be able to hold your own against him,” Jake said.  “If you can do that, you can fight anyone.”

Ben said, “Son, I’ll take it easy on you.”

Reckless laughed.  “It’s me who should take it easy on you.”

“Really?  You’re all of what, sixteen?” Ben said.

“Seventeen and when was the last time you killed anyone or successfully raided a Cheyenne tribe of twenty of their finest horses?” Reckless asked.

That gave Ben pause.  “You’ve killed before?”

“Yes.”

“In hand to hand combat?” Ben asked.

“Does stabbing someone in the heart with a knife count?” Reckless said.

Jake blanched a little.  “You stabbed someone in the heart?”

“Yes.  A Cherokee brave who thought he was going to have his way with my cousin,” Reckless said.  “I would do it again, too.”

Ben nodded.  “Me, too.  Thing is, talk is cheap.  You could stand here and tell us anything, but seeing is believing.”

“Okay.  Are there any rules?” Reckless asked.

Jake said, “Only to not damage the place or kill each other.  If a fight breaks out in here, there are no rules, so there shouldn’t be any for this either.”

Ben said, “I usually need a little incentive to hurt someone.”

He and the Indian brave stood fairly close.

“Oh, ok.”  Reckless said.  “Um, I don’t.”

He lashed out and slammed his fist into Ben’s stomach.  Jake backed away so he didn’t become involved in whatever happened next.

“How’s that for incentive?” Reckless asked with a grin.

“That’ll do,” Ben said as he caught his breath.  The kid hit hard.  “You should have taken the opening to follow up on that and press the advantage.”

“I don’t need to.  I’ll have plenty of opportunities,” Reckless told him.

Ben smiled.  “You’re a cocky boy.”

“Boy?  I could get married right now if I so chose to.  Not only do I have a couple of coups and raids to my name, but I’m the nephew of the chief and the great-grandson of another chief.  I could have any woman I wanted.  I am royalty, old man.  What are you?” Reckless said.

“Do you always brag like that?” Ben asked as they circled each other.

“It’s not bragging if it’s true.  I wasn’t bragging, however.  That’s unbecoming in our culture.  I was just letting you know who you’re dealing with, and it’s not a boy,” Reckless said.

Ben could not find an opening on the kid.  It was an eerie thing.  Reckless seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and Ben knew that he was transmitting something to the brave, but wasn’t sure what.  He looked down at the floor a moment and when Reckless made a move in that direction, Ben knew it was his eyes.  He should have known. 

He began using his peripheral vision to look where he wanted to attack instead of directly at it.  Ben looked at Reckless’ right shoulder but actually attacked his left knee.  The two men went down.  Instead of Reckless rolling clear, he wrapped his legs around Ben’s midsection and squeezed for all he was worth.  Ben hadn’t seen that coming and grunted as he felt Reckless’ powerful leg muscles constrict his chest.  Reckless didn’t have medical training, however.  Ben did and knew the most tender parts of each joint and muscle group.  He clamped a hand on Reckless’ right knee and jammed his thumb deep into the flesh on the inside of the joint.  Reckless growled and hit Ben upside the head.  Ben rolled with Reckless’ legs still around him, reached out, grabbed Reckless’ shoulder and used the momentum to slam the brave against the floor.

Reckless’ legs loosened and Ben was able to get out of his grip.  Both of them rolled clear and came up on their feet.  As they fought, Joe walked into the bar and over to Jake.  “Is this some kind of new entertainment?  If it’s not, it should be,” he said.  “Who’s the kid?”

“Owl’s nephew, Reckless,” Jake replied.

“Why are you calling me ‘reckless’?” Joe said.

“No, Reckless is his name and he’s Owl’s nephew,” Jake clarified.

“Oh.  Oh!  I’ve heard of him.  Okay, my money’s on the kid,” Joe said as he pulled a twenty out of his pocket.

“You’re betting on them now?” Jake said.

“Well, seeing’s how they’re fightin’ right now, yeah.  I’m not gonna bet on them later when they’re not, am I?” Joe asked.  “Is it a bet or not?”

Jake pulled out a twenty to match Joe’s.

Ben and Reckless exchanged blows and inflicted as much pain on each other as they could.  At one point, Reckless grabbed a broom that stood against a wall and twirled it around.

Ben grinned and said, “All right.  Now it’s getting interesting.”

Instead of coming at Ben with it, Reckless used it to knock down the bow and arrow quivers that were part of the Lakota display.  In seconds he had an arrow ready and pointed at Ben’s chest.  Ben froze.

“That’s cheating,” Jake said.

Reckless said, “You said the only rules were to not damage the place or kill each other.  This is not cheating.”  He let the arrow fly and Ben ducked and rolled into a ball.

The arrow sank into the wall beside the upright piano.  Reckless had another arrow ready before the first arrow had actually hit the wall. 

Joe snatched Jake’s twenty from the bar owner’s hand and laughed.  “I knew he’d win.  Thanks, Reckless.  I’m Joe Dwyer.  It’s nice to make your acquaintance.”  Joe walked over to the brave and handed him a twenty.  “You deserve it after that display of fighting prowess.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” Reckless said as he put down the bow and arrow and took the money.  He joined Jake and Ben.

Jake said, “You’re hired.”

“Thanks.  See you Monday,” Reckless said.  He threw Ben an irritating grin and ran from the bar.

Elliot sat at his kitchen table going over the materials and meeting agenda that Joe had given him.  He was shocked at one of the items the council was scheduled to vote on.  It was an ordinance to make Dawson a dry town, which meant that the Watering Hole would be out of business.  Jake was his friend and a lot of his friends went there.  Dawson didn’t have a lot of entertainment, so the Watering Hole was pretty much it.  Where was everyone supposed to go for some fun?

On the other hand, it was sometimes an unsafe place to be.  What had happened to Abby was just one circumstance where someone had gotten hurt.  A little over a year ago, someone had gotten killed there right in front of Elliot.  Granted, Clive Laramie had been intent on killing Owl’s wife, Hannah, at the time.  Owl had only been acting in defense of her when he’d thrown a knife and killed the man.  But the fact that saloons were notorious for attracting dangerous people and creating havoc in general remained.  Elliot was torn.  If he voted to approve the ordinance, he’d be putting Jake out of a livelihood and a lot of people out of a place to gather.

He thought about how Joe and the gang loved to perform as well as Rebecca.  Ben would be out of a job, which didn’t really bother him.  Maybe he’d move on to another town or go back to Georgia.  That suited Elliot just fine.  If the Watering Hole closed, Abby couldn’t work there and be put in danger or be around Ben.  But if he voted for the ordinance, a lot of people would hate him and it could impact his business.

Elliot also knew that the Watering Hole generated business for other places in town like the Grady House and Jacob’s Finery.  He was going to have to weigh the matter very carefully. 

Jake heard the back door of the bar open and shut.  Soon Abby appeared in the doorway of his office.

“Hi, boss,” she said.  “At least I hope I can still call you 'boss'.” 

Jake saw the hope in her eyes and smiled.  “Have a seat.”

Abby perched on a chair and said, “Jake, what happened was really my fault.  I was too trusting and shouldn’t have left my drink unattended or drank it at all.  I was just being friendly and it was getting towards closing time and I just wasn’t thinking.  I don’t blame you or Ben and Ben saved me in two different ways, so everything is all right.  I’m not angry with you or him.  I really want to come back to work, Jake.  I miss it.  Elliot is all right with it.  We talked about it and we’re sticking to our original agreement.  So can I please come back?”