Mail Order Bride - Westward Sunrise: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 9) (7 page)

              Rachel stocked shelves the next day while Elliot ran the counter.  She hummed a little as she put out new items and Elliot smiled at the happy sound.  Jack came in the store and Elliot thought,
here we go.
  He was prepared to hear some merchandise drop on the floor and just hoped that it wasn’t anything breakable. 

              Jack came over to the counter and said, “Hey, Elliot.  How’s your girl?”

              “She’s fine, Jack.  Thanks for asking,” Elliot said.

              “She’s a hoot.  How’d she remember everybody like that?” Jack asked him as he began looking over the candy.

              “I don’t know.  I’ve never seen a memory like hers before,” Elliot said.  “I thought for sure there at the end she wouldn’t be able to remember Ben.”

              “Me, too.  Oh, crap!  I’ll be right back up.  I almost forgot what I came in here for,” Jack said, and went down one of the aisles.

              Rachel heard Jack’s voice and put down what she was working on before she dropped it.  She began getting angry with herself.  Why shouldn’t she have what she wanted?  It was time to stop mooning over Jack and take matters into hand.  She marched towards the back of the store and ran smack into Jack as they both rounded the end of the aisle.

              She looked up at Jack and said, “Come with me.”

              Jack was surprised by her angry tone and wondered what he’d done.  “Okay.  What’s goin’ on?”

              “Shut up,” she said.

              His brows drew down as he followed her into the office.  She shut the door and locked it and pointed to the desk chair.  “Sit.”

              “What’s the matter with you?” Jack demanded.  “Did something happen?”

              “No.  That’s the problem,” Rachel said.  “Sit down!”

              Jack had no idea what was making her act this way but figured that if he did as she demanded, it might help calm her down.  “Okay, fine.  Now start talkin’.”

              “I don’t think talking works with you, Jack,” Rachel said.  Her heart pounded as she steeled herself to do what she’d decided to.

              Jack shifted in the chair a little.  “Why?”

              “I don’t know.  I could talk until I’m blue in the face and you still wouldn’t get it, I don’t think.  You don’t see what’s right in front of you,” Rachel said.

              “You’re in front of me, Rachel,” Jack said.  “I see you.  What the hell is this about?”

              Rachel shook her head.  “No, you don’t, Jack.  You don’t really see me,” she said as she took his face in her hands and kissed him.

              Jack couldn’t do anything.  He was paralyzed by shock and confusion.  Then he grasped her arms, pushed her away from him, and stood up.  His blue eyes were wide with panic.

              “Rachel!  What are you doing?” he asked.

              “Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Rachel said.

              “You have?  Since when?” Jack said.  “I thought we were friends?”

              Rachel said, “No,
you
think I’m your friend, but you’re the man that I—”

              “No!  Don’t say that,” Jack said.  “No, no.  Listen, I’m flattered Rachel, but I’m still in love with Sparrow.  Besides, your pa would kill me. No, he’d fire me and
then
kill me.”

              “How can you be in love with someone who isn’t coming back?” Rachel asked.  “I’m right here.  And Mitch isn’t my pa.”

              “He might as well be,” Jack said.  “And he’s my boss, Rachel.  I need my job, I love my job.  I don’t want to be fired.  As far as Sparrow goes, it’s not like I can just snap my fingers and make those feelings go away.  I wish I could, believe me.  It’d be a lot better than what I’m goin’ through right now.  Besides, I’m too old for you, Rachel.”

              “You’re only four years older than me and maybe if you had someone else to occupy you, getting over Sparrow would be easier,” Rachel said.

              “Rachel, I’m gonna be twenty-one before long and you’re not even eighteen yet.  Look, please don’t take this personally.  You’re sweet and pretty and any boy would be lucky to have you, but I’m not the right guy for you,” Jack said gently.

              His kind words fueled her anger and she said, “I don’t want them.  I want you, Jack, and you treating me like a child pisses me off.”

              Jack had never heard her swear before.  “I guess you really are if you’re talkin’ like that.  Fine.  Be pissed off.  I can’t change that.  I’m sorry, Rachel.  I would never hurt your feelings on purpose, but you’re forcing my hand here.  I’m going to tell Mitch about this right away.  I have to.  It’s the right thing to do.  I may be out of a job, but it’s the right thing to do.  Now move out of the way.”

              “No!  Don’t tell him, Jack!  Please?  I’ll be in so much trouble,” Rachel said.

              Jack said, “You should have thought of that before you locked me in here with you.  Do you understand what position you’ve put me in?  If anyone found us in here together there’d be hell to pay.  Don’t do anything like this again, Rachel.”  He physically moved Rachel to the side and left.

              Elliot watched Jack stomp from the store.  He’d never seen such an angry expression on Jack’s face before.  He waited for Rachel to come back up front, but when she didn’t, he went to the back of the store.  He heard weeping from the office and ran in to find Rachel sitting in the chair crying her eyes out.

              “Rachel, what’s wrong?  What happened?” Elliot said kindly.

              Haltingly she filled Elliot in on what had transpired between her and Jack.

              “Oh, Rachel, I’m so sorry,” Elliot said.  “It’ll be okay.”

              “No, it won’t!  I can’t ever look at him again.  Why did I do that?  It was so stupid!  I was just tired of waiting for him to see me and I thought at least if I knew whether he might have any feelings for me that it would be better, but it’s not.  I can’t stay,” she said, and ran from the office and out the back door.

              Mitch looked up when Jack came into the office and was alarmed by the look on Jack’s face.  The young man couldn’t stay still and raked a hand through his hair. 

              “Jack?  What happened?” Mitch asked.

              “You’re gonna fire me, but I have to tell you,” Jack said.

              Mitch leaned his weight on his elbows on the desk and asked, “Tell me what?”

              Jack stopped his pacing and stood in front of Mitch’s desk as he said, “I didn’t know it, but Rachel has…feelings for me.  She just penned me in the office over at Elliot’s and kissed me.  I had no idea she felt like that and I don’t share her feelings and did not kiss her back.  I also never encouraged anything like that as far as I know.  I thought we were just friends.”

              Mitch could tell that Jack was telling him the truth and even though his fatherly instinct made him want to punch Jack, he admired his honesty.  Mitch closed his eyes and flopped back against the back of his chair.  “Oh, boy.”

              “Mitch, don’t yell at the poor girl.  She’s already feelin’ bad enough because I refused her advances.  I tried to be as nice as I could, but she’s stubborn and didn’t want to take no for an answer.  I had to get a little tough on her.  So please don’t yell at her, Mitch,” Jack pleaded.  “You can’t help who you love.  I know that better than a lot of people.”

              Mitch looked at Jack again.  “I always knew you were a standup guy, Jack.  I’m not gonna fire you and I won’t yell at her.  I’ll let Sammi deal with this.  I think this is the kind of situation that needs a feminine touch.”

              Jack sat down and let out a huge breath filled with relief.  “Thanks, Mitch.”

              Elliot wasn’t surprised when Rachel didn’t show up for work Monday.  He hadn’t been open very long before Sammi came in.  Elliot wasn’t used to seeing her in a dress but her jeans didn’t fit anymore.  Elliot smiled as she came over to the counter.

              “Hi, Sammi.  How’s Rachel?” he asked.

              Sammi sighed.  “Embarrassed, hurt, mad.  Take your pick.  Poor girl.  I was afraid of her getting hurt over this, but I never thought she’d confront Jack like that.  And to do it here of all places.  I’m sorry about that, Elliot.”

              He gave her a kind smile and said, “Sometimes love makes us do crazy things.  I think she just got to a place where she couldn’t stand not knowing anymore.  Her method wasn’t thought through, maybe, but she’s only seventeen and not exactly experienced with this sort of thing.”

              Sammi nodded.  “Her story matches Jack’s, which is good.  I’m real impressed that Jack went to Mitch right away about it.  Not everybody would be that honest even if it meant bad things could happen.”

              “Knowing how Jack was raised, I’m not surprised.  He’s honest as the day is long, just like Dean.”

              “Yeah,” Sammi said.  “She wants to quit, Elliot, but I told her she can’t run away from this.  She has a good job that she really likes and you don’t just throw that away.  She’s afraid of seeing Jack again, but she’s gonna have to get used to seeing him at some point.”

              “I know,” Elliot agreed.  “I’d hate to see her quit, too.  She’s a great employee and fun to work with.  Let her go for today, but tell her I expect to see her tomorrow.”

              “Good.  Thanks, Elliot,” Sammi said as she eyed the candy.  She had a sudden craving for peppermint.  She got some for her and some other candy for the kids.

              Elliot bagged the candy and Sammi left.  He sincerely hoped that Rachel would come back to work.

              “You did the right thing, Jack,” Tessa said as they sat at the kitchen table.

              “I know, Mama, but now I’ve hurt Rachel and lost a friend.  I had no idea she felt that way about me,” Jack said.  He was miserable over the situation.

              Tessa chuckled.  “As someone who has had a crush before, I can tell you that she didn’t want you to know until she was ready to tell you.”

              “Mama, I was never so shocked in all my life except when I found out that Sparrow had left.  I can’t avoid Rachel, but I don’t know what to do when I see her now.”

              Tessa took his hand and said, “Just be kind and civil.  Do not be overly friendly, though.  Kind and civil.  That’s about all you can do.  This is something that she’s going to have to work through.”

              “It’s awkward because I work with Mitch and I’m friends with him and Sammi outside of work, too.  I’m afraid that this is gonna cause problems between us,” Jack said.

              Tessa nodded.  “I can understand your concern, but I don’t think that either one of them will let this interfere with your friendship.  It’ll take a little time, but Rachel will be fine.  Believe it or not, one day both of you will look back on this and laugh.”

              Jack gave Tessa a skeptical look.  “You really think so?”

              “Yes, I do,” Tessa said.

              Jack sighed and said, “That day can’t come soon enough.”

              Near closing time on Monday, Abby came into the store.  Elliot’s heart thumped a little at the sight of her and smiled.

              “Hi, Mouse,” he said, with a mischievous light in his eyes.

              Abby laughed and said, “Hi, Moose.  How are you?”

              “Fine.  You?” Elliot asked.

              “Better now.  No Rachel today?” she asked.

              Elliot said, “No, but I told Sammi that I expect her to be here tomorrow.  She can’t hide forever.”

              “Poor thing.  Unrequited love is hard to get over,” Abby said.  “So have you ever had a crush on anyone?”

              Elliot grinned and said, “Yeah.  I’m looking at her.”

              Abby laughed and said, “Be serious.  Who was it?”

              Elliot leaned a hip on the counter and said, “I guess I was eighteen or nineteen and her name was Carrie Everett.  Her folks were ranchers and she used to come in for supplies for them.  She’d stop at the feed mill and then come here for flour and stuff.  Blonde with blue eyes and very pretty.  She was being courted by a local boy, though.  But even if she weren’t, I’d have never gotten up the nerve to ask her out.  I’ve always been shy around women.”

              Abby gave him a coy smile and said, “You’re not shy with me.”

              Elliot laughed.  “No, I’m not.”  He remembered the past couple of nights when they kissed goodbye.  They’d started kissing and things became very heated before they were able to quit.  He leaned down on the counter so he was on her level and said, “Maybe we should have a chaperone.”

              Abby’s laugh was a wonderful thing, Elliot thought.  It was full of mischief and fun and came from the heart. 

              “I don’t want a chaperone.  Do you?” she asked.

              “Uh uh,” Elliot said.

              Abby made sure no one was in the store and then gave Elliot a brief kiss before twirling away from him.

              “Tease,” he accused her.

              Abby’s blue eyes widened.  “Look in the mirror.”

              Elliot chuckled.  “Are you hungry?”

              “Yes, which is why I’m making us dinner,” Abby said.  “That’s what I came to tell you.  Whenever you’re done, come over.  I’m making something special.”

              “Really?  What is it?” Elliot asked.

              “It’s a surprise,” she said, and placed another kiss on his mouth.

              He was ready for her, though, and grabbed her arms and held her in place while he extended the kiss.  The bell over the door jingled and they jumped apart.

              It was Joe.  He saw the guilty looks on their faces and Abby’s blush.  Joe grinned and said, “Don’t let me interrupt, kids.”  He kept going down the main aisle.

              Abby giggled.  “I’ll see you after a while, Moose.”

              “See ya, Mouse,” Elliot said.  As he watched her leave, Elliot admired her figure.

              Joe put some jars of peaches on the counter and Elliot jumped.  “Well, Mr. Bradbury, I see you took my advice and it seems like it worked,” Joe said.  His hazel eyes held a wicked gleam.

              Elliot grinned and said, “That would be an affirmative on both counts, Mayor Dwyer.  Are you making a pie?”

              “I wouldn’t know how to make a pie if my life depended on it,” Joe said with a laugh.  “No, I have other plans for these.  Namely, my daughter, who likes to eat them just as they are.  Miss Dwyer gets testy when we don’t have any.  They’re about her favorite thing to eat.  So I take it things are going well with Abby?”

              Elliot rang up Joe’s peaches and said, “Real well.  She’s making me dinner tonight.”

              “That’ll give you a chance to sample her cooking ability,” Joe said.  “Of course, even if it's terrible, eat it anyway so her feelings aren’t hurt.  That way the cooking might continue after the meal.”

              “Is that your next bit of advice?” Elliot said with a wry smile.

              “It is.  I haven’t steered ya’ll wrong thus far, have I?” Joe asked.

              “No, but I think I can handle it from here,” Elliot said.

              Joe handed Elliot some money and said, “All right, but I’m around if you should need me.”

              “Okay, Joe.  Thanks,” Elliot said as Joe left.  The mayor always overpaid, but Elliot knew that Joe wouldn’t take it back.  Elliot’s conscience wouldn’t let him keep the extra money so he always gave it to Pastor John in Joe’s name.  As Elliot set about locking up, he wondered if Joe realized how much money he’d given away over the past ten years that he’d lived in Dawson. 

              Elliot could smell something delicious cooking as he knocked on Abby’s door.  She opened it and said, “Come in.”

              “These are for you,” Elliot said as he handed her a bouquet of wild flowers.

              “They’re lovely.  Thank you.  I’ll put them in a vase right away and they can be our centerpiece.  We’re almost ready to eat.  I’m starving.  Are you?” she said.

              “Yeah, I am, actually.  Is there anything I can do to help?” Elliot asked.

              “Yes.  Sit down and relax.  I’m sure you had a busy day since it’s Monday and you’re without your usual help,” Abby said.

              Elliot chose to sit in one of the chairs in her parlor so he could face the kitchen and watch her work.  Her movements were competent and he liked hearing her hum a little while she put the flowers in a vase and put them on the table.  As he followed her progress to and from the kitchen, a peaceful feeling stole over Elliot and he could definitely imagine how nice it would be to share a home permanently with Abby. 

              Abby was a little nervous about cooking for Elliot, but she wanted to do it right away so she’d get used to it.  When everything was ready, she turned to find him watching her.  “Well, dinner is served.  Let’s eat.”

              “Yes, ma’am,” Elliot said. 

He washed his hands and sat down at the table.  The more he looked at the food, the bigger his smile became.  Pork chops, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob all sat on the table. 

“You made my favorite meal,” Elliot said.

“Yes, I did,” Abby said.

“Where did you get all the food?  You didn’t come in the store today,” Elliot said.

“No, but other people did,” Abby said mysteriously.

Elliot remembered Seth’s wife Maddie buying potatoes.  Rebecca had bought some corn that a local farmer had brought in to sell, and Gus had dropped off some pork chops from his pig farm that he thought might sell.  Elliot sniffed the air and sure enough, he smelled peach pie baking.  He looked at Abby and saw that she was having trouble keeping a straight face. 

“You had all those other people come in and buy groceries for you, didn’t you?” he asked.

She nodded as she began laughing.  Elliot looked at her in amazement and then laughed so hard that it made his head hurt.  When the laughter died down, he said, “What the hell did you tell them to get them to come in?”

Abby wiped tears from her face with her apron and said, “I told them I was having a surprise dinner for you and didn’t want you to know what I was buying.  They were only too happy to help.  I caught Joe before I came in and made him wait outside for a few minutes.  And then I waited for him to come out to get the peaches from him.”

“How do you con people into doing what you want?” Elliot asked as he bit into a pork chop.  It was tender and flavorful.

“There’s no conning involved.  I just ask them,” Abby said with a smile.

Elliot motioned to his pork chop with his fork and said, “This is delicious.”

“Thank you.  I was nervous since it’s my first time cooking for you,” Abby said.

“Nothing to be nervous about.  Does that mean you’re going to cook for me again?” Elliot asked.

“I might be persuaded,” Abby said.  “I met Marcus today.  I was walking past him and I recognized him from your description and I greeted him in Lakota.  He was very shocked.  It was funny.  Then I introduced myself and we talked for a little while in Lakota.  You told me he’s funny and he is.  I can see why he’s a good doctor.”

“Yeah, he is.  He’ll do anything for you if he can.  So who else did you meet?” he asked.  He was curious about what she’d been up to during the day.

“I went to the post office and mailed a letter to Betty so she knows I got here safe and all.  Mr. Booker is very nice and likes to flirt.  Oh!  I met Roscoe!  He’s beautiful and so friendly.  He was following a couple of boys.  One was Lakota.”

“That would be Dean and Tessa’s son, Mikey, and Marcus’ nephew, Raven.  They’re best friends and when the tribe is in residence here, you’ll see them together a lot.  Raven has started hunting now and is very good from what Marcus says,” Elliot told her.

Abby said, “They’re both very handsome young men.  I know they hunt at that age, but it makes me nervous because it seems like they’re too young.”

“I’m sure Tessa feels the same way about Mikey hunting.  Not only is he learning with a bow and arrow but with a gun now, too.  I can’t believe they’re as old as they are.  I remember when Mikey was born.  Dean was so happy when he married Tessa and then they had him.  I remember hearing him and Pa talking about it one day.”

Elliot began telling Abby about growing up in Dawson and how he’d known so many of the current residents.  As the meal progressed, she learned much about the history of the place she intended to call home for the rest of her life.

Jack got ready to lock up the Sheriff’s office for the night since there were no prisoners at the moment.  It had been a busy day and he was tired.  The door opened as he stood and stretched.  His heart dropped when he saw it was Rachel.  He dropped his arms from where he’d had them over his head while stretching and backed up a little.

Rachel stayed near the door and looked hesitantly at Jack.  “Don’t worry; I’m not going to throw myself at you again.”

“That’s good.”

She forced herself to look Jack in the eyes as she said, “I came to apologize for the other night.  I never should have done that.  It was wrong and I’m sorry.”

Jack knew that it took guts to admit when you were wrong and he admired Rachel for facing up to her mistake.  “Thank you, Rachel.  C’mon and sit down a minute,” Jack said.

Rachel perched on a chair and Jack sat across the table from her.  She was nervous and grasped a handful of her dress under the table to stop her hands from shaking.  Sammi had said that the best way to get over a fear was to face it.  Her pa used to tell her the same thing, so Rachel decided to get it over with in private instead of seeing Jack in the store or on the street.

Jack’s voice was soft as he said, “I wish you would have just talked to me, Rachel.  I would have told you the same thing, but I might have been a little nicer about it.  You scared the hell out of me.”  He smiled a little. 

Rachel put her hand over her mouth as she remembered the way he’d looked at her. 

“Don’t you laugh at me, Rachel,” Jack said with a chuckle.  “First you’re all mad at me and I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to make you that way.  Then you lock the door, yell at me, and kiss me.  My head was spinnin’ like a top.”

“I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what came over me, Jack.  It was like someone else took over and I couldn’t stop myself,” Rachel said.

Jack nodded.  “I can understand that.  Look, I’m not gonna treat you like a kid about this, but you are too young for me.  There’re some guys out there my age or older who would take you up on your offer, but I’m not made that way, Rachel.  Believe it or not, it was good for my ego, though.”

“So you liked it a little?” Rachel asked hopefully.

“Rachel,” Jack said.  “What guy wouldn’t like it a little?  Look at you.  You’re beautiful, funny, and smart.  What’s not to like?  But I ain’t over Sparrow and I don’t know when I’m gonna be.  We were engaged and we would have been married by now…” Jack closed his eyes against the sudden emotion that hit him.  Then he clenched his teeth and forced himself to say the words.  “If her family had come back with the others, we would be married by now.  We were planning a spring wedding and it would have happened whether or not her family approved.  Once we were legally wed, there would have been nothing anyone could have done.”

Rachel sighed and said, “I am sorry, Jack.  Really.  I know how much you loved her.  I guess I was just hoping that maybe someday you might love me that way.”

Jack said, “It’s nothin’ personal about you, Rachel, you need to understand that.  I don’t want to be with anyone right now.  So don’t be thinkin’ that I’ll be out with some other girl or somethin’, because I won’t.  You know I don’t lie, Rachel.  I’m tellin’ the truth.”

Rachel was finding it easier to meet Jack’s gaze.  His words sunk in and helped heal the hurt a little. 

“A year from now, you’re gonna be head over heels in love with some young guy and forget all about me,” Jack said.  “And that’s not me treating you like a kid, it’s the truth.  You wanna hear something funny?”