Savage storm (39 page)

"You've seen him fight?" Michael asked curiously.

'Twice, in fact. That was more than enough." Gabrielle folded her hands primly in her lap and gave her full concentration to the enchanting view. "This is such a pretty road; I'm sorry to hear it becomes so difficult to traverse in the winter."

Puzzled by her abrupt change of subject, Michael nonetheless thought himself fortunate she'd accepted his apology so graciously. "It's damn near impossible to get through to town after the first rainstorm, but if you're determined to move into

the hotel and live there, then I will consider the journey well worth the effort no matter how difficult it proves to be. That is, if you would be willing to see me after today/'

Gabrielle had tried to explain her feelings, but it was clear that Michael would not accept her withdrawal from the group of brides no matter where she chose to reside. "I am very flattered that you like me, despite the fact I am usually so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I can't give our conversations the attention they deserve. It would be far better, however, if you concentrated your attentions upon one of the other young women." Having a sudden inspiration, she suggested her best friend. "Perhaps Erica Nelson. She's spent most of her time with Lewis Bradley, but she'll not even speak to him now. I am certain she would be pleased to accept your calls."

Michael couldn't help but laugh. ''After that scene she created yesterday afternoon, I'd say she'd be lucky to have any of us tip his hat were she walking down street, let alone call on her."

"Oh no. Is that true? Have you men agreed to snub her simply to get even for what she did to Lewis? That's cruel, Michael, terribly cruel. She can't help the way she feels any more than I can control my own emotions."

"But you expect me to control mine?" Michael asked bitterly. "Do you really think I can forget in one day that you are the woman I want and attempt to charm another simply for the practice?"

"I am sorry if that is the way my suggestion sounded." Gabrielle moved closer to his side, putting her arm in his. "Please forgive me, I have become so involved in my own dilemma I can't seem to consider the feelings of others as I should." She recalled how rude she'd been to Marlene the previous evening and regretted that too. "I should not have run off and left you sitting alone in the parlor yesterday, but Erica was so miserable I didn't want to leave her by herself."

"Well, if it is Indian women that worry you too, I've never

found a one I considered attractive enough to even speak with, let alone invite into my home." He shook his head, not knowing what more to say to impress her. *'It's because Tm so tired of living such a solitary life that I leaped at the chance Clayton offered to have a bride.*'

Gabrielle laid her head upon his shoulder and closed her eyes. **I am sorry, Michael, dreadfully sorry, but I can't be the woman you want."

The young man smiled. It felt very nice to have her cuddled up against him so closely. As long as it was not another man but her own confusion he was battling, he decided patience might be the best weapon. He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate hug. "It will all work out for the best, Gabrielle, it always does."

"That's a wonderful thought. I only wish it were true." Gabrielle sighed wistfully.

"Oh, believe me, it is true," Michael vowed confidently. It was still a long way into town and he planned to make the trip as slowly as possible, savoring each precious moment he had with the beautiful Gabrielle MacLaren. If she did actually move into the hotel she'd need help with her luggage, so he'd just stick around Clayton's and show her how helpful he could be. Lost in his own dreams of the future, he forgot all about Jason Royal and did not once look back to see if the man was still following them.

Jason actually had to draw Duke to a halt or he would have passed Michael's buggy in a walk the man was traveling so slowly. As he gave the horses a rest for a few minutes. Sunny eyed him suspiciously, clearly seeing no good reason for having raced down the road in one direction only to turn around and walk back the same way at a snail's pace. The stallion's glance was, as always, defiant; and Jason gave him a dirty look in return. "Think I'm crazy as usual, don't you. Sunrise? Well you are damn fortunate to be a horse rather than a man who has to put up with your mistress' tricks." He

tapped his heels against Duke's sides then, starting off at a walk and cursing bitterly the entire way back to Clayton's house. When they at last arrived, he dismounted quickly and walked up to Gabrielle.

"'I want to speak with you as soon as I have taken Duke and Sunny to the barn. Wait for me in Clayton's study." As he turned to leave, she called after him.

"I beg your pardon? I am certain I could not possibly have understood you since you are usually so polite. I don't believe I heard you say please." Gabrielle was tired, and in as ill-tempered a mood as Jason.

"You will please wait for me in Clayton's study! Now is that plain enough for you?" Jason repeated his directions in an angry snarl, and then, yanking the horses' reins with a fierce grip, he led them away without waiting for her to offer any further criticism.

Michael was stunned by that hostile exchange, because of what it revealed rather than the angry tone of the participants. "It's Royal, isn't it? He's the one you want. You said your feeings about getting married had changed during the trip out here. He's the reason why, isn't he?"

Since he seemed more astonished than provoked with her, Gabrielle saw no reason to deny the truth he had just discovered. "Yes, but I hope you will keep that secret to yourself since it would hurt all three of us badly if you were to reveal it."

Michael's dark eyes narrowed slightly, his confusion plain in his glance. "Of course I'll keep it to myself. It's easy to see why any woman would be impressed with Jason Royal, but surely you must know he's definitely not the marrying kind. You'll just be wasting your time if you wait for a proposal from him."

"Yes, I know that," Gabrielle admitted sadly. "It is my right to do so, however. But I'll not waste your time, Michael. If Erica doesn't appeal to you, find one of the others who does and soon!" She reached up to kiss his cheek sweetly, then left

him standing beside his buggy as she ran up the steps of the impressive home and hurried inside. She found the bedroom she shared empty now that the bachelors could invite her friends to go elsewhere. She removed her bonnet, washed her hands and face, and then brushed her hair before she went downstairs to Clayton^s study. She had to wait only a minute or two befoVe Jason came into the room and slammed the door soundly, but she'd had long enough to decide what she wanted to say.

"Must you be so dramatic? You have my attention; you needn't slam the door so loudly to get it." She lifted her hand to her forehead, not looking forward to another confrontation with Jason. Her head ached already just thinking what he'd say. "I find it difficult to believe it upset you so greatly to find I'd gone to Michael's farm rather than to church, especially if you'd planned to allow us to go where we pleased this very afternoon."

Jason walked around the desk and sat down in Clayton's chair. He leaned back to make himself comfortable, attempting to project a more relaxed mood now that he was finally alone with Gabrielle. Rather than reacting to her sarcastic comment, he began his own line of questioning. ''Did Michael propose to you? He certainly had plenty of time to do it. I swear I could have walked here faster than he brought you home in his buggy."

"Whether or not he proposed and the speed with which he wishes to travel are none of your business, Jason." Gabrielle sat up straight then, preparing for the long and bitter scene she knew would be forthcoming.

"How he wishes to travel may not be one of my legitimate concerns, I'll grant you that, but whether or not he proposed to you certainly is. I brought you to Oregon to be a bride. Yesterday you told me you weren't going to marry any of the bachelors, but this morning you went out to Michael's farm. Even you must admit that seems a bit contradictory, or have

you decided you do want to get married after all?"

"No," Gabrielle responded in a vain attempt to control her temper. "Michael has made no secret of his interest in me, and I thought he deserved to be told I'd decided not to marry before I moved out of this house. I didn't want him to come here especially to see me and find me gone."

"Hell, you could have told him that on the front porch. You didn't have to ride all the way out to his farm to do it," Jason scoffed rudely.

Gabrielle looked away, seeing no point in arguing over what she'd done. "If I have satisfied your curiosity, may I please be excused?"

"No. Not until I have satisfied yours," Jason answered calmly. "I've decided to tell you the truth about Joshua Taylor since you've taken such a personal interest in him."

"You mean he's come here? You've finally met him?" Gabrielle leaned forward, very curious indeed.

"Not exactly." Jason took a deep breath, attempting to compose his thoughts in some rational order before he continued. "I'm uncertain where to begin. Perhaps you remember the night we had dinner in Kansas City? I gave you my hotel room when there was none available for you."

"How could I possibly forget your generosity? What has it to do with Mr. Taylor though?" Gabrielle wanted him to stick to the point of his story.

"Quite a bit actually. I offered to find some way for you to come to Oregon, but you misunderstood my motives and said you'd come as one of the brides or not at all."

Gabrielle blushed deeply, recalling that scene all too well. She had sense enough not to point out her appraisal of his motives had been shockingly accurate however. She wasn't in the least bit ashamed of what had happened between them, but she regretted that it had meant so little to him. "Is there some point to your rambling narrative, Jason? If so, I fail to see what it has to do with Mr. Taylor."

Jason's gray eyes grew dark as he continued to explain, his glance as frightening as his words. "I wanted you to come with us very badly. Since we needed one more bachelor to accommodate one more bride I simply created one. I won quite a bit of money playing poker that night, and when I returned to the hotel I wrote the letter that supposedly came from Joshua Taylor. I included the fee plus a bit more than the other men had paid. The night clerk was sound asleep at his desk so it was a simple matter to slip the letter into Clayton's mailbox where he found it the next morning. He never doubted it was from a real man and neither did you."

Gabrielle didn't know whether to laugh or cry, she found Jason's tale so preposterous. She considered it for a moment then asked, "What did you expect to happen when we arrived here and there was no Mr. Taylor waiting to claim a bride? You must have had something clever planned in order to avoid having to reveal what you'd done. Since it's probably equally amusing, I'd like to hear it."

"No," Jason responded confidently. "I simply wanted you to meet all the men so you'd have a choice; then I planned for you to marry me."

Gabrielle's thick fringe of long lashes swept her brows as she leaped from her chair. 'That is a damn lie and you know it!"

Jason rose slowly to his feet, towering above her. It was a lie of course, but the fact he'd considered marriage between them an impossibility until that very day was due to his own stupidity rather than to a lack of desire to make her his wife. He'd certainly never admit that to her. "I wanted you the minute you knocked upon our door, Gabrielle, and don't tell me now that fact wasn't obvious. I wouldn't have left Kansas City without you, but inventing Joshua Taylor seenned to be a far better method to win your confidence than tying you up and tossing you atop one of the brides' carriages like part of the luggage."

"You bastard," Gabrielle hissed menacingly. "You got

exactly what you wanted, how dare you tell me now that you had marriage in mind all those months you demanded I meet you in secret? You could have proposed to me at any time, and there were several places along the Oregon Trail where we could have heen married. What's happened to you, Jason? Is your conscience finally troubling you? Have you begun to feel guilty because you continually used my affection for you without offering anything in return?''

Jason had little choice but to stand there and take whatever abuse she cared to hurl. The deep red of her hair seemed tinged with the flames of her anger, the blue of her eyes was so deep they appeared purple. He thought her the most desirable woman ever born. "I'd say I gave as much as I took," he replied, exhibiting far more pride than he actually felt. "You gave me little reason to believe you'd accept my proposal, Gabrielle. How can you fault me for not making one?"

"Oh!" Gabrielle shrieked in frustration. "You're lying! You know you are, but what I don't understand is why you'd bother." She turned away then, pacing upand down in front of him with the frantic stride of a wild beast on too short a leash. She looked ready to explode as she continued. "What you are describing is a deceit of monstrous proportion. To have lied to me from the moment we met merely to gratify your own insatiable lusts is so despicable it makes what Lewis Bradley did to his Indian mistress seem like a minor insult! How can you possibly think I'd believe you have always wanted me for your wife? That is simply ludicrous after the way you have behaved!"

Clayton knocked softly at the door before peering inside. "Is everything all right in here?"

"No!" Gabrielle shouted loudly, and the man was so startled by that response he offered no more than a brief apology for interrupting their conversation and closed the door at once.

"Perhaps you should keep your voice down, my dearest." Jason offered his advice with a sly grin. "Clayton is discreet,

but I doubt many of the others in this house are.''

*'0f course, discretion has always meant more to you than my feehngs, hasn't it? There's not a woman alive who deserves to have a snake Hke you for a husband, not one!"

"Does that mean you are refusing my proposal?" Jason asked nonchalantly, seeming to care little what her decision might be.