Second Chance Brides (32 page)

They placed the food on the buffet in the dining room. Then Leah grabbed Shannon’s hand, pulled her through the kitchen, and out the back door. Shannon’s green eyes widened as Leah turned to face her. She leaned in close. “That woman is here.”

Shannon blinked. “What woman?”

“The one Mark was talking to in Denison.”

Gasping, Shannon clutched her chest. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted you to be prepared and not surprised when you saw her.”

Shannon straightened her back and hiked up her chin. “Why should I care if she’s here? Mark wants nothing to do with me, so she can have him.”

Leah’s heart ached for her friend’s pain. It made her own happiness less enjoyable. She placed a hand on Shannon’s shoulder. “It matters, and we both know it.”

Shaking her head, Shannon stared off in the distance. “Nay, it doesn’t. I must move past my feelings for him. It does me no good to hang on to them.”

Leah clenched her fist. “Oh, those Corbetts. If I were a man, I’d knock them both for a loop.”

Shannon’s mouth turned up in a melancholy smile. “If you were a man, you wouldn’t have an issue with them.”

Leah blew out a frustrated breath. How could Shannon be so gracious? “Well, I suppose we should finish setting out the food.”

Shannon nodded and followed her back inside. Leah opened a lid on a large pot and found a mess of greens with ham chunks. She dished them into another tureen while Shannon carried an assortment of jellies and a bowl of butter to the table.

Leah’s mind raced. Why had that woman come to Lookout?

Whatever the reason was, she had a feeling it would only mean trouble for her friend.

C
HAPTER
24

M
ark stared at the ledger, but his eyes couldn’t seem to focus on the numbers. Nothing had seemed right since he’d told Shannon he’d never marry. The pain in her eyes that night haunted his dreams the few hours that he’d managed to fall asleep. He missed her. Missed seeing her in the office, sitting in his chair. Missed watching her whirl around, dusting cabinets and leaving her soft scent lingering in the air.

He rested his head on his hand and sighed. If only he’d never left Lookout. Then maybe he and Shannon could have had a chance.

Garrett walked in from the back room, still carrying his coffee cup. Generally, for the first hour or two each morning, his brother and the mug were attached to one another. He strolled over to the pot sitting on the stove and filled his cup, then turned and stared at Mark.

“You’re looking rather glum these days, little brother.” Garrett continued staring while he took a sip.

Mark shrugged, unable to deny the accusation. He was glum. And frustrated. And lonely.

“Care to talk about it?” Garrett pulled out his desk chair and sat down.

He’d wrestled with that very thought on a number of occasions, but telling his brother he couldn’t marry Shannon would mean he’d have to tell him the whole story. And he wasn’t prepared to do that.

His brother was all the family he had left, except for Luke, and he couldn’t stand seeing the disappointment in Garrett’s eyes if he ever learned the truth. He’d worked so hard to be an upstanding citizen ever since that calamity in Abilene, and he didn’t want his reputation tarnished. If he ever was to become a lawyer, having an unblemished reputation was crucial. Who’d trust their future to a lawyer who’d killed a man?

Garrett swigged down the last of his coffee and stood. “Well, if you decide you want to get that burden you’re lugging off your chest, I’ll be tending the horses.”

Mark sat with his head in his hands. Why couldn’t he give this burden to God? He’d begged forgiveness—over and over again. He was sure God had forgiven him for killing that man, but how did he forgive himself?

That night in Abilene intruded into his mind again. He could hear the off-key piano, smell the smoke that filled the room until a hazy cloud hung in the air. Men gambled at different tables, while others drank away their hard-earned weekly pay. Saloon girls sashayed between tables, but Mark only had eyes for one of them.

Annabelle.

The first night he’d gone into the saloon, she’d offered to get him a drink. Their attraction was instant, and although he rarely frequented saloons, visiting the Lucky Star where she worked became a nightly obsession. Even remembering the Bible verses about avoiding wanton women that his mother had quoted to him and Garrett when they were becoming young men didn’t stop him.

Annabelle had been his first love. She’d managed to squeeze out short moments to sit with him or stand and talk between serving drinks to the other patrons. He’d never drank before, but he kept buying liquor to keep her coming around. And that drinking made his head fuzzy. Made him do things he’d not normally do.

He hung his head in shame as he remembered the first night he’d waited until Annabelle was off work and had walked her to the small room she rented. One kiss led to two. Two led to three. His whiskey-befuddled mind assented to her request to come inside, and the rest was history. He’d not had the power to refuse her pleas to stay the night.

Mark clutched his hair in his fists. It had all happened so fast, and his need had been so strong that he couldn’t resist her charms. Afterward, he’d felt so dirty and ashamed that he’d taken advantage of her that he hadn’t returned to the saloon for a full week. But the siren’s call had been too strong to resist.

And he’d forever pay the price.

If only he could go back and do things differently.

“Forgive me, Lord.”

The bell on the door jingled, pulling him out of his reverie. He blinked, sure what he was seeing was an apparition.

Annabelle stood in the doorway, giving him that saucy smile that had made him weak years before. He stood, still unable to believe she was standing in his office. In his town.

“Hello there, handsome.”

“What are you doing in Lookout?”

She strutted toward him, looking deceptively sweet in that dark blue calico dress, but he knew inside lay a vixen who could make the strongest of men sway from his beliefs. Warnings clanged in his mind. He was a stronger man than he’d been back then. He was a man who’d tasted her spoils and by God’s grace would never fall in that quagmire again.

She pressed her hands on his desk and leaned forward, her gaze never leaving his. Mark’s heart pounded like a creature caught in a trap. He stepped back until he met the wall to distance himself from her.

He cleared his throat. “I asked what you are doing here. I thought I made it clear in Denison that anything between us was over. Way over.”

She smiled and waved her hand in the air. “I knew you’d change your mind if you could see how different I am. I’m going to find a respectable job and start my life over. There’s always room for a good man in it.”

Mark crossed his arms. “I’m not that man.”

Annabelle shrugged and stared out the front window. “Things got bad recently in Abilene. I couldn’t stay there anymore, and besides, I was sick of men pawing at me. I want to know what it’s like to be a lady whom men respect.”

Something in Mark’s heart cracked, but he quickly shored up the breach. Annabelle might fuss about working in the saloon, but he felt certain she liked the attention she’d received. And while he couldn’t blame her in the least for not wanting to be an upstairs gal, she hadn’t had any qualms about taking him to her bed. A shiver charged down his back at the memory.

He’d been stupid.

Thought she had eyes for only him. But he was older and wiser now.

“There are plenty of towns you could live in. Why come here?”

She spun around, her head cocked. “Because you’re here. We can finally have the life together that we talked about.”

Mark ran his hand through his hair. “That was a long time ago. I don’t mean to be unkind, but let me put it clearly—I’m no longer interested in a relationship with you.”

Her lips pushed out into a pout. “It’s that Irish gal, isn’t it?”

A vision of Shannon entered his mind. If she learned about his past rapport with Annabelle, it would crush any hopes that he might have of restoring his relationship with her. Yeah, he’d told her he would never marry, but deep inside, he still held out hope that something could work out between them. A horrible thought rushed into his mind. “Where are you staying?”

A sly grin tilted her mouth. “At the boardinghouse, of course. Where else would a decent woman stay in this dumpy, little town?”

Mark’s fingers tightened on the back of the chair, and he ground his back teeth together.

“I’m so looking forward to getting to know Shannon better. I think she and I could be good friends.”

“What do you want, Annabelle? Why are you really here?”

Her mouth twisted, and she shrugged. “I didn’t know where to go. You’re the only man who ever defended me, and I truly wanted to see if there was any chance for us to be together again.”

He strode around the desk and leaned into her face. She swallowed hard, showing the first sign of vulnerability he’d seen since she’d entered his office. “Let me tell you again. I made the biggest mistake of my life in Abilene. There is no chance this side of heaven of us being together. I’m sorry you’ve had a rough life, but part of it was your own choosing. You could have left the Lucky Star years ago, but you didn’t. I sincerely hope you can turn your life around, but I won’t be a part of it. The best thing you can do for me is to leave town.”

She flounced her head and scowled. “That was rather harsh, don’tcha think?”

“No, it’s simply the truth.”

“I was hopin’ you’d give me a job.”

Mark shook his head. “Shannon already works here.”

“Then why isn’t she here? It’s already midmornin’.”

“We…ah…don’t have enough work for her to be here all the time. She mostly works when we’re gone now.”

“I can see that you need time to get used to my being here. I’ll give you a few days, and then we’ll talk again.” She swung around, hurried for the door, and yanked it open.

“Annabelle. I meant what I said.”

She slammed the door without looking back. Mark slumped against his desk. “Dear Lord, help me.”

Shannon sat in the parlor, staring out the front window. She needed to finish the lace she was making for Leah’s wedding dress, but her heart wasn’t in it. She might have lost Mark, but she never expected to have another woman come to town vying for him.

Perhaps she was making a mountain out of a molehill, but that Annabelle Smith had gone on and on at breakfast about knowing Mark in Abilene. Why, she’d all but insinuated there was something between them. Had that woman hurt Mark so deeply that he never wanted to marry?

’Twould explain a lot.

But Mark didn’t seem jaded toward women. He’d always been friendly to her, except when Garrett first hired her to work for them. She sighed heavily. This was her first day to not go in to work, and she sorely missed being there. Missed seeing Mark.

But she’d made her decision, and ’twas for the best. Her heart couldn’t heal if she had to work with Mark, and listen to his baritone voice, smell his fresh scent, or watch him work. She longed to see those brilliant blue eyes gazing at her as she’d caught them on more than one occasion.

“You silly lass.” She shook her head to rid it of thoughts of Mark and focused back on her stitching.

Leah walked in and sat down on the settee beside her. “Oh, that is so lovely. You do such fine work. I bet you could easily sell your lace.”

“Thank you. Perhaps I will talk to Mrs. Morgan about that very thing. If I could sell some that would help offset the money I’ll lose by not working at the freight office so much.”

Leah puffed up. “I wish you didn’t have to work there at all.”

“Aye, ’twould be for the best, but I’ll not have the Corbetts supporting me again, so I must work there until I find something else.”

“That Miss Smith is looking for employment also.”

“Would that I could give her my job at the freight office, then she and her beloved Mark would be together.”

Leah’s brows lifted. “Is that cynicism I hear?”