Silver Nights With You (Love in the Sierras Book 1) (4 page)

“It’s just a piece of paper,” she said as she pulled away from him. “I’ll have her with me every day in my heart. I didn’t mean to get so upset. I think it’s just everything from today overwhelming me.”

Argyle nodded. “It has been quite a day for you.”

“For all of us,” she corrected, and he studied her with a tilt of his head.

“None of
us
took a life today.”

She glanced down at her folded hands on her lap. “Are you disappointed in me?”

“No, not at all. I am proud of you. I won’t be around much longer, and it gives me great comfort to see you look after yourself.”

“Don’t talk like that, Papa. I can't even bear to think it right now. Besides, God made no man stouter than you. I think you’ll outlive us all.” 

He chuckled. "We shall see. If today is any indication of the life we can expect then we shall both have to bear up."

"You're the one who wanted adventures." She pointed a scolding finger at him as her eyebrow lifted. He looked at the ceiling while he scratched his chin.

"I seem to recall a certain brown-headed child leaping around my sitting room with a coonskin hat she'd won throwing apples in the fall festival, spouting something about revolutionaries and the wild frontier. Do you happen to know of whom I speak?"

She stifled her laugh with a hand over her mouth. "Why must you torment me with memories like that?"

"Only to remind you of the excitement you once craved."

Her smile softened, and her eyes paled in a far-away gaze. "A child's fantasy quelled by the reality of propriety." She laughed again as she shrugged. "Lucky for you I actually do enjoy being a lady."

"It wasn't your sense of propriety that purchased your little pistol, or that led you to wield it."

She appraised him with a tilted head. "Don't tell me that you are now starting to renege on all of those years drilling me to be proper?"

"Not at all, Lila, but you can be proper and practical at the same time, given the conditions and circumstances. For example, I insist that you run along now and get yourself some decent clothes on so you can be dressed
properly
.”

She held her hands out to the sides before she let them fall. “I have no clothes. They were in my valise.”

Argyle closed his eyes and sighed. "Well, then I guess
practical
wins out." He grabbed his bag and handed it to her. “You’ll have to wear something of mine until we can sort something else out for you.”

Lila’s face creased. “Couldn’t I just ask Miss Copper to borrow something?”

“We are just talking about tonight, Lila. We’ll get you something first thing tomorrow morning and then be on our way. There’s no sense inconveniencing the woman any more than we have already.”

“What about our inconvenience? It’s not as though we asked to get robbed.”

“And it’s not as though she asked for three extra boarders, one bleeding all over her linens. Now, I know it’s not ideal, but just pluck up your endurance and deal with the situation gracefully, please.”

She nodded and pinched her lips as she sighed through her nose. “I’ll go and bathe, but I’ll bring you up some supper first.”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

Before she left, she placed a kiss on his wrinkled brow.

Heaven.

That’s what Lila thought as she sank into the steaming water until it reached her neck. Rose oil floated in a thin film at the surface, and she could feel it coating her skin.
In no mood to wash her hair, she bundled it up on the top of her head. Her father’s luggage sat on a chair across the room, and she scowled at it, missing the nightgown and robe she sneered at hours ago. She looked mournfully at the dress on the floor. The skirt might be salvaged if it could survive a good scrub, but the bodice was beyond repair. It was a small price to pay to stay alive, she thought.

An image flashed in her mind of the man she’d shot, his face half-covered and his eyes widening above the bandana as she pulled the trigger. He went down, never to breathe again. Her stomach clenched, and she shook her head to clear the vision, telling herself that he was the criminal and she the victim. As her eyes closed, she felt the last trembles of the day shake out of her fingers and dissolve in the soothing water.

The bathroom occupied a large room at the end of the second-floor hall. There was one tub in the house shared by everyone, and she rested in it until the water cooled. Good manners nagged at her, reminding her that the boarding house was full of patrons waiting their turn, patrons unconcerned with the fact that she hadn’t a proper bath in weeks. Though she wanted to soak until she sprouted fins, a groan escaped her lips as she rose and wrapped herself in a towel.

Kneeling before the chair, she popped open the valise and stared down at the contents. Medical instruments and tinctures were secured in their places. His violin and bow were laid on the bottom beneath his stockings. Three pairs of neatly folded trousers, all black, piled on one side. Linen shirts sat to the other. Several pairs of long underwear, suspenders and vests were tucked in between. She shut the bag swiftly and feigned a whimper, feeling as though she was being punished by having to dress like a man.

She took a deep breath and blew it out noisily. There was nothing left but to pluck something from the bag and put it on. Reaching for a pair of long underwear, she held the suit up and her eyes fell to where the legs met with its slits and fastenings placed strategically to offer a man relief. Her lip curled in disgust and she tossed it back into the valise.

“Absolutely not,” she muttered.

Next, she withdrew a pair of black pants and held them up. They were pressed and creased down the center of each leg. As she stood to measure them against her own height, she knew they would be long and loose. Her father was a full head taller. She shrugged, having no other choice. She chose a light linen shirt and pulled it over her head. It fell to her knees. The pants slid over it easily and she strapped a pair of suspenders on to help keep them up. Looking at her reflection in the long mirror in the corner of the room, she couldn’t help but laugh. She looked as though she could inflate with the slightest movement of wind.

Her body felt oddly naked without the coverings of bloomers, stockings, corset and chemise. Nothing separated her bare flesh from the air but linen and coarse, woolen trousers. She was not about to lace up her corset, though. Her ribs were still tender. She studied her reflection and frowned. Standing alone in the bathroom looking like a formless sack of fabric was one thing, but how was she supposed to face others dressed this way?

She ruffled through the bag a bit more and found a leather belt. Shoving the shirttails as far down as the pants would allow, she looped the belt through and pulled tightly until her tiny waist was visible again. At least she looked like a woman then. The shirt stretched over her breasts and she disliked how obvious their shape was. She knew for certain that her father would not approve. She pulled out a vest and shoved her arms through it. It was a trifle snug across her breasts, but not obscenely so, and it served her modesty.

When she appeared in the dining room, Ellie and the young woman who worked for her were busy loading plates with food for the hungry workers, but all movement suddenly slowed. Forks hung in midair. Jowls worked back and forth in sluggish chewing motions. Ellie’s mouth hung open, and Lila took a shaky breath.

“My valise was lost during the robbery,” Lila offered, and Ellie’s eyes softened with pity. She straightened and smacked a miner on the shoulder with a thick hand.

“What are you all gawking at?” she shot. “Hasn’t the girl been through enough today? She don’t need a bunch of ground moles staring at her. Eat your supper or I’ll take it away from you.”

Heads bowed instantly and the men worked their utensils greedily against their plates. Lila smiled at the proprietress, and she winked in response. When Ellie drew closer she spoke in a soft tone.

“There’s a man in the parlor,” she said. “Been waiting for you. He came back from Virginia City with David.”

“A man?” she asked, startled. “Waiting for me?”

Ellie nodded. “I’ll come with you so’s you’re not alone.”

Lila was curious and confused. She knew no one in this part of the world. Ellie looped her arm around Lila’s and led her across the hall. Once through the parlor door, a man stood from his comfortable seat on the settee. He turned a wide smile onto Lila, but all she saw was a mustache, dark and shaggy, falling like the bristles of a broom over his top lip and curving around his mouth in the shape of a wishbone. The hair on his head, equally dark, was in want of a good clipping as it darted in every direction in rebellious curlicues. He wore a tan sack suit with a crisp bowtie on his neck. His beady eyes had a depth and darkness that made Lila pause, as though a mental plot was already afoot.

“So, this is the illustrious and daring, if somewhat more genteel-featured, Miss Cameron I have heard so much about,” he proclaimed.

Lila eyed him with an air of suspicion. “I beg your pardon?”

“You are Lila Cameron, are you not?”

“I am. And you are?”

“Clemens,” he said, thrusting out a hand. “Samuel Clemens. I’m a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise up in Virginia City.”

“Ah,” she said in understanding as she shook his hand. “And you’re here to ask me about the attempted robbery?”

“A botched robbery if ever there was one! I’ve heard of your heroics from your traveling companions and Mr. Gardner, but I must say that you don’t fit the image I had conjured in my mind.”

“
My
heroics?” Her eyes narrowed. “If anyone was heroic, it was my father for saving a man’s life, and Mr. Gardner for risking his to save complete strangers.”

“Bah,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Doctors save lives all the time. It’s what
they
do. That’s not newsworthy. And any man worth his salt would have acted the same as Gardner. What we don’t see every day, however, is a young debutante blasting holes through criminals.
That
is exciting news, girl! Tell me, how does it feel to have single-handedly taken down a bandit?”

Lila’s spine stiffened. “I don’t care for your tone, Mr. Clemens. What happened today was a tragedy. Four men lost their lives, including two of the coach drivers. I see nothing exciting about it.”

“You are not excited to be alive?”

“Don’t be absurd,” she returned. “I am thrilled, but I have no desire to pander to your sensationalist reportage. As I said, the real heroes are the story. You can come back tomorrow and speak with my father. Now, if you want to ask me if I was terrified of losing my life, if I believed that our circumstances were dire, if I trembled for hours afterwards…those are questions I can answer.”

His cheek scrunched up in a sideways smile, and his tiny eyes sparkled with mischief. “I have seen and heard everything I need to. Thank you, ma’am.” 

He strode past the women and let himself out of the house. Ellie patted Lila’s arm in approval.

“The nerve of that man,” Lila hissed and Ellie nodded. “I’ve barely washed the blood off of me and he’s ready to throw it back on.”

“Yeah, but you put him in his place. Never mind him. You must be starving, girl. Can I get you a plate?”

“I am, actually,” Lila realized after releasing her frustrations on a hot breath.

“Well, you just find a seat in the dining room and I’ll have Sadie bring you some food. I need to take the Kelly boys and David their meal in the stables. I don’t usually let anyone eat anywhere but the table, but seeing as how they’ve done you and the doc a good service today I think I can make an exception.”

Lila perked up hearing that David returned.

“Oh, please may I do it?” she asked. Ellie flinched at the unusual request. “Like you said, they have done us a good service. I would love to repay the favor, even if it’s by bringing them food.”

“I don't know if that's fitting,” Ellie frowned.

Lila looked down at her clothes and laughed. "There is a lot about this day that isn't fitting, Miss Ellie. I'm not sure anyone would find it too terribly untoward for me to bring dinner to the men who saved our lives and gave us their rooms."

Ellie chewed her bottom lip for a moment before finally nodding. “The tray is on the sideboard over there. Let me put another plate on it for yourself and then you can take it on out back.”

“Thank you.”

She started toward the sideboard then stopped, appraising Lila with a slow gaze. "Are you sure you can handle the tray, darlin'?"

Lila smiled and nodded eagerly. "I'll manage, I'm sure."

She wasn't so sure a moment later when she steadied the wooden tray and its four plates in the cradle of her arms as she descended the steps from the kitchen porch to the back of the house. The windows of the three stories threw plenty of light across the ground between the house and the covered stables. The barn door proved a trick to open, but she was determined not to spill a single dollop. The aroma of juicy roast and potatoes smothered in gravy was torture on her empty stomach. Each plate had a warm chunk of bread covered in butter, and Lila was dying to fill her mouth with it.

The smell of hay and horse hair mixed with the scents she carried, and she looked past the rows of stalls in search of the men. Soft, yellow light throbbed in a glowing ball above one stall. She couldn’t distinguish one voice from the next, but she heard them telling bawdy jokes and laughing with gusto. When she rounded the stall and found them all sitting on a thick carpet of straw wearing nothing but their trousers, she gasped. 

They quieted when she appeared, and her eyes fell on David. His chest was coated with thin, curly blonde hairs that scrawled around his muscles before narrowing to a single line to run down his stomach and disappear beneath the band of his pants. Her gaze snapped back up to his face when she realized she had been following that trail of hairs. His smile was confident and knowing, and she stammered a few unintelligible syllables as she backed up a few steps.

“Oh! I…I…I’m sorry for interrupting. Ellie wanted me to bring this to you. Well,
I
wanted to bring this to you. After all, you’ve done so much for me. I mean, for us…for all of us.” The words spewed from her mouth, and she hoped that the lantern light obscured her flaring blush. As her eyes pinned to David, she felt the weight of the tray lifted from her arms, and she turned to lock eyes with a pair of shining light amber ones.

“You’ve brought us supper,” he said with a smile, glancing down at the plates. “And yours as well, I see.”

He held the tray in one hand, and her face was in front of the twin bulges of muscle stretching across his smooth, broad chest. She felt her eyes following the dips and grooves of his sinew down around each clearly-etched pad of muscle on his belly before the lines brought her eyes back up along the thick column of his neck to his face. A smooth jawline spoke of a recent shave. His lips looked soft, the bottom one slightly fuller than the top. His cheeks were high and bold and creased slightly around the outside of his eyes as he smiled. A shimmering light brown, those eyes looked even brighter beneath the locks of soft wavy dark hair that tickled his forehead. They peered into the depths of hers, and she felt a ripple of heat move through her as her throat went dry and hollow.

“We’d be honored to have you join us,” he said, his voice deep and familiar, and her brow creased. How did she know this man?

“Morgan’s right,” David said, coming to his feet. “Please, join us.”

Lila looked from David to the younger man standing next to him. He was shorter and slightly smaller than the one before her, but she saw the resemblance clearly. They must be the Kelly brothers, and then it dawned on her. David had just called the man Morgan. Her eyes went wide as she studied his face again. Without the beard and filth he was transformed, nowhere near as old as she first thought, and far more handsome, and she knew it was obvious by the look on her face. Morgan’s closed-lipped smile widened.

“Morgan Kelly?” The words were barely audible.

“I
do
know how to clean up, Miss Cameron,” he said. His eyes slid to her lips, and her heart leapt into the base of her neck with a wild flutter until he dragged his gaze back up to her eyes, and she could breathe again.

“He just doesn’t do it very often,” Val chirped, stepping forward to extend a hand, distracting her from the tingling sensation spreading through her. “Valentine Kelly, but feel free to call me Val.”

She swallowed down the foreign feelings invading her and shook his hand with a smile. “Lila Cameron, and please, all of you call me Lila.”