Sullivan

by Linda Devlin

  Cash ordered two whiskeys and shooed an attentive Ethel aside. "One drink, and then we tell the others what we know." He lifted his glass, and with a twinkle in his eye said, "War I can handle. I even look forward to it. Dangers such as pretty, nice girls are more likely to do men like us in. Don't forget it."

  Sullivan drained his glass, keeping to himself the sudden uneasy conviction that it was much too late for such advice.

  * * *

  Eden's annoyance at the constant presence of a guard dissolved when she heard that the Merriweathers had escaped. She and Sin hadn't told the brothers where they were headed, but as Cash so bluntly pointed out, anyone asking questions about Sinclair Sullivan would soon know where to look. Apparently the men of Rock Creek were somewhat infamous.

  Rico checked her room before she put the children to bed, and Nate positioned himself in the hallway, just outside the door. Sin and Jedidiah took turns walking the perimeter of the hotel and climbing into the bell tower to scan the land surrounding Rock Creek, keeping their eyes open for anything or anyone suspicious. Cash had returned to the saloon.

  Eden sat in the lobby with Rico and Jedidiah while Sin circled the hotel. She found herself perching stiffly on the edge of the sofa, her hands clasped in her lap. She couldn't possibly sleep, and if she tried she'd only disturb Millie with her tossing and turning.

  Rico anxiously fingered the knife on his belt as he paced. "I cannot believe you and Sullivan are actually married." He grinned crookedly. "Ah, matrimonio."

  "They're not married," Jedidiah declared with finality. "There were no witnesses, the preacher was drunk, the ceremony was held in a hotel lobby and not a church, and no one asked my permission. I didn't see it, I didn't give her away, and it doesn't count."

  Rico's grin widened. "I heard about your brotherly position on the subject. I also heard that Senora Sullivan kicked both you and her esposo out of the hotel."

  "That's Miss Rourke to you, Kid," Jedidiah snapped, and then he laid narrowed eyes on Eden. "Forcing me out of the hotel is not an option anymore. You know that, don't you?"

  "I know." Eden sighed. "You can collect your things and move back in tonight."

  Jedidiah grinned in victory. "I'll do that."

  "Sin, too, I guess," she said softly. Oh, it was not a good idea to live under the same roof with her husband! How was she supposed to remain cool to him when she had to see him every day? When she knew he was sleeping just above her head?

  "I don't think so," Jedidiah said. "He can stay in the saloon."

  With a distaste that made her lips pucker, Eden remembered walking into the saloon and finding her husband with a hussy perched on his knee. She was not about to force him to live in that awful place, surrounded by those terrible women!

  "No," she said calmly. "If I allow you to move back in, I have to let Sin return, too. It's only fair."

  Jedidiah muttered something that was surely obscene. The only word she could decipher with any certainty was fair, the word spit out like a bite of something bitter.

  When Sin returned from his reconnaissance, announcing that all was clear, Jedidiah left to collect his things from the saloon. He instructed Rico to stay put while he was gone. Goodness, her brother was not about to leave her alone with Sin, not even for a few minutes.

  "You should get to bed," Sin said gruffly, without looking at her. "It's been a long day."

  A long, terrible day following a long, wonderful night. Just twenty-four hours ago, she and Sin had stood in this lobby and promised to stay together forever. They'd laughed and quivered and kissed. They'd rushed up the stairs to lie in each other's arms and make love. How could it be over?

  It wasn't, not if she wouldn't allow it to be over.

  "I'm not tired," she whispered. "I'd rather stay here." With you.

  She wanted everything of Sin, his affection and his love, his body and his heart. If she could only have that little piece of him he was willing to give, would it be enough? If he touched her, it would be impossible to refuse him. If he kissed her, she would do anything he asked. It was truly unfair that she found herself so terribly weak where her husband was concerned.

  Rico turned on his heel and headed for the dining room. "I am going to swipe a piece of that custard pie from the kitchen. I will not be gone long, I promise," he added as he stepped through the doorway, leaving them alone.

  "I guess he thinks we need to talk," Eden said, settling herself against the soft cushions of the lobby sofa.

  "He's wrong." Sin didn't even look at her, but stared at the front door as if he expected Curtis Merriweather to appear there at any moment.

  "No," Eden said softly. "He's right. Sin, what are we going to do?"

  "We're going to wait."

  "For what?"

  "For the Merriweathers. For the man who's been trying to frighten you into leaving town." He turned and looked down at her. "We're going to wait until we know if last night resulted in a child. If it did we'll have to stay married, somehow. If not..."

  Her heart did a quick, unpleasant flip."You can't just undo what's already happened. You can't let Jedidiah's temper decide the rest of our lives." She gave the seat beside her a gentle pat. "Sit down."

  "No..."

  "Afraid?"

  Sin reluctantly took the seat beside her, but he didn't relax.

  "We don't have to resolve anything tonight," she said. "But for one thing. We decide what happens to us. Not Jedidiah. Not anyone else. We decide."

  "There's not much to decide." Sin finally looked at her. "What do you expect me to do? Give up my life to live in an old run-down hotel and raise other people's children? Settle down and spend my days being papa to every stray you bring in?"

  "Is that all you think we have ahead of us?"

  "I'm not the kind of man who wants to settle down into domestic misery."

  Misery! How could he? "Didn't you think of that last night, when we got married?" Eden's heart sank. She should've known a man like Sinclair Sullivan would never be content to live the life she wanted.

  "Last night I was thinking of one thing," Sin admitted. "Getting you into bed. I didn't even consider what might come after."

  It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but at least he was being honest with her. "If all you wanted was sex, you could've gone across the street."

  "I didn't want to go across the street," he seethed. "I wanted you. No one else."

  Eden smiled. It wasn't exactly a declaration of love, but it would do. For now.

  She leaned just a little bit closer to him. "I hope I'm not going to have a baby," she whispered. "Not yet."

  She could see the hurt in his eyes, the rejection. Ah, he didn't know what he wanted, and the indecision was tearing him apart.

  "I want you to stay for me, not for a child." She laid her hand on his forearm. "I want us to stay married because you love me, not because you feel obligated."

  "I already told you..."

  "I know. You don't believe in fate. You don't believe in love. You don't believe we have a future together." She smiled and settled her head on his shoulder. "It all sounds very cynical, perhaps even hostile, but there's one small problem. I don't believe you." She closed her eyes and made herself comfortable against Sin's side. "In my heart I know you want the same things I do. You want love and family and a home."

  "You're wrong," he said, not pushing her away but shifting until they were both more comfortable. "I like you, Eden, you know I do, but don't make more of this than that. Sooner or later you'll go back to Georgia, and I'll go back to being a hired gun."

  "I don't think so," she whispered, and then she drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  Eden fell asleep leaning against his shoulder, and a moment later repositioned herself so her head was in his lap with her legs curled up beneath her green calico skirt. Sullivan knew it would be best if he just eased off the couch, or maybe woke Eden and sent her to bed, but he didn't. Instead, he settled his hand lightly in her hair and leaned h
is head back. At least here she was safe.

  "Well, that did not take long," Rico said as he stepped into the lobby from the dining room. "Senora Sullivan sleeps like only the truly innocent can."

  "Yeah," Sullivan said softly. "She's exhausted." He cut a sharp gaze to the kid. "And cut the Senora Sullivan crap."

  Rico sat in the chair nearest the sofa and stretched out his long legs. "For such a sweet muchacha, Senora... Eden, if you prefer... certainly has found herself a heap of trouble in a very short time. Those banditos, whoever wants her out of town." He grinned. "You."

  "Where Eden goes, calamity follows." And it was all her fault. If she wasn't constantly sticking her nose into other people's business, she'd be safe in Georgia right now, married to some boring, reliable greenhorn who'd thank his lucky stars every day that such a good, beautiful woman had consented to be his wife. "As soon as this is over, she's going back to Georgia."

  Rico shook his head. "Stupid."

  "Stupid?"

  Rico gestured toward a sleeping Eden with his knife. "She is yours. I can see it in the way she turns those big blue eyes on you, in the way you stare at her when you think no one is watching. I can see it in the way you two look together."

  "That doesn't make a damn bit of sense," Sullivan muttered quietly.

  "Perhaps not, but that is what I see," Rico said impatiently. "I saw it the day Eden arrived in Rock Creek, when I stepped from the hotel and you were helping her from the wagon. Your eyes were pinned on her, her eyes were riveted on you." He cast out an impatient hand. "I am surprised either of you saw me at all. Eden is beautiful, she is kind, she has a smile that can make a man's heart stop. Why do you think I have not presented myself as a suitor? Because she is yours and I see it even if you do not. Dios, Sullivan, if a woman looked at me that way, if she trusted me enough to lay her head in my lap and sleep like a baby knowing danger is near, I would do whatever I had to do in order to keep her."

  "I can't... keep her."

  "Of course you can."

  "I don't want to keep her." That was the truth of it, wasn't it? "If I do, one day she'll wake up and look at me and wonder what the hell she was thinking when she married me. One day she'll realize that she could've done better." And on that day, how would she look at him? With hate, disappointment, revulsion? He didn't plan to be around to see it. He'd seen that look in the faces of the only family he'd ever known, for the first fifteen years of his life. He wasn't about to put himself in a position to be confronted with the hate of someone he loved again.

  He'd loved his mother dearly, and there had been days, he was convinced, when he saw a mother's love in her eyes. But the older he got the less frequent those glimpses of affection were. The more he began to look like his father, the more his mother had hated him. He'd even tried to love his grandfather and uncle, but they'd made it impossible. There had never been any affection in their eyes or in their words.

  He looked down at Eden and stroked her hair. And he loved her. Damn it, he didn't want to, he did not want to love her or anyone else. It wouldn't last and it wasn't real, but for now...

  Jed came bursting through the door, his saddlebags in hand. As soon as he saw Eden's position he frowned and dropped the bags. "Damn it, Sullivan."

  "She's asleep," he said in a lowered voice. "Since she's exhausted, I think we should let her sleep as long as she wants."

  Jed grumbled as he took the closest chair, his eyes on Eden the whole time. "She's my baby sister, the only truly good thing in my life. If anyone were to hurt her, I'd have to kill them. I wouldn't have any choice in the matter. It would be my duty as her brother."

  "I understand," Sullivan said. He felt the same anxiety, the same urge to protect her. "The Merriweathers we can handle, once they show up, but this other..."

  "Hellfire," Jed mumbled impatiently. "I wasn't talking about the Merriweathers or whoever's been writing those notes. I was talking about you."

  * * *

  Jed lit a cigar and stepped onto the boardwalk. The sun would be up in half an hour or so, and then maybe he'd go to bed. He didn't know if he could sleep or not, not with a bunch of bandits after Eden, and Sullivan sniffing after her like a mangy dog after a bitch in heat. He took a long draw on the cigar and thought of all the reasons he shouldn't kill Sullivan.

  They'd ridden together on too many bad days. They'd laughed together too much and gotten pickled when they just couldn't stand to think any more. Sullivan had saved his life more than once, and Jed had returned the favor.

  But this was Eden they were talking about. All bets were off.

  "Jed?"

  He recognized the voice right away and showed no surprise as Sylvia came closer. He'd heard her a while back, as she'd approached cautiously, but he'd also recognized the step as that of a woman. There had been no threat in her stealthy advance.

  "Sylvia," he said, turning toward her and taking another drag of his cigar, "a little early for you to be up and about, isn't it?"

  She looked no different, hadn't changed at all. Her hair was black and silky, her eyes dark—even though he couldn't see them well in the near-dark. Her figure, in a dark dress that cinched her waist and emphasized her bosom, was breathtaking.

  "I was hoping I could catch you alone, for a few minutes," she whispered.

  "Not exactly proper for a preacher's wife to be out hunting down her old lovers, is it?" He hadn't known he still felt so hurt until he heard the bitterness in his voice.

  Sylvia moved so close he could smell her. The smell was familiar, so he took a long drag on the cigar and blew smoke toward her. She ignored the smoke and lifted her head to look up at him.

  "I made a terrible mistake," she whispered. There was just enough light for him to see the sheen of tears in her eyes. "A terrible mistake. I never should've married Maurice." She reached out and laid a trembling hand on his arm. "And I miss you. I never knew how I would miss you until it was too late." She took a step forward and laid her head on his chest.

  Jed sighed. Hellfire, he didn't need this! "Isn't he good to you, Sylvia?" He wondered if she wanted him to take her away from Rock Creek, if she was looking for a way to escape her husband.

  "He tries." She sighed against his chest. "But... But he's not you." She slipped her arms around him and held on tight. "Don't you miss me at all?" she whispered.

  He couldn't say he'd ever loved Sylvia, but they'd had a helluva good time, for a while. Did he miss her? Sometimes, he did. "Do you want me to take you away from here? Do you want to leave Rock Creek?"

  "No," she breathed. "I just want you to be my lover again."

  "You want to leave Clancy?"

  She shook her head. "I can't leave Maurice, but that doesn't mean I don't want you back in my life." She lifted her head and came up on her toes to lay her lips against his neck. "Make love to me, Jed."

  He wasn't what anyone would call an upstanding man, but he did draw the line at sleeping with another man's wife. "No, thanks."

  She stiffened and stepped back. "No, thanks?"

  He took her chin in his hand and made her look up at him. What he saw in her face was anger, pure and simple. "If you hadn't married Clancy I'd probably be in your bed right now. But you did, and I'm not, and that's that."

  "Well, you're not interested in getting married," she snapped in a low voice. "All you wanted was sex. That's all I'm asking for now. It shouldn't make a bit of difference that I have a husband."

  Jed shook his head. "Makes a difference to me."

  "But he's not... very..." She sighed. "He's not like you, Jed."

  He grinned and chucked her under the chin. "Nobody is, darlin'."

  "You're going to punish me for marrying Maurice," she said incredulously.

  "Nope. Looks to me like you've done a fine job of punishing yourself."

  Sylvia pulled her shoulders back and stood tall. "I'll find another lover."

  "I don't doubt it," Jed said lowly.

  "You'll miss me."

  He shook
his head and diligently studied what was left of his cigar. "I don't doubt that, either."

  Sylvia left as quietly as she'd come, if a good bit quicker, leaving Jed to stand on the boardwalk and ponder the fairer sex.

  By the time the sun came up he wasn't fit company for any man or woman in Rock Creek.

  Chapter 16

  After two days without any threatening activity, her contingent of guards seemed to relax. Still, they were always close at hand and armed. Eden tried to go about her normal business, cleaning and fixing up the hotel, trying to make it a home for Millie and Teddy.

  She'd already set aside a couple of rooms on the third floor. The two bedrooms were in a quiet corner and had a connecting door. For now, she slept in one room and the children slept in the other, but eventually she wanted to expand the suite to four rooms, all with connecting doors for privacy. Yes, four rooms should suffice. One for each of the children, one for her and Sin, and a sitting room for reading or studying or simply sitting by the fire.

  She didn't tell Sin that one of the rooms would be theirs. He was still stubbornly insisting that Jedidiah was right, that their marriage wasn't real and binding.

  Jedidiah and Nate were eating breakfast, and Rico, who had been up all night, slept. Sin was her guard at the moment, but he stood silently on the stairway between the second and third floors. Jedidiah had backed off a little, actually allowing her to be alone with her husband for brief periods of time. Since he wasn't a man given to surrender, she assumed he thought he no longer had anything to worry about. Perhaps he was right. Sin barely looked at her anymore.

  She opened the door to the room that was now solely hers, intending to air it out on this fine autumn day. The room wasn't much better than the one she'd moved into on the day she'd arrived in Rock Creek, even though she'd already given it a good cleaning. It was sorely lacking in the warmth that would one day make this place a home. Well, it would take time to make this room homey.

  Who was she kidding? It wouldn't feel like home until Sin moved in, until she'd slept with him in that big bed.

  She saw the stalk on the bed, resting on her pillow, but for a moment she didn't realize what it was. Closer inspection revealed a dried and broken bouquet of weeds, all tied together with a red silk ribbon. Her first thought was that Millie had put together an arrangement, much as she'd done on their journey, but the blooms had died too quickly. When she saw the note, she knew she was wrong.