“Thank you,” she finally murmured, her face unreadable. “I suppose that’s a start. You said yesterday that you needed me to trust you if our marriage was going to have a chance. So I’ll do my part. I’ll introduce you to Nancy and a few other ladies, and I’ll leave you to your work.”
Her acquiescence should have been a victory. But like all of the victories he’d found lately, this one didn’t sit well with him.
How was he supposed to balance it all? Will seemed to do just fine, balancing his work with keeping his fiancée happy, but Jasper seemed to flail at every turn. Apparently, his pal hadn’t taught him all the lessons he needed. And now, with time running out to find the bandits, and a wife he couldn’t please, Jasper was going to have to figure it out all on his own.
* * *
Emma Jane hated that her last sentence sounded so peevish, but she couldn’t find a way to make herself take it back. Oh, she wanted desperately to leave Jasper to it, but she couldn’t help but think of her friend Mary, and how Mary knew all the details of Will’s work. Will shared with her, and bounced ideas off her, and even though she had no qualifications as a lawman, Will still respected her opinion.
Then again, Will adored his bride-to-be, so maybe being in love came with different rules than being married.
Fortunately, she spied Nancy sitting in a corner by herself, which gave her the perfect opportunity to help Jasper. Perhaps, if he saw how she could be an asset to him in what he allowed her to do, he would realize that she could lend a hand in other areas, as well.
He’d told her that she needed to earn his trust. She’d do all she could to make him see that he could count on her. That she was every bit as capable as Mary in helping Will. No, it wouldn’t make him fall in love with her. But at least, if they could find a way to work on this case together, they could find enough in common that Emma Jane wouldn’t feel so alone.
“I believe I see my friend Nancy, if you’d like to meet her.” Emma Jane hoped her smile looked more like she was being friendly than filled with her newfound determination. She’d been told in the past that her determined expression made her look cross.
“Thank you, Emma Jane.” Jasper rewarded her with a smile of his own. Before the circumstances leading to their marriage, Jasper had hardly spoken to her, hardly noticed her, much less found cause to offer a smile. Surely this was to be considered progress.
After all, how could she blame him for resenting marriage to her? They’d been virtual strangers, caught together in circumstances beyond their control. And while it was easy to focus on the things they could not control, there was plenty Emma Jane could.
Starting with finding a way to get along with her husband.
Now, filled with newfound purpose, Emma Jane took Jasper’s arm and brought him over to where Nancy sat.
“Hello, Nancy.” She gave the other woman a smile, though she knew that Nancy would most likely not smile back.
“Emma Jane.” Nancy looked up at her and, as Emma Jane predicted, did not return the friendly expression.
Nancy had never had cause for the niceties of society, being on the fringes on account of her occupation as a woman of the night. And though Mrs. Jackson would be scandalized by it, Emma Jane found it refreshing to be around someone who let her be herself.
“I would like to present to you my husband, Jasper Jackson. He’s expressed a particular interest in wanting to meet you.”
“I’ll bet he has,” Nancy sneered. “I suppose you’ll be warning me off about putting notions in your wife’s head.”
The smile that formed around Emma Jane’s lips came of its own accord. She couldn’t help but like the direct way Nancy spoke. Then, remembering to be agreeable to Jasper, she quickly replaced the mirth with a more solemn expression.
It wouldn’t do to offend him so soon.
However, instead of being offended, Jasper chuckled. “I can see why Emma Jane likes you. A straight shooter. I like that myself.”
Still, the hostile expression on Nancy’s face remained.
“If you’re a friend of Emma Jane’s, then that’s good enough for me,” Jasper continued. “I was hoping to discuss another matter with you.”
Nancy’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t say a word.
“I’ve been recently deputized, and I was hoping you could give me information about the gang we’ve been chasing. Everything I’ve found has led to a dead end, and I was thinking, who knows these men better than the women who, um...”
Then Jasper turned beet red and turned his head away.
Nancy snickered. “We didn’t exactly talk when I spent time with them, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Be nice,” Emma Jane said, giving Nancy an admonishing look. “It won’t do you any good if you keep chasing folks away with your wild talk. Jasper needs your help.”
Emma Jane had never spoken so boldly before, but as her heart thudded in her chest, it felt...well, it felt like the time her sister had dared her to use the rope to swing into the lake. Scary, but good. Jasper’s earlier defense of her to his mother echoed in her head. He’d spoken up for her, and even though she knew he didn’t fully accept her, she had to believe that if they kept speaking up for each other, then maybe...
She glanced at Jasper, who was still beet red. Surely they could at least become friends.
“I can’t help him,” Nancy said, looking around. “It’s bad enough I’m associating with church folks. If word gets out that I was talking to the law...”
“We can protect you.” Jasper looked fully recovered from the embarrassment over Nancy’s frank talk.
“Dream on, rich boy. I’m sure it’s all fun for you, playing with guns and chasing bandits. But it’s not a game to the men you’re after. They’re ruthless killers, and it won’t be just your body they leave in their dust.”
Nancy looked at Emma Jane so hard it was almost like having a gun pointed right at her. Jasper seemed afraid that Emma Jane would be targeted by the gang, and Nancy confirmed it. Emma Jane swallowed. Perhaps she’d been too hasty in pushing her desire to work with Jasper on the case.
“And what about the innocent women they’ll keep hurting if they’re not stopped? What about...”
“If you’re talking about Daisy, you need to let her go. I’ve heard talk that you’re searching for her, and I can tell you right now that it’s a lost cause. Forget about her and move on.”
Emma Jane didn’t know Jasper very well, but the emotions darkening his face told her that he’d do anything but forget about Daisy. In fact, she’d guess that Nancy’s words only served to make him more determined to find her.
“And what if I can’t?” His body was tense, his fists balled at his sides. This was not the society dandy everyone admired. If any of the women who giggled over their fans at him could see him now, Emma Jane wasn’t sure they’d recognize him.
If she had to choose, she’d say she liked this Jasper better.
“Then I guess you’d better kiss that pretty wife of yours goodbye.”
Nancy turned to look at Emma Jane, then her face softened. “No offense. But if he pursues this case, you’re going to be the one to suffer for it. I know you meant well in coming to me, but you’re putting every woman you introduce your husband to in danger. And you’re signing your own death warrant.”
A chill rattled through Emma Jane, and she pulled her shawl tighter around her. Part of her wished she’d left well enough alone and let Jasper go about his business. But another part of her—something boiled deep within her. Where an instant ago she felt cold, now she was on fire.
A gang so dangerous that anyone who tried to stop them would be threatened like this? What would they do if they weren’t stopped? Who else would they hurt?
Frankly, they sounded like a bunch of bullies to Emma Jane. The same kind of torme
ntors who’d mocked her in church, whispering behind their fans, whether it be about her family’s debts, her father’s gambling and public intoxication, her patched dresses or, now, her hasty forced marriage.
“So you would let them continue to control you,” Emma Jane said quietly, realizing as the words came out that she needed to hear them just as much as Nancy. She had wasted far too much time cowering the way her friend was doing.
And nothing in her life had gotten better.
She looked over at Jasper, who gave her a slow nod.As if he...approved of her. Emma Jane swallowed. “I don’t want to put you in danger, Nancy. I don’t want to be in danger. But if we run in fear from this gang, these bullies, then we will always have to run.”
She turned her attention to Jasper. “I’ll do everything I can to help you stop them.”
Emma Jane had spent her whole life trying to make herself agreeable enough to get people to like her. To get her mother to approve of her. And now, as she was encouraging Nancy to stand up to the bullies, she found that she could no longer do it.
She wanted Jasper to like her, to be her friend, so that somehow their marriage could have a reasonable sort of existence. But he needed to learn to like her for who she was, not the agreeable persona she tried to adopt.
Perhaps the biggest bully, the worst enemy, was not the threat of this gang plaguing the town. Rather, it was the ever-increasing pressure to fit in a mold that simply wasn’t her.
So what did that mean for her marriage?
Chapter Six
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have been of more help,” Emma Jane said quietly as she slipped her hand into his arm.
“It’s all right.” He patted her arm softly, looking around the barn at all the women milling around.
Why, after all this time, had none of the other deputies come to talk to these women?
Then he spied Will in a corner, talking to a figure in the shadows. Of course his buddy would be here.
“No, it’s not all right,” Emma Jane huffed, pulling her hand away, then turning to stop in front of him and face him. “Why won’t she help us? Doesn’t she see that, either way, we’re all in trouble?”
She looked so earnest, and in that innocent expression, he finally understood why all the lawmen in town didn’t respect Jasper’s intentions to rescue Daisy and stop the gang. The answers to her questions were not that simple. And, unfortunately, Emma Jane’s passionate desire for justice meant that she was more apt to go into a situation hotheaded without thinking it through.
He glanced in Will’s direction. Had his friend ever tried telling him those things? Would he have listened?
So how did he get Emma Jane to listen?
“You’re right,” he told her honestly. “It’s not all right. But Nancy is also right. I don’t want to needlessly put anyone else in danger. So what do I do?”
Emma Jane looked confused. She shifted her position slightly, glancing around before bringing her attention back to him. “I don’t know. But I feel like I have to do something. I’ve just...”
She turned her attention to the ground, for all the fascination that dirt might hold.
“I’ve not had much experience in standing up to bullies before.”
Which is when it hit him. Harder than any bullet that he feared.
He’d seen the way the other women in town picked on Emma Jane. Flora Montgomery in particular seemed to take great pleasure in tormenting his wife. How many times had he told the other woman to be nice?
This wasn’t just about the gang that had Daisy in their clutches, but Emma Jane learning to stand up to people like Flora Montgomery.
She was using chasing down the gang as her line in the sand.
Except the two situations were not the same.
Flora Montgomery wasn’t going to cause Emma Jane bodily harm. But this gang would.
“I’ll help you stand up to the bullies.” Jasper took both of her hands in his. “But I need you to help me, as well.”
Those deep blue eyes of hers locked on to his. The little flecks of brown mesmerized him, as they always did when he took time to notice.
Hopefully, the expression meant that she’d trust him.
“I think we’ve already determined that I’m not cut out for being a lawman,” Emma Jane said, kicking at a small rock on the ground.
“Hey.” He pulled one of his hands out of hers, then used it to lift her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes once again. “You may not make a great lawman. But you have many other fine qualities. And I look forward to discovering each and every one of them.”
“But I want to help. And I feel completely powerless to do so.”
“Then do as I asked you. Stay out of it, and if you see or hear something in your work, let me know, but don’t try and do anything about it yourself.”
Truthfully, he wasn’t giving her any power. But he hoped that she knew that he saw...well, he didn’t even know what he saw. Potential, maybe? He knew as little of Emma Jane as she knew of him.
Yet the more he learned of her, the more he realized that there was a greater level of goodness in her than he’d originally suspected. But how did he balance that with the questions he did have of her character? That was the trouble with trusting someone you barely knew. As much as he wanted to believe in Emma Jane wholeheartedly, he didn’t know enough about her to know if he could trust her.
What was Emma Jane’s true plan here?
The fear and uncertainty in her eyes, it looked a lot like she did the day she trapped him into marriage.
Wanting to trust him? He’d like to think so. But it was clear that she didn’t. Did she lose faith in him after the church picnic somehow and decide to take matters into her own hands? Would justice in this situation not happen fast enough for Emma Jane, leading her to do something they’d all regret?
“I’m not a child,” she fumed. “I know what’s at stake. I’ve agreed to what you need from me. You don’t need to patronize me.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to convey to you how dangerous this gang really is. There’s so much you don’t know.”
“So tell me.” Those luminous eyes of hers bore into him, and while he’d been noticing their beauty, he also couldn’t help but notice their intelligence.
Every single society miss he’d ever courted all blushingly waved their fans at him and blithely agreed to whatever he wanted. Even Flora Montgomery, who sometimes made a show of standing up to him, mostly responded by pouting but always complying with what he asked.
And yet...he had more respect for Emma Jane than he had for all those other women put together.
Jasper hesitated before opening his mouth to speak. How did a man balance confidential work with talking about it with his wife? Will would know.
As if he knew the direction of Jasper’s thoughts, the other man caught his eye, making a motion with his head. Whatever conversation he’d been engaged in now over, Will was indicating he needed to talk to Jasper.
“Will needs me.” Jasper breathed out a long breath, hating the way Emma Jane looked at him—as if he was using Will as a convenient excuse to push her away. Mostly because she was mostly right to think it.
“Of course. You’ve spent a lot of time with me, and I appreciate it. I know you have work to do.”
Dismissed. Polite, but with an undercurrent of pain that made him wince. Not because she was trying to hurt him, but because she was trying so hard not to sound like he’d hurt her.
Had it been any one of the simpering misses he’d courted, he’d have been able to walk away. But he was a husband now, and Pastor Lassiter’s warnings about their relationship rang in his head. He had to make his wife a priority. Even though his duty lay elsewhere.
“I didn’t mean...”
“I know w
hat you meant. You don’t have to dance attendance on me, there’s plenty here to occupy my time.”
If it weren’t for the tone of her voice, he might have believed her. And then there was the flash of her eyes. The brown flecks dimmed the main blue color, and in them, he read...
Who was he kidding? He didn’t know her well enough to be able to read her eyes. But he wasn’t a fool.
“I know you’re displeased with me right now, Emma Jane. We’re supposed to be spending time together to get to know each other and build a foundation for our marriage. And yet, I have this case...”
Jasper glanced in Will’s direction. Mary had joined him, and they appeared to be conversing while looking at the two of them.
“Well, it looks like Mary has joined Will, so why don’t you come with me to say hello?”
Emma Jane appeared to relax slightly as she nodded, her face looking more peaceful than it had since they began this conversation. Had she been that upset by him leaving her?
So many things he still had to learn about being a husband. All men had to learn them, he supposed solemnly, but it seemed so much harder with a wife he didn’t want. Swallowing the resentment that had once again risen up, Jasper offered Emma Jane his arm. He was trying so hard to forgive her and move on, to figure out a way to make their marriage work. But how could he rid himself of this bitterness once and for all?
As they approached Mary and Will, Mary smiled warmly. Though the couple were an appropriate distance from each other, and no one could accuse them of impropriety, the connection between them was obvious. A person only had to glance at them to know they deeply cared for one another. Their bodies were tilted in toward each other, and their attention never strayed far from one another for long.
And when they looked at each other, it was obvious they were in love.
If only Jasper could have had that for himself.
People once said he was the luckiest man in all of Leadville, with the ability to marry any of the beautiful women in town. But what none of them understood was that when he saw the love between Mary and Will, he hadn’t wanted to settle for anything less.
Shotgun Marriage (Leadville, Co. Book 3) Page 7
