Amelia and the Outlaw

by Lorraine Heath

  Last night she’d been unable to sleep after returning from her midnight excursion to the corral. She simply couldn’t get the outlaw out of her mind.

  From her father, she knew criminals emphatically stated they were innocent even when they were obviously guilty. What sort of man was Jesse Lawton not to deny his guilt?

  She hoped to have a clearer idea by the end of the day. She thought it imperative to understand the criminal mind if she wanted to practice law someday.

  She stepped into her father’s library. He stood beside his desk with his leather satchel in his hand, which signaled he was ready to wrap up the meeting and be on his way. Her timing was perfect.

  “Papa?”

  All the men turned and looked at her. She smiled sweetly.

  “Papa, Colleen has offered to sew me a new dress for the birthday party you’re going to give me. I was wondering if someone could take us into town today to purchase some material and a pattern.”

  Her father pursed his lips. She knew that habit meant he was contemplating the merits of her request.

  “The men have a full schedule,” he said.

  “But if we don’t get started on the dress soon, Colleen might not be able to finish it in time,” Amelia said.

  Robert shrugged. “I could spare some time today to take Amelia and Colleen into town.”

  Inwardly Amelia smiled. She’d suspected for some time that Robert might have an interest in Colleen. She’d thought he’d be more willing to take her if she invited Colleen to accompany her.

  Her father nodded. “All right then.”

  Lifting his satchel, he prepared to depart.

  “I thought we’d take Jesse with us,” Amelia said quickly.

  Her father froze in midstride, a surprised look on his face, as though he couldn’t quite believe he’d heard her correctly.

  “I beg your pardon?” he asked gruffly.

  She took a step toward him, clasped her hands in front of her, and tried not to fidget. He had quite an intimidating stare when he set his mind to it—as he had now.

  “I noticed he had no bag. And his clothes are atrocious,” she explained. “I thought perhaps we should purchase him something a bit tidier.”

  “He’s an outlaw, Amelia,” David said.

  “I realize that, but I don’t understand why we have to make him feel as though he’s something to be wiped off our boots. You wanted to give him a chance to prove himself. It seems to me that improving his self-worth might be in order,” she explained.

  Robert laughed. “You think new clothes are the answer? Change the shirt and you’ll change the man?”

  “Not completely. But I know I always feel better when I wear a new dress,” she told him, refusing to give up on her idea.

  “He’s close to Robert’s height,” Tanner said. “Maybe your brother has some clothes he wouldn’t mind giving up.”

  She stepped closer to her father and met his gaze. “Do you think Jesse has ever owned a new pair of clothes?”

  Her father tightened his grip on his satchel before giving a curt nod. “All right. I’ll have one of the boys take him to town—”

  “That’s silly,” she interrupted. “To have someone else take him when we’re already going. If Jesse causes any trouble, I’m certain Robert can put him in his place.” Looking at her brother, she widened her eyes with false innocence. “Couldn’t you, Robert?”

  “Sure, I could handle him if I needed to,” he said with authority.

  Men and their pride. She’d learned long ago how to use it to her advantage. Just like last night. She’d known if she told Jesse he could leave if he was scared that he would stay. Men and their pride, she thought again.

  “She has a point, Judge,” Tanner said. “I’ve got work that needs to be done. Robert going is one thing. Taking a second man away from his duties is another.”

  Her father reached out and touched her cheek. “You have a good heart, Amelia. I’ll approve this trip—but only this trip—because you’re right. He could use a little sprucing up. But you’re to obey Robert on all matters.”

  “I will,” she promised. “Thank you, Papa.”

  “I’ll see you all this evening.” He strode from the room.

  Amelia turned to Robert. “I thought we could take the buggy, since we won’t be loading up on supplies.”

  Robert shook his head. “I don’t want Colleen sitting in the backseat of the buggy with the outlaw. The wagon might be better. It’ll sit three of us on the bench. Jesse can ride in the back.”

  “Colleen can sit in the front with you. I’ll sit beside Jesse,” she offered. “The buggy would make for a much more pleasant journey.”

  Robert narrowed his eyes. “Amelia, why do I feel like I’m being manipulated?”

  She smiled brightly and sashayed toward the door, throwing over her shoulder, “Because you are, Robert!”

  Jesse focused his attention on the passing countryside—even though it wasn’t nearly as pleasant to look at as the young lady sitting beside him.

  Amelia was dressed much as she’d been at the train depot. A little hat was perched jauntily on top of her piled-up hair. Her yellow dress matched the wildflowers dotting the landscape.

  He could hardly fathom that she was actually sitting beside him, close enough that the slight breeze constantly brought her honeysuckle scent to tease his nostrils.

  Robert guided the buggy over the same dirt road they’d traveled yesterday. Colleen O’Fallon sat beside him.

  Jesse wouldn’t have realized Colleen was a servant if Amelia hadn’t told him. No one seemed to treat her as one. They acted like she was more of a friend than someone hired to work for them.

  It didn’t make sense to him. Just like he couldn’t figure out why they were taking him back to Fort Worth to purchase clothes. He didn’t much like being beholden to people. He’d have to keep a tally of the expenses today and figure out how many days to add on to his time so he could repay the judge. He didn’t want to stay longer than his sentence dictated, but he didn’t see any other way to pay the judge back.

  “Did you know that Fort Worth is called the Queen City of the Prairie?” Amelia asked.

  Jesse turned his attention to her. She sure was pretty. And talkative.

  “No, ma’am.”

  The railroad had arrived in Fort Worth about the time Jesse was heading to prison. He’d noticed yesterday that the town had changed considerably since he’d last seen it.

  “I think it’s exciting that it’s become so important to the cattle industry,” she said.

  “Amelia, you couldn’t care less about the cattle,” her brother threw over his shoulder. “You find all the young cattle owners who come to town exciting.”

  She narrowed her dark green eyes and pursed her lips. “Robert, I don’t recall inviting you into this conversation.”

  “I don’t recall hearing a conversation going on. Mostly I just heard you prattling,” he said.

  Jesse thought he could actually see the fine hairs on the back of her neck bristling.

  “I do not prattle,” she said sternly. “Besides, if you’d mind your own business, maybe Lawton and I could have a conversation.”

  Robert chuckled. “I take lessons on minding my own business from you, Amelia.”

  “Oh, you!” She leaned across the back of the buggy and whapped her brother on the shoulder with her reticule.

  Jesse expected Robert to get angry. Instead he simply grinned.

  Rolling her eyes, Amelia settled back into her seat. “Brothers can be so irritating,” she muttered. She plucked at a thread on her reticule. “Do you have any brothers or sisters, Lawton?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t call me that,” he said. He wasn’t comfortable with the formality or the respect that the title of mister indicated.

  She peered at him through her lashes. “All right…Jesse.”

  His gut clenched at the way his name rolled off her tongue—like warm honey fresh from a beehive on a h
ot afternoon.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” she reminded him.

  “No brothers or sisters—at least none that I know of,” he told her.

  “Are you an orphan then?” she asked.

  “I’ve got no family.”

  She seemed to mull his answer over, and finding it inadequate, asked, “Did you ever know your parents?”

  “Nope.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He stared at her. “It’s not your fault.”

  “I didn’t mean I thought it was my fault. I was simply expressing my sorrow because I think it’s sad—to be an orphan, I mean.”

  “I got by.” He didn’t want her sorrow or her pity.

  “Not very well if you ended up in prison,” Robert said.

  Jesse threw the man’s back a scathing glare before turning his attention to the passing scenery.

  “That wasn’t a very nice thing to say, Robert Harper,” Colleen said.

  “It’s the truth. I don’t see why I should have to tiptoe around the truth.”

  “You could be a bit more polite. We’re trying to make this a pleasant day for Jesse,” Amelia said.

  That comment took him by surprise. He snapped his head around to look at her. She was plucking at another thread on her reticule.

  No one seemed to know what else to say. Silence wound its way between them. Jesse studied the trees and land that spread out before them. A short while later they joined a throng of buggies, wagons, and horses making their way into Fort Worth.

  “Robert, I thought we’d go to Hanson’s Dry Goods,” Amelia suddenly announced. “It’ll save us time, since we’ll be able to purchase Jesse’s clothes there, and they usually have a nice selection of fabrics.”

  “I’m all for saving time,” Robert said. “And no hat shopping. I don’t want to be here until sunset.”

  Amelia cast a shy glance at Jesse. “He doesn’t mean it. If I really wanted to shop for a new hat, he’d let me.”

  “Don’t count on it, Amelia,” Robert muttered.

  She wrinkled her nose and whispered, “He would.”

  He figured her brother would let her do just about anything she wanted, since he didn’t seem to mind her whapping him on the shoulder.

  “I imagine Fort Worth has changed considerably since you were last here,” Amelia said quietly.

  He almost retorted that he’d been here yesterday, but he figured yesterday didn’t count. He’d been too self-conscious about his situation to notice much of anything. Now he seemed to notice it all.

  He glanced over at Amelia and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “We have two railroads now, and the third should be finished by the end of the year.”

  Maybe he’d use one of those railroads to leave town once he’d finished serving his sentence.

  She smiled brightly. “A few of the businesses—the newspaper office and a couple of the hotels—have telephones.”

  He stared blankly at her.

  “Bein’ in prison, he might not know what a telephone is,” Colleen offered, accurately interpreting his silence.

  Still, did they have to keep bringing up the fact that he’d been in prison—even if she was right? Even if he’d never heard of a telephone?

  “I hadn’t thought about you not knowing what one is,” Amelia said. “It’s a machine that allows you to talk to someone you can’t even see. Someone who’s in another room or another building.”

  He couldn’t begin to imagine how that would work. Or why anyone would want to talk to someone they couldn’t see. He wouldn’t be able to look into the person’s eyes and know what they were thinking. He thought it would make him more uncomfortable than talking to someone he could see.

  “You might not have noticed it yesterday, but the town has a mule-drawn streetcar that travels a mile of track from the depot to the courthouse,” Amelia said.

  He shook his head. He hadn’t noticed it. He hadn’t noticed much of anything except her.

  “The car has benches for people to sit on and windows to stop all the dust from the street from getting inside. It makes for a pleasant journey,” she told him.

  “Unless the car jumps the track,” Robert said over his shoulder. “When it does that passengers have to lift it up and put it back on the tracks. I’d rather walk.”

  “I’m agreeing with Robert,” Colleen said. “I’d rather spend my nickel on something else and use my legs to get me where I want to go.”

  “But the streetcar and the telephone and the gas streetlights are symbols that the town is becoming a city.” Amelia looked at Jesse. “Don’t you think it’s all exciting and important?”

  She was looking at him as though she truly wanted to know what he thought.

  “I reckon,” he said, not wanting to disappoint her.

  “Don’t you ever say more than two words?”

  He shifted in his seat. “I’ve said more than two words to you.”

  “But that was miles ago,” she told him. “To keep a conversation going you have to add to it. I’ve been telling you things that you don’t know. Tell me something that I don’t know. Tell me how Fort Worth is different now than it was when you last saw it.”

  That was easy enough to do. He held her hopeful gaze and said, “It’s bigger.”

  She laughed, actually laughed, a delightful tinkling sound that reminded him of bells.

  “Can you expand on that?” she asked.

  “Lot more stores.” Clothing stores, leather-goods stores, hotels, banks, coffin builders, bakeries, grocers, lawyers, land agents. All she had to do was look around to see the dealers in lumber, silver, fence wire, and tailored clothing.

  “I was hoping for a bit more,” she said, still smiling.

  But he had no more to give her. He looked away from her to the buildings they passed. He didn’t want to see Amelia with the twinkle in her eyes and the bright smile.

  Pretty Amelia.

  Sweet Amelia.

  Keep-away-from-her Amelia.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Amelia had never understood why men despised shopping.

  She’d expected Jesse to be thrilled at the prospect of purchasing new clothes. Instead he scowled and glanced around as though he couldn’t wait to get out of the store.

  It didn’t help matters that Robert seemed equally impatient.

  Amelia lifted a chambray shirt off the stack, unfolded it, and held it up. She was slightly disappointed that her attempt to have a conversation hadn’t been as successful as she’d hoped. But she didn’t plan to easily give up her quest to learn more from him. Thank goodness she’d taken into consideration that it might take him a while to open up more fully. Their time together was only just beginning.

  “Turn around, Jesse,” she ordered.

  “Why?”

  She rolled her eyes with impatience at the distrust in his voice. If anyone shouldn’t be trusted, it was him.

  “So I can get an idea as to whether or not this one will come close to fitting you,” she explained.

  “It looks right,” he said.

  “And I’m sure whoever gave you those clothes thought the same thing. Let’s be sure, shall we?”

  He turned, presenting her with his back, but his stiff stance fairly shouted that he hadn’t wanted to comply with her request.

  “Uncross your arms,” she said.

  He did as she ordered, but she could tell he wasn’t pleased about having to do it. She found it comforting to know the outlaw reacted the same way that her brothers would if she wanted to measure a shirt against them.

  She held the shirt up to his shoulders. Despite the fact that he didn’t look as though he’d eaten a decent meal in his entire life, he did have a broad back and wide shoulders.

  “Colleen, what do you think?” Amelia asked.

  Colleen stopped browsing through the denim britches. “Might work for sitting in church, but I’m thinking he needs more room for working the ranch.”

  “You’re r
ight. We’ll go with one a bit larger.”

  She looked through the stack until she found one that was a little bigger. She took the britches that Colleen handed her and passed them to Jesse. “Hold these against your waist.”

  Reluctantly he did as she commanded.

  “Robert, those should fit him, don’t you think?” she asked.

  “I reckon.”

  “Did you even look?” she asked.

  “They’re britches. Long enough. Wide enough. They’ll do for working the ranch,” Robert said.

  “You’re absolutely no help,” she told him.

  “You didn’t say I had to help. You just said I had to bring you to town.”

  Sometimes her brothers were more trouble than they were worth.

  “Fine,” she said, ready to move on to the next aspect of her project to tidy Jesse up. “We’ll purchase two britches, three work shirts, and a white shirt for special occasions,” she said.

  “I don’t need anything for special occasions,” Jesse said.

  Ignoring him, she picked out the clothes she would purchase, including a white shirt.

  “Colleen and I are going to look at patterns and material now,” she told Robert. “I thought you could take Jesse to the barber’s.”

  Jesse still had stubble covering his face, and his hair fell in shaggy waves around his face. She wondered if anyone had bothered to explain to him that the bunkhouse had a bathing room in the back. She wondered if they trusted him with a straight razor. She’d have to talk with Tanner about that.

  “Thought you just wanted to get him clothes,” Robert said.

  “You thought wrong,” she said smugly.

  Robert sighed. “Do you have any other surprises in store for me?”

  “Of course, but if I tell you about them then they won’t be a surprise. When we’re finished here, we’ll meet you at the Peers House,” she informed him. She liked the hotel because they had female waiters. She remembered the ruckus that the daring idea had caused.

  “All right.” Robert turned on his heel. “Jesse, let’s go.”

  She watched Jesse follow her brother out of the store. She could hardly wait to see him spruced up. Surely he wouldn’t look as dangerous once his hair was trimmed and his face shaved.