by Nerys Leigh
She looked down at the knife still clutched in her hand. “You’d be like most other men, at least the ones I’ve met.”
What had happened to her? Adam wanted to ask, but it wasn’t his business. Maybe one day she would trust him enough to tell him.
“Well then I don’t want to be like other men,” he said firmly. “So will you stay?”
She nodded and smiled a little. “But I’ll find a job and pay you back for the fare and my board. And I’ll do everything I can for you here. I’ll cook and clean, not that your home isn’t clean, it’s beautiful, but I promise you won’t have to lift a finger. I’ll do everything.”
He laughed, relief making him feel like a weight had lifted from him. “You’ll spoil me.”
She grinned. “Rotten.”
Adam couldn’t stop smiling. Even if she wasn’t going to marry him, it could work. They’d spend time together, get to know each other, become friends.
And maybe for a while, he wouldn’t be so lonely.
Chapter 5
“I have the mailbag to sort that came on the train yesterday and then I have to open the post office for a few hours this morning for people to collect their mail, but I’m free this afternoon. Are you sure I can’t do anything?”
Amy glanced back at Adam on the settee and waved a wet hand. “You stay right there. Relax. Drink your coffee.”
“You’re going to have to let me do something. I can almost feel my mother’s disapproving stare on me.”
“Does she live here, in town?” She tried to keep her tone light, but the mention of Adam’s mother had her stomach clenching. What would Mrs Emerson think of a woman staying with him who’d tricked her son into paying for her to cross the country? It was a meeting she most definitely didn’t want to have.
“No, my parents live on my grandparents’ farm. Well, it’s their farm too.”
Keep it casual. “Is that far away?”
“An hour and a half’s ride, more or less. I don’t see them very often.”
Amy breathed a surreptitious sigh of relief.
“Ma taught us all to look after ourselves, even the boys. She says folks should marry for love, not cooking and cleaning. I’m not used to other people doing everything for me.”
“What were you going to do once you were married?” she said, carefully not looking at him.
“I supposed we’d work it out together, somehow. I was kind of looking forward to all that, to getting to know each other and adjusting to living in the same house. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I was looking forward to doing it together, as a couple.” He laughed softly. “I think I have a bit of an overly romantic view of marriage.”
Amy’s stomach sidled down to her feet. She set the plate she was washing on the drainer, dried her hands and went to sit on the other end of the settee from Adam. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin it all for you. You must hate me now.”
“I don’t hate you. I understand why you did it. You had no choice.” One side of his mouth curled up. “Besides, how can I hate someone who just washed all my dishes and is insisting on spoiling me rotten?”
She couldn’t help smiling back. “I’d better get right on that then. I’ll dry up and start on the cleaning. Then I can go out and look for a job.” She started to rise.
He leaned forward and grasped her wrist. “You don’t...”
Panic flashed through Amy’s chest. She jerked her arm away with a cry, scrambling to her feet before she was even aware of what she was doing.
Adam gasped, pressing back away from her, his face filled with horror. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to...” He lifted both hands, palms out towards her. “Please, I wasn’t... I’m sorry.”
She squeezed her burning eyes shut, embarrassed. What was wrong with her? She knew Adam wouldn’t harm her. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”
Sinking back down onto the settee, she tried to calm her pounding heart.
Adam lowered his hands and held them against him, looking like he was trying not to move too much in case she spooked again.
She sighed. “It’s not you. I’m not afraid of you.”
He seemed to relax a little, moving his body forward from where he’d been pressed into the corner of the settee. “I shouldn’t have touched you. It wasn’t my right.”
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The last thing she wanted was for Adam, after everything he was doing for her, to feel like he had to be careful what he did in his own home.
“If I’m going to live here, we need to make some rules,” she said.
He nodded slowly. “All right.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she reached out and took his hand. “Rule one; you don’t have to be afraid of touching me.”
He looked at their hands resting together on his thigh and gently threaded his fingers between hers. “All right.”
Amy tried to ignore her stuttering heart which now had nothing to do with fear. If she could have taken it out and slapped it, she would have. “Rule two; this is your home and you can do whatever you want in it. Although I will do my best to get in as much spoiling as I can.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “All right.”
“Rule three; if you change your mind about me being here, you have to tell me and I will move right out. I don’t want you to regret doing this.”
He stared at her for a few long seconds before nodding. “All right.”
His fingers were still entwined with hers and she found herself desperately trying to think of more rules so he wouldn’t let go. “Rule four; you get to make any rules you want and I will stick to them.”
“All right.”
To her regret, she couldn’t think of anything else. “Do you have any rules?”
His eyes dropped to their hands. “Just one. If you ever feel afraid or threatened in any way, tell me. I’ll protect you, you have my word. You should feel safe here.”
Safe. Could she truly feel safe anywhere? Was it possible to live life with no fear of harm whatsoever? Amy couldn’t imagine such a thing, but as she looked at Adam she got the feeling that if it would happen anywhere, it would be with him.
“All right.”
His gaze held hers, his thumb tracing a slow circle on the back of her hand and sending small tingles of sensation into her skin. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she could stay and marry...
No.
She slid her hand away and clutched it in her lap. It didn’t make any difference how good a man Adam was or how safe she felt with him; she wouldn’t depend on him or anyone else.
He cleared his throat and sat back.
Feeling awkward, Amy stood. “I’ll finish up the dishes.” She walked to the sink and resumed washing up.
Behind her she heard the settee squeak a little then Adam appeared at her side, taking a towel from a hook and picking up one of the clean, still wet plates.
Before she could object he said, “Rule number two, remember?”
She smiled and returned her attention to the pan she was scrubbing. “Do you know of anywhere they might be hiring?”
“Not that I’ve heard, but that doesn’t mean much since I haven’t been looking.”
She finished scrubbing and rinsed the pan. “I can go and take a look around town when we’re finished.”
He held out the towel for it. “I can show you around a little before I open up the post office. I would have liked to have kept it closed, it being the day after you arrived, but Saturdays are always my busiest day and I figured you’d want to rest and settle in after your long journey. You can still do that though. You could look for work on Monday.”
Rest sounded good after the night she’d had, but she needed to find a job as soon as possible. “I’m OK. Now I’m on solid, not moving ground I feel so much better. I would like to go out today, if that’s all right.”
“You can do whatever you want to, you don’t ever have to ask my permission. I want you to be comf
ortable here. While you’re staying here, this is your home.” He smiled. “I could make that my rule number two if it would help.”
She laughed. “I’ll do my best with it being a suggestion rather than a rule.”
He nodded and placed the pan into the dresser cupboard. “Just let me know if you need me to make it official.”
~ ~ ~
It was after nine by the time they left the house, and the main street of Green Hill Creek, while not exactly bustling, still had a smattering of people going about their daily business.
“Mornin’, Adam.” A man sat in a rocker outside a store two doors down from Adam’s post office, tilting slowly back and forth. He raised the pipe held in one weathered hand in greeting.
“Morning, Isaiah.”
Isaiah moved his gaze to Amy, a network of wrinkles forming in the dark skin at the corners of his eyes. “And a good mornin’ to you, missy.”
“This is Amy Watts,” Adam said. “Amy, meet Isaiah Smith. He’s the town’s best cobbler.” He indicated the building at Isaiah’s back with its sign depicting two pairs of shoes, one men’s and one women’s, either side of the words ‘SMITH’S QUALITY FOOTWEAR’.
“I also happen to be the town’s only cobbler,” Isaiah said, his eyes twinkling, “but that don’t make me any less the best.”
Amy stepped forward, holding out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr Smith.”
Isaiah’s smile grew as he grasped her hand and shook it. “Just call me Isaiah. Everybody does. So, you two off to get hitched?”
Amy glanced at Adam, her smile disappearing. Caught up in the emotional whirlwind of the last couple of hours as she’d been, she hadn’t given much thought to how they were going to explain the situation to his neighbours and friends.
Adam looked like he was trying to think of something to say. “The truth is...” he began.
“The truth is,” Amy said, “I didn’t come here to marry Adam. I needed to get out of New York and he is kindly allowing me to rent his spare bedroom for the time being until I can pay him back for the train fare and get together enough money to continue my journey to San Francisco.”
One of Isaiah’s eyebrows raised slightly and he nodded. “Well now, that explains all the fuss.”
Adam grimaced. “Fuss? What fuss?”
“’Bout an hour ago, Matilda Vernon comes out of the church,” he waved his pipe towards the cross just visible above the roofs of the buildings along the road, “and runs over to Violet Winters across the street. They have a talk, are joined by two more of the upstanding ladies of our community in the meantime, then all four of them rush down here and stand right there,” he used the pipe to point at a spot directly opposite the post office, “staring at your place and whisperin’ to each other for ’bout ten minutes. Then they all hurried back up the road like somethin’ was on fire.”
Adam groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“What’s wrong?” Amy said, touching his arm. She looked around nervously.
He heaved a sigh. “Nothing. It’s just, Mrs Vernon can move faster than a jack rabbit when she has some gossip to spread. And I imagine the news that a young woman I’m not wed to is staying in my house unchaperoned made her day. Possibly her year. It’ll be all over the town by now, and probably not in any form approaching the truth. I’m sorry, I should have thought of this.”
Her stomach curled in on itself. “Do you want me to move out? I’ll ruin your reputation.”
His eyes widened. “My reputation? Oh no, I don’t care what they say about me. Besides, I’m a man, it’s very hard to ruin a man’s reputation. It’s you I’m worried about. I don’t want you to have to be bothered with all that.”
Amy considered it for a moment. She wasn’t staying here so it didn’t matter what people said about her. Her only concern was Adam, but if he wasn’t worried, then should she be? “Well, I don’t care what people think of me. Gossip’s everywhere in New York and I was never in the kind of social circle where it mattered. Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible about gossiping being bad? And if God thinks that about it then so do I. As long as it doesn’t hurt you, it doesn’t matter one bit to me.”
Isaiah removed the pipe from his mouth and burst into laughter. “Miss Amy Watts, I like your style.”
“That makes two of us,” Adam said, grinning. “Do you know of anyone who’s looking to hire?” he said to Isaiah. “Amy wants to find a job today. Maybe in one of the stores or the hotel?”
“Haven’t heard nothing,” Isaiah said, replacing his pipe. “’Part from George is lookin’ for someone for the livery, but mucking out horses ain’t no job for a lady. But that don’t mean there ain’t nothing to be had. There are some things that go on in this town even I don’t know about.”
“I’m not sure that’s true, Isaiah,” Adam said, smiling.
Isaiah grinned back. “Maybe.”
They left Isaiah to his pipe and people watching and continued along the road, Adam pointing out the local landmarks as they walked.
“Down that road is Green Hill Creek Emmanuel Church where we’ll be going tomorrow. I don’t know if you remember the way from yesterday.”
“Where I performed my fake swoon, yes.”
He chuckled. “It was very convincing. Scared me half to death.”
“I’m sorry,” Amy said with a sigh. “It was the only thing I could think to do.”
He stopped and turned to face her. “You don’t need to apologise, for any of it. I understand you were desperate. To be truthful, I think you were very brave to do it.”
“You do?” she said in disbelief.
He resumed walking and she fell into step beside him. “Not many people, man or woman, who would have the courage to come all this way across the country to this wild place with no real idea of what was going to happen once they got here.”
She looked around at the slightly rough around the edges, but otherwise pleasant seeming town. “Doesn’t look very wild to me.”
He smiled. “Well, no. It is pretty peaceful in these parts nowadays, but there are some places where it’s still dangerous, with bandits and the fighting with the Indians and such. Marshal Cade is good for the town too. He’s been here just over a year. Fought in the war. He keeps everyone in line.” He pointed to a one storey brick building ahead of them, a sign next to the door saying ‘MARSHAL’S OFFICE’ swinging slowly in the breeze. “That’s his place there, but I hope you never have cause to need his services.”
Further on they passed a three storey wooden clapboard building painted in a faded green with red trim. A big sign on the front of the second floor balcony proclaimed it to be the saloon. From the scantily clad women lounging in chairs on the balcony, Amy guessed it was more than just a drinking establishment.
“If you were thinking... and I’m not saying you were because I’m sure you weren’t, but just in case, that place isn’t safe for women, even just to walk into. Not that I’m suggesting you would want to work as a... I meant if you were thinking of working in the saloon itself, not upstairs.” Adam ran one hand down his face and groaned. “I think I’ll stop talking now.”
Amy put one hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Adam was so adorable when he was flustered. “I understand. No going into the saloon. Got it.”
He gave a rueful chuckle. “Believe it or not, there are times when I do actually sound like I have a brain in my head.” He dug a watch from his pocket, worry on his face as he checked it. “I really need to go and open the post office, but with Mrs Vernon spreading rumours I don’t want to leave you alone. Are you sure you don’t want to wait to do this? I could come with you this afternoon.”
“No, I’ll be fine, I promise. You go and I’ll be back with a job before you know it.” She wasn’t at all sure of that, but she tried to sound positive. She didn’t want Adam worrying about her. He’d done so much already.
He scanned the people around them, finally sighing and returning his attention to her.
“All right. But if you change your mind, just come home and I’ll go with you later. I truly don’t mind.”
“I know you don’t, but you don’t have to worry about me. I can look after myself.”
A small smile touched his lips. “I have no doubt of that. I’ll see you later.”
Despite her words, as she watched Adam walk away she suddenly felt very alone.
Chapter 6
With a deep sigh, Amy pulled her gaze from Adam’s retreating form and looked around. Her eyes came to rest on the hotel at the top of the street. It was as good a place to start as any.
The four storey building occupied a prime position at the very head of the road where it curved off to the north, giving everyone on the street a view of the hotel and everyone in the hotel a view along the street. It was constructed of brick, unlike most of the other buildings in the town apart from the bank and the marshal’s office, and looked to Amy altogether too fancy for a small town such as Green Hill Creek. Although with its tall windows and decorative columns flanking the entrance, it wouldn’t have been out of place in New York. Not the upper class, wealthy centre, but in the not quite so affluent areas it could have easily passed for a city establishment. Perhaps whoever had invested in it was expecting the new railroad to bring in clientele.
An image of her dream hotel in San Francisco came to mind. Perhaps if she could work here it wouldn’t feel quite so far away.
Reaching the door, Amy smoothed her hair and her skirts and walked inside. Other than a bored looking, red-headed young man behind the reception desk, the velvet draped and wood panelled lobby was deserted.
She walked up to the man and smiled. “I was wondering if I could speak to someone about employment in the hotel?”
He snorted a laugh. “You must be new around here.”
“Uh, yes?”
He swept one hand around the sumptuous room. “See all these guests?”
Amy looked round in case there’d been an influx of people while her back was turned. There hadn’t. “Uh, no?”
“Exactly. No guests, no jobs. If it wasn’t for folks who won’t go into the saloon using the restaurant and just keeping the place above water, I wouldn’t even be here.”
