Marnie:

by Shanna Hatfield

  “That awful Harley John Hobbs just won’t leave me alone.” Sadie swirled her spoon around in her stew but didn’t take a bite. “Me and some of the other girls were playing at recess and he sauntered over like he was President Roosevelt himself and told me I run like a girl.”

  “And?” Marnie prompted, knowing there was more to the story.

  “He yanked the ribbon out of my hair and tried to shove it in his pocket with his grubby ol’ hand. Just made me plumb angry since Miss Ilsa done gave me that ribbon.” Sadie took a long drink of her milk.

  “So what did you do?” Marnie tried to keep a stern face, but she loved hearing Sadie’s stories. The little girl was definitely comprised of more spice than sugar.

  “Well, I yanked my ribbon back and told him not to do that again. He tried to take it away from me a second time.” Sadie looked at Lars and tapped a finger to her temple. “That boy’s got air betwixt his ears instead of a thinker.”

  Lars had to work hard at smothering a chuckle. He couldn’t even look at Marnie for fear they both would break out in laughter. “Did you let him take it?”

  “Heck, no! I slugged him so hard, the back of his britches kissed the dirt.”

  “She got him good,” Noah said, raising a fist in the air and demonstrating how Sadie punched her classmate.”

  “And that’s when you got in trouble?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I done told the teacher what happened and she said I got a warning this time, since I was new, but the next time I hit another student, I’d have to go to the principal’s office. That don’t sound like no fun.” Sadie rubbed at her cheek then grinned shamefacedly at Marnie. “But the teacher, she’s real nice. She even tied the ribbon back in my hair for me.”

  “That was nice. In the future, please tell me when something happens at school and please refrain from engaging in fisticuffs with the other students, no matter how annoying they might be. It is entirely possible Harley John Hobbs likes you and that was his inept attempt at sharing his feelings.”

  Sadie snorted and shook her head.

  “Did any little boys steal your ribbons, Marnie?” Lars asked, imagining her as a feisty little girl like Sadie.

  “A few tried.” Marnie dropped her gaze to her plate.

  “None succeeded?” Lars asked, taking a bite of his stew.

  “No, they did not.”

  “Did you punch ‘em like Sadie?”

  Marnie noticed the teasing gleam in his eyes when she raised her gaze to his. “Certainly not. I tripped them as they tried to run away.” Marnie gave Lars a smug look then quickly wiped it from her face before turning a serious glance to Sadie. “And it was not a nice or ladylike thing to do. In the future, go to your teacher and let her know someone has upset you.”

  Sadie sighed and dipped a spoon full of her stew. “I will if you tell me to, but it sure seems faster and easier just to slug ‘em a good one.”

  Once dinner was over, Lars helped the two older children finish their homework, bouncing Sophie on his knee, while Marnie washed and dried the dishes.

  Watching the big man gently care for the children, particularly the baby, made thoughts and dreams she’d long ago buried bubble to the surface. She knew Lars did not intend to marry anyone, but how she’d love to make their patched together family a permanent one with him at the head of it.

  After homework was finished and Sophie slept in her new crib, Marnie brought out a coconut cake and served generous slices.

  “This is delicious,” Lars said, gratefully accepting a second piece.

  “Nora dropped by with some old copies of The Delineator Magazine and I found the recipe in one of them. I’m glad it turned out edible.” Marnie poured Lars a cup of coffee.

  “It’s far better than edible. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.” Lars forked up another big bite of the cake to prove his point.

  “I’ll be sure to keep the recipe, then.” Marnie was pleased Lars enjoyed her cooking. Her mother had taught her to cook at a young age and she’d done the bulk of the cooking when she lived with Maudie and Melton. Although her skills were a bit rusty, it was all coming back to her.

  “You do that. And anytime you want to experiment with a new recipe, I’m always happy to taste them for you.”

  “Is that so?” Marnie watched the children’s eyes begin to droop as they fought to stay awake. “You two go get ready for bed. You’ve had a long day.”

  “We want to stay up with Lars,” Noah said, leaving his chair and climbing on Lars’ lap.

  Setting down his fork, Lars gave the boy a hug and patted his back. “You do as Marnie says. Go get ready for bed and I’ll tuck you in.”

  “Okay.” Noah jumped down and ran down the short hall to the tiny bedroom he shared with Sadie. The little girl went into the bathroom and closed the door.

  “I bet they don’t complain about having indoor plumbing.” Lars grinned at Marnie and took the last bite of his cake.

  “Not at all. They even seem anxious to take their baths. It is a blessing to have so many wonderful conveniences here.” Marnie rose from her chair and refilled Lars’ coffee cup. Studying him as she regained her seat, she gave him a soft smile. “You look tired, sugar.”

  “I am tired. As soon as I say good night to the kids, I’ll head back to my place and turn in.” Lars took another drink from the cup and set it aside when Noah raced down the hall and grabbed his hand. “Come on, Lars. Sadie and I are ready for bed.”

  Tucking in both children, he read them a story from a book Sadie handed to him then kissed them both good night.

  Sticking his head in Marnie’s bedroom, he checked on Sophie, watching her sleep in the sliver of light peeking between the curtains covering the window. He couldn’t begin to understand the heartache her mother must have gone through to give her away in hopes of providing the baby with a chance at a better life.

  Brushing a finger over the top of her head, Lars noticed the big bed covered with Marnie’s special cream-colored candlewick quilt. Imagining her on that bed with all those brown curls spilling across the pillow made him swallow hard as a knot formed in his gut.

  Backing out of the room before his thoughts got away from him, he returned to the kitchen, picked up the hat he’d removed earlier, and wrapped his arm around Marnie’s waist.

  “Walk me to do the door?” His eyes begged her to agree.

  She nodded. “I’m glad you’re back. The kids really missed you.” She touched his hand where it rested on the curve of her waist as they walked down the stairs.

  “Are they the only ones?” Lars asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her as they neared the back door.

  “I’m sure Aundy and Ilsa missed you. Probably Caterina and Kade, too. Maybe even Tony and Garrett.” She made the mistake of looking up into his bright blue eyes and felt helpless to avoid falling into their depths.

  “No one else?” Lars dipped his head, closing the distance between his mouth and hers.

  “I missed you.” Her whisper made his heart leap into a frenzied rhythm.

  When their lips touched, Marnie thought the explosion of heat and yearning might cause her to combust. Wrapping her hands around Lars’ neck, she pulled herself against him, desperate for his strength and warmth to surround her.

  Lost in the kiss, in the wild wanting passing between them, they finally broke apart and Lars touched his forehead to hers. “Sweet thing, as much as I’d love to do that all night, I’m going home.”

  Marnie still hadn’t caught her breath or regained the ability to speak, so she numbly nodded her head.

  “Sweet dreams, darlin’.”

  “You too, Lars. Good night.” She stood in the doorway and watched him walk toward Caterina’s back door with the confident swagger she’d come to love. Everything about Lars exuded self-assurance and virility. It wasn’t a hardship at all to watch a man of his height and breadth move with such grace and ease, especially when he filled out his denims so well.

  Waiting until
her breathing returned to normal, she went back upstairs and checked on the children. She tidied the apartment, made herself a cup of tea, then sat down in the small rocker in the sitting room to complete the final embellishments on an elaborate evening gown that looked like a summer garden in bloom.

  Roses adorned the fabric of the skirt along the sides and back to the end of the train while a lace panel ran down the front of the bodice and skirt with carefully hand-stitched roses joining the front and side pieces. Fabric roses made of the lightest weight taffeta graced the shoulder and waist of the gown while organza sleeves fell to just above the wrist. Marnie could picture royalty wearing the dress and she wondered if that might not be the case, since Ilsa mentioned it would ship overseas.

  Needing some thread from downstairs, she hurried to the workroom and flicked on the lights then remembered she’d left the embroidery thread on the table near the sewing machine. Not bothering to turn on a light in the front of the store, she glanced outside and saw a man standing across the street in the gaslight, staring straight at her.

  As she moved through the store, his head turned and in the illumination from the streetlight, she could see it was her worst nightmare in full living color.

  Melton Feldts, with his horrid, scarred face, watched her every move.

  Pretending she didn’t notice him, she grabbed the thread and hurried back through the workroom. She thought about calling the sheriff’s office but a glance at the clock on the wall confirmed the telephone office had closed for the night. Flicking off the light, she picked up her skirts and raced up the stairs.

  She hated to ask more of Sadie, but there was no help for it.

  Going to the room the Webster siblings shared, Marnie gently shook the little girl and waited for her eyes to open. Sadie looked up at her with a sleepy smile and Marnie put her finger to her lips, motioning for her to remain silent.

  Folding back the covers on the bed, Marnie grabbed Sadie’s shoes and shoved them on her feet, then took the girl’s hand, tugging her out of the room. Shutting the door behind her, she rushed Sadie to the sitting room.

  Crouching down, she looked the child straight in the eye. “Sadie, we need some help. I’d very much like you to run down to Caterina’s restaurant and get Lars. If you’re scared and don’t want to go, I understand, but there is a bad man across the street that Lars and Deputy Rawlings have been trying to catch. I don’t want him to get away, but I can’t leave Sophie and Noah unprotected. Do you think you could run, fast as you can, and fetch Lars?”

  “I’ll do it, Marnie. You can count on me.” Sadie threw her arms around Marnie’s neck and squeezed. “I’ll bring Lars back.”

  “Good girl. I’ll help you out the back then you run like everything down to Caterina’s and pound on the door until Lars answers it. If the bad man tries to chase you, you run inside the first open door you find and scream for help.”

  “Even if it’s a saloon?” Sadie asked as Marnie stood and walked with her to the top of the stairs.

  “Even if it’s a saloon.” Marnie kissed her cheek and hugged her again, then took her hand. “Now be as quiet as you can and we’ll sneak you out the back door. He’s watching the front. I’ll try to distract him so he doesn’t notice you running past the alley.”

  Sadie nodded and held tighter to her hand as they hurried down the stairs and through the dark to the back door.

  “When I tell you to go, you run fast, sweetheart,” Marnie whispered in her ear then eased the door open slowly so it wouldn’t creak.

  Taking a lantern from the shelf where Ilsa stored them after she had electricity installed, Marnie set it on the worktable and adjusted the flame until it barely glowed. Yanking the pins from her hair, she shook out her curls so they fell down her back. Unfastening her dress, she looked over her shoulder where Sadie stared out the door into the darkness. “Now, Sadie. Run!”

  Sadie shot through the doorway and the sound of her footsteps echoed in the silence.

  Letting her dress drop to the floor, Marnie lifted the lantern and rushed into the front room, setting the light on a display case.

  Grateful for the first time in her life for her experience as a harlot, Marnie knew how to look one way while she felt another. She also knew how to entice a man so he’d be wholly distracted. Although her corset, lace-trimmed chemise, and frothy petticoats weren’t exactly saloon girl attire, she had no doubt they’d be enough to draw Melton’s interest.

  She started by making a show of bending over a basket near the front door. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him stand straighter as he ogled her from across the street. She turned her back to him and stretched her arms lazily over her head then gave her hips an exaggerated sway as she walked over to a chair and propped one foot on the seat. Pulling her petticoats up, she tugged teasingly on her stocking, pretending to adjust it before dropping her foot back to the floor. Keeping her back to the deranged man, she tossed her hair and gave him a coquettish look over her shoulder.

  Melton pressed his face against the window near the front door and Marnie held back the shudders that threatened to wrack through her body. His face was grotesque but not nearly as frightening as the man’s wicked soul she could see glaring out of his dark eyes.

  She unlocked the front door, grabbed the lantern, and rushed over to a dress form near the sewing machine. The backdrop from Ilsa’s big front window display blocked both the view and the light from the gaslights on the street in that particular section of the store. Just as she reached the dress form, she heard the bell jingle above the door as Melton walked inside. Quickly, she doused the light and set it aside.

  “You shouldn’t tease a man like that, girly. It makes him think all kinds of crazy thoughts.” Melton closed the door behind him, trying to get his bearings in the dark.

  Marnie quietly moved to crouch behind the sewing machine. “What kind of crazy thoughts, honey?”

  Melton cursed as he bumped into a display case. “Why’d you turn out the light?” he whined, drawing closer.

  “I want you to catch me. It’s more fun this way,” Marnie said in voice dripping with invitation. “Come and get me.”

  “I’m coming and you can be sure I’m getting.” Melton followed the sound of her voice.

  Marnie knew every inch of the store and had no problem maneuvering Melton right where she wanted him. “Do you know who I am?”

  “Sure I do. You’re a purty gal, just ripe for the picking. I’ve been watching you for the last few days while I’m waiting to head out on a job. The other gal that works here is a beauty, but I seen her with that little baby. You ain’t got a newborn to fuss with and you ain’t so tiny. You got plenty of curves for a real man to enjoy.”

  “So I caught your eye out the window?”

  “You sure did. I used to have me a girl with hair the same color as yours, but she disappeared one day.”

  Marnie wanted to shoot the man dead right then and she might have if she’d had a gun. “I won’t disappear on you. Just reach out your arms and grab me, honey. I’m waiting for you.”

  Melton took a step and tripped over a large basket of trims Marnie pushed in his way and grabbed the dress form, falling to the floor. While he was down, she used every ounce of strength she possessed and toppled the sewing machine on top of him, leaving him pinned to the floor.

  His curses defiled the air of the shop, so she clonked him over the head with a vase of flowers Aundy left on the display case earlier in the day, rendering him unconscious.

  Marnie rushed to the workroom and flicked on the lights, but before she could tug her dress on, Lars ran through the open back door with his revolvers drawn. Sadie followed behind him, took in Marnie’s disheveled state, and burst into tears.

  “We’re too late, Lars. He done got her.” Sadie threw her arms around Marnie and sobbed against her corseted waist.

  “He didn’t hurt me, sweetheart. I’m fine. I promise.” Marnie kissed Sadie’s forehead and gave her a pleased smile. “Y
ou were so brave, Sadie. I’m very proud of you.”

  Sadie sniffled and gave Marnie a watery smile.

  “Would you mind running upstairs and checking on Sophie and Noah? With all the noise down here, it woke the baby.”

  “I’ll take care of her, and Noah, too.” Sadie charged up the stairs, leaving Marnie to face Lars.

  The man stood before her barefooted, wearing only his trousers. He’d yanked them on in such a hurry they weren’t even properly fastened. His hair was a tousled mess and his blue eyes blazed with fire and fury. A shadow of stubble darkened his jaw while his bare chest, covered in muscles and golden hair, glistened in the light.

  Catching her breath, Marnie didn’t think she had ever seen such a handsome man. There’d certainly never been a man who stirred such an intense longing or desire in her.

  “Where is he?” Lars let down the hammers on his guns and set one on the worktable. He touched her arm with his free hand, running his fingers up and down her smooth skin, making her shiver in delight.

  “Under the sewing machine.”

  Lars gave her an incredulous look then rushed into the front of Ilsa’s shop and turned on the lights. Just as Marnie said, Melton Feldts lay prone and senseless beneath his sister’s prized sewing machine.

  “Ilsa won’t be happy if you dented her machine.” Lars gave her a teasing grin as he took in the dress form on the floor and the broken vase with some of Aundy’s favorite flowers strewn about Melton’s head. “Aundy might not like to see her flowers being put to such a use, either.”

  “They both won’t care and you know it.” Marnie returned to the workroom, intent on dressing in her gown as quickly as possible before anyone else saw her.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Lars asked, catching her arm before she could stoop to pick up the dress. Setting his second revolver on the worktable, he pulled Marnie to his chest and kissed her with more depth and passion than she’d ever imagined possible.

  Pulling away from him, she took an unsteady step back, bumping into the large worktable. Unable to move, her thoughts dwelled on how right it felt to be with Lars, to have his heart pounding wildly in time with hers.