Sugar Ellie

by Sarah Hegger

  He and Brett chatted a bit more about opportunities in the future and supper passed quickly.

  In the carriage on the way home, Victoria turned to him. “You were quiet tonight.”

  “Opera is really not for me.” He was also tired of pretending they fit. “Or late suppers. Somewhere I’ve lost my taste for a lot of what New York has to offer.”

  She sucked in a soft breath. “What are you saying, Cole?”

  “I think you know.” He looked at her. “We’re different people, Victoria.”

  “Cole.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Please tell me you’re not doing this to me a second time?”

  He flinched because that was exactly what he was doing. “I know you’ve noticed.” Dark glances shot at him over drinks when he said something she didn’t approve of and the way she determinedly laughed off the parts of him she didn’t understand spoke volumes about where their relationship was. “I don’t fit in, and it bothers you.”

  “No, I—”

  “Vic.” He looked at her, willing her to admit the truth they both felt. “Half the time you look like you’d happily kick my ass.”

  “Cole!” She jerked as if he’d struck her. “Your profanity offends me, and yet you continue.”

  “Partly, it’s the way I speak now,” he said. “It fits this version of me.”

  “That’s an excuse and a pathetic one.” Victoria shifted in her seat, smoothing her skirts. “You make no effort because you choose not to.”

  She had him there. “Perhaps so.”

  “And.” She straightened her shoulders and thrust her chin out. “If you must know, there are things about you that make me want to scream.”

  This was better than her pretending to be soft and wounded.

  “I wish you’d make more effort to think about what comes out of your mouth.” She threw a hand in the air. “But you don’t. You open your mouth and say the first thing you think.” She gathered more steam on a sharp in-breath. “Like tonight! Madame Eloisa is a musical treasure, and you snorted. Snorted!”

  He let her run. It was the least he could do.

  “And when you told Chadwick Arbruther that he couldn’t shoot worth sh—” She cleared her throat. “That word.”

  “You mean shit.”

  “Cole!” she yelled. “You can’t say that word in front of me. I’m not like your cozy little whore.”

  Everything in him stilled. He kept the question light, because he got the distinct feeling he really wanted to hear what she said next. “What are you talking about, Vic?”

  “Ellie.” Victoria tossed her head. “Or should I say Sugar Ellie Pierce.” She twitched her cloak together. “Frankly, Cole, I’m surprised you had the sheer gall to bring her amongst us. To introduce her to Joy.”

  “Mother likes Ellie.” Victoria had been busy. “How did you find out who she was?”

  She gaped at him. “You don’t even try to deny it.”

  “Would there be any point?”

  “No.” She sniffed. “My Pinkerton man knows what he’s about.”

  “You sent a Pinkerton man to find out who Ellie is?” He kept a tight rein on his fury.

  “What else could I do?” Victoria shrugged. “You were back, but you weren’t the man I knew before, and you brought that woman with you. I like to know whom I allow into my life.”

  “Did he go to the Four Kings?” Jake was no fucking idiot, and a Pinkerton agent would tell him all he needed to know. Following that man back to where he came from would be child’s play to Jake and the twins.

  Clueing in to his anger for the first time, Victoria frowned, and eyed him warily. “Of course he did. They were quite open about who she was. Apparently, she’s been missing for some time, and they’re desperate to find her.”

  “Victoria.” He took deep, steadying breaths. “Once more I have injured you through my actions, which is probably the only thing holding me back from snapping your neck.”

  She gasped and shrunk from him. “How dare—”

  “Your vulgar curiosity has exposed Ellie to danger. I acquit you of doing so deliberately.” He leaned closer to her. “But if Ellie gets hurt, somebody is going to pay the price, Colorado style, and I’m going to be the one to collect.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Ellie stood and stretched her back. Across from her in the workroom, Molly looked up and grimaced. They’d been working most of the night on a rush order for a new client.

  The women who came to her store knew what they wanted and could be rather demanding about it. With her trying to build a strong client base, she needed to do what it took to assure their business.

  “Bugger it.” Molly sucked her finger.

  Ellie empathized. She’d made more holes in her fingers than she thought possible. “We’ll need to think about getting help soon.”

  “We could really do with it right now.” Molly grimaced and stretched her fingers. “I could see if one of my cousins is looking for work.”

  “I’m not sure I could pay for someone else yet.” Ellie had been making steady money, but she was not at the point she could expand.

  Molly gave her a firm look. “You could always go and see Cole about what you need. I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy to hear how you’re working yourself to the bone.”

  Ellie flushed. Molly never minced words, and it was one of the things she liked about her, but sometimes it made her uncomfortably blunt. “You know why I can’t do that.”

  “I know why you think you can’t.” Molly snorted. “All because he’s pining for that uppity bitch.” She dropped her work to her lap and jabbed a finger at Ellie. “Have you thought a woman like that might not make him happy. She might nag him into an early grave.”

  “She may well do.” Ellie was tired of having this conversation with Molly. “But it’s not up to me to say what he wants.”

  “No, indeed.” Molly rolled her eyes. “Because the fact that you’re carrying Cole Mansfield’s baby gives you no rights where he is concerned at all.”

  “Ellie?” Jake stood in her workroom door.

  “Jake.” Ellie thought she must be imagining him.

  Standing, Molly glanced between her and Jake. “Jake?”

  “Yes, Jake,” she said, pulse thundering in her ears. Molly already knew the story.

  Molly screamed and threw her sewing box at him.

  Ducking out the way, Jake stepped into the light.

  Ellie stood and stared. She couldn’t believe it was really him, but there he was all right, dodging the scissors Molly threw at him. “Jesus, woman, stop!”

  “Get out.” Molly grabbed up Ellie’s scissors and brandished them at him. “I will stab you before I let you near her.”

  Ellie found her voice. “What are you doing here, Jake?”

  Jake kept his attention locked on Molly. “The door was open.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Molly lunged at him. “You tried to sell her, you pecker.”

  “Stop, Molly.” Ellie grew lightheaded and dropped into her seat. Some part of her mind reminded her she should be running for her life, but her legs refused to move.

  “Ellie.” Jake grimaced. “There are things I need to say to you.”

  “Then say them.” Theo crowded into the room behind Jake. “Say what you need to say and then we can talk about Ellie’s newest surprise.”

  “Theo?” Ellie stood, her spine gave out, and she slumped on her stool. After all these months of missing him, worrying about him and trying to find him, he was standing right there and looked as well as he ever had. “Theo!”

  “That’s Theo?” Molly curled her top lip. “I thought he’d be taller.”

  Theo threw Molly a confused glance and then aimed back at Ellie. “Hey, Ellie.” A gentle smile softened his hard face. “Looks like I can’t leave you alone.”

  “Theo.” The room blurred as tears filled her eyes. She stumbled to her feet and straight into a hug.

  Theo tightened his arms around her, and her w
orld stopped shifting. Since she’d been a tiny one, Theo could always wrap her in security. As her big brother, he’d really been more of a father to her. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how truly frightened she had been that Theo was dead.

  Once opened, the floodgates refused to shut again, and she cried and cried. All that she’d held in through escaping from Jake, then ending up with Pete and Isaac, her relationship with Cole, her heartbreak and her terror about what the future meant for this child. Safe in her big brother’s embrace, she cried it all out. Theo was there, and she was safe. Theo was there, and he would help her untangle the dreadful snarl she’d made.

  It took a while for everything to calm down. Molly made tea and placed it on the workroom table, along with a batch of fresh scones, butter and jam. Molly didn’t believe any crisis should be tackled without sustenance.

  Ellie sat beside Theo. She couldn’t stop staring at him. He was leaner and tanner, and he looked well, better than when he’d left.

  Jake sat opposite her and looked everywhere else but at her. She’d said nothing to him since she’d first seen him.

  Looking at his sullen face, she wanted to shake him and demand answers. Why had he turned on her like that? She wanted to demand the answer for the betrayal that had begun all of this.

  Theo sipped his tea, his eyes tracking Molly as she moved about making something else to sustain the conversation.

  He’d gotten to San Francisco safe and sound and then followed a potential opportunity inland. He’d been fine all along and setting up their next fortune. He was tired of saloon life and running girls. Theo wanted to make his living ranching.

  “You? A rancher?” Ellie tried to picture it. Theo had more fallen into the saloon than made a choice to do so. He’d been left with four siblings to care for and no way to make money other than to supply the miners with his home-brewed hooch.

  “Why not?” Theo shrugged. “I’ve been working out west as a ranch hand, trying to learn the business.” He sipped his tea and looked as if he’d rather drink anything but.

  Ellie laughed and fetched the one bottle of whisky Joy had stashed there in case Cole ever came to visit. She poured a glass for Theo and then looked to Jake.

  Jake shook his head. “Actually, Ellie, there is something I need to say.”

  “Damn right you got something to say to her.” Theo glared at him. “Get on with before I break your fool head.”

  Jake looked at her. He was different somehow. “Minnie is gone.”

  “Good.” Ellie was relieved for Pearl and the girls. “Why?”

  “I threw her out.” Jake cleared his throat. “After.”

  “After what?”

  Jake flushed. “You know…the…um.”

  Leaning over the table, Theo cuffed him. “Spit it out, you fucking idiot.”

  “I’m sorry, Ellie.” Jake’s flush deepened. “I should never have done it.”

  Molly stood over him with her arms folded. “Which bit shouldn’t you have done?”

  “All of it.” Jake scowled at Molly. “I shouldn’t have done any of it.”

  As far as apologies went, Jake wasn’t even half done. “You mean about auctioning me off to the highest bidder?”

  Theo growled. “I should shoot you for that alone.”

  “Not in here.” Molly sniffed. “That saffron silk is for Mrs. Lewis’s daughter’s wedding, and I haven’t got time to make another dress if that one gets splattered with blood.”

  “I wouldn’t have done it, Ellie.” Jake shifted his chair away from Molly. “Even before we found out you were missing, I’d changed my mind and was going to call the whole thing off.”

  Ellie wasn’t so sure. “I guess now we’ll never know, but I wasn’t going to wait around for you to have an attack of conscience.”

  “It was Minnie.” Jake swallowed. “Minnie got in my head and made it sound harmless.”

  “Harmless?” Molly picked up a kitchen knife and attacked a loaf of bread.

  Gaze on the knife, sweat slid down Jake’s temple. “It was only her virginity. At least that’s what Minnie said. She said every woman has to lose it sooner or later, and at least this way someone would make money at it.”

  “I’m still going to shoot you,” Theo said. “As Ellie is still alive, I’ll make sure it’s not gonna kill you, just hurt. A lot.”

  “Theo!” Jake scrambled to his feet.

  Theo palmed a gun and Jake sat right back down. “I brought this fucker here to apologize to you in person,” he said. “In the circumstances, you deserved to hear it face to face. What I’m gonna do about him is still undecided.”

  “You said all I had to do was apologize to her.” Jake nearly shot out his chair again but thought better of it.

  Theo showed him teeth, more snarl than smile. “I lied.”

  “You said.” Sweat beaded on Jake’s top lip. “I told you about Minnie, and you said I needed to stop thinking with my pecker.”

  Molly slammed a plate of sandwich fingers on the table. “Never met a man who got that right.”

  “Excuse me?” Theo narrowed his eyes at Molly. “Do you even know me?”

  “I know Ellie.” Molly folded her arms. “And I know her brothers didn’t do right by her.” She gathered a head of outraged steam. “You made her pretend to be a madam. An innocent girl. You exposed her to untold danger.”

  Theo blanched. “I was trying to protect her.”

  “No!” Molly went nose to nose with him. “Protecting her would have been taking her away from there and making a life somewhere else.”

  “That wasn’t possible.” Theo didn’t back down. “And don’t you think I know I made a bad choice?”

  Molly opened and shut her mouth.

  “I turned my little sister into a whore.” Anguish crept into Theo’s voice and over his face. “If I could wave my hand and go back to that time I would, but I was twenty-one, and all I saw was a quick fortune and an even quicker way to take care of the younger ones.” He looked at Ellie. “I am sorry, you know, Ellie. If I had to do it again, I would load all of you in that stupid wagon and get the hell out of there. We had strong backs; we could have tried something else.”

  Ellie also remembered that time. “Theo.” She took his hand. “We were hungry all the time. Whatever Pa mined went straight into a bottle. We were starved, filthy, and that old wagon wouldn’t have made it to the end of our row of tents.”

  “You may be right about the wagon.” Theo gave her a sad smile. “But Jake might never have done what he did if I hadn’t put you at risk.”

  They could go round and round about this endlessly. “It’s done now.”

  “Yeah.” Jake stuffed a scone in his mouth. “All said and done, now let’s move on.”

  Molly snatched her scones away. “Don’t you eat my food. I’ve not forgiven you yet. You make some pathetic apology that didn’t count for anything, and put all the blame on a woman, and expect me to feed you.”

  “I—” Jake dropped his head and breathed deep. Then he looked up at Ellie, and he looked like the brother she’d grown up with. The same one who had taught her how to tie her laces. “I lost my mind, Ellie. I should never have even thought that stupid auction would work. Yes, it was Minnie’s idea, but you weren’t her sister. It was my job to stop it all, and I didn’t.” He cleared his throat. “I sent Paul and Patrick out to find you. Not to bring you back and force you into anything, but to bring you back safely.”

  “You did?” Ellie glanced at Theo.

  “That’s what he says.” Theo shrugged. “And I wouldn’t have believed a word of it, but Pearl says it’s the truth. He and Minnie had a fight that woke up everyone the morning they discovered you were gone. He tossed Minnie out right off.”

  Molly filled his whisky glass and Theo nodded his thanks,

  “But he still had to deal with all those low lives who had come for the auction. And things got nasty there for a while. He needed the twins to get rid of them all.” Theo chuckled.
“They weren’t too partial to being told the whole thing was off.”

  Jake stared into his tea. “They nearly burned down the Four Kings.”

  “Is everyone all right?” Ellie had no sympathy for Jake and the twins about that. They’d created the mess in the first place. “Pearl, the girls, everyone got out safely?”

  “Everyone is fine.” Jake nodded. “We…ah… let the girls go. We’re turning the rooms into boarding, and Pearl’s gonna run it.”

  “What will the girls do?” Her girls had become whores in the first place because they had no other way to feed themselves.

  “A couple are staying to work with Pearl, the rest I set up in the old boarding house on Aspen street. Maisy took them over. Even Kitty agreed to stay with her,” Jake said. “I paid to set it up right for them.”

  Ellie got the feeling Theo had a lot to do with that new direction. “How did you find me?”

  “I knew about Cole’s businesses in Denver,” Theo said. “When Jake told me Cole had been seen with you, I started there.”

  “Then some Pinkerton man showed up and started asking about you.” Jake smirked. “We persuaded him to tell us who had sent him.”

  “Do you know a Victoria Bonnington?” Theo looked at her. “And why does she want to know all about you?”

  Molly snorted and gave Ellie a significant look. “Told you.”

  “She’s Cole’s…” She didn’t know but guessed it had progressed by now. “She’s Cole’s fiancée.”

  “Fiancée?” Theo looked thunderous. “Then he’s going to have to get himself unengaged and do right by you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Cole stared at Mellor. The butler looked frazzled, his jacket disheveled and his hair standing on end. He stood in the doorway of the dining room.

  “Who did you say?” He wasn’t sure he’d heard right, and also that those bastards had dared put a foot inside his mother’s house.

  Mellor jerked his lapel straight. “There are a Mr. Jake Pierce, a Mr. Patrick Pierce and a Mr. Paul Pierce here who are most insistent on seeing you. They are refusing to leave. I could send for the—”