by Bella Bowen
If he’d read guilt on her face, he’d mistaken it.
“You mean to say you suspect I would have wanted the hall burned down? When I arranged for it in the first place?”
“With all due respect, ma’am, none of us knows what you really want here. Is it Diamond Springs you’re after? Or is it the owner?”
Gen rose to her feet, shaking. “I’m the owner, doctor, so that renders your question ridiculous. As for Sage River, I simply wish to bring prosperity to a place I consider my home. And if you think I give a fig about Devlin Zollinger, you go ahead and guess again.”
The doctor snorted. “Then I suppose our ears deceived all of us, Mrs. Carnegie. Because I would have sworn on a stack of fresh bibles that you just screamed his name.” He grinned briefly, then looked one long last time on the old man on the ground before he turned and walked away.
Gen found it was easier to look at the still body than to meet anyone else’s eyes.
The bucket line, as it turned out, was for keeping the surrounding buildings went. No one worried about putting out the burning wood that might have been their town hall. Gen sat with Mary Willot just inside the woman’s home on the street north of Main and watched the townsfolk shift and shuffle until there was a good sized crowd filling the narrow road. After a few dozen glances at the Willot window, Gen set aside her teacup and walked outside. But for the most part, the crowd continued to look past her and into the window. She followed their gazes and realized they were waiting for Charlie Willot to come out.
He seemed to comprehend it at the same time she did and got out of his rocking chair to join her on the narrow porch.
“You all waitin’ on me?” he said clearly.
A man stepped forward. “We’re just waitin’ to see what yer a’ gonna do, Charlie.”
He shook his head. “What I’m a’ gonna do about what?”
The man looked around for a bit of support, and when it seemed he’d gotten it, he lifted his face again. “Whatcha gonna do about that town hall?”
Charlie turned his head to better be able to scratch the back of it and stole a glance at Gen. She just winked and waited like the rest to see what he’d say.
“You mind if I wait for it all to cool down a bit before I start working again?”
Everyone laughed, including the self-appointed spokesperson, who joked in return. “Aw, I reckon that’ll be all right with us, Charlie. But don’t be getting comfortable.”
The crowd laughed again and hats started turning in Gen’s direction.
“I suppose I’d better hire some guards to watch the place so no one labors in vain,” she said.
That seemed to satisfy everyone, for none of them had any questions for her, but they went out of their way to tip those hats before they went about their business. Apparently, the greater portion of Sage River didn’t care what the good doctor might think of her motives. And if Charlie Willot wasn’t discouraged, they wouldn’t be either.
At least, that’s what Gen decided to believe because it gave her peace to do so. She’d take any peace she could get, especially with someone set on sabotaging her plans for both the ranch and the town. Someone was determined to send her crying and defeated back to the train station. But that wasn’t going to happen. And nobody else was going to get killed because of her plans for a women’s ranch and matchmaking service.
Only, in order to prevent that from happening, she was going to have to find the murderer herself. And the first place she was going to look was Mrs. Kennedy’s hotel, top floor, where Devlin Zollinger was rumored to be living.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Devlin order a copper tub and hot water to be carted up to the top floor and he didn’t care how much it was going to cost him. He was in no mood to ride all the way up to the springs, whether or not he was allowed on the property, and whether or not he knew a few spots of entry where those female guards wouldn’t know to watch. He wanted a good scrubbing, and it wasn’t just dirt and soot he planned to remove from himself.
There was a hearing coming up in a few hours and he prepared to do whatever he had to in order to come out the winner. If he had anything sticking to him temporarily that might loosen up with a bit of warm water and soap, he needed to get it done, and wash it away. And that included any tender thought he might have had for Genevieve Carnegie.
She needed to give up her little dream of owning his ranch, get her little army back on a train and go fight for women’s suffrage…somewhere else…since Wyoming had already given them the vote. A far better use of their time, surely, but also necessary so the town could settle down again.
And whoever it was who was trying to sabotage Gen’s plans could crawl back under the rock they’d come from.
He chided himself for ever thinking Gen might have burned down the arch. That fire had to have been started by the same coward that burned the town hall and killed Old Al Tucker. And Gen wouldn’t have done that, or hired it done. If she was evil enough to do such a thing, she would have found a way to lay it at his feet.
If the killer couldn’t be found and stopped, the only thing reasonable would be to cancel her plans and stop putting people in danger.
And he could get back to his horses.
It was a fine little game to play. It never hurt to have a good look at mistakes of one’s past, but now someone had been hurt. Someone had been killed. And it was time for the game to end. Oh, she’d huff and she’d puff and she’d threaten to shoot his doors down, but Gen had to know, deep down, that she and he were never meant to live in the same town, let alone on the same ranch. And he sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere.
At least, not if he got his ranch back.
He slipped out of his unmentionables and into the tub that was far too small for someone who was used to having private pool of hot springs to bathe in. And finally, he allowed himself to consider what he would do if Diamond Springs, or the legal deed to it, was handed over to that spoiled—too beautiful for her own good—woman.
“Indulgent,” he groused. “Snobbish. Uppity.” The descriptors came a bit faster and a bit more forceful. “Willful. Oblivious. Self-righteous.” With the soap and cloth he worked up a lather and put his growing energy to clean his carcass. “Clever. No! Not clever. Cunning—no, devious.” He paused only when he couldn’t think of the next one, then started scrubbing again. “Obnoxious. Silly.”
“Oh? Why silly?”
She stood in the doorway with the door flung wide. He’d left it unlocked so more hot water could be delivered for rinsing. He’d gone and dumped all the first lot into the tub without saving any.
He glanced down. There were scarcely enough bubbles and such to cover his privates, but modesty had little to do with what he was feeling at the moment.
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” she said, and gracefully stepped into the room and closed the door.
He’d be damned if he was going to add graceful to the list.
“We don’t do this, remember?” He pointed to himself, then to her, then to the door.
She raised a brow.
“We don’t allow ourselves to be alone together, if you remember. I don’t see why we should break that habit.”
She blushed, and he knew it wasn’t because she’d suddenly realized he was sitting in a tub.
He laughed. “You couldn’t have believed for seven years that it was all your doing.” Guilt covered her face before she turned all the way around and even then, he could see her expression in the mirror. Her eyes were closed, and the blushing continued.
“Do you realize how difficult it would be for two people to live in the same house for seven years and never be in the same room alone together, ever, without…” He huffed out his breath. “Gen! For heaven’s sake, it was difficult enough with both of us managing it. How could you possibly have believed you’d done it on your own?”
She shrugged and kept her eyes closed. He let her wallow for as long as she would and resumed his bathing. The
sound of water splashing drew her attention after only a moment.
“Devlin…”
“No. I’m sorry but you may not share my bath.”
She laughed lightly. “How droll.”
“We don’t use the word droll in Wyoming. Have you forgotten that too?”
She heaved a heavy sigh and sat on the bed with her back to him. A few moments later, he had nothing left to wash and still needed rinsing. Only he needed to remove a few buckets’ worth out the window before more could be added. It was just so much easier to bathe at the springs!
The room stilled along with the water and he listened to her breathe.
“It is terribly uncomfortable, isn’t it?” She shrugged a pretty shoulder. “Being in the same room together after trying so desperately to keep it from happening.”
He snorted. “Can you imagine how amusing it was for David? I have no doubt he was working hard to make us fail—”
“Can we not talk about David?”
His jaw clenched, but he forced himself to relax. “That’s right. We promised never to discuss the fact that you think I killed him. No matter what I say…or said at the time.”
“I…”
“Don’t you say it.” He came up out of the tub like a lion from hiding, every muscle in his body flexing together. No effort at all and he nearly flew. “Don’t you dare lie to me and tell me you don’t believe it anymore. Time won’t heal this wound, darlin’.”
She shook her head but said nothing.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come,” he shouted through his gritted teeth.
The door opened, then widened, along with the jaws of the two men now facing the woman on the bed. She simply waved her arm in his direction, and kept her head turned away. The two wobbled forward and deposited the buckets, then one looked into the tub. “You want me to toss some of that out the window?”
Devlin put his hands on his hips. “Certainly.” Then he waited for the man to realize there was no empty bucket to use.
The man did not disappoint. Finally, after searching the room, he looked to Devlin again. “I suppose I could dump one of the hot ones—”
“Don’t you dare.”
Gen had turned around, curious about the conversation. The second man moved, giving her a clear view of Dev’s nude form, and she gasped and turned back around. Over her shoulder, she said, “I suggest you use the chamber pot.”
Devlin stubbornly stood his ground in the tub while the man fished under the bed for the pot, then used it to empty some of the soapy water. After three full pots, Dev told him to get out.
“The soap’s dry on me now,” he mumbled. “Never coming off again.”
Gen giggled.
He snorted.
She giggled louder, no longer able to control herself. Eventually, he laughed along. “It was pretty silly over here, madam. Too bad you missed the real comedy.”
She caught her breath, then spoke in a rush as she let it out. “I didn’t miss it at all. The mirror…” And she dissolved into laughter again.
While he rinsed and scrubbed, then rinsed again, she laughed into the pillow, no doubt to prove she wasn’t watching his attempts to get the bath behind him.
“You know, the whole town probably knows you’re up here witnessing my bath.”
She shrugged, averting her eyes as he got dressed. “I don’t think they care, really. The doctor has an opinion. And David…is gone.”
Devlin shook his head. If she’d come to be seduced, or to do some seducing, she was going to be disappointed. If it ever happened that the two of them ended up in a bed together, it was going to be on the bed he’d always imagined them on.
He closed his eyes and let his head fall back while he groaned silently. The bath hadn’t removed the right stuff after all; there was more than just soap left behind.
When he was fully dressed, he offered a hand and pulled her to her feet. “Why are you here, Gen? Come to tell me your price for returning my ranch? Have you come to demand I service you? Is that it?”
She jumped and pulled back her arm, but he caught her wrist when she swung it around to strike him. And by the impact of catching that wrist, he realized it would have been one hell of a slap too. He’d been lucky to avoid it. But he needed to goad her the hell out of his room and back to her side of the war. He wasn’t about to walk into that hearing with any kind thoughts toward her—he sure as hell didn’t want the smell of her hair in his nose. But it was already too late for that.
“What is it, Gen? You want me to buy the ranch back one tiny piece at a time? How much do I get for a kiss? Mm? Can I have one of my colts back…” Still holding her wrist, he nudged her toward the bed while keeping his other hand behind his back where it was safe. “If I bed you? An extra horse for each husband I best?”
Her mouth snapped shut, but her eyes only grew wider.
One more nudge, his body flush against hers. His ability to earn his ranch back was obvious. “I could earn three animals in one go.”
She wrenched her wrist from his grasp and lunged around him. He spun and caught her against the door.
“Don’t touch me,” she growled, then tried to bite the arm that held one of hers against the frame.
He tried to tell himself he was simply protecting his person, that he needed to occupy her mouth to keep her from sinking her teeth into him. So he took possession of it with his own, and only after their lips were well and truly locked together did he realize what a momentous occasion it was.
It should have happened so much differently. With tenderness, and time. Something to be remembered forever.
Their first kiss.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
She made no sound while he kissed her thoroughly. She made no protest either. And when he paid close attention, he began to appreciate the fact that she was kissing him back. And with vigor.
Perhaps their first kiss would have always been like this. He’d tucked away every temptation, every emotion where Gen was concerned, so he truly ought to have been expecting an explosion of some kind when he let it all out again. And if her enthusiasm was any indication, it seemed his sister-in-law had been trying to hide her own feelings for him.
Though he hated to bring the kiss to an end for fear of there never being another, his curiosity was just as desperate. Did she want him as much as he wanted her? Or was this just an instinctual reaction from a woman who had been married and lost two husbands?
He gentled the kiss, then ended it, but didn’t let go of her until he was sure neither of them was going to crumble to the floor for lack of a bit of air. The real test came when he started to pull away.
It was a distant kind of sound, so quiet he wondered if she realized she’d made it. A whimper. A denial. The sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
She didn’t want to let go.
He was careful not to look smug when he started to speak.
“Gen—”
She pulled him back to her, gripping him tightly by the front of his shirt. And with her lips, she demanded that he repeat the first kiss. He wasn’t about to refuse her. He didn’t try to argue, especially since she wasn’t giving him a chance to speak.
It was heaven. It was vindication. It was redemption all in one.
It didn’t make up for the years of pining. Seventeen years was just too long to torture himself for the sake of a kiss—or two kisses. But it felt damn good.
Finally, she pulled away and gasped for air. But even after she caught her breath, she was still shaking.
He waited for her to look at him. She wouldn’t.
He put a finger beneath her chin to turn her head. She resisted.
He laughed lightly, still a little too happy to be sober. “Aren’t we going to talk about this?”
She shook her head. She wasn’t teasing.
She may as well have slapped his face.
He took a step back, pulling completely away, and if the woman’s knees failed her, it would serve her rig
ht.
“It that what you came for?” he hissed.
She shook her head again but still didn’t speak, only went on staring at the floor.
“Then what do you want?” The question might as well have been asked by David. So heartless. So filled with disgust. And he hated her for making him sound that way. But he wasn’t about to take it back.
“I came to see…”
“If I’d set the town hall on fire?”
She denied that too, but her blush meant that at some point she’d thought him capable of it.
“Of course you did. What is one more murder, right?”
Her head snapped up. There was pleading in her eyes. She was begging for pity, then. Maybe their kisses had shaken her as much as they’d shaken him. And if so, he should probably take it easy on her.
He sighed. “What do you need from me, Genevieve?” He watched her closely, waiting for her to glance at the bed that stood only three feet from them. But she didn’t.
“I need…” Her voice was weak and she cleared her throat. “I need you to help me find a murderer.”
“Ah.” He shook his head. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t oblige. I mean, how would it look if I went around clearing the way for your little enterprise? Mm?”
He thought about what rumors were already flying around Sage River after she’d been found in his room during his bath. Was that why she’d really come? To make sure people knew he had a weakness for her? Was the kiss his idea? Or had she set the trap for him? It was hard to remember even though it had happened only moments ago.
Was she hoping to get him so worked up that he followed her out of the hotel begging her to come back to him?
“You need to leave. Now.” The words echoed in his memory from the day he’d sent her packing, the day after David’s funeral. But nothing more than disappointment registered on her face. Perhaps that day didn’t haunt her like it did him.
She glanced at his lips, but he wasn’t going to be seduced again. So he laughed.
