Charity (Brides of the Rio Grande Book 4)

by Peggy McKenzie

  Hiram stood next to his wife and continued the introductions.

  “This is Ben Carter. Mr. Carter, this is Creede’s finest, Doctor Howard.”

  Mr. Carter nodded. “Doctor.”

  Aggie sent her a smile and said, “Shall we dine?”

  Doc offered his arm to Selina and Mr. Carter extended his to her. The three couples left the parlor and walked down the hallway to the dining room. What was Aggie up to? Why was Doc Howard here instead of Miles? This didn’t make any sense at all and as soon as she could find an excuse to talk to Aggie alone, she was gonna find out.

  Just as everyone entered the dining room and the aroma of roast beef, roasted potatoes and fresh baked bread filled the air, another knock at the door stopped everyone.

  Hiram guided his wife to her chair. “Please, everyone take a seat. I’ll get rid of whoever is at the door.”

  “Selina, you sit here.” Aggie pointed to the chair on the other side of the table. “Doc Howard, you sit next to Selina’s right.” Aggie turned Mr. Carter. “Mr. Carter, if you don’t mind, would you please sit on the other side of Selina. Charity, you are here across from Doctor Howard, Hiram and I will sit next to you.”

  She thought it a strange seating arrangement considering they had three couples, but Aggie was in charge tonight and Charity was more than willing to see where the evening went.

  Once everyone had taken their seats, Aggie took hers. “We will wait for Hiram to return and then we shall dine like royalty. Look at this feast. As always, Sarah has outdone herself.”

  Voices down the hallway alerted Charity to the fact that the surprise element of their little dinner party had just arrived.

  Hiram swept into the dining room with Miles in tow. “Look who I found at my front door.” Hiram announced as if it was the greatest surprise ever. Charity cut an amused look to Aggie, but the woman acted like the picture of innocence. Charity had a newfound respect for the kind, soft-spoken woman. A whole newfound respect.

  Selina’s shocked expression was priceless. “Miles, what are you doing here?” She cut a look toward Charity. She mimicked Aggie’s innocence and shrugged her shoulders.

  Charity watched as Miles’s gaze skimmed the occupants at the dining table. She knew when he got to Mr. Carter, but it was his surprise at seeing Doc Howard in attendance as well that had her amused. He glanced at her briefly before he turned to Hiram.

  “Um, I must have misunderstood Liam when he said you wanted to speak with me about what happened to you and Aggie yesterday up on the mountain. He said right away, so I came right away, but maybe…” Miles’ sentence drifted off.

  Hiram smiled. “Liam was correct. I did want to talk to you, but it could have waited until tomorrow.”

  Miles cut a look to her and then to Mr. Carter. “Well, I don’t want to disturb your dinner…”

  “Nonsense, sheriff. Come, join us. Sarah has cooked up a feast fit for a king.” Hiram pulled Miles into the room and pushed him toward the chair next to Charity.

  She cut a discreet look to Aggie who was maintaining her innocent look, but there was a sparkle in those baby blues of hers that spoke loud and clear. Charity mused at the cunning and creativity her mentor displayed. So this was your plan. Well done, Aggie Hanover. Well. Done.

  A person could have knocked Miles over with a feather when he followed Hiram to the dining room door and saw the little gathering at the table. Liam had reported to Miles Hiram and Aggie’s mishap on the mountain and that Hiram feared the landslide was a manmade occurrence. Miles would have rushed over yesterday, but Liam insisted they wanted to rest a bit before reliving the horrible event, and yet from all appearances, it looked to him like they were doing just fine. Nobody had said anything about a…dinner party.

  “Come, join us. Please, sit down.” Hiram pushed him further into the room.

  “I don’t want to interrupt your—” he tried to extricate himself from this awkward position, but Hiram was having none of it.

  “Nonsense, sheriff. You have to eat sometime. You might as well partake of this feast that Sarah worked so hard to prepare. You don’t want to disappoint the woman, now do you?”

  The man wasn’t usually this persistent and if Miles didn’t know better, and Liam had told him to come tonight, he would say this little dinner party had been planned in advance.

  Miles couldn’t imagine how him not staying would disappoint their housekeeper, but he wasn’t going to argue with the man.

  “No, I suppose not.” His hat in his hand, he sat it on the buffet next to the dining room door.

  “Good, now take the seat there next to Charity and let’s get started shall we?” Hiram slapped him on the back and pushed him toward the chair.

  He dragged his feet a bit, but sat in the chair next to Charity as instructed. Her perfume filled his nostrils and created a sexual tension as thoughts of their kiss yesterday invaded his usually focused mind.

  He tried not to look at her, but he supposed it would be rude if he didn’t at least acknowledge her presence.“ Charity.”

  “Sheriff Grayson. It’s such a surprise to see you here this evening.” She seemed sincere, but was it a surprise? He wondered and searched her cool green eyes for the truth. Instead, he was hit by a bolt of sexual desire that sent his crotch area jumping like a frog leg in a hot skillet. Thank goodness that part of him was hidden under the linen tablecloth.

  Hiram smiled and passed the heaping plate of juicy fragrant roast beef to Mr. Carter to his right. “Now, please dig in. Aggie would you do the honors of passing the potatoes while I pass the roast beef platter?”

  When the platter finally got to him, he dipped his share of roast beef on to his plate then passed it on to Charity. She took it and their hands touched sending a spark of attraction through his body followed by a sultry look from those eyes of hers.

  “Thank you, sheriff,” she smiled and sent him a sultry look.

  He cleared his throat before he answered. “You’re welcome,” was all he could manage. He cut a discreet look across the table toward Selina and the angry slant-eyed look he got in return was unnerving. How had he gotten himself into this mess in the first place. He cut a look at Hiram and studied the attorney. Had he had something to do with this? No, he couldn’t imagine the legal genius being involved in a matchmaking scheme.

  Miles ate his dinner in silence while listening to the conversations around him. He heard drips and drabs of Hiram and Doc’s conversation about the modern miracles of medicine and his use of natural herbs to cure human ailments. Mr. Carter spoke up a few times offering his opinion about certain plants he had come across that made a person down right loopy. He said he had even tried a few of them and wouldn’t recommend it.

  He tried not to look across the table at Selina again. He knew she was not happy with him after his conversation with her last evening. He tried to let her down gently, but the more he tried to explain that he wasn’t the marrying kind, the more she argued that she saw that as a challenge. “Every man is the marrying kind, Miles. It all depends on meeting the right woman,” she informed him. He knew she thought she was the right woman for him, but…

  “Miles, you aren’t eating very much. Aren’t you hungry?” The soft whisper of his dining neighbor tickled his ear and sent waves of heat through his body that rested once again in his groin area. He pulled his napkin down tighter to cover any telltale signs of his…interest.

  “Yes, I’m hungry,” he said not sure he wanted her to get the true meaning of his reply.

  “Then why don’t you sample everything that’s offered to you?” Her response whispered back and he nearly choked on his forkful of food.

  A concerned look from the other side of the table had him reaching for his water glass. He made a show of clearing his throat.

  “Are you alright, sheriff?” Charity placed a concerned hand on his leg and squeezed. He jumped at her touch and he saw Selina’s lips purse in disapproval.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for aski
ng,” he sounded so formal, but he was at a loss what to do at this moment. He couldn’t stand and leave because his napkin would probably ride right there on the front of his jeans. Wouldn’t that be something for the Creede’s ladies auxiliary club to catch wind of. “Local sheriff embarrasses himself at fancy dinner.”

  Aggie stood and took her plate and Hiram’s plate from the table and set it on the sideboard. “How about dessert? Who else is ready?”

  Charity spoke up. “I am more than ready. How about you, sheriff? Are you ready for something sweet and delectable? She leaned forward and placed her hand down to help her rise from her chair, but her hand touched his leg again. His napkin rose just a little bit higher.

  He cleared his throat again and glanced around the table to see if anyone had caught the subtle move. Doc’s dark eyes danced with mischief and Miles knew he would hear about this night later over another cup of coffee.

  Thirty minutes later, everyone had just finished dessert when a knock sounded at the Hanover front door. Charity looked at Aggie in surprise. Was there someone else coming to the party tonight? Aggie shrugged her surprise in return.

  Hiram went to answer the door and returned in a few minutes with Deputy Bishop.

  "What is it?" Miles would have stood but, he still had a problem he hadn’t quite overcome yet.

  "I'm sorry, sheriff. I don't mean to interrupt your dinner, but there’s something that I think you should know. And Doc Howard too."

  "What’s happened now?" Miles braced himself for whatever his deputy had to say.

  "Mr. Putnam and his son, Josh, were just taken to Doc Howard's office. Doc, they’re both beaten up pretty bad."

  Miles cut a look to the doctor.

  “I’ll get my hat.” Doc Howard rose and thanked the Hanovers for their hospitality. “I better go see about their condition.”

  “Hey, Doc. Can you hand me mine.” Doc sent him an amused look and tossed him his hate. Miles grabbed it and stood, holding it in front of himself. “Damn it. I told Putnam to stay in town and not take a chance being somewhere he could be caught out alone."

  "They were in town, sheriff. Somebody caught them behind the livery when they went to board their horses"

  Miles was in disbelief. This was happening right under his nose while he was playing games with a woman he shouldn’t be playing with at all. "You get back to the jail and keep an eye on the prisoner. It's obvious now he’s got a partner.”

  “What makes you say that, sheriff? Maybe Mr. Putnam owed money to someone who took offense to not getting paid.” Mr. Carter offered.

  “That’s a pretty specific supposition, Mr. Carter. Care to elaborate on how you came to that conclusion?” Miles studied the man.

  “I didn’t say it happened, sheriff. I just wondered if that was a possibility for him and his son getting beat up. That’s all.” Mr. Carter’s explanation was weak at best.

  Miles shot the man a hard look. “Why don’t you just stick to whatever it is you do and let me worry about the reasons behind these crimes. Maybe I ought to be asking you where you’ve been this evening before you arrived at the Hanovers.”

  Mr. Carter shrugged and went back to his plate of food. “I’ve already explained about my eye and it’s obvious I haven’t been throwing punches around,” he held up his hands to show they were undamaged.

  “Hiram, that talk of ours will have to wait. There’s someone out there who is systematically killing, or trying to kill, the witnesses from the botched train robbery. I suggest you keep Aggie and Charity under lock and key until we find him.”

  Selina stood. “Wait, Miles. I’ll walk with you up town.”

  “Selina, you should stay and visit with the Hanovers. I’ve got business to attend to.” He didn’t have time to play nice with Selin. Or Charity. He had a job to do and his distractions were interfering with his ability to do it. He knew better.

  “Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Hanover.”

  “Of course, sheriff. Any time.”

  Miles turned his back and left the Hanover home to catch up with the doctor. He stepped inside the doctor’s office.

  “What’s their condition?” Miles asked him.

  “Mr. Putnam died before I arrived, maybe about five minutes ago. He was hit with something solid on his head. Cracked his skull. I doubt he knew what hit him.”

  Miles closed his eyes in disgust. “What about his boy?”

  “Josh is in rough shape, but I think he’ll be okay. He was beaten pretty severely and so it’s hard to say how severe his internal injuries are.”

  “Damn it.” It was all Miles could say. He was doing a piss poor job of protecting his witnesses, that much was for sure.

  “I’m going to talk to Hiram and see if we can move the boy to recuperate in the Hanover home. It’s big. It’s well-protected and it can be defended easier than your office here. And since the other two remaining witnesses live there, it stands to reason it’s the best place for him too.”

  “I don’t want him moved now, sheriff. Not until I can assess whether his condition is serious or critical.” Doc informed him.

  “Okay, I’ll set up some men I can trust to guard your office until you say the word he can be moved. I’d like to move him to the Hanovers under cover of darkness when we do.”

  Doc nodded his understanding. “I’ll send word as soon as I think it’s safe to move him.”

  “And I’d like everyone to think he’s dead too. Can we do that?” Miles hoped Doc had a solution for that.

  “Yeah, I can put him to sleep deep enough I could probably fool people.” He frowned down at his patient.

  Miles nodded and headed back to the Hanovers to talk to Hiram.

  He knocked on the door and he was surprised when Charity answered. “Sheriff, I’m surprised to see you again so soon. Did you forget something?” Charity stepped back and invited him in.

  “I need to speak with Hiram. It’s urgent.”

  “Of course. I’ll get him. How’s the Putnams? Are they gonna be alright?” He looked in her eyes and saw her kindness and empathy and strength there. And right now, his world was spiraling out of control. He stepped inside the door and closed it behind him. Then, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Soft. Sweet. Precious. Like a first kiss should be.

  14

  Early the next morning before daylight, Charity awoke to noises in the hallway outside her door. Confused and concerned, she rose from her bed and grabbed her robe. She pushed her waves of long auburn curls out of the way and slipped into her robe and fastened it.

  She opened her bedroom door just in time to see two men carrying someone on a stretcher with Miles following close behind. “Miles, what’s going on? What are you doing here?”

  He turned at the sound of her voice. His eyes raked over her appearance, heat flared in his eyes, and then returned to meet her gaze. “Go back to bed, Charity. There’s nothing you can do here.”

  He turned away from her and followed Sarah to the bedroom next door, but not before she saw the way he looked at her. His gray eyes dark and stormy. And after last night’s kiss at the Hanover front door, she knew there were raw emotions buried deep inside that man’s heart. He wanted her, but he wouldn’t give himself permission to have her? Why? Her sister’s words reminded her she needed to get him alone long enough to find out, but the man was elusive as a unicorn when she started asking him to explain.

  Sarah rushed to open the bedroom next to Charity’s, the one Hope used to occupy before she married Billy and had a family of her own.

  “Don’t treat me like a child, Miles. Sarah, what can I do to help? Is this the Putnam man?” She pulled her wrapper closer to hide herself from the eyes of the other men.

  “No, it’s his son, Joshua. Mr. Putnam died last night,” Miles told her.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll get dressed and help Sarah get him settled.”

  A moan from the stretcher moved them into motion again. “In here, gentlemen. Let me turn back the covers on the
bed.” Sarah rushed in and Charity could hear her moving around inside the bedroom. The men, the stretcher, and their cargo disappeared into Hope’s old room. She watched from the door as they moved the patient to the bed. His distress was evident by his moans of pain.

  Charity’s anger rose as she watched the overgrown man child suffer from his injuries. “Who did this? You’ve got to find who did this, Miles.”

  He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the hallway. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I want to nail the bastard who killed the Mabrys and this boy’s pa? I’ve got no clues, Charity. I’ve got almost nothing to go on. The bastard in my jail cell won’t tell me who he is. I’m working in the blind here. Completely in the blind.”

  She heard his emotions break over his frustrations. His fingers bit into her arms, but she didn’t care because the heat from his body warmed her through her thin nightclothes. She reached up and touched his face. “But you’ll find them, Miles. I know you will. It’s just a matter of time. You’ll find them, and when you do, you’ll get the justice these people deserve.”

  “I don’t know, Charity. I hope so. But, I just don’t know. It’s like he’s a ghost, fading in and out of the shadows, playing games while he’s taking people’s lives.” She watched the man she loved doubt himself.

  “Miles, he’s not a ghost. I’ve seen him, remember. He’s real and he can be stopped. You will find out who he is and when you do, you’ll make him pay for what he’s done to these innocent people. I have not a single doubt.”

  Miles pulled her to him, his eyes smoldering like molten steel. “You don’t know anything about me, Charity. You don’t know anything about me at all,” he said as he shook her by her arms.

  Her heart raced as the realization they were talking about him now instead of his job. “Then tell me, Miles. Tell me what I need to know. Tell me what it is that keeps you from me. Please.” She begged him.

  She pushed her body against his and felt his desire for her through their clothing. She leaned in to kiss him, but he wouldn’t give in to her.