Charity (Brides of the Rio Grande Book 4)

by Peggy McKenzie

  “Why do you resist me, Miles. We both know we want each other.” She coaxed. “Why do you resist?”

  Scuffles of the men and their empty stretcher returned to the hall. Miles pushed her away and faced them as they emerged from the room. “Okay, men. Leave the stretcher downstairs. We don’t want anyone to get wind of a patient being delivered to the Hanover home. And keep your mouth shut. Someone wants the boy dead along with this woman and Mrs. Hanover. Their lives depend on your ability to keep your mouths shut. Got it?” He demanded.

  “Yes, sir, sheriff. We won’t say a word. Not a single word.”

  The men glanced her way, nodded to her and then disappeared down the hall on their way out.

  Sarah could be heard rustling around in the injured man’s room. “I…guess I better get dressed and go help Sarah. There will be a lot to do now that we have a patient in our home.”

  She turned to go, but Miles grabbed her arm. “Charity?”

  She loved the feel of his warm hand on her arm and the soft tone of his voice when he spoke her name. “Yes?”

  “Promise me…you’ll be careful. Promise me you won’t take any unnecessary risks. Whoever is doing this isn’t playing games. He is deadly serious and you are his most wanted target. You shot his partner and you are the reason his buddy is sitting in jail. It’s you he’s trying to get to. Promise me, you’ll be careful and you won’t do something stupid.”

  Charity grinned. It actually sounded like he cared. “Are you worried about me, sheriff?” She teased.

  He pinned her with his eyes for a half second. Then, he pulled her against his hard chest and leaned down. Her heart raced. He was going to kiss her again.

  She closed her eyes and waited for his lips to claim hers. She could feel his warm breath and it sent shivers of anticipation through her body pooling at the juncture of her thighs.

  And then she waited. And waited. Puzzled, she opened her eyes to see his mouth curled up in a sardonic grin. “I always worry about you, Charity. You are like an impending storm on the horizon. I don’t know how much damage you are gonna do, but I know you’re gonna wreck something.”

  He pushed away and strode down the hall, his lean hips and wide shoulders disappearing around the corner.

  She turned in shocked surprise to see Sarah coming out of their patient’s room. She grinned at Charity. “Looks like the marshall has a crush on you, Miss Charity.”

  She couldn’t think of a single thing to say except correct Sarah’s misconception. “No, Sarah. Not a marshall. He’s a sheriff,” and then she grinned back at the beloved housekeeper. “And yes, it does look like the sheriff has a crush on me.”

  Charity wished she had not waited on Miles to kiss her. Had she known he was going to chicken out, she would have kissed him first. A voice inside her head said A lady should never act forward and offer to kiss a gentleman first.

  Oh shut up. A lady should be able to kiss the man she loves if she wants to.

  Miles sat at his desk and grabbed a couple of winks before he started his morning rounds. It had been a long hard night. He needed some sleep, but it was gonna be impossible if he didn’t hire more deputies. He and Bishop couldn’t do it all and live to tell about it. A tired lawman was a dull lawman and that led to mistakes. And he would make a mistake sooner or later if he didn’t get some help.

  Deputy Bishop walked into the jail house with a package under his arm. “Sheriff, some more wanted posters just arrived by train. Wanna take a look at them?”

  “Yeah, slide ‘em on over.” He sat up in his chair and stretched his back and neck. Falling asleep in that hard chair wasn’t a problem if a person was tired enough. It was the waking up that made a man want to swear.

  He tore open the package and rifled through them. One by one, he stared at the faces staring back. Bank robbers. Train robbers. A horse thief or two. But no one that resembled the man he held behind bars. “Nothing,” he announced and shoved them in the drawer with the rest of the useless faces.

  “There’s another batch on the way from Denver. Should be here in three or four days. “The federal judge will be arriving in two weeks. I don’t suppose the defendant has to have a name to be tried, but it sure would go a long way to identifying his buddy. Out of six witnesses, I have three left and one of those is questionable. I’d rather shoot him myself and hang for it than let him get off because somebody killed all my witnesses.”

  “You think that’ll happen, sheriff?” Deputy Bishop yawned and rubbed his eyes.

  “Not on my watch, Bishop. Not on my watch. Now, you go home and get a few hours of sleep. I’m gonna need you back on duty this afternoon. Think you can do it?” Miles knew he was asking a lot from the man who only got paid twenty dollars a month plus room and board over at the boardinghouse.”

  “Yeah, not a problem. I know you are needin’ sleep too. I’ll be back a little after lunch, then you can get some rest too.”

  “Thanks, Bishop. When all this is over, I’ll pay you a bonus. Maybe even give you a little time off to yourself. How would you like that?”

  “That’d suit me just fine.” He left, anxious to find his bed and grab some shut eye. Miles pulled the stack of wanted posters out of his desk drawer again. “Where are you? And who is your no-good murdering buddy?” He flipped through the posters again more to keep himself awake than he hoped to find that one familiar face.

  This week had been enough to test even the hardest of lawmen. First, he had seen the Mabry couple all stretched out underneath a tarp waiting to be buried.

  Then, Charity decided to stalk a killer. The killer he was confident was responsible for the Mabrys’ death, the death of Mr. Putnam, and Joshua Putnam’s injuries. The kid was lucky to be alive. What had she been thinking when she decided to follow a strange man behind the jail without telling anyone what she was doing? She had to have known there could be trouble. Of course, she did. It was Charity he was talking about.

  Trouble followed Charity. Like thunder followed lightening. She did kinda remind him of a storm. Dear Lord, save him from the woman, he prayed. But he couldn’t keep his thoughts from wandering back to earlier this morning when she came out of her bedroom in her nightclothes, her hair mussed and hanging in loose waves across her shoulders and down her back. She looked like…a woman who had spent the night in the arms of her lover. The thought made his lower region twitch again.

  He closed his eyes and remembered the way she fit against him when he had kissed her twice now. Perfect and soft and all feminine curves. She was a walking contradiction and he had no clue how to deal with her. He had kissed her again last night because he had wanted to. No, he needed to hold her in his arms. Feel her strength. Be touched by her desire for him. He wished things could be different, but he wouldn’t even waste his time wishing.

  He had wanted to kiss her again this morning. And he almost had. He wanted to pull her hard against him and kiss her with all the pent up passion he held in check since the first day he laid eyes on her. But, he hadn’t.

  Visions of her in her leather pants that hugged her body like a soft leather glove. And her twin Colts strapped on those slender hips of hers. Her hair, flowing behind her like a wall of fire, made him ache to grab both hands full of it and hold on tight. And then there were those eyes of hers. Deep and green. They were the eyes of a siren who could entice a man to his death—or sell his soul to the devil. He had never felt that kind of pull from a woman before and it scared the hell out of him. He wanted to burn up in the fire of passion that was Charity Montgomery. He wanted to—he damn sure wanted to. But…

  He wished things could be different. Had he chosen another path besides the life of a lawman, he might have been persuaded to take a chance on her. She was a walking—talking dichotomy of what a woman should be. A rigid contrast between the fire of her passion and the ice in her veins. Her feelings were tough as leather, but he’d seen the pain in her eyes as delicate as any scrap of lace. He had never met anyone like her and he dared to gu
ess he never would again.

  Why had he chosen to be a lawman after his family’s tragedy? Because he wanted to finish the job his pa had left undone. The need burned his soul like a hot poker. It was as hot as his desire for a certain red-headed she-devil.

  The door to his office opened and he reached for his gun in his holster.

  “It’s me, Miles. Selina. I’ve come with your fresh baked bread this morning.” Her smile tentative.

  “Come in, Selina. I hate to say you may have caught me napping. It was a long night.” He didn’t think she would understand if he told her what he had really been thinking about.

  “How is Mr. Putnam and his son?” She asked as she unloaded her basket full of bread and began to slice it into manageable slices.

  He couldn’t tell Selina that Joshua Putnam was still alive so he hedged. “I’d rather not discuss that, if you don’t mind?”

  She nodded. “I see. Well, there’s talk around town that neither one of them survived the beating. Such a shame. And that boy, Joshua was his name? He was much too young to die. Only sixteen I heard someone say. Such a sad thing to have happen.” She kept cutting away at the loaf of bread while she delivered the gossip around town.

  He was glad to know the story of their deaths was getting around town. Now that all three of his witnesses were living in the Hanover house, it would be much easier to guard one place. Thoughts of Charity this morning gave him an itch. And it was an itch he wanted to scratch.

  “Miles? What are you thinking about? You seem distracted this morning? Has something else happen that I should know about?”

  He focused his attention on the woman standing in front of him. “Something you should know about? Like what?” He was getting a little tired of Selina making assumptions about him and her. Especially after he was very clear just a couple of nights ago that he and she were not a they.

  And it was none of her business what he did or didn’t do or who he did it with. That very thought made his itch grow more insistent demanding to be scratched.

  “Well, I don’t know. You just look like you have a lot on your mind and I thought I could help out somehow.” She smiled a sweet smile, but he sensed there was something more she wanted to ask.

  “There’s nothing you can do, Selina. I have a lot of people depending on me to catch a killer before he can kill anyone else.”

  “You mean like Charity Montgomery?”

  “Why would you say that?” His senses were on high alert.

  “Miles, I’m not stupid. The woman is the one who shot your prisoner. It would stand to reason whoever is focused on killing your witnesses wouldn’t hesitate to kill the one person who started this whole chain of events in the first place.”

  “Are you saying all of this is Charity’s fault?” He had said much the same thing himself, but he didn’t appreciate Selina spreading gossip just because she might be jealous of Charity even though there was nothing to be jealous of, he told himself.

  “I’m just repeating what everyone else is saying and that is if she had just kept her seat on the train, and let the robbers take the money, no one would be trying to kill innocent people.”

  Her calm recitation of gossip about Charity made his belly boil with anger. It was one thing for him to accuse her of that himself. He was the law. It was quite another for Selina Watson and the rest of the town’s gossip to place the blame on her. For all they know, Charity’s action could have prevented deaths just as easily as she had caused them.

  “It doesn’t become you, Selina. Gossiping around town about someone you don’t know. I think it might be best if you don’t come around the jailhouse in the mornings anymore. It could be dangerous and I’d hate to see you get hurt. Besides, since Aggie and Charity are the only two remaining witnesses to testify against the prisoner, I’ll be spending more time over there. Guarding my witnesses, of course.”

  He saw the look of hurt in her blue eyes. “I see.”

  “I hope you understand.” He tried to soften his words with a half-smile.

  She shoved the bread slices and her slicing knife back into the basket so hard, he was afraid she was going to accidentally cut herself.

  “Oh, I understand Sheriff Grayson. I understand perfectly. I saw you and Miss Montgomery carrying on last night at the Hanovers’ dinner table. It was embarrassing for everyone who witnessed that…spectacle.”

  He took offense to being chastised. He was a grown ass man and a little harmless flirting shouldn’t bother anyone except his wife and he didn’t have one. “I seem to remember you nearly climbing into Doc Howard’s lap a time or two. So, I think you’re accusation is the pot calling the kettle black.” Miles wasn’t usually a tit for tat person, but Selina was starting to piss him off. She didn’t own him and he didn’t owe her a damn explanation or an apology.

  “That’s uncalled for, Miles. I was simply enjoying someone to talk to at dinner since you were otherwise occupied. Besides, I for one thought you were smarter than that.” Serina’s insult was hitting a little too close to his own thoughts after last night.

  “Smarter than what?” He didn’t appreciate her attitude one bit.

  “Smarter than to fall for that woman’s tricks. It is as obvious as the nose on your face what she’s up to, but apparently, you either can’t see it or choose not to see it. Either way, you are a fool. That woman will get you killed. Mark my words.“

  This conversation was escalating into something ugly. “Look, Selina, this is not an easy situation.” He explained and hoped she listened to reason.

  “It would be easier if you weren’t planning to live under the same roof as that…woman.”

  “I can’t protect my witnesses if I don’t. Now, the matter is settled and you should probably go on back to the bakery. This place isn’t safe for you either.”

  Her eyes squinted at him and her jaw muscled twitched. With a huff and a swirl of gingham, Selina turned and left his office, slamming the door against the jam, iron hinges and windows shuddering in her wake.

  Miles sat in the quiet aftermath and stared at the closed door. For a meek and mild little baker woman, she packed quite a wallop.

  He heard a laugh from his prisoner. “Hey, sheriff. I’d say you got big, big woman troubles.”

  “Oh shut up.” But he had a feeling the man was absolutely right.

  15

  Charity dressed for the day after Miles left her wishing she had been her old self for just a few moments this morning. The old Charity wouldn’t have hesitated to kiss the hell out of that man.

  She grinned to herself as she helped Sarah cook for their patient upstairs.

  “There’s that look again.” Sarah’s voice punched through her daydreams.

  “What look? I have no idea what you are talking about?”

  “You forget, Charity. I was there when the sheriff almost kissed you this morning in the hallway. I could tell he wanted to, but…”

  “But he didn’t. I know. He does that a lot and I wish I knew why.”

  “All I know is the man looks at you like a man in love.”

  Charity whirled around to look at Sarah. Was she teasing? She didn’t look as if she was teasing.

  “Are you telling me you think Miles is…in love? With me?” Charity’s heart hiccupped and her stomach felt all fluttery.

  “That’s the way it looks to me. I see how he looked at you last night when I came to refill wine glasses. He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

  “Yes, I could see he was rather attentive.” A thought crossed Charity’s mind. “But what if it was only because he was jealous of Mr. Carter. Or maybe he was using me to make Selina jealous since she was sitting between two very handsome men when Miles arrived. Unexpectedly, I might add.”

  Sarah nodded and a offered Charity a melancholy smile. “Yes, I am very well aware of Doc Howard’s presence last night. And any woman would be proud to fall in love with that man…” Sarah stopped short and gave Charity an embarrassed grin. “But, Miles Gra
yson was not behaving like a man who wanted to make the woman across the table jealous. He was behaving like a man who is in love with the woman he was talking with.”

  Aggie entered the kitchen with a beaming smile across her face. “That’s right, Charity. Believe it. I saw it with my own eyes too. Hiram and I are convinced it is only a matter of time before our stoic and serious-minded sheriff succumbs to your charms, my dear. Now, what do we have for our patient? He’s getting a bit crabby upstairs and he wants his breakfast.” She leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper. “I think that may mean he’s on the mend, don’t you?”

  Charity was relieved to hear that because the poor boy had been through so much.

  “We fixed him some eggs, bacon, a slab of ham and Sarah’s fluffy buttermilk biscuits. I’ve fixed his tray so I’ll take it up to him.” Sarah offered.

  Charity stopped her. “No, please let me. You’ve done so much already with last night’s scrumptious meal and now breakfast. You are always working, Sarah. You go to the market and I’ll take care of our patient.”

  She watched Sarah hesitate and it dawned on her why. “I promise if Doctor Howard comes to visit our patient while you are away, I’ll send one of the Miller boys down the street to fetch you home.”

  Sarah grinned. “Thank you, Charity. I’ll hurry to the market and get what we need. I be back as soon as I can.” Sarah whipped off her apron and grabbed her shawl and the large basket she used to bring home her purchases.

  “Now, I will take the breakfast tray up and see how young Mr. Putnam is feeling this morning.” Charity picked up the heavy tray and carried down the hall and up the stairs to the bedroom at the front of the house.

  “Hello?” She called out to a partially opened door. No answer. Perhaps he’s still asleep. She pushed open the door and entered the semi-darkness of the room. “Good morning, Mr. Putnam. How are you feeling this morning?” She said in her cheeriest voice.