Janie and the Judge (Montana Women Book 3)

by Nancy Pirri

  “No doubt he’ll be found guilty. But there’ll always be another ‘Clive’ around the corner, waiting. I don’t want to do this, sweetheart, but it’s just not safe for…for me to be married to you.”

  With irony in her voice, she replied, “You mean it’s not safe for me being married to you, don’t you?”

  “I suppose it does work both ways, doesn’t it?”

  Tilting up her chin, she whispered, “Never would I have believed you to be a coward, Simon Hopkins. Never. Don’t you see I’d rather have a week, a day, a single hour of happiness with you then without?”

  Chapter 6

  Simon gulped. He felt the same way, but he couldn’t take the chance.

  Closing his eyes against the pain on Janie’s face he thought about how she’d called him a coward and he couldn’t deny it. It would make it easier for her to agree to the annulment if she thought of him that way.

  “A coward,” he said flatly then shrugged. “Guess I am. Have to admit no one’s ever called me one to my face, though.” He headed toward the door. After he opened it he paused, his back to her, when she spoke.

  He heard sadness, tinged with some anger when she said, “If you change your mind…”

  He stopped himself from racing back to her and taking her in his arms. “I won’t.” And then he left, closing the door gently behind him. At the foot of the stairs he halted, just in time from running into Katie.

  “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

  “Butte. I’ve got court for the next two weeks.”

  Katie moved to a table a short distance away and served her customers, slamming the plates down on the table a bit hard, causing the two older men to flinch.

  Simon took the opportunity to head for the door.

  “Simon, stop! I’m talking to you,” Katie snapped.

  James came in the door, blocking Simon’s way. He looked at Simon then at his wife.

  “Something wrong?” he asked.

  “He’s leaving for Butte and will be gone for two weeks, James. Leaving Janie behind, right after getting married. You could have taken some time off, couldn’t you?”

  Simon sighed at the accusatory expression on her face then looked at James and saw understanding. For once he was glad he’d confided in James and Cane already about his plans.

  “Listen, I’ll be around all the time since I’ll be hanging up my solicitor’s shingle soon, and I purchased the Rawlings farm besides. You explain to her, James. I’ve got to head out.”

  After he left, Katie ran to James’s side then tried going around him but he grabbed her around the waist. “Now hold on a minute, sweetheart. We’ve got to have a little talk.”

  “You have to stop him! Why, he hasn’t been married but a week and he’s leaving his wife behind. You know what I’d do if you did that to me, don’t you?”

  A big grin stole across James’s face. “I sure do, and that’s why I’ve never left you, never would.”

  She sniffed and gave him a sidelong look. “All right, Marshal, talk to me.”

  “Over a cup of coffee, and maybe some breakfast?”

  Katie gave him a dimpled grin. “I think I can manage that.”

  Within moments Katie carried a plate filled heaping high with eggs, bacon, and toasted bread with jam. Then left and returned with two cups of coffee.”

  Once he explained Simon’s feelings about Janie her anger returned full force. “That is so unfair of him! I know Simon is in love with her. How fair is it for him to make that sort of decision for both of them?”

  His hunger appeased, James stuck his legs straight out beneath the table and slouched in his seat. “Well, now, the way I figure it, there’s a way around this.”

  “What way? How? Oh, you mean we might be able to change his mind about annulling his marriage?”

  “Hell, no. We would have no success. I know Simon and he’d just dig his heels in deeper. Nope, I’m saying it takes two of them signing those papers and I say we just tell Janie not to sign them.”

  Katie’s eyes widened and she whooped and hopped out of her chair, landing on James’ lap. James heard applause from the few customers in the restaurant and grinned at his wife.

  With her arms around his neck, she whispered against his lips, “Now I know why I’m so crazy in love with you.”

  Janie’s body healed over the next few weeks even though her heart was broken. She went back to cooking and serving at the Palace. Now, as she served breakfast one fine spring morning, her attention was caught by the sunlight shining on her gold wedding band, which she refused to remove. She’d heard not a word from Simon—no one had.

  She took a short break with a biscuit and coffee in the kitchen during the lull before the lunch crowd arrived, chatting with the other palace cook, Ethel. She finished and heard the front door open and shut several times and she heard voices. Folks were arriving for lunch and she would be serving meals since Annie was sick again. This pregnancy was hard on her, but Janie didn’t mind serving. Talking with folks kept her mind off Simon. After tying on her apron, she headed out the door with a pad and pencil in hand to take orders.

  An hour later the crowd had dwindled and several tables were still full with folks eating when a silence suddenly came over the dining room. She was standing by the buffet, drying forks and knives and placing them in the drawer when the dining room quieted. Looking up she followed people’s gazes. Simon stood in the doorway, looking straight at her. Janie nodded and breathed a relieved sigh when he nodded a greeting in return then walked to the end of the dining room and sat down at a vacant table next to a window.

  Standing frozen in place she had no idea what to do. Should she approach him? Take his order? Her heart cried out for him. How she wanted him to take her in his arms and kiss her the way he used to, but then she thought about the annulment papers that had arrived a few days ago and anger rose to the surface, ready to boil over.

  Ethel came out of the kitchen, untying her apron but paused when Janie said, “Please, Ethel, would you take Simon’s order? He just arrived.”

  The older woman said in a kindly fashion, “Of course. You go put up your feet for a bit.”

  Janie scurried into the kitchen and stirred several pots of boiling food on the stove. Ethel returned with Simon’s order of beef stew and cornbread.

  Slopping beef stew into a bowl her anger rose as she thought about those darn papers sitting on her bureau in her room—papers she’d refused to sign. She handed the bowl and a plate of sliced cornbread to Ethel and watched her leave the kitchen. As soon as Ethel returned she decided she’d call it a night and go upstairs. Now, after all the pining for Simon she was full of pride and too angry to talk with him. It hurt so much to see him. She had to admit, from the sad expression on his face, that he wasn’t happy about this situation between them, either.

  The kitchen door swung open and she looked up, stunned to see Simon, looking heartbreakingly handsome and somber. She drank him in, dressed in his typical ‘judge’ suit of black, brocaded vest, white shirt and string tie.

  “Janie? The papers Do you have them?”

  Fury flared through her at his first words to her in two weeks. Heavens, couldn’t the man have said he’d missed her? Couldn’t he say he ached for her as she did him? No, he had to remind her of the papers. She knew her cheeks were red for she felt fierce heat sear them. Casually she turned away from him and started stirring the stew. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, Simon.”

  “Darn it, Janie!”

  Her skin prickled at his impatient tone but she refused to give in to him.

  Slamming the spoon down on the stove she whirled around to face him. “All right. You must know I received the papers, after all they were hand delivered to me, by James himself.”

  “Uh, if you want to just hand them over I’ll take them and file them in Butte.”

  “I’ve no idea where I put them.” She leaned back against the counter and put her finger to her temple. “Hmm,
let me think on this. I had thought about throwing them in the fireplace, but didn’t. I thought about using them to wrap up potato peels, but didn’t, and then using them to pack away fish guts and burying them—but didn’t. But, for the life of me, I just can’t recall what I did with them.”

  “Okay, so I never knew you had such a funny bone,” he said dryly. “Go get them.”

  She frowned. “Like I said, I’ve no idea where they’ve gone to.”

  Simon sighed. “This won’t change a thing, Janie. Not a darned thing and you know it. Be reasonable.”

  “Reasonable?” she shrieked. She sauntered over to him and flipped the string tie around his neck. “I’d say I’m the only reasonable one of the two of us. Seeing as you’re the judge, not me, that’s not saying much.”

  “Fine, be that way. I’ll look for them.”

  He strode out of the kitchen and she heard him clomping up the steps. Whipping off her apron she followed him. In her room, he’d paused at the bureau and had the annulment papers in his hands. “Now, if you haven’t read any of it that’s okay. Trust me, I’ve filed several of these for other folks, and basically it’s just dissolution of…”

  “I don’t care what it says!” Janie exploded. “Like I said before, you’re a coward.”

  His eyes turned cool as he looked down and flipped through the pages one by one. When he got to the last page he said, “You didn’t sign it.”

  “That’s right, I didn’t.” She lifted her chin, her hands still on her hips. “And there’s not a darned thing you can do about it.” She sank down on the bed and leaned back on her elbows, giving him a mirthless smile.

  “Damn it all,” he began but she stopped him.

  “Tut, tut, is that any way to talk to a lady?”

  He cursed beneath his breath and proceeded to pace the floor, back and forth. He stopped then and said, “James and Katie put you up to this, didn’t they?”

  “In fact, James mentioned not signing it until we had one more discussion, just to see if either one of us changed our minds.”

  “Which I haven’t,” he snapped.

  “Me neither, which means we’ve got a problem.” Janie sat up and felt tears filling her eyes. “Nothing I can say will make a difference to you, will it?” Her voice trembled and she hated it, but she couldn’t control her hurt and sadness any longer.

  The bed dipped when he sat beside her. The familiar scent of his tobacco and soap filled her senses and she had to do everything in her power not to throw herself into his arms.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, but it could happen—again—if we stay married. If something happened to you because of me, well, I’d have to live with it my entire life. And if we were married and you died, I don’t think I could live without you.”

  “Something already has happened,” she said softly, glancing up at him as he sat with his hands folded between his legs. “And I’m fine. Don’t you see that us being married is worth taking a chance, especially since we’ll both be miserable apart?”

  “No, it’s not—not to my mind. Sign the papers.” He set them in her lap and pulled a pen out of his jacket’s breast pocket. “Please, just do it.”

  She shook her head and tears fell freely then, blotting the papers on her lap. “I can’t.”

  “Let me help you,” he encouraged, shoving the pen into her hand. He wound his hand around her fingers to hold the pen and smoothed the papers on her knee.

  Through her tears she saw the line on which to sign, felt his hand moving hers into position. She jerked her hand, ready to pull away, but he held her hand tightly.

  “Sign it, for me. If there’s just one thing you can do for me, it’s this, if you love me at all.”

  Looking up, she met his sad expression but she also saw his love for her in that look. And she knew that no piece of paper would ever make a difference between them so she signed the document. When she finished he released her hand.

  Janie stared down at her name, saw how she’d pressed down with the pen too hard and had made a hole at the end of her signature, through the paper. Tears fell more quickly now and she threw herself down on the bed and sobbed into her pillow.

  Simon felt like crying himself. She’d done it, signed the papers, yet it hadn’t relieved him a bit. And now her sobbing was breaking his heart, and all his resolve to keep his hands from her. Leaning over he gently stroked her back and murmured, “It’ll be all right. We can still see each other. I bought the Rawlings place for…” All right, he’d bought it for the two of them and now it seemed silly owning a homestead when it would just be him living there. “Anyway, I’ll be living nearby and I’d like to see you from time to time and…”

  Like a whirling dervish she sat up and lurched to her feet. She looked so beautiful, even angry. “Damn you!” she exploded. “Crumbs? You’re offering me crumbs? I’ve had enough of men taking advantage of me. I’ve lived a life of abuse, and I certainly don’t need to take anything you have to offer. I’m living my own life now, the way I want to. And I’ll tell you now that doesn’t include allowing you into my life in any way. You made your decision and forced my hand and me to accept it.”

  She’d been jabbing her finger into his chest with her last words, and before she moved her hand away, he grasped it. “You’ve made your point.” He gave her a wry smile. “The problem is Bozeman isn’t all that big.”

  “You’re right. This town isn’t big enough for both of us.” Lifting her chin, she said, “One of us will have to leave. And it won’t be me.”

  He scowled as he rose to his feet and towered over her. “And it sure as hell isn’t going to be me. Like I said, I just bought the Rawlings place.”

  “Then sell it! Now, get out of my room. I don’t want to see or talk to you again—ever.”

  She whirled around and stomped to the window overlooking the street. He stood there, quietly watching her. His anger matched hers; she was being unreasonable; she was behaving like a child who couldn’t have what she wanted. Swiping his fingers through his hair he saw her shoulders shaking and he knew she was crying again.

  His heart broke a little more and through his own gathering tears he glanced down at the papers in his hand. She could be right in her evaluation of them; she could be right that it was better being together, even for just a short while, than to live a life of sadness apart. But then he thought about Clive sitting in jail, may he rot there, he mused, and knew he couldn’t change his mind. Janie’s safety was paramount to everything. He knew, if something happened to her, if one of the men he’d locked up came looking for him upon release and he had Janie in his life, she’d be directly in harm’s way. Cursing inside for having believed he could ever have such happiness like Janie in his life, he stalked from the room.

  Chapter 7

  The month of June in Bozeman was idyllic weather, in Janie’s opinion. The sun shone brightly, birds chirped happily, the brooks and streams ran merrily and the flowers were in pretty bloom, but Janie’s heart was heavy.

  She had started packing, but each time she placed an article of clothing in her satchel, Katie pulled it out and tossed it across Janie’s bedroom.

  “But Janie, you can’t leave me high and dry like this!” Katie protested.

  Janie looked at her friend sitting on the bed beside the open satchel. “I don’t want to leave Bozeman, and you and my new friends and my job, either. But what can I do? I can’t stand the thought of running into Simon again! It hurts too much. Now that he’s practicing law again and has the new homestead he’s staying put. Good grief. And now his office is directly across the street? It’s too hard for me! And he refuses to leave. I can’t say as I blame him. I see all of the wonderful things in Bozeman and understand perfectly why he won’t.”

  “I told you, you shouldn’t have signed those papers. Now we have to move on to a new plan.”

  Janie saw the calculating look on Katie’s face and sat beside her, “Uh, what are you talking about?”

  Janie kept he
r eyes on Katie, thinking how Katie appeared much younger than her thirty plus years. Never had she seen such a pretty, proper woman, yet upon occasion, like now, possessed a mischievous gleam in her eye.

  “Simon’s in love with you.”

  “No, he’s—

  “Uh-uh, no interrupting. It’s true and you know he is or he wouldn’t have asked to marry you in the first place.”

  “Then he has a mighty strange way of showing love, doesn’t he? The strings were hardly tied before he changed his mind,” Janie said dryly.

  “Simon’s full of fears. If you could have seen the worry on his face while you were recovering from your gunshot wound, you’d understand. And you know how, all the time you were abed, he kept a vigil until he knew you were going to get better. Let me think a minute.”

  While Katie chewed her lips, deep in thought, Janie rose and started packing her suitcase again. Before she could pack two clothing items Katie shouted, “I’ve got it!”

  Janie narrowed her eyes. “What are you planning?”

  “You have to make Simon jealous.”

  Janie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Now how am I supposed to do that? You know I’ve only been courted by Simon.”

  “Yes, well I know of several men in town who’d asked me about you upon your arrival, but kept their interests to themselves when they saw Simon had claimed you. But there’s no reason why you can’t allow any of these men to court you now, is there?” She slapped her knee and stood up, proceeding to pace the room. “We’ve all been invited to the Anderson’s annual summer picnic and to a dance down at city hall so those two events will afford you an opportunity to meet someone else. The Anderson’s party is tomorrow afternoon, after church services.”

  “But I don’t want to be with someone else,” Janie protested.

  “Of course you don’t, but you must do this. You simply must.” A slow grin spread across her face. “I can just see Simon’s reaction while you dance with another man. He’ll seethe with jealousy. I don’t think it’ll take him long to realize he make a mistake letting you go.”