The scenery suddenly changed when they rode out of the rolling hills onto a well-traveled road. They galloped past several men on horseback and ate the dust from a freight wagon before they overtook it and left it behind. A Butterfield stagecoach lumbered past, going in the opposite direction. At one point they were forced to mingle with cattle being driven across the road by several determined cowhands.
Wade noticed that Caroline had bent over her saddle in an attempt to hide the handcuffs when a column of soldiers rode toward them. He also noticed that every man in the outfit stared at her with interest. Did she realize that she drew the attentions of men like a magnet? It had been his experience that beautiful women knew exactly how to use their looks to get what they wanted from a man. He did not mind getting caught in a lady’s well-laid trap; in fact, most of the time he welcomed it, as long as they understood that he would never be bound to them in any way.
He had never had trouble measuring a man by his appearance and attitude, or most women, but Caroline Duncan was another story. He glanced at her now, and his heart caught in his chest. He was becoming aware of her in every way. He wanted to take the handcuffs off her and throw them as far as he could. He had to think of something besides her face, which was smudged with dust, making her so damned adorable. He wondered what she had been like as a child. He wanted to know how much she had loved her husband.
Disgusted with himself, he nudged his horse forward, and she did the same to stay abreast of him. No matter how he tried to channel his thoughts into a different direction, they always came back to her. He had called her by an endearment when he had thought she was injured by the horse. He had never used those words with anyone else. He had wrestled with himself to keep from kissing that tempting mouth that could slide down into a pout or curve upward in a dazzling smile.
He tightened his grip on the reins, reminding himself that she might be a mistress of deception. No matter how innocent she appeared, he was not altogether convinced that she had not killed her husband.
The roadway was now crowded with ranch wagons and buggies. When Wade glanced at Caroline, he became aware of her growing embarrassment because of the handcuffs, and the attention they were drawing from the people on the road.
He motioned for her to halt, and he removed the handcuffs. “Speak to no one. I will do all the talking. You will do just as I tell you, or I will put the handcuffs back on you. Do you understand?”
She nodded, rubbing her wrist. “I understand.”
They halted once more, and Wade allowed Caroline to rest for an hour before leading her mount forward. She wearily climbed onto the saddle, wondering if they would ever reach their destination.
The closer they got to San Antonio, the more interested she became in her surroundings. She glimpsed a tall church steeple in the distance, and there was another church with a bell tower just to her right. San Antonio seemed to be a thriving town, with throngs of people from every walk of life mingling and conducting their business.
They rode past the main plaza, where a man dressed in Spanish style was haggling with another man who appeared, from the cut of his clothing and his manner of speech, to be of German descent.
As they grew closer to the center of town, the streets became more congested. Cowhands rode their horses beside well-dressed ladies in fancy carriages. When they rode past a saloon, Wade moved his horse closer to Caroline in a protective manner. She had expected him to stop at one of the hotels, but they passed them by, riding through a section of town with small houses and hovels.
Eventually they crossed a narrow wooden bridge and rode down a boulevard lined with mansions. She was taken by surprise when Wade halted before a pink stucco, two-story residence.
“Caroline, we will be staying here for a day, perhaps two.” He lifted her from her horse and set her on her feet. “This is the home of friends of mine, Nate and Dolly Housing. You will like Dolly—everyone does. She will see to your needs while we are here.”
He glanced at the front door. “I would ask that”—he paused as if trying to find the right words. “I will not tell her that you are in my custody, so she will not know unless you tell her yourself.”
“What about her husband? Will you tell him about me?”
“Nate is a very discreet man, and you can trust him to tell no one, not even his wife, about your situation.”
She flung her head back and glared at him. “I’m sure that is true, but what will he think about me? Will he think that I am your light-of-love, or your soiled dove?”
He flinched, and his golden eyes took on a deeper hue.
“He will not ask questions that will embarrass you. And Dolly will assume that I would not bring someone of questionable reputation into her house.”
She walked away from him, then paced back toward him. “You think I murdered my husband, and you don’t think that would give me a questionable reputation?”
“You are presentable.”
She was so angry it took her a moment to find her voice. “It never occurred to you that I might be more comfortable in one of those hotels we passed? There I would have been anonymous. You don’t understand how humiliating this will be for me.”
“Non. I confess I did not think about that.”
She was too weary to argue with him. The sun felt like fire on her cheeks, and her head ached dreadfully. “Do you think they will have a place where I can rest for a while?”
He guided her forward. “Let us get you in out of this heat.”
Caroline’s foot had just touched the top step when the door was pulled open, and the most charming creature she had ever seen came rushing out, catching Wade in a tight hug. Caroline guessed the woman to be somewhere in her fifties. Her red hair was streaked with gray, and it feathered softly against her plump cheeks. There was hardly a spot on her face that wasn’t freckled. She was not very tall, so when she spoke in a boisterous voice, it took Caroline by surprise.
“Wade, we were so happy when we got your telegram last week. You’re a welcome sight: It’s been too long since you came to see us.”
“It has been much too long.” He turned his attention to Caroline. “Dolly, may I present Mrs. Caroline Duncan. I am accompanying her to Charleston, which is her home.”
Dolly turned a bright smile on Caroline and took her hand, pumping it in a vigorous handshake. “Well, honey, you can just consider our home yours as long as you’re here.” Dolly led her guest inside, talking to them all the while. “You’re just as welcome as you can be.” She stepped back and assessed Caroline’s trousers. “Well, we will have to do something about those.”
Caroline had never gotten such an enthusiastic welcome from anyone. She glanced about the comfortable room, talking in the lace curtains at the wide windows, and the couch and three chairs upholstered in green tapestry. She knew the rug she stood upon was woven of silk. Although her hostess’s pale blue gown was made of the finest muslin, it seemed to Caroline that the woman would be more at home on a ranch than in these opulent surroundings.
Wade had been right about Dolly’s personality: No one could help responding to her kindness. “Thank you, Mrs. Housing.”
“No, no, no. I’ll call you Caroline, and you’ll call me Dolly. We don’t hold with stiff customs around here.” She looked Caroline over from head to foot. “My, but you are a tiny little thing.” She hardly paused for breath. “And you must be tired, coming all the way from San Sebastian on horseback. Why don’t I get you to bed and have Trudy take you up something to eat?”
“Thank you,” Caroline said in relief. “That would be very nice.”
After Caroline had slipped out of her clothing and into the nightgown Dolly had provided for her, she sank into the soft feather mattress and fell asleep almost instantly.
She was asleep when the maid, Trudy, brought a tray of food to the room, then tiptoed out without waking her. Caroline slept through the afternoon, waking sometime during the night, trying to catch her breath.
Fri
ghtened, she got out of bed and walked around the room until she could finally take a cleansing breath.
She lay down across the bed and did not wake until sunlight filtered through the window and fell upon her pillow.
She sat up and looked about. Yesterday she had been too exhausted to notice her surroundings. The bedroom was tastefully decorated in soothing colors of cream and maroon. Her head still ached a bit, but she thought the headache might go away after she ate something.
She suddenly became distressed when she slid off the bed and looked for her clothing. It was gone. Her head was pounding painfully, and she could hardly think.
Her gaze fell on several boxes stacked on a cream-colored lounge chair. She started to lift the lid of the top box when someone knocked on the door.
Dolly whisked into the room. “Good. I see you are awake. You slept the afternoon away yesterday.”
Caroline had taken an instant liking to the chubby little woman. “I am sorry, but your bed was so comfortable.”
Dolly plopped down on a chair, shoving a tangled curl out of her face. “We didn’t want to disturb you, because you were just plumb worn out.”
While Dolly chatted on, a sudden idea hit Caroline: Perhaps Wade had taken her clothing because he was afraid she would run away in the night. “Dolly, do you know what happened to my clothes?”
“Sure I do. I threw them away. I got a telegram from Wade before you got here, asking me to get you some new duds.” She laughed and slapped her knee, rattling on, hardly giving Caroline a chance to reply. “That man told me your exact size on everything.” She frowned. “’Course, since the time was so short, I had to get store-bought things, so they might not be the best fit. I can’t think why you’d go gadding about the country dressed like a man when you are so pretty.”
Caroline knew that Dolly’s comments were meant kindly—she was a woman who spoke her mind, and Caroline liked that about her.
There was another knock on the door, and Dolly went to admit the maid. “This is Trudy,” she said, nodding at the girl, who carried a tray of food. “If you need anything, just ask her.”
Caroline nodded at the tall, willowy girl with a shy smile. “Thank you, Trudy.”
“You should eat a nice breakfast,” Dolly told her. “Especially since you missed supper last night.”
Dolly was so energetic, she was like a whirlwind sucking up all the air in the room. She instructed Trudy to put the tray on the small table near the window, then walked her to the door, instructing her to bring up the tub and bathwater in an hour.
“Dolly,” Caroline asked, “where is Mr. Renault?”
“Why, he’s gone with Nate to make sure the private railroad car is ready for your trip home.”
“Your husband has a private railroad car?”
“No, indeed, not Nate. The private car belongs to Wade. You didn’t know that’s how you’ll be traveling, did you?”
Caroline dropped her head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Men! They think they can take care of everything and not bother ‘the little woman’ with details.” She motioned for Caroline to sit at the table. “My Nate is the same way. Thinks he’s doing me a favor by keeping everything from me.”
Caroline agreed with a nod. She wasn’t always clear on what Dolly was talking about. “I don’t really know that much about Mr. Renault.”
Dolly looked puzzled for a moment, and then her face eased into a grin. “I can tell you a few things about him where you are concerned. He’s never brought a woman to our house before. He’s always been a loner, never allowing anyone to get very close to him except a few friends and business associates. Of course, there’s Jonathan, but I’d bet the boy doesn’t know Wade much better than we do.”
“Wade has never mentioned anyone named Jonathan to me.”
“Now, there you go—that just proves what I was talking about. Jonathan is a boy Wade found one night in a rainstorm. The kid was living on the streets of New Orleans and didn’t have a home. I guess the boy’s situation reminded Wade of his own childhood.”
“His childhood?”
“I probably shouldn’t have said anything about that.”
Caroline was trying to imagine Wade as the benefactor of a waif—she just could not see him in that way. “How long have you been acquainted with Mr. Renault?”
Dolly motioned for Caroline to eat. “Let me see now. Wade and my Nate go back a long way. He’s been awful good to both of us through the years.” She swept her hand outward. “We wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for his generosity.”
“I see.” She didn’t see at all, but it didn’t matter. She touched the delicate handle of the china teapot and traced a swirling vine pattern with her finger. “Mr. Renault seems very fond of you.”
“Wade takes an interest in all the people he cares about.” Dolly watched Caroline’s face as she said, “He let me know that you were particularly fond of tea, so Nate got you some down at the general store last week.”
Caroline frowned. How could Wade have known about her passion for tea?
“Well,” the older woman stated, “I’m going to leave you alone so you can eat and take a bath. Come on down when you’re ready.”
Caroline sat silently for a long time after Dolly had gone. Wade was a complex man, and it seemed there were many sides to his personality that she didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense to her that he made his living as a bounty hunter if he had enough money to own a private railroad car. Did a bounty hunter make that much money? She wondered how much money Brace had offered him, and how Brace thought he would get the money to pay Wade. She had no doubt that Brace was taking all the profits from Michael’s estate, but that would never be enough for him—he would want it all.
She pressed her hand against her temples, wishing her head would stop hurting. At last, hunger induced her to eat an egg and a biscuit dripping with butter and jam. She was pouring her second cup of tea when Trudy returned with a bathtub.
After fussing around to make sure the bathwater was the right temperature, Trudy left.
Caroline placed her empty cup in the saucer and stripped off her nightgown, tossing it on the bed. She sank into the water and closed her eyes, enjoying the luxury of hot water, something she had not been able to do for a very long time. Her bathtub in San Sebastian had been nothing more than a small washtub, and she hadn’t even been able to unfold her legs in it.
Caroline smiled delightedly when she saw that Trudy had left lilac bath salts and soap that smelled of vanilla. But after she lathered her hair, it felt as if a heavy weight were pressing on her chest. She gasped and lay back until the feeling passed. It wasn’t until the water had cooled that Caroline climbed out and wrapped herself in a thick towel.
She cautiously opened the first box and lifted out a yellow silk taffeta gown with several rows of seed pearls around the edge of each sleeve, and back-pleats that swept to the floor. There were undergarments, stockings, and a pair of yellow doeskin slippers.
While she was sliding her foot into one of the slippers, she felt flushed and hot. Her head felt as if someone were hitting her with a hammer. She had not been feeling well for several days. She feared she was coming down with something. She could not be sick! There were things she had to do.
When she was dressed, she stood before the fulllength mirror and studied her image. The garments might be store-bought, but they were very fine. Everything fit perfectly, even the corset and shoes. No one could guess her size from head to toe without some kind of help. Even Wade was not that good.
She frowned at her reflection. She would demand to know how Wade had come by that bit of information, and how he knew so much about her. He could not have guessed her sizes or her preference for tea over coffee.
Chapter Twelve
Caroline thought Wade must have heard her on the stairs, because he was waiting at the bottom for her. His gaze swept over her, and he nodded. “Everything is a good fit, is it not? I hope you are pleased.”
She didn’t answer for a moment, because she was staring at him. He looked so different wearing a dark blue suit and a stiff white shirt. “The gowns I have at home also fit me well.” She held out the skirt of her dress. “I would not have needed these things if you had allowed me to bring my own clothing.”
He ignored her irritation, his eyelids falling to halfmast. “Do you have everything you need? If not, just tell me and I will see that you get it.”
“It would seem you have forgotten nothing. Dolly did exactly as you instructed her. This is certainly better than the wardrobe you forced me to wear when you took me away from San Sebastian. Tell me—just how do you know my exact sizes, and how did you know that I have a preference for tea?”
He led her away from the stairs and paused. She saw that he was undecided for a moment, but nothing caught him off guard for very long, she thought, so she pressed her point. “If you don’t tell me, I will only use my imagination. And you may be aware of how far a woman’s thoughts can take her—especially this woman. You were sneaking through my house, weren’t you?”
He saw no reason to deny it. “I visited San Sebastian a week before you saw me ride into town,” he admitted. He did not tell her that he had watched her from afar for several days, or that he had carried her likeness next to his heart.
“I should have guessed you would never leave anything to chance. But it’s strange that no one mentioned seeing you in San Sebastian before that morning in the rain. How did you manage that?”
He shrugged. “It is very simple. I did not intend that anyone should see me until I was ready. I was ready the day you saw me ride into town.”
She stared into eyes that seemed to dance with amusement. “Just how did you accomplish all that?”
“There were several times I slipped into town at night while most people were sleeping. Another time I was there when you were in church.”
She poked her finger against his chest. “And what did you do with your time there? Spy on me?”
The Moon and the Stars Page 11
