by Jillian Hart
“I’m all right, Ma.” Ella’s whisper was broken by another cough.
“You don’t sound all right.” Sarah eased onto the edge of the mattress. “Need some water?”
“Yes, please.”
Sarah found the cup that was always on the tiny table by the bed and held it for her daughter. Ella drank, and her coughing eased.
“Just thirsty, I guess.” Ella curled onto her side.
“You don’t feel hot.” Sarah took comfort in that. “Does your throat hurt?”
“No, Ma. I’m fine.”
“That’s all that matters.” Sarah tucked the blankets into place, savoring the sweet warmth. “Pleasant dreams, baby.”
“’Kay—” Ella was asleep, her breathing steady and clear.
All that mattered was Ella. Sarah thought of Milt out there, drinking with his son. She gathered her courage and left the room, closing the door tight behind her. A faint light shone from the kitchen, but she wasn’t afraid. If she had to, she could handle Milt.
A bang on the door shattered the quiet. In Pearl’s bedroom, Baby Davie began to cry. Sarah reached for her house robe as the kitchen door flew open.
“What the hell?” Milt boomed. “You can’t—”
“Quiet, Owens.” Sarah recognized the sheriff’s voice as she tied the sash around her waist. “Remove your revolver and lay it on the table for me. You, too, son.”
Sarah peered around the corner into the room that held four men. The sheriff, who cocked his revolver, and Gage. He filled the threshold, his hand on his holster, as if to second what the sheriff had to say.
His gaze shot to her. “Sarah, I was hoping you’d look after Lucy for me while your uncle and I sort a few things out. I have her right outside.”
“Of course I’ll take her.” Sarah slipped behind the sheriff, who was watching while Milt and Junior disarmed themselves of guns and knives.
The cool wind wrapped around her ankles and she shivered. Only then did she realize she was barefooted.
Gage didn’t seem to notice as he disappeared into the inky-black night. The air held a mist of rain and the board steps felt slick beneath her feet.
Lamplight tumbled through the kitchen window, spilling over Gage as he lifted a drowsy Lucy from his saddle. Wrapped in a blanket, the girl settled against his chest, as relaxed as a rag doll.
“Pa, I can…s-stay…awake,” she mumbled, fighting to keep her eyes open. They drifted shut as she snuggled against her father, safe in his arms.
Tenderly, Gage brushed a kiss across the crown of Lucy’s head. Sarah swallowed, surprised to find a lump in her throat and a catch in her breath.
I’m in trouble now, she thought as she led the way through the kitchen and into the front room. Trouble because she had a weakness for tenderness in a man. For a man who loved his child.
I’d be foolish to let myself fall in love with him. She pulled back the blankets and exposed the sheet spread out on the sofa. Moved aside so Gage could lay his child on the cushions.
Falling in love with him would be foolish for at least ten reasons she could think of. Sarah stood stalwart, vowing not to watch as Gage tucked the blankets around his sleeping daughter. Refusing to let his gentleness break down the defenses around her heart.
Reason number one: he’s wealthy. Reason number two: he wants to stay unmarried forever. Reason number three—
“You sleep, darlin’.”
Sarah couldn’t move. Couldn’t blink. Couldn’t breathe. There was just enough light from the kitchen to watch him smooth his big hand over Lucy’s brow.
The girl mumbled in her sleep, already lost in the dreams her father had wished for her.
Gage straightened. “I sure appreciate this, Sarah. I intend to pay you—”
“No. This is one neighbor helping another. If what Milt did to you what I think he did, it’s the least I can do.”
“It’s not your fault, Sarah, and I appreciate all you’ve done for me. It’s been a long time since a woman did something for me without an ulterior motive. I’d forgotten there are women like you in the world.”
She really could fall for this man. “Compliments will get you anything. Now go tend to your business with Milt. I promise I’ll keep watch over your daughter.”
“I know.” His trust felt rare and sincere and it warmed her as he stalked away, leaving her alone in the shadows.
“Ma, is Lucy gonna stay all day?”
“I don’t know, baby.” Sarah stoked the cooking fire so it was hot enough for the biscuits. “Would you girls set the table for me?”
Ella nodded. “I sure hope she can stay. Did you know we’re best friends?”
“I sorta figured that.” Sarah tugged the end of one blond braid before Ella scampered off, all smiles and joy to join Lucy setting flatware around the big rectangle table in the center of the room.
“Heard anything?” Pearl bustled into the kitchen, a baby on each hip. Heavy lines drawn into her face spoke of a long night without sleep. “Oh, I don’t know what I’m gonna do!”
“Why don’t I pour you a cup of tea?”
“At least that would warm my weary bones.” Pearl was the youngest of twelve siblings and only ten years older than Sarah, but she looked ancient as she settled into the ladder-back chair at the foot of the long table. “They ain’t back yet?”
“No.”
Over the clink of flatware and the clank of enamel, Sarah added honey to a cup and poured the tea she had steeping. Out of the corner of her eye she watched the girls work, not talking, sensing the seriousness of the morning.
Lucy had to be worried about her father, Sarah realized. After handing Pearl her tea and waiting until she left the room, Sarah circled the table to give Lucy a reassuring hug.
“That’s nice,” Lucy sighed as she held on tight. “My pa’s been gone a long time. He used to go away when I was little and it was a long, long time before he’d come back. I missed him.”
“He’s most likely no farther away than town.” Sarah took the forks from Lucy’s fist and plunked them on the table. “I promise he hasn’t gone far, and I know he’ll be back for you soon. He would have told me if he had other plans.”
“I know. It’s just a worry.” Lucy bucked up her chin and went back to work.
What a nice daughter Gage was raising. Sarah knew exactly how hard it was. She caught Ella at the cupboard and gave her a hug.
“Would you girls want pancakes this morning?”
“Yes!” Ella clasped her hands together, for pancakes were her favorite. “With sausages, too?”
“I think I can manage it.” She was rewarded with two happy girls as she reached for her favorite mixing bowl.
“I get to help.” The table set, Ella raced to the cupboard. “I’m getting the eggs.”
“What can I do, Sarah?” Lucy pushed close. “I help my pa all the time.”
Bootsteps rapped at the screen door. “She’s a darn good helper, too.”
“Pa!” Lucy dashed into his arms. Gage lifted her up and swung her around in the fresh morning air.
Ella watched, clutching an egg in each hand.
Sarah lifted them carefully from her daughter’s grip, glad to see father and child reunited. “I was about to make my special applesauce pancakes. Would you like to join us?”
“You are an optimist, aren’t you?” He leaned one shoulder against the threshold, unshaven and night-rough. “Doubt I’d be welcome.”
“Lucy’s planning on staying, aren’t you, Lucy?”
“Sure. You can stay, can’t you, Pa?”
“I’ve got work to get started on.” He tweaked her nose playfully. “You have fun and behave yourself.”
“I try.”
Sarah laid her hand on Ella’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Lucy to the smokehouse and fetch us some sausages.”
“Let’s go!” Ella and Lucy caught hands and bounded out into the morning.
“They seem happy.” Gage swept off his Stetson and stu
died it instead of looking directly at her. “We found twelve cattle without brands and two Clydesdales in a hay shed on the far edge of Milt’s property.”
“I wondered. I think I overheard them discussing how to sell the animals last night.” Sarah cracked an egg on the edge of the bowl. “Do you want me to tell the sheriff?”
“I don’t want to cost you your situation here.”
“I know, but what’s right is right.” Sarah emptied the egg from its shell. “What’s going to happen to Milt?”
“It’s up to the sheriff. I got my animals back, that’s all I wanted. Thanks for being a good friend, Sarah. For watching Lucy for me.”
“Sure thing.” She snatched the sugar bag from the pantry. “Anytime.”
“Don’t think I’m too welcome here, so I’d best be on my way. Send Lucy over when she’s done so I can get her ready for school, if you don’t mind.” He tipped his hat to her. “I’ll be seein’ you around.”
It was as if he took the sunshine with him.
Sarah instructed Pearl’s children, who came pushing into the kitchen, to sit and mind their manners as she peeled back the curtain.
Gage Gatlin was already gone from her sight.
“Why, Sarah Redding, as I live and breathe, what a surprise running into you like this.” Mrs. Luanne Montgomery pushed aside two shoppers and rounded a new-this-week fabric display. “What a mess it is, with Milt and that wonderful Mr. Gatlin. You must have been in such a fright when the sheriff came knocking on your door in the middle of the night.”
“Good day, Mrs. Montgomery,” she greeted the woman whose extensive land bordered Milt’s on the other side. Not one for gossip, she decided to take charge before the older woman did. “I hear Mr. Montgomery is very pleased with his new bull.”
“Shipped in on Monday’s train.” Luanne lifted her gloved hand in a dismissive wave. “It sure must be something to have such a respected man for a neighbor. I hear you two have been spending time together.”
“He’s paying me to till his garden.” Sarah held up a packet of bean seeds.
“So, then the rumors are not true. About you and our esteemed Mr. Gatlin? Why, how can they be if he’s hired you? You have a good day.” Luanne bustled off, apparently pleased with her new piece of news.
Esteemed? It wasn’t that long ago folks were calling him a drifter. Sarah snatched a couple corn seed packets from the shelf and added them to her collection. That should be about enough. Gage’s garden patch was small—nothing like the one she tended for the Owenses’ large family—but Sarah would make sure Lucy had a lot of variety in her first real garden.
“It sure is something, having Mr. Gatlin in our town, isn’t it?” Mary Flannery asked as she stepped into line at the front counter. “Of course, you’ve probably known about him all along, haven’t you, Sarah?”
“I met him the first day here.” Folks must be impressed with the way Gage stood up to Milt.
“Why, the two of you have been courting all along.” Mary winked. “I should have known those rumors I heard were true.”
“They aren’t true—”
“Fine, Sarah. Deny it all you wish.” Mary held up one hand. “I know what I know.”
With any luck, there would be new, different rumors for the townswomen to pass back and forth over backyard fences—and soon. Rumors that would not involve her and Gage in any way whatsoever.
“Sarah,” Clancy Nelson behind the wide, scarred counter greeted her with an old sailor’s salute. “Mr. Gatlin stopped by after taking his girl to school and talked to me. Don’t you worry about a thing. Said you’d be buying a few things for his ranch.”
“What do you mean?” She spread her purchases on the counter.
“You leave your hard-earned money in your reticule. Anything you buy goes on Mr. Gatlin’s account.” Clancy made a few quick notes. “Will there be anything else today?”
“No, thank you.” Puzzled, Sarah waited as the shopkeeper wrapped her purchases.
Surely she’d mentioned to Gage that she would be stopping by for his garden seeds. That was all. Just went to prove what a thoughtful man he was. She sighed, feeling a little tickle of awareness deep inside. It only took the thought of him to make her pulse race.
Well, there was a definite solution to that. She’d do her best never to think of Gage Gatlin again.
Thanking Clancy, she tucked the small package into her cloak pocket and hurried to the door.
“Yoo-hoo, Sarah!” Mary Flannery waved goodbye, her voice clear as a bell for every shopper in the back corner to hear. “Be sure and give that wonderful Mr. Gatlin my regards.”
“If I see him, I will.”
“That’s right. You’re not seeing him. Don’t worry, we just want the best for you, deary.”
What on earth could she say to that? Aware of a dozen or more shoppers watching her, curious for any sign of confirmation, she steeled her face and walked woodenly to the door.
What was Mary thinking? Anyone could see that Gage wasn’t the man for her.
Seven people said hello to her on her way out of town. Not just any ordinary hello, but they added a knowing smile to it, as if they were privy to her deepest secret. It was those rumors!
Last year, as a new widow to town, she’d endured her fair share of them. Too often she’d overhear what a “poor young thing” she was. She’d been able to turn the other cheek then, although her pride took a battering. Why couldn’t she do it now?
She could think of several more reasons right off the top of her head why anyone could see Gage Gatlin wasn’t the man for her. He’d been a widower a long while, so no doubt he was set in his ways. He never wanted to marry. If he did, it would be to a woman who wore sateen gowns and feathers on her bonnets—
“Hold up there, Sarah.” There he was, the very devil himself pulling his wagon to a halt, the reason why she ought to keep her heart under lock and key. He was grinning like a bandit who was up to no good. A bandit who’d let a widow fall in love with him and not have a single affectionate feeling in return.
That’s why she ought to keep ten yards away from him at all times. So she couldn’t see the flecks of black in his gray eyes, today as warm as melted silver.
“Need a ride?” He hopped from the seat, his big boots kicking up dust as he landed in front of her. “I wouldn’t charge you. Much.”
“I’m not sure a ride with you would be worth any amount of small change.”
“There is the view to consider. High up on this seat, you’ll see the mountains much better. You’re likely to be free from dust, too. Won’t choke when some thoughtless fellow races his wagon right on past you. C’mon, Sarah, I might even let you ride for free.”
“Free? Why, surely your company is worth more than that.” She dug into her reticule and tossed him a coin.
“A penny?” Considering, he rubbed his knuckles against the dark stubble at his jaw.
She refused to wonder how extraordinary his whiskers might feel against her fingertips. She was not attracted to him. Not in the slightest. “Take the penny or leave it.”
“I have to say this is a little hard on a man’s self-respect. I bet I can get that banker’s daughter to pay me at least two bits.”
“I don’t see her around, do you? You’re out of luck. This is my best offer.”
“I’ll take it. All I really want is your company. I have a weakness for extremely beautiful women.”
“You flatterer. No wonder everyone’s singing your praises in town.”
“Are they? Those poor misguided women. Someone obviously started a false rumor about me.”
“That’s exactly what I suspected.” She climbed onto the wagon fast, so he couldn’t help her. But she wasn’t fast enough.
His gloved hand caught her elbow and called every bit of her attention to that one spot on her arm where his touch was firm and hot. So very hot.
Where was her willpower? Her self-control? As he slid onto the board seat beside her, his arm col
lided with hers and remained, as solid as sun-warmed steel.
She refused to be attracted to him. She wasn’t attracted to him.
“I want to show you something.” His voice was low and rough, as if he felt this, too. He gathered the thick leather reins in his gloved hands and gave them a gentle snap.
The team of Clydesdales dropped their heads and pulled. The wagon leaped ahead, the lumber in the bed behind her rattling pleasantly. Out of the corner of her eye, she secretly watched the man seated next to her, his arm flush with her shoulder, his body heat merging with hers. Did he have to be so irresistible?
She had to stop thinking about him as a man. He was a father. She was a mother. That’s why they were friendly. “Lucy told me she liked sleeping in the new house.”
“Yep. Thought she’d have more fun there than in the old shanty. This is her home, and I want her to be happy here.”
“What about you?” The words were out of her mouth, surprising her as she said them. “Are you happy?”
He gazed out at the road ahead. “I’ve got space, freedom and horses. What more could I need?”
“I understand perfectly.”
Contentment could be a rare thing in this world. She’d learned that the hard way, and she intended to do what it took to find happiness again. She had dreams for her and Ella. Dreams of a peaceful home, of a pony in the backyard, of another child one day.
“Here we are.” He halted the horses and held out one leather-gloved hand, palm up, fingers pointing toward the beauty spread out before them. “Incredible, huh?”
Paradise. It surrounded her in a blanket of deep purple and green, wild violets carpeting a draw carved into the prairie and spreading as far as she could see. The freedom of it filled her soul. “It’s like something in a fairy tale.”
“Thought you might like it.”
“And it smells like paradise.” She inhaled the scent of thousands of violets, delicate petals ruffling lightly in the ever-present wind.
It was too beautiful to look at. She had to feel it.
Sarah grabbed hold of the wagon frame and dropped to the ground. “I hadn’t realized the ride would be worth the penny.”
