by April Hill
“You can stop worrying,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to touch you.”
Cathy jumped. “I know that,” she snapped. “I was just …”
“You were just scared out of your damned underdrawers to be in a bed with me,” he said, chuckling.
Cathy sat up, clutching the quilt to her chest. “I am not!” she whispered indignantly.
“Then shut up and go to sleep. Daniel will be on his way soon, and you can hightail it back into your hiding place.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded. “We agreed when I came here that you and I would …”
Cathy heard a deep sigh. “Never mind,” he said. “I know what we agreed to, and I shouldn’t have said what I just did. I’m sorry. Just try to get some sleep.”
“Would you rather I simply slept on the floor?” she inquired irritably. “I can put down a quilt, and …”
“No, I wouldn’t rather you slept on the damned floor,” he muttered. “And I’m sure as hell not going to. What we should have done is tell Daniel the truth.”
“And be embarrassed, like that?” she demanded. “To know how things are between us?”
Suddenly, Will sat up in bed. “You keep saying that. Would you mind telling me just how things are between us?”
Cathy glared, pounded her pillow, and without answering his question, flopped down in bed, with her back to him.
* * * *
Around two hours later, when it began to rain, Cathy was still awake. She lay quietly, listening to the pleasant sound of rain on the roof and to the deep, steady rhythm of Will’s breathing. When he turned in bed, the springs creaked with the weight of his body, and the familiar sound caused something inside her to stir. Sensations of physical longing so strong they made her feel weak, almost ill. Unbidden, Cathy’s body was remembering the pleasure it had once known, so long ago. The pleasure of being in a soft, warm bed with a man she cared for, his strong hands and fingers touching, stroking. A man’s hot, insistent mouth on her breasts, then searching between her opened thighs. That deep, almost painful twisting deep inside, the mounting crescendo of ecstasy. And then, the trembling, unstoppable spasms of release, and the sweet, gentle, downward descent into a kind of pleasantly wanton exhaustion. Cathy drifted to sleep trying to recall the last time she had truly wanted a man’s hands on her body. It had been a very long time ago, when she still loved and wanted Jack. Now, unexpectedly, she was finding herself intensely aroused by the mere physical proximity of this man–a man she had detested only weeks earlier. And the feeling bewildered her.
* * * *
Sometime just before daylight, she must have turned in bed, because she woke with her body close against Will’s warm chest. Before she could move away, and in his sleep, he had dropped one arm casually across her body. Wary of waking him, she lay quietly, enjoying the weight of his hand on her hip, and the rise and fall of his chest against her breasts. When he sighed in his sleep and slipped his other arm beneath her, pulling her even closer against him, she shifted her body to let it happen, abandoning herself a bit guiltily to the comfort and almost forgotten feeling of sleeping in a man’s arms.
She was nestling even closer when the open window rattled. Still half-awake, Will looked down at her sleepily, and a bit curiously. When he bent down to kiss her, Cathy didn’t resist. It was only one kiss, and then, coming fully awake, he moved quickly to the edge of the bed, and threw back the quilt.
“I’d better get that window,” he muttered self-consciously, and got out of bed.
Cathy lay silent, waiting to feel the weight of him back, beside her. She heard the window being latched, and held her breath, but somehow, she knew he wouldn’t return. A few moments later, the soft sound of the door closing told her that he had dressed, and gone to the barn. Finally, she buried her face in his pillow, and began to weep.
Chapter Eight
When she came into the kitchen that morning, Daniel Parsons was just emerging from the curtained sleeping cubicle, stretching his arms and yawning.
“I want to thank you for your kind hospitality, Mrs. Cameron,” he greeted her. “I can’t tell you how pleasant it was to sleep in a real bed again, after all these weeks traveling. Decent rooming houses get sparse once you come this far north, and I’ve spent more than my share of nights on a heap of pine boughs, of late. You didn’t have to put poor Gideon out of his bed, though. I could have just as well bunked with young Caleb. He tells me he’s quit wetting the bed–almost.”
Cathy flushed. “Nonsense. It’s the least we could do for a friend,” she said, changing the subject quickly. “Will tells me the two of you go back a long way.”
“Well, that’s the truth, ma’am. Will and I have been together about as long as either of us can remember. We grew up not a stone’s throw from one another, in Ohio, played together as boys, and then went off to the war like the young fools we were, back then. When we’d dispatched a lot of Johnny Rebs no older or smarter than we were, we left the army and came out here to make our fortunes–not that either of us has accomplished that, as yet.
“You’re hardly an old man, friend Daniel,” Cathy observed.
Daniel chuckled. “Well, I thank you for the thought, but there are days I feel as old as Methuselah, days I find myself wondering why I don’t find myself a pretty wife and settle down the way Will has. Then I come by here and watch him trying to corral two youngsters and a bunch of cows, and figure I made the right decision. Still, I can see now why this life has its good points.” Cathy didn’t miss the fact that Daniel’s eyes had been traveling up and down her body while he spoke.
He glanced around the room. “I’m afraid my profession has left me with an unwholesome habit of sleeping late, when I should be out helping my host with the morning chores. Is Will about, somewhere?”
“I think he and Caleb may have gone looking for a rabbit or two for supper,” she said, not actually sure where Will had gone after leaving her bed so hurriedly.
“Well then,” Daniel remarked, smiling broadly, “It appears I’ve been lucky enough to miss those morning chores. Perhaps the lady of the house can spare a few minutes to share a cup of coffee with me?”
“Of course,” she said, reaching for the pot. “Please, sit down. What would you like for breakfast.”
“Just the coffee, thanks.”
Cathy poured two cups of coffee and sat down at the table, grateful that the house was empty, She wanted to talk to Daniel Parsons in private, since asking for his help was not going to be an easy matter. Even broaching the subject would require delicacy, tact, and a fair amount of courage. There was always the chance that he would simply report everything she said to Will, but it was a risk she would have to take.
After they had chatted for several minutes without an opening presenting itself, Cathy grew even more nervous. She poured them both a second cup of coffee, fidgeted with her cup for a while, and then excused herself to dust. Daniel remained at the table, sipping slowly at his cooling coffee as he watched her bustle about. If he was curious about her nervous behavior, he said nothing about it. When she refilled his cup for the third time, though, her hand shook, and boiling coffee spilled across the tabletop. Daniel pushed his chair back quickly enough to avoid being scalded, while Cathy grabbed a dishcloth and began wiping up the mess, apologizing profusely.
“Mrs. Cameron. Cathy, if I may?” he said, gesturing for her to sit down at the table again. “While I’m not a married man, myself, I can recognize an uncomfortable situation between man and wife when I see one. It’s none of my affair, and if you’d like to throw that pot at my head for sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong, I’ll understand, but I need to ask you a question. Is there something bothering you, that I can be of some help with? Something between you and Will, maybe?
“What do you mean?” Cathy asked, her face reddening.
“You’ve been dancing around all morning, trying to get up the courage to say something to me. And there’s this, o
f course.” He reached in his pocket and held up one of her stockings. “I found this in my bed, along with a quantity of hairpins. And if Gideon’s still beds down there, he’s taken to wearing perfume–lavender, if my nose doesn’t deceive me.”
Cathy sighed, almost grateful not to have to pretend any longer. “All right, Mr.– Daniel, I mean. Yes, there is a problem. A rather serious one, I’m afraid.”
He nodded. “Do you want to tell me a little about what–”
“I need to leave here,” she said. “As quickly as possible. Will you take me with you to the next town?”
Daniel put up his hands. “Whoa, now. When I asked about a problem, I didn’t … Will and I have been friends for a long time. I’m not about to take his wife anywhere without discussing it with him, first.”
“You can’t do that!” she cried. “If Will knows what I’m planning to do, he’ll stop me!”
“Will? Are we talking about the same man? I’m sorry, but it’s hard for me to believe–”
“All right!” Cathy sobbed, forcing out a few very realistic tears. “If you won’t help me, I’ll go on my own, but I have to get away from here. I’ll explain later, but you have to believe me. I am not here of my own free will.”
Cathy went to the bedroom and returned with her wedding and engagement rings, wrapped in a handkerchief.
“I can pay you,” she said coldly, “if that’s the problem.” She dropped the rings on the kitchen table. “I’m sure these can be sold for a good price.”
“You’d sell your wedding rings?” Daniel asked, shaking his head.
“They mean nothing to me,” she said breathlessly, “Except to help pay for my escape.”
“Escape!” he exclaimed. “Look, Mrs. Cameron, Will is a good man. The best I’ve ever known. There must be some way you and he can …”
“Never mind,” she said brusquely. “If you won’t help me, I’ll manage somehow. I understand there’s a small town just across the river, west of here.”
Daniel shook his head. “It’s called Gopher Hole, and the name pretty much says it all. There’s nothing there but a down at the heels saloon with a couple of whores upstairs, and an undertaker who’ll bury you for three dollars or give you a piss-poor shave for two bits. It’s not a scheduled stop, but you can wave down the westbound stage if you’re quick enough. The trail herds pushing west generally stick around just long enough to partake of the of the town’s limited amenities, then move on. On top of all that, it’s mostly open prairie all the way there, with dry creek beds that can lead you wrong even if you know the way. If you try getting to Gopher Hole on your own, you’ll end up as crow bait before you make it halfway.”
Cathy wrung her hands, and squeezed out a few more tears. “I don’t care. I simply have to get out of here.”
“For the love of God, what in the name of–”
“Will you help me, or not?” she demanded.
Daniel shook his head again. “I suppose you’re not ready to tell me what’s wrong between you and Will, are you?”
“I can’t,” she murmured. She started to say something else to persuade him, but decided against it. All she wanted was to get away, not to blacken Will Cameron’s name any further than she already had.
“Then, I can’t help you,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”
Cathy sighed wearily, and sat down at the table again. “It’s all right. I understand. Will you do me a favor, though, and not tell Will about … about this?”
Daniel sat for several moments, pushing his own coffee cup around the table.
“I’ll have to think about that,” he said quietly. “Seems to me the thing to do is talk to Will, and work out what’s wrong between you. That’s what married people do, or so people tell me.”
She sighed. “You may as well know the truth about our marriage, Mr. Parsons, and the truth is, the whole thing was merely a business arrangement. I owe Will Cameron money, nothing more.”
“So, you’re planning on running out on a debt, is that it?”
“No, of course not!” she snapped. “My plan is to pay him when I reach … when I get to where I was going before all this happened.”
Daniel hesitated for a long moment before speaking. “I’m guessing you won’t be going back to Denver, then–to your husband? The real one?”
Cathy’s stomach lurched. “Real one?” she repeated weakly.
“Unless you’ve got a third one, stashed somewhere. You seem to be up to your pretty neck in husbands, Mrs. Thornton.”
Cathy went pale. “What did you call me?”
“You’re Jack Thornton’s wife, and you used to go by the name of Alexandra, as I recall. Don’t bother denying it. I may get a little too much whiskey under my belt now and forget a name or a face, but I’m not about to forget yours. Not after you helped swindle me out of two hundred dollars in one evening.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Cathy protested.
He chuckled. “The first thing I noticed when I saw you on the porch was that hair of yours. It shone in the sun like a bright new penny–the top half, anyway. What puzzled me was why a woman with hair like that would try to hide it. And then I remembered.”
“You’ve obviously confused me with someone else,” she stammered.
Daniel grinned. “Not likely. You were sitting in my lap, that night, and you had these little pink rosebuds twined around in your hair–with a few more tucked down between your breasts, just begging to be plucked. In the time it took me to pluck them all–with my teeth–as I remember it, a funny thing happened. Jack turned up a convenient pair of aces I was pretty damned sure he didn’t have, earlier. I can still smell the perfume on your skin, and taste it. Lilies of the Valley, wasn’t it?”
Cathy put her face in her hands and groaned. “Oh, God! I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I figure nipping up those rosebuds was well worth the two hundred. What’s money good for if it’s not to brighten a man’s day? A few moments ‘feeding among the lilies,’ as the Good Book says? Still, though, a man never likes to be played for a fool, even by a beautiful woman with a bosom that would make old King Solomon sing. Anyway, I have to say that you and Jack worked together better than most swindlers I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a few, in my day. Do you mind my asking why you left him?”
Cathy sighed. “Professional differences.”
“What I heard was that he tied you to a bed and beat the shit out of you once too often.”
She glared at him. “It sounds as if you have a network of spies, Mr. Parsons.”
“Ah, yes. Well, the ladies who work in places like Top Notch tend to gossip. Boredom, most likely.”
Cathy sneered. “And you would know a lot of that sort of ladies, I suppose?”
“A few, here and there. He’s still looking for you, you know.”
Cathy sighed. “I know. I stole his wallet and his watch when I left.”
“It’s funny, isn’t it, how thieves never take kindly to being robbed when it happens to them? The way I hear it, though, Jack’s looking for more than just his wallet and a watch. A lot more.”
Cathy looked at him curiously. “Jack? He didn’t have anything else. Believe me, if he’d had anything worth stealing, I’d have stolen it. I was feeling rather selfish the morning I left. “
Daniel reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a folded paper. “You might want to take a look at this. A man doesn’t offer the kind of reward mentioned there for a few baubles and some pocket change.”
Cathy unfolded the paper, and gasped.
“Not an excellent likeness,” Daniel observed. “But the accompanying description will probably get the job done. I’ve seen that flyer posted in just about every town I’ve come through. Looks like Jack is spending everything you didn’t steal from him on getting the word out. Then again, maybe his luck has improved, and he’s got the cash to spend. Either way, you’ve got a bigger problem than Will Cameron. Thornton wants yo
u back, and from what I know about Jack, it’s not because he’s looking to kiss and make up. You should have saved yourself some trouble, and brained the son-of-a-bitch with a fireplace poker on the way out the door.”
“I couldn’t do that,” she explained, wiping away a tear. “There was a time when I loved Jack.”
He nodded. “Which only goes to prove that old adage about how there’s no accounting for taste. Yours seems to be improving, though. You’ll not find a better man than Will Cameron–besides myself, that is.”
“Will can’t stand the sight of me,” she said wearily.
“If you think that, Mrs. Cameron, you know a whole lot less about men than I gave you credit for.”
“We’ve been married for just over six months,” Cathy continued. “And in that time, I’ve lied to the man, tricked him, cheated and stolen from him–and utterly failed him as a wife. And if Jack does show up here, I may end up being responsible for Will’s death.”
Daniel chuckled. “Excellent reasons for him to take a belt to your backside, maybe, and after what you just told me, I’d be the first to recommend an over-a-barrel, bottom-blistering, bare-assed strapping that’ll have you howling like a banshee. The kind of hellfire and brimstone whipping that’ll maybe make you see the error of your ways, that you’ll still be remembering when the two of you celebrate your fiftieth wedding anniversary. But none of what you’ve done is going to make him care for you any less than he does.
“Besides, if you’d taken the time to learn a little about Will Cameron, you’d know he won’t be all that easy to kill. Will’s a peaceable sort, these days, but he wasn’t always. Back then, he learned how to stay alive, and how to protect what he cares about. He came by those skills the hard way, and they’re not the kind of skills a man forgets. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
She started to deny it, but hesitated. “I don’t know for sure.”
