Promise Me Texas (A Whispering Mountain Novel)

by Jodi Thomas

  “No one knows where we are. I’m being foolish worrying, but I can’t shake the feeling that trouble is coming.”

  “I know what you mean. When I go look for the boys’ father tomorrow, will you promise me you’ll stay here with them? Don’t leave the house until I get back.”

  “Why?”

  “If he’s not the right kind of man, I don’t want him knowing they are even in town, and the last thing I want is to take them into Hell’s Half Acre with me. You don’t know what it’s like down there. Gunfights in the streets, whorehouses on every corner, drunks looking for a brawl. There are places like the Acre in every big town, but none quite as open to trouble as here.”

  “You spend a lot of time there, do you?”

  “It’s one of the reasons I came to Fort Worth. I heard about how wild the town was from a bartender in Kansas. Thought I’d like to see it for myself.” He grinned. “Don’t worry. I’m not one of the regulars, but I do go down there sometimes to hear the stories of the cowboys and drunks. Most of them would break your heart. Wasted lives. But now and then I hear an adventure. A story of heroes.”

  He pulled a thick folder from beside his desk. “These are a few of the stories I’ve heard. One of these days I’ll get around to cleaning them up and sending them back east. Who knows, maybe a newspaper might publish them.”

  “You’re a writer,” Beth said. “A real writer. I thought you were writing in your journal for a hobby, but you’re the real thing.”

  He shrugged. “I tried a dozen other jobs, but none fit. Being a writer was kind of a last resort. It doesn’t make much money, but it gives me a reason to travel wherever I feel like going, and most months I make enough to pay the bills.”

  He laughed suddenly. “Staring at your face, I can’t tell if I’ve gone up in your esteem or down.”

  “I’ll have to think about it.” She lifted her chin.

  “Well, while you’re thinking, how about kissing me good night? I wouldn’t mind if you’re willing.”

  She was almost to the door when she answered, “After I get the children to bed, dear.”

  Beth ran from his study. The man was a chameleon. Every time she talked to him it was like talking to another person. As a train robber he’d been dangerous but intriguing. In the hospital she’d felt sorry for him and wanted to help him. On the trail he’d been half lost and little help, but he’d kissed her like no other man had ever kissed her. Now she’d found out he was a writer. Didn’t they lie for a living? She probably shouldn’t believe a word this make-believe husband said.

  The last thing she planned to do was go back downstairs and kiss him good night. Beth went upstairs and checked on Colby, sleeping in the empty bedroom with his bedroll next to the window so he could see the stars. Then she crossed the hallway and climbed into bed with Madie. Everyone had agreed that the two women should have the only bed.

  Beth had slept with her sisters most of her life. Even when they’d finally gotten their own rooms, they’d often crawled into bed together and talked the night away. Beth knew the rules of bed sharing. Stay on your own side, don’t pull covers. If you get up in the night, don’t touch your feet to the others when you return. If anyone in the bed snores, it is perfectly acceptable to poke them until they roll over.

  Madie knew none of the rules. Within an hour she’d pinwheeled around until she was cocooned in the blankets. Beth shivered for a while and then decided to go downstairs for the blanket they’d used as the dining table. It wasn’t free from crumbs, but it was better than nothing.

  On bare feet she tiptoed down the stairs and fumbled around in the dark looking for the blanket.

  “Robbing the place, are you?” a voice from the blackness said in a stage whisper. “If you need some help, I’ve had experience as a robber. I could give you a few pointers.”

  Beth hiccupped. “Stop frightening me, Andrew. I knew you were there. I came down for an extra blanket.”

  “This one?”

  Her eyes had adjusted enough to see his outline holding something up. She walked slowly toward him, expecting a trap, but he simply circled the blanket around her shoulders and stepped back.

  “Thank you,” she said politely.

  “You’re welcome,” he shot back.

  “And thank you for all you’ve done today. Offering your house. Probably spending your month’s salary on pillows and dishes you’ll never need after we leave. You’ve given this band a safe harbor for the night, and none of us can ever thank you enough.”

  “You’re welcome,” he shot back again.

  Beth stepped on the first step of the stairs and addressed what they both were not talking about. “I’m not going to kiss you good night, Andrew.” She knew she was probably hurting his feelings, but he wasn’t the right man for her. Maybe no man was, but she didn’t want to lead him on. They could play like they were man and wife, but at some point they’d have to step back into the real world. When she did, she wanted no regrets.

  His words came cold in the darkness. “I wasn’t planning on asking you to kiss me again.”

  “You weren’t?”

  “No.”

  She heard his footsteps leaving the hallway and heading for his study. He’d walked away. A man had actually walked away from her.

  Beth stomped her way up the stairs and tried to sleep. Slowly, like a cold breeze, the knowledge that tonight might be her last chance to kiss him seeped into her thoughts. If the boys found their father and Madie went with her man, Colby would probably leave too. She couldn’t stay alone with a strange man, so she’d have to check into the Grand or see if her sister was in town. Any one of her sister’s friends would take her in, but she hated to drop in on someone. But she’d never survive the scandal if everyone in this house left and she stayed alone with Andrew.

  He was no one important to her life, she reminded herself. He’d been an accidental meeting. They’d both needed each other, that was all. He wasn’t the kind of man she wanted, and she’d never be the kind of person he needed. But as the night aged, she mourned what might have been their last kiss.

  At dawn Beth dressed and went down to start the fire in the stove. She saw no sign of Andrew in his study, but when she pulled the curtain across the kitchen opening she almost screamed in surprise.

  Andrew was standing buttoning his trousers. His hair was wet and a towel hung around his neck.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry, husband. I didn’t know you bathed at dawn.”

  Puffy, red skin showed along his neck between the stitches. She’d almost forgotten about the wound he’d suffered during the train wreck. Now it scarred a very nice body.

  “There are many things you don’t know about me, wife.” He grinned back, playing her game. “Any chance you’ve got another strip of that silk to wrap my neck? My collar will rub against skin still raw when I’m fully dressed.”

  She went back upstairs and found a strip of what had once been her wedding dress. When she returned he’d pulled his undershirt on, but it hung open at his throat. Very carefully she wrapped his neck, enjoying the smell of his freshly washed skin.

  He placed his hands on her waist as if to steady them both. When she finished and started to step away, he pulled her against him and lowered his mouth to hers.

  The kiss was demanding, not giving her time to object as he parted her lips and made her forget all about not wanting to kiss him. His body was warm from his bath as he drew her against him. His hands moved up and down her back slowly, pressing her against his chest.

  One kiss answered all the longing she’d felt during the night.

  When he moved from her lips to her throat, she leaned her head back, loving the feel of his mouth against her skin. “I didn’t tell you that you could kiss me,” she managed to say as she tried to breathe.

  “I didn’t ask, and I’m not asking now.” He returned to her mouth for another long kiss that left her breathless. “If you don’t want to kiss me,” he said against her swol
len lips, “you’d better yell and kick and scream, because I’m not stopping and I’m not spending another night awake wishing I’d kissed you.”

  Her fingers dug into his damp hair. “I know how you feel. I couldn’t sleep either.”

  He rained feather kisses over her face. “So for as long as you’re here as my wife, there will be a good-night kiss. There will be no pretending about this one thing between us.”

  His hands closed around her waist, pulling her solidly against his chest. She would have kissed him again, but he lifted his head so he could look into her eyes. “Swear,” he demanded. “I’ll not ask for more, but you’ll come to me.”

  “I swear.” His mouth was on hers again before the words were fully in the air between them. This kiss was full of passion and need. There was nothing safe or soft about it. His big hands spread up her ribs and brushed against her breasts as he caught her moan and deepened the kiss.

  She was almost lost to all thought when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

  Andrew pulled away so fast she almost tumbled forward.

  “You folks are up early.” Madie’s voice sounded cheery as she stepped into the room.

  “We were lighting a fire before everyone else woke,” Beth managed.

  Andrew turned toward the study without a word, but not before she heard his chuckle.

  CHAPTER 11

  THE SUN HAD REACHED THE ROOFTOP OF THE HUGE metal barn of the train yard when Colby Dixon straightened and offered his arm to Madie Delany. “Now stand beside me and let me do all the talking. If your Micah is in here working, I’m far more likely to get past the yard boss to talk to him than some half-grown girl who thinks he’s her man.”

  “I’m not half-grown and—”

  “I don’t want to get into that again, Madeline. Just let me do the asking about him. You may think you’re grown, but I’m older. I know best.”

  “Fine.” She gripped Colby’s arm as they moved into the huge barn whose very walls seemed to rattle. Machinery was everywhere, and the sound of hammers ticked out an uneven beat. The floor seemed made of tracks crisscrossing. The building had been built in the round so that an engine could be completely turned inside.

  Colby felt her shaking even through the thick cotton of his shirt sleeve, so he patted her hand where it rested on his arm. She reminded him of a puppy someone had mistreated, and he saw it as his duty to help her out. In a few minutes, either she’d be in her man’s arms and happy, or she’d be crying on Colby’s shoulder. Either path, he’d see this through to the end.

  They were ten feet in when a man jumped off an engine and confronted them. “Something I can do for you folks? We’re working here. This ain’t no ride at the fair.”

  Colby straightened all the way to his six feet. “I’m here to ask about Micah Summerset. I understand he works here.”

  “Who wants to know?”

  “His family,” Colby said, figuring he was only half lying. When she married him, she would be family. “We’ll only need a minute of his time and then we’ll be on our way.”

  “I’ll go get him.” The foreman didn’t look too happy about it, but Colby’s serious expression must have convinced him that he had bad news that couldn’t wait.

  “I want a little more than a minute of his time, Colby,” Madie whispered. “We’ve got a lot to talk about now that we’re starting our lives together.”

  “I know, but he can tell you where to meet him when he gets off. The man’s working, and that has to come first, girl.” Colby suddenly felt very old.

  She pouted, but he acted like he didn’t notice.

  “I feel like I’m going to be sick,” she whispered. “It’s too hot and smoky in here.”

  “You’ll be fine. This is what you wanted, isn’t it, Madie? Now he won’t have to come get you. You’re already here in town.”

  They stepped a few feet closer to the open doorway, where the air was cleaner. Colby swore the girl was turning green with fear. She’d woken him early, asking if he could be ready to leave right after breakfast. She wanted to find her man, but she didn’t want to go alone. Now they were here and she looked like she might bolt at any moment.

  As minutes passed, Colby began to have a bad feeling about this whole thing. A man who wanted a woman usually went after her. He didn’t leave her forty miles away waiting for weeks without a word. For all Colby knew, Madie had made up the whole story, probably building her hopes on a few kind words or a passing flirtation. His pa always said that if a fellow smiles at a girl too wide she starts packing her hope chest, and if he dances with her more than once, she’s writing down her name tied to his.

  In truth, thanks to his pa’s advice, Colby was more afraid of girls than of a herd of wild longhorn. On the cattle drives he’d had a few saloon girls about his age try to cuddle up to him, but he couldn’t seem to form enough words to talk to them. He could stand equal to any man, but women were another story. This one beside him wasn’t full-grown and she made him nervous.

  “Promise you won’t leave until I’m ready for you to leave.”

  He frowned. “How am I going to know you’re ready?”

  “I’ll say, ‘Good-bye, Colby.’” She laughed nervously. “That’ll be our secret clue for you to go.”

  He stared at her, deciding his father was right; women were put on this earth to drive men crazy. He barely knew this one and she was already doing a great job.

  He turned when he heard footsteps and saw a man heading toward them. The worker was built short and square, with powerful arms and frown marks embedded in his dirty forehead. Colby swore he was growling as he rushed toward them

  “What is it?” he yelled. “I got work to do.”

  Madie turned around. The smile on her face wilted as she stared at the man before her covered in grease and dirt. He wasn’t young either. He had to be in his thirties, and this morning his age seemed to show itself to her for the first time.

  His face didn’t soften when he recognized Madie. She might be plump, but she looked small now, even next to Micah.

  “What are you doing here?” The muscle in the man’s jaw jerked as if he were barely controlling his anger. “I told you to stay in Dallas. I never said you could come bother me at work.”

  Madie lifted her head, but her voice shook slightly as she said, “I came to be with you, Micah. I thought we could get married like we talked about doing. I don’t care about the little house you’re building. We can live anywhere until you get it built.”

  Micah turned to Colby. “Who are you and why’d you bring her here?”

  Colby widened his stance. He might be ten years younger than Micah, but he’d learned on the trail never to back down from a bully. Without thinking about it, he brushed his jacket aside so he could reach the gun strapped to his leg if needed.

  Micah wasn’t a fool; he backed a step away and calmed. “She don’t belong to me, mister, no matter what she says. She’s a skirt I lifted a few times when I was working out of town.”

  Colby considered shooting the man, but before he could draw, Madie reacted. She flew at Micah in a rage, hitting, scratching, screaming. Colby didn’t know whether to grab her or join the fight, so he stood there while she beat on Micah.

  The little man might have wanted to hit back, but he didn’t dare with Colby so close. One blow from his powerful arms might have knocked the girl out.

  Finally, she stopped and said almost in a whisper, “You said you loved me. I thought you meant it. I thought you meant everything.” Tears ran down her face as she gulped for air.

  Micah didn’t answer, but his prideful cockiness was gone. After a moment, he said in a tired voice, “I thought you understood we were just having a good time. That was all.”

  Madie nodded. “You’re not building me a house, are you? You’re not going to marry me.”

  “I already got a wife. You’ll find someone better than the likes of me. You’re just a kid.”

  “You said you loved me.�
� She gulped out each word.

  He hardened, obviously tired of listening to her whining. “You were more than willing that first night. It wouldn’t have mattered what I said. Street trash like you know how to get a man to promise things he don’t even mean. You may be young, but I could tell what you was the minute you smiled at me. I happened to be the first, that’s all. The first of a very long line.”

  Colby swung before he thought. In one blow the man went down, hitting the ground so hard that dust billowed up around him.

  Madie stared down at the only person who’d ever said he loved her. He’d lied.

  “Get me out of here, would you, Colby?” she asked as she turned away from Micah. “I never want to see him or this place again.”

  Colby stared down at Micah, daring the man to stand and fight. When he didn’t, Colby offered his arm to Madie. “All right, Madeline, we leave. There is nothing here that even needs to be remembered.”

  She managed to lift her chin and he nodded, thinking she might just have grown a little taller.

  They walked out of the train yard and along the wide main street. Neither said a word until they were almost back to Andrew’s town house. The morning was sunny, but neither of them felt the warmth.

  “Can we tell the others we didn’t find Micah?” She finally broke the silence. “I don’t want them to know how dumb I was.”

  “It’s not your fault. He was twice your age. He should have known better.” Colby swore under his breath, thinking he should have made the coward stand so he could hit him again. “As far as I’m concerned we didn’t find the man you were looking for.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it ever again.”

  “Then we’ll say we couldn’t find the man you knew. In my opinion, that would be the truth.” Colby wished he hadn’t heard what Micah had said. He’d always thought that women who lifted their skirts, as Micah put it, were ladies of the night. Madie wasn’t one of those women; she was still a girl. She worked hard and cared about people. She treated Levi and his brother as if they were hers. “Forget all about him. He was wrong about you,” Colby said. “You go on like this morning never happened.”