Summer Moon

by Jill Marie Landis

  It pained Reed to watch Charm talk around her split lip.

  As the girl stood, Jonah shot to his feet and pulled her chair out for her. Kate stayed by her side, although she was looking at Reed when she said, “When the kettle boils, I’ll need a pitcher of warm water, a basin, and some clean towels.”

  Jonah slipped his jacket off the girl’s shoulders before the women crossed the room. Charm hesitated in the doorway as if loath to leave him.

  Reed let go a pent-up sigh he hadn’t even known he was holding when Jonah gave the girl a silent nod of assurance. She followed Kate out of the room.

  Kate had seen the look that passed between Charm and Jonah Taylor. The captain was a good twenty years older than Charm Riley, but he gazed at her with such love and longing, such deep concern, that Kate’s heart contracted just watching them.

  She took Charm by the arm and led her up to Sofia’s room. Then she hurried to her own room, grabbed her robe, and carried it back down the hall.

  “I’ll leave you alone to undress,” Kate said as she handed her faded blue robe to the girl.

  “Don’t go!” Charm panicked but quickly calmed. “I’ll need your help to get this dress off.”

  Kate walked over to where the girl stood uncertainly beside the bed. As gingerly as she could, Kate helped Charm slip her torn gown off her shoulders.

  She was determined not to stare at Charm’s deep black lace corset, but as soon as she caught sight of the welts and bruises across the girl’s shoulder blades, the scandalous cut and color of the seductive undergarment was forgotten.

  Kate seethed inside, furious that anyone should suffer such a beating, let alone someone as young and defense-less as Charm.

  Though no one had told Kate what Charm did to earn her keep, it was written on the girl’s face, evident in the immodest cut of her red ruffled gown and the telltale black corset.

  Beatings came with the occupation. There had been nights when things had gone terribly wrong for Meg Whittington, too. Occasionally a man would turn mean, furious over what her mother always said were “his own shortcomings.” Afterwards, her mama would bitterly try to explain it away to Kate.

  “It’s my fault, Katie darlin’,” she said, “for not seeing the signs. Some men aren’t right in the head. I just hope to God that you don’t ever have to learn that the hard way.”

  Kate draped Charm’s ruined red gown over an overstuffed upholstered chair and then helped her slip on the robe.

  There was a knock at the door. Kate answered to Scrappy standing outside, his arms full of the things she had requested. Keeping his eyes averted, he crossed the room and set the basin and water pitcher on a washstand, then laid out a pile of clean towels and rags. Kate thanked him and asked him to watch Daniel as he tried to duck out of the room.

  She poured warm water into the bowl, dipped in a thick towel and twisted the excess water out. Charm still stood beside the bed.

  “Sit down, Miss Riley,” Kate instructed softly.

  “Please, ma’am, call me Charm.”

  “Only if you will call me Kate.”

  Charm sat on the edge of the bed as Kate pressed the rag gently against Charm’s blood-encrusted lip and held it there. The girl closed her eyes. Her tears slowly leaked from beneath gold lashes.

  Kate gently moved the cloth over her face, returned to the basin to rinse it out and then let Charm hold it over her swollen eye.

  “Thank you, Kate.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It’s everything,” Charm said with a catch in her voice. “A fine lady like you, helping the likes of me.”

  “Fine lady?” Kate smiled as she folded back the top sheet and bedspread.

  She took up another cloth, held it against Charm’s bruised back and shoulders, debating whether to tell her about her own past. She had come west to begin again, hoping no one but Reed Benton would know the truth. Now the only Benton who knew everything about her was dead, and Sofia was gone. No one knew. Her silence would keep the past secret, but looking at the lovely little blonde, able to recognize and feel the shame in her eyes, Kate knew she had to tell Charm the truth.

  “My mother was a woman of the streets. We lived hand to mouth, one step ahead of starvation most of the time. I know what you are and what you do all too well, believe me.”

  A weak smile twisted Charm’s swollen lips. “Life isn’t as bad as all that at Dolly’s place. We get plenty to eat.”

  Kate sat on the bed beside the girl, hoping to put her more at ease.

  “How old are you, Charm?”

  “Eighteen. I’ve been working at Dolly’s for three years.”

  Kate wanted to rail at the injustice of a world that allowed a girl of fifteen to give her body to any man with enough coin. She decided then and there that she had to do all she could to rescue Charm Riley.

  “How long have you known Mr. Taylor?”

  “Almost since I came to Lone Star,” Charm said.

  “I see.”

  “It’s not what you think, ma’am. Jonah’s never been with me in that way. He’s the kindest man I’ve ever known. He always chooses one of the others for . . . you know, but he brings me candy sometimes and once, he even gave me a pretty gold locket.” Her eyes filled with tears. “The chain got broke last night, and I lost it.”

  “Maybe someone will find it and save it for you.”

  “Maybe.” She looked doubtful.

  “Would you change your life if you could, Charm?”

  “Change my life?”

  “Would you do something else?”

  “I don’t know how to do much else. Besides, nobody’s going to marry me now. It’s a little too late to think about finding a husband and having babies. Working at Dolly’s is all right, I guess.”

  Kate wished she could argue that a husband and children weren’t out of the question for Charm, but she had been entertaining the same thoughts about herself since she had slept with Reed.

  Charm sighed. “It’s too late.”

  “It’s never too late.” Kate was suddenly inspired with a plan. “Can you cook, Charm?”

  “Sure, I can cook. My family used to own a hotel in Saint Louis. All my twelve brothers and sisters worked. I started cooking when I was tall enough to reach the stove. Why?”

  “I was just thinking out loud.” Kate stood, eager to go speak to Reed. “Why don’t you slip into bed and try to rest for a while?”

  Charm hesitated, uncertain. “I didn’t plan on staying here, ma’am. Bringing me here was Jonah’s idea.”

  “I insist.” Kate was ready to argue. The girl appeared to be on the verge of collapse. “I’ll go down and tell the men that you are staying. I won’t take no for an answer. You’ll feel better after you get some sleep.”

  “It is a far sight quieter here than at the Social Club.” She looked around at the unmarked paint on the walls, the glowing wood floor, the freshly laundered lace curtains. “A far sight cleaner, too. Are you and Reed engaged or anything?” Charm asked.

  Or anything? Kate tried to hide her surprise.

  “Absolutely not.”

  Charm moved the towel over her eye. “I thought maybe you were, from the way you two look at each other.”

  Kate was amazed by the observation. Was she that transparent? Did Reed really look at her in an admiring way?

  “You’re not from around here, are you, Kate?”

  “No . . . that’s a long story that I will tell you another time. Right now, you relax, and I’ll look in on you in a bit.”

  Charm slipped beneath the sheet. Kate turned to go.

  “Ma’am?”

  “Yes?” Kate paused and smiled at Charm.

  “Could you just sit with me for a spell until I fall asleep?”

  19

  Reed watched Jonah pace the confines of the kitchen. The Ranger paused, picked up a bread-slicing box off a sideboard, and turned the wooden object over and over in his hands.

  “I’m going to hang the bastard
who did this to her, Reed.”

  “You know who it was?”

  Jonah nodded. “A drifter riding with four ruffians from Kansas. They left Dolly’s sometime before dawn, but not before cleaning out her cash box. Hurt some of the other girls, too, but none of them got it as bad as Charm.”

  “You been carrying a torch for her for three years. Why don’t you marry her?”

  “Me settle down?” Jonah looked incredulous.

  “Other men have done it.” Reed knew what was going through Jonah’s mind. The sky was their roof. The saddle their home. It would be as hard for Jonah to give up rangering as it would be for Reed.

  “I’m too old for her, anyway.”

  “You’re not forty.”

  “Damn right I’m not. I’m forty-two.”

  Reed hid his surprise. “She’d be lucky to have a good man like you.”

  Jonah steered the conversation back to the robbery of Dolly Goode. “If I get back to camp before tomorrow’s gone and round up a few men, we can ride after them before the trail’s cold.”

  “I’m going to give this one more week’s rest, and then I’ll be back.” Reed rubbed his shoulder.

  Jonah eyed him carefully. “You really feel up to it?”

  It still hurt, and it would pain him no matter where he was, but he was hesitant to leave so soon. At least getting out of here as quickly as he could would keep him from listening for Kate’s footsteps all day, wondering what she was doing and making excuses to run into her.

  “No, but I’m going, anyway. It won’t do me any good to laze around getting soft.”

  “No worry about that. Summer’s heating up, and the Comanche are getting bolder by the day. There’ll be plenty to do no matter when you come back.”

  Trusting his friend to keep his confidence, Reed briefly told Jonah about Kate, who she was and how she had come to be there. He also told Jonah that he was fairly convinced that she was innocent of his father’s scheme.

  “Are you leaving so soon because you’re running away from her or Daniel?” Jonah asked.

  “Both, maybe.”

  Jonah locked his hands behind his head and stretched, contemplating. Reed sipped his coffee. Talking about going back had him thinking about the last raid, wondering if his passion for revenge hadn’t cooled now that he had Daniel back. How long had it been since he had really thought about why he was fighting Comanche?

  After a bit Jonah suggested, “Maybe Kate could find work in Lone Star. She’s a looker. Couple days in town, and she’d probably come up with some cowboy’s proposal soon enough.”

  Although it would get her out of his life, there was something about the idea that didn’t quite sit right with Reed.

  “You said she signed proxy papers. Maybe she’s still legally married to you. If not, maybe she’s legally your pa’s widow,” Jonah speculated. “Wouldn’t that beat all?”

  “Sofia said my father signed Reed Benton Junior. I had Scrappy stop by to see our lawyer in Lone Star, and to top it all off, my father conveniently sent him on a trip to Europe, probably to keep the man away from Kate and from finding out what he’d been up to. I’ll have to wait until Jeb gets back to have him untangle everything. For now, I’ve hired Kate to take care of Daniel and the house. She thinks she can help him. Thinks just because she was a teacher at an orphanage back East that she can tame him.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think she means well, but she’s got about as much chance as an icicle in hell. He’ll never be the same. You know it as well as I. Lord knows, we’ve seen them like this often enough.” Things crowded in on Reed so hard he found it difficult to breathe.

  “Maybe she’s right. Maybe it’s not too late,” Jonah said.

  “Yeah. And maybe someday cows will bark. I think she’s plum loco.”

  “You won’t get me to speak unkindly of her, not after the way she didn’t bat an eye when it came to helping Charm.” Jonah looked up at the ceiling. “I wonder what’s going on up there?”

  “She likes to hover. It about drove me crazy, her fluffing pillows and shifting trays all the time I was down.”

  “She’s a good-looking woman, Reed. You could do worse.”

  “That’s what Sofia said, but I know by now that it isn’t looks that count. I’m not looking for a wife. Besides, you know I’m not a good judge of women. I was burned once, and I don’t intend to go through that again.”

  “Maybe this Kate is different.”

  As I’ve never been a wife, I can’t promise you that I’ll be perfect, but I will certainly give my all.

  Thinking of what she had written, keeping his own council, Reed hooked his arm over the back of the chair. There was no doubt in his mind that Kate was different from Becky, but that didn’t mean they would suit each other. Besides, as he already told Jonah, he wasn’t looking for a wife. Before he had come back here, the idea had never even entered his mind.

  He was about to say that she was stubborn enough to put up with him and Daniel, and that’s all he could ask for right now. Not a moment too soon, Jonah flashed him a quick warning nod and Reed held his tongue.

  A second later, Kate breezed back into the room. When both men stood, she blushed and looked flustered.

  Reed pulled out a chair and she sat down. “Want some coffee?” he offered, relieved just to have her there and know she had been of help to Charm.

  “Why, thank you. Yes.” She looked surprised by his offer.

  He took down a heavy pottery mug and filled it to the brim with the thick, steaming brew. His camp specialty. Careful not to slosh it on her, he set it on the table and eased into the chair beside her.

  She gave him a sideways glance from beneath her lashes; then she concentrated on Jonah. “Charm’s asleep, Mr. Taylor. I have invited her to stay here and rest.” Then she turned to Reed. “I hope that’s all right with you.”

  “It is.”

  He had the feeling it didn’t matter to her in the least what he thought, for she had already made up her mind. She was merely being polite by asking. Again, her tenacity surprised him. He would do well not to underestimate her.

  Her kindness to the girl surprised him, too, until he realized it was possible that she might not have the vaguest idea that Charm was a whore. From all she had said so far about nuns and orphans, Kate had led a sheltered life in Maine after her mother abandoned her.

  He watched her take a long sip of coffee. Her already huge eyes went wide over the rim of the cup. She swallowed, coughed, and quickly set the mug down.

  “What is that?”

  Jonah laughed.

  Reed acted insulted. “It’s coffee. Real coffee, not that watery excuse you’ve been giving me for days.”

  “Reed makes the best coffee around,” Jonah piped up in defense.

  Kate looked at them both in turn as if they had lost their minds. She pushed the cup a little farther away and said without warning, “I would like Charm to stay on indefinitely.”

  Both men openly stared. She focused on him.

  “You said we need a cook. She can cook. I would like to offer her the position. Anything would be preferable to what she does in Lone Star.”

  She knew. She knew what Charm was, what she did, and yet Kate wanted her there, anyway. Reed was so stunned it took him a minute to recover.

  “You think she would stay?” Jonah sounded as if the idea was too good to be true.

  “I believe she would,” Kate assured him. “What do you think, Reed?”

  He thought perhaps there was much, much more to Kate Whittington than what he had already learned from her letters. He also realized he liked hearing her say his name. He rubbed his hand over the ache in his shoulder. “I think it’s a fine idea. If you can talk her into it, you and the boy might not starve after all.”

  20

  The kitchen grew progressively warmer as morning melted into high noon. A hot wind from the south assaulted the house, baking the grass on the gently undulating hills and val
leys around it.

  Kate made eggs and burned some fried potatoes for the midday meal and served them up to Reed, Jonah, and Scrappy, and then she fed Daniel. Having men around the table was nothing at all like the sedate, orderly meals served in the dining hall at Saint Perpetua’s. Here the talk was loud, oftentimes boisterous. She had the feeling that if Charm had not been asleep upstairs, the men would have been even louder as they related some of the legendary jokes the Rangers played on each other in camp.

  More than once she was startled when they forgot themselves and let slip a word not fit for a lady’s ears, but then they apologized profusely.

  The meal gave her a glimpse of how it might have been if she and Reed had met under other circumstances. As she watched his easy exchange with Jonah and Scrappy, as the men laughed and talked of times past and adventures they had shared, she saw a side of Reed that was far different from the bitter man he had been for the last few days. She wished she knew him well, wished she could forget how he purposely avoided Daniel.

  Above all else, she wished she could forget that he had only made love to her because he mistook her for Becky. I love you, wife.

  Up to her elbows in soapy dishwater, Kate remembered the way Reed had pulled her close after they made love, tucked her beside his fevered body and held her tight.

  She tried to concentrate on what he was saying to Jonah.

  “I ought to be able to go join you at camp in another week.”

  A plate slipped from her hands, hit the dishpan, and splashed water over her and the sideboard. Her heart skipped a beat. He was going back to the Rangers. Just like that, he was leaving his father’s house and his son in her care without a backward glance. She had known eventually he would leave, but not so soon.

  She spun around, ignoring the damp bodice of her faded gray gown, and wiped her hands on her skirt. “You’re leaving in a week?”

  Jonah took one look at her face and pushed back from the table. Scrappy quickly followed suit. Both of them thanked her for the meal and were out the door before Reed decided to answer.

  “When will you be back?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “I haven’t even left yet. All you need to do is what you’ve been doing. Look after Daniel. Fuss with the house. Scrappy will be here. He’ll get whatever supplies you need from town.”