by Jillian Hart
“I’ll say. I can’t believe this.” He tugged open the door for his sister. “My personal life is nobody’s business. Why is everyone speculating—”
“Because you’re adorable, dear brother. And we all want you happy.” Laura breezed through the door, all smiles. “You will fix whatever rift you’ve caused between Anna and you, right?”
“What rift?” He shook his head, closed the door as she swept out into the night. The last thing he needed was advice on how to handle his nonexistent engagement.
Well, as long as Laura believed there wasn’t going to be a wedding, then that was fine by him. Cooper lifted the curtain in the dining room, waited until a lamp lit inside Laura’s cottage. She was safely inside, so he returned to the parlor.
There it was, Anna’s handiwork gracing the end wall. It was a fine job, he granted her that. And a thoughtful gift. It had delighted the girls. In truth, it had touched him, too. He studied the fine work, the happy little girls with real thread hair, tied in neat braids. Such delicate work.
Hell, he couldn’t see himself remarrying. He’d believed in Katherine, in her affection, in her fidelity. Look how wrong he’d been. Her abandonment had hurt him, but it hurt Katie more.
Children were a big responsibility. Children were vulnerable. Even if he did admit he was lonely. He didn’t want to share his life. He could not risk his daughters’ hearts on another woman, on a stepmother who would never love them as a real mother might.
He watched the fire burn until there were only embers.
Anna squinted against the bright sunshine. It washed over her sweet and new. Spring was in the air, shown in the broad-leaved maples and aspens just unfurling their leaves. Mountain air and pollen warred with the scent of dust from the busy street.
This was the third day she’d been able to help Janet in the inn. As long as her serving girl was out with a fever, there was work to be had. Anna hoped she could have work for the remainder of the week. What she earned in tips gave her some cash to call her own, and Janet was taking her wages in trade against the mounting hotel bill.
“Mama?” Mandy tugged on Anna’s skirt. “We gonna play tea party?”
“We’re not seeing Maisie today.” She stopped at the corner to wait for traffic. How much fun the little girls had, nights ago now, playing pretend tea party on the floor of the Braddocks’ parlor. “We’re going to the store to pick up fresh eggs for Mrs. Briggs.”
“Candy, too?” So much hope in those eyes.
Anna thought of the coins in her skirt pocket. “Why not? We deserve a treat.”
“We sure do.” Mandy squeezed Harry Bunny tight.
When the last of the vehicles passed, a prospector’s donkey and cart, Anna led her daughter across the street.
She felt watched. She looked up and saw a lawman, guns strapped to his hips. He strolled the street in the opposite direction. He lifted his hat, and she smiled.
One of Cooper’s deputies. The streets here felt safe, unlike the ones back home. Montana was dangerous country. Ruthless men still ruled here, but towns like this, decent and filling with families, were thriving.
“Mama, I want lemon candy.” Mandy had apparently been giving her candy choice some thought.
“Lemon sounds good.” Maybe she would get a stick for herself. It had been a long time since she’d felt so hopeful. There had been no sign of Dalton Jennings. Nor any more threats from the man who’d nearly kidnapped her. And Janet said she was well pleased with her hard work.
She reached out to tug open the heavy glass door and saw a man standing nearly in her way. Rough-looking, his chaps and leather shirt were coated in several layers of dust and grime. He looked like a prospector, like dozens of men who came down from the hills to restock their supplies, cash in their gold and return to their claims. But a red bandanna hung at his neck, loosely knotted.
A red bandanna just like the one the robbers on the mountain pass wore. A puff of wind snapped her skirts and she stepped back. His cold, lethal glare laughed at her. Anna swept Mandy up into her arms and dashed down the walk. When she looked back, he was still standing there, that mocking half grin on his cruel face.
There had been a deputy walking Maple Street, but he wasn’t there when she turned the corner. Shaking, she forced herself to calm down. The man wasn’t following her. He hadn’t tried to harm her.
“Mama. My candy.” Sorrow laced those words.
“We just have to wait a few minutes. Then I promise we’ll get you a nice big lemon stick.”
Well, there was only one thing to do. Anna crossed the street. At the end of the block she pushed open the jailhouse door and walked into the sheriff’s office.
“Why, if it isn’t my two favorite ladies.” Tucker hopped up from behind a paper-piled desk, his grin cocky and sure. “My handsome brother is questioning the prisoner. I’ll get him for you.”
“No, Tucker.” Mandy was getting heavy, so she set the child down gently on both feet. “I mean, I don’t need Cooper exactly. You could help me.”
“Me?” Tucker laid a hand on his broad chest. “I’ll do anything to help a pretty woman. What do you need?”
“I saw one of the robbers. He was outside the mercantile. He frightened me.”
“Barstow is out walking the streets. He ought to have noticed a known criminal was in town.” Tucker reached for his hat.
“He was dressed like a prospector.”
“Where’s Davidson?” Tucker brushed past her and stuck his head out the door. “I don’t see him. Wait, there he is.” The deputy shook his head, scattering dark locks across his collar, just the way Cooper might.
“Trouble?” There he was, standing in the threshold, shoulders set, looking like myth. “What trouble?”
His concerned gaze pinned her. He looked ferocious enough to frighten any outlaw. This was the man who had climbed down a cliff to rescue an injured child, who righted wrongs, made the world a little safer. Just looking at him made her chest fill with so many conflicting emotions.
“She saw one of Corinthos’ men.”
“Stay here.” He grabbed his hat, then laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. Determmation tensed his jaw, but he was all concern. “We’ll keep you safe, Anna.”
She already knew that. She turned to watch him go. Her heart pounded from his nearness. She felt breathless and light. What was she doing? She couldn’t do this again, fall in love with a man she couldn’t have. She’d made that mistake before.
But as she watched Cooper stride down the street, a man of power and right, her stomach flip-flopped.
She didn’t want to need him. She shouldn’t read anything more into his willingness to help her. He was the sheriff. It was his job. That’s all she was to him.
The jailhouse door swung open with a squeak. Cooper strode inside, still squinting from the bright sun. He saw Anna rise from the chair by the window, expectation written on her soft face.
“Deputy Barstow spotted him and he took off. He had a horse tethered nearby. Barstow and Tucker are riding out after him, but he got a good head start.” Cooper slung off his hat and avoided her gaze.
“What do you think he wanted?”
“Could be any number of things. We still have the gold they want locked up in the town bank. We’ve got one of their lead men locked up in my jail. And there’s you.”
“Me.” She looked down. How pale she looked. He’d heard through Laura, who felt a duty to keep him informed about Anna, that she was serving in Janet’s kitchen: Maybe she was working too hard.
“You can identify him. It’s a tradition with a certain brand of outlaw not to leave witnesses alive.”
“When I bought the ticket to come here, they told me there had been a lot of trouble. I thought it was worth the risk. I thought—” She looked down at her daughter, sitting on the polished floor, Maisie’s old bunny, the fur worn away, clutched in her unsplinted hand.
“I’ve made sure my deputies have been keeping an eye on you.”
“Guarding me?” She looked alarmed.
“Something like that. We just want to make sure Corinthos doesn’t get a wild idea and try to hurt you.”
“Why do you think I came here? To get away from men like that, not to find more.” Tears stood in her eyes, but she sounded angry.
He took her hands in his. A jolt of heat arched down his arms, burned in his chest. “There are good guys here, believe it or not.”
“I believe it.”
How blue her eyes, how true her voice. The loneliness inside him felt less just being with her.
He dropped her hands and moved away. “I’ll have one of my deputies accompany you back to the hotel.”
“We need candy,” Mandy spoke up.
“To the store, then.” Cooper managed a smile before he turned away.
The jailhouse door squeaked open for the second time today. Cooper looked up from his paperwork, heart pounding. But when he saw Katie, braids unraveling and trousers stained with mud at the knees, he relaxed.
“I’ve come to kidnap you, Papa.”
“Don’t you know that’s against the law?”
“Oh, Papa, it’s just for a picnic. Maisie really wants you to come.”
“Maisie, huh?” He wasn’t fooled. “I’ve got a lot of paperwork here, tiger.”
Twin lines etched along her brow. “Papa. We’re all counting on you. It’s important.”
He could see that. The need in his daughter’s eyes. Oh, it wasn’t easy being a single parent. He could be a-father, but there was no way he could ever fill his daughter’s ache for a mother. “If a picnic’s important to you, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“Thank you, Papa. You won’t be sorry. Laura made you a lemon cake.”
His favorite. “With that lemon frosting?”
“Come on, Papa.” She took him by the hand and tugged, barely leaving him time to grab his hat. “We don’t wanna be late.”
For what, he didn’t ask. He was afraid to know. He sensed a plot.
Chapter Nine
Lee Corinthos downed more whiskey. Pain speared through his shoulder with every breath he took. His left arm was damn near useless thanks to that white knight sheriff. And it was taking too damn long to heal.
Dusty broke into the cabin. “It took me nearly two hours to evade those lawmen. They’re damn good trackers.”
“You had better not have led them here.” Corinthos took another swig, let the liquor burn down his throat. “Did you see Palmer?”
“Couldn’t get close to the jail. Too many deputies guarding it. But I saw the woman. She’s stayin’ at that fancy hotel there in town. She spotted me, and the sheriff’s men gave me a bit of a chase. I was faster.”
“Yes, our fine Sheriff Braddock.” Corinthos leaned back on his bed. “Seems he has a troubled past. He might bend a mite easier to bribery than we figured.”
“That so?”
“I’ve been asking around. Seems down in Colorado, Braddock was in cahoots with Black Eyed Charlie.”
“No kiddin’?” Dusty’s eyes rounded.
“His wife was in on it and left him for Charlie.”
Dusty shook his head. “How come he ain’t in jail? Did he run?”
“Couldn’t find enough evidence. But some say our Sheriff Braddock was friends with the judge, being he had saved the judge’s daughter from being kidnapped by a rowdy band the year before. Braddock collected on that favor, don’t you think otherwise. He’s been proving himself on the right side of the law ever since.”
“Is he playin’ both sides?”
Corinthos winced against a flash of pain. “I intend to find out which way Braddock will go.”
“Surprise.” Laura stood up from the blanket near the south fork of Flint Creek, a gentle stream, with lush green grass surrounding it and tall cottonwoods. “We thought it would be fun to have Anna join us.”
“Fun.” Yeah, he knew a plot when he saw one. He took one look at Anna’s face, the surprise wide in her eyes and knew she hadn’t been expecting this.
“Katie.” He looked down accusingly at his daughter.
Katie shrugged her shoulders. “Laura said you and Anna had a fight or something.”
“Shh.” Laura jogged up to him, lowering her voice, glancing over her shoulder at Anna still seated on the red plaid blanket. “This will give you a chance to mend things between you two.”
“There’s nothing to mend, Laura.” This had gone too far. “There never was going to be a wedding.”
“Sure, go ahead and deny it. Tucker’s right. You just won’t admit you need anyone at all. So go talk to Anna. I’ve got to fetch something from the wagon.”
He took one look at Anna, beautiful in a blue dress. “I’ll fetch whatever you need.”
“No. You go to your Anna.” Laura dashed off, leaving him frustrated.
“Come on, Papa.” Katie tugged him forward.
The only consolation was the panic on Anna’s face. She bowed her head, trying to hide it. He settled down across from her on the blanket, firmly keeping the picnic basket between them.
“I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Neither did I.” The worry soft on her face touched him in ways he didn’t want to know or feel. “Laura has informed me she’s gotten us together so we can settle our fight.”
“What fight?”
Fine. He was beginning to see the humor in it. “The one that is keeping us from getting married.”
A flicker of a smile brushed her lips. “I tried to explain.”
“I’m sure you did. I just think Laura wants it to be true. Just like Katie does.” He grabbed a cup. “Cider?”
“Please.” Anna tried not to look at him. Tried to keep her gaze low. And when he handed her a full cup their fingers met. A jolt of longing telegraphed up her arm. She didn’t want him to know how she felt.
He didn’t want a wife. He didn’t want her.
She would never allow herself to pine after a man she couldn’t have. She’d learned that lesson from Mandy’s father, one that had hurt like nothing else. “At least the girls are happy.”
“Anna! Papa! Come see!” Katie called, the meal over.
“What do you think she found?” Anna asked as she helped Laura gather up the plates.
“Let’s hope it isn’t another snake.” Cooper winked.
“Katie found gold!” Maisie shouted.
“Gold!” Mandy chimed.
Anna hopped to her feet. The creek was so shallow, she could see the pebbles on the bottom. Only tadpoles and waterskimmers squiggled around in the clear water.
“There it is.” Katie held out her pan. Small rocks and dirt lined the bottom.
Then Anna saw the tiny irregular-shaped nugget, not much more than the size of a grass seed. “Katie, I can’t believe you found one.”
“Wanna try?” Katie reached into the water and dirt in the bottom of the pan to rescue her nugget.
“Sure. Show me how.” Anna knelt down at the water’s edge, and watched as Katie submerged the pan. Cooper knelt down beside her. She felt the heat of his body, breathed in the man and pine scent of him.
“Only rocks this time.” Katie dumped it back into the creek.
His presence washed over her. She tried to watch how Katie filled the pan, then rocked it. But all she could think about was Cooper, nearly touching her elbow, so close she could hear him breathe.
“Try it, Anna.” Katie held out the pan.
It was cold from the creek. Anna held the tin disc in her hand and scooped it into the water.
“Shake it gently,” Katie instructed.
Anna was more aware of Cooper at her side. She shook, sloshing water and rocks. Katie reached out to help. It was more difficult than she expected. When she saw plain old rocks and dirt in the bottom, she was strangely disappointed.
“Let me try it. I bet I can do better.” Cooper’s eyes laughed at her.
“You’re so certain of victory?”
“Of cours
e. I am the sheriff, aren’t I?”
The earth felt as if it were spinning. Light-headed, reeling, Anna could only look at his face, at his smile. At his lips.
“Oh, Papa. You’ve done this before.” Katie shook her finger at him. “I got more pans in the wagon.”
“I’ll get them.” Cooper sounded abrupt. He moved away so quickly, Anna wondered if he’d sensed how she was feeling.
She vowed to try harder to hide her affections. She saw Mandy, playing ankle-deep in water. Despite the heavy splint still on her injured arm, she was giggling with Maisie because a tadpole swam near her foot.
“I gotta find me a better place to pan.” Katie rubbed her brow. “Upstream a little. There, where the water is slower.” She tromped straight up the creek, water splashing everywhere.
“We’re outlaws and we’re gonna find gold,” Maisie announced. “Come on, Mandy.”
He could hear them well before he saw them. The squeal of little girls, the splash of water, women’s voices low but constant. Cooper checked his watch. He really ought to be heading back. He had a stage to meet at the pass. He wanted to be sure to stop any of Corinthos’ men, or any other outlaws before they could hurt any more children.
He caught his first glimpse of her through the trees, through shifting cottonwood leaves, whispering in the breeze. She was radiant, all brightness. Her voice skidded across his skin like a touch. When he stepped into the clearing, he looked at her first, not at his girls, not at his sister keeping safe watch on them.
Anna didn’t look at him with those unguarded eyes. She looked relaxed, settled on a boulder at the creek side, deep in conversation with Laura. He could hear snatches of Laura’s words, then the music of Anna’s voice growing clearer with every step he took.
A twig cracked beneath his boot. Anna’s head snapped up. She looked up at him, and made him feel... how she threatened to make him feel.
Her eyes shuttered, leaving only polite regard. He ought to be grateful. After all, he was the one who didn’t want anything to do with her. He was doing his job, protecting her, and doing what was right, making sure she had a place to stay. That was all.
