by Reina Torres
His shoulders tightened a little. “And if I wanted to hug you, would that be… unpleasant in any way?”
“A hug?” He watched her cheeks flush with a becoming color. “You would like to hug me?”
“Sure,” he ground his back teeth together, berating himself silently, “a kind of celebration hug?” He could feel his lips twist in a wince. “I feel like such a fool, I-”
“Silly,” she twisted in his arms and wrapped hers around his shoulders, “that’s what you are, silly.”
Surprised, it took him a moment or two to extricate his arm from between them and wrap both around her waist.
It was, as he reckoned, heaven. As petite as she was, he had his nose buried in the mussed curls about her temple and smelled the scent of her scented soap deep into his lungs.
He could almost forget that they were standing on the street before the Marshal’s Office, across the street from his uncle’s smithy, but it was the spate of sudden movement approaching him that took his attention away from the delightful woman in his arms.
Cal and Jed were walking up the street toward them. And while Jed was focused on the conversation, Cal’s eyes fell on him and Ellis saw the dawning recognition in his eyes and then he smiled.
And that smile left Ellis cold.
All he could do was hold Virginia a little closer.
And pray.
Chapter 13
Nearly a week later, Delia was up for some company and Virginia arrived to make sure that the baby fit the gown. The christening was still a few weeks away, but she wanted to finish it. It fit well, and the delicate garment would be fastened behind the baby’s neck with ties so it didn’t have to be an exact size, and yet after looking at the dainty dress as Delia held her baby, she decided to add another length to the garment for the sake of the visual.
Once the garment was removed, Virginia stayed to have some tea and cookies with the young mother. Against Delia’s objections it was Virginia who made the tea and brought the young mother her treat. Virginia was more than happy to hold Oliver and keep the baby occupied to give his mother some time to relax.
“Olivia and Anna were by yesterday talking about the dance.”
Virginia’s smile deepened as the baby’s hand brushed up against her hand. “I can imagine. Olivia and I worked together on a new dress for Anna. The style is much more mature than she’s worn before.”
Delia laughed softly. “That must have been difficult for Olivia.”
Shrugging jostled the baby and he laughed out-loud. “She handled it fine, but it was Levi that teared up when Anna tried on the dress during our fitting and it wasn’t even right side out.”
“Levi wasn’t ready to see his little girl all grown up?”
Virginia nodded. “I think if you asked him about that, he’d deny his daughter is grown up. I think we heard him mumbling about ‘his baby.’
“Matthew came in while we were working as well, and he didn’t even seem to notice his sister was even in the room. I don’t understand why he seems so unhappy.”
“It’s only been the last few years that he’s become so anxious and sullen. I’m not sure what Levi and Olivia think of the matter, but I hoped that he would grow out of his moods, but now I’m not so sure.” Delia sighed and then seemed to brighten up her expression by choice. “There’s always hope.”
“Yes, people change all the time.” When Delia frowned at her, Virginia realized she’d let too much of her feelings slip through.
Sitting up in her chair, Delia gave Virginia a searching look. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” again her tone was too bright, “everything is fine.”
The look on her friend’s face spoke volumes. “Does it have to do with that young man who helped me that day? The one who sent me help?”
Virginia cuddled Oliver closer and he fussed a bit, making her ease her hold while her skin flushed with shame. “I thought we were… close.”
“Ah,” Delia smiled, “and now you’re not so sure.”
Nodding, she gave Delia a wincing smile. “After Olivia sent me home, Ellis walked me there and we hugged,” she rushed on to stave off any questions, “and I thought… oh, it doesn’t matter what I thought, because since then, I’ve barely seen him. It’s almost like I don’t exist beyond a nod or a word of greeting if I happen to be at the station, or if he sees me on the street.”
“He shouldn’t be so rude to you.” Delia was genuinely upset on her behalf and Virginia was eager to repair Delia’s opinion of Ellis.
“It’s not rude. He has work to do, a full schedule of rides for the Express. I’m not the best student on horseback. He probably doesn’t know how to tell me he doesn’t have the time.”
Delia’s expression didn’t change much. “I’m still not convinced that I shouldn’t send Ransom to have a talk with him.”
“Oh no,” Virginia sat upright in shock and the baby fussed in her arms, “please don’t do that. Ellis and Ransom just came to an understanding after he helped you. I don’t want to be the cause of any upsets.”
Shaking her head, Delia smiled and picked up another cookie from the plate. “Ransom and I are very grateful for Ellis’ help, but we can’t allow him to think that he can treat you like this. It’s just not how things are done in Three Rivers, or any other part of civilization.” Delia thought over the issue. “Maybe he will make up for it at the dance next week?”
Virginia tried to hide the downturn in her expression and maybe she had hidden the frown from Delia, but little Oliver took one look at her face and his bottom lip began to quiver.
“Hey, hey,” she bounced him a little in her arms and was rewarded by a carefree giggle, “that’s better.” She knew that Delia was waiting for an answer. “I’m attending the dance with the Hawkins family. My father has to stay in town and watch over things here. Mr. Weston is worried about the bank in a town that will only have a few people in it.”
“I can see how he’d worry about it. The Merrick Ranch is a good distance out from the town. If it wasn’t for the full moon that night, folks would likely have to stay on Merrick land until morning.”
“The whole land will be cast in silvery light by the time we head back and there should be more than enough light to travel safely, but while I’m there I plan to enjoy myself immensely. And I hope that I will have the occasion to dance.”
Delia opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again, just as quickly. Virginia saw the look of concerned confusion on the other woman’s face.
“Are you attending the dance? If you’d like to, I’d be happy to hold Oliver while you dance with Ransom.”
Delia’s expression softened. “I do so love to dance with Ransom, but I’m not quite so sure that I will be up to the feat.”
Virginia felt her cheeks warm again. “I can see how that might be an issue. You are,” she tucked the baby gently against her shoulder and felt his hand close around a part of her sleeve, “recovering well, yes?”
“Oh, yes,” Delia replied in a rush, “much recovered from his birth. I hope that you weren’t… concerned by what you saw.”
“Concerned?” Virginia knew her voice sounded strained. “Not so much as me being in awe of you and Mrs. Hawkins. I was quite sure that I’d end up fainting away on the floor but you both humbled me and I’m grateful that you allowed me to help.”
“You were a great help, Virginia. You have a wonderful spirit that is there for everyone to see if they only took one look at you. And the way you held my hand and bathed my face when I needed it, it gave me great relief.”
Virginia could only squeeze her eyes closed to hide her tears, as her hands were busy at the moment.
“The last few years I’ve spent following my father from post to post for the most part. Surrounded by men. My father always expected me to be more like him than anything else. Showing tears or admitting I was afraid of anything was something that my father wouldn’t like. It’s not so… difficult here.”
D
elia’s shoulder shook with laughter and then her happy burst of sound put a giddy smile on her son’s face. “For a longtime it was just me, my father and my brothers. To say that moving into town was a delight is quite the understatement. It can be a little lonely out there if you have a want for female company.”
“We share that lonely past, I guess.”
The clock chimed, and Virginia’s eyes opened wide. “Oh, I ought to be going home. I have to get supper on the table.”
Shifting Oliver in her arms, Virginia scooted to the edge of the sofa and stood and moved toward the cradle beside Delia’s chair.
“Oh, no, please. I’ll take him.”
Virginia transferred him to his mother’s arms. “He’s so precious.”
Delia accepted him into her arms and smiled down into his upturned face. “Getting bigger by the day.” Before Virginia turned away. Delia called after her. “Oh, we’d like to have you and your father over for supper one evening.”
Virginia smiled. “We would enjoy that, thank you.”
Virginia was still thinking about the young mother and her child when she headed down the street toward home. Lost in her thoughts of what she could put together quickly for supper she would have missed it, if she hadn’t heard her father’s voice from the front door of the Marshal’s office. “You get some rest, you hear?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll try as best I can.”
“Well, just keep your focus on the end of this, hm?”
“Yes, sir. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
Virginia flattened herself against the wall and made a frantic grab for her skirts. It made no sense to hide if she were to hide and be discovered because the mode of fashion forced her to wear voluminous skirts and petticoats.
So loud were her thoughts that she missed Ellis walking away and across the street. Peeking around the corner she saw him walk up to the small home behind the smithy.
His uncle, she reminded herself. His uncle Samuel. He had a reason to visit his uncle.
But why was he visiting her father?
And how friendly they sounded.
Get some rest.
That’s what I’m looking forward to.
What was all that about?
No, she shook her head, she didn’t begrudge Ellis getting to know her father, but why him and not…
She blinked her eyes, holding back jealous tears.
Virginia pulled in a gasping breath. “How ridiculous I sound,” she scolded. “If he’d rather spend time with my father then he can. I’m not jealous. He’s not my beau.”
Oh, but I wanted him to be.
Again, she scolded herself.
You have much to do, Virginia, and precious little time to do it in.
Starting supper being the first on the list, and then some mending. With the continuing cold weather, the miners were in need of repairs to their socks.
And she had Anna’s dress to work on.
There, see? No time for mooning over Ellis Cooper.
And yet as she reached into her pocket hanging from her waist she sighed.
She couldn’t help but wonder what had changed, and how had it happened without any hint? Or, she wondered, had it happened, and she was too distracted to notice?
Virginia’s fingers fumbled with the key, but she opened the lock and swung the door open.
She put away Oliver’s gown and then went straight to the pantry. No sense in wasting anymore time. Supper was the least she could do for her father and she would speak to him then.
Pierson sat in his office and stared down at the bottle in his hands. He turned it over and over, his eyes following the label as it circled over the top of the bottle and then down into the dark underneath.
Looking up at the clock on the mantel he sighed. There was a very finite window of opportunity for his expected visitor after that he had other pieces to set in motion.
He was already running on empty, but it was all going to be worth it when he drove another nail into the coffin of the Express in his territory.
He’d make things happen on his end and it wouldn’t be long before he was settling into life in California again. It was going to work, he told himself.
It had to. He was so tired of living in this forsaken little town.
A soft knock on the front door had him out of his seat so fast, his head almost spun.
And when he pulled the door open, his visitor almost fell inside from the shock.
“You’re late.”
The lanky young man shrugged. “You said you have something for me.”
“It was supposed to be a gift, but I don’t like having to wait on you.”
“I was busy.”
“Busy don’t make no difference when you make a deal with folks.” He knew his temper was leaking out of him.
Giving Pierson a dismissive wave the boy started to walk off.
“Get back here.”
Pierson saw the self-assured smile as the younger man swaggered back toward the door. He didn’t seem to know that he was being played.
And that, Pierson knew, was the key to his plans.
The boy was barely a step away when Pierson shoved the bottle at him. “Here.”
He looked at the bottle in his hands. “What’s this for?”
Pierson braced a hand on the door frame. “It’s for drinking. But if you don’t even know that, I can take it back.”
He’d barely reached for the bottle when the young man tucked it under his arm. “Now that wouldn’t be very neighborly.”
“Well, we’re not exactly neighbors, are we son?”
That last little snipe had the deserved effect. “I ain’t your son.”
Pierson shrugged. “Then it won’t do me much good to tell you it ain’t for drinkin’ all at once, hmm?”
“I don’t take orders from you or my father.” With a narrowed glare, he turned on his heel and left without a backward glance.
Marshal Thom Halston was beginning to think seriously about hiring a deputy. Or maybe just drafting the next man through the door. Looking up at the clock, he realized that it was nigh on ten o’clock and he’d barely managed to swallow down the sandwich that Virginia had placed on his desk some time ago.
Scratching at his pate, he struggled to remember what she’d said a few hours before when she’d come to see him with a painful frown on her lovely face.
She was upset about Ellis or some such issue.
He hadn’t listened much to her words, since he’d already promised Ellis that he’d do his best to keep her from learning of the plan.
Given that everything would be over and done with before the next sundown, he’d just felt it best to keep mum about the whole situation.
He wasn’t at all sure he knew what went on in Virginia’s head, but he knew that she was used to more latitude than most women in her behavior on account of him not knowing much about what a woman should do. Beyond that he had his hands full keeping the peace. Worrying over her feelings wasn’t always something he had time for.
Still, it might be a good idea to give her a few minutes of his time. Letting out a sigh he took a hesitant step toward the connecting door to their residence and managed to get a hand on the doorknob when he heard feet tromping up the steps.
Grinding his teeth, he headed for the front of the building. The piano player from the Crystal Dawn Saloon, if one could call what the man did ‘playing’ the instrument, was panting out his breaths. “Marshal, you- you- the Saloon…” he slapped a hand over his chest and gulped down a breath.
“Catch enough breath to tell me the problem at the Saloon.”
“Drunk, fighting.”
Well that was certainly to the point.
“Sit, take a few breaths. I’ll be at the Saloon.”
Thom set his hands down on his hips to check his weapons and then a shift of his right hand touched on the cuffs he carried. With everything in its place, he rushed off up the street to the Saloon. His conversation with Virginia wo
uld have to wait.
Virginia squeezed her eyes closed and then opened them quickly hoping to wake herself up as much as she could. She was tired and fatigued. She was upset and frustrated, but she couldn’t seem to quiet her mind to sleep, so she curled up on a chair beside a table lantern, her bare feet tucked up under the hem of her nightgown.
She’d already stitched and ripped out the same line of stitches three times.
With a sigh, she set the sleeve aside and turned on the chair, pillowing her cheek on the back of the chair and decided to wait for a few minutes to see if her father would come in to sleep.
Just before her shoulders slumped in sleep a soft knock sounded on the door.
Blinking her eyes open again, she struggled to let her conscious mind rise to the surface. “Hello?”
“You’ve gotta come, Miss.”
“I’m sorry,” she unfolded herself from the chair and moved to the door, drawing her robe tighter around her body, “what do you mean?”
“Miss, there’s been an accident, uh – uh- your father-”
She flung the door open, gasping. “What’s wrong with my father?”
The man standing outside was a stranger to her.
“What happened? How do you know-”
“He was helping get a drunk out of the Bender’s Saloon and the man had a knife-”
“No,” she shook her head, “my father wouldn’t let anyone hurt him.”
The man was starting to look angry. “Don’t you want to help your father?”
Guilt flooded through her veins, her hands went cold. “Take me to him.”
She felt a painful bite around her wrist as the man’s hand closed around it and he all but yanked her out of the door and across the grass. Together they had to duck under the clothesline that Ellis had helped her set up and then across the road. Little stones bit into the bottoms of her feet, but she kept as silent as she could, trying to keep her gaze focused on the ground under her feet.
But when she felt sparse grass under her feet, she chanced a look up and saw Bender’s Saloon off to the side. “Wait.”
