Baker rose to his feet. "I'm really very sorry I can't be of any help to you, Miss Callaghan. I...."
The office door opened with a bang as it hit the wall behind it. Jessica gave a start and turned quickly around to see a slightly smaller version of the man behind the desk framed in the doorway. But where Harlin Baker just missed being handsome because of the pale blue eyes set somewhat too close together, this man embodied all the word meant. Jessica couldn't quite quell a stir of feminine appreciation.
His blond hair brought thoughts of sunshine into the room and a fringed leather riding jacket fit his shoulders snugly. Though, if one went by his manner of dress, he had just come off the trail, the trail dust must not have dared settle on the jacket. Even his boots gleamed smartly and the hat he slapped against his snug trouser legs kicked up only a minuscule puff.
"Harlin, you old dog," he said in a strangely musical voice for his size. "You don't waste a moment, do you? Why, a beautiful woman rides into town and here you have her corralled already without giving the rest of us a chance to even meet her."
Rather than finding herself piqued at the man's obviously admiring gaze, Jessica felt a flush stain her cheeks. She immediately dropped her gaze when the man's brilliant blue eyes met hers, and studied the toes of her riding boots, sticking out from under the hem of her blue gown. Grasping her skirt, she quickly covered the offending boots she had been forced to don when she realized she had brought a dress with her, but no shoes.
"S...sir," she said in a small voice. "You have no right to say such things about me."
The man crossed the room in two strides and picked up her hand. Before she could stop him, he carried it to his mouth and dropped a kiss on the back of it, his mustache tickling her. He didn't hold her hand any longer than propriety allowed, but Jessica felt his fingertips brush her palm before he let go of it.
"I apologize if I've stepped out of line, dear lady," he said around the smile on his face. "Oh, not for calling you beautiful. I'm sure your own eyes confirm that to you each morning when you look in your mirror. But you are correct. I don't have any right to say such things to you on such short acquaintance, since we haven't even been introduced yet."
He backed up a step and imitated Harlin Baker's bow of moments ago. However, his bow seemed sincere and his voice echoed his sincerity when he raised his head again.
"David Baker, at your service, my dear. And I already know your name. Why, every man in town knows the name of the sable-haired beauty who rode in yesterday. Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Callaghan? I sensed somewhat of a strain between you and that brother of mine when I entered. I hope he hasn't done anything to upset you. A beautiful woman such as you should be treasured and protected from anything distressing."
Jessica shook her head in denial. "No. It's...it's not your brother's fault. There seems to be some problem back at my bank in Wyoming. I guess I'll just have to go back there and take care of it."
"What?" David said in astoundment. "And deny us the joy of your presence so soon? Surely there must be something we can do about that. You can't just come into our lives and leave so suddenly."
"Mr. Baker...."
"David. Please. And I hope soon you will allow me to address you as Jessica."
"Mr...David, then." Jessica looked around almost wildly for Ned and found him leaning against the office wall. When he gave her an encouraging nod, she drew in a steadying breath.
"David, I hadn't meant to stay in town anyway. I just stopped here to replenish our food supply. Someone stole our food pack, along with two of our horses, while we camped night before last."
"Stole them? Have you reported it to the sheriff?"
"Of course. Ned stopped over there yesterday after we arrived in town, but the sheriff didn't seem to think there would be much he could do about it."
"Such things should not go unpunished. Since I'm not without influence in town, I'll go over there with you again and make sure the sheriff gets right on this, my dear," David said as he tucked her arm in his and began to lead her from the office.
Jessica tugged against David's arm and threw a look over shoulder to where Harlin Baker still stood behind his desk. "But...but my funds."
David stopped and turned back to his brother. "Funds? Harlin, are you keeping Miss Callaghan from her funds?"
"It's not like that," Harlin replied in an exasperated voice. "David, we need to talk for a moment."
"Later, Harlin." David waved a hand at his brother. "Right now I'm going with Miss Callaghan. And then perhaps I can talk her into discussing her problems with me over lunch?"
"Lunch?" Jessica said. "But, Mr. Baker, I hardly know you."
"David, please. And if we have lunch together, it will give us an opportunity to correct that, now won't it?" he told her logically. "Oh, don't worry." He glanced sideways at Ned. "You will join us, won't you, sir?" he asked Ned. "I wouldn't for the world jeopardize Miss Callaghan's reputation."
"Well, I...."
"David," Harlin said in a warning voice.
"Harlin, I know we have some things to talk about, but you've got to admit they can wait. I can hardly leave Miss Callaghan in distress if there's some way I can help her, now, can I?" Ignoring the sputters from his brother behind him, David steered Jessica out the door and across the bank lobby.
Ned glanced once from Harlin to Jessica and David's retreating backs before he firmly placed his hat on his head and started after the couple. No, he wouldn't let Jessica's reputation be tarnished, and just maybe there was some way this chap could help her out. He had definitely seemed likable yesterday afternoon while they drank together.
"There you are," Ned said a while later as they approached the hotel. "Missed you at breakfast."
Jedidiah rose from the bench by the door and pulled his hat a little further down on his brow.
"Tol' Miss Callaghan I'd be 'round when she needed me. I don't cotton to spending too much time cooped up indoors, but I keep my word."
David pulled Jessica to a stop a few feet back from Ned and Jedidiah. "Do you know that old man?" he whispered in her ear.
Hearing the mockery in his voice, Jessica raised her head and glared at him. "What if I do?"
"Nothing," David assured her. "Well," he said when she continued to stare at him, "you just seem to have some unusual friends."
"Ned is not unusual," she almost spat at him. "And I've hired Jedidiah for a guide. Do you find some fault with that?"
"Since I don't even know the man, I can hardly answer that," David said with a frown. "I suppose those old mountain men ought to be worth something. I'm sure he's able to find his way around. He looks like he's spent enough time out of polite society."
"Oh!" Jessica said with an indignant snort as she drew her arm from his. "I'll have you know my Uncle Pete was a mountain man, and he was one of the most wonderful men who ever walked this earth!"
"I apologize, Jessica. I couldn't have known. Let's don't let a little thing like this spoil our lunch."
"Of course I won't," Jessica said sweetly.
When he reached for her again, she evaded his grasp and walked up to Ned and Jedidiah.
"Mr. Baker has kindly invited me and my friends to lunch," she said as she cocked her head at Jedidiah. "You will join us, won't you?"
The full beard hid the quirk of his lips, but Jedidiah's faintly sardonic chuckle sounded softly in her ears, reminding Jessica of her treatment of him the day before. She had the grace to blush slightly, but she kept her gaze on his face.
"Please," she added.
"Well now," Jedidiah said so quietly only she could catch his words. "Since you put it so pretty, little lady, how can I refuse?"
Jessica studied him for a second longer. Why did his choice of words stir something in her mind? But she shrugged and turned to lead the way into the hotel dining room, refusing again the offer of David's arm.
A half hour later, Jessica rearranged the food on her plate once again and finally shoved it ba
ck with a sigh. Inviting Jedidiah to join them hadn't been one of her better ideas. The tension at the table knotted her stomach until she could barely taste the succulent steak she had ordered.
She couldn't really blame David, she admitted to herself honestly. In an attempt to fill the long gaps of silence at the table, she had responded to his urgings to tell him how she had come to, as he said, his and his brother's fair town. David had given her his full attention, his manners impeccable and the admiration on his face a contradiction to the wry looks Jedidiah tossed at her now and then.
Not the true story about the gold did she tell him, though — it would take more than a handsome face and twinkling eyes filled with devilment to get that out of her. But the sympathy shining from those same blue eyes when she explained her desire to leave the sad memories of her life behind and start over almost had her believing the tale herself.
David had even once or twice tried to draw Jedidiah into the conversation, Jessica conceded to herself, his attempts meeting a blank wall. Jedidiah would only grunt a noncommittal answer and smack his lips more loudly around the next bite of food he shoved into his mouth.
Jessica glanced at Jedidiah. Why, he had even refused to remove his battered old hat inside the hotel. She watched him wipe the back of his mouth with his hand, then pull the linen napkin from his neck and sit back with a sigh.
"Mighty good," he said. "Almost forgot what store bought food tasted like."
"Mr...uh, Jedidiah," David said in a pained voice. "A hotel dining room is hardly a store."
"Same thing," Jedidiah said with a shrug. "Sells food a man don't have to trap or ketch himself. Store bought food."
Jessica couldn't quite contain her giggle and she had to bite her lip when Jedidiah dropped one eyelid in a wink at her. She heard David give a resigned sigh beside her and she hastily lifted her own napkin to her lips to hide her smile.
David raised his hand and immediately Ronnie appeared again by their table.
"We'll have four orders of your delicious strawberry shortcake, Ronnie," he said in an imperious voice.
"Oh, David, no," Jessica said. "Really, I couldn't eat another bite."
"Speak for yourself, Jes," Ned said with a contented sigh. "Bet me and Jedidiah have got enough room left to do justice to a piece of strawberry shortcake."
"Sure do," Jedidiah said with a nod.
"Four pieces, Ronnie," David repeated.
"Yes, sir," the woman said before she hurried away.
"Poor Ronnie," Jessica said as she watched Ronnie leave. "With all she's got to do, I wonder why she's waiting tables. That's Eloise's job."
"You haven't heard, Jessica?" David questioned. "No, I guess you wouldn't have, being newly arrived in town. You wouldn't be tuned in yet to our town's virulently swift grapevine. It sweeps like wildfire through the town when anything either bad or good happens."
From the corner of her eye, Jessica noticed Jedidiah straighten in his chair.
"What happened to her?" Jedidiah asked before Jessica could speak again.
"Did you know her, too, Jedidiah?" David asked with a raised brow.
Jedidiah quickly dropped his gaze. "Not hardly," he said as he speared a last piece of steak from his plate, though he didn't bring it to his mouth. "'Specially since I ain't been in town for a while. Used to know someone called Eloise, that's all."
"I hope the woman you knew fared better than our poor Eloise," David said sadly. "You see, she was found dead in her room at the boarding house this morning."
"Oh no!" Jessica gasped. "Why, last night she served us our dinner. How could she have gotten ill so fast?"
"It wasn't illness, my dear," David said with a slight shake of his head. "I'm afraid someone murdered her."
Though she had barely known Eloise, Jessica's face whitened and her stomach curled in horror. Eloise had been so sparkling and alive with anticipation for her future the previous evening. How could such vibrancy be snuffed out so quickly? Suddenly she realized the cause for the morose unhappiness on Ronnie's face she had noticed but been too busy to question on her way to the bank earlier.
"Do they know who did it?" she asked David.
"Not exactly," David said. "Though there are, again, rumors." He fell silent when Ronnie returned and set their shortcake in front of them.
Before Ronnie could move away, Jessica reached out and took the older woman's hand in hers. "I'm sorry, Ronnie. David just told me about Eloise."
"She...." Ronnie's voice broke on the word, but she straightened her shoulders. "She was a good girl, Jessica," she continued in a firmer voice. "Been with me for over three years. Almost like a daughter to me, she was."
"Did she have any family?" Jessica questioned.
"None," Ronnie said dejectedly. "Orphan, she was. Her parents were killed in a fire out on their ranch just before she came here and applied for the job. She and Tobias would have been married next week, though, and she'd have had a family again."
"Tobias? Oh, her young man."
"Right fine young man he is, too. I don't know if anyone's even told him yet. Him and his mute sister live so far out on that there ranch that it's hard to get to them."
"But someone has to tell him! If they were betrothed, he'll want to see she has a proper burial."
"Now, Jessica," David interrupted. "It's not your worry. I'm sure the sheriff has already sent someone out to the Jackson ranch."
"Me and Buster will see that she's buried proper, Jes," Ronnie informed her. "We've already ordered the box and the service will be day after tomorrow. We'll find some way to get word to Tobias so he can be there."
Jessica shoved her chair back. "Well, I'm going back over to the sheriff's office and make sure he sends someone out to that ranch right now. Her Tobias will never forgive everyone if he isn't sent word. And it's the sheriff's duty to inform loved ones at a time like this."
"Really, Jessica," David said as he rose to his feet. "This isn't a matter you need to concern yourself with."
"Death concerns everyone, David," she informed him frostily. "I'm surprised a man who seemed so sympathetic over a perfectly healthy woman's loss of a little bit of food and a couple horses turns a cold shoulder to this matter."
"I'm sorry, Jessica," David said as he humbly hung his head. "I guess it's just that I resent not having a little more time to spend with you. And I do want to help you out of your predicament."
Two sets of chair legs scraped the floor as Ned and Jedidiah rose to join them. Jessica gave a little start as Jedidiah grabbed his chair to keep it from tumbling to the floor after his abrupt shove.
"My problems can wait, David," she said, turning her attention back to him. "Some things are more important. Maybe we'll meet again and I do thank you for lunch." She held out her hand to him and David clasped it tightly for a second.
"We will see each other again, Miss Jessica Callaghan. You can count on that."
"Well, if you say so, David," she said and firmly pulled her hand free. "And I also thank you for your efforts to come up with an idea to help me out. But I truly don't see anything else to do except go back to Wyoming and sort things out. Goodbye."
"Goodbye for now, Jessica," he murmured as she turned away.
Outside the hotel door, Jessica felt Jedidiah grasp her arm. When she looked up at him, she found herself astonished at the cold blackness in his eyes.
"You don't need me right now, Missy," he informed her in answer to her questioning gaze. "If you'll tell me where to meet you, I'll be there when you git ready to go."
Jessica jerked her arm free and rubbed at the goosebumps spreading over the area his fingers had covered. "Uh...I...."
"We've got some men camped about a mile out of town on a creek that runs down from the hill," Ned put in when Jessica stuttered to a stop. "Guess we'll probably be there in the morning."
Jedidiah nodded and strode abruptly away.
For a long moment Ned stared after him, then responded to Jessica's tug on his arm.
<
br /> "We were on our way over to the sheriff's office. Remember, Ned?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
As he walked beside Jessica toward the sheriff's office, Ned shook his head. He hadn't seen her so concerned about anything besides her own problems for months, though she wasn't usually that way. More than one family down on its luck back in Wyoming had felt her generosity. And Mattie never knew how many stray children she would find at the supper table — just that she had better have enough food to fill several empty stomachs, with scraps left over for an orphaned puppy or kitten.
Heck, Jessica had carried a picnic basket of food with her to school every day, never once bringing even an apple back home. And how many times had a dress Mattie sewed for Jessica shown up on one of the little girls perched at the heavily laden supper table, with Jessica insisting she had already tired of it?
He should have known her natural tendency to nurture the underdog would eventually surface again. The tragic death of the waitress and the fact the sheriff might not stir himself to notify the woman's betrothed angered him, also.
He couldn't help worrying a little at the inopportune timing of this latest crusade of hers, though. She did have that mortgage payment to make, which he guessed he could take care of with one telegram. She would be furious with him, but he wasn't about to see her ranch added to the list of losses she had so bravely born the last couple years.
Meantime, he wasn't in any hurry to leave Baker's Valley. Fate had thrown another loop into their lives — one Jessica wasn't even aware of yet. Suspicion nagged at Ned's mind and the promise he had made to himself years ago still held true. Pete's death didn't relieve Ned of the obligation he felt to repay the old mountain man for his own life.
Ned glanced down the street as they paused at the door to the sheriff's office, but he didn't see a sign of Jedidiah.
Chapter 9
Glaring her displeasure at the sheriff, Jessica leaned across his desk. "I may not be a citizen of this town, Sheriff, but I am a tax paying citizen of the United States. And I demand that you send someone out to tell that poor young man his betrothed is dead!"
Montana Surrender Page 9
