by Mary Burton
The sound of horses in the distance had her rising. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she saw that two riders approached.
Nick came out of the corral. He’d heard the riders, too. He moved toward her, his hand resting on his gun.
Ellie’s heart jumped as he stood beside her. Power radiated from his body. She felt safe beside him.
“More people pass through here than a New York City train station. Any guesses as to who it is this time?” he asked.
The plume of dust clouded around the riders, making it difficult to see who it was. “No.”
“I will never get used to strangers coming and going here,” Nick said.
The riders moved closer. Ellie squinted. “It’s Annie and Mike!” A wave of relief washed over her. She’d never been happier to see anyone in her life.
Nick’s lips flattened into a grim line. “I thought they weren’t supposed to return for a couple more weeks.”
“I did, too. I hope everything went well.”
Within minutes Annie and Mike arrived in the front yard. Annie’s gaze swept over Nick. She frowned, clearly not happy at the sight of an unexpected stranger. Mike’s hand slid to the gun at his side. His body was rigid.
Ellie ran up to Annie. “My heavens! It’s so good to see you! Is everything all right with your parents?”
Annie hugged Ellie with a mother’s protectiveness. “They’re fine. I’m more concerned about what’s going on here. Are you all right?”
“I am now.” Ellie’s voice tightened with emotion. Somewhere along the way Annie had silently stepped into the role of Ellie’s mother. Ellie had not realized until this moment how much she needed a mother’s love.
Annie gave her an extra squeeze and then stepped back. “Who’s he?”
Ellie wiped a tear from her eyes. “This is Nick Baron.”
Nick stepped forward. “You must be Annie,” he said formally.
Annie’s gaze narrowed. “I’ve heard the name before.”
“So have I,” Mike said. He tightened his hold on the handle of his pistol. “He’s the bounty hunter.”
Nick nodded. “I’ve a reputation.”
“A mighty bad one,” Mike said. “What are you doing here?”
Ellie blinked back the tears in her eyes. “Mr. Baron has been here for over a week. When he arrived, he kinda caught me by surprise and I shot him.”
Annie’s eyes shone with respect for Ellie.
“Looking back, I’d say I deserved it,” Nick answered.
“It was a misunderstanding,” Ellie added.
“I want to hear all about,” Mike said. His gaze bore into Nick.
“Let’s get settled in,” Annie said, sensing Mike’s anger.
“I’ll unsaddle the horses,” Mike said. “How about a hand, Nick?”
Nick didn’t argue. “Sure.”
Annie pulled off her leather gloves. “Ellie and I will check on the baby.”
The men went to the barn and the women inside. Ellie checked on the baby, who lay asleep in her cradle, then joined Annie in the kitchen. “I can feel your worry over here.”
Annie set her saddlebag on the table. “Nick Baron is the last man I expected to see at the cabin. Do you have any idea who he is?”
“A bounty hunter.”
“Not just any bounty hunter, Ellie. He’s got one of the fiercest reputations in Montana.”
“So I’m learning.”
“The Indians call him the Ghost Tracker because he moves as silent as a spirit.”
“I’ve learned that lesson firsthand a couple of times.”
Annie fiddled with the cuff of her dress. “How’d he end up here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She sat at the table and made herself comfortable.
Ellie’s stomach ached at the thought of explaining her past. But Nick was linked to her past and it was time Annie learned the truth. “I’m not a widow, as I’ve claimed to be.”
Annie was silent.
“I came from Butte, not Helena.” She hesitated, wishing with all her heart she didn’t have to tell the rest. No matter how hard she tried, the Silver Slipper kept creeping back into her life. “I grew up in a brothel called the Silver Slipper.”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“My mother worked there. She died when I was six. The madam, Miss Adeline, put me to work in the kitchens.” She hesitated, half expecting a look of shock and horror on Annie’s face. She saw none.
“About two months ago,” Ellie continued, “Miss Adeline asked me to attend a woman named Jade, who was very pregnant and in labor. Jade had once been a whore at the Silver Slipper and had left when an outlaw named Monty Palmer married her.”
Ellie felt as if she were describing a dream. Jade seemed to be far away. “The labor went well, but she started bleeding badly. She knew she was dying and she asked me to take her baby.”
“Rose,” Annie said.
“Yes.”
“I was scared out of my wits, but I gave her my word. I was headed down the back staircase with Rose when Monty’s brother, Frank, came into the brothel looking for Monty and Jade. Frank demanded his gold from Monty and when he realized his brother didn’t know anything about it, he shot him in the heart. I didn’t stick around to find out what happened next. I started running and I ended up here.”
“How does Nick Baron figure into this?”
“The gold was stolen from the railroad. A good friend of Nick’s was killed during the robbery.” And she had the map. Ellie felt awful.
“And he figured out you were the last to see Jade alive and he tracked you here?”
“Yes.” Ellie smoothed her damp palms over her hips. “I’m sorry I lied to you, but I was so desperate for a place to stay. I know how it is when people find out you’ve lived at the Silver Slipper. I never worked the upstairs rooms, but anyone with a connection to that place is branded a whore.” Tears welled in Ellie’s eyes and spilled down her face.
Annie stood and wrapped her arms around Ellie. “I knew there was more to your story than you let on. But I could see you had a good heart. I could see you loved your daughter.”
“I wanted to tell you so many times.”
“You were protecting Rose. I would have done the same for my own daughter.”
Ellie hugged Annie tight.
Tears glistened in Annie’s blue eyes when she pulled back. “So now you and Mr. Baron are waiting for this Frank?”
“Yes.”
“I do not like this. It is very dangerous for you.”
“Nick has said he will protect us.”
Annie met her gaze. “What else is there between you and this Mr. Baron?”
Ellie blushed. “He has asked me to marry him.”
Annie arched an eyebrow, careful not to offer an opinion.
“I said no.”
The older woman shook her head. “He is not the kind of man who accepts no.”
“He says he will ask me again after Frank has been caught.”
“I thought so.”
“In truth, he makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. He says he wants to set his gun aside and start a ranch near here.”
Annie shook her head.
“I know, I know. I’ve seen men make promises and break them. He even promised to give me the reward money. It is one thousand dollars. I want to give you half.”
Annie shrugged. “I have my coach stop and now I have Mike. I need no more.”
Ellie sniffed. “Here I am going on about myself and I’ve not asked you about your father. Is he all right?”
“He will live to be one hundred. He refuses to slow down, which only drives my mother crazy.” Annie grinned. “I think sometimes he enjoys making Mother angry so that he can see the fire in her eyes.”
“And what of you and Mike?” Ellie prompted.
Annie blushed. “He has asked me to marry him.”
“And you said yes.”
“We cel
ebrated our union in an Arapaho ceremony so that my parents could be present. The ceremony was enough for me, but Mike wants a preacher to say his sacred words and bless our union, as well. That is why we came back. I wanted you to be present.”
Ellie was touched. “Me?”
“You and Rose are my family, too. The daughter and granddaughter of my heart.”
Ellie’s throat tightened.
“I don’t know if you know, but I gave birth to a daughter long ago.” Annie’s voice was whisper-soft. “My baby’s father was my first husband and he owned this coach stop. He was much older than me, but he was so brave and strong. Indians and whites alike respected him. I loved him very much.” Emotion forced her to pause. “When our little girl became sick and died, it broke Nathan’s heart. He could no longer look at me without great sadness. He stopped sharing my bed and started drinking heavily.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I could not bear his grief and mine, so I packed up my belongings and went home to my mother. I’d dreamed my husband would follow, that we would put our grief aside and we’d make more children. But he never came after me. Three months after I left, word reached me he had been killed trying to save a child drowning in the river.”
“Oh, Annie, I am so sorry.”
“I returned to Spring Rock and kept the stop going as a tribute to him. For many years I mourned both my daughter and my husband. Then I met Mike and my heart opened up.”
Ellie hugged her again. “This is wonderful!”
Her gaze was bittersweet. “The wedding will be a simple affair. We passed a stage a day’s ride back. A preacher rode beside the stage on his horse. He has agreed to stop here and perform the ceremony.”
Ellie’s heart swelled. “I will make you a special cake to celebrate the day.”
“You don’t have to go to any trouble.”
“But I must! You are like a mother to me and I cannot let your wedding go uncelebrated.”
The brightness in Annie’s eyes made her look years younger. “I do love him.”
“I know.” She grinned. “I’ve known since the first day I saw you look at him.”
Her hands went to her cheek. “Was I that obvious?”
“To me, yes.”
Annie laughed. She reached inside her saddlebag and pulled out a beaded pouch. The leather was faded and the beads had lost some of their luster, but Ellie could see that the workmanship was very fine. “I want to give you something.”
“You’ve already given me so much. I can’t accept anything else.”
“You will if you wish to make me happy.” Annie loosened the ties on the pouch. She removed a gold nugget that was shaped like an eagle. She placed the nugget in Ellie’s hand.
“This gold must be worth a fortune.”
“I suppose it is,” she said. “I haven’t really worried about its monetary value.”
“I can’t accept this.” Ellie held out the nugget to Annie.
Annie made no move to accept it. “Years ago, my mother gave this to me as a wedding gift. I was deeply honored by it. I believed the gold was the source of my happiness and I guarded it closely. I began to fear that I would lose my perfect life if I lost the nugget. I guarded it jealously and refused to pass it on when there were others who could have benefited from its magic.” She sighed. “When I lost my daughter and husband, my grief was so great, I began to believe the nugget had cursed me for my selfishness. The night before I returned to Spring Rock, I tossed it into the woods.”
The gold nugget felt smooth and warm to Ellie’s fingers.
“My mother found it and saved it,” Annie said. “She knew one day I would come home and claim it.” She smiled. “An hour after she gave it to me, Mike proposed. Now, I want you to have it.”
Ellie was deeply touched. “I can’t accept this.”
“You are a kind, honorable woman, and if my daughter had lived, I could only hope she would be as brave and honest as you are.”
Ellie glanced at the golden rock. Tears streamed down her face. “I’m not a good person.”
Annie hugged her. “Of course you are.”
She pulled out of Annie’s embrace and replaced the nugget in its pouch. “There is something I must tell you. I have one last secret to share.”
Annie said nothing.
Ellie retrieved Jade’s Bible from her room and returned to Annie. “This is the book Rose’s mother gave me.”
Annie watched as Ellie opened the book to the back and then peeled away the binding. Ellie removed the map and laid it on the table next to the book.
“What is this?” Annie said.
Carefully, Ellie unfolded it and smoothed it flat. “It is a map that Jade drew. It shows the place where she hid the gold. Nick tells me the gold is worth nearly twenty thousand dollars.”
“You have not told Nick about this.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“When he arrived, I knew nothing about the map. I only found it last night.”
Annie frowned. “And you have not given it to him because you do not trust him.”
“I want to so much, but trust is so hard for me. I’ve spent my life in a brothel. I have seen only the worst of men.”
“You are afraid. This I understand. It is natural to think you’d never have to worry about money again.”
“I could give Rose so much.”
Annie shrugged. “You have already given her everything she needs.” She laid her hands on Ellie’s shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “If you keep this gold, it will poison your heart. And then you will not be the kind of mother Rose deserves.”
Ellie already felt tainted by the gold.
“Even if you find the gold,” Annie continued, “you would spend your life worrying that someone else would steal it. You would treat this treasure like I treated the gold nugget. It will not bring you happiness.”
The baby started to fuss. “Let me get her,” Annie said. “I have missed my Rose.” Annie went to Ellie’s room and came out with the child on her shoulder. The baby quieted. “I think you must go find Nick and have a talk with him.”
Annie was right. The gold wasn’t hers to keep. It never had been and she’d been a fool to think it ever could be hers.
She stared at the worn map, wondering what Nick would say when she told him she’d kept this secret.
At that moment she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Her heart jumped and she turned.
Nick stood behind her. Ghost Tracker. He’d moved into the cabin so silently she’d not heard him.
His gaze flickered from her flushed cheeks to the paper in her hands. He took the map from her hand and studied it. His lips flattened into a grim line. “And to think I actually believed you were an innocent in all this.”
The anger and disappointment in his face sliced at her heart. “I didn’t realize I had it until last night. Jade had hidden it in the back of the Bible she gave me.”
He shook his head and grabbed the map. “Save your story for someone who cares. Right now, I’ve had my fill of lying whores.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ELLIE HAD BEEN CALLED a whore many times before, but the word had never cut her to the bone as it did now. She stood rigid, her limbs locked. She felt as if she could shatter into a million pieces.
From the threshold, she watched Nick hurry toward the barn. His broad shoulders were stiff. The map was clenched in his left fist.
“I should shoot him for speaking to you like that,” Annie said. Rose was on her shoulder, trying to lift her small head.
“He’s angry.”
“That gives him no right.”
Ellie shook her head. “I owe Nick an explanation.” The disappointment and pain in his eyes would be seared in her memory forever.
Hearing the sadness in Ellie’s voice, Annie sighed. “Then go after him,” Annie said. “You will have no peace until you talk to him.”
“I don’t know what to say to him.”
“If you
care about him, you will find the right words.”
If she cared about him. She did care about him. Her feelings for Nick were strong and powerful.
She closed her eyes. Nick Baron was dark and dangerous. And yes, honorable, with a code he would never break. God help her, but she didn’t want to lose him.
“Do you love him?” Annie said.
Ellie’s eyes snapped open. “No! He is the worst possible man for me to love. Nick flirts with danger so casually. I always dreamed of someone stable and kind, like Dr. Morgan.”
Annie sighed as she patted Rose on the back. “One way or another, you must resolve things with Nick.”
“I was so worried about him lying to me. And in the end I lied to him. He’s so angry.”
“If he is worthy of you, he will see past his anger and find forgiveness in his heart,” Annie said.
Tears cascaded down Ellie’s cheeks. “I don’t know if he can forgive me. No one has ever looked at me with such hate before.”
“He feels betrayed.”
An overwhelming sense of loneliness choked the breath from her. “What if he doesn’t forgive me?”
Annie, with Rose lying against her shoulder, stood beside her. “Between men and women, there can only be great anger when there is great love. He would not have gotten so angry if his feelings for you didn’t run deep.” Annie set her jaw. “However, I would dearly love to give him a good thrashing for causing you such distress.”
A smile tipped the edges of Ellie’s lips. She pictured her petite friend thrashing Nick Baron. “For his own protection, I better go talk to him.”
NICK SWORE as he stood by the corral. He stared off at the horizon. His blood boiled and he could feel a vein pulsing in his neck.
Ellie had lied to him!
Like Crystal and Gregory before him, she’d betrayed him!
He should have seen this coming a mile off, but he hadn’t. From the moment he’d met her, he’d been off balance. His guard had been lowered. God help him, but he’d felt a connection to her.
His feelings had blinded him to the possibility that she was lying. Since he’d come to Montana, he’d been so careful not to trust anyone. There’d been no sloppy mistakes with any woman.
