Whisper My Name

by Raine Cantrell

  Luke was the disreputable outlaw, black stubble covering his lower face, fairer-skinned Matt freshly shaven. Faster and faster the contrasts came to her, unaware that the three men were watching her, too.

  Matt’s boots were the same rich brown as the leather wing chair he sat on. Like Toma, his pants were finely tailored, and the woven cloth of his cream linen shirt had a sheen to it. His neckerchief was the same silky light blue of his eyes, tied around a tanned throat, and it drew her gaze up to his face. Luke called him a gentleman. Domini agreed that on the surface it was the right judgment. But his lips were thinned with displeasure, and his eyes, fringed with thick lashes a woman might envy, appeared more cunning and calculated.

  She suddenly realized that she had been staring for some time. And what she saw within Matt’s eyes did not fill her with the same sweet fire as when Luke looked at her.

  She was the one who turned away. A quick look showed her that no matter where she chose to sit, Toma would command center stage. She decided to remain standing.

  Luke tossed off a drink, then poured himself another one. He opened the door to O’Malley’s knock, grinned at Domini when the man entered carrying a tray of china cups and a silver coffeepot. They were all silent until the man had set the tray on a small table beside Matt, asked if he should pour and when refused, left them.

  “Would you care for coffee?” Matt asked.

  “No. I want to know why you would lie about sending for me, Mr. Colfax.”

  “The last man that called me a liar to my face is pushing up grass from the underside.”

  “If you didn’t send for me, then who did?”

  “Show me proof,” Toma demanded.

  “I can’t. Both the letter requesting me to come and the money I had left were stolen after I purchased my stage ticket.”

  “Rather convenient,” Matt remarked, sipping his drink.

  Domini didn’t look at him, but she had to answer him. “You still think I’m lying about who I am? I’m not. Jim Kirkland was my father. My mother’s name was Consuela. And you,” she said, pointing at Toma, “came to our home two days after my seventh birthday to take my father with you. It was the last time I saw him.”

  “That’s nothing more than anyone could have found out.”

  “Then you’re not denying it happened.”

  “Never said I didn’t know Kirkland.”

  “Stop denying that I’m his daughter. You were more than acquaintances. He was your friend. I remember him speaking about you. Someone has sent money to the sisters at the mission to pay for my care all these years.”

  “The hell you say, young woman!” Toma tossed down his drink and held out the glass. “Get me another one, Matt.”

  While Matt rose to walk over to the sideboard, where crystal decanters reflected the light and their contents shone like polished amber, Luke sauntered to where Domini stood.

  “Honey, the first rule of warfare is not to go on the defensive with an old warhorse like Toma.”

  “You believed me, Luke. Why won’t he?”

  “ ’Cause havin’ you show up might muddy the claims he filed on. Ain’t that right, old man?”

  Luke’s goading tone sent a deep flush stealing over Toma’s craggy features. Domini didn’t understand why Luke could get away with this, too. When Toma finally spoke, the rebuke came without much heat.

  “Matt’s right. You’re still a bastard on the prod.” Toma slugged down half the drink that Matt handed over before resuming his seat and sipping from his own glass.

  “You didn’t really figure that five months away was going to change me?”

  “Nothing will ever change you, Luke. You’re a wild card fillin’ in a hand on your own whim.”

  “Stop this! I came here,” Domini stated, fighting for calm, “because I sent for. I didn’t want to come. Not at first. But Sister Benedict said I had to. And then I realized that I wanted to know about my father. I needed to talk to the man who was with him when he died.”

  Toma met her gaze head-on. For a moment Domini had the strange feeling that she was seeing Luke’s eyes, so black and piercing that she had to force herself to stand her place.

  “You got that all wrong. I wasn’t with Jim the night he died.”

  “That’s right,” Matt said. “My father wasn’t there.” His gaze shifted from Domini to Luke before he looked at the fire.

  Domini caught his look, but she didn’t turn to see Luke’s reaction. She had been sure that Toma was with her father the night that he died. She wasn’t even aware where that had come from, the thought was simply there.

  “What else did this Sister Benedict tell you?” Toma asked, setting his glass on the mantel.

  “My mother was ill. We had lost our home when she couldn’t work. My mother told Sister Benedict about you before she died. I didn’t know anything about this until a few months ago. Sister had written you, or someone,” she amended when his brows knitted across eyes in a chilling stare.

  “Go on. I’m still listenin’.”

  “But you don’t believe anything I’m telling you, Mr. Colfax. Suit yourself. As I said, someone wrote Sister back with instructions that I was to remain at the mission under their care. Money came every three months for nearly ten years.”

  “Letters were going back and forth all this time?”

  Domini looked at Matt. “No. Not until Sister did as she was first instructed. If I wished to marry, she was to write.”

  “So it’s money you’ve come for?”

  Domini met Toma’s sneer with all the pride she could summon. “You’re wrong again. I didn’t want to come at all. The letter that was stolen demanded that I come here before I could take my vows. There was a written promise that if I came, the money would not stop. The mission is poor, the money goes far to help the children.”

  “Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m not a charitable man. I never sent any money to keep you at some damn mission. And not for ten years.”

  “Someone did. Someone who used your name.”

  “Stop tweakin’ the devil’s tail, Domini. Show him your proof. Show the old man that you are Kirkland’s daughter.” Luke raised his glass in silent salute when she rounded on him. “Go on. Open up your carpet bag and show him.”

  Chapter 13

  “You knew?” The words were a mere thread of sound coming from Domini.

  “Honey, you said yourself I’m a bastard through an’ through. An’ I’m no fool for a pretty woman. Yeah, I knew you could prove who you are.” With a nod of his head toward Toma and Matt, he added, “Now, show them.”

  Domini didn’t know why she was surprised that he had gone through her bag. But she was. Dropping to one knee, she opened the carpet bag and reached down past her clothes to the small book at the bottom.

  She lifted it out, smoothing the thin, cracked leather cover, before she rose.

  “This is my mother’s prayer book.” She opened the cover and gazed at the faded writing, then walked until she stood in front of Toma. “Not just anyone could have this.”

  Toma eyed the small ragged book as if it were a snake about to bite him. Domini didn’t move, didn’t insist, and in the end he took it from her hand. The ink was faded, not so much from age but as if someone had rubbed the words over and over. Or cried on them. He tilted the book up toward the light from the lamp behind him.

  “Read it out loud. Matt wants to hear, too.”

  Matt didn’t deny Luke’s claim. He sat forward, shoulders hunched, elbows at rest on his knees, turning the glass he held around and around between his spread legs as if he found the play of fire on amber liquid more fascinating.

  Toma cleared his throat. He glanced up quickly to find Domini’s penetrating green eyes watching him. Luke was right. They were Jim’s eyes. And when he looked again at the handwriting, he knew Jim had written the words.

  “Married this third day of March, in the year eighteen fifty-eight, Jam
es Thomas Kirkland to Consuela Teresa de Zurdo y Picaro. Church of the Holy Virgin, San Miguel, California.” Angling the book again, Toma continued, “Born to me this nineteenth day of September in the same year, a daughter, Dominica.”

  “He was so sure that your mother carried his child that he married her?”

  “Shut up, Matt.” Soft but deadly, Luke’s order worked. Matt sat back and tossed down his drink.

  Domini didn’t turn to acknowledge Luke’s coming to her defense. The room was overpowering her with its death trophies closing in no matter where she looked. The fire spread its heat and made breathing difficult after all the fresh air she’d had these past few days. The tension from Toma’s continued silence held her still.

  She didn’t know how badly she wanted another human’s touch until she felt Luke’s hand slide up her back to cup the base of her neck. His thumb rubbed small circles beneath her braid and eased a little of the tension.

  Like Domini, Luke had his eyes on Toma. When Toma looked up, his gaze went right to Luke.

  “Did you put her up to this? You the one scheming behind my back all these years, sendin’ her money?”

  “Old man, if I’d known where she was, I wouldn’t have hidden a damn thing from you. Why don’t you ask Matt what he knows?”

  “That will not be necessary.”

  Luke didn’t turn, but Domini did. Her quick turn brought Luke’s hand down as she faced the woman who stood in the open doorway.

  “What the hell are you doin’ in here, Amanda?”

  “Toma, you’ll have Dominica believe that a wife isn’t welcome to visit her husband.”

  “You never have before.” His gaze shifted between his wife and the young woman who stood poised to flee. “Dominica, is it? Then you’re the one who’s raised hell by bringing her here.”

  Amanda smiled. Eyes the blue of a snow-capped mountain’s shadows, just as cold and hard, targeted Toma. “Oh, yes, Toma. At first I merely wanted her safe. But then so many delicious ideas came to me. And I so wanted you to meet her again, Toma. I want you to return to her what you stole. Her father, her childhood, money, too.”

  “Return? To her? Or to you, Amanda?”

  Domini glanced from Toma to his wife. Amanda’s smile never faltered but became malicious, and she did not answer. Quaking inside, Domini could only admire the woman’s utter calm. The rose silk long-sleeved gown revealed a willowy, petite figure. Domini wondered if it was a trick of the lamp light reflecting the rose shade of her gown that added the tint to alabaster skin. Not one feature that Domini studied was flawed. Even Amanda’s white-blond hair was smooth perfection pulled back from her high forehead into a coil at the back of her head.

  It was hard for Domini to believe she was Matt’s mother, Toma’s wife. She looked far too young. But the hardened glare in her eyes as she stared at her husband in a silent battle of wills left no doubt that Amanda was indeed Mrs. Colfax.

  Her benefactor. Her lying benefactor. Why?

  Bewildered by the hatred surrounding her, Domini turned to Luke. He was the only one not looking at Amanda, the only one she felt she could trust.

  “Luke?” His eyes meeting hers were as black as midnight water on a moonless night. He had been guarded with her before this, but now she couldn’t begin to fathom what his thoughts were. Domini knew her every thought, every confused feeling, was revealed to him. She no longer had the will or the strength to hide them.

  “If you don’t want your bait puddling down to useless before you spring your trap, you’d better get her out of here. She’s past exhaustion.”

  “No thanks to you,” Matt snapped, rising from his chair.

  “No thanks to any of you,” Amanda clarified, coming away from the door. “I apologize for the lack of manners both Matt and my husband have displayed. It is one thing they both excel at. Despite this, Dominica, we are civilized people. Come,” she offered, holding out her hand. “I’ll have Lucy show you to your room. After you have had an opportunity to refresh yourself, we will dine, then discuss this matter further.”

  It wasn’t as much an offer as a velvet-clad command. Domini hesitated and looked at Luke again.

  “Go on,” he said. “You’ll be safe enough.”

  “Will you stay, Luke?”

  “He never does, Dominica,” Matt answered. He closed the short distance between them and stood at her side. “You won’t object to my using your first name, will you? Miss Kirkland seems too formal under the circumstances.”

  “No, I don’t object.” Domini still waited for Luke to answer her. When he didn’t, she felt exhaustion sweep over her. She was being battered on too many fronts by conflicting emotions. Waiting seemed to be the only choice.

  “Luke’s right,” she finally said. “I am very tired.”

  “Then come with me, dear child,” Amanda coaxed.

  Domini kept hoping that Luke would stop her, that he would say he’d take her to her room. She didn’t want to be alone with Amanda Colfax. But Luke remained silent.

  Domini started forward only to turn. “I want my mother’s prayer book back.”

  “I’ll just hang onto this for now,” Toma answered. “Don’t worry, I’ll put it in a safe place.”

  Luke saw the way Domini’s shoulders sagged. The light went from her eyes. She didn’t yet understand that with Toma, with any of them, you never showed your weakness. Never allowed them to see what mattered a great deal to you. They would use it like a twisted noose around your neck.

  Luke lunged forward, ripping the book from Toma’s hand. He topped Toma by a few inches, and his body had been honed into a powerful build that Toma could not match in strength.

  “Since Domini kept it safe all these years, Toma, she can do the same here. This way,” he said, tossing the book to Domini, “it won’t accidentally disappear or get destroyed. Things are real prone to accidents around here, aren’t they?” Luke didn’t expect an answer, and he didn’t get one.

  “For sure,” he added, “this can’t be used to force her into any of your schemes.” He turned to Domini. “I warned you, didn’t I? Best stay sly as a vixen an’ keep your claws sharp as any cougar’s, honey. Their games are deep and vicious. If it gets too bad, send word to me by Ellamay. She’s the cook.”

  Domini clutched the book in one hand and reached out with the other to stop Luke as he strode past her.

  “Please, Luke, won’t you stay for supper? For me?”

  “Honey, you need a long spoon to eat with the devil. Mine got broken a long time ago.”

  “Stop it, Luke.” Soft and low, Amanda’s voice nevertheless demanded their attention. “You’re behaving like an animal with those ridiculous threats and warnings. You are the only uncivilized thing in this room.”

  “An’ whose fault is that, Amanda? My being an animal, that is?”

  “Shut up, Luke.” Matt took a step toward him, then roughly shook his head as if he was coming to his senses. “Just leave. Every time you—”

  “Yes, Luke, just leave. All you are doing is frightening this poor child with your vicious lies. Once more you have overstayed your welcome in this house.”

  Tight-lipped, Luke stared straight ahead. Only Domini’s gasp revealed that anyone had heard and cared what Amanda said to him.

  Luke shrugged off Domini’s hand and started forward when Amanda’s soft, brittle voice flayed him again.

  “Despite all efforts, you are an animal. How dare you come into this home—”

  “Home, Amanda? You ain’t got a clue to what makes a home.”

  “Keep silent when I am speaking to you, Luke. Or have you forgotten how you learned to be respectful?” Gloating, Amanda swept aside the flaring skirt of her gown. Her blue eyes glittered with hate. “I will hold you fully accountable if you have done anything to hurt Dominica. She is an innocent child and I will have—”

  “You’ll have what you’ve always had, Amanda. Nothing. You can’t do anything more to hu
rt me. All of your threats are empty now. An’ take a good look at who you’re calling a child. Dominica is a woman grown.” Scorn rode his voice and his look at Amanda. “But I’ll give you right about her innocence, and her honesty. Two things you never had, and never will.”

  “Get out, Luke! You’re not wanted here.”

  “Never have been.”

  “Luke!” Toma ordered. “That’s enough. Remember who you’re talking to.”

  Domini couldn’t believe the change that had come over Luke. For long moments he appeared the outlaw she had silently named him. Dark. Dangerous. Ready to strike out. Undercurrents of hate and scorn added to the silent battle between Luke and Amanda. From one breath to the next, Domini saw that Luke wrapped his seething emotions securely; even the light in his eyes was banked.

  She was unaware that she had covered her mouth with one hand not to cry out until she felt Luke’s fingers gently take hold of her and lower it.

  “Please, Luke, I’m asking you again. Don’t go.”

  “Not even for you can I stay here. And stay out of this.”

  Domini had no choice but to do as he asked when he rounded on Toma.

  “Old man, I’m holding you personally responsible for her welfare. Anything happens to her and I’ll come after you.”

  “Damn you, boy!”

  “I’m not a boy anymore, Toma.”

  “I’ll skin your hide and—”

  “She already tried that. Remember?”

  “Luke,” Matt interjected, coming closer to him. “Let it be. Every time you come back—”

  “This’ll be the last time. I’ve come to take my horses. I won’t ever be back again.”

  “Now, just hold on, Luke. You owe me.”

  “Owe you, old man? I’ve paid your devil’s due more times than I can count.”

  “By your reckonin’, not mine. There’s sixty head that you promised to break. Sixty days or thirty if you’re of a mind to kill yourself. You’re already three weeks behind on our deal. I’ve contracted those horses to the army. Now that they’re intending to chase the Indians to hell and beyond, they want them delivered. Those were the terms we agreed on for my care and feeding of your horses till you came back.”