by Gordon, Rose
~Chapter Four~
Ella could hardly breathe in anticipation of meeting Jack for the first time.
She’d met with a man named General Bridges when she arrived at Fort Smith. He immediately recognized what he was to do and promised she’d be delivered to Jack at Fort Gibson before the day’s end.
Thank goodness because she was tired of riding in the small, stuffy confines of a carriage. She’d never really given much thought to the size of Jack’s home before she left, but as the days had dragged on and on and the box of the carriage had seemed to grow smaller and smaller, she was looking forward to an open space where she could actually move and stretch...and scratch. During the final part of her journey the coach driver had become quite put out with her asking for him to unload her trunks each night so she’d resorted to having to wear the same stockings for the past three days and to be frank, they were becoming terribly uncomfortable. Just thinking about them made her legs itch, particularly her right one which seemed to itch worse than her left. If she didn’t think Jack or one of his friends might walk up on her at any moment, she’d be more tempted to bend down and scratch it just to relieve the itch, but that was not a good way to make a positive first impression. Even she knew—
“Ella?”
Ella started and an excited shiver ran down her spine at the sound of her whispered name behind her. Slowly, she turned to face the man who’d spoken. “Jack?” she asked breathlessly, then blushed. Of course it was Jack; nobody else here knew her name or would address her so informally. Not that that was the only clue as to who he was. All she had to do was see him to recognize him. He was far more handsome in person than he’d described in his letters. At least six feet tall and wearing navy trousers and a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top two buttons undone, offering her a generous glimpse of his bronze skin. His face looked as if it had been chiseled from marble, with high cheekbones and a distinguished jaw, coal black hair that curled at his neck and such dark brown eyes to match. He was breathtakingly handsome by anyone’s standards.
As were the two men who’d come running up behind him.
One had eyes that were either blue or green, it was hard to tell from this distance, coal black hair and a wide grin that must be hard for any lady to resist. He must be who Jack had referred to as Gray. Beside him, was the man who she presumed was Captain Tucker, or Wes as she’d come to think of him. He was an inch or so taller than Jack with a broad build, brown hair and blue eyes. He was also a very attractive man. But neither of them was nearly as handsome as Jack. At least not to her mind and she might be biased, but then again, Wes’ wife, Allison, might be biased, too.
Behind Jack, one of his friends cleared his throat.
Jack jerked as if ripped from a trance. “Ella, I’d like you to meet two of my friends. This fellow with wide eyes and his mouth hanging agape is Captain Grayson Montgomery and this—” he jerked his thumb in the direction of a man who wore an expression of amusement— “is Captain Wes Tucker.”
“Captains Montgomery and Tucker, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Jack’s letters that I feel as though I practically know you both already.”
“You do, do you?” Gray said with an overdone frown. “Interesting; he’s never mentioned anything about you.”
Stung, Ella blanched.
“But then again, why would he have made mention?” Gray continued as if realizing his earlier words hadn’t been as flattering as he might have intended them to be. “Had he announced your impending arrival, dozens of men—myself included—would have been there to greet your stage and fight for your hand.”
She flushed at his compliment and was thankful for it, all the same, as it seemed to evaporate the tension that had begun to choke them all. “Thank you, Captain.”
“Gray,” he corrected. “And now that you know what I prefer to be called, I must take it upon myself to ask who you are since Jack here lacks the manners to complete a proper introduction.”
“Ella. Ella Walk—Davis.” She blushed. She’d been telling everyone she encountered on her trip that she was already married and on her way to meet up with her husband. It didn’t seem as dangerous that way.
“And to what do we owe the pleasure of making your acquaintance, Miss Walk-Davis?” Wes asked, garnering him a jab in the ribs by one of Jack’s elbows.
Ella smiled and tried not to laugh at the exchange. Just as his letter had said, they were like brothers. In the letter, Jack had painted Wes in the most favorable light of anyone of Jack’s acquaintance. Jack had claimed Wes was always grinning and rarely serious. Clearly, he was only teasing her, but for some reason Jack must not find that appropriate for their first meeting. That’s all right, she didn’t mind a sense of humor as long as it wasn’t cruel, and his words certainly held no cruel intent. “That’s just the thing, Captain. I’ve come here to drop the Davis and add an ‘er’ on the Walk.”
Jack grinned at her in a way that would have robbed her of her breath if she wasn’t near breathless with excitement already. “Well, if you all will excuse us, now that you two have made the acquaintance of my future wife, I think it’s time Ella and I have some time alone.”
Wes shot him a glance Ella couldn’t read. “Perhaps she doesn’t wish to be alone with you.”
“Since she still hasn’t added that ‘er’ to her name, yet, she still has time to change her mind,” Gray said helpfully, eliciting a giggle from her.
Jack shook his head. “Sorry Gray, she’s all mine.”
Ella flushed at his possessiveness, then shot his friends a sympathetic smile. Though she knew Wes was already married, she assumed he was just trying to flatter her with his words. Gray, on the other hand, Jack had once termed a shameless flirt. Not that it mattered to her. He could flirt with her from now until snow covered the ground, but it wouldn’t change the feelings she’d developed for Jack from his letters and the excitement that had grown tenfold on her journey here.
“Perhaps they’d like to act as witnesses to our wedding,” she suggested a moment later when neither man had seen fit to part company with them.
“I’d be honored to be a witness,” Wes said quickly.
Jack scowled at him. “We don’t require any witnesses—especially either of you.”
Wes mumbled something about someone who might need a witness after something was discovered. She knit her brow and looked to him to elaborate, but before he could, Jack extended his arm to her. “If you’re ready, I’m sure the chaplain would be happy to make this official.”
Heat crawled up her face, though she didn’t know exactly why. “Of course.” She gestured to her luggage. “Will it be all right to leave those here until we return?”
All eyes went to the four large trunks and three travel bags that had made the journey with her.
“Gray and I can find some men to move those for you,” Wes offered, the corners of his lips twitching.
Ella turned her eyes to Jack, whose face had taken on a light red hue and who seemed to have a slight cough. “That would be very nice, thank you,” she said.
“It’s our pleasure,” Gray said at the same time Jack’s little coughing fit worsened.
“Are you all right?” Ella asked him. She fisted her hands into the fabric of her pale green skirt to keep from patting him on the back and embarrassing them both with such a display.
Jack nodded. “Fine,” he said on a cough, “just a bit of dust.”
Wes chuckled and Gray guffawed.
“Don’t worry, Miss Walk-Davis, the men we find will be sure to exercise great care bringing your things inside,” Gray said with a wink.
Jack scowled at his friend and Ella cleared her throat. “Oh, there’s no need to bring them inside, is there, Jack? The men can just take them to Jack’s wagon.”
“Jack’s wagon?” Gray’s voice wavered on the words as if he were on the verge of laughter. “Do you plan to take her on a ride around the barracks before
taking her to see your room?”
Instead of the laughter she presumed Gray’s words were intended to provoke, uncomfortable silence enveloped them all as blood thundered in her ears and every muscle in her body went lax. Take a ride around the barracks? Their room? Did that mean he was an officer, too? Her heart sank. He hadn’t ever mentioned it. She glanced at the uniforms the other men wore. The trousers and shirts looked the same. But both of them had on hats and coatees that denoted their rank. Jack didn’t. There was one way to know for sure. As discreetly as she could, she looked to the side of his trousers. They had stripes. He was an officer.
All of the ramifications of marrying an army officer ran through her mind: harsh living conditions, constant moving, a husband driven to vice and barking orders. Shame and embarrassment washed over her, burning her face like a branding iron as understanding seeped in. She’d been fooled again. The only difference this time was that she couldn’t hie off to hide in a secluded room—she had to face the man who’d done her wrong and in front of his friends at that.
“Actually, I do believe I would enjoy a ride around the barracks first,” Ella said as evenly as she could around the nausea that was swirling in her stomach.
~Chapter Five~
“You lied to me.”
Her blunt words and the ever-so-slight quiver in her bottom lip hit Jack like a punch to the jaw, killing every ounce of excitement he’d previously had. “I didn’t lie to you.”
“Yes, you did. You said—” She broke off with an audible swallow.
“Yes?” he prompted, ignoring the slight hitch in his voice and praying she would, too. “What did I say?”
Ella glanced toward her luggage, then met his gaze again. Her eyes, though they were the most unusual set with one distinctly blue and the other green, were unwavering but full of trepidation. Though he’d only been in her presence for a total of five minutes, he already knew he preferred to see her excited with the light shining in her eyes the way it had a moment ago. Full of excitement, she absolutely glowed, with her porcelain skin and raven hair, bright eyes and red, bow-shaped lips, a real beauty when she was happy. Now she looked guarded.
“Never mind, I see that you didn’t lie to me exactly. You do live in a large home that sits on a considerably larger piece of land that doesn’t need to be tilled, plowed, planted or harvested. It was my mistake to think that the ‘sizable dwelling’ you referred to as home was your house and not a single room in a glorified boarding house.”
The change in her tone suggested she was disappointed. That he could understand, as his harsh living conditions and dwelling place weren’t even desirable to him. The slight quiver present in her lower lip, however, he couldn’t interpret. So he ignored it. “I do apologize if you feel misled, but I never said I owned my own land.”
“No, you didn’t,” she agreed.
Jack twisted his lips; his own annoyance growing. “I didn’t realize that you required your husband to have such assets to be worthy of your promise.”
“I never said any such thing,” she countered, her eyes glinting with what he presumed to be indignation. “Nor is it about your lack of ‘assets’ as you call them. It’s that you purposely omitted the entire truth from your letters.”
“I did no such thing.”
She sighed again and gave a quick glance to Wes, who was studying the wooden planks of the boardwalk under his feet, and Gray, who was casually leaning his left shoulder against a nearby wooden support column and watching Jack and Ella as if their conversation was the most amusing thing he’d seen all year.
“Could you two go find something else to entertain yourselves with?” Jack bit off.
“No,” they responded in unison.
If Jack hadn’t been so distracted by the way his friends just stood there listening, he might have been able to give a bit more thought to whether or not Ella’s lips had just twitched in amusement at his friends’ response as well as whether or not she was still upset with him.
“Ella,” he began as evenly as he could manage despite the awkwardness of their conversation and the audience they had. “I didn’t intentionally mislead you. I’m a man. Correspondence is not something that I give a lot of thought to.”
She winced. “You could have at least mentioned you were an officer of the army and not just a man who worked for the army.”
She was obviously embarrassed about the whole misunderstanding. He could respect that. Though what she had against him being an officer eluded him. It was one of the most respectable jobs there was. Or at least he’d thought so. Apparently she didn’t. “Ella, I’m sorry and you’re right. I should have been more specific. I just assumed when I described my home as a dwelling on a large piece of land and told you I worked for the army that you understood...”
“Of course,” she said quickly. She swiped at the fallen tendril of dark hair that had come loose from her bun and was swaying in the breeze. “You were perfectly clear. It was my misunderstanding.”
A wave of guilt washed over him. She was right. By his failure to be more descriptive in his letter, he lied to her by omission. He just hadn’t realized it would matter one way or the other to her. He opened his mouth to offer an apology, one more genuine than the last, but was saved from having to do so when she spoke again.
“As you know, I have traveled across a large portion of this country with the promise of a husband and I’d like to stay...”
“But?” he prompted, dread settling in his stomach. Her leaving now would be worse than if she’d turned around and returned home once she reached Fort Smith.
She bit her lip, then something flickered across her face and she released her teeth’s brutal hold on her lip and straightened in a way that made her appear to have just grown two inches taller. “I cannot share a bed with a man I cannot trust.”
The guilt he’d felt a moment earlier quickly gave way to another sort of emotion that could cause a man’s face to burn, his heart to slam against his chest and then his blood to drain from his face: fury.
He had no desire to let her know just how much she’d shaken him with her words, nor did he wish to be made to look like a trained animal in front of his friends. He crossed his arms and leaned back against his heels. “Do you think you’ll have such a choice?”
“Yes, I do.” She crossed her arms the same way he had crossed his.
He scoffed. “Perhaps you ought to take a peek in the room we’ll share.”
“And why would I do that?”
“To take inventory,” he said casually. Then he shrugged. “There is only one bed.”
“That’s all I need.”
“And you think you’ll have this room all to yourself, do you?”
She astonished him when she didn’t back down. “No. I know that I won’t. We also both know exactly what I meant when I said that I wouldn’t share your bed. I might be forced to, in a literal sense. Unless, of course, you are willing to exhibit an ounce of gentlemanly behavior and offer to sleep on the floor, which by your past actions and the look on your face, I highly doubt will happen. However, if you think to press me or force me, you should know, Jack Walker, that just because I came all the way here to meet a husband, doesn’t mean it has to be you,” she finished with a glance to where his friends stood behind him.
That sobered him instantly, stealing any other quick remark he might like to make right along with the very air in his lungs. Surely, she wasn’t so upset with him that she’d marry someone else—likely Gray—just to punish him for his quick tongue and lack of details. For if she was that kind, he’d grossly misjudged her, and for a reason he couldn’t name—possibly his pride?—he couldn’t bear such a fate.
***
As if the silence was louder than their conversation, Wes lifted his head up and let his gaze linger from Ella and Jack to Gray. “Perhaps Jack was right and it is time to leave them alone to get better acquainted,” he said softly. He then met Ella’s gaze, which she was reluctant to hold but refus
ed to give ground, whether to Jack or his friends, then he nodded once to her. “If you need anything, and I do mean anything, I’ll be right over there.”
“I think the one she’ll be looking for is me,” Gray said with a wink. “I’ll also be right over there...waiting.”
Ella didn’t know whether to be flattered or mortified by his implied offer. Instead, she nodded her understanding and her resolve strengthened. She truly had no intention of embarrassing either herself or Jack that way, or marrying a stranger she knew even less about in order to give Jack a much-needed lesson. Over the course of their letters, she’d formed quite a fondness for him. Or at least she thought she had. She frowned. How much of what he’d revealed about himself had been superficial or misleading? A lot apparently, as so many of his letters had been relatively short. Except the one he’d written her last winter about his Christmas. But that didn’t mean anything, either. It could have just been part of his ruse. Her heart thudded in her chest. Michaela had been right. He was a master manipulator, and if she needed any more proof, his next words seemed to furnish it and make her doubt her own mind all over again.
“Fine then, if you think you can find another man here who’d like to marry you...” He trailed off and forced a stiff shrug.
Her blood ran cold. Did he already not want her? “I didn’t say that I wanted to marry another,” she said softly to keep her voice from wavering. “I just don’t want to share my body and possibly create a new life with a man I cannot trust.”
Jack flinched as if she’d slapped him, which seemed to be a rather strong reaction when one considered what she’d requested didn’t seem too out of place when one remembered they were virtually strangers. Then he swallowed hard and nodded his head once; his face appeared as hard as stone. “But you’re still willing to marry me?”
