“Oliver!” Wyndham cried in panic. “Help me!”
Sullivan spun on Oliver Jennings, who was, as it turned out, no threat at all. He held up his empty hands and shook his head in refusal. “I’ve already helped you more than I should, even if you are my real pa. I’m not going to help you hurt Miss Hannah.”
Sullivan took custody of Wyndham and led him to the door. The sheriff issued a nod and a soft command to Oliver, and the young man followed willingly, head down in shame. Oliver mumbled a soft apology to Hannah as he passed, and the three of them exited Rogue’s Palace.
Hannah threw her arms around Jed when he turned to face her. “See how easy that was?” she asked softly.
“Easy?” he bellowed. “I damn near had a heart attack. He was pointing a gun at you.”
“A little one,” she argued. “Besides, that doesn’t matter. He confessed.”
“I guessed as much when I saw the way he was ushering you out of here.”
She laid her head on his chest and relaxed there. “I was right,” she whispered. “I knew Rose could never murder anyone.”
She felt Jed relax, as he wrapped his arms around her. “You do love to be right, don’t you,” he muttered.
Hannah smiled. “I guess so. Doesn’t everyone?”
“Not as much as you do,” he said softly, drawing her close and holding her there.
“You two,” Cash called loudly, “cut it out. This is a respectable saloon.”
“There’s nothing respectable about you, Daniel Cash,” Hannah said as she pulled slightly away from Jed and looked past him to a grinning Cash, “so never you mind.” She looked up at Jed. “Never you mind,” she said again.
Jed sighed and took her face in his hands. “Tomorrow is Christmas Day, Hannah darlin’. What do you want?”
“I have everything I need,” she whispered, “right here.”
Chapter 22
Christmas morning in the Paradise Hotel was pure, unadulterated, magnificent chaos. Children laughed and ran and played with new dolls and wooden trains and hand-carved whistles. The adults gathered around the scrawny Christmas tree that had been erected in the lobby the night before. The tree had been decorated with colorful ornaments the children had made themselves, as well as a proliferation of red satin ribbons.
The Sullivans were there, of course, as well as the Reeses and the Salvatores. Cash was seated alone, watching silently and with a constant expression of long-suffering forbearance, and Jo Clancy was present, as well.
A turkey was roasting in the oven, and that, mingling with the aroma of pies that had been baked last night and early this morning, filled the air.
Hannah stood at the foot of the stairs and watched as Jed mingled with his nieces and nephews and the other children who had gathered here. Rico and Lily’s little girl, Carrie, and Millie had their heads together, whispering and giggling as only girls of a certain age can do.
The boys stood together, the young piano player, Johnny, and Teddy listening stoically as Rafe went on and on about the rifle his Uncle Jed had given him for Christmas.
Jed sat on the floor with Georgie and Fiona both in his lap, the toddlers jumping and giggling and grabbing at his nose and ears. He smiled and let them grab and giggle, completely at ease with the children around him, so beautiful and gentle and strong.
He glanced up and his eye caught hers, and in that instant there was no one here but the two of them. She loved him, and he loved her. She knew that, with no doubts or reservations.
And her gift to him was almost ready.
She stepped from the stairway to stand over Jed, who had an arm around each of the little girls who laughed and played and teased. He started to set them aside, but a lifted hand from Hannah stopped him.
“No,” she said. “Don’t get up. I’m going to see Rose and her family.”
“You’ll be back in time for dinner, won’t you?”
She smiled. Jed drew her so easily into his world. He wanted and needed her here. “I wouldn’t miss it, but I did promise Rose I’d come by this morning. We haven’t seen each other at Christmas for too long, and besides... I have a gift for her family.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “What is it?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
This was a big step, a huge undertaking. And she wanted to have Jed to herself when it happened. “Meet me outside,” she said softly. “One hour.”
He was curious but did not question her. By the time she’d greeted those in the hotel lobby and made her way outside, her hands trembled and her stomach clenched. She stood on the boardwalk in that condition for a few very long minutes, and then she proceeded.
Rose and her family were enjoying their own Christmas celebration, a quieter time but one just as lovely. They were glad to be together, vindicated and alive. It was just the four of them, since Bertie was spending the day with the Jennings clan. The parents and sisters and brothers Oliver considered his real family. Hannah was doubly glad she’d encouraged the sheriff, who was apparently not a moron after all, not to press any charges against Oliver.
Hannah gave everyone, even Baxter, a big hug. She was not normally a demonstrative person, but she felt the need for those hugs today. She needed to give and receive them. What she was about to do would require a tremendous amount of strength, and the hugs... they helped.
The boys accepted her overtures, but they had quieted, become stiff and withdrawn, the moment she’d walked into the room. She knew why. She had come too close to becoming her father, to trying to control her nephews by threatening them with the family fortune. More than anything, she did not want to be like her father.
When Rose excused herself to check on her own holiday feast and Baxter went with her, Hannah turned to the twins.
“Franklin, Jackson,” she said, nodding to each one in turn. She could actually tell them apart, now. Usually. “I’m withdrawing my earlier offer.”
“What?” Jackson asked. “We behaved ourselves all this time for nothing?”
“I knew it,” Franklin grumbled, glancing at his brother. “She tricked us!”
Hannah silenced their protests with a raised hand. Amazingly enough, they responded to that silent command. “Your rights, as my nephews, have nothing to do with your behavior. I do hope you will continue to mature as you have since I arrived, to help your mother and father, and become productive, intelligent citizens. But I want you to do so because it’s right, not because you think I will pay you for behaving as you should.”
“What does that mean?” Franklin asked, his eyes narrowed.
Jackson elbowed his brother. “It means we get money no matter what!” He grinned widely.
Hannah sighed. Rose’s battles with her boys were not yet over. She dismissed the boys from her mind and turned just as Rose and Baxter reentered the room.
“Did you manage to gather the things I asked for?” She’d stopped by last night to tell them about Wyndham, and at that time she’d given Rose a hastily scribbled list.
“Yes,” Rose said softly. “But why do you need them?”
“I’ll tell you in a few minutes. First,” she said with a smile, “I have a Christmas gift for you.” She only hoped Rose and Baxter would accept this particular gift.
* * *
Jed played with the girls awhile longer, after Hannah left, but eventually he left them to their dolls and pretend castles. He ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and made his way to the third floor.
He wished he’d thought to order something special for Hannah, for their first Christmas together, but... He pulled the magenta garter from his drawer and twirled it on his finger.... This would have to do for this year. Next year he’d plan ahead. He’d give her something special, something that would make her eyes light up and her face glow and her mouth curve into that enticing smile of hers.
Next year. He had never thought of a woman and next year at the same time and in conjunction with each other. He didn’t doubt, at the moment, that he and Hannah would be
together next year. He didn’t know how, he didn’t know where, but he did know that this woman was his better half. His partner for life.
Jed put the garter in his pocket and started for the door, but he stopped there with his hand on the knob. He could give Hannah something special this year, couldn’t he? He knew how to make her face light up and her eyes dance. He knew what she wanted.
A half hour later, just in time for Hannah’s arrival, he bounded down the steps. Millie waited for him at the foot of the stairs.
“Uncle Jed,” she said sweetly, “you’re purty again.”
He winked at Millie and told her he’d be right back. Standing at the foot of the stairs and gathering his strength, he straightened the lapels of his frock coat and rotated his neck against the tightness of the boiled shirt’s collar.
“Jedidiah!” Eden said, rising from her seat on the couch. “Where are you...”
Sullivan grabbed Eden’s wrist and pulled her back down to his side, telling her, as only a loving husband could, to mind her own damn business.
Cash shook his head in despair.
Reese and Rico exchanged a knowing glance Jed did not want to acknowledge. Not right now.
Jed stepped onto the boardwalk and into the street. All was quiet, here, as people spent the day with their families. The wind blew, but not as coldly as it had last night, and the sun warmed the air. It was a nice enough December day.
Only one other soul moved on the street, and that was... He squinted and scowled.... Oh, what he saw was not possible. He stepped into the street to get a better view.
“Hannah?”
* * *
The buckskin split skirt was comfortable, as were the linen blouse and long buckskin coat. It was the pull of the short-barreled rifle at her back that would take some getting used to, that and the way the leather harness bit into her shoulders.
The boots were very nice, but still needed to be broken in, and the hat looked and felt much too new. It would be dusty and misshapen in no time, she imagined.
Beneath the hat her hair hung free, loose and tangled and blowing in the wind.
When Jed stepped from the hotel, right on time, her heart nearly stopped. What had he done? What on earth was he wearing?
“Hannah?” he said, hands on hips, feet planted far apart as he stood in the middle of the street and waited for her to reach him. “What’s this?”
“You first,” she said, looking him over from his neatly combed hair and smoothly shaven jaw, down the length of his fine suit to the tips of his polished black boots.
He took a deep breath and stuck out his chin stubbornly. “Isn’t this the way men who live on plantations are supposed to dress?”
She leaned closer and smiled widely, and inside, in her heart and her soul, she felt lighter. The world had just become a better place.
“You smell lovely.”
“It’s witch hazel,” he admitted reluctantly, as if he were afraid someone else would hear.
Tears filled her eyes, her heart swelled, and she knew she would never love Jed more than she did at this moment. Surely more love than this was impossible. Her heart would explode with it.
“You would do that for me? You would go to Alabama with me and live on the plantation?”
“I would do anything for you.”
He meant it. Hannah saw the impossible truth in his eyes.
Jed looked her up and down, his eyes raking slowly over her. “What’s this getup all about?”
She rocked back on the heels of her Western boots. More than ever, she knew this decision was the right one. “Isn’t this the way women with itchy feet are supposed to dress?”
Jed shook his head. “I can’t let you...”
“Let me?” she interrupted.
He laid a hand on her cheek, comforting her, loving her. “I can’t let you give up your home for me.”
“I already did,” she whispered. “I gave the plantation to Rose and Baxter, as a Christmas gift. It’s not much of a gift, really. It’s rightfully as much theirs as it is mine, and I... I’d rather be with you, wherever you go.”
Jed loosened the top button of his shirt and took a deep breath. “This thing is killing me.”
“I know what you mean,” Hannah said, slipping out of the leather harness that held the rifle at her back. “Maybe I should stick with my cane, for the time being.”
Jed took the harness and rifle and dropped it to the ground. Then he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet so they were face-to-face, nose-to-nose, and eye-to-eye. “I have a present for you,” he said. “It’s in my coat pocket.”
She reached into the pocket and pulled out the bright garter, smiled as she twirled it on her finger. “Thank you.” She kissed him soundly and returned the garter to its place. “It’s lovely. I’ll try it on later.”
“I’ll be sure that you do.”
She would never forget that Jed had been willing to give up the life he loved for her, that this one man loved her not because of her family heritage and fortune, but in spite of it.
“Do you think your itchy feet could carry you all the way to Paris?” she asked tentatively.
“Paris, Texas?”
“Paris, France.”
“May be.”
“Perhaps we could visit both,” Hannah suggested. “A kind of world tour.”
“I don’t know that Paris, Texas, is ready for you,” Jed said lowly.
“Well, I’m quite sure that Paris, France, is not at all prepared for Jed Rourke’s arrival, but I’m willing to give it a try if you are.” She kissed his neck softly, there where he’d loosened his shirt. “I did give Rose and Baxter the plantation, but I kept some of the money for us. I hope you don’t mind. I really would like to see Paris.”
Perhaps he wasn’t quite sure, because his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How about San Francisco for a start? It’s plenty fancy, it’s far away, and we don’t have to get on a ship to get there.”
“Are you afraid of ships?”
“Of course not,” he said indignantly. “How could I be? I’ve never been on one.”
Ah, he was skeptical, whether he was willing to admit it or not.
“Me, neither,” she confessed.
“So, San Francisco...”
“Just think,” she mused aloud, twirling one finger through his hair. “Just the two of us, all alone in our own stateroom for thousands of miles as we cross the ocean. Whatever will we do to pass the time?”
“I’m sure we’ll think of something.”
“I’m sure we will.”
She kissed him, soft and briefly. How could she not when his mouth was so close? So tempting?
“A ship, huh,” he muttered with a shake of his head.
“A ship.”
“Wily woman,” he muttered fondly.
“Hardheaded man,” she countered.
“Marry me.”
She placed her palms on his smooth cheeks and looked into eyes so blue they grabbed her heart and wouldn’t let go. “Yes.”
The End
Please read on for a sample from
Lori Handeland’s
NATE
Book 5
The Rock Creek Six
Nate
The Rock Creek Six
Book 5
by Lori Handeland
“Josephine Clancy, you will not go searching for that man alone. Let one of the boys do it.”
Jo continued to pack her saddlebag. Only Mary Reese would call the Rock Creek six “the boys.” But since she’d gone to Dallas alone to hire them in the first place, perhaps she was the only one who could. Being married to their leader didn’t hurt, either.
“The boys are busy being men these days,” Jo pointed out. “Reese has school to teach. Sullivan’s the sheriff. Rico can’t leave Lily to run Three Queens alone, and Jed’s gone off with Hannah. I swear the two together wander farther than he ever did alone.”
“What about Cash?”
Jo
looked up with a raised eyebrow at Mary’s mention of Rock Creek’s resident gambler and gunslinger. “What about him?”
“I don’t know why he’d go after Nate and then come back without him. He never has before. The two of them are supposed to watch out for each other.”
With Nate and Cash, that was like asking one ill-behaved child to look after another. Nate had a drinking problem; Cash just had problems.
Mary began to pace, worried. Jo was worried, too, but she knew better than to show it. Since she’d met Nate Lang, she’d become an expert at keeping what she felt to herself.
At twenty-five, Jo had endured more than her own share of trouble. Her mother lost to childbirth, her father a selfish and unloving man, despite the Reverend in front of his name, a stepmother nearer Jo’s age than her father’s who couldn’t wait to get rid of her. The latter had resulted in Jo’s banishment—first to an aunt’s in Houston, then to Indian Territory to serve as a missionary. Only word of her father’s murder had brought her back.
The one joy she’d found in returning to Rock Creek had been the belief she would see Nate again. But the moment he’d heard she was back, he had run.
That had hurt more than she would ever admit. But now, three months later, Nate was still gone. That Cash had returned without him was more worrisome than any lingering anger or pain. Jo was going to find Nate, and no one would stop her—not even “the boys.”
Mary paused mid-step. Jo’s room in the rectory attached to the back of the church was far too small for a decent pace. But Jo had been unable to move into the larger bedroom reserved for the pastor of Rock Creek, even though she had been fulfilling what pastoral duties she could since her return. A circuit preacher had ridden through a few times and done the things for which she wasn’t qualified—namely marrying, baptizing and burying.
“Cash should be the one to drag Nate back from wherever it is he’s gone.”
Jo finished packing and cinched her saddlebag. “I know where he’s gone.”
Mary’s eyes widened. “You got Cash to tell you?”
“No.”
“Then how...”
“I waited until Reese went in to talk to him, then listened at the door of Rogue’s Palace.”
Jed (The Rock Creek Six Book 4) Page 25
