“Girls, I know you mean well, but I can’t, I won’t—”
“Shush.” Gracie pushed her toward the tub, where Lilith stripped Zoe’s camisole and pantaloons off before helping her into the bath. Then Lilith scooped up a small pail of water and poured it over Zoe’s head.
“You’re drowning me!” she protested, covering her bareness with her arms.
The older woman rubbed a bar of sweet-smelling soap over her hair, working up a mountain of lavish suds, while GloriLee lifted one of her legs, then the other, running a washcloth back and forth. Zoe had to admit the attention felt good. She slid deeper into the hot water as Gracie reached for an arm to lather.
“That’s it. Don’t fight it, dear. We have to get you pretty and smelling sweet for your man.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Now, son,” Pop said, “if you hadn’t put up such a fuss, we wouldn’t have had to tie your hands.”
Cade sat in a tub at Walt’s bathhouse, trussed up like a Christmas turkey. “Pop, when I get loose—”
Pop chuckled. “You’ll be too occupied to retaliate.”
“Never saw anyone who hated a bath like you do,” Walt said, adding a kettle of hot water to the tub.
“Owwww! Watch where you’re pouring that!”
“Yeah, take it easy,” Pop said. “You don’t want to scald the groom.”
Sawyer doubled over with laughter. “Wouldn’t want that now, would ya, Cade?”
Cade struggled to climb out of the tub, but Pop pushed him back down with the tip of his crutch. Walt dunked his head under the water. He came up, sputtering.
“The only part of my body I intend to use tonight is my foot, to kick all of you from here to kingdom come!”
“Now, now, calm down,” Walt said. “Cain’t start a marriage without a shivaree. Don’t ’spect you and Zoe have had much time alone with all those young’uns around.”
Lawrence lifted Cade’s foot out of the water and scrubbed it hard with a brush. Cade jerked it back under the suds.
“Ticklish?” Lawrence asked. “Never would have thought it.”
“Don’t do that.”
Lawrence snickered, trying to grab his other foot. Cade snatched it away.
“You are ticklish!”
“I’m not ticklish. I’m just particular about who washes my feet.”
“No time to be bashful.” Pop sat on a keg, propped his splinted leg on a box, and watched the antics. “Think of it as ministry. We wash your feet, you wash ours.”
Cade lifted his bound wrists and slapped them hard on the water, soaking the onlookers.
“Now look what ya did,” Lawrence said, pointing to the front of his drenched trousers. “The wife’ll skin me.”
“Let me out of this tub!”
“Pipe down. They can hear you in the next county.” Lawrence rubbed a towel over Cade’s head. “Okay, Walt, he’s all yours. Get his hair combed up real pretty-like. We want him to look real special for his missus.”
Sawyer held up Cade’s clothes. “I’ll just take these home with me.”
“Don’t you lay a hand on those clothes!” Cade’s demand fell on a closed door. He turned to Pop. “Get me out of here.”
Pop shook his head. “They got their hearts set on a shivaree. Best just ride it out, son.”
Walt finished combing Cade’s hair. “Now comes the tricky part.” He pulled out a straight razor. “I can shave you with you sitting real still, or you can wriggle like you’ve been doing and take your chances.”
Cade froze in place as Walt slid the sharp instrument over the lower part of his face in several swipes until his skin was smooth. The sting of lotion slapped on his cheeks brought him to life. He put his elbows on the sides of the tub and lifted himself up.
Pop stepped back, away from the splash. “Now the missus is gonna be real pleased.”
Cade glared at him. “Winslow, you’re a dead man.”
Laughing, Pop and Walt slapped each other on the backs.
“Get my clothes!”
Pop chuckled again and held up a white cotton garment and matching hat with a tassel. “Oops. Ain’t got nothin’ but this here nightshirt. Guess it’ll have to do.”
“I am not wearing a nightshirt,” Cade warned through clenched teeth. He stepped out of the tub, and Walt began to towel him dry while Cade tried to smack his hands away.
“Suit yourself,” Pop said, tossing the garment aside. “But,” he added, giving Cade the once-over, “can’t say Zoe will be too thrilled when you show up in your birthday suit. She might take offense.”
Walt folded the towel and laid it on the counter. “From the looks of this place, you’d think we gave a polecat a bath. More water on the floor than in the tub.”
“Serves you right. Now get my clothes.”
“Put the nightshirt on, son. You’re not getting your clothes ’til mornin’.” Pop snickered. “Come on, Walt, let’s get this ornery polecat over to GloriLee’s.”
Walt looked Cade straight in the eye. “What’ll it be? We untie you so you can put on the nightshirt, or you stay tied and walk naked as a jaybird through town?”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Scrubbed, rinsed, and buffed, Zoe felt like a baby as Gracie and Lilith rubbed her down with a large fluff y towel. When the women finished, GloriLee held up the satin nightgown. “It’ll be big on you, but I figure the size won’t matter.”
Zoe reached for her clothes, but they had mysteriously disappeared. She quickly tucked the towel around her closer. “Now that you’ve had your fun, ladies, I have to go home. The children—”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Gracie held her back. “The fun has only begun.”
Lilith opened her pin watch. “You’d best put on that gown. You should be getting a visitor—” a loud knock sounded on the door, “—about now.”
Gracie reached to open the door, and Zoe quickly jerked the gown out of GloriLee’s hands and over her head. She stood frozen in place as Lilith tied her hair back with a blue silk ribbon.
Pop shoved Cade into the room, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing. He was wearing a ridiculous nightshirt and a cap with a fuzzy tassel that hung just below his left ear. The nightshirt struck him midway between his ankles and knees. Barefoot and hairy-legged, he looked about as humiliated as she felt.
The sheriff turned his head as the older women filed out. “Sleep tight,” he said, and then he closed the door.
A moment later it opened again, and a pair of boxing gloves sailed into the room. “Little gift from Sawyer. He thought they might come in handy with you two.”
The lock clicked into place.
Zoe’s mind flittered with guilt. Jim, God rest his soul, had been a good and honorable man. He’d given her his love and support, but even Jim had known that Cade was in her heart, and he’d accepted it. Now Jim was gone. She was married to Cade.
“I hope you know how to pick locks,” she murmured.
He stepped to the door and rattled the handle. It refused to budge. “I think Pop is getting senile.”
“I think the entire town is out of its mind.” Exhausted, she climbed under the covers, and lay back. Gracie sure knew how to fashion a comfortable bed. “We’ll just have to make the best of it until morning.”
“No.”
“Does the big, fierce bounty hunter not like the idea that he’s at someone else’s mercy?” Zoe couldn’t help but laugh at the disgruntled expression on his face. “You’re pretty bossy for a man wearing nothing but a silly-looking nightshirt.”
“It’s not funny, Red.”
“Really?” She smothered a yawn. “I think you look quite charming, and those boxing gloves. What an appropriate gift. We’ll have to thank Sawyer.” When his eyes darkened to a challenging hue, she shrank deeper under the covers.
He lifted a sardonic brow. “Want to fight?”
She knew better than to taunt him when he was in this mood. In her most innocuous voice, she answered, “No. Why would you
think that?”
He walked over to her and jerked back the covers. Scrambling to the opposite side of the bed, she glared at him, conscious that she’d gone too far. “Don’t you touch me!”
“You’ve had a burr under your saddle since the day I rode into Winterborn. When you came out of the store, you were mad enough to shoot me.” He reached for the boxing gloves and pitched them at her. “Put ’em on, Red. You want a fight. I’ll give you a fight.”
She threw the gloves back. He caught them against his chest and chuckled.
Pulling the covers over her face, she screamed her frustration into the mattress. The man was so infuriating!
No sooner had the scream ended than she felt a rush of cool air. He yanked the covers off again. His hands found her waist, and she felt herself being lifted from the bed.
“Put me down!”
“No. It’s time we settled this.”
Her face flamed beneath his arrogant perusal of her bare shoulders as he set her on her feet. “Stop looking at me. Have you no shame?”
“I have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “I’m looking at my wife. There’s no law against that.”
“I’m not your wife, and you know it.”
“That must mean the good reverend doesn’t have the power to marry folk.” He chuckled. “What will people say when they learn every married couple in the county is living in sin?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.” He was a breath away from her now. “Admit it, Red. You’re still in love with me.”
She pushed him back, full of frustration. Nothing she did intimidated him. He stood with a grin on his face as if he considered this situation little more than juvenile amusement.
“I don’t love you.”
“You don’t.”
“I don’t.
“All right,” he said, picking up the boxing gloves, “let’s fight.” He grabbed her right wrist and shoved a glove on her hand.
“Stop this,” she said, trying to shield her left hand. He reached behind her, tugged her hand to the front, and pushed the other glove on. After tying both laces, he took a step back to assess her with a grin. She watched in trepidation as he reached out with his left fist and tapped her on the chin.
“Come on, Red. Fight.” He grinned, grazing her chin again. “That’s what we do best. Fight.”
With a flourish, she rested the gloves on her hips. “Cade, you’re acting like a child. Do you know how ridiculous you look in that gown and nightcap?”
“Yes. Let’s fight.”
“I don’t want to fight. Our agreement was to marry for the kids’ sake, and you know it.”
“I don’t make deals. I agreed to marry the woman I care about so she could have what she wanted. Addy’s children.”
She drew a deep breath. “Care about? I’m not a fool, Cade. You married me because Seth and Bonnie changed their minds and Laticia pushed you into a corner.”
“That’s it, get mad. Let it all out, Red. Let me have it.” He stepped closer, pointing to his chin. “What are you waiting for? Come on, hit me!”
“Don’t be absurd.”
He tapped her on the jaw. “Cat got your tongue? Since when have you been reluctant to tell me what you think?”
She shook her head, refusing to appease him.
He reached out and boxed her shoulder. “Let’s duke this out, manto-man.”
“No!”
“You’d like nothing better than to get rid of all that anger that’s been eating at you for years. Here’s your chance. I’m offering you a way out. We’re not going to settle anything between us until you make me pay for walking out on you.”
Zoe crossed her arms, refusing to rise to his bait.
“We’re locked in here until morning. We can make it either pleasant or nasty. It’s your choice.”
The challenge in his voice said he was dead serious, and the look in his eyes meant business. She squealed when he lightly boxed her jaw with his bare knuckle. “Stop it!”
He tapped her again. “Come on, fight me.”
“Leave me alone!”
Cade jabbed at her shoulder, forcing her to take a step back. The man had lost his mind! He was nothing more than an overgrown child, taunting her into this madness.
“Come on, fight me!” With the flat of his hand, he pushed her shoulder. “Get rid of the resentment, Red. I was a thoughtless cad—say it.”
“Why? So you can feel better?” If he wanted absolution, he’d come to the wrong place.
“No, so you can. Brrrkkk, brrrkkk.”
Zoe’s eyes widened as she watched him tuck his thumbs into his armpits and flap his elbows. He strutted around the room like a chicken, making obnoxious clucking sounds. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have sworn he’d been drinking. “Stop it!”
“You can’t tell a cad from a chicken?”
“Ooooh!” She hauled back and landed a center punch to his stomach. He stepped back and put both hands where she’d made contact. Then she socked him in the jaw, smiling when she heard a groan. “Is that what you want?”
“Maybe not that hard, but you got the idea.” He cocked a brow. “Give me another shot.”
“Leave me alone, Cade. I don’t get mad like I used to.” She swallowed hard, trying to control her temper. “You can continue this childish taunting, but I’m going to sleep.”
She threw herself onto the bed, landing stomach down on the overstuffed boxing gloves, silently berating them, the lock on the door, Pop, and Gracie, but most of all Cade—the one who’d hurt her, the one who wanted to fight, the one who would leave her again. Tears burned her lids as years of frustration screamed for release.
Getting up, she walked to him and unleashed everything she had in one blow after another until he finally fell backward on the bed.
“That’s more like it.” His eyes fixed with hers.
“You snake!” She rushed at him with a flurry of punches.
“Hey, I thought you didn’t get mad anymore.” He pinned her arms to her sides.
She crumbled, sobbing. “At first, I wondered what happened to you, wondered if you were dead or alive. I thought I’d lost you and the baby.” She broke free and punched him soundly in the midsection.
He grunted. “I didn’t know about the baby. I was wrong, I admit it. But you were wrong for not telling me.”
She flailed at his chest. “Why didn’t you come back? Why didn’t you love me enough?”
“I was young and foolish.” He blocked a direct hit to his nose. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Really? I suppose you thought leaving me here, alone, would make me happy?” She punched his arm. “I loved you, and all I got in return was a few short letters, a box of smashed chocolates, and a broken doll!” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she shivered as he pulled her to him and kissed them away.
He gently lifted the locket around her neck and rested it across his fingers. “It makes me proud that you’ve continued to wear this.” He thumbed another tear from her cheek.
She bowed her head, unable to meet his gaze. There was so much he’d never know or understand. She surrendered the gloves. “I’m finished now.”
Cade untied the strings and pulled the gloves from her hands. “Are you sure you’re finished?”
“I’m finished. You win.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair. “No one wins unless you’re ready to forgive me.”
“Perhaps I could, if I knew why you didn’t come back.” She felt tears well and blinked them back.
“For a million reasons, none of them good enough.” He pulled her to his chest. “One day turned into a week, then a few months, then years. Then Addy wrote that you had married Jim. For some crazy reason that cut me to the bone. I felt betrayed. After a while, I realized you were better off without me.”
She pushed back, but he stopped her.
“Let go,” she said.
“I did that once. I hav
e no intention of letting go now.”
She eased toward him again, tired of fighting. “You’ll be leaving, and I have no intention of putting myself through the same agony.”
“I love you, Red. No matter what’s happened in the past, I love you.”
“Loving you was never the problem.” She studied his intense, questioning look. “Forgetting is what’s difficult.”
“You never forgot me.”
Tears rolled. She’d never forgotten him for a moment. “You’ve been with me every night of my life since you rode out.”
His gaze met hers. “Tonight is ours. Let’s not waste it this time.”
She hesitated for a moment. Maybe she would never forget, but she knew it was time to forgive and let go of the pain she had been carrying for fifteen years.
She put her arms around his neck and whispered, “You are my husband, Cade, and I…I am ready to spend this night with you as your wife.”
A look of tender hope and love crossed his face. Feeling lighter than she had in years, she smiled as she drew his head to hers and kissed him.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Late Monday night Zoe left Cade in the kitchen and went to answer the door. Their honeymoon had been short, but it really had been very thoughtful of the town. The memory would see Zoe through many a long, lonely night. Gracie handed her a note. “Perry just brought this by. I thought you might like to have it.”
“Perry?” Zoe opened the white envelope and her smile gradually receded as she read the legal document. Refolding it, she put it in her pocket.
“Well?” Gracie said. “What is it?”
“The note to the store.”
“The note…to your store?”
“Paid in full.”
“Oh, my. I knew Perry thought that you and he—but now that you and Cade are actually man and wife…” Gracie swelled with indignation. “Why do you suppose he’d do a thing like that?”
“I don’t know. Of course I can’t accept it.”
A Kiss for Cade Page 24
