by Unknown
“I agree,” Jess said. “I believe people will come around. It’ll just take time. But I forgot you don’t want to talk about him so I’ll say no more.”
Despite her determination to remain indifferent and ignore the knowing gleam in her sister’s eyes, Marlena felt a small smile lift her lips. He’d been so unsure of his skills when they’d first spoken of it in Boston. Now, he’d chosen the path as a career. She was beyond pleased he’d given up the hired gun business.
Sandy returned and dismounted in front of the house, greeting them as he ascended the stairs. “I spoke with your fiancé and Miss Winthrop. They’re having their things, and yours, gathered and moved as we speak. And Ms. Winthrop asked me to deliver this to you. She said it arrived at the opera house after you’d gone.”
He handed a folded note to Marlena and a stifling heat surged through her as she opened it to read the Shakespearean quote in large bold script.
All days are nights to see till I see thee; And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.
Her throat tightened and her eyes clouded. How many such notes did she hold close to her breast over the last year, for she’d saved all of them? How many times had they made her giddy, made her heartsick? She crumpled the note beneath her fingers and left the porch without a word.
Chapter 17
Dalton threw his clothes into a satchel while his mother stood nearby.
“I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, Mother, but if you pull another stunt like this I promise you’ll never see me in Virginia City again.”
“Dalton,” she said, stepping forward with glistening eyes. “I would never do something like this to you. How can you even suggest such a thing? I had no idea Marlena was here, although her telegram makes much more sense now.”
He stopped packing and looked up. “What telegram?”
Juliet’s features looked suddenly sheepish. “She sent me a telegram a few weeks ago from Denver asking if you were still living in Virginia City.”
His jaw dropped slowly. “She wanted to know if I was here?” A burst of hope bounded through him until he remembered the look of shock and outrage on her face when she saw him. He felt his face harden. “Yeah, she wanted to know if I was here so she could avoid me.” Pain and panic knifed through him. “You didn’t tell her about the homestead did you?”
“No. I told her I hadn’t seen you in a year.”
He sighed in relief. “Good. I don’t want her knowing anything about my work or my life since Boston.”
“Dalton, maybe if she knew, it would…”
“It would what? Make her feel sorry for me? Pity me? Ridicule me? No, thank you. She’s to know nothing, you understand?”
“And where are you going now? Back up to the mountains? Back into hiding?”
“Away! I’m not staying in the same city as her. I can’t.”
“Dalton, wait…”
He didn’t let his mother finish and the slamming door cut off the rest of her sentence. As soon as his horse was saddled, he whistled for Indigo and left Virginia City. In Gold Hill, he trotted past Ellie’s boarding house, but halted in the middle of the road when he saw Marlena through a second floor window.
The pane had been lifted and she rested on the sill, her head relaxed atop her folded arms. She appeared to be asleep. A sharp tug pulled in his chest and he heaved a sigh. No matter how hurt or angry she made him feel, the love he bore overruled them both. Indigo whimpered and Dalton looked down at him. The dog could sense the tension in his master’s body. Everything inside Dalton told him to leave, to return to Lake Tahoe. Everything but his heart. He had to know why she had looked at him with such anger earlier; why she had telegraphed ahead to make sure he wasn’t around; why she had returned his letters; why the hell she had become engaged to Harrison.
“Oh, hell,” he mumbled as he dismounted and tied his horse to a tree before scaling the long limbs of a cottonwood flanking the house. As he came within reaching distance of the sleeping Marlena, he suddenly found his voice hoarse and empty. She looked so beautiful. He could reach out and stroke her brow, smooth his fingers over her hair. But instead he opted for a loud clearing of his throat. She didn’t stir.
“Marlena,” he whispered. When she still didn’t move, he repeated her name in a louder voice. He inched forward and the branch buckled beneath him. The ground loomed a dangerous distance below and he wondered why he hadn’t done the sensible thing and gone through the front door.
His hand reached out and landed on her shoulder, giving a hard shake as he called her name again. She jumped awake with a scream. Her arm lashed out, smacking him across the face with the back of her hand. His body swiveled around the branch until he hung upside down like a possum. Marlena squinted and then gasped behind her palm as her eyes went wide.
“Dalton? What are you doing out there?”
“I’m…” A splintering crack ripped from the branch. “Falling,” he managed before the branch rent in two and he tumbled to the ground, landing on his back. His shoulder blades felt as though they’d been shorn from his spine. He grunted, rolling onto his side as he concentrated on taking deep breaths until he heard the frantic patter of running feet. Soon, Marlena was kneeling beside him, a lamp in her hand.
“Are you hurt?” she asked, studying him. Her hands smoothed his hair from his forehead and searched his scalp for cuts. He closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her hands on him again.
“My back is a little jarred, but I’ll be fine.”
She sat back on her heels and shook her head, all concern leaving her face to be replaced by a reproachful sternness. “What on earth were you doing up in that tree? What possessed you?”
Slowly, he sat up. “You.”
“Me?”
“You possessed me. I saw you in the window.” He shrugged. “I just climbed. I need to speak to you.”
“What could you possibly have to say to me?”
Her voice was stiff and haughty but before he could speak, Indigo leapt onto his lap and began a furious bathing of Dalton’s face with his tongue.
“It’s okay, boy,” Dalton soothed, petting the mut. “I’m okay.”
Marlena giggled beside him and then yelped when Indigo turned his affections onto her. Four muddy paws landed on the bodice of her white gown, sending her onto her back. The screech was followed swiftly by her laughter and Dalton found himself chuckling as he pulled Indigo off by the scruff of his neck.
“Go on, boy. Go lie down.” He turned to Marlena and grabbed her hands to help her up. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid he’s about as cultured as his master.”
Her smile faded as he curled his warm fingers around hers. She glanced down at their joined hands before she stepped back and pulled her hands from his. Suddenly, her nose pointed in the air and she grimaced. “Your dog has ruined my gown.”
Dalton’s eyebrow raised at the unnatural shift in her demeanor. “I apologize. I’ll pay for a replacement.”
She swiped at the muddy paw prints and pinned him with a look of disdain. “And to whom should I send the bill. Rosa?”
Dalton started as confusion flurried through him. “Why would you send the bill to her?”
He was about to ask her how she knew of Rosa, but all words died on the air as his eyes landed on the ruby pendant dangling from her neck, nestled in the soft pillow of her cleavage.
“The ruby,” he whispered, and Marlena reached up to cover the gem as she took a step back. “You’re still wearing it.”
“And why shouldn’t I?” Her voice was indignant. “You did give it to me, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but-”
“And are you now wanting it returned to you?”
He shot her a castigating look. “Of course not. I’m just surprised you’re still wearing it.”
“It...goes with my name.”
“Ah, yes,” Dalton drawled, rocking back on his heels as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Still pretending to be someone else, I see.”<
br />
She scowled. “Is this what you climbed up that tree to tell me?”
“No, actually, but since you brought it up I am quite happy to point it out.”
“Well, point it in the direction opposite me, if you please.”
A loud “ho” was heard as a carriage rolled to a stop in front of the boarding house. Indigo growled as Harrison Brady stepped out of it. The man turned and helped Sarah down next and they exchanged a condescending sneer as they surveyed Ellie’s place, but soon their eyes landed on Marlena, who had taken several steps away from Dalton as Harrison and Sarah headed their way.
Dalton and Sarah locked eyes, exchanging a glare.
“You were right,” Marlena finally told Dalton. “He did have designs on me.”
Harrison took his place beside Marlena before Dalton could respond. The man stuck out his hand and it took every ounce of civility in Dalton to reach out and shake it.
“Mr. Cunningham,” Harrison said. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Marlena told me you’d be in New Mexico.”
Dalton’s eyes fleeted questioningly to Marlena, and he raised a brow when she didn’t correct Harrison.
“Well, I’m afraid our letters crossed in the mail,” Dalton said. “Welcome to Virginia City and Gold Hill. Believe me, you’ll find much more use out of your Colts than you will your beaver hats.”
Harrison laughed. “I fear you are right. The town has an air of incivility about it and I fear it is I who is the fish out of the pond now. But Ruby has a certain affinity for the place, don’t you my dear?”
He put his arm around Marlena and she stiffened slightly before casting him a small smile and sending her eyes demurely to the ground. She said nothing, only nodded, which seemed to please Harrison. The display brought Dalton’s insides to a boil and it was hard work not to glare at the man’s arm resting on Marlena’s shoulder.
“Gracious!” Sarah called as she cupped her cheeks. “What’s happened to your gown?”
Marlena looked up, narrowed her eyes at him and then turned an austere expression onto Sarah and Harrison.
“Dalton’s dog has soiled it. In fact, Dalton was just offering to pay the expenses.”
She pinned him with a pointed look and he had no choice but to respond. “That’s right. In fact, if you give me a figure right now, I’d be happy to make a withdrawal from the bank in Virginia City tomorrow.”
“Eighty dollars, Mr. Cunningham,” Sarah piped in. “For the material and the supplies. Plus, whatever you want for your time, Ruby, since you sewed the dress.”
Marlena leaned into Harrison’s embrace, but her eyes never wavered from Dalton’s. “My time cannot be bought. Eighty dollars will suffice.”
“Done,” Dalton said without hesitation. A sigh escaped him, knowing he’d have to remain in Virginia City for another day.
Sarah chimed in. “The hired assassin business must be thriving.”
He sent her a tight-lipped grin but said nothing, turning instead to Marlena and Harrison to utter the hardest words he’d ever spoken.
“Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cunningham.” Harrison said.
“If you’ll excuse us,” Marlena said, her voice cold and distant. “I am excited to introduce my fiancé to my family and they are waiting inside.”
Dalton’s throat tightened, but he cleared it and nodded. To his disappointment, Sarah remained outside with him. Her face beamed with smug satisfaction as she watched Harrison escort Marlena through the front door.
“They make a handsome pair, don’t they?”
He shrugged. “They look more like father and daughter to me.”
“I’m appalled at you, Dalton. I would have thought you’d be happy for Ruby, what with your wise decision to follow my advice. But here you stand looking bitter and, if I’m not mistaken, jealous.”
“Did you stay out here to gloat, Sarah? Because if you did you can go to-”
“Oh, don’t worry. I wanted to talk to you about Harrison. Obviously, he knows nothing of your deceit, nor your little flight of fancy toward Marlena. In his mind, you are still her cousin, and it must remain that way.”
“Why?”
“Because the less people who know of you and your real position in life, the better it will be for Ruby.”
Dalton took a deep breath. “I’m not going to do anything to risk Marlena’s reputation.”
“Good. I do owe you a spate of gratitude, anyway. I’ve seen more emotion out of Ruby in the last year than in the previous five years, and I’m quite certain I have you to thank for that.” Sarah slanted her head and eyed him when his body tensed at her words. “You still love her, don’t you?”
He couldn’t bring himself to utter the admission aloud, knowing it would open the gates to a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. Sarah laughed.
“Best not to mention that to your wife.”
Dalton frowned. “My wife?”
Sarah turned from him and glided toward the house. Her tinkling laughter grated over him, but he ran after her and stood in her path.
“What do you mean ‘my wife’?”
She rolled her eyes. “Rosa, of course.”
Stepping around Dalton, she climbed the stairs and opened the door. A chorus of voices called out to him, all happy and warmly greeting Marlena and Harrison. He stood pinned to the ground, wondering why everyone in the world seemed suddenly out of their minds. He recognized the foul stench of deception in the air and by the time he climbed back in the saddle he decided to remain in Virginia City a bit longer. There was much to discover in the coming days.
The brothel was busy and he had no desire to lie in bed listening to the sounds of lust fulfilled. He stayed on Main Street and rode to the Silver Queen for a drink. Gamblers taunted one another, betting their homes and more. Half-naked women flaunted their wares, dropping the cap sleeves of their camisoles to bare a shoulder to him, but he turned away from all the revelers and took his bottle of whiskey to a lonely corner.
The first drink was taken in peace, the second interrupted by the bawdy laughter of a table nearby. Three drunken men sat enjoying their whiskey and each other’s company. But two words called out to Dalton, and from the moment he heard them his ears were fixed on the men’s voices.
American Songbird.
“I think I’ll purchase a seat in the same box I had tonight,” one man said. “The view was perfect. Right down into that plump pair of cat-heads.” He curved his palms into half-circles and held them before his chest to indicate her breasts and his companions laughed.
Dalton’s fists balled and he glared at the table of men. “Watch your mouth and show some respect.”
The man’s eyes turned murderous. “Mind your own business, mister.”
“Tell you what,” Dalton replied as he came to his feet. “You stop talking about the American Songbird and I’ll start minding my own business.”
Chairs scraped across the wooden floor as all three men rose to their feet. Dalton’s fingers twitched near the barrels of his guns, but he kept a rein on his temper. He couldn’t kill three men just for admiring Marlena’s beauty.
“Don’t see nothin’ wrong with wanting to milk a young pair of titties,” the second man said.
All right, maybe I could.
Dalton whipped his guns up faster than a man could blink and fired at the ceiling, hitting the chain holding up the chandelier. Just as the men pulled their guns clear of their holsters, the heavy brass load landed atop them, sending men and metal to the floor. Pistols slid across the planks and Dalton made short work of kicking them out of arm’s reach as he holstered his own weapons.
As soon as his hand left his gun it balled into a fist and plunged into the left eye of an approaching brawler. More men ran at him and he sent his fists into their flesh. First a gut, then a mouth. His fists windmilled until he was finally knocked to the floor. He felt the man’s knuckles land on the bone above his eye and a blinding pain soared
through the socket. He ignored it and shot to his feet again, ready for the next toss.
Blood surged through him, fueled by his anger, his pain, and his fists curled again. Every sink of his knuckles into another man’s flesh was a release, a flood of emotion leaving him. It was better than alcohol, better than tears, better than any other method he’d used to drown out the raw, cutting pain of losing Marlena.
Other men joined the fight, and Dalton smirked, ready for them. He wrestled and punched until his hands bled and his eyes swelled shut, but the fight didn’t completely end until the bartender blew a hole through the roof with a shotgun. All activity ceased and the men were exhausted and weak enough to appear grateful for it.
“You men owe me a chandelier,” the bartender said.
“I’ll pay for it,” Dalton said with a shrug. He had nothing else to do with his savings anymore anyway.
Chapter 18
Marlena hugged Heath and Barrett to her sides as they rattled along in the carriage. Jess sat across from them, a bundle of clothing on the seat beside her. The boys had warmed to Marlena during the prior evening and hadn’t left her side once since she’d come down the stairs in the morning. When Jess told her of their errand for the day, they begged her to come along, and she wouldn’t have missed it for anything. She smiled warmly at her sister.
“I think it’s so wonderful that you do this,” she said.
“Children grow so fast and Heath and Barrett have no use for these clothes anymore. They might as well go to others, and the children at the orphanage need all the contributions they can get.”
“I’m happy Emily Stacey finally got her wish.”
Jess frowned. “What do you mean?”
Marlena scowled playfully. “Don’t you remember? All she wanted was to be surrounded by a house full of children she could love.”
A smile split her sister’s face. “I’d forgotten that. I’m not surprised you remember, though. You always seem to recall the best things about a person. It has always been one of my favorite traits of yours.”
