Faith

by Peggy McKenzie

  He reached out to her with every intention of making love to her again in the morning light.

  But some very inconsiderate person, yet to be identified, chose that moment to bang incessantly on his front door. He shot a look toward Faith, her eyes wide with fear. His lioness was gone and in her place, a frightened mouse remained.

  Faith hid beneath the bedcovers. For the briefest of moments, she allowed herself to forget today. But it had arrived and now someone was here to destroy her dreams.

  She heard Liam talking with someone at the front door. A woman’s voice raised in anger. Lavinia Markham. What was she doing here? Did she visit Liam on a regular basis? No. She was certain Liam and Lavinia weren’t— No. She trusted Liam. He had told her he loved her, and he had asked her to marry him. He wasn’t the kind of man who would string them both along.

  She wanted to hear what was so important that Mrs. Markham would come to Liam’s front door this early. She wrapped the sheet around her and padded on bare feet to the partially opened bedroom door.

  “Liam, you can’t possibly still believe in her innocence. The sheriff found her scissors in the poor dead woman’s back. Now be reasonable. It is only a matter of time before she’s sent to prison. You will be free of your obligation to watch over her. By that time, I will be free of Travis and we can go wherever we choose.”

  The woman’s voice dipped low, and Faith could only imagine what enticement the woman was using to sway Liam to leave with her. She wondered how Liam would react.

  “Mrs. Markham—“

  “Liam, darling. Don’t say no just yet. Think about what I’ve said. I can assure you, my darling, you will not be disappointed.”

  Faith watched through the crack in the door as the woman kissed Liam full on the mouth. She wanted to rush out of the bedroom and proclaim he belonged to her, but she knew their future was fragile at best. So, like the coward she was, she remained in hiding. But she wasn’t about to stop watching. She leaned a little closer. Her body pushed against the door, causing it to creak.

  Lavinia looked over Liam’s shoulder toward the sound. Faith ducked behind the door and froze.

  “What was that noise? Do you have someone in your bed, Liam? Because that simply will not do.”

  Faith heard the front door open. She dared a peek through the tiny crack.

  The woman was still pressed against Liam’s body as he held the door open for her to leave. Liam stood stiff and unyielding. Finally he pushed the woman off him and ushered her to the door. She turned to him on the door’s threshold.

  “You are making a terrible mistake. You and I are meant to be together, and I won’t settle for anything less.”

  Faith watched Liam close the door in the woman’s face. But not before Lavinia caught sight of her peeking through the crack of Liam’s bedroom door. God help her.

  Liam wanted nothing more than to take Faith back to bed and spend the day getting to know each other’s bodies. But now that Lavinia Markham knew of Faith’s whereabouts that was not going to happen.

  “I’ve got to get you to the Hanovers before Lavinia has a chance to stir up the town. Get dressed. Can you be ready in ten minutes? We don’t have much time.”

  He could see Faith was frightened out of her mind, but she dressed quickly. She tried to brush her hair but Liam’s home was not equipped with the fripperies needed to coif a woman’s hair. She braided it, letting the braid hang down her back. At one time he would have thought the braid would have made her look wild, untamed. But it didn’t. Because she was not. He was more convinced than ever, and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t heard anything from his friend in Washington, D.C. He would get Faith settled at the Hanovers and then check at the telegraph office. Perhaps they had forgotten to give him the message.

  “Ready?” He stuck his head inside his bedroom and the tangled bed reminded him of last night. He didn’t want to lose Faith. And, if he could help it, he wouldn’t.

  She nodded. He grabbed her shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders, curling his arms around her arms. He wanted to hold her, but the urgency of the moment weighed on him.

  “Let’s go.” He pulled his gun belt and pistol off the hall tree and buckled it on his hips. He was certain today would require more than a pistol stuck in his waistband. A quick peek out his front door satisfied him the coast was clear. He pulled Faith against him and turned down the street toward the Hanovers.

  They had just cleared Doc Howard’s office when a voice spoke behind them.

  “I knew you had that bitch in your bed. You betrayed me, Liam. I told you I won’t share you with the likes of her.”

  Liam turned toward Lavinia Markham standing in the alley with a gun pointed straight at his heart. The woman was crazy. He wondered how he’d missed the signs.

  “Lavinia! You can’t possibly think you can shoot me in broad daylight and get away with it.” He had to keep her talking in hopes someone would pass by and notify the sheriff. Where was that damned milk cart that woke him every morning?

  “I have no intention of shooting you, Liam. I love you. Maybe love is too strong a word. But I would like for you to experience some of my darker appetites. Travis was too squeamish, but I sense an adventurous side to you. How could I have known you would choose her over me? If she wasn’t some sort of princess, you never would have looked twice at her. It is just rotten luck. That’s all.”

  Liam’s heart beat hard in his chest. What the hell was Lavinia talking about? He and Faith exchanged looks, his questioning and hers confused.

  “Now drop that gun belt, Liam. I would hate for things to get out of hand. It would be such a shame for her to get shot. Again.” Lavinia Markham smirked.

  Liam’s brain took a second or two to catch up to what the woman was saying. “What do you know about Faith getting shot? No one knows that except—“

  He watched Lavinia preen. The woman was insane.

  “Except the killer? Hardly, Liam. No, I didn’t pull the trigger. I didn’t have to. One of my many admirers who would do anything to find his way into my bed was very willing to please me. It is a very useful tool to get what I want without getting my hands dirty. I didn’t even have to ask.”

  “What is she talking about, Liam? She had me shot? So Charity was right. It was me and not Hiram who was the intended victim. But why?”

  “Bad timing, Princess. The old goat was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Why does she keep calling me princess? She called me your highness the other day on the street when she was acting so strange.”

  He watched Lavinia swing the gun toward Faith, and he pushed her behind him.

  The woman was insane, her beauty marred by her hatred of Faith.

  “What? You mean you haven’t told her? Have you led the poor girl to believe you love her?” Lavinia sneered. “Hardly, my dear. Liam wouldn’t have looked at you at all if he didn’t know you are kin to some royal family with close ties to England’s Queen Victoria.”

  Liam couldn’t hide his shock. “How did you know about my suspicions?”

  “It’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I sent a telegram to my accountant in Denver, inquiring about my bank account. I wanted to make certain Travis hadn’t learned of my deception. I happened to be there when a response to your telegram came into the office. As the upstanding, law-abiding citizen I am known to be, I offered to bring the telegram to you. As a courtesy, you understand.”

  Faith pushed from behind him, hurt etched across her beautiful face. “You had suspicions who my family might be? I might not be an Indian? And you didn’t tell me? You didn’t say a word. How could you do that? You know how much finding my family means to me.”

  “Faith, listen to me. It’s not what you think. I only had a suspicion—“

  Lavinia’s voice scraped against his last nerve.

  “Oh, honey. It’s exactly what you think. Liam and I were having an affair. Oh, I’m sure he made up some excuse when you ca
ught us—well, when you interrupted us in his office that day. Why do you think I’m divorcing my husband? Do you think I would give up all that money without having something substantial as compensation? I can assure you, Liam and I have shared more than one night of exquisite passion.

  “That is, until he got word you had some exotic royal connection. I don’t blame him. Not really. I suppose if I had a prince waiting for me somewhere, I’d have left a trail of dust in my wake a long time ago. But, alas, I do not. However, I do have Liam, and I’m not letting him go.”

  Faith backed away from him.

  “Faith, listen to me. Look at me.”

  Something in his voice stopped her.

  “Just listen to me. Please,” he pleaded.

  She hesitated for a moment and then raised her sultry dark eyes to meet his.

  “Last night, you said you trusted me. Did you mean it?”

  She searched his face for something.

  “Did you mean it?” he demanded.

  “Yes. I meant it,” she replied softly.

  “And when I asked you to marry me, do you think I was sincere? Remember our night together, Faith. Do you think I meant it when I asked you to marry me?”

  “You asked that bitch to marry you?”

  Lavinia’s tinny voice bored into his brain. “Shut up, Lavinia. Let Faith answer.”

  He turned back to Faith one more time. “Do you believe I meant it? Or do you think it was all a ruse because I might have suspected your lineage was something other than what you were led to believe?” His heart pounded in his chest as he waited for the woman he loved to answer this all-important question.

  “I—“

  He watched Faith stammer with her answer. His gut ached. This was an ironic twist of fate. All this time, it had been his hatred of her people that kept them apart. Now the truth freed them to love each other. But that same distrust was pointed straight at each other.

  “Hey, what’s going on here?”

  Doc Howard stopped short when he stepped out of his office door.

  “Damn it. Liam. We could have been happy together. Blissfully happy. With all the money I stole from Travis, we could have lived like royalty. But now it’s too late.” Lavinia turned the gun toward him.

  His heart jumped in cadence. “Lavinia, you don’t want to do this.”

  “Oh, but I do, my darling Liam. If I can’t have you, neither can she.”

  “Lavinia, think about what you are doing. You’ll hang—”

  Liam heard the roar of the gunshot and braced himself for the bullet. Instead he watched Faith jump in front of him and shield him with her body.

  “Faith!”

  He tried to push her aside, but the bullet beat him to her. He watched her body jerk when the bullet hit her. He reached out to keep her from falling. She crumpled in his arms and those dark eyes that punched him in the gut stared at him in pain.

  “I believe you, Liam. I believe you,” she whispered.

  And then those eyes he loved so much closed and her body went limp. All he could do was watch the growing red stain of blood cover her stomach. He had ignored Hiram’s advice to not let his guard down around Lavinia Markham or he would pay a heavy price.

  This was all his fault.

  25

  Faith could hear sounds of glass clanging together pulling her back from somewhere. A dream? She didn’t think so. Why did she feel so strange?

  Someone yelled out. “Will you stop those damned milk jugs from making so much noise?”

  It was Liam’s voice. She forced her heavy lids to open. She saw him sitting at her bedside in a chair. He looked as if he hadn’t slept for weeks. He was unshaven. Unkempt. And, he smelled like yesterday’s garbage.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered between parched lips.

  “She’s awake!”

  Liam’s voice bounced around the inside of her foggy brain. Why was he screaming so loud?

  Suddenly the room was filled with people. No, not people. Her family. Grace. John. Baby Abbie Rose. Hope. Charity. The Hanovers. And Rosie. When had she arrived?

  Faith looked around the room. Where was she anyway? It looked like…Liam’s bedroom. What was everyone doing in Liam’s bedroom? Her brain struggled to make sense of what her eyes were seeing.

  “Liam? What happened? Why is everyone here?” She tried to sit up but pain stabbed her in the stomach and she fell back against the pillow.

  “Don’t move. You were shot. Don’t you remember? Lavinia Markham shot you.”

  Faith lay still and willed her mind to remember. “I remember we were headed to the Hanovers. Oh, yes, now I remember. She stopped us and threatened to shoot you when Doc Howard surprised us in the alley.”

  “Yeah, she was going to shoot me, you brave little idiot. Why did you step in front of the bullet?”

  “How long have I been asleep?” Her body felt stiff and very, very sore.

  “You’ve been unconscious for four days. Doc Howard rushed you into surgery to remove the bullet. You were lucky, Faith. Thank God the doc was standing right there. If he hadn’t been, I don’t know what—“ Liam didn’t finish his sentence.

  “And from the looks of you, you’ve been here the whole time?”

  “Yes.” Her sister Grace leaned in and kissed her cheek. “The man wouldn’t let any of us take turns watching over you. He’s been here since they brought you across the alley to his bed to recover.”

  “Where’s Lavinia now?” She had to know.

  John, her brother-in-law, answered. “The sheriff arrested her. And then her husband paid her bail. Said she wouldn’t get a fair trial here so he took her to Denver. It seems the Markhams have a love-hate relationship. They can’t seem to stand each other, but they can’t let the other go. Strange couple, those two.”

  Liam turned her attention back to him.

  “What were you thinking? Lavinia wanted to shoot me. And you jumped in front of me. Why would you do that?”

  Faith’s mind was fully functional now. She didn’t have to think twice about her answer. She turned to Liam. “Because I had to save someone I loved very much.”

  His blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Dear God, woman. How could you be so brave? I couldn’t do that, not even to save my family and I loved them dearly.” Liam’s voice cracked under the weight of his guilt.

  Faith looked at the people she called family standing around the room. Grace and John. Mr. and Mrs. Hanover. Sarah. Hope. Charity. Even Sheriff Grayson was in attendance, having slipped into the room. Worry was etched on each of their tired faces. They were worried about her. She loved them all so very much, but she needed to talk to Liam. Alone.

  “I’m going to be okay. Would everyone give Liam and me a moment to talk? Please.”

  Everyone in the room shuffled quietly into the main room and closed the door, leaving her and Liam alone.

  Faith reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his. “Yes, you could. You were a boy, Liam. You couldn’t save your parents or your sister that day no matter what you had done. And do you think your parents would have wanted you to die with them? No parent wants that for their child.”

  Liam’s guilt tore at her heart. She wanted to ease his pain any way she could.

  “Perhaps the reason you were spared was to find your sister, Mary. Or perhaps your family’s legacy lives on in you. I didn’t know your parents, but I do know this. They would be so proud of the man their son has become. We have our whole lives ahead of us. Building your practice. Raising our children. Planning our future. And, if I remember correctly, I have a family to get to know. I want to know everything I can about my family. As soon as possible.”

  Liam raised his bowed head and smiled through his tears. He was so handsome. And she was so lucky. Sometimes good things did happen to good people, she mused. Maybe one day she’d get to tell that to Reverend Baker.

  Two months later, fully recovered from her gunshot, Faith sat in her old room on the second floor of the H
anovers’ happy home. Rosie was downstairs, watching over Abbie Rose while her sisters Grace, Hope, and Charity fluttered and fussed over her like a flock of butterflies.

  “Hope, will you and Charity bring Faith’s dress over here? I want her to step into it instead of pulling it over her head and messing up her beautiful hairdo.” As usual, Grace had taken charge.

  Faith watched her two sisters lift the simple wedding dress and carry it across the room to her. She was fairly certain Hope would be the next of them to walk down the aisle, but she dare not say it aloud with Charity in the room. She was still stalking Sheriff Grayson, and he was still running for the hills.

  “Faith, your dress is stunning. It was so sweet of Liam to send to New York for it. He loves you so much.”

  Faith smiled her happiness.

  “Yes. It is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. I am so blessed. I can’t believe this is happening. I’m getting married to Liam O’Brien. My name will soon be Faith O’Brien. Who would have thought only a few months ago all of this could be real?”

  “Now don’t start crying again,” Charity ordered. “You will look like a bleary-eyed dolt if you do.”

  Faith rolled her eyes for Grace and Hope to see.

  “Thanks, Charity. I certainly don’t want to appear as a bleary-eyed dolt on my wedding day—whatever that is.”

  Charity, oblivious to sarcasm as usual, shook out the dress and set out Faith’s shoes.

  Faith stood and her sisters helped her into her exquisite dress. Grace did up the silk-covered buttons in the back. The form-fitting confection was breathtaking and her hair contrasted with the snow-white lace covering the entire dress.

  “Oh my, Faith. You are so beautiful.” Grace’s eyes misted as she gaze at her.

  “Now, goldarn it. Don’t start that cryin’ crap again. You’re gonna look—“ Charity frowned.

  Faith and Grace laughed. “Yes, we know. Like bleary-eyed dolts.”

  Aggie called from the bedroom door. “The men are ready and the groom is beside himself. Why don’t we let him off the hook and get this wedding started, shall we?”