by Jillian Hart
He swallowed painfully. Air rattled in his throat and didn't sit right in his lungs. When he opened his mouth a rattle came out and not the question he needed to ask.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Concern animated her eyes, kindness resonated in her voice. Lovely crinkles tucked the porcelain smooth skin of her forehead as she set down her book. She glanced at her watch pin. "I'm afraid you can't have more laudanum for at least forty minutes more."
Frustration clawed through him. He didn't want something to cloud his judgment. What he wanted was to get back on his feet. He tried to move but nothing happened. Not a muscle flickered. The effort of trying to speak left him dizzy and nauseated. He was as weak as a kitten. He drew in a wheeze of air and listened to the oxygen rattle in his throat. He couldn't just lie around. He had a report to make. He had to be sure she kept his secret.
"Badge?" He choked on the word. It came out garbled and more of a cough than a word. White-hot pain hit him like the sharpened edge of an ax and he squeezed his eyes against the blow.
"It's upstairs tucked in my hope chest." Her skirts rustled, her petticoats whispered and the stool groaned as she shifted her weight. He forced his eyes to open wider, fighting waves of pain as she whispered, "No one will think to look for anything there. Don't worry, Marshal."
He gulped, nearly blacking out.
"Don't worry. I will keep your secret." Her rosebud lips parted into an intriguing smile as she leaned in. "I'm very good with confidences. If there's anything you need, you let me know."
"Up." That came out more as a wheeze than a word.
She shook her head. "Sorry, not even your strength of will can do that. The doctor said you are not to move an inch, not until he's sure your stitches will hold. One of the bullets lodged close to your heart and nicked a lung. Very serious."
He swallowed, fighting the adrenaline coursing through him as he thought about being stuck flat on his back. He'd wanted to be a territorial lawman since he'd been five and a trio of them had rode into town. He could still feel the frayed edges of wood against his fingers as he'd clung to the fence in the orphanage yard watching the impressive men on their powerful horses riding straight and tall in the saddle, a symbol of justice and might.
"You have caused some excitement in town." She grabbed her book to mark the page with a length of purple ribbon. "Everyone is talking about the new deputy who drew so fast, not a single person on the street saw more than a blur and your gun firing. Too bad you didn't hit anyone."
"No." A sick guilty feeling sank into his stomach. How did he tell someone as obviously good and wholesome as Lila what he really was? If she knew what he was capable of, she would never speak to him again.
"And the newspaper said you were an expert aim, so that must be a great embarrassment to you." She clutched her book with both hands. "Yes."
"Whenever anyone talks about the infamous bank robbery, everyone will remember the quick draw and the bad aim." She shifted on the chair. "The holdup is all any of the customers talked about all morning. Apparently it was some famous outlaw gang."
"I know."
"I suppose you would. All those wanted posters tacked all over the sheriff's office." A bell faintly jingled from the other room and her chair scraped as she hopped to her feet. She set her book on the cushion. "That's a customer. I've got to go. Don't worry, I'll be back."
He didn't answer. He didn't look as if he could, poor man. The effort of waking had paled him even more. Her shoes dragged on the floor as she tripped down the hall. His gaze was like a magnet on her back trying to pull her back. Eunice had a ladies' aid meeting at the church, so there was no one to wait on the customer. She had to go.
"Lila, there you are." One of her best friends, Earlee Mills, smiled from behind the fabric counter at the far end of the store. In tow was her little brother, Edward, who pushed at a loose tooth as he studied the button display, held captive by one hand. Earlee didn't look inclined to let him go. "I heard all about the excitement. Are you all right? I saw the bullet hole right through the front window."
"It went into the counter, but all is well. I was providentially behind the counter instead of in front of it at the time." She flung her arms wide and gave Earlee a quick hug. "Oh, it's good to see you. I've missed you, all of you, so much."
"It's only been four days since church. We all saw each other then. And we have our sewing circle this week." Earlee looked sweet in a handed down blue calico dress that perfectly matched her eyes. Her hair tumbled down from her sunbonnet in golden ringlets. "Edward, remember what I told you?"
"Don't touch a thing," he repeated, pulling his fingers back just in time from a button made in the shape of a dog.
"My fault. I shouldn't have let go of you." Earlee rolled her eyes, good-natured as always and caught hold of her brother once again. "I just finished writing a letter to Meredith. That's where we're headed. The post office."
"Oh, I meant to stop by there yesterday but then all the excitement happened. At least I have something thrilling to write about. Meredith will keel over from shock, as my life is so boring." She paused, gathering up the words to tell the news about Burke, but they didn't seem to want to come.
"No, my life is boring," Earlee teased. "You can trade with me if you want. I'm stuck out on the farm and you are here in town, where all the action is."
"Action? Yesterday was the only action I've seen yet. Remember, if you trade lives with me, then you have to deal with Eunice."
"Oh, point taken. Think I'll keep the one I have."
"I knew you would say that." Laughing, Lila stepped behind the counter. "Did you come to get that trim you were hoping for?"
"No, I wish." Earlee glanced wistfully at the glass beneath the wooden countertop, where spools sat lined up in a long row of delicate laces, beautiful silk ribbons and colorful rickrack. "Ma needs another bottle of tonic. Her heart is troubling her again."
"I'm sorry she's ailing." Earlee's ma had suffered a severe case of small pox which had left her in a weakened state ever since. As the oldest girl, the responsibility of the children and the housework fell on Earlee's slim shoulders. Lila wished Earlee's situation could be easier. She bopped over to the medicine cabinet behind the cash drawer and sorted through the many bottles. "I'm keeping her in prayer."
"That would be a help. Thank you." Earlee cleared her throat and attempted to be stern'and failed. "Edward, what did I just tell you?"
"I'm sorry, Earlee. I can't help it. My finger just did it all on its own. Honest." The little boy didn't look very worried about getting punished. "There's a real bullet in here."
"Stop touching it." Earlee shook her head and tugged her brother away from temptation. "Did you hear Chance Bell got winged by a bullet? It went right through the wall of the hardware store. Someone else was shot right on the bank step. One of the bank's guards. Word is that he was winged in the leg and will be all right. Ma got word through her church group to pray for the deputy who got shot twice in the chest."
"He's here." She lowered her voice, wondering if Burke could hear her or if he'd drifted back into a healing sleep. "In the storeroom."
"Here?" Earlee's eyes widened as she opened her reticule and plucked out a fifty cent piece. "Is it the really attractive deputy? The newest one? He's even more handsome than Lorenzo Davis."
"I didn't think that was even possible until I saw Burke." She blushed, glad to take the coin and make change in the drawer. It gave her som
ething to focus on so she could pretend to herself she wasn't blushing.
"Burke?" Earlee arched one dainty eyebrow. "You're on a first-name basis with him?"
"I am. I tended to his wounds after he stumbled into the store." She dropped a dime, a nickel and two pennies onto Earlee's palm. "Don't look at me like that. I had a responsibility."
"You like him."
"He's too old for me." Twenty-four to her eighteen. Six years was a lot. He was the manliest man she'd ever met, but in a good way. A mighty way. He was just like the Range Rider in her favorite novel series, but she couldn't tell Earlee that. "He will be strong enough to be moved soon, because Eunice is not going to let him stay here a second longer than he has to. Then I'll never see him again."
"You do like him." Earlee tucked away the money and gave her brother what passed for a scowl but fell far short. Edward lifted his forefinger off the wrapped butterscotch candy in the candy barrel. "What about Lorenzo?"
"Maybe I'll give up on Lorenzo." Lila ripped off a length of brown paper.
"But you've been in love with him since you were eight years old. That's a long time."
"Oh, he's never going to fall for me. I thought maybe after he forgave Fiona for ignoring him and falling in love with Ian, that he might turn his eye to me. But he's never going to, or he would have done so." That hurt, but it wasn't a surprise, either. "Things don't always work out the way you wish."
"What made you change your mind? Is it this new man? The deputy?" Earlee laid a gentle hand on her brother's shoulder.
"No." She didn't want to say anything until she was sure, but she'd spotted Lorenzo in church last Sunday watching a certain young lady with a wistful look, and that lady wasn't her or Earlee. She tied the package neatly with a string and handed it over. "I'm going to hold out for a dime-novel hero."
"Oh, I just finished reading the last book you lent me." Earlee tucked the bottle inside her reticule. "The Ranger Rider hero is utterly too-too."
"He always saves the day and he's a really good man down deep, no matter what." Fine, so she was thinking about Burke. How could she not? "I can't wait to see what comes on the train today. I'm expecting a new batch of books."
"Exciting. I can't wait, either." Earlee's smile faded as she kindly nudged her little brother away from the candy. He gazed at it with such longing. Treats like candy were not common in the Mills' house. Earlee clearly hesitated, worrying her bottom lip. "How many pieces for a penny?"
"A dozen." It was six candies, but Earlee was family to her. "Edward, did you want to pick out the pieces?"
"Really, Lila? Oh, I would!" Not expecting such a privilege, he hopped up and down with excitement. "Can I have a butterscotch one?"
"Absolutely." Lila grabbed a little striped paper bag meant just for candy and circled around the counter. "Here you go. Make your choice."
"Ma likes the peppermint balls." He bent his head to fish one of the cheerfully striped candies from the mix. "And Ramona does, too."
It took a while for Edward to pick just the right piece for everyone in his family. A customer came in and Lila waited on Lanna Wolf, who was in need of a new packet of needles. After wrapping the packet and adding the sale to the Wolf's account, Lila gave Edward an extra butterscotch candy for the road, hugged Earlee goodbye, refused the penny and dashed to the storeroom. Her patient lay asleep, a powerful man in spite of his wounds, a hint of natural color returning to his face.
Thank You, Lord, she prayed, grateful he was improving. Heroes should always recover to fight for justice another day. The door jingled, drawing her attention. It was the glass repairman come to replace the damaged pane in the front window.
Chapter Five
Earlee Mills couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she plopped onto the bench outside the post office and stared at the letter, just to make sure she hadn't imagined it. It was definitely real. She ran her fingertip over the stark handwriting that spelled out her name. Finally, after months of waiting and believing he had given up caring about her, Finn McKaslin had sent a letter.
"Earlee." Edward popped the butterscotch out of his mouth and held it by two sticky fingers. "Can we go home now?"
"Just one minute." She tipped the letter so he couldn't make out the return address. She didn't want anyone to know about Finn. A lot of people's opinions of him had changed ever since he'd been convicted of robbing a train last summer, but she had always carried a torch for the youngest McKaslin brother. She knew he was a good man down deep. Even good men made mistakes. "Why don't you watch the horses go by for two more minutes?"
"I'm hot. I want to play in the creek." Edward gave a gap-toothed grin, which always worked on Ma.
Earlee felt her strength weakening. It wasn't easy to say no to that cute freckled face. "I said two minutes. Is that really very long? Then we will be on our way."
"Okay." He popped the candy back into his mouth, wiped his sticky fingers on his trouser leg and turned toward the street. Fortunately a matched team of glossy black horses paraded by drawing a fashionable buggy with gleaming red wheels, which absorbed all of the boy's attention. "One day I'm gonna own me a buggy and horses like that."
"Yes, you will." She tugged a hairpin out of her coiled up braids and slit the envelope neatly open. Her fingers felt wooden and she stabbed herself in the scalp when she slipped it back into her hair. For months she'd had to accept that Finn wasn't interested in her. And why would he be? Fairy tales didn't happen to girls like her. She had to be realistic. He had only ever been in need of a pen friend, someone to help ease his loneliness.
There was a single sheet of paper and a short note in his masculine script.
Hello, Earlee,
It's been a while since I got your letter. Honestly, I didn't know if I should write you back. It's something that's been bothering me the whole time and I may as well get it off my chest. I'm being selfish writing you and looking forward to your letters. I am lonely here and unhappy, but maybe you shouldn't spend your time writing to a convict like me. That's what I am. I've come to accept it. After spending a month in solitary confinement or the pit, as we call it here, I can't be in denial any longer.
He was in a pit? Earlee tore her eyes from the letter, feeling as if she'd been struck. How horrible for him. A pleasant puff of warm breeze fanned over her face and stirred her bangs. She was free. She had never given it much pause before. Beauty surrounded her, bright blue sky, dazzling sunshine and the colorful excitement of the town street. The scent of the bakery wafted down the boardwalk, horses strutted by, and she could go anywhere if she had a mind to. Edward clomped over and dropped onto the bench beside her.
"Can we go now?" he begged.
"It hasn't been a full two minutes." She tweaked his nose gently to make him grin. The candy was tucked in the corner of his mouth and made him look a little chipmunk. "But I suppose I can walk and read at the same time, if you promise to warn me before I walk into a hitching post."
"I'm good at watching for stuff!" Edward bounded onto his feet, his boots thumping on the planks. "Hurry, Earlee!"
"I'm coming." She pushed off the bench and followed her little brother down the boardwalk. Her attention drifted back to Finn's letter.
I appreciated your description of town life and life on your farm. Your writing made me forget where I was for a few moments. That's a gift I'm grateful for but don't write me again.
Goodbye,
Finn.
"Earlee!" E
dward grabbed her elbow.
She glanced up and skidded to a stop just in time. A teamster's loaded wagon and double team rumbled by. She wobbled on the edge of the boardwalk, heart pounding.
Finn had said goodbye. He didn't want her to write anymore. Crushing disappointment settled like an anvil on her chest. She remembered him as he'd been in their school days, although he was several classes ahead of her. His dark hair tousled by the breeze, his good-natured grin, his easygoing friendly manner that made every girl in school swoon just a little.
"We can go now." Edward tugged her forward, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Girls."
"Boys." She ruffled his hair affectionately. She tucked away Finn's letter. That was the end of that. He didn't want her as a pen friend. If this were a story she was penning, the correspondence between the hero and the heroine would be the catalyst for a great romance, one of rare love and infinite tenderness, the kind of love that would last for all time.
But real life was not like a novel. She sighed and tugged another hairpin from her topknot. She had one more letter to open. She withdrew Meredith's envelope from her pocket and carefully unfolded it, trusting Edward to keep her from tripping as she bent her head to read.
"
Lila plunged her hands into the warm soapy water and grabbed one of the wet garments from the bottom of the tub. A hot puff of air breezed down the alley behind the store and across her face. She thought of the deputy asleep on the other side of the wall just feet away. She could picture him perfectly. There was something incredibly decent about Burke Hannigan. Definitely hero quality.
Lord, please save him. I believe he is worth it. She wrung the excess water from his shirt and scrubbed it on the washboard for a third time, although it did no good. The bloodstain had set. What was a Range Rider doing in Angel Falls? There were few more respected or awe-inspiring professions in all of Montana Territory'at least not in her opinion. And to think he had walked right into the store and into her life. She shook out the sudsy garment and leaned over the washboard again.
