On the Edge of Forever

by Cat Cahill

  She gulped, holding the words back with all her might. She had to be certain.

  “Edie?” he pressed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Miss Dutton’s eyes widened as James took another step forward. What had he said that made her look so terrified? “I’m only curious about how you got that horse,” he said. “How did you sneak it out without the stable hands knowing?”

  “Oh,” she said, a nervous laugh following the word. “I can be very convincing when I want to be. After all, I had five brothers I was forever trying to get things from back home. Food usually works.”

  The very image of this wisp of a girl trading a pie for a horse made him laugh. “Food does work,” he conceded. “I should know. My sisters got more out of me that way than anything else. My youngest sister, Emily, used to bribe me with okra.”

  “Okra?” Edie wrinkled her nose.

  James smiled to himself. He shouldn’t think of her as Edie, but the name fit her so much better than Miss Dutton. “Yes, okra. Fried okra, spicy.”

  “Are you teasing me?” She lifted her chin as if she didn’t quite believe him.

  “I’m serious as a cyclone. You’ve never had spicy fried okra?”

  “I have . . .” She trailed off, evidently still puzzled.

  “It’s my favorite food.”

  “It is not.”

  “It is. Emily could get anything she wanted out of me with a plate of spicy fried okra.”

  And that was when Edie burst out laughing, all trace of whatever had unnerved her earlier gone. Her laugh was sweet, warm and yet a bit garbled, almost as if she hadn’t laughed in ages. And come to think of it, he hadn’t seen her laugh at all before.

  It was as if she’d let something loose, just for him. Unbidden, he raised a hand and rested his fingers on her cheek. He’d taken off his gloves when he’d pulled the revolver, and now his fingers made contact with the soft skin on her face.

  Edie’s eyes fluttered shut and she went still. Her face was so perfect, seemingly carved from porcelain and yet soft and warm to the touch. Wisps of her hair framed her forehead under the ridiculous hat she wore. He lifted it from her head, and her hair fell in its braid down her back. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

  Her eyes blinked open, and she looked up at him, disbelieving.

  The words were out now, and he couldn’t take them back. And in fact, he didn’t want to take them back. If Edie was a distraction, all he wanted in this moment was to be distracted for the rest of his life.

  “I don’t believe you, Deputy Wright,” she said, those soft brown eyes searching his face for the truth.

  “James.”

  “James,” she repeated. “I’m plain enough to have the sense to not believe an outright falsehood such as that.”

  “If you’re plain, then I suppose I find that beautiful. But believe me, Edie Dutton, you are not plain.” He traced her cheek with his thumb. More than anything, he wanted to drop that hat to the ground and use his other hand to guide her toward him.

  Her lips parted, almost as if she was thinking the same thing. He tightened his grip on the hat brim, fighting the desire to touch his lips to hers.

  Behind her a horse snuffled, and then, out of nowhere, a velvety muzzle nudged against the hand that rested on her cheek.

  Edie jumped, and James yanked his hand away. Edie’s horse stood right there, no longer tied to the tree several feet behind them. The horse snuffled again and stepped forward, searching for attention.

  James glanced at Edie. A smile danced on her lips until she caught his eye. Then they both burst into laughter at the same time. Edie reached out and scratched the horse’s nose. “I suppose I didn’t pay enough attention to knotting the reins about that tree,” she said as soon as she caught her breath.

  “That rider should be far enough ahead of us that we can head back now,” James said, although he’d be keeping a close eye on their surroundings the entire way. It was likely nothing, just one of the men on one of the building crews or a hotel employee returning from a night of gambling or drinking. But he knew better than to let his guard down.

  They mounted their horses, and yet again, James was struck with Edie’s strength. How a woman her size had the strength to pull herself up into the saddle like that both puzzled and amazed him. Even his sister Tilly, the one who adored horses, used a stool to get into the saddle. And Tilly hadn’t ridden astride since she was a young girl. Yet it seemed it didn’t even occur to Edie not to.

  She loved books, could brew up a tea to cure headaches, rode a horse as if she were born on one, had no idea how beautiful she was, and seemed entirely fine with wearing men’s clothing.

  Edie Dutton was unlike any woman he’d ever met.

  Perhaps he’d been wrong all these years. He was certain he’d never be married if he pursued a career as a lawman, not after what had happened to his uncle. But other men seemed to have both. Sheriff Young had managed to keep order in his work and still marry.

  Maybe such a life was possible for him, too. He pondered the idea as he led the way out of the trees and back toward Crest Stone.

  In fact, he wasn’t certain he could imagine his life without Edie in it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Edie! Will you hurry along?” Millie swung the basket of food as she turned to wait, her red hair peeking out from under the wide-brimmed straw hat she wore.

  Edie shook her head to clear it. She’d been walking through what felt like a dream all morning, and now, as she hurried to catch up to Millie, Dora, and Emma, she wondered if she’d ever wake up from it.

  Or whether she even wanted to.

  “It’s a man, isn’t it?” Millie eyed her as they tagged along behind the other girls. Her eyes widened. “Wait! It’s the fellow who works with the sheriff. Deputy Wright, the one who was fairly mooning over you in Cañon City. I’m right, aren’t I?”

  Edie huffed, but she had to look away as a smile took over her face. “How would you know about that? If I recall, you had to work that day.”

  “Not a whisper of gossip escapes me, you know that. Now, tell me all about him.”

  Edie pressed her lips shut. Millie was the last person who needed to know.

  “I’m actually quite good at keeping confidences, when I’m directed to.” Millie smiled at her. “Let’s see, you could ask Penny, or Dora, or—”

  “All right, I believe you,” Edie said. “But that doesn’t mean there’s anything to tell.”

  “Hmm. We’ll see about that. Why, I believe that’s your lawman just up ahead, helping out with the building.” Millie pointed, and Edie followed her finger.

  And sure enough, there, just past the barn behind the general store, was Deputy Wright. Or James, she thought, her cheeks warming at the memory of him insisting she call him by his Christian name as his hand rested on her face.

  “Why, Emma, it almost looks fit enough to live in!” Millie teased as she set down the basket.

  Emma laughed as her husband came forward to embrace her. A couple other men who’d been working on the house paused also. Edie recognized Dora’s husband, Mr. Gilbert, and the proprietor of the general store, Mr. Drexel. And, of course, James.

  He stood watching her now, a smile alighting his lips when she caught his eye. With everyone else otherwise engaged, it felt as if they were alone.

  “Mr. Hartley,” Dora was saying. “Are you going to see Elizabeth any time soon? If you are, could you pass along a gift from me?”

  “I’d be delighted, Mrs. Gilbert,” Mr. Hartley said, an arm still wrapped around Emma’s waist.

  Edie remembered Mr. Hartley’s sister, who’d arrived at the hotel just before Christmas. She hadn’t worked there long before she married a cowboy and moved with him to a ranch somewhere northeast of Crest Stone.

  “I suppose you’ll be building me a house next?” Millie said as she scrutinized the men’s work. “I prefer a two-story in the Colonial style.”

  The girls la
ughed while Edie smiled. It was so rare for her to laugh, and the fact that she didn’t now only served to remind her of when she did laugh with Deputy Wright—James—last night. She was so caught up in her thoughts again that she almost missed Dora’s quiet announcement.

  “I believe they may be building Jake and me a house next,” she said.

  Everyone looked at Mr. Gilbert for confirmation. “The railroad asked if I would run the land office, once it’s built,” he said, taking Dora’s hand. “It will be temporary, considering I’d prefer to start my own business.”

  “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity,” Dora said, her face tilted up to smile at her husband.

  The men congratulated him, while the ladies began discussing where Dora might have her home built. Edie hung back, watching the easy way that Mr. Gilbert kept his arm around his wife, and the adoring manner in which she watched him as he spoke. Her eyes instinctively flitted to James.

  He stood behind the other men, a hand propped on one of the wooden beams of the Hartleys’ home. He watched the happy couple with a smile, but when his gaze turned to Edie, he grew more serious. He nodded his head ever so slightly toward the barn that sat between them and the mercantile, and then ambled away in that direction.

  Edie’s heart picked up pace. No one noticed that James had disappeared. Everyone was so absorbed in discussions of building and furnishing houses, and all eyes were on Dora and her husband. Edie hesitated a few moments, and then, sending up a little prayer that none of the girls would notice her absence for at least a few minutes, picked up her skirts and quietly moved toward the barn.

  James stood waiting on the far side of the building, which faced the rear of the mercantile. The sun was nearly directly overhead, casting barely a shadow but warming the day up quite well. James had already shed his coat at the building site, and Edie had left hers back at the hotel, opting instead for a shawl. It was so nice to be outside without a coat. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

  She stopped a couple feet away from James, suddenly bashful. Perhaps she’d imagined the meanings behind his actions last night. After all, he’d saved her from that terrible man at the livery, and then they’d had to hide from the stranger on the horse. It was possible that everything he did was only to keep her safe.

  But even as she had the thoughts, she knew they weren’t entirely true. And as if to reassure her of that fact, James held out a hand. She stepped forward and took it, his palm warm through the thin cotton of her glove. He held up her hand and inspected the glove.

  “I don’t see how anything that thin could keep your hands warm,” he said.

  A smile teased up the corners of her mouth. “They aren’t meant for warmth.”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  “They’re to prevent freckles. Although I fear I may be too late in wearing them, considering I was never too diligent about it as a girl.”

  “Are you telling me you have freckled hands?” He was on the verge of laughter, and Edie grinned.

  “I may have a few.”

  “Hmm.” He took hold of her other hand and pulled her closer toward him. “I’m not certain I can court a woman with freckled hands.”

  Edie felt as if a rock had lodged itself in her throat. “Are you—is that—” She couldn’t finish a sentence.

  That only made him smile more. He pulled one of his hands from hers only to push a lock of her hair back with it. “Would you like that?”

  She blinked at him. It was the absolute last thing she’d expected. And—her heart sank—the one thing that couldn’t happen. “James.”

  His face seemed to light up when she said his name. The same stubborn curl of hair had fallen forward again, and he pushed it back, letting his hand linger on the side of her face, just as he had last night. “I know it’s not allowed, not while you’re under contract with the Gilbert Company. Yet I wonder how your friends came to be married?”

  Edie lifted a hand and closed it over his. She couldn’t think straight with his fingers tracing her jaw as they were. “They met in secret. It happened before I arrived, but I heard that Emma—Mrs. Hartley—was found out and dismissed.” She saw the way he smiled at her, hope tracing every feature on his face. She wanted so badly to meet that hope, to reassure him she desired this as much as he did. But the risk was too great. If she lost her position and things did not work out between the two of them . . . And then, of course, there was the small matter of her family. “James, I can’t do that. Please don’t ask me to.”

  “I wouldn’t. We can wait until your contract is fulfilled in the fall. But of course we’ll happen to run into each other in the meantime.” He grinned at her, and she couldn’t help but return it. “What do you think?”

  Fall. She should know by then if he was worth the risk of her not renewing her contract with the hotel. The back of her mind buzzed with every other reason she shouldn’t agree to such an arrangement. Would she continue with her false name? Could she keep the secret of her family for . . . how long? Forever? The disruption in the camp had only been miners, he’d told her last night. There was no new evidence that her family was anywhere near here, or that they knew where she was. But what if they were out there, somewhere, biding their time?

  Even as his strong hand held hers, her other hand clenched as she fought to push those worries aside. She shook it out and raised it, brushing her fingers across his forehead. “How are your headaches?”

  “Manageable, thanks to your herbs. You work miracles, Edie.” He caught her hand in his. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I . . .” She raised her eyes to his face. He smiled at her, and there was nothing hidden in the depths of his eyes. She suddenly wished he would kiss her. It was a wild thought, and she didn’t quite know where it had come from, but now it was all she could think about. Visions of a future with him burst into her mind, burying any thought of her family. “I think . . . that might be all right.”

  His grin broadened and he closed the distance between them. He raised a hand and lifted her chin. Edie could hardly breathe. Everything around them disappeared—the talk from her friends on the other side of the barn, the hammering from one of the other building sites, the clanging from the blacksmith’s shop, even the birdsong. It all disappeared and only James existed. Edie’s eyes closed, and his breath warmed her face. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around his neck and pull him down toward her, but she remained still, waiting. Just as his lips touched hers, her name sounded from somewhere around the barn, breaking the stillness that had otherwise settled around them.

  “Edie? We’re going to eat. Where are you?” Millie’s voice called.

  James leapt backward. Edie placed her hands flat against the barn behind her. Somehow, now that he was separated from her, she felt as if she couldn’t hold herself up.

  He reached out, touched her face, and mouthed, Later. And then he was gone, disappeared around the far side of the barn just as Millie strode around from the nearer corner.

  “What are you doing back here?” Millie’s face scrunched up as she looked around the yard between the barn and the mercantile. Her eyes landed on the mercantile, which had housed the very first Gilbert Girls to arrive before the hotel was built. “Oh, I don’t miss living here at all. We slept four to a room. And we had to cook and wash the laundry and fetch water. Can you imagine?”

  While Millie talked, Edie straightened and attempted to pull her mind away from James. They’d come so close to being caught, and yet all Edie could think about was how he’d been about to kiss her. What was wrong with her? She could have laughed with the absurdity of it all.

  Millie had stopped speaking and was watching Edie expectantly, as if waiting for an answer.

  “Oh, I . . .” She trailed off, searching for a good explanation.

  “You know, I suspected you’d run off with that handsome lawman, only he isn’t here.” Millie gave her a sly grin. “Which only means you came to use the privy.”

  �
�Yes,” Edie said, only now registering the existence of such a thing in the yard nearby.

  “Well, let’s go eat. I believe Dora packed us all sorts of good things.” Millie took Edie by the elbow and chattered on.

  Edie tried valiantly to pay attention, and yet, when they rounded the barn, all she could see was James, standing with the other men, and talking as if nothing had happened.

  One of the other girls had spread a couple of quilts on the ground, and everyone sat to partake of the food Dora had prepared. The conversation moved from the food to the upcoming summer and speculation on what other newcomers the growing town might bring. Edie snuck looks at James only to find him doing the same.

  Edie smiled to herself as she sat back, leaning her weight on her hands. The blue sky stretched on for miles above, meeting snowcapped mountains that glistened in the sunlight. A warm breeze lifted the strands of her hair that had fallen from the hasty chignon she’d done earlier. And she realized she’d never felt so content.

  Her family felt hundreds of miles away, where they belonged. She was safe here in this valley, with friends she’d never imagined she’d ever have, and now a wonderful man who seemed to care for her as much as she cared for him. It was so unlikely that the men making trouble east of here were Beaumonts. And even if it was her family, they’d have no reason to know she was here. Mr. Adkins wouldn’t want her pa to know where he was now, considering he thought she’d told her pa everything he’d done.

  Perhaps she could live the rest of her life here in this beautiful place as Edie Dutton, or, if she dared hope, Edie Wright. She almost giggled at the thought. It was a strange sensation, feeling the desire to laugh so frequently. Here she was, seemingly without a care in the world, tittering over a handsome man who promised to court her. She needn’t ever tell him about her family. They wouldn’t come here. If she pressed the secret down far enough, perhaps she could forget about it too.

  She glanced back at him again, only to find him watching her with a peaceful smile.