Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides
Page 43
She hesitated. “Do you think….”
“What?” he asked.
“You said you talked to Mick on the train,” she began. “Do you think he might be….dangerous?”
“Mick!” Chuck exclaimed. “No way! What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know,” Violet faltered. “It’s just the way he beat that man up at the train station. I guess it’s just my first impression of him. And then the way he got out his guns when we first arrived here. It made my blood run cold to watch him.”
Chuck thought the matter over. “I don’t think he’s dangerous. He acted pretty normal on the trip up here. He didn’t beat anyone up or shoot anyone, although he was wearing a gun belt the whole time. You know how it is.”
“It isn’t that,” Violet replied. “I’ve seen men wearing guns and carrying rifles around all my life. And I’ve seen men getting into fights, too. Why, you can’t set foot in the town of Butte without seeing someone getting mauled in the street. But Mick is different.”
“Different, how?” Chuck asked. “He seems like your regular ol’ cowboy to me.”
“I know you’re right,” Violet replied. “He just seems like kind of a violent brute to me.”
“I’m wearing a gun belt,” Chuck pointed out. “And so is Jake. He wasn’t wearing it on the train, but he is now.”
“I know he is.” Violet shivered at the memory of Jake strapping his guns on.
“What’s wrong now?” Chuck asked.
“Jake,” she told him. “Something about him makes my blood run cold, too.”
“What? Not Jake, too! Now I know you’re not thinkin’ straight. Jake’s the sharpest, shrewdest, straightest tack in the box. You take my word for it. I don’t think I’ve met a man in my life who’s as clear-headed and straight-dealin’ as Jake Hamilton. You should be glad your sister’s marrying him. I wish mine was.”
“Do you think so?” she asked.
“Listen,” he told her. “I talked to Jake a lot on the train out here, and I think I have a pretty good idea what sort of man he is. That Mick McAllister, he’s a regular brick. He’s solid and decent and hard-working. He’s the salt of the earth. But that Jake Hamilton, he’s another class of man altogether.”
“How do you mean?” she asked.
“He’s fine,” Chuck replied. “I don’t know how else to explain it, but he’s pure and clear and fine. You know what he reminds me of? He reminds me of iron that has been smelted and beaten and refined and poured into a mold to make a clear strong bell. You can beat it until you’re blue in the face, and it will just keep ringing the purest, clearest note you can imagine. It doesn’t bend, or break, or crack, or move when you beat it. It just keeps ringing. You probably think I’ve lost my mind, talking like this.”
Violet squeezed his hand. “No. but it’s a lot to say about a person.”
“It’s true,” Chuck told her. “You’ll see.”
“I guess I just don’t know him,” Violet remarked.
“You’ll get to know him,” Chuck replied. “And then you’ll see that I’m right. You’ll see I’m right about him and Mick. I’m just glad I’m out here with them. You won’t find two better men the world over.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Violet told him. “If you think so, I’m prepared to believe it.”
“That’s the way!” he exclaimed. “Besides, your sisters sure do seem to like ‘em.”
“That’s the truth,” Violet replied. “I don’t think I’ve seen either Rose or Iris act this way around anyone before. They can’t stop smiling and going red in the face.”
“And Jake and Mick act the same way,” Chuck pointed out. “I guess we’re acting that way, too, come to think of it.”
“It sounds like all of us are lovestruck,” Violet remarked.
Chuck moved closer. “I know I am.”
He kissed her again, and this time, he caressed her cheek in his other hand. Violet let her head fall against his palm, and he cradled her in his arms. Oh, to drift away on that swaying stream of bliss! Soon, soon, she would ride away on it into a sea of forgotten harmony and never give a second thought to anything else.
Before she knew it, the kiss turned into something else entirely. Chuck’s breath quickened, and he pressed his lips more firmly against her mouth, more insistently, more commandingly. It only seemed natural to open her mouth slightly to accommodate the additional pressure, and when she did, his tongue darted in and tickled hers.
A fork of lightning shot through her and rocked her to her core. Instead of drifting away on a sea of bliss, she jerked upright and almost tore herself out of his arms. Chuck immediately withdrew, and his eyes sought her out in the yellow light. “We shouldn’t go too far. We have a long way to go before we’re married.”
Violet nodded mutely. What a fool she was! Why had she reacted that way? Didn’t she long to give herself to him? Didn’t she dream day and night of nothing else? What if he turned away from her? What if her sudden repulsion disappointed him and he changed his mind about marrying her? Had she thrown away her future on this man? She only just met him! Who was he that she should give herself to him?
The thought of separating from him struck her with grief and misery. Oh, please, don’t let it be! Don’t let him cast her away, not after all they’d been through that day! Was it only today she’d met him at the station? Was it only today Cornell threatened to cut her off? Was it only today she nearly cracked his head open on the stairs for raising his hand against Chuck?
Chapter 27