by Linda Broday
“Purely a business proposition, Miss Jessie, nothing more. For Marley.”
He watched Jessie wet the healing cut on her lip with her tongue and wished he knew the direction her mind took. On second thought, maybe he didn’t want to know. Women were a mystery to him despite the fact that he once was married to one. The toes of his boots suddenly gained interest.
“Guess my plans could wait a few days.” He looked up in time to see the wrinkle that had creased her brow disappear. “For Marley’s sake.”
The air he released resembled the noise his grandpa’s still had made just before it blew to smithereens.
“But I’ll hold you to your promise.”
*
“You did what? Why, you should be shot!” Victoria blasted Duel upon hearing his news that Jessie would stay on with him at the farm. “Furthermore, I won’t let you do it. Such a scandal. What would people say?”
“I don’t care a fig about town gossip.” He didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
“It’s not you I’m worried about. It’s that young lady. Papa, talk some sense into this mule-headed son of yours.”
Walt McClain calmly looked up from his whittling. He blew the shavings off the wood. “She’s right, son. Ain’t right to fiddle with a woman’s reputation. An’ it appears that might be all the poor soul’s got left. Your ma would turn over in her grave.”
Exasperated, Duel ran his fingers through his hair. “It’ll only be for a while. It’s not like she’s staying for good. Besides, Jessie didn’t seem to object.”
Victoria turned to her husband. “Roy, honey, tell this brother of mine what happened with Jane Sims last year.”
“If Duel wants to end up the same as Jane and Charlie Maxfìeld, then we should keep our nose out of his affairs.” Mirth twinkled in Roy Austin’s eyes.
“What are you two blathering about?” He smelled a dead rat.
Roy lifted one of the twins—Duel had no idea which one because they looked identical—onto his knee. “Jane was riding into town in her buggy and her horse turned lame. Just so happened the rig stopped in front of Charlie Maxfield’s house, so she went to ask for his help. Now, this is all perfectly innocent, mind you.”
“Oh goody, a faewy tale. Cindewella, Papa?” the daughter on Roy’s lap interrupted, clapping her hands.
“Hush, Becky, you’ll make me lose my train of thought. Anyway, Charlie found the horse in a bad way. Put it in his barn and rubbed it down with liniment. Before Jane could get around to borrowing an animal from Charlie, a lightning storm blew in, stranding her.”
“Honey, I love you dearly, but you sure know how to drag out a story.” Victoria took the reins. “To make a long story short, folks brought out the tar and feathers and ran Jane out of town because she spent one night unchaperoned in Charlie’s house.”
“That’s the craziest story I’ve ever heard. Sounds kinda farfetched if you ask me.” Duel wondered what they were up to. If he remembered the same Jane Sims, she chased after anything in britches who wasn’t spoken for. And maybe some who were.
“You didn’t let me get to the best part, darlin’.” Roy affectionately patted his wife’s knee. “Charlie felt real bad for Jane, so he went after her. He brought her back and married her. Now, Jane’s in the family way.”
“Anyone comes to tar and feather Jessie, they’ll have to go through me to do it.” The thought didn’t set well. The brand on her back was still fresh in his memory.
“Uncle Duel, would you shoot ’em?” George’s eyes grew big.
“Right between the eyes. No one’d better dare.” He ruffled the boy’s hair.
“Tarnation, son. A man shouldn’t let it come to that. Think of the little lady, for God’s sake.” Walt folded his knife and dropped it in the pocket of his overalls.
“Pop, what would you have me do? Vicky an’ Roy don’t have room to put her up here. And it wouldn’t do me a lick of good if they could. What I need is a woman to take care of Marley.”
Walt eyeballed his son intently. “You plannin’ on doin’ some farming, try to make a go of the place?”
“Sure am.”
“Whooee! That’s the best news I’ve heard in a coon’s age.”
Victoria tapped her foot impatiently. “You two quit changin’ the subject. What about Jessie?”
“She’s stayin’, and that’s that, Vicky!” Duel jerked on his Stetson and stood, signaling an end to the discussion.
“Not so fast, brother. I’ll not have the McClain or Austin name bandied about Tranquility like a rubber ball.”
“What does ‘bandied’ mean, Mama?” young Henry asked.
“Dummard, it means folks talkin’ about somethin’ they don’t know beans about.” George wore a serious expression.
“Only one thing to do, son.” Walt rose slowly and hitched up the bib of his overalls. “An’ that’s the right thing.”
*
The soft whinny of Preacher relayed the news that Duel had returned. Jessie quickly finished wiping dust from the last of the furniture. With no one occupying the dwelling, filth had accumulated atop everything. She’d even opened the windows and given it a thorough airing out.
Now, she straightened a lace doily on an oak credenza and gave the room a once-over. The furnishings fairly gleamed with her efforts. Clean as a whistle, if she did say so herself.
Marley Rose crawled over the spotless floor, investigating every nook and cranny. The child seemed perfectly at home. But then, she’d adapted just as easily to life on the trail. In return for her good nature, Marley asked very little, only someone to love her. Jessie swallowed hard and blinked. It was such a small thing to ask, really. It wasn’t something she could hope for herself, but surely it couldn’t be asking that much for a small baby?
Jessie ran her fingertips along the back of the handsome rocking chair. While simple and sturdy described the contents of the room, this was an exception. A curved back and ornate carving told her the purchaser had placed the item in high regard. It spoke of the great love with which Duel and his wife had faced their firstborn’s arrival.
A swift glance out the window at the grave on the hill, then back to the small child who sat playing contentedly, brought an ache to her heart. The gentle breeze made her shiver.
The ease Duel portrayed in handling the Schofield told her farming hadn’t always been his chosen profession. Yet she admired a man who sought gentler ways.
She couldn’t think of anything more honest than a man who tilled the soil. Something solid and lasting. At least she hoped it would be, for Marley Rose’s sake.
Grabbing the broom, she hurried to put it away. A little out of breath, she turned as the front door swung open.
Duel’s arms were full of staples, evidently from the general store in town. He kicked the door, banging it against the wall as he came through. Jessie hurried to help relieve his load.
His approval at her hard work shone in his eyes. “Give you a little water and a broom and you transform a shack into a castle.”
The compliment came out of the blue, and she ducked her head, hiding her quick blush. She’d enjoyed the task and taken pride in making the house a home once more, but she hadn’t done it for his praise.
“I’m not the only one to make changes,” she said shyly. “You’ve shaved.”
He looked different without the stubble. His chiseled features were more defined. Not handsome in the strictest sense of the word, but striking. And wonderful.
“Thought I’d better. Past time for a bath an’ shave.” He set one of the boxes full of goods on the kitchen table and began rummaging through it. “Brought you an’ Marley something.”
It pleased her that he’d thought of the babe, but for him to buy her anything…?
“I don’t think I can accept. Not proper you bringing me a present.” Especially when she had nothing to give in return. And that was one thing she wanted to avoid—being beholden to any man again.
“It’s only
a clean dress. Something you an’ Marley Rose are sorely in need of.” Duel found the twine-bound package at last.
She couldn’t argue about the sad shape of her clothing. Though she’d managed to rinse out much of the blood that had covered her, brown spots remained where the stains had set. That, and rips in the sleeve and skirt, convinced her of the necessity of fresh apparel. Still, pride made her hesitate to accept the parcel he held out.
“Take it.” His determined gaze gentled and entreated. “Consider it payment, if you must, for cleaning the house and looking after Marley Rose.”
At last she accepted the offering with downcast eyes. The man’s generosity touched her, and the warmth of his nearness made her regret her decision to stay. His large frame engulfed the room—and her. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to change her mind.
“When she gets a chance, Vicky will get the twins’ hand-me-downs from the attic for Marley.” He started putting the food away and said over his shoulder, “She also mentioned she probably has a few things you can wear.”
“I’m not looking for charity, Mr. McClain.” The brown paper wrapping the garments rustled in her hand. “Besides, I won’t be staying that long.”
His broad back stiffened. “Yes, well…about that.” He didn’t face her, instead stared out the small window. “I have a matter to discuss. Vicky and my father had a conniption fit about you living here with me. Made me see how inappropriate it is and all.”
Was he saying he’d made a mistake, that he didn’t want her after all? Or perhaps he’d discovered the truth about her while in town?
“If you’re having second thoughts—”
“Not entirely.” He turned, but his gaze stayed glued to a spot on the floor. “Ma’am…Jessie…seeing as how you don’t have a husband…and I don’t have a…anyone…I think we should wed.”
At last he raised his eyes to meet hers. “Not that I give a tinker’s damn about my own reputation, but to protect yours.”
All the air suddenly swooshed from the room and left her gasping. “You’re asking…?”
“Jessie, will you marry me?”
Six
The tightness of his tone told Jessie everything she needed to know. Duel loathed the idea of marrying her. The plot on the hill owned his heart. And, she suspected, he wasn’t asking for the motherless little girl. That left one clear reason. He pitied her. Somehow he’d figured out she had no place to go. The man offered her a home and his name for all the wrong reasons.
“Don’t you think marriage is a drastic step?” she began slowly. “A little more than a week ago you weren’t even aware I existed.”
“You care for Marley Rose, and that’s all that concerns me.”
Old pain sprang forth. Duel saw her as property, the same as Jeremiah had.
“Seems to me a man and a woman should feel something for each other to take vows. They should have some reason besides a child to bind them together.” Much as the thought of wedded bliss with this noble Texan tempted her, she would never allow it. Not with bloodstains on her hands.
“Look at it as purely a business arrangement,” he insisted. “When—”
“No! I can’t!” The strangled sound coming from her mouth wasn’t due to hands around her throat, as had more often been the case. It came from a sense of honor—and from fickle fingers that threatened to pluck her heart from her chest.
Stumbling from the farmhouse, she clawed her way up one hill, then another, until she found herself alone, staring down at the raging water of the mighty Colorado.
*
“Son, was that Jessie I saw runnin’ up the hill like a banshee was chasin’ her?” Walt rubbed his chin whiskers.
“Pop, do me a favor? Watch Marley till I get back.” Duel didn’t wait for an answer. His long stride had already taken him to the door.
“What’s goin’ on? I only came to talk about plantin’ time.”
“Later, Pop. Mind the child for me. Please.”
He lunged in the direction where he saw the flash of skirts disappear. Questions turned and twisted in his mind while he chastised himself for springing Vicky’s lame-brained idea on Jessie so suddenly. The least he could have done was prepare her a little. No wonder the woman bolted from the house like an unbroken stallion.
“An idiot,” he muttered to himself, “a full-fledged dunce. I should’ve taken Jessie’s delicate state into account.”
He thrashed through the tangle of brush, searching for signs of Jessie, heedless of breaking limbs that fell to the ground in his wake.
Just when he had lost hope, a fragment of blue waved from the thorny branch of a mesquite. The snippet must have torn from Jessie’s skirt.
So intent was he on the fabric, he didn’t see the low branch in time to duck. The whack sent his hat flying. Shaking off the pain, he picked up his hat and tore up the hill. He could hear the roar of the river and knew a dead end lay at the top.
If Jessie went this way, she had gotten herself trapped.
By the time he reached the bluff, he was huffing and puffing. Then the crushing hooves of wild horses stampeded in his chest when he saw her.
Jessie turned, then took another step toward the edge of the cliff.
“Wait!” Duel stretched both hands in the air, palms up, to indicate he wanted only to talk. His blood raced as he took a tentative step.
“Go back. This is the best way.” Tears left a trail down her cheeks. She wiped them angrily away, and his breath stopped when she poised to jump.
“Please.” He prayed for the right words that would keep her from plunging to her death. “Jessie, don’t.”
“There’s no other way.”
The sob in her throat released waves of panic. She meant to end her life for whatever reason. He had to stop her. Not because he felt it his duty, and not for his need to provide Marley Rose with a caretaker. Deep down, he realized he couldn’t bear to lose one more soul. And if he wanted the honest truth, she’d become a balm for his ache. Loneliness hadn’t inflicted its breath-stealing grip on him quite so tightly. The chill inside had almost begun to thaw.
“There are always other choices. A person just has to find them, that’s all. I’ll help you.”
“You don’t know what I’ve done. I won’t bring my worries to your doorstep. I can’t.”
He watched her stare into the water below. Resolute commitment that had shown so clearly on her face a second ago now wavered with last-minute indecision. Taking hope, Duel forced himself to remain calm.
“Let me be the judge of that. I’m sure you can make amends for whatever it is you believe you did.”
Jessie met his gaze. “Why? Why would you worry about what happens to me? I’ll only bring trouble.”
“Because the three of us—you, Marley Rose, me…we’re broken. But together we somehow work.” He inched forward.
“Do you really think so?”
He took advantage of the opening. “And Marley Rose needs you. You can’t deprive that child of the love I know you’re capable of giving. You can’t snatch away the little bit of kindness Marley’s known.”
“Better she learns early the cruel facts of life.” She turned back to the violent view below her.
The shuffling of her feet sent pebbles rushing down into the water. Duel had to be quick, or the next movement would send her hurtling over the edge. Conversation had bought him precious moments to creep closer. He lunged.
“I won’t let you die!” His arms shook as he held her tightly. He’d almost missed her.
“I’m already dead. The only difference between now and when they put me six feet under is I’m still breathing. An inconvenience I could’ve remedied if you hadn’t meddled.”
He wasn’t sure what he expected, but her deep anger caught him by surprise.
“I couldn’t let you die.” He struggled to change her focus. “I never had a woman kill herself just because I asked her to marry me. Wouldn’t set well.”
A startled expression swept her
face. Then she rewarded his humorous efforts with a wan smile. “You’re something, Mr. McClain. Making light at a time like this.”
He couldn’t answer in that instant, because holding her this close, seeing the softness in her blue eyes, made his legs shake. Tenderly, he lifted and carried her a safe distance from the precipice.
“Wasn’t joking,” he mumbled, all humor gone.
She dropped wearily onto a log tinged black by lightning. “Any woman would give her eyeteeth to wed you. Even if she knew it was nothing more than a business arrangement…if she was of the marrying kind.”
He lifted his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. Unsure of the ground on which he tread, he twirled his hat in his hands. “Truth is, I merely wanted to protect you.” He berated himself for listening to Vicky and Roy. “I’m sure I can find another way. A lady fine as you deserves a better man. I don’t blame you for spurning a broken-down sodbuster like me.”
Jessie’s head snapped up to stare at him, her face becoming a cold mask. “How little you know of what I deserve.”
“I’m sure as shootin’ you didn’t do anything wrong, and certainly nothing that would merit the treatment you’ve suffered.” He watched the blood slowly drain from her face, leaving it chalky white.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her words were razor sharp.
“I saw the brand you wear.”
Her lips compressed in a thin, tight line. Her resolute control brought an overpowering urge to take her in his arms, if only to give her a moment’s peace. The kind she’d given him by allowing him to watch her with the babe.
“I killed my husband.”
She delivered the calm statement as if she’d just announced she had a tangle in her hair or a piece of food stuck in her teeth.
“If…if he’s the one responsible for your condition,” Duel began, slowly adjusting to the shock, “I’d say you had a mighty good reason.”
“I broke the law.” Her voice cracked, and the rest of her confession became barely audible. “I’m wanted for murder.”
What could he say that would ease her agony? He stuffed his hat back on his head and lowered himself to the log beside her. With a shoulder touching hers, he offered her his handkerchief.