by Marie Piper
Of course a young woman going swimming alone was also something that brought frowns and scolding. Still, no one was around to see. And if no one saw, was it really a problem?
Like she had when she was younger, she dropped her dress to the ground and climbed up a big tree that hung over the pond. Carefully making her way out onto the biggest branch, she felt the scratchy bark on her bare feet as she went out as far as she could. At the moment she thought she was going to fall, she dove into the pond. Haven cut through the water, causing barely a ripple, staying under for a long moment before bursting back up through the surface. The sun hadn’t warmed the pond too much, and the water made her feel cooler.
After she wiped her long hair and water off her face, she lay back and floated. Matthew had taught her to float on her back in that very pond. They’d swam there often as children. In fact, the last time she swam here she’d been thirteen and Matthew had been with her.
Curse Matthew and his coming back two years earlier, looking more handsome than ever. Though she’d been grateful he’d come home after being gone for four years, she’d never expected the tall and gangly yellow-haired boy she’d been childhood best friends with to return to Cricket Bend as filled out, strapping man. A year earlier, she’d seen him working with the other men in town to repair the schoolhouse after a fire. He’d been bare-chested, and she’d watched his lean muscles and found herself warmed from head to toe. He’d caught her staring, and she’d nearly dropped the basket of eggs she’d been carrying.
Matthew wasn’t a boy anymore. Haven wasn’t a silly girl anymore, either. Haven’s father hadn’t been the first person to tell her she was pretty. Folks commented on it from time to time, and she caught sight of men looking at her once in a while. Though it always surprised her, she supposed she was pretty. She quite liked her curly brown hair, except when she had to tame it into a twist.
Her hair wasn’t the only thing she had to tame. She’d taken after her mother in many ways, not least of all was inheriting Lucy Anderson’s round hips and generous bosom. Buckling her body into a corset for the first time had felt like a special kind of punishment, but going without was out of the question.
What kind of shape did Matthew like in a woman? Did he like hers? Had he ever noticed she had one? As she floated, Haven ran a hand over her bare stomach and wondered if Matthew ever thought about her the way she was thinking about him right then. She grazed her thumb under her breast and wondered if he’d ever noticed her through the eyes of a lover. Before Hank Porter had arrived in town, her daydreams had only ever been of Matthew. His blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and strong features had made the sun rise and set as far as she could figure.
But Matthew had never made any indication of returning her passion, and Hank had charged into her life like the dashing hero of a dime store novel. Now, Haven felt torn. The man she loved didn’t appear to think of her as a lover, and a man she had been told to stay away from appeared to think of her as exactly that.
Echo’s neigh broke her reverie. Alerted, Haven went to her feet in the water.
Up on a hill that overlooked the pond, she made out the figure of a man. The sun blinded her view so Haven couldn’t make him out very well, but it was definitely a large man standing still and watching her in return.
The hair on her neck stood up, and she thought of all the ways she could get away if he were to attack her. The rocks would be her best bet. They were everywhere. She could probably get one big enough to knock him in the head. On the edge of the pond hidden in her boot was a small knife, but she didn’t know if she’d be able to get to it quick enough.
The man didn’t move.
Haven decided to leave while she still had the opportunity. She stood up from the water, knowing her wet undergarments hid none of her body. At the realization of her vulnerability, she felt a rush of fear and moved faster. She grabbed her dress and boots and ran for Echo, who’d thankfully only wandered a few yards away. Not stopping to dress, Haven leapt on and kicked Echo into a fast gallop to put as much distance between her and the mysterious figure as possible.
CHAPTER FIVE
Matthew
“Heads up, Deputy. Here comes the cavalry.” Luke stood up from where he’d been leaning on the railing, shooting Matthew a wry look as the pair came toward them.
The Harpers owned the general store, which was an essential part of town, and made sure no one ever forgot it. They’d built the biggest house in Cricket Bend, hosted every major gathering, and stuck their noses into every aspect of the town’s business.
Matthew set aside his book and braced himself to make polite conversation.
“Sheriff! Deputy! We just heard the good news!” George Harper touched the brim of his fancy top hat as a sign of greeting and extended his hand toward Luke. Next to him was his wife Laura, who was formidable both in size and influence. “I must say it took you long enough, Matthew. We all wondered when the two of you would marry. Why, Haven is the same age as my Ellie, and Ellie’s been married four years already.”
Matthew faked a smile while biting back rude comments. Ellie Harper, now Ellie Graham, had been the snootiest of all the girls he and Haven had gone to school with. She’d been the kind of girl who wore all the latest fashions and pulled other girls’ hair and put snails and frogs in the lunch pails of girls she didn’t like. Now the wife of a prominent banker twenty-five years her senior, Ellie remained as insufferable as ever.
Laura sidled up to Matthew, speaking quietly, “Looks like Haven won’t be working at that clinic for long. I wager there’ll be a bun in the oven by Thanksgiving, if not sooner.” She winked at Matthew as if they shared a secret, and she and her husband roared with laughter. Luke laughed as well, but Matthew knew it wasn’t genuine. The Harpers had gained enough influence that Luke tried to stay on their good side, lest they decide to make his life miserable. Matthew managed to keep a fake smile on his face.
“Oh, Laura, don’t embarrass him.” George patted his wife’s hand before turning his attention back to Matthew. “If there’s anything you need for the wedding, you come and see me. I’ll make sure the orders are handled correctly and quickly. I wouldn’t want to hold up the wedding any longer.” He chuckled as they strode away, arm in arm. “Congratulations again!”
“Thank you,” Matthew called after them, even as he turned to Luke with an exasperated expression. “Is there anything in town they don’t know about?”
“Lucy always called them ninnies.”
“She was right.”
“Have you and Haven talked about her continuing to work after you’re married?”
“Nope. And I ain’t looking forward to the conversation either.”
Luke huffed. “Whatever you decide, I’ll back you. She’s already steamed at me for forbidding her from going to the saloon. I know Hill and the boys are there most of the time, and under the liquor they’re a steady bunch, but I don’t trust Porter any farther than I could throw him.”
“That makes two of us.”
Matthew hadn’t liked Hank Porter since the day he arrived in town. With his effortless charm, well-dressed appearance, and good looks, Hank was a man who made the women of Cricket Bend, even the good ones, take notice. When men noticed him, they frowned. Matthew was no exception.
“You the law around here?”
Matthew’s hand went to his gun at the sound of the rough voice. Both men whirled.
A fearsome looking man stood next to them.
Matthew sized up the newcomer's filthy black leather duster and overgrown brown hair. He recognized a man who spent most of his time outside. The stranger’s skin was tanned brown, his cheeks and chin covered with a thick beard and mustache. Piercing dark eyes looked out from under all the grit and grizzle.
Luke stood at attention. “I’m Sheriff Luke Anderson. This is my deputy. How can we be of assistance?”
“Looking for a man goes by the name Walker.”
The sheriff shook his head. “No one with the name
Walker around here.”
“You sure about that?”
Luke nodded. “I make a point to know everyone. Cricket Bend ain’t that big a place.”
Matthew chuckled, and the stranger frowned at him. “Word is, he’s got folks in these parts.” The man looked both Luke and Matthew over, as if memorizing everything about them.
“You a bounty hunter?” Luke asked.
“You gonna chase me out of town if I am?”
“Nope.”
Luke’s calm response seemed to take him by surprise. Matthew wondered how many towns the man had been driven out of, and if there had been good reason.
“Name’s Jack Braxton,” the man said.
“You’re more than welcome here, Mr. Braxton. Might I know the crimes your man has committed?”
“Murder and robbery, mostly. You name it, he's wanted for it somewhere. He was hanging around Fort Worth for a while, before he burned down a hotel and made a run for it. There’s a whole slew of us out to bring him in.”
“You got a description?”
“Big man, taller than any of us. Long gray hair he wears in a ponytail. Bad eyes so he wears glasses. Might have a limp, though that might be an act. Rides a big paint.”
“We got no one around here like that,” Matthew answered. The description was vivid enough for him to be sure he didn’t know Walker already.
Jack Braxton nodded. “I’ll stick around for a while and take a room at the boardinghouse. You all got women at your saloon?”
“We got one.” Matthew almost felt like running to warn Callie Lee about the terrifying man about to walk into her business, but he let it go. She was a woman who had experience handling men like Jack Braxton. Besides, he had bigger concerns.
“Then you’ll probably find me there. If you see Walker, shoot him on sight, or he’ll probably kill you first. He don’t care for lawmen.”
Luke nodded. “Much obliged for the information, Mr. Braxton. You tell Gus over at the boardinghouse that you’re a friend of ours, and he’ll give you a fair price.”
Braxton touched the brim of his hat as a sign of respect to the two of them before heading down the street in the direction of the saloon. The sheriff and deputy watched the stranger disappear. Matthew knew they were both thinking about how to keep the people in their town safe from a criminal who might not even show up.
Luke jumped into action. “I’m going to wire Greeley and Ridgeville to let them know to keep an eye out for anyone matching Walker’s description. You watch our cattlemen.”
Watching the prisoners meant listening to them complain and snore on occasion. Matthew stationed himself in the rocking chair outside the jail to keep an eye on things. From there, he could see the front door of the clinic. When Haven arrived in town that afternoon, she didn't seem to be in the mood for pleasantries. She walked right into the clinic, but she soon came back outside, shaking dust out of some blankets and rugs. How he wished he could hear what she was thinking about. Did her thoughts ever pertain to him?
Matthew watched Doc come out onto the steps to smoke a cigar and talk to Haven. She seemed to breathe easier when she talked to her boss, and for good reason. Doc had been the key in helping Haven retain a part of her free-spirited self, even when the transformation into a young lady had begun. Matthew had been at Haven's home numerous times when Doc had come to visit Luke, or to have dinner at the Anderson’s table. It began slowly. Could Haven come by and assist him, the hopeless bachelor, in organizing his clinic? Could she possibly find the time to ride out to a nearby field and pick some plants for medicines, as he was so busy with all the farmers during harvest season? Step by tiny step, he’d started to take her under his wing.
When Matthew left town, she was already a bona fide assistant. By the time he returned, she could do as much as any army nurse. She kept the clinic organized and running, and in a growing town with only one doctor, her services were needed and appreciated. The Women’s Society raised a collective eyebrow, but Luke’s pride in his daughter allowed Haven to continue her work.
Matthew knew if he asked her to stop working, she’d never forgive him. He hated to do it. He was as proud as anyone of her accomplishments. But he couldn’t see how a wife and a mother could manage a household and a bustling clinic. He dreaded the conversation he knew he’d have to start.
The rest of the day passed in blessed quiet. He and Luke finished their duties, after which Luke headed home. Matthew watched the jail until after dinner, then Jasper arrived to take the night shift.
“Evenin’ Matthew.” Jasper chomped away at an apple as he dropped his things on the desk. He wiped the back of his hand across his red beard and indicated the cells. “How are the slowpoke cowpokes?” The jailed McKenzies muttered profanities at him. Jasper flipped them a rude gesture in return and kept talking. “You see Callie Lee this evening? She’s wearing blue, and not a whole lot of it. Woo, that woman makes a man think downright filthy things.”
“Goodnight Jasper." Matthew rolled his eyes as he handed the other lawman the keys.
“We ain’t all lucky enough to be engaged to a looker like Haven, you know.” Jasper winked at him with a laugh. “Saw her at the saloon the other day. I swear, she could make a man—”
“You finish that sentence, and I will hit you so hard you’ll wake up next Tuesday.”
“Pipe down.” Jasper fell back in Luke’s chair, a move he never would have made if the sheriff had been present. Around Matthew, Jasper behaved the same as he always had, which included discussion of the women of Cricket Bend in colorful, and often lewd, detail. “I’m paying you a compliment. She’s a fine looking woman.”
Matthew sighed. “And what were you doing at the saloon?”
“Spendin’ my hard-earned wage on the simple pleasures of wine and women. What else would I be doing? We ain’t all as lucky as you are.”
“Goodnight Jasper,” Matthew repeated as he walked away. He’d come to the realization long ago that everyone in town thought he and Haven had already been lovers for years. He wished they were. More than anything, he wished he knew every inch of her, the way longtime lovers knew each other. He was near her again after years away, but he was too nervous to touch her, and that ate away at his soul every single day. They were engaged now, though. Soon he could show her how much he’d always loved her.
He ate a quick dinner at the restaurant before heading to his room. He’d lived in the room in the boardinghouse for the last two years. Though small, it had been a good little home. Luke had tried to get him to move back into the house, but he knew being close to Haven all day and night would make him lose his mind.
In a few days, he’d move to his new house. Their new house, he realized. Until they were married, he’d work on things that needed working on and turn it into a home fit for his beautiful wife and their happy life. He lay awake listening to the crickets outside his open window, thinking about the woman he was going to marry.
CHAPTER SIX
Haven
“So we’ll get married at five o’clock, and then have dinner around six.” Haven jotted words on a pad of paper. “I’ll make the cake. That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I was thinking of having Jasper be best man,” Matthew said as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his light brown duster as they walked. “Though maybe it should be Doc.”
“I haven’t figured out a maid of honor yet. I’d ask Lizzie, but since she’ll have those babies any day now, it don’t seem like a good time.”
“You could always ask Ellie.”
Haven groaned. “She’d probably put a toad in my bouquet. You remember when she put the frog in my lunch pail?”
“Sure do.” Matthew laughed. “You had your long pigtails, and a yellow dress, and your face was all red. I thought you were going to start bawling.”
“And you picked up the frog and dropped it in her lap,” Haven remembered. “My hero, even at nine years old.”
“I promise you this, she puts a toad
in your bouquet, I’ll drop it down her dress.”
Haven’s hand flew to her mouth as she laughed. These were the moments she loved him the most, when it was just the two of them and they weren’t all wound up in their thoughts. “I’m sure Mrs. Harper would immediately get the sewing circle to decide to pass a resolution not to allow toads within city limits,” Haven replied. “You finish the Hardy?”
“Yep. Last night.”
“What’s it about?”
“Love. Sheep. A woman come to a bad end thanks to a rascal of a sergeant. You like Treasure Island?”
“I love it,” she replied.
“Thinking about becoming a pirate?”
“I’d like to see the ocean someday. And I bet pirates don’t have to wear corsets.” They both blushed at the realization she was talking about her underthings. When they were younger, they spoke openly about anything, and nothing made them blush. Haven missed those days. “We’ll probably need a bookshelf or two in our house.”
“Two,” he replied. “For starters, anyway.”
“You two working things out?” Luke asked. He led both his horse and Echo.
“We are,” Matthew answered. “You get the farmers to calm down?”
“All this damn squabbling over a clump of trees. Some days it don’t pay to get out of bed. You ready to spend the night with griping cowboys?”
As her father spoke, Haven realized Matthew was pulling the night shift. She didn’t envy him one bit.
“I’ll grab some dinner in a while. And I’ve got a whole pot of coffee and a new book,” Matthew said, chuckling. “Might stick some cotton in my ears to drown them out.”
“If they get to griping too loud, feel free to shoot. Not to kill, mind you.” Luke grinned at his deputy. He turned to Haven. “You ready to go?”
“Sure am,” she replied.
Haven tucked a few items into her saddlebag and gave Echo a stroke.
“Have a good night.” Matthew stepped up to her side.