Joker's Wild

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by Ginny Sterling


  Every time the gorgeous cad spoke, she regretted it. Up was down, left was right! He was being nice, genuine, and outgoing. It was the Christian thing to do, offering aid and shelter for these poor women. She assumed that there had been improper things that had happened under Martin’s care—and there would never be any excuse for Mabel’s treatment… ever!

  But just when she let down her guard and thought for a moment that there might be something to this eccentric, wild man, a beautiful gesture from a kind man, he turned into… a fool.

  His name fit him more than ever!

  Joker offered the help only to invite her to dinner.

  How despicable was that?

  She’d gladly sleep on the ground in dirty clothing in exchange for someone who was straight with her. She didn’t want someone who played these silly games or played with words. Someone that saw a value or an exchange for every opportunity.

  Truthfully, if he’d have asked her to dinner or to spend time with her at any other moment, she might be tempted. The way he looked at her made her feel something flutter deep inside her stomach. There was a respect and a longing in his gaze that made her feel special.

  Lord have mercy on me, Rosemary thought sadly.

  His sassy mouth and flamboyant personality cancelled any of those feelings and emotions out completely. One moment she wondered what it would be like to stroll with him under the stars; the next moment he would make her so mad—and she wanted to knock him upside the head until he saw those stars.

  Every time she saw him give her that sweet, lopsided smile, she followed it with a frown. Today, when he’d taken hold of her wrist and stepped towards her, she’d caught her breath, wondering if he would kiss her. When he leaned in, she’d felt a yearning she never expected.

  She’d lied straight to his face.

  Today was the day she wanted to hold his hand.

  She’d told him no when she meant a wholehearted ‘yes’.

  He had a way of bringing out the worst in her, making her lose her temper, or get upset all the time. She prided herself on being patient and kind, just like the passage in the Bible—but it was certainly a challenge around Joker.

  Hours later, she was grateful to enter the outskirts of the bustling town of Abilene. Rows of buildings lined the streets, carriages and carts filled the roads, and people meandered everywhere. For a moment, Rosemary hesitated, seeing the shame that fell on some women’s faces at their appearance. They were quite the ragtag band. A few women were in chemises with horse blankets around their shoulders to keep their appearance halfway decent.

  Just as Rosemary was about to say something, Joker stepped forward, putting his hand up and waving them all towards him.

  “Follow me,” he said knowingly, meeting Rosemary’s eyes.

  The group disappeared down a narrow gap between the buildings where several children were running around and darting between the buildings. A few doors opened here and there, tossing slop or who knows what else into the muddied alleyway. A few large rough boards were thrown down haphazardly and had sunk into the dirt overtime, keeping their feet a little cleaner than they would have been walking through filth and muck.

  “Molly? Molly!” he called out, pushing open a doorway. A woman’s hand popped out, slapping the brim of his hat downwards and nearly knocking it off his head.

  “Joaquin! You wretched thing—did you take my last bottle of whiskey?”

  “Naawww Molly, you know I prefer my stuff a little stronger and a whole lot cheaper.”

  “Free is pretty cheap, you jackanape!”

  “You’ve got me there,” he shrugged, smiling and looking up into the doorway. His expression made Rosemary smile. He obviously cared for the little woman who snapped at him.

  “What are you doing out here… land sakes alive!” Molly exclaimed, her blond head peering around the door frame as she realized that her brother wasn’t alone. “What is going on? Did you do this?”

  “Moll, it’s a long story and these women would rather be in the privacy of a room or two.”

  “I have a few rooms open, yes,” she ushered, opening the door wide, clucking her tongue. “Ladies, you just come right in and head down the hallway.”

  As Rosemary drew closer, she saw Molly turn towards her brother, jabbing him several times in the chest, whispering in a hushed voice. She almost laughed at the way he held up his hands in self-defense.

  “If I find out you had something…”

  “Moll, I swear I didn’t. I’m trying to help.”

  “You sure, Joaquin?”

  “I promise. I didn’t do anything to them, but helped them out.”

  Rosemary almost felt bad for him as the smaller woman didn’t back down, muttering hotly about ‘what a scandal it would be’ and ‘how their mother would be beside herself if she could look down from heaven’.

  “She should be proud that you did the right thing for these women,” Rosemary said instinctively, meeting Joker’s stunned eyes as she stood up for him. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as the younger woman looked at her in surprise. Without a word, Rosemary darted inside, letting the screen door slam closed behind her, leaving the pair of siblings outside in the alleyway.

  Rosemary heard the screen door open behind her and practically ran down the hallway to get away from any discussion of why she’d stood up for him. She didn’t want to look at or recognize the reasoning behind it, but it had made her feel very protective to hear his sister assuming the worst when, so far, the man had only put his best foot forward.

  She felt him take hold of her elbow and immediately turned around, startled at the contact. She pulled her arm from him and looked at him. Neither one said a word. His eyes were searching and unsure. She shook her head mutely, unable and unwilling to explain or talk about it.

  He started to open his mouth, and she stopped him, putting her hand directly over his lips. A jolt of feeling ran through her arm, almost like she’d hit her elbow on something as she touched him. His eyes widened, and she saw the surprise flaring in their golden depths—along with something else.

  “Not yet,” she whispered, hating the pleading tone to her voice. She hesitated, pulling her hand away and curling it to her chest, unable to turn from him. She slowly backed away, grasping a doorknob of one of the open rooms.

  “I can’t.”

  “I won’t,” Joker replied, unmoving.

  The moment was full of tension and awareness between the two of them. Nodding, Rosemary turned away and shut the door behind her, turning the key in the lock until it clicked.

  She needed to get away from him before she felt something more than an amicable friendship towards him. Leaning against the door, she stared at her hand that had pressed against his lips. The skin of her palm tingled where she’d touched him, and she caressed the spot tenderly with her other hand.

  She’d wanted to keep Joker from questioning her or teasing her again. She wasn’t ready to admit the fact that she was starting to admire or like the strange wild man. His whispered simple words were both an admission and confirmation that there was indeed something flaring to life between them that they recognized.

  Rosemary opted to take her meal that evening in the hotel room, avoiding everyone. She was certain that she could not look away from him if she met his eyes in another suspended moment between them. That happening in front of the others made her hesitant. She wasn’t ready to admit to any of this, much less put it out there for the world to see.

  The sooner she got to the Pinkerton office, the better off she would be. She needed to get out of here, get on her own, and leave this town behind. The problem was that every time she thought of leaving, it was making her feel a pang of regret or remorse.

  Rosemary had gotten used to all the teasing and silliness in the last day or so, making her outlook on the world feel lighter than she ever had in the last week. She’d been so disgusted with Martin, so angry and filled with rage, that ever being able to laugh or smile had felt so far
away.

  The laughter, teasing, and blatant humor that had filled her days made her feel like a fickle woman. How could she go from settling for marrying someone who would just take care of her to actually wanting to be in some sort of relationship with someone that kept her off-balance? She couldn’t imagine welcoming that angry woman she’d left behind, back into her heart again.

  Chapter 5

  Rosemary slipped out the door to the hotel quietly the next morning, avoiding everyone. The room she shared with Bethany had been quite clean and tidy, away from everyone. Bethany was still sound asleep as she tiptoed out of the room. The girl had chattered long into the night as if this was some grand sleep over at a relative’s house. She’d turned over, nodding and whispering ‘uh huh’ in acknowledgement several times as she tried to drift off to bed.

  “Are you heading off somewhere?” a woman’s voice asked gently.

  Wincing, Rosemary looked over her shoulder to see Joker’s sister, Molly, wiping down the bar with a soapy rag. She looked exhausted and wondered how the young woman was able to run all of this on her own.

  “Just getting some fresh air.”

  “Sometimes a walk clears the mind.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, what are you confused about?”

  “What?” Rosemary asked, startled at the candid question. The woman’s kind eyes reminded her too much of Joker’s golden ones. Her eyes were a bit darker shade of brown, and they reminded her of a baby deer or a puppy dog.

  “He’s not such a bad guy, you know? He has a good heart.”

  “Who?”

  “Who do you think?” Molly asked with a grin. “My brother.”

  “I’m not interested in your brother,” Rosemary balked immediately, putting her hands in front of her as if to wave off the idea of it.

  “Good. Probably best for everyone then,” Molly replied evasively.

  “Oh? And why is that?”

  “Well, because you aren’t interested and it would take a powerful woman to be able to handle him. You don’t strike me as the type.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Rosemary gaped, realizing that the congenial woman had just insulted her. She and her brother were a pair; both hard to read and unexpectedly candid to the point that it could be abrasive.

  “You don’t have to beg—I’ll give it,” Molly said nonchalantly with the same smirk that mimicked her brother’s grin. “Go enjoy your walk.”

  “I will.”

  “Going any place in particular?” Molly peered innocently. “Do you need directions? I would suggest staying away from some of the alleyways and keeping to the major roads.”

  “I plan on it.”

  Rosemary hesitated and then slid a glance back towards Molly.

  “I don’t want anyone to worry that I was out,” she began.

  “No problem,” Molly shrugged, wringing out the rag over a bowl of water. “I didn’t see you.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Nope. I haven’t seen you nor have I given you breakfast, right? There’s a slice of bread with butter on it on the counter over yonder. I can always make myself another one shortly. Us women have to stick together.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are always welcome.”

  “So when you leave, are you heading somewhere in particular?”

  “The Pinkerton office,” Rosemary admitted quietly, accepting the thick slice of bread practically dripping fresh butter down the sides of the crust.

  “Ahh… I would definitely go.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Independence, freedom, adventure,” Molly shrugged. “Nothing exciting happens here, and I could use a brief adventure or excitement in my world. An innkeeper is quite safe and maudlin sometimes.”

  “I’m sure you meet some interesting people.”

  “I have recently,” Molly conceded with a shy smile at Rosemary. “The office is right down the road on your left. You can’t miss it.”

  “Thank you—and remember—you haven’t seen me.”

  “Who?” Molly said brightly with a wink.

  “Precisely.”

  Fighting back a smile, Molly watched the lovely blond-haired woman that fascinated her brother walk out the front door. Everything from Joaquin’s descriptions over tea last evening had been so heartwarming. Her brother was falling hard for the young woman, and it was obvious it wasn’t one sided. The charming woman had perked up at the mention of her brother. To have the freedom to fall in love must be exhilarating, she mused wistfully. She would never find anyone hidden away here in the middle of nowhere.

  Not someone she was drawn to at least…

  Everyone adored Robin Hood and his merry men—but she preferred to hear tales of the Sheriff of Nottingham. He was the misunderstood villain in the tales, and frankly, she figured he could use someone on his side. In the stories and folklore, he was just man was doing a job. History labelled him as a horrible man, hated for doing something necessary. No one seemed to understand that not everyone in this world was a prince/princess.

  Some of us are serfs, thieves, and plebeians, Molly thought with a heavy sigh as she dunked her rag again in the luke-warm water.

  “Everyone deserves someone,” she whispered to herself, smiling as she pushed back a lock of her hair. Her brother had left ten minutes earlier for the Pinkertons office, and the fact that Rosemary was headed that way simply tickled her pink with happiness.

  Maybe destiny or fate had a way of working things out after all?

  “Gimme one,” Joker bit out in disgust at the man behind the desk. He felt he owed it to Rosemary, Meghan, his friend Jack, and all those women currently housed at Molly’s keeping from Martin Espinoza capturing any more unsuspecting ladies. The idea of them being tortured, abused, or trafficked northbound to be sold made him ill. It was personal now—and you never made anything personal in this line of business.

  “So, you’ve changed your mind then?”

  He was hoping Allan Pinkerton would be in town, but instead he got saddled with the coldest and meanest Pinkerton that existed out there.

  Arik Legend had lived up to his name.

  No one got away from him, and his skills at tracking down his prey were the stuff of legend. There was one story of him swimming stealthily across the Mississippi river in the middle of the night to board a ship smuggling out goods. Another tale spoke of him being a ghost in the night – a nod to his skills at tracking. He’d heard the man grew up raised by wolves; another story regaled that he was born out of necessity to deal with the evils of the world. Someone else claimed he was a legendary Norseman lost in time. This would normally make him laugh, but the bright white blond hair and icy, colorless grey eyes made him look almost spectral.

  “Maybe.”

  “Go get the one you ditched,” Arik said with a shrug.

  “You know darn well that someone snatched her up off the platform whenever she arrived. Heck, there’s one girl to every five guys out there,” Joker snarled, pointing at the street behind him on the other side of the doorway.

  “Then you know we can’t squander those rare feminine gems that happen to arrive on the doorstep of the office.”

  “I’m not asking for permission and you aren’t their daddy, you know? I need a girl to capture Espinoza.”

  “I heard you already, Joker.”

  “Well then? What’s it going to be, Legend?”

  “Look, I’ve got better things to do than cater to your stubborn hide.”

  “And I’d prefer to get on the road and capture this sick monster,” Joker countered angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t have time for this and it’s a simple problem. Gimme a girl to partner up with so I have someone to use for bait in a trap.”

  “The undying care you put in your partner is endearing,”

  “Get the job done, right?”

  “Fine—you can have…”

  Legend grew silent as the sound of the office door opened behind Joker
. It was really early in the day for anyone to be out and about. He’d sent word to Arik Legend that he wanted to meet this morning so he could put Abilene and Rosemary far behind him. If she wasn’t interested or wasn’t ready to take the next step, he would certainly give her plenty of space.

  “Hello?”

  Joker froze where he stood angrily, almost toe-to-toe with the man that had been sent to meet him. Horrified, he turned his head to see her silhouetted figure against the open doorway as she stepped inside.

  “Miss, can I help you?”

  “No!” Joker bit out angrily. “Rosemary, go back to Molly’s.”

  “You know her?” Arik said, a humorless smile touching his face.

  Not good.

  “Yes,” Joker bit out. He adjusted to the right to put himself between Rosemary and Arik. He wanted to protect her—even from herself at this point.

  “What are you doing here?” Rosemary questioned, her voice carrying in the stillness of the office. A thin blond eyebrow arched on Arik’s face as he stared at Joker.

  “I could ask you the same?” Joker responded, unwilling to take his eyes from Arik. It felt like Joker was staring down a lethal pit viper and he was about to get bit… right in the rear end!

  “We could sit down and talk about this like adults,” Arik pondered softly, unmoving. Shoot! The man knew he had Joker cornered already. The viper knew fully that he would come out the winner, no matter how this conversation went.

  “She’s leaving.”

  “No, I’m not,” Rosemary called out from behind him.

  “Yes, you are.”

  “You don’t get to tell me what to do,” she said stubbornly, stepping around him. Joker pushed her back behind him again, glancing back at Arik’s smiling face. The smile didn’t reach his cold eyes either.

  Uh oh…

  “I’ll carry your tail out of here if it’s what I have to do,” Joker blurted, turning and grasping her on the shoulders, practically trying to push her out the door. She stubbornly grabbed the door frame and locked her elbows.

 

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