by Stacy Reid
“Are you well?” Beth asked again.
The girl shot Joshua a glance filled with anxiety. “Oh yes, ma’am, I’m right fine. I didn’t mean to be a problem.”
“I came to you,” Beth said gently. “It is no problem at all. Would you like to tell me what’s wrong?”
The girl merely stared and made no reply.
“Would you at least tell me your name?”
"It's Kathy Higgins ma'am."
“Hello Kathy, I’m Bethany.”
She attempted a smile, her lips wobbled, and fresh tears sprang to her eyes.
Beth turned to Joshua. “I would appreciate a moment of privacy.”
His expression inscrutable, he tipped his hat and moved to the mouth of the alley.
“Are you in trouble?” Beth asked. “There was a time I needed help. No one offered, and I wished they had for I had been suffering. But I was also foolish, for I did not ask for help. I thought they would have ignored my plight because of my associations.”
The girl’s eyes widened. “Association?”
Beth hadn’t missed the garish red gown she wore with the far too revealing décolletage. Dresses very much like the ones she had been forced to wear.
“I used to work in a saloon.”
The girl gasped, but relief filled her eyes. “Oh lord, I’m getting ready to see my first client, and I’m a mite nervous.
“Where do you work?”
A blush stained the girl’s cheek red, and for several seconds she could not meet Beth’s gaze. “Which one of the saloons?” she asked quietly.
The girl swallowed. “Wildfire,” she said hoarsely.
There were a freshness and innocence about her that Beth liked. “How old are you Kathy?”
“Sixteen,” she whispered.
“Where is your family?”
“Dead.”
“Have you tried seeking employment from the other businesses?”
Her blush got even redder. “I tried ma’am, but my reputation is tarnished. I won’t work at Wildfire long. As soon as I save enough money, I'll move to a different town. Maybe even east and find work in one of the fine hotels we read about in the papers."
Beth stared at her for several seconds. “What tarnished your reputation?”
The girl bit her lips. “I…Tom Hobbs, he was sweet on me and…he promised he would marry me, and I trusted him, and then he didn’t.”
Sympathy rushed through Beth as she understood what Kathy implied. “Tell me, was Hobbs the man who encouraged you to work in the saloon?”
“He did ma’am, said it would make me good money, but he never said…” her breath trembled. “He never said I would need to lie beneath customers. But now I am required to. The owner who is Tom's father says I am too pretty only to serve liquor and seeing as they provide my room and board I ain’t got much choice.”
“You certainly do,” Beth said fiercely, wishing to find those men and put a bullet in their hides. She wouldn’t kill them of course, just deliver enough pain to their sorry lives. “You could come back with me to the Triple K.”
The girl gasped. “I don’t think the Kincaids will like the likes of me at their ranch.”
“Are you a thief?”
She shook her head fiercely. “No ma’am.”
“A liar and a murderer?”
Affront suffused her face. “No, ma’am.”
“Then I would like you to come back with me. I am sure Mrs. Kincaid will find a respectable position for you.” Then an idea struck her. “I’ll be heading to Boston sometime in the future. You could accompany me as my son’s nursemaid, and I’ll pay you thirty dollars for the month as your wage, and it comes with room and board.”
The girl stared at her for a long time before bursting into tears. Beth felt Joshua’s approach, and she glanced up at him.
“This is Kathy, she used to work in the Wildfire Saloon.” Beth took a steadying breath. “Now she works for me.”
He glanced at the girl, then back at her. “Simon Hobbs won’t take kindly to losing one of his girls.”
Beth thought about that for several moments. “Maybe you’ll let him know that she is leaving, and encourage him to see it as his Christian duty?”
Joshua’s lips curled, and amusement glinted in his eyes. “Wait for me by the horses.” Then he tipped his hat to them and walked away.
“Joshua?”
“I know brown eyes…only in the knees.” Then he was swallowed by the darkness.
“Come along,” she said to the girl. Then Beth ran after him and smacked right into his back. “Oh!” It seemed the dratted man had known she would have chased him.
“Don’t trust me, brown eyes?”
“I was coming along to be your protection.”
He said nothing to that and rolled forward in that graceful way of his. Beth glanced back to see Kathy following, her steps lighter, her eyes less worried. They crossed the street and walked down another alley and then turned right. This street was nosier, and she could hear the rowdiness spilling from inside the saloons and gambling houses.
Joshua went into the Wildfire, and after a moment’s hesitation, Beth entered behind him. The interior was smoke-filled, the smell of unwashed flesh and frying beef assailed her nostrils. The noise quieted some, and Joshua made his way to a large man who tended the bar, a dirty white apron around his waist.
“What a purty gal like you doin’ in here?” a cowpuncher asked sidling up to her, with a smile. Beth supposed he was handsome if one liked them tall, and blond with blue eyes. She preferred rugged, and with eyes as green as the forest itself.
“I’m Joshua Kincaid’s woman,” she said, then scowled when she blushed. Still, the man winced, held up his hand and backed away.
“Hobbs,” Joshua said pleasantly, approaching the bartender.
The man’s eyes shifted to Beth and then to Kathy behind her. He stilled, and she got the sense he was trying to work out the situation.
“Kincaid,” he said, dropping his hand below the counter. Beth swallowed her gasp, for that was where Benjamin Hardin had kept his sawed-off shotgun, and she knew that was what Hobbs reached for.
Joshua moved, quite unexpectedly, grabbing Hobbs by the neck and slammed him face down onto the scarred counter. His movement had been so calculated and brutal, Beth’s stomach dipped. With a groan the man grabbed his nose, blood trickling through his fingers.
The man who had been sitting at the end of the bar lurched to his feet and started to draw his gun. Dear God. Beth swore the man’s gun had cleared his holster before Joshua went for his weapon, but somehow, he had his gun drawn, in a move that was so incredibly, unbelievably fast Beth couldn’t help being impressed.
It must still be the whiskey.
That could be the only explanation for the surge of pride and want for this man that went through her heart. And he had to teach her to do that.
“That’s Tom Hobbs,” Kathy whispered from behind her.
“We’ve no quarrel with you, Kincaid,” the man said, dropping his gun and holding up his hand. “No problems at all.”
Joshua sent him a cold smile. “We do, Hobbs, especially when you’ve tricked young girls into lying on their backs upstairs and letting them feel like there is no other option, that makes you the lowest kind of coyote.”
Tom Hobbs swallowed and paled.
“Now Kathy here will be leaving.” Joshua glanced up the stairs to the few scandalously dressed women who leaned over the railing taking in the show. “And anyone else who wants to leave but can’t. I’ll stake you a few hundred dollars until you’re settled elsewhere.”
None of the other ladies moved.
He settled his uncompromising gaze on Hobbs. “I trust Miss Kathy will not be harassed while in town, gentlemen.”
“Not at all,” the man with the bleeding nose and smashed lips muttered.
Joshua nodded, holstered his gun, and turned his back on them. Then he put his hand in the small of Beth’s back and escorted her out.
Joshua tipped his hat to her. “You’re welcome.”
They did not speak, and there was no trouble as they made their way to the horses. Beth offered Kathy her horse, thankful the girl knew how to ride. Then Joshua seated her in front of him, and she leaned back into his hardened frame. They were riding for several minutes, a smooth canter that would probably see their journey to the ranch longer than two hours when his breath fanned her ears.
“So, you’re my woman?”
His satisfied rumble had her stiffening, then she relaxed. Maybe. She made no reply, and he chuckled. And Beth closed her eyes, and fell asleep with a smile on her lips, and surrender in her heart.
Chapter 10
Four days later, the ranch was a bustle of movement and frenetic activity as the day for the barbecue dawned. A few ranch hands were outside laying down planks for a staging area, and there were several haunches of pork and beef roasting over a spit. Beth helped bake apple pies in the kitchen, grateful for something to do. For a ranch of such immense size, it was frightfully efficient and required little help from her, though she had offered several times.
She paused dicing the apples, as Kathy came into view with Grayson tucked securely in her arm. Laura Kincaid had been fantastic the night they showed up with Kathy in her garish dress. She hadn’t asked any questions, just welcomed the young girl to the Triple K, and Jenny had given her several pieces of clothing. Beth had asked Laura about her uncompromising acceptance of the girl, and Laura had said she knew good stock when she saw it. Grayson had taken to her, and when not in the arms of some family member, which genuinely seemed to be all the time, he spent his time with Kathy.
Joshua rode up, and Beth forgot everything she was doing and strolled over to the windows, pressing against the cool glass. There was a quickening in her heart and a smile on her lips as she stared at him. Grayson saw him and burst into sudden movement trying to reach his father. His legs pumped, and even from where she stood, she could see her baby's excitement to be with his father.
Her heart burned, melted, and she was sure she fell in love with Joshua, just right then. Kathy handed Grayson up to him, and Joshua held him firmly against his chest, and then cantered away.
She turned to see the cook, Mrs. Burrell staring, along with Laura and Jenny. Beth flushed, she hadn’t heard them enter. Pretending she hadn’t been ogling Joshua, she went back to dicing apples, conscious of Laura staring at her from time to time.
"Kathy mentioned this morning that she would be traveling to Boston with you," Laura said mildly. “I was surprised to hear talk of leaving the ranch.”
Beth glanced up. Laura's eyes were serious and intent as they peered at her.
“Yes, I promised Joshua, that Grayson and I would stay at Triple K for a few weeks.” Except now, she wasn’t sure she wanted to leave. Very silly, because nothing had changed about the west. Or the fact that Abraham Hardin might come looking for her.
“And when will you be coming back with my grandson?”
Jenny sent a quick glance at her mother and then went back to kneading the dough for the biscuits and cinnamon bread.
“I could not say,” Beth said. “But Grayson will be visiting his family. My mother lives in Boston, and I have a teaching post waiting for me at a girl’s academy.”
Laura arched an elegant brow. “The girl's school in Bravo could do with a teacher of your refinements. After schooling, many of the girls are heading to the east and north to seek employment in those fine hotels, restaurants, and even at the newspapers. They could benefit from having a lady such as yourself teach them about deportment and high society ways.”
Beth lowered the knife, her heart pounding. This was a confrontation she’d hope to avoid until she was leaving. “Joshua knew I never planned to stay.”
His mother smiled tightly, “And that explains why he is so reserved around you, he is expecting you to leave one day.”
Beth faltered. The last few mornings they had ridden out together, and they had laughed and read together and picnicked with Grayson. They dined nightly with his family, but she had always retired to her chamber alone, and he’d never opened her door, even for a goodnight kiss.
“I cannot explain the reasoning of your son.” Except now there was a terrible ache in her heart. Was it that Joshua was no longer sweet on her? And did she want him to be when she knew in her soul she didn’t want to raise her son on this side of the world?
Laura considered her, seemingly forgetting about the vegetables she had been chopping. She wiped her hands on her apron and fisted a hand on her hips. “I’ve held my patience and my curiosity in check. But how is it that you have a baby for my son, and I do not see any haste to head into town to see the preacher?”
Beth lifted her chin. “The how doesn’t matter.”
“Did he rape you?”
She recoiled, fury burning through her veins. “How dare you suggest something so disgusting about Joshua. Do you have such little faith in the man he is?”
“I know the man my son is,” Laura said coolly, her dark eyes unapologetic. “I just wanted to see if you knew. You watch him with a hunger that says a marriage needs to happen soon.”
Her entire body flushed. Oh God. How obvious had she been in her admiration?
“And the way my son looks at you, I expect him to swing you over his shoulder any day now and disappear with you to that cabin of his, for days before we see either of you again.”
Beth stared at his mother in mute shock. What cabin?
Laura lifted her chin. “Now how did you come to have a child with him?”
“That, Mrs. Kincaid, is not your concern,” Beth said with firm politeness.
A fraught silence settled in the kitchen as Laura tried to stare her down. There was a sheen of emotion in her eyes, Beth did not understand, but she softened. She drew a slow breath. “Joshua asked me to marry him. I’m undecided.”
Incredulity filled Laura’s eyes. “My son is…is…”
“I know, wonderful and sweet, and kind, but the decision is still mine to make,” Beth said quietly.
“I’ve never heard anyone say my son is sweet before,” she said amusement dancing in her eyes. “But I’ll take it. What I do know is that he is honorable and strong, and when he loves he does so with his whole heart."
A shiver of need arrowed through her, and she acknowledged then she wanted his love…and his whole heart. “I was married before, and it is a state I did not enjoy, and one I will not rush into because your son makes me ache. I do not want to be owned, by any man.”
Laura’s eyes widened at that admission, then she nodded, indicating their conversation was over for now. Beth resumed cutting the apples, hating that her hands were trembling.
A light touch at her wrist had her glancing up into Laura’s eyes.
“I suspect you may have had a rough time of it with your first husband and a man like my son…" She took a deep breath. "He is as tough as they come, and he can be quite brutal. I had to accept that about him years ago. But it does not make him less kind, or honorable, nor would he ever deliberately hurt you."
“I—”
“Please let me finish. Some years ago, he came upon a stagecoach robbery in South Kansas. A gang had taken a young lady. My son did not know her, or her family the men left for dead. He was saddle tired from being on a cattle drive for weeks. The law in the town was afraid to ride after the gang, supposing the girl was already dead. That did not stop Joshua from heading out alone and tracking them down, not even when he was warned that the gang held six of the most hardened outlaws anyone had ever seen. He spent days tracking them and that girl. He found her…she had been used ill by those men, and he saved her. And then he killed them. At that time my son was only eighteen, and I saw the man he would become—honourable and kind, but lawless enough to stand against those who would ravage and murder. You would ha
ve nothing to fear at his hands. It takes a special kind of woman to marry my sons, and I already figure they only ask special ladies. There is always an aloneness about Joshua I have never been able to touch. It makes him restless, and I've desired for him to find his solace in this world. When I see him with you, I believe he's found it. But then I also see he believes it won’t last. It is because I love my boy why I demand answers to the questions that have been plaguing me.”
Beth stared at Laura for long seconds. “My husband added me to a poker pot to try and recover his monies lost, Joshua won that round.”
Jenny gasped, and Laura jerked as if she had been punched. She stumbled away and sat on a stool in front of the rough stone island in the center of the kitchen. Beth realized then her faith in his honor had been shaken. She glanced around, Jenny had her hand over her mouth, her eyes firing with anger and denial, and even the cook looked at Beth with accusation.
“You mistake me, Mrs. Kincaid, Joshua won, and that is the only reason I am alive, and that was how I received the most beautiful gift of my son.”
Laura looked up, and Beth was sorry to see the sheen of tears in her eyes. Why had she spoken the truth? She made her way over to her and touched her arm lightly. “I wanted him to win, even without a conversation between us, I knew he was the most honorable man at that table. When he came upstairs…” Her throat worked on a swallow. “I did not let him know I only submitted because I feared the retaliation of Benjamin, the man I’d foolishly married, a retaliation I knew would be most fierce and would possibly cost me my life. I had never been…been with a man until Joshua...” She gritted her teeth, mightily annoyed she was blushing. “And I believe Benjamin resented the fact I…I…was with Joshua.”
Beth sat on a stool, unable to staunch the words as they poured from her. She had never discussed that night with anyone, not even Sheridan. “Benjamin was possessive of me, but he was also impotent. I believe his excessive drinking was the cause, but he blamed me, and took his fist to me often in the four months we’d been married. Almost daily,” she whispered, suddenly feeling cold. “That night was my chance to get away, and I had my belongings packed and money hidden away. After Joshua left…Benjamin came upstairs, and he was mean and ugly and raging that I had allowed…you know what. He couldn’t be reasoned with, and he came for me. I saw the crazed jealousy in his eyes, and I knew he would have killed me. When he came for me, I fought back with everything in me because I was desperate to live. He was a large man, and brutish, and I stood no chance. I’ve never understood why your son came back, for we never spoke of that night, but he did, and he saved me. He asked me to wait for him…but I ran. It was faith that brought us back together a few weeks ago.”