“No, unfortunately, that wasn’t my calling. I am on a personal mission. You might call it a treasure hunt. I’m searching for something and I won’t stop until I have what I want.”
The women smiled at him. “That sounds very mysterious,” Alice said, tilting her head to the side. “Would you elaborate?”
“I will but not right now. I’m trying to win this cook-off. Will you take one of my pebbles, Miss Molly Thorn?”
Molly gave him a smile. “I would, Luke, I really would. But I must vote for my friend, Mark. It’s… I just have to. I hope you understand.”
“I do. But tell me this. Is his chili better than mine?” His sly grin covered his sculpted face, making him look like a Greek god in human form. Molly stifled a gasp but couldn’t help taking a step back. She covered her mouth with her hand, embarrassed that she had such a strong reaction to him. She giggled nervously and said, “I’ll never tell.”
She and Alice moved away from Luke’s table. She looked back to see him grinning at them as they walked away.
“You have another admirer,” Alice said, giggling behind her hand. “My goodness, all you needed to do was come to Arizona to find a man.”
“I don’t want another man yet. I already decided that.”
“Well, they want you. And Luke is quite handsome, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” Molly admitted. “He is. But you don’t know him. You know Mark. And I want to ask you a question about him.”
“Mark?”
“Yes.”
They walked slowly back to the hotel, arm in arm. “Tell me, Alice, does… does he seem like the type that might look into windows at night when people are sleeping?”
Alice reacted as Molly had expected she would. She blanched, stopped walking, and squeezed Molly’s arm tightly. “What do you mean? Mark would never do something like that! He is a gentleman through and through. Has someone been spying into your windows, Molly? Why didn’t you tell me this before? Did you tell Mark?”
“I couldn’t tell Mark. I didn’t know if it was him or not. I didn’t want it to be him. I’ll shoot him dead if he tries to come in but he never does. He just prowls around outside like some kind of curious animal.”
“Oh, dear. And you didn’t say anything to Mark?”
Molly shook her head. “It was Thursday night when I saw him. I heard a noise outside last night but there was no one there by the time I got a lantern lit and went out there to check. I walked all the way around the house and saw no one.” She shook her head. “It’s a very strange thing.”
Alice pulled on her arm and they began walking again. “I don’t know what or who it could be, but it isn’t Mark. I’d put that idea away right now. Mark is not capable of doing such a thing. He knows it would frighten you. And why would he do such a thing when he obviously likes you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to think it’s him.”
“It’s not him. Don’t say anything to him about it. Let me talk to Adam first.”
“I don’t want Adam to know!” Molly exclaimed. “I don’t want him to be angry with me for suspecting his best friend.”
“Adam will know what to do, Molly. He will keep you safe. He knows ways to keep you safe. Maybe you should come stay with us again for a little while, until this clears up.”
“I can’t do that.” The first thought that went through Molly’s mind was having to sleep on the couch at the Collins house. She was never going to do that again. The second thing that went through her mind was losing her peace and quiet. The Collins children were well-behaved but all children play. “You know full well I am a marksman with my pistol and my rifle. I am not afraid. I can protect myself.”
“I won’t be able to sleep with worrying about you, my dear. Here.” She picked up a pebble from the bowl beside Mark’s huge pot of chili and gave it to Molly just as Mark came out of the hotel to stand behind his entry. When he saw the two women he smiled wide.
“Hello, ladies! Just the women I wanted to see.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Because you’re my favorites of every woman in town.” He shrugged. “Simple.”
“I think that might not be the way you are supposed to say that,” Molly giggled. “But we understand, right, Alice?”
“Of course, of course.” She put her spoon down into the pot and drew it out, dripping with chili sauce, heaped high with beans and meat. She blew on it a few times and then put it in her mouth. Molly and Mark glanced at each other with smiles as Alice closed her eyes and breathed out an “mmmm” of satisfaction. She chewed, swallowed and readied her spoon for another mouthful.
“You should get a bowl, Alice. You obviously want to eat more than just a sample.”
Alice laughed, looking at Molly. “His really is the best. I don’t know what he puts in it to make it taste so good. What is it, Mark? Give me the recipe. Tell me the secret.”
“Now you know I can’t go and do that,” Mark chuckled. “That there is my private family recipe and I can’t hand it out to anyone and their mother.”
Alice huffed light-heartedly. “I’m not anyone and their mother! I’m your best friend’s wife. If you’re going to give the recipe to anyone, it should be me.”
Mark leaned over the table and tapped her on the nose. “But I’m not giving the recipe to anyone, including you.” He laughed again when she stuck her tongue out at him. “I’ll have to tell Adam you are teasing me, Alice. You don’t want to make him angry, do you?”
Molly raised her eyebrows, looking at Alice in alarm. Alice laughed, shaking her head and swatting Molly on the arm lightly. “He’s being funny, Molly. Adam would never hurt me. It’s very difficult to make Adam angry. I have never worried about him having a hot temper. He is very calm and easy-going most of the time.”
Mark looked at Molly. “You don’t want to see him angry though. I’ve seen it a few times and it isn’t pretty. But she’s right; it takes a lot to get him to that point.” He looked up and over Molly’s shoulder at something behind her. She noticed and turned to see that Luke had come over from his entry table, holding a spoon.
“Anything in the rules that says we can’t try out the competition?” Luke said. He glanced down at Molly and winked. “I thought I’d see for myself why you won’t vote for mine over his.”
Molly folded Mark’s little yellow pebble in her hand and covered it with the other one, as if to hide it from him. He’d obviously been watching them. He knew she was going to vote for Mark’s. He dipped the spoon into the pot and took out a sampling of Mark’s chili. He put it in his mouth, chewed and seemed to ponder it as if it were fine wine.
When he was done, he smiled at Mark. “That’s some mighty fine chili you got there, Mark.”
He held out his hand and Mark shook it. “Thanks, Luke. Glad you were able to settle in fast enough to have your own entry. I’ll be over there to try it out soon. Gotta wait till the judges come out before I sample anyone else’s.”
“Well, lemme tell ya, you’ve got a winner here. I’m sure everyone will vote for ya.”
Mark shrugged. “We’ll see. It’s up to the judges, too. They can always change things around. I’ve won for the last five years. I’m sure if yours is better, they’ll pick it. Right, ladies?”
“Oh, of course,” both Alice and Molly agreed with Mark at the same time.
Luke nodded and gave each of them a pointed look. Before he turned to go back to his entry table, he lifted one hand in the air. “May the best man win.”
“May the best chili win.” Mark laughed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
A BAD DECISION
A BAD DECISION
Adam, Alice, Molly, and Mark stood to the side of the hotel doors, watching as the city councilman, Raymond Arbunkle, read out the results of the cook-off.
Molly instinctively grabbed Mark’s arm when they got to the top three of five winners. She had to smile at Luke, who took second place. For the sixth year, the ribbon went to Mark and his spe
cial family recipe. Molly clapped her hands in delight.
“I’m so pleased for you, Mark.”
“Yeah.” She could tell he was trying to hold in his excitement. He took the ribbon from Mr. Arbunkle and held it up in the air so everyone could see. There were many cheers and claps for him. The sounds of joy made Molly smile. She couldn’t imagine anything bad ever happening in the town of Wickenburg.
“Well done, Mark.” Luke came out of the small crowd to shake Mark’s hand. “I can’t say I agree but I will say you did well. Your chili is good!”
“Thanks, Luke. Yours is, too.” He held up the ribbon. “It’s just not number one.”
Luke grunted good-naturedly and nodded. “Yeah, this year. We’ll see about next year.”
“I am already preparing.”
The two men laughed. Luke looked down at Molly. “Would you like to get some dessert, Miss Molly?”
Molly reacted in surprise, lifting her eyebrows and moving her eyes from Mark to Luke and back. “Well…” she stammered. “I suppose so.”
“I thought two newcomers might be able to compare notes about this little town here.”
“All right, that sounds good.” She looked over her shoulder at Mark as she walked away. He was watching them and she wasn’t sure the look on his face was a good one. She began reasoning with herself as she walked down the dirt road with Luke. She was the one who said she wanted to be alone for a while or not be focused on one man. She had told Alice that there were more men in Wickenburg than just Mark. However, as she walked with Luke, she couldn’t stop feeling like she had somehow hurt Mark, had betrayed him in some way.
“Let me get you a cookie,” Luke said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She was aware of his touch as he pointed at the selection.
“These are very large cookies.” Molly exclaimed. They were the biggest cookies she’d ever seen, at least twice the size of normal cookies.
“That’s the way they make them. They are famous.”
Molly looked up at him. “How did you find that out?”
He grinned. “I already talked to this family about it. They have filled me in on a lot of things about Wickenburg that most people don’t know. Did you know that there are three things that make people travel to Wickenburg? The chili cook off, the cookie factory, and the schoolhouse.”
Molly chose one of the cookies and Luke gave the young girl behind the table a coin. They turned away as Molly broke off a piece of the cookie and put it in her mouth. It was a delicious sugar cookie that melted as soon as it hit her tongue. “Oh, I can see why people travel here for these cookies. They have a factory?”
“Not a big one. I haven’t seen it. I think they just call it a factory, even though it’s probably just their kitchen at home.”
Molly giggled. “And you say the schoolhouse? What is so important about the schoolhouse that people would want to come just to see it?”
Luke lifted his eyebrows. “Have you seen it?”
Molly shook her head. “I have no children. I haven’t seen it.”
“I’ve been working on the expansion with some other men. They are building two more rooms onto it because the preacher at the church owns the land and sold some more property to the town.”
“How interesting.” Molly wasn’t sure if she was truly interested in the conversation. Luke appeared to be trying very hard to be charming, something she never saw Mark do. She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. She shouldn’t be comparing Mark to Luke or vice versa.
“I thought so. Next time you get a chance to go there, you should. Or ask Alice about it. I’m sure she would know. They have three children, you know.”
Molly nodded. “Yes, I know. I am her cousin. I stayed with her the first night I was here.”
“Do you have a place of your own already?” Luke sounded surprised.
“I was fortunate enough to find a house right away.”
“Oh?”
“Yes…” she hesitated, not wanting to tell Luke where she lived. She was afraid he would show up without an invitation. “It’s a little house on the outside of town behind the big church.”
“I think I’ve seen that little house. It’s yellow?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Molly had a sinking feeling and didn’t know why. She already had someone prowling around her home at night. She didn’t need a man thinking he needed to protect her inviting himself into her home.
“You live there by yourself?”
“Mark is nearby.”
“That’s good. Will you need a job while you stay here? You don’t look like you have worked much.”
Molly looked up at him curiously. “What does that mean?”
He shrugged, looking down at the cookie she still held in her hands. Half of it was gone. She saw him looking, broke off a piece and offered it to him. “Would you like to try it?”
He smiled. “Thank you. I tried not to make that too obvious.”
She smiled back. “You failed. But what did you mean I don’t look like the type of woman who has worked much?”
He shook his head as they continued walking down the street past carts with various fruits stacked high and wooden vendor tables holding an assortment of pastries, cakes, and other desserts. “I didn’t say that. You look refined to me. Like a woman who has been taken care of all her life and has not had to work cleaning the homes of people with more money than they have.”
Molly didn’t know whether to be offended by his statement or not. She decided he was not trying to be offensive and gave him a small smile. “No, I haven’t worked. My husband… my late husband was very good with money. He passed five years ago and left me with what I need to live.”
“You’re a wealthy widow.” Luke said it as if he was contemplating the thought. Molly felt uneasy and wanted to find Alice. She looked through the small crowd, which was dissipating rapidly as the desserts were bought and eaten. People were going home to enjoy their Saturday evenings. She spotted Alice and Adam with the Campbell's. She didn’t see Mark with them.
“Would you like me to take you home?” Luke said. “I don’t mind at all. I have a wagon. You can even sit on a cushion I keep just in case pretty women need a ride.”
Molly felt increasingly uncomfortable. She didn’t see Mark anywhere. Alice and Adam had their backs turned to her.
“I…”
“You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll let Adam and Alice know I gave you a ride home when I come back to town.”
“You’re coming back?” She looked at him. “Right away?”
He nodded. “I have to. I have to clean up my area. Can’t leave that stuff there. Unless you want to help me out. You want to help me clean? Do a little work with those pretty little hands of yours?”
“I’ll have you know these pretty little hands helped make Mark’s trophy chili.” She smiled at him. She hoped the mention of Mark would make Luke back off a little.
“That explains why he won over mine,” Luke laughed. “You helped make it.”
Molly had to chuckle at that. “I suppose you can take me home. Alice didn’t say anything about plans for the night.”
“So, you’re not gonna help me clean up?” Luke sounded disappointed. He slumped his shoulders dejectedly.
“Oh, I think you can handle it. Even in the dark. You’ve got a lantern, I’m sure.”
“I do.”
“Where is your wagon then?”
“It’s over this way. Follow me. You don’t want any more desserts? I’ll buy you a cake or a pastry if you want one.”
She shook her head. “I am as full as I can be, but thank you, Luke.”
“Anything for a pretty lady.” He tipped his hat to her. She followed him to a wagon a size smaller than Mark’s. True to his word, there was a cushion on the passenger side. He helped her up into the seat and went around the wagon to get in the other side, untying the horses from the post.
“If I go in the wrong direction, let me know. I think I
know the house you’re talking about.”
As she rode along, Molly thought about what she’d done. She should have told Alice and Adam she was leaving. She should have found Mark and told him she was going home.
“I hope you aren’t worried about your friends.” Molly looked at Luke sharply. How had he known what she was thinking?
“I am, actually. I do feel like I should have told them I was leaving.”
“They’ll be fine. I’ll tell them when I come back. Since you wouldn’t help me clean.” He tried a sulking voice again but she just laughed.
“I didn’t come to the chili cook off to clean. I came to eat chili.”
He laughed with her. “I ate a fair amount myself.”
He continued talking quietly. Molly found her mind drifting off, her thoughts distracted by the feelings in her heart. She felt obligated to Mark. She shouldn’t have accepted a ride from Luke when she had helped Mark with his chili. She should have stayed to help Mark clean. That’s probably what he was doing when she couldn’t find him anywhere. A deep feeling of guilt and worry set in her heart like a stone. She would talk to Mark later tonight. She would walk to his house and talk to him.
Mark lowered the large utensils in the bucket of water and scrubbed them with a cloth until they were clean. He put the clean utensils in a basket behind him with the other items he’d brought along. The big pot was the only thing left. It didn’t have much chili left in it, so he dumped what was left outside in the grass beside the compost bin. As he stood up straight, he saw Luke’s wagon heading out of town in the direction of his house. Molly was in the wagon with him.
Mark’s fingers clenched around the pot. He pulled in a deep breath and tossed the pot into the basket, splashing flakes of chili onto his clean utensils. He looked at the mess he’d made, swore and grabbed the basket up by its handle. He walked around the side of the building, approaching the street. When he got to the edge, he turned his head to watch the wagon as it left.
Frustrated, he tossed the basket into the back of his own wagon and walked to the Horse N Saddle across the street.
The Pursuit (Family of Love Series) (A Western Romance Story) Page 9