The Pursuit (Family of Love Series) (A Western Romance Story)

by Elliee Atkinson

  “I thought I noticed a peculiar smell when I went in your house.”

  Adam narrowed his eyes and gave him a sarcastic look. “Well, thanks for that.”

  Mark laughed. “It’s not strong. It’s not too bad. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting it cleaned out and smelling fresh. Alice has never let you down before, has she?”

  Adam grinned. “She is a wonderful wife and mother. I was blessed with two fine women in my life – Holly and Alice.”

  “Sisters, too. You’re lucky.”

  Adam shook his head. “Not luck.” He pointed at the sky. “Blessings. I couldn’t have done this without His help. He’s the one that sent those women to me.”

  Mark nodded. “You are right, of course. Blessings.” His mind turned to Molly. He wondered if she might be his blessing. He looked up at the sky, hoping God was on his side with this one. “Have you talked to Molly lately?”

  Adam gave him a strange look, raising one eyebrow. “Why would I have talked to Molly? She lives on your land in your house.”

  “I was just wondering.”

  Adam grinned. “You were wondering if she’s talked about you? Mentioned you to me or to Alice?”

  Mark didn’t say anything. He looked off into the distance as if he was very interested in whatever was out there. Adam laughed.

  “Sorry, buddy. She hasn’t said a word to me about you and you’d have to ask Alice if she’s talked to Molly about you. But I wouldn’t worry about it. I can tell she likes you.”

  “You’ve seen us together all of two times and you think she likes me?”

  Adam shrugged. “I like you and I don’t see why anyone else wouldn’t.”

  “It’s not about liking me, Adam. I don’t want her to like me the way you do.”

  They both laughed. “I suppose it would be a different type of like you want from her, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “I’m done here. Let’s go get on that fence.” They both turned to walk through the garden to the back fence, where one of the posts had fallen in the middle of the night.

  “How’d this get broken?” Mark asked, examining the broken fence.

  “Not sure. Might have been some wild horses that went through the area last night. The weather hasn’t been bad, so it wasn’t that.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t built right.”

  Adam gave him a side-long glance. “I built that fence.”

  “Then it wasn’t that.” Mark smiled at him. “Okay, let’s get to it.”

  For the next two hours, the men worked steady on removing the broken pieces of fence and replacing it with a new post and new wire.

  “Did you lose any food?” Mark turned and looked back at the garden. It didn’t seem trampled.

  “No.”

  Mark shook his head as he gripped the post steady. Adam wrapped the wiring around the post and stretched it so that it would reach and wrap around the nearest post to the left. “It was probably just a worn post that needed to be replaced already and finally broke,” Adam said as he worked. “Thanks for helping me with this, Mark.”

  Mark grunted. “You never need to thank me, Adam.”

  Adam knelt down in the dirt and dug around the hole to make it wider and Mark helped him set the pole down into the ground as firmly as possible. “I know. But I’d feel bad if I didn’t tell you every now and then that I appreciate your help. You might not keep helping me. Don’t want to take you for granted.”

  Mark was quiet, watching Adam work. His mind went back to Molly and he thought about the last time they had spoken. He was taken with her small body, her bright eyes, and her long silken hair. She normally kept it back in a braid. He often wondered how a woman who lived alone could accomplish such a feat. Adam looked up at him just as a soft smile crossed his face. Adam laughed abruptly.

  “I bet I know who you’re thinking about.”

  Mark smiled at him. “You might know who I’m thinking about but you don’t know what I’m thinking.”

  “I don’t think I want to know.”

  The men both laughed. “You’re really interested in her, aren’t you?” Adam continued when Mark nodded. “I think you have a pretty good chance of getting her to consider you. Personally, I don’t know why you aren’t already married with children.”

  “Maybe because there are no good women left? You already took the two in Wickenburg.”

  Adam laughed. “You might not want to let any of the other wonderful women in town hear you say that.”

  “They are all married. There are no unattached women left in Wickenburg. There’s only a bunch of men left and I, uh, well, I’m just not interested in men.”

  Adam laughed again, this time a bit harder. “Now that, I know. You can’t have a child with a man.”

  “I think I want to talk about something else.” He laughed with Adam. “Push that post down in there, let’s get this done.”

  “I am, I am.” Adam went back to his work, grunting as he pressed down on the post. They worked for a short time in silence. They both looked up when Alice came out of the house, carrying a tray.

  “Your sweet lady is bringing us something to drink. She is a treasure.” Mark watched as Alice crossed skillfully through the garden, approaching with drinks and some ham and cheese sandwiches.

  “She knows how to take care of her men,” Adam stood up, leaving Mark to hold the heavy post in place.

  Alice glanced at Mark as she got closer. “Adam, are you making Mark do all the work?”

  Adam looked back at Mark. “Of course not, my dear. Lay the post down, Mark. Let’s get a bite to eat and have a drink before we finish. You not busy, are you? Gotta go soon?”

  Mark shook his head. “I have no plans for the rest of today.”

  Adam nodded. “Good. Then we’ve got plenty of time. And maybe you will stay for lunch? Alice can send Molly an invite, too.”

  “I don’t know if she will be able to come,” Alice said, quickly.

  Both men looked at her. “What do you mean?” Adam said. “What can she possibly be doing that would take up her time that she can’t come over and have lunch with us?”

  “I… I don’t know… I just…”

  Adam frowned. “Well, Mark, it looks like my wife has a secret to share with us.”

  Alice flushed. “I am not keeping secrets, Adam.”

  “Oh?” Adam raised one eyebrow. “It looks like you are.”

  “I’m not… not trying to…”

  Mark wearied of the back and forth between the married couple. “Has Molly said something about me to you, Alice? Something negative that would make you think she wouldn’t want to come if I’m here?”

  It was obvious Alice didn’t want to talk about it. He was going to have to keep pressuring her until she spilled what she knew.

  “I am interested in your cousin, Alice. I guess you can already tell that. Please tell me what she thinks of me. I can see she’s been talking to you about me. Does she enjoy the house? Is she unhappy there? What is it that makes you look that way?”

  “She does enjoy the house,” Alice said, watching as Adam took the coffee cups and handed one to Mark. “She likes it so much, she wishes it were hers.”

  “If she plays her cards right, it could be,” Adam said in a low voice. Mark gave him a sharp look. He shrugged. “What? I’m being honest.” He looked at his wife. “Mark has an interest in her, as you know. What does she think of him?”

  Alice looked at Mark with sympathetic eyes. “Well… she is going through something right now and… I don’t know if she’d want me to say anything or not. It really is her place to talk to Mark about it.”

  “About what?” Mark shook his head. “I am confused. I have done nothing to put her off.”

  Alice nodded. “That’s what I told her. That you aren’t capable of it. That you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

  Mark and Adam both stared at her, frowning. “What the dickens are you talking about, Alice?” Adam said. “W
hat does Alice think Mark has done?”

  Alice pulled in a deep breath. “She… she’s been hearing someone wandering around the house at night. The noises and what she has seen have scared her.”

  “How often has that happened?” Mark said, taking a step closer to Alice as if he couldn’t believe he was hearing correctly. “Why hasn’t she told me?”

  Alice shook her head. “I don’t know how many times it’s happened. I just know she talked to me about it and…”

  “Why didn’t she talk to me?” Mark’s voice was concerned. When Alice didn’t immediately answer, his scowl deepened. “She thinks it’s me?” He sounded hurt. He clenched his jaw and turned away from them.

  Alice instinctively went to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her. “Don’t be upset, Mark. She doesn’t know anyone here well. She doesn’t want to think you are the one in her yard at night. She’s just worried because she feels vulnerable and alone.”

  “She is vulnerable and alone,” Adam said, going around Alice to stand in front of Mark. His eyes were on his wife. “And her best bet is to rely on this man right here to keep her protected and safe. He would never hurt her.”

  Alice nodded. “And that’s just what I said. I have known Mark for many years, not as many as you, Adam, but for many years. And I don’t want her to think of him that way. But she is her own woman and has to make up her own mind about this.”

  “I have to prove to her that I am not the one doing that.”

  “How will you do that?”

  Mark was quiet for a moment. “I’ll catch the scoundrel myself. I’ll shoot him dead for scaring Molly the way he has. And for her thinking I’m responsible.” He shook his head. “I would never, ever do anything to hurt that woman.”

  “If you go prowling around waiting for someone to come at night and she sees you, it will only make her think it really is you. You can’t have that happen.”

  Mark shook his head. “No. That won’t happen.”

  “But how…”

  Mark didn’t let Alice finish her sentence. He turned away from her and spoke as he went back to the fence post. “I’m not staying for lunch. Let’s get this fixed and I’ll go visit her myself. I’m going to tell her what I’m going to do and maybe we can both lay in wait for this prowler. I’m not going to let anyone scare Molly and I sure won’t let them make her think I’m the one responsible.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  AN UNWANTED VISITOR

  AN UNWANTED VISITOR

  Molly was sitting on her front porch when a wagon approached. She squinted to see who it was. When she saw that Luke was heading her way, her heart sank.

  “How could one bad decision make such a big difference?” she whispered to herself. “If I’d known that man was going to bother me, I would never have agreed to let him bring me home.” She shook her head, pulled in a deep breath, and set her book to the side. He was smiling from ear to ear when he pulled up in front of the little yellow house. She watched him hop down from the wagon, a bundle of various flowers in one hand.

  “Hello there!” He called out as he rounded the wagon to come up on the porch.

  “Hello, Luke.” Molly tried not to let her voice betray how she was feeling. “How are you today?”

  “I’m doing well. You look ravishing!”

  “Thank you.” She tried to smile at him. She had on a simple pale blue dress with a white belt and white lace around the upper collar. The dress reached down to her ankles, covering most of her body.

  “These are for you.” He held out the flowers. She took them from him and examined them. They look like they might have been plucked from a cemetery. She shuddered at the thought and chided herself for being ungrateful.

  “They are lovely, thank you, Luke.” She hesitated before asking, “Would you like to come in? I was about to prepare some lunch.”

  “I would love that, thank you!” Luke seemed so eager. Molly turned to the door, hoping her face wasn’t set in a despairing look. She didn’t really want Luke in her house. However, she had to be polite, didn’t she? He’d done nothing to her, other than be a bit off-putting with his remarks. He followed her into the house.

  “I’ll find a vase to put these in. I’m sure Mark has one around here somewhere…” her voice trailed off as she went into the kitchen and began searching cabinets. She found a vase the right size for the flowers and poured some water from the pitcher into it. She plopped the flowers down in the vase and plucked at them until they were sitting just how she wanted them. “There. That looks lovely, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, you did a fine job with the arrangement.” Luke looked satisfied when she looked at him. She smiled at him and it was the first genuine smile she felt she’d had for him.

  “Please sit.” Molly put out her hand in the direction of the table in the kitchen. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “I would like some tea, if you have it. I prefer tea.”

  Molly nodded. She already had coffee made and suspected he was trying to prolong his time in her house by asking her to make tea instead. She set about making the tea. It wasn’t long before he started talking. She listened with one ear, thinking about Mark with the other half of her brain.

  “My parents came through Wickenburg some years back. In fact, my father used to work for Mark’s father.”

  Molly was suddenly interested. She set the tea pot on the stove and came to sit at the table while it warmed up. “Oh? What did he do?”

  “Yard work, landscaping, that type of thing. In fact,” He looked up at the walls around him. “I am certain he may have stayed in this house while he was here.”

  Molly raised her eyebrows. “Really? What a coincidence. I wonder, you never got a chance to come here, too? You didn’t live here with your mom and dad?”

  “Mama died when I was in my teen years. Papa did the best he could to raise me, but he hadn’t been around much in my life. My mama raised me on her own. That was before I was born, that he worked here.”

  “Oh, I see. It was quite a while ago. Where are your parents now?”

  “They’ve both gone to be with the Lord, unfortunately. I have no family left.”

  “No brothers or sisters?”

  “No, ma’am. My mother was an ill woman. She was not able to have any children after me.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

  Luke shrugged. “It was probably for the best. God didn’t want my papa to have any other children he could leave behind.”

  Molly didn’t know what to say. His voice hardened when he spoke of his dad and softened when he spoke of his mother. She was unable to comfort him, as she had a large extended family in Virginia and both her parents were still living.”

  “Your father has since passed?”

  “Oh yeah, he died some years back. I was in my twenties at the time. It was okay. He didn’t leave me anything of value, nor did he teach me any real lessons about the way life is. I had to learn all of that on my own.”

  “He was not a pauper when he died, was he?” Molly asked.

  Luke shook his head. “No, but he left me no money or property. What little money he had, I used to pay off his gambling debts, of which he owed plenty. Disheartening, but typical of him.”

  “I am sorry for your troubles.”

  Luke gazed at her. “You are truly a beautiful woman. Let’s not talk about me. Let’s talk about you. You are from Virginia?”

  Molly didn’t want to talk about herself. She didn’t want to reveal too much to this man. She didn’t trust what he might try to do with the information. She had nothing to hide, to be certain. He seemed like the kind of man to her who would twist her words and make her statements turn into lies, which he could then take advantage of.

  “I am,” she said, shortly. “I must say, though, my looks don’t mean the conversation must be steered toward me. I’d like to know more about you, as well.”

  Luke grinned. Molly smiled back, knowing he had no clue that
she was suspicious of his actions and wanted to know as much as she could about him. “There’s not a lot to say about me,” he replied.

  “You have been in Wickenburg a short time, too, haven’t you? Tell me, what brought you here?”

  “Well, as I’ve said, my father used to work here, for Mark’s father. I’ve been traveling around the West coast looking for work and, well, just checking out the sights and sounds of living. Do you know what I mean by that?”

  Molly nodded. “Oh, yes. I do understand. My late husband and I used to do quite a bit of traveling. It was all on the east coast, though.”

  Luke nodded. “That’s where you were living, so that makes sense. Did you go to New York?”

  “I did. It was fascinating. There are a lot of people there, though. Many, many foreigners. I was unhappy with the way I saw some of them being treated. It seems the Europeans and those who came across the waters a hundred years ago seem to think they are the only ones allowed to be here. It makes me sad.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. I didn’t know it was like that.”

  Molly nodded, getting back up to pour two cups of tea and fish some cookies from the jar where she kept them. She brought two back for him and two for herself, setting them on a small plate, which she placed between them on the table.

  “I’m afraid it is. There are Orientals that practically do slave work for the Europeans or the Americans who already live here or were born here. It isn’t as though their ancestors didn’t do the same thing the Orientals and the Irish are doing. They just want to have a good life here in America, too.” She shook her head again. “I found it quite disturbing to say the least.”

  Luke kept a sober look on his face when he replied, “I had no idea it was like that in New York. I have always thought of it as a place of riches, the land of milk and honey.”

  Molly snorted in an unladylike fashion, which brought a quick smile to Luke’s face. “Hardly. It is the opposite. The buildings are tall and there are a lot of people, to be certain. And it is very colorful and extensively decorated during the holiday seasons, such as Christmas and Easter. Those were the two times we went to visit the state. So, it is very beautiful and there are fields that stretch on for miles and miles. But I was unhappy when we went to New York City. We did not stay there for very long. There was too much action for me. Too much noise. I like the peace and quiet.” As soon as she said it, she realized that Luke was, in fact, disturbing that peace and quiet. She quickly took a sip of her tea, wondering if he was thinking the same thing. She glanced at him as he reached to take a cookie from the plate.