Adam stared at Carl but didn’t punch him. He backed off enough to let Mark take his place. Mark took Carl’s shirt in his hand and balled it up into a fist. He yanked Carl toward him so they were almost nose-to-nose.
“Get out of here before I let him kill you, Carl. Don’t you ever put your hands on Alice again, you hear me?” He walked toward the kitchen door around the broken table on the other side so they wouldn’t be near Alice and Adam, dragging Carl along with him.
Alice lowered her head and covered her face with her hands, sobbing. Adam wrapped his arms around her and held her to his broad chest, making soothing sounds and petting her soft hair. They heard the sound of the back door slamming against the wall as Mark jerked it open. They could hear Carl stumbling across the back porch and Mark’s loud voice cursing him and Nathan.
Adam rocked back and forth with Alice in his arms. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Ally. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I broke your mama’s table, too. Sweet girl. It’s going to be okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“How… how did you…” She couldn’t get the words out. She was amazed that Adam had shown up right when she needed him. She relaxed her muscles enough to hug him back, sobbing into his chest.
“I don’t know. God must have sent me here, dear. He must have known you needed me.”
“Adam… oh, Adam.” She continued to cry, fear still ripping through her like a saw blade. “I was… so scared…”
“I know, dear. I know. I’m here. You’re safe.”
After a few minutes, her tears abated and she began to breathe normally again. Adam whipped out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. He lifted her face with two fingers under her chin and gave her a warm smile. “Don’t worry, it’s clean.”
His words made her giggle instinctively and she pressed the cloth against her wet face, wiping away her tears. “Th… thank you. Thank God you were here. Why did you come? How did you know to come here?”
“I was going to talk to you and your mama. And your papa if he was here. I am going to need help with Max and Riley and who better to ask than his aunt and grandparents.”
“Oh, Adam. I am so grateful you came. My… parents aren’t here but… I am so glad you came.”
Adam glanced over his shoulder at the broken table. “I will repair the table. I’ll build you a new one... carve one out of the finest wood to replace it.”
“You can do that, if you please.” Alice replied. “Mama and Papa won’t mind the broken one but a new one is… always nice.”
Adam chuckled. “Of course it is. New furniture is definitely nice.”
“Oh, Adam.” Alice covered her face with the cloth again but he reached up and pulled her hands down.
“You don’t need to worry, Alice. I would never let anything happen to you.”
They heard footsteps in the kitchen. Alice felt Adam’s muscles tense up. Both of them stared at the doorway to see who would come through. They breathed a mutual sigh of relief when Mark stepped into the living room, crossed over, and sat in a chair near the couch. He was breathing hard and shaking one of his hands.
“I don’t see how you punched him and your hand don’t hurt.” Mark joked. “Nathan’s face is pretty hard.”
Alice’s eyes opened wide. “You punched Nathan?”
“I had to. You… you don’t know what he was saying out there. I don’t know how he can act this way after…” He didn’t continue but didn’t need to. He pulled in a deep breath and visibly tried to calm himself down.
“Where are they now?” Adam asked.
“They’ve gone. That’s all I know. Where they went, I don’t know. Probably to the Horse N Saddle or somewhere they can drink and get even nastier. Do you think they will come back for you, Alice? I wouldn’t count on Nathan keeping you safe, if you do.”
“Nathan never brought any of those men here when my parents were here. I don’t think he’d start now. He may not love me but he loves our parents. I can’t see him putting them in harm’s way. And after those scoundrels get some more liquor in them, I don’t know what they might be capable of doing.”
“You need to protect yourself,” Adam said. “Do you want to come to my house and have dinner with me and the children?”
Alice nodded without hesitation. She wanted to get away from the house, which would now be tainted with the memory of what had just happened to her, so soon after losing her only sister. If she could have a little time away, she might be able to stop thinking about it. She needed distance from the scene.
“They won’t come searching for her there, will they?” Mark asked. His eyes were narrow and he was still massaging his hurt right hand. “I’ll come to, if you think they might.”
“You can come anyway, Mark. Alice can use all the protection she can get, I say.”
Mark nodded. “Be glad to.” He went from nodding to shaking his head in disbelief. “I cannot believe we walked in on this. What was Nathan thinking, letting that man toy with you in such a way?”
“I don’t understand why he would think it was okay, I really don’t.” Alice moaned. She was still holding her torn dress against her, the memory of Carl ripping it haunting her mind.
Adam became aware of the torn dress and stood up. He held out one hand to her. “Let me help you to your room. You need to change. You look a mess.” He said the last sentence with a soft smile. She took his hand and pulled herself to her feet.
“Oh, Adam,” she giggled. “I can make it to my room on my own. In addition, no, you can’t help me change. I can do that, too.”
Adam chuckled. “I’m glad you have your sense of humor about you, Ally. We’ll wait out here. Come out whenever you are ready.”
“Maybe a warm bath will help you feel more relaxed,” Mark suggested. “Would you like us to heat up some water for you? It might be just the thing.”
Alice thought about it for a moment. “Yes… I think that would be lovely.”
“Come on, Adam. Let’s go out to the well. Actually, you start the fire and I’ll go out for a couple buckets of water. Where are your big pots, Alice?”
“Under the water basin in the big compartment there.”
Mark nodded. “All right. We’ll have you fixed up in a minute. You’ll feel all right soon.”
“Thank you, Mark. Thank you for helping me.”
“You are most welcome, my dear. Now you go on. You need to relax. They aren’t coming back here soon and if they do, they won’t leave here without at least a black eye and a broken rib.”
The two men watched Alice go down the small hallway to a door on the right, which she opened. After she disappeared into the room, they looked at each other. Adam’s eyes had narrowed again and he looked disgusted.
“I can’t believe Nathan would allow something like that to happen,” Adam growled. “And to his only sister. After losing Holly, how could he not be more protective of Alice?”
Mark shook his head. “I have no idea. I don’t understand the mind of a scoundrel. If I had a wife like Alice or even a sister like her, there’s no way I would ever let harm come to her. Yet, he was outside laughing about it.”
Rage boiled over in Adam’s mind. “Laughing? In what way could he possible think this was funny?”
“He said Carl was only playing with Alice, that he wasn’t going to harm her. I told him about the ripped dress and the fact that she was screaming ‘no’ and he kept laughing, saying Alice was only screaming to play along. He said Carl would have stopped if Alice meant what she was saying. I told him we stopped him for her because she most definitely wasn’t playing. He scoffed at me so I had to punch him.”
“I don’t blame you. What a jerk.”
“I think that’s an understatement. He is definitely a jerk, and then some. And Nathan. What kind of brother allows their sister to be treated that way? He was right there. What would have happened if we hadn’t gotten here in time?”
“I don’t like to think about it.”
/> “I guess we know what would have happened, don’t we?” Mark grumbled, looking away. He stood up and walked to the open front door, scanning the horizon.
“You think they’ll stay away?”
“Oh, yeah,” Mark nodded.
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them I would beat them over the head with a fire poker if they returned. I don’t suppose Alice is going to feel safe around Wickenburg for a while. She might need to take a rest outside of Wickenburg.”
“She can stay at my house as long as she likes.”
Mark nodded. “Oh, I know. I know you are willing to open your heart to her. You just have to be careful rumors don’t start.”
Adam shook his head. “I’m not concerned about rumors. I’m concerned about what might happen to Alice if she’s left alone. I don’t care if she shares Riley’s bed for a month. I will build another room onto the house if I have to. I don’t want her left alone.”
Mark nodded. “I understand, Adam. I really do. I’m glad we got here in time.”
“I’m gonna make some coffee. You go get those buckets of water and I’ll start the fire so we can heat it up for her bath.”
Mark stood up and turned to the kitchen door. He turned back and smiled at Adam. “How’s it gonna look if we’re drawing a bath for her and her parents come home?”
Adam grinned back. “I don’t know what they’ll think but we’ll have to explain ourselves, won’t we?”
A serious look wiped away Mark’s smile. “Do you think we should tell them what happened here?”
“Gonna have to tell them something. Look at the table.”
Mark did and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Let’s worry about that after we take care of Alice. She will know what to do. If she wants to tell her parents, I guess we should let her be the one to do that. I’m gonna build them a new table. I won’t break something and not fix it, for pity’s sake.”
“No, no, I doubt that you would.”
The men parted ways to do what they needed to do.
The memory of Alice’s screams coming through the door was still ringing in Adam’s ears as he lit the fire under the large stone stove in the kitchen. Holes in the top allowed heat to go through. He used some of the clean water from the basin to fill one of the smaller pots for coffee. When he opened the cabinet doors under the counter that held the water basin, he found three very large pots he was sure the family used for heating bath water.
He set the pots on top of the table behind him, not wanting them to heat up before they had water in them. A noise at the door of the kitchen made him turn to look. Alice was standing there, a large thick robe surrounding her. It looked almost like she’d been swallowed up by fabric, leaving only her head so that she could breathe. He chuckled. She was a beautiful woman.
Just like his Holly.
CHAPTER TWELVE
MARK AND ADAM TALK TO CAROLINE
MARK AND ADAM TALK TO CAROLINE
Mark and Adam left Alice alone to take her bath but did not leave the house. They sat in the living room, discussing what the options were.
“Where do you think Nathan and his boys went?” Mark asked, pushing the light fabric of the curtain to the side to peek through. He was seated on the couch in front of the window, sitting to the side with one leg up on the cushions.
“I have no idea. A saloon probably. The Horse N Saddle or the Bar n’ Stool.”
“Do you think they’ll come back for Alice?”
“Well, I ain’t leaving just in case they do,” Adam’s voice was gruff. He was seated in a chair facing Mark, leaning forward with his arms on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him. He was steeling himself for what might happen next. The Wesley's would be home soon. He expected at least Caroline would eventually show up. Probably before her husband.
“I’m staying here with you, Adam. I don’t want anything to happen to Alice either.”
Adam nodded, looking up at Mark. “I appreciate that, Mark.” He flexed the hand he’d used to punch Carl, stretching the bruised muscles.
“Think you broke your hand?”
“No, but if they come back both of my hands are gonna be broken.”
“Gonna knock out the rest of his teeth,” Mark laughed.
“Yep.”
“Well, you won’t be alone, friend. I’m right here with you.”
Adam shook his head. “What is wrong with Nathan? If I had a sister, I would never allow someone to harm her. How can he be that way to her?”
“You and your brothers would have made great protectors for a young lady,” Mark nodded. “I know that for a fact; don’t even have to meet Andrew to know it.”
The mention of Andrew pulled on Adam’s heart. He’d lost not only his young brother so many years ago, now he’d lost the woman he loved for so long.
“My brother, Kyle, wouldn’t have let them get away with it. If he had been here, Carl would have lost the rest of his teeth.”
Mark laughed again. “So you are the restrained one, then. Well, Carl got off lucky, I guess.”
Adam nodded. “Very lucky.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to stop them from harassing her again, if they get the chance. And she can’t just hide out in the house, not going anywhere. You can't be with her all the time.” Mark sighed. “I don’t mind telling you, I don’t know what to do. We have to tell her parents. They will be furious. This is going to start a lot of trouble in town. Nathan has his group of friends and they’re all just as ruthless and nasty as Carl.”
“I don’t understand how such a fine family can produce someone like Nathan. I really didn’t expect this kind of behavior from him. I knew he spent his free time with cowpunchers and the like. But I never would have expected him to let his sister be in harm’s way because of one of them.”
“I know. I didn’t think that about him either.”
Adam heard a gentle splash of water from the other room and tried hard not to picture Alice in the water. She was so much like Holly; it made him wonder if her body was the same, too. He shook his head, trying to clear the picture from his mind. Before Holly had their two children, her body was slender, smooth and unblemished. After she had them, though she stayed slim, she showed the signs of having children. Her hips widened and her skin was not as tight. It never bothered him. He loved her for much more than her outward appearance. Every dimple, every wrinkle, he loved every bit of her.
Mark was quiet, his finger still pushing the curtain aside, and his eyes peering through the crack to see if anyone was coming. He narrowed his eyes and said, “I see a carriage stopping out front. It looks like Mrs. Wesley is home.”
Adam felt an unexpected surge of anxiety. Would they be mad at him? Surely they would see that he only wanted to keep Alice safe. He hadn’t meant to break their table or put Nathan in a bad light. Did they know what Nathan’s true nature was? That he would allow something so sinister to happen to his one remaining sister?
He cleared his throat and rubbed his hands on the surface of his jeans nervously. Mark glanced over at him. “Don’t be nervous, Adam. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I just wonder if they know what kind of son they’ve raised. I wonder if they will believe this story.”
“You know Mrs. Wesley will believe it. She always loved you. I never heard her say a cross word about you. I haven’t heard Mr. Wesley say anything good or bad, not about you. So I don’t know what he will think.”
“It’s his only son.”
Mark nodded and looked back out the window. “That may be so but he just lost one of his daughters.”
“He might blame me for that.”
Mark gave him a doubtful look. “Pshaw. He doesn’t blame you for anything. Doc Brown would have said if there had been any underlying signs.”
“She never went to see him but for regular check-ups. I don’t even know when the last time she went actually was.”
Mark glanced
back out the window, allowed the curtains to fall closed and made to stand up. “I really don’t think you need to worry about that. They know how much you love her. She’s coming up the walk.”
Mark went to the door and opened it, standing ready to let the older woman in her home. Adam came up to stand behind him. He noticed when Mrs. Wesley’s face became confused. She stopped for only a moment, blinking at them, before proceeding to the door.
“Hello, boys. Thank you,” she nodded at Mark, who held the door open for her. “What are you doing here?” She gave Adam a hug, which surprised him. His heart filled with warmth at her touch and he squeezed her lightly before letting go. “I didn’t expect…” Caroline’s words stopped abruptly when she saw the table. She turned to give Mark and Adam the once-over. “What’s happened here? Have you two been fighting in my home?” Her voice had a trace of amusement in it, mixing in with the confusion.
Adam saw Mark trying to restrain his grin. “No, ma’am.” Mark shook his head. “We would never disrespect you in such a way.”
“Then what is this?” Caroline swept her hand toward the table, sitting sideways on the ground, one of the legs completely broken off and scattered in bits around where it had originally stood. “There is no horseplay in my home. Where is Nathan? Is he responsible for this?”
Adam held out one hand. “He is, in a way. But I am the one who broke the table. Please sit and allow us to explain what happened.”
Caroline tilted her head, looking suspiciously around the room. Seeing nothing else that looked out of place or broken, she lowered herself slowly to the chair Adam had just vacated. “Please do tell me what is happening. Why did you break my table? Where are Alice and Nathan?”
“Alice is taking a bath. We don’t know where Nathan is.” Adam looked at Mark. “Should we wait for Alice to tell her what’s happened?”
Caroline’s face looked alarmed. “Alice is taking a bath? In the middle of the day?” The pitch of her voice began to rise. Adam could tell he was scaring her and moved to sit in the chair next to hers. He reached out and took her hand, swallowing the small thing in between his large ones.
Handsome Widower’s Second Chance Page 9