She laughed. “Maybe it did.” Leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked, she said, “We make good partners, don’t we?”
“The best.”
Maddie drew a breath so full of contentment it made her lightheaded. She still had to take care of Mad Dog, see he was captured so no more girls like Ilene and her sisters were harmed, but she had now accepted that task would be easier with Lucky’s help than without it.
He stopped before entering the party area again. “What did that girl say to you?” Reaching up, he twisted a ringlet of her hair around one finger. “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
The twinkle was back in his eyes, and the excitement bubbling inside her let loose a giggle. She stretched up to kiss him again. “You and I are going to talk about that,” she whispered against his lips, “right after I talk to the mayor.”
Lucky caught her by the hips when she’d have turned for the door. “The mayor? Why do I have a chilling sense I should be worried?”
She giggled. “Probably because you know me.”
He muttered a slight curse. “You don’t have your gun with you, do you?”
“Just the derringer,” she admitted. “Besides fastening up the back, this gown doesn’t have any pockets.”
“Thank God,” he muttered, though the twinkle in his eyes flashed brighter when he asked, “Where’s the derringer hid?”
Biting her lip to hold back a rather boisterous bout of giddiness, she said, “I’ll show you at the hotel.”
He groaned teasingly, and she released a full laugh. “Come on. I’ve decided I do want to learn how to dance.”
After meeting with the mayor and securing a meeting time for the following day with Ilene, Maddie gladly let Lucky lead her onto the dance floor. He was an excellent dancer and soon was whisking her about. Fully intoxicated by him and the music, she promptly refused offers to dance from other men who tapped him on the shoulder.
Delighted by the woman he knew back in Alaska, the one who wasn’t shy and purposefully adamant about what she wanted, Cole couldn’t erase the grin that sat on his face. Maddie had returned. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but his chest had never swelled with such pride as when she informed the mayor she’d be meeting with one of his household staff on the morrow and that the girl would not be docked in pay or time.
Not used to being talked to, especially by a woman, the mayor did attempt to stand his ground—insisting the next day was Christmas and all of his household staff would be needed—but Maddie shot him down as swiftly as if she had drawn her pistol.
The mayor had been left speechless, which had left Cole grinning. Maddie was more than he’d ever have imagined a woman could be, and the ring in his pocket was burning a hole in his skin. Upon leaving the hotel this afternoon, he’d passed a jewelry shop and hadn’t been able to help venturing in. He’d give it to her tonight and ask her to marry him. She was right—they made good partners. Together there wasn’t much they couldn’t tackle. Even outlaws.
Dancing with her, holding her close and sensing her as intimately as when they lay together in bed though the room was crowded, Cole accepted that living in her big house until he was old and gray, never traveling again, wouldn’t be hard at all. In fact, it would be all the adventure he ever needed.
As the music ended, he let her loose and gave her his best elegant bow. A blush covered her cheeks, but being Maddie, the woman he loved—that was no longer as scary as it had once been, either—she threw her head back and laughed, and then looped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.
He returned the kiss, while whispering, “You are supposed to curtsy.”
“Who cares?” she asked.
“Who indeed,” he answered. Taking her hand, he turned to escort her off the dance floor. His heart stalled in his chest upon recognizing a man standing near the door, gesturing.
Jack interceded just then. “I’ve been looking for you two. I’ve got me a buyer for my claim.”
“You do?” Maddie asked.
Cole responded, but eased away as Jack started to explain, making his way toward one of the men he’d hired to watch the docks. For a moment, he’d forgotten Mad Dog, and how the outlaw threatened his and Maddie’s happiness.
“Your uncle Trig’s ship was spotted in the bay over an hour ago.” The man gestured toward the front doors. “May be docking by now. They didn’t want to let me in.”
The distinct chill that had assaulted his insides eased a portion. “Thanks,” Cole said.
The man parted moments before Maddie arrived at his side. “Who was that?”
“A man from the docks,” he said. “The Mary Jane is about to set port.”
Her face fell, but she caught it and squared her shoulders. “That’s good news.”
“Yes, it is,” Lucky said, silently questioning her disappointment. “Yes, it is.”
They took their leave of the party and Lucky instructed the driver to take them to the seashore before climbing into the open-top carriage. Looping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close with one hand while covering their legs with the blanket. The stars overhead reflected in her eyes and he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her long and hard.
When the kiss ended, she sighed, and then snuggled closer against him. “That maid I talked to,” she said quietly, “was one of the girls you saved from Alan Ridge.”
“I know.” He’d recalled the event earlier, while Maddie had been talking with the girl. “That was the night Ridge almost caught me.”
“He did?”
“Almost,” he said, kissing her furrowed brow. “I’m lucky, remember?”
“Yes, you are,” she said. “And so am I.”
“That you are, darling,” he said, kissing her again. “That you are.”
She cut the kiss short. “I have something I want to tell you, but I can’t do it if you keep kissing me.”
Still wondering about the way she’d reacted to hearing the Mary Jane was docking, he ran several small kisses along the side of her face. “Is it that important?”
She giggled, but still said, “Yes.”
“All right,” he said, sitting up straighter. “What is it?”
“Well—” she twisted to face him “—first off, I’ll go to any frivolous party you want me to attend, live in any fancy house you want, wherever you want it to be, but first—”
“Whoa up,” he interrupted, “I never said I wanted live in a fancy house. You did.”
She opened her mouth, but closed it and frowned before asking, “You didn’t? But that’s how you grew up.”
“I know, and I’ll gladly live that way again, if it’s what you want.”
She grew so quiet, so thoughtful, his insides started ticking. “Maddie?”
“What if...” She grew silent, looking up as the moon slipped out from behind a cloud. The yellow beams shone down on her and she continued to gaze up as she often did, letting the rays bounce off her face as if gathering strength or something from the light. A moment later she smiled and turned back to him. “What if I want to be Mrs. Cole DuMont in truth, not pretend?”
His heart was in his mouth. Even though he’d bought the ring, he hadn’t been overly sure she’d accept it. Agree to marrying him. “I want that, too, Maddie. Have for a long time.”
“Why haven’t you told me that?” she asked.
“Because that’s not what you wanted. From the beginning your dream was to build a big house and have servants.”
A stomping of hooves came from behind them and the carriage driver pulled to the side of the road, letting a fast-moving coach surrounded by riders whisk past them. “What’s that all about?” Lucky shouted to the driver.
“Don’t know, sir, but that’s a police wagon. Something must be up
at the docks.”
Chapter Seventeen
Another group of riders galloped past before the driver could set the carriage forward again. Maddie clutched onto Lucky’s arm. “What do you think it is?”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “But I want you to—”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she interrupted. “Don’t try telling me what to do right now, Cole DuMont.”
He let out a curse. It was under his breath, but Maddie heard it. She didn’t need to say more, though; Lucky was already shouting to the driver. “Step it up!”
Not sure what they might see ahead, Maddie had the greatest desire to say one last thing. “I trust you, Lucky. I know no harm will come to me when I’m by your side.”
He looked startled by her admission.
A tear slipped out of the corner of one of her eyes. “And I don’t mind you telling me what to do some of the time, because I love you.”
The carriage was bouncing, jostling them about, and he grabbed her face, held it firmly before his. “That’s good, darling,” he said. “Because I don’t mind you telling me what to do, either, once in a while.”
She bit at the smile forming on her lips.
“Because I love you, too, Maddie,” he said, touching his lips to hers. “I love you like I never knew I could love someone.”
Maddie’s heart threatened to explode. She’d never imagined hearing him say it would have such an impact. She should have known, though; that was how he’d turned her into a woman. By loving her.
Between the rough ride and a ship’s horn echoing through the night, their kisses were short and lopsided, and came to a stop when the carriage skidded to an abrupt halt.
“What’s happened?” Cole asked one of the men creating a barricade. Pointing at the ship with deckhands scurrying about to drop the gangplank he said, “That’s the Mary Jane. My uncle’s ship.”
“That ship has a notorious outlaw on board,” the man said. Having heard her gasp, the man glanced at her. “Don’t worry, ma’am, we’re here to escort him straight to jail.”
“Who is it?” Cole asked. “The outlaw, who is it?”
“Goes by the name Alan Ridge, but he’s really Mad Dog Rodriquez,” the man said. “And he’s one evil outlaw. Wanted in most every state in the nation.”
A shiver shot through Maddie, and Cole’s arm, which was wrapped firmly about her shoulders, tightened.
“How do you know?” Cole asked the man.
“The captain sent a rowboat ahead to send for us, secure the area before he docked.”
It took a moment for Maddie’s mind to fully comprehend what the man had said, and then she had to be sure. “Mad Dog Rodriquez has been captured?”
“That’s my understanding, ma’am,” the man said. “The sailor said there’s a federal marshal on board, too.”
“Curtis Wyman?” Cole asked.
“That’s sounds right,” the man answered.
The plank had been lowered, and the moon overhead shone brighter, giving Maddie plenty of light to see that the man being escorted off the ship was definitely Mad Dog. Chains connected his legs, and his hands were behind his back. She made out the marshal, too, and Trig.
The coach was indeed a police wagon, complete with metal bars on the windows... Mad Dog was loaded into it, the door slammed shut and men mounted on horses surrounded the wagon. Maddie watched as it rolled past, intuitively knowing it was the last time she’d ever see the outlaw.
“It’s over,” she whispered. “It’s over.”
Lucky caught her beneath the chin with one finger, turning her face to look at him. “Yes, it is. It’s over.”
Turning toward the wagon again, she thought of Ilene and all those other girls. “Almost,” she said. “It’s almost over.”
“What do you mean?” Cole asked.
She didn’t have time to answer. Trig had spotted them and jogged toward the carriage. “Cole! Maddie! Did you see who that was?”
“We saw,” Cole answered, climbing out of the carriage. He helped her down, and by then Trig, Robbie and Marshal Wyman were standing next to the rig.
Trig instantly set into telling them how Robbie had first spotted Mad Dog when he’d gone ashore in Dabbler, looking to see if Cole and Maddie were in town, ready for a ride south.
“We’d decided to sail out of Bittersweet rather than take the trail back to Dabbler,” Cole interrupted to tell them.
Robbie jumped in to say, “I caught sight of Mad Dog at one of the establishments the women we’d taken to Dabbler had set up. I thought he looked familiar. But it was the next day, when Marshal Wyman boarded the Mary Jane—informing all the ship captains that a wanted man might try to arrange passage—that I knew it had been Alan Ridge I’d seen. He was still there, and we hauled him aboard the Mary Jane.”
“I thought you were only making the one trip to Alaska this year,” Cole said to Trig.
“We made out so well on the first, thought we’d try a second one,” Trig answered, “Glad we did, too.”
Marshal Wyman finally got a word in then, and he turned straight to Maddie. “Mrs. DuMont,” he said, “I told you I’d catch Rodriquez. I’m taking him all the way to Wyoming, and I’m sure the judge will issue you the reward money.”
Maddie shook her head. “You caught him.”
“But the bullet you put in his leg is the reason I was able to. He needed some doctoring by the time he got to Dabbler. He promised that dance-hall gal a lot of money to patch him up. She was a bit put out to learn the shooting hadn’t been accidental and he wasn’t the owner of a very profitable mine up by Bittersweet.”
Maddie wasn’t sure how to respond and was saved from doing so when Trig announced the success of the Big Bonanza was the talk of Alaska. A short time later, when the storytelling slowed, she issued an invite to Marshal Wyman. “We’d like to have you join us for Christmas, Marshal. At our hotel, the Empire. Around three?”
“I’d be honored, Mrs. DuMont,” he said, tipping his hat. “Truly honored. Right now, I have to see to my prisoner.”
A silence settled around them as the marshal walked away, joining a few other lawmen that had been waiting on him.
“So you two are still pretending to be married?” Trig asked then.
Maddie’s cheeks burned, but Lucky grinned. “We’d like you to rectify that,” he said.
“How?” Trig asked.
“By marrying us,” Lucky said, looking down at her with a sky full of sparkles in his eyes. “Tonight. Right now.”
Maddie’s heart soared, but then her entire world collapsed when Trig spoke again.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Why not?” Lucky asked, pulling her to his side.
“Because I’m not authorized,” Trig said. “Everyone believes ship captains can perform marriages. In truth, we can preside over funerals when there is a death at sea, but, Cole, you know most ships only carry men. Marrying people never really happens on the high seas.”
“But,” Robbie piped in, “I know someone who can. We have a preacher on board. Picked him up in Dabbler, too. The winters were too much for him. He’s not planning on going ashore until morning.”
As Robbie ran toward the dock Lucky asked Trig, “Are you becoming a passenger ship?”
Trig shook his head. “We will be if your brother has his way.”
“Will he be discreet?” Maddie wanted to know. Though Jack had found a buyer, she didn’t want the news of their marriage to hamper the deal.
Trig laughed. “I’ll talk to him,” he said, leaving the two of them alone.
“We can travel to a neighboring town,” Lucky suggested. “Or take the first train heading east, get married somewhere along the line.”
So touched was she in his willingness to marry her,
that Maddie felt bad for having to shake her head. “There are things I need to do here in Seattle. I can’t leave right now.”
“A Christmas party?”
“Among other things,” she said. The sullen look on Lucky’s face had her adding, “But I want to marry you. As soon as possible. Tonight.”
“All right.” With the arm he had around her shoulders, he escorted her toward the Mary Jane. “As long as you marry me tonight, I’ll do anything you want, stay here as long as you want.”
She giggled, though she was smart enough to know better. “I have a feeling I’ll have to remind you of those words—that you’ll do anything I want.” Smiling up at him, she added, “Often.”
* * *
The ceremony was held on deck, beneath a moon that shone down on her brighter than sunshine, and Maddie was once again convinced Smitty was still looking out for her, sending a beacon to light her way. There was also a part of her that wondered if Bass wasn’t up there, too, beside Smitty, watching her.
As soon as Lucky placed the gold band on her finger Maddie became so full of happiness, she feared she might burst. Although his kiss was as heart-stopping as hundreds of others had been, this one thrilled her to no end. She truly was Mrs. DuMont. No other adventure would ever compare.
Afterward she invited Trig, Robbie and the minister to join them at the hotel the following day to celebrate Christmas, asking them to arrive before one. When she said Jack would be there, too, and Homer, Lucky pointed out that the hotel didn’t allow pets of any kind. She told him to let her handle that, at which point he assured Trig and Robbie the bird would be in attendance.
They took their leave then, traveling back to the hotel in the open carriage, with the moon lighting the way.
“Why do I have a feeling tomorrow is more than a simple Christmas celebration?” Lucky asked while unlocking their hotel room door.
She crossed the sitting room and entered the bedroom to place her fur shawl and muff in the wardrobe and then sat down on a bench to remove her dress shoes and stockings. “I’m going to give Ilene, and the other girls she knows from Mrs. Smother’s place, enough money to pay off their debts and find their families.”
A Fortune for the Outlaw's Daughter Page 23