by Sara Orwig
“I shan’t say another word!” A schottische commenced and they danced too fast to talk. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks became pink from the exertion. He longed to crush her in his arms and kiss her until she succumbed to him. He glimpsed Reuben standing on the sidelines watching them, a frown furrowing his brow. Dan knew he would have trouble again from Knelville, but he didn’t care. Louisa was worth the trouble.
When the dance ended, he returned her to the sidelines, where Reuben claimed her at once. Dan found Mary talking to two of her friends.
“Sorry I was gone so long,” he said.
“I didn’t mind. You may dance with Miss Shumacher the rest of the night if you like.”
He laughed. “You’re generous with my time, Mary.”
“Miss O’Malley, may I have a dance?” Dewar Logan blocked their path.
Before she could answer, Dan said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Logan. She’s promised me every dance for the rest of the night. If you’ll excuse us…”
“Let me hear the lady say it. Is that right, Miss O’Malley?”
“The lady has promised, and I’m holding her to her promise,” Dan said cheerfully, and he stared evenly at Dewar. The two men glared at each other and Mary held her breath, afraid of what either might do, but then Dewar nodded and moved past Dan.
“Go ahead and dance with the shanty Irish.”
Dan clamped his hand on Dewar’s shoulder and spun him around. “Apologize to the lady,” he said quietly.
“Mr. Castle, no!” Mary exclaimed in embarrassment.
“She heard me,” Dewar said, clenching his fists. “Get your hand off my shoulder.”
Dan squeezed, pressing on a muscle, and Dewar swung. Dan stepped back, ducking, then followed with a lightning right that connected and sent Dewar sprawling. A woman screamed and men moved back as Dewar yelled and lunged back at Dan.
“There’s your gentleman,” said Reuben scornfully, pausing on the dance floor to watch the fight.
“Everyone knows what a troublemaker that Logan is,” Louisa said, watching the fight, gratified to see Dan handling Dewar easily. “It looks as if Mr. Castle is able to protect himself. He must be terribly strong.”
In minutes order was restored, while Dewar Logan lay unconscious on the floor and Dan took Mary’s arm, moving her away from Logan.
“You’re hurt!”
“It’s nothing,” he said, dabbing at his bleeding lip with his handkerchief while she told him about that long-ago dance when Silas first left Denver and how she had refused to leave with Dewar.
“Serves Logan right. I should have given him a swift kick for good measure.”
“You’ve made an enemy.”
“It won’t be the first one,” he said dryly. “Let’s dance. People won’t talk as much if you look as if nothing has happened.”
She laughed. “You’re the most patient man I’ve ever known. You don’t have to be here doing any of this. You didn’t have to defend me.”
“Oh, I know that, Mary Katherine O’Malley! You could have handled Dewar Logan and me at the same time.”
She laughed up at him as they waltzed. “I’ve had a good time tonight. I’m sorry he caused trouble and that you’re hurt, but it’s been fun.”
“It has been fun, and you dance as well as the best of them.”
His words made her warm and she smiled at him. It was divine to dance with him, to move with the music and forget her responsibilities. “You were a good instructor.”
“When Silas returns, will you both stay in Denver?”
She gazed into the distance, her profile to him. “I don’t know.” Green eyes met his. “Tomorrow doesn’t exist for me. I never think about the future.”
“You think about his returning to you, don’t you?”
“Only that he will, not when or how. There’s really only today and yesterday.”
“And sometimes it would be nice to get rid of yesterdays,” he said, thinking about his past.
“Your yesterdays weren’t good?” she asked, wondering who the women or woman was in his past. “They were good when you were with Silas. I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You can ask me anything you please,” he said gently, smiling down at her, and she thought there couldn’t be a more handsome man in the entire country. She was aware of the women who had watched him all evening, including Louisa Shumacher. But what was nicer than his appearance was the man himself. He was fun and capable and kind. And even though she should have released him from his promise to Silas to take her out, she was glad he had, because it had been the most fun she had had in a long time.
They danced half a dozen or more dances and finally she knew the hour was late and Dan had gone far beyond the call of duty in dancing with her all evening long. “We should go home now,” she said as the dance ended. “You’ve carried out your duty beyond measure.”
“It wasn’t duty. It was fun,” he said, running his hand lightly along her jaw. “Silas is a fortunate man.”
She smiled. “Said by the man who has had half the women here tonight watching him all evening.”
He laughed. “That’s absurd! Let’s stay a little longer. I like to dance.” And, he thought, he liked to watch Louisa, to be near her. There might be an opportunity for one more dance with her.
By the time he helped Mary into his carriage, it was half-past midnight. They sang on the way home, Dan’s bass sometimes warbling off-key, Mary’s lilting voice carrying the melody in spite of his monotone.
When they reached the boardinghouse, he jumped down, lifting her down with his hands on her waist.
“It was fun, Mr. Castle. And I appreciate your carpentry on my house,” she said, gazing at the new walls.
“It was fun for me too, Mary. I ought to ride out after Silas and bring him back here.”
“You would have to do so at gunpoint, I’m afraid,” she said with a sad note of longing, and Dan silently vowed to avoid mentioning Silas unless she brought up the conversation herself.
He ran his hands beneath her coat collar. “Someday soon, I’m going to show you my house.”
“I’d like that,” she answered.
“I never dreamed I’d be a builder, and it still amazes me. I like it.”
“You’re very good at it. And you’ve been so good to us,” she said softly, knowing there was to be another barn dance tomorrow night and that he would take Louisa Shumacher.
He gazed into her large eyes, and he didn’t want to tell her good night. He liked to be with her, just to talk to her, and now, gazing down on her in the dark night, he felt drawn to her more than ever. On impulse, he kissed her cheek. Her skin was soft, and she smelled sweet.
“Good night, Mr. Castle,” she said, gazing up at Dan, tingling where his lips had brushed her cheek.
“See you Monday,” he called, and turned to go.
She lay in bed that night, for the first time in several years thinking about a man other than Silas. She remembered dancing in Dan Castle’s arms, hearing his laughter, watching him talk to people, dance, and laugh. She gazed into the moon-splashed darkness and wondered why he didn’t want to remember his past. What had happened to him that was so bad? She remembered his remark about sheep ranching and the strange brief look that had crossed his face when she quizzed him about it. Many men who came west hid their pasts, and she suspected Dan Castle was one of them.
April Danby McCloud, Dan’s sister, lay in bed, her golden hair spread over the pillows behind her head while she watched her husband, Noah, shave. He was bare to the waist, his thick black hair curling on his forehead.
“Noah, I had another letter from Javier yesterday.”
“Mmmm,” Noah said, preoccupied with shaving.
“I worry about him. And I worry about Hattie.”
“April, you can’t do anything about your mother and stepfather. It’s her decision to leave him and never go back.”
“But it was over me, and I’ve forgiven him.”
> Noah turned, blue eyes softening as he studied his wife. “You’re generous, April.”
“I can afford to be. I’m the happiest woman on earth,” she said softly.
“Stop that or I won’t be able to finish shaving,” he commanded in gentle tones.
“It’s the truth. I want her to go back to him. He said he’s regretted for years that he took me away from her and gave me to the women in Santa Fe.”
“He separated you from your family, your mother, your half-brothers, Luke and Dan, for all your growing-up years. It’s difficult to feel sympathy for Javier Castillo.”
“But he and Hattie love each other.”
“Loved. Past tense.” Noah rinsed his face and wiped off his razor before carefully putting it away. April watched him, her eyes moving over his strong muscles, his smooth tanned skin and slim hips. He was tough, so strong, and exciting to her.
She patted the bed. “Noah, come here.”
He rubbed his jaw with a towel and glanced over his shoulder at her and tossed down the towel. “Sure thing, April,” he answered. He sat on the edge of the bed, placing his hands on either side of her. Her bare shoulders showed above the covers, and he studied her.
“Noah, can we go to San Antonio and see Hattie, let me talk to her again?”
“If you’d like.”
She ran her hands along his strong arms. “You’re good to me.”
“You’re good to me and good for me,” he answered in a husky voice, desire burning in his eyes.
“Can you get away?”
“Yes, you know I can. Duero can run everything.”
“You’re going to have one of the biggest hotels in the West soon.”
“I wish Dan were building it. At least the plans are his.”
“Between the saloons and the hotel, you’re going to be a busy man.”
“I have good men working for me who can take charge if I’m not there. When do you want to go to San Antonio?”
“As soon as you can. Noah, I’d like to bring Hattie back with us if she’ll come. I think Luke keeps her angry with Javier.”
Noah drew his fingers along April’s bare shoulder, his mind only half on their discussion. “Your brother Luke is a hard man. He had a hard past and he’s unbending about Javier. I can’t say I really blame him. I don’t know why you’re so forgiving.”
“Because Dan has told me how much in love Hattie and Javier were. I understand that. I couldn’t live without you, Noah.”
The last vestige of interest in their conversation vanished. He gathered her into his arms to kiss her. When he released her, she gazed into his eyes, her fingers trailing over his bare chest. “If she’s here and sees that I can forgive Javier, perhaps she can.”
“Away from Luke’s influence, she might relent. You can try, honey, but I wouldn’t interfere too much.”
“I won’t interfere. Look at Luke. He doesn’t have a kind word for Javier. It’s torn the family apart. It hurts Dan because he loves his father as well as his mother. I hate it, because I know Hattie isn’t happy. It keeps Luke angry.” Her thoughts switched to Luke and the latest letters from his wife, Catalina. “I wonder if Luke will ever run for governor.”
“I’ve told you—he talked to me a long time about it. Men want him to run, but he says he won’t, and I don’t think he’ll change his mind. He doesn’t want all the family secrets aired, particularly anything about Dan.”
“Or my past either. I hope Luke doesn’t really want to be governor, because Dan and I will keep him from it.”
“I don’t think he does. He likes the law practice, he’s happy with Catalina and his family.”
“How soon can we go? I’ll write to them.”
“As soon as you like,” he said softly, drawing his hand along her shoulder. “We can leave Friday.”
“I’ll see Luke’s best friend Ta-ne-haddle and Lottie again. It’s impossible to think of them settling into a house.”
“Not half as odd as Ta-ne-haddle becoming a rancher.”
“Lottie probably rides with him.”
“Lottie is chasing their children. How’s it feel to have a little one named for you?”
“Very nice. If Hattie comes home with us, I’m going to write and tell Javier.”
“You and Luke both should stay out of it. Let her make up her own mind.”
“I won’t beg her to return. I just want her to know that I’ve forgiven him. It doesn’t accomplish a thing to make him suffer now. Aaron will be excited about going. He thinks his uncles are the most wonderful men in the world. Next to you, I think the man he loves the most is his Uncle Luke.”
“For a stern man, Luke is good with children.
“Noah, that brings up something else.” She ran her pale fingers along his tan arm. “I didn’t have any family when I was growing up. I want Aaron to have brothers and sisters.”
Noah’s eyes darkened as he looked into hers. “You want another baby?”
“Don’t you?”
He pulled her to him to kiss her, giving her his answer in his embrace, while April wrapped her arms around his neck, temporarily forgetting her family’s problems.
Three weeks later they arrived in San Antonio, coming in along the wide green river, passing the missions that were almost two centuries old now. April could ride into town without painful memories. When she thought of the boy she had first loved, Emilio Piedra, it seemed so distant, something that had involved two children who were in love. She turned to touch Noah, thankful for him, adoring him. He kept her happy and he was a wonderful father to Aaron. And she prayed they would have another baby. She wanted children, lots of babies. Noah glanced down at her, draping his arm around her shoulders. The wagon slowed and halted, and he climbed down, swinging her to the ground as the relatives poured out of the house to greet them.
April marveled at how unchanged Hattie stayed, looking very much as she always had. Her yellow hair was now sprinkled with gray, but her skin was unlined, tanned from San Antonio’s warm sun.
April hugged Catalina and Luke. Ta-ne-haddle and Lottie had also ridden to town and Ta-ne-haddle scooped April up in a tight hug. Next she turned to Lottie, who wore her black hair in one long braid. Her skin was dark as teak as she squeezed April and held April’s namesake on her hip. The child gazed up with black eyes so different from April’s wide blue ones, and April had to hold her.
After quick perfunctory hugs, Luke’s boys wanted Aaron to go with them to look at a cave they had dug. They ran across the field, Dawn’s black hair flying in the breeze. Knox and Jeff were growing tall, promising to be as tall as their father, and Aaron struggled to keep up with the older children.
It wasn’t until almost suppertime, when Luke stood up and said he would go find the children, that April saw a chance to talk with him alone. She stood up quickly, excusing herself. “I’ll join you, in case Aaron wants to argue,” she said, smiling because she knew her gentle son wouldn’t argue with his Uncle Luke.
As they left the house, Luke draped his arm across her shoulders. “Noah’s good for you.”
“I adore him, Luke. I can’t imagine life without him.”
“We’re lucky, April. I worry about Dan, though. I hope his past is buried forever.”
“You need Catalina just as I need Noah. Luke,” she said, moving in front of him to stop him, “I want to take Hattie home with me.”
“You want her to go back to Javier,” Luke said quietly.
“Yes, I do. I know you can’t forgive him, but I can. I couldn’t live without Noah.”
“Noah wouldn’t do to you what Javier did to Hattie. He hurt us all.”
“He regrets it.”
“The hell he does. He regrets losing Hattie. What would you do if Noah took Aaron from you and abandoned him? Answer me!”
“I can’t answer a question like that.”
“Yes, you can. You couldn’t forgive him.”
“I don’t have to answer that. This isn’t Noah and Aaron and me
. It’s Hattie. I forgive Javier. We can’t undo the old hurts, but why keep Hattie and Javier apart now? He loves her deeply. Do you honestly think she’s happier here than she would be with Javier?”
“Of course I do. I’m not keeping her chained here. She can go home anytime she wants.”
“You know you stir up her anger with him.”
“No, I don’t April. Probably I did when we were first reunited with them and when she came home with us, but I don’t now. It’s their problem, not mine. I know that.”
“Then let me ask her to come home with me.”
“Sure, April. Go ahead and ask, but how you can forgive him, I’ll never know.”
“He’s Dan’s father, and Dan loves him. This hurts Dan. It hurts Hattie. The children are growing up without knowing their grandfather.”
“I can’t forgive him to that extent. If she goes back to him—”
“You let Knox, Jeff, and Emilio visit Hattie. Don’t separate them from their grandfather.”
He patted her shoulder. “You’re good, April. A lot more loving than I can be.”
She kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Luke.”
“And don’t get your hopes up,” he added. “She won’t read his letters or answer them.”
“When are you and Catalina coming to visit?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. We stay so damned busy. We talk about getting away, but then something always comes up. Hold your ears, I’ll whistle for the boys.” He whistled, a long sharp whistle that was answered in minutes by two short whistles.
“They’re coming. We can go back.”
“Is there still talk you’ll run for governor?”
“Sometimes, but it isn’t serious. I won’t do that. I don’t want to. Catalina doesn’t want the public life. And because of Dan, I don’t think I should.”
“I think he’s doing well in Denver.”
“I think so too. I’d like to come visit you, leave Catalina and the family there, and go on to Denver and see for myself how he’s doing, but I wouldn’t want to jeopardize the life he’s established.”
“You wouldn’t. He has a new name and a new identity.”
“It’s safer if I don’t.” They heard footsteps and turned around to see the children running toward them across an open field behind the house.