by Mary Burton
Footsteps sounded behind him. He didn’t have to know who stood there. It was Ellie. Somewhere along the way her scent, her presence, had become so familiar to him. It was as if they’d known each other a lifetime.
“Miss Adeline always said when a man’s angry it’s best to leave him be and let him cool off.”
His jaw tightened and released. “Maybe you best listen to that advice.”
Ellie moved beside him. She leaned against the fence, staring in the same direction he did. He could feel her warmth and, despite his anger, he grew hard just thinking about touching her. “I’ve never been good at taking advice. Miss Adeline always said I was hardheaded and single-minded.”
He wasn’t going to soften toward her. “Where is this going, Ellie?”
“I came here to apologize.”
“Why should you? You were doing exactly what I should have expected you to do. You were looking out for yourself.”
“You’re right, I was.”
A thick silence fell between them and for several minutes Nick did his best to nurture his anger. “I was honest with you from the first.”
“Except for the little white lie about you being a marshal.”
He set his jaw. “It’s not the same.”
“Isn’t it? You felt desperate. And I’ve felt a little desperate these last months.” Her voice was quiet, as if the admission had cost her.
Nick kept his gaze nailed to the horizon for fear that if he looked at her, he would melt. “How long have you known about the map?”
“Not even a full twenty-four hours. I found it last night at bedtime.”
Damn his hide, but he wanted to believe her.
“I didn’t know the map was in the Bible when Jade gave it to me. She told me it belonged to her grandmother—that it was a family heirloom.”
Nick snorted. “Jade grew up in an orphanage in New York. She never knew her family.”
Ellie blinked, shocked by the information. “She sounded so genuine. I really thought she meant everything she said.” She frowned. “She told me Rose was the best thing that ever happened to her.”
Nick swallowed. “Likely, that part was true. Jade was a cold, calculating woman who never gave anything to anyone. She wouldn’t have given you the map if she hadn’t trusted you and wanted the best for Rose.”
“Then why not tell me about the map?”
“Jade always worked the angles. Maybe she figured Frank was on your heels. If you didn’t know where the gold was, then you couldn’t tell him. Jade hated Frank with a vengeance.”
Ellie nodded. “Jade used to make fun of him when he visited the brothel. She hated the way he would just sit and stare at the girls. It bothered her that he never bought time with any of them.”
This was new information to Nick. “He never spent time with the women?”
“No.”
“What would he do?”
“He always ordered a big meal, but he wouldn’t sit in the dining room with the other customers. He’d sit silent in the kitchen and eat while I worked.”
Ellie’s information fit with what he knew. “Frank and Monty’s parents lost their farm back in ’63. Frank always wanted to return to Missouri a rich man. The gold was his ticket back.”
“Honestly, I wish I’d never heard of the gold.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this information about Frank before?”
“I didn’t think it mattered much that he liked his steak rare and his potatoes with extra salt.”
Nick rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down at her. The sunlight caught her red curls, making them look so vibrant. The freckles over the bridge of her nose combined with her pale, smooth skin had a devastating effect on him.
This softness he had for her angered him. Never before had he felt so vulnerable. Not even with Crystal. How could he ever believe her again?
“I’m not sure what you expect from me.” His voice held a bite he’d not expected.
She lifted her chin. Pride radiated from her. “I don’t expect anything from you. I came to give you my apologies, is all. I should have given you the map right off.” She turned to leave.
Before he thought, he reached out and took her arm in his. She stopped and looked up at him. The emotion in her eyes was as clear as the words on a page. Hope. Sorrow. Longing.
Unable to resist, he pulled her to him. She stood so close, the tips of her breasts brushed his chest. The top of her head barely reached his shoulders. He pushed her chin up so that he could see her lips. So smooth and round.
He leaned his face forward and gently kissed her. He wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her.
Nick savagely reined in his emotions. She was his Achilles’ heel. He broke the kiss and stepped back.
She looked confused and disappointed. “Why did you stop?”
He stabbed his fingers through his hair. “I can’t seem to control myself when I’m with you.”
Her lips glistened with the moisture from their kiss. “Is that so bad?”
“Yes.”
His raw honesty had her looking deeper into his eyes.
He swallowed, sure he could drown in those eyes. “God help me, but I’ve been through all this with my wife Crystal. Hell, it could have been July, she could have told me it was snowing, and I’d have believed her.”
She didn’t speak.
“Her lies and deceptions nearly killed me. I won’t go through that again.”
“All I can do is say I’m sorry. Lying is not my way.”
“Then why lie to me? Why didn’t you trust me?”
She met his gaze head-on. “Because you scare the living daylights out of me. I’ve been surrounded by men all my life. I’ve had more marriage proposals than I could count, but I’ve never had anyone throw me off balance like you have. For the first time, I understand how a woman can lose herself to a man. And I swore I’d never do that.”
“You do the same to me and I don’t like it one bit.”
She took a step back. “Maybe we’re too damaged to love or trust anyone.”
The truth wasn’t pretty. “Maybe.”
“Maybe it’s best things didn’t work out between us.”
He frowned. “Maybe.”
Her breath hitched in her throat and for a moment she didn’t speak. Finally she said, “I’ll keep my distance from you until this mess with Frank is resolved. After that, I wish you the best.”
He watched her walk back to the cabin with her back straight. So proud and tall.
Nick swallowed a lump in his throat and stared at the horizon again. Jagged mountains scraped the vivid blue sky. The sight of Ellie walking away was more painful than he could have ever imagined.
He crushed the gold map in his hand. He could put out enough information in the right places and soon Frank would know he had the gold, not Ellie. Frank’s greed would flush him out. And then Nick would capture him.
His business would be done.
He could get on with his life.
And he’d never see Ellie again.
The plan was perfect. And he knew in his heart it would work.
So why did he feel like hell?
ELLIE COULDN’T SLEEP that night. Everyone was asleep—Nick in his spare room, Mike in another and Annie in her room.
Tomorrow the minister would arrive. Annie and Mike would be married. Nick would leave.
She rolled onto her side and punched her pillow. Why should she care if Nick Baron walked out of her life or not? Sure she cared about him, but it wasn’t as if she loved the man.
Love.
The word flashed in her head like a streak of lightning.
Love.
Annie had asked her if she loved Nick. No, she did not love Nick Baron. Women who fell in love with men like him were foolish and, if anything, she was smart in the ways of men. Yes, she might have a weak spot for him, but love?
Unable to sleep, she sat up and lit a lantern. She glanced in the cradle at Rose. Satisfied the baby slept, she pulle
d on her robe. She’d expected to rise early in the morning to make Annie and Mike’s cake. She should grab what sleep she could now.
But she knew herself well enough to know that she’d not sleep tonight. Her mind and body were far too restless.
She moved quietly into the kitchen, careful not to wake anyone. She pulled out the mixing bowls. She collected the butter she’d churned just days ago, flour, the precious little sugar she had, along with the baking soda and salt. Luckily the chickens had produced well this week and there were enough eggs. Normally, she’d have had to hoard them for days.
She measured the butter and sugar into a large wooden bowl and started to cream them with a spoon.
Ellie heard footsteps. She paused, torn between worry that it was Nick and guilt that she’d woken Mike or Annie.
Annie padded into the kitchen, pulling on a robe as she moved. “Can’t sleep?”
Ellie set the bowl on the table. “I’d hoped I wouldn’t wake you.”
Annie shook her head. “No, I wasn’t asleep anyway. These last two weeks, I’ve gotten used to having Mike by my side. I miss him.”
“Why isn’t he with you tonight?”
“He wanted to wait until the preacher said his sacred words over our union.”
“Have you and Mike thought about what you’ll do after the wedding tomorrow? I know he has a place in town.”
“The town has too many people for me. And since he can keep his coach and horses here, there’s no reason why he can’t live at the coach stop.”
“That makes sense.”
Soon Mike would want Annie alone in their new home, without Ellie and Rose underfoot. He would never ask them to leave, but he would long for privacy with his wife.
Ellie and Rose would have to leave. She had suspected for weeks now that this time would come, but now that it was here, she felt great sadness. The coach stop had been her first real home.
In a second bowl, she measured out two cups of flour. Her movements were slow and deliberate. Concentrating on the cake was easier than thinking about her and Rose’s future.
“I can see your mind working,” Annie said. “You have nothing to worry about. There will always be a place for you here at the coach stop.”
Annie’s kindness touched her. She knew Annie meant everything she said. “A newly married couple deserves their own home.”
Annie shook her head. “Mike and I have already talked about this. He wants you and Rose to stay. We’ve talked about building another room onto the house.”
Ellie cracked two eggs into the batter. “Annie, that is so kind of you. But it’s not right.”
“Nonsense. I won’t hear another word from you. You and Rose are staying.”
Ellie smiled, but she was already thinking ahead. “Your life is moving on and I am so glad. But Rose and I don’t belong here.”
Annie looked stricken. “You are like my daughter, my family. It would break my heart to see you leave.”
A tear fell down Ellie’s cheek. “Daughters leave home. You left your mother’s home.”
Tears glistened in Annie’s eyes. “But I only just found you.”
“I am not going far away,” she said, swallowing the new tears burning her throat.
“I don’t want you to go.”
“We will go into town. I’ll open a café with my reward money. We will be fine. I promise.”
Annie sniffed and shook her head. “My mother always said that one day I would understand how she felt when I left home. Now I do.”
Ellie laid her hand on Annie’s arm, which felt cold. “And one day Rose will leave me and I know I will come here and cry on your shoulder. It is the way of the world.”
The women hugged.
Ellie pulled back. “Now stop, you are going to make me cry and I have a cake to bake.”
“What can I do to help? I have never been much of a baker, but I want to help.”
Ellie smiled, grateful that they would share this simple task. “Stoke the fires in the stove and bring me that tin of cinnamon.”
The women worked side by side for the next hour. Neither spoke of Ellie’s impending move, but the changes that would soon come to their lives weighed heavily on their minds.
Annie finally retired just after midnight, but Ellie stayed up until the cakes baked to a golden brown. She set them on the kitchen table and, as they cooled, she mixed the brown sugar icing. When she’d finished, she couldn’t help but admire her work. The cake was one of the best she’d ever made and pride welled inside her.
Rose woke and Ellie mixed a bottle and fed the girl. She held her close, savoring the soft scent of milk and the sound of the baby suckling.
When Ellie finished feeding the baby, she crawled into bed just after two in the morning. The cabin smelled of warm cinnamon. Her muscles ached but her mind spun.
Nick had become such a part of her life in such a short time. And soon he’d be gone.
What would she do without him?
NICK KNEW the instant Ellie shut off her lantern downstairs. Wide awake, he lay in his bed, his hands tucked behind his head. For the past couple of hours he’d stared at the shadows slashing across the ceiling while he’d listened to Ellie move around the kitchen.
He’d also heard everything she’d said to Annie.
Sighing, he rolled on his side. He closed his eyes but knew sleep wouldn’t claim him for hours.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NICK WOULD HAVE LEFT at first light, but hard rains had kept him pinned in the barn until almost nine o’clock. As soon as the sky cleared, he headed for the corral. He’d stayed clear of the cabin. There seemed to be no need to say goodbye to anyone.
Mike and Annie would be happy to see him go—there’d be no tearful goodbyes with them. And Ellie, well, they’d said all that needed to be said yesterday. And, in truth, he wasn’t sure if he had the strength to say goodbye to her.
The idea of leaving her saddened him beyond words, but it was best to make a clean break now. He’d see she got the reward money and that she and Rose would be taken care of.
Nick was draping his saddle blanket over his mare’s back when an old man rode up to the coach stop on a gray gelding. Drenched, he wore black and sported a white beard that grew into a point.
The stranger rode toward the corral and dismounted. He shook the rain from his hat. “You the groom?”
Nick turned toward his saddle, hanging over the fence. “Nope.”
“A guest?”
“Not exactly.”
“Ah, not an employee and not a guest. A man who defies description.”
The hint of humor in the newcomer’s voice had Nick smiling despite his foul mood. “Something like that.”
The other man didn’t press. He placed his hands at the base of his spine and arched his back. “There was a time I could ride for days and feel just fine. Now I’ve got to stop every half day to stretch my legs and empty my bladder. Getting old is a damnable curse.”
Nick glanced down at the stranger. Despite his complaints, his eyes were bright. “My name is Nick Baron.”
The old man held out his hand. “Reverend Shaun Johnson. I’ve come here to marry Annie and Mike.”
Nick nodded. “They are expecting you.” He felt cut off, out of touch with news in the area. Frank Palmer could be over the rise, for all he knew. “I’ve been here over a week. Pick up any news in the area?”
The minister shrugged. “No more than the usual. I hear from a couple of cowhands on the trail that they captured a fellow a few days’ ride from here. He’s wanted for murder and a railroad robbery.”
Nick’s interest sharpened. “He got a name?”
“They say it’s Palmer. But you never can tell. When the reward is high, folks would turn their mother in to the jailhouse.”
Damn, could it be that easy? Could it be over with Frank? He felt no relief, only an anxious need to see Frank face-to-face. “Where they taking him?”
“Word is Butte.”
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p; Butte. It made sense that Frank would be headed that way. Perhaps he’d figured out where the gold was without the map.
Nick put his saddle over the horse. He’d soon find out.
“You staying after the wedding?” he asked the minister.
“No. I’ve got to be moving on.”
“Where you headed?”
“Butte, as a matter of fact.”
“I’m heading in the same direction myself.”
“If you wait until after the ceremony, I’ll ride with you. The trail is a might more tolerable with company.”
Nick wanted to get away from here while he still had the strength to leave Ellie. But as he looked at the old man’s hands, bent by arthritis and time, he knew the pastor would fare better if he traveled with him. “How long you going to be?”
“An hour, maybe two. Just long enough to hitch these two folks and get me a bite to eat.”
“A few more hours won’t make a difference to me.” If Frank was in jail, a day or two wouldn’t make any difference. And he couldn’t resist one last look at Ellie. “How about we leave at noon?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Nick decided then that this hunger he had for Ellie had turned him into a fool. “Go on inside and I’ll unsaddle your horse and turn him loose in the corral.”
“Appreciate it. I hear Miss Annie has hired a new cook who cooks like an angel.”
“Very true.”
The minister hesitated a second as he looked at Nick. Recognition flickered in the pastor’s eyes. “Have we met before?”
“No.”
“But I have heard about you.”
Tensing, Nick pulled the saddle off his horse and hung it on the corral fence again. “Most people have.”
The pastor grinned. “Not all the stories were bad. I know a family that was brutalized by that outlaw Ramsey. The little girl didn’t start sleeping at night until you locked that outlaw up in jail.”
The information caught Nick by surprise. He never looked back after a job or stopped to think how his actions affected others.
Reverend Johnson laid his hand on Nick’s arm. “You’re an avenging angel,” the minister said. “And a real blessing to many people.”
Nick felt his throat tighten. An unseen weight lifted from his shoulders. Perhaps he was still one of the good guys. “That’s a first for me.”