by Starla Kaye
"There won't be any." And he meant it. He faced the crowd, leveled a hard look at the fidgeting men. "Will there, boys?" His hands still rested on his holsters.
Most of them shook their heads, a few grumbled, "No."
He looked at the women. "How about you, ladies?"
Again, most shook their heads and a couple muttered, "No."
Now he looked at Jennie. She blinked at his unspoken question directed to her and huffed, "No."
Relieved, he decided it was time to deal with the real problem they faced...not the picnic. That would have to be dealt with at another time.
Daniel drew in a steadying breath. He faced the mayor and the council members. "I understand your main resistance to this picnic idea is that news will get around and the Walton Gang will be attracted to Dryfork." He thought about the wire in his pocket. "Fact is, Paddington, I'd believed they would come here sooner or later anyway."
His stomach tightened. Hell, he didn't want to have to say this, but he had no choice. "They've been heading in this direction, according to the wires I've been getting from other sheriffs."
He heard sharply drawn in breaths all around him, picked out Jennie's and turned to look at her. Adam was patting her shoulder in comfort, touching Faith's shoulder, too. Both women looked worried.
Sylvester snapped from behind him, "How long have you known this? Why wasn't I--weren't we--informed?"
"Because I've been on top of the matter. It's my job to watch out for the town."
He listened to the growing grumblings of the men, the whisperings of the women. He tensed, not wanting to tell them the really bad news. But he had to. He drew in a calming breath, glanced at Jennie, and then focused on the men by the bar. "The Gang has been spotted on east of Dodge City. The sheriff there is putting together a posse to go after them."
While the tension mounted around the room, he hesitated and then added, "I want to pull together a posse here, too."
Now the voices grew louder, concerned. The previous irritation had disappeared. Strain filled the room.
"Why exactly is Dodge City's sheriff going after them now? Before they've done any harm," Sylvester called out, still full of bluster.
Daniel's jaw hardened and, again, he looked toward Jennie. Once more he thought about the wire in his pocket. He hated this. He really hated having to say this, but it had to be said. "Because they killed a woman in the last town they passed through. I got a wire about it only a short while ago."
* * *
Jennie gaped at her husband, felt her legs giving out, and couldn't seem to find enough breath to fill her lungs. A woman had been killed by the gang everyone had been talking about. Until now they'd only caused havoc in the towns they'd passed through. This was so much worse. Terrible things happened back East, too, but nothing like this. Gangs didn't ride from city to city frightening people and getting away with what this gang did. At least she didn't think so. She and Daniel should be living in Boston, not out here in this wild frontier. Daniel should ...
And then Daniel was standing in front of her, pulling her into his arms. He held her so close she could feel his heart thudding against her. He ignored the chaos around them for a minute and just held her. It felt good, safe. She didn't want him to let her go. She wanted him to take her home, make love to her, and forget all about this craziness. She wanted...
But that wasn't to be. He eased back, held her by the shoulders, and looked down at her. Grim determination tightened his expression. Then as if he'd known the thoughts going through her mind about Boston, he shook his head. "No, Jennie. I am not going back there, probably ever."
"But..." Fear for something happening to him while he rode with a posse curled through her. Tears misted her eyes. She felt cold all over.
She heard the voices growing anxious all around them. Men were trying to decide who would ride with him and who would stay to protect the town's women. Women were fussing about their men, worrying about them. She understood that worry, was almost sick with it and Daniel was still standing here touching her.
"You don't need this right now," Daniel bit out from behind Daniel. His hardened eyes narrowed at her with something like disgusted disappointment. "If she's so set on going back to Boston, let her go. I'll see that she's on the next stage headed back east."
Surprising them, Faith spun to face him and hissed, "Stay out of it!"
Adam blinked and then scowled at Faith.
Jennie swiped at her tears and swallowed the lump in her throat, then snapped, "I really don't like you, Adam Braddock. You're just making everything worse. You've been doing that ever since I came to Dryfork."
Daniel reached around and swatted her bottom. "Enough!" He focused on his brother while Jennie's cheeks burned in embarrassment. "I can't deal with the two of you going at each other now. I wanted you to watch after Jennie while I was gone, but now I don't. I'll have Caleb do it."
She watched Adam's eyes widen, saw him stiffen. He shot an angry look at her, gave a curt nod, and stormed away. For just a second, Daniel's shoulders slumped. Guilt swept through her. She hadn't meant to cause a problem between the brothers, especially now with Daniel facing a potentially dangerous situation. She gently touched his arm and he flinched, so she dropped her hand. Still she said quietly, "I'm sorry."
He barely looked at her; instead his gaze followed Adam striding through the mass of people and out of the saloon. "We'll talk about it later when I get back."
To her shock, he stepped around her and went to talk with the men about getting ready to leave immediately. She stood there, numb with disbelief. Even though everyone was concerned about this new problem, many looked in her direction with a mix of irritation at upsetting their sheriff, in confusion, and in worry. She felt like an outsider all over again.
Faith inched next to her and put an arm around her shoulders but didn't say a word. Jennie was grateful for the silent support. They stayed there together, listening, worrying, waiting.
Finally the men seemed to make some decisions. Daniel glanced at her with an expression she couldn't really read. She waited for him to come to her and explain what was happening now, to let her apologize again, to give her some kind of reassurance. But he didn't. He gave her a slight tip of his head and walked out of the saloon with a large group of men.
A tip of his head? What was that supposed to mean?
She raced after him. Surely he wasn't going to leave without speaking to her again. Surely he'd hug her one more time, kiss her good-bye.
But she stopped on the boardwalk just outside the saloon and found him standing in the road nearby talking to one of his twin brothers, Caleb, the town's preacher. Daniel didn't even look her way, just said, "Watch after Jennie. Keep her safe." Then he strode toward the livery stable no doubt to get his horse.
Heartbroken.Furious. She stepped into the road, ignored the people staring at her, and shouted, "Daniel Braddock! You stop right there!"
He hesitated and turned to face her. He didn't look happy. "Jennie, I don't have time for this. You go with Caleb now."
Caleb walked next to her. She moved away from him, continuing to focus on her husband. "Don't you go getting yourself killed! You hear me? Not so much as a bullet wound."
The tension seemed to ease from him a bit. His gaze met hers. "And don't you go leaving town. You hear me?"
* * *
Daniel was more than ready to get back to Dryfork, back to Jennie. If she was still there. They had been chasing after the Walton Gang for almost a week without any luck. Yesterday they'd caught up the posse from Dodge City, who also hadn't managed to catch up with the gang of outlaws. That posse was giving up for now. So were they.
He shifted in his saddle, his butt sore from days of hard riding. He felt drained, too. The men who had ridden with him were exhausted as well, so much that they weren't even grumbling anymore about not having caught up with the gang. In truth, Daniel would have preferred that the Dodge City posse have found them and hauled them to their
jail. His jail wasn't all that big. And he didn't particularly like the idea of the murderous bunch in his town. Especially with Jennie around. If she's still there. How many times had he worried that she would take the next stage out of town and back to Boston? The stage should have stopped there a couple of days ago. He'd seen the fear in her eyes at the knowledge that he had to ride out on a posse after dangerous men. It wasn't the kind of thing he did often. It certainly wasn't anything she was familiar with. To her, Boston was safe, even if that was a naive view. He had to admit that it probably was a hell of a lot safer than living out here on the frontier at times. He wanted Jennie safe, but he couldn't back down on this matter. He couldn't go back to Boston and live.
He clutched the reins tighter in frustration and his horse jerked her head in response. He eased his hold and tried to calm down. If she couldn't deal with the occasional dangers here, with him having to ride on posse from time to time, maybe he needed to pack her clothes and ship her back to her parents. He couldn't worry every time he had to do his job that she would up and leave him because she couldn't live with being a lawman's wife. His thoughts needed to be focused on what he was doing in times like this. Otherwise he could get himself killed, or get other men riding with him killed. His thoughts certainly hadn't been focused on this posse the last few days. No, he'd been worried about Jennie.
God, if she'd left... Even knowing he should end this marriage for both their sakes, his gut twisted at considering it. He loved that stubborn little woman.
Daniel shoved his troubled musings aside. They would be in Dryfork by tomorrow morning sometime. If they rode hard, they could make it back tonight. But he and the others were too damn tired for that. He had to be patient a while longer.
"I hate like hell seeing you at odds with Adam," his brother Ben said heavily as he rode up next to Daniel. "You're both so damn stubborn."
Daniel spared Ben a glance and saw the concern in his dark eyes. Both his brothers had ridden on this posse. Caleb had stayed behind to keep an eye on Jennie, at least he hoped so. He hadn't said a word to Adam in all this time, but Adam had steered away from him as much as possible. Yes, they were both stubborn.
He looked ahead once more, his shoulders weighed down by so much in his life at the moment. The problems with Jennie. The situation with Adam. The worry about the Walton Gang. He spoke gruffly, "I don't like him putting ideas in Jennie's head."
"About going back to Boston?" Ben asked. "Hasn't she tried to convince you of it already? That was the impression I got from Adam. You know he cares about you, doesn't want to see you hurt. He thinks she's going to hurt you."
Daniel's mood soured even more. He glared at Ben, who glared right back. "He doesn't want to see anyone hurt, because he's suffered so damn much. I understand that. But this is between Jennie and me." He blew out a breath and looked away again. "This isn't a life she's used to, but she's been trying. Until this. She was scared."
"And you didn't do a damn thing to soothe her from what I hear. You didn't even--"
Daniel craned his head to scowl at his brother. "Adam tell you this?"
Ben shook his head. "No, but a number of the men have been talking about it. They saw her call you down in the street, heard you yell back at her. Then you walked off and left her standing there. They said you didn't even glance in her direction was you rode past her with the posse."
"Don't you think I've been wishing I'd done different?" he barked, causing his mare to side-step. He'd been mentally kicking himself from the moment they'd left town about how he'd treated her. "I may not have glanced at her, but I knew she was there. If I'd looked at her, I'm not sure I could have left. And I had to, dammit. This is my job."
Ben didn't say anything else and Daniel was glad. He was tired of talking about all this. He was just praying he'd get to town and find a way to make peace with his wife. Or send her back to Boston so you don't have to go through this again. No! He didn't want to think about that.
* * *
The sun was high in the sky the next morning by the time Daniel pulled away from the posse to stop at his ranch. He hadn't slept a wink last night. Something was wrong. His gut had been knotted ever since his talk with Ben. He needed to see Jennie, needed to hold her tight.
He dismounted and wrapped the reins around the hitching post in front of the house. Drawing in a steadying breath, he hurried inside. Silence met him. The main room was empty.
He strode to the bedroom, calling out, "Jennie! Jennie, you in there?"
Silence. He felt sick as he glanced around the small room. Every damn nail that had held her clothes was empty. Her trunks were missing.
Jennie was gone. She'd left him just like Adam had said she would.
Shit!
Chapter Five
Jennie sat on the edge of her bed and wondered, not for the first time, what she was doing here. Never in her wildest dreams would she have ever expected to be staying in a room above a saloon. Her parents would... Well, they would probably die from mortification if they knew. Unusual circumstances had brought her here and she was grateful that Angelica had taken her in. She was thankful that her new friends had stopped her from leaving town, at least for now. She still didn't know what she wanted to do about Daniel and their marriage.
She yawned and stretched. She hadn't slept much in over a week, not since Daniel had left with the posse. The first night she'd tossed and turned, uncomfortable from the switching and the ride to and from town on horseback. She'd pouted and cried most of the night. He'd been so heartless leaving her the way he had. She still hadn't forgiven him, even if she understood that he had a job to do.
With a quick glance out the nearby window, she realized she'd slept late. She noted that the sun was already high in the sky so it was probably already almost noon. Noon. She'd never slept so late in her life. Living temporarily above a saloon that stayed lively until well after midnight didn't make for easy sleeping. But she couldn't bring herself to go back to the ranch. It had been lonely without Daniel...and then Adam...
She blew out a deep breath. Frustrated didn't even come close to describing how she felt with each and every one of the Braddock brothers. Maybe her father had been right, that she should have stayed clear of all of them. Still, her heart pinched at the thought of Daniel. She loved him, but she wasn't sure love was enough. Maybe she'd made a mistake coming all the way here. Maybe she should have stayed in Boston.
Climbing off the bed, she took a plain white blouse and a simple green skirt from where they were draped on top of one of her trunks. She hadn't unpacked anything since Caleb had reluctantly toted them up here. He sure hadn't wanted to do it, but Angelica could be very persuasive.
She pulled a petticoat over her drawers and smiled at the thought of Angelica and Caleb. What a pair they made, Daniel's preacher brother and the pretty saloon owner. Not that they were interested in each other, but they bickered like brother and sister. Angelica was Ben's woman. Everyone in town knew it, but neither of them was willing to risk moving into a permanent relationship. Love certainly had its problems sometimes.
Sighing at the problems she faced, Jennie put on the blouse and buttoned the front. That darn Adam had made everything worse. He'd basically harassed her into leaving Daniel, talked her into going back to Boston, even helped her pack her trunks and brought her into town to the depot. She'd been too miserable to keep fighting with him. But Angelica and Faith had been talking outside the mercantile and spotted them. Angelica and Faith had raced after their wagon, while Annabelle had rounded up Caleb to go help them. Then in front of the depot and a half dozen people waiting for the stage, Angelica had furiously lit into Adam. Faith had torn into Caleb, too, when he hesitated about convincing Jennie to stay in Dryfork until Daniel got back.
She reached for her skirt. Had she made the right decision staying here until Daniel returned? Maybe it would have been easier on them both if she'd just left town. She swallowed a painful lump of emotion. He hadn't even hugged her good-bye b
efore he'd walked away from her to ride out on posse. They had shouted at each other and their final words to one another had played over and over in her mind ever since. "Don't you go getting yourself killed!" she'd warned him, worried and angry at the same time. He'd yelled right back, "And don't you go leaving town."
Her troubled thoughts were interrupted by a soft tapping on the door. "Are you getting up and around, Jennie?" Angelica asked, sounding concerned.
"You can come in," Jennie called back and stepped into her skirt. She pushed her musings aside and forced a smile for her new friend.
The door opened and Angelica walked inside, studying Jennie. Although they were the same age, Angelica had far more experience in life and, surprisingly, she had an enormous mother-streak. She fretted over her regular saloon customers and she had been worrying about Jennie.
"I can't believe I slept so late." Jennie shook her head in dismay. "I should have been up by now and at the mercantile already." Annabelle had insisted she help at the store while she was staying in town. Jennie knew the older woman was worried about her, wanted to keep an eye on her more than she actually needed help. And she loved her for caring so much.
Angelica gave her an embarrassed look. "I'm sorry the men were in such a boisterous mood last night. I really tried to convince them to leave earlier, but..."
Jennie smoothed down her skirt. "You don't have to apologize to me. This is a saloon. It's good for your business when they stay a little late, when they keep buying drinks. I understand that."
"Yes, but..."
A number of plodding hooves along Main Street drifted to them through the open window. Jennie froze, knowing before Angelica went to look out that the posse had returned. Her stomach knotted and she put a hand across it to calm the nerves there.