“I’m your wife!” Jenny yelled at his battered back. “And I absolutely forbid it!
Jason looked at her like she’d just dropped in from the moon, then went about the task of putting on the shirt. Tentatively he attempted to slide his arm into the sleeve, grimacing as the sleeve fell back and he had to reach for it and start over.
Jenny stood in front of him and planted her hands on her hips. “You cannot go!”
He glared at her. “Either get out of my way or help me put the damn shirt on.”
She stood her ground. “You can’t drive in your condition. You could get lightheaded and fall off the wagon and down the side of the mountain.”
“I’m going.” He stepped around her while struggling to put his arm into a sleeve that insisted on evading him.
“Okay, if you’re so damned stubborn I’ll drive you there myself!” Jenny guided his hand into the shirt sleeve. “But I don’t see why this can’t wait until tomorrow.”
Jason turned to her, face sober, and said, “Do you have any idea what it’s like to dig a dead man out of a pile of rubble? It’s not a pretty site. I’m going to the Dusty today if I have to crawl. But if you want to drive, that’s fine. Either way, I’m going.”
Although Jenny was terrified of driving along the narrow road that hugged the side of the mountain, she was determined not to let it show. Jason had her pegged as a city-bred woman, too spineless to be the wife of a miner, and she was bent on proving him wrong.
While feeding Lily, the idea came to her that maybe she could deal her first hand at matchmaking. She’d fix up a pad in the wagon for Jason to lie on, and Sarah Jensen could sit on the box and hold Lily. That way, Sarah could meet Seth without him knowing he was being inspected as a potential husband.
A few minutes later, when she approached Sarah with the idea, the young woman was ecstatic, and she promptly went about putting herself together. They decided that under the circumstances, Jason would be in no mood to be a party to a matchmaking scheme, so they said nothing to him.
As they traveled the narrow road along the mountainside, Jenny and Sarah sat on the box while Jason sat half-reclined in the back of the wagon on a horsehair pad covered with several quilts. With his back propped against a pillow, he stared blankly at the scene unfolding behind, his mind trying to piece together a puzzle that kept breaking apart.
His brain might have been fogged by whiskey, but he hadn’t been so drunk he couldn’t remember nuzzling Jenny’s breasts while she’d stitched him up. The smell of lemon balm wafting from between them was a potent aphrodisiac. The aroma was still in his nostrils, and he imagined it would be there in memory for a long time to come. In fact, he’d probably never smell lemon balm again without thinking about how soft and warm Jenny’s breasts were, and how much he’d wanted to open her bodice, lower her chemise and make her glad she was a woman.
It was afterwards, when Su Ling and the women lowered him onto the bed that things became fuzzy. At the time, he wasn’t sure who was stripping off his clothes, though he knew now it had been Jenny and Su Ling. But he did remember the sharp jolt he’d felt when they yanked off his trousers and the waistband snagged his hardened cock and hung-up momentarily before snapping loose. The shock must have knocked him out because he’d drifted off after that, and into an erotic dream with Jenny stretched out beside him, making him glad he was a man.
Those pieces of the puzzle meshed together pretty well. But the missing piece was... Why had Jenny slept in his bed? She could have stayed in her own bed with the door open between their rooms. But she’d slept in his bed, with him stretched out naked beside her, and nothing happened. Well something did happen. There was a hell of a mess on the sheets. But he’d missed it. Or had he? Another piece of the puzzle began to take its place as if coming out of a dream... lemon balm... Jenny touching him... the body in his dream responding... the body propped in the wagon responding... “Damnation!”
Jenny looked over her shoulder. “You okay?” she said, breaking the mind puzzle into a hundred pieces.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he replied, then wondered what he was going to do about his on-going problem. It was hell being married to a woman whose presence kept him in a constant state of arousal while he was forced to live like a monk. The irony of it was, she wasn’t forcing him to live that way. He was the one to take the vow of chastity. But she wasn’t making it easy either...
“The Dusty is just ahead,” she announced.
Jason looked around, marveling that Jenny had driven the wagon along a ledge he knew terrified her, without so much as a whimper. She’d also bathed the blood from his chest and cleaned his wounds and stitched up his head, without a whimper. If he didn’t feel like he’d been run through a grinder, and Sarah Jensen hadn’t been on the box holding his step-daughter, he’d be tempted to scoop Jenny up in his arms, lay her on the padding and make her glad she was a miner’s wife. There was no question of his ability to satisfy her right now, messed up as he was.
When Jenny pulled the wagon to a halt, Seth rushed out of the shaft house. Ignoring the women, he said to Jason, “God almighty! You look like hell. Anything broken?”
“Yeah, probably a few ribs,”
“Ribs?” Jenny turned on the box. “You never said anything about ribs.”
Jason stood, one hand grasping the side of the wagon, the other holding his side. “Yeah, well, they’ll heal without a lot of fuss.”
“Not if you don’t stay quiet!”
Jason looked at Seth. “Help me down from of this wagon.”
Jenny glared at Jason. “You have no business being here with broken ribs. Please Seth, make him go home.”
“Sorry Jenny, he’s bigger than me, and you know the kinda punch he can throw." Seth rubbed his jaw in memory, then looked at his brother and said, “We’re okay down there, Jase. We’ve cleared the rubble and we’re splicing in new timbers. Go home.”
“Help me out of this wagon.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Seth made no move to help him.
“I heard. Now help me down. I want to see what you’re doing down there.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about the younger Colby brother,” she said to Sarah, “but the elder is near impossible.”
Sarah said nothing. Her eyes were fixed on a man standing at the entrance to the shaft house, whose eyes were fixed on her. Sarah blinked several times. “He’s surely a fine-looking man," she said. "Do you know who he is?”
“No, but I suppose we can find out.” Jenny turned to Seth. “Could you ask that young man to help us get Jason out of the wagon?”
“Yes ma’am.” Seth fetched the man, and after they'd helped Jason down, and Seth was walking with Jason to the shaft house, the man turned to Jenny and Sarah, who were still sitting in the wagon, and introduced himself as Will Jacobs. But Jenny knew he was introducing himself to Sarah only—his eyes never left her face. Jenny also noted that Sarah’s lips were moist and parted, her face was flushed with infatuation, and her brilliant blue eyes were fixed on Will Jacob’s dark gaze.
“Will,” Jenny said, attempting to break the charge that crackled between the two. “Perhaps you’ll show Miss Jensen the shaft house and tell her a little bit about mining.”
Will Jacob’s mouth lifted in a slow, engaging smile. “I’d be happy to,” he said in a low, seductive voice that made Jenny at once reconsider her brash move in putting the young folks together. After all, Sarah was as innocent as a lamb, and Will was... She had no idea about Will Jacob’s intentions as she knew nothing at all about the man. But she did know about smoldering gazes, engaging smiles, and low seductive voices. Far too much.
When Sarah smiled her acceptance, Jenny sincerely hoped Will Jacobs was an honorable man. Jenny climbed down from the wagon and Sarah handed Lily to her. Then Sarah moved to the edge of the box for Will to help her down. Will raised his arms, and Sarah propped her hands on his broad shoulders and he lifted her down. They stood staring at each other until Will
offered a dusty arm and Sarah slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. He covered her hand with his and gave it a pat, and Sarah covered his hand with hers, as if they’d been courting for months, and she went with him into the dark shadowy depths of the shaft house.
As Jenny watched them disappear into the darkness, she was reminded of her time alone with a handsome man in the clandestine passageways of a mine, and the heated kiss that still burned on her lips. Maybe Sarah would also take away a memory of a passionate kiss that would forever haunt her with a promise of what could be.
After Jason hobbled down the main passageway with Seth, and Sarah and Will had disappeared into a drift tunnel, Jenny sat on a box in the shaft house and nursed Lily.
It was over an hour before Jason and Seth finally returned, but Will and Sarah had still not come back and Jenny was frantic with worry. She couldn’t dismiss the intense attraction between the two, or how vulnerable Sarah would be if Will decided to take liberties. And if Sarah turned up with child, Jenny would be to blame. One just didn’t send a naive young woman into the dark seclusion of a mine with an eager young man used to the company of dance hall girls.
“They’ve been gone for over an hour” she said to Jason. “Who knows what might happen between two young people alone like that.”
She hadn’t intended to trigger memories of their encounter in the mine, but when Jason looked at her, there was no doubt where his thoughts were. “Which way did they go?” he asked.
“Down that tunnel.” She pointed to a drift tunnel that branched off from the main passageway. As Jason started down the tunnel, Jenny cradled Lily in her arms and rushed up to him, catching him by the arm. “Please don’t go. Send Seth,” she begged, but he shrugged off her hand and continued on, and she knew better than to try and stop him.
Not more than ten minutes later, Jason returned with a red-faced Sarah, and a slump-shouldered Will. “Young lady, get in the wagon,” he said to Sarah.
On seeing the flush to Sarah’s face and the dewy look in her eyes, Jenny knew what the young woman had been up to—the temptation of being alone in the dark depths of a mine tunnel with someone who stirred her blood was far too intoxicating. Jenny only hoped that whatever happened between them stopped with a few heated kisses.
Jason took Will by the arm and ushered him aside, where he gave him a tongue lashing about propriety and respecting a woman's virtue. Again, Jenny wondered why Jason had denigrated himself about being a father. His demeanor with Will was firm and no-nonsense. And with Sarah, it had been that of a devoted father chastising his errant daughter.
And, that little spark of pride that Jenny felt for her husband before, now swelled into a warm glow of admiration.
During the return trip, Jason slumped against the pillow, eyes closed, head lolling with the motion of the wagon. Jenny knew he was in pain—in his half-asleep state his hand lay protectively across his ribs—and she was anxious to get him home. Sarah sat beside her holding Lily, but the young woman’s thoughts were clearly back at the Dusty. Jason’s discussion with Will set some parameters for the budding romance: Will could join Sarah at the house for a dinner party a week from Saturday, in the company of ten brides and almost as many potential bridegrooms. And Sarah was on a cloud.
As they negotiated the last downhill turn before the narrow roadway widened and leveled off, two men on horses intercepted them and came to a halt in front of the wagon, forcing Jenny to pull to a stop. At once, she recognized Jack Bishop and one of the men who had been with him the day Jason confronted them at the mine. Jason dragged himself up and stood on unsteady legs. “Move aside, Bishop,” he said in a labored voice, one hand clutching his ribcage, the other braced on the side of the wagon for support.
Jack Bishop’s lips spread with a wry grin. “Seems the rumors I heard about you were true, Colby. I’d say you’re in no shape to be telling me what to do.” He tipped his hat to Jenny and said, “Like I told you before, I have information about both of your husbands you might want to hear, if I can speak to you alone.”
Jenny raised her chin. “Whatever you have to say you can say in front of my husband. We have no secrets from each other.”
Teetering on wobbly legs, Jason edged his way toward the front of the wagon. “Move aside and let us pass, Bishop, or I’ll beat the hell out of you.”
Jack Bishop gave a hearty laugh. “I don’t think so. In fact I’m going to hog tie you so you can watch me tell your wife and her lady friend what kind of a man they’re keeping company with, and you don’t have enough fight in you to stop me.” Bishop went for his rifle in the scabbard on the side of his saddle.
“I’ll stop you, Mr. Bishop.” Jenny stood, hands gripping her pistol, which she aimed at Jack Bishop’s head. “If you make a move toward my husband I’ll put a bullet between your eyes."
Jack Bishop’s mouth curved with a rueful smile, but he made no move to leave.
“I mean what I say, Mr. Bishop. I buried one husband and I don’t intend to bury another.” Jenny cocked the gun.
The smile on Jack Bishop’s face withered. He waved his hands in surrender. “We’ll take this up another time,” he said in a contrite voice.
“No, Mr. Bishop,” Jenny said, the gun leveled at him. “We will not take this up another time. Now sheathe that rifle and ride out of here.”
Jack Bishop‘s eyes shifted between the gun clutched solidly in Jenny’s hands, to her resolute face and unwavering gaze, to Jason standing behind her, and back to the gun which was cocked and pointed squarely at him. Without further comment, he sheathed his rifle, turned his horse and galloped off, his sidekick close behind.
Jenny un-cocked the gun, eyes flashing with triumph—the most daring display of bravado Jason had ever seen in a woman. Had he read her wrong, this city-bred woman he’d taken as his wife? And did he like her better warm and vulnerable and clinging to him after facing rats, or plucky and fearless and facing the likes of Jack Bishop? One made him feel needed. The other made him feel... expendable...
And right now, his pride was more bruised and battered than his body, and a warm vulnerable woman to wrap his arms around sounded pretty nice. He lowered himself to the padding, leaned against the pillow, and draped his hand over his bent knee. “Some protector I am,” he muttered, not realizing he’d said it aloud.
Jenny glanced over her shoulder. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, my love. It’s not like you.” She jogged the reins and clicked her tongue. The horse leaned into his harness and the wagon started moving again.
Jason couldn’t help but smile at her endearment. She might be feigning, but it sure made him feel good. But she made him feel other things too, things he didn’t deserve. She’d held off one unprincipled man to come to the defense of another. And Bishop was right, not about keeping her bed warm—he wouldn’t be bedding her—but about Jenny learning the truth about him. Once she did, she’d turn her back on him with good reason. And he wasn’t ready to face her wrath, or her rejection.
Why that thought took him back to his boyhood he couldn’t figure. He’d faced a lot of wrath back then, and for the most part he’d come out stronger for it. But rejection... He’d never had anyone look at him the way Jenny did, not the sultry look he caught on her face at times, but the look that told him he was worthy, even admirable, someone she accepted as a father to her daughter. Someone, he suspected after seeing her display of grit, she didn’t truly need for protection, but just simply wanted.
If only he were that man, he’d take her into his heart and love her the way she deserved. But she’d been hitched to one ill-famed man already. She didn’t need to stay tied to another. What she needed was to take her daughter and head back east, and the sooner she did that, the better.
***
Sarah Jensen had never seen the likes of it! Jenny Colby had been magnificent protecting her wounded husband. Word spread so quickly, the brides near worshipped Jenny, this strong, fearless frontier widow who Jason Colby had only recently taken as his w
ife, they learned. Now they had someone to emulate and they set about being the kind of woman who could stitch up her man’s wounds, who had no fear of driving a wagon along a road on a ledge so narrow it made your head spin, who valiantly held at gunpoint a villain who was intent on harming her man. A woman with enough grit and fortitude to be a miner’s wife. They also set about finding a man like Jason Colby—handsome and assertive, yet tender—a man who sat unflinching while his wife stitched him up, who dragged his bruised and wounded body out of bed to safeguard his men, who adored his little step-daughter and was madly in love with his wife...
Seth Colby could be that kind of man, it was surmised, and several eager females awaited his visit to his brother’s house for the dinner party. Cora was the first to knock on Jenny’s door the afternoon of the party. Jenny gave Cora advice on how to attract a man like Seth, then sent her away and returned to her task of redressing Jason’s wounds.
Jason sat propped against a pillow, stripped to the waist, his expression dour. Jenny knew he was still humiliated that not only had he failed to protect her, but she’d defended him. The issue had come up just before Cora interrupted them, and Jenny picked up where they’d left off. “I’m just glad I happened to have had my pistol along,” she said while peeling the dressing from Jason's forehead. “It saved you from having to take on those men, which you would have done, even with your broken ribs.”
“That’s not the way I saw it.”
Jenny dipped a cloth in warm water and dabbed at the jagged stitched seam. “Well, you’re entitled to your opinion, and I’m entitled to mine, and that’s the way I saw it.”
She felt Jason's eyes boring into her, as he said, “Maybe you and Lily don’t need me to protect you.”
Jenny laughed lightly, not in jest, but more to mollify him. “Silly man. If you hadn’t been in the wagon, Jack Bishop would not have left so willingly."
Jason gave a rueful grunt and said nothing.
Jenny inspected the wound. Heaving a sigh, she said, “I didn’t do a very neat job. You’ll no doubt have a nasty scar on your handsome face for a long time to come.”
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