“I don’t want our marriage annulled,” Jenny said. “I want to be your wife even if we’re a thousand miles apart. And for the time we have left, I want you to be my husband in every way. When Lily’s through nursing I want you to make love to me again. And I want you to make love to me every morning and every night until the day you put me on the stage and send me away.”
Jason sighed. “You have no idea who you’ve tied yourself to.”
“I don’t care who you were, Jason, only who you are now.”
“You can’t separate the two.”
“I can and I have.” Jenny reached out and touched his lips. “And I want the man who is my husband to kiss me now, and make love to me when Lily’s through nursing.”
Jason placed a kiss on her palm and dropped her hand. “I have no intention of sending you away from here carrying my child,” he said. “Last night was a mistake and it won’t happen again.” He got up and hastily dressed, then left the suite. When the door closed behind him, Jenny felt an almost overwhelming sense of loss.
Two hours later, when he had still not returned, Jenny placed Lily in the care of the woman attendant and went to look for him. She checked the gaming room and the bar, but no one had seen a man matching his description. Then she checked the grounds, and having no luck, returned to the hotel. As she walked through the Grand Parlor she was aware of a man following her. At least it seemed that way. When she’d passed the man in the lobby, he was sitting in a chair with his head bent over a book, and she hadn't seen his face, but in her peripheral vision she saw him rise from his chair and trail her through the Grand Parlor. She'd detoured into the dining room, and he'd done the same. When she stopped to study the dinner menu posted on the wall, the man turned to look out the window so she could not see his face. But when she turned to go back into the Grand Parlor, he continued following her. In the Grand Parlor, while surrounded by hotel guests, she chanced a look at the man. And froze. Jack Bishop, dressed as a gentleman, nodded in acknowledgement and started toward her. Jenny's first impulse was to rush to her room and lock the door, but every muscle in her body seemed immobile.
Making a vague gesture with his hand, he said, “Mrs. Colby, as you can see you are perfectly safe here, so maybe you’ll give me a moment of your time to listen to what I have to say.”
Jenny had to swallow before words would come. “Did you follow us here?”
“No,” Bishop replied, “I saw your names on the register. If we can sit for a few minutes, what I have to tell you won’t take long.”
Jenny didn’t want to know what Jack Bishop had to say, but she couldn’t bring herself to walk away either. “Very well. But you must understand, I have no reason to believe anything you tell me about either of my husbands.”
“I only intend to pass on information,” Bishop said. “You can do with it as you wish. Then we will have no further contact.”
Jenny followed him to a secluded corner, and after they took their seats, he leaned toward her and said, “You must be aware that there were inconsistencies in the story your current husband told when he brought in your former husband’s body.”
“Some have speculated that there were inconsistencies,” Jenny said, “but there is always speculation when no witnesses are present when something like that happens.”
“But there was a witness, an old man, and he had no reason to lie,” Jack Bishop said. “The fact is, your current husband is a wanted man. Your former husband tracked him down with the intention of arresting him for a crime he committed many years back. But when your current husband learned he was to be arrested, he shot and killed your former husband.”
Jenny’s heart started racing. She couldn’t deny the underlying truth behind what Jack Bishop was telling her any more than she could deny the existence of the note and newspaper clipping from JB, whom, she knew was Jack Bishop. “Where is the old man who is supposed to have witnessed the shooting?” she asked.
“He left the area,” Bishop replied. “Word is, he was paid off by your current husband.”
Jenny lifted her chin. “More speculation,” she snapped. “Besides, how do you know so much when you were not even there?”
Bishop eyed her dispassionately, and replied, “I knew your first husband some years back. I contacted him when I learned of your current husband’s gold strike and believed he was the same man your first husband had been tracking for years.”
Which the clipping and note from JB confirmed, Jenny realized, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. The terrible fact was, Jack Bishop could be telling the truth. Although she felt stifled by the man’s presence, she had to ask the question that chafed inside her. “What is the crime my husband is supposed to have committed?”
Jack Bishop pinned her with cold, penetrating eyes, and said, “Murder. He murdered my brother, Clay.”
The word hit her like the strike of a rattlesnake. Sudden and lethal. Everything around her faded until the only thing she was aware of was that one word: murder. Not accidental killing, or shooting in self defense. But murder. And she couldn’t refute Jason’s own words:
Maybe you should listen to what Jack Bishop has to say...
Still, the man who was passing information on to her was a scurrilous, malicious criminal, so she had no reason to believe his word when she asked, “Were you there when my husband was alleged to have killed your brother?"
"No, it happened back east. But my brother wasn't the only one. There were others. Your former husband had been tracking your current husband for years, but lost his trail during the gold rush.
I have more enemies around those parts than I do here… Jason’s own words…
But murder?
"What reason would my husband have for killing your brother or any other man?" Jenny steeled herself for what might come from Jack Bishop's lips.
"I don't know," Bishop replied. "There were never witnesses."
A kaleidoscope of images raced through Jenny’s mind: the caring look on Jason’s face when he’d stood in the doorway of her cabin while watching Lily nurse. The warmth and security of his arms when he’d comforted her after the episode with the rats. The love stirring in her heart when she’d caught him unaware as he held Lily and kissed her cheek. It simply was not possible for the man who cherished her daughter with the love and devotion of an adoring father, and made love to her with the selfless passion of a loving husband, to have committed murder.
Holding to that thought, she said, "If my husband killed your brother or anyone else he would have only done so in self defense."
Bishop shrugged. “Then I guess it boils down to which of your husbands you believe in. Your first was a lawman, your second is a man who moved west with the gold rush and struck it rich. Maybe you know more about him, but folks around here don’t. He’s a silent man, at least where his past is concerned.”
Too true. Jenny felt her stomach knot. Myles had also been a silent man with a hidden past. Unlike Jason though, with Myles there had been no selfless gentleness in his love making. And she’d never felt loved or admired or adored, or anything more than being the wife of Myles MacDonald, marshal of Cedar Rapids. Ever since Jason planted the seed in her mind, she’d often wondered if Myles had married her solely to gain her property.
She eyed Bishop dubiously. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because soon your second husband will be arrested for the murder of your first, and you might want to leave Colby before that happens. Make no mistake. Your husband will be arrested because I have all the evidence needed to see that it happens.”
“What kind of evidence.”
“I have no intention of telling you, Mrs. Colby. I’m not a fool. I only wish to forewarn you so you can leave before your husband is arrested. “
“I do not, for a moment, believe that you’re telling me this in order to spare me the heartache of seeing my husband arrested, so why don’t you just be forthright and tell me what you really want from me.”
“T
he Dusty mine. My silence for the Dusty mine. Make no mistake, Mrs. Colby, I have enough evidence on your husband to have him arrested for Myles’ murder and tag him to the murders back East. So what’s it going to be. You turn over the Dusty to me and I keep my mouth shut, or you see your husband hang?”
“You are anything but an honorable man, Mr. Bishop. So what guarantee do I have that you wouldn’t talk after I turned over the Dusty to you?”
“I’d sign a sworn statement that I witnessed your first husband's shooting, and I’d describe the man who ambushed and shot him. As for the murders back east… I’d sign other sworn statements that Jason Colby was with me at the time of the murders. That would clear him of everything. And your husband would be free from his past.”
Jenny wanted desperately to accept Bishop’s offer, even if it meant returning to Iowa as poor as when she and Myles left. But that was not an option. As her husband, Jason would have final say, and he’d never turn the Dusty over to Jack Bishop under any circumstances, even to clear his name. Holding to that thought, she stood, looked directly at Bishop and said, “I have no intention of making any kind of bargain with you, Mr. Bishop, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll return to my husband." She started to walk away.
“There’s one thing more, Mrs. Colby,” Bishop’s voice trailed after her. She stopped, but kept her back to him as he continued, “Your husband was also a bounty hunter. If you don’t believe me, ask him.”
Jenny said nothing, merely walked away. But the doubt hung over her like a shroud. Jason had taken her into his home, he claimed, to protect her from Jack Bishop. Or, perhaps to keep her away from the man? It was obvious that Jason never wanted her to hear what Bishop had to say. He’d stopped Bishop from doing so on several occasions.
Then Jason had whisked her off to his house, married her and refused to let her go anywhere alone because of Jack Bishop, so he said. After that, he began making promises to care for her and Lily for as long as they needed...
...Give me one reason why you’re doing all this for us... her own words came back... and his... Maybe I’m doing it to save my own black soul from hell... Because of murders he’d committed years before? Or perhaps because he shot and killed Myles?
But he was also a good and caring man. She felt it in her heart, and in her mind, and in his own words, There’s no way on God’s earth I’ll drag you and Lily into my life and into my past...
It had to be self defense, at least with Myles, and that’s why he felt duty-bound to take care of her and Lily, not because he loved her, but because he felt guilt and remorse because he was a good man. And the fact was, Jason could soon be arrested for murder, whether guilty or innocent of the charge, so she'd have to tell him about her conversation with Jack Bishop before too long. For now, she would believe Jason, the man she’d given her body and soul to for all eternity.
Still, there was that little seed of doubt.
...there are just too many skeletons in my closet... you have to do the right thing by Lily and take her away from here... and me...
How many skeletons? Wanted for murder... killing Myles... bounty hunter... How much would she deny before turning her back on him and walking out of his life?
He was also a man whose wretched childhood should have filled him with so much hate he’d be unable to give love. Instead, he loved deeply, but rejected love because he believed he was not loveable and never could be. And until she learned differently about the man she was married to—if she dared face the truth and ask him, as Jack Bishop suggested—that’s the man she’d hold in her heart.
When she entered their suite, the woman attendant was gone, Lily was sitting on a blanket on the floor of the parlor holding her china doll, her little fingers toying with the doll’s hand, and Jason was standing at the window looking out. He glanced over his shoulder when Jenny stepped into the room.
“Where did you go?” Jenny asked. “I looked for you everywhere.”
He glanced over his shoulder, and said, “I had to get away from you, from the temptation to bed you again.” He turned back to the window and stood staring at nothing, his mind on what lay ahead. Thoughts of Jenny and Lily’s departure hovered over him like a dark, menacing cloud, yet it had to be. Soon, things would be closing in on him, and he was determined that Jenny would be gone when it happened. Not only had he seen the old prospector who’d witnessed the shooting, talking to Jack Bishop, but Ned Beckett would be back. Beckett wasn’t one to let sleeping dogs lie. He’d see to at last settling that score. More reasons to get Jenny and Lily out of town. He flinched when he felt Jenny’s hand on his arm.
“Please don’t shut me out, Jason,” she said. “We have so little time left.”
He kept his back to her as he replied, “I’m not shutting you out. I just don’t want a repeat of last night.” He shrugged away from her hand. “Get packed and I’ll square away the bill so we can get home before dark.” He stalked across the floor and left.
Forty-five minutes later, their new clothes packed in garment bags and stashed in the back of the wagon, Jenny sat beside Jason on the box while holding Lily on her lap. Jason was silent, and from the firm set to his jaw and the tension in his hands holding the reins, Jenny realized it would be a long trip home. Were it not for Lily’s babbling and gesturing and other baby antics, the ride would have been yet more stressful.
Jenny had no intention of mulling over with Jason the hash she’d made of things by throwing herself at him and consummating their marriage, but she didn’t regret it either. In spite of what Jack Bishop told her, she still wanted to be married to the man whose troubling childhood and dark past sopped her energy like a steady stifling heat, the man she ached for with every breath, and loved with all her heart.
“If you want to know where I was,” Jason said, at last breaking the silence, “I went to a lawyer and had the Dusty put in your name. He’s setting up a trust that can be transferred to your bank when you get to Cedar Rapids.”
Jenny looked up at Jason. “Does that mean I can sell it?”
Jason nodded. “You’re sole owner now. You can do whatever you want with it. I advise you to sell because I may not be around to oversee operations.”
Jason’s last words brought a knot of hope twisting in Jenny’s stomach. His announcement that the Dusty was in her name put a whole new light on things. If she could slip away without Jason knowing and make contact with Jack Bishop, she’d trade the Dusty for his silence. But she wouldn’t tell Jason about the exchange until after she had Jack Bishop’s sworn statements in her hands. If Jason still wanted her to leave then, she would, but at least she’d go knowing he would not face murder charges.
“I also talked to the lawyer about having him draw up divorce papers,” Jason said. “They’ll be ready for us to sign next week.”
“It seems I have no say in my future," Jenny said. "You’ve taken care of it for me.”
“I’ve done what I can. You’ll soon be a free woman, you’ll own a silver mine that you can sell at a premium, and you can settle down and get on with your life.”
“And if I don’t sign the divorce papers. What then?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to cut you loose from me.”
Jenny looked at him miffed. “Cut me loose? You act as if I’m nothing more than a worthless bottom fish you snagged.”
“You’re a burden now. I don’t need a wife,” he said, knowing he had to be harsh if he was to break the tie that held her to him. “This marriage will be ended, one way or another, and you and Lily will be on the first stage leaving after you sign the papers.”
“Lily and I will be on the stage," she assured him, "but before I sign the divorce papers, I want answers to some questions you may not want to give.”
Jason jiggled the reins, urging the horse to stop dawdling and get on home. He had no idea what questions she’d put to him before signing the papers, but there were certain ones he’d never answer, even if it meant remaining a millstone around her neck for the
rest of her life. But it was he who should carry the weight. He’d bedded the widow of the man he’d killed, the man whose daughter he’d taken into his heart and whose widow he’d taken as his wife out of duty, then lusted after until she belonged to him body and soul. And as much as he wanted to blame the consummation of their marriage on Jenny’s womanly wiles, he knew better. From the moment he’d looked at her reflection in the long mirror in the fitting room, he’d known he’d be bedding her that night. The truth was, the alluring, bewitching, wondrous woman sitting beside him on the box had shared a marital bed with him simply because he’d wanted her there. But now the time had come that he must sever the ties and send her away. “There’s nothing to be gained by holding our marriage together,” he said, inhaling the fragrance of the lilac oil he’d dabbed, stroked and rubbed on the various and enticing parts of her body before their next lovemaking, as she lay stretched out on the bed, face flushed and radiant, eyes beckoning him to love her again, which he had. He also knew that the images of her uninhibited lovemaking would haunt him for the rest of his life. She’d given him a sample of paradise, and he’d never settle for commonplace again. “From the start our marriage was never intended to be a real marriage,” he said.
Jenny glanced up at his firm profile. “But somehow that’s the way it ended up.” Not somehow, she reminded herself. It ended up being a real marriage because she’d acted like the loose-tailed hussy she’d mocked during dinner, and Jason responded in the way she knew he would, the way any virile, hot-blooded male would respond to a woman who’d stripped naked in front of him. No, not the way just any virile, hot-blooded male would respond. When Jason responded to her seduction, he’d cherished her and revered her in his selfless lovemaking. He’d nurtured the exultation of her passions and glorified the triumph of her body’s response to his. And although he hadn’t said the words, it had been a celebration of their love, their one night to have and to hold until death.
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