Whirlwind Groom

by Debra Cowan

  He curled his hands over the brim of the hat he’d taken off for church, unable to stop thinking about the way her eyes had gone all smoky after she’d been kissed. The nowfamiliar hard knot of need coiled in his gut. He was beginning to wonder if it would ever go away.

  He’d just had to get his hands on her—his mouth—and now he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  Her voice was a murmur on the air and he heard the faint sound of her laughter. His gut pulled tight. As she, Cora and Loren passed the Pearl Restaurant then the jail, Davis Lee figured they must be going to Cora’s for Sunday dinner.

  He was glad she wouldn’t be eating alone. Sunday dinner together was a long-held Holt family tradition. He never missed that meal with Riley, and now Susannah since she’d married his brother.

  “If you like her, why don’t you bring her to dinner?”

  At the sound of Susannah’s voice, his head jerked around. His blond sister-in-law stepped up beside him, adjusting a jaunty flat-brimmed hat made of the same dark green as her dress. Her gaze followed his down Main Street.

  “Who?” he asked nonchalantly.

  “The new dressmaker who’s got your eyes poppin’ out of your head.” Riley walked up holding his seven-month-old daughter. “You haven’t taken your eyes off her since church let out.”

  Before Davis Lee could tell Riley and Susannah that he still thought Josie was up to something, Matt Baldwin’s deep voice stopped him.

  “You not seeing Miz Josie anymore, Davis Lee?”

  “Why do you say that?” he hedged.

  The big man pointed in the direction Davis Lee had been staring. “’Cuz she’s leaving with Cora and her brother. You’re still here.”

  “I always have dinner with my family on Sunday. You know that. And Cora wanted to invite Josie today.”

  “Didn’t look like you brought her to church.” Russ joined them, his eyes gleaming speculatively at Davis Lee.

  “I didn’t see y’all taking roll at the door.”

  Both brothers grinned and walked back toward the church steps where J.T., their pa, stood.

  Riley handed the baby to his brother and Davis Lee snuggled little Lorelai into the crook of his neck.

  Susannah smoothed the baby’s blanket over her back. “I didn’t know you were seeing her, Davis Lee. She seems very nice.”

  “I’m not.”

  “But you just said—”

  “Well, uh, the Baldwins said that. Not me.” He shifted from one foot to the other.

  His brother chuckled, glancing at his wife. “I think there’s a story here, darlin’. What’s going on, Davis Lee? Why do the Baldwins think you’re courting Miz Webster? Are you?”

  “Not…exactly. I’ve been giving her shooting lessons.”

  “Hmm.” Riley considered him for a long moment.

  Susannah tilted her head, her blue eyes puzzled. “Then why do people think there’s more going on?”

  He settled his hat on his head. “I kinda let them.”

  Riley grinned.

  Susannah squeezed Davis Lee’s arm. “Then you do like her!”

  He scowled. “I’ve been asking a lot of questions about how she spends her time. If people choose to think that means I’m sweet on her, I can’t help that.”

  “If you’ve been asking about her, doesn’t that mean you’re interested?”

  “He is, darlin’, but maybe not completely in the way you’re thinkin’.” Riley slipped an arm around her waist, looking at Davis Lee. “Did you ever figure out if she’s interested in your prisoner?”

  “She’s interested, but she’s not ’fessin’ up to it.”

  Susannah frowned. “Riley told me you suspected her of having a connection to McDougal, but she’s a dressmaker, Davis Lee. What could she have to do with him?”

  “I don’t know yet, but my gut tells me she does. I still haven’t been able to get a direct answer out of her about anything, although I did learn she had a fiancé who passed away about two years ago.”

  “Oh, no,” Susannah murmured sympathetically.

  He glanced at his brother and sister-in-law. “Remember the fire Reverend Scoggins mentioned this morning?”

  “He said no one was hurt.” Susannah snuggled into Riley. “And there was no damage to any of the buildings in town.”

  “That’s right, but I’m pretty sure someone set that fire deliberately, as a diversion to get me out of the jail. While I was over behind Pete’s making sure the fire was under control, someone took a shot at McDougal.”

  “And you’re thinkin’ Josie Webster did both?” Riley guessed.

  “I did, but I don’t now. People saw her and I don’t think she had time to pull it off. I didn’t find any signs of the shooter outside the jail the other night. Not footprints, not anything. Still there’s something about her that doesn’t sit right.” Davis Lee shifted Lorelai to his other arm as the infant grabbed at his ear. “I’ve sent a couple of wires to the sheriff in Galveston to see if he knows anything about her but there was a hurricane down there about a week and a half ago. He hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”

  “What will you do if you learn something bad?” Susannah asked.

  “Depends on what it is, I guess.”

  Riley grinned. “Have you considered maybe she’s just turnin’ your head? You’re probably ripe for some lovin’.”

  Davis Lee gave him a quelling look.

  Susannah swatted her husband on the arm. “Riley Holt!”

  His brother grinned, hugging his wife close and nuzzling her hair. “He’s not denyin’ it, darlin’.”

  Davis Lee snorted, shifting Lorelai once again to his other shoulder, submitting to the clumsy pats of her baby hands on his face. Why couldn’t women stay as uncomplicated as they were at his niece’s age?

  He had put a stop to his little flirtation with Josie just in time.

  Where the hell was Jake Ross? The next evening, Davis Lee paced to the window of the jail for the fourth time in as many minutes and looked outside for the rancher who also served as his sometime-deputy. Jake was supposed to relieve Davis Lee so he could go to dinner. The man was never late.

  McDougal was hungry and prowling nervously around his cell. Davis Lee would bring the outlaw’s meal from the Pearl when he returned. If he ever got to the restaurant.

  He stepped outside, his gaze automatically going to Josie’s hotel window. She wasn’t there. Surprised, he wondered if she had taken a break for supper. Reminding himself he’d come out here to look for Jake, he shifted his gaze to the other end of town, scanning the livery, the new hotel. No sign of him. Or Josie, either.

  The shy Ross wasn’t near Haskell’s store, Cal Doyle’s law office or Jed’s gunsmith shop. Davis Lee shot a look at the church, the gentle slope behind the white frame building.

  He froze. A man and a woman were walking down the hill behind the church and into town. Even from this distance, he couldn’t mistake the fall of chestnut hair, the easy grace of her movements. Josie. And Jake. Coming from the direction of Catherine’s house.

  Davis Lee’s eyes narrowed. Why was she with Jake? Had they been at Catherine’s? Why? How long had they been together? The questions hit him like bullets and set off a throbbing pain behind his eyes.

  He watched as Jake walked Josie to the door of the hotel. Kept watching as they talked. Josie looked to be smiling at Jake. A lot.

  Davis Lee folded his arms. What in the Sam Hill was going on? Had she asked Jake to give her shooting lessons? The thought caused his muscles to seize up.

  Jake swept off his hat, said something to Josie then opened the hotel door for her. She patted the man’s arm then disappeared inside. The deputy stepped into the street, starting toward the jail.

  Davis Lee waited. Ross kept a steady pace but didn’t hurry, pausing along the way to speak to a few people. Davis Lee tried to squash the impatience that was quickly edging into irritation.

  All day he’d fought missing her. He let himself believe it was bec
ause they’d spent so much time together when she was ill.

  Jake passed the Pearl and finally saw Davis Lee. He smiled and raised a hand in greeting. Davis Lee nodded, not understanding the savage emotion that knotted his gut.

  His deputy started up the jailhouse steps. “Hey, Davis Lee. Sorry I’m late. Got tied up.”

  Yeah, Davis Lee had seen exactly who had tied Jake up. He took a deep breath, making an effort to speak casually. “What were you doing with Josie?”

  Before the other man could answer, Davis Lee asked, “Were y’all coming from Catherine’s?”

  “Yes.” Jake reached the landing, looking confused as he met Davis Lee’s gaze.

  “Why?”

  “You know she wants to learn to shoot.” The other man eyed him warily. “I told her I’d help her.”

  Shooting lessons. So she had asked Jake for his help. A red haze clouded Davis Lee’s vision. He knew what he and Josie had done behind the yellow house. Just the thought of her doing any of that with Jake, getting close enough to do it, had Davis Lee’s hands clenching. “Why did she ask for your help?”

  His deputy answered slowly, “I didn’t figure on this being a problem.”

  “It’s not. Why you?” Why hadn’t she asked the Baldwins? Or Mitchell Orr? Not that Davis Lee wanted her spending time with any of those men, but why Jake?

  “I don’t know why she asked me.” The man thumbed his felt hat back, his black eyes measuring. “All I know is she said you’d been helping her but had to beg off. That you were too busy.”

  Davis Lee grunted. What she did and with whom was none of his business unless it involved his prisoner. He didn’t want it to be his business. He had to stay away from her. Too often his thoughts were of her naked, beneath him. Not about what he should be doing to find out more about her and what she might be hiding. The things he wanted to find out had to do with getting his hands on her again. He realized Jake was talking.

  “I guess you haven’t had a chance to tell me about all the work that’s come up. What do you need me to do?”

  “I can handle it.” Especially since the only thing to handle was trying to forget kissing Josie. Davis Lee couldn’t think about her going behind Catherine’s with Jake or he would do something stupid, like tell the man to stay away from her.

  For a long minute, Jake didn’t say anything. Davis Lee had known the man since they’d been in knee britches. He was a mild man for the most part, but his nerve and his will were solid steel. “Is there something going on with you two?”

  Davis Lee shook his head.

  He wondered what would happen if Josie dropped her gun when she was with Jake and climbed him like a tree the way she’d done Davis Lee. As far as the deputy knew, she was available. “I have some suspicions about her.”

  The stiff set of Jake’s shoulders eased slightly. “You still think she has some connection to McDougal?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you’re wantin’ to keep an eye on her, why did you beg off her lessons in the first place?”

  Davis Lee’s teeth clenched so hard he thought his skull would crack open. “I’m going to go eat.”

  Not ordering Jake to stay away from Josie was one of the hardest things Davis Lee had done since telling the people of Rock River that his woman had stolen their money.

  He now knew the burn that had sizzled in his blood since kissing Josie wasn’t going to disappear. Still, he wouldn’t give in to it. Not when his instincts told him she was hiding something.

  She had asked Jake for his help. Jake, who also had access to McDougal.

  Davis Lee might want Josie until he ached, but he couldn’t trust her. Forgetting that would get him in a heap of trouble. He had to keep both eyes on her. And his hands off.

  Four days later, Josie was still thinking about that kiss. Even William had never kissed her like Davis Lee had. As if he’d been waiting years just for her.

  Which was a ridiculous notion. If her gun hadn’t gone off when she dropped it, she wouldn’t have jumped into his arms. And that kiss wouldn’t have happened.

  Now, as she rode out to the Eishens’ place on Friday night with Cora and Loren to attend this annual event that signaled the coming pecan harvest, Josie resolved to stop thinking about Davis Lee. And that kiss. And the fact he’d backed out of giving her shooting lessons.

  “I don’t imagine you’ll see Davis Lee here tonight,” Cora commented.

  Wishing her friend hadn’t mentioned him, Josie groaned under her breath.

  “Why not?” Loren asked.

  “He never comes to the harvest dance. I’m not really sure why.”

  Good, Josie thought. That should help keep thoughts of him out of her mind. If Cora didn’t talk about him all night.

  The Eishens, who lived about two and a half miles from town, had hosted the dance for the past twelve years. Cora pointed down the slope of a hill and Josie followed her gaze, stunned at the thousand acres thick with tall, mature trees. The nut harvest would begin in two or three weeks.

  She shifted her gaze to the Eishens’ home. It was bigger than Cora’s and the white frame home was extravagant. Framed by the lush foliage, it was sprawling with a veranda that went around the whole house. The trees sat some distance from the house. Spaced well apart to allow for their full, spreading branches, they formed a wall of sorts around the sides and back. Nothing obstructed the front view of the house with the wide porch as they rolled up the road, packed hard from years of wagon use.

  Behind the main house, Josie saw a springhouse and a garden and a couple of large buildings. She’d heard the Eishens were one of the wealthiest families in Taylor County. Her eyes widened. “How many barns do they have, Cora? I can see two from here.”

  “Only one is a barn.” Her friend pointed to the building closest to the trees. “The place we’re going is a cleaning room for the nuts.”

  “A cleaning room?” Josie had never heard of such a thing.

  Loren looked interested, too. “How do you know that, Sister?”

  “Sometimes for extra money—” the other woman’s voice cracked “—Ollie worked the pecan harvest.”

  Josie reached up from her place in the back to pat Cora’s shoulder. Loren passed his sister a handkerchief.

  “I’m all right,” the widow said, pointing to the building’s doorway, which was wide enough for two wagons abreast. “After the pecans are knocked out of the trees with padded sticks, they’re tossed into the wagons. The wagons drive inside the cleaning room and deposit the nuts there throughout each day’s harvest. Then the hulls are removed, the nuts are loaded into burlap bags and driven to the train in Abilene where they’re transported back East.”

  “I never knew there was so much involved in getting pecans.”

  “It’s long, tiring work, especially the cleaning. The Eishens hire a lot of people from around here to help.”

  “How long does the harvest usually last?”

  “Oh, usually anywhere from about mid-September until December, depending on the weather. It’s starting a couple of weeks late this year because of the rain we got in August.”

  Josie was amazed at the number of waiting horses, wagons and buggies parked in front of the building where Loren braked their wagon.

  After he helped her down, she adjusted the velvet wrap she wore over her evening gown and followed Cora inside, carrying an apricot pie. All the women wore their best finery and even a lot of the men had put on their dressier shirts.

  The smooth pine floor was amazingly clean. The only bits of red Texas dirt in the place were being tracked in by the guests. Two rows of solid wood columns that marched from front to back separated the sides from the big center area and formed a long rectangular dance floor. To the left of the columns two trestle tables were shoved end to end, already filling up with pies and cakes. Large pewter bowls at either end held punch. The right side of the room bustled as people arrived and greeted one another.

  Josie followed Cora to the far end
of the tables and was introduced to their hostess, Lettie Eishen. The large, raw-boned woman took their wraps and gloves, pointing across the room to her husband, Glen, who was built just like her. After a few minutes, Josie and Cora added their pies to those on the long tables. A sudden spate of whispering drew Josie’s attention and she glanced up at the women on the other side of the table.

  Esther Wavers, Pearl Anderson and a woman Josie didn’t know stared at a point over her shoulder. She turned, her stomach fluttering as Davis Lee strode through the door, removing his hat. He walked toward his brother, who must’ve arrived while she was speaking to their hostess.

  Josie tried to squash the pleasure she felt on seeing him, reminded herself of the way he’d backed out of her lessons. The way she’d gone as soft as butter the second he kissed her. As annoyed as that made her, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. The square line of his jaw looked freshly shaven. A black shirt and trousers molded the powerful lines of his body. The brilliant blue of his eyes glittered in the burnished copper of his face. Her throat closed up and she turned away, greeting Catherine and Susannah as they walked up to the table together.

  “Can you believe it?” a woman said behind her. “I never thought we’d see him here.”

  A quick glance back told Josie that the woman was talking about Davis Lee. From the sound of more hushed voices around her, several people were surprised at his appearance.

  Catherine tugged Josie over to join her and Susannah, away from the whispering women.

  “Cora said Davis Lee never comes to this dance,” Josie said. “Judging from all the attention he’s getting, I guess she was right.”

  “Yes.” Susannah’s brow furrowed as she studied her brother-in-law thoughtfully. “He only occasionally goes to the Founder’s Day celebration. He must be here for you.”

  “Me! No.” Josie shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  Her gaze traveled across the room and crashed into his. He nodded. He had so much work to do that he couldn’t spare her an hour in the evenings, but he could come to the dance? She fought back a stab of irritation.