Finding Promise

by Scarlett Dunn

  “How dare you!” Sally rushed forward with the intention of giving Clyde a good slap.

  Luke wasn’t going to allow a woman to defend herself as long as he was drawing breath. It was one thing if Clyde thought his comments about Sally were true, but it was another thing to express them in the middle of the street with everyone gawking. Luke grabbed Sally by the waist and pulled her back. He took a step forward. “You might be drunk, Clyde, but that doesn’t give you the right to be rude to a lady. Apologize.”

  “I’m sure you know firsthand how she likes her skirts tossed up.” Clyde was grinning like a half-wit.

  And that was when the first fist slammed into Clyde’s nose. Luke landed three good punches to Clyde’s jaw, sending him reeling backward. Tubby, still on the ground, managed to get to his knees in an effort to gain his feet and stumbled into Luke’s back, knocking him off balance. Clyde took that opportunity to land a right hook to Luke’s jaw. Staggering backward, Luke fell over Tubby and hit the dirt. He jumped up and plowed headfirst into Clyde’s stomach, both of them going to the earth in a heap. They rolled around in the dirt, each landing punches, neither able to get to their feet because Tubby was groveling in the dirt trying to stand and getting in their way. The women were yelling for Tubby to get out of the way so Luke could finish off Clyde. Tubby wasn’t really trying to help Clyde, but you couldn’t prove it by Luke. The man made a habit of teetering into Luke when he was about to land another blow. Luke tried to stand to put some leverage into his punches, but Tubby bounced into him again. Frustrated with this unintentional interference, Luke turned around and rammed his fist into Tubby’s jaw, hitting him so hard he reeled back several feet and landed in the water trough. With Tubby out of the way, Luke traded a few more punches with Clyde before he finally landed the giant-slaying blow. Clyde hit the ground and stayed there like a dead jackass carcass. Luke grabbed him by the shirt and dragged his heavy ass to the water trough and dunked his head in the murky water a few times. Water sloshed over the sides and landed on Luke’s perfectly polished boots. “Dammit to hell,” he muttered.

  “What’d ya hit me for? I didn’t do nothin’.” Tubby struggled in vain to get out of the trough.

  “Shut the hell up and stay down,” Luke warned.

  Tubby flopped back down in the water and glared at Luke with bloodshot eyes. Luke released Clyde’s shirt, and watched as he slid down beside the water trough in a filthy heap.

  Running his fingers through his black, wavy hair to get it out of his eyes, Luke spotted his Stetson a few feet away. Snatching if off the ground, he had to smack it against his thigh a few times to remove a fraction of the dust before he slammed it on his head. He glanced down to see his favorite blue shirt was torn and had blood on it. He was dusty from head to toe and his boots were filthy. Dammit to hell! And the day had started out so perfect.

  Sally and Lucinda ran to him.

  “Oh, Luke, are you hurt?” Sally ran her hands all over him, half pretending to dust off his shirt.

  “You are so brave,” Lucinda said. “You certainly taught Clyde a thing or two!” She pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve and dabbed at Luke’s split lip.

  They were giving him so much attention, he quickly forgot about his appearance and thought maybe he should get into a fight every time he came to town. “Ladies, unless you are too embarrassed to be seen with me, I’d still like to take you to lunch. I promise to show you two a good time.” Maybe he should take them both to the lake and salvage his day in a more delightful way.

  “We’re proud to be seen with you, Luke McBride,” Sally said. She meant every word. She’d rather be with Luke than any man she knew.

  “We certainly are. It was high time someone put that bully in his place,” Lucinda agreed.

  Once they finished dusting him off they started toward the hotel, but were brought up short when they encountered the people from the stagecoach standing there staring at them. From the looks on their faces they’d obviously witnessed the encounter with Clyde. The lady with the pink hat was staring directly at Luke, and she didn’t look nearly as impressed as Sally and Lucinda.

  Luke couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. He stood there as if he’d grown roots. All he could do was stare at her large eyes, the color of quicksilver, he thought. His eyes skittered over the rest of her face, noting her delicate features. Her complexion was so fair he figured she’d never spent one day in the sun. He was right about a woman wearing a hat like that: She was one beautiful woman. Remembering his manners, he reached up to tip the brim of his black Stetson, dragging Sally’s arm up with his. He’d forgotten she was hanging on to him like a leech.

  The woman’s eyes widened when he acknowledged her, and her gaze did a slow traverse down his body, stopping at the Colt .45 on his hip. She didn’t respond to his greeting, she simply turned to the stagecoach driver. “My trunk and portmanteaus.”

  “I’ll bring them right along,” the stagecoach driver promised.

  “Thank you.”

  The gentleman who was on the stagecoach stepped to her side. “I’ll escort you to the hotel, ma’am.”

  For the first time in his life Luke had been snubbed by a female. That in itself was an unusual circumstance because the McBride brothers were legendary for their appeal to the ladies. Before his brothers married, women had flocked to them like they had magnetic poles in their holsters instead of six-guns. Unlike his brothers, Luke didn’t run from the ladies, he ran to them. While he wasn’t one to kiss and tell, he was one to love ’em and leave ’em, as he often reminded his brothers. And he’d left plenty in his wake. But he couldn’t remember a time when a woman had rebuffed him.

  Luke couldn’t figure out why the woman looked at him like she couldn’t decide if he was Satan himself or a bug to be squashed. Admittedly he looked pretty grubby after the fight, but if she’d seen the whole thing, she had to realize he was defending a lady’s honor.

  Luke and the ladies had no choice but to follow the woman being escorted to the hotel. Luke had ample time to take in the woman’s shapely backside.

  “That dress is lovely,” Lucinda said.

  “Fine quality too,” Sally added.

  “And that hat is surely a Parisian design.”

  “No doubt, and the color is delightful,” Sally agreed.

  Luke wondered what it was about Paris that seemed to get women all lathered up like a racehorse. He’d heard more than he cared to know about fashion from his sisters-in-law, who were forever expounding on the virtues of clothing from Paris. His appreciation of women’s garments was generally based on how easily they could be removed. Although he did notice the woman was wearing a silky-looking silver dress that matched her eyes. And of course he couldn’t help but notice how it complemented her petite trim figure. She certainly didn’t have Sally’s more than ample curves, but he liked the way her little backside swayed to and fro.

  “British,” Lucinda said.

  “Rather rude, if you ask me,” Sally said.

  “I can’t believe she didn’t even acknowledge us.”

  On that point, Luke silently agreed with them. If he were as intimidating as his brother Colt, with that black stare of his, he might have understood the woman’s slight. But Luke knew he was considered the charming brother, and not bragging, he was—as even his sisters-in-law would acknowledge.

  Once inside the hotel, Luke and the ladies veered toward the dining room, as the British woman walked to the desk. Luke noted it was the clerk, Eb, behind the desk and not the owner of the hotel. When they entered the dining room, he was too far away to hear the conversation between the woman and Eb, particularly with Sally and Lucinda chatting away. He held the chairs for the women and positioned himself so he had a clear view of the front desk. Straightaway the stagecoach driver and another man walked into the hotel sharing the weight of a large trunk with several pieces of luggage on top. The woman turned and smiled at the driver, and Luke was held spellbound
. He couldn’t think of a word for her, but beautiful didn’t even come close. She was much more than beautiful. He felt like he was looking at a magnificent work of art. He watched as she pointed out the four pieces of luggage that belonged to her. After thanking the men, she accepted the key from the clerk and walked to the staircase.

  Lunch ended and Luke was eager to escort the two women to their buggy. Generally, he might have stretched out the lunch, taking pleasure in the subtle way the women flirted with him, but today he had another matter on his mind, and it was wearing a pink hat. Besides that, Sally was making it obvious she had big plans for him. During lunch she’d made several remarks to Lucinda that led him to believe she was gearing up for marriage. And it sure as Hades wasn’t going to be him in the church wearing a string tie that was sure to feel like a noose.

  “Tomorrow, then?” Sally asked, squeezing his hand as he assisted her into the buggy, her silent message promising another intimate encounter.

  “Sorry, tomorrow is Sunday. Church with the family, then dinner. And I promised the twins I would take them riding afterward.” He knew his refusal didn’t please her, but he thought his brothers were right when they told him to limit his womanizing to the gals at the saloon. Good advice he intended to follow from now on.

  That promise to himself lasted about a second, then Sally waggled the itty-bitty package in his face again. He was spared from his weakening resolve when Lucinda thanked him for lunch, and he said his good-byes and quickly took his leave before he changed his mind about Sunday.

  Luke made his way back to the hotel, but Eb wasn’t behind the desk, so he spun the register around so he could read the names of the guests who had just arrived. He figured the elderly woman on the stage registered before the British woman, so he looked at the next signature. Miss Mary Ann Hardwicke. He glanced to see if the gentleman who escorted Miss Hardwicke to the hotel had the same last name. He didn’t. Just then, Eb returned to the desk, and Luke asked him about the woman. Always ready to deliver some gossip, Eb told him Miss Hardwicke asked to speak with the owner, Mr. Granville, but she didn’t state her business. He also indicated Mr. Granville wouldn’t be back until later that evening.

  Spying her trunk and valises still piled by the front door, Luke figured Eb couldn’t lift them alone. He also saw another golden opportunity for a little more harmless flirting, already forgetting his vow to mend his ways. One of his favorite sayings was don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “Want me to get that luggage for you, Eb?”

  “I would appreciate it, Luke. My back can’t handle anything so heavy.”

  “Is she traveling alone?”

  “Yessir, that’s what she said.”

  Perfect. Luke hoisted the large trunk on his shoulder, leaving a free hand to carry the three valises. “Which room?”

  “Number six at the top of the stairs to the right.”

  His lucky number.

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

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  Copyright © 2016 by Barbara Scarlett Dunn

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  ISBN: 978-1-4201-3891-7

  ISBN-10: 1-4201-3891-X

  eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3892-4

  eISBN-10: 1-4201-3892-8