She looked up at him, her eyes so intensely blue the color seemed to have bled into the whites. Her intoxicating, spicy perfume filled his nostrils, and it was all he could do not to lean a little further forward and cover her full lips with his own. He wanted her intensely at that moment. But first he had to know the whole truth about her.
“Leona?” he asked, keeping his voice lazy, but edged with a warning.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. You really are the most persistent man I’ve ever met, and not over the right things, either.” She glowered up at him and finally heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Yes, if you must know, I’ve gone along with Bill, but only once.”
Jackson didn’t move, but the white-hot rage he felt nearly consumed him. “I’ll kill him. I’ll kill the bastard, I swear I will. You consider Bill Miner a second father? What was he thinking of, letting you go along on a train robbery? You could have been hurt or killed. Or ended up in jail.” His knuckles were white on the chair arms. He cursed in a long, steady stream.
“Oh, phooey, do be quiet. I just knew this was how you’d act. You’re just as bad as Bill. If you must know, I begged him to let me go along on that robbery, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He said all the same things you just did. So I helped him plan it and then when he wouldn’t let me go along, I just didn’t think it was fair at all. So I tricked him. I knew where he and Schraeger were going, so I just dressed up like a man and rode there myself.”
A mischievous, self-satisfied grin tilted her full mouth. “I joined them at the last minute. They’d already stopped the train, so there wasn’t anything Bill could do about it. He was furious with me, but the robbery was a great success. We got a small fortune in gold dust and coins.”
Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “I don’t see why a woman should have to sit back and let you men have all the fun. I’ve considered going into the robbery business on my own. I could do just as well as Bill does, and a lot better than Schraeger.” She sniffed. “Schraeger’s an absolute idiot. He makes terrible mistakes, but Bill’s loyal to him. They’re partners, and Bill takes care of him.” She shook her head. “Somebody has to. Schraeger’s incompetent. I could do much better, working alone.”
Jackson felt a pang of intense sympathy for the old robber. Miner was out of his depth with this impossible woman.
Hell, maybe they both were.
He slid his hands under her elbows and pulled her up, so that she was standing pressed against him, the back of her knees against the chair.
“You might not realize it quite yet, darlin’, but your train robbin’ career is over,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument. “You’re mine, Leona Day, and there’s no way my woman’s gonna be in danger like that ever again.”
The problem, Jackson knew, was going to be finding something exciting enough to take its place, something that would consume her so that robbing trains wasn’t quite so appealing.
She had too damned much energy, a quicksilver mind, a restless spirit, and, no thanks to Miner, too much money of her own. Singing to crowds of drunken men for a couple of hours a day didn’t even begin to challenge her.
Lovemaking exhausted her, of course, leaving her boneless and weak and sleepy, at least for a little while. His fingers adroitly loosened the fastenings on the back of her dress, and as they both impatiently stripped away the layers of clothing from her lush body, he grinned wryly.
As intriguing as the idea was, he knew that making love to Leona twenty-four hours a day wasn’t any solution.
He’d just die the most pleasurable of deaths in a few short months, and she’d probably go right back to robbing trains.
He shrugged out of his own clothing and sat down on the sofa, with her straddling his lap, already half out of his mind wanting her.
“Jackson?” Her voice was husky.
“Ummmmm.” He was using his tongue and the tip of his teeth on her nipple, his hands stroking down the satin of her back beneath the cascade of golden hair he’d loosened from its pins.
She sounded breathless. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Urgency was building. “Can’t it wait till after, honey?”
“No, it can’t. Well, not much later. I’m going to have a baby, Jackson. Your baby. Our baby.”
In the space of an instant, his life tilted and its axis changed, irrevocably, forever. His erection wilted.
“When?” he lifted her off his lap and sat her beside him while his mind grappled with this, trying to imagine his new role and failing totally.
One of the few things he’d ever been adamant about was that he’d never willingly choose to be anybody’s daddy. He wasn’t fit. He didn’t have any idea how it was done. For some obscure reason, he’d relaxed his guard with Leona. Terror gripped him, and it was all he could do not to pull on his pants and run.
“I’m not certain exactly when. Sometime next June, I think.” She was trying to sound casual and breezy, but he saw the anxiety in her eyes, felt the tension and the fine trembling in her naked body as he absently stroked her shoulder and arm.
She was scared, too, he realized all of a sudden. Not for the same reasons as him, though; Leona was scared of his reaction, scared that he’d run out on her.
He never would. He knew, between one heartbeat and the next, that although he hadn’t counted on it happening, this was right for him. He wanted Leona and his child. He’d learn somehow to be a father, a good father, the kind he’d never had. Virgil was a good father; he’d ask him for advice.
“Aren’t you going to ask me how I let this happen?” Her voice was steady.
He smiled and shook his head. “From everythin’ I’ve heard, it takes two of us to make it work, honey.”
He gathered her close, her head on his chest, his face buried in her cascade of lemon-scented hair. “We’ll get married,” he said. “We’ll get married right away.” It was something he’d been contemplating anyway, working up to in his own good time. This just speeded things along a bit, that was all.
He sat back and smoothed her hair from her face, feeling good about the decision, smiling at her tenderly before he realized she was angry.
“So now you decide we’ll get married, just like that!” she snapped. “Without asking me if that’s what I want, or saying once single word about love. You never so much as mentioned marriage until you found out I was expecting, and now you think you’ll do the proper thing and make a respectable woman of me?”
She sprang up, gloriously naked, her hands on her rounded hips, her hair swirling like a golden cape around her firm, uptilted breasts. “Well, you can go straight to hell, Jackson Zalco. I’ve had dozens of proposals in my life, and let me tell you, this one is by far the sorriest excuse for a proclamation I’ve ever heard. If you think I’d marry you just because of a baby, you’d better reconsider.”
Now what? Jackson could only stare at her, dumbfounded by this new outburst. She was going to drive him insane before she was done. But if it was a formal proposal she wanted, then damn his hide, that’s what he’d give her.
He stood up, naked as a jaybird himself, and took hold of her, forcibly sitting her down again on the sofa. She fought him, but he was much stronger, and after a moment she calmed. When it looked as if she might stay put for a minute, he dropped to one knee in front of her bare knees, hoping she wouldn’t decide to use one of them on him, bare and vulnerable as he was.
“Miss Leona, I find myself overcome with your beauty, your charm, and your dainty ways,” he began sarcastically, earning himself a clout on the side of the head.
“Ouch. Damn it all, woman, cut that out before I turn you over my knee. I’m tryin’ to do this to your likin’.”
“No, you’re not. You’re making a fool of me.” She sounded absolutely furious, and he was appalled to see tears in her eyes, spilling out and down he cheeks. Remorse filled him.
“Ahhhh, honey, I’m sorry.” He reached out and thumbed the tears away. “Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to make you
cry. I was teasin’ but I’ll stop and get serious now. Just give me a minute or two and I promise I’ll get it right. See, I’ve never had any practice at this before.”
He drew a deep breath and realized he was sweating with nervousness. With an agitated motion, he swiped at his forehead with his hand and wiped it on his own bare hip. The carpet was thin, and his sore knee was beginning to protest. He shifted to the other leg and took her hands in his. “Leona Day, will you marry me?”
His voice was actually trembling. He swallowed against the hot rush of sentiment that filled his throat.
What if he couldn’t convince her? He’d never been all that good with words, not when he needed to be. “Not because of our baby, or because I figger I have to ask you.” He looked straight into her blue eyes, trying to transmit all the things he didn’t know how to say. “Just because I love you, and I need you for my wife.” He’d suddenly had enough of being a supplicant.
“And that’s the best I can damned do, so if you want anything more in the way of proposals, you’re plumb outta luck, Leona.” He got to his feet, leaning over to massage his knee. The pattern from the carpet was ingrained into his skin, probably for the rest of his life. He straightened and glanced at her, apprehensive as hell.
She was smiling at him, a tremulous smile, and although it was warm in the room, there were goose bumps on her naked skin. “Okay, Jackson.”
She’d picked up some of his slang. It was his turn to scowl. “Okay, what?”
“Okay, I’ll marry you.”
Incredible relief flooded through him. He pulled her up, crushing her against him so hard she gasped. He remembered the baby and tried to loosen his hold, but her arms were tight around his neck.
“When?”
“Whenever you say.”
“I say, the sooner the better.” An awful thought struck him. “Tell me you don’t want three thousand guests and a brass band.”
She giggled. “I think that’s only for virgins, and because of you, I don’t qualify. No, I want it small and simple. I already have a dress that will do nicely, and if we can ever get the creases out of that suit over there on the floor, you can wear it.”
“Thank God,” he said fervently, cradling her against his naked body.
“Now, where were we when you started all this?” she purred, rubbing herself against him in a way she knew was destined to end in only one fashion
“Don’t worry, I marked the place.” This time, at least there were no clothes to struggle with. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. In the few moments before ecstasy drove all thought from his mind, it dawned on him that without intending to, he’d likely found the perfect solution to keeping Leona occupied.
Boarding with Isabella and her children had taught him that mothers didn’t seem to have a whole hell of a lot of time left in a day to rob trains.
A Distant Echo: Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I, Jackson, take thee, Leona Marie, to be my wedded wife…”
Jackson and Leona were married Saturday, November 1st, 1902, and it snowed.
Zelda stood behind them, excruciatingly conscious of Tom close beside her in the crowded room, and she tried with all her heart not to envy Leona, but she failed miserably.
At their insistence, the wedding was taking place in the Ralstons’ parlor, with the banquet to be served buffet style in the kitchen afterwards. Frank had no church as yet, and the hall where church services were normally held was large and drafty.
“In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer….”
Zelda was an emancipated woman who’d countless times rejoiced at her good fortune in being single. Yet at this moment she’d have given almost anything to be saying the words Leona was repeating.
“…as long as we both shall live.”
Her gaze slid to the side, and her eyes encountered Tom’s. He was looking at her instead of the bridal pair, his blue eyes troubled and unreadable.
“By the power invested in me by the church, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
The irony of the situation suddenly struck Zelda, and she smiled at him, a small bitter smile.
There was Jackson, one of the most dedicated bachelors she’d ever laid eyes on, marrying Leona, a woman as fervently independent as Zelda was herself, and it wasn’t just because of the baby.
Jackson’s love for his bride seemed to pour from him like sunlight, with every glance, every touch. Zelda was close enough to hear him whisper, “I love you, Leona,” as he slid the ring on her finger.
The words scalded Zelda’s very soul, because Tom had never said them to her. She tried her best to smile through the haze of tears, and concentrate on the guests instead of herself.
Most of those present had a role in the proceedings.
Bill Miner, still masquerading as George Edwards, stood at Zelda’s elbow. He’d given the bride away.
Zelda knew all about him now. Tom had given her the facts, and later, Leona had filled in the sentiment.
Her best friend’s connection with a convicted bank robber bothered Zelda not at all. Her first impression of Miner had been that he was a fine gentleman, and if anything, his conduct had enhanced that impression. As for Leona’s involvement in a robbery, Zelda was downright envious. She’d relish the opportunity to participate, as long as no one was injured, of course.
The ceremony ended, and Virgil played the wedding march on his harmonica. Zelda left Tom’s side and hurried off to take photographs.
Eli ran a finger under his celluloid collar and wondered how much longer it would be until he could take the tortuous contraption off and get out in the snow.
During the past week, he’d been put in charge of all the jobs no one else wanted to do, which always happened when you were a kid. He’d had to keep the stoves and the buckets stoked with coal; polish everyone’s best shoes, clear away the snow from the walkways. Today he had to bring in extra chairs for Isabella and Lars, and make sure Pearl and Eddy were quiet during the ceremony, as if anybody could manage that particular chore.
He shot a glance at his sister. She was bawling, and so were all the other women, including the bride, for Pete’s sake.
He fervently hoped when this was all over, Zel would be in a better mood, but with the sobbing going on, maybe that was too much to hope for. At least he’d have his bedroom back, he consoled himself.
That had been the last straw, in his estimation, using his room as a dressing room before the ceremony. Zelda had declared that her tiny room in the eaves was too small and too cold to accommodate the bride.
“But I thought she was getting dressed over at the hotel,” he groaned early that morning, when Zelda came to wake him with the latest mandate. “If she’s already all dressed, what does she need to come up to my room for anyhow?” He yawned and buried his head in his pillow. It was barely six in the morning.
“Don’t argue with me, Eli.” Zelda looked around the room and made a disgusted sound in her throat. “This place is a sty. Get up and get to work. I’ll be up to inspect before breakfast.”
Eli slumped on his bed trying to figure out where to hide his tin of tobacco when Tom stuck his head in the door. “I heard. Why don’t you bring your clothes and things into my room? We can both hide out there.” He glanced at the tobacco tin. “Better put that under my bed right now, sport, before your sister sees it.”
“Why is she so riled up over this wedding, Tom? She’s actin’ downright crazy.” Zelda had ordered them all around and been increasingly short-tempered and unreasonable as the wedding day neared. She’d even snapped at Virgil, which was unusual. As for Tom, Eli’d heard her nearly take his head off late last night over something or other.
“I guess the excitement of it all is getting to her, and she feels responsible for making the wedding a success,” Tom said.
“Well, I hope I’m not around if Zel decides to get married herself,” Eli declared, “if this is how she gets over somebody else’s wedding.”
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br /> Somebody else’s wedding. Tom knew that was the crux of the problem, but there was more to it than that. Much more.
He figured Zelda would marry him if he asked, but he never had.
Zelda would bear his baby, if she was pregnant. But she wasn’t, and Tom couldn’t help the feeling of relief that knowledge gave him. He couldn’t have accepted the idea of fatherhood with the equanimity Jackson was displaying.
Jackson had told Tom he wanted this marriage, that even if Leona weren’t pregnant, he’d have gotten around to marrying her anyway, that nothing would change the plans he and Tom had made. Hell, they were still partners, he’d just take Leona along when they made their attempt to get back to the nineties, and if that attempt failed, they’d all take off together and find a way to make some money.
He’d been so complacent, so optimistic, that Tom had wanted to pop him one, because he knew it wasn’t going to be that way at all.
He knew that Jackson’s marriage meant the end of their old, easy partnership. Those times were gone forever. They’d started slipping away when Jackson had taken the job at the hotel, and Tom had gone into the mine.
He knew he could manage without Jackson, although he’d miss him.
The question burning in Tom’s mind today was, could he manage without Zelda?
A Distant Echo: Chapter Twenty-Eight
The realization that he loved her came to Tom with all the force of a hammer blow to his skull.
There was no way he could go and leave her behind. How had he even ever considered it? He was in love with Zelda. He’d gone out of his way to avoid recognizing it, but now, at this simple little wedding, surrounded by people he was close to, he at last acknowledged his feelings for what they were.
Now and Forever: Time Travel Romance Superbundle Page 86