Her first and only thought had been to get away. It was not until she was standing in the road that she fully realized she had no place to go. If nothing else, Cloud might help her find a place away from Lockridge. She would never use the fact that she carried his child to force him into marriage. However, she was quite capable of using it to get him to aid her. He was responsible, after all, and the child’s welfare was at stake.
Badly stifling a massive yawn, Thornton asked, “Are you all done finking?”
“Yes, I’m all done. We’ll go to Cloud. He might be at the saloon, so we’ll look in there as we pass it.”
Just short of the saloon, Emily stopped, backing into a shadowed alley. Her sudden reluctance was mostly a result of being unsure of how to proceed. She did not really think it would be wise to march in and ask for Cloud. A lone woman did not stroll into a saloon in a woman-starved town late at night. Even she could see that that would be asking for trouble.
“Thornton, honey, I’m going to have to ask you to do something else for me.”
“What’s dat?” Thornton’s big eyes were weighted with sleep even though he tried hard to fight it.
“I want you to go into the saloon and find out if Cloud’s in there. You can describe him if you must, but I think everyone in town knows him. Don’t tell anyone I’m out here except for Cloud.”
She huddled against the wall when he left. Several men staggered by the opening of her alley refuge but she remained unseen. It seemed an awfully long time before
Thornton returned, and she had begun to fear that someone had taken it into their head to return the boy to Dorothy and Harper.
“He weren’t in dere. Said he’s at Wolfe’s,” Thornton reported. “Are we gonna walk there?”
“Yes, honey, we are going to walk there. Do you think you can walk at least part of the way?”
“Yup. It’s a long way, though.” He frowned as they started down the road. “A real long way.”
“I can carry you if you grow too tired, but do try to go as far as possible. It’d be a big help for me.”
A brisk walk, if kept up, could have gotten her to Wolfe Ryder’s in but a few hours, but that was a pace she could not maintain. Thornton’s little legs could not manage a walk as brisk as hers. He tried not to lag, but she often had to slow her pace considerably in order for him to keep up.
Even so, it was better by far than if she had had to carry him the whole way. She was not sure, but she felt it could not be good for the child struggling to grow within her womb. Emily was not so sure that, laden with Thornton and their baggage, she would make much better time anyway.
“What’re we gonna do when we get to Uncle Cloud’s, Mama?”
“I’m afraid I can’t really say. He might not believe me when I tell him that Dorothy lied to him.”
“He’ll beweave me. I’m a boy. You’re just a girl.”
Grimacing, Emily had to agree with that. Cloud, cynic that he was, would indeed believe Thornton before he’d believe her. To her disadvantage was the fact that he would undoubtedly want to know why Dorothy would lie, and Emily had no idea of the why of the whole matter.
“I’m not sure what is going to happen, darling. He might believe that Dorothy lied, but it might not make any difference. Cloud might not want us to stay with him.”
“He likes us,” Thornton protested quietly.
“Yes, he does, sweets—especially you. However, liking someone doesn’t mean you want them to come and live with you or that you want to take care of them. It’s a big responsibility to care for a woman and a child.”
“You don’t think he’ll wanna take care of his baby?”
Yet again Emily was shocked into stopping and staring. “How did you know about the baby?”
“I heard them talking on it. She said he’d lefted a baby in you and you needed to get a papa. I tink Cloud should be the papa, not that other man.”
“Cloud should be, but he doesn’t have to be if he doesn’t wish to,” Emily explained gently, if sadly.
“Dat’s okay. We done real good and we got no papa. We can take care of that baby.”
She hugged and kissed him before starting them walking again. “You’re not to say anything to Cloud about the baby, Thornton. I am the one who must tell him at the right time and in my own way. He’s got to be told just right so that he won’t think I’m trying to force him to be a father.”
“I hope he wants to be one. I’d like to haf Cloud as a papa. We make a real good family.”
“That we would, Thornton,” she said quietly. “It would be very nice. But let’s not hope too hard.”
About halfway there, she had to carry Thornton. The boy was nearly asleep on his feet. Using a blanket sling as before, she secured him to her back, picked up their bags, and started off again. She wondered if she would have been so eager to leave Boston if she had known how much time she was to spend as a pack mule. It would be very late when she reached Wolfe’s, but she prayed someone would be awake enough to lead her to a bed.
Chapter Fourteen
James and Wolfe decided it was past time to put a stop to Cloud’s headlong dive into a bottle. If nothing else, they were tired of carrying him to bed every night. Cloud needed a lot of drink to get drunk, so it was often very late before he was ready to be put to bed.
‘I just can’t believe he’d go like this. The man was as hard as rock.” James shook his head in a gesture of disbelief as he and Wolfe made their way to the veranda where Cloud sat staring out at the horizon and drinking whiskey.
“Rock can be broken,” Wolfe muttered as they stepped outside. Wolfe looked at his older brother with a mixture of concern and disgust. He had not been surprised when, rejected by a woman for the first time in his life, Cloud had decided to get drunk. However, he had never expected his brother to stay drunk quite so long. He frowned; if the problem was Emily, Cloud had waited two weeks to get upset about it. Wolfe was suddenly not too sure of what to do.
“Cloud, I think it’s time we had us a serious talk.”
He looked up at Wolfe, who stood on his right, sensing James moving to stand on his left. “About what?”
“This isn’t like you, Cloud,” James said, “and it isn’t getting you anywhere.”
“Nope. It isn’t. I suppose you have a suggestion.”
“Well,” James said, nervously clearing his throat, “maybe you should go and talk to Emily.”
“I did. No, that’s not quite right. I tried to talk to Emily.”
“It’s the first I’ve heard about it,” grumbled Wolfe.
“Perhaps I had a premonition,” Cloud drawled, starting to take a drink but changing his mind.
“What the hell happened?” Wolfe urged when Cloud seemed loathe to elaborate.
“Dorothy answered the door. She went to get Emily, but returned with only a message. Emily did not want to see me. She felt our association was something best forgotten.”
There was a lengthy silence as James and Wolfe thought over what they had just heard. Cloud found that the words still seared him to the bone. It seemed a cruel irony that he had to taste his first rejection from Emily, the one woman in all his thirty years he wanted acceptance from.
“I don’t believe it,” James said suddenly, then saw Cloud tense. “Hell, I believe you—I just don’t believe Emily’d do that. I traveled with you. I saw the way you two were.”
Cloud shut his eyes for a minute. In all his wallowing in self-pity, his cursing of Emily, he had ignored one thing. It was something he had succeeded in ignoring for too long.
“There’s something I ought to tell you, James. Emily did not share my bed by choice. When I found her trudging along that day, I gave her an ultimatum. She could either continue along on her own or pay a certain price for my assistance. You can guess my price.”
“You really can be a bastard when you try, can’t you,” Wolfe said calmly.
“Sometimes I don’t even have to try.”
“That w
as the bargain referred to now and again, wasn’t it,” James continued.
“Yup. I really just put it out of my mind.” He rubbed his forehead. “Took one look at her and wanted her. I also knew she wasn’t going to let me seduce her. Hell, I doubt I could’ve taken the time. The wanting was that bad—and I won’t make that admission twice.”
“You didn’t really have to make it this time,” James said. “It was clear enough most of the time.”
“Well, I finally just took that damn bargain into consideration,” Cloud said heavily. “Emily never forgot. The whole arrangement offended her little puritan soul. She felt like a whore.”
“Surely Emily didn’t really believe you’d leave her and the boy alone?”
“I’d like to think she doesn’t really believe it now, Wolfe, but that first day she did, or did enough not to call my bluff. Course, if she knows different now, she knows I was bluffing, which would anger her. My only defense is that I didn’t know she was a virgin. I thought Thornton was her child. Course, if I’m honest, and I seem inclined to be at the moment, I don’t know if it would’ve made a hell of a lot of difference to me. Still, it meant she paid a damn high price.”
Neither James nor Wolfe argued that. For a while the three men stood deep in thought. A solution would not be easy, if even possible, Wolfe mused. Cloud had certainly put his worst foot forward in his dealings with Emily. This was not some simple misunderstanding.
“Nope. I still don’t believe it. It just doesn’t suit her.”
“What are you muttering about, James?” Cloud asked wearily.
“I traveled right at your side. I figure I know the little lady as well as anyone. It just doesn’t seem her way to send that Dorothy to tell you to get out. If Emily wanted to tell you off or spit in your eye, she’d do it herself. She’s never backed off from anything before.”
“No, she hasn’t.” Cloud felt a small stirring of hope. “Then again, why would Dorothy lie?”
“Who the hell knows?” James grumbled. “I do,” Wolfe said quietly, “or I think I do. Chilton.”
“What’s that weasel got to do with this?”
“I heard in town that he’s courting Harper’s sister, Cloud.” He grimaced when he saw Cloud’s eyes harden. “I thought her turning to him was what all this was about. I also heard a bit ago that Harper’s in debt. He needs money.”
“And Chilton can give it to him,” Cloud said slowly. “It’s a possibility. I don’t know.”
“You can’t be sure of anything unless you talk to Emily.”
“Hell, James.” Cloud winced. “I could just end up with the door slammed in my face again.”
“That’s not Emily’s way. I’m sure of it. I also can’t believe she’d want you to go away for good. Oh, no doubt she might lay into you—she’s got every right to—but after watching you two together, I can’t believe she’d push you away completely.” James frowned. “Well, that might depend on what you intend to offer. She’s not one to play the mistress for you.”
“No. I wanted her to play the wife.” He smiled slightly at Wolfe’s astonishment. “By the end of the first week with her, I’d figured I’d be a damn fool to let this one slip away. Once I’d made up my mind to settle in one spot, I then started thinking about a family. Need a wife for that. Even I could see that Emily’d make a damn fine wife.”
Cloud stared off into the horizon, his mind reviewing all that had been said. James was right. Emily was not the sort to have someone else speak for her. She would look him straight in the eye and tell him what she thought. She always had before. His own guilt had made him accept Dorothy’s words too readily. He had not thought the matter out at all.
“Chilton’s after her, you say?” He looked at Wolfe with eyes sharper than they had been for days.
“Like a fox after a chicken. Practically living at Harper’s place.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “There’s some speculation about why you haven’t been around after bringing her in and all. If not you, then James. People are thinking she was brought in especially for Chilton.”
“I wonder how much Chilton knows about me and Em.”
“Speculation’s heavy. You do have a reputation, brother. ‘Specially after that incident with—” Wolfe stopped short and stared at Cloud.
“With Chilton’s fiancé,” Cloud finished dryly. “If that snake thinks I’ve got an interest in Emily, he’ll do his damnedest to get her. He probably already has Harper by what counts.” He ran a hand through his hair. “This is all just speculation.”
“Except concerning Emily sending Dorothy to speak for her. She wouldn’t do that.”
“You feel that sure about it, James?”
“Stake my life on it.”
“So what are you suggesting? That I go back and demand to speak to Emily, let her tell me to my face to take off?”
James shrugged. “At least you’d know for sure how you stand.”
“It’s either that or let her go to Chilton,” Wolfe drawled.
“Emily wouldn’t marry that worm.”
“Emily might not have too damn much to say about it.”
“Why haven’t you told me about Chilton before this?”
“Didn’t figure you’d be interested.”
“What the hell did you think I was sitting around a bottle for?”
“Well, you’ve never been sent packing before, and since we haven’t seen or heard of Emily since she left, we thought you had been. You ain’t vain, but you sure as hell ain’t humble.”
“Thank you for that accolade, brother,” Cloud said.
“You’ve never been that concerned over a woman before. It was the last thing I thought of.”
“I’ll grant you that. I am concerned about this one, however. More so if she’s being pressured into a marriage she doesn’t want.”
The mere thought of Chilton touching Emily churned Cloud’s stomach. If that marriage went ahead, he doubted he would let Thomas Chilton survive his vows. He might not be all that clear on exactly what he felt for Emily, but he was certain of one thing. Emily was his.
“Have you come to any decision?” James prodded. “It’s damned cold out here.”
“I’ll go see Emily tomorrow.”
“What if that Dorothy won’t let you?”
Cloud’s eyebrows rose slowly. “Dorothy won’t have much to say about it.”
“No, she won’t,” Wolfe interrupted. “Look there.”
The other two men looked in the direction Wolfe was pointing. A full moon clearly outlined the small figure stumbling from the road toward the house. It took the three men watching Emily’s unsteady progress a few minutes to believe their eyes, however, so she had nearly reached them before they overcame their surprise enough to move to give her some help.
Cloud bolted from his chair, a smile starting to spread across his face. Emily had come to him!
Emily feared she would never feel warm again. Except for her back, where Thornton rested, every part of her felt frozen to the bone. She had the sinking feeling that she would be unable to release her hands from the bags she held once she reached her destination.
She was past caring whether or not Cloud believed what she had to tell him. All that mattered to her was finding some place that was warm and sheltered from the frost-tinged wind that tore through her clothes. When Wolfe’s ranch came into view, she almost collapsed with relief. As she plodded forward she hoped the men were simply surprised into immobility and not unwelcoming.
“Don’t touch me or I’ll collapse,” she rasped as they descended on her. Why was Cloud grinning at her so?
“You have collapsed,” Cloud growled, concern for her briefly overshadowing his delight as he held her firmly while Wolfe and James relieved her of Thornton and pried the baggage from her hands.
“You must’ve touched me.” The way he was holding her made her think he was honestly pleased to see her.
“What the hell are you doing walking the roads in the middle of the damn nigh
t?” Cloud picked her up in his arms and started towards the house. “Damn it all, you’re like ice.”
“It was rather cold. Is Thornton all right?” “He’s fine,” replied James, who carried Thornton as he hurried along after Cloud.
“We tried the saloon, but you weren’t there.”
“Why the hell should I be?”
“Dorothy said—” she began and did not even flinch over Cloud’s resultant profanity.
Cloud set her down in a chair near the fire. James settled the still sleepy Thornton on the rug and poured some whiskey into a glass. Running the bags up to Cloud’s room, Wolfe returned with some blankets. Throughout all the activity, Emily sat huddled in the chair trying desperately to stop shivering, her teeth clenched but not wholly prevented from chattering. She also found Cloud’s obvious concern fascinating.
Urging the whiskey down her throat after bundling her up in blankets, Cloud pressed, “Why are you here, bags and all?”
“Had to get away,” she ground out, finding the whiskey less distasteful with each forced sip and feeling it start to warm her from the inside. “Chilton.”
“Have you had trouble with Chilton?” He made her take another large swallow.
“Must you keep pouring that vile stuff down my throat?”
“Yup. You’re frozen clean through. Answer the question.”
“What question?” Emily began to find her mind less than clear and getting foggier.
“Have you had trouble with Chilton?”
She made a childish face indicating revulsion. “Yes. I’m supposed to marry him.”
“If you didn’t want to, you shouldn’t have accepted his proposal.” He wondered briefly if he had been wrong to assume Chilton had been forced on her.
“What proposal?”
“Chilton’s.”
“He didn’t ask. Neither did they. I was told. I’m always being told. It’s getting tedious.”
“And you’re getting drunk,” Cloud pointed out gently, hiding the pleasure and touch of relief her statement brought him.
“I wouldn’t be if you weren’t sloshing that poison down my throat.”
“Emily, were Harper and Dorothy forcing you to marry Chilton?” Cloud refilled her glass with whiskey.
Compromised Hearts Page 17