by Regina Scott
“Easy,” he murmured. He glanced at Doc. “Can I take her home?”
“If by home you mean Wallin Landing, I’d advise against it,” Doc replied, lowering her spirits. “You know the road between here and there. Best not to jostle her any more than necessary.”
“I’ll speak to the Howards,” Hart promised.
“I am capable of talking for myself,” Beth informed them both.
Her irritation only grew when Doc smiled at Hart over her head. “I’ll leave you to make the arrangements. Tell her brothers I’ll send the bill shortly.”
Beth opened her mouth to offer a stinging rebuke. She had her own money. She was her own person. She didn’t need her brothers interceding for her.
But Hart scooped her up in his arms, and suddenly all she could see was him. The sweep of dark brows, the firm chin, the swirl of silver, gray and black that made up his irises.
“I’ll take care of her,” he told Doc, who slipped the bottle of laudanum into his pocket.
Beth didn’t argue until they were out of the office. “I can’t ask this of Allegra and Clay, Hart.”
“They’ll want to help,” he countered, carrying her down the block. One look from him and everyone else scattered, the ladies with looks of compassion or surprise, the men with looks that bordered on envy.
“You can’t carry me all the way to the Howards’,” she protested.
“Are you impugning my strength or your weight?”
“Well, I never! Hart McCormick, you...” She sputtered to a stop at the look in his eyes. He was trying to distract her, but she could see that the accident had taken a toll on him. His face was lined, his mouth tight. Had he truly been so concerned about her?
“Don’t worry,” she told him. “You heard Doc. A few days’ rest, and I’ll be fine.”
His only answer was a humph, but it might have been because they had reached the hitching post in front of Kelloggs’, where Arno was tied. She recognized Billy from Lowe’s standing beside the black gelding.
“I found the horses, Deputy McCormick,” he said. “They were fine, just confused. I took them to the livery stable.”
“Oh, thank you,” Beth said before Hart could answer. “I don’t know why I didn’t think about Lance and Percy. The poor dears! And the wagon! We can’t leave it standing in the middle of Second.”
“I’ll see to it,” Hart said. He nodded to Billy. “Give me a hand, will you?”
Billy’s eyes widened. So did Beth’s, at the thought of Hart handing her to the youth. Instead, he set her up in the saddle. With Billy supporting her, Hart swung up beside her, bracketing her between his body and Arno’s neck.
“Much obliged,” Hart told the porter, his arms coming around her as he took the reins. “I’ll speak to your manager, explain how you were a credit to the hotel with your quick thinking.”
Billy grinned. “Thanks, Deputy.” He touched his forelock. “Miss Wallin. I’m glad to see you weren’t badly hurt. You gave us all a scare.”
“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Prentice,” Beth said. Then she had to focus on keeping her seat as Hart turned Arno and started down the street at a gentle walk.
His body felt warm against hers. His arms cradled her close. She rested her head against his chest. He smelled like leather and mint. She fancied she could hear the beat of his heart. It seemed to match the throbbing in her head.
“Beth!”
She snapped open her eyes. They had turned onto Spring and started up the hill. He stared down at her, face white.
Perhaps she should be trying to distract him.
“I was just coming to find you when all this happened,” she told him, rocking in the saddle as the horse headed up the hill. “When I left Kelloggs’ I saw the man who threatened me.”
His face tightened. “Where?”
“Across the street. He darted into an alley. I decided against following him.”
“Smart.”
She shouldn’t be so pleased by his praise. “I knew you needed to talk to him. But as soon as I flicked the reins, the horses ran off.”
“Taking you with them.” His voice was grim.
“Now, Hart, don’t blame Lance and Percy. They just did what they’ve been trained to do. They couldn’t know that they were no longer hitched to the wagon.” She frowned. “And why weren’t they hitched to the wagon? We came all the way from Wallin Landing just fine. When were they let free, and still in harness?”
“That’s what I intend to find out.”
She met his gaze. “You think someone deliberately tampered with the wagon? Why?”
“Maybe the gang thinks you know more than you should. Maybe they think you’re a danger to them.”
Beth made a face. “Not that much of a danger. We never caught them, did we?”
His arms tightened around her as Arno reached the top of the hill. “There is no we, Beth. You will have nothing further to do with the investigation. With any investigation,” he hurried to add when she opened her mouth to protest. “Leave the law to me and Sheriff Wyckoff.”
“Go home, tend the stove and sweep the floor,” she retorted. “Necessary tasks, of course, but I won’t apologize if I think I was meant for more.”
“And I won’t apologize for keeping you safe. As soon as Doc approves, you’re heading back to Wallin Landing. And you will stay there until I say otherwise.”
The ice she felt crossed into her voice. “I am a grown woman. I am not related to you by blood or marriage. You have no call to order me about.”
“I’m the Deputy Sheriff of King County. You’ll do as I say.”
“We’ll see about that.” She tossed her head, then gasped as the pain seized her.
He reined in Arno in front of the Howards’, face tightening once more. “Beth, what is it? Are you hurt?”
“Terribly,” she said. “Horribly. Utterly devastated that you have so little faith in me. Now, get me inside and get out of my sight, before I say something unladylike.”
* * *
She rested the next few days as Doc requested. Her heart wouldn’t have let her do otherwise. How dare Hart treat her like a child? She’d had quite enough of that from her brothers. She could certainly see the sense in laying low for a time, until she was healed. But to run off to Wallin Landing, as if she was afraid to stand on her own two feet? Bah! She had a dozen people she needed to address about moving forward with various activities like women’s suffrage and the theatrical troupe, she must settle things with the Literary Society even if they ended up rejecting her, and she had to learn the truth about Evangeline Jamison and stop Scout from making a disastrous marriage.
Unfortunately, she had to heal first. Allegra and Gillian stayed with her the first day to make sure she was all right. Hart stopped by that evening and the next morning, but he didn’t come back to her room to see her.
“Clay says the wagon’s hitch broke free,” Allegra reported instead. “Apparently, Deputy McCormick found that suspicious.”
He would. He seemed to see darkness at every turn. But, given the circumstances, Beth couldn’t deny that the accident might not be so accidental after all. It seemed she really was in danger. Perhaps Hart was right. The best place for her was at home until this business with the gang was settled.
“Though I feel as if I’m running away,” she complained to Allegra as her friend helped her pack her things.
“A strategic retreat, as Catherine would say,” Allegra replied with a smile. “You are very welcome to return at any time.”
Beth kept that thought in mind on the way back to Wallin Landing. Drew himself came to get her, lifting her to the wagon’s bench with so much concern on his face that she had to pat his powerful shoulder.
“It’s all right, Drew,” she assured him. “I’ll be fine.”
She had to repeat the statement to the rest of her brothers, their wives and several of her nieces and nephews before they consented to leave her alone in her cabin. In consideration of her
injuries, Simon had moved the bed from the loft to the main floor, squeezing it between the hearth and the table.
Levi was the last to leave. They had been conspirators as well as competitors growing up. She still found it hard to look at those blond curls and clever grin and see a minister.
“You’re sure you’ll be all right?” he asked, tugging the quilt higher on the bed.
“Fine,” Beth assured him as she sat on the edge. “I wish you all would accept that.”
“Might as well ask the sun to stop shining,” he said. “You’re too important to us, Beth. We worry. Deputy McCormick was very persuasive when Drew talked to him in Seattle before fetching you.”
She might have known her oldest brother would consult Hart first. “He told you to coddle me, didn’t he?” Fury tightened her fists. “Stubborn, annoying...”
“Easy.” Levi put a hand on her shoulder as if to keep her settled. “He’s just doing his job.”
“Not from my perspective. I don’t need that kind of protection.”
His smile humored her.
Beth sat up taller. “Who’s the best shot at Wallin Landing?”
“John, but you’re a close second.”
“Who knows every inch of this town, helped plan it, keeps it going?”
“You and Simon.”
“Who very likely could spot danger coming a mile away?”
Levi shook his head. “Sorry, Beth, but not you. You tend to look at the bright side of things. You don’t expect evil, so you don’t notice it as it creeps closer.”
Beth sighed. “And I suppose you do.”
He shrugged. “I have seen a bit more of the world than you have.”
He must be thinking of the gold fields. He’d had a hard time there. Beth frowned up at him. “So, tell me this, oh wise one—how am I any safer surrounded by wilderness instead of in Seattle with a constable, a marshal and a sheriff and his deputy near at hand?”
Levi opened his mouth and promptly shut it again.
“See? It’s Hart McCormick. He’s determined to keep me swaddled like a newborn babe. I won’t have it. Can’t he see I’m capable of taking care of myself? I helped him look for a house, improved his wardrobe, introduced him to society and found him a cause to support. He won’t let me help him investigate this gang. He won’t listen to a word I say!”
Levi moved closer to the hearth, set another log in the grate. “Maybe he doesn’t like feeling he needs help any more than you do.”
Beth started. “I... I never thought of it that way. But it’s not the same thing. He did need help.”
“And you don’t?”
She smoothed down her flannel nightgown. “I suppose anyone does, sometimes. I certainly haven’t managed to do much on my claim, for instance.”
Levi stirred the fire. “And is that what you want, to stay out here and farm?”
A shudder went through her before she could stop it, and she hoped her brother hadn’t noticed. “I’m not sure. Frankly, I enjoyed my time in town more than I thought I would. There’s so much going on, so much to get involved with. I feel as if I could make a difference in the town, even in the territory. But you all need me here.”
Levi turned to her with a smile. “We missed you, but we managed. Feel free to go where you want, Beth. Where God leads you.”
He left her then, but his words lingered as she climbed into bed. Lying there, gazing at the dying fire, it was easy to paint a picture of the perfect life for her. A small house in town, work with a purpose, helping fight for worthy causes, concerts and plays in the evenings, church surrounded by friends. She’d never been one to lack for ideas. But where was God leading her? It seemed a long time since she’d asked. She closed her eyes.
Dear Lord, You’ve blessed me with so much—family, friends, resources. Looking back, it seems I just went on my way, with no thought beyond my current goal. If there’s a path You want me to follow, would You make it clear?
The sounds of the room faded as sleep approached. Her last thought was of Hart. She’d been certain that door was closed. He could have little respect for her to order her about like this. How could he be the path God wanted her to take?
* * *
Hart wasn’t sure of his reception when he rode out to Wallin Landing later in the week to check on Beth. For one thing, he didn’t relish confessing he’d taken her advice in another area of courting and purchased a house. What if she took that as encouragement and went back to trying to find him a bride? For another, he didn’t bring good news. No one else claimed to have seen the man Beth had spotted, even though Hart and the sheriff had shown the drawings to every man and woman in the city, it seemed. No one had seen who’d tampered with Beth’s wagon either. So, her enemy was still at large. She would have to stay at Wallin Landing for her own good.
He had thought of no good way to break it to her, but it turned out he never had the opportunity to try. He had no sooner reached the main clearing when the schoolroom door burst opened, and Frisco, Sutter and three of the older children spilled out, their teacher right behind them.
“Hurry, run!” Rina ordered, clapping her hands.
He reined in as the children scattered in all directions. “Something wrong, ma’am?”
“There most certainly is,” she said, head coming up in the regal way she had. “We’ve been expecting you, Deputy. Please go to the main cabin. We’ll be along shortly.”
“We?” he asked, but she’d already whisked back into the school and shut the door.
Bemused, he dismounted and let Arno into the pasture. Then he went to the main cabin.
It had changed little over the years since Beth and her brothers had lived in it together. The logs had weathered to a silver-gray, but flowers still grew in the boxes under the windows. Likely Beth tended them. Inside, the same collection of wooden benches and chairs, including a bentwood rocker, gathered around the stone hearth. Ma Wallin’s quilts and pillows lay scattered here and there, as if her presence still blessed the home she’d made for her family.
He was considering whether to take a seat when Levi arrived, followed by James, then John and Simon. Last came Drew, shutting the door soundly behind him.
Hart widened his stance as the big logger approached him. His golden brows were heavy, his dark blue eyes narrowed.
“What’s happened?” Hart asked, fearing the worst.
“A great tragedy,” James assured him. “Or a tremendous opportunity, depending on your point of view.”
A tragedy? Had something happened to Beth? Had she been more injured than Doc had thought? Had the gang come to avenge itself on her?
Simon pointed a long finger at Hart. “We have evidence you’re in love with our sister.”
What? Despite himself, Hart took a step back. “It’s not like that.”
Drew crossed his arms over his broad chest. “No? Then explain your behavior.”
Hart felt as if his throat was tightening. “Behavior?”
James ticked it off on his fingers. “Heads close together at the Pastry Emporium. Hours arm in arm to select a home, choose a new wardrobe. Rescued from certain death not once but twice. And that’s just Lance and Percy.”
“She’s helping me,” Hart insisted.
“Helping you do what?” Levi asked.
If he said courting, they’d probably all jump him. Normally he could hold his own in a fight, but he wasn’t sure about tussling with Beth’s brothers. They were all big men, and they were clearly concerned.
“Listen,” said John, always the peacemaker. “We don’t hold it against you, Hart. Beth’s logic can be hard to resist.”
“Logic?” Simon asked with a frown.
John waved him into silence. “But if you care about her as you seem to do, we expect there to be some sort of proposal coming.”
James sidled up to him, put one hand on his shoulder. “On bended knee. In the moonlight. Spouting Everard’s poetry.”
“It doesn’t matter how or where,”
Drew said with a look to James. “But we need to know your intentions are honorable.”
Now they all had their arms crossed.
Just then the door opened, and their wives began filing in. Beth’s sisters-in-law looked equally determined to give him a dressing-down, heads and color high. No way around it now. Hart readied himself for a fight.
“We would like a few words with Deputy McCormick,” Catherine, the acknowledged leader, said.
“Quickly,” Rina added. “I have to get back to the children.”
He thought he heard whooping and hollering from the clearing.
Nora put her hand on Simon’s arm. “Frisco and Sutter are minding the little ones.”
Simon’s brows shot up.
“Please, John,” Dottie said.
Callie went so far as to open the door wider. “Out you go, now. We’ll get back to you directly.”
Drew inclined his head. “We’ve said our piece. We’ll expect an answer shortly, Deputy.” He strolled out the door, his brothers behind him.
Hart backed up as the women converged on him. He wasn’t sure whether to draw his Smith and Wesson or cover his head with his arms.
“It is clear to us that you care deeply about Beth,” Catherine said.
Hart drew in a breath. “Your husbands already let me know where things stand, ma’am.”
“We were certain they would,” Rina told him. The others nodded.
“That’s why we’re here,” Catherine said. “So there can be no misunderstanding.”
He nodded as well. He wasn’t sure what else to do with them all gazing at him so determinedly.
“We just want to know how we can help,” Dottie said.
“She is such a dear,” Nora put in with a sigh.
“So, what’ll it be, Deputy?” Callie asked. “How can we get you and Beth hitched?”
Chapter Twenty
Beth drove in to Seattle to fetch the mail on Friday afternoon. She felt fully restored by then, at least physically, though she was aware of a distinct lowering of her spirits when it came to Hart. He hadn’t so much as darkened her door the last few days, as if having handed her to her family he bore no more responsibility for her.