Lady Sundown (#1 of the Danner Quartet)

by Nancy Bush

  Jace’s eyes were heavily lidded. “Better,” he murmured, and Lexie stared wide-eyed. Didn’t he know she’d nearly suffocated? His next words, however, completely drove that out of her mind.

  “Have you seen Tremaine?” he asked.

  She inhaled sharply. Did he know? “Not for a while.” She stumbled over the lie. “Why?” Discreetly, she moved from his arms.

  “You haven’t talked to him?”

  “About what?” Her cheeks surged with pounding color as she thought about Tremaine’s body pressed against hers.

  “Oh, nothing.” He seemed somehow relieved. With a hand on the small of her back, he suggested, “Why don’t you show me around? I can’t stay long. I’ve got to head back to Rock Springs tonight.”

  “Tonight? But you won’t get home until morning.”

  “I know. I shouldn’t have come all this way, but I wanted to make sure you were settled and happy.” His face darkened. “You know Kelsey’s causing my mother fits.”

  Lexie almost smiled. “Yes.” Kelsey Garrett had turned into a rebellious young woman, much to Lucinda Garrett’s dismay and Lexie’s private amusement. Kelsey had taken up shooting a rifle as part of her daily activities. She was determined to foil her mother’s plans for her marriage to Paul Warfield, the mayor of Malone. Lexie had heard the sharp report of Kelsey’s rifle many times in the last few weeks and she imagined it was driving Lucinda mad with frustration.

  “Maybe your mother should realize Kelsey doesn’t love Paul Warfield.”

  “My mother doesn’t care. And Kelsey should be glad a man of Warfield’s importance is interested in her. He’ll have his hands full, though, taming the little wildcat.”

  “Jace,” Lexie began, not liking his tone. “A woman has a right to choose.”

  “If Kelsey had any sense, she’d choose Warfield,” he answered autocratically. Looking down into her troubled face, Jace ran his thumb down her cheekbone. “Like you chose me,” he added softly.

  Lexie’s heart lurched. “Yes,” she agreed. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  An hour later he was on his way out. Because Hildegarde waited in the foyer, there was no opportunity for Jace to kiss her again — and Lexie was relieved. But sadness crept over her at the thought of being alone.

  “Write me?” she begged, as he opened the door.

  “Of course,” he promised.

  The door shut behind him with grim finality. Lexie stood stock still.

  “Are you all right, Miss Danner?” Hildegarde asked tonelessly.

  Lexie gave her a wordless nod, then gathered her skirts and mounted the stairs to her room.

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  Inside his carriage, Jace flicked the reins on his team of matching bays. The horses started off on a brisk trot but he knew they were tired. He would have to go to the livery stables and exchange them for a new pair, taking them up on his next trip to Portland.

  He squinted against the deepening autumn night, his mouth the same, resolute line. So Tremaine hadn’t told Lexie about Betsy. Jace couldn’t understand why, but he thanked the fates all the same. He’d had to avoid Lexie the last few weeks, trying to come up with some kind of plausible excuse for Betsy’s pregnancy.

  The bitch, he thought callously. He’d be damned if he claimed her bastard as his.

  Eliza Danner’s request that he visit Lexie on her first day had seemed like a summons to hell. But he couldn’t say no. It was an olive branch. A way for the Danners and Garretts to bury their differences. He’d had to accept, sure he was about to pay for his sins.

  But lo and behold, Lexie had been glad to see him! She’d reached out to him in that innocent way of hers that sent his blood lusting, left his mouth spit-dry.

  The thought of Lexie in his bed was enough to make Jace’s pants tighten uncomfortably. Now he half-wished he’d never agreed to her attending Miss Everly’s School. But almost as much as he wanted Lexie herself, Jace wanted a real lady. A lady like Eliza Danner. He applauded Lexie’s mother’s decision to mold her into the same type of woman. Unlike Lexie, he was sure it could be done.

  “Gidday yup,” he muttered to the failing horses, pulling into the livery at the edge of town. He knew the stable boy in charge from similar visits into the city. “I need a fresh pair,” he said.

  “Right away, Mr. Garrett.”

  While Jace’s bays were being removed from their harnesses and a smart coal-black pair was put to, Jace pulled a cheroot from his pocket and lit it, letting the thin smoke curl into the biting air. Betsy was another problem. She’d gotten herself pregnant on purpose and it infuriated him.

  “If she thinks it’ll keep me from having Lexie,” he said between his teeth, “she’s dead wrong.”

  “Pardon?” The stable boy looked his way.

  Jace smiled thinly. “Nothing.”

  Fifteen minutes later, he was on his way to Rock Springs. It was a long way back, and he was glad to be on the road. He was also glad to leave Lexie. Seeing her strained his self-control. He didn’t want to scare her — he wanted her for his wife. A proper Garrett wife, one worthy of his name and position in the community.

  And he’d be damned if either Betsy, or Tremaine Danner, or anyone else, would stop him from having her.

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  It seemed to Lexie that as swift as the summer had fled, fall was moving as slow and deliberate as molasses in a snowstorm. A month at Miss Everly’s School, however, had convinced Lexie there were certain things she could learn after all. Not particularly useful things, but accomplishments that would please Jace nonetheless. She was beginning to learn how to waltz. She’d discovered Shakespeare to be a thoroughly entertaining writer. She’d learned a few French phrases. Sewing was still a problem, as was music, but if it would make Jace happy, she vowed to embroider and sing with the best of them.

  Still, time dragged and she lived for the letters Jace sent. He didn’t write often, but he managed a letter about once a week. Between his missives and those sent by other members of her family, Lexie bore her homesickness in good grace. Only Tremaine had been silent, which bothered her, especially since he lived and worked in Portland.

  One Sunday afternoon, just as Lexie was curling up in a chair to reread Romeo and Juliet, a carriage clattered to a stop outside the front door. Lexie peered down from her window and recognized the dark-blond head of her brother Harrison.

  She grabbed her skirts and ran down the stairs, earning a tsk-tsk from Hildegarde’s tongue as she raced to the door.

  “Harrison!” she cried, flinging herself toward him.

  “Whoa,” he said, holding high a hatbox and another smaller package, before Lexie could crush them in her eagerness to throw herself into his arms. “I take it this means I’ve been forgiven,” he said, smiling down into her laughing face.

  “Never. But I’m so lonely I’ll deign to put aside our feud for a while.” She clung to his arm as they walked inside. “It’s so good to see you,” she said, her voice catching.

  “I’m glad to hear that.” He regarded her seriously, his green eyes smiling into her own. “Is it really so bad here?”

  “Mmmm.” She nodded. “And I don’t want to hear how wonderful it is with Dr. Breverman. I can only stand so much disappointment.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Harrison admitted, and Lexie jabbed her elbow into his ribs as hard as she could.

  Harrison’s laughter brought Miss Everly and several of the other girls into the entry room. To their curious glances, Lexie said, “Miss Everly, I’d like to introduce my brother, Harrison Danner.”

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Danner,” said Miss Everly, extending her hand.

  Harrison’s mouth quirked. “Good afternoon,” he answered.

  “Harrison has asked me to go for a ride in his carriage,” Lexie announced blithely. “Would that be all right?”

  “Certainly.” Miss Everly smiled benevolently.

  Squeezing her brother’s arm, Lexie said to him, “I’ll be right back.”
/>   “You haven’t changed,” Harrison remarked softly.

  “Did you think I would?”

  She tossed him a smile, then headed upstairs, walking with the decorum that would make Miss Everly proud. But as soon as Lexie was out of sight, she bounded up the stairs two at a time.

  Grabbing her cloak, Lexie glanced longingly at her split skirt. What she wouldn’t give to ride bareback. But a ride with Harrison was preferable to sitting around the dusty alcoves of Miss Everly’s School.

  Once outside she drew in a deep breath, enjoying the teasing breeze. “Thank you,” she murmured with heartfelt appreciation, her eyes closed.

  “Don’t mention it. I swear, you act like I’ve broken you out of prison.”

  “Amen. Where did you get this lovely carriage?” Lexie exclaimed as he helped her into it.

  “It’s Dr. Breverman’s.”

  She threw him a dark look and leaned back against the elegant, tucked-black-leather upholstery. “Would you like to trade? You can stay at Miss Everly’s School and I’ll take your place with Dr. Breverman.”

  Harrison slanted her a look. “Well, I don’t know. What’s your roommate like?”

  Lexie grinned. “She has red hair and freckles and sings worse than I do. Her family wants her to find a husband, preferably a wealthy one, because their fortunes have been in decline the last few years. They had to sell their shipping company and can barely afford to send Ella to Miss Everly’s School. But this is her best chance to meet ‘the right kind of man.’”

  Harrison laughed. “I don’t think my prospects are good enough.”

  Lexie sighed. “I know. Although Mother continually surprises me with the amount of money she’s got saved. Do you suppose it all came from my father’s estate?”

  “I don’t know.”

  They drove to a small corner hotel near the river, not too many blocks from the fashionable Nob Hill area, which housed Miss Everly’s school. Harrison held the door for her with a flourish and Lexie adopted a Victorian air. “Thank you so much, Mr. Danner,” she intoned. “I am so pleased you invited me out this afternoon.”

  “My pleasure, ma’am.”

  They were seated at a window table and Lexie pulled off her gloves. Harrison watched her sardonically. “You may hate it,” he observed, “but you really look like a lady.”

  Lexie shot him a killing look. “What took you so long to come to my rescue?”

  “After the treatment I received last summer?”

  “Come on. My temper never bothered you before.”

  To Lexie’s surprise he dropped the playful banter and said seriously, “You were shattered, Lex. Everything hit you at once and you wandered around in a daze for months. If Tremaine hadn’t told us to leave you alone, we probably would have taken you to a doctor.”

  “Tremaine told you to leave me alone?”

  “He said you’d work it out.” Harrison shook his head. “Since he’d been through it, too, I figured he knew what he was talking about.”

  Lexie dropped her chin on her hand and stared out the window. A soft, misting fog clung low to the Willamette River and she watched several small boats steam by. “How could they keep it a secret from me? I don’t understand why they would.”

  “Maybe Pa thought you wouldn’t love him the same way if you knew he wasn’t your real father.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” She sighed as the waiter placed a pot of tea on the table between them. Harrison ordered for them and Lexie half-smiled to herself, thinking how much things had changed. “You know, I could have almost guessed that Tremaine wasn’t really my brother.”

  “I know.”

  Something in Harrison’s tone caught Lexie’s attention. He was systematically stirring cream into his tea, so systematically in fact that Lexie said, “What’s going through your mind?”

  Glancing up, he started to deny he was thinking about anything, and then he saw her face. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said reluctantly.

  “I might.”

  He shook his head.

  It was clear he wasn’t going to talk about Tremaine so Lexie took matters into her own hands. “He hasn’t come to see me since I’ve been here. Nor has he written.”

  “Tremaine?”

  “Yes, Tremaine. He lives in Portland, yet I could be back in Rock Springs for all it matters to him.”

  “I thought you two didn’t get along.”

  “We don’t, as a rule, but when you defected I had to turn to someone.”

  “I defected!” Harrison shot her an outraged glance, but then seeing the laughter in her eyes he said, “So you turned to Tremaine, huh? What’s that been like?”

  Lexie felt this conversation was turning dangerous somehow, but since she couldn’t rationally find a reason to explain her feelings, she said, “He stayed away all summer. I know he never was around much before, but I thought — I don’t know — that he would help me more.”

  Memories sent Lexie’s heart quivering and she narrowed her gaze out the window once more, afraid that Harrison, who had always understood her, would somehow guess what had transpired.

  His gaze was penetrating. “I understand Jace came to Portland to see you were settled in.”

  This was a much safer topic and Lexie grabbed onto it eagerly. “He didn’t stay long, though.”

  “Sounds like the Garretts and Danners are about to become one big happy family. Mother’s not that against your marrying Jace.”

  While it was surprising in itself, Lexie thought, she’d long since given up trying to figure out what went through Eliza’s mind. “The feud is silly. It should have ended long ago.”

  “Joshua Garrett’s the one who kept alive,” Harrison reminded her. “He always wanted our property and so does Lucinda.”

  “Well, Jace doesn’t, and he’s head of the household now. The whole thing is ridiculous anyway. The Garretts have more land than they know what to do with.”

  Harrison’s smile was wry. “That doesn’t stop them from acquiring. Look at Rock Springs, Lexie. The next thing you know they’ll be changing the name of the town to Garrettville.”

  Lexie snorted. She’d been wrong. She didn’t like this topic any better than discussing Tremaine. “You sound sorry to see the feud end.”

  His hand dropped lightly over hers. “I just don’t want to see my big sister get hurt.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Lexie said steadily. It irked her to know that Harrison, like everyone else, felt her love for Jace could only lead to unhappiness.

  Harrison lifted an eyebrow but wisely dropped the subject of the Garretts. He paid the bill, then led her back to the buggy. The breeze had turned into a cold, whipping wind and Lexie shivered a little, pulling her wrap closer around her shoulders. She was pleased by the colder weather. There were less than two months left to Christmas — two months left until her first vacation — two months left until she could see Jace again.

  “Would you like to see the hospital where Tremaine works?” Harrison asked as he drove her by Dr. Breverman’s offices. A light burned inside the window, and Lexie caught a glimpse of what looked like a small classroom.

  “Is it near here?” Lexie asked, her gaze lingering on the swinging sign across the front porch, which listed Dr. Breverman’s hours. How she longed to be there with Harrison!

  “Not too far. Although it’s not in the best part of town.”

  Harrison slapped the reins across the horses’ broad flanks, sending them into a smart trot. They turned north and soon the cobblestone streets became weed-choked, the buildings dilapidated wooden tenements. Laundry, strung from wires between the buildings, flapped wildly in the increasing wind. The stench of urine and garbage made Lexie’s nostrils quiver.

  “His hospital is here?”

  “At the edge of this,” Harrison answered with the grim nod.

  Lexie breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the clean, whitewashed one-story building standing next to the river. She could hear the mut
ed shouts and revelry from the saloons and brothels that dotted the waterfront further down. Horses’ hoofbeats sounded on the cobblestone roads to the South and West. The river ran smooth and black in the gathering twilight. A ferry boat sat at anchor.

  “You want to go in?”

  Lexie thought about seeing Tremaine and felt an irrational need to sleep. Disgusted with herself, she said brightly, “I’d love to.”

  Inside, Harrison asked the woman at the desk if Dr. Danner was on duty. Lexie, who had always accepted Tremaine’s profession with blithe equanimity, glanced around the hospital waiting room and was struck by the responsibility of Tremaine’s job. It seemed incomprehensible to her that Pa had once been a doctor, too, yet she could recall the times he’d treated her when she’d been injured and she’d recognized his tender professionalism at some subconscious level.

  “Dr. Danner is out visiting patients,” the receptionist informed them and Lexie felt a cruel sense of disappointment. “He has many patients who can’t come to the hospital.”

  “Why can’t the patients come to the hospital?” Lexie asked Harrison after they left Tremaine a message and headed back to the buggy.

  “Probably can’t afford to pay. This isn’t the wealthiest part of town.”

  Lexie had a vision of Tremaine tending the sick in the confines of a tenement and she swallowed hard. The utter uselessness of her life engulfed her in a wave of deep misery.

  As they drove home she stared blindly out at the passing landscape. One way or another she was going to realize her dream, she thought with determination. She would not become a useless ornament like the other girls at Miss Everly’s school. She was going to make something of herself. She was going to make a difference. She was going to become a horse doctor.

  Chapter Eight

  A bitter wind drove against Tremaine’s face as he wrapped Fortune’s reins around the post outside Jenny McBride’s rooming house. Fortune snorted and lowered his head against the pounding force, but Tremaine had no time to see to the horse’s comfort. He bounded up the stairs and threw open the front door.

  Jenny came from the kitchen, her black hair hanging in a rope over one shoulder, a bowl of steaming water in her hands. “She’s real bad,” she said tonelessly.