“They’ll catch up.”
Quinn peered around him. “She’s finally atop the horse.”
“Good.” He chuckled. “By the way, my name’s Ashe Montgomery. The man with the other pretty lady is my brother, Cal. The man with Miss Goodspell is Wes Monroe.”
“I’m Quinn Stockton. Riding with your brother is my sister, Deborah. My other sister, Marlene went with Beck.”
“Three beautiful Stockton women. Looks like one each for the Montgomery brothers.”
“What do you mean?”
“The fellow in the wagon is my brother, Beck.”
“Oh.”
Ashe grinned to himself. He’d embarrassed the lady, though he hadn’t meant to. He changed the subject. “I know you’re not from here, by your accent. So, what are you and your sisters doing in a place like Colorado?”
“We’ve come west to find our uncle Henry Stockton. Do you know him?”
Ashe swallowed. “Yeah. I think I’ve met the man.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. What’s he like? I can’t wait to meet him.”
Ashe didn’t know how to tell a lady about the Henry Stockton he knew. These women didn’t look the type to be involved with a man who owned a saloon.
Finally he muttered, “I’m not sure he’s in town. I’ll take you to Mrs. Potter’s boarding house and tomorrow I’ll come by and let you know when he’s home.”
“Maybe I could go look for him myself.”
“I don’t think that’d be wise, Miss Stockton. As long as you stay in town, you’ll be safe, but you shouldn’t be out on this prairie alone.”
“Then I’ll come by your office and see if you’ve found out if Uncle Henry is in town.”
“That’ll be fine. Make it about noon tomorrow. I should know by then.”
“Why so late?”
“Things move a little slow in Tornado.”
Quinn sighed and leaned back against his chest. “Then I’ll see you at noon.”
Ashe sucked in a breath. Why in the world was the feel of this tiny woman’s head pressed to his chest making every nerve in his body quicken? It was going to be a long ride into town.
Chapter 5
“Well, girls, weren’t we lucky to find this family suite in Mrs. Potter’s boarding house?” Deborah dropped to one of the two beds in the room. There was a connecting room with another bed.
“That sheriff made a good recommendation,” Marlene said.
“And it was cheaper for the suite than to get individual rooms here or at the hotel.” Quinn picked up her satchel.
“I hate to talk about people, but I’m sorry Winnie has the room down the hall. She gets on my nerves.”
“I agree, Deborah,” Marlene said. “I was sure she was going to insist on riding in the wagon with Beck.”
Quinn eyed her. “But he wanted you. You must have really impressed him.”
“Of course he was impressed. If he hadn’t been he wouldn’t have come with his brothers when they brought you from the doctor’s to the boarding house,” Deborah said.
“Beck insisted on seeing me safely here, though the sheriff said he’d see I got here.” Marlene sighed. “Other than stinking, Beck’s a nice man.”
Quinn moved to the door joining the two rooms. “Since you two seem to be settling in, I’ll take the other room.”
“Leave the door open so we’ll still kind of be together,” Deborah said.
Quinn paused. “By the way, what did the doctor say about Beck’s wound, Marlene?”
“He said he’d be fine. The doctor got the bullet out and put his arm in a sling. He told him to stay in bed a couple of days, but Beck has no intention of going to bed.” She smiled. “And I want you to know he kept apologizing to me for smelling bad. Said he’d left the gold field and had to catch the stage before he took a bath.”
“Since you seem to like him, I’m glad he takes baths,” Quinn said.
Deborah grinned. “Have you ever seen three more handsome brothers? They’re all so tall and muscular and their deep brown eyes seem to look right through you.”
“I noticed the way their black hair curls around their shirt collars.”
“So you noticed their looks, too.” Marlene grinned at Quinn.
“Of course. I’m not blind, but I’ll pass my opinion of Beck when he cleans up.” Quinn laughed.
Deborah looked at her. “How did you like riding back to town on that handsome sheriff’s lap?”
“I was only glad to get to town, find this place and have the nice supper Mrs. Potter served.”
“Well, if you’re not interested in the sheriff, Doctor Milburn Wheeler is a handsome man probably somewhere between twenty-five and thirty,” Marlene teased her.
Quinn shook her head and started toward the door, then paused. “I’m not interested in either the doctor or the sheriff, but I did ask Sheriff Montgomery if he knew Uncle Henry.”
“Did he?” Marlene sat up straight.
“He said he thought he did. He’s going to check and see if he’s in town and let us know.”
“Good. Maybe we’ll meet our uncle tomorrow.” Deborah turned to their trunk. “I’m glad the sheriff sent someone out to the stage to get our luggage. I’ll start putting away our clothes. I’ll bring yours to you, Quinn.”
“Thank you.” Quinn went into the adjoining room. It was then she let out the breath she’d been holding since they’d mentioned the handsome sheriff. She couldn’t let them know how it had affected her to sit on those muscled thighs and feel his strong arms around her as he guided the horse to town. No man had ever made Quinn feel this way. In fact when her sisters talked about being excited by a man’s nearness she’d thought it as the imagination and romantic dreams of inexperienced females. Of course, she wasn’t sure how an experienced woman should act, but the feelings that surged through her earlier at the nearness and manly smell of the big handsome sheriff had made her body do things inside she didn’t realize could happen to her.
Shaking it out of her mind, she moved to the wardrobe and hung up the two day dresses from her carpetbag. At least they weren’t too wrinkled. The green print was a little faded, but it was still serviceable. Not only that, it flattered her slim figure and showed off her tiny waist. Not that it mattered, but in case she happened to see the sheriff again, she’d wear it tomorrow.
“Quinn, don’t act like a fool,” she whispered. “Get that man off your mind. I’m sure the minute he let you off here, he never gave you another thought.”
She turned to the dresser and poured water from the pitcher into the matching bowl. The hot water Mrs. Potter had sent up was still warm. She took a cloth and bathed her body then slipped into a soft cotton gown.
After brushing her long red hair, she turned down her bed, then walked to the door and peeped in on her sisters. Marlene was already in bed and Deborah was washing up. She smiled. They were as tired as she was, but she was thankful they hadn’t complained much today.
“Good night, sisters,” she said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“The first one up, wake the rest of us,” Deborah said.
“Good idea.”
Marlene rolled over and gave her a sleepy good night.
Quinn turned back to her room and climbed into bed. She thought it might take a while to go to sleep with the ride in the sheriff’s lap on her mind, but she was wrong. When she closed her eyes, she slipped immediately into dreamland.
* * * *
As soon as they let Deborah and Quinn off at the boarding house, Ashe and Cal rushed to Dr. Milburn Wheeler’s office to check on Beck. The doctor had him sitting up and he insisted on seeing Marlene Stockton to the boarding house to join her sisters before going for a bath.
Now the three of them sat around Ashe’s kitchen table discussing the case.
“Quinn Stockton told me there were five men in the gang. Her sister agreed, but Miss Goodspell said there were at least a dozen. How did you see it?”
“The Stocktons were right. There were fi
ve. One of the men was dismounted when we got out of the stage. He did all the shooting.” Beck rubbed his cleanly shaved chin. “He seemed to be the muscle. The leader instructed from horseback. He ordered two men to take the wheel off the coach. He called one Zeb and the other, Harve. He referred to the man who shot me as Slim. There was one other man who didn’t dismount. He never said a word either.”
“Do you think this Slim meant to kill you?” Cal asked.
“He sure as hell did.” He held up his arm. “When I saw he was going to shoot, I twisted around to direct the bullet away from my chest. When I fell, I laid still. I wanted him to think I was dead. I didn’t let anyone know I’d only been hit in the shoulder until I heard them ride away.”
“Deborah Stockton told me there was something strange about the leader. After I prodded her, she said he had a slight accent and wore expensive boots.”
“I noticed the boots, too. Not the kind a cowboy usually wears. They were the kind you see a fancy dressed gambler or even a banker have on.”
“Did you notice an accent?”
“It sounded like a mix of southern and Louisiana Cajun, but it wasn’t pronounced.”
Ashe shook his head. “Like the other robberies, they only killed the men.”
“A killer with a conscious where women are concerned?” Cal raised an eyebrow.
“Looks like it.” Ashe reached for the cup of coffee. “What do you think our next move should be?”
“I wouldn’t mind checking out the saloon.” Cal pushed his coffee away. “Maybe I could pick up something.”
“Why don’t you head for the Horseshoe and see what you can find out? I think people will talk more if I’m not there.”
“I’ll go with him,” Beck said.
“Don’t you think you should get some rest? You’ve lost a lot of blood.” Ashe looked at him.
“If I fall over, Cal’s big enough to pick me up. Besides this might be our best night to hear information. Nobody knows who we are and only the guy who helped you rescue the women knows you’re our brother.”
“I guess you’re right. Gossip spreads here like it does in every small town. It won’t be long until everybody knows we’re brothers. In the meantime, let’s get all the information we can.” Ashe stood. “Let me know if there’s a reaction when people hear you survived the shooting.”
His brothers stood, too. “It’ll be good to get a drink of whisky.” Beck laughed. “That little Stockton woman only let me take a swallow when she worked on the wound.”
“Well, come on, brother. I can use a drink myself.” Cal opened the door.
Ashe followed them and pulled the door closed behind him. “I’m going to check up and down the street.”
“And stop to see the widow Norwood?” Cal teased.
“Maybe, I will,” Ashe snapped. “Whenever you come back you’ll be able to get in. I’ll leave the door unlocked.”
“The widow Norwood?” Beck looked at his brother.
“Cal can explain her to you.” Ashe headed toward the center of town. “I’ll see you later.”
They nodded and headed to the saloon.
Ashe checked some of the doors on the businesses as he walked in the opposite direction. He had every intention of visiting Lola Norwood. Why shouldn’t he? She was always happy to see him and tonight he needed female company. He figured it was because he’d spent the hour riding into town with Quinn Stockton’s shapely little body across his lap. He was surprised at how much the pretty little woman had affected him. She was the prefect lady and her movements were certainly unconscious. But without knowing it, she stirred his loins every time she moved her shapely little butt against him. And there was no escaping the feel and the smell of her against his chest. In fact, there were a few moments when he thought he’d throw caution to the wind and ravage her right there in the saddle. His better nature took over and he managed to get her to Mrs. Potter’s boarding house as pure and innocent as when he pulled her into the saddle.
He accepted the fact it wasn’t right to use Lola Norwood to satisfy his need, but he would. He’d used her before. Though Lola hinted she wanted there to be more to the relationship, he knew there wouldn’t be. He’d tried to make it clear to her he wasn’t interested in anything permanent, but he still had the feeling she was trying to trap him. If he was to get the notion to settle down, there was no way he’d ever tie himself to a woman like Lola.
Ashe shook thoughts of the woman away as he stopped and looked in the window of Mrs. Forester’s hat shop. He chuckled when he saw a frilly little concoction of different shades of blue. It had aqua feathers, the same aqua of Quinn Montgomery’s eyes. He wondered how it would look on her.
Startled at his own thoughts, he cursed and backed away. Without checking any more businesses, he headed for Lola Norwood’s place determined to get the tiny Stockton woman out of his mind.
* * * *
“What can I do for you fellows?” The bartender moved in front of Cal and Beck.
“Whisky,” Beck said. “And leave the bottle.”
Cal put some money on the bar.
“What happened to your shoulder?” The bartender set two glasses and the bottle in front of them.
“Was on the stage and one of the robbers decided I didn’t need to live any longer.”
“Good thing he was a bad shot.” The bartender chuckled. “Name’s Abe. You got one?”
“Beck. This is my brother Cal.”
“Was you on the stage, too?”
“Nope. Rode into town earlier to meet Beck.”
“It sure was bad about the stage. Heard there were some pretty little gals aboard this time. I was hoping they were headed here, but I guess they weren’t.
“They were headed to Tornado, but not to the saloon. Those women were ladies.” Beck laughed. “Well, there was one hefty lady and I don’t know about her. The three sisters were certainly nice women.”
“The robbers didn’t hurt any of them, did they?”
“Not a scratch.” Beck picked up the bottle. “Let’s get a table and see if we can work up a poker game. Since I didn’t get killed, this might be my lucky day.”
“Sounds good to me.” Cal followed him.
They sat at a table on the side of the room where they could see everyone who came through the bat doors. It wasn’t long until a tall, well-dressed gambler with graying hair came down the stairs at the end of the room.
He walked over to their table. “You boys looking for action?”
“Might be.” Cal looked at him.
“Want to play a friendly hand?”
“Sure, why not?” Cal looked at the bottle. “Want a drink?”
“Never drink when I’m playing cards.”
“Smart.”
The gambler sat down and picked up a deck. He turned toward the room and called out, “Anyone else want to get in on a friendly game?”
A couple of men ambled over. One of them was Wes Monroe. Cal nodded to him. “You ever played with this dude, Wes?”
“I’ve been able to beat him a couple of times, but most of the time he wins.”
Two other men pulled out chairs and sat down without introducing themselves. One was a chunky fellow with red-streaked eyes. The other was a skinny fellow with a mustache.
Cal noted there were now six men playing cards.
“My name’s Hank,” the gambler said.
“Why do we have to give names?” the heavy stranger asked.
“Nobody said you had to, but we did say this was a friendly game.” Hank began to deal the cards.
After four hands, Cal had lost ten dollars. Beck six. But the gambler wasn’t winning them all. Wes Monroe won most of the time.
“They say there was at least thirty thousand dollars in gold on that stage today,” Wes said as another hand was dealt.
“I wish I’d known that,” Beck muttered.
“What would you have done if you’d knowed it?” The nameless man with the mustache asked.
“Wonder why they didn’t kill you?” Hank asked.
“They thought they had.” Beck picked up his cards. “I played dead.”
“How’d you do that?” the mustached stranger asked.
“I saw he was going to shoot me and turned so the bullet wouldn’t do much damage. Fell on my face and when the blood began to run I’m sure they thought I was dead.”
“Pretty smart move.” The stranger looked at his cards. “I guess they’ll be surprised they left you alive.”
“Maybe they’ll never know.” Beck threw down two cards and asked for replacements.
“Remember anything about them?” Wes asked.
“I remember they were mean as snakes and they shot my shoulder.”
“Could you identify any of them?” Hank asked.
“If I could, I wouldn’t be sitting here playing cards with you men. I’d be out running them down. My damn shoulder hurts like hell.”
Every man at the table smiled.
Cal took a deep breath. “You guys wouldn’t happen to know anyone who has come into a lot of money lately, would you?”
“What’s it to you?” the pudgy man asked.
“I don’t like people shooting my brother. I wouldn’t mind having the reward that’s probably out on these bastards either.”
“Wonder how much it is?” Wes asked.
“Hell, are you men going to jaw all night? I’m ready to play and I don’t have all night,” Mustache said.
They got quiet and Cal won the hand.
Beck won one then they both lost the next two. When nothing else was said about the robbery, Beck said, “Fellows, I’m going to have to cash in. My damn injury hurts and I’m going to get a bottle and go to bed.”
“Maybe we can play again,” Hank said. He looked at Cal. “Are you leaving, too?”
“Might as well. I need to get my brother settled down.”
The two brothers left the saloon and headed for Ashe’s house. They didn’t talk about the night, but knew they’d go over it all with their brother in the morning.
* * * *
When Ashe came through the door Lola ushered him into the parlor and poured them a glass of her best scotch. He took the drink and downed it without savoring the flavor as he usually did. She frowned. Was it her imagination, or did he seem a little distracted. She slipped her arm around him and he pulled away.
Quinn's Promise Page 4