Midnight Lover

by Barbara Bretton

  And so he drank too much and gambled too much and spent the rest of his money on women who were more willing than he would have imagined a woman could be. He could be forgiven his last hurrah, could he not, for if all went well he'd soon be tying that matrimonial noose about his neck and settling into domesticity with the girl he loved.

  Maybe it was worth being in jail. He'd wired his banker in Boston to send more money and with a little bit of luck by this time tomorrow he'd be on his way again to Silver Spur and Caroline.

  Chapter 20

  The next few days went by in a pleasant blur for Caroline as the carpenter began work on enlarging the parlor of the Crazy Arrow into a dining room where she could serve guests.

  The rat-tat-tat of hammering and the scrape of his saw was the music of the day. Abby grumbled and walked around with cotton in her ears but to Caroline the cacophony was more beautiful than the loveliest waltz for it meant her dreams were coming true.

  She could barely remember her old life in Boston. It seemed a thousand years since she had sat in the parlor with Thomas Addison sitting, docile and hopeful, by her side. Poor Thomas, she thought, as she waved goodbye to Abby and headed outside to await the stage. Doomed to spend the rest of his life in the stultifying atmosphere of that big house on the hill, obeying his mother and one day obeying his wife, and never once asking why.

  Jesse's dreams for the old Rayburn mine were coming true, as well. By the time they approached the end of their second week of marriage, he had put together a crew of miners and gamblers who would re-open the abandoned site and begin the search for silver anew. A spirit of optimism and hope for the future had settled on the town, and Jesse was the one to thank

  Progress was coming to Silver Spur; that fact was undeniable. Talk about the railroad spur that would one day cut through the property surrounding the mine grew louder and Caroline knew in her heart of hearts that she wanted to be the one ready to house rail travelers in comfort and refinement.

  Her future was there in that rowdy Western town with the people who had somehow gone from being strangers to being friends. How dear were the faces of the McGuigan sisters and the Wilder girls! How precious the gift of friendship they gave her.

  And even more wonderful than that was the sudden and all-encompassing joy she'd unexpectedly found in the arms of Jesse Reardon.

  She spent hours choosing wallpaper patterns and fabric for new curtains for the Crazy Arrow, and dreaming about how wonderful it would be if she were doing all this for a home for her and Jesse. A foolish and nonsensical thing to do, Caroline knew, but it seemed that romance was blossoming all around her, and she had fallen prey to it herself. Not only was Abby openly smitten with the bartender at the King of Hearts, and her other employees starry-eyed over the men of Silver Spur, but it appeared that each and every one of her boarders had a sweetheart hidden somewhere in the town.

  Pity the poor Single Men's Protection League for its days were certainly numbered.

  The League had been formed to combat the dangerous outbreak of domesticity that had threatened to overpower wayward Silver Spur. The roots, however, had spread deep and wide and Caroline had no doubt that her wedding to Jesse Reardon was just the first of many weddings yet to come.

  Jesse said change was on its way and, as they began their third week of marriage, she wished with all her heart that just this once he was wrong. If she had her way, things would stay just the way there are...

  * * *

  "Wake up, darlin'."

  "Go away," Caroline mumbled the next morning, burying her face against Jesse's pillow. "It's still dawn..." He laughed and playfully swatted her on the rump. "Got me a mine to reopen today, Car-o-line, and I want a kiss for luck."

  The bed dipped as he sat down and she opened one sleepy eye. "You're superstitious."

  "All miners are."

  "And I suppose a kiss will ward off the evil spirits?"

  "Just expectin' you to do your wifely duty."

  Laughing, she sat upright and kissed the top of his head. "There! Now I've done my wifely duty."

  "The hell you have." He pushed her back against the pillows. "Now kiss me, darlin', like you mean it."

  Caroline wrapped her arms about his neck, delighting in the hard strong feel of his muscular chest and the way her breasts felt wonderfully crushed by his weight. Her mouth opened beneath his and she gloried in the invasion of his tongue, drinking in the faint tastes of coffee and tobacco.

  "I wish you didn't have to leave," she murmured against his neck. "The bed is so warm and it's still so early..."

  "Don't tempt me, darlin'." Gently he removed her arms from about his neck and gave a quick tug to his pants leg.

  "Isn't there anything I can do to convince you, Jesse?"

  "Keep lookin' at me like that, Car-o-line, and that mine can go to hell."

  How wonderful it was to have such power over a man like Jesse Reardon. "Go on," she said after a moment. "I know they're all waiting for you."

  "You got yourself a mean streak, darlin'." He pulled her to him once more and kissed her thoroughly. "We're goin' to continue this tonight."

  "I'll be here waiting for you, Jesse."

  The expression on his face changed and her breath caught at the unexpected look of tenderness in his eyes.

  "I kind of like the sound of that, Car-o-line."

  She smiled up at him. "So do I."

  * * *

  Caroline carried the memory of the look in Jesse's eyes with her all morning as she worked to ready the Arrow for the arrival of the afternoon stage. Even though the renovations had just begun, she was determined to have some of the empty third floor rooms cleaned and ready for any unsuspecting spinsters who were bound to be dismayed by the welcoming committee awaiting them. The Single Men's Protection League had made it a point to meet each stage that rumbled into Silver Spur and inform the unwed ladies with marriage on their minds that they were definitely not wanted.

  Today Caroline had every intention of meeting that stage from Dodge City herself, complete with her best smile and an invitation to sleep in comfort and security at the Crazy Arrow Hotel.

  "You'd be lookin' mighty pleased with yourself," said Abby as Caroline primped before the hall mirror later that afternoon.

  "It's a beautiful day outside, Abby," Caroline said, meeting the girl's eyes in the mirror. "Who wouldn't be happy?"

  "It's grey outside and hot as Hades. I think it be Mister Jesse that brings the bloom to your cheeks."

  A laugh rippled through Caroline and she turned to give her maid a hug. "I think you would be right, Abigail O'Brien. Jesse Reardon is most definitely responsible for the way I feel!"

  "If you don't mind me sayin' so, miss, this wouldn't be the usual kind of marriage between the two of you. I would hate to be seein' your heart broken after all is said and done." Caroline smiled and said nothing and Abby, still frowning, returned to the kitchen.

  How could Caroline possibly explain the way she felt to Abby? Her marriage to Jesse had started off simply as a means to ensure their mutual safety, a way to make certain the Crazy Arrow had a chance to succeed; but, now it was so much more. Every time he looked at her, every time he touched her, a thousand pinpoints of light and heat exploded inside her heart, banishing the cold and the darkness that had been with her for so long.

  And it was the same for him—she knew it was. Jesse was a tough man, given to bursts of anger and violence, but there was tenderness inside him, tenderness she longed to believe he showed to her alone. He'd told her some about his childhood and she wondered at a woman who would toss her twelve year old boy out into the world with no more than a "God bless" to see him through. How she longed to hold that boy in her arms and whisper words of comfort to ease the long ago pain.

  There was so much more to learn about this stranger who was her husband and it hurt to know she'd never have time to discover it all before their marriage came to its inevitable end.

  The stagecoach rumbled in the dista
nce and she smoothed her hair and went outside into the damp grey day. Let the mine run deep, she thought, let the digging lead Jesse's men to China and back. She prayed for lazy workers and hard rock and bad weather—anything to delay the inevitable. She wanted to hold this miraculous feeling close to her heart for as long as she possibly could.

  "Afternoon, Miss Bennett." Doc Willoughby, on his way back from the pharmacist, tipped his straw hat. "Waiting for the stage, are you?"

  "That I am, Doctor." She glanced around at the unusually quiet street. "I seem to be the only one. Has the League given up its cause?" She clearly remembered the rowdy welcome her own stagecoach had received the day she arrived.

  "Big doin's out at the mine. Half the town's out there." Doc Willoughby inclined his head toward the Golden Dragon across the street. "Other half's visitin' those calico queens."

  Doc Willoughby tipped his hat again and continued on his way back to his office. Jesse was right, she thought as the stage came into view over the ridge. Reopening the mine, no matter what the outcome, had brought new enthusiasm and vitality to the former boomtown's sagging spirits.

  Now if the stagecoach was packed with spinsters looking for a place to lay their weary heads, Caroline would consider this an absolutely perfect day. Finally the driver brought the horses to a halt in front of the Last Stop and Caroline strolled down the board walk to reach the stage as the first of the passengers alighted.

  Three dapper dandies, in suits as crisp as the day they'd bought them, stepped out onto the hot and dusty street and then immediately looked ready to expire.

  "Good God, man!" said tallest of the three. "What in hell's name brings you to a place like this?" The shortest of them said a few words that elicited a huge smile from the other two and, stepping briskly, they headed off for the Golden Dragon.

  Another minister and his wide-eyed wife stepped down next, waiting silently while the driver retrieved their valises from the hold of the coach. A spray of gunfire bounced off the front wall of the Howell Bank and both the minister and his wife looked as if they had opened their eyes to find themselves in the devil's playground.

  For Caroline it was business as usual and she paid it scarce attention, although one month ago such an occurrence would have sent her into a swoon.

  Apparently word about the Single Men's Protection League had gotten out, stemming the tide of spinsters bound for Silver Spur. So be it. The hot and humid afternoon had made good on its promise of rain and Caroline turned to head back to the Crazy Arrow when she noticed one more passenger alighting from the stagecoach. He was of medium height with light hair that hung lank across his high forehead. His dark blue suit was so badly rumpled and in need of repair that she doubted if even the lowliest mail order company would claim it for its own.

  He needed a shave and, more than likely, a bath as well and she was thanking the Good Lord that the Crazy Arrow was closed to men when she heard a familiar voice say, "Caro?"

  She stopped, heart thudding fearfully. No, it couldn't be. It was impossible! She lifted her skirts and hurried toward the Crazy Arrow. Her imagination was playing tricks upon her, conjuring up her past in the most unlikely of places. Why, if she were—

  A hand grabbed her arm, and she found herself clasped to a dusty and sour shirtfront, her nose pressed against a chipped mother of pearl button. "Caro! Of all the good fortune..."

  Placing her hands upon the man's chest she pushed herself away then looked up into the bloodshot eyes of Thomas Wentworth Addison III. "Dear God in heaven! Thomas, what on earth...?"

  His laugh was wild and uninhibited and as totally unlike the Thomas Addison she'd known as night was from day. "Surprised?"

  "My God, yes."

  "Happy?"

  She forced a smile and sidestepped the question. From the smell of whiskey on his breath, he'd never notice. "Thomas, what in the world are you doing in Silver Spur?"

  He staggered against her and she struggled to support his weight. "I've come for you," he said.

  "What about your job at the bank?"

  "I resigned my position."

  "Have you gone mad? You loved your work at the bank."

  "I love you, Caro."

  Her stomach twisted into a painful knot. "What on earth did Emily say? I know your future was uppermost in her mind."

  "I'm twenty-five, Caro. How long should I go on doing what m-my mother wants?"

  Caroline had always believed he would go on doing what his mother wanted until eternity.

  "Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked, his voice filled with a boyish uncertainty that reminded her of why it could never have worked between them. Raindrops slid off his lank hair and dampened his collar, making him seem even more unkempt and desperate.

  "Of course I am. It is only that I am surprised. It isn't everyday a friend from Boston arrives in Silver Spur."

  He leaned into her. "I h-hope I'm more than a friend, Caro."

  "Please stand straight, Thomas." She struggled beneath his weight. "I cannot support you another moment."

  "'Scuse me," he said, his breath boozy and unpleasant. "I m-might have had too much whiskey."

  "I should say so." When had he started drinking whiskey? The Thomas she had known in Boston sipped sherry and precious little of that. "Where are your bags?"

  He gestured toward a pile of valises near the stagecoach.

  "All of them?"

  He shook his head. "The brown leather with the buckle."

  "Well, go fetch it, Thomas, and we'll see about finding you a room." Some things never changed. Thomas did as he was told without so much as a murmur of protest. "Now come with me," she said, looping her arm through his in order to lend support. "You need a place to stay."

  "I had counted on staying at your Crazy Arrow."

  Thank the Good Lord that was impossible. She dared not imagine what Jesse's reaction would be to such a living arrangement. "I'm sorry, Thomas, but the Crazy Arrow is a ladies only establishment."

  "You c-could make an exception, Caro."

  "I am afraid not. I dare not do anything to jeopardize my standing in town."

  Thomas stared openly at the disheveled and dirty miners passing by in an open buckboard. "Certainly you cannot ask me to stay with such riffraff."

  They stopped in front of the Crazy Arrow. "There are many establishments available in town for gentlemen. I am certain you will find something."

  Big Red Morgan, wet and angry-looking, rode by on his pinto, followed by Three Toe Morton and Luke Foster.

  "Have mercy, Caro!"

  Sam Markham, driving a pair of unmatched horses, slowed his buggy down and tipped his battered cowboy hat. "Afternoon, Miz Bennett."

  "Good afternoon, Mr. Markham. Has work ceased at the mine?"

  "Thunder storm out there rattled the rafters," Sam said, looking curiously at Thomas. "Jesse closed down for the day and headed back to the King of Hearts." Tipping his hat again, he spurred the horses on and the buggy bumped past them on the rutted dirt road.

  "Caro, is standing outside in the rain a quaint ritual around here?"

  "No, of course not."

  "I could certainly do with something to drink. It was a long and dusty ride."

  "No whiskey," she warned. "I can offer you lemonade or nothing." Indeed, it would be wise to step inside the Crazy Arrow where Jesse wouldn't happen to see them talking. "One glass of lemonade and then you must find yourself a place to stay."

  The foyer of the Crazy Arrow seemed cool and pleasant after the damp heat outside. Thomas stumbled once over a braided rug near the entrance to the kitchen, then recovered himself sufficiently to bid Abby a most pleasant hello.

  "Holy Mary!" Abby crossed herself as she stared up at Thomas then over at Caroline. "I feel as if I would be seein' a ghost!"

  "No ghost," said Caroline uneasily. "Just a new arrival in town."

  "If you don't mind me sayin' so, miss, the other ladies wouldn't be too happy to be sharin' the Arrow with another—"

  "
Boarder," Caroline broke in, casting a quelling look at her loquacious maid. "Especially a male boarder. That's why I invited Thomas inside: for something cool to drink and a few suggestions on where to stay. I have already explained to him that it is impossible to invite him to reside at the Crazy Arrow."

  Abby, bless her, immediately understood and she poured Thomas a large glass of freshly-squeezed lemonade and gave him an overview of the boarding houses.

  "And how do you know so much about the competition?" Caroline asked, astounded.

  Abby blushed and turned away. "Sam would be keepin' up on such things, miss, and I listen close when he talks."

  "Apparently so."

  Betty McGuigan and the Wilder sisters drifted into the kitchen ostensibly for some lemonade but Caroline knew better. After Jenny's second pointed question about "...exactly how long did you say you two have known each other..." Caroline decided it was time for Thomas to find a room.

  "The Last Stop or The Queen Victoria," Caroline said as she led him into the foyer. "And do not let them give you a room without a window. You'll need plenty of fresh air to sleep off the whiskey you've consumed."

  Thomas took her hands in his. "I know I have surprised you, Caro, and you are at a loss for words."

  "Thomas, I—"

  "Do not say a thing, Caro. We'll talk tonight."

  "Around eight o'clock," she said. "No later. I keep strict hours now that I'm an innkeeper."

  It was also the beginning of the crush at the King of Hearts and she knew Jesse would be well-occupied.

  "Eight o'clock." He pressed a kiss to her cheek, then picked up his valise and left.

  Caroline exhaled in relief as the door closed behind him and thanked God Jesse hadn't seen fit to stop by the Arrow before heading to the King of Hearts. Now she had only to keep the two men apart until she convinced Thomas to return to Boston where he belonged.

  * * *

  Thomas returned to the Crazy Arrow at eight o'clock precisely and Caroline realized at once that he had been drinking. His brown eyes were bloodshot and he walked with the exaggerated gait of one trying to pretend he was sober as a judge. Caroline's heart ached as he handed her a small bouquet of carnations for she knew that nothing could sway her. Her heart belonged to Jesse Reardon.