by Diane Darcy
“Shooting? Is the sheriff coming this time? So that he can give both of us some pointers?”
The growl that rolled out of his throat had her giggling again.
There was a knock on the door behind her, and her eyes widened as she looked at Luke.
“Miss Carmichael?” Mrs. Braxton called through the door. “I thought I heard voices?”
She cringed, then straightened and cleared her throat. “Just me, reading my book out loud. I like to practice so that when I read to the cowboys in town, they’ll enjoy the story all the more.”
“Oh, excellent idea.”
Grace watched the door, waiting to see if Mrs. Braxton would continue the conversation, but all was silent.
“So, are you coming?” Luke whispered.
She looked at him helplessly.
She should say no, especially in light of all the feelings she’d been having about him recently, but she wanted to go.
Luke lifted a book. “I have something for you. It’s full of love poems. If you come with me, I could read some to you.”
He’d purchased a gift for her? A book of love poems? Was he declaring himself? She was speechless for a moment. Temptation had a name and it was Luke. “I … I don’t know.”
He pretended to aim it at the birdbath below.
“No!” She whispered the word even as she hurried forward.
“No, you won’t go?”
“No, don’t you dare throw that book in the water.”
He pressed the book to his heart, and danged if he didn’t look nearly angelic. She snorted at the very thought. “So, you’ll go?”
The simple fact of the matter was, she couldn’t resist him.
An unexpected shaft of pain seemed to shoot through her heart.
“What is it?” He looked concerned.
She shook her head and tried to clear her expression.
He was flirting with her now. Pursuing her. She studied his handsome face. It would be so much easier in the long run to just resist this man.
Why couldn’t she? What was it about him that made her so weak in the knees? She had no willpower where he was concerned.
She could never have imagined this when she decided to come out west.
She obviously couldn’t, or wouldn’t avoid him. So, she should just tell him, once and for all, who she was. At that point, she could see what he decided.
She reached out to shut the window, and as she closed it, she whispered, “Meet me at ten o’clock at the bottom of the road.”
With a quick grin, he was gone.
Would she have the guts to tell him who she was this time?
She’d have to see.
He took her to the meadow.
Once again, he set up the rocks on the log. Not only did he want to prove himself, but he was going to get her to tell him exactly what that telegram said.
He turned to see her knowing expression. He felt slightly foolish, but his desire to show her his skill with a gun was much stronger than any feelings of embarrassment.
She needed to know he could shoot.
She needed to feel safe with him, didn’t she?
From the sounds of things, she’d be calling Gabe the next time she was in danger.
He was a better shot than Gabe, even if Gabe would never admit it.
“Did I ever tell you that me, Gabe, and Sawyer had a claim up on Little Cat Mountain?”
“No.”
He studied her. She looked adorable, her white hat covered in flowers and cherries set off the darkness of her hair.
“Well, we did. We worked our hands bloody for the gold we dug out. We hid the fact that we’d struck gold, and piled it up until we were ready to make a run for San Francisco and the assay office.”
“Truly?”
“There were a lot of disappointed miners in those times and some had turned criminal and decided that robbing other miners was the way they wanted to make money. There is no law up there and we had to take care of any altercations between ourselves.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
He felt prickly heat rise up his neck. Blast it, now he was boasting. She no doubt heard bragging every day of her life as men lined up for pie and a slice of her company as well. “Look, I just can’t stand the thought that you think I can’t shoot, all right?”
She blinked at the change of subject, and at his honesty. “All right.”
He needed to quit shooting his mouth and start shooting the gun. He lifted it and there was a nervous tremor in his hand. He took a breath and aimed.
“But why couldn’t you shoot the other day, then? What was the difficulty?”
He lowered the gun.
“What do you mean, what was the difficulty? You were the difficulty!”
“Me? What did I do?”
Was she joking? He watched warily as she took a step toward him, then another. The next step she took had her dress brushing against his legs.
She was doing it again!
He tried to ignore her and took aim. His gun hand trembled.
She leaned into him, the front of her body warm against his side. She stood upon her toes and spoke directly into his ear. “All I did was stand close so I could watch and learn.”
He shot the gun, and hit some leaves on the tree to the left of the target.
She watched the branch sway, turned her gaze to him, and darned if the little minx was trying not to laugh.
He took aim again, and she stood on her toes and blew in his ear.
He shuddered, his entire body tightening as he tried to ignore her. He started to take aim again, but his hand shook, so instead, he holstered his gun. He turned to look into her face, still so close to his own. “Miss Carmichael, are you playing with me?”
With a start, she took a step back. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He grabbed her.
The scream she let out quickly turned to laughter.
“I’ll tell you what I mean.” His voice was gruff with mock anger. He held her tight against him and looked down into her smiling face. Unable to help himself, he lowered his head to kiss her.
Her mouth softened against his own.
He groaned, broke away, and looked into her gorgeous eyes surrounded by long ebony lashes.
“I need to tell you something,” she whispered the words.
He kissed her neck. “I know. You do.”
She arched her throat. “This is serious. I thought about having this conversation on the way out here, but—” she seemed to run out of words. A first.
“So tell me.”
She took a deep, shuddery breath. “I’m not Penny, I’m Grace.”
His hand slid down her back and he was gratified when she shivered. “I know.”
“What I mean is, you know I came here from New York City and—”
“I know your father wants you to go home.” Now it was his turn to breathe into her ear.
“Yes, but—”
Her shiver made him smile. He leaned over to carefully kiss her soft ear, to enjoy her reaction, and to get some payback. “And you want to stay?” He breathed the words into her ear.
Her entire body shuddered, causing a like reaction in his own.
“What I mean is that—that Mr. Carmichael is—”
“Your father.” He gently bit her soft earlobe. “I know.”
She shuddered again and her eyes slid shut so he kissed her again, pulling her tight against his body, her softness against his strength. “Why does your father want you to leave, Grace?”
“He … I …you need to know—”
“Will you stay, anyway? Maybe I could convince you to stay.”
He took her mouth with his once more, and she whimpered. He could kiss her forever, but he heard the faint clump of hooves and raised his head.
Definitely a horse.
He looked down into Grace’s flushed face. Her hair was coming loose on one side, and he reached down to pluck her hat off the ground and placed it on h
er head.
She reached up to steady it as he took a step back. She suddenly heard the horse, and glanced over as it came into view around the trees and bushes. It was Elijah and his brother.
The two boys waved when they saw them.
“Hey! Mr. Mayor,” Elijah waved. “The sheriff sent us to find you. He needs you for something and says we’re to come and get you.”
“He did, did he?”
Why did the boys have to show up now? He’d had Grace right where he wanted her. In his arms, and on the verge of telling him everything he wanted to hear.
“Yep. What are you doing out here?”
He looked at Grace. Her back was to the boys, and she was smoothing her hair, and pressing her hands to her pink cheeks. “Shooting.”
“We didn’t hear shooting.” He looked at his brother for confirmation and Benny shook his head.
“We were just about to start.” Luke pointed at the log.
“If you give us your guns, we could teach Miss Carmichael to shoot if you want.”
Benny nodded in agreement, his eyes gleaming.
“I’ll just bet you could. And while the offer is generous, I’ll have to decline as I want to teach her myself.”
The boys groaned in disappointment as Luke held his hand out to Grace. “Come on.” His voice was deep, rough-edged and full of promise. “We’ll finish this later.”
Chapter 24
Luke ended his speech. “Thank you all for coming out to celebrate with us. I’ve seen several families from nearby towns and we want to say we’re glad you came and you’re very welcome here. We hope everyone has a good time today and that you enjoyed the children’s parade. It was short, but sweet, wasn’t it folks?”
Children dressed in historical outfits that their mothers had made glowed with pleasure as clapping ensued.
“We hope you’ll continue to have a wonderful time. There’s food, games and competitions. There’s a wishing well for the children, and some easy fishing, and three-legged racing.”
Luke glanced around at the interested audience. “For you more daring folk, there will be boat races on the pond in about an hour. Winners get a fried chicken meal along with some of our famous Orchard City cider.”
More clapping and excited whoops came from some of the men present. There was nothing like a competition with young ladies watching to stir up competitive natures.
“The horseshoe and croquet competitions are still in play if anyone wants to watch. Over at the hotel we’re hosting poker games—seven men to a table—low stakes, as the games are just for fun.”
He chuckled as several men groaned. Every man here was dreaming of winning big lately. “We hope everyone will join in the different entertainments, if only to cheer the participants on. We have great weather today folks, so let’s make the most of it.”
After the clapping died down, everyone dispersed; most into the park, but a handful of men headed to the hotel to join in the games already in progress.
He loved the excitement and the energy. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he already had a couple of drinks under his belt.
He loved this annual Fourth of July celebration. With all the new people in town, it was also a great way of keeping all of the folks pouring into Orchard City from being bored.
Just seven more days until the tournament. While he was excited about it, he knew he’d also be a little relieved when all the furor died down and the town returned to some form of normalcy.
At least for a while.
If the tournament turned out to be more good than bad, and he suspected that would be the case, then who knew—maybe they’d make it an annual event too.
He grinned when he thought of the reaction Widow Braxton would have to that particular announcement.
He looked around for Grace and found her walking arm in arm with Minnie toward the park. He sighed. He’d wanted her to wait for him. Earlier he’d assisted them in setting out pies, so he knew she’d be manning the table and selling pastries. She’d be too busy for him. He just hoped they ran out of pies quickly.
A group of men approached as he stepped down from the newly erected platform. Oh, well. It wasn’t like he’d have uninterrupted time to talk to her anyway. He put on his best smile and stepped forward to chat and shake hands. Time to do his duty.
“Great speech, Mr. Mayor.” Mr. Densmore from Ohio, one of the men who’d come for the tournament, shook his hand. He indicated the three smiling men at his back. “We were hoping to get you to come give us a run at one of the poker tables. No one’s had a chance to play against you yet, and we all want a shot at seeing what kind of game you have.”
He glanced toward Grace again. “I don’t know …”
“Come on, I’ll buy you a beer.”
“You’ll buy me one of my own beers?”
“I’ve been assured they’re the very best.”
Luke grinned. “That they are.” He didn’t see a way to get out of it, so he gave in graciously. “One hour, gentlemen. I have responsibilities, but as I’m just as curious about your abilities, let’s play.”
The boisterous group headed to the hotel and they played for about an hour. Luke lost, just as he’d intended, but he’d picked up some useful tips. The men groaned when he stood and said he had other obligations. “But stay here and play, gentlemen. Some of you need the practice.”
Amid good-natured laughter, he headed back to the park, the drinks he’d consumed making him feel loose and happy.
Sawyer waved him over to the newly installed bar. “Do you want another beer?”
“Sure.”
Sawyer caught the recently hired barkeeps gaze and lifted two fingers. “Where’s Gabe?”
The beers were quickly placed in front of them and Luke took a sip. “Don’t know and don’t care.”
“What’s with you?”
“I was with Grace yesterday and Gabe called me back on a useless errand. I guess I’m still not feeling too kindly toward him.”
Grace had almost told him the details of the telegram when they were interrupted. Afterward she’d seemed to pull away.
“I didn’t know you were courting Grace.”
Luke shot him a look. “Where have you been that you don’t know this?”
“Not gossiping with you ladies, apparently. So, what did Gabe want?”
“To hire a few more deputies until after the tournament. And he needed my signature on something.”
“That doesn’t sound like useless errands.”
Luke took another drink. “Well, it felt like it.”
“Why, what did he interrupt?”
At the suggestive tone, Luke scowled. “Never you mind.” He took another drink.
Sawyer laughed. “So, is it serious? I mean, I thought you didn’t want to get married again. Good grief, after seeing your marriage, I never want to get married in the first place. Neither does Gabe.”
Luke scowled again. “Grace is nothing like Louise.”
“Neither was Louise until you married her. Women are sly that way.”
“I was just too young. Too impressed with her horrible family and their friends. I won’t be blinded like that again, I can assure you.”
“So, I’ll ask again. Is it serious? With Grace? What are you wanting from her? She’s not exactly a good-time girl, is she?”
Luke scowled again. “I want it all.”
“Just to be clear, all as in marriage?”
“I’m not ready for that.”
“Then what? You’re taking her as a lover? Setting her up in a house in town?”
Luke gaped at his friend. “Are you insane?”
Sawyer was grinning. “Just trying to clarify.”
A couple more men bellied up to the bar. “Hey, Mr. Mayor. Good speech.”
Luke nodded, distracted. “I did buy her a book of love poems.” He looked at his friend and winced. “Oh, Lord. I have it bad, don’t I?”
Sawyer pressed his lips together, then nodded. “Looks
like.”
“Have what bad?” asked one of the men.
Luke ignored him and took another drink. “What do I do?”
“See where it goes? You could try writing her a love poem of her own. Ladies love that kind of trash.”
Luke considered it as Sawyer gestured to the bartender to refill their drinks.
“Love poems?” Slurred a drunk in an overloud voice. “My specialty.”
Luke scowled at the man. “Do you mind? This is personal.”
The pleasant buzz he had going told him that, sure, he could write her a love letter. Why not? Maybe it would get her to stay. To see that they needed to spend more time together. That her leaving would be a very bad idea.
Another man joined them at the bar. “What’s up?”
The drunk leaned forward. “We’re writing love poems.” He gestured with his glass without spilling a drop. “For his lady.”
“I could help with that.”
Luke scowled. “I can do it myself.”
Sawyer asked the bartender for paper and a pen, which was quickly supplied.
The man to his right squinted. “Come on. Let us help you write it.”
Luke looked at the paper for a long moment, but nothing was coming to him. He took another drink and finally nodded.
“All right. What should I say?”
After a moment he scowled again. He was having a hard time hearing over the top of Sawyer’s laughter.
Grace heard her name being called. It was Luke, surrounded by five men.
She waved him over. They’d sold most of the pies, but there were still a few left, so she felt she couldn’t leave until the pastries were completely gone.
Anyway, she was having fun with Minnie and with all of the flirting men approaching the table.
As Luke arrived, he staggered a bit and grinned. Grace shared a glance with Minnie who stifled a giggle.
“Hi, Grace.”
Had he slurred his words? One of his friends was leaning on the other. She didn’t recognize them. Sawyer looked bright-eyed and amused, and Grace shot Minnie another look to see her staring at the man. Grace straightened and cleared her throat. “Hello, gentlemen. Can I interest you in a pie?”