Kisses in Keystone (Seven Brides of South Dakota Book 2)

by Kari Trumbo

  “Can you make it? It’s only a few more steps.” He held Daisy’s reins and gave Hattie her space, something that little room at the saloon wouldn’t have afforded her, much less those who’d joined her there. She’d probably had precious little space for months.

  Her face was drawn and a sheen of sweat covered her forehead. He yanked his neckerchief off, took a step closer to hand it over, then retreated. When she didn’t reply, he stepped back a pace more. She might be as worried as he was about how they were both going to fit in that small cabin without tripping over one another.

  “There are two rooms in there… So, you don’t need to worry. I’ve got food in the cabin, if you’re hungry.” He searched for something else to say, something that would make the wariness on her face soften.

  She dabbed at her head and neck then folded the kerchief neatly in her lap. “I don’t know that I want to go in there. Why should I trust you? I don’t know you. How do I know I haven’t just walked into a worse situation than what I came from?” The stubborn tilt to her head was the only hint of the girl he’d been told about. The one with fire in her eyes and a wit to match.

  “You’re right. You don’t know me from anyone else and you shouldn’t just trust everyone.” He bounced on the balls of his feet and glanced at the cabin. How could he find a way to earn her trust in just a few minutes? She had to get inside before she fainted. Sakes alive, he didn’t want to have to carry her in that state. His thoughts stalled. “Maybe if I tell you who I am, you’ll find it a little easier to follow me in there. But first, I’m going to let you rest and take care of Daisy here.” He patted the horse’s neck and backed away. Like a skittish horse, she needed to be left alone, then worked with for just a bit at a time. Too much and you might get kicked. As long as he gave her plenty of space, she’d figure out he wasn’t looking for what all those other men had been looking for.

  She sighed and glanced at the neat square in her lap. He tugged his canteen off the saddle string and handed it to her. “Here, rest and have a drink. It was a bit of a walk. I’ll make you something to eat when we get inside. Then you’ll feel better.”

  She took the canteen and nodded her agreement, though she didn’t say more. Her eyes were glassy and her face flushed. There had been a few men back in the little town of Belview, Kansas, where he’d grown up, who’d been heavy on the bottle. Problem was, he’d never seen them try to quit. He wasn’t sure what Hattie would have to go through to give up drink, but it wouldn’t be easy. He led Daisy up to the small lean-to shelter attached to the house and got her some fresh hay and a scoop of oats. Since Hattie was waiting for him, he hurried through the job.

  When he rounded the house, he found her with her legs, bare up to her knees, spread out in the sun and her eyes closed. The sun turned her hair a pretty golden color. She’d be almost pretty after a bath, some food, and time to heal. It was hard to see what she actually looked like under it all. He forced his eyes up to the trees and cleared his throat. The dry brush under her crackled as she jumped, pulling her legs under her. He let his gaze fall back to her but she stared at her hands in her lap, avoiding him.

  “I promised you the truth.” He sat down a few feet from her and plucked a blade of grass, running it through his fingers to pull the right words from his scrambling thoughts. The truth was multi-layered and he wasn’t at all sure what she’d remember tomorrow. Best to stick with the basics, the easiest things to explain again later. Why should she trust him in the small cabin after what she’d been through? Because she had to.

  “I know you’re nervous, and that’s fine. I understand.” He tossed the grass away and plucked another blade. It wasn’t working to put his thoughts in some order.

  “I won’t ever try anything with you. I know your family and respect all of them too much to ever do that, not to mention, it’s just plain wrong.”

  Her head flew up and her blue eyes popped with electricity. “How do you know my family so well? I’ve never met you before today.” The side of her lip curled up slightly, then faltered. “I’d remember.”

  Hugh sighed. “Let’s start with your sister, Jennie.”

  “What do you know of my sister?” Hattie narrowed her eyes at him and pushed herself back from him a few inches. He was having the opposite effect he’d wanted, by mentioning her sister, he’d made her wary.

  “I’ll get there.” He had to explain quickly or he’d lose her. “Your sister, Jennie, was married last year.”

  “Married?” Hattie sighed and closed her eyes. A serenity washed over her dull face, transforming it. “She beat the curse,” she whispered, almost too quiet for him to hear.

  “She married my brother, Aiden.”

  Hattie’s eyes flung open and she stammered. “Your brother…is Aiden Bradly? They’re married?”

  He had to laugh at her look of shock. He’d been just as shocked to learn that his brother had found happiness when all he’d ever wanted was gold. “That they are, and happily, I might add. Or, at least they were the last I saw them.”

  “Good.” She let her eyes drift closed again. “I was worried she’d let herself get in the way.”

  He wanted to point out that was exactly what Hattie had done, but he held his tongue. It wouldn’t do any good to make her angry now when they’d just started building an understanding. “So, you see. When I went looking for work, I found Sheriff Bullock. He’d heard of Aiden and he’d known about you from before. He thought it would be best to put someone out looking for you who had a real stake in finding you. That was me.”

  Hattie leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, her eyes still closed and her forehead still as wrinkled as a day-old shirt. “So, I’m important to you, and I can trust you because my sister is your brother’s wife.”

  “Yes, that and it would be despicable to take advantage of you.”

  Her face pinched further, and he was sure she was in pain. “You mean, like Roy and every other man who came near me within the last year?” Her voice was bitter, ragged. He couldn’t blame her.

  He sighed. Roy was territory he didn’t want to cover. She’d made the choice to go with him, according to what he’d been told by her sister, Ruby, who’d been there, but she was also young. Much too young to be making choices like that. Much too young to have been put in the position she was.

  “I don’t want you to think about him anymore. He was a dirty, rotten, yellow-bellied rattler. He tricked you because he knew your weakness.”

  She hung her head and picked at her jagged fingernails. “I’ve had a lot of weaknesses, mister. More than I can tell you about. Help me into the house, will you please? I’m really tired and my mind isn’t working the way it should.”

  She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t hold her up. He clenched his jaw and lifted her easily to stand. She let her head fall against his shoulder. Poor little bit of a girl, she needed to eat some good food and get some rest. She had the battle of her life ahead of her.

  “Call me, Hugh, little lady, it looks like we’ll be here for a bit.” She couldn’t walk and he knew it. “Forgive me.” He whispered as he lifted her in his arms and carried her the last few feet to the house. She didn’t say a word or try to get away from him, just laid there. He couldn’t keep his own heart from thudding around in his chest as her legs draped over his arm where his coat didn’t cover. He’d have to get her more to wear. Soon.

  Chapter Five

  HATTIE REACHED UNDER THE bed before she even opened her eyes, groping for the friend she felt she needed more than air. Her brain was too big for her skull and she wasn’t even sure she could open her eyes. The cure was easy…if she could only find it. Blast Roy, had he taken it? She reached further under the bed and fell out, hitting her head against something on the way. She bit back a scream that would have people running for her room, not to mention the noise would surely send her over the edge. She forced herself to open one eye, just a slit, and the floor was unfamiliar, as was the bed. The light was different
and the air was…warm. Midday. She’d overslept and—where was she? Her heart pounded to match her head and she opened her other eye to glance around the room. Everything was unfamiliar. She clutched her chemise closed as she pushed herself against the table.

  A dark-haired man, who was too tall to be Roy, stood by a cook stove, heating something in a pan. Then it hit her, she couldn’t smell food or hear it cooking. Her head was full of a rushing sound she couldn’t explain. She touched her head where it had hit, shooting needles of pain through her head and down into her neck. Hugh. Now she remembered. He’d rescued her and he expected her to go without, just as her family had when they’d left Yellow Medicine after their home had burnt down. He couldn’t understand her need now, but he’d have to learn.

  Slowly, she became aware of everything in the room, the sound started quiet, then grew in intensity. First, Hugh scraping the pan back and forth across the metal stove. That had to have been what woke her up. Then came the scent of whatever he was cooking. She ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth and lips, but it did little against the feeling that she’d chewed on a sock for however long she’d been asleep.

  She stood on legs that didn’t want to hold her weight and slowly made her way toward him. His coat lay draped over a chair and she slid it on, buttoning the top few buttons to hold it closed. Carefully, she pulled out a chair so it wouldn’t scrape and make more noise, then sat down and waited for him to notice her. He turned and jumped a little when he saw her so close.

  “There you are! I was worried you’d sleep right through lunch. How are you feeling?”

  His voice was too loud in the small cabin, too cheerful. She’d learned quickly at the Garter that people who asked that question in that way didn’t really want an answer. They needed you to lie and then turn the question back to them so they could tell you everything that was troubling them. Just as much of her job had been listening to men complain about their wives as it had been any of the other jobs she’d been required to do.

  “I’m sure I’ll do just fine.” Though she wasn’t sure at all. Her head hurt like her skull was trying to escape through her teeth, like she’d get sick. Her pa had always joked she could hold her liquor against any man. Where her sisters had avoided Pa at all costs, she’d spent as much time with him as he’d let her. He’d let her a lot more after he’d discovered her nipping his ‘shine.

  “Well, that’s an optimism I wasn’t expecting.” He set down a plate of eggs, bacon, and toasted bread in front of her.

  The smell of the eggs lit into her nose and her stomach threw itself against her throat. She wanted to eat, needed to eat, and it looked so good but even the smell was too much. She stood from the table and the room swam in circles around her. She had to get out before she embarrassed herself further by messing up the floor, a floor she didn’t have the strength to clean.

  Hugh set his plate down and grabbed hold of her elbow before she fell. “Whoa, there. Take it slow.” He tried to help her sit back down, but she fought against it, pushing against him.

  He cocked his head to the side and his soft warm eyes calmed her a little.

  “Start with the bread. If you can manage that, then try whatever sounds good.”

  She stared down at the plate. When was the last time she’d sat down for a meal and didn’t just nibble whatever was left over from others? It was the night Roy had taken her to Lead from Deadwood. They’d arrived in a pretty stage. She’d clung to his arm and giggled when he’d said things to her she’d always considered naughty. Private things that should’ve been shared between a husband and wife. It made her think he cared about her. He’d plied her with that flask over and over and she’d been too besotted and happy to reject it. After six months of being without, it was warm in her mouth and had a pleasant burn all the way down her throat. He’d brought her to Lead, taken her to the hotel restaurant for a fancy meal where he’d complimented everything about her. Then he’d gotten a room.

  There had been another bottle waiting inside by the bed and he’d pushed her to have even more. She’d enjoyed every drop. Then, when she was feeling quite good, he’d pushed her against the wall and lifted her skirt. It had been shameful. She didn’t even fight. In fact, she’d been so sure he’d take her to wed the next day that she’d tried her best to enjoy it, not that she could remember much.

  He’d told her the next day that she was made for that kind of work, convinced her she’d loved it. She was ruined anyway and he didn’t want a wife just yet. He’d pointed out how she didn’t even say no, so she’d wanted it, that made her a whore. Though she’d joked with her sisters how much she wanted to be married, she couldn’t remember wanting that. She still didn’t want it.

  She sat back down and pushed the plate away with shaky hands, letting her head fall onto her arms folded on the table. She couldn’t embarrass her family further by going back. She was a prostitute, just as Roy had said. Even now, she’d go back if it meant he’d let her have what she needed. One drink would take away the pain in her head. One drink and she could eat again… “I can’t go back home, Hugh. I’m sorry. I’ve done so many awful things, but I don’t ever want to go back. I don’t belong anywhere.”

  To his credit, he didn’t reach for her, didn’t try to comfort her with his touch which she didn’t want.

  “We all do things we regret, Hattie. You have a choice to keep doing what you regret, or step away. I’m bound by contract to bring you back to Deadwood, but what you do after that is up to you and your family.”

  He sighed and pushed the plate back toward her. “I’m going to heat some water for you and get you a bath ready. Then I’ll go back into Keystone and see what I can find for you to wear. You can’t wander around in my coat.”

  She felt the rough canvas of his coat against her skin. He shouldn’t be expected to pay for her clothes and she’d saved her money for just that type of thing, that and escaping. Once she had something to wear, she could go back to Keystone and hide until Hugh left town. Her family might be sad about her disappearance, but it’d be better for them than having her return. No decent family tree wanted a branch like her.

  She picked up the bread and nibbled on the edge. Though she didn’t eat often, she couldn’t remember the last time she felt hungry, either.

  Hugh stood and went back to the stove. She continued to work on her piece of bread, barely taking in anything, but it felt like sawdust in her mouth. He returned with two buckets of water. There was a giant copper boiler on the wall that took up the two burners when he set it on the stove. He poured the water in slowly. Then, he took a washtub that looked like it was meant for clothes and set it on the floor next to the stove. His eyes were soft and apologetic when he looked at her.

  “I wish I had a bigger tub for you, but this cabin is small, so there’s one tub for washing both clothes and people. I hope it’ll do.”

  She nodded and watched him leave to refill the buckets once again. It wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to. Growing up, she’d only had the use of a small washtub for bathing. Hugh came and left again more times than she could keep track of. He filled the tub a little over half full, then grabbed some towels and heaved the steaming boiler off the stove and poured it into the tub, creating a steaming bath. He set the bar of soap on the table and a dry cloth for her, then he donned his hat, tipping it to her slightly, and left.

  She tossed the bread back on her plate; her stomach still fought the idea of eating. The coat slid easily off her shoulders and she set it to the side, taking great care with the nicest thing she’d worn in longer than she could remember, shivering at the loss of its warmth. It would take more skill than she had to mend the torn sleeping chemise, the top had been ripped wide open. She tossed the robe and the chemise to the side, slipping down into the water, squeezing herself into a tiny ball to fit. But the warmth was like sun against her frail skin; she needed it. She hadn’t realized how filthy she felt until the warm water seeped into her. The steam rose all around and clear
ed her nose and head. She would’ve never had the strength to get the bath ready for herself and how kind of Hugh to go to town so she’d feel comfortable in the small cabin.

  She’d do well to remember, it was only a matter of time before he let her down. They always did. But if she left quickly, she could always remember him as the kind man who hadn’t taken advantage. If he lets me go…will he be letting me down? She shook her head and leaned up for the soap. That kind of thinking would get her nowhere.

  There had to be some kind person in Keystone who’d be willing to help her, but first, she had to figure out where she could go. Perhaps home to Ma in Cutter’s Creek? The water lapped around her, soothing the bruises on her arms and legs. She wrapped her arms around her knees and let her head fall forward, curling herself into a ball. Here she felt warm and safe, and gloriously clean, the first she’d felt that way since...well, it didn’t matter. Not anymore.

  Chapter Six

  HUGH TOOK HIS TIME saddling Daisy. Keystone wasn’t far and there was no telling how long it took a woman to bathe. He didn’t even need his horse for such a short walk, but saddling would use up some time. His mam had always done that kind of thing when he, Da, and his brothers had been out working all day. If it took that long to get a woman smelling nice, well, maybe it was worth it. But it presented a problem. How would he get the clothes in to her when he got back?

  He’d made her a promise and so he’d figure out a way. His horse ambled slowly into town, forcing him to focus on the task. He didn’t want trouble with anyone in Keystone, but if they took issue with him or what he’d been sworn to do, well, he’d rectify it. The first day he’d checked out the town, he saw a small house with a placard that read seamstress on the front. Keystone was growing, it was close to Hill City, there were copper, pyrite, graphite, and quartz mines, and the Big Thunder which, of course, drew miners from all over the area because of its gold. Keystone was relatively new and had just sprouted up as more of a town than a mining camp, but it still held that rough edge, as if it didn’t want to settle down just yet.