Sarah blushed. “Well, you will be getting married, won’t you? Then you will--” Sarah didn’t seem to know quite what to say, and Ellie couldn’t think of a way to help. In the twenty-first century, talking about sex was as open as asking what you had for dinner.
Ellie reached over and patted her hand. “Relax, Sarah. I won’t tell anyone you actually enjoy being with your husband.”
That brought the blush back to Sarah’s cheeks, but she grinned along with it. “Am I terrible?”
Figuring this was probably the century where women endured lovemaking, Ellie could understand her thinking. She recalled Jesse’s words from a few nights previous. “No, making love is the pathway to eternity.” The minute she said the word, apprehension flooded her. Squaring her shoulders, she tried to shake off the feeling of doom.
“I have missed you, Sarah.” Thinking of Jesse and even Lucky and Zeke, Ellie knew she would truly miss many of the residents of Peavine. Recalling the fast paced life she lived in New York, she wondered how she could prefer sedate Peavine to all that glitter, but she did. Without realizing it, she voiced her thoughts. “I don’t miss my other life.”
“What do you mean?”
Caught up in the daydream, Ellie mused, “You know. Country Clubs and playing golf and racquetball with friends; driving upstate to picnic and party at the lake.”
“Playing what? You must have had an entirely different life back east because I’ve never heard of half the things you just said.”
Ellie realized she had slipped, and took a sip of coffee to cover the pause as she furiously thought. Deciding to turn the talk away from herself, she asked, “Don’t they have clubs or sororities here? I know there’s not many women in Peavine, but don’t they ever have get togethers?”
“Well, of course we do. We’re not backward, you know. The Ladies’ Auxiliary meets every Tuesday at the church--” Sarah’s voice trailed off and in embarrassed silence.
“Sarah? Is it some secret I’m not suppose to know?”
“Not exactly, but...” she hesitated.
“Spill it, Sarah.”
“Don’t you remember? You made Amy Arnold and Suzy Miller so mad the last time you came to a meeting, they threatened to tar and feather you.” At Ellie’s apparent look of surprise, she hastened to add, “Of course, that was before you left for school, so it was a long time ago.”
“I honestly don’t recall. Did I say something terribly offensive?”
Sarah’s mouth lifted in a grin. “Only the truth, but Amy didn’t take kindly to being compared to a barn, nor Suzy to a laughing hyena.”
It was no more than Ellie expected, coming to know Elizabeth as she did. “Oh, boy! It’s no wonder I have no friends.”
“Of course you have friends. Me and Henry; Zeke and Lucky, and your wonderfully handsome Jesse.”
“Sarah Jefferson, you’re a married woman.” They laughed together. Still, with Sarah’s insight into the people of Peavine, Ellie wondered-- “What about Clayton Scott? How do you classify him?”
Sarah pursed her lips. “I’d watch out for him if I were you. He’s no huckleberry above my persimmon.”
“He’s what?” Ellie squeaked before bursting into laughter.
“He’s not as good as my Henry, and that’s a fact.” Sarah’s laughter joined hers.
As much as she enjoyed herself, Ellie knew it was time to leave. She hoped to see Jesse later that night and wanted a bath beforehand. “Sarah, I have really enjoyed your company this afternoon. You’re a very good friend.” Ellie wished she could express more, but knew better.
“Oh, do you have to leave so soon? I’m bored silly in this house by myself, but Henry insists no wife of his is going to work.” She sighed. “Even in my own father’s store.”
“Well, perhaps he’ll loosen up after awhile.”
Sarah snorted. “I seriously doubt it. He’s such a stickler for tradition. Did you know I wanted to see Lotta Crabtree in Virginia City, and he absolutely refused to even consider it.”
Ellie shook her head. “Who’s Lotta Crabtree?”
“Oh, Ellie, surely you must have heard of her. Why, she lives in New York City and travels all over the place, performing high comedy and stage extravaganzas.” Sarah whispered the last two words.
Ellie figured this actress must be a striptease or something, but then why would Sarah want to see her? Doubtful it wasn’t that risqué. “OK, so why wouldn’t Henry, the love of your life who adores you, take you to see Lotta perform?”
“It wasn’t anything so terrible. After all, I saw several women enter the establishment.”
From the way she spoke, Ellie was getting a clearer picture of exactly what had gone on. Her admiration for Sarah grew as she recognized a kindred, liberated spirit. “Sarah?” She drew her name out.
“Well, all right. It was a Saloon and Dance Hall --but a very respectable one,” she added quickly. “I really don’t see why married women of our age aren’t suppose to frequent such places. After all, we’re not living in the dark ages.”
Ellie laughed and hugged her friend tight. “Ah, Sarah, you are priceless. I suppose if you could, you’d just throw away your petticoats and purses and wear trousers around Peavine.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Sarah looked shocked. “Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot.” Jumping up from the settee, Sarah headed out of the room. “Wait, I have something for you.”
Returning quickly, she thrust a purse at her. Ellie turned it over in her hands, then shrugged. “I don’t remember this. Whose is it?”
“Don’t you recall; before Henry and I got married? You came into the mercantile one day quite agitated. Mr. Scott was with you. You shoved that into my hands and insisted it was mine. I didn’t know what to do, but I figured you had a good reason for saying that, so I took it. In all the excitement of getting married, I plum forgot to give it back to you.”
“Oh, my God,” Ellie breathed the words so quietly she would have thought they only formed in her mind, but Sarah immediately took her hand.
“Are you all right? You’ve turned quite pale.”
Ellie clutched the purse to her chest. “I’m...I’m fine, but I really have to go.” Without much more of a good-bye than that, she hurriedly opened the door and stepped out into the dusty twilight.
“I’ll see you at the Independence Day Celebration, won’t I?” Sarah called after her.
Ellie didn’t stop to answer. Picking her skirts up, she ran for home. Not until she got inside the house and locked the door behind her did she dare breathe any easier. With shaking hands she lit the lamps that kept the darkness away. She had a ring of them on the kitchen table before she quit. She just stood there staring, arms crossed over her waist, hugging herself against the chill that crept through her despite the summer heat.
In the center of the table, surrounded by light, was the purse Sarah had given her. The instant Sarah had said the bag was hers, she had recalled when last she had carried it and what it contained.
“God, I wish I had a cigarette.” Her words escaped on a rush of breath. Rubbing sweaty palms down her thighs, she then reached out and opened the clasp of the bag. Carefully, she removed the wad of paper she had jammed in there when Clayton had surprised her in his office at the bank. It seemed so long ago, and yet it seemed like only yesterday. How could she have forgotten?
Her hands grew steadier as she smoothed the papers flat on the table. A smile even touched her lips as she studied the scribbly writing, faded with time. The first page had only a few lines of writing, stating that if the children married -- Ellie assumed he meant Jesse and Elizabeth -- there was no need for a business agreement since together they would own both the bank and the mine. If they did not marry, the attached codicil would insure each would be wealthy in their own right.
Ellie frowned and turned to the next page. She had to squint to make out the first couple of words, but then the faded print seemed to jump out at her.
“I, Wendall Cal
houn, do hereby relinquish my one-quarter interest in the Nightingale Mine upon my death. Said one-quarter interest, which has been used to provide operating capital, will revert back to the owner, Warren Cole, or in the case of his death, to his heir, Jesse Cole, to become sole owner of said Nightingale Mine.”
The evidence they had been looking for was right under their noses all the time. Ellie hadn’t had time to read the pages when she had first taken them. In fact, she probably wouldn’t have taken them at all if Clayton hadn’t walked in on her. Boy, oh boy, was she glad she had.
While she thought Clayton had doctored bank records to provide a lien against the Nightingale Mine, he really hadn’t had to do anything more than wait. The bank, through Wendall Calhoun, really did own an interest in the mine, and if no one knew of the codicil which canceled the mortgage, Scott could legitimately claim a portion of the mine proceeds on behalf of Elizabeth.
That was all the more reason for Clayton to want Elizabeth. Not only the bank, but one-fourth interest in the mine was hers; or would be if no one found out about the codicil.
She only wondered why Clayton kept the codicil. Anyone getting their hands on it would see that Jesse held the Nightingale free and clear. It would have been safer if he had destroyed it. Knowing what she did about Clayton Scott, though, she figured he kept the damn paper around just to take it out and gloat once in a while.
A knock on the front door interrupted her thought. She glanced from the papers to the entryway and back. The knock came again. Frustrated, she sighed and carefully folded the papers in a square and put them back in the handbag, then put the handbag as far back on the top shelf of the pantry as she could reach.
Taking a lamp from the kitchen table, she hurried through the house to the front door, hoping Jesse had quit early to spend time with her.
“Jess--” Her words stuck in her throat. Instead of Jesse, Clayton Scott stood on her porch in the dark. She tried to close the door, not knowing what excuse she would make for not seeing him. She just knew she could not.
“Now, Elizabeth.” As slick as a whistle he planted his foot in the way, then shoved the door wide. The smile which curled his lips didn’t reach his eyes, which were flinty cold in the lamplight. Not turning his back on her, he closed the door and slid the lock home.
The sound of it caused Ellie’s stomach to drop.
Like a predator stalking his prey, he advanced on her. For each step he took, Ellie took two back, but she knew in a heartbeat she couldn’t outrun him. She glanced wildly around for a weapon of some sort. Every time her gaze swung back to him, the look remained. Menacing, even evil, it told her without words that she was at his mercy.
She cleared her throat. “Clayton. I didn’t expect you tonight.”
“Apparently not,” he drawled and she knew he referred to her slip when she first opened the door. As though talking to a slow-witted child, he lectured her. “You are spending far too much time with that miner. I told you before I didn’t like it.”
Ellie tried to bully her way through. “I thought that was the plan. I can’t get any useful information if I never talk to the man.” She spoke distinctly, as though Jesse meant nothing to her. She had to convince Clayton of that, if only to spare Jesse during the next day or two. Heaven forbid if Clayton decided to move up the timetable.
Clayton had moved directly in front of her, and unless she dropped the lamp she still held and ran, Ellie was stuck. She sucked in her breath when he ran a finger along the neckline of her dress, tugging slightly downward as his fingers slid across her breasts.
“Personally, I prefer not to talk while I’m in bed with a beautiful woman. I like action.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Tsk, tsk. I never took you for a dumb woman, Elizabeth. Getting information from Cole was the plan, not screwing him. Is that the only way you could get him to tell you how close he is to that vein of gold?”
“No, it’s not like that.” Infuriated by the insult, she slapped his hand away and turned to put down the lamp.
It was a fatal mistake. Clayton grabbed her from behind, pulling her up against his lean body, his arms crossing her chest and hands roughly cupping her breasts. The more she struggled, the tighter he held her against his groin, breathing heavily in her ear.
“You want it this way tonight, huh? Well, I’ll be happy to oblige. I told you I didn’t mind sharing with Cole, but I do mind him getting what you won’t give me anymore.”
Ellie became deathly still, realizing that her movements only excited him. She silently prayed that Jesse would get here to save her from this humiliation, and just as quickly prayed he wouldn’t. She couldn’t bear the thought of him seeing her like this; not when it might be their last night together.
Her struggles had excited Scott; now her lack of resistance apparently meant acquiescence to the loathsome creature behind her. He bent her forward over the arm of the sofa, one hand on the back of her neck pushing her head down. The other hand bunched up her skirts until Ellie felt his cool hand on her naked thigh. As soon as she knew her foot was free of the petticoats she wore, she kicked upward, hitting his crotch with her heel.
With a grunt, Clayton released her and she quickly swiveled out of the way. Unfortunately, her kick hadn’t disabled him. They stood facing each other, both breathing hard and she watched his gaze drop to her breasts. Glancing down, she discovered he had somehow gotten her buttons undone and her bodice sagged to reveal entirely too much skin.
She struggled for modesty. She berated herself for getting so deep into this situation over which she had lost control. She couldn’t imagine giving in to this man, but they had come too far not to finish the game, and Ellie knew Elizabeth had taken him to her bed. While it would cause irreversible damage if she, acting as Elizabeth, didn’t do the same, how could she live with herself after? How could she face Jesse? And, if she refused Clayton, would he kill her and somehow forge the documents necessary to take over the bank and the mine, thinking he had done away with Elizabeth?
“I don’t believe you’re telling me the truth,” Clayton said as he took off his coat and threw it at a chair. Just as quickly, he jerked off his tie and began on the buttons of his shirt. “Maybe you don’t want to be partners and share all that gold anymore.”
Ellie tried to quell the panic clawing at her insides. Against her will, her gaze riveted to the movements of his hands. Belatedly, her mind registered his statements. To keep him talking instead of acting, she shook herself out of her stupor.
“I am; I do.”
“You are what, Elizabeth? You’re mine; or are you Cole’s whore?”
“I’m yours,” Ellie whispered, trying to steel her heart against the inevitable.
“Prove it.” He jerked his shirt off, threw it after his coat, and stood before her, hands on hips. The feral grin was back in place. “Take off your clothes.”
“Here?” The single word squeaked past dry lips. She swallowed convulsively. His reasons for seducing her -- assault would be a better word -- left a bitter taste in Ellie’s mouth.
“Here. You never much cared before where we did it, as long as you got what you came for.” He grinned at his choice of words. “Do it to me the way you did in Virginia City, and I might even tell you what I learned from--” he paused, and Ellie willed him to go on. Someone was feeding him information and he had confided in Elizabeth, just as Jesse had. Elizabeth was the only one who had known all the angles.
It occurred to Ellie that if she could keep from panicking, she could get more information out of Clayton. Information they desperately needed to help them prevent the accident from occurring again. As long as she stayed an arm’s length away and facing him, she knew she could defend herself.
Coming to that conclusion eased the constriction in her chest. She once again felt in control and that brought a smile to her lips. She seductively swayed her hips and raised her hands to the buttons which had remained fastened.
“And what do I
get if I do take it all off?” She undid one button, and though she felt her confidence flowing back, she still hoped she wouldn’t have to do more.
Fatal mistake number two; not putting at least one piece of furniture between them. In the blink of an eye, Clayton came up against her, grabbing her upper arms in a hard grip.
“Tell me how I compare, Elizabeth,” he rasped against her neck as he began nipping the sensitive skin along the top of her shoulder.
“Wha--what?”
He let loose one arm long enough to jerk her chemise down, baring her breasts. “I told you I didn’t mind sharing, only because a few days from now it won’t matter.” His voice became harsher. “But I want to know -- does he set your blood on fire?”
“He couldn’t do to me what you do,” Ellie replied, trying again to keep the panic from building. “There’s no comparison between the two of you.” Why had she thought she could do this? What insane side of her brain made her think she was in control?
He shoved her up against the wall, pinning her there with his hips, freeing both hands. He raked his fingers through her hair, causing pins to fly everywhere and painfully pulling hard enough to bring tears to Ellie’s eyes. Cruelly, his lips came down on hers, stealing her breath and curdling her stomach. There could be no doubt what Clayton intended and she didn’t have the strength to stop him.
Ellie tasted blood.
In those brief moments, time slowed and Ellie’s whole life flashed before her eyes. Regrets tumbled about in her brain -- not marrying and having children; not telling her parents she loved them the last time she saw them alive.
Most precious were the all too brief glimpses of Jesse in her mind’s eye. Smiling; laughing; eyes dark with passion, waltzing her around his cabin. In that instant, she knew she would sacrifice anything to keep Jesse safe; anything at all.
She loved Jesse with every fiber of her being, and if Clayton raped her, she would still love Jesse. If giving in to Clayton would get her the information she needed to save Jesse’s life, then she would handle it; she would. And then she would find a way to kill him.
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