by Peterson, Tracie; Davis, Mary; Hake, Kelly Eileen; Stengl, Jill; Warren, Susan May
He looked down at her, his mouth twitching up at the corners. He had unsettled her, and he knew it. “Shall we try again?”
Marty would need to concentrate hard to keep it from happening again. She took a deep breath and remembered what Aunt Ginny had tried to teach her and her brothers. Refinement, she called it. Marty hadn’t cared for any refining. Reece and Marty made a couple of rounds on the dance floor.
“Marty?”
“What?” she barked, irritated at him for breaking her concentration. Did he want her stepping on his toes again?
“Have you heard a word I’ve said?”
“This is a dance floor; you’re supposed to dance.” She made no attempt to hide her irritation.
“There are no rules against talking while you dance.”
Marty remained quiet, focused.
“Don’t you want to talk?”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t talk?” He stifled a laugh. “I’ve heard you talk before.”
He was asking for it. “I don’t do this dancing thing very well.” She huffed. “I can’t talk and concentrate on the steps at the same time.” At that moment, she lost track of what her feet were supposed to do and they went their own way, stepping on Reece’s feet. “See.” Marty stopped in her tracks and threw up her hands.
Reece smiled down at her affectionately. “Since I really wanted to talk to you, let’s take a stroll outside.” He wrapped Marty’s arm through his and guided her out the door.
“Look.” He gestured toward the grounds. “These are completely different trees.” They walked over to a bench that encircled one of the trees. The fall night was warm and dry for a change.
Marty relaxed at being off the dance floor and out of the crowded room with all its eyes condemning her.
Reece offered her a seat at the tree.
“I thought we were going to walk.”
He got a glint in his eye and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
She narrowed her eyes. Don’t you dare say it. “I can walk and talk at the same time.”
“I just wasn’t sure. My feet are a little tender.”
Marty plopped down on the bench and folded her arms.
Reece sat next to her. “I’m sor—”
Marty stomped on his foot. She stood up and turned to him. “I guess you just aren’t safe around me.” She walked off.
With her little padded slippers she knew she hadn’t hurt him, but he did look stunned for a moment.
He came after her. “Marty, wait.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
She turned and looked at him. He studied her face. What was he looking for, tears? Hurt emotions splashed across her face? Tears and emotions would mean she cared, and he had the ability to hurt her. She just looked at him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you. I deserved it.” He held out his other foot. “You can stomp on the other one if you like.”
Although tempted by the offer, she declined. “You said you wanted to talk.”
“I was wondering if you’ve found anything.”
Marty gave him a quizzical look.
“I assume since you haven’t tried to run off with your nieces, you are looking for something incriminating on one or all of the McRaes.”
“Who says we haven’t tried to leave?”
“If you had, you would no longer be living under their roof.” He tapped her on the nose. “And with Rol keeping a lookout…”
“That watchdog doesn’t scare me.” Rol reminded her of the strongman she once saw in a traveling circus. She could not best him in a fight.
“He should.” The lightness left his voice. “Rol could be dangerous if provoked. Don’t aggravate him, Marty.”
Marty shrugged her shoulders as if not to care. She had seen the potential danger in Rol’s eyes. He was like a mountain lion ready to attack his prey. Waiting. Watching. Poised to spring into action if his prey dared move. Just waiting for a reason to strike. But he truly didn’t scare her. She surmised he wouldn’t pounce unless given reason to. Marty had nothing planned to give him reason to act. She intended to ride it out, at least until the hearing. If she didn’t get custody of the girls, then Rol would have a chance to earn his keep.
“So have you found anything?” Reece asked, breaking her train of thought.
“No.” She shook her head. “If there’s anything to find, it would be in William’s den. He keeps that locked now.”
“Now?”
“He caught me going through his desk one day.”
Reece’s eyes widened. “What did he do? He didn’t try to hurt you, did he?” Reece’s concern seemed sincere and touched her in a place only he had managed to reach.
“When he declined to let me leave, I socked him in the gut. But don’t worry. Dora was there to soothe his wounded pride.”
“And how are things with Dora and Silvia?”
She turned her nose up and tried her best to imitate Dora’s uppity voice. “They think my table manners are atrocious, my behavior unseemly, and my clothes are nothing but rags.”
Reece smiled. “Don’t let them get to you.”
“I really don’t care what they think of me. It’s when they start picking at Dani and Davey I get riled, and they know it. They have quit for the most part. I think they’re waiting until they’re rid of me.”
Marty loathed the thought of going back inside, so they walked around for a while.
“It’s getting chilly.” Reece removed his jacket and draped it around her shoulders, pulling it snugly around her. His voice softened, and he looked deep into her eyes. “Is that better?”
Marty nodded. As they stood close, she returned his gaze and was warmed, not by his coat but his intense brown eyes. Marty had never before wanted a man to kiss her, but for an instant, she wanted this man to and wondered what he was thinking. Was he thinking of kissing her? When his gaze dropped to her mouth, she automatically licked her lips and bit on her bottom lip. His gaze slowly moved back up to her blue eyes and settled there.
“Reece dear,” came a woman’s voice from beyond them, breaking the spell. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Gina.” Reece immediately stepped back from Marty when he heard her voice. “I was showing Miss Rawlings your lovely grounds.”
“I see.” Though her smile was as sweet as Aunt Ginny’s sticky buns, she couldn’t mask the suspicion in her eyes. “I would have thought Miss Rawlings would have left with her nieces.”
“What? Dani and Davey are gone?”
“They left about a half hour ago. Silvia sent them home. It is late for little girls to be up.” She raised her eyebrows at Marty.
Who cared if Gina thought Marty was too young for a man like Reece Keegan. At least she wasn’t an old maid. She wanted to say so but decided it wasn’t worth it. “I’m going, too.” She hiked up her dress so she wouldn’t trip on it and trudged off toward the house, leaving Reece and Gina together.
At the front door she asked the servant for her wrap and realized she was still wearing Reece’s coat. When the servant returned with her cloak, courtesy of Dora, she held out the coat and asked him to please return it to Mr. Reece Keegan.
“I’ll take it,” Reece said from behind her. He put his coat back on and nodded for the doorman to fetch his overcoat. “I’ll take you home. I’ve sent for my buggy to be brought around.” Reece took the cloak from the man before he left and settled it on Marty’s shoulders.
Gina appeared on the scene. “Reece, you aren’t leaving, are you? It’s still early.”
Before it was late, and now it’s early. Can’t she make up her mind?
“I’m going to escort Miss Rawlings home.”
“I would appreciate it if you would stay. I’ll have one of our drivers take her home,” Gina said, getting just the right amount of emotion in her voice to sound hurt.
Marty rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need anyone to driv
e me. I’ll drive myself.” Marty turned and went out the door. The two outside attendants came to attention when she exited the house. She hurried down the steps, but stopped and turned back to the house when she heard the door close a second time.
Reece came down the steps and stopped beside her. “My buggy should be around in a minute.”
“I thought the queen bee wanted you to stay.” Why hadn’t he? Gina wanted him to stay as much as she wanted Marty gone.
Reece cupped her elbow in his hand. “Miss Sadder doesn’t always get what she wants.” A moment later his buggy arrived. They sat next to each other but without quite touching.
Once they were on their way, Reece shifted in the seat to look at her. “This changes things, Marty.”
Marty turned toward him, confused. “Changes what?”
“I’ve insulted Miss Sadder by not staying at her request. If she wants to, she could make trouble.”
“Trouble?”
“If she puts her power behind the McRaes, they could make things very difficult for you. She could use her leverage against me.”
“Against you?” She wouldn’t oppose Reece. It was obvious, even to a hick like her, that Gina Sadder was sweet on him.
He took a deep breath. “If I had to choose between your nieces’ freedom and mine…I’d choose theirs.”
His? How was his freedom in jeopardy?
“If I bow to her wishes, you could have the girls by morning. I don’t think it will come to that. But I want you to know I will do anything to right my wrong…even marry a woman I don’t love.”
Marty’s heart skipped a beat at the knowledge he wasn’t interested in a sophisticated woman like Gina Sadder. “You could’ve stayed.” But she was glad he hadn’t. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“I know.” He glanced sideways at her. “You keep telling me that.”
“So why didn’t you stay?”
“I wanted to take you home.”
Marty dipped her head to conceal her grin.
Chapter 19
Later that night, Marty trotted down the stairs on her way to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. She had tucked in Dani and Davey and waited for them to fall asleep. She passed Dora and Silvia in the foyer on their way to the den.
“I thought we had an elephant in the house with all that noise,” Dora said to Silvia and with pinched lips gave a quick glance at Marty. Silvia raised her eyebrows and gave a graceful nod to Dora before continuing to William’s den with Dora on her heels.
Even Dora’s snide remarks and Silvia’s insolent looks could not dampen her good mood. Reece had all but told her he preferred her over Miss Sadder and said he would see her in the morning. Marty continued on her way and had her glass of milk.
On the way back, she heard voices in the den. She couldn’t help herself. She had to stop and listen. Silvia and Dora had slithered in moments before, but the voices she heard were both male, one William’s, the other she was sure was Rol’s.
“She’s gonna be a problem,” she heard Rol say. “She’s just waitin’ for her opportunity.”
“Then we have to make sure she is never given the opportunity,” William said.
“I just want her out of this house for good,” Silvia said.
“I don’t want to see her again before the hearing,” William said.
“You won’t have to worry about her ever bothering you again.”
She recognized that third male voice. Wylie!
“My friend in California will see to it. When he buys something it doesn’t wander off. He makes sure of it…one way or another.”
“Good.” William’s tone was sinister. “I want you two to take care of it.”
Marty’s eyes grew big, certain they spoke of her. “You’ll regret this.” William’s threat from when he caught her in his den echoed in her head. She hurried upstairs to her room. Whatever their scheme, with Wylie and Rol against her, it spelled big trouble.
She threw her trail clothes and boots on the bed. She spread her coat open and put in her Levi’s, boots, chaps, and shirt. She folded the coat tight and tied the sleeves to secure it. She put the bundle under her arm and grabbed Aunt Ginny’s reticule with the derringer in her other hand.
As she headed down the hall for the stairs, she looked at the girls’ door. She longed to take them with her, but there was no time right now. She would come back for them later. She continued to the stairs, then turned back to Davey and Dani’s room. She couldn’t leave without assuring them of her plan to return for them. They would feel abandoned.
She crept in and knelt between their beds. “Davey,” she whispered, shaking her. “Wake up.”
The girl rolled over and moaned sleepily, “What is it?”
“Shh!” Turning, she roused Dani.
When both girls were awake, Marty explained the necessity for her to go away immediately. She pledged to come back for them as soon as possible.
“We want to go with you now,” Dani said.
Davey nodded her firm agreement.
“There isn’t time. I just wanted to let you know before I left.” Marty hugged them. “I love you both.”
“We love you,” both girls chimed together.
Marty got up with her bundle and went for the door. She opened it slowly and could hear voices clearly. They had left William’s den and spoke at the bottom of the stairs. Someone was coming up.
Marty closed the door quickly. “They’re coming.” She scanned the room wildly and rushed over to the window. Good, a trellis. She opened the window and threw her clothes out to the ground. Hiking up her skirt, she heaved one leg out.
“Be good until I come back.” She backed out the window. “Go back to bed and pretend you’re asleep.”
They stood teary-eyed, watching her descend.
Marty stepped on the hem of her dress, losing her footing, but didn’t fall. She kicked it out of her way several times but it kept falling back in place. She couldn’t hold it up because she needed both hands to maneuver. She would have to do her best. She wished she had had time to change clothes.
The ruffle at the hem got caught on the trellis. Marty tore it loose. She took another couple of steps, then her foot tangled in the torn ruffle. Her other foot lost its hold, and Marty found herself dangling by one hand for an instant before plunging ten feet. She hit the ground hard on her left side with her arm tucked under her, the wind knocked out of her. She got up on her hands and knees to catch her breath but felt dazed.
“Aunt Marty, are you okay?” a pair of frightened voices whispered.
Marty stood and looked up at them. “I’m fine.” She motioned them away. Without seeing if they went, she picked up her bundle and scurried off for the stable.
Marty felt something wet on her forehead and wiped it away with her hand. Blood. She put her hand back to her forehead and felt for the cut. An inch-long gash along her hairline over her right eye oozed blood. It didn’t hurt yet, but soon would. She must have hit it on the trellis during her accelerated descent.
Unable to run as fast as she wanted because of the pain in her side, she stopped to rest. She wiped away more blood on her dress and hurried to her destination.
She reached the stables, her breathing quick and labored. It hurt to breathe very deep. She wiped the blood again from her forehead to keep it from dripping into her eye, and then she ripped the torn part of the ruffle from the dress and with her injured left arm held it loosely against her forehead. With her right arm, she clutched her bundle tightly.
She moved quietly so as not to rouse the stable hand. His sleeping quarters were in the back. She went straight to where her saddle was stored, dropped her bundle, and uncovered the saddle. Her Colt and Winchester were still with it. Grabbing the saddle by the horn, she dragged it over to Flash’s stall.
“Come on, boy. It’s time to leave this place,” Marty whispered to him and rubbed his nose. The horse’s energetic nuzzle caused Marty to suck in a painful breath.
“Miss Rawlings, is that you?” asked the stable hand from behind her. “What are you doing out here this time of night?”
Marty spun around to face Oliver, dropping Flash’s saddle. “I’m leaving.” She turned back and struggled with the saddle.
“Let me get that for you,” the old man said.
“Don’t try and stop me,” Marty warned.
“I won’t.” Oliver happily helped her.
She liked him. She used to come down to visit Flash and talk with him. In truth, she felt more comfortable around him than any of the McRaes.
He swung the blanket and saddle onto Flash’s back and tightened the straps. He put her rifle in the holster and looped her gun belt over the saddle horn. He tied her blanket and tarp on the back and retrieved her bundle of clothes she had dropped. He turned to her and said, “Do you think you’re fit to ride?”
“I can ride.” She pushed away from the post that held her up. She sucked in a quick breath to stay the pain.
“I mean, banged up the way you are?” He pointed to her head. “I’ve got some bandages. They’re the ones I use on the horses, but they’re clean.”
“No time for fussin’. I’ll be fine.” She moved to mount up.
He pulled out his kerchief and shook it loose. “At least let me tie this on it.” He twirled the kerchief around so it was long and skinny.
She let him tie it around her head. It would be easier not to have to hold her hand there. “Thanks.”
He helped her up into the saddle, then led Flash to the door. Seeing that it was all clear, he opened the door wide. Before he released Flash’s bridle, he said, “Be careful, miss.”
Marty nodded and galloped away.
Running or even trotting hurt Marty’s side, so once she was away from the house and grounds, she slowed Flash to a walk. Her first thought was to go to the nearest hotel, but what if William tracked her down? Did he just want her out of his house or did he want her out of town for good? She couldn’t take the chance.
Maybe she could go to Reece. What if he was in on this? What if he had conspired with them all along? After all, the McRaes had hired him. Then he came to find her when she arrived probably at their insistence. Had he been stringing her along and distracting her from her goal so the McRaes could steal her nieces out from under her? No, she couldn’t trust him, at least not right now. She looked heavenward, then dismissed God as an ally. She was alone.