by Jodi Thomas
But when he looked at Molly Donivan, he knew he could deny her nothing. “If you think it best,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “Then I guess Uncle Orson can tag along for a while.” He winked. “As long as he keeps quiet.”
That morning, while the princess helped Ephraim make lunch, Wolf built beds, one on top of the other, in Molly’s spare room upstairs. The top bed was for Callie Ann, the bottom for Uncle Orson, of course. Molly agreed to keep the child until Wolf could wire the sheriff in Savannah for another place to send her. At the most, Wolf assured Molly, it would be for a week, no more.
He picked up Callie Ann’s trunk at the stage station, and they discovered that not only was her wardrobe of the best quality, but her name had been carefully embroidered into the folds of each piece.
“She’s not an orphan abandoned,” Molly whispered as she placed the child’s clothes back in the trunk. “She’s been loved and cared for by someone of means.”
Wolf lifted one of the dolls that were nestled among the clothes. “Then why’d she arrive here without a cent or a note? The office said Mrs. Murphy only knew that a Francis Digger was to pick the child up when they reached Austin. She told the ranger in charge that she’d assumed Francis Digger was a woman.”
“I’m sure there is just a misunderstanding. Surely it won’t take more than a few days to straighten everything out.” Molly folded back an outfit. “Until then I’ll love having her around.”
Wolf didn’t believe problems were solved so easily, but he was in no hurry for this one to be resolved. The child had made it possible for him to be near Molly. He told himself he needed to be close in case Ephraim’s warning was right about Molly being in trouble, but in truth he couldn’t get enough of the woman who for so long had been his only dream of paradise.
“Thanks for your help,” he said, wondering if he should offer to pay for the child’s keep. From the looks of her living quarters, it appeared Molly Donivan could use extra money. “Is there any way I can pay you back?”
Molly turned from where she’d been dusting Callie Ann’s temporary room. Her hands shifted a cloth nervously from hand to hand. She moved toward him until her words only had to travel a few feet. “I could use a friend,” she whispered. “A friend to cover my back if trouble rides in. I know that’s asking a great deal since we’ve only just met and if you say no I’ll understand and still keep the child.”
Wolf felt his long-dormant heart roll over in his chest. He dented the bed frame with his grip, knowing if his hands were free, he’d have to hold her. “That’s a tall order.”
She met his stare. “More than you might want to take on at this time.”
He could see the worry in her eyes, and maybe a bit of fear. He wanted to tell her his life was hers, but he couldn’t frighten her so with the raw truth. “I’ll be your friend, Molly Donivan, for as long as you need me.”
“But you don’t know the trouble…”
“It doesn’t matter,” he answered. “The offer stands.”
FOUR
TWILIGHT ALWAYS FRIGHTENED MOLLY. Not the darkness of night, where she knew things moved unseen, or the brightness of day, where horror could be clearly identified. But the soft, blurry twilight, where all in the world seemed neither good nor bad.
She stood at the window of her store and watched the light fade, feeling as if she’d lived her entire life in the few moments between day and night. She wasn’t a young maid who’d never loved, nor a woman who had known full love. Somewhere in between, she waited.
Closing her eyes, Molly hugged herself, wondering if she’d been a fool.
The memories of those first few days of the war drifted through her mind. She’d been so young, barely seventeen. Life whirled around her, and she never dreamed the merry-go-round would slow. Her father accepted an important position with the Union medical staff. She took a semester off from school to travel and work with him. All seemed a mad chaos of excitement and adventure.
Then, one day at a train station amid hundreds of departing soldiers and returning wounded, she found the anchor to her world. He said his name was Benjamin, and his lips tasted of forever.
Somehow, she’d built a world of waiting and dreaming of what would be. As the years passed, she’d written him a hundred letters in her journal, telling him everything. She’d lived a lifetime of daydreams with a man who’d kissed her once and whispered only his first name.
Molly forced thoughts of the past away. She’d believed in him for so long, she felt she’d go mad if she faced the truth. He’d said he’d find her. The words echoed through her mind. He would find her.
“Molly?” Ephraim pulled her from her daydream. “You ready for supper? I made a meat pie out of what that woman at the market called a chicken. Looked more seagull-size to me.”
“I’ll be there in a minute,” she answered as she pulled the shade on the door. Though she thought of locking the door, she guessed it to be a waste of time; most of the people in the town seemed to think of it as locked anyway, judging from the few customers who ventured in. To date most of her work had come from the school for the Blind and the State Lunatic Asylum. They’d gladly let her fill orders for medicines and creams because other alchemists didn’t want to make the trip twice a week and then hope for payment.
“Aren’t we going to wait for Captain Hayward?” Ephraim cleared his throat as if fighting down a cough. “He said he’d be back in a few hours. I figured that meant for dinner. A man his size probably doesn’t miss many meals.”
“No. I don’t think we should wait. I’ll leave the door unlocked in case he shows up, but he probably has far more on his mind than us.” Molly raised her chin slightly. “You and Callie Ann go ahead and eat. I’ve a few things to finish, then I’ll join you.”
Crossing to her work counter, she began to clean and organize the bottles and powders. Ephraim and Callie Ann’s voices drifted from behind the curtain. Molly couldn’t help but smile. The old man had no trouble playing Callie Ann’s game of Uncle Orson. He carried on a conversation with the invisible uncle as though they were old friends.
Molly slid her mortar and pestle closer and began grinding crystals of antimony and potassium tartrate together to make tartar emetic. She knew any doctor coming by would want a few doses to add to his bag.
So far, the doctors who dropped in were giving her the simplest of prescriptions. Wishing they’d trust her more, Molly accepted their work. She’d grown up around medicine and attended medical school for two years. As she twisted on the crystals, she told herself she knew more about medicine than some of these doctors ever would. Yet they treated her as little more than a clerk.
Since the war, medical schools had popped up like weeds. Some schools saw graduating doctors as a fast way to make money. They might offer only four months of instruction, with the second year offering the same lectures as the first, then the schools would hand out diplomas to students who’d never examined a patient.
“Evening.”
Molly glanced up, startled to see Wolf standing only a few feet away. She hadn’t heard the door open and close. He moved as silently as the warm Texas wind.
“I think you’ve won the battle. Those rocks look dead to me.” Wolf’s grin wrinkled his beard. He leaned against the counter so near her arm they were almost touching.
Turning loose of the pestle, she tried to make her hands relax atop the marble counter. “I was finishing up a formula.” She didn’t want to admit she’d been lost in thought or that his nearness affected her.
The large captain folded his arms. “Don’t let me interrupt you. I can wait.”
She brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. “Oh, no. I’m finished for tonight.” She liked the captain, but he made her nervous. She told herself it wasn’t the number of weapons he carried, or his long hair and beard. Even his size was more comforting than frightening. But something about the way he looked at her made her uneasy. Almost as though she were the first and only woman he’d
ever seen in his life. “I guess you’re here to see Callie Ann?” she managed to keep her voice level.
“And you,” he answered with an honesty that surprised them both.
Molly closed her eyes, dreading the words she knew she’d have to say. How many times had she said them to other men? Men who hoped for a chance she’d marry them or men who dreamed of something more than friendship for a night. She had to stop them before they stepped too close. There could never be more. Not with them or with this strong ranger. She’d already given her heart away on a train station platform. There was nothing left to give.
“You did wait dinner on me?”
Wolf surprised her with his question. She’d thought he meant more than dinner when he came to see her.
She couldn’t help but smile at her own foolishness. Of course, the ranger had come to see Callie Ann and to have dinner with her as he’d promised they would. Nothing more. She wasn’t some fancy lady bothered by suitors flocking at her door. She was an old maid. An old maid who could share a meal with a man probably far more interested in the food than in her.
“I thought we’d take Callie Ann, and Ephraim if he wants to go, over to Noma’s,” Wolf offered.
At the sound of his name, Ephraim slipped from between the folds of the curtain concealing the back rooms. He was so thin his body barely made a ripple in the cloth. “I don’t much feel like stepping out, Captain, but thanks for considering me. I think I’ll turn in early tonight. As for Callie Ann, she fell asleep in her chair at the table. The princess has had a long day.”
Wolf glanced at Molly. “I’ll carry her up to that bed I made her and then be on my way. I’m sorry I was too late for supper. We had some problems come up this afternoon.”
“Oh, you’re not too late,” Ephraim volunteered, ignoring Molly’s frown. “Molly hasn’t eaten yet and I’m afraid, what with Uncle Orson chowing down, there’s hardly crumbs left of the meat pie I made.”
“But I can’t leave…” Molly began.
Ephraim stopped her. “Go ahead. It will do you good to get out of this store for an hour. I’ll listen for the girl in case she wakes.”
Before Molly realized quite how it happened, she was walking down the street on Wolf’s arm. Dinner with the captain was nothing important, but the way Ephraim had turned on her was shocking. He’d done everything short of put a For Rent sign on her forehead. Captain Hayward must think her desperate if her oldest friend, with all the subtlety of a carnival barker, encouraged her to step out. Why hadn’t Ephraim just stood in the middle of Congress Avenue and yelled, “One old maid free for dinner”?
“I’m sorry about Ephraim.” She tried to find a place to start the apology. “If you’d rather dine alone?”
Wolf slowed. After several steps, he answered, “I’d rather dine with you, Molly. If it’s agreeable?”
She was thankful for the shadows as a warm blush climbed her throat. “It’s agreeable with me. But you must allow me to pay. It’s only fair.”
Wolf stopped so quickly she almost stumbled. He widened his stance in front of her as if preparing for a fight. “I asked you to join me for dinner, Molly Donivan. I’ll be the one paying. You’ve done me a great favor this day by keeping up with the princess, but the meals we share are in no way payment.” The huge man looked nervous as more than one person passed them, staring. He lowered his voice, realizing he addressed her far too harshly. “You do me an honor by allowing me to take you to dinner.”
He cleared his throat. Molly wouldn’t have been surprised to hear him say, “Dismissed.”
His outburst might have frightened some women, but it made her feel right at home. Molly slipped her hand beneath his arm. “Thank you, Captain, for reminding me of my manners. You do me an honor by being my friend.”
“Then it’s settled, I’ll pay.”
The muscles along his arm were so hard she had trouble believing they were covered with flesh. Yet she knew he’d never hurt her. “You may regret your words, Captain, for I’m starving.”
He laughed as they hurried into the cafe. His laughter, like the man, was full, warm, and welcoming. Fewer people stopped eating to stare than had last night. The waitress gave them a table at the side by the windows instead of in the middle. Molly relaxed, realizing she wasn’t on stage. No one cared if she had dinner with the ranger two nights in a row. As a general’s daughter, she’d always felt as though her every move was being watched and talked about. It felt good to be just one of the crowd.
Suddenly, they both had a hundred things to tell the other. Molly related stories about Callie Ann. Wolf talked of his problems at the office. The Digger brothers had missed their hangings, thanks to a newly arrived witness who swore they were with him at the time of the stage robbery. No one but the Diggers believed the man, but the judge said it was worth checking out the story.
There were also reports of trouble on the border. Several of the young rangers were antsy to go. Wolf knew if they went, he’d have to go along to watch over them. Now, four years after the war, men who hadn’t seen battle were receiving the circle-star badge. They were fine young men who grew up with the stories of the War Between the States. As Texans, they’d been weaned on hardship and they handled weapons as though born with a gun in their hand. But they still had lessons to learn, if they planned to stay alive.
“To add one more problem to my list,” Wolf said as he finished off his sixth piece of pie, “the judge told me that since the Diggers are still alive, they have to be told about their niece. He’ll give me a few days to locate another relative. If there is none, and the Diggers are still breathing, it will be their decision as to what to do with Callie Ann.”
Without caring who might be watching, Molly placed her hand on Wolf’s. “We can’t let that happen. There must be something we can do. The child has been sheltered and loved, even doted on, I suspect. She can’t be given over to two outlaws.”
He stared at her fingers warming his hand with a caring grip. He didn’t move, didn’t breathe.
“We’ll think of something,” she said. Her touch appeared to turn his hand to granite.
Molly straightened, embarrassed by her own boldness. She wasn’t the kind of woman to make advances. She told herself she wasn’t even attracted to Captain Hayward. He’d certainly been nothing but a gentleman and of course offered only friendship. She shouldn’t have put him in such a situation. Planting her hands in her lap, she stared down at them.
“Molly?” he questioned. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” She couldn’t meet his gaze. She was too old to be holding hands in public with a man she’d just met. Her father had always held her to a high standard. She’d let that standard slip.
Wolf sat waiting, as if he planned not to move until she answered. She could feel him staring at her, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to say more. The waitress stopped by and asked if they’d like more pie. She raised an eyebrow when Wolf said no.
Molly folded her napkin. “I’d better be getting back.” She stood.
He hurried to stand beside her and pay, then offered her his arm as they stepped outside. Molly accepted, but didn’t allow herself to move close against him as she had last night.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again when they were alone. “And don’t say nothing. We were talking, really talking, as I’ve done very few times in my life with a woman, then all at once you won’t even look at me.”
She could hear the frustration in his voice, reminding her of a little boy beneath all the muscles and hair. The boy reached her where the man never could have.
“It wasn’t you. It was me. I’m never so forward. I hope you don’t misread my action.”
Wolf was silent for several steps. She could hear the click of her heels along the walk, but he moved silently in moccasin boots.
With a sudden sideways step, he pulled her into the total blackness between two buildings. She let out a little cry as her back brushed against the wood of the side wall of the mer
cantile. She could feel the warmth of his body only an inch in front of her.
Her heart pounded in her throat, but she didn’t move. To her surprise, she still felt no peril from the man before her. The nearness of him seemed more protective than endangering. She could hear him struggling to find words and waited, guessing he needed the darkness as his crutch.
“I can read a week-old trail even after a rain.”
She could feel his words brush her cheek.
“I can read a lie in a man’s face and know the instant he’ll draw a gun by watching his eyes.”
Even straining, she couldn’t see his outline, but the warmth of his body so near made her very much aware of him.
“I haven’t been around many women in my life, Molly, but I swear to you, I’ll never misread anything you say or do.”
“But I didn’t want you to think…”
“Think what? That you were being forward? You touched my hand, Molly, nothing more. I think that’s allowed if we’re to be friends.”
She let out a long breath and relaxed. “Of course it is.” There she went again, just like her father always said she did, making dragons out of clouds and wars from battles. “You must think me foolish.”
Wolf laughed suddenly. “No, I don’t think you’re foolish. I just wish you would relax a little so I could. I know you must think I’m a man of the world, but when it comes to women, my education runs a bit short.”
Molly couldn’t stop her laughter. She’d never, for one moment, thought him a “man of the world.” He was a man destined to remain alone just as she was a woman who’d always wear the tag “old maid” like her two aunts back in Philly. She felt like they were two people who’d never had a partner to dance with and, suddenly, they had the floor to themselves.
“Shall we dance, Captain?” Molly giggled as she reached out her hands and touched his shoulders.
If Wolf thought her mad, he gave no sign. His hands moved around her waist, and he lifted her off the ground, twirling her around amid the shadows. What he lacked in grace, he made up for in enthusiasm.