“What does Cade say?” she repeated.
“He says you’ll make a fine deputy marshal,” Gideon said, finally in earnest. “Good grief, Pais, he’s so proud of you it’s nauseating.”
“Truly?” She didn’t used to blush so much.
“Truly. But I can also see he worries about you being in danger, and he’s trying not to admit how much he’ll miss you when you’re gone. Not very manly to fall to pieces over a woman, you realize.”
Even when Joshua had been courting her, he hadn’t ever come close to “falling to pieces” over her. He’d liked her well enough, but she’d never seemed that crucial to his happiness.
I was so blind. But she wasn’t the same naive, weak-willed person she’d been then. She’d grown, and she’d earned the respect of her neighbors. Maybe it was time she started showing herself that same respect.
Cade’s voice carried across the room. “I’m obliged to you all for coming on such short notice.” When had he stepped inside? “We’ve a challenge on our hands as a town, and I—”
His eyes searched the crowd, stopping when he found her. He motioned for her to join him. She shook her head. He was the sheriff, not her.
“Blast it all, Paisley Bell, I haven’t all day to wait for you to give over. We’ve a crisis to see to.”
“There’s no ‘we’ about this crisis, Sheriff O’Brien. I’m an invited guest. You’re the host.”
His lips pressed hard together. “Saints preserve us all from stubborn women,” he muttered.
Not very manly to fall to pieces over a woman. She grinned.
“On behalf of stubborn women everywhere, I’d ask you to leave the Saints alone. They have enough trouble without needing to look after you as well.”
Hawk covered what sounded like a laugh with a less-than-believable cough.
Cade spared her a momentary look of amused reprimand before returning his attention to the crowd. “I’ve brought you all here because I need your help. We’ve a trio of lawbreakers hidin’ out in this town, and we need the cooperation of everyone in this room to catch ’em.”
He had their full interest. He had her interest piqued as well. Clearly Cade and Hawk had devised some kind of formal plan.
“Now, before you start twistin’ your hankies in worry,” he continued, “the only ones who’ll be in any danger are Hawk, Paisley, and me, along with Tansy and Andrew, who have been temporarily deputized for the bank delivery.”
Andrew? Paisley’s gaze shot to him, and her jaw nearly hit the floor. There he stood, shoulders squared, chin held high. For the first time since she’d known him, Andrew held himself like an unbroken man, confident and determined.
“What do you need us to do?” Mr. Jones asked Cade.
“All this will be happening tomorrow afternoon, a few moments before five o’clock. You’ll each have your role to play. Jones and Oliver are in charge of creatin’ a diversion on Main Street. Nothing shady, just a very…Canadian disagreement. Bring your wagons in, sleighs if there’s too much snow, and get into a difference of opinion over who’s charged with giving way to whom.”
Paisley could easily picture it. “You pull your wagon ahead.” “No, I insist. You pull ahead.” They’d be at it for hours. Ingenious.
“We can do that,” Mr. Jones said.
“I’ve no doubt you can.” Cade turned to Mrs. Wilhite and Mrs. Carol. “I need the two of you in front of the hotel. Lots of fluttering of hands and—”
“—twisting of hankies?” Paisley tossed out. She knew where this plan was going.
“The hankie twistin’ is optional,” Cade answered, giving her a wink. “I simply need you to make it inconvenient to get into the hotel.”
“We can have the ladies’ auxiliary committee meeting at the front doors.”
Cade nodded appreciatively. “That sounds very inconvenient.”
The look of pride on the older women’s faces was priceless. Paisley counted off the objectives in her head. The disturbance in the street would slow Joshua down on his way out with the money. The ladies at the hotel would prevent him from taking his ill-gotten goods up to his room. They need only block off his southward options, and the only ones present whose job hadn’t been laid out were Nelson and Dead Ned. What did Cade have planned for them?
Cade answered her unasked question. Dead Ned was charged with playing the role of a troublemaking lawbreaker. Nelson was to make the arrest slowly, awkwardly, and in as drawn out a manner as possible, drawing as many spectators as he could manage. The answer came on the instant: another “inconvenience.” Nelson was always deputized on delivery days. Dead Ned was always itching to be arrested.
It was a fine plan. It might even work.
As the others chatted excitedly about their roles in the upcoming ruse, Paisley caught Cade’s eye and called him over with a hook of her finger. He obliged, his head tipped and eyes narrowed with curiosity as he approached.
“You’ve been busy,” she said when he reached her. “It’s quite a plan you’ve concocted.”
“But is it a good one?” He seemed to genuinely doubt it. “Hawk and I went over and over it, but his knack for strategy, impressive as it is, ain’t as keen as yours.”
A man who valued her mind. That was a welcome change. “Where will you and Hawk and I be during all of this?”
“I’ll be in town, overseeing the money delivery. I always do, so it’d raise suspicions if I wasn’t there.” He was right on that score. “You and Hawk’ll be out near the Parker place watching for Delancey or any of his partners.”
That was a good idea, indeed. “My only concern is where you mean to put Tansy and Andrew.”
“The rest is sound?” he pressed.
“I believe the word I kept repeating in my head was ‘ingenious.’”
Relief flitted over his features. While she appreciated his faith in her, she’d rather see the somewhat pompous expression he usually wore. It would inspire more confidence going into this potentially dangerous undertaking.
He walked with her to the other side of the room. “Tansy will watch the front of the Parker place. Andrew’ll watch the back.”
She immediately shook her head. “We need Andrew up high. He feels most comfortable there.”
His lips pressed together as they did when he was thinking deeply. “Can’t say how we’d pull that off.” Cade took her hand absentmindedly. “All the trees out that way are bare. He’d be spotted in an instant.”
That was something of a pickle. “Tansy’s barn is on that side of her property. What if we had Andrew up in the loft? It’s near enough to see what’s going on, and even get off a rifle shot if need be, but he wouldn’t be seen.”
Cade gave that a moment’s thought. “That’d put Andrew in view of the front of the Parker place.”
“So move Tansy to the back. She can tuck herself wherever she can find cover.”
“I knew I’d best talk with you before making anything final.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll go update Tansy and Andrew.”
“Come by for dinner after you’re done here,” Paisley offered. Why did the invitation make her so nervous? He wasn’t likely to turn her down.
He brushed his thumb along her lower lip. “I’ll see you this evening, love.”
Love. What she wouldn’t give to hear him call her that always.
Once upon a time Paisley had been able to serve fine meals to her guests. That night, she had to make do with a watery stew for supper. Cade hadn’t complained, and she truly didn’t think he’d minded, but she’d flushed with disappointment and embarrassment the whole time they’d sat in the dining room.
She’d wanted to make the night special. Even the after-dinner socializing was proving less than extraordinary. Papa was asleep in his usual chair, his head tipped back, mouth hanging open. Cade sat on the sofa beside Paisley, no
t saying much of anything. He’d likely either die of boredom or run all the way back to town to escape the monotony.
On top of it all, the house was almost frigid. She had spent what little she’d saved from her jobs to replace Papa’s badly worn winter coat. She usually bought firewood from the mercantile, not having a wagon to collect any herself. With her money so short, she was having to scrimp on the wood to heat the house.
“I’m sorry it’s so cold.” She was too embarrassed to look at him, bundled under a blanket as he was. “I used today’s allotment of wood to cook dinner.”
“Are you short on firewood?”
Her pride pricked at her on the instant. “I’ll buy what I need from Mr. Holmes when I’ve saved a bit. Papa and I will simply have to bundle up until then.”
“I was only asking because I’m planning to borrow a wagon and go cut some wood myself next week. I’d be happy to throw some in for you as well.”
She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Assuming someone means the worst. I am trying to be better about that.”
The blanket she was using for warmth slid off one shoulder. Cade pulled it over her again. She turned her head to thank him and found him watching her intently.
“Is something the matter?”
He let out a puff of air. It actually clouded in front of his face. “Do you really mean to join the marshals?”
“I think I’m equal to the challenge.”
“I don’t doubt you are,” Cade said. “I’m already feeling right sorry for the criminals in this territory, and you haven’t even put on that deputy’s badge yet.”
“Fine praise from someone who figured I wasn’t worth my weight in plug nickels when he first arrived in town.” She turned fully toward him, grinning at the memory of their early antagonism.
“I never thought that,” Cade insisted. “And I gained a quick appreciation for your sheriffing abilities.” He moved closer to her. “If I could convince the town council to find the funds for a full-time deputy—a real salary, not a pittance—would you consider staying? A deputy sheriff ain’t near as prestigious as a deputy marshal, but you’d be home. More than that, you’d be safer.”
“Gideon said you’d been worrying about me.” He’d also said Cade was bursting with pride. Paisley liked that particular combination.
Cade’s hand slipped out from under his blanket and gently ran the length of her arm up to her shoulder. “Savage Wells is a quiet place. The rest of Wyoming is not. I just want you to go in with your eyes wide open.” He brushed his fingers along her jaw.
She leaned her head into his hand, relishing the tenderness of his touch. “That’s one benefit of being a special deputy marshal. I’d not be patrolling the streets or chasing down gangs of thieves—like I’ll be doing tomorrow afternoon, for example.”
He smiled at her in a way that simply melted her inside. “I’ll sure miss you. I can’t help hoping they’ll not have need of you too often.”
“Is that your way of saying you like me?” Her heart flipped in anticipation.
“I’ve been saying that for weeks.”
“Have you?” She added a theatrical degree of doubt to her words. “I don’t remember hearing you say it.”
“Maybe I didn’t say it in so many words, but I’ve been clear as glass.”
She leaned back, folding her arms under her blanket. “‘Clear as glass’? Though I have my guesses, I can’t say I’m sure what you think or feel about me. There is nothing about us that is clear as glass, Cade Whatever-your-actual-given-name-is O’Brien.”
“I flirt with you like mad,” he said. “Heavens, woman, I kiss you every time we’re together, or near about anyway.”
She wanted to think that meant something, but she didn’t dare get her hopes up. “Kisses don’t mean much to men, I’ve learned.”
His brows pulled sharply downward. “You think I’ve been kissing you just for the fun of it?”
“Men do that all the time,” she answered.
“Not this man.” He jerked his thumb at his own chest. “I ain’t a blackguard. I don’t kiss a woman unless I mean it.”
To her shock, she realized she’d offended him. His gaze slid to Papa before settling on the empty fireplace. Paisley pulled her legs up beside her and leaned her shoulder against the back of the sofa. The silence was anything but comfortable.
She set her hand on his arm, hoping he would hear what she had to say. “The only man, other than you, who has ever been sweet to me is the very man we’re setting a trap for tomorrow. And, looking back, I realize he likely courted me only so he could steal from my father’s bank without raising suspicion.”
She hadn’t admitted that out loud to anyone else. Cade didn’t look at her.
She pressed on. “When I was at that impressionable age when most young women are first learning what to expect from men, I was living in Abilene. I learned quickly to assume the worst in them.”
“And nothin’ over the past weeks made you unassume the worst in me?” he muttered.
She knew her doubts were unfair. Cade had been her adversary. They’d often been at each other’s throats, but he’d never shown himself to be a scoundrel. He’d also never come right out and told her how he felt. Doubts were her particular weakness. He knew that. Surely he could understand why she needed him to simply say, with no hemming or hawing, what his feelings were.
“I suppose you’ll start calling me ‘Chip’ again. And I suppose I’ll deserve it. Gideon has told me often enough that my fretting and doubting and worrying was more than any man could be expected to put up with. If he weren’t family, I probably wouldn’t let him say such things.” She swallowed against the lump in her throat. Though she’d done her best to strike a lighter tone, the truth underneath her words stung. “I had hoped I was doing better, or better enough for you to at least not give up on me.”
“This ain’t me giving up on you, darling. It’s just me being human and getting frustrated.”
She tried not to get her hopes up. “You’re sticking around?”
He gave a quick nod. “Yes’m.”
He wasn’t giving up on her. She smiled inwardly. “It’s a shame you aren’t thinking of joining the marshals as well. We could be partners and clean up this whole territory in no time.”
“It’d never work, sweetheart.”
He’d been talking about taking her on as a deputy only a moment earlier. Had he changed his mind? “Why not? We’re a good team.”
He tipped her a look. “Because I’m suddenly realizing it’d be inadvisable for us to spend weeks on end exclusively in each other’s company. We’d pass all of our time either arguin’ or kissin’. The criminals would get away with murder.”
“Maybe, but we’d sure enjoy ourselves.” She knew her grin was overly broad, but she couldn’t help herself. “And after a few months, I’d probably be a lot more sure of your feelings for me,” she added.
He actually rolled his eyes. Tough, grumpy Cade O’Brien rolled his eyes. “For such a bright woman you sure can be thick.”
She scooted closer to him and stretched upward to press a kiss to his jaw. “I’ll miss you while I’m off saving the world.”
“I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Promise?” she pressed.
He kissed the top of her head. “I solemnly vow.”
“You really do like me?”
“Saints preserve us,” he grumbled. “If I have to tell you one more time—”
“Don’t you dare call me stupid again, O’Brien.” She pulled back and speared him with a look of reprimand.
“I never said you were stupid, you thickheaded she-cat.” He wrapped one blanket-covered arm around her and pulled her up next to him. “Snuggle up close again, will you?”
“You’re hoping to do a bit
of sparking?”
“Not at all. It’s so blasted cold in here I need you for the warmth.”
She wrapped her arms around his middle. “You do beat all, you know that?”
He settled his arm around her as well. “Much better, love.”
She smiled to herself. Underneath Cade’s grumblings was a tender affection she simply adored. “I should warn you, though Papa is dozing and not doing much chaperoning, he’s a light sleeper.”
“I’ll behave myself,” he said, adjusting his blanket and settling in as if he didn’t mean to go anywhere any time soon.
They’d spent several long, cozy minutes when Cade spoke again quite out of the blue. “Fergus,” he said.
“Beg your pardon?”
He gave her a half-smile. “My given name is Fergus.”
She tried the name on her tongue and found it wasn’t as at home there as “Cade.” Still, there was a certain formal ring to it. “I believe I’ll call you Fergus when I’m put out with you.”
“I didn’t know there was a time when you weren’t.”
“It’s rare,” she said dryly. “Now, let’s settle back in like we were. After all, we need to rest up. We have a few scoundrels to catch tomorrow.”
“You’re the boss, Deputy Bell.”
“You just do your utmost to remember that, Fergus.”
He pulled her closer and held her as the minutes ticked by. Paisley couldn’t remember ever feeling so content in another person’s company. He respected her and liked her quirks and oddities. She admired the good man he was and how hard he worked to keep people safe and secure. Though he found her self-doubt frustrating, he hadn’t chewed her to bits over it. And he’d promised to be there when she needed him. For a woman who’d been on her own as long as she had, that promise meant more than all the flowery words a man might summon up.
As soon as the week’s delivery money came inside the bank, Cade’s recruits took up their positions up and down Main Street. He took a quick peek out the front window of the bank, just to make sure.
“Where do you want to count this?” the deliveryman, Stevenson, asked. The strongbox looked heavy, and he clearly was more than ready to set it down.
The Sheriffs of Savage Wells Page 27