by Karen Kirst
Touched by his chivalrous attitude, she didn’t at first notice he’d stopped short and was staring at the law office window. Belatedly, she angled back, only to catch sight of a curious expression on his rugged features.
“Is something the matter?”
He looked stricken, as if someone had delivered the worst news of his life. His throat worked. “Do you know this man?”
“Russell Halloway? Sure, I’ve spoken with him on occasion. He’s a good sort, for a lawyer. I’ve heard of his extensive work with war veterans, a commendable service if you ask me.”
His gaze glued to the gold lettering, he said, “I used to know a man by that name. Is he young? Old?” A vein ticked in his temple. “Can you describe him?”
“He’s young, in his twenties. Short, dark hair. I’m not sure what color his eyes are, though. He’s distinguished looking, like you.” His gaze jerked to her. There was no amusement this time. He didn’t seem to recognize her or their surroundings. It was as if he were lost in another time and place.
Deborah dared to lay her hand on his arm. His forearm jerked. “Are you all right, Adam? Did the man you once knew hurt you in some way?”
“What? No.” He blinked and shook his head. His eyes cleared. “I must’ve been mistaken. Gotten the name mixed up.” Gesturing in the direction of the boardinghouse, he said, “I’m afraid my travels have caught up to me. How about we continue this tour tomorrow?”
He did look rather fatigued. “Of course.”
They returned to Aunt Mae’s in relative silence. In the yard beneath the overarching branches of the live oak, he stopped her. “Thank you for spending the evening with me, Deborah.” He took her hand in his and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. His lips were soft and warm, his breath a heated caress over her skin. Her knees threatened to buckle. “Considering you’re a recent newcomer, I trust you to give me an honest view of the town.”
“I’ll do my best to help.”
His answering smile was fleeting. After bidding her good-night, he disappeared into the boardinghouse. She climbed the steps in a daze and sank onto the porch swing. Cowboy Creek had just acquired another mystery, it seemed, in the form of one Adam Draper, Missouri cattleman.
Chapter Three
The sights and sounds of a busy morning in Cowboy Creek failed to register. Lost in bittersweet memories, Adam traced the gold letters. Russell Halloway. It had to be his brother. Becoming a lawyer was all Russ had talked about those last years before Adam left. But what would he be doing in Kansas? In the last letter he’d exchanged with his mother—granted, that had been at least a year ago—Evelyn hadn’t said anything about it. Adam had assumed she and Seth remained in Missouri and Russ in Philadelphia.
People don’t stop living because you’re not around. He recalled the words of a fellow agent, bemoaning the ending of a courtship. They grow and change without you.
There were probably many things he’d missed out on because of his chosen profession. While he gained satisfaction from obtaining justice for innocent victims, he did wonder sometimes how long he could maintain this solitary existence. Roaming the nation like a wind-tossed tumbleweed, lonely days bleeding into even lonelier nights, staying in towns just long enough to work cases...he was starting to yearn for more. A place to set down roots. Maybe even start a family.
“Good morning, sir.” A gentleman approached from his right. “My office doesn’t open for another quarter of an hour, but I’d be happy to make an exception if you’re in a rush.”
Perspiration dampened his collar, and not from the June sun beating on him. His chest felt hollow. Anticipation warred with uncertainty. How would his brother receive him—with a hearty handshake or cool disdain? After all, Adam was the one who’d left in a wake of angry recriminations and failed to return home. He was the reason a rift existed in the Halloway family.
“Sir? How can I be of service?”
Sucking in a bracing breath, he slowly pivoted and looked his brother full in the face. The changes were marked. In the place of the ruddy-cheeked boy he remembered was a full-grown man decked out in a tailored suit. Taller and leaner, his features more pronounced, his hazel eyes holding a wealth of wisdom.
“Hello, Russ.”
The confusion on his brother’s face crumbled into shock. Russell fell back a step. His disbelieving gaze raked Adam from head to toe and back again.
Adam lifted his arms to his sides. “Have I changed that much, big brother?”
“Adam?” His voice sounded a lot less upbeat than before. “It can’t be.”
“Well, I promise it is—”
Before Adam could get another word out, he was engulfed in a tight embrace. His throat clogged with pent-up emotion. He wasn’t to be shunned, then. Thank you, God. I don’t deserve this welcome, but I’ll take it.
Adam returned the hug, aware that they were creating a spectacle right there on the boardwalk. For this moment, though, he wasn’t an agent on the trail of justice. He was a man who’d missed his brother more than he’d realized.
Russell pulled away first and gripped Adam’s shoulders. A grin spread from ear to ear. “I can’t believe you’re here. My baby brother, all grown up. And looking quite dapper, I must say.”
Adam patted Russ’s jaw. “Look at you. When did you grow a goatee?”
He laughed. “When potential clients mistook me for an assistant yet to earn my degree.” A man and woman edged around them, their curiosity plain. He tipped his head toward the door. “We should probably take this inside.”
Russ unlocked the door, perched on the desk edge and regarded Adam with lingering wonder. “Wait until Ma and Seth hear about this.” He smoothed his hand over his short hair.
Adam pointed to Russ’s hand. “You’re married?”
“Newly married and expecting a baby.”
He slumped into a chair. “What? Who is she?”
“Her name is Anna. I met her in Philadelphia while at law school.” He grinned sheepishly. “I was actually engaged to her sister, Charlotte, once upon a time.”
“You scoundrel!” Shifting forward, he rested his elbows on his knees. “Tell me everything.”
Time slipped away as Russ regaled him with stories from his school days and his eventual introduction to the Darby family. Charlotte had fallen in love with another man, but hadn’t had the heart to break off her engagement to Russ. Assuming responsibility for the breakup hadn’t earned him any points with the young lady’s family. He’d thought his association with the Darbys over until the day Anna arrived in his mail-order bride’s stead, not to marry him, but to inform him that yet another fiancée—albeit, a mail-order one—preferred someone else. However, when widowed Anna discovered she was pregnant, Russell proposed a marriage of convenience.
“You fell in love with her,” Adam surmised. He’d seen it happen. He’d also seen relationships sour. He was glad Russ had found happiness.
“She’s the love of my life,” Russell confirmed, studying him. “What about you? Have you found someone you’d be willing to give up the Pinkertons for?”
Quite against his will, he pictured Deborah Frazier with her blindfold and her experimental cake. Ridiculous to think of her now. He pushed out of the chair and began to pace. “Not yet.”
“That implies you’re searching for the right woman.”
“Not actively, no.” He hesitated to dampen the mood, but he had no choice. “Russ, I’m here on a personal matter. In fact, I’ve got an alias. Adam Draper, a successful rancher from Missouri. No one can know we’re related.”
Russell folded his arms. “Is it Ogden?”
“Yes.”
“I see.” A sigh rattled his chest. “Do me a favor, will you? Don’t mention him to Ma and Seth right off. Wait until they’ve had a chance to rejoice in your homecoming.”
Adam stared at him. “What are you talking about? A t
rip to Big Bend? Today?”
“Not to Big Bend, little brother. Cowboy Creek is their home now.”
As on his first day of battle when faced with the grimness of death on every side, he grappled with a feeling of unreality. Was this a dream?
“I don’t understand.”
Russell came over and clapped him on the back. “Let’s fetch our horses, and I’ll explain on the way. You’ve got a lot to catch up on.” He smirked. “There are some surprises I won’t spoil, however.”
Before he was quite prepared, he was on his horse and riding south of town beside Russell, who a short time later brought his mount to a stop on what was, apparently, Seth and his mother’s new home.
Adam did the same, observing a wooden sign. “It’s called White Rock Ranch.”
A dormered, two-story house with deep, welcoming porches anchored the vast prairie. A row of young elms separated the house from the barn and corrals. Hay-filled fields rolled gently to the distant horizon. Sun sparkled on the surface of a small pond.
His brother had chosen well. He prayed Ogden wouldn’t sully what amounted to a fresh start.
He flexed his fingers. “The last time Seth and I were together, I accused him of being a coward.”
As the eldest brother, Seth had made the decision to sell off some of the land holdings, and his mother some jewelry and furnishings, in order to pay off the alleged loan. Furious, Adam hadn’t been able to stay and watch his father’s legacy crumble. He’d been young and impulsive. He hadn’t taken the time to consider his older brother’s side of things.
“That was a long time ago,” Russ murmured. “Trust me, he’s put it behind him. The question is, have you?”
He met Russ’s steady gaze. “I’m ready to be a family again.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
While Russell summoned the house’s occupants, Adam dismounted and tied his horse to the hitching post. He was surprised to find his hands were shaking.
“Hey, everyone, come on outside,” Russell called into the house. “Someone’s waiting to see you.” Wearing a goofy grin, he held the main door ajar.
The first one through the door was his ma. He soaked in the changes, the streaks of gray in her brown hair, the crow’s-feet about her eyes.
He rounded the horse and approached the porch steps, his heartbeat thundering in his ears.
“Adam!” Her cry was strangled. She launched herself at him, and he caught her in his arms, breathing deeply of her familiar perfume. “Oh, my darling boy.”
She caressed his cheek, her reddened eyes seeming to take inventory of how he’d matured. The heavy thud of footsteps echoed on the wooden slats, and they both turned to see Seth striding toward them.
There were equal parts caution and joy in his eldest brother’s eyes. His brown gaze gobbled up the sight of him. He halted at the base of the stairs.
Adam took a deep breath. “How are you, Seth?”
Evelyn wiped her eyes and looked anxiously between her oldest and youngest offspring.
“Good. Really good.” The breeze ruffled Seth’s light brown hair, pushing strands onto his forehead. “You look hale and hearty.”
“I can’t complain.”
“We thought you’d come and see us once the fighting was over.”
Adam winced at the subtle accusation. “I should have. I meant to.” He scraped his hand over his jaw. Pride had prevented him. And worry that he’d damaged their relationship beyond repair. “I don’t have any acceptable excuses.”
A muscle twitched in Seth’s cheek. “For four years, we worried you’d get hurt on the battlefield. Or worse. Admit it, you weren’t a prolific writer. Months passed without word. And then, instead of coming home, you joined the Pinkertons and couldn’t be bothered to drop in for a day or two. Do you care so little about your own flesh and blood?”
For the first time, Adam glimpsed the intense hurt beneath Seth’s gruff exterior. Hurt he had caused. Regret flooded him.
“Please don’t argue,” Evelyn whispered, her handkerchief pressed to her mouth. “This is a joyous day. My sons together again at long last.”
Standing at the top of the stairs, Russell no longer wore his lighthearted expression. He watched the exchange with somber wariness.
“We’re not fighting, Ma. He has a right to air his grievances. All of you do.” Adam squared his shoulders and met Seth’s eyes. “Everything you’ve said is true. I’m sorry I was callous and selfish. I’m sorry I didn’t write more often. I could have visited. Multiple times.” Grimacing, he shook his head. “I was foolish to ever criticize you. Everything that happened in Big Bend... We each dealt with the aftermath of Ogden’s perfidy in our own ways. I was too young and stupid to see that then. Will you forgive me?”
The quiet stretched between them, punctuated by cattle lowing in the fields and the rustle of tree limbs swaying.
The grimness in Seth’s features faded. “You’re not the only Halloway with a temper and a hard head.”
The tightness in his chest easing, Adam extended his hand for a shake. Seth gripped it, hard, then yanked him close for a hug. Evelyn started crying again.
“Don’t ever stay away that long again, you hear?” Seth said gruffly in his ear.
Adam nodded and smiled, embarrassed to find his own eyes wet. “You have my word.”
A loud thump sounded inside the house. Adam glanced past Seth’s shoulder and saw a curtain flutter in one of the windows. At the sight of a child’s round, smudged face, he froze. A second one joined the first.
“Seth?” He took a hasty step back. “Are there children inside your house?”
Everyone around him burst into laughter. Seth’s eyes started twinkling. He urged Adam up the steps. “There are some things I have to tell you, little brother.”
“More like people he needs to introduce you to,” Russell added as he followed them inside.
Evelyn’s expression became positively sentimental. “The only thing that could make me happier than having you home, my dear son, is seeing you wed and starting a family like your brothers.”
* * *
Try as she might, Deborah couldn’t oust Adam from her thoughts. When he didn’t show for breakfast, she assumed he’d overslept. Who could say what his eating habits were? Some people preferred to wait until midmorning to break their fast. But when the noon meal rolled around and he still hadn’t made an appearance, she’d had the terrible suspicion that he’d left. If not town, then the boardinghouse.
She’d stooped to asking Aunt Mae—as discreetly as she could manage—who’d stated that he was planning to stay at the boardinghouse indefinitely. The punch of relief Deborah had experienced alarmed her. Now wasn’t the time to entertain an infatuation! Her life was in limbo, her future uncertain. Besides, Adam might or might not decide to make Kansas his permanent home. Judging from his comments the previous evening, he wasn’t keen on staying in one place for long.
A spider scuttled from beneath the plants very close to where she knelt in the strawberry patch. She waited to make sure it was traveling in the opposite direction before resuming her task. Late-afternoon sun stroked her skin, and the agreeable smells of warm earth and grass reminded her it was nearly summer. Back home, their kitchen workers Louise and Wanda would be tending the estate gardens. The pair had treated her as an equal rather than the tycoon’s graceless daughter. They’d allowed her to assist them in the daily meal preparations, provided Gerard was out of the house conducting business. A pang of homesickness struck her unawares.
Snapping off more fruit, she placed the red berries carefully into the basket beside her. Glancing around at the substantial yard behind the boardinghouse, she took stock of the generous veranda, with its wide chairs and bold-hued flowers spilling out of crates, the straight garden rows and towering trees separating this lot from the newspaper’s next doo
r. The trees and bushes lent the space privacy and blocked some of the sounds filtering from Eden Street. Deborah missed her childhood home, but this place had its own charms.
For a runaway bride, she’d been blessed with a safe place to live and friends she could count on. The Cowboy Creek community had embraced her. She thanked God every day for placing that lost train ticket in her path.
The sound of whistling drew her head up and her gaze to the low, white fence along the side street. She recognized Adam at once. Clad in a black suit, his hair slicked off his face, he walked with an air of assurance. Her pulse skipped when he caught sight of her and waved. Instead of continuing along to the front entrance, he opened the gate and crossed the yard.
He entered the narrow dirt path and came to a stop beside her.
“Good afternoon, Deborah. I see you’re hard at work.”
Beneath the brim of his cowboy hat, his eyes shone with excitement. He radiated a charged energy not present last evening. Why the change? Had he found land? Or perhaps a young lady had snagged his interest?
Her belly knotted. Adam was a successful businessman like her father. He’d have high standards when it came to potential brides. A poised, proper lady who could plan social events and execute them without a hitch, a perfectly behaved lady who didn’t have a habit of saying the wrong thing.
She tilted her head back and blocked the sunlight with her hand. “I enjoy being outside if it isn’t too stifling.”
He glanced between her, the half-filled basket and the berries on the plants. “I’ll be right back.”
He hurried to the veranda, where he shucked his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his gray-and-white-striped shirt. Back in the patch, he joined her in the dirt.
“What are you doing?” she said, an unwanted thrill shivering through her at his nearness.
He flashed a grin. “I’m hoping that by helping you, I’ll get the first taste of whatever treat you’re concocting.”
“You make it sound like I’m a mad scientist.”
She averted her attention to the plants, away from the evidence of molded shoulders and thick, muscular biceps beneath his cotton shirt. If he was indeed going to be around for a while, she had to view him as nothing more than a casual friend.