by Connie Mason
He grasped her shoulders and gave her a rough shake. "Dammit, Meg, I care about you. It doesn't matter what you are or what you've been, chasing danger is not what I want for you."
"What do you want for me, Jess?"
Jess flushed and looked away. He wanted her to keep herself safe for him. He didn't know how he would do it, but he was determined to prove he wasn't an outlaw. Even if he had to return to Dodge and face down Mr. Wingate. But he couldn't tell Meg that. Not yet...maybe one day.
"I want you near, where I can keep an eye on you. Soon, perhaps after I've taken care of...certain matters, we can talk further about our...feelings. About the future."
"I don't really think there is a future for us, Jess. I'm not going to give up bounty hunting. I enjoy my independence. I've learned the hard way that men can change overnight. They aren't what they seem. They'll turn on you when you least expect it."
Meg's words stunned Jess. "Did I hurt you, Meg? Was I cruel or brutal? Didn't I give you the pleasure I promised? Who hurt you? What man made you distrustful of males?"
"You didn't hurt me. Perhaps you're that exceptional man like Zach, who wouldn't hurt a woman. I don't know you well enough to judge. You did give me pleasure, the kind I never experienced before. As to who hurt me..." She shook her head. "I'm not ready to talk about that with anyone."
"Very well, keep your secrets, but don't expect me to keep my distance. Not after what we just shared. And don't make the mistake of thinking I'll let you risk your life again. Zach is in agreement with me. One brush with death should be enough to persuade you to give up the dangerous life you were leading. If I have to tie you down to keep you from chasing after criminals, I'll do it."
Meg's eyes blazed defiance. "Don't threaten me, Jess. I'll do as I please and you can't stop me."
"What if I've just given you a baby?"
Meg blanched. "You didn't..."
"I might have."
Only then did Jess realize why he hadn't taken precautions. He was a doctor, he knew how to prevent pregnancy. If he made Meg pregnant, he'd have to marry her. Was that what he'd wanted all along? For fate, or God, to take a hand in his life? Did he care for Meg enough to marry her despite all the problems he had to overcome.
He didn't know. The only thing of which he was certain was that he wouldn't hesitate to marry her should she become pregnant with his child.
Would Meg marry him? That question was far more difficult to answer. Baby or not, she'd probably reject his offer and live her life according to her own dictates. It was obvious that Meg didn't trust men. Had little use for them, in fact. He'd give the man who hurt her a good thrashing if he knew his name and where to find him.
"This conversation is ridiculous," Meg said. "It's highly unlikely this one encounter will result in pregnancy. And since I don't intend for it to happen again, we have nothing to worry about."
Jess gave her a tolerant smile but said nothing, since their thoughts on the subject were poles apart.
"I reckon that's my cue to leave," Jess said. "My office is probably full of patients awaiting my return. But before I go..."
Grasping one end of the trailing sheet covering Meg, Jess reeled her into her arms, like a fish on a hook. "Kiss me good-bye, love."
"You've had all the kisses you're going to get from me. Neither of us need the complication of a relationship right now."
"You're right about that, Meg," he admitted. He kissed her anyway. A long lingering kiss that made her blood thicken and her heart pound. Then he released her. "This isn't finished between us by a long shot. You wanted me as badly as I wanted you. It will happen again, take my word for it."
Meg watched Jess leave with a heavy heart. She was so confused. She'd let Jess make love to her and that was a miracle in itself, considering how she felt about men in general. But, oh, how he'd made her body sing, her soul soar. She could very easily become addicted to Jess Gentry. She wouldn't have known lovemaking could be enjoyable had Jess not shown her.
To her credit she knew better than to let emotion rule her life. Both she and Jess harbored secrets neither was willing to reveal. And Jess's determination to change her into the woman he thought she should be according to the dictates of society and his own preconceived notions of a woman's place, didn't sit well with her.
Forgetting Jess Gentry was best for all concerned, Meg decided as she began to dress. What she needed to do now was resume her life as it had been before Jess Gentry. A visit to the sheriff's office was in order. Perhaps he had a new batch of wanted posters with new faces, new outlaws, for her to bring to justice.
Chapter Seven
Meg had no intention of visiting Jess when she made a trip into Cheyenne two days later. Her emotions were still too raw where Jess was concerned to see him again. If her life wasn't so complicated or Jess so secretive about his past, their future together wouldn't look so bleak.
Pushing thoughts of Jess from her mind, Meg drew rein in front of the sheriff's office and dismounted. She had important business to conduct today and couldn't afford to let her mind wander.
The sheriff looked up from the document he was perusing and smiled at Meg as she entered the office and closed the door behind her.
"Howdy, Miss Lincoln. I reckon I know why you're here."
"Hello, Sheriff Bufford. Anything new come in lately?"
"Got a new batch of posters in yesterday. Haven't had a chance to look at them yet. I heard your last venture nearly cost you your life. Why don't you retire and let someone else go haring off after outlaws?"
"Not you, too, sheriff," Meg vented. "You're not going to side with those people who think I should stay home and take up sewing, are you?"
"You've got plenty of guts, Meg, and lots of savvy, but sometimes it takes more than guts and savvy to bring in a dangerous outlaw. How does Purdee feel about your profession after your recent brush with death?"
Meg flushed, recalling the argument she'd had with Zach
on the same subject. He wasn't aware that her trip to town today involved a stop at the sheriff's office. He'd assumed she'd wanted to see Jess and had encouraged the visit.
"Zach isn't crazy about the idea of me riding out again but he'll come around when he learns I have no intention of giving up bounty hunting."
"It's your life, Meg," Bufford said as he removed a stack of wanted posters from a drawer and slapped them down on the desk. "See if there's something here you're interested in. Take your time. I'm off to make arrangements to escort a prisoner to Denver."
He rose, picked up his hat, and shoved it down on his head. "Oh, by the way, I have something that might interest you. Ever hear of a man named Duke Fremont?"
Meg shook her head.
"Fremont is a slick card shark and ladies man who raped and brutally beat a young girl in Denver after she'd spurned his attentions. The poor girl died, but not before she'd identified her assailant.
"I just learned that Fremont is in the area. He must be desperate for money for he broke into Jake Floyd's house, robbed him of all the cash he had on hand and raped his daughter."
"What's he doing in Cheyenne?" Meg asked.
"Looking for easy pickings, I reckon. Cheyenne has earned itself quite a reputation."
"What makes you think he's still around?"
"He was spotted yesterday skulking around the vacant Floyd place. I rode out there when I heard but found nothing, though I did see indications that someone had been out there. I'm going to form a posse and track him down as soon as I deliver my prisoner. Fremont is probably still in the area."
"Give me a shot at him first, sheriff," Meg pleaded. "Zach and I need the money. There is a reward out on him, isn't there?"
"Got word from Denver yesterday. The dead girl's parents are offering five hundred dollars for his capture, dead or alive."
Meg's eyes narrowed as she calculated how long five hundred dollars would last her and Zach.
"Perhaps I'll look through the posters, anyway, before I decide to
go after Fremont. There might be something more attractive here."
"Suit yourself. You can let me know what you decide when I return."
Meg sat down behind the desk and picked up the posters, studying each one carefully. Most of the outlaws weren't worth pursuing, either because the rewards weren't hefty enough to warrant wasting her time or they were last seen in parts too distant from Cheyenne to make pursuit practical.
She had reached the bottom of the pile when a face she knew as well as her own literally flew off the page and smacked her in the face. With shaking hands, she picked up the poster bearing badly drawn images of three men. The headline beneath the poster proclaimed the Gentry brothers, Rafe, Jess and Sam, fugitives from the law. They had robbed a bank in Dodge City, Kansas. Armed and dangerous, the poster warned. A reward of five hundred dollars each was offered for their apprehension.
Though the image was not the best, Meg easily recognized Jess, the man who had taught her that lovemaking needn't be painful.
Jess.
An outlaw.
Hadn't she always known Jess harbored a secret? Hadn't she always suspected something like this? But seeing it in writing was more damning than anything she could have imagined. Thank God the sheriff hadn't seen the poster. Jess, a bank robber? It just didn't fit. Jess was a skilled doctor who went out of his way to save lives. She took a furtive look around, intending to stuff the poster into her pocket when the sheriff returned, making it impossible to conceal the poster.
"Have you decided on anyone?" Bufford asked.
"I...oh, I believe so."
"Can I have a look?" Bufford said, craning his neck for a look at the poster Meg held in her hand.
"I...decided to go after Fremont," Meg said, quickly shuffling the posters together so that the one picturing the Gentry brothers ended up on the bottom. With any luck, Bufford would forget about the posters.
Bufford shrugged. "Suit yourself, though I think you're biting off more than you can chew with this one. Now if this were five years ago, and Purdee was going with you, I'd have no qualms. But you're a woman, Meg. I can't say as I blame your detractors for thinking you shouldn't be engaged in this kind of work."
Meg bristled angrily. "Just because I'm a woman doesn't make me any less capable to do the job. Look at my record. I've brought in more dangerous outlaws than any bounty hunter in these parts except for Zach. Being a woman works in my favor, as I've proven many times in the past."
"It's your life," Bufford said without enthusiasm. "But I'll only back off until I return from Denver. I'm taking the train today and will return day after tomorrow. If you don't have Fremont by then, I'll take over."
"It's a deal," Meg said, rising. She picked up the wanted posters. "I'll just put these away for you before I leave." She opened the drawer and shoved them inside, well to the back.
"One day I'll take them out and have a look," Bufford said. "But if none of them interested you I reckon they won't interest me."
Meg left the sheriff's office in a daze. Just one word from her and she could have collected the reward for Jess. She never even considered it. She'd feel a whole lot better, however, had she been able to destroy the poster before anyone else saw it. She glanced down the street, toward Jess's office, wondering if she should tell him.
Yes, she decided, but not now. Perhaps after she returned with Fremont. The sheriff didn't seem in any hurry to peruse the posters and she had a job to do first. Telling him now would be tantamount to letting him know she'd been looking at wanted posters. Then he'd try to stop her from going after Fremont. An argument would likely ensue and Jess would enlist Zach's help to stop her.
No, she decided, she had to keep this to herself for the time being. She needed to think about the poster and try to figure out how Jess had earned the title of outlaw.
A continual flow of patients kept Jess busy during the following days. So busy he hadn't had time to return to the house to see Meg, but he thought often about what had taken place in her bed. He tried to convince himself that he should forget it ever happened. But he seriously doubted he could do that. He'd relived it over and over in his mind, until every incredible moment of their loving was indelibly etched in his memory.
And what a memory it was! No woman had ever made him feel like Meg. Despite her prickly disposition, her independent streak, her recklessness, he doubted there was a woman alive to match her. Meg appealed to him on every level. She might be a bit rash and headstrong, but taming her would be half the fun of having her in his life. If he were free to pursue her.
Today was just like any other busy day in the life of Dr. Jess Gentry. The usual assortment of patients lined up in his waiting room with the usual complaints. But the moment Jess opened his eyes this morning he'd experienced a twinge of anxiety. A subtle sense of awareness heightened his uneasiness. He had experienced the feeling many times in the past, especially during the war when danger threatened. Anticipation made him edgy, draining him emotionally as he began his day, dreading whatever happenstance fate had dealt him.
Jess had just seen the last patient of the day and he was tired. Bone tired and damn irritable. A meal and a bath were in order, he thought as he locked the front door and wandered into his office. He was straightening the tools of his trade when he heard a racket at the front door. Heaving a weary sigh, Jess walked resolutely to the door, hoping the emergency wasn't something he couldn't handle quickly.
Jess's breath caught in his throat and blood pounded through his veins when he found Zach standing on the doorstep, clutching his chest, his eyes wild.
"Zach! What happened? Are you ill?"
Jess helped Zach inside, easing him down on the cot in his examining room. But Zach would have none of Jess's pampering.
"I'm fine, Doc," he said, brushing aside Jess's concern. "A little pain ain't gonna kill me. Just let me catch my breath."
Jess removed a bottle of pills from his medicine cabinet and handed one to Zach. "Here, dissolve this under your tongue."
Jess chafed impatiently as he waited for the pill to take affect. What dire emergency could have brought Zach racing hell for leather to his office? he wondered. All he could think about was Meg. Something had happened to her; he could feel it in his bones.
"Can you talk now, Zach? Are you still in pain?"
"I'm fine, Doc, thanks. It's Meggie."
"She's not ill, is she? I'll get my bag and go out there immediately."
"Hang on, Doc, it ain't what you think. She's gone. I didn't know she intended to leave until she walked out the door with her saddlebags."
"Gone where?"
"After Duke Fremont. She told me she'd visited the sheriff's office yesterday and learned that Fremont was seen in the area. He's wanted for rape and murder. I tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn't listen. I stopped off at the sheriff's office before I came here but Bufford wasn't there. The deputy said Bufford was escorting a prisoner to Denver.
"Fremont is dangerous, Jess. I'm so damn worried about Meggie that I considered going after her myself, but my body ain't what it used to be. There was a time..." His voice faltered. Jess was shocked to see tears in his eyes.
Jess reached for his gunbelt hanging over the back of the chair and buckled it on, his face grim with determination. "I'll find her, Zach. Do you have any idea where she might be headed?"
"The deputy told me Fremont was spotted out by the old Floyd place west of town. I reckon you can start looking there." He glared at Jess. "None of this would have happened if you'd taken my advice and married Meggie."
"I can't marry anyone right now. Besides, I thought you and Meg..."
Zach gave a bark of laughter. "I know. Meggie told me you thought we were lovers. I don't know how you came by that stupid notion. I love Meggie like a daughter and she loves me like a father. Look at me, Doc. What do you see? A crippled, washed up bounty hunter who lived hard and played even harder. A miracle happened when I found Meggie. I stopped drinking and carousing because Meggie needed
me. If anything happens to her I would die."
"Nothing is going to happen to her," Jess vowed. "I'll bring her back safely, and when I do, you'd best chain her to the stove if you want to keep her home."
"You and who else is gonna help me?"
"We'll talk about this later," Jess said as he plucked his hat from the rack and slammed in on his head. "If I'm not back in two days tell the deputy to form a posse. Why in blazes did the sheriff agree to let Meg go after Fremont alone?"
"Deputy Taylor told me that she asked Sheriff Bufford to give her the first shot at Fremont. Meggie can be pretty damn convincing. The sheriff didn't stand a chance against her. Anyway, he gave Meggie two days to bring in Fremont. If she doesn't return by then, Bufford is gonna form a posse. Meggie is damn good at what she does, Jess. I know it and the sheriff knows it."
"Well I don't know it," Jess said through clenched teeth. "I'd hoped she'd learned her lesson after the Calder fiasco. Spend the night on the cot in my office, Zach. I'll bring Meg here when I find her."
# # #
A trace of daylight remained when Meg spied the Floyd place in the distance. It stood in the midst of a grassy plain, with no visible cover for miles and miles except for a deep gully cutting a vertical swath through the tall grass. Meg reined her mare into the gully and dismounted, securing the reins to the ground with a rock. Then she sat down and waited for darkness. When the last vestiges of daylight disappeared, Meg checked her guns, wound a rope around her waist and crept on her belly through the grass toward the house.
The place looked deserted and Meg feared Fremont had already fled. If that proved to be the case, she'd spend the night in the house and start tracking him tomorrow. But until she found out for sure that Fremont was gone, she had to remain alert. She couldn't afford to become careless again.
Jess was going to be furious when he learned what she had done, she reflected. Not that it was any of his business. Zach had given her a hard enough time without having Jess to contend with. Just because she'd made love with him didn't mean he owned her.