“More likely he didn’t want you around when he and the boys got deep in their cups and spoke of things a lady shouldn’t hear.”
She didn’t have a chance to defend Frank because they were walking into the restaurant. They were seated quickly and a French lad came over to give them their menus and leave a pitcher of wine. Sutter poured both of them a generous stein of wine before glancing over the menu. He glanced over his paper to observe Colorado as she studied her meal choices. He watched the way her lips moved, mesmerized by their delicate shape. When she glanced up and caught him, he cleared his throat and tried to sound calm.
“It’s in French. Do you need help deciphering?”
“No. I studied French in college. Thank you.”
He cocked his head. “And what college was that?”
She scrambled to think of a college that was far away from home but being put on the spot threw her off. “Vassar,” she sputtered.
“Oh, so you are from back east? New York area?”
“Um, well, they sent me to school. I came back for holidays.” She tried not to feel guilty of the lie since most of it was true. She didn’t say she didn’t live in New York, just that her parents sent her to school.
She was saved from further explanation when the lad came back for their food order. She desperately wanted to change the subject.
“Did the blacksmith think it was going to be difficult to repair the axle on the wagon?”
Something flashed across his eyes, darkening them for a moment. “No. He thought it would be a fairly easy repair.”
“I’m glad it’s not a total loss then.”
“No, what’s a total loss is that an idiot like that dandy can buy horseflesh and have no appreciation or compassion for a creature of that breeding.”
He grabbed his stein and quickly downed the contents before slamming it back on the table. He filled it up again and was ready to guzzle it down when she changed the subject.
“How many cattle do you have? Are the ones we brought down yesterday the only ones?”
He looked startled at her abrupt change of subject. “Um, no. I have just a few more farther west that we will be bringing home this summer.”
“How many days ride? Will we be bringing a wagon?”
“At this stage, I don’t know. I was going to hire some cowboys and a cook to handle the camp but now with you in the equation, I’m not sure I can do it that way.”
She started to bristle. “I can keep up with any man. I’ll show you I can do it.”
He shook his head. “I have no doubt of your capabilities. You’ve proven that but there are certain, female things that happen that I’m not sure even you can hide.”
She blushed, understanding his meaning. Despite her boyish appearance, there was no way to hide her monthly menses. Grabbing her glass, it was her turn to take a long drink. The warm liquid burned her throat and her stomach before releasing heat throughout her body. She coughed as she came up for air and he laughed.
“Don’t choke on it. You’re not used to it.”
She glared at him in defiance. It was the one area she was determined to keep up with. “I most certainly am. We drank during the cattle work back home.”
The facial expression he gave her told her he didn’t believe her so she took another deep pull from her glass. She refused to admit it was sherry her mother snuck into the pockets of her dress so she could warm herself when she got cold. Definitely not the amount that she was currently ingesting.
Their food showed up and the young man filled their wine pitcher again. They both ate in silence, enjoying the French cuisine while silently seeing who could drink more.
When the last crust of bread was slopped up the sauce from their plates and the fifth pitcher of wine was emptied, Sutter paid their bill. He was slightly off balance when he grabbed his hat. She rose to help him catch his balance, giggling when her own balance defied her desire to stand upright.
“This is not the sherry my mother used to give me.”
“Sherry? The alcohol you drank was sherry?” Sutter sputtered.
She couldn’t help her laughter. “Yes. But it was expensive Sherry.”
He glanced around but nobody was paying attention to them. “We need to get you out of here. Your laughter is definitely not that of a man’s.”
She stumbled over to the door and he wobbled after her. He realized he drank too much and his wits weren’t about him. Maybe they should just forget the poker and head back to the hotel. He opened his mouth to suggest it when his eyes locked on her backside. Her trousers fit snugly around her firm buttocks and her hips swayed naturally. He swallowed hungrily. It had been a very long time since he had been with a woman.
He shook his head. He wasn’t with a woman right now. He was with his “nephew”. He grabbed her around her shoulders to help steady her and swept her towards the hotel. “We need to get you inside before you are discovered. You don’t act like a man very well when you are drunk.”
“Oh pshaw. I can act like a man anytime I want.”
He cringed as her voice carried throughout the street. Luckily there were few out and about, most either in taverns deep in their cups or already turned in for the evening. “Shh. No more until we get to our room.”
“But you promised you’d teach me how to play poker.”
Groaning, he leaned her against a hitching post outside of a tavern. “Stay here. Don’t say a word. I’ll be right back.”
She giggled as he stumbled up the stairs and disappeared into the building. Moments later he reappeared with a bottle of whisky.
“Okay, I will teach you how to play poker in our room. Deal?”
“Woohoo! Yep, let’s go.”
They made it back to the room without incident and Colorado threw herself onto the sofa. Pulling a coffee table over, she patted the seat next to her. “Okay. I’m ready. Teach me how to play poker.”
He pulled up a chair opposite of her, not trusting himself or her at the moment. She pushed out her bottom lip in a pout but instead of finding amusement in it, he found it alluring. The way her lip glistened, wanting to be kissed and pushed back in.
He shook his head. “You have to pay attention, okay?”
“Okay. May I have a drink?”
“No. This is whiskey. It’s for me. You’ve had enough to drink.”
She scowled. “That’s not very fair. You drank as much as I did and we are back in the room. No risk of being discovered.”
“Fine. But just one drink. It’s a lot stronger than the wine.”
He poured her a glass with two fingers then poured himself three fingers. He shuffled the cards then dealt them out.
She took a swig of her whiskey and started coughing. He laughed heartily. “I told you it’s not like the wine.”
“It burns,” she choked.
“That’s the point. It warms you from the inside out.” He didn’t think he had to worry about her drinking anymore and he started explaining how to play the game. She picked up her glass and finished off the amber liquid.
“I’d like another please.”
He frowned. “I told you that was the only one.”
“I’ll make you a deal. If I win this hand, I get another drink. If you win, I won’t.”
“Fine.” He wasn’t worried about her winning. First time poker players, especially drunk women, never won. He finished explaining the different hands and asked if she understood. She nodded and he examined his hand. He discarded two of his cards and took two more before asking how many new cards she wanted.
“None. I’m good.”
He couldn’t help his chuckle. “Are you sure? You don’t want a card or two?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I’ve got a good hand. Thanks.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. Your choice. So now we show our hands. I’ve got four of a kind, all eights.”
He threw his cards down and leaned back, knowing she couldn’t beat that on her first hand.
She had a sly grin on her face and slowly laid down her hand. “I have a ten, a jack, a queen and a king. All hearts. That’s better, right?”
His eyes bulged as she showed her hand. “That’s a royal flush. How in the hell?”
“Pay up, Mister. I get that drink now.”
He poured her another two fingers but this time she sipped her drink. “This is fun. Let’s play some more.”
“Two more hands then we need to get you to bed. You won’t have a head tomorrow and if we get the wagon fixed, I’d like to head back to the ranch. We could make it before dark.”
“Fine. But I’ve got to get out of this hat. It makes my head itch.” She pulled off her hat, unceremoniously ripped out the pins that held her hair and shook her head.
He was mesmerized as he watched her long, dark hair spill around her shoulders. Waves of silky darkness swirled around her face and he felt like he was in the presence of a goddess. He drank his whiskey as she ran her fingers through her hair and pushed it back off of her shoulders. She smiled at him when she saw him watching her and took a drink.
“That’s so much better. I don’t know how you guys can wear your hats all of the time. I guess it would be easier since you don’t have as much hair as women do.” When he didn’t respond she pointed to the cards in his hands. “Aren’t you going to deal again?”
He looked down at the cards in his hands and nodded. “Oh, yeah, right.”
He dealt out their hands and examined his cards. Again, he discarded two and collected new ones to replace them. She discarded three and he dealt her three new ones.
She won again with three of a kind to his two pair. The last hand went as quickly as the first with her winning again, a full house this time. She didn’t ask for more whiskey and he knew she had drunk more than her body could probably handle.
She stumbled to the bed and began to undress before remembering he was in the room. She smiled sheepishly. “I’ll just take off my boots and vest before I crawl under the covers. Will make it easier in the morning to get dressed.”
He smiled. “Smart thinking.” He walked over towards her and pulled the bedpan from underneath the bed. “I’ll just put this here in case you need it.”
She didn’t respond, her dark lashes already resting against her flushed cheeks. Her breathing deep and steady. She had passed out.
He walked back over to the chair and sat down deep into the cushions. What the hell had he gotten himself into? It wasn’t hard to think of her as a mischievous young man when she was dressed in her garb but seeing her in those trousers and now with her hair down, he was painfully reminded that she was a woman; a beautiful woman. Sleeping under his roof and under his protection for the next six months.
He slammed back the last of his whiskey. “Oh hell.”
5
Her head was pounding before she even had a chance to open her eyes. She couldn’t figure out why any proper hotel would allow such horrendous noise at such an inappropriate time. When the pounding didn’t stop, she lifted her head to get dressed and complain to the manager. The slight motion of raising her head caused the pounding to join forces with pain, which worked in perfect rhythmic harmony. She realized that she was the only one hearing and feeling the intrusion and she flopped back down on the bed.
She groaned when even that caused her pain and she swore out loud. “Never again, my dear Lord. I promise I will never imbibe with the wicked drink of whiskey if you allow me to live.”
She slowly swung her legs around off the side of the bed and forced herself into a sitting position. She held her head in her hands and waited to hear Sutter’s chastising. He had warned her last night but she refused to listen. Honestly she had felt undefeatable last night.
When she didn’t hear his teasing, she looked out into the sitting area and found the couch empty. Slowly getting to her feet, she looked everywhere but didn’t see him. Frowning, she slipped on her jacket, twisted her hair up into a messy bun and gently placed her cap on her head. She tucked the strands up underneath and she started out the door. Stopping herself, she sighed as she took a moment to slip on her boots and then continued out of the door and out of the hotel.
The sunshine and early morning bustle made her head and body ache. She squinted against the sunlight and silently cursed it for being so bright.
She headed towards the blacksmiths and when she didn’t find Sutter, decided to head to the livery. She checked on his team and made sure they had fresh water before going back towards the hotel. Denver was a big city and there’s no telling where he could be. She would just have to wait for him.
She picked up some biscuits and coffee from the hotel lobby before heading up to the room. She nibbled cautiously on the sweet breads until she was sure that her stomach wasn’t going to revolt. The black coffee helped with her head but her stomach was still undecided so she ate more of the bread to pacify it.
It was coming onto the noon hour before the door to their room opened.
“Well she lives,” he chuckled. “How do you feel?”
She glared at him, suddenly filled with anger. “How in the hell do you think I feel?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Hey, don’t take it out on me. I tried to warn you but no, you wouldn’t listen. Had to have the whiskey.”
“You didn’t warn me that it would me feel like death had come and swallowed me up.”
“You weren’t listening to me last night,” he countered.
Knowing he was right, she changed the subject, not wanting to let go of her newly discovered anger that took the place of the pounding in her head. “Where have you been all morning? I have been worried. I went to the blacksmiths and the livery to check on the horses. You could’ve been robbed or worse and then where would that leave me?”
“Glad to know I matter so much,” he chuckled. “I had some business regarding the ranch to take care of.”
She watched a shadow cross his face. “What business? Why couldn’t I have come?”
His face turned red and he clenched his fists. “Listen, I don’t have to tell you everything. It’s out of the goodness of my heart that I am helping you. I could’ve turned you over to the sheriff and you’d be back on a train back home but you aren’t. So I would appreciate a little gratitude.”
She felt her face flush and tried really hard to keep her silence but between the aching in her head and her stomach threatening betrayal, she couldn’t help herself. She stomped over to him and began to poke him in his chest. “Listen here, Sutter Jones. I was doing just fine on my own and if it hadn’t been for you, I could’ve met with the sheriff, told him about being robbed and kept up my ruse but you had to butt in and take over the situation. So now that my future is in your hands, I’d appreciate you being honest with me. Do you understand?”
He stood there with his eyes bulging. Nobody had ever talked to him that way. He was well known and well respected in Colorado, though she didn’t know that, and there wasn’t a single person who would dare speak to him that way. He checked himself for a minute before he responded. “I thought I was doing you a favor. I was establishing you as a true wrangler, a true man, so that future work would come easily. I apologize if I overstepped my place.”
Her face dropped and she took a step back, dropping her finger. “No, it’s me who should apologize. You’ve given me a place to stay, kept my secret and even a job for the next few months. I’m not being a very gracious guest.”
A troubled expression crossed his face and he opened his mouth to say something when they both heard screaming coming from the street. Sutter ran towards the window and threw it open.
“What’s going on?” he yelled down at a running figure.
“Union Station is on fire!” The man screamed and continued running, buckets in each hand.
Sutter whirled and ran towards the door. “Stay here!”
“The hell I will. I am an able body, I can help carry water.”
He didn’t argue with her, not wanti
ng to waste his time or breath. “Then stay close to me, just in case.”
The ran to the train station where they could see the tower engulfed in flames. People were running everywhere and there were several fire wagons in place while the firefighters did what they could to keep the flames from spreading. Sutter and Colorado ran back and forth with buckets of water, dumping it wherever they could. They worked for hours, keeping the damage contained. The entire community of Denver seemed to pull together and work as one. When the fire was finally extinguished and only smoke and rubble was left of the tower, Sutter and Colorado made their way back to the hotel.
The matriarch of the hotel bustled over to them shoving plates full of food into their hands and guided them to a table. “Sit, eat. You must be exhausted. The bath tub is being set up in your room even as we speak so you can get out of those filthy clothes. Set them outside the door and I will make sure they are clean by morning.” She smiled and patted Colorado’s cheek affectionately. “What sweet men to help put out the fire. Such a tragedy that our beloved Union Station burned. It’s where I came into Denver ten years ago and started this establishment.”
She bustled away, latching on to another group of patrons who had been battling the blaze. Colorado and Sutter looked at each other and burst out laughing.
She didn’t know if it was from exhaustion, the adrenaline or the smoke but it felt good to laugh. When they calmed down, they dug into the roast beef and potatoes on the plate. The meat was succulent and tender. A young woman came over with hot rolls and two glasses of ale.
Colorado sopped up the meat juices with her rolls and downed her ale, uncaring about the alcoholic effects. It burned and soothed her throat at the same time.
When she licked her fingers and glanced up, she saw Sutter watching her with awe. Embarrassed she hadn’t acted appropriate for a table setting, she placed her silverware on her plate and delicately dabbed at the corners of her mouth. “What? I was hungry. Fighting fires is a lot of hard work.”
Rescuing Colorado Page 4