Good lord. Her eyes were the pale blue of a winter Wyoming sky.
She lifted her chin. “Then logic would dictate, Deputy, that you’re unaware of your brother’s most recent escapades.”
Dressed down by a schoolmarm? Huh-uh. Not happening on his watch. He was the damn law around here.
“Or logic would dictate that my brother is sweet on you, Miss Thompson, and his previous injuries were so minimal that he didn’t mention them to me, lest I see right through his ruse to charm you with that silver tongue of his while you’re doctoring on him,” Jonas countered.
She blushed and turned away.
“Leave her alone, Jonas,” Silas said groggily.
“Deputy, if I could have a word with you outside while my assistant cleans up the patient?” Doc said.
Neither Silas nor Miss Thompson glanced his way—or at each other—but Jonas got the distinct sense they wouldn’t keep their distance when both their chaperones were gone.
Chapter Three
As soon as Doc and Deputy McKay left the room, Dinah expelled a deep breath.
She unclenched her hands and looked over at Silas, sprawled on the table, blood still covering his face.
The laudanum hadn’t taken effect yet, as he was staring at her with an intensity that caused her to blush ten shades of red.
Silas held out his hand to her. “Come here.”
“You’re injured. It’s not wise—”
“It ain’t wise to deny an injured man comfort. Unless you want me to hop down and come to you?”
“You’re impossible,” Dinah harrumphed as she erased the distance between them. “But I’m not holding your hand.”
“That’s fine, darlin’; I’ll hold yours.”
“Mr. McKay—”
“Silas,” he gently corrected as he caught her fingers in his. “If I’m gonna be courtin’ you, there’ll be no more formality between us.”
“When did I agree to let you court me?” she retorted.
He flashed that charming grin at her for a brief second before he winced in pain. “When I was here two weeks last? Doc gave me his blessing.”
Dinah bit her cheek to keep from reminding Silas that she was old enough to make her own choices. But since she lived with Doc Moorcroft and his wife, she did owe Doc the courtesy of letting Silas make his intentions toward her clear. “I thought you’d forgotten.”
“Have you changed your mind?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. “Did you purposely pick a fight so you’d have an excuse to be in Doc’s office and see me again to make sure I hadn’t changed my mind?”
“No. That bastard Zeke West jumped me after I beat him at cards.” He attempted another smile. “But it was worth it since I get to see your pretty face.”
“Stop trying to charm me, Silas McKay. You wince every time you smile.” She released his hand and reached for a cloth. She dipped it in the water, wrung it out, and began to clean his face.
“That tickles.”
“Better than it hurting.”
“Oh, it hurts too.”
She stopped mid-swipe.
He reached for her other hand. “But you’re not hurtin’ me, darlin’. Keep goin’. And talk to me, please. I’m getting sleepy.”
“I imagine so. You should sleep. Your body needs to heal.”
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
“Not here in the room with you”—like last time went unsaid—“but I’ll be close by.”
“Good.”
Dinah continued to clear the blood from his face. His handsome face.
Lord, Silas McKay defined a good-looking man. His facial features were rugged—square jaw, wide cheeks, surprisingly straight nose for being a brawler. The stubble on his cheeks and neck was the same midnight hue as his wavy black hair. Thick slashes of his dark eyebrows highlighted his piercing blue eyes, eyes that seemed to bore right into her soul every time they regarded her. His height topped hers by a solid foot. And speaking of solid…her gaze traveled down his exposed chest. Beneath the dark hair that grew in the center, she saw the sloped definition of his muscles. Lots of muscles.
What would it be like to touch him? To sift her fingers through his chest hair, to trace the cords in his neck, to smooth her hands over the bulges in his arms?
Her body went hot just thinking about it.
“Dinah?” Silas mumbled.
She threw him a panicked gaze; had he caught her admiring his near nakedness? Luckily, his eyes were still closed. “You are supposed to be sleeping.”
“Almost was, but I gotta say this first.”
“What?”
“Don’t let Jonas scare you off.”
She froze. “Will he try?”
“I s’ppose so. Me courtin’ you is gonna be a shock for him. I, ah…hadn’t told him yet.”
Dinah didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t.
“I wanted to wait until I had you on my arm for sure to make the proper introduction since he’s the only family I got.”
That confession allowed a small smile as she dabbed away the crusted blood on his cheek. “Worried he wouldn’t believe you?”
“Maybe. Truth is…since our folks died, it’s always been just me’n him. Bein’ twins made us look out for each other even more. Jonas is happy bein’ married to his badge. Says his job’ll likely kill him, so he don’t need to make some unlucky woman a widow.”
“I knew you were twins; I hadn’t understood you are identical twins until I saw the two of you side by side tonight. That mirror image surprised me. Granted, I’ve only seen the deputy from a distance, but he’s always seemed so much…meaner looking than you.”
Silas chuckled. “He is. Prolly why I’m considered the better-lookin’ twin.”
Dinah shook her head, even when she was charmed by his audacity.
“Although, you’d likely argue that point tonight.”
“Perhaps.” The skin under his eye had already discolored blackish-purple. In the short time he’d been here, the left side of his face had puffed up. He had scratches on his forehead beneath the dirt and blood. His lower lip had quit bleeding. It probably didn’t need stitched—that was one positive.
“You mad at me for fightin’?” Silas asked softly.
“If I say yes because seeing you beat up scares the life out of me…will you stop?”
She couldn’t blame his refusal to answer on the medicine.
Her gaze met his sleepy-eyed one before she glanced at the bowl of dirty water. “I worry about you. You claim you didn’t start it, but I’m more concerned that Zeke West wants to finish it—and by ‘it,’ I mean you. This isn’t the first time you’ve tangled with him, Silas.”
“And it likely won’t be the last.”
“Why?”
“Because we seem to end up in the same places.”
“Silas. There’s an easy way to end that. Stay away from Sackett’s. Stay away from him.”
“Easier said than done, darlin’, since West has had it out for me for a while…” He yawned. “He’s always flashing that railroad money around, reminding me…”
A sigh. Then silence.
The laudanum had knocked him out mid-sentence.
When his breathing turned slow and even, she switched out the dirty water and rags for clean.
Before she started on the second round of cleanup, Doc and the deputy returned. She stepped aside so Doc could examine Silas’s head and neck. Upon seeing no new undue swelling, he once again pronounced Silas lucky and in need of rest.
While Doc and the deputy handled the payment for services, Dinah continued cleaning Silas’s face.
Doc cleared his throat. “Dinah, dear, the deputy would like to have a word with you.”
Her heart galloped but she managed to nod.
“I’ll need a nip or two before I can fall asleep, so I’ll be sitting right outside with Robbie and Jimmy until you’re done.”
“Thank you, Doc,” the deputy said.
Her nerves kicked up after Doc left her alone with Jonas McKay. She couldn’t quite hide her shaking hands as she dunked the cloth and gently cleaned the scrapes on Silas’s forehead.
“Doc tells me that you and my brother are courtin’.”
“Silas intends to court me.”
She felt him studying her before he spoke.
“Even after seein’ my fool brother beat to hell…you haven’t changed your mind about him?”
“No.” That’s when Dinah met the deputy’s eyes. Eyes so like Silas’s yet…not. “I’m looking forward to getting to know your fool brother, Deputy.”
He smiled at that. “Since Silas has managed to keep it from me that he’s needed doctoring, and Doc won’t share the details, I’m askin’ you to tell me when and why Silas was here before.”
“Forgive me, sir, but if your brother would’ve wanted you to know, he would’ve told you.”
“Oh, I’ve considered that. Trust me. But I believe the real reason he didn’t share is because he wanted to keep you all to himself.”
She barely withheld a snort. “Because Silas might’ve feared you’d get it in your head to court me too?”
“Perhaps.”
“Well, that’s straight-up wrong. Silas told me you’re already happily married to your badge.”
Deputy McKay laughed at that. “I can see why my brother likes you. Because that silver-tongued cowboy charm of his rolls off you like water off a duck’s back, don’t it?”
“Sometimes.”
“So I’m askin’ you, please, to tell me what injuries brought Silas here. I can’t protect him if I don’t know what he’s done or who might be gunnin’ for him.”
Dinah dropped the cloth in the water and leaned back against the bench behind her, folding her arms across her chest. “What he’s done, was tangle with Zeke West.”
His eyes narrowed. “Which time was this?”
They’d clashed so often that even the deputy knew about it? Why didn’t he stop his brother from fighting? “Months ago. I remember Silas telling Doc that you were at some lawman’s meeting in Cheyenne.”
“That’d explain why I hadn’t heard of this incident. I ended up stuck in Cheyenne for two weeks because of that blizzard. So what happened between him and West?”
“Something that had to do with a girl at Ruby Red’s.” She forced her eyes to remain on his even when her entire body went hot with embarrassment. Good girls—church-going, virginal schoolteachers—like her weren’t supposed to admit knowledge of a local whorehouse, let alone say the name out loud in mixed company, and especially not admit that she’d come face to face with the beautiful Ruby Redmond that night.
“Silas just told you that, Miss Thompson?” the deputy said skeptically.
Please Lord, forgive me for the lie I’m about to tell. “I overheard that part of the conversation.”
He removed his hat, ran his hands through his hair and resettled the black hat on his head. “I beg your pardon for askin’ this, bein’s that it ain’t proper to discuss my brother’s questionable behavior with such an upstanding woman as yourself, but I’d be much obliged if you could share as many details as you remember about Silas’s conversation with Doc.”
Dinah’s focus moved to Silas sacked out on the table, snoring with his mouth open. “I didn’t hear why Silas was at Ruby Red’s—if he’d been there a while or if one of the girls retrieved him from Sackett’s thinking he was you when the trouble started—and quite frankly, I don’t wanna know. But Silas stepped in when Zeke threatened one of the women after she refused to go upstairs with him. Zeke warned Silas to walk away, Silas didn’t, and Zeke nearly broke his arm.” She paused. “I say ‘nearly’ because that’s what brought Silas here that night through a snowstorm. He was in so much pain Doc thought it had to be a break. We dosed him with tonic and he stayed here overnight. We got that same blizzard that stranded you in Cheyenne, so the next morning Silas was stuck here.”
“Better here under expert care than anywhere else,” the deputy said.
“Unfortunately, Doc’s wife, Mrs. Agnes, had taken ill, so Doc looked after her and I handled the household, which included caring for Silas. He stayed in the recovery room. I kept the fire going, took him food, which meant we spent time together unchaperoned. A lot of time.” She glanced over at him. “That’s probably why Silas didn’t mention it; he was protecting my reputation. It turned out he didn’t have a broken arm, just a severe strain.”
“His left arm?”
She nodded.
“Now I know why he’d been favoring that side. I imagine he’d’ve healed up faster if it had been a break.”
“That’s what Doc said. Before Silas left after the blizzard, he claimed he’d be back to square things about courting me, but I hadn’t seen him until two weeks ago.”
“What was the story with that injury?”
She shrugged. “Pain in his chest. When Doc pressed him for details, Silas admitted the ache was from the fear he was too late, and I’d given my heart to another. Doc practically hauled him out of here by his ear.”
The deputy snorted. “Bet Doc gave him grief after that.”
“Yes, sir.” A pause lingered. “Still…Silas had to get in the last word. He swore the next time he saw me it’d be with his hat in one hand and flowers in the other.” She couldn’t help but smile. “That man has a way with words, even if some of them are just hopeful thinking.”
“That he does.” Jonas patted Silas on the shoulder. Then he looked up at her. “Thanks for talkin’ to me. My brother has been known to make rash decisions—”
“And you assumed I was just another one?” she injected sharply.
“Yep. But I was wrong. Silas is all I’ve got. While we don’t always understand each other’s thoughts and actions, I want him to have the life he’s been workin’ toward. If that’s with you…I’m good with it as long as you know it ain’t gonna be an easy road.”
Dinah lifted a brow. “I wouldn’t think I’d have to explain the difference between marrying and courting to you, Deputy.”
“I understand them perfectly well, Miss Thompson. But Silas…in his mind, he’s already put his ring on your finger and slid his boots under your bed.”
Jonas McKay was a plain talker; she’d give him that much.
The deputy stepped back. “Jimmy is bunkin’ in here tonight. You or Doc can send him to fetch me if Silas takes a turn. If not, I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon to haul him home.”
She held up Silas’s sliced and bloodied shirt. “Will you remember to bring him something to wear?”
“Ah…I ain’t goin’ home. But it won’t bother Silas none to walk around bare-chested.”
It’ll bother me.
There was no chance she wouldn’t shamelessly stare at his chest. Especially that intriguing trail of dark hair that continued down his belly and disappeared into his pants. She picked up his tattered shirt. “I could try and patch it up.”
“Best turn that into a rag. Ain’t no fixin’ it.” He offered her a hat tip and he was gone.
No fixing it? She’d see about that.
With Silas asleep and Jimmy settled, there wasn’t a reason to remain out here.
She and Doc returned to the house in silence, only bothering to say goodnight.
Dinah’s small room in the log cabin was tucked in the far back corner. The space had originally been Doc’s exam room, so it had built-in shelves along one wall and hooks in the ceiling to hang lanterns from for better lighting.
Her room stayed either cool or downright cold year-round, but she loved the cozy space, from her bed piled high with her handmade quilts, to the tiny nook opposite the door where her small writing desk, chair and sewing machine were lodged. A round-topped steamer trunk held her undergarments and the few treasured family items she’d kept.
Exhausted, she turned the kerosene lamp on high and sat heavily on the chair to untie her boots, freeing her poor swollen feet.
Ah. Heaven.
She wiggled her toes as she crossed over to place her boots on the shelf next to her dress shoes. She’d been in her nightclothes in bed—but not asleep—when Doc had knocked, requesting her assistance. She hadn’t bothered with undergarments or socks, opting to shove her bare feet into her boots and don her day clothes.
After removing the dark brown apron that protected the front of her dress, she tossed it on the floor. She then shimmied out of the blue calico, hanging it between her other two everyday dresses, noticing she had four aprons left to get her through to wash day.
She swept her fingers down the black wool skirt and the high-necked white blouse that comprised her teaching uniform. With school out for the summer, the only occasion she’d have to wear her dressier outfits would be church.
Or when Silas McKay came courting.
That thought sent flutters through her belly.
She’d never been courted, but she’d listened to girls gossiping about how out here in the “Wild West” courting couples didn’t require a chaperone. So she and Silas could go anywhere they wanted. He seemed the type of man who’d consider her opinion when choosing a destination, and the first place she’d ask to see would be Devil’s Tower.
Thinking back to those “courting” conversations she’d overheard, she wasn’t sure if officially courting meant she’d see Silas every day. Or would his visits be limited to Sunday since his ranch work kept him busy the other days of the week? Was it improper for her to ride out to his place if he couldn’t come to her? Not that she knew where he lived beyond his vague explanation of “closer to Sundance.”
Dinah retrieved her cotton nightgown and dragged it over her head, not bothering to fasten the buttons once she had it on.
She looked longingly at the book—Nana by Emile Zola—she’d been reading a few short hours ago. Instead of crawling back in bed, she took out her flat board and sewing supplies.
Silas’s shirt was frontiersman style—a pullover loose cotton blend V-neck with laces and wide tipped collars. There was no fixing the jagged slice down the center. The best option would be to turn the fabric under on each side and create a placket. She could add two buttons and buttonholes so at least his belly would be covered. Plus, a button-up shirt would be easier for him to put on with his ribs being wrapped. If her quick fix turned out to be hideous looking, he could always wear it as a work shirt. She hated to see anything go to waste and wondered if Jonas’s hesitation about bringing Silas extra clothes had been from his brother’s lack of extra clothing options.
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