A Love to Cherish (6 page)

“Were Dinks and his friends right? Did you work at Naomi’s Pleasure Parlor? I’ve been there a time or two, she runs a damn good establishment. Her girls are the best.”

Belle’s eyes blazed with unrelenting fury. “What do you know? You’re just like the others. Eager to condemn a woman without benefit of an explanation.”

“No, I’m willing to listen. Don’t you think it’s time you told me about yourself? Why do you believe Tommy needs protection?”

“Does my past make any difference in our business arrangement? Will you refuse to protect my son if you perceive me as something I’m not?”

“I’m not a man to jump to conclusions. Why don’t you tell me and let me decide for myself?”

She tried to rise but his hands pinned her shoulders to the bed.

“How do I know I can trust you? How do I know I can trust anyone?” Her words spewed forth in a long, drawn-out sob.

“I think I’ve proven myself. That’s twice I’ve been able to prevent an ugly incident for you. How many close calls have you had with different men before I came to town? As long as I’m around, I’m not going to let anyone hurt you or Tommy.”

That much at least was true. McAllister didn’t want to hurt Tommy, he wanted to give him all the advantages his mother couldn’t. If Casey believed for one minute that McAllister would harm Tommy, he would never have accepted the assignment,
money or no. McAllister merely wanted to protect the child, to prevent him from learning that his mother was a whore, or had once been one.

Casey no longer believed Belle plied her trade in the mining town. Her son was too important to her to risk his finding out about her former profession. Something about Belle moved Casey deeply and he tried to push it to the back of his mind. Sentiments had no place in his life, not now, not when his brother’s life was at stake. He had accepted McAllister’s money, and had no choice but to bring the case to a favorable conclusion.

Belle truly wanted to believe Casey. She was so tired of bearing the burden herself. So weary of looking over her shoulder for McAllister’s men. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in over a year. Not since she learned T.J. McAllister wanted to take her son away from her, and that the law would uphold his claim.

Casey watched the play of emotion on Belle’s features and could only guess at the kind of private demons she was fighting. “Belle, I’m waiting,” Casey repeated. “Is there any truth in what Dinks said?”

After an inner struggle with her conscience, Belle seemed to come to a decision. She lifted herself up until her eyes were on the same level as Casey’s. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

“Very well. You wanted to know if I was seen at Naomi’s Pleasure Parlor in San Francisco. Yes. Now are you satisfied?” She’d be damned if she’d tell Casey her life story. She didn’t owe him a blessed thing.

For some reason Casey felt a crushing disappointment.
After meeting Belle, he hadn’t wanted to believe McAllister’s claim that she was a whore, but the lady had all but admitted it. Or had she? Thinking over her answer, she hadn’t exactly admitted that she had worked at Naomi’s as a whore, only that she’d been seen there.

“Go on.”

“There is nothing more to tell.”

“I think there is.”

“Damn you! You’re fired. I don’t need you digging into my past or meddling in my personal life. I don’t need you at all! I’ll take Tommy and go where no one can find us.”

Casey gave an exasperated sigh. This was getting him nowhere. “I told you I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you or Tommy. Don’t you believe me?”

Belle’s eyes went murky. “Tom was the only man I ever trusted.”

“Tom is dead.”

“Don’t you think I know that? If he was still alive I wouldn’t be running away from his father.” Her mouth snapped shut and tears filled her eyes. “Oh, God, what did I say?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. Why did you run away from your husband’s father?” Of course he knew one side of the story, but he wanted to hear Belle’s version.

She glared at him. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you, not until I’ve heard the truth.”

“You want the truth? Very well. Tom’s father is rich, very rich. He acknowledged neither my marriage to his son nor Tommy’s birth. It wasn’t until Tom died that T.J realized Tommy was the only
grandson he’d ever have, and decided to take him away from me.”

“How could he do that? You seem like a damn good mother to me.”

Belle sighed. They were right back where they started from. For Casey to understand, she’d be required to divulge her background. “T.J. has always hated me. He didn’t think I was good enough for his son. He had a society marriage planned for Tom when we met and fell in love. T.J. forbade Tom to see me but Tom disobeyed him. I think that, more than anything, made T.J. hate me. We married against T.J.’s wishes and he promptly disowned Tom. He hoped Tom would abandon me and run back to him when he cut off Tom’s allowance.

“Tom was made of sterner stuff and defied his father. I became pregnant almost immediately, and Tom got a job on a nearby ranch in order to support us. I was so proud of Tom. He didn’t care about being disowned and disinherited. He had me and Tommy to love. Then he drowned on a trail drive and my world came to an end. T.J. wasted no time in sending word that he was coming after Tommy, and that he was bringing the law to make sure I complied with his wishes.”

“What did you do?” Casey asked, having already heard most of the story up to now from McAllister.

Belle looked him straight in the eye and said, “I ran. Naomi took me in for awhile. She gave me the money to get out of town. I got as far as Placerville, saw this diner for sale, and bought it with what remained of Naomi’s money.”

“How long were you a whore before you married Tom?”

Belle raised her hand and dealt him a stinging blow. When she would have slapped him a second time, he grasped her wrist and brought it down to her side. “Bastard! You’re just like the others. You haven’t known me long enough to judge me.”

“I’m not judging you. Tell me if I’m jumping to conclusions. Then again, what in the hell am I supposed to think when you admitted meeting your husband in a whorehouse?”

She turned her face away. “You’re not supposed to think anything. It doesn’t matter what you think of me.”

He touched her cheek and she turned back to him, glaring. She looked so vulnerable, so defeated, he couldn’t have stopped himself from kissing her if he’d wanted to. Lowering his head, his lips touched hers. She tried to push him away, but he was determined. He deepened his kiss, and she caught her breath and opened her mouth to the solid thrust of his tongue, whimpering.

His mouth was hot and wet, his breath tasting faintly of tobacco—a taste uniquely his. She loved it. His tongue grew bolder, rimming the inside of her lips then plunging deeply. He kissed her again and again, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, until Belle felt his hands on her breasts and his fingers rubbing her nipples through the fabric of her dress. She was becoming aroused, and the sudden realization that she was succumbing to a virtual stranger brought her rising ardor to a screeching halt.

“Stop! Stop it! I’m no whore no matter what you think. I lived and worked at Naomi’s but not as a whore!”

Casey went still. What in the hell had gotten into him? In his entire history with the Pinkerton Agency
he had never allowed his emotions to rule his head. What was it about Belle Parker that made him forget duty and family? He sat back on the edge of the bed, staring at Belle as if she were the Devil. He was still so damned aroused it took several minutes of deep breathing before he understood what she was saying.

“What do you mean you weren’t a whore? Do you want to explain yourself? Usually when a woman works in a whorehouse she—”

“Stop it, I say! That’s exactly what T.J. thought. Naomi was the mother I never had. I was a child of ten when she took me in. I was living on the streets, abandoned and injured, eating from garbage cans and sleeping in gutters. One night I collapsed on her doorstep. I had no idea it was a whorehouse. The house looked warm and friendly and I could walk no farther.”

“Where was your family?”

“I can’t remember my mother. My father was a professional gambler. We moved frequently from town to town. Pa was killed in a saloon fight. No one knew he had a daughter. When the rent on our room ran out, I was evicted.”

“My God, you must have been terrified, a babe in the woods. Why didn’t you seek help? Did you have no relatives?”

Belle shook her head. “None that I knew of. I remember being frightened, too frightened to talk to anyone.”

“And you were crippled besides.”

“No, not then. I was struck by a carriage not long after I was turned out of our lodging. My ankle must have been broken, and of course I had no money for a doctor. It healed badly, and my ankle is deformed
and my leg weak because of it. The night I crawled to Naomi’s doorstep was the luckiest day of my life.”

“She treated you well?” Casey asked sharply.

“Like the daughter she never had. I was a lame, half-starved waif who surely would have died had she not taken me in. I repaid her when I was old enough by working for her.”

A nerve in Casey’s jaw twitched. “In what capacity?” he asked suspiciously.

“How like a man to think the worst. Naomi wouldn’t allow me to become a whore, nor did I even consider it. I worked in other capacities. I cooked, cleaned, and on busy nights served drinks to the customers.”

“You never … not in all the years you were with Naomi?”

“Never. When men tried to buy my services, Naomi informed them that they couldn’t afford me. They only wanted me out of curiosity anyway. They placed bets on what my leg looked like.” Her expression gave Casey a hint of what she must have suffered because of her injury.

Casey wanted to strangle McAllister for lying about Belle. What else had he lied about? he wondered. Surely McAllister had known that Belle wasn’t one of Naomi’s stable of girls.

“How did you meet Tom?”

Reminiscence must have been sweet, for Belle smiled. “I served him drinks one night and we struck up a conversation. He was the kindest, gentlest man I had ever met. Nothing like his father, who came to Naomi’s often. Tom kept coming back, but not for sex, only to talk to me. After several weeks he asked me to step out with him.”

“What did Naomi think about that?”

“She encouraged me. And when Tom asked me to marry him, Naomi was ecstatic. It meant a different kind of life for me, one Naomi thoroughly approved of.”

Casey had no business asking the next question but he couldn’t help himself. “Did you love Tom?”

Belle smiled wistfully. “Yes. I loved him and he loved me. We were happy. When Tommy was born our life was complete, despite the fact that we were literally ignored by Tom’s father. Tom’s untimely death devastated me. Then, when Tom’s father made it clear that he meant to take my son from me, I fled. I’d heard the vile things he was saying about me and realized the law wouldn’t help me.”

No matter what Casey thought personally, he couldn’t let emotions interfere with his job. Mark was depending on him, and he had no way of paying back the money he’d accepted from McAllister if he bowed out now. He rose abruptly and walked to the window. He didn’t look at her when he said, “Perhaps it would be best for Tommy if he went to live with his grandfather. It doesn’t sound to me as if the old man wishes to harm the boy. Think of all the advantages he could give your son.”

Belle’s strangled gasp brought a flush of guilt to Casey’s cheeks. He hated to deceive her, hell, he even sympathized with her, but business was business. As long as McAllister presented no menace to Tommy, he didn’t see why a compromise couldn’t be worked out.

She leapt from the bed and pounded on his back until he turned to face her. “You want me to give up Tommy to his grandfather? After all I went through to cover my tracks? I even changed my last name to
throw him off the trail. Tommy is all I have. I would die before giving him up, and Tommy would be unhappy without me. I can’t give him luxuries like T.J., but my son lacks none of the important things.”

“What I’m suggesting is that you work out a compromise; both you and Tommy could live with McAllister.”

Belle gave an inelegant snort. “The man wants no part of me. He thinks I’m a bad influence on Tommy. He told the authorities I’m an unfit mother. You have a poor grasp of the situation if you think my father-in-law will compromise.”

Casey was inclined to agree. From his brief meeting with McAllister, he’d pegged him as an unrelenting and unforgiving man. One who blamed his daughter-in-law for his son’s death. He’d do anything to punish Belle, and taking away her son was his way of avenging a perceived wrong. As far as Casey could see, all Belle was guilty of was loving a man whose father wanted to control his life.

Having said all she intended to, Belle turned and shuffled toward the door. Casey moved swiftly to reach her side and once again, Belle found herself in his arms. The pounding in her blood had nothing to do with exhaustion and everything to do with Casey Walker.

Casey carried her to his bed and sat her on the edge. Then he knelt before her and lifted her right leg until it rested on his thigh. “You’ve been on your feet for too long.” He lifted her skirt and she squawked in protest, trying to pull it back down.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking at your ankle. Does this kind of thing happen often?”

When Belle heard he wanted to look at her ankle
she resisted in earnest, but he refused to release his hold on her limb. “I don’t know what you mean. Let me go.”

Casey ignored her. “You know damn well what I’m talking about. Does your leg give way beneath you often?” He didn’t give her a chance to reply. “You shouldn’t be working this hard. You’re on your feet way too much.”

He had worked her skirt up to her knee by now, and finally glanced down at her lower leg. He blanched when he saw the unnatural angle of her ankle, and realized the enormous stress the injury must place on the rest of her leg, which was whole and beautifully shaped. He raised his gaze to her face.