Anyplace But Here (Oklahoma Lovers Series Book 5) (9 page)

Oh God
. He’d found out. She refrained from wiping her sweaty palms down her dress and from licking her suddenly dry lips. “Tuesday is my standing appointment with the dressmaker.”

“Not today, my dear.”

She hid her shaky hands into the folds of her skirts. Since she was unable to speak due to the rising panic, she merely stared at him.

He rose from his seat and moved around the desk until he stood in front of her. Reaching out, he cupped her chin and raised her head so she was forced to look into his eyes. “I have an assignment for you today. You will skip your dressmaker visit.”

Chapter 9

Hunter checked his watch for the third time. Emily should have been leaving the dressmaker’s shop by the back door over a half hour ago. Had she changed her mind? Had her husband discovered their tryst? He paced, running stiff fingers through his hair. Until he’d spoken to her, to assure himself she was all right, and that she didn’t need rescue, he would continue to worry, imagining the worst.

On his third sweep of the small space behind the building, the door flew open with a bang. Emily rushed through, her head swinging one way, then the other, panic written on her face. She came to an abrupt halt and drew in a deep breath when her eyes met his. His muscles tightened, not sure what her arrival meant. Had she come to ask him to leave? Forget they’d ever met? So many questions arose, but nothing he wanted to discuss here.

He walked slowly toward her, unsure what she would do. She gripped her fingers together as she watched him come near. As he took the last step, bringing them no more than a foot apart, he held out his hand and gave her a tentative smile. With a sharp cry, she flung herself against him, her body shaking with emotion.

“I thought you had gone. I’m so sorry I’m late.” Her broken speech was shaky, muffled by her mouth against his jacket. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent, loving the feel of her body against his. Everything protective in him welled up, daring him to turn and run. Leave Galveston behind—with Emily in his care.

“Louis—my husband—” She flushed and lowered her head, casting him a glance under lowered eyelids.

“I know about Louis, honey.”

“He—he wanted me to do something for him. He told me to cancel the appointment I had with Millie. It took me some time to convince him that if I did that, my gown for the formal dance we are to attend next week would not be ready on time.” She shrugged. “How I appear in public means a lot to him.”

He ran his hands up and down her body, feeling her slenderness. “You’ve lost weight.” An inane statement to be sure, but a way to distance himself from the feelings that threatened to crush him at the word ‘husband.’

Pushing all of that aside, he tucked a curl behind her ear and brushed his fingers over the soft skin on her cheek. “We need some privacy. Come with me, I’ve rented a carriage.”

Holding her hand, he led her past the back end of the other stores lining the street, to a horse and carriage standing in a small field a short walk away. He helped settle her in and then climbed in after her, taking up the reins. With a swift motion, he snapped the reins and the horse plodded forward, leading them away from the business district. He shifted so he held the straps in one hand, then wrapped his arm around a shaking Emily and drew her close to him.

She rested her head on his chest, but neither spoke during the twenty minutes it took for the carriage to reach the area he had scoped out the previous day. Several boulders lining the beach provided a small cove, completely private and well hidden from view. With summer and the consequent tourist season behind them, there was no concern about crowds.

Now that he had her in his arms, he dreaded the next step. In his weeks of searching, he’d come to admit how strong his feelings were for Emily. If he didn’t already love her, it was merely a matter of time. If she felt the same way, then whatever complications they needed to sort out they would do together.

But then, a husband was quite a complication.

He parked the carriage a distance from the cove, near a large stable. Aside from the man working in the barn, the area was deserted. Nevertheless, he hurried her down the path to the beach. After helping her climb the first few boulders, he swept her into his arms when it appeared she had problems maneuvering with her skirts.

The cool late autumn wind buffered them as they made their way to the cove. Once he deposited her on a ledge, assuring himself she was safe, he shoved his hands into his pockets and began to pace. Gathering his thoughts at what he wanted to say and where to begin was no small feat.

“Hunter, say something. Please. You’re scaring me.” Emily wrapped her arms around her middle and rocked, her eyes shimmering with tears.

He stopped and placed his hands on his hips. “Nowhere near as scared as I was when you disappeared.”

She lowered her head and whispered to her lap. “You hate me.”

In an instant he was on his knees beside her, gripping her hands. “No, honey, I don’t hate you. I care a great deal for you.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I do. And now I want the entire story. I knew you were keeping something from me, and frankly, I’m hurt at your lack of trust.”

Another flush rose to her face, and she shifted, but didn’t let go of his hands. “I—I don’t trust easily. You have to understand. I trusted my father to take care of me, but he lost all his money on a poor investment when I was a child. Mother was so distraught she took to her bed and was mostly absent from my childhood for years.

“I couldn’t trust my father or mother to take care of me. I always felt I had to take care of myself, even with my parents there. But that tiny bit of security vanished when they died and I turned to Louis.”

He sat back on his heels. “All right, let’s start with Louis—your husband.”

“Yes.” Her whisper was barely perceptible, carried away on the wind.

“You ran away from him.”

She nodded.

“Why?”

He watched her beautiful face as various emotions played over it. She looked so lost, so fragile. He gave her a few minutes to compose herself, but eventually took control. “Honey, your friend Helen told me that something, or someone, frightened you right before you disappeared from the Harvey House that night. Was she right?”

“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “Louis came for me. I—I never expected—well, actually I did think he would one day find me, but—it was all so unexpected when it actually happened.” She fumbled in her jacket pocket and withdrew a handkerchief that she wiped her eyes with and then began to twist in her fingers. “He—he was just sitting there. At one of my tables. Like—like he’d done it any number of times.” She shuddered. “And then he smiled.”

“Why does he frighten you? Or better yet, is that why you ran away?”

She nodded and one tear slowly tracked down her cheek. “Not just that, although some of the beatings have been particularly bad.”

He jerked as if pulled from behind and a surge of anger washed over him like the waves from the Gulf behind them crashing on the shore. He clenched and unclenched his hands and had to take several deep breaths to calm himself. The thought of this fragile, delicate flower being hit by a man’s fist had his stomach roiling. Any woman being struck bothered him, but Emily—his wonderful Emily—made him sick.

But then she wasn’t his. Not yet.

“What else, sweetheart?”

“He—he has me spying on people, looking for ways for him to threaten them, those who have invested money with his business. It’s all very shady, and I really hate doing it. I just had to get away.”

“What sort of a business does he have?”

“He and his partner, Greg Sanders, have an investment company. They take people’s money and invest it for them. Except they don’t really invest much of it. From what I’ve learned over the three years we’ve been married is he takes a large portion of their investment for his ‘fees’ and when they want a return on their money, he pays them with the money from new investors. He acquires the new investors by promising a large percentage of profits. More than anyone else offers.”

“That’s illegal.”

“I figured as much.”

If the man were caught, he would end up in prison. But that wouldn’t free Emily. Which brought another question to mind. “I chased you down to Galveston because I wanted to make sure you were all right. When you left unexpectedly I was scared, and then angry.” He held up his hand as she started to speak. “Yes, I was angry with you at first, but once I discovered you had been coerced into leaving, I knew I would not rest until I found you. To learn who you really were, what you were running from, and . . . where I stand in all of this.”

She stared out over the expansion of the Gulf. Waves broke on the shore, one after another, leaving behind clumps of seaweed and bits of jellyfish. The scene calmed her, along with having Hunter near.

Where I stand in all of this.

A fair question. Before Louis, when she still had some faith and trust, Hunter would be the man she would want standing right next to her for the rest of her life. But in reality she had a husband who would never let her go.

And what if she were free? Was she really stupid enough to trust a man once again? She’d been let down twice before. Did she have to keep repeating her mistakes over and over?

Gathering her thoughts, she stared into the eyes she’d dreamt about for weeks. Deep hazel, with flecks of brown. Her gaze wandered over his face, broad forehead with locks of light brown hair always falling over it. Thick eyelashes, straight nose, and a strong chin right below full lips that had kissed her in a way she’d never been kissed before.

She could care a great deal for him, but she would forever hold her heart back, saving a part of herself that would always be cautious, always waiting to be let down again.

“I don’t want to be hurt and used anymore. I don’t want to be afraid all the time. I don’t want to be watched like I’m a criminal.” She bent her head. “I want to be free,” she whispered.

“And?”

She chewed her lip, not sure how her words would be received, but at the same time determined to take that leap. Slowly she let out a deep breath. “I don’t know what my feelings are, they’re still too new, too wrapped up in deceit and wishful thinking. What I know at this point is I am not as anxious to run away from my life as I am to run toward something better.” She ran her finger down his cheek.

Hunter closed his eyes and lowered his head. “That’s enough for now. My feelings are also muddled, but know this.” He stood and held out his hand. “No matter what happens between us, I will not leave you here. When I return to Guthrie, you will be with me.”

Emily took his hand and rose, brushing the back of her dress. He drew her into his arms and kissed her lightly, a mere brush of his lips over hers, but enough to set her insides to fluttering.

“How much time do we have?”

“My appointments generally run about two hours. I don’t think Martin would come into the shop to look for me unless I was gone longer than that.”

“You really are watched, aren’t you?”

“Every minute of every day. Even my maid reports to Louis.”

“I’ve always thought maids were a lady’s biggest champions. They were the ones who passed secret notes to lovers and unlocked the doors at night to allow their lady to enter after a tryst.”

“Hunter! You’ve been reading romance novels.” She grinned as he tucked her arm into his and they began to walk along the shoreline.

“One of my friends in the Rangers has two sisters who were voracious romance readers. They particularly liked Miss Austen’s books. When we would stop into his family’s home once in a while, they would talk about their stories endlessly. Much to my friend’s annoyance. I sometimes think they did that to punish him for not coming home more often.”

“How often did you stop into your family home?”

She felt him stiffen under her arm. “Not much.”

When it appeared he had no intention of continuing, she asked, “Any particular reason why not?”

“I love my family, and my aunt and uncle were very good to me. To all of us. But for reasons I’ve yet to come to grips with, there was always something standing between me and the rest of them.”

“Yet you were comfortable enough to return home when you were injured.”

He nodded. “Yes. For better or worse, home is always that. Home.” He pulled his timepiece out and grimaced. “I’d better return you.”

As if a cloud had passed over the sun, her world immediately dimmed. She came to an abrupt halt. “No.”

He looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Let’s run away. Now.” Her breathing picked up and she tugged on his sleeve. “Please?”

“Oh, honey.” He pulled her into his arms. “There is nothing more I want to do than take you away from here, away from that monster.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and moved her back. “We will definitely leave. But we need time, we have to make plans. By law he has the right to bring you back, no matter how many times you run. We have to make sure he either won’t—or can’t—come after you.”

Her shoulders slumped and she stared at the horizon. “How will we do that?”

“I have to do some investigation. What Louis is doing is illegal. I’ll also ask Uncle Jesse to search the law on investment firms, stock market regulations, abusive husbands, and . . .”

“What?”

He brushed the hair from her eyes. “Divorce.”

“Oh.”

Divorce.
What a scandal that would be. Nice people didn’t get divorced. In fact, she’d never known anyone who had. If she were able to get a divorce, would she do it? Barely two seconds passed before she knew her answer would be
yes
. She could be legally free of Louis and able to make her own decisions. Not answerable to anyone.

Once more Hunter gathered her in his arms and climbed the boulders to the street. He set her down and took both of her hands. “We have time. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere without you. And I will be watching to make sure all is right.”

Two days later, after mailing letters to his friend, Texas Rangers investigator Jeremy Steele, and to Uncle Jesse, Hunter stopped into the local café for breakfast. The restaurant seemed to be doing a brisk business—a sure sign the food was good. He ordered biscuits, eggs, and sausage and opened the local newspaper as he sipped his coffee.