Deadly (14 page)

“I have to keep a promise and investigate, Sheriff. I can’t accept his fate until I know for certain.”

“Understand.”

“See you round,” Zach said and walked out of the sheriff’s office.

This was not good. Simon had made some wrong choices in life, had never been on the right side of the law, but he’d never murdered anyone in cold blood. He’d never shot anyone; he’d never even hurt someone physically. But if he’d killed that farmer, then he would swing from the end of a rope. Still Zach had to speak to the dead man’s wife.

He hurried down the sidewalk, his next stop Sarah’s Fabric Shop. When they’d ridden into town, the idea had slapped him upside the head as they’d passed the local dress shop. Why didn’t he buy Meg a dress? Something she could wear to dinner tonight. As he neared the building, he glanced in the window and saw Meg talking to a woman.

Shock rippled through his mid-section like the tat-a-tat-tat-tat of gunshot. Surprised, he watched her through the glass as the woman showed her different designs. They looked at the dresses displayed in the windows then moved over to the rack.

Peeking like a stalker, he watched as Meg touched the dresses, her fingertips caressing the material the way a man wanted a woman to touch him. She would pick a dress off the rack and hold it up against her, tilt her head to the side and smile. It was like watching her in her own fairy tale. Her face was soft, her green eyes twinkled, and a smile graced her lips. She laughed, the sound rippling along his spine causing his breath to cease.

The dress, a green silken material, made her emerald eyes shine, and her red hair turned even more auburn. The garment seemed made for her, and even he could see the longing on her face.

Her expression was close to rapture, and suddenly he understood that owning her own shop would make her very happy. She handed the dress back to the woman, thanked her, and started for the door.

Zach stepped around the corner of the building, so she wouldn’t see him. He watched as she strolled toward the hotel, her head high, her buttocks twitching with every step, leaving him aching to touch them.

He’d been on his way to buy her a dress, and now she’d just made his selection even easier. Whatever doubts he’d held disappeared. Somehow he felt like he owed her this gift. She deserved to be treated like a woman, and he was just the man to make her feel special tonight.

When he walked in the door, he glanced around at the bolts of fabric, the dresses displayed, hats and shoes, and everything a woman desired.

“May I help you?” the young woman asked.

“Yes, I need the dress that young woman was holding up sent over to Spencer’s hotel. It’s for her,” he said, smiling and feeling out of place like a stud horse at a tea party. Yet, certain of his purchase.

“It’s beautiful. I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“Can you have the dress and all the undergarments sent to the Spencer hotel to room 201 to Meg McKenzie,” he asked.

“I’ll take it over personally,” she told Zach, smiling as she quickly wrote up his ticket.

Zach stared at the dress as warmth filled him at the idea of seeing Meg in the flowing green emerald material that matched her eyes, her red hair streaming down her back. The woman had earned a dress after everything she’d been through, and while he’d never understood before, now he realized that deep inside Meg wanted to be just like any other woman. She wanted to be feminine and pretty and be treated like a lady.

Life had given her a man’s world with a man’s responsibilities, and she’d handled them well. But secretly she longed to be a woman.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said and walked out the door.

Next stop was the bathhouse, so he could get cleaned up in time to take Meg to dinner. He couldn’t wait to see her in that dress, and he couldn’t wait to spend time just the two of them alone.

*

Meg heard the knock on the door of her hotel room and thought if that was Zach ready to go to dinner, he could just wait. She’d ordered a bath, but they’d said it would be at least twenty minutes. Maybe it was early. She intended to spend some time soaking in that tub. It wasn’t often she was able to relax and pamper herself, and today she’d planned on doing just that.

They knocked again, and she hurried across the small room. “Hang on. I’m coming.”

She threw open the door and gazed with surprise at the woman from the dress shop. “Yes?”

The woman smiled at her and swept into the room without being invited. “Your gentleman friend purchased the dress and asked me to deliver it to you.”

“Gentleman friend?” Meg stared at her in surprise. “Zach?”

“He didn’t give me his name, but he was a very nice looking cowboy,” she said as she laid the box on the bed and then motioned for Meg to open it.

Meg walked over to the bed, her heart racing inside her chest. She knew instinctively what lay inside that fancy box. Though she knew she should tell the woman to take the dress back, when she lifted the lid, she gasped. That beautiful green satiny cotton dress lay wrapped in tissue.

“Oh, my God,” she cried, knowing she didn’t want to be beholden to Zach, but she just couldn’t refuse this dress. She’d loved this creation in the shop. It was the one she’d promised herself that someday she would sew a replica. It was the one her heart had fancied until she’d had to either walk out of the shop or purchase the dress.

“Oh,” was all Meg could say as she pulled it from the box. “It’s so beautiful.”

“And you’ll look lovely, dear,” the woman said. “He also included new undergarments.”

Meg looked inside, and her brows rose. “He didn’t pick them out, did he?”

The woman laughed. “Oh no, he asked me to choose the necessary garments. “

Meg stared in wonder at the dress, her heart slamming up into her throat as tears pricked her eyes. She’d never owned anything so beautiful. She’d never experienced a dress so stunning. For all his faults, Zach Gillespie could be a generous man. A man she could fall in love with if she wasn’t careful.

“Well, I better be going, but I wanted to bring it over to you personally, since I knew you’d been looking at this dress before he arrived.”

“When did he get there?” Meg asked, wondering how he knew.

“Right after you left,” she replied. “You couldn’t have been gone for more than a couple of minutes before he walked in.”

For a moment, she wondered if he’d followed her, but knew that couldn’t be true because he would have seen her visiting the sheriff, to learn all she could about Simon.

Though, the sheriff hadn’t been forthcoming with information. He had, in fact, seemed reluctant to speak to her. She’d left the hotel not long after Zach and gone to the telegraph office to send her sisters a wire to let them know she was okay. Then she’d paid a visit to the sheriff and finally the dress shop. Any time she had the opportunity, she visited the local women’s shop, gathering ideas, looking at what was available and filling her head with plans.

After that she’d returned back here to the hotel, where she’d laid down for a little nap and then a bath.

“Well, I better get back to the shop. I knew you’d be thrilled he’d purchased the dress for you. I just had to see your expression.”

“Thanks,” Meg said and walked the woman to the door. She hated owing Zach. She hated she didn’t trust him about Simon, but she loved this dress, and frankly, it was the exact thing her wounded pride needed right now.

Suddenly she couldn’t wait to go to dinner with him tonight. The thought of wearing this beautiful gown was more than she could fathom. For the first time in a very long time, Meg felt a rush of excitement. Tonight, she wanted to look gorgeous. Tonight, she wanted to act like a young woman who wasn’t a bounty hunter, but a normal woman being courted.

*

Zach stood in front of Meg’s door, nervous as a preacher at a gunfight. He tugged on his bolo tie one more time to make certain it was straight. He hoped the dress fit her and she was happy he’d sent her the garment. Meg was different from most of the women he’d encountered in his life, and sometimes the things he thought would make her happy sent her temper to the moon and back.

They’d never had a chance to court or spend time getting to know each other. Tonight, he wanted this time for them, to show her there was this growing thing between them he wanted to pursue.

He licked his lips then knocked on the door. It flew open, and there she stood. His breath left his body in a mighty swish; his groin tightened as this vision in green stood before him. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

Her auburn hair hung loosely down her back, with soft curls around her face. And that dress clung to her curves even more than the pants, to which he’d grown accustomed to. But this dress showcased her neckline, leaving him aching to place his lips along her chest. The material plunged to reveal the curves of her breasts at the fitted bodice then swelled at her hips. And the color…that dark green matched her eyes and made them shine like emeralds in the night sky.

She reached over and touched her finger to his chin, closing his open mouth. “Cowboy, you’re going to catch flies if you leave your mouth open.”

“Meg,” he gasped. “I knew the dress would look great on you, but I don’t think I can take you out of the room wearing something that makes you so pretty.”

The woman bounty hunter had morphed into a lady—a proper lady he would be honored to have grace his arm tonight.

She laughed and twirled for him. “It’s gorgeous, Zach. Thank you, but why?”

He shrugged. “I thought it was time someone did something nice for you, Meg. You take care of your sisters, and well, I wanted to do something special just for you.”

Meg reached out and grabbed his hands. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This dress is so pretty. I was going to decline it, and then when I took it out of the box, well…I just couldn’t. I had to have the dress.”

His heart swelled with pride as she thanked him again. No other woman had ever made him feel so special, so loving, so right. This small gift had made her day and left him ready to protect her until he took his last breath. “I’m glad. You deserve it,” he said. “Are you ready to go to dinner?”

“Yes, I’m starving. It seems like forever since we’ve had something decent to eat.”

“What? You didn’t enjoy my hardtack biscuits?”

She took his arm and pulled the door shut behind her. “Let’s just say they’ll do in a pinch. A desperate pinch.”

They walked down the stairs and out onto the street. He frowned at every man who looked in her direction and sent them a glare that would have sent most men running.

“Where are we going?” she asked, oblivious to the attention she was receiving from the too young and too stupid males on the street. She was hanging on his arm, and they were gazing at her like she was hot apple pie for the taking. That slice of pie could get you killed.

“Zach,” she said loudly, trying to garner his attention.

“Yes?” he replied, coming back from staring at the young bucks. Maybe buying her a dress wasn’t such a smart move; for suddenly, she was a hot commodity in this small town where women were scarce.

“Where are you? I asked you a question.”

“I’m sorry. We’re going to the restaurant right down the block there. See it?” he asked and telegraphed yet another “touch her, and you’ll die” look to some young fool.

“Yes,” she said, squeezing his arm tightly. “Smile, it's supposed to be fun tonight.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just I’m not accustomed to men ogling you.” What could he say? He’d silently warned those young bucks they were courting death.

“They’re looking at my pretty dress, not at me.”

“I don’t think men give a damn about a dress. It’s what the dress is covering that has their interest.”

She turned and looked at him, her face blushing. It was the first time he’d ever seen her cheeks redden, except in anger.

“Why, Meg, you’re blushing.”

“Oh, stop it, I am not.”

“Well, it certainly looks like you are.”

“It’s just my lipstick.”

“We’re here,” he said, steering her toward the door. He opened the portal, and they stepped inside the restaurant. The smell of roast beef and potatoes smacked them in the nose, and he felt his stomach growl.

After they had been seated and their order placed, they stared at one another. For the first time, silence came between them, and then she smiled that bewitching way that always sent tremors from his groin to his heart.

“What did the doctor say about your shoulder?” she asked.

“He told me the next time some woman shoots me I should make sure she goes to jail,” he said, teasing.

“What about the next time some cowboy gets in front of my gun? Did he tell you what I was supposed to do then?”

“We didn’t talk about that.” And he wouldn’t. No one needed to know he’d ridden in front of her gun to stop her from shooting Simon. No matter what, he didn’t want the man dead.

“Shame. He probably would have told you it’s not safe to ride in front of a
bullet
,” she replied.

He smiled. If only she knew the truth, she’d be madder than a room full of hornets.

“So what did he say?”

“He said whoever took out the bullet did a fine job, and I should rest for the next two to three weeks. Like there’s a chance of that happening.”

“I’m glad my stitching met with the doctor’s approval, unlike the man who questioned my technique that night.”

He shrugged. “Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing.”

“I’m quite capable with a needle,” she taunted, her green eyes challenging him.

God, he wanted to scoop her up from her chair and carry her back to their hotel and do unspeakable things to that smart mouth of hers. Things that would have her begging him to take her.

They stared at each other across the table. He had a hard time taking his eyes off of her. There was such a change from the bounty hunter Meg to the ladylike Meg. He liked both personas, but ladylike Meg could have her pick of any man. Would she still want him?

Nick Hargrove, the owner of the stables, stopped at their table. “Zach, good to see you.”

“Hi Nick, how are you?” He wanted the man to disappear. He didn’t want him to ruin tonight, and he didn’t like the way he was eyeing Meg. It wouldn’t take much for Zach’s temper to flare, especially if Nick started talking out of both sides of his mouth.