Deborah Camp (29 page)

They’d reached the steps and she paused to let him catch his breath before surging up them.

“You have a key?”

“It’s open.” He reached out an unsteady hand and pushed open the front door. “Eric’s not home yet?”

“I haven’t seen him, but he could have slipped by me while I was asleep. Stand here until I can light a lamp.”

She left him and made her way across the entryway to a round table where an oil lamp stood. While she lit it, Theo disobeyed her and tottered into the parlor, where he fell onto the sofa. He moaned, tipped his head against the sofa back, and closed his eyes.

Regina picked up the lamp and approached
him. She bent closer to get a good look at his battered face.

“For heaven’s sake, Theo, what happened to you? Looks like you dodged when you should have ducked.”

He grinned lopsidedly as she removed her gloves and dropped them and her bonnet into a chair.

“I’ll get a pan of water and wash you off. Then I’ll be able to see the damage better.” She touched a finger to the cut under his eye. “I hope the other guy is worse off.” She straightened and looked toward a hallway, wondering if it would lead to the kitchen.

“He isn’t. For a guy full of whiskey, your brother is strong and mean as the devil.”

Regina’s breath whistled down her throat and fear splashed through her like a cold waterfall. “Jack did this to you?”

His smile was more of a wincing acknowledgment. “My pride is what really hurts. I should have seen through him.”

Regina sat on the sofa arm. “What happened? Where did this happen? The Full Bucket, I suppose.”

He’d closed his eyes, but he opened one to ogle her. “How did you guess?”

“When you didn’t show up at Mrs. Nation’s, I assumed you had gone there to celebrate your victory with your friends.” She stared at her clasped hands, afraid he’d read the dissatisfaction in her face.

“My plan was to stay there an hour or so and then go over to Mrs. Nation’s. I got a late start because I had some work to finish first.” He sighed and touched his cheek. He seemed surprised when his fingers came away bloody. “He really walloped me, didn’t he? My ears are still ringing.”

“Let me clean you up and then I want to hear all about this.” She hated to postpone his explanation, but she couldn’t allow him to sit there and bleed. “Which way to the kitchen? Do you have an inside pump?”

“Yep. Thataway,” he muttered, pointing a finger toward the hall. “Straight back.”

She located the kitchen, primed the pump, and filled a shallow bowl with water. When she returned to the parlor with the bowl, a dishrag, and a bar of soap, she was dismayed to see that Theo was standing in front of a sideboard. He’d poured himself a drink from a crystal decanter and downed the measure of whiskey in one long gulp. He shuddered and gave a wince.

“Theo, come here by the light.” She sat on the sofa and he joined her, moving stiffly as if every joint hurt. “Besides your face, where else are you hurt?”

“My ribs are tender and my heart is broken.” He grinned crookedly. “You broke it by thinking I was drunk.”

“Forgive me.” She cleaned his face and examined the two cuts, one under his eye and one high on his forehead. She soaked one corner of the dishrag in kerosene from the lamp and dabbed at the cuts to deep-clean them and stop infection. Through it all, he never even flinched. “The bleeding has stopped and you should heal without any trouble.” She set the bowl on the floor. “So tell me all about it. Was Jack at the Full Bucket when you arrived?”

“He might have been, but I didn’t see him. Business was brisk since Wilson had declared that first drinks were free and second drinks were half-price. I took my drink to a corner table and was joined there by some friends.”

Saloon girls
, Regina thought.
Naturally, he’d see them first before getting around to me
.

“I started to leave a couple of times, but then someone would stop by the table and strike up a conversation. I knew it was getting late and I had stayed longer than I’d intended. Just when I was telling everyone I had to get along, I spotted Jack at the bar. He was talking loud and trying to get somebody’s dander up.”

“Yes, that’s just like him. When he drinks, he wants to fight.”

“On my way out, I stopped and told him he ought to get out of town before the sheriff threw his scrawny butt in jail.” He grinned. “He didn’t like my advice.”

“What did he do? Throw a punch?”

“No, not at first. He told me to mind my own business, and I figured I’d do just that. I didn’t want to fight and I knew that’s all he wanted to do. So I talked to Wilson a minute and left.”

“I must thank Mr. Wilson, too.”

“You can thank him by keeping Mrs. Nation away from his saloon.”

“I don’t think anyone can do that, Theo, but she does think more kindly of him, so perhaps she’ll pick on some other saloon next time.”

He shifted his gaze to her. “Next time? I don’t like the sound of that. Didn’t she learn anything about what the law will and won’t allow?”

“Tell me what happened next.” She squeezed his arm. “Was Jack waiting outside for you?”

“He was waiting in the alley. When I walked past, he grabbed me, hauled me into the alley, and we set to.” He chuckled. “Unfortunately, he got a few good punches in before I could recover and knock the daylights out of him. I think he had a broken bottle at first and that’s how he cut me. Anyway, once my fists started connecting with his
body, he tucked tail and ran. The coward.” He pinned her with a shrewd look. “You knew he was still hanging around?”

She nodded. “Annie has seen him at her school. It’s okay,” she said, warding off his alarm. “Lu talked with her and she understands that she is not to let Jack get near her. Annie said he had watched her from across the road, so he’s kept his distance.”

“So far,” Theo tacked on. “Is that why you were so spooked when you saw me the other day?”

“Yes, and we’re not teaching Annie to be scared of all men, Theodore. This is a time of caution for Annie and Lu. They must be wary and on the lookout. Jack is dangerous.”

“Don’t I know it.” He touched the swelling cut on his forehead. “He’s as quick as a snake. What’s on his mind? You think he’s planning to take Lu and Annie back home with him, by hook or by crook?”

“I wouldn’t put anything past him. In a way, I think he’s sticking around just to terrorize me.”

“Has he always been mean to the bone?”

“No, not always. But by the time he was thirteen or so he began to turn. He started taking sips from Mama’s bottles and swaggering about like he owned the place. When he was sixteen he and Mama got drunk and he slapped her. She kicked him out and barred the door. That was the last time I saw him until I ran into him in Topeka right after he got married. I met Lu. She was pregnant with Annie. We hit it off and that seemed to displease Jack. He made it clear he didn’t want me visiting.” She shrugged off the bitter memories. “I was leaving town anyway. I couldn’t find any work there.”

“How old were you?”

“Then?” She had to think back. “Seventeen or eighteen, I guess.”

“Where was your mother?”

“Drunk, I guess.”

“You were on your own at a young age.”

“Yes, but I didn’t feel all that young.” She picked up the bowl and stood. “I had a short childhood. I’ll go dump this water. You lie down and rest.”

“I don’t need to rest. I’m fine.”

“Suit yourself.” She threw the water out the back door and sneaked a look into his cupboards. They were all but bare. A set of mismatched dishes filled a corner cabinet, but they were dusty from infrequent use. The cookstove was cold and the patina of ashes inside contained tiny tracks and mouse droppings.

“Your kitchen is in dire need of a cook,” she said, entering the parlor, but finding it empty. “Theo?”

“In here,” he called from somewhere behind her. She turned to see him emerge from another room. He had removed the bloody shirt and was pulling on a fresh one. She stared at his muscled chest and the fine hair dusting it. Nervousness flew up through her like a flock of black birds. “I … I should go now.”

He left his shirt—one she had laundered and ironed—unbuttoned halfway. “I thought you had something important to talk about. Isn’t that why you camped out on my front porch?”

“Oh, yes.” She tried not to look at his chest, but found it impossible. “I wanted to thank you.”

“For waiving my fee?”

“Yes, and for going along with Mr. Wilson’s decision to be lenient with Mrs. Nation.”

“She still has her detractors. Did you hear the cry of outrage from the Hampfs’ congregation
seated at the back? They weren’t happy with the outcome. I hope Mrs. Nation has learned her lesson, because there are people in this town waiting to trip her up.” He finger-combed his hair and his shirt gaped open to reveal a couple of strawberry-red welts on his ribs. “It’s Wilson you should thank. Wilson and Stu. Wasn’t that something?” He shook his head. “I didn’t know Stu was so impressed with the goings-on at Hatchet Hall.”

She frowned at the nickname. “You aren’t, I take it.”

“Good work is done there,” he conceded. “And I forgive you for thinking the worst of me tonight.”

Regina stared at her clasped hands to keep from staring at his bare chest. “I have a habit of doing that where you’re concerned. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Theo. I’ve misjudged you over and over again and … well, I’m ashamed of myself.”

He curled a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Don’t be ashamed.”

She swallowed convulsively. “You were responsible for Mrs. Nation’s bail being paid.”

He dropped his hand abruptly and the sheen in his eyes blinked out. “Who told you that?”

“Your mother.”

He winced. “Damn it. Look, Regina, don’t think too much of that. I knew my mother would give me holy hell if I didn’t contact her about Mrs. Nation’s jailing. In other words, the halo is a sorry fit.” He grinned rakishly. “You were right about me. I am a heartless bastard.”

“I
never
thought that of you.” She folded her arms under her breasts. “If you won’t accept my thanks about the bail, then what about the dresses?”

The color left his face. “Dresses?” His throat flexed. “What dresses?”

“You know what dresses,” Regina said, tapping one foot impatiently. Why was he determined to appear to be an unredeemable scoundrel? “The dresses donated to us prior to the cotillion. You rounded them up from the saloon girls. Dorrie told me about it.”

“If you want to thank someone for those gowns, you’re in the wrong place. The Full Bucket Saloon is on Spring Street.”

“You’ll have to convey my thanks to those women, since I’m not allowed in there. Only
working
girls are welcome in saloons, remember? But I came here tonight to thank
you
, and you should be gracious enough to accept my gratitude.”

“Don’t make me out a hero now, Regina. Remember, I won in court.”

“Why are you doing this, Theo? I’m complimenting you, for heaven’s sake! You act as if I’ve called you vile names and accused you of dastardly deeds, when, in fact, I’ve finally opened my eyes to the real man.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head and brushing against her on his way to the parlor and the decanter of whiskey. “But if it makes you feel better, I’ll tolerate your misguided gratitude. I waived my fee because I don’t need money badly enough to take it from destitute women and children. Despite what you think, Mistress Rosy, most men would have done the very same thing.” He shot her a glare before throwing the swallow of whiskey to the back of his throat, then he poured himself another.

Regina approached him with caution, as she did any man with a drink in his hand. “I don’t think all men are devils.”

“Oh, really?” He lifted a brow and his expression
bordered on supercilious. “Have you ever loved one?”

His trenchant question set her on edge and forced to her think. No answer came readily to her lips. The haze in her mind cleared and she saw the two men she had loved. “My father,” she said, her voice foggy with memory. “I loved him. And Jack. For quite a few years, I loved Jack.”

Theo gave a jouncing nod, as if anticipating her answer. “And they both disappointed you. They hurt you.”

“Well, my father left us when I was six or seven, and Jack loved whiskey more than anything else.” She eyed the shot glass in his hand. “I don’t hate men, Theo. I loved my father—I guess a little part of me still does. I used to think I hated him, but I know better now. I’m just terribly disappointed that he wasn’t as strong as I thought he was … or thought he should be.”

“Because he left you?”

“Yes, he left us with Mama, and he knew Mama couldn’t raise us right. But he only thought about himself. He didn’t have the courage to put others before himself. I find that hard to forgive. When I heard that he’d died, I cried. That’s when I realized that the little girl in me had been waiting for him to come back and rescue her.” She saw that moisture had gathered in Theo’s eyes and she had to look away to keep from bursting into tears herself. “Men aren’t my enemies. Women drink, too. What I hate is what whiskey can do to people. I wanted my mother and Jack to love me more than gin or whiskey. I wanted so much to help them both. Jack had such an unhappy childhood. He never knew his father, and Mama was mean to him. He couldn’t do anything to please her. It’s no wonder he sought an escape.”

Theo set down the whiskey glass. “You’re making excuses for him.”

“Yes.” She smiled weakly. “By habit. I’ve spent most of my life making excuses for my papa, my mama, and Jack … and me.”

“You? Why you?”

She shrugged, unable to reveal her own weakness to him, and chose an old bane. “I used to think it was my fault that Mama had to drink. Life was hard, you know, and I knew I made it even more difficult for her. I thought that if I was a better child, a more helpful child, Mama wouldn’t drink and she’d love me.”

“Oh, darling girl,” he whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek in a gentle, caring way. “You know better than that now?”

“Yes.” She captured his hand in her own. “I’m sorry Jack hurt you, too.” Smiling, she added, “If you’d come straight to Mrs. Nation’s instead of squandering your time and character in that saloon, this wouldn’t have happened.”