Finally a Bride (22 page)

Jack glared up at him. “You’d better enjoy this dance, Mr. Morgan, because it will be the only one you’ll ever get.”

He yanked her against his chest. “Oh, I’ll enjoy it, but it won’t be our last.”

Gritting her teeth, Jack tried not to wince whenever she had to move to the right. Billy held her improperly close. As he turned, she caught the minister’s gaze and sent him a look that made him straighten. She lost sight of him on the next turn, then came around again and found he was gone.

Suddenly Billy halted and glanced over his shoulder. “You ain’t cuttin’ in, Preacher.”

Noah stepped up beside Billy. “Miss Davis has an injured knee and has no business dancing.”

Billy narrowed his eyes. “It ain’t no concern of yours.”

“I disagree. I’m the one who escorted her to the dance, so it’s my responsibility to watch over her.” Though his expression remained passive, the sternness in his gaze showed he wasn’t intimidated.

Dancers whirled around them as the musicians played “The Blue Danube,” but they were starting to stare. Jack tried to back away from Billy, but he only tightened his grip. He sliced a seething glance her way before bull’s-eyeing in on Noah.

“I’m a man of peace, mister, but I haven’t always been. I’m asking you to please turn loose of the lady.” The tone of Noah’s deep voice made the order more menacing, and his no-nonsense glare backed up his words.

“Just who are you, anyway?” Billy demanded.

“I’m Noah Jeffers, the new pastor.”

A confused look passed over Billy’s face, then he tilted his head back and laughed. His hand that rested on Jack’s waist loosened, and he swiped it across his eyes. Noah slipped in between her and Billy, grabbing Billy’s wrist. He yelped and let go of Jack’s hand. She stepped to the side so she could see around Noah’s tall body. If Billy was finally going to be put in his place, she wanted to watch. The dancers closest to them also slowed to a halt, as if not to miss the action.

“Hey, that hurts.” Billy scowled at Noah and rubbed his wrist.

“Maybe you should have considered that it hurt Miss Davis when you forced her to dance.”

Billy’s face instantly changed from wounded indignation to fury. He hauled back and struck Noah’s cheek with his fist, driving him backward. Noah regained his balance and dabbed at the cut below his eye. He stared at the blood, and his gaze darkened. He frowned. Jack held her breath, seeing the evident anger on the pastor’s face.

“C’mon,
Reverend
. If you want her, fight for her.” Billy held up his fists and danced on his feet like a boxer.

Christine Morgan stopped dancing and hurried to her son’s side. Rand Kessler stood behind her, a silent support. The music squeaked to a stop as did the rest of the dancers. Mrs. Morgan reached out to touch her son, but he jerked away, his fists still in fight mode. “Billy, what’s going on here?”

“Stay out of this, Ma. That new preacher wants to steal Jacqueline away from me, and if he wants her, he’ll have to fight me for her.”

Mrs. Morgan glanced at Noah, a shocked look on her face. “Is that true, Reverend?”

Jack watched Noah’s angry expression soften as he regained control. Her heart ached for the position he’d been put in just because he tried to help her. Maybe she should explain things. “No, Mrs. Morgan, it isn’t true. I told Billy I didn’t want to dance tonight because my knee still hurts. Reverend Jeffers came to my aid because Billy wouldn’t listen to reason and forced me to dance with him—and that’s the honest truth.”

Mrs. Morgan studied Jack’s face, then the reverend’s and her son’s. She lowered her head and shook it. “Go home, Billy.”

“No, I ain’t letting him steal my fiancée.”

“I don’t belong to you, and I have no idea where you got that notion.” Jack gritted her teeth to keep from saying something she’d regret. “I am not your fiancée.” She looked around the curious crowd that encircled them. “Everybody, hear that? I have no intention of marrying Billy Morgan.”

Billy lowered his fists, looking both hurt and angry. “I don’t know why I give a hoot about you. Half the time you don’t even dress like a lady, and you run around in pants like a man.” He turned as if to leave, then ducked his head and charged Noah. Billy rammed his head into the preacher’s belly, and both men went down.

Sitting on Noah’s stomach, Billy pummeled his face with both fists. Noah held up his arms, protecting himself, but not fighting back.

“Billy!” Mrs. Morgan gasped, lifting her hand to her mouth. “Stop it.”

“Wallop him, Preacher,” a voice called out from the crowd. “Show him you ain’t no coward.”

Jack’s heart pounded harder with each fist Billy planted. Why didn’t Noah fight back? Surely it was all right for a preacher to defend himself.

Suddenly, Noah roared and shoved upward. Taken off guard, Billy was flung backward and rolled feet over head. Noah jumped up, far more agile than most men his size, and stood with his fists up. His chest heaved; blood trailed down his cheek from a cut over his eyebrow. He swiped his face with his white sleeve, leaving an ugly red stain on the once spotless fabric.

Billy lurched to his feet and charged, fury burning from his eyes like blue fire. The men in the crowd cheered the preacher on, but Jack heard women praying for him to stop. Noah drew back his right fist then brought it forward with a mighty force. It collided with Billy’s cheek, knocking his head sideways. He staggered, then dropped to his knees and shook his head.

Noah, with fists still lifted, seemed to wake up from his stupor and glanced around. A frantic look crossed his face, and his arms fell to his side, as if suddenly boneless. Desperate remorse flooded his face, making Jack’s heart ache. Was he sorry for defending her?

Rand Kessler, who stood half a foot taller than Billy, stepped away from Mrs. Morgan and took hold of Billy’s upper arm. “That’s enough fighting, young man.”

“Let me go! You ain’t my pa.” Billy struggled but couldn’t overpower the hardy rancher, who pulled him through the crowd and out of Jack’s view.

Noah bent over, hands on his knees, head hanging down, breathing deeply. Dirt and grass covered his backside. Hadn’t he told Jack that was his only suit and shirt? What would he preach in tomorrow?

“Are you all right, Reverend?” Mrs. Morgan asked. She pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to him. “I’m so sorry. My son can be hotheaded at times.”

Noah straightened, took the hanky, and held it against his cheek. He offered Billy’s mother a pain-filled smile. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“You had to defend yerself, Parson,” someone behind Jack yelled. Cheers of agreement battled those of condemnation.

“A preacher oughtn’t to fight,” came another voice off to Jack’s left.

Noah lifted his hands, stilling the crowd. “I want to apologize to y’all.” He pursed his lips and glanced at Jack. “Fighting is never the right choice, and I’m sorry that I was a bad example.”

Murmurs sounded all around, both negative and positive.

“Let me pass, y’all here. Move out of the way.”

Jack groaned inwardly as she recognized Bertha Boyd’s voice. She was in no mood to tolerate the busybody tonight. What could she want?

Everyone knew Bertha only came to the socials to fill up on the latest gossip first and then the refreshments. Men and women backed up, clearing a wide path for the large woman.

Bertha stopped right beside Jack and Noah. “I want y’all to know what a good man our new reverend is. He spent two and a half hours yesterday chopping wood for me and Aggie. And he did it all out of the goodness of his heart.” She nodded her head so vigorously, her three chins wobbled like a turkey’s waddle.

Heads nodded and murmurs circled the crowd.

“I was happy to do it, Mrs. Boyd.” Noah smiled, but Jack caught his grimace. He lightly touched his swollen cheek. The damaged skin around his right eye was puffing up so badly she could barely see his pupil.

Jack stepped forward, ready to be free of the crowd. “If y’all will excuse us, I need to get home and off my leg, and Reverend Jeffers needs his wounds treated.”

“I’ll go after the doc.” Hiram Stone, a man who’d recently moved to Lookout, took off at a jog.

“I don’t need a doctor,” Noah called after the man, who either didn’t hear him or ignored him.

With the action over, people drifted away, and the music started up again. Some of the men found their women and ambled back to the area in front of the musicians to dance, while others said their good-byes and headed for their buggies or horses.

Jack limped over to where Noah stood alone and looking crestfallen. “I disagree about the doctor. That cut on your brow may need to be stitched up. C’mon. Let’s go home.” Jack took hold of his elbow and led him across the field.

“I made a royal mess of things.” Noah shook his head. “It wouldn’t surprise me if nobody showed up at church tomorrow.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Noah stopped in front of Ray Castleby’s home and stared down at her as if she’d gone loco. “I’m the town’s minister, Jack. It’s my duty to keep peace and lead by example, not fight with a hotheaded man upset over unrequited love.”

“Oh and because you’re a pastor, I guess you don’t believe in defending a woman’s honor. What if your wife were attacked by outlaws, like Garrett and Miss Payton were? Would you defend her and shoot the man who was about to attack her?” Jack shoved her hands to her hips.

“That’s ridiculous. It’s a theoretical situation that may never happen and has no bearing on this conversation.”

“Fine, then. See your own self home,
Reverend
Jeffers.” Jack stomped off, more livid than she could remember. She hadn’t asked for his help. Yeah, she was grateful he had put Billy in his place, but she wouldn’t be responsible for his being upset. He was the one who chose to fight.

Guilt nibbled at her heels as she left him standing in front of the bank president’s house. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t find his way since the boardinghouse was within view, but the honest truth was he
had
come to her aid. And he had tried hard to not fight back and allowed Billy to pummel him far too long. Remorse battled her irritation. Tomorrow, battered and bruised, Noah would have to stand before the people who showed up and preach his first sermon. Many would support him, but others would oppose him.

She clenched her teeth as she climbed up one step to the front porch and then another, fighting the pain in her knee. Glancing back, she could barely make out Noah’s tall form standing in the growing shadows at the edge of the glow cast from buildings along the street. She couldn’t solve his problems. She could barely work through her own.

Her hand connected with the doorknob, and the bracelet on her wrist glimmered in the light from the parlor.
Horse feathers!
She’d forgotten about it in all the ruckus. She’d have to return it and dreaded seeing Billy again. But keeping it would give him the wrong idea.

She looked again to see if Noah was coming. Something niggled at the back of her mind. As if someone had turned up the flame of a lantern, the thought burst to light in her mind.

The preacher had called her Jack.

Chapter 16

A
fter allowing the doctor to tend his wounds, Noah sat on the front steps to the boardinghouse, his face in his hands. Remorse weighed so heavily on him that he didn’t have the strength to climb the stairs to his room.

He’d lost the respect of the townsfolk before he even won it in the first place.

He’d jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

This was a catastrophe. If only Pete were here to offer his sage advice.

But Pete wasn’t, and Noah needed to take his burden to God instead of his mentor anyway. “I’m sorry, Lord. Sorry for not showing the love of Christ to Billy Morgan. Sorry for fighting instead of being a peacemaker.”

He stared down Main Street, deserted now that everyone had gone home from the social. Some folks had waved as they drove past him, but the stern glare of others left him unsettled. Unable to find peace in his heart. He’d been right to stand up for Jack, hadn’t he?

She’d sent him a panicked look when dancing with Billy Morgan that seemed a cry for help and stirred up within him a fierce desire to protect her. He hadn’t wanted to fight—just to help Jack. But all he’d done was upset her and half the town. He’d be lucky if anyone showed up in the morning to hear his first sermon.

The quiet evening soothed his aching heart, and the stiff north breeze that had stirred up left a chill on his cheeks. The only sounds were insects buzzing around, crickets in the grass, and the distant revelry of the saloon. The noise of children inside the boardinghouse had fallen silent. Somewhere nearby, a dog barked.

Noah sighed. He generally felt closer to God outside. He bent his head in prayer, hoping to find peace and some direction for tomorrow.

“You’re looking mighty down in the dumps.”

Noah jumped at the sound of Luke’s voice. The tension that was finally leaving his neck and shoulders returned in full force. He’d been wallowing so deep in doubt and despair and begging God’s forgiveness that he hadn’t heard the marshal’s footsteps. “I thought you’d gone to bed.”