Hell's Belle (22 page)

Which, since
Jordy's death, it really wasn't. He didn't have so much appetite anymore. And a
lot of the time, he expended a little effort to push food around with his
utensils while in fact he studied Twila. Sitting beside her at supper gave him
a chance to memorize every line of her face, savor her smallest expression.

But of course
tonight was different, because he actually
was
famished after his
frantic ride.

He shoveled the
first spoonful of piping-hot stew into his mouth and found Twila grinning at
him, holding out a chunk of buttered bread. He realized he'd been so concerned
about her and the peculiar tale of this sudden exodus, he hadn't eaten or drunk
so much as a sip of water from his canteen ever since he'd first learned she'd
left the ranch.

He hadn't stopped
to think of how chilled he was, how hungry or thirsty…he just knew this food
tasted pretty crappy, yet he didn't mind. Because Twila was sitting next to
him, smiling. Safe. Happy.

The truth kicked
Del right in the head.

Da had always said
a man found true love when the pangs of his heart pushed aside the pangs of his
stomach.

Del swallowed and
set down his spoon. "You shouldn't have gone off like that, honey. Even
though Sandy knew you'd gone with your cousin…Why didn't you talk to me about
this?" He knew Lucius was within earshot.

"That would be
partially my fault," Lucius confessed, raising his wooden cup in a toast.
"Good to see you again, Mitchell. I'm afraid I needed Twila along and time
was of the essence. It still is, so I believe I shall take myself off for a
good night's sleep. We need to get an early start in the morning, Twila."

Del pushed to his
feet. "Just a second. You say howdy, then just talk around me like I'm not
even here. Why the hell do you think I came all this way? Just to eat some
lousy beef stew and ride back home again? I came to fetch her back!"

Twila's fingers
found Del's and tugged. Hard.

Del dropped his
gaze from her cousin's stern face to Twila's pleading one. "Del, I
do
need to go. It's important. In fact, I'd wanted you to come along, but I didn't
want to burden you."

"We never
talked about—"

"If you
remember, I did warn you I'd need to go to California. This is the trip I
meant. Since you're halfway to Sacramento, can't you come with me? Us? I'm sure
Lucius doesn't mind. Do you?"

Something passed
between the cousins. Del couldn't interpret the look, but he didn't trust
anything involving Lucius Bell. The little prick had always done whatever he
could to embarrass or humiliate Twila. Del hadn't forgotten that, or forgiven
the son of the bitch for the "witch" rumor he'd started. "I can
take you and he can head on back to his papa's store."

"Well, I
actually need a couple of days in Sacramento on business of my own,"
Lucius countered. "But it's no problem if you want to take Twila to visit
her friend. I just think we should all retire early and get going at first
light. We've still got quite a distance to cover." With that, he walked
out of the tap room.

Twila's fingers
tugged at Del again. "Del, everyone's staring," she hissed.
"Please sit down and we'll talk now."

He didn't want to
talk. He didn't want to eat. He wanted her alone in that room she'd mentioned.
Suddenly he felt very much like doing some "rabbit thumping." Big
time. He sat down again and opened his mouth to respond to Twila, but she
stuffed the hunk of bread she'd been holding into it and kissed his cheek.

"I hoped and prayed
you'd come after us. Of course, I didn't want Lucius to know. He'd take offense
thinking I didn't entirely trust him or think he's man enough to escort me. But
I knew I'd feel better having you along. And I surmised you'd be angry, tell me
I couldn't leave without your express permission. But I doubt you would have
given it, either. Still, it's wonderful to see you!"

His head spun.
She'd wanted him to come along, but didn't want to insult her cousin by saying
so…She'd purposely tweaked Del into following them. And she'd thought she
needed his permission—Jesus, he sounded like an ogre. Then he thought of how
he'd hollered at her that first second outside, how he'd been thinking of
spanking her like some runaway, wayward child…Maybe he
was
an ogre.

"You tired,
sweetheart?" he asked, gulping down a couple more spoonfuls of the awful
stew. "Cause I'm all in. I got to tell you. Didn't you say you had a nice
warm bed up there we could share?"

Twila blushed. Pay
the preacher a dollar, but she turned a real pretty shade of pink and leaned so
close, Del could feel her breath in his ear. "It's a tiny room and I'm
afraid the bed's much smaller than ours at home. But I guess it won't matter
too much. I haven't forgotten my place…underneath you."

Del pushed his bowl
away and got to his feet. "Lead on, honey."

Their love nest
turned out to be a sorrowful excuse for a rickety bed and thin mattress. The
room was freezing cold, too, but Del barely noticed. He asked Twila about it,
if he should go for some wood for the small stove, but she began stripping away
her garments, eyes locked on his, and he knew she didn't mind the cold. She was
counting on him to take care of that.

"
Twilagleam
."

He couldn't think
beyond the amazing sight of her there, shivering, nipples taut, ready and eager
for his lovemaking. They came together under the rough blankets. Del managed
one deep kiss before entering her, and he couldn't remember her ever this hot
and wet and ready for him. They both came quickly, and he lay entwined in her
arms, her head cradled on his shoulder.

"I don't know
how you could be so certain I'd find you," he mumbled at last, stroking
her hair. "Sacramento's not exactly a small place, you know, and all I
knew is you were headed there to see some kin of yours named Vogel. Which I
thought would be a problem for your cousin, since the Bells and Vogels are in
some kind of family feud."

"There's no
feud, and we're not kinfolk. I have something important that belongs to Hilde
Vogel and I need to return it. I can explain tomorrow, but I think right now we
better talk about something else."

Judging where she
was stroking and cupping him, "talk" wasn't exactly what she had in
mind. "Del?" she whispered.

He groaned, unable
to form a coherent word at the moment. His tongue was curled against the roof
of his mouth and his toes were trying to meet his heels. That's how delicious
her torture was.

"I think
maybe…I'm reasonably sure, actually, especially after tonight. I was sick
outside when you rode up. That stew—"

He pushed her hand
away, shoved the blankets off and was half out of the bed when her next words
stopped him cold. "I think we're going to have a child."

"You…what?"
His mind was numb.

She sat up and drew
his hand to her left breast. "See how I'm a little fuller than before? And
I haven't had my cycle—"

He nearly crushed
her in a powerful hug, then eased up at the last second. God, what was he
doing, coming at her like some grizzly bear? She was carrying his baby. He
needed to be extra gentle and careful with her now.

"Does this mean
you're happy about it?" she asked in a small voice.

This
he wanted straight from the
get-go. "I'm honored, Twilagleam Mitchell. But maybe we need to be more
careful about our…antics, don't you think? We could hurt you or the little
feller. Or gal, as the case may be."

Twila laughed and
he squeezed her again. She was correct about the subtle changes to her body,
and he wondered that he hadn't notice himself before. Her breasts were heavier,
lusher. The nipples were more pronounced, now that he pulled away the blanket
and studied her in the pale moonlight. He used to do that from time to time,
before Jordy's death. Study his naked, sleeping bride in the moonlight.

He realized that
was another enjoyment he'd denied himself since grief became the overwhelming
factor in his life—he used to study her naked form in the moonlight. Marvel at
her. Touch her, kiss her, slowly rouse her and then make love to her. He'd missed
it. Their bedroom was a dark, somber place now. A cocoon where he hid, avoided
moonlight and silly musings.

"Like what you
see, cowboy?" she asked, intruding into his thoughts.

His eyes stung with
unshed tears. If she only knew. If she could possibly understand what she
meant, how much this gift had affected him. He pulled the blankets down to her
knees and slowly shook his head, ignoring the trickle of tears he could feel on
his face now. "No, Twila," he answered softly, pressing a kiss to her
belly just below the navel. "I love what I see. I love you,
Twilagleam."

"Oh, Del! I
love you, too! I've wanted to say it for so long, but I thought you—"

He put a finger to
her lips and moved to cover her nude body with his own. She was beneath him
again, but he made sure to keep his weight on his elbows. "I've never been
a father. Just the thought of it's pretty damned sobering. I promise you,
Twila:  no more dares. No making them, and no rising to them. Not anymore. And
no more shenanigans like this for you, either. No running off, counting on me
to follow. You've got to take care of yourself and my son or daughter."

"You could
help," she whispered, sliding her arms around his neck.

"Oh,
honey." It was a groan, a plea. He didn't think it was wise to get so randy,
but she was making him hot as a branding iron.

"Take care of
me again, Del. I need…I seem to feel more aroused, somehow. I need you to make
love to me again. Please? Just slow and easy, but—"

She didn't have to
explain. He'd give it to her whenever and however she needed him. He'd give her
the world if he could. Starting now.

"My pleasure,
ma'am."

Twila pointed to
the brown satchel. "That's the heart of all this. The trip here, the ads I
had Henry place. It's not my bag."

Del looked down at
it and frowned back at her. They were both dressed and had already eaten
breakfast. Lucius was ready and waiting at the stable, but Del refused to meet
with him until she explained exactly why she'd made this trip.

"That's not
your bag," he slowly repeated. "So…I'm guessing it belongs to those
other people, the Vogels?"

Twila nodded.
"Yes, Hilde Vogel. She's a couple of years younger than I am…a very nice
girl. We sat together and visited for several hours before she and her
grandfather went back to the sleeper car. I told you our train had been robbed?
Well, I remember remarking to her that our satchels looked quite similar. We
laughed about it."

"Twila, noon
will come before your point."

"It wasn't my
fault! She picked up a satchel and took it with her. Later, when I awoke to all
the commotion…I discovered I had the wrong bag. Of course, mine is now long
gone. It was stolen along with everything else. And I've had hers all this
time. I never told Uncle Fletcher or Lucius what happened. I hated keeping secrets,
but you know what the Bell men would say if I admitted there'd been a mistaken
exchange."

"I can guess.
That it was somehow all your fault, or more proof of curses or bad luck
nonsense. And all the time you acted so worried…it was actually because you had
someone else's belongings." He nodded. "Something valuable
inside?"

"No," she
answered too quickly. She also didn't meet his assessing gaze.

He snorted and held
out a hand to her. "Twila, you're a wonder. I wish you would've said
something weeks ago. Hell, I would have helped you find the rightful owners and
ridden you out here to return it. Do they know you're bringing it back?"

"Yes. The
advertisements were worded so Hilde might guess that I had her bag. I said it
was imperative that she contact me and we meet to make an exchange." Twila
chattered faster as they walked out into the morning damp. She didn't need
Lucius overhearing any of this. "I thought that word might trigger a
memory, even though I know she hasn't got my things."

Del stopped and
looked into her eyes. "Did you lose something important yourself?"

Twila was nearly
overcome with a wave of sentimentality. Foolish sentiments, really. She was a
grown woman. A wife, soon to be a mother. She was no longer the child who'd
treasured hair ribbons and a rusty compass. "Small things. Mementos.
Nothing I can't live without."

"I'm going to
let your cousin take Caramel and head home," Del announced.

Twila had been
about to argue that Lucius seemed determined to visit the city for reasons of
his own, but he showed up and launched into his own debate with Del. At length,
Twila pulled out her letter from Hilde Vogel and gave Del the address. They
would use the horse and buggy to pay the social call. Lucius would take the
palomino to conduct his business and meet them at the Vogel residence.

A simple enough
plan, but when they arrived at the Vogel home—which turned out to be a fairly
impressive town house—the woman who answered the door told Twila that Manus was
upstairs napping and Hilde had gone around the block to help at the local
church. The following day the church was hosting a community social. Hilde
served on the planning committee, and wasn't expected back for several hours.