His Most Wanted (16 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Kit slipped inside the bedroom's secret door, closed it and removed his hat. Unfortunately, Cora wasn't still in bed as he'd hoped. Instead, fully dressed, she bent over something she was writing in the morning sunshine.

“You'll have to be much quieter if you're trying to sneak up on me through my own door.”

He hung his hat on her wardrobe door and grinned, recognizing the amusement in her voice. Coming up behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders and bent down to kiss her soft neck. “It would've worked if you'd been sleeping. You snore loud enough to block the sound of a train.” He caught a whiff of sunshine in her hair and longed to pull it down from its pins and run his fingers through its silken perfection. He'd never tire of her.

She slanted her head to the side, pinning him with an icy glare. “At least you're usually asleep before I am. Is my snoring really so awful?”

“Intolerable,” he teased.

“Why do you put up with it then?” She turned around, folded her arms gracefully over the back of her chair and watched him with a gleam of challenge in her eyes.

Because I love you.
He couldn't seem to find the words to say it right, so he didn't say it at all. “I get plenty of sleep in the courthouse.”

She wrinkled her nose at the lie. They'd both been working harder than ever these past two weeks since Murtagh's arrest. The courthouse prison was full, waiting on the arrival of the replacement judge from Little Rock, and to prevent further lawlessness, Kit had been spending his days and many nights in town.

He removed his gun holster and draped it over one bedpost. “I told Deputy Buchanan that I'm going to the ranch in two days.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Just staying long enough to get the cattle settled. I've hired a few hands to help Ben.”

“That's good.” A line appeared between her eyes.

He ached to make her smile again and forget whatever was troubling her. “I thought maybe you'd come with me.”

She brightened for a brief second and then frowned. “I want to, but…” She nodded at the pile of letters on her desk.

After the mayor's wife agreed to a divorce, Thorntree had resigned from his office, leaving nothing standing in the way of his courting Millie. Cora had agreed to help, filling in for him until a new mayor was elected.

“You could always bring your work with you. Thorntree ran the town from the saloon most days, so surely you could do the same from the ranch.” He kissed her cheek and found it warm from the sunlight, indicating she'd been sitting there working far too long. Sighing, he straightened. “If you're worried about what the voters might think, don't. They know you're a former madam, and most of the men of Fort McNamara have walked through your parlor doors, so they'll be hypocrites if they oppose you.”

The idea of Cora running for mayor had been Thorntree's, and Kit had agreed. Now that she was no longer a wanted woman, Cora would make a fantastic city official. She knew how to run a business, how to motivate people and how to use money wisely.

“What I
need
to do is look for a new place to live.” She swiveled around in the chair and searched through her papers.

Kit felt as if he'd been kicked in the chest by a mule. She was right. The town would never elect Cora while she still lived in the bordello. Now that Millie was running the place, she would take the downstairs bedroom—likely marrying Ray soon too—and then Cora and he would be without a place to sleep.

He reckoned no one would object if they lived together once they were married. The only thing stopping him from asking her was the fear that she might not
want
to marry him.

Today, same as every day since Cora had been released from jail, he'd practiced how he would propose to her. Funny, he'd stared down a gun barrel several times and felt more courage those times than he did now for saying seven simple words:

I love you. Will you marry me?

A knock at the door gave him a start.

Cora turned around. “I suppose they might as well know you're here again.” She smiled and shrugged.

“I'll get it.” He released the breath he'd been holding and pushed down his disappointment at the interruption as he went to open the bedroom door.

Bernadette stood outside. Seeing him, she smiled broadly but didn't look a bit surprised. All the ladies had grown accustomed to his sleeping arrangements with Cora.

“There's a young man here to see you, Sheriff. Says the telegraph clerk told him you were staying here. I left him waiting in the parlor.”

Apparently, the whole town knew where he hung his hat.

He followed Bernadette into the sitting room where a dark-headed youth of about fourteen or fifteen years of age sat between the twins on the sofa, his hands gripping his knees. Flushing, the boy smiled as one of the scantily dressed girls combed his hair away from his eyes.

“Asa?” Kit boomed with surprise, recognizing the youth as his friend Rory Campbell's ward.

The boy's Adam's apple bobbed as he glanced up nervously. On the table in front of him stood an array of metal objects and gadgetry. “Hello, Uncle Kit.”

He couldn't fight his smile, hearing the moniker the boy had given him though they weren't related. In two strides, he reached the sofa and stuck out his hand for the boy to shake.

Asa stood and continued standing, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking as if he were a fox caught in a chicken house. Kit supposed, in a way he was.

“Is Rory with you?”

“Naw.” He shook his head. “He and Dell are with the children in Illinois. I came on the
Dark Enchantress
. I'm still going to school, but I took a month off to apprentice for Zeb.”

“A pilot's apprentice?” He whistled. “Congratulations. I s'pose you're working toward captaining a steamboat of your own then?”

“Well, maybe to build one someday—”

“Hello.” Cora came into the parlor and the boy's attention snapped to her, his cheeks coloring as she smiled at him.

Kit's chest expanded with pride for his lady. He wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her to his side, making introductions.

After shaking hands with the boy, Cora asked, “What brings you to Fort McNamara, Asa?”

He glanced down at the table and gestured at the objects. “This.” Making no further explanation, he glanced nervously over his shoulder at the twins.

Sensing the ladies distracted the boy, Kit nudged Cora. Taking the hint, she asked the pair to leave. They did so reluctantly, but once the women were gone, Asa released a breath and sank back on the sofa.

Poor kid.
Kit chuckled inwardly. The Willows could be powerfully intimidating to a young man.

Asa cleared his throat and got down to business. “I'm selling some of my designs, trying to make enough money to start a business back in Chicago.”

“Oh, what kind of business?” Cora asked brightly.

He lifted one gangly shoulder. “More inventions, engines. When I have enough money, I'm going to engineering school, but I don't want to depend on Rory for everything.”

“I'm sure he doesn't mind,” Kit murmured. One day, he hoped he would also have a son who would make him as proud as he knew Rory was of Asa. Perhaps the boy's visit would make Cora wish for the same…

“I know he doesn't and he has the money, but I'd like to make my own way. I've sold a lot of things back home, even applied for a patent on one design for a better steam engine.”

“What are these?” Cora picked up a heavy-looking contraption made of iron, a chain, and rings.

“Handcuffs. I thought Uncle Kit might be interested in them, bein's how he's a sheriff now.”

She lifted an eyebrow and passed the piece over to him.

The object looked solid, practical. Its parts moved with ease, collapsing to a smaller scale for smaller wrists, yet not budging when he tried to open them wider.

“I wouldn't try them on,” Asa blurted out. “I didn't bring the key. It's in my luggage.”

“Where are you staying?” Cora took the handcuffs from him and set them back on the table. “You're welcome to a room here.”

Asa tugged at his shirt collar. “Uh, I've already settled at the hotel by the saloon. Thank you for asking, though. So—” the boy glanced back at him, “—do you think you'd be interested in investing in my engineering business, Uncle?”

He felt Cora's interest and knew she'd want him to support the boy—which of course he did. “I'll be happy to, but you'll have to wait until I sell my first cattle. I'm only getting started right now.”

“Better late than not at all. Thank you.” Asa smiled, and Kit noted the rugged attractiveness of his features, which had no doubt charmed the much-older twins. In just a few short years, the youth would be grown and more comfortable with women fawning over him.

Cora leaned over the array of metal with curiosity in her expression. “I'd like to invest as well when I have some money saved back. But right now, you might speak with our former mayor, Ray Thorntree.”

“Oh, right.” Kit agreed, relieved to offer Asa a prospective investor. “He's between jobs now and looking for a new business venture.”

“He's wealthy enough too,” Cora added, reaching for another object on the table. “I'll give you a good recommendation.” She selected an oval-shaped silver trinket, engraved with a rose vine. Her thumb rubbed across its surface with admiration that Kit found himself envying. “What's this one?”

“Just a case for a watch. Sometimes I work on jewelry too, for extra money. I carry my own engraving tools for silver and other metals. Push the button on the edge.”

She did as instructed and a thin metal ring swung out. Her eyes rounded. “A magnifying glass.”

Asa shrugged. “That's nothing. I'm working on one with tiny theatre glasses. I found a store in Memphis that wants three display models as soon as I can have them ready. If they sell quickly, the owner will order dozens more.”

“It's remarkable. The silver is lovely.” She sighed, returning the piece.

Seeing the boy's work and Cora's frank interest gave Kit an idea. He would wait until his young friend was ready to leave and then walk him back into town. Then he would commission a design for Cora. A silver wedding ring like no other, unique just like the lady he loved. Then, if he couldn't say the words, he'd let the ring speak for him.

Seeing the ranch again on the horizon brought a mist of tears to Cora's eyes. She wiped them away before Kit could see her. It wasn't the first time she'd battled with her hurt feelings that day. She'd let Kit talk her into coming back with him, but she couldn't help hoping he might have something else to ask her while they were there.

He knew she needed to move out of the Willows, and yet offered her no alternatives. Even if he didn't love her, it would be nice if he would admit that. He also knew how she felt. How could he continue to keep his emotions to himself?

Naturally, he wouldn't be able to marry her.

She wasn't spinning outlandish childhood fantasies, was she? No, she simply wanted him to admit he cared for her and maybe, just maybe, he wished they could keep living together too.

Another wave of melancholy overtook her. When Ben greeted them outside the barn with a wave and opened the stable doors, she tossed him her horse's reins and fled. Dashing inside the building, she hid in an empty stall to collect herself.

“Cora?” Kit called behind her.

She blinked hard to clear her eyes and sniffed. Once she was certain she had her tears under control, she stepped back into the main part of the building. And then she saw it. The big bathtub they'd shared the first day at the ranch. The steamy water in the tub smelled of roses, heavenly to her after their long travel.

“Oh my.” An array of emotions clogged her throat.

Ben and Kit stood at the barn entrance, holding the luggage they'd brought and watching her with interest. The older man scratched his head. “The bathwater's still a little too hot. I timed it just like you said—”

Kit dropped a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Our ride took less time than I expected. I think we were both so eager to get here we rode a little faster.”

“I'll say.” He grunted. “Miss Cora came in here like somebody'd set her skirt on fire.”

“Thank you, Ben.” Kit guided him toward the open door.

Ben dug his heels in, refusing to move. “I think I should tell you—”

Kit interrupted him. “A little privacy would be nice.”

“But the mail stage brought—”

“The mail can wait,” Kit growled, pushing the man out the door.

Once Ben was gone, he turned and held out his hand for her. The only fire in the room was in her flushed face…and Kit's gaze. Her heart jumped.

“C'mon, darlin'. Let's go have a look around the house. It's been a while since we've been here. Maybe by the time we come back, the water will be perfect for a nice long bath.”

Not trusting her ability to speak, she nodded and took his hand for the walk. Hopefully he wouldn't notice how sweaty her palm was.

They'd made love every night since she'd been released from jail, but to come back to the place where they'd first been together was almost too much. Especially since nothing had changed between them.

They were lovers, but she had no hope of being anything more to Kit.

Still, the other ladies at the Willows believed she would soon be Mrs. Wainwright. They'd insisted she bring something flirty and overtly sexual to wear tonight. Just one push, they'd said, would make him take the plunge.

So, feeling ridiculous, Cora had taken their advice and packed the most provocative pieces of clothing she owned.

Once they were in the master bedroom, she and Kit marveled at the place.