Janet Quin-Harkin (28 page)

His gaze swept the audience again. Several miners hung their heads, not wanting to look at him. “This lady is not a criminal and you know it,” Gabe went on. “I beg you not to make this terrible mistake. If you allow this to happen now, then one day, as God is my witness, I swear to you that your wife, or your sister, or your little daughter will suffer as this lady is suffering, and you will realize that it is God’s justice and judgment coming back to punish you. Revenge is mine, says the Lord. Do you dare to trifle with Him?”

The doctor pushed his way through the crowd to join Gabe. “You’ve heard him,” he said. “He speaks with the voice of reason. All those who think she acted in self-defense say aye.”

There was a murmured aye from the crowd.

“All those against?”

There was silence. The doctor went over to Libby and took the noose from her neck. “My dear. You are free to go,” he said.

T
HE CROWD STARTED
to drift away. Libby just stood there under the tree, too overwhelmed and dazed to know what to do next. The doctor patted her shoulder. “I’m very glad for you, my dear. I hate to see these miscarriages of justice, but when they’ve been drinking, it’s not easy to stop them.” He turned to Gabe still standing with both pistols in his hands. “You have this gentleman to thank for your life, I think.”

She looked at him with wonder as his eyes lit up with a smile.

“You really are my guardian angel, aren’t you?” she asked. “How on earth did you manage to materialize just when I needed you most?”

Gabe tucked the pistols back in their holsters. “Oh, you know us angels,” he said. “We just hover around, playing our harps until needed.”

“In which case, what took you so long?” she asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry with pent-up emotion. “A few more minutes and I’d have been swinging from that tree.”

“Well, it takes a while to change out of my wings and white nightgown,” Gabe said. He slipped his arm around her shoulder. “Actually I was asleep in my room at the hotel. I keep pretty late hours and I usually take a nap in the afternoon. I heard all the noise and asked what was happening.”

“You’re staying at the hotel? Here?” she asked.

“The new hotel,” he said.

“Sheldon Rival’s place?” she asked in disgust.

“That’s right. He asked me to get his gambling parlor going for him, so I’ve been here about a month.”

“And I didn’t know,” she said. “But I thought you despised the man as much as I do.”

“Sure I do,” he agreed. He started to lead her across the street toward the impressive wooden front of the new hotel. “But he made me a very good offer and I saw no reason not to help part him from his money. I have a fine suite and my meals and a generous cut from the takings. I’m going to take you there now and get you a glass of brandy for the shock you’ve just had.”

Libby allowed herself to be led in through the front door of the hotel and across the elegant lobby, decorated with palm trees and brass spittoons and leather chairs. Along one wall ran a mahogany bar, well stocked with bottles.

“A bottle of your best cognac and two glasses sent up to my room, Carlo,” Gabe called to the man at the bar. “This lady’s had a bad shock and needs to recover.”

“Very good, Mr. Foster,” the man called after them.

Gabe led Libby up one flight of stairs and pushed open a door leading to a sitting room, well furnished by frontier standards. Curtains at the far end were half open around a large brass bed. Libby sank gently into a red plush sofa as Gabe brought over a little table.

“Now what would you like as the first meal of your new life?” he asked. “Anything you want you can have. Oysters? Steak? Trout?”

Libby put her hands up to her face, laughing hysterically. “This doesn’t make sense,” she said. “None of this makes sense. Two minutes ago I had a rope around my neck and now you’re calmly offering me oysters.”

“All the more reason to enjoy life while you can,” Gabe said. “You’ve just understood firsthand how precarious it is. All we can do with it is make the most of every moment. So what do I tell Carlo? Oysters followed by steak followed by brandied peaches?”

Libby’s hands were still on her cheeks. “I can’t stay here, Gabe. I have to get home to my children. They’ll be worried about me.”

“They’re all alone?”

“No, Ah Fong is with them, but . . .”

“Ah Fong?”

“I’ve got a Chinese servant,” Libby said. “He just attached himself to me after he said I saved his life.”

Gabe looked amused. “Then everything’s fine,” he said. “When Carlo comes in with the cognac, I’ll have him send somebody out to the cabin with the news that you are fine and you’ll be back later. Does that meet with your approval?”

She nodded.

A tap at the door announced the arrival of the cognac. Gabe gave the orders to Carlo, then poured the amber liquid into two glasses, holding Libby’s glass up to her lips as if she were a small child who had to be fed. “You’ll feel much better when you’ve finished this,” he said.

Libby coughed as she swallowed, but she felt warmth spreading throughout her body and she obediently finished the glass. The light was fading in the room as the sun sank behind the hills and Gabe got up to light the candle, placing it on the table and pulling up a chair to either side. It seemed no time at all before dinner was brought in, hidden under silver tureens on a white-napkined tray. A bottle of champagne accompanied it and Gabe let Carlo uncork it, pouring a glass for each of them. Then he escorted Libby over to the table and served her oysters.

“They go down very easily, especially with champagne,” he said. “Known remedy to steady the nerves.”

“My nerves are surprisingly steady,” Libby said, “considering what they have been through today.”

“If I’d known what tough fiber you were made of, I’d never have tackled you in the first place,” Gabe said, smiling. “I’d have walked right past you in New Orleans and not stopped.”

“I’m glad you did,” she said. “Although I’ve brought you nothing but trouble.”

“But the most enjoyable kind of trouble,” Gabe said. He picked up his glass. “To you, madame. May all your troubles now be over.”

Libby lifted her glass to touch his, not taking her eyes from his for a second. They worked their way through the courses, neither of them saying much, but when Libby looked up, she saw Gabe watching her, his eyes warm in the candlelight. The juicy steak, the shoestring potatoes, the baby carrots all slipped down with no effort, and brandied peaches replenished the glow of the cognac. The candlelight flickered, making the shadows dance in the corners, contributing to her feeling of unreality. Since she had gone down to the creek to wash clothes that morning, nothing had seemed real anymore. She had gone through such extremes of fear that she felt like a person rescued from drowning, each new breath a miracle.

When she finally put down her glass with a sigh of content, he looked at her appraisingly. “I suppose that now you’ve paten you are going to give me your usual speech about morals and duty and run out on me,” he said.

Libby got up and walked across to the window. The hills outside were only black outlines against the pearl-gray sky, but they were dotted with the lights of miners’ camps, like fireflies. “I have lived by my morals and my sense of duty all the time I’ve been here but they haven’t protected me,” she said flatly. “I’d have died a horrible death by now, if you hadn’t saved me. You risked your life for me, Gabe.” She turned to look back at him. “Ah Fong said that his life belonged to me, because I’d saved him. Maybe the same is true for you—you saved me, so my life belongs to you.”

Gabe leaned back in his chair, eyeing her speculatively. “If you are only staying in this room because you feel grateful, then please go now,” he said. “You don’t owe me anything, Libby.”

She walked slowly over to his chair. “You know I feel more for you than gratitude,” she said. “I think what you said was right, about making the most of each moment. You might be dead tomorrow. I might be dead tomorrow, but we are both here right now and this moment might never come again. If I walked out, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”

Deliberately, she began to undo the buttons at the front of her dress. He took her hands away. “Let me do that,” he said. Then, in impatience, “Why do women have to have so many buttons?”

“You have buttons on your shirt too,” she said, laughing.

“Ah, but the difference is that I can remove my shirt over my head without undoing any buttons, like this,” he said and demonstrated, slipping it off easily with one fluid movement. She admired his bare torso, noting with pleasure the muscles that stood out at his shoulders and the black curly hair on his chest. She smiled and stepped out of her dress.

“And why do women have to wear so many clothes,” he said. “It’s not as if it’s cold here.” His fingers deftly worked at the buttons on the front of her underbodice until he could slip it off her shoulders, down to her waist.

“I’ve never let a man see me naked before,” she said, turning away in embarrassment.

“Never? And you’ve been married how many years?”

“Hugh always respected my delicacy in such matters,” she said primly. “He always changed in his dressing room and I in mine.”

“How very boring,” Gabe said with a chuckle. “But the human body is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when it looks like yours, my dear.” He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Why hide something that gives so much pleasure?” and he ran the tip of his finger around her nipple. Libby was unprepared for the jolt of desire at the pit of her stomach. Gabe was already unbuckling his belt. “And now you’ll have to excuse me if I’m a trifle impatient, because I don’t think I can wait much longer,” he said. “Later tonight we’ll have all the time in the world for play.” He swept her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her over to the bed, swiftly removing the last of their garments before he lowered himself onto her.

Libby had not known that such passion existed before. Her whole body was on fire, she was moving urgently with him, arching her back to feel her naked breasts against the coarse hair of his chest, her mouth seeking out his chin, his neck, his ear as he nibbled at her neck and shoulder. She heard herself cry out, though she was not sure whether it was from pain or pleasure. Then she was lost in a red whirl of desire, her head ready to explode. She was laughing deep in her throat as she felt the world break apart into glittering shards. Gabe gave a shuddering sigh and collapsed onto her.

For a while they lay there, holding each other tightly, breathing as one. Then Gabe propped himself up on one elbow, looking down into her eyes with tenderness. “Do you always laugh when you make love?” he asked.

“It’s never been like this before,” she said.

“Never? Not even with . . .”

“Never,” she cut him off. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel like that.”

“Ah, well, it takes a master,” he said, grinning wickedly, “although you weren’t bad, for a beginner. Next time we’ll be much better.”

“I don’t see how it could be.”

“You’d be surprised at all the things you don’t know and I will be delighted to teach you,” he said, stroking back a damp curl that had fallen across her forehead. “What I have to teach you could last a lifetime.” He rolled away from her, onto his back, lying with hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. “What a sweet life we could have together, Libby. I’m going to be very rich, you know. I can give up gambling soon and build a fine house on a hill in San Francisco. We’ll own property. We can travel. Doesn’t that sound fine to you?”

“Very fine,” she said, “but I can’t commit to you until I’ve done that final search for Hugh.”

“But you love me,” Gabe said, leaning over her again. “You never loved Hugh the way you love me. Admit it. Hugh never made you feel the way you do with me.”

“I admit it,” she said. “I feel as if I’ve been asleep all my life and I’ve just woken up. You told me once that I would know real love if I’d ever experienced it, and you were right.”

He bent to kiss her forehead. “I’ve told many women that I loved them, but it’s never been true until now. I love you, Libby Grenville. I don’t ever want to be parted from you. In the morning I’m going up to the cabin for your things and I’m going to bring you down here, where I can watch over you. Then we can decide whether we move to . . .”

Libby put her fingers on his lips. “Let’s not talk about the future anymore,” she said. “Let’s make the most of now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”

“But you’ll let me bring you down to town where I can keep you safe?” he asked.

“But what about my potatoes?” Libby demanded.

“Potatoes?”

“I’m planning to make my fortune growing potatoes. That old rogue at the store sells them for a dollar each.”

Gabe laughed. “A fortune growing potatoes. I love it. Who but my sweet, crazy Libby would dream up a scheme like that. I tell you what—we’ll ask your devoted Chinese to live up there and guard your potatoes, if that makes you happy.”

“Being with you makes me happy,” she said. She snuggled up to his chest and he wrapped an arm around her.

“Then I’ll never leave you again,” he said.

L
lBBY OPENED HER
eyes to slatted sunlight shining on a white-painted wall. The clean sterility of her surroundings was in such contrast to the peeling logs and flapping canvas she was used to that for a moment she had no idea where she was. Then, as it gradually came back to her, she reached out to her left and touched only cold sheets. She was alone in the big brass bed.

“Gabe?” she called softly. The events of last night were still cloaked in unreality. Had she really lain in his arms and heard him say that he would never leave her? Already her body ached for him again. If I hadn’t stayed last night, I’d never have known, she thought in wonder. I’d have lived my whole life without knowing what it means to be truly, wonderfully happy and fulfilled. He really is the most remarkable man.

She let her gaze move around the empty rooms. Someone had cleared away the remains of last night’s dinner and her clothes were now neatly hanging over the back of a chair. Gabe’s clothes were gone. She sat up, remembering how Hugh had run off without a word of goodbye. Had all those things Gabe said last night been just words? Was he the sort of man who lost interest once he got her into bed? She smiled at her own thoughts and shook her head firmly. Gabe might be a scoundrel and he might have no conscience in some things, but he was not a coward. He was not the sort of person who would ever slink away without saying goodbye. That was one of the things she liked so much about him. She knew where she stood with him. He made it perfectly obvious what he liked and disliked, what he wanted and did not want—and she knew that he wanted her. It made her feel warm inside. If any nagging thoughts of the future came into her mind, she pushed them away to a safe compartment at the back where they could not intrude on her happiness.