Jodi Thomas (15 page)

It was well after midnight when Chance lifted the flap of Anna’s tent. “I was just looking for . . .” His words died as his eyes fell upon his bedroll lying next to hers.

Anna raised her head slowly. “I spread it out for you,” she whispered, her glance darting toward the Jordans’ tent.

Nodding, he slid into the tent, leaving the flap open for light. “For appearances,” he whispered as he unstrapped his gun belt. He rolled the belt around the holster and placed it in the few inches between the two bedrolls.

The blade of the knife in Anna’s hand reflected in the firelight.

Chance pulled his boots off and sat down on his blanket. “Do you really think that knife would stop me?” His whole body ached to feel her next to him. The memory of her lips brought a constant fever to his mind. But her bitter words and hate-filled look kept him away with a chill far more piercing than that of the knife, for her hate had singed his pride and his heart. “Can’t we declare a truce to this war?”

She moved the knife slowly forward and placed it beside his gun belt. “I know this weapon would do little, but it’s all I have to protect myself.”

Chance could see the fear in her eyes, hear the trembling in her voice. The anger he’d felt toward her vanished. “You have me.”

She turned her face away and he thought he heard a tiny sob. Chance slid down on his blanket and tossed the flap closed.

“One other thing,” Anna whispered.

“What?”

After a moment, she answered, “In the morning I want all the people who need food to have part of our venison. Will you see that those who have children get extra meat?”

“I will,” Chance answered. He was touched that she cared so deeply about a people who, except for Selma and Carl, didn’t seem to even notice her.

“Good night, Anna.” He forced the words out, wishing he could say more, wishing he could ask her if she cared for him.

“Good night.” Her voice sounded weary.

Slowly, he slid his hand along the space between them until he touched her fingers. She jerked slightly, but he held her hand tight. After a moment she relaxed, his hand still over hers, and she didn’t pull away.

“Trust me!” he wanted to shout, but the question
Do I trust myself?
whispered through his mind and echoed long into the troubled hours of sleep that followed.

I
’ve come to speak with Anna Meyer.” Walter Schmitz’s voice boomed, shattering the quiet of the morning.

Raising her head, Anna stared into Chance’s questioning blue eyes. Neither moved for a moment as Walter continued to yell outside their tent. Chance touched his finger to his lips, indicating that she should remain silent, then he pulled on his boots and strapped his gun belt around his slender waist. When he left the tent, he was careful not to leave the flap open.

Anna scrambled into her clothes as she listened.

“May I help you with something, sir?” His words were simple, but his tone left no doubt that he considered Walter Schmitz a bother.

“I don’t wish to talk with you, boy. I said I wanted to talk with Anna Meyer.” Walter’s voice sounded angry, as though he were annoyed at Chance’s interference.

“I know of no Anna Meyer in this camp. If you’re referring to my wife, Anna Wyatt, I’m afraid she’s dressing.”

“You know damn well I’m referring to your wife, although there is not a person in the camp who doesn’t see your marriage for the sham it is. She only married you so she could claim William’s land. Why else would a lady of quality marry a Texan?” He said the word
Texan
as though it left a foul taste in his mouth.

Chance’s words were frosty. “I think, sir, that our marriage, and my heritage, are none of your concern.”

“The hell they are not. Anna is like family to me. Everyone knows you’ll leave her as soon as the deed is signed. There she’ll be with twice the land I’m going to get, her stomach ripe with child, and no man around to help her farm.”

“Come to your point.” Chance’s words mirrored his tightly held temper.

Walter’s voice slurred. “My point is that a single man only gets half the land a family man does.”

“I don’t see why that should concern Anna.” Chance widened his stance and folded his arms across his chest in an effort to appear relaxed.

Anna stepped from the tent, her brown dress buttoned up tightly and her hair pulled into a neat bun at the back of her neck. “What do you want, Walter?” She couldn’t command her voice to sound as indifferent as Chance’s had. “And make no pretense of being like family.” She hadn’t missed the dull eyes and puffy features of the man who’d become too friendly with bad liquor. Sober, Walter Schmitz could be bothersome, but drunk he might be deadly.

“Maybe we haven’t seen eye to eye on most things.” The middle-aged man’s chest puffed up with a prepared speech, but it still didn’t outdistance his large stomach. “But I think I’m old enough to know what should be done. I don’t want my best friend’s child being raised by a woman who’d marry a man she doesn’t even know. This Texan is a foreigner who doesn’t know our ways.” He took another heaving breath.

Anna almost burst out laughing. “I think, Walter, that if you look closer, you’ll find we are the foreigners in this land, not my husband.”

Walter shook his head, ignoring the point. “He’s a lowborn vagabond. You and William came from good families. You were educated in fine schools. In our village you were welcomed in every home.”

Anna fought to keep from laughing. With a father who’d deserted the family after losing all their money at the gambling tables, and a mother who had committed suicide, her background could hardly be defined as “good” or “fine.” And the schools she attended were only to keep her out of the way while her mother lived off of men like William Meyer. If families were valued for being weak and without morals, then she must come from one of the best. Sometimes she felt her mother and she were allowed to remain in polite society only because they gave the refined women someone to gossip about over tea.

She smiled at Chance and met his gaze evenly as she said, “My education will not keep me alive in this country. I’ll depend on my husband’s knowledge for that.”

Chance winked as though her compliment had meant a great deal to him.

Walter raised his head in his best effort to look down on two people who were several inches taller than himself. He rubbed his runny nose and spoke in German. “I’ve given this some thought since my wife died. I come to you with an offer. You need a husband from your own people and I need a wife.”

She couldn’t believe his arrogance, and her anger made her words sharp as daggers thrown through the air. “I already have a husband.” Her words were in English. She wouldn’t insult Chance by using words he didn’t understand. “And even if I were not married, I’d never consider becoming your wife.”

“Why not? Your vow with this Texan must come cheap.” Anger filled Walter’s bloodshot eyes. He hadn’t expected to be turned down, and her quick refusal insulted his pride. “You married him as soon as you met him. Were you so desperate to have a man in your bed that you took a boy?”

Walter’s victorious laugh was little more than a hiccup. Chance shoved his arm into the man’s throat with swift violence. Chance had moved so fast that the older man hadn’t even seen him coming.

“I’ve heard enough. Anna is married and there’s nothing you can do.” He held Walter firmly. “I know we’re from different worlds, but I’m her husband.” Chance tightened his grip until only a slight choking sound could be heard from Walter’s throat. “I warned you once that I wouldn’t tolerate your insults. You’re new to this country, but you’d better learn fast that a man doesn’t speak that way to a Texan and stay healthy.”

Anna pulled on his sleeve and Chance slowly lowered his arm. “I suggest you leave, Walter.” Only Anna’s fingers stopped Chance from teaching Walter a lesson he wouldn’t forget. His words froze the moisture in the cool morning air. “While you can still breathe.”

“It’s all right, Chance.” She looked at Walter without fear for the first time. “The man is distraught over his wife’s death. He doesn’t know what he’s saying. There’s no need to fight with him.”

Chance hesitantly uncurled his fists and placed an open palm over Anna’s fingers, which still rested on his arm. His body was as still as stone beside her, but she could feel the animal just beneath the skin, waiting to pounce. Smiling, she realized the power she had over this young savage at her side. Her words had stopped his assault when no man in the camp could have.

Walter snorted and grabbed Anna’s free hand, placing her fingers between his two hands as if he were praying. “Come with me. This frontiersman can never make you happy. You’re accustomed to an older man’s bed. This boy can know nothing of how to please a woman.”

Anna could feel the muscles in Chance’s arm tighten beneath her fingers. He was a fraction away from springing on Walter and beating the fat little man into the ground. She’d seen Chance fight. Walter would have about as much chance as a weasel would against a mountain lion. Jerking her hand free of Walter’s, she slid her arm around Chance’s back, relaxing the tight muscles with her gentle touch. “I’ve known nothing but kindness from this man. I thank you for your advice and offer of marriage, but I have a husband. I have no wish to take another.”

Walter’s watery eyes glazed over in anger. He moved half a step forward, then heard the snap of leather as Chance widened his stance and placed one hand on the mahogany butt of his weapon. “We’ll see,” the older man mumbled as he stormed back toward the other tents. “We’ll see how happy this man makes you.”

Trembling, Anna clung to Chance. Walter was an evil man and she would put little past him. She’d heard of his unfair dealings in Germany and had often wondered if someone had forced him to run to the States.

Chance tightened his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “The only way that lecherous old man is ever going to touch you is if I’m already planted six feet under.”

“He frightens me. You don’t know what he’s capable of doing.” Anna remembered all the evil looks he’d given her in the past, the times he’d tried to get her alone, the little hints he’d made that his wife and William hadn’t heard.

“I’ll be on my guard.” Chance smiled down at her. The twinkle in his eye told her he considered Walter harmless; still, he enjoyed her sudden concern.

All day, Anna worried as she walked along beside the wagons. She knew Walter would do something. He was like a spoiled child accustomed to getting his way. He’d been shamed in front of the others. He wouldn’t let it go unchallenged.

Well after dark, they made camp in a valley. As the sun melted in a pool of gold between the hills, Chance tipped his hat to her and turned his mount toward several men organizing a hunting party. She could tell by his smile that he’d had enough of the slow walking pace for one day and needed to stretch his muscles.

As Anna watched him go, she suddenly wished she were riding with him and not staying in the camp. With a start she realized it was not fear of Walter that made her want to be by Chance’s side, but the feeling she had of being safe and protected when she was with Chance. But there was much work to do, and how could she be safer than in the middle of her own people? With a sigh, she turned and helped Selma do the laundry and mending.

Anna enjoyed talking with her friend, but Selma had only one topic of conversation: Carl. He was her life. She’d loaned him the money to secure passage, then eloped with him the night before the ship sailed. It mattered not what she’d given up; the only thing of importance in her life was Carl’s nearness.

Selma seemed to need to tell someone all about how she and Carl met secretly for over a year before deciding to run away together. Anna laughed at her stories of almost being caught by her overprotective parents. She also had a habit of always telling everything three or four times, as though Anna needed the repetition to understand. By the time Chance returned, Anna was ready to snap like a dry twig from the other woman’s constant chatter. As Chance moved to his saddlebags, she excused herself from Selma and joined him.