Lady Outlaw (21 page)

“Is that everything we need?” She studied her list. “We can ask for the hayseed and then—” Jennie sucked in a sharp breath.

“What is it?” Caleb leaned forward as best he could with his arms full. Was she sick?

Without answering, Jennie bolted toward the back of the store. Caleb strode after her, trying to keep from dropping the goods he held. He peered at her in concern. She looked more angry than ill, her mouth set into a tight line. “What’s wrong?”

“We have to leave—now.”

“But we didn’t get the thread yet that your grandmother asked for.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She gave a frantic shake of her head. “Marshall King is here, in the store.”

“Really?” Caleb glanced surreptitiously over his shoulder. He didn’t have to guess which customer was King. A man in a worn leather vest with dark hair falling over his collar stood watching the two of them from his place in line. A rascally smile graced his weather-beaten face.

“Please, Caleb, let’s just leave. If I so much as go near him, I’ll start shouting.”

“You won’t need to, and we don’t have to leave, either. I’ll stand in line. You wait here.” He nodded at one of the wooden chairs arranged around the cold stove.

“Caleb, I don’t think—”

“It’ll be fine. I can handle him.”

She released a heavy sigh. “All right. Thank you.” She slipped several bills into his hand so he could pay the clerk.

He gave her a grim smile. “I might have to put a fist in the man’s stomach myself.” He slowly spun around and started for the short line.

If King had been smiling before, his face lit up even more as Caleb approached. His lack of contrition for stealing Jennie’s cattle sent flashes of hot anger through Caleb, and he had to force himself to breathe deeply.

Unfortunately, King stood at the back of the line, so Caleb had no choice except to take his place behind him. He didn’t have to give the man the pleasure of his company, though. Caleb stared in the direction of the front door and tried to think of other things than smashing the man’s ample jaw.

“You must be Miss Jones’s hired help.”

Caleb eyed King, annoyed and surprised at the man’s attempt to make casual conversation. “I am.”

“I’ve been meaning to ride over and make you an offer.”

“An offer for what?”

“I’d like to give you a job. My sources say you’re a good, hard worker.” Mr. King folded his arms across his meaty chest. “You come work for me, and I’ll pay you a lot more money than you’re earning now.”

For a moment, Caleb was too stunned to reply. After allowing his cowhands to rustle Jennie’s cattle, did King honestly think Caleb would join up with him?
Don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing your anger,
he told himself as he lifted his head and looked the man square in the eye
. He’s only trying to goad you.

“If you were the last employer on earth, Mr. King, I wouldn’t accept a job with you.” In a low, hard voice, he added, “I don’t work for thieves.”

The rancher grinned in a dangerous way. “Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“Why don’t you ask Miss Jones?” King scoffed, his gaze flicking toward the back of the store.

Caleb turned and regarded Jennie. Even from a distance, he could see her pale face and troubled expression. “I don’t know what you’re getting at, old man.”

“Why don’t you ask her how she’s managed to keep her ranch going for so long?” His words hissed like water hitting hot flames. “Why don’t you ask her the real reason she takes off for town or Fillmore all alone? Or why she meets with that fellow from the saloon?”

How could King know any of those things unless he’d been spying on Jennie? His hands clenched into fists as Caleb considered dropping his load to the floor and pounding the conceit out of this man. “How dare—”

“She’s robbin’ stage thieves, you fool.” King brought his sneering face within inches of Caleb’s. “She waits ’til the bandits steal the money, then steals it back. She’s using it to keep that sorry ranch of hers alive.”

Something deep inside Caleb went cold at King’s words. Jennie—robbing stage thieves? The same type of criminals he’d hunted down as a bounty hunter?
Impossible.

He surveyed her beautiful face and tried desperately to erase the suggestion of her carrying out such a deceitful deed. His heart rebelled at the thought, but his head argued that King’s story made some sense. It would explain the thugs chasing after Jennie when Caleb had helped her on the trail, the “financial” meetings with the rough-looking stranger, the excuses to leave the ranch unaccompanied.

“Changes things a bit, don’t it?” King said, his affable manner returning. “My offer still stands—whenever you decide to quit the place.”

Caleb shook his head, forcing his mind to concentrate on the present and nothing beyond that, for the moment. “Whether I leave or stay, I’d never work for you.”

“A pleasure meetin’ you all the same.” Tipping his hat, King took his place at the cash register to purchase some feed.

Caleb’s jaw and neck muscles tensed as he glared at the man’s back. Maybe he should have punched King straight away—then he wouldn’t have heard the man’s accusations about Jennie, accusations that brought too many unanswered questions. Finally, King left and it was Caleb’s turn to step up to the counter.

Numbly, he set down the load of goods and paid the clerk. As he started for the back of the store, he felt an almost tangible weight pulling at his feet, slowing each step. How could he face Jennie with King’s words still ringing in his ears, especially when a part of him wondered if they held any truth?

“Caleb, are you all right?” Jennie leaped up and grabbed his arm. “What did King say?”

Swallowing hard, Caleb made himself meet her gaze. “He offered me a job.”

“He didn’t!”

“I refused, of course.” He shifted his pile carefully into the crook of one arm, so he could hold her hand. Just the feel of her fingers intertwined with his helped alleviate some of his growing fear.

“Is that all he said? You looked more upset than I’ve ever seen you before.” She peered intently at him as they headed for the door.

“He’s a scoundrel,” Caleb said, avoiding her question. He hid his conflicting emotions with ease, another skill he’d learned as a bounty hunter. “Let’s go home.”

We’ll talk about it sometime this evening,
he told himself.
I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for King’s wild assertions.

A voice inside Caleb, growing more insistent by the minute, claimed otherwise, warning him that his conversation with Jennie might very well rob him of the happiness he’d felt the past few days and steal his second chance at love.

* * *

Jennie volunteered to care for the horses when they returned from the trip to town. To her surprise, Caleb didn’t offer to help. Instead he told her that he’d take over watching the cattle for Will and left the barn.

Why had Caleb been so quiet on the way home? she wondered as she brushed the horses until they gleamed. Was there something more to his conversation with King? She didn’t believe a job offer would provoke the kind of shock she’d seen on Caleb’s face.

Could he know my secret?

King might have learned the truth from his cowhand, the one she’d seen at the saloon in Fillmore and who’d trailed her in town a few weeks earlier. The rancher might have told Caleb what the cowboy had observed.

“But Caleb would’ve mentioned it,” she said, trying to reassure herself. “Wouldn’t he?”

She didn’t see him again the rest of the afternoon. She and Will continued the work on the spring planting that Caleb had already started, and by suppertime, Jennie was so tired she’d almost forgotten the encounter with King in town. Almost.

She told Will to go help Caleb bring the cattle into the corral while she fed and watered the horses. For some reason she felt reluctant to face Caleb. When she finished with the horses, she surveyed the barn, desperate for something else to do. The place was immaculate. It had been ever since Caleb had come to the ranch.

The memory of seeing him come through the brush, handsome and confident, after helping her against Bart and his thugs made her heart swell with pride. She loved him and couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. Why couldn’t things be simpler? No financial burdens, no stage bandits. Just her and Caleb and her family, living happily.

Blowing out a deep sigh, she left the barn and secured the doors behind her. A hand on her arm made her cry out in surprise.

“Caleb. You scared me.”

“Maybe you need scaring,” he muttered so softly she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. To her disappointment, he released her arm, his hand dropping to his side. “We need to go somewhere and talk.”

“I think Grandma Jones is expecting us for supper,” she hedged. The anxiety in his blue eyes set off warning bells inside her head.

“She’ll understand if we don’t come in for a while.”

If she went with him, something told her things would never be the same. But she didn’t usually back down from hard things and she wouldn’t now.

“All right.”

Jennie licked her lips and followed him past the house. She tried to breathe evenly as she forced her steps to keep up with his. Maybe he wanted to talk about his wages or his earlier suggestion for her to sell the ranch. And yet, if it were either of those wouldn’t he hold her hand? Fear knotted her stomach and the distance between them felt much wider than a few feet.

Caleb stopped at the far end of the corral. Jennie swallowed hard and waited for him to speak, feeling lost and unsure. At any other time, she would have had the comfort of his warm smile or his shoulder resting against hers to calm her nerves and give her strength. Now he stood away from her, his brow furrowed, his shoulders stiff.

“I need to ask you something.”

The tightness in his voice frightened her almost as much as his words. She gave a silent nod and clasped her trembling hands together.

“However strange or absurd it might sound, I want you to answer the question.”

“What is it?” she forced herself to ask, wishing she could run to the house and hide.

“Why were those bandits chasing you that day on the trail?”

Jennie stumbled backward, his question knocking the breath from her as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She reached out and grabbed the fence to steady herself. “I...” She bit her lip and tasted blood. “I...told you already. They were after my money.”

“Was it your money?”

“What do you mean?” She twisted around to look at the fence, the milling cattle, the distant mountains—anything but Caleb.

“Just answer the question, Jennie. Was the money they were after rightfully yours?”

“W-why are you asking me this?” A spark of anger ignited inside her and she stoked it with defensive thoughts—afraid if she wasn’t angry, she might drown in his displeasure. Did he have to go and ruin everything when she was so close to winning the ranch back? Couldn’t he leave well enough alone? “I wouldn’t do anything I didn’t feel was best for my family.”

Caleb slammed his fist against the fence, making her jump. “You’re avoiding the question. Was that your money or not?”

“No, it wasn’t.” She folded her arms and pressed them together, trying to hold in the ache beginning in her chest. “I took it from them, all right? But the money was already taken from its original owners, and the men who had it would have spent the money on drinks or worse. I used it for something good and decent.”

“Decent?” He blew out his breath. “The money was stolen. It doesn’t matter what they would’ve spent it on. It belonged to someone else.”

“Why are you asking me this?” she repeated, her voice rising in pitch as anger and fear battled inside her. “Why now? Why today?”

“Because Mr. King,” Caleb said, his jaw clenching, “was kind enough to share your exploits with me during our conversation at the store.”

“Now who’s being dishonest?” she lashed out in defense. “You said he only talked to you about working for him.”

“I said he offered me a job and that he is a scoundrel. All of that is true. I wasn’t trying to keep the rest of our conversation from you, but I needed time to...to think.”

“And what have you decided?” Her voiced sounded as small as she felt.

Instead of answering, Caleb countered with a question of his own. “That wasn’t the first robbery was it?”

She hazarded a glance at him and regretted it at once. The hurt and betrayal on his face nearly stopped her heart altogether.

“How many stage robberies have you committed, Jennie?”

“None,” she whispered to the ground. “I never robbed a stage. I only robbed stage thieves.”

Caleb’s harsh laugh brought up her head. “My mistake. How many times have you taken money from thieves like the ones shooting at us that day on the trail? Like the ones I spent more than a year of my life tracking down?”

She swallowed, trying to bring moisture to her dry mouth. “Four.”