Promise Me Texas (A Whispering Mountain Novel) (21 page)

When he heard a door slam somewhere far away, he turned to his almost-wife. “Where am I sleeping tonight?”

“With me,” she answered. “I’m not going to explain to both my momma and papa why my new husband isn’t in my room.” Heading up the back stairs off the kitchen, she added, “With Lamont so close, I’m not sure either one of us would be safe alone. I wouldn’t put it past him to murder us in our bed.”

“Good point,” he said as he followed her. Exhaustion had long ago taken over his brain, but he felt his body trying to react to the possibility of sleeping in the same room with her. The image of her in a white nightgown, still wearing her gun belt, flashed through his thoughts, and he sobered to the fact that they weren’t married and never would be.

He grabbed the traveling cases, noticing she’d brought along his saddlebags still stuffed with dirty clothes. He followed her up to what she’d called the new part of the house even though it was probably twenty years since it had been built.

Teagan hadn’t lied. Her room was pink, with lace and frills everywhere. A fine collection of dolls filled one wall. Some were old and tattered as if much loved by a child. Others were made of porcelain and looked like they’d never been touched.

“When my sisters married and traveled, they always brought a doll home for me,” Beth said. “It reminded me that they never quite thought I was grown. No matter what, I guess I’ll always play the part of the baby in the family.”

Andrew set his case carefully down on the pillows of the windowsill. “You’re not a baby to me. You never have been, Beth. All I see when I look at you is a woman, strong and confident.”

“Thanks.”

He grinned. “I do think it’s cute that they still call you Bethie.”

“Remind me to argue that point in the morning. I’m so tired I could sleep standing up.” She began unbuttoning her jacket. “You mind turning around while I slip into my gown, and then I’ll turn around while you put on your nightshirt?”

“I didn’t bring one,” he answered. “I’ve been sleeping in my clothes since I met you and didn’t think that would change just because we moved location.” He watched her slip out of her traveling skirt. “Have things changed?”

He pulled off his jacket and shoes without taking his gaze off her as she stripped down to her camisole and drawers.

“No.” She slid under the covers. “Just pretend you’re downstairs on your couch and we’ll both wake up alive in the morning.”

He got her point. He blew out the lamp and moved beneath the covers, his undershirt and trousers still on. “Fine by me, Bethie. You mind if I kiss you good night in the morning?”

“No.” She already sounded more asleep than awake.

Two nights without sleep took their toll as he drifted off. Andrew had one passing thought that maybe he should worry about what they were doing sleeping in the same bed, but he’d worry about it tomorrow.

CHAPTER 24

T
HE STILLNESS OF THE PLACE WOKE HIM AT DAWN.
He heard nothing. No trains. No town clock chiming out the hour. No movement on the streets or voices outside shouting. Nothing. The air in the room seemed frozen in place, but beneath the covers he felt warm.

Andrew slowly turned his head and saw Beth curled up against his side. She must have been there all night. Her hair half covered her face. He thought she looked younger than twenty-four. Almost the girl everyone would call Bethie. She was the most beautiful creature he’d ever been close to, but he knew better than to mention it.

Without giving it much thought, he moved a few inches and kissed the tip of her nose.

She didn’t budge.

He tried again, this time brushing her cheek. “Wake up, sleepyhead,” he whispered.

She waved him away with her fingers.

Leaning closer, he touched her lips with his and she finally came awake.

Sleepy eyes blinked at him, then relaxed. “What time is it?”

“Dawn,” he answered.

“Was that my good-night kiss you forgot?”

“No,” he answered. “This is.”

For a while neither thought or reasoned. They just reacted to the nearness of the other. The shadowy room, the covers piled atop them, the lock he’d turned on the door, all helped them escape into a world of the simple pleasure of feeling. He’d longed for her, wanted her, but somehow all the talk and reasoning got in the way. This morning there seemed nothing but the two of them cuddling beneath the covers as if hidden away from the world.

When he finally broke the kiss, his arms were around her, holding her close. “I want this one thing to be real between us. No pretending. I can put up with all the lies, but this I need to be genuine between us.”

Still-sleepy green eyes watched him, as if she were allowing her mind to finally start working and, for a moment, was angry that he’d pulled her from a beautiful dream they’d both been having.

“What do you mean?” She shoved her hair back and rested her hand on his chest. “I’m real, Andrew. I’m not some character in your stories.”

He brushed his finger over her. “I know that, dear, but this game we’re playing of being married isn’t honest. The attraction I feel for you is. At some point we need to pause and remember what is authentic.”

“This attraction you feel will pass. All men who fall in love with me get over it once they know me better. One man who offered me a ring offered it to another an hour after I turned him down. Love has shallow roots.”

He laughed. “I’m not in love with you. I’ve told you before that it’s impossible, but that doesn’t seem to stop me from wanting to kiss you, or touch you, or—”

“I get the point.”

“No, you don’t, Beth. I don’t want you to play at liking me. Don’t touch me or brush my arm, or kiss me unless it’s real to you. Don’t play that game with me when we’re alone, or in public. We can pretend, for safety’s sake, to be married, but I don’t want the other unless you mean it. Don’t flirt with me. Don’t tempt me.”

“I’ve never—”

“Of course you have, dear. I think you must have learned it around fifteen. How to attract a man. How to flirt oh-so subtly so you can deny it even to yourself. You’ve played the game so well, for so long, you may not even be aware you’re playing it, but I think you like the chase even though you plan to never be caught. When the man falls and declares his love, or makes a pass, you run. Maybe the shallow love isn’t
his
offering, but
yours
.”

Andrew expected her to slap him or argue, but in her intelligent green eyes he saw her thinking his claim through.

“I’m not asking you to change; just don’t play the game with me. I’m not chasing you, so you can relax. If you touch me, do it because you want to. Kiss me because you want the kiss. Make love to me only when the need is too great in you to stop.”

She turned her back to him.

He lay staring at the ceiling, waiting for her to yell at him or at the very least kick him out. What did it matter if she was real with him? He was only going to be around for a few months. Why couldn’t he just enjoy whatever they had while it lasted? The memory would be real even if her feelings weren’t.

“I’m not like that,” she finally whispered.

“What?”

“I said I’m not like what you think I am. I don’t flirt and try to break hearts. It just seems to happen.”

He scrubbed his face. Maybe she was right. Beautiful women like her were simply cursed. “All right. Maybe you’re not, but promise me you’ll be genuine with me. I have enough imaginary friends already.”

“I promise.” She faced him. “Andrew?”

He waited, then finally said, “Yes?”

“You’re different than any man I’ve ever talked to. You make me think. You make me want to be more than I settle for being. Can we start over and be friends?”

“What kind of friends?”

“Friends who kiss good night even if it’s morning.”

“I think I’d like that.”

Just as his lips settled over hers, a tap sounded on the door and both jumped.

“Beth, are you awake?”

“Yes, Momma, we’re awake.”

“Good. Your papa would like you both to come down to the parlor. It seems the cowhands packed Mr. LaCroix off last night after he gave them a lecture on the law while downing half a bottle of whiskey. He woke up in one of the barn wagons pointed toward town. He insists on talking to you before he’ll leave.”

“We’ll be right down,” Andrew answered, climbing from the bed and pulling Beth along with him.

Whispering against her ear, he added, “Before we can settle into being kissing friends, we’ve got to straighten out this mess of being married.”

“We can’t just tell Papa,” she whispered back. “He’d kill you for sleeping here if he knew the truth. We’ve got to—”

Her mother’s voice sounded from the hallway. “I’ll have coffee ready for you both when you pass through the kitchen.”

As Jessie’s footsteps tapped lightly down the hallway, they both looked for their clothes.

Andrew looked back at her and whispered, “You look adorable in your undergarments, Bethie.”

She looked down and noticed her camisole had come untied at the top and the valley between her breasts was showing. As she tied the ribbons back, she said, “How did that happen?”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her and said a bit too fast, “I wouldn’t know.”

She looked up and saw his raised eyebrow. Without thought, she swung, connecting with his shoulder, and he flew with the punch as if being knocked back into bed by the power of her blow.

When he didn’t stop staring, she added, “By the way, husband, if you ever untie my ribbons again, there will be another swing and this time it will be a
real
hit.”

He laughed as he rolled to the other side of the bed. “It was well worth the price of admission.” Picking up his shirt and shoes, he was gone before she had time to swing again.

“Stay out,” she yelled, then laughed.

Half stumbling as he tried to dress and walk at the same time, he made it down the stairs that opened into the kitchen. When he finally pulled his shirt from his head, he saw two big men in their forties who could only be Teagan McMurray’s brothers. One was dark with brown eyes and black hair. The other slightly smaller with brown hair and dressed in Indian moccasins that came to his knees.

At the moment both men were trying to choke themselves to keep from laughing out loud.

Andrew glared at them. “Oh, go ahead. Laugh at me.”

Both men roared.

Andrew had time to accept a cup of coffee from Jessie before they settled. The big one with the black hair and the dark eyes of his Apache blood stood and offered his hand. “Travis McMurray, Mr. McLaughlin, and this is my little brother, Tobin.” His smile was genuine. “I’m guessing you’re the man who married our niece, Bethie. Tell me, son, did you talk to her before the wedding or were you just swept away by her beauty and didn’t bother noticing that she’s one headstrong woman?”

“I was unconscious,” Andrew answered honestly.

Both men laughed, but neither questioned his answer.

“That explains it,” Tobin offered when he could catch enough air to talk.

Travis shook his head. “She does have a way of running full speed into trouble, but I’ve never seen her drag a man along with her. She must really like you to bring you into this mess.” He crossed to refill his own coffee, then offered Andrew a seat. “We traveled most of the night to get here in time to help. I don’t want you, or my brother Teagan, doing anything illegal.”

“What mess?” Andrew had heard enough of Beth’s two uncles to know they were good men. Travis was a respected judge in Austin, and Tobin split his time between raising horses in Texas and managing a ranch in Maryland.

The two men looked at each other, but it was Travis who spoke again. “Don’t you know? Lamont LaCroix has told half the state that he’s coming to kill you. Claims you kidnapped his bride. He wants her back and doesn’t believe you two are married. He told the Dallas paper that he would rescue her and marry her after he killed you. If you bullied some preacher into making her your wife, he says he’ll still kill you and marry the widow. Half the saloons around have a bet going as to who will survive.”

“Oh, that killing.” Andrew waved the problem away. “I know all about Lamont’s threats. As for him marrying her after I’m gone, he might want to rethink that plan. Being married to your niece isn’t as easy as some folks think it might be.”

Both the uncles laughed again, and Andrew decided he liked them. They knew their Bethie well enough not to be surprised that she’d kicked him out of the bedroom, and they hadn’t let a death threat from a windbag worry them.

Travis took a drink of his coffee. “If I know LaCroix, he’s making all this racket to get his name in the papers. I doubt anyone will accept that he was wronged, left at the altar, so to speak, but Texans tend to admire men who are willing to fight for what they believe even when they know they’re wrong.”

“How do you know I didn’t kidnap her?” Andrew stared at them both.

“Because, first, if Bethie was off this land, she was armed. Second, if you were a fighter you would have knocked that bedroom door down when she kicked you out. But what did you do? You came down here to wait out the storm.” Travis nodded once when Andrew didn’t argue. “You’re a man of logic, not a fighter. Teagan saw it when he met you in Fort Worth. He went to find Lamont and straighten him out, but the senator had already left Dallas after spilling all his troubles to the newspaper. The article must have hit the day you left Fort Worth for here.”

Andrew followed the story. “And Lamont was already here, hoping to win the family over to his side.”

Tobin finally said something. “He was here, but not convincing anyone. Jessie’s shy. She wouldn’t talk to him, and Teagan was gone.”

Travis agreed with his brother. “I don’t think Lamont thought you’d come here. He probably had this grand hunt across Texas planned. He’d be out trying to save Beth, talking to every newspaper along the way. He figured you’d run and hide, giving him lots of time to build a name for himself.”

“It’s a dumb plan,” Andrew said. “The guy didn’t deserve Beth, but then neither do I.” Andrew hoped the uncles didn’t realize how completely he’d meant his last words. Most men would think themselves blessed to be married to a woman so beautiful, and he had to admit there was nothing more enjoyable than watching her in her undergarments, but being make-believe married to her was torture. Hell, just being around her made him feel like Moses waiting for the next plague to strike.

“So, what do we do now? Just let Lamont kill me? Might as well, because I’m not running or hiding.”

“We could do that, or you and Beth could divorce. That way Beth could turn him down to his face like she should have done in the first place.”

“It was a little more complicated than that.” Andrew remembered the night in the hospital. Crazy as it would sound to the uncles, she’d taken the only choice she could by claiming he was her husband. Lamont had already convinced the sheriff that she’d lost her mind in the train wreck.

Travis leaned closer and said in a low voice, “I heard from a ranger who talked to Slim Bates, and he said Bates told him that you can’t do your duty as a husband because of an accident. If that’s so, an annulment would be the only practical choice. You’d be free of your responsibilities and she’d be free to marry Lamont if, as he claims, she wants him back.”

Andrew closed his eyes thinking he should jump up, run to the bridge, dive in the river, and put himself out of his misery. Maybe twenty feet underwater he wouldn’t have to try to explain his wife’s lies.