Promise Me Texas (A Whispering Mountain Novel) (9 page)

She let out a soft cry of need and relaxed against his chest.

“We’re not children, Beth, but maybe we can still pretend. Maybe you need someone to care about you and, for a moment, I’d like to believe that I could be with someone who cared about me. I need to believe it, if only for a few minutes.”

When she didn’t answer, he moved his hand up between her breasts and began unbuttoning her blouse. On the third button, she stopped his hand by simply placing her fingers over the buttons.

He brushed his lips lightly against her ear. “I’ll take away the memory of Lamont and whatever he said if you’ll let me. I’ll make you feel needed and desired, but if you don’t want this, walk away. We can go on pretending we’re not attracted to one another.”

She was so still that he added, “Every time you walk near, I swear my blood warms, and when you touch me almost by accident, I want to hold you against me like this. This moment will always be one of my favorite memories, no matter how many years or miles pass.”

“Will you say you love me?”

He heard the longing in her voice, but he wouldn’t lie to her. Not like that. “No, but I’ll show you how I feel. I want to touch you, but even more I want you to know how it feels to be touched by a man who doesn’t want to own you or control you.”

The nearness of her filled his senses as he waited. Slowly, she removed her hand from his and stood perfectly still, her back pressed into his chest. His heart pounded so hard he was sure she could feel it. One by one the buttons of her dress fell open, and with feather-light strokes he touched the lace beneath.

Without pushing any further, he turned her slightly and kissed her. A deep, slow kiss that warmed them both.

When he finally ended the kiss, he whispered against her open mouth, “You ready to feel a little more?”

She nodded as she pressed her lips to his once more. This time the kiss was hungry and hurried. As it deepened, he slid his hand beneath her dress and closed his fingers over her full breast, covered only by thin lace. He needed to know the woman beneath the proper lady.

Beth trembled, and he knew he’d gone further than she’d ever allowed a man to go, but she wasn’t pulling away. He found it amazing that a woman of twenty-four had never known a man’s touch. The thoughts of what he’d like to do to her in the darkness would probably frighten her to death, so he kept his touch light.

She was learning and he was exploring. It was enough for them both . . . for now.

Any sounds she made were muffled by the kiss. He’d meant to teach her how to feel, but he knew he was the one coming alive. This woman affected him as none had in years, and memories flooded back of another time and another woman in his arms.

Hannah.

He broke the kiss and brushed his lips against Beth’s forehead as he pulled his hand away from her breast and began buttoning her dress. “That was unbelievable, but I fear I’ll die flying too close to heaven if I don’t stop.” Somehow, feeling too deeply for Beth was a betrayal to his wife. The soiled doves he’d slept with a few times had only satisfied a physical need. They hadn’t bothered his heart. Beth was different.

Andrew wasn’t playing around or acting; he could feel alive with her if he allowed his heart to start beating again.

“You made me believe I’m not broken inside,” she whispered. “Thank you for that, even if you were only pretending to care.”

He wanted to tell her he wasn’t pretending, but he didn’t know how to explain what was happening. Self-preservation took over. “You’re welcome. Now, it’s time we turned in for the night, but I reserve the right to pick up our communications later if time and place ever allows.”

Andrew couldn’t believe his own words. If he’d had a gun he’d have shot himself for being an idiot. He had no business even saying such a thing to her, for tempting himself with more misery when they parted.

Only, part of him wanted to believe, even though he’d never knock, that the door was open to continue what he’d started.

“If the time and place ever allows, you’ll be welcomed,” she whispered, already moving into the shadows.

CHAPTER 9

E
VERYONE ELSE IN THE CAMP WAS STILL ASLEEP AS
first light melted across the eastern sky. Madie Delany watched the young cowboy crawl out of his bedroll and move toward the stream. He was doing better but still wasn’t steady on his feet. He hadn’t said more than a few words to her, but he hadn’t been mean either. She’d been on her own since she was twelve, and most of the men she’d met were mean, so she counted the snakebit cowboy on the good guy side of her life.

She wrapped the blanket around her and quietly followed him. A few feet from the water’s edge, she knelt near dried brush. It wasn’t full light, but she watched him take off his clothes and step knee deep into the cold water. Slowly, as if his muscles hurt, he washed his body, but the dark bruises didn’t wash away. He’d been beaten badly. Kicked in the back and on his legs. Maybe even stomped on, from the size of the dark bruises along his lean muscles. More than one man must have held him down, because he was tall and built rawhide strong. She didn’t really know him, but it worried her that he might have made enemies who wanted him dead.

When he walked out of the water and tugged on his trousers, she stepped in front of him.

“What are you doing here?” He looked more embarrassed than angry. “I thought everyone was still asleep.”

“I figured you might like me to take off that bandage over the snakebite.”

He stared at her as if he didn’t trust her. The wet bandage was still tied to his arm.

“It’s dirty.” She pointed. “Does the bite still hurt?”

“No, not much. I tried to get it off, but I couldn’t untie the knot with one hand.” He held out his arm. “You can give it a try, but don’t look at me. I ain’t dressed properly. It wouldn’t be right.”

She nodded. “I already have looked at you. No need for a second viewing. Most of your skin is purple from what I see.” She untied the bandage below his elbow. The area around the two punctures was red and swollen a little, but healing. “How’d this happen, anyway? You’re from around here. You know about rattlers. You’d have to get close enough to dance with a snake to get this kind of bite.”

He stood tall, towering over her by almost a foot. “Some men in town, rough types with whiskey on their breaths, jumped me when I stepped into my hotel room. There were four, but only three grabbed me. The fourth one held a gun on me like he planned to fire if the other three couldn’t handle me. They beat me up, tied me to the bed, and rifled through my clothes and saddlebags. From the sound of their swearing, they weren’t finding what they were after. I heard one say, ‘The kid ain’t got it on him.’ But I have no idea what they were talking about.

“After everything I owned was scattered across the room, I thought they were going to leave me, but one picked up a grain bag with a snake wiggling in it. He pushed my arm in the bag and held it closed until I yelled when the snake bit me. Then he seemed satisfied that I was on my way to the grave. The other three gave me a few final kicks and left.”

Colby frowned. “One said that I’d do anything they said once the poison took hold.”

He couldn’t seem to stop talking to her now that he’d started. “The bite hurt, but I’ll never forget feeling that snake curl around my arm with both of us sharing that bag. I couldn’t move enough to get the bag off, and I was afraid if I moved too much the snake might bite me again, but he seemed to want to curl up next to me.”

Madie began wrapping the wound with a clean cloth she’d had in her pocket since last night when she’d seen how dirty his bandage was. “What did you do to them that made them so mad?”

“I asked,” Colby said. “I didn’t have twenty dollars on me, so I know it wasn’t robbery. The guy with the gun said it wasn’t nothing personal. Just a job, he said, like I shouldn’t be too upset.”

Colby looked relieved to have finally told someone the story. “I was too afraid to tell anyone in town. Afraid the guy with the black mustache and the gun would come back and finish the job. The others were doing what they needed to do, but he looked like he was really enjoying watching. He’d come back to finish the job if the snake hadn’t bit me, so I didn’t even tell the doctor all that had happened.”

“That was smart.” Madie wasn’t so sure how smart it was, but she didn’t want him to feel bad because he was afraid. Fear seemed something she dealt with daily. She’d grown up afraid her father would one day beat her to death, and, when he’d kicked her out claiming she was near enough grown, she’d been afraid she’d starve.

“The maid found me the next morning and called the doctor,” Colby said. “I thought I was in good hands until the doc started shooting something in me. Every shot he gave me took me one step closer to death’s door. I heard him tell the nurse that strong boys like me die of snakebites all the time, but I knew that if I lived the night after being bit it wasn’t the snake that was killing me.”

Madie tied off the bandage that was really no longer needed. “That why you love Mrs. McLaughlin, because she saved your life?”

“She and her husband did do that, I’ve no doubt. If it wasn’t for them I’d be six feet under by now, but I don’t love her. I owe her.”

“You don’t love her?”

He shook his head. “She’s a married lady and probably six or seven years older than me. I wouldn’t mind loving a woman like that someday when I’m older and have made my way in the world. Right now, when my pa finds out what happened to me in town, I’ll be lucky if he’ll let me leave the ranch again before I’m thirty.”

Madie grinned. “I’m glad. I was afraid you were lovesick, and that will kill you as likely as the snake.”

Colby pulled on his shirt. “I do like looking at Mrs. McLaughlin. She’s real pretty.” He remembered his manners. “But so are you, Madie. You’re pretty, too, or you will be as soon as you’re grown into a woman.”

“I’m grown. I don’t think I’m going to get any taller.” She fought to keep the indignation from her voice. “I’m a woman, though. I got a man who loves me and is waiting for me in Fort Worth. He would have come for me, but he’s working real hard. He says he’s going to marry me and build a little house for us to live in. I’ve been his girl for six months now. He takes the train down and spends the day with me every few weeks.”

“That’s real nice, Madie. Real nice.” Colby sat on a log and pulled on his boots. “I’d like to meet him when we get to Fort Worth. If he’s your man, he’s bound to be fine. I’ve noticed you’re a hard worker and a good cook, better than Mrs. McLaughlin, at least around a campfire.”

She beamed at the compliment.

“My Micah is a good man. Sometimes when he comes he brings me something. Nothing big, he’s saving for our house, but something little like a handkerchief, or a bottle of perfume that came all the way from New York City.” She thought of adding that he was kind most of the time, but she didn’t. Her Micah had never hit her except once, so that made him far more good than bad. He also hadn’t written or visited in over a month, but that was because he was working hard.

She offered Colby a hand as he stood and dusted off his dirty jeans.

They walked back to the camp together, talking about how they’d get to Fort Worth soon. For Colby, it was a stopover before heading home, but for her it would be where she found her dream. A little house, a man to take care of her. Life didn’t get much better.

Beth was up and making coffee when they reached the camp. Andrew waved to them as he started the horses down toward the creek for water. The little boys were still asleep. No one seemed to find it noteworthy that Colby and Madie had become friends.

Madie started the biscuits while Colby rolled up the bedrolls.

“You make great biscuits,” he said, watching her. “I never get much bread unless we buy it in town. My mom ran off when I was little, and my pa’s idea of cooking is catching the first thing he sees, killing it, and then scorching it in the skillet. If it ain’t fit to eat, he shakes salt on it and tries again.”

She giggled. “I learned to cook at the café. Everyone is nice to me there. The owner even lets me sleep in the back.”

“You like working there?” Beth asked as she handed Madie the coffeepot.

“Most times. It’s hard work, getting up at five to have breakfast ready for the first rush of folks. We were usually busy until after one, then my boss had me pack up what food we had left over that would travel and take it down to the station. I’d sell sandwiches and fried pies to the people boarding the trains. He let me keep half the money.” She smiled. “I’ve been saving my nickels and dimes to go meet my man, Micah Summerset. He works in the turnaround yard at the station, so he shouldn’t be too hard to find when we get to Fort Worth. I can’t wait to see his face when I walk up.”

Colby nodded. “I’ve been to the train yard once. I’ll show you where to go.” He hesitated and added, “Don’t you think you’re a little young to have a man, Madie?”

She glared at him. “I’m fifteen and I’ve had my curse more than once. I guess I’m old enough.”

Colby turned beet red, like he’d stopped breathing and all the blood had gone to his head.

If Beth hadn’t patted him on the back and told him to go help with the horses, he might have died on the spot.

Madie watched him almost run to the stream. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

Beth shrugged. “Men are funny creatures. They kill game, butcher hogs, and fight until they’re bloody, but most can’t stand it when a lady talks about her monthly time. It’s something they don’t understand and can’t seem to deal with.”

“Oh.” Now it was Madie’s time to redden. “I’m always saying things I shouldn’t. Now I won’t be able to look him in the face again. I might as well ride in the back of the wagon and stare at the dirt we’re kicking up.”

“No, Madeline, you’ll do no such thing,” Beth said. “When he comes back, you’ll offer him a biscuit and act like nothing happened. It will only embarrass him more if he thinks you noticed how embarrassed he was. I’m guessing he doesn’t have any sisters or a mother who explained things to him.”

“You sure? Maybe he won’t want to ever talk to me again.”

Beth straightened. “A lady never allows those around her to be uncomfortable. It’s not polite. If you’re going to start being a lady, you might as well learn the rules.”

“All right.” Madie didn’t know if Beth knew what she was talking about, but when Colby came back she did exactly what the pretty lady told her to do. She offered Colby a biscuit and talked about how the day was warming up already.

He didn’t meet her eyes, but he managed to compliment her on the meal. In return, she served him the rest of the eggs, which he promptly said were the best he’d ever tasted.

“Thank you,” Madie said. “I’ll pack the extra biscuits up for you and the boys. After not eating for days you must still be starving. Mr. McLaughlin says we probably won’t stop again until we get to Fort Worth, so you’re bound to get hungry.”

He finally met her gaze. “I’m so hungry I could eat that snake that bit me.”

She giggled again. “If you catch it, I’ll cook it for you.”

As easy as that, they were back talking. Madie spent the morning watching Beth and decided by the time she was in her twenties she’d be a lady too.

She noticed something was going on between the lady and her husband. He didn’t act like most husbands; he was always offering to help her, and Beth didn’t act like a wife. She was always touching him for no good reason. It was almost like they were flirting with each other.

A few hours after noon, when they drove into Fort Worth, everyone was silent. The plan to get away had seemed simple, but now the fear of what would happen next weighed heavily on them all.

The boys would have to go into the worst part of town to look for their father. Madie had talked to them many nights after the café closed and they’d sneaked into the kitchen for the last of the soup. From what she’d heard, their father was a gambler who fancied himself an actor. They knew he’d be glad to see them, but Levi had whispered once to her that he didn’t know if their father could take care of them. Evidently he’d never shown any sign of it before.

Madie told the boys they could stay with her in her little house. But deep down she feared her Micah might not be as glad to see her as she hoped. Though he’d never written, when he left he’d said he’d be thinking of her every minute until he came back. For several weeks, she dressed in her one good dress and waited every Sunday for him to show. She was starting to wonder if he was thinking of her at all.

Madie looked at the others in the wagon. They were a ragged band full of dreams and fears. Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin seemed to be running from something or someone, but problems have a way of following close behind.

Colby was recovering, but he wasn’t rushing home. Surely his pa couldn’t be too mad over him wanting to see some of the state before he took the train home. He talked of his ranch, but maybe he wanted adventure more. The good kind, not the kind he’d had in his hotel room with the snake.

They all seemed like migrating birds who had lost true north. Each stared wide-eyed at the dusty town built in shades of brown and gray. Fort Worth didn’t look like much of a place for dreams coming true, but then neither had Dallas.