Shadow of Regret (Shadow #3) (12 page)

Rose knew that her body trembled when Quinn finally stopped talking and began kissing her as if he’d never kissed her before. He touched her in places she’d never been touched before. Her heart was beating so fast and hard she thought he could surely hear it. Nevertheless, she trusted him, and followed where he led. The love she had for him consumed her whole being.

Afterward, Quinn lay beside her, but with his head turned away from her, which bothered her. Had she done it wrong? Was it not good? Why did he turn away? “Quinn, please look at me,” she pleaded.

“I…I can’t,” he replied softly.

“I need you to look at me after what just transpired. I need—”

He turned quickly to look at her, and she saw tears streaming down his cheeks. “I didn’t want you to see this, but I can’t seem to stop them.”

“Why?” she asked.

“I’ve never experienced anything so beautiful in my whole life, and it’s left me shattered. Men aren’t supposed to cry, but the emotion of what just happened—it’s left me weak and helpless.” He laughed a bit through his tears.

“I love you, Quinn,” she said. “I want you to be able to share everything with me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“All right. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been intimate with someone I was in love with, and the experience is completely different. I can’t describe it.” He stroked her cheek. “What we have, what we shared, can only be described as a gift from God. He’s blessing our marriage, Rose. He’s telling me that He and I are good now.” Quinn hugged her. “I love you beyond reason, Rose. You have changed my life.”

“Now look what you’ve done.” She sniffled. “Now I’m crying.” She hugged him to her and their tears mingled together.

“Rose, I know that tonight might not have been as perfect for you, but it’s because it was your first experience. It'll get better, and that's a promise,” he said.

She hugged him. “Anytime I’m in your arms is a good time.”

“Now it’s my turn,” she said. “I would have waited for as long as it took for you to make me completely yours. My love for you has nothing to do with that part. I love being with you. I love sharing my life with you. I would have waited, but I do admit that I doubted my seductive abilities after Dora’s visit.”

Rose saw Quinn study her face in the dim light. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world. Don’t ever doubt that you are gorgeous—even in your flannel nightgown.” He smiled.

In the morning it took Quinn longer than usual to depart for the livery, since their goodbye kisses were so heated, she thought he wouldn’t go to work at all. After he’d finally kissed her for the tenth time, and slipped out the door, she sat back and sighed.

They were moving into Jonas’s old house tomorrow, so she would spend her day packing. Most of her stuff was still packed, owed to the fact that there was nowhere she could have unpacked her things in the first place. She figured she’d start early while the apartment was still fairly cool.

She worked on Quinn’s things, first, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Quinn had, once again, instructed her to not open the door to anyone. She approached the door and asked, “Who’s there?”

“It’s Dora! Open up, hon, I got news.”

Rose rolled her eyes, but opened the door. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Dora, she just didn’t want Dora to make her feel unattractive again.

Dora sailed into the room, and plopped down on the sofa. “Oh, I knew it! Didn’t I tell you?”

“What?” Rose asked, shutting the door and locking it.

“Your eyes have a sparkle in them, and your cheeks are rosy. The dress and hair did the trick—I knew they would.”

Rose simply smiled.

“My news is more important right now, but you can give me the details later,” Dora said with a wink.

“Some things,” Rose said, “are best left to the imagination.”

“Huh?” Dora said. “Well, here’s my news. Liza Banner, also known as Daisy, is back in town. The other saloon girls don’t like her much. Not only does she take away our best fellas, but she robs them, too, and that’s bad for business. I think Quinn’s the only one that got shot, though. Anyway, the piano player at the Horseshoe Saloon told Molly that Liza and her man were planning to come back here and fleece Quinn again. They’ve been waiting for him to come into one of the saloons so they could get him drunk enough to rob him again. Somehow they’ve discovered that he’s rebuilt his business.

Rose paled. “Oh, no!”

“I’ve got a bunch of saloon girls willing to put a stop to her and that man she calls her husband, who really isn’t.  Liza’s wearing a black wig this time, and we hardly recognized her.

“Anyway, the other saloon girls love the way my hair shines, and they want to know if you can get them some soap, too.”

“If we cut them in half I might have enough,” Rose said. “My mother will be making more soon. I’ll ask her to teach me how to make it next time.

“How can you and the saloon girls stop Liza?” Rose asked.

“We’ll need your help. Here’s our plan: we'll get the word out through the piano player, whose name is Nick, that Quinn spent the whole day at the Silver Slipper drinking, and he’s gone home to sleep it off. When Liza hears that, she’ll come over, and try to rob him again, only this time we’ll be waiting for her.” Dora pulled up her dress to reveal a shiny little derringer tucked neatly into her garter.

“I don’t like it, Dora. It’s too dangerous. That man with her could shoot us like he did Quinn,” Rose said.

Dora sighed. “Maybe you’re right, but I do want Liza stopped. This is the only town in these parts that doesn't know her face, and that's why she keeps coming back here. She tried to rob a man in Salina, and the law came down on her and ran her out of town. If she so much as steps foot—”

“That’s it!” Rose exclaimed. “We could have the constable waiting for Liza, here.”

“I like that idea!” Dora said, clapping her hands together.

“But we have to do it while Quinn is at work because I doubt he’d go along with this,” Rose said. “He warned me to not let anyone in the house while he was gone.”

“Here’s the plan then: I’ll go back and spread the rumor about Quinn being drunk, and you go and get the constable. Once Liza hears Quinn is out cold on his sofa, she’ll get here pretty fast.” Dora jumped up. “See you in a while,” she said, going out the door.

Rose was nervous as she walked to the constable’s office. How did she ever let Dora talk her into this scheme? She did, however, want Liza caught, especially if she was after Quinn again. She prayed no one would get hurt in the process.

She walked into the constable’s office and took a look around. There were two desks in the room, and she could see jail cells down the hall.

“Can I help you?” a young man behind the smaller desk asked.

“I’m looking for the constable.”

“He’s out on a call,” he said. “Can I help in some way?”

Rose wrung her hands. They hadn't considered that the constable wouldn't be available to execute their plans. What should she do now?

“Will he be back soon?” she asked nervously.

“I think he should be,” he said. “He’s been gone quite a while. Two neighbors out on Mill Road are feuding, and shots were fired. It’s happened before, and it never takes him long to settle things.

“If I can’t help you,” he said, “can I give him a message?”

“When he returns, he needs to come to my apartment over the hardware store, immediately. We are fairly sure the two people who robbed and shot my husband will be coming back to do it again, today.”

“I surely will,” the man said.

Rose walked back to the apartment, praying that the constable would be there before Liza arrived.

“Jonas!” Quinn greeted him as he slid out from underneath a buggy. “I thought those were your boots stomping in.”

Quinn stood, revealing hands that were full of grease. “I’m greasing the springs and wheels.” He looked closer at Quinn’s face. “Hey, what’s the matter? Is something wrong?” Quinn stood and awaited Jonas’s answer. He grabbed a rag and wiped at his hands. “You’re scaring me, Jonas. What is it?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this. I just came to give you the key to the house,” Jonas said, “but there’s been a shooting at your apartment. The constable has his men surrounding the place. Where’s Rose?”

Quinn felt faint. “In the apartment!” He ran for the door with Jonas right behind him. He continued to run until he thought his lungs might collapse. When he approached the hardware store, all he could see were lawmen standing outside of the door leading to his apartment.

Quinn tried to push his way through, but one of the lawmen held him back. “You can’t go in there,” he said gruffly.

“But that’s my apartment. My wife’s in there! What’s happened?” Quinn asked frantically. Jonas was standing right behind him.

“A shooting. A woman was shot, but we have the shooters, and they’ve already been taken away to jail. Doc Harris is with the woman who was shot.”

“That’s my wife!" Quinn practically screamed. “You have to let me go to her!”

“Wait a minute,” the man said. He turned, and conversed with another lawman.

“Jonas, I have to get up there. The woman who was shot has to be my Rose—”

“I’m with you, Quinn. I love her, too. We just have to stay calm if we’re to think clearly. Let's pray.”

As soon as Jonas said ‘pray,’ Quinn felt a sinking feeling. He had bad memories of the last time he prayed for a life. Still, he and God were back on good terms, so he did pray. His pulse was beating so fast he had a hard time concentrating on prayer. All he could think of to say is, “God please let Rose be alive.”

The lawman patted Quinn’s back. “You can go on in.” 

He allowed Jonas to enter with him. Quinn took the stairs two at a time and burst into the apartment. His frantic gaze took in the whole room at once. He saw Rose bent over someone.

“Rose!” Quinn said, relieved.

Rose stood, and Quinn embraced her. “I thought—" He looked behind Rose and saw Dora, lying on the sofa, in a blood-soaked dress. “What happened?”

“It’s a long story,” Rose said. She greeted Jonas.

“What is Dora doing here?” Quinn whispered, a frown evident on his face.

“Can I tell you the story later? I’m anxious to hear what the doctor has to say about her condition.”

Quinn nodded. He watched the doctor as he examined a wound in Dora’s shoulder. He also saw a small derringer on the floor. He knew Rose didn’t own a gun, so he figured it must be Dora’s. He couldn’t wait to hear the story, but he was relieved it hadn't been Rose who was shot. While he waited, he thanked God silently.

“What a relief!” Jonas said. “I’ll leave the key with you. I have to get back in case this news somehow gets back to Ivy, or her mother.”

“Jonas,” Rose said, “can we move into the house tonight?”

“I see no reason why you can’t. Why?” Jonas handed Quinn the key.

“We need a place for Dora to recuperate,” she said.

“What?” Quinn whispered. “Dora? Our new home? No, Rose.”

“Yes,” Rose whispered back. “She saved my life, Quinn.”

Her words silenced him.

“I’ll go back home and tell Ivy that Rose is all right,” Jonas said to Quinn, “then I’ll come back with Caleb. We’ll get you moved tonight.”

Since Jonas and Ivy had purchased all new furnishings for their new house, the Eden Road home was fully furnished. Quinn and Rose had nothing to do except organize their clothing and personal belongings. Rose had rushed ahead on horseback to make up the beds with clean linens.

Dora rode to their home in the doctor’s buggy, and was placed in the room that had once been Zoe’s. The doctor had given her
laudanum, and she slept through the move to the new house. The doctor left after depositing Dora in her room, but promised to return to check on her the next day.

Quinn and Rose had no servants yet, so Jonas sent over, Olga, a middle-aged maid of theirs until he and Rose could hire one.

Caleb sent one of his servants, Pauline, over to help, too. Quinn and Rose were so thankful for their family.

When Quinn and Rose finally had the chance to sit down in the sitting room, on the sofa, Olga served them tea and little sandwiches. Rose laid her head on her husband’s shoulder. “What a day!” she said.

“Are you ready to tell me about it?” He hugged her to him. “I deserve to know, since I lost ten good years of my life when I ran to the apartment from the livery.”

“I’m sorry, Quinn. I’ll find a way to make it up to you,” she said with a smile.

“And soon,” he said, also smiling.  “Now, tell me what happened.”

She relayed the plan she and Dora had thought up to capture Liza and her friend to Quinn. He rolled his eyes, but kept silent.

“We thought everything would fall perfectly into place until the constable wasn’t available. We never thought that he wouldn't be there, so I went back to the apartment, and Dora and I planned to try to scare them off with her derringer,” she said.

“Dora was right when she said they’d waste no time getting to your apartment when they heard you were passed out drunk, at home.

“I purposely left the door unlocked, and I sat on the sofa while Dora hid in the bedroom, behind my dresses, in the closet. They stormed in; the man held a gun on me. The first thing they asked was where you were. I told them you were in the bedroom.

“They were puzzled when they didn’t find you, but they asked me who I was. I said I was Mrs. Iverson, Quinn’s wife. They demanded that I give them money, and the keys to the livery. I told them I didn’t have either. The man swore, and Liza realized they’d been tricked. The man became angry. He said, ‘Then I’ll shoot you!’ and he aimed the gun at me.” Rose’s voice trembled. “And then Dora came running out of the bedroom and slipped in front of me, holding her little derringer, just before he pulled the trigger. Lucky for both of us, the constable showed up about then.