Sullivan (8 page)

Rico and Cash looked quickly over the foursome with calculating eyes.

"Papa," Cash said softly, "you've been keeping secrets from us. Big ones," he added accusingly.

"I know how this must look," Eden said, "and it's really a very funny story. Isn't it, Mr. Sullivan?" She flashed a dimpled smile guaranteed to win over Rico, and maybe even Cash, no matter what story she told.

"Hilarious," he muttered.

"You see, I was traveling to Rock Creek, and I met up with Mr. Sullivan in Webberville...."

"So you two are not..." Rico interrupted, "married?"

"Good heavens, no," Eden said with a widening smile.

Sullivan could see the immediate change that came over Rico and Cash, and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Rico sized up Eden like she was a blackberry pie and he hadn't had dessert for months, flashing his most charming grin in her direction. Cash openly studied her from head to toe, as if judging whether or not she'd make a tasty addition to the girls he already had working in his saloon.

"Fellas," Sullivan said calmly, "this is Miss Eden Rourke, from Georgia."

Rico's smile dimmed slightly. Cash took a step back toward his beloved saloon and said, "Rourke?"

"Yes," Eden said brightly. "I imagine y'all know my brother, Jedidiah. Is he here?"

"Not at the moment," Rico said cautiously. "I expect he will return in a couple of weeks."

Eden's smile faded. She looked disappointed, even though Sullivan had warned her not to expect her brother to be waiting.

"Well"—she sighed—"I guess I'll just have to wait, won't I?"

* * *

The Rock Creek Hotel was a dismal place, but Jedidiah's friends were very nice. Rico Salvatore, a handsome flirt if ever she'd met one, was eager to help move her things into her room. Where Sullivan was given to silence, Rico was not. He told her a little about the hotel, talked to the children, and winked at her every now and then. If not for the very large knife on his belt and the obvious Mexican heritage that showed in his features, he might've been a real Southern gentleman—the kind Jedidiah had always warned her about.

Cash was initially friendly, too, in his own way, but when it came time to start unloading the wagon he disappeared into the saloon. Just as well. With his piercing eyes that looked right through her and that dark, well-trimmed mustache and goatee, he looked like the devil himself. Yes, now she knew the devil wore a dark suit and a white ruffled shirt, and a matching pair of six-shooters, as well.

The room she and the children would share was on the second floor. Rico told her, as he carried the largest of the trunks into the room, that he and Sullivan, and sometimes another friend named Nate, stayed on the third floor. Jedidiah stayed there, too, when he was in town.

Eden tried not to be dismayed as she surveyed her room. Dust covered every surface, and the window was so filthy the afternoon sun was dimmed. The quilt on the bed was stained and torn, and the chest of drawers had a cracked mirror mounted above it. One drawer was missing.

And Rico assured her this was the finest room available. The hotel owner, referred to more than once as "that old crank Grady" was apparently ill, so Rico did the honors of offering her the guest book to sign and assigning her a room.

She wanted to thank Sullivan properly, but as soon as the wagon had been unloaded and her things were placed in her room, he'd disappeared. Literally disappeared without a sound. One minute he stood right behind her in the hotel's dusty lobby; the next he was gone.

"So you are Jed's sister," Rico said.

Eden spun to face the young man who stood in the hotel doorway. "Yes. I was so hoping he'd be here."

Rico stepped into the lobby and gave her a broad grin. Like Sullivan, he was dark and handsome, but beyond that they looked nothing alike. Rico wore his hair short. His build was more on the slender side, though he was far from skinny. And while Sullivan was often sullen and hard to read, Rico had an easy, friendly smile. As a matter of fact, he looked very sweet, but for the fact that he wore that very large knife.

"He will be back," Rico said, trying his best to assure her. "I am sure if he had known you were coming he would have been here to greet you."

She gave Rico a friendly smile of her own. He was an easy man to like, brotherly warnings aside. "If Jedidiah knew I was coming, he would've met me halfway and escorted me promptly back to Georgia. He seems to think me too delicate for Texas."

"You have survived thus far," Rico said with a wink. "If Jed tries to drag you back to Georgia against your will, you call on Rico. Rock Creek doesn't have nearly enough
senoritas bonitas
to suit me. I see no reason to forcefully remove our newest beauty." He bowed crisply to her.

Rico wasn't just friendly, he was an outrageous flirt. "You're kind to offer, but I can handle Jedidiah on my own." After all, she'd had plenty of practice.

* * *

Sullivan led his stallion to the hotel stables and handed the animal to the boy whose father kept the place running. He carried his saddlebags and the contents back to his room. Before proceeding he peeked into the lobby to make sure Eden wasn't still standing there, ready to ambush him. The coast was clear.

Now that Eden had been safely delivered to Rock Creek she was no longer his responsibility, right? He could return to Webberville tomorrow, if he was of a mind, and reclaim his hat and his Colt. He could put Eden Rourke out of his mind for good.

If only he hadn't make the mistake of kissing her.

He made it all the way to the third floor without running into anyone.

The door to the room next to his was open, and Rico sat on the edge of the bed, sharpening a small silver knife. Sullivan could slip past anyone—but Rico.

"Eden Rourke is
muy bonita,
" Rico said without lifting his head from his task.

"Yep."

"She likes you very much, I think."

"I doubt it." His voice was just a little bit too gruff.

"If a
senorita bonita
looked at me the way Eden looked at you, I do not think I could make myself slip out the door while she was not looking." He held the knife up to study the sharp edge.

"The
senoritas
look at you plenty, Kid, and it's brought you nothing but trouble."

"
Senoritas
have brought me the greatest pleasures of my life," Rico said with a grin.

"Well, they've brought me nothing but grief," Sullivan snapped. "Did you get a good look at her?"

"
Si
, "Rico said lowly, his grin never fading.

"Do you really think..." he stumbled. "She's not the kind of woman... She's a lady for God's sake, and she's Jed's little sister."

"I never took you for a coward."

Sullivan moved one door down and almost violently tossed his saddlebags onto the bed.

* * *

Dinner in the hotel dining room was served by a cheerless woman in a dirty apron. When Eden introduced herself, the woman sullenly gave her own name as Lydia. The beef was so tough the children couldn't eat it and Eden didn't want to try. The beans were passable, but not exactly tasty, and the biscuits were burned.

Eden tried to strike up a friendly conversation with Lydia, but the woman obviously wasn't interested. She served the almost inedible meal and then disappeared into the kitchen. Well, she did look tired, and Eden told herself it was possible Lydia was a lovely young woman who was simply having a bad day. Tomorrow she would surely be friendlier.

But when Lydia stuck her head out of the kitchen to snap at Eden, "Aren't you done yet?" she had her doubts about tomorrow.

By the time she settled Teddy on a pallet in the corner of the room and tucked Millie into the bed they would share, her own bedding replacing the hotel's unsatisfactory linens, she was thoroughly dejected. The hotel was not exactly what she'd expected. Rock Creek was not what she'd expected; Jedidiah wasn't here, and Sinclair Sullivan... Sinclair Sullivan had all but vanished.

With the lamp out, she went to the window and looked through a filthy pane of glass. The street below was indistinct, with the sun gone and the clouded glass obscuring her view, but she could see well enough. The town was more lively now than it had been that afternoon; there was a great deal of traffic into and out of the saloon across the street.

For the first time, she considered that coming here might've been a mistake. Jedidiah wasn't in town, and Sullivan was right about one thing. He wouldn't be happy to see her when he did arrive.

Eden took a deep breath and fortified herself. She was here now, and it was too late to go back.

The trip had been hard, but she would make this place her home. True, Rock Creek was not what she'd expected, but perhaps things would look better tomorrow.

Yes, tomorrow.

A tall figure with a familiar head of long dark hair crossed the street from the hotel to the saloon. That long stride was unmistakable, the set of the shoulders and the thick brown hair unique.

She couldn't help but think of the way Sullivan had kissed her last night. Goodness, she'd never felt anything like it, had never imagined that a kiss could be so wonderful. If she tried hard enough she could feel his lips on hers, still. She moved closer to the window, so close her nose almost touched the glass.

Why did she have this deep, gut-wrenching feeling that Sinclair Sullivan was somehow hers? That he
belonged
to her? It was nonsense, really. She hadn't known him long, and he was certainly not the kind of man she expected to marry, when the time came for her to take that momentous step. He was rather rough around the edges, not at all a gentlemen. Not at all the kind of man who would make a suitable husband. She shouldn't be experiencing such feelings for any man other than the one she would marry. It just wasn't right. Was it?

Besides, maybe Sinclair Sullivan wasn't a gentlemen in the traditional sense, but he was definitely honorable and decent and good. And he kissed like an angel.

Her strong and unexpected emotions stemmed from more than just the kiss, she reasoned. She'd felt something for Sullivan the moment she'd looked into his eyes. Well,
eye
, actually, since only the one had been visible when she'd first seen him face-to-face. She felt like she'd known him forever, like he'd be a part of her life from here on out, no matter what.

Last night's kiss had been their first, but she didn't think it would be their last. It had been much too special to ignore. Hadn't it? Was she imagining something that didn't exist?

"Look at me, Sullivan," she whispered, her eyes on Sinclair Sullivan's form as he reached the swinging doors that would lead him to goodness knows what for an evening's entertainment.

"Sinclair," she whispered, liking the sound of his more intimate given name. "Sin," she said, so softly she could barely hear the sound of her own voice. "Look back. Just once, just for a split second." If he looked back and up, she'd know that he was thinking about her, that maybe somewhere deep inside he thought of her as
his
and remembered their kiss.

Just before Sin stepped inside the saloon, he glanced over his shoulder and up, his eyes landing, perhaps, on this very window from which she peered as she willed him to look her way.

And Eden went to bed with a smile on her face.

* * *

Sullivan stepped up to the bar and ordered a glass of whiskey from Yvonne, the only female bartender in these parts, hoping for a few minutes of peace before the vultures descended. No such luck.

"Well, if it isn't
Papa
," Cash drawled.

Sullivan turned his back to Yvonne and leaned casually against the bar. Cash was, as always, dressed in a fine suit and a fancy shirt. The diamond stickpin he'd won in a poker game a few months back was prominent in a black silk tie, and he wore the fancy shoes and flat-brimmed hat he'd ordered from a New York City catalog. His face was downright pretty, his mustache and goatee were always neatly trimmed, and his smile was quick, but Sullivan knew a little of what went on behind those eyes. Cash was not a man you'd want to ignore or turn your back on, but he was a helluva man to have beside you in a fight.

Yvonne set his whiskey on the bar without saying a word and moved away. Damn, the war widow made a fine bartender. She knew when to smile and talk and when to disappear.

"Let's get this over with here and now," Sullivan said calmly. "Go ahead. Have your say."

"Jed's going to kill you," Cash said with a smile. "You come riding into town with his baby sister in tow, a little girl who calls you Papa, and a kid that would easily pass as yours on a quick glance. Quite the happy-looking family." The words were light, but Cash's eyes went hard.

Sullivan explained, as curtly as possible, how he'd met Eden Rourke. He told Cash about Webberville and the run-in with the Merriweather brothers.

Cash's smile died quickly; his eyes darkened, turning almost black. "Webberville, you say. What say we pay them a visit, you and me and Rico and Nate? A surprise visit. Hell, it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to set those rubes straight."

"No," Sullivan said. "I'll handle it myself."

Cash shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care one way or another. "If you need someone to watch your back, give me a holler."

Sullivan knew if he rode into Webberville with Daniel Cash at his side, the men who'd been so quick to jump him would piss their pants and run like hell. While it was an entertaining and tempting thought, he wanted to take care of those men on his own. And he wanted his damn hat back.

"She's an attractive lady," Cash said, changing the subject. "Reminds me of the girls back home. Innocent, respectable, so sweet you just want to lick them all over and see if they taste like penny candy. They have the world at their feet and paradise between their legs and they don't even know it yet." His voice was hard, cynical. His eyes darkened.

Sullivan turned his back to Cash and took a sip of his whiskey. Daniel Cash was as fast and loose with his women and his mouth as he was with his gun, and Sullivan found he was in no mood to hear the gambler and gunslinger talk about
licking
Eden.