Teton Sunrise (Teton Romance Trilogy) (9 page)

Evelyn spun around, and buried her face in the muslin she still held in her hands. If Charlie had aimed better, her entire life would be different. Alex would be dead.

“Charlie Richardson? That
corncracker
is the one who shot me?” Alex’s voice boomed behind her. Evelyn wheeled to face him. Anger blazed in his eyes, where moments ago she’d seen a spark of tenderness.

“You deserved it, and more,” Evelyn shouted, advancing on him.

“Like hell I did.” Alex stepped toward her until they stood mere inches from each other. He towered over her, his eyes smoldering anger as he stared down at her. His grimace was more than intimidating. 

Evelyn’s eyes widened. It was the same look he wore yesterday just before he grabbed her. No sooner had the thought entered her mind when his hands clamped around her upper arms. She tensed. For a moment, she was sure he would shake her, but his grip eased instantly, and his features softened.

“
Evie
, I didn’t kill your folks.” His voice had gone normal again. There was an almost pleading tone to his words.

“What were you doing at the farm, then?” She wanted to back away, but his eyes compelled her to remain rooted to the spot. The warmth from his hands radiated into her arms, and he stood so close, the scent of leather and clean male skin assaulted her senses.

Alex’s eyes raked over her face. He didn’t respond for the longest time. When he did, his lips curved in a soft
smile,
completely transforming his features right before her eyes into those of the boy she had lost her heart to all those years ago.

“I wanted to visit old friends,” he finally answered.

Evelyn blinked. Her eyebrows scrunched together, and she shook her head slightly. She wanted to believe the Alex who stood before her. It had been so much easier to be distrustful of him when he looked like an uncivilized savage.

Don’t fool yourself,
Evie
.

Just because his clean appearance reminded her of the boy she remembered from her childhood didn’t mean he was innocent. He had become a hardened mountain man. An innocent man wouldn’t have run away, would he? He still held her arms, sending inexplicable waves of heat crashing through her. She tightened her grip on the muslin in her hand.

Alex finally released her, but he didn’t move away. Instantly, the skin where he’d touched her turned cold. Evelyn shivered, wishing he hadn’t let go, yearning for him to hold her. How could he elicit such feelings? Alex’s features blurred in front of her, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Then who killed my parents, Alex?” she whispered. “Who would want them dead?”

Alex cursed under his breath. “What would Charlie have to gain by killing your ma and pa?” he asked suddenly.

Evelyn wiped the tears from her face. Charles? The thought had never entered her mind. “I . . . I don’t . . .” Evelyn’s eyes widened. Had the truth been in front of her all along? “He bought the farm, and Henry betrothed me to him.”

Alex’s eyes blazed anew. “He may own your farm,” he said between clenched teeth. “But for now, you belong to me.” 

Chapter 7

Laurent
Berard
whistled loudly through his teeth. His eyes widened, the disbelief clearly written on his face. He jumped so fast from his seat on the
ground,
Alex thought a spark from the nearby campfire had burned a hole in the Frenchman’s backside. His mouth expanded in a broad smile and his eyes twinkled with mischief. Alex groaned silently as he strode closer into camp. Yancey wisely hadn’t left his spot in the dirt, but his jaw dropped and his eyes popped as if he’d seen a two-headed beaver. The three other men in camp gaped openly. Two sniggered, and the other coughed dramatically.

“A woman in your life is agreeing with you,
mon
ami
,” Laurent said loudly. He clasped Alex’s arms and squeezed heartily. He angled his head first one way and then the other, and sniffed the air.  “You look and smell as pretty as
a young
mangeur
de lard
fresh from the east.” The three men at the fire burst out laughing.

Alex yanked his knife from his belt and held it to the Frenchman’s throat, glaring at his friend. Laurent released his arms and tilted his chin to the side to avoid the sharp tip, but the threat of a knife in his jugular apparently didn’t diminish the man’s amusement. Alex had known that his comrades would mock the change in his appearance. If any man other than Laurent had referred to him as a pork eater, he would have considered it a great insult, but even coming from his friend, that didn’t mean he had to take the friendly barb lying down.

“Is she a nice robe warmer, Walker? Must be better than an Injun squaw,” one man called loudly. The others didn’t hide the eager expressions on their faces, waiting for Alex to satisfy their curiosity about the woman everyone assumed he had taken as his wife.

“She’ll do,” Alex answered gruffly. He glared at Laurent, his jaw clenched. The others nodded approval and slapped each other on their backs. Ignoring his comrades, Alex lowered his knife and motioned for the Frenchman to follow him away from camp. He didn’t need to watch and listen to any more goading. They didn’t need to know the reason for his absence from camp the night before. If they wanted to assume he had spent it in the arms of his new bride, then so be it.

The thought of spending a night in the arms of a woman like
Evie
sent his heart racing in his chest. Earlier, he told her that she belonged to him.  If only it were true.  The idea of Charlie Richardson laying a hand on her caused his muscles to tense, just as hot rage had flooded him when he watched other eager men barter for her. That he had yet to pay for his acquisition was best kept between him and Laurent.

After his claim of ownership,
Evie
had told him in no uncertain terms that she would never belong to him, and had stormed into Aimee’s medical tent. For fear of his own temper getting the better of him, Alex had thought it wise to try reasoning with her again another time. If Evelyn found out that he had no real hold on her, she was just the type of woman to try something foolish and leave. For her own safety, it was better that everyone believed she was his newly acquired wife, at least until they both could figure out what to do. Now all he had to do was keep his own distance.

“Why are you not with your lovely young bride?” Laurent asked when they were out of earshot from the rest of the men.

Alex stopped in his tracks and faced the Frenchman. He and Laurent had been friends for four years, ever since Alex had helped him escape from a war party of Blackfeet. From then on, they had traveled the wilderness together, trapping and hunting the streams and tributaries of the Snake River Country below the
Teewinots
, sometimes venturing further north into the Yellowstone. While Alex was committed to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Laurent had always been a free trapper. Now that Alex had cut his ties with the company, he was eager to reach the small, secluded valley at the base of the great Teton Mountains. Laurent made his home in that valley, and last winter they had planned for Alex to build his own cabin.

Glancing over his shoulder, Alex leaned toward Laurent and said in a hushed voice, “You know damn well she’s not my wife. I didn’t pay you anything for her.”

Laurent shrugged and grinned. “You have not paid me the amount you boldly proclaimed you would pay for her. All I ask is one beaver pelt.” He held up a hand as if warding off an attack. “I will accept nothing more. Then she is yours.”

Alex scoffed. Absently, he kicked at the rocks on the ground, stirring up dust. “Do you think I want Evelyn bound to me in that way? She already thinks I murdered her folks. Besides, I
ain’t
no
good for her.” He stared at the ground.

“
Mon
ami
, when will you stop running from your past?”
Laurent placed a heavy hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You are not your father.”

Alex raised his head and stared at the Frenchman. The bruises on
Evie’s
wrists proved otherwise. “What the hell am I supposed to do with her?” He worked the muscles in his jaw. “This arrangement is no better than the slave trade in the east.”

“You are mistaken, my friend,” Laurent said, an easy smile on his face. “The young
mademoiselle
has been under my protection since she boarded that boat in St. Louis. She consented to allow me to be her guardian. I have not abandoned that duty.”

Alex stared at him blankly. “I don’t understand.”

“As her guardian, it is within my right to choose a husband for her, no? I choose you.” He poked a finger in Alex’s chest, making him wince when it jabbed his incision. “The bride price is one beaver
plew
.”

Alex blinked and shook his head. His eyebrows scrunched together. Laurent laughed and slapped him on the back. “It is simple, no? If you were to go to the father of an Absaroka or a Shoshoni, and ask for his daughter in marriage, he would name his price. This is no different. Mademoiselle Lewis has no father or male relative to give her away in marriage. As her guardian, that duty falls to me.” He paused, staring intently at Alex, but the corners of his mouth twitched.

Alex scoffed, shaking his head at the Frenchman’s logic. “Those are the ways here in the mountains.
Evie
is hardly an Injun. She’s the type of woman who would want a church wedding and be married up all proper like.”

“Who says you cannot offer that to her?
In time?
Until the time comes when you go to St. Louis, she is married to you according to the customs of the land.
A la
facon
du pay
.”
Laurent stopped smiling. His jaw muscles tightened, and his lips were drawn in a tight line. “It is the only way to protect her from men like Oliver Sabin. You know this is true, Walker.”

Begrudgingly, Alex agreed with Laurent’s reasoning. Hadn’t that been his intent already when he bartered for
Evie
?
To protect her from the likes of Sabin?

“Why didn’t you simply bring her to me? You said you knew I’d be at rendezvous already. Why did you have to put her through the humiliation of
a barter
?” Alex’s voice rose in sudden anger. He hadn’t thought to ask these questions the previous day.

“Sabin forced my hand,” Laurent shot back. “He wanted the little
mademoiselle
ever since it was revealed that she was on board that boat. I did what I could to protect her. Once we got to rendezvous, all I could do was buy an hour’s time. If he had not been so insistent, I would have sought you out myself, and simply given her to you.” He stared intently at Alex,
then
smirked. “Besides, you will be doing me a great favor, too. Now that you have a wife, Whispering Waters will see that I am the man for her, and not you.”

Alex groaned silently. Whispering Waters, the Bannock Indian woman he’d met while trading with her father’s tribe over the course of several seasons had made it no secret that she would like nothing better than have him offer a bride price to her father. It was also common knowledge that Laurent was in love with her. Alex never encouraged the young woman’s interest in him, not only out of respect for his friend, but also because he simply felt no attraction to her.

You sure as hell are attracted to
Evie
Lewis, Walker.
And for that very reason you need to stay away from her.

“What the hell am I going to do about her, Laurent? She thinks I killed her folks. I don’t have time to take her back to St. Louis.”

Laurent laughed, and slapped Alex on the back. “Bring her with you to the valley. It is the only solution. I will have to meet with Sabin and his men in a few months, but I will accompany you and help build your cabin, just like we agreed last year, my friend. Perhaps one long winter with
you,
and the
mademoiselle
will see you in a different light, no?” His eyebrows rose suggestively. “You will have many long nights to convince her that you did not kill her parents. There is always time next spring to go to St. Louis and find out who the real murderer is.” 

Alex stared off into the distance. The snow-covered jagged peaks of the Tetons rose like a wolverine’s sharp teeth into the distant sky. These mountains had beckoned to him since he first laid eyes on them six years ago, calling him back year after year. The thought that he would ever want to leave the mountains to return to his old life in St. Charles never crossed his mind.

Alex inhaled a deep breath. He knew what he had to do, what he wanted to do, and both stemmed from the same selfish reasons. If
Evie
didn’t hate him already, she would surely hate him the next time he spoke with her.

****

“I wonder what’s keeping Alex. He said he’d be here at dawn.” Aimee heaved a large leather pouch onto one of her packhorses’ backs. “Hand me that rope there on the ground, please, Evelyn.”

Evelyn reached for the coiled twine, and stepped up beside Aimee. The comment only served as a reminder that Aimee and her family were leaving shortly, and she would be left to deal with Alex on her own. The shorter blond woman glanced up at her with a smile, which faded instantly. She placed a hand on Evelyn’s shoulder, her face etched with concern.