Texas Brides Collection (75 page)

Benjamin found Pearl in her room. Little red veins appeared in the whites of her brown eyes, and the lids were red, too. Her skin, though still creamy, looked splotchy. He’d caught her crying before and surmised she was thinking about her home. At least, that’s what she always told him when sadness overcame her.

She looked up from folding a dress and gasped. “Benjamin! What are you doing, sneaking up on a body like that?” When she looked away from him and resumed folding, he understood she wanted him to ignore her saddened state.

Leaning against the door frame, he dressed his face in its best smile. “Gettin’ ready to go to a party later?”

She shook her head but didn’t look at him.

After ascertaining no one would overhear them, he approached Pearl. “You must be plannin’ on something important. You haven’t even asked me how much the take was.” He kept his voice low in volume.

That got her attention. She regarded him. “How much?”

“Here’s your share for the week.” He handed her twenty dollars.

“Not bad.” She inspected the bills and then hid them in her bodice. “Now you wouldn’t cheat me, would you, Benjamin?”

“Never. Not you.” He smiled as if he meant it, and he did. He and Pearl always joked about how they would cheat gamblers, but never each other. Stroking her cheek, he noticed her gardenia perfume. “And even if I did, you could forgive me, couldn’t you?”

“Maybe.” She smiled. “But you better not try.”

He laughed and stepped back. “You’d better not try any fast maneuvers on me, either. Even though I could forgive you anything.”

“Could you really?” She cocked her head.

“Yes. I do believe I could.”

“Maybe you better watch what you say,” she advised.

“Oh? How come?”

“Because you won’t like what I’m about to tell you.” Her coy manner evaporated as she took in a breath and let it out. “Today was my last with Sadie, and with you. I’m leaving tonight.”

“What? What do you mean, leaving?” Anger overtook shock. “You can’t do that to me.”

Pearl flinched and covered her face.

“Now you know I would never haul off and hit you, Pearl. But I tell you, you can’t do that. Don’t you see what you’re losing? We have the perfect business. Why would you want to leave?”

“It’s my ma. She’s sick. Real sick.” Pearl cried anew.

His heart softened, and he took her into his arms. As soon as he did, her sobbing increased, tears wetting his shirt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. But you know what? I’ll wait for you to come back. Why, I’ll even take a vacation, a little break. Maybe I can visit Reuben’s family in Wyoming. How does that sound?”

“I—I don’t want you to wait for me. You don’t need to worry. Plenty of other women would be glad to take my place.” He could tell by her anxious expression the suggestion pained her.

“But I don’t want anyone else to work with me. We’re a team, Pearl.”

“I know it.” Her sobs increased. “But Ma needs me. I gotta go. You—you can make do without me.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Sure you can. You’re skilled—and lucky—at gambling. Why, I think you’d win most every time even without me.”

“It’s not just the gambling, Pearl. You know that. Don’t you? Without you I’d have no heart left at all.”

She drew back and sniffled.

He reached in his pocket and handed her his red bandanna.

She accepted the kerchief and wiped her eyes. “Neither will I, Benjamin. Neither will I.”

“Then don’t go. I know you love your ma, but can’t one of your brothers or sisters go to her?”

Pearl shrugged. “You know I’m the youngest of ten. They’ve all long moved on to their own broods. I’m the only one who’s not tied down to hearth and home. So I’m the one who takes the responsibility now.”

Seeing Pearl’s pretty face lined with care saddened him. He knew what he was going to do. And no one would be able to stop him.

T
he next day, hoping no one would see him, Benjamin strode toward the front door of Sadie’s. She was the only person who knew he planned to leave. He wanted to keep it that way.

He had only a few more paces to the exit when a familiar female voice stopped him. “Say, Bennie, whatcha doin’?”

Letting out a sigh, he turned to face Eliza. “Why are you up at ten in the morning? Aren’t you usually in bed at this hour, still getting your beauty rest? Not that you need it.” He sent her the sardonic grin he knew she loved.

She drew closer. “Flattery will get you everywhere, except out of answerin’ my question. Are you thinkin’ of leavin’ us?”

Benjamin looked down at the trunk that housed every possession he owned. Their number was not great. He hadn’t ever needed much. His life hadn’t been one of fond memories tracked by souvenirs, so two changes of clothes and some toiletries were all he ever needed.

“You won’t answer. You must be leavin’.”

He twisted the heel of his boot into the floor. “Matter of fact, I am.”

She placed her hand on her hip. “Where?”

“Out of town.”

“For how long?”

“Don’t rightly know. Not sure if I’ll ever come back.”

Eliza’s painted face fell. “Not sure if you’ll ever come back? Whatcha mean by that kind of crazy talk?”

“It’s no crazy talk.” Benjamin didn’t want to admit he planned to follow Pearl because he couldn’t stand to be without her—and because he saw a new opportunity in relocating. “I need to leave town, to—to—help out a friend.”

“Pearl.” Eliza grimaced and crossed her arms.

He didn’t answer but looked at the pine floor.

“Don’t try to fool me. I know she left yesterday. Something about her ma dyin’. But she didn’t say nothin’ about you goin’, too.”

He looked into Eliza’s face. “That’s because she doesn’t know.”

Eliza shook her head. “This gets crazier by the minute. If Pearl didn’t invite you, why are you goin’? There’s plenty of us around here who’d love to take her place.”

When Eliza swayed her hips, the motions had no effect on his heart or emotions. The realization only made him long for Pearl.

Eliza persisted. “I’ll bet Sadie doesn’t like that you’re leavin’.”

“No. She doesn’t like it at all,” Benjamin admitted. “And Pearl might not like it, either. But I’m a man who’s hard to stop once I set my mind to something.”

“That I know. But don’t stay too long.”

Benjamin didn’t make such a promise but tipped his hat as Sadie had taught him and left.

As he made his way to the corner where he was supposed to meet the coach, he tried not to look back. Leaving the familiar house presented new opportunities, but he hadn’t remembered feeling so anxious since his brothers dropped him off there years ago. He wondered what awaited him at Pearl’s family ranch.

Minutes later, to his surprise, among the crowd Benjamin saw Pearl approach the corner of Main and First. Like him she had only one trunk. But instead of her familiar red rouge, darkened lips, and black lines around her eyes, she had left her face bare. He studied her countenance, hoping his admiration wasn’t obvious. Her cheeks contained natural color, a soft pink rather than the red circles to which he was accustomed. Even without paint accentuating her eyes, their chestnut color stood out, dotting skin the color of cream. Red color no longer covered her lips, but her full mouth still looked appealing. Pearl had always possessed beautiful black hair. The sun caught reddish highlights he had never before noticed. He hadn’t thought it possible, but she looked more ravishing on that day than she ever had at Sadie’s.

Feeling curious and amused stares upon him, he remembered they stood amid three others awaiting rides out of town. Apparently he had been observing Pearl too long, and his fellow sojourners had taken notice.

At that moment, Pearl’s glance caught his. Her mouth slackened, and he watched surprise turn to vexation. “What are you doing here?” she asked, keeping her voice just above a whisper.

“Waiting for a coach. What are you doing here? I thought you left these parts yesterday.”

“I was planning to, but the coach I was supposed to be on broke down. So they said I could ride out on the next one.”

“But I didn’t see you at Sadie’s last night.”

Pearl shook her head. “I’d said my good-byes. I couldn’t return. I stayed at Mrs. Hoffman’s.”

“Mrs. Hoffman’s?” He started to say more, then thought better of it.

“I know what you’re thinking. She wouldn’t want a woman like me in her place. But without my face paint, I’m not sure she realized who I was.” She averted her eyes. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here. You aren’t leaving because of me, are you?”

He took her aside, out of earshot of the others. “I decided on my own to leave town. To start a new life. Time to move on before the gamblers around town catch on to my tricks.” Remembering W.C.’s veiled threat, he held back a shudder.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. They have their fun. Where would they be without you to offer them a challenge?”

“I suppose. Sort of like trying to outgun a sharpshooter. Haven’t been caught yet. Well, except for that one time when that traveler caught on and landed me a pretty good punch in the jaw.” Benjamin rubbed the now-healed spot. His account attracted the attention of one of the ladies. She clutched her bag closer to her, apparently afraid that Benjamin might be interested in her cash, too.

“Yes, you do present a challenge,” Pearl conceded and smiled.

He liked her familiar smile, even though it wasn’t painted on.

Soon the coach arrived, jangling to a stop. Minding his manners, he acted the gentleman, letting the ladies board before him and taking the least desirable seat by the window. Dust always came through there the most, especially landing on those who faced forward. Pearl’s posture relaxed, and he felt comfortable.

After five hours of riding down bumpy trails, away to another world Benjamin didn’t know anything about, the coach finally stopped for dinner at a town even smaller than Denmark. The inn in question wasn’t much better than a bunkhouse. The meal offered was a watery soup of beans and carrots.

He stuck near Pearl, glad to have her as a dinner companion until he sat beside her at a corner table.

“What is the meaning of all this?” she hissed.

“All this?” Peering around her, he noticed no one else was nearby. No wonder Pearl didn’t mind speaking freely. He didn’t like the ire he saw in her flashing brown eyes. Clearly she had saved her wrath just for his ears. “Why the change in attitude? You seemed fine before.”

“I only seemed fine. I don’t like making a public spectacle of myself. Now that we’re alone, I want to know what you mean by following me like this. You have no right. I’m finished with that life—for good. I don’t ask or expect you to change for me. Why don’t you go back to the life you know? The life where you have plenty of money and more than enough eager women.” She rose from her seat. A fresh tear dripped down her cheek. “You can start by eating dinner by yourself.”

Her angry words notwithstanding, Benjamin knew he had made the right decision to join her. The tear told him all he needed to know. Desperate to stop her, he blurted, “I’m changing my ways, too.”

She stopped in midmotion, nearly spilling her soup before returning to her seat. “You are?”

He crossed his fingers behind his back. “Yes.”

She looked at him cockeyed. “I hope you really mean that, because I have news for you. If you go home with me, you’re going straight whether you like it or not.”

“Oh?” He looked at her without flinching or blinking, a skill garnered from years of gambling.

“Ma won’t allow any illegal or immoral activities on her ranch. In fact, she might not even let you stay since she knows you’re a link to a part of my life she doesn’t approve of.”

He stirred his soup as he clenched his back teeth under closed lips. His plans to convince Pearl to help him win a few dollars from bored ranch hands looked as doomed as a man holding a hand of twenty-two in blackjack. But he wasn’t giving up that easily. Not with his way of living at stake. “If she doesn’t approve of your past, why are you running back to her now?”

“Because she’s my ma, that’s why. Not that I can expect you to understand that.”

He hadn’t seen that coming. This time Benjamin winced.

“I’m sorry,” Pearl blurted. “The way you were brought up isn’t your fault.” She reached across the table and placed a comforting hand on his arm. She swallowed. “Truth be told, out of all my sisters, I’m not Ma’s first choice. She’s only letting me come back home because she’s desperate for help.” Her crying had slowed as she spoke, but now fresh tears poured down her cheeks unabated.

Benjamin reached into his pocket and pulled out his red bandanna. “Here you go.”

She accepted the gesture, and they heard the driver calling out the room assignments for the night’s lodging.

Benjamin took the opportunity to embrace Pearl, not caring about the stares and odd glances they received. “I know your ma has been judgmental and condemning of you in the past. Don’t worry. You can always come to me for a shoulder to cry on. I’ll protect you,” he murmured into her ear.

She pulled away. “I don’t need protection. Not from you, not from anybody.”