The Anonymous Bride (2 page)

What decent woman let her daughter run around dressed like a boy and playing pranks with older kids?

He clenched his jaw and stared at the woman again. Something inside him quickened.

The woman’s irritated expression changed. Pale blue eyes widened, and her mouth gaped like a fish, opening and closing several times before anything spilled out. “Luke?”

A wagonload of gunpowder exploding right beside him couldn’t have blindsided him more. “Rachel?”

She was older but still beautiful—still the woman he’d loved for so long. Luke straightened. No, he wouldn’t give the thought a foothold. He’d known he would see Rachel when he’d decided to return to town, but this sure wasn’t the meeting he’d expected. He’d faced all manner of dangers in his years in the cavalry, but as he stood there soaking wet in front of the woman who’d stolen his heart and then stomped on it, his brain plumb refused to send words to his mouth.

“You know this fellow, Ma? Make him give me my hat.” The kid—the girl—stood as bold as you please with her hands on her hips, not looking the least bit repentant.

Luke captured Rachel’s gaze, her light blue eyes looking big in the shadows of her navy calico bonnet. He forced himself to speak. “You should ... uh, keep your daughter away from rocks.”

Rachel’s brows puckered. “What?”

Realizing how ridiculous that sounded, he tossed the hat at the girl, spun around, and stormed toward his horse. For years, he’d thought about what he’d say to Rachel if he ever saw her again, but he’d never envisioned it being something about naughty kids or rocks. He groaned and shook his head. She probably thought he’d gone plumb loco. And maybe he had.

CHAPTER 2

A horse in the street whinnied, drawing Rachel back to conscious thought. Luke Davis had returned to Lookout after eleven years. Why now?

“Ow, Ma! Let go.” Jacqueline pried up the little finger of Rachel’s trembling hand, and she released her death grip on her daughter’s shoulder.

“Sorry, sweetie.”

“Who was that man?”

The man who should have been your father—should have been my husband.
Rachel watched Luke enter the livery with his horse following and forced some words through her dry throat. “Just someone I knew a long time ago.”

“Well, he slung me over his saddle like I was a dead deer. Ain’t you gonna do nothin’ about that?”

Rachel took hold of her daughter’s arm and forced her feet into action. She didn’t want to be standing in the same spot if Luke suddenly exited the livery. On wobbly legs, she managed to make it two doors down, where a bench sat in front of the Lookout Bank. She plopped down, pulling Jacqueline with her.

This day had looked so promising when she’d first gotten up. Who could have dreamed that one man’s return would change everything? Did he hate her for what she’d done? He didn’t look happy to see her, but she understood why.

Dampness registered beneath her hand, and she glanced at her daughter. “Why are you all wet? Why are you dressed like that? And why aren’t you in school?”

“I’m all wet because that yahoo was soppin’ wet when he flung me across his lap.”

“Why did he do that?” Rachel blinked, knowing she sounded like Jacqueline had back when she was four and asked
why
all the time. But she needed to know what had happened. What had Luke meant about her daughter and rocks? “Why was he all wet?”

“How should I know?” Jacqueline’s dark blue eyes sparked, and she glanced toward the street. “Maybe he likes to take baths with his clothes on.”

Pursing her lips, Rachel stared at her daughter. “Don’t be crude, Jacqueline.” She perused her daughter’s flannel shirt, faded overalls, and boots—the clothes she was only supposed to wear when gardening. When had she changed out of her school dress? The girl was bound and determined to run with the boys of the town and skip school whenever she could. Rachel twisted her hands. If only she were a better mother, then maybe her daughter wouldn’t run wild like a mustang. She sighed and stood. “Let’s get home and get some dry clothes on you.”

“I don’t mind ’em. They’ll dry soon enough.” With her hands on her hips, she stared upward. “Who is that man?”

Rachel walked down the boardwalk toward Hamilton House. The big, three-story home she’d inherited when her husband died rose up at the end of the street like a monument to the Hamilton family. James wouldn’t like how she’d turned the place into a boardinghouse to help support her and Jacqueline after he’d gambled away the Hamilton fortune.

“Ma–aaa. You’re ignoring me.”

No, not ignoring you. I just don’t want to talk about Luke Davis.
She stiffened her spine and glanced down at her daughter. “He’s someone I went to school with many years ago.”

“Why’d he come back here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why are you so riled up?”

Rachel clenched a fold in her skirt and took a deep breath. She had to get control of herself. Guilt could be such a heavy burden, and seeing Luke again had brought it all rushing back as if the past eleven years had never happened. “I’m just surprised to see him again.”

Jacqueline pursed her lips, studying her mother as if she didn’t quite believe her. “Well, he’d better never haul me up on his horse again.”

Rachel stopped in her tracks. “Just what did you do to him to cause that? I know Luke, and he’s not the kind of person who’d manhandle a child without good reason.”

Jacqueline’s eyes grew wide as if she’d just been caught sneaking cookies from the jar in the kitchen. “Nothin’. I swear I didn’t do nothin’ to that sidewinder.”

Rachel hiked up her chin. “We do not swear or call people names, young lady.”

“Well, he’s got no business treating a girl like that. Made my belly ache.”

Rachel’s gaze swerved down to her daughter’s stomach. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt you, but you still haven’t explained yourself.”

Jacqueline shrugged. “We just yelled at him for watering his horse in our swimming hole.”

That didn’t seem such a bad thing. Why would Luke take offense to that? Maybe he had changed in the years he’d been gone. Gotten cranky as he’d aged. Still, she couldn’t help thinking there was more to the story than Jacqueline was sharing. “Let’s get home and have dinner; then it’s back to school for you.”

Jacqueline hung her head. “Aw, do I have to? I wanted to go fishing with Jonesy and Ricky this afternoon.”

“We have extra guests staying with us since the mayor’s family is in town to celebrate his and his wife’s twenty-fifth anniversary. I could use your help. Besides, you know how I feel about you skipping school to fish and hang around with those older boys.”

“You just don’t like them because they’re poor.” Jacqueline glared up at her.

Rachel stopped on her front porch, noting that the white wicker rockers were all aligned neatly and the greenery in the potted plants was filling out nicely. Too bad she couldn’t keep her daughter so orderly. “That’s not true. My family was poor. Folks who don’t have much are just as good and decent as anyone else. The reason I object is that you’re ten, and you have no business running around with boys who are three years older than you.”

Rachel held on to her daughter’s shoulder to make sure she didn’t bolt. Why couldn’t children come with instructions? She hated the way Jacqueline challenged her constantly and dressed like a boy every time Rachel turned her back. She dearly loved her daughter, in spite of everything, but she wished that she was more obedient and ladylike.

Two boys dashed across the road toward them. “Hey, Jack, that was a close call, wasn’t it?” said Ricky Blake. The tall, towheaded youth skidded to a halt, and Jonesy almost ran into his back.

“My daughter’s name is Jacqueline, not Jack, and I’ll thank you to remember that.” Rachel narrowed her eyes, just realizing what the boy had said. What had been a close call?

Jacqueline scowled, and her gaze roved back and forth between the boys and Rachel. Her daughter was hiding something, but for the life of her, Rachel didn’t know how to get at the truth.

The boys dashed past them, and Jacqueline suddenly jerked away and chased after them.

“Jacqueline, you come back here this instant!”

The trio disappeared around the corner. Ray and Margie Mann and Thelma Jenkins all stopped on the boardwalk outside the bank and stared. Rachel ducked her head. Everyone in town knew her daughter ran wild, despite her efforts to control her.

And now Luke was back in town. Her troubles had quadrupled in a single day.

***

The bell over the freight office door jangled as Luke strode in. He couldn’t shake Rachel’s image from his mind. She’d seemed as stunned to see him as he’d been to see her again. She’d looked good, too good for someone he was trying to forget. But she was a married woman, and he’d best remember that. She’d made her choice a long time ago.

A blond man sitting behind the desk looked up with curious blue eyes, and Luke honestly couldn’t tell which cousin he was. The gangly youth he’d left years ago was now an adult. “Garrett?”

The man’s brows dipped. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, I want to know when your next gold shipment is due in so I can steal it.” Luke struggled to keep a straight face and was careful to keep his hands clear of his gun. Both of his cousins were crack shots.

“Pardon?” Garrett stood and walked around his desk.

Bold move for an unarmed man. Luke grinned. Evidently the confusion ran both directions. “Don’t you recognize me, cuz?”

He scowled at Luke for a second; then his brows dashed upward. “Luke? Is it really you?”

Luke nodded, and Garrett let out a war whoop that brought Mark running out from the back room, holding his rifle. Though a good two inches shorter than Luke, Garrett grabbed him in a bear hug and lifted him clear off his feet. Mark obviously didn’t know whether to shoot or join the ruckus.

“Welcome home, cuz.” Garrett dropped him and slapped him on the back. “How come you’re all wet?”

Mark’s eyes widened. He laid the rifle on Garrett’s desk and hurried forward, his hand outstretched. “Welcome home, Luke. It’s great to see you again.”

They shook hands. Luke’s face hurt from grinning more than it had in a decade. Mark, too, gave him a slap on the shoulder but jumped back when he realized the state of Luke’s clothing. Both brothers leaned on Garrett’s desk, arms crossed. They had the same color hair—although Mark’s was curlier than his older brother’s—and the same robin’s egg blue eyes, but that’s where the similarities ended. Garrett had the chiseled jaw of his father, where Mark’s features were more finely etched with the look of his mother’s side of the family. Two tall, muscular men stared at him instead of the lean youths Luke had left behind.

Garrett glanced out the window and back to Luke. “It hasn’t rained all week, so...” He waved his hand at Luke’s clothing.

“Had a run-in with some of the local kids down by the swimming hole. Two adolescent boys and a girl about eight or nine.” Luke chuckled, remembering what a handful Rachel’s daughter was. “Spunky little thing.”

The brothers exchanged a look. Luke figured it had to do with the girl being Rachel’s daughter. Had one of the boys been hers, too? Mentally calculating the years, he decided they were too old. He leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you again.”

“Are you home for good? Done with your wanderings?” Garrett always did get right to the point.

Luke shrugged. “I’m here for a while. I’m the new town marshal.”

The brothers blinked in unison, their mouths dropping open. Luke smiled at taking them by surprise again. Twice in one day had to be a record.

“Well, that’s good news.” Garrett rubbed the back of his neck. “We haven’t had a marshal since November, when the last one died of a heart condition.”

“How’d you wrangle that job?” Mark asked.

“When I decided to leave the cavalry, I telegraphed the mayor to see if he knew of any jobs in the area, and he told me about needing a marshal and offered me the position. He figured my years in the cavalry qualified me.”

“Yeah, things have gotten rowdy down at the saloon. I hope you can settle them down so us decent folks can get some sleep.”

Luke bit back another smile and shook his head. “Since when are you two hooligans considered decent folk?”

Garrett stood. “Look around, cuz. We’re upstanding businessmen now. We have to protect our reputation.”

The brothers shared another look. One of Mark’s brows darted upward.

Luke shook his head and chuckled. He couldn’t help wondering how many days had passed since one of them had pulled a prank on the other or on some unsuspecting citizen of Lookout. “I’m starving. How about you two”—he lifted his hand to his mouth and faked a cough—“
upstanding citizens
join me for dinner?”

“You buyin’?” Mark asked.

“Sure, why not? I’ve got eleven years of cavalry pay burning a hole in my pocket.”

Both men’s gazes dropped down to Luke’s trousers. He laughed out loud. “You’re so predictable. C’mon, let’s go grab some grub.”