The Outlaw Bride (9 page)

He clenched his jaw. “I’m not goin’ to church, Will. It ain’t a place I want to be.” Too many memories—all of them bad. He was pretty sure God would understand.

“And Jenny? Or Kate?”

“Kate can go to church any time she pleases. She’s an employee, not a prisoner,” Connor ground out. At the sound of her name, Kate glanced over her shoulder. He caught her gaze. She still looked ready to spit fire at him. Hell! He wasn’t the one in the wrong here. She was the one caught snooping!

“That woman is far more than an employee,” Will said, lowering his voice and nodding in Kate’s direction once she’d turned back around.

Connor’s heart lurched. Did Will know the lusty thoughts that kept invading his mind? Was he that obvious? “What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s a good woman. She has a warm heart. I’ve only just met her and I can see that. And Jenny is obviously taken with her. She’s a jewel in the rough. Seems to me God sent you an angel when you needed one most. You’d best not take such a gift lightly.”

“She’s no angel, believe me,” he muttered. The devil seemed more likely. Temptation and sin rolled into one delectable body that begged to be touched. Kate was the proverbial forbidden fruit.

Will shook his head. “Sometimes when good things arrive, we need to take the time to unwrap them before we see how truly special they are.”

Connor groaned and dropped his forehead to rest against the tabletop. The idea of unwrapping Kate ran roughshod over the rest of his thoughts.

“Why don’t you boys round up the young ’ins while we dish out the plates,” Amelia said, leaning over the table to set fresh bread in the middle.

“Yes ma’am!” Connor jumped up, thankful for the timely intervention, and made a beeline for the children.

With the children seated at their own table and their meals served, the adults filled the seats at the larger table. Amelia sat Katherine next to her with the Reverend on the other side. Connor took the spot directly across from her. At first, the distance pleased her, until she realized she’d have to spend the entire meal trying not to glance over at him.

Katherine tried to ignore Connor and concentrate on the others. If some families thought silence at the dinner table was proper, the Holkums were not one of them. Will had no sooner finished saying grace than conversations picked up around the table and the noise level rose to a cacophony of voices and laughter. Katherine didn’t think she’d ever seen the like before. Even Connor, who had been sullen the entire ride over, came back to life. His vivid blue eyes danced as he sparred back and forth with Bart and Joyce’s husband, Anthony. She loved to watch him laugh. Everything about him altered when he did. His smile had the power to light up an entire room and chase away the shadows in her heart.

She wished she could freeze this moment in time.

Wishes are for those that can afford them, Katy,
her mama used to say.

She hadn’t believed her for the longest time, but now she knew the truth of it. She’d made her choices—most of them bad. She’d hastily married Rogan to avoid the hardships and indignities her mother had suffered. But what had it gotten her? A life on the run, and no hope of ever having the love and family she’d dreamed of.

She looked away from Connor and stared at the contents of her plate.

“I hear it tastes better in your belly than on your plate,” Will suggested, leaning toward her so she could hear him over the din.

Katherine smiled. Reverend Will was a nice man. A good man. He probably wouldn’t have yelled at her if she’d inadvertently found a photograph in a drawer. Fine, maybe she had been snooping a little, but what else was she supposed to do? She needed to find Grant’s wife and deliver his last message to her, but Connor was no help in that department at all. She was no closer to finding Grant’s wife now than when she’d first arrived. Time was running out.

“I guess I’m not hungry.”

Will lifted his eyebrows. “Troubles?”

She considered lying, but he was a man of God. She had enough strikes against her. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only two things I can think of that would keep someone from filling their boots on Amelia’s beef stew. Troubles, or death. Now, you seem fit as a fiddle, so I’m guessing it isn’t the latter.”

She laughed in spite of herself and caught Connor eyeing her with something akin to suspicion. The unspoken accusation rankled her. What did he think she was doing? Wasn’t she allowed to laugh?

“No, I’m not dead.” Not yet, anyway.

She returned Connor’s glare until he looked away, but the effect of his gaze lingered liked a longed-for touch. Heat burned her cheeks.

“Worried about the Hewitts?”

“Yes, a little,” she said, thankful for the distraction. What kind of woman entertained such lustful thoughts when talking to a reverend?

“Well, I wouldn’t give it a second thought,” Will said. “Connor would never let any harm come to you. He’ll keep the Hewitts off your back.”

Katherine grimaced. “Connor would throw me to the wolves, given half a chance.” Especially after tonight.

A deep chuckle rumbled in Will’s chest. “Oh, don’t be too sure. He’s as stubborn as the day is long, but he’s fiercely loyal to family. You’ve nothing to worry about.”

Katherine toyed with the succulent piece of beef drowned in gravy and vegetables. She tried to force a smile, but it didn’t take. “I’m not family, Reverend. I’m just his housekeeper.” She’d heard him say so earlier, qualifying her place in the scheme of things. It had hurt more than she wanted to admit.

Will shook his head. “Then why can’t he take his eyes off you? Heck, every time I lean down to say something, he looks like he wants to stab me with his fork.”

Katherine’s lips twitched at the humor in Will’s tone, and the weight pressing down on her heart lifted a fraction. “Maybe he just doesn’t like you much.”

Will laughed and slapped his hand on the table between them. Katherine looked across the table at Connor. He ignored her, too busy strangling his fork and glaring daggers at his friend.

“Kate, I think poor Connor was a goner from the moment you stepped off that train.” Before she could contradict him, or set him straight on the fact that nothing would be developing between her and Connor, Will said, “Now, how about the three of you come to Sunday service tomorrow? Jenny can spend some time with the girls and you can meet some of the people in town. I think you’d enjoy it.”

She brightened at the idea. Jenny seemed much more animated around the other children. It would do her good. They’d both been stuck in seclusion for too long. Despite her early misgivings about going to town, perhaps she could use the opportunity to ask around about Connor’s family. Surely, the Hewitts wouldn’t make a scene at church. Would they?

“I think I’d like that, Reverend. I’ll bring it up with Connor.” When she wasn’t so angry at him for yelling at her. Or he at her for snooping.

Dinner didn’t last nearly long enough for Katherine’s liking. She loved being surrounded by the laughter and camaraderie of the Holkums. Even Connor’s mood had changed. The rigid tension in his shoulders disappeared. He sat in the rocking chair talking to Bart in low tones, with Joyce and Anthony’s youngest boy, Davy, asleep in the crook of his arm. Connor used his toe to push the chair back and forth in a steady rhythm.

“Makes for a nice picture, doesn’t it?” Amelia came up from behind, wiping her hands on the dishtowel and glancing over Katherine’s shoulder to her husband and Connor.

“He’s good with the children.” Katherine had watched Connor throughout the evening. He rough-housed with the boys, teased the girls until they giggled and squealed, and all the while kept an eye on Jenny. Now and then his hand would softly touch the back of her head, or tug gently on one of the braids Katherine had plaited before they left.

“A natural born father, we tell him, but he doesn’t believe us. Thinks he’s failing miserably,” Amelia said with a sigh and turned back to the counter.

Katherine took her eyes off Connor and set the vase of fresh wildflowers back on the cleared table before following after Amelia. “Failing? Why?”

“He worries about Jenny. She won’t speak and the longer it goes on, the more he fears it’s because of something he’s doing, or worse—not doing.”

She recalled the tense lines around Connor’s eyes and mouth over the past week whenever he watched Jenny. Lines that deepened each time he spoke to her and received no reply.

“Did Jenny ever speak?”

“Oh yes,” Amelia said, turning and folding the dishtowel. “Used to be you couldn’t shut her up. She’d talk a mile a minute about whatever was in her head. Much like Connor was at that age.”

Katherine tried to imagine a talkative Connor but the image failed to take root. There were times he could rival Jenny for silence. Maybe it was hereditary.

Katherine suddenly realized she had been barking up the wrong tree as far as discovering the nature of Connor’s relationship with Grant. With all the effort she had put into trying to drag the information out of Connor, she could have just paid Amelia a visit and had a nice little chat with the woman.

Watching the interaction between Connor and the Holkums, it was obvious they had a longstanding relationship—one that had lasted longer than the six months he’d been in Fatal Bluff. If they had known Jenny before, when she spoke nonstop, Connor and Jenny could not have been gone from Fatal Bluff for very long. Still, the mystery lingered—what had brought them back, and why had they left in the first place?

After finding the picture, Katherine had a strong suspicion Grant and Connor were brothers. It was the only thing that made sense, though she found it strange Connor never mentioned him. He was as tight-lipped about his family as a priest was about confession.

But perhaps Amelia would be more willing to open up about Grant and his wife. Heck, maybe she could even give her specific directions on where to find the woman in the photograph and save Katherine a world of trouble.

But before she could ask Amelia about the photo, the niggling voice in her head demanded she satisfy her curiosity about Jenny and the sudden silence she had imposed on herself.

“What happened to make Jenny change?”

Amelia’s expression darkened and her hands smoothed across the dishtowel. “Oh well…” Her voice trailed off. Katherine’s neck prickled and awareness skipped down her spine. She knew Connor stood behind her without having to look. But she couldn’t help herself.

She glanced over her shoulder and stared straight into the open collar of Connor’s red shirt, softened and faded from repeated washings. Warm, tanned skin lay exposed at the base of his throat. Smooth and inviting. He stood close enough that if she leaned back just a few inches her head would rest on his shoulder. For a brief second she let her mind wander there, let herself imagine what it would be like. His arms would come around hers and pull her full against him, a protective cocoon from the rest of the world. His mouth would rest near her ear. He’d laugh softly at something she said and squeeze her tight in response. Every muscle, every hard ridge moving against her back. His lips would find that tender spot, just behind her ear and—

“Kate?”

Katherine jumped and her face burned. God help her, she was losing her mind where this man was concerned! “What?”

Connor lifted one eyebrow. “I said, we should head on out. It’s getting late.”

“Oh, yes. Of course.” She grabbed the dishtowel Amelia had already folded and redid it. Anything to avoid looking at Connor.

“Thank you for the pies, dear,” Amelia said, taking the towel from her. “They were quite delicious.”

“It was my pleasure,” Katherine said. “Thank you for a lovely time.” One of the best she’d had for as long as she could remember. She would hold the memory close for years to come.

“And don’t forget about next Saturday’s social.” Amelia looked past her to Connor. “It’ll give Kate a chance to get to know some new people and have some fun. Can’t work all the time, can she?”

Connor shrugged and looked away. “She can go if she wants.”

“Well land sakes, Con, you can’t expect her to go by herself!”

Katherine wanted to interject, to say she didn’t have to go, but she couldn’t get the words out. She’d never been to a town social before, and part of her really wanted to go to experience what it was like to belong to a community that didn’t turn its back on her. Just this once.

“She can go with you and Bart.”

“Bart and I will be in town that day,” Amelia stated, lifting her chin. “She’ll need a way in.”

Katherine’s hopes plummeted. One look at Connor told her all she needed to know. He didn’t want to go. More importantly, he didn’t want to go with her. An employee. “I-I don’t have to go. It’s not that important—”

“Nonsense.” Amelia set her hands on her hips and fixed a steady glare on Connor, waiting. Katherine had the sense the woman would have stood rooted to the spot for the rest of the night if she had to in order to get the response she wanted.

Connor scowled and his hand pressed against Katherine’s lower back, pushing her gently toward the door. Tingles of sensation spread through her body at the small, innocent touch. “I’ll think about it,” he growled.

The ride home proved no less tense than the ride over, but for altogether different reasons. Katherine could not hold on to her anger for the way Connor had treated her. The man had a right to be put out with her snooping through his things. But without her anger providing a barrier, her growing awareness of him threatened to get out of control.

Katherine was thankful Jenny had wedged herself between them. The warmth of her little body nestled against her filled Katherine with an unexpected sense of contentment. She glanced down at Jenny’s face. Thick lashes lay in crescent moons against her cheek while she dozed. She really was a dear thing. A rush of protectiveness washed over Katherine without warning. She wanted to see Jenny happy. She wanted to erase the haunted look in her eyes. She wanted to hear her chatter non-stop like Amelia said she used to.

The desire to know the reason behind Jenny’s silence pulled at Katherine. Perhaps if she knew its origins, she could better help the little girl find her way out of it. But Connor would never confide such details to her. He viewed her as an employee. Nothing more.