The Widower's Wife (27 page)

“Why yes, I believe I am, Mrs. McCullough. I think I’ve been a little too short on compliments these last few months. You can expect to get your fair share and more for a while.” Smiling, she linked her arm in his and laid her head back on his shoulder. Fifteen minutes later they turned onto the road that led to their house.

Nathan heard the wagon coming up the road. He crouched low behind the side of the barn, ready to make his escape quickly if he was caught. They were back a little earlier than he had expected. He watched as the wagon pulled up to the house, and McCullough hopped down, came around, and helped Jillian down.

McCullough didn’t let go of her though, and Nathan watched as he pulled her close to him. Nathan fought the urge to fly over there and make McCullough take his filthy hands off of his woman. Who did this man think he was? Nathan braced his hands on the corner of the barn to keep himself from taking his revenge before it was wise to do so. He would wait until the time was just right to make him pay.

Jillian’s hands were on Dalton’s chest and she could feel his heart racing. His back was to the wagon and her body was crushed closely to him. He was kissing her ear, and it was sending shivers down her neck and spine. His hands traveled to the back of her head, and he laced his fingers in her hair. Bringing his face down before hers, he looked deeply into her eyes. She blissfully anticipated his kiss and was not disappointed. His lips were eager and held a passion more intense than she had experienced before. Never had she felt so wanted or needed.

Abruptly, the wagon jerked behind him and their kiss suddenly ended. Dalton groaned. Apparently, Riley was impatient to either be on his way or unbridled and set free for the night. Dalton released her, took her hand, and walked her reluctantly to the door.

“I suppose I ought to head over to collect the children,” he said dejectedly.

“Before you leave, do you have any requests?” Immediately, Dalton grinned slyly. “About dessert, I mean,” she quickly clarified. He grinned again, and she playfully smacked him on the shoulder. “Oh, you know what I mean!”

“Surprise me. I like surprises—well, good ones anyway.” He bent down and gave her one last lingering kiss before walking back and climbing into the wagon. “Be back in a little while,” he called as he waved goodbye.

Jillian leaned her back against the door, wrapping her arms around her middle as she watched him drive away. Once he was out of sight, she danced into the house and began taking down pots and pans and pulling out ingredients. Her face was beginning to ache from smiling so much, but she wouldn’t change a single moment of this heavenly day.

Dalton took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. He maneuvered the horse back toward the center of the road and realized he needed to concentrate on driving the wagon instead of daydreaming. He seemed in the habit of having wagon troubles when distracted by thoughts of his beautiful wife, and he certainly didn’t want any problems tonight that might delay his return home. He kept picturing her beautiful face before him, and his hand still tingled from the touch of her skin. Their day together had been better than he had imagined. Euphoric almost! He wished he had listened to his heart sooner.

Wondering what she had decided to make for supper, his mouth began to water. He hadn’t been joking. Jillian was a wonderful cook, even better than Aunt Betty. He smiled to himself. He might be better off keeping that secret to himself though, at least from his aunt.

Dalton grinned wider as he thought of all the things they had done today. She hadn’t caught a single fish, but he had enjoyed watching her as she excitedly reeled in the line whenever she felt the slightest tug. He remembered the fish in the pail in the back of his wagon. He should have left them with her to fry. At least this way he could leave one for Uncle Ned and Aunt Betty to have for their supper.

After pulling up to Uncle Ned and Aunt Betty’s house and setting the wagon’s brake, he hopped down with the bucket of fish. All three children were in a huddle playing with the kittens. Brenn had one by the tail, and Dalton smiled when he heard Lisa scolding him. He had almost forgotten that they would be bringing one of the little fur balls home with them, another pet to be cherished by his children. That thought made him remember something. When he had dropped Jillian off, Digger hadn’t come running to greet them as usual.

“I wonder where that crazy pup has gone off to,” he said quietly to himself. An uneasy feeling came over him, but he brushed it aside. He wasn’t going to allow anything to ruin this day for him.

Just then, the girls noticed him and came running with a black and white striped kitten between them, the other kittens forgotten and left to the mercy of Brenn.

“Pa, look! This is our new kitten.” Lisa called first.

“At first we couldn’t decide which one, but Uncle Ned taught us how to flip a coin,” Jenny added.

“We named her Whiskers, Pa! Isn’t she sweet?” Lisa cuddled her face up to the kitten and handed Whiskers to Jenny for her turn. Dalton’s heart swelled as he watched Jenny hold the soft, furry kitten up to her cheek. Jillian had done this for him—she’d brought his happy little girl back to him.

“Listen, Pa. She’s purring.” Jenny held the kitten out to him. Dalton reached out and stroked the kitten’s fur and then leaned in close to listen to its purr. Instead of a soft, rumbling sound, he heard a kitten cry out loudly. He looked over at Brenn, who was holding an unhappy black kitten up by the tail. Dalton handed Whiskers back to Jenny, along with the pail of fish and hurried over to rescue the kitten, with Lisa close behind him.

“Kitty!” Brenn cooed as Dalton gently took the unhappy kitten from his hands and handed it to Lisa. Lisa cuddled and started checking for wounds immediately.

“Brenn, you need to be nice to the kitten,” Dalton found himself saying, even though he knew Brenn probably didn’t understand a word. It was mostly for Lisa’s benefit.

Suddenly, a buckboard came flying up into the yard at full speed, and he heard Uncle Ned yell “whoa” as he pulled the horses to a sudden stop. Uncle Ned jumped down quickly and hurried over to the group. He hastily pulled Dalton away from the children, who were all staring at him in wonderment. They’d probably never seen him move so fast! At any another time Dalton might have found the thought funny. Uncle Ned handed Dalton a telegram marked “URGENT.”

“I was just getting ready ta leave town when Mrs. Pruitt came runnin’ out of the telegraph office with this note in her hand and said it was for you. Said it came this afternoon, but she couldn’t find anyone to bring it out.

“I didn’t read it, but I suspect she did, because she informed me I should fly like the wind ta get it to ya,” Uncle Ned said, breathlessly.

Dalton felt a sense of foreboding as he opened the telegram. It was from Marcus.

Dalton—

Received word Nathan left for Darlington—

Possibly arrived yesterday—

Source says he’s not in right mind—

Protect Jillian—

Prayers are with you—

Will wait for word—

Marcus.

Dalton’s face went ashen.

“What is it, boy?” Uncle Ned grabbed a hold of his arm.

“It’s Jillian. She’s in danger.” Immediately, he thought again of Digger’s absence, and an icy fear gripped him. “Uncle Ned, I’ve got to go and make sure she’s all right.” He raced for the wagon.

“Don’t worry about the children,” Uncle Ned said. “We’ll keep an eye on ’em.” As an afterthought, he called after Dalton as he raced away, “Hurry, boy!”

Nobody had to tell him that. Considering the feeling that had settled in his gut, wild dogs couldn’t stop him from hurrying. He stopped thinking and started praying.

Jillian was measuring flour into a bowl when the door burst open. Expecting to see Dalton, she turned with a smile. Her breath caught in her throat, and she froze when she saw who was standing there.

“Nathan Shaw!”

He looked much the same, with the notable exception of the crook in his nose and the frightening look in his eyes. “What are you doing here? I mean . . . h-how did you know where to find me?”

Nathan didn’t say anything. He just stood there. Jillian was getting more nervous by the second, so she asked him again, more forcefully this time, “Nathan, what are you doing here?”

His face softened slightly. “Jillian, my love.” He smiled at her, but it was not the smile she remembered. “I’m here because of you.”

“Because of me?” She didn’t understand.

“Of course, because of you.” He started walking toward her. “You ran off, and I couldn’t find you for months.” He stopped and began absentmindedly running his fingers back and forth along of the edge of the kitchen table. “Is that any way to treat your betrothed?”

Jillian felt the fear in the pit of her stomach begin to grow. “Nathan, you must have heard by now, I’m already a married woman.”

Nathan narrowed his eyes and started walking slowly toward her again. Jillian slowly backed away from him until she could move no farther.

“Jillian, Jillian, what will I do with you?” he said patronizingly. “You know we were always meant to be together. You have loved me forever. On more than one occasion I overheard you confess your love for me to your friend Bethany. Why, you’ve loved me from the first day that wretched brother of yours and I became friends.” His hand went to his nose, and he stopped directly in front of her. “He broke my nose, you know. I have yet to repay him for that,” he hissed. Jillian instantly went on the defensive, her fear forgotten when he threatened Marcus.

“As I recall, you deserved that,” she said a bit too snidely. “I saw you—you and that . . . that woman—you with your hands all over her when you were going to be married to me. And you . . . you wouldn’t even give me a proper kiss, even though you had been courting me for better than six months! You disgust me!” She knew she had gone too far when she saw the anger in his eyes burn brighter.

“I regret that, Jillian, I truly do. It wasn’t because I didn’t want you. Oh, I wanted you, all right.” He picked up a strand of her hair and put it to his nose, inhaling deeply, chuckling when Jillian shuddered. “You smell just like I remember you. I wonder if you feel the same.”

Jillian’s skin began to crawl as he reached out towards her. “Nathan, don’t you touch me!” she told him firmly. She tried again to back away, but he had her pinned against the counter with his hands on either side of her. He leaned his face in close.

“You always wanted me to kiss you. All those nights that I walked you home.” He was taunting her. “I could tell that’s what you wanted.” Jillian struggled to get free of him, and his face contorted and turned ugly. “Why did you let him touch you? I saw his hands on you. You don’t even hardly know him, and you let him kiss you like that.” His breathing became harsher. “I could kill him for taking liberties with you. You belong to me, Jillian, not to him. That’s why I came to take you away with me. We can still be married.” His face softened slightly. “I saw you holding his baby.”

Jillian’s head began to spin. That was early this morning. How long had he been watching them?

“We could have our own,” Nathan continued. “I know I didn’t sound excited when you talked about children before, but I’ve been doing some thinking, and all I want is for you to be happy. You can see that, can’t you?” He smiled wickedly, and she began to panic. “I’ll show you I know how to make you happy, Jillian.” He leaned closer, as if he were going to kiss her.

“Nathan, you’re not listening to me.” Jillian pushed hard against his chest to hold him off. “I’m already married. I’m not going anywhere with you!”

He wasn’t listening to her. It was as if he was in his own world. “I’m ready to kiss you now. After all those months of waiting, I’m finally going to grant you your wish, sweet Jillian.” He leaned in closer, almost reaching her lips. Turning her head to the side to keep from screaming, Jillian caught sight of the crockery bowl filled with the flour she’d been measuring. Reaching her arm under his, she tried to grasp hold of its side. It was just beyond her fingertips. Suddenly, she felt him kiss her neck. With all her strength, she pushed hard against his chest.

“Nathan, let me go this instant! You have no right!” she yelled, panic stricken.

“I have more right that he does,” he growled.

“You’re wrong, Nathan,” she shouted at him. She leaned with all her might, reached out, and finally felt her fingers clasp the edge of the mixing bowl. She flung it up at him, hitting him hard in the head.

Stunned, Nathan stumbled back, momentarily giving Jillian enough time to break free and run out the open door. She stumbled on the porch steps and fell. Before she could get back up, Nathan had her by the arm again.

“Why are you making this so difficult?” he hissed at her between clenched teeth. “You know you belong to me. You need me!”

“I don’t belong to anyone, least of all you, Nathan Shaw!” Jillian dug her fingernails into his hand to make him release her. “And I only need Dalton! He will be here any minute, and I suggest you get out of here before he does.”

A gunshot rang out in the air, and Jillian’s eyes widened as her heart froze.

“I don’t think he’s going to make it, my dear.” Nathan laughed maniacally.

“You wouldn’t dare!” she protested.

“No, but my partner might.” Jillian felt dizzy. Who was he talking about?

“Oh you know him.” He was playing with her. “I ran into him in a saloon in Darlington, and when I told him who I was looking for, he jumped at the chance to help me.” Jillian still couldn’t understand who he was talking about.

“He told quite the tale about you, actually,” he continued, “how you came running over to him in the train station, flirting with him like you were interested, then acting shocked when he took you up on the offer. Said he got his nose broken over it, wanted to get back at the man that did the breaking. I figure he has done just that.” Nathan started to laugh again. “I couldn’t imagine you behaving that way, but I was glad for the help!”