Westward Holiday (7 page)

              She laughed and said, “Well, I don’t know about that.”

              Luke said, “We do.”

              Seth laughed.  “That’s about as much as you’ll get out of him when he’s around women he doesn’t know.”

              “Shut up,” Luke said and shoved Seth roughly.

              Seth just laughed.  “See.  Two word sentences.”

              Rebecca took pity on Luke.  “Don’t listen to him, Luke.  We women like the strong, silent type.”

              Luke grinned and said, “That’s what my wife tells me.”

              “Your wife is a smart woman,” Rebecca said.

              Seth said, “I was wondering if you’d play with Luke and me sometime.  I know you don’t need it, but I’ve got some sheet music I’ve been wanting to try out that’s along the lines of what you play.  We could practice some Sunday night if that would be good for you.”

              Rebecca was flattered to be asked.  “I would enjoy that very much.”

              “Great.  How about next Sunday night?  I know you just got to town so we won’t impose on you right away,” Seth said.

              Suddenly Seth lurched backwards, but he was able to keep upright.  “Damn you, Owl!”  The Lakota brave enjoyed playing pranks on Seth and had tried to kick Seth’s left leg out from under him.

              Laughter sounded behind the big, blond man and Owl came around him to wave at Rebecca.  “I enjoyed your music very much,” he said.

              “Thank you,” Rebecca said. “Are you going to walk us home again tonight?”

              “Not tonight.  I think Jake is going to do that,” Owl said.  “But I will other nights.”

              “Good.  I want to hear some stories about you growing up with Marcus,” she said.  Hannah had told her what a close relationship Marcus had with all of his brothers, both white and Lakota and she was curious.

              Owl smiled.  “I have a lot of them.”

              Luke rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, we know.  We’ve heard them all several times.”

              “Whoa!” Seth said.  “More than two words.  I’m impressed.”

              Rebecca laughed a little as Luke frowned at his cousin. 

              Seth said, “C’mon, you two.  Let’s let Rebecca take a breather.  We’ve bugged her enough.  Have a good night, Rebecca.”

              “All of you do the same,” she said as the three men moved towards the door.

              When she went back behind the bar, Jake smiled at her.  “You’re a big hit.  I knew my instincts about you playing were right.”

              “I’m having fun,” Rebecca said and meant it. 

              “Good.  If you like your work, it’s not really work,” Jake said.  “Oh, before I forget.  Come with me a minute.”

              Rebecca followed him to the office where he handed her an envelope.  She opened it and was surprised at the amount of money in it.  “This is more than we agreed upon.”

              “It’s an advance to cover next week.  I don’t know your finances, but I can imagine it wasn’t cheap getting’ here.  I figured you could use the cash,” Jake said.  He put a hand on her shoulder.  “You need to understand that just because you work for me doesn’t mean that it has anything to do with our relationship.  I can keep that separate.  You’re not beholden to me or anything like that.  Ok?”

              She smiled at him.  “Yes.  I can keep them separate, too.”

              “Good,” Jake said.

              The sound of smashing glass made them jump.  Jake said, “Stay here,” and ran out front.

              Two guys had started fighting near the bar.  Sammi had her hands full in the barroom so she couldn’t go deal with them just yet.  One of them had thrown the other over the bar and he’d hit some of the bottles of whiskey on the back wall.  The one who’d thrown the other had followed him behind the bar intent on inflicting more damage on him.

              Then the man heard a gun cock behind him and the barrel of a pistol pressed against the back of his head.

              “I’d move real slow towards the door if I were you, Zeke,” Jake said as he held the gun on the man.  “It’s time for you to leave and not come back.”

              Zeke put his hands up and began sidestepping out from behind the bar.  Jake followed until Zeke was out of the bar.  Jake turned around to the crowd.  He was livid.  “Out!  Everybody out!  Bar’s closed for the night!”

              Groans of protest met his announcement.

              “I don’t give a crap!  If you can’t behave any better than that, then get out!  Now!  Sammi, move ‘em out!” Jake shouted and went back behind the bar to check on the man lying on the floor.

              He lay on a mess of glass and Jake could see blood.  He needed to get the man up so he could see how badly he was hurt.  Jake rolled him over and was relieved to see that the wounds on the man’s arms and hands weren’t deep.  After Jake poured some water on the man’s face, he woke up.  Jake helped the guy rise and gave him a rag to put on the deepest cut.

              “Now get out of here and don’t come back,” Jake said.  He looked down at all the glass on the floor and back up at the wall.  Men started lining up at the bar to pay their tabs.  Jake took their money with a solemn expression on his face.  His customers were quiet because they didn’t want to tick Jake off any more than he already was.  They all knew how protective Jake was of his establishment and his stock and were always sorry when something like this happened.

              Once everyone had paid and Sammi locked the door, Jake started sweeping up the mess.

              “Damn it!  That’s nine bottles of booze ruined!  Just wait until I see Zeke.  He’s gonna fork the money over for it or I’ll sic Mitch on him,” he said to Rebecca who had come out of the office once things had quieted down.

              Sammi brought over a bunch of shot glasses and beer mugs and sat them on the bar.  “That’s a damn shame, boss.  I’m sorry about that.  I’d have dealt with them, but I was a little busy at the time.”

              “It’s not your fault, Sammi.  It was just one of the more wild nights that we get now and then.  That’s the first time I had anyone throw anyone back here, though.  It better be the last.  I guess I’ll have to make an announcement about it,” Jake said.

              Rebecca asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

              Sammi said, “Sure.  Help me bring all the glasses and stuff out here.”

              She followed Sammi to the barroom and began collecting the mugs and such. 

              “I liked your playing,” Sammi said.  “The stuff you play is real pretty.”

              “Thank you.  I enjoy it.  Why did you decide to become a bouncer and a deputy?”

              Sammi laughed.  “Lots of reasons.  I like weapons and I had to make myself strong to survive.  I had some really bad stuff happen to me when I was younger and I decided I wasn’t going to be a victim ever again.  So I learned how to use guns and knives.  There were people who taught me how to fight, too.  I just kept practicing and got really good at it all.  I like it.  Mitch says I’m an aggressive person by nature and he’s right.  I like knowing I’m helping keep the bar as safe as possible.”

              Rebecca said, “I’m sorry that you had a hard upbringing.”

              Sammi shrugged.  “It’s all water under the bridge now.”  She gave Rebecca a smile and said, “I was really lucky to find a man like Mitch who appreciates a woman like me.  He likes watching me work.  Gets him all wound up.”

              Sammi’s meaning sunk in and Rebecca laughed even while she blushed.

              Sammi laughed.  “Sorry about that.  I sometimes don’t know when to keep my mouth shut.”

              “No, I don’t mind.  It’s just that women of my former station are watched very closely and are expected to be married before assuming wifely duties,” Rebecca said.  “So I’m afraid that I’m inexperienced in such matters.”

              “Oh Lord.  I love the way you said all that with your accent.  You should try swearing sometime.  It won’t sound like swearing, I bet,” Sammi said.

              Rebecca giggled but didn’t say anything.  They finished putting the glasses on the counter and Jake said, “Rebecca, are you ready to go home?”

              “Do you need any more help?” she asked.

              He shook his head.  “This is the part where I get fussy as Sammi said, so I’ll finish when I come back.”

              “Very well.  Yes, I’m ready,” Rebecca said.  She wondered what it was he was so fussy about and decided to find out on another night.

              Jake helped her put on her cloak and then donned his coat.  The three of them went out the back door.  Jake locked it and they started on their way.

              Sammi bid them goodbye and headed in a different direction.  She thought they could use some time alone when it was quieter.  Besides, she wanted to get home and do some “homework” with her husband.

              Rebecca shivered in the cold air.  The bar had been so warm and the temperature outside was a big contrast.  Jake saw and drew her against his side as they walked. 

              “I think you’re gonna have to get some warmer clothing.  You look beautiful, but those kinds of dresses aren’t really good at keeping you warm,” he said.  “I don’t want you getting frost bite.”

              “I think you’re right,” Rebecca said.  “It was a very interesting night.”

              Jake laughed.  He liked the way she felt against him.  “They’re all interesting.  It got a little out of hand tonight, though.  It’s usually not quite that bad.”

              “Why do you like it so much?” she asked.

              Jake thought about her question for the moment.  “I guess I like seeing people have a good time.  It’s always fun, as you can see, even when things get wild.  I think it has more to do with Pa, though.  I was about eight when he started the Watering Hole.  There wasn’t as much to the town back then so it was the only saloon in the area.  Now there’s a couple in Wolfe Point and a bunch in Miles City.  They’re still too far away for most of these folks to travel to on a regular basis, though.”

              “Why did your father start it?” Rebecca asked.

              “Ma was originally from Dawson, but she ran away to New York to find fame and fortune.  That didn’t happen, of course.  Pa worked in a saloon and Ma started dancing there because she needed to money.  Well, they met and that was it.  They were married in three months.  Pa convinced Ma that they should move back here and start up their own saloon.  It didn’t happen for a while because I came along and they had to save up some money to buy the land for the place,” Jake said.

              Rebecca felt admiration for the young couple who had worked so hard towards their dream.  “So it took them until you were eight to start it then?”

              Jake nodded and tried to shield her from a sharp blast of wind.  “Right.  If you think it's rough now, you should have seen it then.  There wasn’t really any law around the area at the time so Pa was the law in that place.  That’s where I learned it from.  It was his place and he wasn’t gonna let anyone ruin what he and Ma had worked for.”

              “Did your mother help with it?” Rebecca asked.

              “At first, but then she got influenza when I was nine and her health wasn’t the same after it.  So it was Pa and me.  I didn’t have any formal education until I was older because there wasn’t any school here.  Pa taught me a lot of math and I had to memorize a lot of it.  Paper was scarce since the small store here didn’t carry it much,” Jake said.  “That’s how I can memorize what everyone drinks and how much they owe and all that.”

              “It’s remarkable,” Rebecca said.  “I couldn’t do that.  I would need to write it all down.”

              “Most people would.  I started tending bar when I was ten.  The locals got a kick out of it and Pa let me do it because they would buy more booze just to watch me serve it.  Then I started learning tricks and they liked it even more.”

              “Tricks?” Rebecca asked.

              “Juggling shot glasses, sliding mugs, that kind of thing.  I don’t do it much on Fridays and Saturdays because it’s just too busy,” Jake said.  “But they liked it and we sold more and more booze.  Some nights we ran out.  Pa started making improvements to the place and eventually it got to be the size it is now and we put the apartment upstairs so that we could be near Ma while we worked.  I was fifteen when she passed on.”

              “So young.  I’m so sorry,” Rebecca said.

              “Thanks.  Sorry, I didn’t mean to get into all that,” Jake said.

              “I’m not sorry,” Rebecca said.  “I want to know more about you.”

              As they arrived at the hotel and walked up the steps to the porch, Jake said, “I want to know more about you, too.”

              Rebecca gave him a little smile and said, “There’s really not much to tell.”

              Jake said, “I think there’s more to tell than you’re letting on, Rebecca.  I’d like to really get to know the woman I’m possibly going to marry.  I’d like to take you to Wolfe Point tomorrow.  It’s a little bigger than here and they have a very nice restaurant there.  How about I pick you up around noon?”

              “That would be lovely,” Rebecca said.

              Jake smiled and their eyes locked.  He used her cloak to pull her a little closer to him.  Rebecca’s heart began beating faster when she saw he meant to kiss her.  She looked at his mouth and then back into his eyes.  When his lips brushed hers, Rebecca leaned closer and offered no resistance. 

              He tasted of whiskey and wine and the two flavors together were very pleasant.  Rebecca responded to his kiss, enjoying the burgeoning desire he incited within her.  She’d been kissed before, but there was something different about the way he kissed that caused a stronger reaction in her.  Jake wanted to go on kissing her, but didn’t feel that it would be proper.

              Rebecca opened her eyes when he pulled back and smiled at him. 

              “Goodnight,” Jake said smiling back.

              “Goodnight,” she said.

              She watched Jake descend the stairs.  He looked back and waved at her and she waved back before going inside.

              Jake drug himself out of bed at ten the next morning even though he would have liked to sleep another hour as he usually did on Sundays.  But he’d told Rebecca noon and he didn’t want to be late.  He’d forgotten to pick up more coffee for his apartment so he ran downstairs to get some.  Then he decided that he might as well just drink it down there.

              So he put it on to brew and sat in his office until it was ready.  He looked over some invoices and then poured some coffee into a cup and went back to his office again to drink it.  Jake was about halfway through with the coffee when he heard the back door open and shut.

              “Hey, Sammi.  What are you doin’ here on a Sunday?  Just can’t get enough of the place, huh?” Jake said with a laugh.  The fact that he was only half dressed didn’t concern him since Sammi had seen him like that plenty of times when she’d come around earlier in the day and he’d just gotten up.  Normal societal rules didn’t apply where Sammi was concerned.

              “Hello?  Jake?”

              Jake started at hearing Rebecca’s voice.  He went to rise from the desk, banged his knee, swore and sat down again.  At least his bottom half would be hidden from view.  She appeared in the doorway and he said, “Hi.”

              Rebecca saw his bare torso and couldn’t look away from him.  As he moved some invoices to the side, the muscles of his shoulders rolled under his skin and Rebecca enjoyed watching them.  “Hello.  I’m sorry.  I just thought I could practice a little until you were ready.”

              Jake smiled.  “Certainly.  Feel free.  There’s coffee in the kitchen if you want some.”

              “Thank you,” she said but didn’t move.

              “Is everything ok?” Jake asked. 
She needs to go practice so I can get back upstairs.

              “Yes.  Fine,” she said absently.  Rebecca knew she should either get some coffee or go practice, but he looked so good that her feet wouldn’t do what they were supposed to.

              “Good,” Jake said.  Several more moments passed while neither one of them moved.  He because he was trapped, she because she’d never seen a man undressed before and was fascinated.

              Jake saw her slightly pink cheeks and a certain light come into her eyes that women got when they were attracted to a man. 
Oh boy.  This is a good thing, but a bad thing, too.

              He cleared his throat and Rebecca jumped a little.  “Rebecca, I, um, need you to either go to the kitchen or out to the bar.  I’m not properly dressed for female company.”

              Rebecca said, “Oh, I, um, pardon me.  Yes, of course.”  Her cheeks were on fire as she went to the kitchen and found the coffee and a mug. 

              She heard Jake trot down the hall and mount the stairs to the apartment.  Suddenly she started giggling and couldn’t stop.  Never had she been so transfixed before and then she felt badly for poor Jake.  Rebecca started laughing again as she thought about Jake’s wild hair.  He must not have been up long since he was still in a state of undress.  She poured some coffee and then went to practice.

              A little while later, Jake appeared in the barroom.  He waited until Rebecca was done with the song she was practicing before announcing his presence. 

              “That was pretty,” Jake said.

              Rebecca looked at him and found it difficult not to laugh.  “Thank you.  You look very handsome.”

              Jake wore his other suit.  It was black with a vest and white shirt.  “Thanks.  I think you look rather fetching,” he said in an imitation of her accent and style of speaking.

              “You’re making fun of me,” she said.

              “Oh, no, not me.  Why I’d never do that, Miss Walker,” Jake said as he continued the imitation.

              Rebecca laughed and got up from the piano.  “Now, you stop that.”

              “Whatever are you talking about?  I don’t know what you mean,” Jake said.

              “You’re bad,” Rebecca said. 

              “Sometimes.  I could have been just a little bit ago, but I was a gentleman,” Jake said as he dropped the accent.

              Rebecca felt a little reckless as she said, “Perhaps I was hoping you wouldn’t be so gentlemanly.”

              Jake arched an eyebrow at her.  “Really?”  He came very close to her and said, “What about now?”

              Rebecca put her chin up and said, “No.  Not now.  I’m afraid the moment’s passed.”

              Jake caught the way she smiled as she moved to go around him.  He caught her by the arm and turned her around to face him.  “Not so fast,” he said and pressed his lips to hers.

              She felt a thrill run up her spine as Jake hooked one arm around her waist and cupped her face with his other hand.  Rebecca put her arms around his neck and kissed him back.  She hadn’t ever experienced anything like the way he was making her feel.  It made her heart beat faster and a flush stole over her body as his hands moved up her back.

              With difficulty Jake slowed things down and ended their embrace.  He smiled and said, “Well, that was unexpected, but I’m not sorry.”

              Rebecca looked at him with her green eyes shining.  “I’m not either.”

              Jake laughed and said, “We better get going, Miss Walker.”

              “Yes, perhaps we’d better,” Rebecca said. 

              They walked to the livery stable to pick up the team Jake had rented for the day.  Stew was working and greeted Jake warmly.  Jake introduced Rebecca to him before they left.  The chestnut pair was well matched but nowhere near the caliber of any of Joe’s teams.

              Rebecca was thankful that Jake had brought a couple of blankets with them.  She wasn’t used to such cold and the woolen blankets felt good to her.  “Do you have any horses?”

              Jake nodded as they moved through town.  “I have a draft horse and a riding horse.  Eventually I want to buy a pair of Clydesdales from Joe.  He has a couple of mares that he’s planning to breed and I want them if they’re both the same sex.  The stallions he has now are incredible animals and so well trained it ain’t funny.”

              Rebecca smiled at the admiration in his voice.  “Clydesdales are beautiful.  Family friends of ours had some.”

              “They sure are.  So about your family.  You said you’re not close.  How come?” Jake asked.  He saw that shadow cross her face again but wasn’t going to let the subject drop.

              Rebecca took a breath of cold air and said, “My father committed quite a bit of business fraud and lost our fortune.  We went from being one of the most influential and successful families in Georgia to gutter trash in a matter of a few days.  They took almost everything from us except for some of our clothing and some jewelry we were able to squirrel away.  Needless to say, neither my brother nor I wanted anything to do with my father.  My mother refused to leave him so I don’t have anything to do with her, either.”

              Jake’s heart went out to the beautiful young woman beside him.  Joe had been spot on about her breeding and it wasn’t hard to see it or hear it.  It made him understand why her first letter hadn’t mentioned what kind of work she did and why it had been a rather bland missive.  She hadn’t wanted to give anything about her away in case he’d heard of them.  He couldn’t imagine what it had been like to find your world ripped apart like that.  Her identity had been turned against her and Jake knew that she must have suffered severe ridicule.  No wonder she’d wanted to get out of Savannah.