Adams, Eve - Patience is Their Virtue [Brides of Bachelor Bay 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (16 page)

“The only way you’ll let me down is if you give up,” Raven told him sincerely. “I’m willing to fight. Are you? I’ll leave you to your thoughts. Good night.”

And he left his brother alone to make his own decision. Raven prayed this wouldn’t be the beginning of the end between them, because as God as his witness, he’d fight, even if it meant standing against his own brother while Adam made the biggest mistake of his life.

Patience’s Journal, Saturday, April 15, 1865

Port Steele, Washington Territory

Times are tense here in Port Steele and, I fear, across the war-torn country. Adam does what he can to keep peace, but ever since Judge Ron Arnett posted signs around town urging the passing of an ordinance to ban Indians from within the city limits, Port Steele is as divided as the country. As if my nerves over the imminent division of this town weren’t enough, I received a telegram from Walter today and almost burned it. How dare that cheating rogue contact me. What more could he possibly say to ruin me? And then I read it. It seems my ex-husband and his new wife are expecting. I suppose I deserved the news after sending them a telegram announcing my nuptials to the town mayor. Despite my hatred for them both, I wish the child well and am trying my hardest to not be melancholy over the last sentence of the letter. “She gives me what you never could.” I wish I could believe he spoke of love, but deep down I know he refers to the fact I never conceived while married to him. Will I ever be a mother?

Patience rocked quickly in the chair as she chewed on the last traces of her nails. In a new dress Mrs. Chang miraculously created outside of her duties as the cook, Patience looked every bit the part of a mayor’s wife. Being presented as such at the dance had her both excited and nervous.

She only wished she felt the confidence her appearance presented.

“Haven’t you run out of nails, yet?” Raven stood and removed her hand from her mouth before kissing her knuckles. “Relax, my dear. What has you so worked up?”

She couldn’t tell him. No one could know of her past. Divorced women were considered nothing short of scandalous. If anyone found out, not only would Adam be ruined, he’d hate her for being the cause.

Patience took her hand back and started in on the remaining nails.

These past two weeks seemed like a dream, where at any moment she could open her eyes and all she had would be gone. No Adam. No Raven. Nothing but emptiness and loneliness. She shuddered at the thought.

“I don’t know how to act as a married woman.”

“Neither do I,” Raven teased with a wink that sent her nerves back into a frenzy.

“Will you be joining us tonight?”

He shook his head. “As much as I would adore swirling you around the dance hall floor, a married woman dancing with her husband’s manservant would be highly improper.”

“You aren’t his manservant to me. Or to him. You must know that.”

“Ah, yes.” He leaned in and kissed her each time she rocked toward him, and stopped the chair as she leaned forward so their kiss lingered.

“I leave you two for a moment and look what I return to.” Adam walked into the room and dropped a folded paper onto the table.

Raven stepped back from Patience with a grin. He then lost it when he studied the look in Adam’s troubled eyes. “What is it?”

“Read the front page,” he said and sighed as he sank down in a chair. “This war is tearing our country apart. It’s heartbreaking to read. I pray it ends swiftly.”

“As do I.” Raven set the paper back onto the table.

Patience stood and glided over to her husband, resting her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He reached up and patted her hand with his. She let out a yelp as he then grabbed her hand and swung her onto his lap before firmly planting a resounding kiss on her lips.

When he tried to pull away, she framed his face in her hands and held her to him, kissing him deeply. She loved him more than she loved breathing. If he hurt, she hurt.

“Tell me what I may do to ease your pain.”

He rested his forehead to hers. “If I tell you, we’ll never get out of here.”

That was perfectly acceptable to her. But, alas, they had a duty to appear at the dance, and the Gallaghers were waiting.

She stood and brushed at her skirts. Dainty yellow ribbons accented the pale blue taffeta. The high neckline presented her properly as a married woman. She had her hair up in a loose roll that rested on her shoulder with ringlets bouncing around her face that, she had to admit, did wonders for her eyes. The blue in the material brought out the blue in her eyes, giving them a more brilliant than usual shine.

“What do you think?”

Adam stood and nodded as he slowly raked that dark gaze over her. Her nipples peaked, and she swallowed hard.

“Mrs. Steele, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you look so ravishing. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay in?”

“Why, Mr. Steele.” She batted at him with her hand. He grabbed it and kissed her fingers. Their gazes locked.

“I’m jealous.” Raven pouted and stood several feet away. “I must admit, this is one time I truly wish Adam and I were in opposite positions.”

Feeling bold, Patience moved over to him, the hem of her skirt humming as it brushed across the floor. “You’d best wait up for us, Raven. I’m sure after a night of dancing, my blood will be pumping, and I can assure you that you and Adam will be in several positions.”

His gaze darkened. “I’ll have your room ready for you.”

“For us,” she corrected. When Adam joined them, she pulled him by the hand and then grabbed Raven’s with her other. “This night together will be for us. I take you both to my bed. I have you both in my heart.”

She glided out of the room and waited at the foyer for Adam. After a few words between the brothers, Adam stepped out into the foyer and helped her with her coat.

“At least the rain has given us a reprieve.” She buttoned her cover in place.

“Temporarily, I’m sure.” Adam led her out the door and into the coach waiting for them. He wore a permanent frown, and as they pulled out, he sank down and stared out the side.

“Are you not looking forward to the dance?”

“It isn’t the dance that has my nerves on edge.”

“Then what is it?”

He shook his head to dismiss her question and continued to stare out the side.

“It’s this talk of the ordinance, isn’t it?”

His gaze flicked to her as he straightened.

“The town seems torn over it,” she continued, reciting what she’d heard at a meeting earlier in the week with the rest of the brides. As with the town, the women were divided down the middle over it, the ones blindly following Constance Kendall for it while the ones at Lizzie Gallagher’s side against it.

Shadows surrounded his eyes as he offered her a weary smile. “Worry not, my wife. It will work out. I promise.”

“You can’t promise something like that. We don’t know that it will. Ignorance runs rampant in Port Steele over this ordinance. You can’t reason with it. You can’t disregard it.” Her lips trembled as tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision. “I’m scared, Adam. What if it passes? I can’t bear the thought.”

He leaned toward her and took her hands in his. “It won’t.”

“But what if it does?”

“It won’t,” he repeated with more conviction in his voice.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I will stop at nothing to see that it doesn’t.”

That she believed. His faith gave her hope.

The coach pulled up to the dance hall and Adam stepped out to help her. She took his hand and allowed him to lead her through the double doors and into the bright, open room.

The lively music had already started, and couples crowded the floor, bouncing and laughing as they danced. For tonight, it seemed the townspeople would lay down their swords and come together.

Patience spotted Amelia dancing with one of the many suitors pursuing her hand. The youngest Prescott wore her pretty blonde hair in ringlets that bounced around her petite shoulders, her blue eyes shining as she seemed to be having quite a time out there.

“Shall we?” Adam held out his hand.

She took it and allowed her husband to lead her out onto the dance floor. They moved in time with the music, both smiling and laughing at their missteps. Adam moved lightly on his feet and didn’t mind that she kept stepping on them.

Adam moved closer, and Patience tensed. They may be married, but it was still highly improper to dance so close in public. That wicked smile smoldered on his lips. “I don’t recall you having this much of an issue the first time we danced together. Where is that lovely mind of yours?”

His scent wafted up into her nostrils. Oh, how she loved the way he smelled. She inhaled again. He gave her a flirtatious sideways glance as that destructive smile grew.

“As if you don’t know,” she answered in a weak voice.

Oh, bother.
He knew exactly how she reacted to him. No wonder he had that wicked glimmer in his dark gaze.

“How about we dance a few dances, share a glass of punch with a few select people, and then we go back to the house. Raven would be extremely pleased if we retired early. There is no need to stay for the entire evening.”

The sexual desire thickened between them. Patience looked up into his eyes. “I think that’s a splendid idea.”

The song ended, and another lively tune filled the room. Adam started to move to it when a booming voice caught his attention. He swung his attention over to Miles Petty as he stood in the center of a crowd of men. Constance Kendall beamed as she firmly planted herself at his side.

“I tell you, it’s the only way we are going to be able to insure you have employment a year from now.” Miles’s cold gray eyes shined as he held the center of attention.

Adam growled and clenched his jaw. God
damn
that man and his blind pursuit of this ordinance. “What is he doing here? This is the Gallaghers’ dance for the brides, is it not?”

“Mr. Petty makes it a point to come to all the dances. I believe that he has been trying to persuade some of the women to move to better accommodations. At least, that is how Constance presents it.”

Well, if that wasn’t a blatant kick in the teeth. Adam glanced around the dance hall and found Logan Gallagher, his gaze hard and narrow as he stared at Miles Petty. Next to Logan stood his brothers Noah and Andrew, both with their arms crossed and equally reproachful looks as their glares rested on Miles.

“I should think the Gallaghers would ask him to leave.” Adam twirled Patience, although not to the music. He no longer heard it. His concentration focused on Miles and the crowd’s reaction to his comment.

A mountain of a man spoke up. “But Mr. Petty, the Gallaghers have been good to us. If hiring Indians was a bad thing, they wouldn’t be doing it.”

Adam danced Patience over to the crowd, yet kept them far enough away so they could continue to dance and not be noticed. He whispered to Patience, “Do you know the name of the man speaking?”

She glanced around. “I believe Amelia calls him Joshua. She dances with him quite a bit. I don’t know his last name.”

Miles laughed at Joshua’s comment. “If you only knew the Gallaghers the way I do, Josh, you would redefine your opinion of them.”