Brides of the West (8 page)

The slight shift of his legs beneath hers
spoke volumes about his discomfort, but didn’t clarify his
meaning.

“Perhaps you should stay a few weeks,” he
murmured. “Just to see how things...go on?” His voice sounded
strained, as if he wanted to say more.

“You want to see if I’m going to have your
child.” The words came out flat and hard.

He didn’t answer. It wasn’t a question.

“And then what?” she asked. “Would you marry
me?”

“Of course.” He sounded relieved, as if she’d
offered him some sort of escape. “It would be my
responsibility.”

He was a man who took his responsibilities
seriously. Even in the two days she’d known him, she understood
that. She ought to appreciate his thoughtfulness, but the thought
of his child in her womb was so utterly wonderful, his stark
practicality pierced a soft place in her heart and it wept tears of
blood.

“And that is the reason you think I should
stay?” she managed to say calmly.

“The boys seem to like you. You cook real
good. You ride as well as the rest of us.”

These were the same kind of reasons she’d
married Pete. When she’d signed the contract with
A Bride for
All
, the convenience issue hadn’t mattered. Now, from this man,
she needed so much more. She wanted to be loved for herself, who
she was, not for reasons of economy.

Her heart sank in a headlong rush down a deep
hole. She hit the bottom, shaken and bruised and angry. “Please,
Jake,” she said with as much sweetness as she could muster. “Don’t
disturb yourself on that score. You did your best to make sure
there would be no unwanted child.”

He stilled, froze, even his heart seemed to
stop beating against her cheek. If she hurt him, she didn’t care
right now. She had her own pain to deal with. She pushed herself
up, away, gathering her clothes, only dashing the mist from her
eyes, when she was sure he couldn’t see.

“We’ll go to San Antonio first thing in the
morning as planned,” she said.

He moved away, thrusting legs into pants,
stamping on boots. “What’s so all fired interestin’ about San
Antonio? You got someone waitin’ there? A man?”

“As a matter of fact, I am hoping to meet up
with someone there.”

“Is this man the reason you came to America?”
He asked it casually. Too casually.

She had no reason to hide the truth. “Yes. I
was robbed in New York, almost the moment I set foot on land. The
Bride for All
offer provided the opportunity to get out
here.”

“How were you goin’ to explain this man to
me...if we’d married?”

Good God, he sounded...angry, and if it
wasn’t impossible, she might think him jealous. Her short laugh
sounded rather more bitter than she intended. “I did wonder about
that.”

She followed his long strides across the
boulders and out of the gorge.

***

They had broken camp the next morning before
the sun was no
more than
a grey promise in
the east. Tess had the feeling they were fleeing the scene of a
crime, that Jake wanted nothing more than to forget what had
happened down by the river.

He growled when Matt complained about having
to wait to get home to have breakfast. He snarled when Dave failed
to tighten his cinches properly. The only person unaffected by
Jake’s black mood was Raven. He had ridden out and left them to it
the moment he arose.

And now she and Jake were driving down the
main street of San Antonio, after hours of a silence so taut it
vibrated. The buildings were low and whitewashed, their interiors
looked dark, cool and inviting.

Jake pulled up in front of a door beneath a
sign:
A Bride for All
, with smaller writing beneath:
Let
us help you find yours
.

“I’ll go in and tell Tom Wilkins to cancel
the contract,” Jake said. “At least I can get some of my money
back.”

Her throat felt as dry as the dust on the
road. And besides, how could she speak when tears of regret lay so
close to the surface. So she grabbed her satchel and climbed down
before he offered to help.

Jake hitched the horse to the post. He jerked
his thumb over his shoulder. “Hotel’s across the street.”

Her throat fuller than ever, she nodded
again. Her vision blurred. Dammit she wouldn’t cry. She would not
let him see how much he was hurting her. She knew all about men and
their needs. So he’d used her. She’d used him, too. Enjoyed it.

She swallowed hard and forced herself to
speak crisply. “Goodbye, Jake. Thank you for the drive. Wish Raven
farewell for me please.” Raven hadn’t been at the Circle Q when
they got back. She’d been worried about leaving the boys alone, but
Jake had told her Raven was close, that he hated goodbyes. Dave had
announced he hated them too and had hurtled off to the bunkhouse,
followed by the dragging steps of his older brother.

Jake didn’t look her in the eye. His hat
pulled low on his forehead, his thumbs in his belt, he stared at
the dirt. “Goodbye, Tess.”

That was it, then. No more to be said.

She swung away, took a swift look up and down
the street for traffic, then crossed the road and entered the
hotel.

“What can I do for you ma’am,” the clerk
behind the counter asked.

“Is there a saddle maker in town?”

“At the north end.”

“I am looking for a man who does fine
decoration.”

The man scratched his nose with the end of
his pen. “I wouldn’t know, ma’am. Do you want a room for the night
or not.” He glanced at her satchel suspiciously. “Is that all the
luggage you got?”

Tess bit her lip. That was a complication she
hadn’t thought of. That and her lack of money. The whole reason for
agreeing to be a mail order bride had been because she’d been
robbed of everything she owned. She still didn’t have money. And
she wasn’t about to ask Jake. He’d probably see it as payment for
services rendered and give it to her. Anger at the sudden pain in
her heart reddened her vision and brought a hard lump into her
throat. She forced her words around it. “Actually,” she said, “I’m
looking for work.”

The clerk’s pale face flushed. “You cheeky
little bitch. Get out of here, before I call the sheriff. Didn’t
you see the sign?” He pointed to the inscription on a varnished
board above his head. “Or can’t you read?”

“Yes, I can read,” she snapped. “It says no
soliciting.”

“And that’s what it means. This is a
respectable establishment. Be off with you before I call the
sheriff to put you in the hoosegow.”

Heat flooded her cheeks as she realized what
he thought. She turned about face with a flounce of her skirts and
marched out.

Jake’s buggy was gone.

She glanced up and down the sleepy street,
saw a couple of Mexicans dozing in the sun outside the saloon, a
couple of horses waiting patiently outside the general store, and
that was it. It was siesta time, according to Jake. Things wouldn’t
get busy again until the sun went down.

Oh, Albert, please be here
. If he
wasn’t, she might well find herself back in the
Bride for
All
office looking for another husband. But she really didn’t
think she could. Not after her encounter with Jake. She’d always
compare any man she met to him. And that wouldn’t be fair or
endurable.

She straightened her shoulders and set off up
the street. After coming all this way to find him, Albert just had
to be here.

At the north end of town, Fred Tuttle’s
Saddle Shop was no different than the other adobe buildings. Tess
peered into a window full of decorated saddles, each one with
Albert’s trademark AW worked into the design, exactly like the one
Jake owned. As she pushed the door open, a bell tinkled above her
head. She stepped into the blessed cool and let the door swing
shut.

A dark-eyed woman of Spanish extraction with
a black shawl over a pristine white blouse hurried from somewhere
at the back of the shop. A full black skirt decorated with
exquisite embroidery swirled around her ankles. She halted when she
saw Tess, her expression turning doubtful, her black eyes huge.
“Can I help you, señora?” Her soft accent was charming.

Tess smiled. “I’m looking for my brother,
Albert White. He made the saddles in your window.”

The woman’s expression shuttered. “There is
no Albert here.”

Tess stared at her. Why would the woman lie?
Was Albert in some sort of trouble? “My name is Tess. Albert is my
brother. He wrote to me from San Antonio. I know he made those
saddles.”

The woman shook her head, hands clasped at
her breasts. “I’m sorry, señora. It is a mistake, I think.”

She made a shooing motion with her arms.

Tess pushed passed her.

“Señora,” the woman cried, “you cannot go
there.”

Tess didn’t stop. She passed through a
storeroom and out the back door, where the dazzle of the white
painted walls almost blinded her and the heat of the day hit her
like a wall. On the other side of the courtyard was an open door to
a workshop and stable. The woman trotted after her. Tess ran
through the door, blinking in the sudden dark.

“Tess,” said a familiar beloved voice. “What
in hell’s name are you doing here?”

She flung herself at her brother. “Oh,
Albert. Thank God I found you.”

“Well, well,” said a voice from behind. “How
about that? Good thing I didn’t marry you after all.”

Jake. His bright blue eyes hot and angry and
full of hurt. Damn him. What right did he have to be hurt?

The little Spanish lady hurtled through the
door. “I am sorry, Alphonzo. I could not stop her.”

Albert’s suntanned face split in a grin
beneath his straggly brown moustache. “Ain’t no one can stop our
Tess, I’m afraid.” Heavens, he sounded like an American, and he’d
only been here four years.

He looked at Jake. “But I’m not quite sure
where you fit into the picture, mister.”

Jake stared at Tess. “Nor am I. Or rather, I
believe she used me to get to you.” He made it sound ugly. Very
ugly. And she didn’t want him telling Albert exactly what they’d
done.

“Albert, you have to come home,” Tess
pleaded. “Mother has married again. Her new husband doesn’t want
the business. They plan to sell it and move to the country. If you
don’t come soon, there will be nothing left.”

“Did you come all this way to tell me
that?”

She stared at him. “It’s my home.”

Jake was staring from one to the other. He
looked sicker than a colicky horse. He jabbed his hat on his head
and turned to leave.

“Just a moment, Redmond,” Albert said. “Just
how do you happen to know my sister?”

Jake pivoted. “Your sister?”

Albert narrowed his eyes. “Who did you think
she was?”

Jake shook his head. “Your wife? Maybe your
woman? She was so damned keen to find you.”

The little Spanish lady sidled up to Albert
and put her arm through his. “Alphonzo
es mio
.”

“You are married?” Tess asked.

“Very much,” Albert said, planting a kiss on
the woman’s dusky cheek. “And I’m not going back to London. I like
it here. These cowboys,”—he gestured to Jake, who was staring at
Tess so hard, her stomach clenched—“love my work, and they pay for
it. Not like in London where all they do is expect something for
nothing.”

“But what about the business? It needs you. I
need you. I can’t go and live with Mother in the country. There’s
nothing for me to do.” She blinked back what felt horribly like
tears. She was making a fool of herself.

And Jake was watching her do it.

Albert gave her a bit of a cheeky grin, laced
with a smidgeon of pride. “Sorry to knock the wind out of your
sails, Tess, but I’m managing quite all right without my older
sister’s help. I’m thinking about going into politics. I can’t do
that in England. I don’t have the right kind of education. Out
here, they don’t care which school a man went to.”

She sank down on a stool. She shook her head.
“Mother doesn’t need my help,” she gave a helpless little laugh.
“And neither do you it seems. Oh dear. Now what shall I do?”
Suddenly, she felt like an idiot. She’d spent all her savings
thinking she was doing it to help her brother and he was managing
perfectly well without her.

No one in the family needed her anymore. They
were all happily married. And the only man she’d ever wanted had
rejected her at first sight.

Jake, who she wished would leave, stepped out
of the shadows. She shot him a glare. “Don’t you have feed to buy?
What are you doing here, anyway?”

He took a step closer. “I saw your interest
in that saddle. Your urgent need to get to San Antonio and knowin’
he was from England helped me put two and two together.” He
squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “I think I made five.”

Albert cracked a laugh, then frowned. “You
still didn’t say how you know each other.”

“Mail order bride,” Jake said.

“What?” Albert yelled. He leaped up and
grabbed
Tess’
arm. “Why would you do such
a harebrained thing? I thought Dalton left you comfortably off.
Don’t tell me you sank it all in the business.”

Tess shook her head. “I invested some of it
in the Funds and used the rest to travel here. But I was robbed in
New York, had no means of proving who I was, so I signed a contract
as a bride. I’ve always wanted a family, it seemed like the perfect
opportunity.” She shook her head. “Only he didn’t want me.”

***

Jake couldn’t stand the pinched look on
Tess’
face. Clearly she’d been thrown off
balance. He desperately wanted to haul her close and tell her
everything would be all right, that she would come home with him
and they would make a perfect life together. He took a deep breath
. . . and held his peace.

Tess got slowly to her feet. “Well, I suppose
there’s nothing for it, but to go back to London, if you wouldn’t
mind lending me the price of a ticket.”