First Class Male (5 page)

“Together?”
Earl’s voice changed, dipped in tone as if he were embarrassed—not for himself but for Callie. “Oh, no, that simply isn’t possible.”

Mason drew back on the reins, keeping the gelding in place, a hollow feeling digging into the pit of his stomach, knowing now what was coming, and he bowed his head. It wasn’t right. Not one bit.

“I’m afraid we can’t get married now.” Earl broke the news, his tone pedantic, laced with sympathy. “I chose you very specifically, Callie. An untouched virgin, one who worked in an orphanage. Why, that is the perfect wife for my stature in this town. But now your reputation is in tatters, and think how that would reflect on me.”

“But I’m the same as I’ve always been.” Confused hurt layered those words. “I don’t understand, Earl. You promised to take care of me. You just said so.”

“I meant as a doctor.” Earl patted her shoulder awkwardly as if she were a small child needing to be soothed. “Certainly I didn’t mean that I’d be responsible for you. No, you simply are not up to my standards, not anymore. Think of the girls, Callie. They can’t be exposed to something like this. You spent time with rough men without a chaperone.”

“I see.” Quietly spoken words, as if every dream she’d ever had had fallen to the ground at her feet, dead. “So you don’t want me and you’re breaking your commitment to me.”

“I have no choice.” Earl shrugged, as if it was just one of those things, something that couldn’t be helped.

The swine. Mason dismounted, summoning up all the self-control he possessed not to march over there and plant his fist in Earl’s face.

“Under the circumstances, I won’t ask you to reimburse me for the train ticket I sent you.” Earl tipped his hat to her, backing off. “I won’t even charge you for an examination.”

“Don’t bother.” She squared her shoulders, chin up, eyes fierce but full of pain. “I don’t need a doctor. I especially don’t need a spineless man for a husband. Goodbye, Earl.”

“No need to get like that!” Earl shook his head, giving Mason a look that said,
women.
“Maybe those robbers did me a favor. You are not the kind of woman I believed you to be.”

“I was thinking the same thing about you.” Callie’s chin hiked up another notch, her hands fisted, golden curls framing her pale face. Her insult didn’t dawn on the doc as he escaped to his buggy and sped away as if glad to be rid of her.

“Oh, you’re still here.” She spotted Mason then, with unfallen tears in her eyes, spiking her lashes. She let out a shaky sigh. “I guess you heard some of that.”

“Everything.” He strolled closer. “Earl is an ass.”

“I won’t argue. He’s certainly not a real man.” Her throat worked, as if she were doing her best to hold back her disappointment. Earl was the man she’d hoped to be happy with. Of course this was hard for her. She arched a slender eyebrow. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be getting back to your office? Don’t you have outlaws to jail?”

“I do, and more to catch.” Mason smiled. He hadn’t smiled so much in more years than he cared to think about. He liked this woman, and it wasn’t just because he’d seen her naked. “C’mon. Let’s knock on the door, and I’ll introduce you to Mariel. I think you’ll like her.”

“You don’t have to feel responsible for me, Marshal.” She straightened her spine, standing tall, moving away from him like a ghost through the shadows. “It’s nice of you, but I can take care of myself. Maybe I’d be better off, considering some of the men in this world.”

“It would be a real shame for you to come to that conclusion.” He followed her up the steps, crossed the porch at her side. “And the name’s Mason. Use it.”

With a wink, he rapped on the door. Left her in Mariel’s capable care. Did his best to walk away without looking back.

But he thought of her. Yes, he absolutely did.

“Try not to be disappointed, dearie.” Mariel upended the last basin of hot water into the soaking tub. Her bright red hair tumbled down from her up knot in ringlet curls, her face round and apple-cheeked, her dove-gray day gown showcasing her compact figure. “Look at it this way. You dodged a bullet not marryin’ that one.”

“I did.” She thought of the gentle, ardent letters Earl had written her. He’d put so much effort into those words, he’d explained, trying to portray the man he truly was and how much he already cared for her. Sitting on a bench by a lovely Cheval mirror, Callie let out a painful sigh. Come to think of it, Earl had tried too hard in his letters. “He wasn’t the man he said he was.”

“Men can be deceptive even when you’re lookin’ them right in the eye.” Mariel shook the last droplets from the basin and set it on the floor, her good-natured cheer shining like the sun through the small window. “I’ve known a lot of men, and so I feel qualified to judge the good doctor. He’s not the upstanding gentleman he tries so hard to be, believe you me. His late wife, God rest her, was the unhappiest woman I ever laid eyes on.”

“I can believe that now.” She stared down at her bare feet, remembering Earl dismissing her as if she were worthless. He made her feel worthless. The part of her that was angry and hurting at his rejection wanted to take a broom to him, but another part of her was relieved. He’d talked down to her, he’d looked at her as if she were the worst sort of loose lady, selling her body for pennies when it wasn’t close to true and he knew it. She shrugged. “My heart isn’t as broken as my dreams. My dreams are shattered.”

“Sometimes that hurts worse.” Her voice warm with understanding, Mariel snapped the ruffled red calico curtains closed. “You’ll feel better after a nice hot bath. I can’t imagine how frightened you had to be, tied up by those men. I’ll see if I can’t borrow a dress your size from one of the other boarders.”

“I hate to trouble anyone.” Callie thought of her satchel so lovingly packed, left stowed beneath the train seat. Where was it now? Surely gone for good, all that careful sewing she’d done. “Thank you, Mariel.”

“My pleasure, darlin’.” The matronly woman set white fluffy towels on a small table next to the tub. “You can worry about it later. You just relax, then wash off all the bad memories, leave them right in the water. Don’t you worry about what happened anymore. It’s a good future you are deservin’, and I’ll do my best to help you with that.”

Kindness. The unexpected power of it brought tears to Callie’s eyes. “I can’t tell you what that means.”

“What goes around comes around.” Mariel stalked across the room, sweet as an apple dumpling. “I help you, you help someone else. It makes for a better world. I’ll be back, dear.”

Warmly, Mariel smiled, bustled out the door and closed it firmly behind her.

Alone in the cheerful little necessary room, Callie let out a long, pent up breath. Hard to believe twenty-four hours ago she’d been blissfully dancing around the shanty with her sisters, so excited about catching the train and finding her dreams. My, how those dreams died. She thought of the husband she’d lost—apparently the dream of him was better than the reality, but still. It hurt. And she’d never been alone before. She’d always had her sisters near.

I told you so,
Emma would be the first to say if she knew.

Too bad, but you can do better,
Abby would have said with that twinkle of mischief in her eye.

I could kick him in the shins for you,
Dee would cheerfully offer, although she’d never hit anyone or anything in her life.

And Maggie would have wrapped her in a sisterly hug, hurting for her in sympathy.

Yes, Callie thought, her chest aching. She
really
missed her sisters.

Alone, she rose to her feet, unbuttoned the baggy shirt and trousers and stepped into the slipper-shaped tub. Hot, soothing water lapped around her calves, almost to her knees. She’d never been in a real soaking tub before. At home they had a big round basin tub so this was sheer and utter luxury. The tension in her tired, beaten muscles unknotted as she laid back and the steamy water lapped along her skin.

She closed her eyes and the image of the marshal’s chest flashed in her mind. Why? She couldn’t say. It was the first man’s bare naked chest she’d ever seen, so she didn’t have any other images to compare it to, but those smooth, tanned planes and muscular contours dusted with dark hair were simply stunningly spectacular. Perhaps the next time she went in search of a husband, she’d put
magnificent chest
on her list of desirable man requirements.

“Knock, knock.” Mariel’s voice sounded on the other side of the door a split second before it swung open. “How’s the water temperature?”

“Perfect.” Callie could feel her bones melting, that’s how relaxed she was. Maybe she’d add,
owns a nice tub,
on that desirable man list too.

“Lena is about your size, she’s in the corner room next to yours,” Mariel explained, setting down an armload of clothing on the bench by the mirror. “And here’s a cup of coffee for you. I didn’t know how you took it, but I put in two sugars and a dollop of cream.”

“Cream?” That was a luxury too. Callie smiled, reaching out to take the ironware mug Mariel brought over. “That was really thoughtful of you.”

“It’s why I’m here.” Mariel winked, merry as could be, and pivoted on one heel, marching away. “Got things to do, people to take care of. When you’re done up here, come straight downstairs, the kitchen is in the back. I’ll whip you up a breakfast you won’t soon forget.”

“It’s hard to argue with that.” Callie watched the door close and sank back, letting her head rest against the upper side of the tub. She could soak here forever, or at least until the water went chilly. No, it would be wonderful to stay right here relaxed in the deliciously hot water forever, so she wouldn’t have to ever think about the bad, terrifying moments behind her or face the uncertainty of what was to come next in her life.

Earl was right. After being taken by kidnappers, her reputation was ruined. Her virtue was in question, and it didn’t matter that she wasn’t violated. What mattered was that she could have been, that she’d spent a span of time unchaperoned with rough men. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right, but that was society. People liked to judge, they liked to deem who was acceptable and who wasn’t, perhaps for their own self-assurance.

But her reputation was destroyed. There was no question about that. It was hard to say if there was a decent man who would want her now. And, after this experience with Earl, she wanted
more
than a decent man. Much, much more. Someone noble and honorable. Someone who always did the right thing. A man with a butter-rum baritone that rumbled low when he was kind, that boomed with protective authority when she was in danger.

The marshal’s handsome granite face popped into her mind. She didn’t want to speculate why. Perhaps it was a tad bit of hero worship. Or, maybe it simply boiled down to the remarkable sight of him without a shirt. A girl couldn’t erase that from her mind even if her life depended on it.

Next time, she was going to be very careful who she gave her heart to. She wouldn’t just hand it over to anyone, even some moderately handsome doctor who had a way with words. No, she didn’t want to be fooled again. The next time she let herself dream, it would be with a man who could deliver.

Mason couldn’t get Callie out of his mind. He pushed away from his desk, crossed the office and headed straight to the coffeepot. With his brow furrowed and his mouth tucked in a somber frown, he probably looked like a man mulling over how best to capture the remaining members of the Folsom Gang. But really he was trying to figure out why he’d reacted to Callie the way he did. Why did he like her when he hadn’t gone out of his way to like any woman in the past nine years? What was different about her?

“I ain’t happy about it either,” Pauly said, his wounded arm patched up and in a sling. “Why Ann had to go and get married, I don’t know. Who’s gonna pour our coffee around here? That’s what I’d like to know.”

“You didn’t break both arms.” Deeks tossed a wry grin and grabbed another cup off the shelf while he was at it and filled both with the pot from the stove. “I’ll do it this once, seeing as the doc had to dig out that bullet and sew you up. Gotta be smart enough to dodge those things, buddy.”