First Class Male (9 page)

“That marshal sure likes her.” Lew Folsom lowered his binoculars. Now that the lawman was between buildings, impossible to see him. Lew spit, sending a stream of tobacco juice flying into the bunch grass at the edge of the slope north of town. “This is interesting.”

“Ain’t that the girl you and Lyle got off the train?” Old Sam asked from behind his binoculars. Gray-haired and grizzled, Sam was past his prime, but Lew kept him around for a lot of reasons. The old fart’s experience had helped them out of trouble more than once. “Did you mean to find her?”

“Nah, just a coincidence. I was watching that marshal.” Sometimes a man got lucky, Lew thought. Yesterday he’d been looking forward to sampling the young pretty thing after his brother was done with her, but that marshal got in the way. That ain’t all that marshal had done.

“That’s the one who killed Lyle, ain’t it?” Old Sam asked.

“Yep.” Lew gritted his teeth, fury raging through him. Yeah, he’d seen the marshal cart Lyle’s body away. Lew had been hiding in the dark, watching. Renewed wrath charged through him, a tornado of vengeance building. That marshal was gonna pay. He’d destroy that man if it was the last thing he did.

“We’re gonna need supplies if we’re gonna storm that jail.” Jeb crawled up the rise of the hill, belly down, to take the binoculars from Old Sam. “We had to leave behind half our guns and ammunition. Do you think I could stroll into one of them stores and buy what we need?”

“Can’t risk anyone recognizing us, idiot.” Lew pulled his tobacco pouch out of his denim pocket and unrolled it. The cash from the train robbery was burning a hole in his pocket, but he couldn’t spend it. Not here. “Do you got anything to say, Old Sam?”

“A gang member of mine spent time in that jail.” The old man sat up, rubbing his stubbly chin, concentrating. “Was a long time ago.”

“A century?” Jeb guffawed.

“Nine years,” Old Sam said with dignity. “Pulled a bank job in this town. Was smaller then, but that jail was new. Double stone walls, top-grade iron. We could bust ‘em out, but look at the patrols. Looks to me like the marshals are coordinating with the town sheriff. We’d have to kill a lotta lawmen before we could get close with the dynamite.
If
we have enough to blast through, that is.”

“I don’t mind killing a lotta lawman,” Jeb quipped, laughing at the prospect. “That always makes my day.”

“Well, there’s ten of us, about fifteen of them on patrol. Four more up on rooftops, so they have the high ground.” Old Sam shook his head, gesturing toward the main street. “My guess is they’ll keep that number, even through the night. We’d live longer if we find another way.”

“Then what we need is a hostage.” Lew tucked a pinch of tobacco into his mouth, against his cheek. He knew exactly who to take.

A platonic kiss, really? Callie closed the front door behind her, safe in Mariel’s entryway with her heart pounding and her cheek burning from Mason’s kiss. When his large hand had first cradled her face, little sparkles of hope and desire flitted through her, like stardust shimmering low in her mid-section and sparking through her veins.

A breathless hope had filled her, when his gaze had searched hers. She’d thought she’d read affection in those true blue depths, sure she’d seen his desire to kiss her, to
really
kiss her. Her entire being longed for it, craving it, and she’d waited breathlessly while he slanted closer, their breaths mingling before turning away at the last minute to press his kiss to her cheek.

Her
cheek
. Disappointment weighed on her heart because of what that meant. She leaned back against the door, squeezing her eyes shut. She’d wanted his kiss. Badly. She shook her head, opened her eyes, blew out a breath. What was wrong with her? She launched away from the door, surprised to find her package still tucked in one arm.

“There you are!” Mariel marched out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. A genuine, caring greeting crossed her round, apple-cheeked face. Red curls bobbed down from a stylish up knot. “And look at you, Callie. As pretty as a picture. I knew Lindylee would find you just the right thing.”

“She was very generous, and so are you.” She hugged the package to her, able to relax here, to feel welcome. She appreciated Mariel’s kindness more than she could say. She blinked, trying to forget the sensation of Mason’s kiss to her cheek. “I promise I’ll reimburse you, as soon as I have the money, I—”

“Stop fretting, my dear.” Mariel waved her hand, unconcerned. “You wouldn’t be the first young lady down on her luck I’ve helped, and you won’t be the last. Now you come on into the dining room. I was just about to serve lunch. Most of my boarders are at work. There’s just you, me and Lena. I made chicken sandwiches.”

Callie’s stomach growled, so apparently it approved. “Sounds good,” she said with a shrug.

“Excellent.” Mariel led the way into a nearby room, where tall windows looked out on a flower garden popping with colorful blooms. Lace curtains had been drawn back to appreciate the roses. A long oval table, able to seat twelve, centered the room, sporting three place settings, silverware and cups of fresh milk. A rather thin, long-faced young lady sat in one of the many empty chairs. Lena.

She lit up in greeting when she spotted Callie. “Hello, there. That is a gorgeous dress. Lindylee has the prettiest things, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, it was so hard to choose.” Callie set the package on a nearby credenza. “I have your things here. Thanks again.”

“It was my pleasure.” Lena gestured to the seat directly across from her, wanting Callie to sit close. Her black curls tumbled riotously around her face in tight little ringlets. “When I first came to live here, I had nothing, not a thing. Or a stitch of clothing. I arrived stark naked. Isn’t that a fact, Mariel?”

“One I can attest to.” Mariel tapped in from the kitchen, sporting three full plates piled with a thick sandwich and lots of carrot sticks.

“Really? Naked?” Callie blushed, thinking how humiliating that must have been. She pulled out the chair across the table from Lena. “Whatever happened to you?”

“Oh, Big Red tossed me out of the saloon. We had a big argument.” Lena blushed a little as she accepted her plate from Mariel. “I wanted to leave and he said no.”

“Did you work there?” Callie asked, concerned.

“Yes, ever since I came to town on the stage,” Lena answered.

“She was just fifteen.” Mariel set down a plate in front of Callie and marched to her chair at the head of the table. “Poor thing had no one, didn’t have a penny to her name.”

“My pa kicked me out when he got married again.” Lena shrugged as if it had been no big deal. “But I found a job with Big Red and I was a working girl for years. It wasn’t too bad. You get regulars, and some of them almost treat you well.”

“Oh.” Realization hit her. Lena hadn’t been serving drinks or washing dishes for this Big Red fellow. She’d been selling herself. She’d been a prostitute. “That had to have been difficult, making a living like that.”

“I can’t say you’re wrong.” Lena’s eyes shadowed, but her indomitable smile remained. “I’m just thankful Mariel had been friendly with me, told me she’d help if I ever needed it. So that night when I begged Big Red one more time to let me go, and he got mad and violent, I ran straight here. Of course I took the side streets and alleys, and I hid whenever I heard footsteps or a horse clomping toward me. I don’t think too many saw me. Now I’m working as a milkmaid over at a dairy farm. I’ve got the afternoon shift, so I’ll be heading to work soon.”

“Speaking of which, I found a job for you, Callie,” Mariel said around a mouth of chicken sandwich.

“A job?” She blinked, the food before her still untouched. She was hungry, but she didn’t feel like eating. Maybe because she was all tangled up over Mason and his chaste, platonic kiss. Her heart ached over that. She’d really wanted him to kiss her in a way she’d never forget. It would have been her first kiss.

“I didn’t know if you would be interested,” Mariel went on, reaching for her cup of milk. “But that’s me, I’m nosy and I meddle. If you stay with me, you’ll just have to get used to it. Mrs. O’Dooley just had a baby this morning, a precious little boy, but she’s doing poorly, the pregnancy weakened her, poor thing. You could help her with her newborn and her little toddler, until she’s feeling stronger.”

“Well, I am leaving on this afternoon’s train.” She felt badly, after Mariel had gone to all this trouble for her. “I have a ticket and everything.”

“Oh, well, if that’s what you want, dear, you should be with family after what you’ve been through. That’s best.” Mariel nodded sympathetically. “Don’t you worry. I’ll go over and help out Mrs. O’Dooley, right after I walk you over to the train depot, give you a proper send off. It’s just a shame your hopes here didn’t work out.”

“What hopes were those?” Lena asked curiously, as she munched on a carrot stick.

“Callie was going to marry Doc Reynolds,” Mariel answered. “She was to be his mail-order bride.”

“Oh, I know Earl.” Lena waved her carrot in the air like a wand. “He was one of my regulars.”

What?
Callie dropped her sandwich. Plop. It tumbled onto her plate. A slice of tomato shot out from between the bread. Her hands shook as she shoved the tomato slice back into place. “Uh, Earl visited you to—?”

“Oh, yes. He came twice a week, as regular as clockwork. Literally.” Lena giggled. “Trust me, you didn’t miss out on much, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her carrot stick tellingly and giggled again. “Sorry, Mariel. I didn’t mean to be rude and talk of man parts at the table.”

“It happens.” Mariel bit her bottom lip, turning pink from trying not to laugh. “But, trust me, that was more information about Earl than I wanted to know.”

“Trust me, me too.” Lena broke into laughter.

Callie blushed. “The more I learn about Earl, the luckier I am that this marriage didn’t work out.”

“That marshal, now.” Lena set down her carrot stick, growing serious. “I was looking out of my window when you were out there in the street with him. Unlike Mariel, I didn’t mean to intrude. I was just looking outside, but the way he looked at you. Boy. I would give anything to have such a nice man look at me that way.”

“Oh, he’s not really interested.” Ignoring the squeeze of hurt in her chest, she reached for her cup of milk. “He gave me a train ticket. I don’t think he’s wanting me to stay.”

“Mason is just doing the right thing. That’s who he is.” Mariel bit into her sandwich, chewing away, a knowing look on her face. “I was at his wife’s funeral. I saw with my own eyes how destroyed he was with grief. In all that time since, it’ll be coming up on ten years soon, a whole decade, he’s never shown any woman the kind of personal interest he’s shown you. Callie, if I were you, I wouldn’t be leaving town, not if Mason was that interested in me.”

“But he kissed me on the cheek. A platonic kiss, that’s all.”

“It wasn’t platonic from where I was sitting.” Mariel winked. “I saw it too, and yes, I was spying. You’ve got some time before the train leaves. I’d think about staying long and hard if I were you.”

Callie stared at her plate. Did she have it wrong? Did the marshal’s kiss mean more than she thought? She took a bite of sandwich, pondering that as Mariel turned the conversation to Lena’s new job, asking how it was to work with all those cows.

“How’s it looking up here?” Mason asked, strolling across the rooftop of the Clark Creek Feed & Seed. “Any sign of trouble?”

“None that we can see.” Pauly, his arm in a sling, lowered his binoculars. He stood in the beating sun, dressed all in black, six shooters strapped to his thighs, his repeating rifle leaning against the four-foot high false front of the building. The flat roof reflected the noon sun, making it feel hotter than it was. “We’ve kept a sharp eye out. Clem’s watching the side streets and alleys. I’m on all the main roads into town and keeping an eye on Miss Carpenter, just like you asked.”

“And I’m watching the area just around the jail,” Deeks spoke up, not lowering his binoculars for a second. “Everything’s been normal. No sign of the Folsom Gang.”