Heart of the Hawk (11 page)

He would have remembered because of what it said, in that same elaborate, elegant script:

Joshua Hawk.

WHAT DID YOU do with a jittery gunfighter?

Kate watched warily as Josh worked the broom with an energy that threatened to wear it out, over a spot near the storeroom door that he’d already swept twice. He’d been on edge all day, and it was making her very nervous in turn.

She’d been surprised by his silence at breakfast after his affable charm with both her and Luke at supper the night before. She’d told herself that he was still tired. She hadn’t expected him up at all this morning, and had even been careful not to make any noise, knowing he’d had to sleep in the main room last night. But as noon rolled by, she’d had to admit it was more than that.

Or perhaps this morning she was seeing the real Joshua Hawk, and last night’s charm had been an act. She supposed even gunfighters had occasion to be charming, perhaps to lull their targets into thinking they were safe. It was a chilling thought, but then every thought she had about what this man did for a living gave her a chill.

But this was the same man who had pushed himself to exhaustion to retrieve what she’d needed. Who had been kinder, more polite, more helpful, and had worked harder than her husband ever had. How did she reconcile the two? Which one was the real Joshua Hawk?

She looked up as the door opened, grateful for any kind of distraction from Josh’s too intense presence. Luke, who had left at least an hour ago to deliver the monthly supply of preserves and canned peaches to Mr. Meeker, came in as he always seemed to, at a run. He glanced at Josh, who didn’t even look up from his sweeping. Luke looked doubtful, then trotted over to the counter where Kate stood.

“Here’s the money, Miss Kate, and Mr. Meeker says thank you for . . . remembering him in your time of grief.”

The last words came out in a breathless rush, as if the boy wanted to get the message out before he forgot it. That had been very kind of Mr. Meeker. She’d have to make a point of visiting him again soon.

“Thank you for taking it to him, Luke. Here’s something for your time—”

“No, ma’am.” Luke shook his head, declining the coin she held out to him. “Mr. Meeker, he already gave me somethin’.”

“But I always pay you, Luke.”

“Mr. Meeker, he said he was payin’ this time.” The boy grinned. “An’ he gave me a dime.”

Kate smiled as she put the five-cent piece back in the drawer she’d opened when the boy had come in. She would make a point of going to see Mr. Meeker soon, she thought.

Luke glanced again at Josh, who was still sweeping the same spot. Even the boy seemed to sense something wasn’t right, because he didn’t go over and begin to ply Josh with questions and chatter as he usually did. Instead, he turned back to Kate.

“That man, he surely can talk.”

“I’m sure he’s just lonely, Luke. It must be awful, to have to be in that room all the time. I hope you were nice to him.”

“Sure, I was. I like him. I even visit him sometimes.”

“You do?”

Luke nodded. “He doesn’t mind. He said so,” the boy added earnestly, and Kate’s heart ached for the boy who found it such a novelty to have someone who didn’t mind his presence.

“I’m sure he’s glad of your company,” she said.

“He’s been a lot of places, and he’s got lots of interesting stories,” Luke said, “and he lets me look at that old rifle of his, the one he used to shoot buffalo with. And it’s not such a bad room. He can see the whole street from that window. Reckon he knows most everything that goes on.”

Kate thought it sounded rather sad, watching the world without being a part of it. But she hastily amended that; she’d been part of the world, and there had been many times when she would have given a great deal not to have been. But at least the man didn’t treat Luke like he was some kind of wild animal, instead of just a boy who ran a little wild because he had no one to look out for him.

Luke’s fascination with The Hawk soon overcame his wariness, and he abandoned Kate for a tentative approach to Josh, stopping a few careful feet away. The boy had been astonished that The Hawk would lower himself to such a menial task as sweeping, but Josh had unperturbedly pointed out that since he was sleeping on the floor, keeping it clean seemed like a good idea. Luke had seen the wisdom in that, and quickly abandoned his opinion that sweeping was beneath him. And now he watched the regular movements of the broom as if fascinated.

“You been sweepin’ that spot a long time,” Luke said after a moment longer.

Josh kept sweeping, as if he hadn’t even heard the boy speak. Luke hesitated, then tried again.

“You were sweeping there when I left.”

The broom kept moving, and Josh still never looked up. Kate saw hurt flash across Luke’s face, and suddenly she’d had enough; whatever had Josh acting like a caged wolf, it had gone far enough. The boy looked up to him like some sort of hero, and while she was fairly certain a man like The Hawk wasn’t the best of idols for a boy, that didn’t mean she’d stand by and let the man hurt the boy’s feelings.

She stepped out from behind the counter and walked toward them. She put her hand comfortingly on Luke’s shoulder as she passed. The boy glanced up at her, his face now a mask of studied indifference. His expression gave her the nerve to keep going until she was close enough to reach out and grasp the broom’s handle, stopping the endless motion.

Josh jerked as if startled, instantly letting go of the broom, his head snapping up and his body tensing visibly as his gaze shot to her face.

“If you’re going to continue in this mood,” she said, “the roof needs fixing.”

She saw his right arm flex over his holster, then relax, and realized with a sick little shock that he hadn’t just been letting go of the broom, he’d been going for his revolver.

“What?” he said, his brows furrowed, looking merely puzzled while Kate was fighting to keep her heart from hammering its way out of her chest.

Luke was staring up at Josh, wearing an expression Kate was sure was similar to her own, half stunned, half sick.

“You . . . you weren’t really gonna shoot us, were you?” Luke said, sounding shaken.

“Shoot you?” His gaze flicked from her to the boy, then back. “Why would I shoot you?”

“Sure looked like you was goin’ for that Colt,” Luke said, wide-eyed and uncertain.

“Well, she shouldn’t sneak up on me like that,” Josh said, his mouth twisting in irritation.

“I did not sneak!” Kate exclaimed, her fear shifting to some irritation of her own. “We’ve been carrying on a normal conversation. You’re the one who’s been acting like a cornered snake all day, and then ignoring Luke, when all he wanted to do was talk to you.”

“Ignoring?” Josh looked puzzled again. He glanced at Luke. “You were talking to me?”

Confusion, then understanding—and relief—dawned on the boy’s face. “You didn’t hear me?”

The man at least had the grace to look embarrassed, Kate thought. And to be gentle with the boy when he explained.

“No. I guess I’m a little . . . preoccupied.”

“What’s peroc . . . apied?”

“It means I was thinking too hard,” Josh said, his tone wry enough to make Kate wonder just what exactly he’d been thinking about.

“Oh.”

He looked at her then. “I’m sorry if I frightened you,” he said softly.

“I . . . it’s all right.”

Josh shifted his gaze back to the boy. Luke studied him for a moment, as if trying to judge if it was safe to go on. Apparently what he saw in Josh’s face satisfied him.

“Thinkin’ about what?” he asked.

Josh glanced at Kate again, and unaccountably she felt heat rising in her cheeks. She hastily let go of the broom and backed up a step. Josh, moving so swiftly she could barely see the motion, caught the broom handle before it even began to fall. Then he looked back at Luke.

“About that book I showed you,” he said.

What was this? Kate wondered. But Josh didn’t explain, just kept his gaze on the boy.

“Do you remember seeing my name written in there, Luke?” he asked.

“Sure,” Luke said. “Remember, you were on that last line, of that part you said they call the tree.”

“I mean anywhere else. On the next page, or anywhere?”

The boy shook his head. “That was the last page with any writin’ on it.”

“You’re sure?”

He nodded this time. “Yep. I looked, ’cause I couldn’t figure why there was all those empty pages.” Luke looked worried now. “Is something wrong?”

With an audible exhalation, Josh shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I liked reading that book,” Luke said.

“What book is this?” Kate asked. “And what about a tree?”

Luke turned to her. “It’s like no book I ever saw before, Miss Kate. It’s got the story of Josh’s folks, you know, way back to the very beginning.”

Kate looked at Josh curiously. “A . . . family tree?”

Josh’s mouth twitched. “Even gunfighters come from somewhere, Mrs. Dixon.”

“I didn’t mean that.” She tried not to blush as he went back to using the formal appellation, and she realized she liked it much better when he called her Kate. “It’s just that I’ve never seen one before.”

“I never even heard of one before,” Luke said. “But it’s real interestin’, with all those lines and names, and then the stories.”

“Stories?” She’d never heard of a family tree with stories before.

“Yep, I read the one about Jenna and Kane, the very first Hawks, didn’t I?” he said, turning to Josh, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. “Can I read the others sometime? About the other Hawks?”

“Maybe. Just don’t be telling anybody about it,” Josh said warningly. “Not anybody.” He sounded as uneasy as he looked, and Luke’s face fell.

The idea of a man like The Hawk carrying around something like a family tree struck Kate as rather whimsical. “I’d like to see this book.”

Josh stiffened, so visibly that Kate couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit affronted that that “anybody” apparently included her. Then she realized how absurd she was being, to think that a man like Josh would want to share something personal with her. That a man like The Hawk would want to spend any more time with her than he had to to erase whatever debt he felt he owed.

“Speaking of books,” she said to Luke hastily, trying to cover her blunder, “we should go back to working on your reading some more.”

Luke brightened. “We don’t have to hide anymore, do we?”

Kate smiled and shook her head. “No, we don’t.”

“Hide?”

Something in Josh’s tone reminded her she had unthinkingly intruded on his privacy.

“Yeah,” Luke explained. “We used to have to hide out in the kitchen late at night, ’cause ol’ Arly, he didn’t like us reading.”

Josh’s gaze flicked to her cheek, where the last of the bruise was fading away. Kate kept her head up, refusing to hide it as she wished she could do. She looked back at Luke.

“I have some other books we can read,” she said. “I had to keep them hidden before, but now we can look at them whenever I’m not busy, if you like.”

“Do they have any wizards and magic in them, like Josh’s does?”

She glanced at Josh, startled. “Wizards? Magic?”

Josh shifted his feet restlessly, looking uncomfortable once more. “It’s just a story,” he said.

“I’ve never heard of a family tree with stories before.”

“This one’s got ’em,” Luke said excitedly. “It’s got the tree part, too, but every time it gets down to the last name on the tree, there’s a story.”

“The last name on the tree?” Kate asked, still looking at Josh who was clearly not happy with the discussion.

“Just forget it.”

His tone was sharp enough that Kate drew back a little, disgusted with herself for again trying to talk to this man as if he was any other man.

“I’m sorry,” she said stiffly. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

She turned to go back to her work. Josh let out a compressed breath. “Look, I—”

The door to the mercantile slammed open, cutting him off. A man burst in, waving a rifle wildly. Kate smothered a startled cry as Josh reacted instinctively, instantly. He spun toward the door, his Colt in his right hand so quickly Kate couldn’t see how he’d done it.

“Josh, don’t!” Kate cried. “Luke!” The boy was between him and the man holding the rifle in unsteady hands.

Josh froze.

She could see his gaze flick from the sweating man to the terrified Luke, then back. She held her breath.

He didn’t fire.

“Drop it,” the man with the rifle ordered.

Kate saw Josh’s jaw tighten. “I don’t drop my Colt for any man,” he said, but he knelt to set it on the floor, his eyes never leaving the man in front of them. That man breathed a sigh of relief. So did Kate; The Hawk had bent for Luke. He’d given up his gun so the boy wouldn’t be hurt. Perhaps there was more to him than it seemed.

“Get it over with, mister,” Josh grated out. “But get her and the boy out of here first.”

Kate’s forehead creased, then she gasped as his meaning struck her. He’d given up his gun all right. And he’d done it fully expecting to die for it.