Tender Trust (2 page)

Alex followed behind.

At the foot of the stairs, a dark-haired woman blocked his way. Her blue eyes sparked with warning and she stood in front of him like a she-tiger defending her cub.

“You’re not going up there,” she said.

“I’d like to see you stop me.” Alex stepped forward and the woman stepped in front of him again.

“Who the devil do you think you are?”

“Alex Marsden,” he said, his voice low.

That gave her pause and her rigid stance eased.

He moved to go forward and she stepped in front of him one last time. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

“For pity’s sake, woman!” His tone was taut and tense. “Do you think she fainted because I’m
not
Alex Marsden?”

His words seemed to get through to her. Alex brushed past her, taking the stairs two at a time, trying to catch the young giant before he disappeared into a room.

The woman followed close behind, her skirts swishing.

The young man slipped inside a door and carefully eased Penny onto the bed.

Alex crossed the room and sat next to her. “Light the lamp,” he commanded. Then he began to work the buttons of Penny’s dress.

“What are you doing?” the woman demanded.

“I’m loosening her stays.” Alex lost patience with her belligerent protection. “Do you have some hart shorn or smelling salts?”

“Of course not,” she snapped. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not the fainting kind…usually.”

Alex didn’t bother to try and interpret that statement. “Then get me some cold cloths. Something.”

“Jann, go to the kitchen and bring me a basin,” she said.

“Yes, Miss Jewel.”

Behind Alex, the door closed. He slipped Penny’s dress off her shoulders and began to work on the corset hooks.

As soon as it came off, Penny sighed and began to breathe normally.

Alex tossed it to the ground and looked back at the woman who was untying Penny’s shoes. Glad she’d finally made herself useful, he said, “Loosen her garters. I’m sure they’re tied far too tight as well. And toss me that shawl.”

If looks could kill, Alex would have bled from the one she sent him. But he didn’t care what she thought or how rude he acted. His only concern at the moment was for Penny.

Jewel did as he asked, threw him the paisley shawl, and tossed the black garters on the bed.

He scooped the garters out of his way and arranged the lightweight cloth over Penny’s cool skin.

Tight-lipped and stiff, Jewel rose to answer a soft tap at the door.

“Should I wake Ma?” Jann stood outside, his eyes averted as he held out a white basin.

Jewel hesitated. “No. I think everything’s under control. Why don’t you go downstairs and tell the men Penny is all right?”

“They’re gonna ask me about him. Should I tell them who he is?”

There was no hesitation this time. “No. Just say he’s an old friend she thought was killed in the war.”

The door closed and Jewel brought the basin to the stand by the bed.

Alex wrung the cold water out of the cloth and laid it over Penny’s forehead.

Color seeped back into her lips and she shifted her head.

Alex looked at Jewel who stood guard on the other side of the bed. “I think she’s going to be all right. I’d like a few moment’s alone with her.”

“I’m not leaving her.” Her stance stiffened again.

All of the frustration and anger Alex had tried to repress rose to the surface. “I said I’d like to be alone with my wife.” His tone was dark, dangerous.

Jewel flinched and stepped back. “If you hurt—”

“Hurt!” The word exploded from Alex and understanding filtered through him.

Jewel’s guarded stance, the trembling hands she tried to hide. He glanced down at Penny and wondered what Penny’s—these women’s—lives were like. All anger and frustration fled and he sighed.

“I haven’t spent the last two years of my life dreaming of this moment so I could hurt her,” he said in a quiet voice.

The woman softened, her hands dropped, and she gripped her skirts. With a nod, she fled the room.

When she was gone, Penny moaned. Her head was tilted at an awkward angle because of the bun at the back.

Alex pulled the long, curved tortoise shell pins out. Her long hair unrolled and cascaded over her shoulder.

He stroked it. Still beautiful. Just as he remembered it. But how could he have forgotten the beauty of her mouth? Full, pink, bow-shaped lips. Right now, they were slightly parted.

He almost touched them, and then stopped himself. He couldn’t believe he’d actually found her. Couldn’t believe she was lying in front of him, every bit as perfect and beautiful as he remembered. His breath caught in his chest. He gathered her into his arms and buried his face in the curve of her neck.

2

Somewhere in the endless void, Penny sensed the cold and shivered. Then she was warm. After a few moments, her trembling stopped. She felt cradled, pampered, and safe. How long had it been since she’d felt protected?

Not since Alex, and that was so long ago. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be held. Wonderful. Soul-filling. Reveling in the unique sensation of warmth and safety, she sighed.

In her dreams, a man’s hand traced a path over her ribs, sore from too much time in the corset. His palm was wide, his fingers deft. His soothing touch made her sigh again.

He nuzzled his face into her neck and the sensation of moist lips and warm breath sent a jolt down her body. But it wasn’t right. Her kisses belonged to Alex. Only Alex.

She opened her eyes. A man’s arms were around her, his lips on her neck. She started to push him away and then she remembered. It was Alex.

Alive! Alex in her arms. She grasped him to her with a cry.

“It is you,” she whispered. “It is!” She cupped his face to look at him. It was his lips. His hair. He was alive. Tears flowed down her cheeks unheeded. “I’d thought I’d lost you for good!”

Penny knew that even though he was born and bred in the South, Alex had not taken up the cause of the South at that time. Still, when war was declared, he’d been forced to flee from Union held territories twice, barely escaping with his life both times. The last time he had to leave Penny behind, pregnant with their first child.

Alex smiled tenderly. “I was just a little lost.”

He was trying to make light of it to tease her and make her smile, but Penny was having none of it.

“You were gone five years. That was not a little lost.”

He’d crossed the desert to Tucson in the Arizona territory where he joined the Confederate campaign headed back to California. He was determined to reach Penny any way he could.

“Your last letter said you were going to Louisiana. Then all mail and telegraph communications stopped.”

Alex leaned his forehead against hers. “They sent us to Glorieta.”

Penny gasped. She’d read about the battle in the newspapers but never dreamed Alex was part of the doomed campaign. Defeated Confederate troops were forced to march back to their headquarters in the south, a two-week death retreat through unforgiving desert heat and Apache warriors.

“Oh, Alex. I didn’t know…”

He buried his face in the long lengths of her hair. “How could you know? Even after I was shot I tried to find a way to get word to you.”

“Shot!” She realized then that his left arm had been oddly still as he touched and explored her face.

She grasped his left hand and pulled it around in front of her. There were no marks, no sign of injury except his fingers were unusually stiff.

“A bullet shattered my forearm,” Alex said, his voice low. “By the grace of God, I still have it, but it’s not good for much except holding things in place.”

With that, he pulled her close. The gesture and the stilted movement brought fresh tears.

Penny clung to him and wept.

Alex kissed the top of her head and held her with his left arm.

At last, she drew a ragged breath. “I knew something had happened to you. Otherwise, you would have come back for me. I thought you were dead,” she breathed.

He nodded. “So many times, I almost was. The only thing that kept me alive was my faith and the need to get back to you.”

Penny froze.

Alex had become a man of faith?

All the while, she had owned a saloon. How different their paths had been. How far apart.

He seemed to sense the same thing because he kissed her hands. “Oh my love, we’ve lost so much time. Why didn’t you stay in Los Angeles where I could find you?”

Penny tried to ignore what sounded like censure in his voice, but it was impossible. “I ran out of money, and I had to have a way to support Lexie.”

“Lexie?” he whispered, his voice full of wonderment.

Penny smiled. “Alexa Marie Marsden. Oh, Alex, you’ll be so proud of her. She’s smart and brave like you.”

“Does she look like you?”

She smiled again. “She has my hair and eyes.”

“Beautiful and smart. There’ll be no stopping her.”

Penny chuckled. “There’s hardly any stopping her now. I don’t know where she gets that strong will of hers.”

“I can’t wait to see her. But why didn’t you send word to Royce and Lacy Darnell? They would have helped.” There it was again, the criticism and censure.

“How would they have helped? With charity?” She kept her voice low. “I didn’t have any skills, at least, not respectable skills like dressmaking or cooking. The only thing I knew was…this. I was certain I could run a good saloon. I wanted to work while Lexie was still young. That way I could make enough money to start a good and proper life.”

“I thought when we married you’d leave saloons behind you and never have to deal with them again. I never dreamed I’d find you in a place like this.”

Cold swept through her. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

“Don’t talk like that.” His tone was abrupt, impatient. “It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you. I should have been there for you.”

If he’d meant to mollify her, he didn’t.

She’d done a good job of taking care of Lexie and herself…until a few moments ago. Now she wasn’t so sure. “Why weren’t you?” Irritation edged her tone. “Surely you weren’t injured for all of that time.”

“When I was better, I tried to cross the California border at Yuma. Union soldiers caught me and kept me a prisoner at the garrison.”

“A prisoner, too? Oh, Alex.” Fresh tears spilled over.

Alex wrapped his arms around her again. “It wasn’t so bad. They treated me decently and the commander was a good man. The worst part was wondering what happened to you. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead, if I had a son or a daughter.”

“So much, Alex. So much has happened.”

He grasped her hands and squeezed. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. It’s over now. We’re together. We’ll start fresh, begin again. You’ll sell your saloon and we’ll go away.”

Stunned, Penny slipped her hands out of his. Go away. It was what she wanted. What she dreamed of, but somehow, hearing it from Alex’s lips made it sound wrong.

“What makes you think I want to sell my saloon?’

“There was talk of some properties for sale at a gathering Andy invited me to attend. That’s where I was when I heard about you.”

“Andy? You mean Andrew Ardmore, the banker?”

Alex nodded. For the first time, Penny took note of his clothing. He had on a fancy dress jacket. She lifted her hand off his sleeve almost as if she might dirty it.

Ardmore was not just a banker, but one of the leading citizens of Bodie. One of the group of men who had refused to give her a loan just a few short weeks ago, claiming her business was too risky. What they really meant was she was too risky, a woman who probably took the title of Mrs. to cover up a questionable past.

They wouldn’t give her a loan, but they didn’t mind discussing her business at their social gatherings.

The distance between her path and Alex’s suddenly became a chasm. The shawl slipped off her shoulder and she realized she was clad only in her chemise. She felt exposed and vulnerable.

Sliding her arms through her dress sleeves, she pulled them up and wrapped the shawl around her shoulders. As she tied it, her hands shook. Then she stood and faced the man she had once loved more than her own life.

“Well, they were wrong,” she said. “I’m not selling to one of them.”

She could see her statement surprised Alex. Not just because of her vehement attitude, but also because she never used to disagree with him. She had been so happy just to be loved, she always agreed with him. But she wasn’t that hope-filled, innocent young girl anymore. That girl was gone. “Did you tell them about me…us?”

He didn’t seem to notice the inflection she placed on the word, ‘them.’

“I wasn’t even sure there was an ‘us.’ I just heard the name of your saloon, The Copper Penny. I’ve been searching for so long, that at first, I didn’t dare hope. But the name seemed like too much of a coincidence. I left the party and came straight here.”

She bit her lip and considered his words for a moment. “It might be best if you don’t tell your friends.”

Alex stared at her. “They’re not my friends. They’re business associates. I came here to meet them and to create new clients for Darnell Lumber. It’s my job. What I do. Build a warehouse, hire a manager, and move on. That’s all I’ve done for two years. Find new places. I searched everywhere for word, even rumors of a copper-haired woman and her child. Now that I’ve found you, nothing is going to stop me from telling the world.”

Penny didn’t miss the determination and edge to his tone.

“You might want to reconsider. I was a dance hall girl when you met me, Alex. That’s who I am, what I am. Your business associates don’t like what I do.”

“You were a singer when I met you, not a dance hall girl. I know that better than anyone.”

He did know better. He was her first. She had managed to avoid the fate of other girls in her position. It always amazed her, but didn’t change the opinions of others.

“The last time you tried to make me respectable,” she said, “it turned the townspeople against you. They drove you out of town.”