The Gambler (12 page)

He sighed and crossed the room. "Ellie has an
empty room in the back of the station. She said you could hole up
there until I can find a more permanent place for you."

The look on his face gave nothing away.
Emmaline couldn't tell if he was happy to be rid of her or sorry he
was dumping her on someone else. She stared up at him and knew
she'd made a major mistake. She shouldn't have let her pesky
emotions get in the way and just shot his worthless hide and taken
her land deed back before she let him drag her across the
territory. Now she'd wasted his time and hers. "And where will you
be?"

"My family has a ranch a few miles outside
town."

She brightened at the thought of him not
being close enough to watch her. She just had to get a ticket for
the stagecoach and lord knew she'd done just about everything known
to man to get what she wanted. She turned away, walking across the
room to the lady Tristan had been talking to and asked her to see
the room.

Calling the room small would have been an
understatement. The room held a bed, a small table with a wash bowl
on top and a single window. Nothing else. It was clean, though,
smelled fairly nice and the fireplace would keep her warm. There
wasn't anything else she could say about it, though. She laid her
bag on the bed and sat down, turning her head to Ellie. "The room
is nice. Thank you."

"You're welcome. And you can call me Ellie.
If you're hungry, I have some stew heating out in the kitchen. Just
come on in when you've rested up."

She left, the door still standing open and
Emmaline stared at it for long minutes before standing to push it
shut. Tristan appeared in front of it before she could close
it.

"Well, this isn't too bad," he said, smiling
as he stuck his head into the room.

"No, I don't suppose it is."

He leaned his head to one side while looking
at her before grinning. "You look upset. What's wrong?"

What's wrong? She snorted a laugh before
shutting the door in his face. She'd turned back to the bed and
heard the door open and close again. "Get out of my room,
Tristan."

"Not until you tell me why you're upset."

She whirled on him and clenched her jaw
before throwing him a glare. "Why am I upset? I'll tell you why!
You stole my land, dragged me clean across two territories
and…"

"And what?"

Emmaline gave him her back again. She didn't
know why she felt so bereft all of a sudden. Her plan since Tristan
told her he was bringing her here was to get her land deed back,
swindle him out of his money and head back home. Now that the deed
was in her possession, she felt oddly guilty.

She hated admitting she liked him. That his
kindness toward her had been the first anyone, since her mamma
died, that anyone had given her. That his gentle smiles warmed her,
that his kisses made her feel like a woman and made her forget all
the things she'd had to do to survive. She realized with a start
that it wouldn't take much to love a man like Tristan, but she
refused to let the emotion in. If she gave it room to grow she'd do
something stupid. It was safer to just ignore her heart and
continue to look at him with contempt. He was arrogant and bossy
and no man she ever knew smelled so nice so what else was there to
like about him anyway?

She sighed. His kisses were nice. No one else
had ever kissed her so passionately. They didn't do nice things for
nothing either and the fact Tristan had still left her wary. He was
too good to be true and if there was anything she remembered her
mother telling her, it was that nothing came without a price.
Tristan just hadn't named his yet.

She heard the floorboards creak as he crossed
the room and she closed her eyes the moment he rested his hands on
her shoulders. "I won't be far away," he said. "And I'll come to
town everyday to check on you."

"I don't need you to play the devoted savior,
Tristan."

"I wasn't."

"Then why do you feel the need to check on me
everyday?"

She heard him sigh, his hands tightening on
her shoulders. "Ever think I might want to see you?"

Emmaline laughed. "You're a horrible liar,
Tristan."

He turned her around to face him, cupped one
hand at the back of her neck and grinned down at her. "I've never
lied to you." She kept her gaze focused on his chest. "You need
anything, just let Ellie know. She can send someone out to the
ranch to fetch me."

"I don't need anything from you." She looked
up and wished she hadn't. His eyes were dancing with laughter and
damn his hide if he wasn't smiling at her like he knew she was
lying. "Go away now. I want to unpack my stuff."

He nodded his head, stared at her for long
moments before leaning down to kiss her. She wasn't exactly shocked
by the action as he'd done that several times during their week
long trip but for some reason, his kiss felt different today. It
was softer. Slower, as if he was savoring the act. His tongue moved
erotically inside her mouth, tasting every inch he could reach, and
her heart was hammering against her ribcage by the time he pulled
away.

When he lifted his head again, something in
the way he looked at her told her he thought it was different too.
She averted her gaze and tried not to think about it. The last
thing she needed was her heart to get any more lost to this man.
Lord knew he would break it. He was a gambler. They didn't know any
other way to live than to take until there was nothing left.

"You need anything, you just tell Ellie. If
she can't get it for you, she'll send someone out for me." He
stared at her until she nodded her head at him. Letting go of her,
he reached into his coat pocket, pulled out the leather pouch he
kept his money in and handed her more money than she'd ever held in
her hand. She could only stare at it as he turned and left the
room.

When she was alone, her shoulders slumped.
Guilt rode her hard as she stared at the money. Tristan was such a
contradiction. She'd known plenty of gamblers in her life and none
of them had ever cared about anything but themselves yet Tristan
had gone out of his way to provide for her and all he'd received in
compensation was a night in her bed. He hadn't even demanded that.
"Maybe I should just tell him about the gold."

She sighed. If she was wrong about him, he
would take the gold mine and throw her out on her conniving behind.
It was what she deserved really, but the gold was hers. She'd found
it. She broken every fingernail she had, bloodied her hands and
scraped her knuckles raw trying to get that gold and she deserved
to have it all. Didn't she?

The decision of whether to stay and tell
Tristan the truth or not weighed heavily on her. She had to make a
choice. She either told him everything or ran. But which would make
her happy? She honestly didn't know. The gold was her life's dream
but since the day Tristan had showed up in her life that dream
didn't seem so bright. She saw his twinkling eyes now when she
thought of her future. She tasted his kisses and felt his hands
caress her flesh as if she were the most precious thing he'd ever
touched.

The guilt rode her hard as she turned to look
at the door. Would he care if she left? Probably but not for the
reasons she hoped. He'd be upset she took his help and threw it all
away. It had nothing to do with her. He wasn't interested.

For some
reason, the ache in her chest grew with the realization. Tristan
didn't want
her
. He never did.

* * * *

The trip out to the ranch was made at the
slowest pace possible. Tristan had spend nearly an hour talking to
Percy Goins over at the livery stable just to stall for time. He
dreaded facing his family. Morgan had already promised he was going
to have his hide stripped off for leaving and staying gone so long.
He could only imagine what the others were going to say.

The moment the ranch came into view, Tristan
pulled the horses reins, stopping the animal and just staring at
the house. It looked the same as it had when he left. The corral
fences looked new and the barn was bigger but other than that, the
place hadn't changed much.

There were a few people in the front yard. He
couldn’t tell who they were but one in particular caught his
attention. A child, running after a woman in a bright blue dress.
Seeing the woman made him think of Emmaline.

His plan when he left Idaho was to set her up
here in Willow Creek, maybe find her a husband, and go about his
business but a nagging feeling in his gut told him he was beyond
that now. He knew without a doubt she'd be the one thing on his
mind most days and knowing she was in town, alone, caused his pulse
to race a bit.

He knew no one living in town would hurt her,
but strangers arrived with the stagecoach every time it rolled into
town. The saloon drew the occasional drifter and if he knew one
thing, those drifters like to raise a fuss when the notion struck
them and Emmaline being anywhere near men like that caused a knot
to form in his stomach. Emmaline didn't want to be in Willow Creek.
She wanted to go home. To that sorry piece of land she lived on and
forcing her to stay in Willow Creek was just plain wrong. Would she
leave if someone gave her the option? Something told him she
would.

He sighed and lifted his hat, running his
fingers through his hair. Maybe he should just give her the land
deed. Hand her back her life and let her live it as she saw fit.
She wasn't a child. She was a woman capable of making her own
decisions yet he'd made every one of them since the moment he saw
her. He hadn't given her a real choice in coming with him and he
knew she'd probably hate him for it before the winter was over.

Staring at the house, he imagined what
everyone would say when they saw him. Morgan had been happy he was
home but he knew his ears would be blistered by the time they were
all through telling him exactly what they thought of him leaving so
long ago and never returning. Fear of the confrontation with his pa
gnawed at him too. The old man was sick. He'd learned as much from
Ellie's letters and Tristan knew seeing him again would be a shock.
Would his pa welcome him home or show him the door and demand he
leave again?

The what-ifs grew until the insecurities he
thought he'd outgrown returned. He was headed back to town before
he could ask himself what he planned to do. All he knew was he
couldn't face his family alone. Not yet. He wasn't a coward but
when it came to his pa, he was still a kid, hiding out in the east
pasture to avoid the lecture he knew would be coming when his
father found out what mischief he'd been up to.

When he reached the outskirts of town, he
looked toward Morgan's house. He could stay with him tonight and at
least get that ordeal over with. It would prepare him for what was
to come once he managed to get home but first, he wanted to check
on Emmaline. See if she was all right.

Hitching the horse to the post outside the
mercantile, he dismounted and walked the short distance to the
stagecoach station.

Ellie greeted him with a smile when he walked
into the station and he tipped his hat at her. "Afternoon,
Ellie."

She stopped, cleaning rag in hand and stared
at him. "'Afternoon to you too, Tristan. I didn't expect to see you
again so soon."

He smiled and felt his face heat. "I felt bad
leaving Emmaline so soon after coming into town. Thought maybe I'd
have supper with her. Help her ease into her new life here. Is she
in her room?"

The look on Ellie's face caused his heart to
leap in his chest. He knew without asking something was wrong. The
woman glanced toward the hallway before facing him again. The look
in her eyes in remorseful and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Tristan, but
she's not here."

"Where is she?"

Ellie shrugged one shoulder. "I haven't a
clue. She got on the stagecoach moments before it pulled out."

It felt as if someone had punched him in the
gut. She'd left him? He stared at the wall, thoughts running
rampant in his mind. He'd done everything he could for her and
she'd left anyway. He hadn't given her back the deed so why did she
leave without it after all the fuss she'd made.

He squinted, thinking of the bag tied to the
back of his horse. He'd caught her going through it out on the
street. She'd looked guilty and flustered when he questioned her
and he'd bet his life that she'd found the deed and stole it.

The crisp air outside the station sent a cold
wave down his spine. He hurried to his horse, untied the bag and
rummaged inside looking for the deed. "Damn it all to hell." It was
gone. She'd found it and left.

He cursed again, shoved his things back
inside the bag and retied it. What was so damn important about that
land? He was beginning to think there was something he didn't know.
That she was hiding something from him and as he looked toward the
stagecoach road, anger built hot and heavy in his gut.

That woman got under his skin like no other
had before. She tested him, allowed him to bring her across the
territory and left the moment his back was turned. He had half a
mind to let her go. To let her fend for herself but plain
stubbornness made him climb back onto his horse. He was racing down
the road with thoughts of turning her over his knee the moment he
saw her. Emmaline Hunt was keeping something from him and damn it,
he was going to find out what that was if it killed them both.