The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 (17 page)

But Caldwell was right behind them, and the sooner he got Susannah a disguise, the better. Besides, he had a feeling Susannah might not understand the allure the dance hall had for a man.

He walked over to the barkeep, an elderly man who was polishing glasses at the end of the bar.

“Afternoon,” he said with his friendliest smile. “I’d like to speak to Loralee.”

“Miss Loralee don’t come down until after sunset,” the barkeep said, turning his back in dismissal.

“I’d still like to see her. I’d make it worth your while if you could tell her that.”

The old man peered at Jedidiah with narrowed eyes. “How much worth my while?”

Jedidiah slid some money across the bar. The barkeep looked at it for a moment, then snatched it up and stuffed it into his pocket.

“Who should I tell her is calling?” the old man asked with ill-concealed sarcasm.

“A friend.”

The fellow snickered as he sidled out from behind the bar. “Yup. Miss Loralee sure does have a lot of
friends
.”

Jedidiah shook his head and settled down on a stool to wait. A few minutes later, the bartender was back.

“She says she’ll see you, so go on up,” he said, not bothering to disguise his surprise. “Last door on your right.”

“Much obliged.” Jedidiah ignored the stares of the other patrons as he headed up the stairs and down the hall. When he came to the last door on the right, he knocked softly.

The door opened immediately to reveal a tall, spectacular redhead dressed in a lacy dressing gown of deep green silk. In her hand she held a derringer pointed straight at his heart.

Jedidiah slowly put up his hands. “I surrender,” he said.

The redhead blinked her dark brown eyes, then burst out laughing and lowered the gun. “The day you surrender to anyone, Jedidiah Brown, is the day I join the church choir!”

Chuckling, he lowered his hands. “Aren’t you going to ask me in?”

“Sugar, I’ve been asking you in for years.” The husky purr in her voice gave the ordinary comment a seductive twist as she turned and sauntered into the room, leaving him to follow.

Jedidiah stepped inside and closed the door. “It’s been a while, Loralee.”

“Too long, handsome.” She placed the derringer in a jewelry box on top of the bureau, then leaned back against the piece of furniture, unconsciously taking a pose that made the most of her curvaceous figure. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel the rush of arousal normally brought on by such a sight.

“I saw you come into town before,” she said. “Where’s your friend?”

 
“It’s a long story, but she’s why I’m here.” He gave her his most charming grin. “I need your help.”

A slow, sexy smile curved Loralee’s lush mouth. “Anything you need, sugar.” She straightened and came toward him, the silk and lace accenting every bountiful curve. She stopped in front of him, then reached out to glide a teasing finger down his chest. “Anything at all.”

Jedidiah grinned. A man always knew where he stood with a woman like Loralee. She used to make him hotter than a branding iron with little more than a smile. Now he felt only the fondness of an old friend, despite the fact that she was trying to seduce him. Puzzled over his own lack of response, he still played the game as was expected. “Darlin’, I need your clothes.”

“Why, Marshal Brown,” she purred. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“And a wig if you have one,” he continued. “Dark hair would be better.”

Loralee raised her perfect eyebrows, her lips curving in delight. “My, my, Jedidiah, I never suspected you had such diverse tastes. Is there anything else I can get you?”

“No, that ought to do it.”

“Are you sure?” She slanted him a seductive glance. “I have all sorts of interesting toys.”

Jedidiah raised his brows in feigned confusion. “I’m talking about a disguise for my friend, Loralee. What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about getting friendly,” she said with a wink.

He laughed. “As much as I’m tempted, I have to resist. I’m here on business.”

Loralee pouted. “You can’t blame me for trying.”

“No, I can’t. Now behave yourself, and tell me if you can help me out.”

“I can certainly get you some clothes and a wig.” She went over to throw open the wardrobe. “She looked about my size.”

Jedidiah studied the woman’s ample curves and compared them to his mental image of Susannah’s shapely body. “She’s a little smaller than you,” he said, “but not much.”

“Huh. Young, too, I’ll bet.”

“Not too young.”

“Good, then I won’t have to hate her.” Loralee pulled out a gray gown with a demure lace collar. “This ought to do. I use it for funerals. Add a dark wig and give your lady a Bible to hold, and no one will recognize her.”

“She’s not my lady,” he felt compelled to point out. “I told you, this is business.”

“Uh huh.” Loralee looked him up and down. “Jedidiah, you and I have known each other for a lot of years.”

“Going on ten,” he agreed.

“And never before have you come to see me and left again without at least being tempted by what I can offer.”

“Loralee, I told you—”

“I know what you told me, Jedidiah. You’ve said all the right things and smiled in all the right places, but this time you’re all talk.” She paused, studying him with her head tilted to the side. “She must be someone very special.”

“She is.” Uncomfortable with the whole conversation, Jedidiah took the dress from her. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

“Not at all. It does my heart good to see how the mighty have fallen,” she said with a grin.

“I haven’t fallen,” he muttered. “Do you have the wig?”

Loralee pulled several boxes out of the wardrobe and rummaged around until she came up with a wig made up of straight black hair. “Here you go, sugar. I used to wear this for a fella who liked to pretend I was a squaw. It braids real nice.”

“It’ll do.” Jedidiah rolled the wig up in the dress. Then he took Loralee’s hand and pressed a kiss to the palm. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me, Loralee. As soon as I saw your name on the sign for this place, I knew I could depend on you.”

“Don’t mention it, sugar.” Loralee sauntered to the door and opened it for him. “I’m just glad I got to see the day that Jedidiah Brown finally surrendered.”

“This is business,” he grumbled one more time.

“If you say so, sugar.” Laughing, Loralee shut the door behind him. He scowled at the closed door before setting off to recover Susannah.

Jedidiah came to collect her from the reverend’s care, refused an invitation to dinner and then whisked her off to the wagon so quickly that Susannah barely had time to draw breath. Then they were headed down the main street at a fast clip.

As they passed the dance hall, a stunning redhead stepped out onto the second floor terrace. Clad only in a deep green dressing gown, she folded her arms across her chest and met Susannah’s interested stare with raised eyebrows.

Was this magnificent creature the person Jedidiah had gone to see? Susannah lifted her chin proudly and nodded once in acknowledgement. Surprise crossed the woman’s face, followed swiftly by amusement. She nodded in return, then went back into the building.

Susannah faced forward just in time to catch Jedidiah’s scowl. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“What was all that about just now?” he demanded.

“What?” Feigning confusion, she widened her eyes at him.

He only looked disgusted. “Don’t try that innocent look on me, princess. I saw that little exchange just now. What do you think you’re doing?”

“What’s wrong with giving a nod of greeting to someone?” she challenged. “I assume that was the person you went to see when you went to the dance hall. I also assume that she provided you with that gray dress in the back of the wagon, correct?”

“It’s not what you think—” he began.

She smiled. “You want to know what I think? I think it was a brilliant idea to go to the dance hall looking for a disguise. These women are entertainers. Of course they would have costumes and wigs and all manner of things that could be used for disguises.”

“Well, that’s what I thought.” He glanced at her, clearly confused. “I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. Loralee is an old friend of mine.”

“Did you think I would be jealous?” Susannah gave trilling laugh that made such a conclusion seem ridiculous. “I made my choice by the stream, Jedidiah. And I would be the worst sort of hypocrite to hold it against you if you went elsewhere to…ah…take care of your manly needs.”

“You’re not jealous?” he asked skeptically.

“Of course not.” It wasn’t a lie—not exactly. She certainly wasn’t jealous
now.
And she only had felt murderous for a few minutes before she remembered Jedidiah’s dedication to the law.

“Good,” he replied. “Because if you were jealous, I was just going to remind you that you could always change your mind about your decision.”

“You’ve mentioned that before, Jedidiah.” It was getting harder and harder to maintain her casual tone. Still, she tried. “I think we’re both being very wise to keep things the way they are.”

“If that’s the way you want it.”

She glanced at his handsome profile. “That’s the way it has to be,” she said quietly.

“All right then. I’ll find a secluded place at the side of the road, and you can put on your new clothes. There’s a wig with the dress. I plan on stopping in a town before nightfall so I can send a wire.”

“You seem to have everything taken care of,” she said with admiration.

He sent her a glance that was only half teasing. “Except my
manly needs
.”

She rolled her eyes, and he laughed, the sound echoing over the wide-open road.

“Susannah,” he said with a grin. “I know you were jealous.”

Her only reply was a haughty sniff.

Proctor’s Corners was a rough and ready mining town.

Susannah took comfort in the fact that Jedidiah had taken to wearing his guns again, though his badge yet remained absent. This town looked like a man could get shot in the street and no one would even notice. She herself was dressed in the prim gray gown and dark wig with her deep-brimmed bonnet. The Bible in her hand served to turn unwanted male attention away from her.

Jedidiah pulled the wagon to a stop in front of the mercantile. As he leaped out to tie up the horses, Susannah climbed down her side of the wagon. Jedidiah met her there and took her arm.

“Stay close and keep your head down,” he murmured, leading her to the wooden walkway. “I want to work our way down to the telegraph office without seeming too obvious about it.”

She nodded and played the part of obedient wife as they made their way down the street.

The crowd was full of rough-looking miners who strode along without consideration for others, jostling people and shoving them out of their way. Children clung to their mothers’ skirts to avoid being trampled by the rowdy crowd, and women walked quickly along with their eyes down so as not to draw unwanted attention to themselves.

Susannah stayed close to Jedidiah, his lean, warm length lending a sense of security that was welcome in this very uncertain crowd. The rowdies took one look at Jedidiah’s face and turned away. People moved out of his path rather than attempt to jostle him or block his way. They arrived at the telegraph office in short order, and Jedidiah quickly hustled her inside.

The office was empty except for the gangly young man who operated the telegraph.

“Stay here,” Jedidiah murmured, then stepped up to the counter to handle his business.

Susannah stayed where he had left her, just to the left of a window overlooking the street. Jedidiah spoke in a low voice to the telegraph operator, then took a pencil and a scrap of paper and began to write. Bored, Susannah turned to glance out the window.

A man stood just across the street, scowling at the door to the telegraph office.

Susannah stiffened. The fellow was tall and broad, bigger than Jedidiah, and he wore tan pants and a blue shirt that made his blond coloring all the more striking. But despite his boyish good looks, there was an element of danger about him, a watchfulness that claimed every muscle of his body as he casually leaned against a post, his gaze fixed steadily on the doorway. She couldn’t help but notice that he wore his guns as if they were a part of him.

Fear rippled down her spine. She looked around the office, but she and Jedidiah were the only ones present, aside from the clerk. She glanced back at the blond man. He hadn’t moved.

Did he work for Caldwell? Or perhaps she was simply imagining things.

Jedidiah crossed to her. “Let’s go,” he said, taking her arm.

“Wait. There’s someone out there.” She resisted his efforts to pull her along and gestured toward the window.

“Where?” He peered out at the street over her shoulder. “Who are you talking about?”

“He’s right there…” Her words died unspoken as she looked back where the man had been standing. He was gone.