Chapter 2

Lily unpacked her case in her hotel room and spread out her clean dresses. She hesitated to change into a clean one when they would only get dirty like the one she had on. She rifled through her things when she noticed the ribbon hem of one of her petticoats unraveling.

She inspected the damage. She would have to repair it, but she had no ribbon with which to replace the broken piece. She rummaged in her sewing kit, but found nothing. This would give her a chance to see some more of the town, anyway. She got her purse and arranged her hat.

She didn’t see Luther anywhere on the streets, so she set off for the General Store. She kicked herself for even checking. She’d been in this town less than two hours, and already she caught herself sneaking around like she did something wrong. He should be sneaking around after the way he acted. The idea!

She took a firm grip on herself and ignored the dust. She didn’t see anyone in town dressed as nicely as she was. No one cared if the dust covered everything. Washerwomen, workmen, cowboys, leathernecks—they all ignored it. It was a fact of life to them, and it would become a fact of life for Lily, too, if she spent any time at all on this frontier. If she didn’t have to battle the dust in Iron Bark, she would battle it somewhere else.

Jingle bells chimed when she pushed open the door and stepped into the General Store. Sun shone through the windows, but most of the store stood in shadow. She didn’t see any haberdashery in the shelves closest to the door, so she ventured farther inside.

Voices murmured somewhere out of sight, so Lily headed for the sound. She found two men standing on either side of the counter. The storekeeper wore a visor over his glasses, and the dim light shone on his bald head. He nodded to Lily, but he didn’t stop talking to the man in front of him.

The other man glanced over his shoulder to see who came in, and Lily recognized Jude Farrell. An immense bundle of furs as high as the counter stood at his feet. The moment he spotted Lily, he stepped back. “After you, ma’am.”

She waved her hands. “No, no, Mr. Farrell. You were here first. Please finish your business. I can wait.”

He pointed to the furs. “This will take hours. You go first. I insist.”

She inclined her head and stepped forward.

The storekeeper faced her. “What can I do for you, ma’am?”

She pointed to the rolls of ribbon behind his head. “One yard of the plain white half-inch ribbon, please.”

He busied himself measuring and cutting. Lily stared straight ahead while she waited. Once, she glanced over to find Jude Farrell staring at her. His eyes glittered in the soft light, and they skipped down her face to her mouth before coming back up to meet her gaze.

She whipped her head around fast. Why did those eyes disconcert her so much? She never saw such a direct, fierce gaze on anyone before. Then again, she never saw a wild mountain man from the hills before, either. Maybe he hadn’t seen a woman in years.

How could that be? He came to town every now and then to conduct his business. He must have seen women around before, and he wasn’t born on that mountain. Maybe he never saw one as fashionable as her. Maybe he was used to dusty frontier women.

The shopkeeper handed over the ribbon, and Lily handed over the money. She thanked him and bobbed a curtsy to Jude. “Mr. Farrell.”

The jingle bells chimed louder than ever when the door slammed behind her, but she hadn’t taken two steps when they clanged again. Jude Farrell burst out of the store behind her. Lily gasped. “What on earth?”

He squared his shoulders. “Excuse me, ma’am. I never got a chance to thank you for helping me before. I’m sorry I didn’t thank you earlier. I was just so tarnation mad it sort of slipped my mind.”

She let out a deep breath. “Think nothing of it, Mr. Farrell. I can’t say I’m impressed with the conduct of this town’s officials.”

He humphed and cast a ferocious glance around the town. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“Well, I don’t plan to stay here. I’ll take a look around the next couple of days, and then I think I’ll move on. I don’t blame you for keeping to yourself if this is the way the townspeople treat you.”

“Oh, they’re not so bad. It’s a few bad eggs that spoil the pudding, but most of the people are decent enough. Once you get out of town, the land couldn’t be better. It’s cheap, too, if you look in the right places.”

She cocked her head to study him. “Is it? Where do you recommend? I’m in the market for land, you see. My father sent me here to find land to invest our family fortune. My whole family plans to migrate from our farms in Pennsylvania to expand on the frontier. I hear you settled on Bald Mountain. Do you find the land up there just as good as down in the open country?”

His eyes flashed. “It’s not called Bald Mountain. I call it Bruins’ Peak.”

Lily’s spine prickled. “Bruins’ Peak! What made you call it that?”

He shrugged. “It seemed a better name than Bald Mountain. Anyway, you won’t find better land anywhere, in the mountains or down here. You should come up and have a look. I’ve got a Homestead on the mountain, and I grow the biggest carrots you ever saw in your life.”

She broke into a brilliant grin. “That sounds wonderful. Have you been up there long?”

“About five years. It does get powerful lonely, though, sometimes.”

“I’m sure it does.”

He glanced down at her hands.

Lily fidgeted. “I don’t think I introduced myself. I’m Lily Cunningham.”

He shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you at last.”

Lily laughed, but she couldn’t escape those glowing bright eyes. They looked right through her.

He waved. “May I escort you back to the hotel?”

She curtsied. “I’d be honored, sir.”

He chuckled, and they walked back across the street. Jude surveyed the town on either side. “I saw Luther putting on the charm earlier.”

Lily rolled her eyes to heaven. “Please don’t mention that man to me again. He’s a pig.”

Jude faced her in front of the hotel. “Do your best to ignore him. That’s the best way to get along with him. That’s what I found.”

“I fear he won’t let me do that.”

“Well, you let me know if you need anything at all. I’m at your service.”

“Thank you, Mr. Farrell. Are you going home now?”

“I have to go back to the store and finish trading. I guess I’ll go home in the morning after I get the rest of my supplies.”

She gazed up at the mountain. It stood so tall and crisp on the horizon. It fascinated her in a way she couldn’t understand. “It must be wonderful to live up there.”

He didn’t answer, and when she looked back at his face, she found him standing closer than she expected. She caught her breath, but she couldn’t take her eyes off his face. Somehow, that man and that mountain both dominated her mind. They cast one and the same spell over her and blocked out everything else.

The dust didn’t cling to his clothes, hair, and skin the way it clung to everything else. He stood tall and fresh and distinct, untouchable, inviolate, just like the mountain. Of everything she saw in this town, that man and that mountain attracted her beyond comprehension. They drew her toward them so she couldn’t resist. They appealed to her most of every person and place she’s seen since leaving Pennsylvania. She didn’t know how, but she belonged up there, on that mountain. She was part of it, just like him.

All of a sudden, he jumped back. “I better go.”

Her cheeks glowed bright pink. “Perhaps I’ll see you again sometime.”

He bowed. “I’m sure of it.”

She didn’t want to walk away, and he showed no sign of leaving, either. The moment lingered, longer and longer. All at once, the hotel door flew open, and footsteps resounded on the sidewalk next to Lily. Luther cut in front of her and blocked her view of Jude.

Luther jabbed his finger in Jude’s face. “Back off, you heathen! How dare you insinuate yourself on this lady? Have you no manners? Go back to your hole in the ground and keep away from her.”

Lily tried to shove him out of the way, but he was too heavy. He didn’t budge. “Get away from me, Luther. You have no right to stick your nose in my business. I was in the middle of a conversation with this gentleman before you interrupted.”

“Gentleman!” Luther snorted. “Is that what you call a gentleman? Go on, you hound. Run for the hills and don’t let me see you near this lady again.”

Lily gave Luther’s shoulder another nudge. “How dare you! I’m not your property that you can dictate who I talk to and what I do. If anyone is running for the hills, it’s you.”

Luther laid one hand on her chest and sent her spinning away. He didn’t see her slam into the hotel wall. He moved up close to Jude’s face and hissed. “I said beat it, dog. If you show your face around this lady again, I’ll make it so you’ll never be safe in this town again.”

Jude didn’t blink, not even when drops of Luther’s saliva spattered his cheeks. He growled low under his breath. “You don’t dare cross me, mister. Not you nor any of your people dares tangle with me.”

Luther chopped his hand through the air. “We’ll see about that.”

Lily couldn’t watch any more of this. She darted between them and faced Luther. “Back off, Luther. You’ve made enough of a fool of yourself for one day.”

Jude chuckled. “Don’t let this worry you, Ms. Cunningham. He can’t touch me. He’s a coward, and everybody knows it.”

The next moment, hard heel strikes clumped away down the sidewalk behind Lily. They ended at the street corner and disappeared into the dust, just like everything else.

Lily bared her teeth at Luther. “You…you lecherous beast! You scum! I never want to see you again. I hate you!”

She whirled away and put out her hand for the hotel door, but he pulled her back. “Don’t you walk away from me.”

She thrust her face near his. “You like to wear fancy clothes, but you’re no gentleman, Luther Campbell. Do you think I can’t see plain as day who and what you are? You’re a ruffian, just like those men who attacked Jude before. Who knows? Maybe you even paid them to do it. I wouldn’t be surprised. You think you can buy the whole world with your money, but you can’t buy me. You may own half the town and the sheriff, too. You think you can use your money and power to control this town and everyone in it, but you better not mess with me. I might be female, but I have my own ways of dealing with the likes of you.”

Luther’s lips curled back from his teeth in a hideous snarl. “Ha-ha. That’s the spirit. The madder you get, the more you hate me, the better I like you. You can’t drive me off with harsh words. I set my sights on you from the moment you stepped off the stage. We don’t get ladies like you around here. You’re the most fashionable, sophisticated, worldly woman I’ve seen in a long time, and I’m not about to let you go.”

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you think you can take me by force? Do you think that’s the way to win a lady’s heart?”

“I don’t want to win your heart. I see what I want, and I take it. That’s the way I operate, and not you nor Jude Farrell will stop me. Do you fancy that man? So much the better. I’ll destroy him before your eyes to get you for myself.”