Eleven

“What the hell’re you insinuating, Luke? You know damn well a question like that could get you shot in any other home. You may be my brother, but you’ll respect my wife. That clear?”

The force of Duel’s outburst startled Jessie. She drew to the far corner of the room. Marley Rose, who sat contentedly in her grandpa’s lap, suddenly puckered up to cry.

Walt pointed a finger at his youngest son. “He’s right. Luke, I won’t abide no disrespect. Jessie’s a right fine woman, an’ a sweeter ma here to Marley Rose you couldn’t find. And I’ll bloody anyone’s nose who says otherwise.”

Proud as punch, the old man beamed at her. If the whole situation hadn’t made her ill, Jessie would’ve hugged him.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. “Just asked a simple question.”

“Then it doesn’t matter. I made her a McClain, and that ends the discussion.”

“Appears the whole blamed mess of you are mighty defensive.” Luke reached out to tweak Marley’s hair. “Hey there, pretty lady. Wanna come to Uncle Luke?”

The threat of violence over, Jessie bent to pick up the rest of the glass fragments. She spied the red tin can of Rumford brand baking powder on the shelf. It gave her an idea.

“I don’t mind your question, Luke.” She felt Duel’s hand on her arm to stop her and knew the warning that would be in his eyes if she chose to look. She didn’t—couldn’t, or she would lose her courage.

“It’s all right,” she assured him, pretending to misunderstand. “I won’t cut myself.” She turned to Luke. “My name was Rumford—Jessie Rumford.”

The pent-up tenseness evaporated. She reveled in her husband’s tender smile.

“Satisfied, nosy brother?”

* * *

Walt and Luke helped Duel in the fields that day, leaving Jessie free to wash clothes and clean. The time provided an opportunity also to go through Annie’s clothing. Though the everyday things spoke of ordinary means, a few of the items tucked away in the trunk told quite a different story. They intrigued her.

Lace and silk dresses, fine quality unmentionables, and shoes of soft kid exhibited vestiges of wealth. Perhaps Annie came from affluence. Puzzling, to say the least.

A beautiful satin creation stole her breath. She held the dazzling ice-blue dress against her and pirouetted before the looking glass. Tiny white flowers embellished the daring round neckline, and down each side of the flounced skirt hung garlands of more white flowers on silken cord. The swishing, bustled skirt brushed against the tops of her serviceable black shoes as she twirled amid Marley’s excited squeals. With an almost reverent touch, she smoothed the fabric. Annie must have looked like a heavenly angel in the exquisite gown.

Her own vision in the glass faded. She could imagine Duel coming into the room and seeing Annie in the satin for the first time. His amber gaze would light possessively… His taut muscles encased in sleek-fitting buckskins would alternately relax and tighten as he leisurely crossed the room. He would lower his head closer and closer, until he would claim the lips of the love of his life.

A shiver ran the length of her body. As if it had burned her, she quickly folded the gown and shoved it back in the trunk where she’d found it.

Salty tears stung her eyes. Her tall Texan would protect her with his life, but he’d never love her.

* * *

When lunch came, Jessie loaded a wicker basket with fresh-baked bread, strips of venison, a jar of pickles, and a jug of apple cider. She gathered Marley and loaded both child and food into a wheelbarrow from the barn.

“Yeee doggies! It’s my two favorite ladies.” Walt almost tripped over his own feet in his hurry to take the basket. “You two yahoos better come on, or I’ll eat the whole kit ’n’ caboodle.”

The nearer Duel came, the faster her pulse raced. His hat sat low on his forehead for shade, leaving her to imagine the amber lights that danced in his eyes. The feel of his lips, the warmth of his breath on her skin refused to vacate her senses. Never had anyone made her feel the way she felt now.

“I thought you might be hungry.” She spoke low when he and Luke joined them.

His gaze brushed her—the base of her throat where her pulse throbbed, her chin, her hair—everywhere but into her eyes. Those he avoided. Had she embarrassed him by what she considered a “wifely” duty?

“You didn’t need to go to so much trouble. Pop could’ve come up to the house and gotten it if you’d hollered.”

“It wasn’t any trouble.”

“Paaaaaa.” Marley Rose stretched out her arms. A silly grin covered her face when Duel took her.

“There she goes calling you Pa again.” Luke wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief. “You never did explain the particulars, brother.”

“Not anything to it.” A frown deepened the crevices around Duel’s mouth. “Won her in a poker game in Cactus Springs. Her father didn’t want her, was determined to sell her that night if I hadn’t taken her. Felt sorry for the young’un. Didn’t want to see her wind up with someone worse than me.”

“You don’t say? I kinda assumed she belonged to Jessie.” Luke sent her a long, piercing stare.

The man’s persistence hadn’t dimmed even after she lied about her name. It took all of her control to be polite. “I wish that were true.”

“Way I see it, brother, you’re all the kin the kid’s got. Why don’t you just accept the fact?”

“’Cause I’m not, that’s why. Don’t want her growing up under false pretenses. Marley’s not my flesh and blood. I’ll never give her reason to think otherwise.” Duel settled down on the quilt Jessie had spread, and sat the child between his legs.

Jessie handed him a chunk of bread and watched him promptly tear off a piece for Marley. His tender care of “Two Bit,” as he called her, reinforced the hope that he’d one day see his flawed logic. Being a parent wasn’t about the big moment, but all the little ones that come after to fill a child’s life. It was about molding and shaping, helping a child to grow and learn. Maybe someday she could convince him.

Now was not the time, however. Luke’s infernal prying had set his nerves on edge. As well as her own. The younger brother either suspected something or else shared Vicky’s snoopiness. At the moment, she didn’t care which as long as he left them alone.

Slight movement caught her attention. At the edge of the clearing appeared an animal of some sort. When it stood, she saw a bandage around its leg.

“Duel, that’s the dog we doctored.” She pointed toward it.

“Yep, Yellow Dog was gone when I got up. Along about midmorning I spotted him. Stays at the edge of the field, won’t come any closer. Acts as scared as he did last night.”

“Poor thing. I imagine he is. Who knows what happened to him.” The animal wagged his tail as if he wanted to join them. His mournful whine carried on the breeze.

“Come on, boy. Come.” She whistled for him.

“Won’t do a lick of good, Jessie girl. Ain’t gonna come till he gits good an’ ready.” Walt wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

Sure enough, the dog lay back down, his droopy head resting in the dirt. Familiar pain ran the length of her form. Yet, time could mend bones…and broken spirits.

There were days she barely remembered Jeremiah’s rages. The days when he kept her locked in her room. The nights when he took what he wanted, knowing she’d dare not resist. At times it seemed more a horrible dream than reality.

Then there were moments when the remembering suffocated her with unbearable intensity.

“Give the dog time. It’ll come around.” Duel’s gentle admonition invaded her thoughts.

Seated an arm’s length away, she watched him caress Marley’s dark locks. Her tall husband had a tenderness, a compassion that was rare. He’d trusted her, asking in return only that she be a mother for the child.

Tears filled her eyes, blurring his firm jaw, sculpted cheekbones, and Roman nose. He was a proud man who’d never let her down, who was proving he’d stand by her through thick and thin. Her gaze drifted to his mouth and the deep lines on each side. The thought of his lips on hers released tiny flutters in her belly. Her boldness shocked her.

Still, daydreams didn’t hurt anyone. She’d never tell him he’d be an easy man to love. It would be her own little secret.

Jessie glanced away and encountered Luke’s stare. A flush rose. The quizzical lift of his brow told her he’d caught her studying her husband.

* * *

At day’s end, Duel dropped a bucket into the well and turned the crank to hoist it back up. The sweat and dirt covering him would have to come off before he sat down at the supper table.

Both men balked like stubborn mules, but he’d finally convinced Pop and Luke to return to Vicky’s for the night.

The less his brother came around, the better…for Jessie’s sake as much as his. Pride swelled in his chest for her quick thinking earlier. Despite Luke’s muttering that Rumford seemed a strange name, he’d accepted it. At least for the moment. Only Duel didn’t like the way Luke kept studying her, not that he could blame him. Any man would find her easy on the eyes. He sighed. Lord knows he had his hands full with his meddlesome siblings.

That dad-blasted soiree Vicky had cooked up for Saturday would certainly test them all. Every citizen in Tranquility would have questions galore. Still, he entertained no doubts that his wife could handle them. She’d become quite a trouper.

He doused his head in the bucket of water. Though his entire body needed an ice-water drenching, he settled for the upper portion. Getting Jessie out of his thoughts seemed next to impossible. Even Pop and Luke had remarked on his absent-mindedness. Fact of the matter was, the woman just didn’t appear sisterly in the least. She and Vicky had nothing in common.

It was her strangely colored eyes that pulled at him. He couldn’t glance at her without thinking of his mother’s china. Graceful and dainty like the dishes, yet she possessed a spine of steel. Her long, elegant fingers fascinated him. A twinge of guilt shot through him; with the hard work ahead, it wouldn’t take long for her soft, beautiful hands to redden and crack.

If… Enough money would take her to California, Montana, or even the Alaskan Territory. Life wouldn’t be any easier, but a woman could get lost in the vastness.

He’d give anything to keep her safe.

And he wished to high heaven he didn’t want her so much.

A tug on his back pocket alerted him. He jerked upright.

“Bleh, bleh.” The nanny goat had pulled the big red handkerchief from his hip pocket and calmly chewed on it.

“You good-for-nothing critter.” When he yanked it away, a loud rend brought a curse. “Now look what you did.”

The handkerchief had a long tear, not counting the fact that it dripped with goat spittle.

“I oughta skin you and feed your sorry carcass to the buzzards. You wait. When Marley’s had her fill of your milk, I might do it.”

He kicked the bucket that sat beside the well and stuffed the fabric back in his pocket. The skittering container spooked the nanny, who took off like a shot.

“Go ahead and run away, see if I care. Good riddance.”

Mumbling a string of curses, Duel opened the door to the house, pausing to hang his hat on the nail just inside.

“Pa pa. Ma ma ma ma ma ma.”

Marley’s gleeful babbling eased the tiredness from his bones. If one could bottle the girl’s spirit, it would bring a hefty fortune, he mused. He pictured himself traveling the countryside with his two ladies, hawking the elixir. For a moment he wondered about his son and how it would have been to have heard his boy call him Papa just once.

“Maaaaaa.” Marley tugged on his buckskinned leg, trying to stand. He bent to pick her up.

“Hey, Two Bit. Where’s your mama?” Her chubby cheek was soft taffy against his lips.

“Pa pa. Ma ma.”

“Duel. Can you say Duel, little darlin’?”

“Paaaa.”

He turned his mouth from her prying fingers, and when he did, he spied a vision in ice-blue satin. Jessie stood frozen in the curtained alcove that served as a bedchamber.

Except for her auburn hair, she could have been Annie. Duel tried to swallow, only to find his mouth had become stone dry.

Memories spun, encircling his head in a flurry of flashes. His wedding day…his beautiful bride…the vows…the breathtaking wedding gown of ice-blue satin Tom Parker had insisted his daughter wear.

“I’m sorry. I only wanted to try it on, it was so pretty.”

He barely heard Jessie’s low murmur. The anguish came from a great distance.

“I’ll take it off. It was cruel of me to upset you. It wasn’t my intention, Duel. You must believe me.”

Pain came in huge, gulping waves, threatening to drown him. He sat Marley Rose on the floor before whirling out the door.