A Matter of Marriage (18 page)

Alex’s
excitement faded. What was he thinking? She wouldn’t want to hug him after the
way he had greeted her surprise for him this morning. Or after he’d been
purposely pushing her away, just as he’d been doing with his memories of Danny
for the last few years. Could Julia forgive him? Would she even want a
guilt-ridden husband who continued to keep information about himself from her?

Since
she hadn’t wanted a real husband in the first place, he had his doubts.

*   *   *

While
she waited for Alex, Julia glanced around the Rotunda, making sure everything
was in its usual good order. Her gaze bounced from the marble floor to the dark
wicker chairs to the polished spittoon and three guests chatting near one of
the Oriental sideboards. Everything looked fine. It was she who felt as if
something were off. She attributed the feeling to this morning’s awkwardness
with Alex about the Reid brothers’ plans.

He
arrived from the direction of the hotel bar, looking pleased about something,
but also troubled. When he stood in front of her, she noticed beer on his
breath and the clinging smell of cigar smoke. She didn’t mind. He was a man,
and he ought to spend time in the company of other men.

“I’m
sorry to bother you, Alex, but I’ve finished contacting the banks and need to
go to the laundry. I don’t want to take any unnecessary chances by going on my
own.”

“I
don’t want you taking any chances either, and it’s no bother. I’d be angry if
you didn’t call on me.”

She
had known that, and she didn’t want to cause or allow anything else to come
between them. “Theo reported seeing Tyler Wolff roaming the grounds. We should
perhaps be especially careful.”

The
muscles in Alex’s jaw tightened. “Wolff’s family name fits him well, the way he
keeps prowling around your territory, wanting to take it over.”

“I
have to agree. I thought about telephoning Tom Landis and having Wolff removed,
but the man wasn’t doing anything illegal. Since this isn’t a private
residence, I didn’t think I could have him arrested for trespassing.”

“Marshal
Landis would rather arrest me for trespassing on you.”

“I
know.” She had heard from several people that Tom was still asking questions
about Alex and making no progress at all in the investigation of whoever was
after her. “I’m sorry he’s such a sore loser.”

“He’s
a damn fool.” Alex grunted and started for the front door. “Tell me what’s
happening in the laundry.”

She
fell into step beside him. “One of the washing machines has broken down. A note
was left on the registration desk.”

“Why
are you checking on it personally?” he asked as they crossed the veranda. “Send
one of the maintenance men from the engine house to fix it.”

“I
could do that, but I wanted to assess the problem first and see how far behind
the laundresses are in their work.”

They
descended the stairs and emerged from beneath the portico into the sun. Julia
breathed in the sea’s ever-present salt tang, glad to be outside.

Alex
looked back and up at the hotel, obviously searching for potential signs of
trouble. Despite their current difficulties, her husband continued to watch out
for her, and she felt safe with him at her side.

“If
the broken machine is the same one that has been acting up for some time,” she
continued, “I need to decide whether to attempt another repair or order a new
machine.”

They
crossed the carriage drive and stepped onto the lawn. A small brown rabbit
hopped across the grass and disappeared beneath a cluster of shrubbery bordered
by yellow marigolds. Though the gardeners wouldn’t be happy about the rabbit, Julia
smiled.

“Well,
I wouldn’t go spending any money on a new machine until you know if the hotel
is going to remain in your hands.”

Her
smile faded. “You needn’t remind me of my dilemma. It’s very much on my mind.”
Locked in her office for the last four and a half hours, she’d thought of
little else.

“Did
you have any luck with the banks?” he asked, his gaze roving the grounds. A sea
gull squawked above them and wheeled away.

“I
contacted the biggest banks in the Midwest and the East. Several turned me down
flat, but two loan officers knew of the hotel and asked for more information.
They are considering my request.”

“That’s
something anyway.”

“I
told them I was the owner. I didn’t tell them I was also the manager.”

“Oh.”

She
kicked a wayward leaf as they approached the circular fountain in the center of
the lawn. Water spurted out of the mouths of three sizeable copper fish. A
green patina covered their scales. “I should have told them, shouldn’t I?”

“Not
necessarily. The hotel is a reasonably good investment for any bank. If their
officers want to make certain assumptions about the manager, that’s up to them.”

She
was relieved to hear his opinion. She was also pleased about freely and
comfortably discussing hotel problems and issues with him. If only
conversations about their relationship and his past could be as easy. She
suppressed a sigh.

“Enough
about my morning,” she said. “How was yours?” She deliberately didn’t mention
the hotel plans.

Alex
peered over at her, his brown eyes gleaming with pleasure. Her heart skipped a
beat. When he smiled, her stomach seemed to somersault. He appeared genuinely
happy.

“The
morning didn’t go all that well to start with,” he answered. “I chose not to
look at the Reid brothers’ plans. I just couldn’t, not when I thought I’d never
be able to do that kind of work again.”

“Oh,
Alex. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think of that.” No wonder he had avoided them.
Seeing what others had done so successfully, what he could no longer do, would
have been unbearable.

“Don’t
be sorry. All that has changed.” His eyes gleamed more brightly. “Take a look
at this.” From his pocket, he extracted a folded sheet of paper and handed it
to her.

She
opened it, revealing a simplified sketch of what looked to her like a handsome
Spanish-style building on hotel stationery. “It’s very nice. Where did you get
it?”

“I
drew it. It’s my own design. Julia, I can design again. Even better though, I
didn’t slam the door on a happy memory of Danny and me drawing together.”

“Oh,
my goodness! That’s wonderful news.” He was beginning to heal. She held up his
sketch and twirled around with it. “We’ll frame this and put it up in the
apartment.”

He
laughed. “It’s not that good.”

“I
think it’s beautiful, but what it represents is more important. That’s what
we’ll be honoring.” Just as she brought the sketch back down, a gust of wind
snatched it out of her hands. “Oh!”

The
paper didn’t fly far. Hurrying after it, she danced a quick little sidestep and—

A
shot rang out, reverberating off the hotel. Birds took to the sky. A horse
entering the drive spooked, nearly unseating its rider.

Julia
registered it all as a burning sensation ripped into her side. She twisted,
tripped, and fell, pitching forward. Her hands broke her fall. Lying on the
grass, she turned her head, saw Alex’s sketch, and reached for it before it
could blow away.

“Leave
it!” he shouted, the rampant fear in his voice frightening her.

She
grabbed the paper anyway, curling her fingers around it, triumphant until the
pain in her side worsened and stark realization penetrated her senses.

Her
assailant had finally hit his target.

Alex’s
heart beat like a sledgehammer swinging against his ribs. He dove for Julia, grabbed
her under her shoulders, and dragged her to cover behind the fountain.

Blood
blossomed on the left side of her waist, terrifying him. His wife had been
shot, but instead of considering her own safety, she had rescued his design.
What the hell had she been thinking?

She
lay on the grass beside him while he crouched below the rim of the fountain’s
solid cement bowl. The dark red stain on her white shirtwaist grew. He needed
to get her to Dr. Dolan fast. “Julia—”

“Here.
Take this.” She tried to press the sketch into his hand.

“Forget
the drawing! It’s not important.”

“It
is,” she said through a grimace of pain. “Put it away. Keep it safe.”

“Dammit.”
They were pinned down by a sniper, Julia possibly bleeding to death, and she
was more concerned with his sketch. He seized the paper and shoved it into his
pocket. “There. It’s safe. Now I’m taking you to the doctor.”

“No!
Alex, it’s too dangerous. He could still be out there.”

Alex
knew who she meant, the anonymous man he was tempted to kill with his bare hands,
if the snake had the courage to come out of hiding.

“I
don’t think I’m badly hurt,” she said. “We can wait.”

“No,
we can’t. I won’t take that chance. You’re bleeding.”

He
risked a look around the fountain to try and spot where the gunman might be, if
he was still in place, but several towers, assorted rooflines, and hundreds of
windows and flowerboxes offered too many possibilities for concealment.
Hopefully he was gone. The shot had already attracted a group of people to the
front veranda, including Theo.

“The
note,” she said. “It must have been a ruse. Chalmers was in the gents’ room
when it was left on the desk, and I know the handwriting wasn’t Mrs.
Benedict’s. I assumed one of the other laundresses had written it.”

“We’ll
worry about that later. Right now, we have to go.”

“But
I don’t think I can walk, and you’re not supposed to lift anything heavy. Leave
me here while you get help.”

Air
hissed through his teeth. “First my drawing, now me. Julia, think about
yourself for a change. You could bleed to death if I leave you behind.” Nearly
shaking with his fear for her, he leaned in close, his face just inches from
hers. “I won’t leave you behind. I won’t lose you, too.”

“You’re
not planning to take to the road again?”

“No.
My place is with you. So don’t you dare die.”

She
touched his scarred cheek. “I won’t,” she whispered. “I promise.”

“I
expect you to keep that promise. Now forgive me for hurting you, but there’s no
other way.” He lifted her into his arms as gently as possible, wincing at the
pain from his bruised ribs.

She
squeezed her eyes shut, and her mouth tightened into a thin line, but she made
no sound.

Tightening
his grip on her, he lurched to his feet and started running. In case the sniper
had them in his sights, Alex used the few bushes and palms as cover and altered
his course with intermittent zigs and zags.

No
shots rang out, but he didn’t slow until he reached the doctor’s cottage. Theo
was holding the door open for him, the elderly bellboy out of breath from
racing him there. His face paled at the sight of Julia’s blood fanning out over
her shirtwaist. Alex suspected he looked pretty pale himself.

Dr.
Dolan was standing in the doorway of his office when Alex carried her inside.
Mary Dolan stood at the bottom of the stairs, her hands pressed to her cheeks.

Alex
gasped for breath and words. “She’s been shot. You have to stop the bleeding.”

“Mary,”
the doctor said, all business, “help get Julia’s clothes off, whatever’s in the
way.”

“Yes,
dear.” Mary followed them into the office. “Oh, my poor Julia.”

“I’ll
be all right, Mary. Don’t worry.”

“Hush,”
she said. “Save your strength.”

Alex
carefully laid her on the examining table.

“Is
there anything I can do to help?” Theo asked, a tremor in his voice. He was
standing in the doorway, gripping the doorjamb.

“No,”
Dr. Dolan answered. “Except close the door.”

“Wait.”
Alex flicked a look at Theo while Mary began unbuttoning Julia’s skirt. “Telephone
Marshal Landis. Tell him Julia was shot. We don’t know who did it, but with Tyler
Wolff in the area, he should be considered a suspect.”

“I’ll
tell the marshal.”

Alex
nodded. “After that, go to the laundry and find out if one of the girls sent a
note about a broken washing machine. Come back when you’ve got answers. I’m not
leaving Julia, but I will find whoever did this.”

And
once he did find him, if Marshal Landis failed to do his job and arrest the
snake, Alex vowed to take justice into his own hands.

*   *   *

Julia
gritted her teeth against the pain as Mary cut her stained combination camisole
and corset away from her wound, leaving the rest of her modestly covered. She
heard water running and the sound of Dr. Dolan washing his hands at the sink.
Alex stood at the head of the examining table and brushed her hair back from
her face, over and over.

She
peered up at him, at her husband, the man who had risked his life bringing her
to safety. He was also the man she … loved.

She
didn’t know when she had fallen in love with him, but she realized now that her
heart belonged to Alexander Devlin MacLean. There were so many reasons to love
him—his kindness and caring, his intelligence and protective nature, his solid
strength and support for her position as manager.

He
was a rare individual, a special man who had endured tremendous loss,
suffering, and self-imposed guilt, but who had also survived in the end,
risking a marriage of convenience to keep her from making the biggest mistake
of her life, tying herself to Tom Landis. In helping her, Alex had allowed her
to meet her father’s deadline. Even if she ultimately lost the hotel to the
bank, she would not be losing everything. She had Alex.

She
reached up and took his hand in hers. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be back in my office
this afternoon.”

“Oh,
no, you won’t. You’ll be in bed, resting, and not only to recover from your
wound. I know you haven’t been sleeping well.”

She
wished she could deny his statement, but the dark circles under her eyes told
the indisputable truth.

“Stop
moving, Julia.” Dr. Dolan bent over her side as Mary busily arranged the hem of
Julia’s skirt and petticoat more modestly over her ankles. “Let’s see what
we’ve got here.” He gingerly wiped away the blood with linen toweling and
visually examined her wound. “Well, you’re right. You’ll be fine. The bullet
grazed you, and the bleeding has nearly stopped. You don’t even need stitches.”

Mary
clapped a hand over her heart. “Oh, my goodness. What a relief. Thank heavens
the gunman was a poor shot.”

“On
the contrary, Mrs. Dolan,” Alex said. “Julia sidestepped at the last second to
chase after a piece of paper she’d dropped.”

Mary
sucked in her breath. “Oh, dear.”

The
doctor blinked several times.

Only
now grasping how close she had come to death, Julia felt a chill travel throughout
her body. She gripped Alex’s hand tighter, trying to stay calm.

“I
had better get busy cleaning this wound,” the doctor said. “There are some
threads from your shirtwaist and camisole in it and some splinters of boning
from your corset. To reduce the risk of infection, I’ll need to get them out.
This will hurt a bit, Julia.”

“I
can bear it,” she said, preparing herself.

Dr.
Dolan flicked a glance at Alex. “If you’d rather not watch, you’re free to wait
out in the hall.”

“I’m
not going anywhere. Julia, squeeze my hand as hard as you need to.”

She
nodded.

“Very
well then. Here we go.” Dr. Dolan began probing her wound with a pointed pair
of tweezers.

She
locked her teeth, clutched Alex’s hand, and concentrated on breathing. She was
grateful Alex insisted on staying, but she felt bad that he was subjecting
himself to witnessing her pain. A grim expression made the tendons in his neck
stand out like ridges in the sand.

“Doc,
are the chances of infection high?” He laid his other hand across her forehead,
as if checking for fever even at this early stage.

“There’s
always a possibility,” he answered, continuing with his work, “but I keep up on
the latest methods of medical hygiene. The advancements over the past twenty
years have been most illuminating. I was particularly fascinated by Pasteur’s
germ theory of disease.”

“Yes,
but how likely is it that Julia will contract an infection?”

Dr.
Dolan looked up. “Alex, you are putting the cart before the horse. There’s no
need to worry at this point, and probably not at all. Her wound is not serious,
and the likelihood of infection is low. I am taking every precaution against
it, and I will check on her regularly.”

Alex
let out a deep, audible sigh. “Thanks, Doc.”

Twenty
minutes later, after she had endured the application of a stinging,
strong-smelling antiseptic solution, Dr. Dolan pronounced her wound clean and
ready to be dressed. Mary helped him gather up what he would need.

Julia
gave Alex his hand back, and he shook it out.

“You
are stronger than you look.” He smiled, relieving her of the worry that she
might have hurt him.

At
the sound of a light tapping on the door, Alex went and opened it a few inches.

“How’s
she doing?” came Theo’s voice.

“Good.
She’s going to be fine. Absolutely fine.”

“Thank
God,” the bellboy said. “I did like you said. Marshal Landis has been notified
about what happened, and he’s gone in search of Mr. Wolff. I went over to the
laundry next. None of the laundresses sent a note about a broken washing
machine. All the machines are working fine.”

Julia
lifted her head from the cushioned table, and her gaze locked with Alex’s. “Someone
deliberately sent me out there to be shot.” She lay back down. What had she
ever done to deserve such enmity?

The
door closed as Theo left, and Alex’s footsteps thudded across the floor on his
way back to her. She rolled her head to the side and watched him approach,
noticing his shirt for the first time. Across his stomach, her blood stained
the faded blue cotton. Her stomach rose and dropped, as if she had just climbed
a wave and plunged down the other side.

Alex,
following her gaze, grabbed the shirt with both hands and ripped upwards.
Buttons popped and fabric tore. With his chest bare, he wadded the ruined shirt
together and wiped the bit of blood that had soaked through to his skin.

Seeing
him shirtless again, she momentarily forgot why she was lying there.

Mary
mumbled several incoherent words, then thrust out her hands and took the shirt
from him. “I’ll put this in the rubbish bin and get you one of the doctor’s
clean shirts.” She hurried out.

Dr.
Dolan prepared a dressing, gently pressed it to her wound, and secured it with
a length of gauze wrapped around her middle. “There. That should do it. The
wound will ooze, so I don’t recommend removing the dressing. I’ll check it
tomorrow. Don’t take any baths until I say so.”

“All
right, Doctor. I’ll be a good patient.”

“You
won’t need to curb your usual activities, but I do recommend you get some rest.
You are looking tired, Julia.”

“I’ll
make sure she stays in bed,” Alex said.

“Then
I won’t worry.”

Julia
sighed, feeling like a prisoner in her own home. However, she had to admit it
was nice to have Alex take care of her. Could he ever love her the way she
loved him?

Mary
bustled back in with a clean shirt and closed the door behind her. “Here you
are.”

She
helped Alex into it, her hands smoothing the fabric over his muscular arms,
which pushed the width of the long sleeves to the limit of their seams. The
shirt was also too short for his tall frame.

Julia
stifled a laugh at the amusing spectacle.

“Oh,
my,” Mary said, trying to make the sleeves fit better, “you are a strapping
fellow, aren’t you? I noticed it that first day, but—”

“Mary!”
Dr. Dolan snapped the linen towel he was holding.

Mary’s
hands paused on Alex’s arms. “Yes, dear?”

“Let
Alex finish the job himself.”

Eyes
twinkling, her mouth threatening a smile, Mary stepped back and dropped her
hands to her hips. “Why, my dear Dr. Dolan, I haven’t seen you this jealous
since—”

“I
am not jealous.” He harrumphed and shuffled off to the sink.