Finally a Bride (31 page)

Andrew’s head leaned back over her arm, and his tiny mouth formed an O. She lifted the flannel blanket her ma had made over his head and ears, leaving only his face peeking out. She ought to be inside, figuring out what to fix for supper, but she just had to hold her baby brother again while her ma rested up.

Jack ran the back of her finger along his soft cheek, and he smiled briefly. His chest rose and fell in quick cadence with each breath. She had a hard time imagining such a tiny thing could one day grow up to be a man like Luke or Noah. But then she highly doubted Noah had ever been so small.

She loved each of her siblings, but when the others had been born, she hadn’t experienced the maternal desires that swelled through her like they did now. Maybe it was because she was older. Maybe it was due to helping deliver Andrew. Or his near death, which had drawn her and Noah closer. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she thought about Noah.

Her gaze lifted to the pale blue sky. Fluffy clouds created a wide shadow on Main Street. “Thank You, Lord, for saving my brother. For letting Noah be there to help. Watch over Ma, and help her heal quickly and regain her strength. And please send Papa home soon.”

Her only regret of the day was that Luke hadn’t been there to enjoy the excitement of his youngest son’s birth. Mrs. Phillips had assured Jack she’d done just right in delivering her brother and explained that sometimes babies had trouble breathing right off. She said she’d have done the same thing Noah had to encourage the baby to take his first breath.

A dog barked across the street. Andrew threw out his arms, and his face scrunched up as if he prepared to cry. She lifted him to her shoulder and patted his back. Smiling, she remembered how she’d helped Mrs. Phillips give him his first bath, and now he was dressed in a gown her ma had stitched. She leaned her cheek against his fuzzy head, amazed at how much she already loved him.

How could she leave him and go to Dallas?

She felt as if her soul and his were stitched together. Was this anything like what it felt to be a mother?

A motion down Main Street caught her eye. She watched Bertha Boyd and her sister slowly make their way up the boardwalk. On the other side of the street, Leah Howard walked past Luke’s office with several of her children following and went into the store. The mercantile was closed, so they must be paying a quick visit to Mrs. Morgan. Jack knew the names of each of Dan and Leah’s children. Leah had called off her wedding with Dan when she found out he had brought his five nieces and nephews home to Lookout after his brother and sister-in-law died, but love won out. Jack knew all about most of the people in this town, like the Howards, but if she moved to Dallas, she wouldn’t know a soul. She’d be all alone.

Jack leaned her head back. Why had she never really considered that before?

Ever since her fall off the mayor’s roof, her life seemed to be changing. She hadn’t finished a single article for the paper, and the fact that it didn’t bother her like it would have in the past vexed her. What was happening to her?

Tessa strolled out the mercantile door, talking with Callie Howard. Soon Leah and her children left the store and headed down the boardwalk. Tessa ambled back inside, and Jack pursed her lips. Too bad her friend hadn’t seen her and come over so she could show off her new brother. Not that Tessa would be impressed.

A wagon rounded the corner, momentarily blocking her view of the store’s entrance, and when it passed on by, surprise gripped Jack. Tessa and Billy stepped off the boardwalk and walked toward her. What could Billy want? She hadn’t seen him since the fight last night. That seemed years ago. She still needed to return that bracelet but had forgotten about it in all of the day’s excitement.

Tessa stepped onto the porch, and her face scrunched up. “Are you holding Abby’s dolly? I swear, Jacqueline, you do the oddest things.”

Billy stood behind his sister, his nose swollen and black smudges resting below his eyes. He looked as bad as Noah. A smirk pulled at his lips, and he didn’t look the least bit repentant. Maybe ignoring him was her best option.

Jack pulled the blanket back, and Tessa gasped. “It’s real? Wherever did you get it?”

Jack rolled her eyes. Given the condition her ma had been in the last few months, Tessa’s question bordered on ridiculous. “Where do you think? He’s my new brother.”

“But I thought it wasn’t due for several more weeks.” Tessa’s reaction fell flat.

“Babies have their own time schedule, don’tcha know?” Billy poked his sister with his elbow.

Tessa swatted him, then leaned over and stared at the precious baby. One side of her face curled up. “He’s awful red, and his head has a funny shape. What’s wrong with it?”

Jack sucked in a breath, flipped up the blanket, and held Andrew to her chest so they could no longer look at him. Why couldn’t Tessa say anything nice? “He looks like any newborn. His head will take its normal shape in another day or two. Mrs. Phillips and Ma both said so. I think he’s perfect.”

Billy snorted. “A baby’s a baby. Why you makin’ such a fuss?”

Jack tossed him a hooded glance. “Babies are precious. You were one once, remember.”

He snorted a laugh and booted the rocker rung nearest her, setting it in motion. Tessa halted it with a hand to the arm of the chair, then plopped down and straightened her dress. She huffed out a breath, crossed her arms over her chest, and laid her head back against the chair. “My life is over.”

Jack sidled a glance her way. “What do you mean?”

“That robbery was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Billy said.

Tessa shot him a glare. “I’m telling her, not you.”

Billy narrowed his gaze in a menacing stare that didn’t in the least faze Tessa. She tossed her blond curls over her shoulder. “Ma is getting married.”

“Truly?” Jack’s mind raced. Maybe she could write up the story before word passed around the whole county, if Tessa hadn’t told many people. “To Rand Kessler?”

Nodding, Tessa set the rocker in action. Billy casually leaned against the porch railing, watching Jack. His close presence gave her the creeps. He was a nice-looking man, but his character left something to be desired.

“Please give your mother my congratulations,” Jack said.

“No, no, no!” Tessa shook her head with vigor. “I don’t want to live clear out on that man’s ranch. I’ll never see my friends or have any fun. What will I do? It will be so boring.”

Tessa’s whine mirrored Abby’s when she wasn’t getting her way—kind of like when Butch Laird would run his fingernails across his slate in school and make all the girls squeal. Jack couldn’t help wondering why Butch had been on her mind so much lately. She gave her head a little shake and tried to think of something to make her friend feel better. “I think it would be nice living on a ranch. You could ride all you wanted and have lots of peace and quiet, unlike living in a town. No music or ruckus from the saloon to bother you when you’re trying to go to sleep.”

Billy made a grunting sound. “That’s one reason I ain’t goin’.”

“You have to go, Billy. You don’t have a choice, and neither do I.” Tessa all but stuck her tongue out at him.

Billy straightened, then bent down, placing each hand on the arms of Tessa’s chair. “I’m a grown man. I don’t have to go nowhere I don’t wanna go.”

Tessa leaned back, obviously stunned at his spiteful tone. She blinked several times. “But what would you do? You don’t have a job. Ma’s gonna sell the store, so where would you live?”

Billy’s blue gaze darted to Jack, then away. “I have ways of gettin’ money.”

This wasn’t the first time Jack had wondered just where he got his cash. How could he have afforded that bracelet he gave her, even with the discount he probably got from his mother? He claimed to want to marry her, but he still lived with his ma and sister. A thought came to her. “Why couldn’t you two stay in town and run the store? You’re certainly old enough and have plenty of experience.”

Tessa tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear and curled her lip. “I’m sick of the store. The work is dirty—opening all those crates, dusting everyday, and people can be downright snippety.”

Jack ducked her head and placed a kiss on Andrew’s head in her effort not to laugh. That was the pot calling the kettle black.

“What am I going to do?”

Jack considered a different tactic. “Doesn’t that cute cowboy you danced with last night work on the Kessler ranch?”

“He does.” Tessa uttered a heartfelt sigh and fanned her face with her hand.

“Ma said she cain’t see him no more.” Billy lifted his chin, looking proud to have revealed that piece of information.

“Why not?” Jack thought the man seemed nice enough, and he was always decently dressed and polite.

“Because he’s just a cowhand, that’s why.”

Tessa jumped up from her chair. “Stay out of this, Billy. You’ll be just as miserable out at that ranch as I will.” She spun toward Jack. “I’m parched. I think I’ll go get something cold to drink.” She waved her fingers at Jack and glided toward the steps. Suddenly she stopped and stamped her foot. “Oh, drat. I’ll probably never have another cold drink if I have to move to that dreadful ranch.”

Jack watched Tessa march across the dirt road and shook her head. “She sure isn’t happy.”

“No, but Ma seems to be.”

Jack snapped her gaze back to his, surprised to actually hear Billy say something halfway nice. “You really think so?”

“Yeah, but this move sure will cause me and Tessa problems.”

“What will you do?” Andrew started squirming, so Jack patted his back. Almost instantly, he belched.

Billy cocked his head and stared at her with a contented smile that made ants crawl up her spine. With Tessa gone, she should probably go back inside, but first she needed some information about the robbery. “Did the thief steal much from your store?”

“I guess so.” He shrugged and looked away. “Left a big mess, too. Dumped over the cracker barrel, then walked all over them. The marshal said there’d been some strangers coming into town of an evening lately, and he rode off to see if he could find them.”

“I’m sorry. So how did the thief get in? Did he break down the door? It doesn’t look damaged from here.”

He shook his head. “No. Came in that storeroom window under the stairs out back. You know, the stairs that lead up to our rooms.”

“Yeah. Do you know if the robbery happened last night or this morning?”

Billy shrugged. “Your pa still out hunting for the thieves?”

Jack nodded, and Billy smirked. He pushed away from the railing, pulled the rocker Tessa had sat in around to face Jack’s, and sat. He fingered the cut on his upper lip, which Noah’s fist had made. “Why don’t you take that scrawny thing back inside and let’s you and me take a walk?”

“Billy! That
thing
you’re referring to is my brother.” Jack stood and shot knives at him with her eyes. How could he be so rude and then expect her to follow him around like a stray pup?

His gaze hardened. “Don’t you think you owe it to me after last night?”

“Of all the …”
Pigheaded nincompoops
.

He flipped up his thumb, pointing it at his nose. “Look at me, Jacqueline.”

She stared closely at his battered face. His nose was swollen and bent like a letter C, marring his near perfect features. She shoved aside a wave of sympathy. “You shouldn’t have hit the minister.”

“He shouldn’t have butted in. I just wanted to dance with you.”

Jack hugged Andrew close to her heart. She needed to get him away from Billy before he did something stupid. “I need to take Andrew inside and fix some supper.”

“I just want to spend time with you.” The whine in his voice mirrored Tessa’s and did nothing to endear him to her.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the problem. I’m not interested in spending time with you. I’ve tried to tell you nicely, but you refuse to listen.”

His countenance darkened, and he grabbed her elbow. “You’d better—”

A man strode down Main Street, and Jack’s heart leapt. Billy must have noticed, because he glanced over his shoulder. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and he stepped back, relaxing his stance and pasting a smile on his face. “Evening, Marshal.”

Luke’s gaze narrowed, and he looked between Billy and her. His gaze dropped. His brown eyes widened. “Do we have company?” He glanced down at his clothes and brushed a dusty patch off his knee. “Whose baby is that?”

Jack tried hard to hold back her smile, but it insisted on bursting forth. “It’s your new son, Papa. Ma said his name is Andrew.”

The cavalry yell that poured forth from Luke’s mouth made both Andrew and Billy jump. The baby screeched, and Billy bolted off the porch. She couldn’t help giggling at the picture Billy made—like a stray dog with his tail between his legs—as she gently soothed the frightened baby. “You want to hold him?”

“Of course I do.” He held out his arms, then looked down at his hands.

“Um … maybe you should wash up first,” she offered.

“I reckon that’s a good idea. How’s your ma? She all right?”

Jack nodded. “She’s fine. Tired and missing you, but fine.” She smiled again. “Guess what?”

He shrugged and peered at his son. “Looks a bit like Abby, don’tcha think?”

“Papa, I’m trying to tell you something life altering.”

His gaze bounced up to hers. “What? Did something happen while I was gone besides the baby comin’?”

“That’s it. I delivered Andrew.”

Luke shoved his hat up his forehead, revealing the lighter skin near his hairline, and grinned. “You’re joshin’ me, Half Bit.”

“I’m not. Honestly.”

He placed his hands on his hips. “Well … I’ll be. Ain’t that somethin’?”

“Papa!” Jack scolded.

His hand dropped to his pistol, and he glanced over his shoulder, then back at her. “What?”

Jack shook her head. “I wondered where Alan learned to say ain’t.”

Luke shook his head and started unbuttoning his shirt as he walked across the porch. “We’re not havin’ that conversation. I need to clean up and see my wife and hold my new son.”

Just before he stepped off the far side of the porch, Jack called, “Did you catch the thieves?”