Luke’s Runaway Bride (2 page)

The fact that she belonged to him made Luke’s teeth rattle. And telling her the truth about this injury might make matters worse. “Scraped myself on wire fencing.” Well, the flesh wound
could
be mistaken for a scrape.

“You a drover?”

“I help out on a ranch.”

“Where?”

“North of here.”

Her eyes widened. “If—if we let you go, how do we know we can trust you?”

His head started to cloud. “Look, my name’s Luke. If you’d really like to help me, you’ll untie me.” He yanked at the ropes, but they dug deeper. The sting in his side flared.

“I wouldn’t pull at the ropes anymore,” said the older one matter-of-factly, adjusting her bonnet. “It’ll just start tearin’ into your skin. Jenny’s granddad was a sailor, direct from Sweden, then Boston. He taught her how to tie over twenty different kinds of knots. What’s this one called again, Jenny?”

“The constrictor knot.” A flash of amusement danced across Jenny’s face. She bit it back, or had he imagined it? “The harder you pull, the more constricted you’ll get.”

Wonderful.
One was good with a gun and the other good with knots. The two of them made a dangerous pair, and any man who thought otherwise was a fool. He assessed her boldly, and to his delight, she got flustered. With a huff, she smoothed the tendrils from her face and stepped beside her friend in front of the ballooning drapes.

So Daniel had picked a girl from Boston.

Well, lah-dee-dah.

It did explain the way she spoke. She fidgeted with her hands. They weren’t the usual smooth hands of a privileged woman. One bulky engagement ring. A two-inch scratch on one palm, and closely bitten nails. Hands used to doing things.

Would she be as shocked as he’d been to discover
her
beloved Daniel had a five-year-old son? One he’d ignored since birth? And the only damn reason Luke was here tonight was to haul Daniel back to acknowledge his son, Adam. With the boy’s mother now gone, Adam’s only relative was his father.

Arguing with Daniel in his office this afternoon hadn’t worked, but Luke had to solve the problem soon. What the hell was he supposed to do with a five-year-old kid? Keep him in Luke’s own room above the saloon? Ridiculous.

A flash of inspiration hit him. Maybe this woman could help. When she married Daniel, then maybe she and Daniel could raise the boy together. Wouldn’t that be a nice, tidy solution?

“Tell us what you’re doing on Daniel’s doorstep. How…how well do you know him?” Jenny’s clear blue eyes, as deep as the Rio Grande, met his. His palms got clammy.

A yearning to escape this place and ride hell-bent for Cheyenne pulsed through him. “I know him well. Daniel and I grew up together. His family took me in when my father died. We used to be best friends.”

Jenny’s mouth sprang open in alarm. She stepped back and took a good, hard look at him. “Best friends?” Her slender neck infused with color, then her cheeks. She clutched a hand to her throat. “Oh Lord, what have we done? Are you one of the McLintock boys?” She gulped. “I mean, men?”

He nodded. “He told you about us?”

“How down-and-out you were, and how he helped your whole family get back on your feet.”

Luke felt his neck flush with shame. Daniel probably made himself sound like a hero. He hadn’t helped
all
of them. Luke’s brothers were shipped off to another neighbor. But because Luke was only six, the youngest, he’d stayed with his ma. Scrubbing and cleaning and picking up after all the Kincaids. Wasn’t that why Daniel had nicknamed him “workin’ class boy”? Luke’s jaw stiffened at the memory.

“I’m sorry,” Jenny said, glancing down at her hands, “I didn’t mean to make you sound…down and desperate.”

He shrugged, pretending he didn’t care, and glanced at her friend. At least she was lowering the gun.

Jenny stumbled behind him and worked at the ropes. “I’m Jenny Eriksen, and this here’s Olivia Gibson, my dear friend and housekeeper. Sorry we had to resort to these tactics, but we’re alone and this town’s full of men who…”

The scent of her skin and faint perfume roused him. White powder floated onto his black denim pants.
Powder?

“Sorry,” she said, “it’s my hair.” She nervously wiped the powder off his muscled thigh. With her warm touch, he felt an awakening right down to his boots. Blushing, she slid behind him again. Her hot fingers played along his cool wrists.

The ropes slackened as she continued talking. “No wonder you came to Daniel’s door. Who else would help you with your unfortunate injury but your best friend?”

Hah! His best friend was the one who’d shot him. An accident, yes, as Luke had struggled to grab the derringer from Daniel, but the recollection made his blood pound. Daniel had ordered him out of the office, shrieking at him to shut his mouth about the kid. After the bullet exploded, Luke’s fury could barely be contained. He’d raged out into the street, determined to wash his hands of Daniel forever. They hadn’t spoken for years, and why not keep it that way?

But once Luke had gotten back to the rail station, calmed down and bandaged his ribs, he’d realized he couldn’t walk away. Dammit, he couldn’t. If he did, what would happen to Adam?

Luke’s last promise to Adam’s mother, Maria, was that he’d do the proper thing for the boy. A man’s word was everything.

“There we go,” said Jenny. The knots released and Luke surged to his feet, the quick movement causing her to draw a sharp breath. He brushed against Jenny’s bare shoulder with his own naked one and tried to ignore the heat that trembled between them. Light-headed, he staggered back. He hadn’t lost that much blood, but due to the day’s chaotic events, he hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. He rubbed his sore wrist, then held out a hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

She reached out and their hot palms met. His stomach shuddered with the contact. She was Daniel’s, Luke reminded himself. His jaw tensed. He cleared his throat, forced himself to drop her hand, and looked away.

He watched Olivia slide his gun back into its holster. First chance he got, he’d snatch it back. For some reason, a rock lay on the desktop, and she stared at it in a peculiar way.

“I suppose,” said Olivia, swinging around, “if you’re Daniel’s—” She lowered her lashes. “I mean if you’re
Mr.
Daniel’s friend, I should do my duty and put together a tray of refreshments. Looks like you could use a bite to eat.” The housekeeper eyed him like a cat eyeing a spider, and he twisted under the scrutiny. “Wait here,
s’il vous plaît.
”

“Much obliged.” When she disappeared behind the ornately carved door, he turned to Jenny. “You two speak French?”

The mountain of curls on her head jiggled. Jenny’s smile was slightly crooked, but somehow balanced her lopsided brow and single dimple, and held his attention more than it ought to. Altogether her face made a captivating composition.

“Olivia’s teaching me a few words. She lost her folks when she was a baby, and just discovered they came from New Orleans.” Walking to the desk, Jenny replaced the scissors. “Olivia’s become enamored with everything from Louisiana. The language, Creole cooking…”

He splayed a palm over his bandaged ribs and Jenny trailed off into a sudden, uncomfortable silence. She lowered her gaze to his chest, and he saw her swallow. He couldn’t help but lower his eyes to
her
bountiful assets. Her pin had come undone again, exposing creamy rounds. His heart thudded and he wondered if his wound was making him feverish, or the woman.

She flushed and snatched her dress closed. Her misty blue eyes flared. A gentleman would have looked away, her gaze seemed to accuse. Well, he sure as hell was no gentleman. But he did look away, scouring the room for his clothes while she adjusted hers.

His boots sank into the plush braided rug. He stepped to a leather wing chair and retrieved his bloodstained shirt. Pain jabbed his right side. He eyed the whiskey on the polished desk. “Mind if I take a drink?”

“Help yourself.”

It slid down his throat like fire. He took another, until the pain retreated and his thoughts spun.

How could he get Daniel to follow him to Cheyenne? Even if he didn’t want the boy, or stuck to his unlikely claim that Adam wasn’t his, Daniel should at least do the honorable thing and sign release papers so someone else could adopt the child. The last thing Maria Ramirez had done before diphtheria took hold of her was go to the town hall and register the boy’s legal father as Daniel. A month ago, after her death, the judge had told Luke nothing could be done for Adam until those release papers were signed or refuted by Daniel. If he’d only agree to see the boy…

Luke thrust an arm into his sleeve. Now suppose Jenny went to see the kid first, without Daniel…. Luke shook his head. No. Impossible. This was a delicate situation, and the last thing Luke wanted was to upset her. He needed her, the
boy
needed her, calm and rational and happily married to Daniel.

Happily married. Luke adjusted his collar. So Daniel was finally tying the knot. Well, good luck to him. Luke had never been tempted. Not with what he’d seen in his own family.

As he buttoned a cuff, Jenny leaned her supple body against the desk and tucked herself in her feather wrap. Peacock feathers and lavender corsets. What other surprises did she have under there? He tore his gaze away and smoothed his sleeves. “How’s Daniel doing these days?”

“Very well. He’s sponsoring the Widows and Orphans Charity Ball tonight,” she said with pride, “raising money.”

Luke gritted his teeth. Daniel should be looking after his own son. He hadn’t even bothered to attend Maria’s funeral when Luke sent the telegram. A second telegram went unanswered, too.

But Jenny was innocent, Luke told himself, and he’d try to be kind. “When’s the wedding?”

“January.”

“The dead of winter?”

She stumbled for words. “Spring or summer would have been nice, when the blossoms are out, but…January’s fine, too.” She crossed her arms defensively. “It’s Daniel’s slowest time of year, selling property.”

“Ah, I see….” Hell, Luke didn’t blame her for falling for Daniel. Six years older than him, Daniel had been his only friend in that difficult year when his father had died. Luke had grown up respecting Daniel, admiring his easy wit and mathematical skills, his ability to work hard and do his share of the farming chores, his popularity with girls. Later, Luke admired Daniel for getting himself educated in the railroad business. And hadn’t Daniel even lent Luke money once, so Luke could buy his ma a penny vase, the only store-bought present she’d ever received in her hardworking, miserable life?

A voice nagged inside his brain. But wasn’t Daniel also the one who’d taunted Luke with the shame of how his father had died? How his father was hanged?

Luke ran a hand through his unruly hair, and the sound of Jenny’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Where do you live?”

“Wyoming Territory,” he grumbled.

“Oh, Wyoming’s pretty.”

He tucked his shirt into his denim pants. “You been there?”

“Once, last month with my father. He’s setting up the new junction outside of Cheyenne.”

“Your father works for the railroad?”

She nodded and smiled. “Vice president of operations. He’s working tonight. One of the trains derailed south of the Springs, and he’s working to get it hitched back up. He’ll be sorry he missed you.”

Luke didn’t care to meet her father or anyone else.

“That’s how Father and Daniel met,” Jenny continued in her innocent tone. “I mean, when Father was buying land for the railroad. He took out a loan with Daniel.”

Luke searched the room for his jacket and warned himself to keep quiet about Daniel’s business. But now that he knew where Daniel was tonight, that’s where he’d head. Straight to the ball. Hell, why not settle things as planned?

Luke still had the extra rail ticket in his pocket that he’d bought for Daniel tonight. Daniel could meet Adam, make his decision. He could even catch the next day’s train home, with or without the boy. There were only two trains a week between Denver and Cheyenne, and Luke had carefully thought out each possibility before he’d left.

“If you’ve just arrived in town, have you heard?” she asked. “There was a robbery in Daniel’s office this afternoon.”

Luke’s gaze snapped to hers. “A robbery?” An uneasy feeling trembled through his gut. “What time was that?”

“Four o’clock.”

What?
He took a shaky step back. “What do you mean?”

“At four o’clock, a man robbed Daniel.”

The hair at the back of Luke’s neck stood on end. What was going on?
He’d
been there at four—an hour past closing, with no sign of a robber. Surely Daniel wouldn’t… “What did the man take?”

Warm lamplight danced across her solemn expression. “Ten thousand dollars.”

Ten thousand dollars?
A lifetime of money.

Luke stared at her and gulped. He hadn’t taken a cent. Was Daniel trying to set him up for a fall? Dammit! Was Daniel trying to blackmail him to keep quiet about the boy?

“Daniel said no one was harmed. He got a good look at the man, though, and gave an accurate description to the sheriff.”

Luke staggered back, the news hitting him like a blow behind the knees. The sheriff was involved? Daniel planned on framing him? As hard as they’d physically fought in the past, Daniel had never pulled a stunt like this before. What kind of man had he become? Was he good enough to be a father to Adam? Was he even good enough to be a husband to this innocent Jenny, with her powdered hair and stick pin?

Luke swallowed past the rock in his throat. And where the hell did that put
him?
He’d heard about Denver’s hanging judge. In this town, it’d be Daniel’s mighty word against his. If Luke were caught, what would happen? Would he be hanged just like his father? He felt the blood drain from his head. Anything but that. He grabbed his jacket and his breathing came in gasps. “Did he tell you anything about the man?”