Mail Order Baron (The Brides of Tombstone Book 3) (13 page)

Gil always walked with her as she checked the progress of the house. She never got out of his sight. They had finished their inspection of the inside of the house and were returning to the buggy.

“Gil, I want to go see Lizzie Brandon before we go back. I need some privacy with Lizzie. Can you wait outside?

“Of course, ma’am.”

When the carriage arrived at Lizzie’s, Gil set the brake on the buggy, hopped down and then he escorted her to the door.

“Thank you, I can take it from here.”

“As you wish, ma’am.”

She knocked and in a short time, the door opened.

Lizzie stood there holding Roy.

“Molly. Come in and sit down.” She looked out and saw Gil waiting by the buggy. “Is that the man Ben hired to protect you?”

Molly blinked several times, taken aback by Lizzie’s knowledge. “Yes, how did you know?”

“Julia told me. Ben goes by every few days to visit and see Hope.”

Jealousy hit Molly square between the eyes. Ben would rather spend time with Julia. What was she thinking, of course, he’d rather spend time with Julia. He loved her. “I wish I’d known that, we could have gone together.”

“I wasn’t aware you didn’t know. Are you and Ben all right?”

“No. We’re not.”

“Can I take that to mean that you are having some problems in your marriage?”

“You could say that. Ben avoids me like the plague except to sleep and make love. I’m not even sure I can call it that anymore. We have relations, there’s no love about it.”

“Oh, dear. Tell me everything.”

Molly sat on the sofa next to Lizzie. She needed to talk to someone.

“I’m afraid I’m pregnant.”

“Why are you afraid you’re pregnant? That is usually the outcome of the one activity I know you and Ben share. I would think that you would be thrilled.”

Molly dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief she kept up her sleeve. “I know, but how can I bring a child into such a broken relationship?”

Lizzie reached over and patted Molly’s hand. “Your relationship is not broken, though it is somewhat bent at the moment.”

“If he doesn’t want to spend time with me, what is the point of our being married? Maybe I should ask for a divorce.”

“Molly.” Lizzie reached over and patted Molly’s knee. “Don’t do anything drastic. Give him more time.”

Tears ran freely from her eyes. “I’m not sure I can. Especially now that I’m expecting. I want to bring this child into a loving relationship not a battleground.”

“Oh dear. Honey, you’re simply feeling things more intently because you’re pregnant. I cried all the time when I was pregnant with Roy. You’re more emotional now. Don’t be making decisions that will affect the rest of your life.”

“I know. I don’t want to divorce him. I love him.”

Lizzie put Roy down and the baby, toddled off to the corner where there was a box full of toys. He started pulling everything out of the crate and putting them on the floor.

Lizzie smiled indulgently then turned her attention back to Molly. “Have they caught the man who burned down the house and tried to run you over?”

“No. There hasn’t been any trace of him. Now I’m beginning to think I imagined that the buggy was trying to kill me. Maybe it was just an accident that the buggy nearly ran me down.”

Lizzie shook her head. “I don’t believe that for a moment and neither do you.”

Molly sighed. “No. I don’t. I think Marlow is laying low. Since no one but me knows what he looks like, he doesn’t even have to stay away. He could be next to Ben in one of his saloons and no one would know it.”

“Are you going to go see Matt or Julia? Though if you’ve missed any of your menses, you most certainly are expecting.”

“I know. I’ve missed two monthly flows, so it’s pretty much a certainty that I’m expecting. I have a hard time talking to Julia. She’s friendly and all, but Ben still loves her. The house that burned down he had built with her in mind, not me. I shouldn’t be talking like this, but thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder. I know that Ben is your friend.”

Lizzie shrugged. “Just because Ben is my friend, doesn’t mean he’s always right. And in this instance, he’s dead wrong and I intend to tell him so the next time I see him.”

“Hopefully you’ll have more influence than I have.”

“Molly, I believe he stays away because he’s afraid he’s falling, or has already fallen, in love with you.”

Molly sat straighter, hope springing to life. “You really believe so? Maybe he simply needs a nudge in the right direction.”

Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “Molly, I’m not sure I like the look in your eyes. Don’t go and do something you’ll regret.”

“Believe me, if this works, I won’t regret any of it.” Molly stood. “I need to go. I have some shopping to do.”

“Molly, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to seduce my husband into staying home with me. He always has breakfast with me. What if I greet him in a negligee?”

“What will that achieve? You’ll have fun for one day and then the next day will be the same as usual.”

Shoulders slumped, Molly sagged back onto the sofa. “You’re right. What am I going to do, Lizzie? How can I get my husband to realize he loves me? How long did it take Mal to realize he loved you? Is ten weeks too soon?”

“With Mal and me it was a little different. He knew from the beginning, I was the one that needed convincing and I have to say I fell for him pretty fast. About a month is all it took for me to realize I love him and we weren’t married yet.

“What am I going to do?” Molly tried and failed to keep the whine out of her voice. She was at such a loss as to what to do now.

“I’m being a little devious here, but what if he thought someone else was interested in you?”

“The only person I’m ever with is Gil. I spend more time with him than I do Ben.”

“What if Ben came home to find you having dinner with Gil? It wouldn’t be totally out of line. He is supposed to protect you. You can simply pay him back with a nice dinner or two.”

Molly fiddled with the strings on her reticule. “I don’t want to get Gil in trouble. He’s been very good to me.”

“All the more reason for you to pay him back with a dinner. You can eat with him in the dining room at the hotel, so it’s all above board. But it will also get back to Ben that you did. You won’t have to tell him and he won’t have to see you to know about it.”

Molly took a deep breath. She tingled all over. “All right I’ll do it. Ben isn’t planning on being home tonight anyway, so I’ll ask Gil to join me tonight.”

Lizzie smiled. “Yes. This will work well. You’ll get your husband’s attention or my name isn’t Lizzie Brandon.”

Mal came into the room. “What did I hear you two planning? Should I be worried?”

“No dear.” Lizzie lifted her cheek for a kiss.

Mal turned her head and kissed her lips. “Molly is family. I can kiss you on the lips in front of her.”

Lizzie blushed prettily.

“She blushes so well, don’t you think?” Mal chuckled and kissed her again.

Molly laughed. “Yes, she does. I’ve been known to turn a little pink myself on occasion.”

“So I hear,” said Mal.

Molly sobered. “I guess you hear a lot more than I do.”

Mal cocked his head. “Molly, I know Ben’s being obstinate right now, but he’ll realize what he’s missing out on by holding himself back. He’s afraid of being hurt.”

“He’s being an idiot,” Molly snapped. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take out my frustrations on you, but aren’t we all afraid to be hurt?” asked Molly with a shake of her head. “Sometimes you need to take a chance. He took one by placing the request with Mrs. Black at Matchmaker & Co. I took one when I answered the ad and came here and married Ben. He took one by marrying me. I want us to take another chance and see if we can love each other. Is that so bad?”

“No, it’s not,” said Mal.

“You have every right to hope for that,” said Lizzie.

“Then it’s off to have dinner with Gil. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” said Mal and Lizzie together.

“Why did I just wish Molly good luck?” asked Mal.

“I’ll explain later,” said Lizzie with a on his leg as he leaned on the arm of the sofa.

Molly and Lizzie both stood and Molly went to the door. She turned back to Mal and Lizzie. “Thank you for being my friends.”

She went outside where Gil was waiting patiently. As she approached the buggy, she saw him jump down and wait to help her up.

“Thank you, Gil.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.”

He climbed in next to her. “Where to now?”

“Well, it’s about dinner time. Let’s go back to the hotel and have dinner.” She took a breath. “I’d like for you to join me if you don’t mind. I get tired of eating alone.”

“I’d be pleased to join you…Molly.”

She laughed. “Yes, finally you call me Molly. If I’d known asking you to dinner would get you to call me by my name I’d have asked you long ago.”

He smiled. “Guess I am a little stubborn.”

“I’d like to get to know more about the man I spend most of my time with. Shall we go?”

“We shall.”

CHAPTER 10

Molly asked for the table she and Ben usually shared and was surprised to find it occupied by Ben and a beautiful woman with auburn hair. Her gaze narrowed and she felt a burning in her chest.
I will not let him know how much he hurts me.

“Never mind, we’ll take that table.” She pointed at one in the middle aisle, near the door. From there she could see what happened at Ben’s table, and he would have to see her when he and his companion left.

“I don’t know how often you eat here, but Sadie the chef is the best I’ve ever known.” Molly kept an eye on Ben.

“High praise since I know you came from New York, but I don’t know much more about you. You came here, married my boss and now he’s afraid for your safety so he hired me.”

“That is pretty much the story of my life. Well except the reasons he wants you to watch over me but you know them, too. That’s why he hired you. To see that I don’t get killed. Though I don’t know why he would care. He never spends any time with me anyway. Did you know, Gil that I spend more time with you than I do with him?”

“I’m sure he just wants to keep you safe.”

“Well, he did hire me the best bodyguard he could have.” Flashing him a wide smile she reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

“Uh hum,” said a voice beside her.

She looked up into Ben’s angry face and withdrew her hand, slowly. “Ben, how are you? I knew you weren’t going to be home to eat dinner with me so I asked Gil. I didn’t know you would have a dinner partner of your own. For some reason you led me to believe you were working.”

Gil stood as soon as Molly let go of his hand. “Mr. King.”

Ben’s gray eyes were shards of steel and the vein in his forehead bounced with each movement of his jaw.

She forced herself not to react to his expression. “If I’d known you’d be having dinner here and not at work, I’d have suggested we join you.”

“I’ll talk to you when I get home, Molly,” Ben said through clenched teeth.

“Certainly.” She is thrilled with his jealous reaction. “I thought I’d take a walk after dinner. Perhaps you can meet Gil and me as we walk.”

“Go home Molly, I’ll meet you there.”

“At what time? If I can’t expect you home for another hour or so, I will take my walk. The evening is beautiful.”

“I said go home Molly. I’ll see you there after I walk Miss Gordon back to her hotel.”

“Oh, that’s right, you wouldn’t want to put one of your business associates up at this hotel, now would you. Never mind that you do exactly that on numerous occasions.” Her hands were clenched so hard she wouldn’t be surprised to see blood where her nails dig into her palms.

“Molly…”

She knew she shouldn’t push him, but in for a dime and in for a dollar.

“I believe our dinner is here. Goodnight, Benjamin.” She shifted in her chair, dismissing him and knew that made him even madder.

The waiter placed their dinners in front of them.

Molly began to eat.

“Come on, Ben. Leave her be. It’s not like she’s your wife or something,” said the beautiful woman.

Molly stood. “Oh yes, my dear, it’s just like I’m his wife…or something. As a matter of fact I’m his pregnant wife or something.” Then she looked at Ben with a narrowed gaze, her body trembling. “Don’t bother coming home. I can see someone wants to keep you busy.” Forcing a polite smile to her face she turned to Gil. “I’d like to go to my room. I seem to have lost my appetite.”

“Of course, Molly, I’ll take you” said Gil.

“I’ll return as soon as I escort Miss Gordon to her hotel,” said Ben.

“Don’t bother. As a matter of fact, maybe you should go ahead with your plans.” She nodded in Miss Gordon’s direction.

“My plans are over. Gil, take Miss Gordon to her hotel.”