Rebecca Hagan Lee - [Borrowed Brides 02] (28 page)

“Here, here,” Lorna and Jewell chorused as they raised their cups and clinked them softly against David’s. “To Tessa Roarke, bully-slayer, and to winning her case!”

Tessa looked at the three of them, then burst into happy tears.

The other women laughed in relief, while David deftly guided the conversation away from talk of the trial. They spent the next half hour amusing Tessa with stories of Peaceable’s history and its residents.

* * *

“That was nice of Lorna and Jewell, wasn’t it?” Tessa closed the door behind her two new friends and turned to David.

“Yes, it was.” He had moved to his desk after offering to see the ladies home.

“What? And spoil our adventure?” Jewell had scolded. “You stay here with Tessa.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lorna had assured him. “We might even give some more nosy reporters something to write about.” They’d laughed at that, then headed down the street toward the jail.

But when their visitors left, the strained silence between David and Tessa returned. They looked at each other, but couldn’t find the words to apologize. Tessa walked over to where David sat. She cleared her throat, waiting for David to say something. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your work.”

“Fine.” He barely glanced at her.

Tessa continued to stand beside his desk.

“What is it?” he asked abruptly.

She turned and silently presented her back to him.

He looked up from his book, recognized the long row of tiny hooks and automatically unfastened them.

Finished with her dress fasteners, he untied the knot of her corset strings and loosened the laces.

“Thank you.” Her voice was cool, crisp.

David grunted in reply, then returned to his book.

He heard her sometime after midnight, crying in her sleep again. David punched his pillow and pulled the quilts higher around his ears. He wouldn’t go to her. Not tonight. He couldn’t. It hurt too much to hold her and pretend. David punched his pillow a second time, harder than before, rolled over, and tried to force his body to sleep. But his control and his willpower failed him. He lay awake listening to the sound of her anguished dreams long into the night.

* * *

Coalie arrived on the early morning train. He practically dragged Mary down the street to David’s law office, then burst through the door before Mary had a chance to knock.

David was working at his desk as usual. Tessa stood at the sink rinsing her breakfast dishes. David hadn’t eaten. He made his breakfast a cup of strong black coffee.

‘Tessa!” Coalie spared a glance for David, then made a beeline for Tessa. He flung his arms around her waist.

“Oh, Coalie.” Tessa dropped her cup in the dishpan, turned, and wrapped her arms around Coalie, pressing his body against her. “I missed you so much!”

Coalie wiggled out of her grasp before Tessa wanted to let go. He walked over to David and stuck out his hand.

David shook Coalie’s hand. “Hello,” he said. “It’s been quiet here without you.” Very quiet, David thought, especially during the past eight hours.

Coalie turned to Tessa. “Tessa, you should see the ranch. It’s so grand! It goes on forever and ever, and all the people are so nice. Reese and Faith and little Hope. Even Joy. She’s a girl.” He frowned, then rushed on with his story. “But Sam’s the best. He’s teaching me how to ride. A real horse.” Coalie’s face was alight, his big green eyes sparkling.

“That’s nice.” Tessa tried to muster up some enthusiasm, but failed. Miserably.

“I’m going to school, too,” Coalie told her, hopping from foot to foot with barely contained excitement. “Mary’s teaching me.” He glanced at Mary. “I’m learning the alphabet.”

“That’s wonderful.” Tessa didn’t make it sound wonderful. She made it sound as painful as having teeth pulled.

Mary looked from her brother to Tessa. The atmosphere in the office was tense. The tension between them seemed almost unbearable. “Coalie’s excited now,” she explained, “because he’s with you again, but he was miserable the first few days.”

“Mary said I was homesick,” Coalie told Tessa. “But I wasn’t sick for long.” He noticed the tension for the first time and hurried to reassure Tessa that he was as strong and healthy as ever.

“I’m sure Mary took good care of you.” David patted Coalie on the back, then hugged his sister. “I missed you, imp,” he said, fondly.

“It’s your own fault,” Mary told him. “You can come to the ranch to see us anytime.” She pinned her gaze on David. “Why haven’t you?”

“You know why.” He didn’t elaborate, so Mary let the subject drop.

Tessa stood silently. She looked at David, studying his face. He probably blamed her for that, too, just as he blamed her for turning his life upside down.

Coalie explored the office. “You’re low on coal.” He pointed to the coal bucket near the stove. “You want me to get some for you?” he asked, eager to please Tessa.

“Oh, no,” Tessa assured him. “You don’t want to get your new clothes all dirty hauling coal.” She realized that Coalie was clean and well fed and dressed in a new suit.

“I don’t mind.” Coalie shrugged.

David smiled. “I’m sure you don’t.” He knelt down and faced Coalie. “But I’ve got something more important for you to do today.”

“I know. Mary told me. You want me to answer questions at the courthouse. I’m to tell the truth, no matter what.” Coalie looked up at David and recited from memory.

“Coalie, you don’t have to do it,” Tessa said. “He can’t make you.” She glared at David, daring him to contradict her.

“I know I don’t,” Coalie assured her. “Mary—”

“Told you.” Tessa gritted her teeth at the phrase. Was there nothing Mary hadn’t done?

“Yeah. She said I didn’t have to do it if I didn’t want to. She said David could convince the jury without me.” Coalie walked around the room touching familiar objects. “But I want to, Tessa. I want to help you the way you helped me.”

Tessa tried to reason with the little boy. “But, Coalie, if you tell everybody what happened in Chicago and how we ran away to Peaceable, then they’ll know I took you away from your boss. They’ll know I stole you. What if they try to send you back?”

“David won’t let them send me back,” Coalie answered with all the confidence of a nine-year-old who knows he’s right.

Tessa turned to Mary. “Did you tell him to say that, too?” She knew Mary was trying to help, but she was jealous.

“No.” Mary understood Tessa’s hostility. “Coalie came to that conclusion on his own.” She smiled down at him. “He apparently has more faith in David’s ability than you do.”

That wasn’t true. After yesterday’s confrontation with him, Tessa had every faith in David. She knew he’d get her off. She knew he’d protect Coalie. That was what frightened her. He wanted her out of his life, but what if he wanted to keep Coalie? She couldn’t stand the thought of losing both of them.

Tessa walked over to stand in front of David. “If they take him away from me because of this, I’ll never forgive you.”

“They won’t,” David said. “He won’t testify unless it’s absolutely necessary. I promise you that.”

“Keep your promises,” Tessa told him. “They don’t mean much to me.” She turned her back on David and Mary, took Coalie by the hand, and walked down the hall to her bedroom.

“She’s angry,” Mary said after Tessa and Coalie left the room.

“Very,” David agreed.

“Because you may need Coalie to testify.” Mary knew her brother well. She could see that Tessa’s anger bothered him more than he liked to admit.

“I will need Coalie to testify.” David began to pace. “God knows I don’t want to put a child on the witness stand, but I know Jeremy Cook. I know what he’s going to do.” He paused. “Judge Emory is presiding, and Jeremy Cook is going to try to use Emory’s notions about women to his advantage. He’s going to paint Tessa as a fallen woman, a saloon girl who thought nothing of murdering a man.” He gazed at Mary, silently pleading for her to understand his position. “I’ve got to offset that image of Tessa with something else. I’ve got to get the jury’s sympathy, and Coalie’s the only character witness I’ve got.”

Mary moved to stand next to her brother. She reached up and patted his shoulder. “You can do it, David. I know you can.”

David snorted. “You apparently have more faith in me than Tessa does.” He repeated Mary’s earlier words.

“She’s angry now, and scared,” Mary said. “When she’s thinking more clearly she’ll understand.”

He sincerely hoped so.

David didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the inescapable irony of his situation. He’d finally fallen in love. He had finally found the woman he’d been searching for all his life. He’d found her in the Peaceable jail, charged with the brutal murder of one of the saloon patrons. Tessa Roarke, a beautiful Irish colleen. Every man’s dream.

And every attorney’s nightmare.

The gods did have a sense of humor, for David Alexander was both man and attorney, and at the moment he felt the gods were toying with him. If he was to have Tessa for his very own, he had to fight her. And then fight
for
her.

To save her he had willfully damaged the trust she was beginning to feel for him. Then, because she’d hurt him, he’d flung hurtful words at her, words he couldn’t take back. But once the trial was over, the results would be worth all the pain and effort. Once Tessa and Coalie were free and safe, David knew he could make things right. He had to. He was desperately, hopelessly in love with Tessa Roarke. And he wasn’t about to lose her.

“Hear ye, hear ye. The November term of the district court of the territory of Wyoming, county of Laramie, city of Peaceable, is now in session. Judge Harland Emory presiding,” the bailiff intoned. “All rise.”

The case of the
Territory of Wyoming vs. Tessa Roarke
on the charge of murder began in earnest.

David glanced at his pocket watch as he listened to the closing portion of Jeremy Cook’s opening statements. Thank God it was coming to an end. Jeremy had been more long-winded than usual, rattling on and on for over twenty minutes.

“And so, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the territory of Wyoming will prove that Tessa Roarke did willfully murder Arnie Mason in a fit of rage. The territory of Wyoming will prove that the defendant not only knew Arnie Mason but knew him intimately. Though she sits here pretending to be a lady, we know her for the murderess she is, a jealous, scheming girl from the Satin Slipper who killed a man for no other reason except that he refused to marry her and give her boy a name.”

David grimaced as the prosecutor finished with a dramatic flourish, his voice rising with each word like that of a fire-and-brimstone preacher. David now knew what to expect. Jeremy Cook didn’t have much of a case and knew it. He planned to convict Tessa on the basis of rumor, innuendo, and sensationalism.

David jotted down a note on a sheet of paper, folded it, and motioned for one of the clerks. He waited until the clerk had read the note and exited the courtroom before he stood up to begin his opening statement. David walked toward the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I know you’ve all listened carefully to Mr. Cook’s remarks. I’m not going to repeat them, nor will I refute them point by point. I’m simply going to tell you that Tessa Roarke did not kill Arnie Mason or anyone else.” He leaned closer as if confiding in the jurors. “I know it looks bad. Mr. Mason was killed in Miss Roarke’s room at the Satin Slipper. Everyone in town knows that, but I caution you to remember that looks can often be deceiving. Innocent people are sometimes caught in compromising situations through no fault of their own. Miss Roarke is just such a person. She’s innocent, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, and I intend to prove it. Thank you all. I know you’ll be fair and do your best.” David nodded toward the jury, then walked back to the defense table and sat down next to Tessa.

“Is that all you’re going to say,” Tessa whispered, “after everything he said about me?”

“That’s it,” David whispered back.

“But—”

David explained his strategy. “Tessa, the jury is tired of listening to that windbag rattle on. I said what was important, and I did it quickly. There’s no sense antagonizing the jury by forcing them to endure another endless monologue.”

“All right, Mr. Cook,” the judge said. “Call your first witness.”

Jeremy Cook called Deputy Harris to the stand. The deputy repeated the oath, then sat down and began to answer the prosecuting attorney’s questions.

“Deputy Harris, will you tell the court what you found when you entered Miss Roarke’s room on the night of the murder?”

“I found Arnie Mason lying on Miss Roarke’s bed. He was bleedin’ from a cut across his throat.”

“What was Miss Roarke doing?”

“She was sitting on the corner of the bed, screamin’ for help.” Deputy Harris scratched his head, thinking. “She was all bloody. There was a knife on the floor. All the girls were sayin’ she’d killed Arnie Mason.”

“What girls?”

“The whor…uh…the women who work at the Satin Slipper.”

“Did you believe them?” Jeremy Cook settled into his routine, walking around the courtroom, gesturing from the witness stand to the defendant’s table, and to Tessa.

“Course I did,” the deputy replied. “Who wouldn’t? Seeing all the blood and everything.”

“Then, in your professional opinion, Tessa Roarke stabbed Arnie Mason?”

“Not just stabbed,” Harris replied. “Cut his throat. Split his gullet just like butcherin’ a hog.” The people in the courtroom gasped in collective horror. Deputy Harris drew a line across his throat with one finger, illustrating the point.

“Is this the weapon you found in the defendant’s room?” The prosecuting attorney held up a wicked-looking knife for all to see.

“Yes, sir.”

“No more questions, Deputy Harris,” Jeremy Cook concluded.

David took over. “Deputy Harris, you say Miss Roarke was sitting on the corner of her bed screaming for help. Is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”