Texas Cinderella (22 page)

“I just want to see her, to talk to her and make sure she's all right.”

“You think I would hurt my own flesh and blood?”

That's exactly what she thought. “You've both been through a lot these past several hours. Lots of bad things could have happened to a little girl in that time.”

“I told you all, she's fine. But she won't be if I don't get my horse.”

“Come on, Guy, I just want to see her, assure myself she's okay, maybe cosset her a little bit and let her know it's all going to turn out okay.” Cassie infused a touch of incredulousness in her voice. “Surely you're not afraid of what I'll do if I get inside?”

He made an inelegant noise. “That's a laugh.”

“Then let me see her. I'll just come in, check her over and come right back out. Then I can reassure all these gents that you're a man of your word and maybe they'll give you that horse.” Not that she really thought he'd willingly let her back outside once he had her in there.

There were a few moments of tense silence, and then Guy finally answered. “All right, have it your way. Come on in, but only you, and you'd better not try any tricks.”

Resisting the urge to look back and draw support from Riley, Cassie squared her shoulders and started forward. If she turned around and saw that passion in his eyes, she might not be able to go through with this.

She finally reached the livery door. It was a large, two-panel affair, with the panels sliding in opposite directions. She grasped one with both hands and began opening it.

“Only far enough for you to step inside,” Guy called out. She realized he'd move farther back into the interior.

She followed his instructions and slipped through the narrow opening.

“Now close it.”

She did so and the space was immediately shrouded in shadows. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but she moved forward, toward the sound of his voice. Then she spotted them, man and child standing in the middle of the spacious building. Guy held a gun in one hand and the collar of Pru's dress in his other.

“Pru, sweetheart, are you okay?”

The little girl nodded. Her sniffles, though, told a different story.

Cassie was within a few feet of them now. And as expected, Guy put a halt to her progress.

“That's far enough. You wanted to see her? Well, here she is, fit as a fiddle, just like I said.”

Cassie smiled, trying to disguise the bile rising in her throat. “I told them you wouldn't hurt your own little girl. You're not that kind of man. Why, anyone can tell how truly deep your love for her is by looking at how you risked getting caught by taking her with you, rather than leaving her behind and running off on your own.” It was the one thing she couldn't figure out. If he'd slipped away as soon as he intercepted that telegram, he'd probably have been able to disappear cleanly.

“You think I'd leave my daughter,
my
daughter, in the hands of my do-gooder, self-righteous stepbrother? No, and if I could have, I would have grabbed the boy, too. And I will someday, mark my words. Riley will
never
have anything that's rightfully mine, no matter how jealous he is of me.”

The man was truly mad. Cassie knew now that he would never willingly let Pru go.

But right now she had a part to play. She frowned petulantly. “Must you wave that gun around?” She gave a delicate shiver. “I have a strong distaste for such instruments of violence. Surely a grown man such as yourself can control one little girl without it.”

“The gun's not for little girls or women.” His sneer made it clear he was speaking of her. “It's to protect myself against those men out there.”

She nodded, as if in agreement. “Before I go and tell the others that Pru is okay, can I at least give her a hug?”

He rolled his eyes and then nodded. “Make it quick.”

Was he really planning to let her leave, after all? Cassie knelt before Pru, heartbroken by the fear and despair she saw in the little girl's eyes. “You are so, so brave,” she said, as she brushed hair back from the child's face. “Your uncle Riley and Noah and Mrs. Flan agan all send their love to you.”

“I want to be back with them,” Pru said in a voice that trembled.

“I know, sweetheart. And you will be. You need to just hold on a little longer.”

Guy laughed at that—an ugly, hateful sound.

Cassie embraced the girl in a gentle hug, and pitched her voice so that only the child could hear. “When I say the word,” she whispered, “run to the door, just as fast as you can. Your uncle Riley is waiting on the other side.”

“That's enough,” Guy growled. “And I've changed my mind. I don't think you'll be heading back outside, after all. I like the idea of having two things Riley wants. He might even trade the boy for you, if he's properly motivated.”

Cassie gave Pru a tight squeeze, then released her. She yanked Guy's hand, surprising him enough to have him release the child's collar.

“Now!” Cassie yelled, and still in a stooped position, rolled into Guy, catching him at the knees and causing him to fall backward.

She scrambled to her feet, pleased to note Pru was already halfway to the door. This was going to work! And she hadn't had to use the gun. But before Cassie could get way, Guy grabbed a fistful of her hem and yanked hard, pulling himself up into a sitting position. Calling her a vile name, he raised his gun and, to her horror, pointed it toward Pru rather than her.

Desperate to stop him, Cassie reached in her pocket for the derringer.

A moment later, a shot rang out through the stable.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

R
iley shoved the door to the livery open with an almost superhuman force. Where were Pru and Cassie? Who had fired that shot? More importantly, who had it hit?

The first thing he saw was Pru, just inside the door, lying facedown. His knees nearly buckled.
No. Please, God, no.

Then she moved and looked up. When she saw Riley, her face split into the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen, and she scrambled to her feet and ran to him. “Uncle Riley, Uncle Riley.” He stooped down to catch her and she latched on to his neck. “I ran and ran, just like Miss Cassie told me to, but then I heard the gun and I tripped.”

“It's okay, kitten, you did just fine.”

He stood, his eyes scanning the interior over Pru's shoulder. Where was Cassie? Now that he knew his niece was safe, he frantically searched for some sign that she was okay, too. But other men had swarmed the stable—the sheriff, his deputy and a half dozen other deputized men. Riley couldn't see past them.

Then he felt a touch on his shoulder and looked around to see Claypool standing there, hands out to take Pru.

Riley gently disengaged his niece's arms from around his neck. “Pru, honey, this nice man here is Mr. Claypool, a friend of mine. Would you go with him for a moment while I look for Cassie and make sure she's okay?”

Pru nodded and allowed herself to be transferred to the other man's hold. Then she pointed behind Riley. “She's okay, Uncle Riley. Look!”

He spun around and there Cassie was, apparently unharmed, making a beeline for him. He saved her some steps and met her halfway.

He caught her up in an embrace and without preamble kissed her soundly. This time the emotions that poured from him were relief and victory and exultation. Somehow, against all odds, both his girls were safe.

When they finally parted, he took Cassie's face in his hands. “You did it. You saved Pru and came out of it whole.”

“Which is more than I can say for Guy.” There was more than a hint of amusement in the sheriff's voice.

“What do you mean?” Riley glanced from the sheriff back to Cassie and saw her face turning beet red in embarrassment.

The lawman laughed. “That shot we heard that got you charging inside like a bull after an interloper? That wasn't Guy's gun we heard, it was Miss Vickers's derringer.”

Riley stared at her incredulously. “You shot Guy?”

“He'd pointed his gun at Pru. I had to do something to stop him.”

“She stopped him, all right. Shot his big toe right off.”

“I just aimed for his foot. It seemed the least gruesome of my possible targets.” She lifted her chin. “And it worked.”

Riley grinned, deciding she was quite beautiful when she was embarrassed.

She frowned at him and the sheriff both. “This is not funny, gentlemen. I don't take what I did lightly.”

“No, ma'am,” the sheriff said meekly.

But Riley heard the man chuckle again as he walked off.

He linked his arm with Cassie's, not wanting to let her go so soon after he'd discovered her again, and turned to Claypool. “What do you say we take these two lovely ladies out of this stable and find them somewhere more comfortable to relax?”

* * *

The sheriff told them that they would have a couple hotel rooms free of charge for the night, compliments of the town council. Cassie asked Riley to order some food to be sent upstairs for Pru, and took the girl upstairs to settle her in. She carried with her the small carpetbag Mr. Claypool had retrieved from the buggy, and set it on the bed. She opened it and pulled out two things—a hairbrush so that she could brush the tangles from Pru's locks, and a surprise she'd packed as an act of faith that they would get Pru safely home.

“Look who came along to keep you company tonight.”

“Bitsy!” The girl's delighted smile warmed Cassie's heart.

“Cindy will be waiting for you when you get back to Mrs. Flanagan's,” Cassie said. “I'm sorry I couldn't fit both of them in my bag.”

Pru's gaze shifted and her gaze didn't meet Cassie's. “That's okay.”

Guessing what the little girl was feeling, Cassie took one of her hands. “It's okay if you don't want to play with Cindy anymore. But I want you to think about this. It's not Cindy's fault she came from your father, any more than it's your fault that he's your pa.”

Cassie stood up. “Now, let's get you cleaned up and get your hair brushed. What do you say?”

With a nod, Pru followed her to the vanity.

An hour later the child was freshened up, fed and tucked into bed, sound asleep.

Cassie headed downstairs, knowing she would find Riley waiting for her there.

And she did.

Her heart gave a little pitter-patter as she saw the way he looked at her. Could he possibly return her feelings? Those kisses today had certainly said yes. Or was she fooling herself, and was this all merely gratitude for what she'd done for Pru?

He stepped forward to greet her as she reached the bottom step, and tucked her arm in his.

“How's Pru doing?”

“She's still a bit clingy, but that's to be expected after all she's been through. But right now she's sound asleep. One of the hotel maids is sitting with her, in case she wakes up before I return, but I honestly think she'll sleep through the night.”

Riley nodded as he led her to a secluded corner of the lobby. “I sent a telegram earlier to Sheriff Gleason to inform him that it all ended well and we would be back in Turnabout tomorrow. I asked him to share the information with Mrs. Flanagan and Mr. Humphries.

“Thank you. I know Mrs. Flanagan and Noah will sleep better tonight.”

Riley seated her on a padded bench, then settled beside her. Taking her hands, he held her gaze with a steady one of his own. “We need to talk.”

Her heart fluttered again, but she ignored it. This could be about anything. “I'm listening.”

He shifted, as if uncertain what he was about to say. “I know you're probably already spoken for, but—”

“What?”

“Perhaps ‘spoken for' is not the right term here. Should I have said you've already made your marriage bargain?”

“Whatever are you talking about?”

“That day you were gone all morning, weren't you visiting the men on your husband list?”

“Absolutely not.” She held his gaze. “I was actually visiting with my father that day. To tell him I would not be returning home on a permanent basis, that I had my own life to live and would be opening a bakery business.”

Riley's whole demeanor brightened, as if a weight had been lifted. “Good for you.”

“I did agree to a compromise, however.” She explained to him the bargain she'd struck with her father, then frowned. “How could you think I would kiss you like I did today if I'd promised to marry another man?”

He had the grace to look sheepish. “To be honest, I didn't know what to think. Why didn't you tell me about the visit to your father?”

Now it was her turn to squirm. “I didn't want you to think... I mean, it was...”

He grinned. “You didn't want me to think it had been on my account.”

“And it wasn't.” At least not entirely. “It was something I had to do for myself.”

“I'm proud of you.”

That should have sounded condescending, but somehow it didn't. She sat up straighter. “Was that all you wanted to speak to me about, or was there something else?”

He grinned. “Oh yes, there's definitely something else. And now that I know you've given up that husband hunt of yours, it is even more pressing. Cassie, you have to know, especially after all that happened today, that I am absolutely, totally, incredibly in love with you.”

“You are?”

He laughed. “Yes. How could I not be? You make me laugh—at myself and at my problems. You make me think—of possible futures and of different ways of seeing the world. You make me a better man.

“And you make me want to have you at my side, today and always.”

“Oh Riley, I love you, too. I don't know how it's possible to love someone so much after knowing him only two weeks, but I think I fell in love with you the moment you stooped down beside me to help me up in the livery yard. It's like I've known you forever.”

He squeezed her hands. “Then you'll marry me?”

She slipped her hands from his and threw her arms around his neck. “Yes!”

The kiss that they sealed their agreement with was the best one yet.