The Beholding, page 22
“I’m mad, Lucas Reeves,” she pushed his hand away, “because you bullied your way into my business when I could have easily taken care of it myself.”
“Wait till I get my hands on you, you son-of-a-brother-killing bitch!” Ragmorton shook one fist at Tess as he held his nose and ran toward them.
Luke looked from her to the stagecoach driver, then back at Tess. “Do you expect me to stand here and let him call you that? Give me a moment or two to kick that bastard’s teeth down his throat, then we can argue all you want.”
“I’m not arguing with you or anyone else anymore.” She peered over Luke’s shoulders. “But Ragmorton doesn’t seem to feel the same way.” Tess motioned behind Luke.
“Buzzard piss.” The bounty hunter swung around to discover Ragmorton only inches away. Luke’s fist shot out, missing Frank’s jaw but clipping him on a cheekbone. “This isn’t any way to settle our argument, Tessa,” Luke complained as he heard her move away.
Ragmorton swung and connected, catching Luke on the jaw. “Are you still here, gnat?” Luke groused, spitting a wad of blood as he shoved Ragmorton away. With a curse of exasperation, he tried to get Tess’s attention in the same instant he warded off the next blow. “Woman, will you please wait a minute until I get rid of this pest?” The man must be a glutton for punishment, Luke thought, managing to land two more well-aimed fists.
Ragmorton wouldn’t be put off. He meant to draw more blood and lit into Luke again. But Luke was a man bent on setting things straight with his woman. Some jobs he accomplished faster than others. Making quick work of Ragmorton’s consciousness proved one of them.
Chapter Twenty-three
The stagecoach reached a sprawling village nestled at the junction of the Platte River and Cherry Creek just as the sun set behind the sawtooth crests of the Rocky Mountains. Though home was only a room at the boardinghouse, Denver had been Luke’s base of operations since the war. He felt a sense of pride when he helped Tess down from the coach and saw her eyes light with appreciation at the progress the township had made in the six short years since its founding. Stone houses outnumbered those constructed of clapboard or tent fabric. A city hall, three banks and several fine hotels had been built and got as much business as the saloons and brothels.
“I didn’t expect anything so … so … civilized,” she said, moving instantly away as if his touch burned her.
“I always feels like I’ve come home, thought I reside in Georgetown,” Phinneas informed her, greeting several of the people by name who stood in front of Carpenter’s store awaiting the stage. He offered a hankie to Tess. “This will allay the dust the team stirred. Later, you’ll inhale the cleanest, freshest air in all the country and discover there’s no sweeter smell than Colorado’s pine forests. Where will you and your party stay the evening, my dear?”
Luke met Tess’s gaze. Since their falling out, she had refused to talk to him other than polite conversation. Though amiable, her tone left Luke all too aware she expected him to apologize before she broke the barrier of silence. He knew her funds were stretched far beyond her plans already, but the stubborn woman had too much pride to admit it.
“She’ll be taking a room over at the boardinghouse for the night.” Luke thumbed up his hat. “I’ve invited the Harpers to supper at the Hotel Dupree.” Though he hoped Wideacre would decline, Luke read the look on Tess’s face and knew that if he didn’t invite the man to dinner, she would. “Would you care to join us?”
“The Hotel Dupree? I heard it has one of the best faro tables in the Rockies.” Jim bent to leave the coach, then stretched his tall frame.
“The best everything,” Phinneas corrected and held out one gloved hand to Luke. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Reeves, but I must decline your kind offer. I’ve a meeting with my lawyer before tomorrow’s stage to Georgetown.” He turned and ruffled Tommie’s hair. “I wouldn’t keep your mother out too late, son. The stage leaves at five thirty. Hi Washburn, the stage driver, keeps his schedule to the minute.”
“I hope we meet again, Mr. Wideacre.” Tess offered her hand to the older man.
A feeling of disquiet coiled inside Luke’s stomach as Wideacre bent and pressed his lips against her knuckles.
“Phinneas, remember. And I hope you will allow me to call on you once you’re settled in Georgetown, Mrs. Harper.”
Phinneas-Plentious. The man drips with money and all the right social graces, Luke silently stewed. Olivia had busted enough rulers over his knuckles to make Luke remember some of the niceties. Enough to get through tonight? he wondered, deciding on a plan. A glance at Daggert riled Luke more than the older man’s sweet talk. The leer on the gambler’s face mocked Luke. That jackass thinks I haven’t got a social bone in my body. Determination filled him. Hang on to your hatpin, Contessa Harper, this bounty hunter is going to dust off the old manners and sweep you off your kid boots.
Tess took one last glance at herself in the mirror and pinched her cheeks. Two hours had been little enough time to wash, rest and prepare herself and Tommie for the evening ahead. The white muslin had been exchanged reluctantly for the clean serge travel shirtwaist and skirt, but it must do. If not for Luke’s generous insistence to pay the remaining expenses to Georgetown, Tess didn’t know how they would complete the journey. Though Luke said the money was part of the reward she’d earlier declined, she intended to pay him back as soon as she made an accounting of all of Clifton’s assets.
Tommie fidgeted impatiently as she combed his hair. He looked a bit pale from the long, strenuous coach ride, but he had begun to fuss and pout when she’d suggested they simply take a meal in their room and leave the excitement of Denver until another time. She wondered if the stage would stop in Idaho Springs long enough for him to enjoy the hot springs. She must remember to ask Driver Washburn. If nothing else, perhaps they could linger a day or two before the stage made the return trip.
A knock on the door drew her attention away from Tommie’s silken hair.
“Are you ready?”
“Ready.”
Two freshly scrubbed faces smiled at Tess as she opened the door—one bearded, the other shaven.
“Contessa, may I have the pleasure?” Daggert offered his arm a second before Luke did.
Though her first impulse shouted to accept Luke’s, Tess gripped Jim’s. She was still angry with the bounty hunter despite all his helpfulness. He had hurt her, and good manners simply weren’t enough to make her forget the pain of rejection. “I believe you asked first, Jim.”
“You can have mine, Mista Luke. I queened it real good, ’cept this part.”
“Obliged, Tom,” Luke growled behind Tess.
She was grateful for the child’s chattering as they walked downstairs and stopped to tell the proprietress they would be dining out and would not return until late. Tess was pleased to learn that Luke had arranged for a buggy.
“… worth getting to know Wideacre,” Jim said as he helped her into the buggy waiting at the steps of the boardinghouse.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said,” Tess apologized as she settled into the rear seat. Jim spread a blanket over her skirts to stave off the evening chill.
Luke and Tommie took the front seat. The now four-year-old squealed with delight when Luke allowed him to help grip the reins and flick the team into motion. Tess missed Jim’s comment again.
“I said, I think it would be worth getting to know Wideacre. He’s obviously a man who knows his business and could possibly help us get established in Georgetown.”
“Then you truly mean to stay?” Tess never really believed that Jim intended to make a home in Colorado. He’d had too much good fortune in Arkansas. Yet she supposed the lure of gold was something a gambler didn’t easily forsake.
Jim placed a hand over hers. “I can gamble here as easy as anywhere. And as I told you, Contessa, wherever your home is, that’s where I’ll be. I’ve made no secret of wanting to care for you.” His eyes darkened to coffee brown. “I love you.”
She allowed him to claim her fingers, all the while studying Luke’s back, wondering if he heard their conversation. “I think you’ve been a good friend, Jim, but—”
“But?”
Jim’s grip tightened momentarily, then eased as she attempted to pull away. “But I don’t love you, Jim. As a woman should love a man, I mean. You’ve always been kind to me … and Tommie,” she added, though she’d always sensed he resented the boy for some reason. Was it because Tommie was Clifton’s son and not his own?
“I’ve got to make a life for myself and my son, or I’m never going to know if I can provide for us. I’ve always had someone else to lean on, someone else to make my decisions for me. I don’t think I can possibly love you the way you want me to unless I’ve had a little time to learn to like myself.”
“I don’t give up easy, Contessa. I’ve tried to stay in the background on this journey because the road was dangerous and it didn’t seem the right timing for such things, but we’re almost at the end of our journey. It’s time I said what I’ve wanted to say for hundreds of miles. Be my wife, Contessa. Hell, what’s love? You didn’t love Clifton, we both know that. But you married him. I have enough love for both of us. You’ll never want for anything. I’ll build you a home better than Harper Hall, and I won’t leave you alone like Clif did. I’ve always stayed around for you, haven’t I? I was there long before Clifton, remember?”
He attempted to pull Tess closer, but the memory of Luke’s embrace made her withdraw.
“It’s Reeves, isn’t it?” Jim’s voice took on a harsher tone. “But he isn’t right for you, Contessa. He’s gonna light out of here as soon as you pay up.” Jim nodded toward the bounty hunter. “I’ll be here long after he’s gone.”
“Luke?” Could he hear the longing in her voice? She squared her shoulders. “Nothing can hold him. He’s already said he’s leaving as soon as we’re settled. And, frankly, I’m glad of it!” And she was. The sooner he left, the sooner she could harden her heart from wanting him so desperately.
“You terrible mad at somebody, Mista Luke?”
Luke looked up from his plate, stared at the other couples enjoying dinner at the dining tables of the Hotel Dupree’s grand ballroom, then back at the boy who sat across from him at a table meant for four. How could the child possibly know how angry he felt? How could he explain that the irritation was aimed more at himself than anyone else? “Why do you ask?”
Tommie pointed his fork at the buffalo steak Luke had sliced into tiny shreds. “Cause it looks like you cutting off somebody’s head.”
Laughing, Luke lay down the knife and fork. His gaze sought and found the gambler as he held Tess in his arms and waltzed on the dance floor. “I suppose I was, at that.”
Spreading his arms wide in question, Tommie frowned. “Why don’t you ask Mommie to dance, Mista Luke? Her will.”
Luke wiggled a finger at Tommie and leaned in closer. The boy leaned in as well. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Do I hafta keep it forever?” One blond brow arched over the child’s narrowed eyes.
“I’d rather you did. But a man’s choice is his own.”
Tommie’s look of disappointment changed into one of assurance. “You can trust me, Mista Luke.”
Lowering his voice, Luke whispered, “You know when I told your mama I better not dance because my leg is paining me?”
“Yeah.” Tommie tried to speak low, but couldn’t quite achieve the tone.
“The truth is … I don’t know how to dance.”
“Gollleee,” Tommie squealed the word. “Even I know how to dance, Mista Luke. Mommie taughted me.”
“Not so loud, magpie. Don’t announce it to everyone.” Luke glanced around to see who heard. Several heads turned but, thank the Almighty, Tess and Daggert were on the other side of the dance floor.
“Sorry, Mista Luke.” Tommie clamped his hands over his mouth, but his emerald eyes lit with merriment After he quit giggling, his brows veed together and his features took on a seriousness. “You want me to teach ya how to dance?”
Not a bad idea, Luke mulled, then thought better of it. “It would never work.”
“You afraid, Mista Luke? I promise not to step on your toes.”
“I do want to dance with your mother.” Gathering his courage, Luke stood. He wished to Heaven his own mother had taken time to teach him this one finer social amenity, but she couldn’t endure the proximity needed for such lessons. “And never let it be said I let a little thing like not knowing how to dance get the better of me.”
Tommie stood and pulled up his pants, straightening the suspenders that held them. “First thing is ‘member to hitch up you pants. I always check my butnuns, then my ‘spenders.”
“Got it.” Luke hid his smile from the boy.
“Now, ‘member, don’t stomp my feet. ‘Posed to put one here, like dis,” he indicated a spot to the left of his left foot. “Put the other one right here.”
Luke placed his left foot near the outside of the boy’s right foot.
“Mommie always plays the woman and I play the boy. I might mess this up a minutes. No, yeah. I ‘member. Since you want to be the boy, I’ll—”
“—the man,” Luke insisted, surprised he enjoyed the lesson as much as he anticipated dancing with Tess.
Tommie’s eyes rolled upward. “I never done it like a man. I only know it the boy way.”
“All right. So show me how a boy does it.”
“The lady ‘posed to put her hand on you shoulder and her other hand like dis.” Tommie held out his left hand and grabbed Luke’s right. “Then, the boy ‘posed to put the other hand on her waist. I can’t ever reach Mama’s waist, but I bet you can.”
Aware of the attention they drew from the onlookers at other tables and from the dancers passing by them, Luke ignored the impulse to sit back down. He concentrated on what Tommie said.
“Take one step that way and stand on your tippy-toes. Come back down. Then take one step dis away and stand on your tippy-toes agin. When you do that, swing your arm the same way you step.”
As Luke listened to the rhythm of the waltz, Tommie’s instructions became easy to follow. The boy laughed as Luke watched some of the other men and imitated their swirling swing.
“This is fun!” Tommie shouted. “Mommie don’t turn me around and around like dis!”
“Quite a couple you two are,” remarked a young woman as her partner whirled her past them.
No one made fun of Luke’s effort as he feared they might, and he found himself enjoying the dance immensely. When the waltz ended, Luke was reluctant to return to the table, knowing Daggert would seek his advantage for as long as he could and keep Tess on the floor. But to his delight, the crowd was in the mood for waltzing and the band complied.
“Go ask my mommie. She wants to dance with you, I can tell.” Tommie pointed at Tess who stood only a few feet away, locked in a dancer’s embrace with Daggert.
“I’m not ready.”
“Don’t worry, I step on Mommie’s toes sometimes. Her don’t cry.”
“She might if I stepped on them.” Luke let go of his partner’s hands and nudged him toward the table. “You’ll stay put and not wander off?”
“I fink so.”
“And you won’t sip any of the wine?”
“Cross my heart and hope to grow whiskers.”
“Drink your milk. It’ll make a man of you.”
“How come you don’t drink milk, Mista Luke? Are you already enough man?”
“How come little boys ask too many questions? Now you better let me get over there while there’s still a waltz left. It’ll be my luck she’ll want to sashay.”
After making certain the boy was settled, Luke dodged the dancers until he found Daggert’s broad back. Tapping the gambler on the shoulder, he couldn’t resist offering a grin when Daggert swung around and frowned at him. “If you’ll excuse me, I believe this waltz is mine.”
Daggert shrugged a shoulder, then turned back to Tess. “This will give me some time to get to visit with Tommie awhile.”
Tess looked pleased. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy that, Jim.”
I doubt that, Luke thought but didn’t say it aloud to Tess. She needed to see for herself that Tommie didn’t like the man. Something about the gambler scared the boy. Though he desired more than anything to dance with Tess, Luke decided he’d cut it short if he saw that Tommie was too afraid sitting at the table alone with Jim.
“I thought your leg hurt.”
He gathered her in his arms. The touch of her waist sent waves of warmth up Luke’s arm. Her soft hand rested in his, and he was overcome with Tess’s sweet fragrance. Her breath brushed softly against his neck as he tried to match the rhythm of the waltz. It took several steps before the awkwardness eased into enjoyment. “I thought I might try a few dances.”
“Is this a newfound diversion of yours?”
He heard the mirth in her voice and suspected she teased him. Tess knew very well he had only learned tonight. He was glad the anger had vanished and he could joke as well. “Do you mean suffering a hurt leg or dancing?” he evaded.
She giggled. “Neither. Do you make it a habit to anger gamblers?”
“Only when they waltz better than I do.”
Tess laughed, and he enjoyed the pure sound. He liked the way she looked at him as if he meant something to her, relished the feel of her hand about his shoulders, the other resting securely in his palm. When their gazes met, he knew she, too, recalled another night, another time when they weren’t restrained by the distance the waltz required. Luke almost felt her head resting beneath his cheek, her breasts pressed against his chest. The sway of Tess’s hips as he whirled her from one side to the other spread a remembered fire through him.
“I’m sorry, Tess,” he offered from the depth of feeling chiseling at the stone that had once been his heart, “all I meant to do was protect you from Ragmorton.”
