Read Online Secondhand Bride by Linda Lael Miller - Free Book Online
Authors: Linda Lael Miller
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he said, hoping she wouldn’t balk. “Let’s go for a walk.”
She didn’t try to pull away, which was encouraging, but as he ran the pad of his thumb across her fingers, he realized that the ring he’d given her was gone, which was dis couraging. Not that he’d worn his own; it was tucked away in his bureau drawer at home. He’d wanted to toss it in the creek more than once, but something had stopped him.
Damn, but it was a complicated business, this being a man. Women had it easy.
9
I t didn’t escape Chloe’s notice, for all her befuddlement of feelings, that when Jeb led her out of the hotel for their evening walk, he headed in the opposite direction from the cemetery. The street was quiet, the store-fronts dark, though the Bloody Basin was doing a rousing business, with tinny piano music pouring past its swinging doors.
Perhaps thinking, as she was, that it would be better if they didn’t talk about themselves, and thus their differences, Jeb pointed out various landmarks.
“That’s the jailhouse, over there,” he said, indicating a pockmarked facade with brick sidewalls and a single dimly lit window. “Looks like Sam Fee has a prisoner, or he’d be gone home by now.” He stopped, surveying the place, and shook his head. “Kade was marshal for a while, after John took sick. Damn near got himself killed, but we’d have lost the Triple M for sure if it hadn’t been for him and Mandy.”
Chloe made her way past the mention of John, though it brushed against her spirit like a shadow. “What happened?” She wasn’t ready to talk about her father and all the years that had been wasted because she hadn’t known who he really was. The resentment she felt toward her mother would need some time to heal, too, and she’d be demanding an explanation first chance she got, for sure and certain.
“It’s complicated,” Jeb said, taking her hand and moving on again. “What it boils down to is, there were some outlaws trying to start up a range war. They stole some gold that belonged to us, and Kade and Mandy got it back.”
The next stop on the grand tour of Indian Rock was Mamie Sussex’s rooming house. “Mamie has a flock of redheaded kids,” Jeb said, with amused affection. “Harry’s a special favorite of Kade’s—used to help him with his marshaling sometimes. He made a fair deputy, for a ten-year-old.”
Chloe smiled at the mention of children; as a teacher, she naturally had a special affinity for them. “They must keep their mother busy,” she observed. She was trying not to think about how good it felt to be talking about ordinary things with Jeb, with her hand resting in his. Best not get too cozy, though.
“It would be a mercy to her and the whole town if they were in school,” Jeb said, with a slight grin. “They’re full of mischief. There isn’t any teacher, though.”
She supposed she should have told him she meant to inquire about the job, but she didn’t. She was enjoying the temporary cessation of hostilities a bit too much.
“The town council’s been trying to hire a schoolmarm for a while now,” he went on. “No luck. Indian Rock’s pretty isolated, and the pay isn’t much, so I guess the pickings are slim.”
Chloe felt a little trill of excitement, but caution made her tamp it down. Yes, she was a qualified teacher, a damn good one, in fact, and yes, she most certainly needed work, since her funds were all but exhausted, but word of her ignoble dismissal in Tombstone would surely catch up to her, sooner or later. As desperate as they were, the committee might turn her down flat.
She’d have no choice then but to go crawling back to Sacramento and live alone in Mr. Wakefield’s vast house. The prospect made her shudder, but with two divorces behind her, she’d be a pariah just about anywhere she went. “Tell me about Rafe and Emmeline,” she said, when the gap of silence had widened too far for comfort.
Jeb smiled, a mite wistfully, Chloe
She didn’t try to pull away, which was encouraging, but as he ran the pad of his thumb across her fingers, he realized that the ring he’d given her was gone, which was dis couraging. Not that he’d worn his own; it was tucked away in his bureau drawer at home. He’d wanted to toss it in the creek more than once, but something had stopped him.
Damn, but it was a complicated business, this being a man. Women had it easy.
9
I t didn’t escape Chloe’s notice, for all her befuddlement of feelings, that when Jeb led her out of the hotel for their evening walk, he headed in the opposite direction from the cemetery. The street was quiet, the store-fronts dark, though the Bloody Basin was doing a rousing business, with tinny piano music pouring past its swinging doors.
Perhaps thinking, as she was, that it would be better if they didn’t talk about themselves, and thus their differences, Jeb pointed out various landmarks.
“That’s the jailhouse, over there,” he said, indicating a pockmarked facade with brick sidewalls and a single dimly lit window. “Looks like Sam Fee has a prisoner, or he’d be gone home by now.” He stopped, surveying the place, and shook his head. “Kade was marshal for a while, after John took sick. Damn near got himself killed, but we’d have lost the Triple M for sure if it hadn’t been for him and Mandy.”
Chloe made her way past the mention of John, though it brushed against her spirit like a shadow. “What happened?” She wasn’t ready to talk about her father and all the years that had been wasted because she hadn’t known who he really was. The resentment she felt toward her mother would need some time to heal, too, and she’d be demanding an explanation first chance she got, for sure and certain.
“It’s complicated,” Jeb said, taking her hand and moving on again. “What it boils down to is, there were some outlaws trying to start up a range war. They stole some gold that belonged to us, and Kade and Mandy got it back.”
The next stop on the grand tour of Indian Rock was Mamie Sussex’s rooming house. “Mamie has a flock of redheaded kids,” Jeb said, with amused affection. “Harry’s a special favorite of Kade’s—used to help him with his marshaling sometimes. He made a fair deputy, for a ten-year-old.”
Chloe smiled at the mention of children; as a teacher, she naturally had a special affinity for them. “They must keep their mother busy,” she observed. She was trying not to think about how good it felt to be talking about ordinary things with Jeb, with her hand resting in his. Best not get too cozy, though.
“It would be a mercy to her and the whole town if they were in school,” Jeb said, with a slight grin. “They’re full of mischief. There isn’t any teacher, though.”
She supposed she should have told him she meant to inquire about the job, but she didn’t. She was enjoying the temporary cessation of hostilities a bit too much.
“The town council’s been trying to hire a schoolmarm for a while now,” he went on. “No luck. Indian Rock’s pretty isolated, and the pay isn’t much, so I guess the pickings are slim.”
Chloe felt a little trill of excitement, but caution made her tamp it down. Yes, she was a qualified teacher, a damn good one, in fact, and yes, she most certainly needed work, since her funds were all but exhausted, but word of her ignoble dismissal in Tombstone would surely catch up to her, sooner or later. As desperate as they were, the committee might turn her down flat.
She’d have no choice then but to go crawling back to Sacramento and live alone in Mr. Wakefield’s vast house. The prospect made her shudder, but with two divorces behind her, she’d be a pariah just about anywhere she went. “Tell me about Rafe and Emmeline,” she said, when the gap of silence had widened too far for comfort.
Jeb smiled, a mite wistfully, Chloe
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