Liz Ireland (19 page)

“Let’s just say I don’t see the point.”

“The point!” she exclaimed. “The point is this. You might think a match between us would be all to my benefit, but you’re forgetting Oat had land. Oh, not much of it, I’ll admit, but land and a house would be enough for you to start that ranch you’ve always dreamed of. And let’s not forget Oat’s bonds.”

Will smirked. “I never expected you to.”

“I’m just being practical. Oat’s dead and the money’s there. What difference does it make whether I take it now or I had waited six months to get around to finding it? I’ve got one more bank to visit, and Oat’s bound to have put it there. Just think, Will. If you married me today, that money could be yours by this evening. You could buy horses with it…anything.”

“What happened to Oren?” Will asked. “Last I heard, you were waiting for him to come to his senses.”

She swept her eyelashes up and down like a dark velvet curtain. “You were right, Will. He was just using me. I agonized all last night, realizing what a fool I was pining for Oren when you were right here all the time.”

“A convenient victim,” he finished for her.

“No!” She tossed her hands up in frustration. “Oh, you’re not taking me seriously.”

“No, I’m not,” Will admitted bluntly. “I’d be a fool to, at this juncture.”

She slapped her hand down in dismay, nearly upsetting his breakfast tray. “You’re just saying that because you think you’ve got someone else!”

Will froze. “Who are you talking about?”

“That little ruffian girl, Paulie Johnson!” Mary Ann clucked her tongue in disgust. “Honestly, Will. It tears me up inside to think that you’ve sunk so low that you would consider courting
her.”

“Paulie’s good company. I’ve always liked her.”

“But you never would have considered kissing her!”

He tilted his head, studying her. News certainly travelled fast. “Just how did you come by the knowledge that I have kissed Paulie?”

She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling in exasperation. “That poor girl practically blurted it out to God and everybody last night. The poor thing. She didn’t realize how foolish she sounded.”

“Why? Because she seemed to think that a kiss was significant?” Had she really thought that? Will wondered fervently, clinging eagerly to the scrap of information. “Some women don’t give themselves to every man who comes along with a flirtatious word.”

With a huff, Mary Ann jumped off the bed. “I won’t stand for your insults! Here I am, offering you everything I have, and all you can think to do is throw my unfortunate past in my face.” She wagged a slim finger at him in warning. “I’ll give you a day to think over my offer, Will, and one day only.”

She twirled and prepared to march back toward the door when Will stopped her.

“Mary Ann, wait.”

She spun around, a hopeful expression on her face. “Yes, Will?”

“I just wanted to know…Is your generous offer of marriage being put forward because you discovered I’m interested in someone else, or because you realized that Oren Tyler wouldn’t have you on a bet?”

Her blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “The offer still stands. You’d better think it over, Will!” Cheeks flushed, she turned and slammed out the door.

Paulie climbed the stairs one at a time, slowly, feeling that her dainty new shoes had cast-iron soles. She’d eaten
way too much at breakfast, trying to pass the time and get her mind off her troubles by wolfing down one biscuit after another. Now she felt as if she’d swallowed a boulder. And there was scant room for a boulder inside her tight dress.

She stopped, looked up at the landing, then took another step, trying to keep her gaze focused on her bedroom door. She was
not
going to visit Will. Maudie had seen him early this morning before breakfast and reported he was alive, which was all she needed to know. Going into his room would just be leading herself into temptation. Mary Ann had taken him his meal, and would probably tell Paulie all about how he was doing and what he had said—if she really needed to know.

Not that she wanted to talk to Mary Ann about Will if she could help it. Their conversation of the night before had been enough for her.

A door slammed—so loudly Paulie jumped. As if summoned by Paulie’s thoughts, Mary Ann appeared outside Will’s door. She spun around in surprise when she sensed Paulie behind her. Her face was flushed, and her blue eyes almost glistened with some feverish emotion that made Paulie’s heart stop. What kind of activity had been going on in that sickroom to put such a fiery bloom in Mary’s Ann cheeks?

“Oh! Are you going in to see Will now?” Mary Ann asked, recovering her composure.

“No,” Paulie said shortly. It took every ounce of restraint she had in her not to pounce upon the woman and demand to know what was making her blush. Had Will kissed her, too? Had they been discussing the possibility of a reconciliation?

A secretive smile touched Mary Ann’s lips and Paulie
balled her fists at her sides. “I see you’re taking my advice then.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not chasing after Will,” Paulie said.

The smile broadened and became more sickeningly condescending. “’Course not. Will always wants to be the one to do the chasing.” She darted out her pink tongue and licked her lips. Almost as if she could still taste his kiss on them. “And he always catches what he wants.” She tossed her head, giggled, turned and scurried down the hall toward the little staircase that led up to her room.

For a moment Paulie worried that her heart was pounding so hard it would shake the very foundation of the house. She didn’t have to feel her cheeks to know they were red hot, flaming with anger. Anger at Mary Ann, for setting her sights on Will the moment she saw that another woman might be interested. Angry at herself, for
being
interested in a man who was apparently as fickle as a saloon girl on payday. But most of all, she was angry at Will. How dare he kiss her one night and then kiss Mary Ann the very next morning? She would like to give that man a piece of her mind!

She knew what Maudie would say. Yelling at a man was no way to catch one. But that was the rub—she didn’t
want
to catch Will. Right this moment she decided very emphatically that she
didn’t
want him. No sirree. She didn’t want Will Brockett any more than she wanted a case of yellow fever.

So what did she have to lose?

She surged toward the door Mary Ann had just come out of, not bothering to knock before barging right in. Will was sitting up in bed, happily eating one of the biscuits that she herself had made for him, looking as if he had not a care in the world. He saw her and smiled broadly, causing her stomach to flutter weakly.

At the unwelcome sensation, Paulie scowled. “Will Brockett, you’re the biggest fool this world ever made!”

He dropped the biscuit down to the tray, but otherwise didn’t seem the least bit fazed by her outraged entrance. Instead, he treated her almost as if she were an amusing diversion—just as he had during all the years of their acquaintance.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, not to mention your compliments?” he asked in that maddeningly calm voice of his. It was just as if they were back at the Dry Wallow, sparring over her freckles.

“I didn’t come here for pleasure!”

“Really?” he asked, his eyebrows raised comically. “I thought perhaps you’d like to prove again how you don’t like me.”

She couldn’t believe he could just sit there, cool as a cucumber, and joke about it! “No one could like you as much as you like yourself,” she said through gritted teeth. “I was just coming here as a friend.”

He laughed. “And what exactly did you want to say to me, as a friend?”

“Just that if you’re in love with Mary Ann, then you’re a fool and welcome to her!”

“In love with Mary Ann?” he repeated, pretending amazement. He
had
to be pretending.

“If you’re not in love with her, you’re just leading her on like that Oren Tyler, and in that case you’re lower than a snake’s belly and the two of you deserve each other!”

He blinked. “Say, you’re really angry, aren’t you?”

“I am not! It just burns me up to think I actually wanted to save you from Mary Ann’s clutches. Now I hope you strangle in them!”

He frowned, then looked back up at her in understanding.
“I get it. You’re feeling guilty for kissing me the moment Trip went away. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”

That
was just the last straw. Wasn’t he listening? “Land’s sake, Will. Would you use your noggin for once? Why on earth would I be in love with Trip Peabody?”

He blinked. “You said you were.”

“No,” she said, sashaying forward until she was a mere foot away from him and could punctuate her words with a jab to his chest.
“You
just decided I was. But I’m not. And if I were, what would I run around kissing you for? I’m not like Mary Ann!”

He stuttered in confusion. “B-but Trip…”

She stomped her foot. “Trip’s in love with Tessie Hale and always has been! He hasn’t ever loved me, and even if he had it wouldn’t have mattered because
I’ve
only loved one person my whole entire life, and it’s not him. And if you can’t figure everything out now, Will, then you’re just as blind as a mule in a barn fire!”

W
ill stared in amazement at the door, which had just been slammed shut for the second time in ten minutes. He could hardly take in the strange conversation he’d just had. What could it mean? Could Paulie possibly be in love with
him?

It seemed too incredible. He had known all along that she
liked
him. Lord knows, they had been friends forever. But beyond that, he had assumed she had saved all her deepest feelings for Trip.

If she hadn’t, it changed a whole lot of things. Like who it was she was talking about that night she’d told him she was in love. Could it really be himself? The thought made him feel as thickheaded as she’d accused him of being. There was nothing standing between them and never had been—besides the fact that she seemed to think that he had some residual feelings for Mary Ann.

Paulie…in love with him. He felt a surge of contentment. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when he’d begun to think differently about his old friend. Maybe that night after Oat had died. Or maybe the first time he’d kissed her. Or maybe, somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d always known there was more to Paulie than met the eye.

A rap sounded on the door, and Will sat up again,
straighter, prepared to meet an apologetic Paulie. She always did regret these pets she got herself into.

“Come in,” he said, putting aside the tray in case he decided to accept her apology by taking her into his arms again.

The door opened slowly and quietly—the first sign that his visitor wasn’t Paulie. Will’s brow puckered, and he looked up to see Oren Tyler standing in his doorway. He didn’t flinch at the sight of the gambler, exactly, but he did wonder for a moment whether the man had heard he was still alive and had come to finish him off.

“Hello, Brockett,” Tyler said. He closed the door behind him and took a few tentative steps into the room.

“Tyler.” Will nodded tersely, watching the man closely for some clue as to why on earth he would have come calling. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

The gambler stepped forward. “I won’t mince words, Brockett. I’ve come about Mary Ann.”

Thank goodness! Will thought.

His visitor chuckled. “Your speechifying yesterday began to weigh on my conscience. I’ll admit I had a sleepless night last night, but I’ve finally come to see where my responsibility lies.”

Will nodded, feeling more optimistic than he had in days. After all this trouble, it was beginning to look like things would work out. Mary Ann would have her gambler, he would have Paulie, and they would all begin to have some peace. “Mary Ann’s in the house, you know,” he informed the gentleman. “Sure you wouldn’t rather say whatever you have to say to her directly?”

Tyler’s eyes flickered in surprise, then he shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “I don’t think so.” His dark eyes looked into Will’s imploringly. “It would probably be best if I didn’t see her again, don’t you think?”

“Not see her?” The words turned Will around.

“I’ve given some thought to what you said about Mary Ann,” Oren said. “And especially about the child. And it’s my feeling that I do owe it to the little fellow to see that he has a good start in life. Good as I can make it. So I brought Mary Ann this.” He tossed an envelope on the bed in front of Will. “There’s two hundred dollars in there.”

Will stared at the money as though he could see through the white paper of the envelope to the individual bills concealed beneath it. “Two hundred dollars,” he repeated numbly. The man hadn’t come here to reconcile with Mary Ann. He’d come to buy her off.

So much for optimism.

The gambler rocked back on his heels as if he had just made an unspeakably grandiose gesture. “I worried a little about the sum at first. But I think this will be enough to get Mary Ann safely home, with a little left over.” He continued to stare at Will, whose lack of response caused him a moment of doubt.

“Maybe it is best that you don’t see Mary Ann,” Will agreed finally.

Oren’s brows drew together. “You do think that’s enough, don’t you?”

Two hundred, four hundred, even a thousand…Will doubted any of those sums would satisfy Mary Ann. Her wanting Oren seemed to have something more to do with what she wanted out of life than any monetary gain that union would achieve. After all, as Oat’s widow and with the money he set aside, she would probably have enough money to keep her comfortable for a while. No, Will was willing to bet two hundred dollars of his own money that Mary Ann wouldn’t be pleased by Oren Tyler’s largesse.

“I’ll make sure she gets your money,” Will said, dodging his opinion on the matter.

Oren shifted his weight from one foot to the other. For some reason, he seemed uncomfortable leaving Will with an unfavorable impression of himself. “After all, I never said I’d marry her,” he explained. “And then when she came here, she was another man’s wife.”

The strange thing was, the man seemed honestly to believe that fact absolved his own behavior…though he appeared nervous enough to know that others might not let him off the hook so easily. Will certainly wasn’t about to give his approbation, but neither was he going to argue with the man.

“I’m sure this is more than what Mary Ann expects from you, Tyler.”

A ray of hope lit his face. “Really?”

Will nodded. For Mary Ann’s sake, he wasn’t about to tell him that the woman had already moved on to a new plan—namely himself. Besides, he was hoping she had already given up on that false hope, despite her generous pledge to give him a day to think it over.

“Good,” said Tyler. Then, standing before Will in awkward silence, he repeated, “Good.”

Will cocked his head, wondering how long it would take for a man like Tyler to clear his conscience of any memory of Mary Ann. “I know you’re a busy man, Tyler. Don’t let me keep you.”

“Actually, I
am
busy today. I’m leaving for Denver.”

It was probably just as well that the man put as much distance between himself and Mary Ann as possible. “I wish you a pleasant journey.”

The gambler grinned. “Oh, I usually do try to keep things pleasant.”

And after a quick nod of his hat, the man was gone. Will looked down at the two hundred dollars, wondering how long he could put off giving Mary Ann the distinctly
un
-pleasant
news that she had just been paid two hundred dollars to forget Oren Tyler.

A brisk walk cooled Paulie down considerably. She felt like a darn fool now for having blown her composure with Will. What must he think of her?

She stopped at the gate in front of Mrs. Worthington’s boardinghouse, idly studying the fine carriage parked in the street in front of the house, and considered whether she should go upstairs and apologize for telling him he was a fool. Just as she was debating the advantages and disadvantages of grovelling after having so embarrassingly revealed how much she cared for him, the front door opened and Oren Tyler emerged, looking handsome in a dark suit and hat and new boots so shiny she was almost blinded by them.

Her mouth popped open in astonishment. Tyler was the last man she’d expected to see coming out of Maudie’s house this morning. Had he spoken to Mary Ann? Had the two of them reconciled? Oh, she hoped so! Then this whole ordeal would be over, and they could all go home. Of course, she would still have an awkward situation with Will to deal with, but in a few decades she might get over the humiliation of it all….

Paulie surged forward but skidded to a stop when the man stopped on the lowest porch step, pushed his hat back, stared straight at her and let out a low whistle. She whirled to stare behind her to see if the man had brought a dog with him, which would have explained the whistle. It wouldn’t have accounted for the peculiar way he was staring at her, however.

Not seeing a canine of any description behind her, she turned back around to face the gambler. “Did you come to
talk to Mary Ann?” she asked, unable to corral her curiosity.

He smiled a big broad grin that about stopped her pulse completely. Lord, she’d never seen such white teeth! It looked like the man brushed them with laundry blueing. “I came for some business, but if I’d known what a pretty little lady resided here, I might have made a pleasure call long ago.”

Again Paulie was tempted to turn to see what pretty little lady Oren Tyler was talking about, but incredibly, she could only deduce those fantastic words referred to
her!
She felt an odd fluttery feeling inside her, and couldn’t help smiling. He apparently didn’t recognize her from the Three Queens, or from the time she’d seen him in Possum Trot. “You probably don’t remember me…”

He didn’t even let her finish, but let out a low, teasing laugh that seemed to rumble right down to the tips of Paulie’s toes. “Oh, I’d remember you, miss.” He winked. “I hope it’s miss…?”

For some inexplicable reason, she was quick to assure the handsome stranger, “It sure is!” Something about the gambler’s manner made her feel unsteady, almost giddy.

He feigned surprise. “Now what are the men around here thinking, letting a sweet little sugar lump like you get past them?”

Sugar lump?
She would have paid anything for Will to get an earful of the flattery the man was laying on so thick. She was sure Oren was simply pretending, and yet his words had a ring of authenticity—probably because he’d had so much practice being a slick piece of work.

Still, she couldn’t stop the flush of pleasure that leapt to her cheeks, any more than she could help returning that infectious grin of his. She’d never flirted like this before. “But I swear you
have
seen me before, Mr. Tyler.”

His eyes widened. “You know my name.”

“Your reputation preceded you.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “I hope you only believed the good things.”

“I don’t recall there being any good,” Paulie said saucily. “From what I’ve heard and witnessed, you’re a thoroughly unrepentant scoundrel.”

“Maybe.” He came a few steps closer, then took a long moment to drink her in appreciatively from head to toe, which caused the heat to stay aflame in her cheeks. “But you have to admit there’s not much attraction in a repentant scoundrel, now is there?”

She bit back a laugh. “Or any scoundrel.”

He looped a thumb rakishly in his belt and gave her another sizing up. “Now I know we’ve never met.”

“How?”

“Because I would never forget a woman who was both beautiful and sharp-tongued.”

“I don’t even look familiar to you?” Paulie asked.

He shook his head. “No ma’am. For one thing, if I had seen you before, I wouldn’t have failed to remark that your eyes were two pools of exotic jade,” he cooed. “Do you remember a man telling you that recently?”

Paulie felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Exotic jade? She didn’t even know what the heck it was, but it sure sounded good. She shook her head.

“Then we couldn’t have met, could we?”

She gazed up at his dark eyes. There was some strange logic in his words that made her want to throw contrary things like cold facts to the wind. His eyes mesmerized her. She would have paid good money just for the chance to stare into those hypnotic orbs, which seemed to twinkle at her in some mysterious way that no other man’s did. Will’s eyes were handsome, and affected her in a deeper, more
profound way. But sometime before she died she wished that Will would twinkle at her the way Oren Tyler did.

Tyler reached out and lightly touched her elbow, causing her to jump nervously. “Perhaps I was mistaken,” she murmured, suddenly seeing no point whatsoever in telling him that she was actually the strange girl he had seen yesterday trying to help Will at Las Tres Reinas.

“We’ve both erred, then,” he said in a husky voice. “My mistake was not discovering you sooner. Now it’s too late.”

She blinked. “Oh?”

“I’m leaving today for Denver.”

This news startled her. “Denver?”

He nodded. “Would you care to join me? Who knows, if we enjoy each other’s company, we could keep going until we reach San Francisco.”

She flushed again at the bold suggestion. “N-no…I couldn’t.”

He cocked his head and smiled. “Pity.” He pointed behind her, to a fine, sturdy black coach led by two beautiful chestnut horses. “I could convey you in style.”

Paulie was surprised. “You would go all the way to Colorado in that thing?” Sure, it was a fine rig, but she wouldn’t want to be cooped up for days in it.

He chuckled. “It’s much more entertaining being able to stop at will, get to know the territory, and the people.” He winked. “Especially the women.” He leaned close to her again, so that she could feel his breath tickling her neck. “I also have three bottles of fine imported bourbon. Think of the romance of it, camping under the stars…”

Her stomach did a shocking flip, but Paulie tilted her head and leaned as far away from those cunning eyes as she could possibly get. “I’ve camped under stars before, mister. Believe me, there’s nothing romantic about worrying
about snakes in your bedroll and waking up with a backache. Though maybe a little bourbon
will
make it more bearable.”

He blinked in surprise, then chuckled. “Ah, well. Like I said, it’s a pity.”

Then, taking a step back, he tipped his hat and went on his way, climbing into his smart rig. Paulie watched the man go, knowing a million questions should be racing through her mind. Unfortunately, all she could really think about were those dark eyes, and the outrageously flirtatious things he’d said to her.

He
hadn’t made fun of her for wearing women’s clothing, and she guessed Oren Tyler was as much an expert on that subject as practically anybody! She turned and went up the boardinghouse stairs two at a time, winding her way through the house directly to Will’s room. Her step was so light that she floated. She rapped once loudly on the door and walked right on in. She barely noticed that Will was actually sitting up in the chair beside the bed in which she had kept vigil the night before.

Will waited for Paulie to speak. She looked distracted. It wasn’t like her to be so silent.

“Paulie?”

Finally she appeared to focus on him, as if noticing that she wasn’t alone in the room. “Did you see him?” she asked by way of greeting.