Authors: Gunfighter's Bride
But once they arrived in Paris, she wouldn’t find it so easy to
use the children to keep him at a distance. Sooner or later, she would be his
wife, in every sense of the word.
At first sight, Paris, Colorado, was far from impressive. Nor did
a second and third look uncover any hidden splendors. It had started out as a
gold mining town, founded during the rush of ’59. When the gold played out, the
town eked out an existence until the discovery of silver brought it new life.
Situated in a valley in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, it survived because
of its location at the end of a branch rail line that brought supplies to the miners
as it labored its way up the mountain from Denver City and, on its return down
the mountain, transported ore back to the city.
Though she’d known it was foolish to do so, Lila had let the
town’s name influence her expectations. But as the four of them disembarked
from the train, she saw immediately that it had been even more foolish than
she’d realized. Paris, the small mining town in Colorado, bore no resemblance
to the great city from which it took its name. There were no tree-lined
streets, no ancient buildings and soaring cathedrals. Instead, plain wooden
buildings, most with false fronts, lined a single dirt street. To Lila,
accustomed to the older, more established towns of the East Coast, the lack of
brick or stone buildings gave the town a temporary feeling, as if it were made
of building blocks, ready to be knocked down at the whim of a child.
The businesses were much the same as those to be found in any
town, east or west. There was a general store, a restaurant bearing a
hand-painted sign proclaiming Fine Home Cooking, a barbershop with a newspaper
office above, a small butcher shop, a livery and blacksmith shop combined, a
bank, and two saloons. Not exactly a metropolis, Lila thought, looking down the
dusty main street from her vantage point on the platform.
While Bishop was making arrangements for their luggage, she forced
down her dismay. No matter how unimpressive it looked, this was to be her home
for the foreseeable future. One thing about traveling with a man who rarely
strung more than two words together at a time and two children who were better
at entertaining themselves than she could ever hope to be was that it had given
her plenty of time to think. Her marriage vows had been taken for better or
worse. It was going to be up to her to see to it that there was more of the
former than the latter in her marriage. She was going to make the best of
things, and she might as well start now.
If the town itself was unimpressive, the same could certainly not
be said for its setting. The Rocky Mountains rose up on all sides, like the
fingers of a giant hand in the palm of which rested the town. She’d had plenty
of opportunity to admire the Rockies as the train huffed and puffed its way
upward between Denver City and Paris. The splendor of the mountain peaks was
such that not even Gavin had been able to conceal his awe. Certainly no
man-made cathedral could match nature’s offerings.
“We’ll walk to the hotel,” Bishop said as he joined her and the
children on the edge of the platform.
“The hotel?” Lila raised her eyebrows in question. “Is that where
we’ll be staying?”
“Until I can make arrangements to rent something for us. I’ve been
sleeping in a room at the jail until now.” His glance ran over his newly
acquired family. “I don’t think we’d all fit.”
The dry humor caught Lila by surprise. She smiled at him, the
first natural smile she’d given him since his sudden appearance at her wedding
to Logan. “Even if we could all fit, I don’t think a jail is a suitable place
for the children.”
There was a teasing light in her eyes that reminded Bishop of the
girl he’d met three months before, the one who’d sparkled so brightly that he’d
been drawn to her like a moth to a flame—with results almost as destructive. He
gave her a half smile in return.
“Then I guess we’ll have to make do with the hotel. It's not far.”
Setting his hand against the small of her back, he guided her down the platform
steps and into the street. Gavin followed, holding Angel’s hand.
Though the sun was shining down out of a pale-blue sky, the temperature
was cool enough to make Lila glad for the protection of the light wrap she wore
over her dove-gray traveling dress. It was the middle of the afternoon and
there weren’t many people about, but those in evidence stared at their small
party with open curiosity. Lila was grateful that they’d spent the night before
in Denver City before boarding the train to Paris. It had given her a chance to
take a bath and change her clothes so that she didn’t have to make her first
appearance in her new home looking like a filthy ragamuffin.
Bishop returned one or two greetings but didn’t stop to introduce
Lila. Within the hour, word would have spread through town that the sheriff was
back with a woman and two kids in tow. Speculation would be running wild. It
struck Lila as ironic that she’d fled Pennsylvania to escape gossip and here
she was smack in the middle of it again.
The hotel was a boxy two-story building with no pretensions to
great beauty on the outside. Nor did it have any on the inside. The rug that covered
the lobby floor was so faded that the original colors could only be guessed at,
and the furnishing were neither elaborate nor expensive. But Lila was relieved
to see that it appeared clean and tidy. If the rooms were as well cared for as
the public areas, then she could offer no objection to staying here.
“Afternoon, Sheriff. Good to have you back.” The man who stood
behind the registration desk was short and balding. He’d carefully combed his
few remaining strands of dark hair over the top of his head where they
presented the appearance of thin brown stripes against his pink scalp. His eyes
were brown also, and they darted from Bishop to Lila with quick curiosity.
“What can I do for you?”
“I need two rooms, Mr. Lyman,” Bishop said. “One for myself and my
wife, one for my children.”
“Your wife?” Mr. Lyman’s voice rose on a squawk of surprise. His
eyes darted from Lila to Gavin and Angel. “Children?”
“That’s right.” Bishop drew Lila forward. “Lila, this is Clem
Lyman. This is my wife, Lila.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Lyman,” Lila said with a smile.
“Pleasure’s mine, Miz McKenzie.” Mr. Lyman ducked his head in her
direction. He still looked dazed. “Didn’t know you was married, Sheriff. Let
alone had kids.”
“We were married when I went East a few months back,” Bishop said
easily. “Gavin and Angel are my children from my first marriage. Now, how about
those rooms?”
The other man pushed the register toward him without speaking,
apparently struck dumb by this spate of information. Lila hoped he’d attribute
her flush to shyness rather than to her embarrassment at the lie Bishop had
just told about their wedding date. Obviously he was thinking ahead to the time
when her pregnancy started to show and making sure that, when people began
counting on their fingers, the answer they came up with wouldn’t shame her. She
appreciated his foresight, even as she resented the necessity for it.
Bishop signed his name to the register and collected two keys from
Clem Lyman, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes from Lila and the children. It
was a relief to have an excuse to move away from his fascinated gaze. She
followed Bishop up the stairs, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the
children were following. As they reached the landing, she heard Mr. Lyman’s
voice echo below.
“Dot! Dot, come quick!”
“Dot is his wife,” Bishop said as he turned in to the upstairs
hallway. “She’s also the second biggest gossip this side of Julesburg.”
“Oh.” Lila wasn’t exactly thrilled by the information, but it
wasn’t as if their marriage was a secret. “Who’s the biggest gossip?” she
asked.
Bishop bent to set their bags down in front of room five. As he
straightened, his eyes met hers. “Clem Lyman,” he said dryly.
“Oh.” That was certainly something to keep in mind, Lila thought
as he unlocked the door. She’d have to be careful not to give the Lymans any
more grist for the gossip mill than her mere presence had already supplied.
The rooms were as simply furnished as the lobby had been. A bed, a
wardrobe, and a small dresser with a mirror atop and an uncomfortable-looking
wing chair sitting stiffly in one corner. The decor was so plain, it bordered
on the stark, but everything was clean and neat as a pin.
Bishop set the bags down at the foot of the bed in one room.
Looking at Lila and the children, he felt a sudden sense of unreality. A couple
of weeks before, he’d been a single man with no one to worry about but himself.
Over the years, he’d managed to convince himself that the children were better
off where they were, and he’d never expected to marry again. Yet here he was
with a wife, two children, and a third on the way. The thought was enough to
make his head spin.
“I need to check in with my deputy,” he said, looking at Lila.
“I’ve been gone awhile and I’ll have some catching up to do. Will you be all
right if I leave you and the children here?”
“I think we’ll be fine.” Lila glanced at Angel, who was leaning
tiredly against her older brother, her blue eyes heavy with sleep. “I know at
least one of us could use a nap,” she said with a smile. “And there’s plenty of
unpacking to do.”
“I’ll be back around six and we can go down to dinner. Dot may
only be second best when it comes to gossip, but nobody sets a better table, at
least not around here.”
“That sounds nice,” Lila said dutifully. The truth was, now that
she’d reached the marginal sanctuary of the hotel room, she wasn’t sure she had
the courage to leave it again.
“Well, then, I guess I’ll be on my way.”
As Bishop moved toward the door, Lila was struck by an unexpected
urge to grab hold of his arm and beg him not to leave her alone. He suddenly
seemed like the only familiar thing in her world, the only tie to her old life.
The absurdity of that thought stiffened her spine. She’d never been the sort to
cling to a man, and she wasn’t going to start with this husband she barely
knew.
“We’ll see you later,” she said as he opened the door. Bishop
glanced back at her, touched his fingers to the brim of his hat, and stepped
out into the hall. The door shut behind him with a quiet click. Lila looked at
Gavin and Angel and swallowed against a wave of panic as she realized that she
was alone with them for the first time.
“Well, looks like it’s just the three of us. Isn’t this nice?” she
said with forced cheer.
Neither of the children offered a response to that. As well they
shouldn’t, Lila thought, disgusted with herself. She’d sounded about as sincere
as a snake oil salesman extolling the virtues of his product. Gavin was looking
at her with the wariness that seemed to characterize all his dealings with adults.
And Angel simply blinked sleepily in her direction and then yawned.
One thing Lila remembered from her own childhood was her utter
contempt for insincerity. And no one could recognize insincerity faster than a
child could. She sighed and looked at her stepchildren. Angel yawned again.
“Let’s get you into bed,” Lila said, using a normal tone this
time.
“I’m not sleepy.” The token protest was punctuated by a yawn, and
the child offered no real protest when Lila took her hand and led her to the
bed.
“You don’t have to go to sleep,” Lila assured her. “Just lie down
for a little while.” It was a stratagem she remembered her own mother using on
her when she’d protested that she didn’t need a nap. It seemed to work with
Angel as well as it had with her. Angel climbed up on the edge of the bed.
Yawning, one hand clutching her rag doll against her chest, she stuck out her
feet for Lila to unbutton her shoes.
“You and I will sleep in here,” Lila said as she unhooked the
buttons and eased the little shoes off. "Your brother and Papa will have
the room next door.”
“He said one room was for us and the other was for the two of
you,” Gavin said from behind her.
Lila cursed the accuracy of his memory as she worked the buttons
that marched down the front of Angel’s olive-drab dress. Over the last few
days, she’d noticed that, while the children’s clothing was well made, it was
also dull and nearly bare of trim. “After we’re settled, we’re going to have to
see about getting you some new dresses,” she said, hoping to avoid Gavin’s
comment. “Something bright and pretty.”
“I heard him tell Mr. Lyman that he wanted one room for him and
his wife and the other for us,” Gavin said again.
“Did he say that?” Lila swept Angel’s dress off and draped it over
the foot of the bed. The petticoats came next. Wearing her chemise and drawers,
Angel crawled under the covers Lila turned back for her.
“I’m not sleepy,” she insisted, her eyelids already drooping.
“Fine. You just rest your eyes a bit and then you can get up.”
Lila knew the child would be asleep almost as soon as her eyes closed. She
brushed a golden curl back from Angel’s forehead, smiling a little at the
innocence of her face. It was going to be very easy to love Angel, with her
sunny temperament and sweet personality.