“Maddie?” Jonah’s penetrating gaze bored into her, as if probing the secrets of her soul. “Are you okay or not?”
She dragged in a cathartic breath, then let it out slowly. “As good as can be expected, all things considered.” She stretched out her hand, palm upward. “Loan me your field glasses and I’ll keep watch while the two of you pay your respects without a
paleface
contaminating this sacred place.”
Boone grinned guiltily. “I’ve developed a bad habit of shooting off my mouth without thinking
first.” He winked mischievously at her. “Spent too much time with you palefaces, is my guess.”
Jonah handed her the spyglass, then said, “Don’t venture off too far, princess. We won’t be long.”
She nodded mutely, then ambled back to her horse, leaving Jonah and Boone to whatever Indian ritual they might be compelled to observe. As for herself, she had encountered a shocking revelation and accepted the inevitable.
She was in love for the first and last time in her life, and the man who held her heart didn’t even know it.
And probably wouldn’t care if he did.
T
he sun glimmered in the vault of blue sky like a twenty-dollar gold piece as it made its final descent on the western horizon. Maddie stared toward the silhouette of the West Texas community with a mixture of relief and regret. She was only a three-hour ride from her ranch, but she was only minutes away from bidding Jonah a final farewell.
Her emotions had ebbed and flowed continuously during the day. So many warring feelings bubbling inside her that she couldn’t possibly sort them all out and address them one at a time. But she had vowed to cling determinedly to her self-control, and refused to succumb to another bout of ungovernable emotion. Jonah’s last memory of her was
not
going to be that of a cackling madwoman.
“If you have it in mind to race home after supper, you can forget it,” Jonah declared as they reached the outskirts of town.
Maddie snapped her head around and opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of that idea. Jonah flung up his hand to forestall her and gave her a stony
stare that she was sure had stopped many a man in his tracks. When it came to intimidation, Jonah Danhill was the best there was.
“You are too close to home to get yourself shot out of the saddle after dark,” he told her.
“Listen to him,” Boone chimed in. “You have a better chance of seeing trouble coming during daylight than you do after dark. Be sensible, Maddie.”
She slumped in the saddle and told herself that Jonah and Boone were probably right. Being overanxious to return home might make her careless. She could wait until morning and still arrive home with plenty of time to deliver the ransom.
“I’ll rent a room at Saxon’s Hotel for the night,” Maddie agreed as they rode into Mobeetie. “If I leave here at dawn I can be home by midmorning.” She glanced at Jonah, then at Boone as she fished into her pocket for money. “I’m dreadfully sorry for what I’ve put you through, but I’m eternally grateful for your assistance.”
When Jonah refused to take the money she leaned out to stash it in his shirt pocket, then did the same with Boone. Wearily, she dismounted and tied her horse to the hitching post in front of the hotel. Familiar places and recognizable faces surrounded her now. She could deal with the difficulties awaiting her at the ranch, she convinced herself.
Maddie pasted on a smile as she pivoted to glance up at Jonah and Boone. “I bid you a safe journey back to Fort Griffin…and beyond.” Squaring her shoulders, she strode into the hotel.
“Well,” Boone said. “Guess you’re off the hook, Danhill.”
“Yup.” Jonah watched Maddie disappear from sight and felt an unfamiliar sensation riddle him. His temptation and torment were over, he reminded himself. He’d anticipated this moment for days. Yet now that it was upon him he felt oddly discontent. Go figure.
“Don’t know about you, but I could use a stiff drink and a willing woman to make me forget that it’s been one hell of a day.” Boone shifted restlessly in the saddle, then glanced down the street. “Think I’ll mosey over to Caprock Saloon and drink my supper. You coming?”
Although the prospect of drinking himself unconscious held considerable appeal, Jonah shook his head. “I want to make a few purchases before the stores close. Go on ahead and I’ll catch up with you later.”
Boone stared at the front door of the hotel, then at Jonah. A wry smiled kicked up one corner of his mouth. “Bet you’re glad to have that troublesome female out of your hair.”
“Definitely,” Jonah felt compelled to say.
“I’ve been like an emotional train wreck most of the day,” Boone confided.
“Same here,” Jonah confirmed.
“The ladies of the night that we’ll find at the saloons and gaming halls can help us forget our ordeal. Plus, they will be a welcome change from that sassy female we’ve been traveling with,” Boone added.
“Right. No complications,” Jonah agreed. “Can’t think of anything I anticipate more.”
Boone chuckled as he reined west. “Keep telling
yourself that, Danhill. By midnight you might start believing it.”
Jonah released his breath in a frustrated huff. He was glad to have Maddie off his hands and out of his life. Now he could get back to his long-awaited vacation before he headed south to rejoin his battalion.
His assessing gaze drifted up and down the street, noting that passersby were staring curiously at him. This was just another nameless town where folks speculated about his Indian heritage and reflexively labeled him as a no-account. Only when he pinned the badge on his chest did he draw a measure of wary respect.
Well, didn’t matter, Jonah reminded himself as he strode off to make his purchases. He’d never spent time fretting about what white folks thought of him. He sure as hell wasn’t about to start now.
Later he would have that much-needed drink—or three. First he was going to buy himself an expensive cigar and smoke it like the ritualistic pipes his forefathers had used while they sat around the campfire and contemplated the world. Then he’d find himself a willing female and relieve the days of frustration triggered by his tormenting association with Maddie.
That was his plan and he was sticking to it, he told himself as he veered into one of the stores on Main Street.
When Maddie had freshened up and buttoned herself into the one stylish dress she’d brought with her, she ambled off to enjoy a meal at the restaurant. She noticed that Jonah’s coal-black gelding was nowhere to be seen. However, she had a pretty good idea
where he’d gone. The same place most men frequented when they arrived in town to blow off steam.
The thought of Jonah in the arms of another woman stung like a wasp. Trying to outrun the painful vision, Maddie scurried across the street. To her surprise she saw Avery Hanson sitting alone at a table. The stout, bulky rancher, who was a good fifteen years her senior, smiled in greeting and motioned for her to join him.
“Ah, sweet Maddie, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Avery gushed. “I’ve been worried about you.”
She reluctantly took the seat he pulled out for her. Maddie wasn’t in the mood for companionship, but Avery insisted on buying her supper. She inwardly flinched when he reached across the table to take her hand in his.
“With all the trouble you’ve been dealing with lately I had hoped you would turn to me for comfort and support. Have you raised the money for the ransom? If not, you know I will make you the loan, in exchange for your consent to marry.”
Maddie withdrew her hand. All it took was that brief contact to remind her that she welcomed the touch of only one man. The one who was—at this very moment, no doubt—tumbling around on a bed with another woman.
Any
woman except her.
“I acquired the money I need,” Maddie told the rancher, whose receding hairline made his forehead appear twice the normal size. It also emphasized his bushy brows, which reminded her of fuzzy brown caterpillars above his slate-gray eyes. “But I do thank you for your offer.”
She noticed immediately the expression that crin
kled his ruddy features. Avery was not pleased by the news, though he made a grand effort to assure her that he was.
“Good. Good, my dear.” He levered his round body forward and leaned his elbows on the table. “I’m sure Christina will be home where she belongs very soon. Perhaps
then
you will be in a better frame of mind to accept my offer of marriage. You know how very fond I am of…”
His voice trailed off when the waitress appeared to take their order. Maddie was grateful for the momentary reprieve. She was not in the mood to hear Avery shower her with pretentious flattery or spout his supposed affection for her. She knew he was anxious to get his hands on the Bar G Ranch because of its abundant source of fresh spring water that nourished pastures, which in turn made Bar G cattle fat and marketable—until rustlers sneaked in to steal them during the night.
“There you are, sweetheart.”
Maddie started at the rich baritone voice behind her. To her disbelief, she glanced over her shoulder to see Jonah towering behind her. She was also stunned when he leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.
What the devil was he doing? she wondered bewilderedly.
Jonah thrust his hand toward Avery, who gaped at him in confusion. “Any friend of my wife’s is a friend of mine. The name is Jonah Danhill.”
He plunked down in the empty chair and motioned to the waitress. “I’ll have what my wife is having.”
“Your wife?”
Avery wheezed, incredulous.
Jonah nodded his raven head as he reached into his shirt pocket to retrieve a shiny gold band. When he slipped it on her finger, Maddie stared at him, dumb-founded.
“I didn’t want to waste any time replacing the ring you lost while swimming in the river,” he said as he flashed her the most intimate smile she’d ever seen.
“Your wife?”
Avery repeated. It seemed to be all he could think to say. Clearly he was shocked by the announcement that the ranch he coveted had been whisked from his reach. “When? Where?”
“In Coyote Springs,” Jonah explained as nonchalantly as you please. “I actually met Maddie two years ago when I stopped at her ranch. I couldn’t get her off my mind.” He smiled adoringly as he reached over to trail his forefinger over her cheek, then tucked a recalcitrant corkscrew curl behind her ear. “I wrote to her monthly after that.” He turned his attention back to the stricken rancher. “I considered it fate that we met in Coyote Springs.”
Maddie had no clue why Jonah was carrying on this charade, but she heartily approved. He was providing her with a welcome buffer against Avery’s repetitive proposals. She could have hugged the stuffing out of Jonah for this one last favor before he rode away. She would compensate him for the ring, of course. She didn’t expect him to take the purchase from his pay.
“But I thought you and I—” Avery’s accusing glare swung to Maddie and she winced at the menacing curl of his thin lips. Right there and then, she realized that when the rancher wasn’t getting his way
he could be a mite vicious, and that his charm—what little there was of it—was pretentious.
“I’m sorry, Avery,” Maddie declared, her tone nowhere near as regretful as it might have been if he hadn’t been glaring mutinously at her. “The fact is that I’ve harbored a secret affection for Jonah since we first met when he…” Maddie cursed herself soundly for rambling. She was too rattled by Jonah’s unexpected arrival to embellish the tale, and had no idea where she was going with this.
“I herded horses to her ranch.” Jonah took over from there. “Her father purchased several head from me.”
Maddie tried not to slump in visible relief when he provided a plausible explanation. She turned her grateful gaze to Jonah, whose direct stare dared Avery to object to their supposed marriage.
When Jonah leaned close, as if to whisper sweet nothings in her ear—as if
that
would ever happen— Maddie shivered in helpless response. She noticed that Avery’s eyes narrowed into thin slits when Jonah moved familiarly toward her.
“Your four friends have arrived in town,” he murmured for her ears only. “Boone and I spotted them a half hour ago.”
The news caused Maddie to tense apprehensively. She couldn’t bear the thought of being this close to home with the ransom money and having it stolen from her. Damnation, didn’t she have enough trouble coping with this unrequited affection for Jonah without going another round with those pesky thieves?
When their meal arrived, Maddie found that she’d lost her appetite, but she forced herself to eat. Jonah,
she noticed, was the only one at the table who gobbled every bite of his food.
Avery Hanson shoved aside his half-eaten dinner and came to his feet. “If you will excuse me, I need to ensure that all my ranching supplies have been loaded in the wagon. My hired hands will be driving my cattle to Dodge City in two days and I want them to be prepared for the journey.” Having said that, he lurched around and stalked from the café.
“One of your would-be fiancés, I presume,” said Jonah.
Maddie nodded. “That’s Avery Hanson. He has been itching to get his hands on my ranch.”
Jonah smirked. “I doubt your ranch is the only thing he’d like to get his hands on, princess.”
“Don’t kid yourself. There is nothing endearing about me that entices a man into marriage except the prospect of controlling a prosperous ranch. Or at least it was prosperous until the rustling spree began. You are living testimony that my appeal is meager at best.”
“What makes you think that?”
Maddie rolled her eyes in annoyance. “If memory serves, and it serves me very well, thank you, we have shared a pallet and bed and you felt no inclination to make advances.”
He chuckled. “And you’re basing your conclusion on that?”
Maddie bolted to her feet before she humiliated herself more than she already had. Jonah provoked too many emotions inside her. If she didn’t leave right now there was no telling what idiotic comments she might blurt out.
Before she could exit the café Jonah was beside her, taking her arm to escort her onto the street. “Pay attention, hellcat,” he growled in her ear. “You might be on familiar ground, but your friends still want your money.”
Maddie pulled up short and gathered her composure. Jonah was right. She shouldn’t barrel across the street after dark without paying strict attention to those around her. After the incidents in Coyote Springs and the Flat she knew trouble lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce.
Her sharpened gaze darted down the street and she jerked upright when she saw Avery in conversation with one of the cowboys who had followed her back from Fort Worth.
“Son of a bitch,” Jonah muttered beside her, then jerked her back inside the restaurant. He stared grimly down at her before he turned on his heel and shepherded her through the kitchen, as if he owned the place. Then he tugged her through the back door to the alley.
“This is beginning to make sense,” Jonah murmured as he towed Maddie along. “I’m thinking your would-be fiancé might have sent a couple of his men to make sure you didn’t return with the ransom money.”