The Brides of Chance Collection (23 page)

“I’m truly sorry,” the young mother intoned.

Alisa tore her gaze away from the handsome man. The mother’s lips curved into a weary smile. “He’s really a lovely child,” she tried to explain. “We’ve been traveling several days, and he’s so very tired.”

“I’m not tired!” the boy insisted at a feverish pitch.

“Mama believes you.”

Despite a deplorable lack of disciplinary action on the young mother’s part, Alisa had to admire the woman’s calm. Her own patience had worn thin an hour ago. The young mother looked at the boy and patted her thighs. “How would you like to sit on my lap?”

She winked at Alisa, and Alisa couldn’t resist the dimples flashing in the young woman’s cheeks. She smiled back.

Davy set his bread down on the bench and climbed into his mother’s lap. Before long, both were dozing.

Alisa’s empty stomach rumbled in protest as she stared at the half-eaten bread still sitting where it had been flung. It was all she could do not to snatch it up and wolf it down. After two full nights and a day of wandering around San Francisco in case she was being followed, and then half a day so far on the stage without food, her head felt light, and she almost wept from hunger. She’d been holding her reticule, about to visit the orphanage, when she’d heard Mrs. Worthington’s voice from the hallway outside of the library door. The only money her reticule held was the donation she’d intended to leave with Mrs. Perryman, the woman who ran the orphanage. The amount was just enough for her stage ticket.

The chubby five-year-old boy was now fast asleep in his mother’s arms, and the bread just sat there like a shiny pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

She slid her hand along the bench, then snatched it back as the child shifted, causing his mother’s head to snap up and her eyes to fly open. “Are we there yet?”

“No. You’ve only just dozed off,” Alisa said, guilt searing her heart.
Thank you, dear
Lord, for not allowing my hunger to cause me to sin
. She shuddered to think how close she’d come to stealing a little boy’s bread.

The woman’s eyes had drifted shut once more. Alisa ogled the bread for one last second, then willfully turned her entire body away. As she shifted, she came face-to-face with the cowboy. Only this time he wasn’t sleeping. He stared at her with oh-so-blue eyes. Eyes filled with…pity.

Horror sank into the pit of her stomach. He must have seen her almost take the bread. Heat flashed to her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands, too ashamed to look him in the eye. He tapped her forearm. Shaking her head, she flexed her muscles to press her face harder into her palms. Oh, she had never been more humiliated.

“Look at me,” he whispered.

Reluctantly, she glanced up, tears already pooling in her eyes.

He gave her a gentle smile. “Take this.”

She looked down at the beef jerky in his hands. “I…I couldn’t.” She
couldn’t
look away. Before she could stop herself, she licked her lips like a wolf eyeing a tasty rabbit just before it pounced.

“Take it, miss,” he urged. “I have more.”

Unable to resist a second longer, she took it. “Th–thank you,” she whispered.

He nodded. Then he leaned back and covered his face once more with his hat while she gnawed the dried meat, savoring it as though it were a juicy chicken leg.

San Francisco

“I am sorry, Mr. Worthington, but there is nothing we can do. Your mother left no detail to chance. I assure you, her will is binding.”

“I can fight it in court. Then we’ll see how binding it is.”

Frank Chadwick, Mrs. Worthington’s long-standing attorney, glowered, and Robert could tell he was fighting to stay calm. “I seriously doubt any judge will be inclined to award you the estate, particularly after you tried to frame the girl for your mother’s murder.”

“How was I to know Mother’s heart failed?”

“To say the girl pushed her and demanded money was a deliberate ploy so that you could contest the will.”

Yes, and it would have worked if the housekeeper hadn’t seen Mother slip out of Alisa’s grasp and the girl try desperately to save her
.

“So I’m left with only the company?”

“Seventy-five
percent
of the company.” Mr. Chadwick leaned forward. “The girl, should she be found, will be awarded the house and all of its contents, twenty-five percent of the shipping company, and the money in all the accounts, with the exception of two thousand dollars. Your mother thought you might need it to tide you over for a few weeks. By then you should be receiving revenue from the shipping company.”

Robert leaned back against the brown leather chair. Mr. Chadwick smiled—most smugly—his fingers steepled in front of him.

Two thousand dollars. That wouldn’t pay for much of anything. Robert knew Mother had at least three million dollars sitting in those accounts. Nausea nearly overwhelmed his stomach at the thought of all that money going to the girl. It would take him thirty years to make back that kind of cash with the income from 75 percent of the business. What right did she have to it? He felt no responsibility, no affection for the girl who carried his blood in her veins. Truth be told, there could easily be a dozen more just like her between here and England. He didn’t know, nor did he care.

“And if the girl isn’t found?” He could make sure she wasn’t, if necessary.

Chadwick narrowed his gaze. “The money will stay in an account for ten years, at the end of which time it will be given to charities.”

“Charity?”

“Your mother was quite firm about the matter.”

“What are my choices if I am to prevent this young woman from stealing my inheritance?”

The lawyer’s lip curled in poorly disguised disgust, but Robert didn’t care. Let
him
lose three million dollars and his childhood home and see how he’d behave.

“Well?” Robert demanded.

“You can always find her, speak with her, and if she is willing to sign over her rights to the house and the money, then I suppose they would go to you.”

Hope flickered anew in Robert. Then that’s what he’d do. Put out ads all over the state. Post a reward. One thousand dollars. No, he only had two. On the other hand, if the girl was found, he’d have more than enough to pay a reward. Five hundred.

He stood and extended his hand. “Thank you, Frank. You’ve been most helpful.”

Chapter 2

A
cramp in his leg pulled Titus rudely from sleep. He sat up straight, rubbing at the knot in his thigh, and took his hat from his face. After being awake throughout the night and walking all the way to San Francisco, he was worn clear through. But at least he wasn’t hungry. Not like the girl sitting across from him. He hadn’t offered her another strip of meat. No sense adding to her humiliation. Poor thing. His heart clenched at the memory of her staring at the kid’s bread.

She slept, her head resting against the wall. The open window sent a breeze through the stagecoach and lifted wayward strands of auburn hair from her forehead. Titus swallowed hard at the sight. Her long lashes framed beautiful, enormous eyes and brushed the tops of her cheeks as she slept. His brow furrowed at the sight of the dark circles. She’d undoubtedly lost as much sleep as he had. But why? What possessed a woman to spend her last dime on a stage ticket? She had no luggage that he’d seen. Only a small reticule that she clutched tightly even in sleep. Everything about her indicated a woman on the run.

The stage hit a hole and jostled. A shuddering breath lifted her shoulders. She opened her eyes, sitting up as she did so. She looked straight at him, and her eyes widened.

Caught staring, Titus sent her a sheepish grin. He thought he detected a twitch of her lips before she averted her gaze to the window.

“How long until we reach Reliable?” The low, sleep-induced huskiness of her voice was alluring, he had to admit. A bit of guilt niggled at him for thinking it; after all, he’d been jilted less than a week ago.

He glanced out the window, barely remembering to answer her question. “I’d say no more than three or four hours.” He tipped his hat. “I’m Titus Chance. My family owns a ranch not far from Reliable. You got family there?”

She shook her head. “N–no.”

“Mail-order bride?”

Her face reddened. “No.”

“So no folks, no husband waiting?” For some reason his heart lightened at the last bit of information. Still, he hated the thought of her being alone. “Do you have friends? Or at the very least a position of employment waiting?” His throat dried out in a split second as he mentally ran through a list of possible employers.

“I have no one and no job.”

“Well, if you don’t mind my saying so, Reliable might not be the best choice of a town for a pretty young woman all alone.” He smiled to take the sting out of his words, but what happened next filled him with horror.

Her lovely brown eyes filled with tears.

He swallowed hard and fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief. “Please don’t cry, miss.” He should be shot. Why did he always have to blurt out the truth?

“Oh, it’s not your fault. I cry far too easily. I…I don’t know what I’ll do if there’s nothing for me in Reliable.” She eyed him. “I mean respectable employment.”

It was Titus’s turn to blush. He couldn’t think of anything that she could do. In a young town the size of Reliable, there weren’t many positions available for a decent woman. But he planned to see what he could do. He knew enough people that surely someone would take her in.

“You didn’t tell me your name.”

“Alisa.”

He smiled. “Alisa what?”

She hesitated, then squared her shoulders. “My name is Alisa Worthington.” She said the words like an announcement.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Worthington. Would you care to have dinner with me?”

“Dinner?”

He grinned and reached into his bag. “It’s not much,” he said, offering her a strip of the jerky.

“You’ve been too kind already.” She eyed the meat hungrily.

“Nonsense.” He offered it again. This time she took it.

“Thank you.”

“I hate to eat alone.”

A pretty smile lifted the corners of her lips.

Titus almost choked on his bite of jerky. He hadn’t realized how badly he’d wanted to see her smile. The sight of it brightened the entire inside of the stagecoach, as far as he was concerned.

A giggle from the other side of the stagecoach captured his attention. He turned to find the woman next to Miss Worthington grinning at him. She sent him a broad wink. His ears burned to have been so transparent.

To his profound relief, she didn’t dwell on the situation. Instead, she stretched and moved the still-sleeping little boy onto the seat. He mumbled and shifted and finally ended up with his head resting against Miss Worthington’s shoulder.

“Do you mind?” the child’s mother asked. “I’m worn clean through. He sure isn’t the teensy baby he once was.” With a weary huff, she glanced out the window, then back to Titus. “How far do we have to go?” she asked.

“Only a couple more hours.”

“Oh, I will be so glad to be done with trains and stagecoaches. I never plan to travel again.”

“Do you have family in town?” Titus asked, more to be polite than from a desire to know.

“My brother, Aaron Bladdel. Do you know him?”

“The blacksmith? Sure. I didn’t realize he had a sister.”

She laughed, and her twinkling blue eyes set in a chubby-cheeked face made him feel more at ease. “I suppose I should be insulted that he hasn’t mentioned me.”

“We talk more business than anything.”

“Then I suppose I’ll forgive him.”

Titus returned her smile. “Will your husband be joining you?”

Her expression crashed. “No. I’m afraid my Henry passed on a few weeks ago. That’s why Davy and I are here.”

Miss Worthington reached around Davy and patted her hand. “I am so sorry, Mrs….” She glanced at Titus for support, but he hadn’t caught the woman’s name, either.

“Ah, well.” The woman pulled a lace handkerchief from her bag and dabbed at her eyes. “There’s no point in crying. It only upsets Davy. And my name is Mrs. Greene. Violet Greene.” She smiled. “Henry always laughed at my name. Two colors.”

Titus had to admire her spirit. He didn’t want to bring it up, but he doubted seriously she’d be long without a husband. Not in a town where the men outnumbered the women about twenty to one.

Of course that applied to Miss Worthington, too. Now that thought stuck in his craw, and it was mighty uncomfortable!