Anora's Pride Read online

  “He wasn't hardly ever here. Stayed away days at a time. When he did come home, it was mostly only to change his clothes before he went into town.”

  “Speaking of town, I'll hitch up the buggy now.”

  “Jesse, please.” Anora laid a restraining hand on his arm. “Don't make me go with you.”

  He frowned. “What's the matter? I thought you liked visiting Lettie and Penny.”

  “Penny's at school.” She sighed. “If I go over to the store...” She paused. “Everyone's talking about us. Staring at me. I'm starting to show. They all wonder...”

  “Wonder what?”

  “I'm sure they all wonder why the hasty marriage. Ben not even cold in the ground, and all.”

  Not to mention that their uneasy friendship while Ben was alive hadn't been overlooked by the town's wagging tongues, either.

  “I don't like leaving you here alone.”

  “You've got no choice in the matter. You came to Boulder Springs to be a lawman. Besides, I've got that pistol you gave me.”

  Jesse pulled a face. “You and I both know you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from three paces back.”

  “Jesse, I've been taking care of myself for most of my life.”

  Jesse felt his throat seize up from some unnamed emotion, making it hard to talk. Damn, she looked so fine and feisty, standing there. “There's two of you now.”

  “All the more reason for me to take good care, wouldn't you say?”

  He reached out to smooth back a strand of hair that had sprung free and curled against her damp forehead, then caught himself. “You're right,” he said gruffly. “I've got work to do.”

  He allowed himself only one backward glance as he rode away. Anora stood where he left her on the sagging front porch, one hand resting against the post, the other raised in farewell. The perfect picture of domesticity with her apron billowing out in front of her.

  Jesse gave his head a shake as if to clear it. What was happening to him? Getting soft, he was, spinning himself pictures of a sunny future, slippers by the hearth. The little woman fixing him a hot meal.

  He had to concentrate on one thing at a time. Get Rosco behind bars. Convince Anora to leave Boulder Springs. Maybe she'd move back to Philly with him. He could set her up with a nice hat shop or something. That ought to satisfy her need for what she called independence. He could see to it that she and the child had whatever they needed. Jesse nodded to himself. It was a highly workable plan. Satisfaction thrummed through him. It felt good having goals to focus on.

  He hadn't gone far before he heard the sound of approaching hoofbeats and pulled up, waiting for Charlie to reach his side.

  “We got us a problem, Marshal. Fact is, we got a whole passel of them.”

  “Where's Eddy?”

  “Keeping watch over the Three B. That's one of the problems.”

  “Why's that?” Jesse resumed his pace in the direction of town and Charlie rode abreast.

  “Folks in town is complaining how they can't find a lawman when they need one. All of us been out this way all week.”

  Jesse nodded curtly. It was a fact. He'd been neglecting his other duties. “What else?”

  “There was a murder across the river in Indian Springs last night.”

  “What's that got to do with us?”

  “A working gal was strangled, her body dumped in the river. Fella from town took his kids fishing. Found her early this morning.”

  “Like I said, what's that got to do with us?”

  “She was seen talking to a man late last night. Fella who matches Rosco's description.”

  Jesse's hands tightened reflexively on the reins. “What else?”

  Charlie exhaled heavily. “This last is kind a touchy, but needs being said.”

  “Then what are you waiting for? Spit it out.”

  “Eddy and me went for a drink last night. I reckon he had more'n his share.”

  Jesse cocked him a look. “Only Eddy?”

  “I was stone-cold sober. Good thing, too, given what he was telling me about being over to Ricki's the other night. You know how thin them walls is.”

  “Get to the point,” Jesse drawled. “I'm not much interested in Eddy's sex life.”

  “Well, the rooms were all taken, so him and his gal took themselves into some sorta closet for a little slap and tickle. Turned out they were next door to Ricki's room, and he heard Ricki in there with a fellow. Pretty angry with each other they were. Lots of cussing and name-calling.”

  “Ricki's more than capable of looking after herself.”

  “Eddy knows that. Which is why he didn't pay too much attention till your name came up.”

  “My name?”

  “Yeah. Heard Ricki say she was sorry she'd ever had anything to do with bringing you to Boulder Springs. Fella musta punched her or something, ‘cause she let out a cry. Then he says—get this—that once he's settled his score with you, won't be enough pieces to scrape together to bury.”

  “I didn't realize I'd made any enemies in the short time I was here.” Instinctively Jesse rubbed his left shoulder as he pondered on who might be bearing him a grudge. The wound on his shoulder was long since healed, his only reminder a thin white scar.

  “Yeah, well, there's more. Eddy thinks the fella's voice sounds kinda familiar. So he cranks open the closet door a crack. And guess who he sees coming out of Ricki's room?”

  “Who?”

  “Eddy swears it was Rosco.”

  Jesse pulled his horse up short and turned to face Charlie.

  “That doesn't make a lick of sense. I've never had any run-ins with Rosco. I never even heard his name before I came to Boulder Springs.”

  “Well, he sure in hell heard of you. Was it Ricki's doing that brought you here?”

  “That's common knowledge around town.”

  Charlie shrugged. “I'm just the messenger, boss.”

  “Hold the fort till I get back.” As he spoke, Jesse urged Sully into a gallop.

  “Where you going?”

  “Check a few facts. Then I'm heading into Indian Springs. I'll have a little chin-wag with the marshal there about their murder.”

  Try as he might, Jesse couldn't dismiss Charlie's version of Eddy's drunken ramblings. If there was any truth to it at all, Anora was in more danger than ever. Especially now that she was married to him.

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  * * *

  Chapter 17

  Jesse burst up the stairs and into Ricki's room without bothering to knock. Ricki lay buried under a heap of satin comforters with only the top of her head visible. As he snapped up the blind and flooded the room with daylight, he heard a low, protesting groan from beneath the covers.

  “Get up, Ricki.”

  The red satin coverlet shifted. “Y'all know I never get up before noon.”

  “It is noon.” Unceremoniously Jesse ripped an armful of coverings from the bed and dumped them on the floor. Ricki lay there naked, yesterday's face paint smeared across her eyes and lips like something gone bad. She rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand.

  “Jesse, my love,” she drawled, shifting her legs suggestively. “See anything you like?”

  “All I see,” Jesse ground out, “is your lying face. Why, Ricki?” Taking hold of her arm, he pulled her to a sitting position. “What's Rosco's beef with me?”

  Ricki's hand trembled slightly as she reached to her bedstead and sloshed a couple of inches of liquor from an open bottle into a glass. She tossed back the drink in a single swallow. Looking more composed, she plumped the pillows against the headboard and arranged herself in an artful pose as she smoothed her hair back from her face with both hands.

  “Who says Rosco has a beef with you?”

  Jesse reached over and turned her right cheek toward him. Makeup couldn't camouflage the purplish bruise across her cheekbone that marred her otherwise flawless skin.

  “You know how I feel about a man who hits a woman. You also know
how I feel about being lied to.”

  Ricki pulled back, buried her face in her hands for a moment, then slowly looked up, her gaze meeting his.

  “I guess, sooner or later, our past comes back to haunt each and every one of us.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Remember Rose's beau, Cameron?”

  Jesse swore. “How could I forget? To this day Rose hasn't forgiven me.”

  “Maybe she would. If you ever figured a way to forgive yourself.”

  He didn't bother to acknowledge the truth in her words. “Why bring him up now?”

  “Cameron was Rosco's half brother.”

  Jesse bolted to attention. “Are you certain?”

  “Sure as I'm lying here. When Rosco found out where I came from he started asking me, you know, who I knew back home. Had ourselves a nice little chat about Rose and her boy. Kind of ironic, isn't it? You and Rosco both being the boy's uncle.”

  Jesse shook his head in disbelief. “You knew all along. Yet you never said a word?”

  Ricki poured herself another shot of bourbon.

  “Rosco was the only one hereabouts who'd front me the money to buy this house.”

  “Some two-bit outlaw fronted you a loan?”

  Ricki extended one manicured index finger toward Jesse. “That's where you fouled up. You believed what you'd been told. That Rosco was small-time. That you could bring him down easy.”

  “What are you talking about? He is small-time.”

  Ricki shook her head. “That's just a part he's playing. Deep down, he's smart. Smartest man I ever met. ‘Cept for maybe you, Jess.”

  “So why'd he pull off a series of small-time heists?”

  “To build a reputation. Then he used me to bring you out here.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Jesse smacked his palm with a balled fist. How could he have missed seeing such a setup? “That bastard's been playing me like a violin.”

  “Not just you, Jess. Rosco's been playing all of us. I've got enough to pay him back, but he won't take it. I expect he enjoys knowing he could put me on the street tomorrow.”

  Jesse started to leave, then paused at the doorway.

  “You and the girls be careful. Word is he killed one of your own kind last night in Indian Springs.”

  Ricki just nodded. “He's got a nasty temper, that one. You take care, yourself.”

  By the time Jesse returned from Indian Springs, he was in a right royal stew. Now he knew how a puppet felt. He'd been dancing to Rosco's tune all the way along, and it wasn't a good feeling. Besides which, he'd viewed firsthand the way Rosco had misused the whore from Indian Springs. The thought of the man putting so much as a hand upon Anora made his skin crawl. First up, he had to toss out every preconceived notion he'd ever had about Rosco and how to deal with him. Here and now he was starting right from scratch.

  Shame it was too late to undo his marriage.

  The thought tumbled through his brain, shocking him with its directness.

  It was the God-sworn truth. He did his best work with only himself to think about. Throwing Anora into the equation just complicated things all the way around. Not to mention gifting Rosco with a vulnerable spot for attack.

  All because you couldn't keep yer britches fastened.

  Jesse shook his head. Hadn't he prided himself on being smarter than that? Truth told, he was no better than the next man. Or any man who'd made his share of mistakes.

  There was no sign of Anora in or near the cabin, and the rush of emotion he felt at her absence was one more reminder of his past misdeeds. The way they all came back to haunt him.

  Instinct led him along the path to the creek, and for now his instinct held him in good stead. There stood his wife, stripped down to her unmentionables, waist-deep in the narrow, fast-running bend of the creek.

  When he stepped out from behind the bushes and into view he watched a look of surprise cross her face.

  “You startled me,” she said. “I didn't know you were back already.”

  As Jesse approached the creek bank, anger that had been building steadily all day found a ready outlet.

  “How dare you place my child in danger?”

  Her eyes widened. When she didn't move he splashed into the water, boots and all, grabbed hold of her, and jerked her to shore.

  “Rosco killed a woman last night. Mostly, I expect, because he's pissed at me. You got an urge to be next?”

  “You're not making one lick of sense.”

  He watched the way goose bumps surfaced across her exposed flesh. The thin lawn of her chemise clung to the lush roundness of her breasts and outlined the dark circlets of her nipples. Harshly Jesse reminded himself that this physical attraction was what had got him into this situation in the first place.

  “I expected you'd have the sense to at least stay inside.”

  Anora rubbed her arms as if in an effort to warm herself.

  “Where are your clothes?”

  “Over there.”

  He grabbed her gown off a branch and draped it across her shoulders like a cape, though it didn't cover much of her. Her legs, sheathed in wetly transparent pantalets, were clearly outlined, long and slender, and his gaze wandered to the apex of her thighs and the shadow of her woman's triangle. Shifting his gaze to her waist, he saw the softly swelling evidence of his lust. In that second, something changed in him forever. A child grew there. His child. He felt a powerful unleashing of possessiveness, the likes of which he'd never before experienced, an emotion so strong it all but took his breath.

  “What if I'd been Rosco stepping forward right then? What then?”

  She gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look. “You said your deputy was keeping watch.”

  Jesse felt an unreasonable jolt of jealousy. Had Eddy viewed her the way he had? With wet and clinging unmentionables plastered to her skin? “Exactly. I don't want you coming down here to bathe anymore.”

  She gave him a speculative look from those smoky, thick-lashed eyes of hers. “Give another week or two and it'll be too cold anyhow.”

  Jesse exhaled sharply. No meek and retiring woman, this one he'd taken to wife. Even as the thought surfaced, he had to admit meek and retiring women had never held much fascination for him. “When I get the chance, I'll try to rig up a way to bring the creek water closer to the house.”

  “You'd do that for me?”

  “I don't want you hauling heavy water buckets in your condition.”

  Anora only laughed. “Jesse Quantrill, if you have your way, I'll be not only fat but lazy to boot.” Jesse couldn't believe it. She'd laughed at him. Worse yet, he could tell from the glint in her eyes she was enjoying every minute of their sparring.

  When they reached the porch she gave him a saucy grin. “Lettie and Penny came by for a visit. Penny's still miffed she didn't get to be the bride's attendant. “

  “Anora, I've been thinking.”

  She gave him a cheeky grin. “Does that bode ill for me?”

  He ignored the playful way she flung his earlier words at him. “You ever been to Philly? ‘Cause my sister's there, and—”

  “How can you even think about leaving right now? You've got that horrid old outlaw to stick behind bars.”

  “I didn't mean the two of us. I meant you. Taking a trip would give you the chance for a change of scene. Before the babe comes and all.”

  Anora placed her hands on her soggy hips and faced him down. “I swear, Jesse Quantrill. You are the most frustrating man alive. First you practically drag me to the altar. Now you're trying to railroad me out of town.”

  “Ours is hardly a normal set of circumstances.”

  “And whose fault might that be?” She marched inside and gave the door a resounding slam behind her.

  Jesse stared hard at that door for a good two or three minutes before, mind made up, he took the steps two at a time. He flung the door open and was greeted by the sight of Anora, stripped to her skin.

  At Jesse's intrusion Anora jerked the coverl
et from the bed and tucked it around herself, too angry to feel embarrassed. “I suppose a closed door means nothing where you were raised.”

  Jesse leaned against the wall, just inside the room, one booted ankle crossed over the other. “I don't recollect as we had any doors. Myself, I'm getting mighty tired of having this one slammed in my face every time I turn around.”

  “You get what you deserve,” Anora snapped back. “Make up your mind what you want from me, Jesse. Because I've had a bellyful of your teeter-totter moods. One minute you're sweet and caring. Next thing you're hopping mad, and no special reason to it, far as I can see.”

  “You're right,” he said, surprising her with his admission. “How come you stopped taking lunches in to the train station?”

  “I thought...” Anora paused, searching for the right words.

  “You thought what?”

  “That you wouldn't approve of your wife doing that kind of work.”

  “You never bothered to ask?”

  She shrugged. “Could you please leave so I can get dressed?”

  “Why certainly,” he said, with a compliance that instantly put her on her guard. “I'll just go fetch my stuff out of the barn while you get changed.”

  “What stuff?”

  “From now on I'm sleeping inside with you.”

  He didn't give her a chance to respond. The second the door closed behind him, Anora scrambled into dry clothes with hands that trembled, even as she tried to hurry.

  Sleeping inside with her! Did that mean Jesse would be demanding his rights to the marriage bed? Or that he was staying in here to protect her from Rosco? They hadn't really talked about anything beyond the fact of their getting hitched. When he'd stayed out in the barn this past week, she'd inwardly heaved a huge sigh of relief. She had enough new things to be getting used to, what with Jesse underfoot all the time and a new life growing inside of her.

  As she glanced around the tiny cabin, Anora was beset by a rise of emotionalism. Her home, her safe haven, was about to be invaded, and there wasn't a single thing she could do about it. And no place she could go where she'd ever feel safe. Unless...

  She jumped when she heard a knock on the door.