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“You went through a lot with a stagecoach robbery.” He screwed up his nose and had the grace to look slightly sheepish. He reached for his forehead as if to adjust a hat, but then ran his fingers through his uncovered dark hair. “You have a trunk?”
Grateful for the reprieve, she turned around and pointed to the lone bags left on the walkway. There was nothing to do but march to the wagon and climb onto the seat. Then, of course, she realized a gently bred lady would have waited for assistance. She tried to gather herself together and ignore that the past few minutes in Daniel’s arms had been like a homecoming.
The minute she’d seen him, a sense of familiarity had come over her like a soothing bath, but he was the wrong man. She’d gone easily into his arms and felt welcomed and wanted by a man who would be her brother-in-law. Could the day go any more wrong?
Then again, as she watched her soon-to-be brother-in-law lift her trunk as if it weighed nothing, her stomach did somersaults. She tried to draw her eyes away from his broad shoulders, his easy stride. For heaven’s sake, she couldn’t dwell on the solid breadth of his chest against hers, but the thoughts and prickly sensations wouldn’t leave her.
God help her, his brother had better be an older version of him. Surely he was. Surely it was just a brotherly familiarity that had her heart galloping. Or the relief of knowing she had a home to go to after thinking she might have been abandoned. Or rejected outright for shooting a man.
She tried to shift through a thousand different thoughts. “Why is Rafael not here?”
“He’s tracking horse thieves.” Daniel thumped the trunk down into the bed of the wagon, set her carpetbag beside it and scowled. “We had some stolen last night.”
Horse thieves and stagecoach robberies. A shudder passed through her. “Are we going to the hotel, then?”
“No. To the ranch. It’s only a little over three hours’ drive. We’ll be home by midnight. But first I have to tell the sheriff.”
“But there’s been an armed stagecoach robbery and horses stolen from your ranch. I don’t think it is safe to travel after dark.” Not for three hours. Maybe fifteen minutes. She looked into the dark hills beyond the town. Going out there with criminals roaming around didn’t seem like the smartest idea.
“It’s perfectly safe,” said Daniel as he threw a leather strap over her bags and secured it to the wagon’s sides.
“Did you know about the attempted stagecoach robbery?”
His hands stilled. He had lovely hands, the fingers long and strong with a scattering of dark hairs across the tanned backs. “We don’t get the latest news until we or our hands come to town.”
He finished tying the strap, walked around and swung up beside her with a lithe grace.
“Is California so lawless? Is it normal for criminals to be running around?”
“No, it’s not normal.” He sounded terse as if her question bothered him.
“Then how can you think it is safe? The robber shot several men.” And she’d shot him. If he was the vengeful sort, she could be in deep trouble. Bad enough she had to wear her old Sunday best dress to greet Rafael—dressed all in white she was an easy target in the dark.
She didn’t want to tell Daniel that she’d shot the robber, because he would tell his brother and then she’d be exposed for the fraud she was. She just needed to convince him to stay in town and she wouldn’t have to reveal why she feared being targeted by the robber.
Daniel turned and looked at her. “My rif—my shotgun is just behind the seat.” He pulled back a leather flap and showed her. “Right here. I’ll protect you, but really no robber will be out in unfamiliar territory after dark.”
“How do you know it is unfamiliar territory? Do you know who stopped the stagecoach?”
Daniel’s gaze shot away. “We have to go.”
Anna stiffened and gathered her resolve. “I want to stay in town overnight. There is a hotel.”
“No.”
Anna scrambled for the edge of the seat to jump down. She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of going off alone with a man she didn’t know, a man who had hugged her intimately with one arm curling around her, fingers almost brushing her breast, and the other pressing her to him. “How do I know you are who you say you are?”
He caught her arm. His grip was sure and firm. “If you want out that bad, I’ll help you down, but we’re going to the sheriff’s first. He’ll identify me. Besides with the stage coming in today and the packet ship leaving tomorrow, the hotel is bound to be full.”
Anna settled back on the seat. His words and low, measured tone made her want to trust him, but she didn’t want to go to the sheriff. That she’d shot one of the robbers would come out. She’d just have to keep the sheriff from revealing her role and have him tell Daniel how bloodthirsty the bandit was—the one who had done the shooting—and convince him it was unsafe to travel with that man out there.
“He’s just a couple of blocks over,” Daniel said.
She knew that to be true. After the sheriff had allowed her to change and clean up in his quarters, she’d spent an hour sitting in a hard chair explaining what she’d seen, because she’d been the only one who’d gotten a good look at the second horseman. But when she’d tried to reveal details, she had been unable to tell them anything, beyond that his hat was low and his multicolored cape was pulled up below his dark eyes. At least she thought they were dark. She couldn’t exactly remember if she could see the color from as far away as she was. That she’d felt mesmerized by his gaze she had kept to herself.
“Why couldn’t Rafael come for me tomorrow?” She’d had to fight through her disappointment that he wasn’t there earlier to shield her from the barrage of questions the way Selina’s beau had shielded her friend. Of course, the stage had been early after they had galloped into town to get the shot men to the doctor.
“I’m here now, and we can’t travel to town at the drop of a hat. We have work to do. Besides, he’ll be worried if you don’t get in tonight.”
Not so worried that he’d come after her himself. She pressed her lips together. Surely the sheriff would be on her side when it came to traveling out of town in the dark.
In front of the sheriff’s office, Daniel set the brake and climbed down. He walked around and offered his hand to Anna. He had to convince her to leave with him tonight. He had to get back and set the horses free in the hills, then make his way to where he and Rafael had climbed out of the creek bed and obliterate their tracks before a tracker could find the spot. He hoped the false trail he set would lead a posse in the opposite direction. Hiding the truth was against his nature, but he couldn’t let them arrest Rafael. The very idea of losing his brother drove a spike through his chest and ripped it straight down, cleaving him in two.
His brother might have behaved like an idiot, but Rafe had been there for him when his father had died, stepping up and teaching Daniel how to ride, how to shoot, how to ranch, even though he’d barely been old enough to know how himself. They’d grieved together, gone everywhere together and grown up together. Rafael was his brother and best friend; he couldn’t risk the truth as much as lying pained him.
Anna slipped her hand in his with an odd demureness that seemed out of keeping with her argument to stay in town.
Daniel had to pound on the door to get the sheriff out of the back, where he lived.
The paunchy middle-aged man opened the door, and a triangle of light spilled out. “What is it, Danny?”
Daniel wished people wouldn’t call him that anymore. He’d turned twenty-two some time ago. Folks should recognize he could be addressed by his regular name now. “We had horses stolen last night.”
The sheriff looked at him for a full second. Daniel’s stomach turned over. Did the man have any idea he was staring at one of the men who’d held up the stage? Damn, Daniel hated lying to people who trusted him. Using the currency of his reputation for being honest and fair dealing made something inside him shrivel and wither. How would he ever face the townspeople again if they learned he had lied?
The man mopped a kerchief across his brow and looked pained. “Never rains, but it pours. Come on in.”
Daniel reached for Anna’s elbow and guided her in front of him. Somehow touching her calmed the stew of dismay churning in his stomach.
She crossed the room and sat in the chair by the desk. He started to cross to the other chair when he spotted his rifle leaning against the wall. For a second he froze, his foot in the air. Damn Rafael for dropping the rifle he’d taken from him.
The condemnation of his brother shamed him. Rafael wouldn’t have dropped the rifle if he hadn’t been shot. Blowing out a long breath, he turned to the woman who’d pulled the trigger. Her gaze darted away. She dropped her head, leaving him looking at that monstrosity of a hat. Not that it was her fault for shooting Rafael, either. He blamed his brother, but he couldn’t let Rafael hang or go to jail for a misguided attempt to see his bride.
The sheriff tucked in behind his desk. “Now, what did these horses look like, and what would you say their value was?”
The sheriff held a pencil poised above a blank piece of paper. Daniel described his horse first, the blaze and the one sock, then Rafael’s. Then because the sheriff seemed to be waiting and perhaps the two horses matched too exactly, he described his brother’s favorite piebald stallion.
He bit his tongue hard before suggesting the horses had been stolen by the men in order to rob the stagecoach. He wanted the sheriff to reach that conclusion, but forcing it upon him would be to paint the lily. During his hurried journey into town, the story had seemed to make sense, the inferences obvious, but now the wild concoction seemed to have more holes than the grounds basket for a coffeepot. A drop of sweat itched down his spine as he waited for the sheriff to reject his story.
The sheriff frowned. Was he now thinking that it could have been the Werner brothers who stopped the stage? “Where is your brother?”
“He went out to track the horse thieves. He wasn’t back when I left.” Daniel’s stomach knotted tighter and tighter as he made up excuses. “He told me to come get Miss O’Malley if he hadn’t returned in time.”
The sheriff glanced toward Anna, then back at Daniel. Heck, he wished the man wouldn’t do that. The silences were like the screech of splitting wood, and Daniel fought to keep his shoulders level instead of up around his ears.
“Sound like the horses you saw?” the sheriff asked Anna.
“It could be.” She leaned toward the desk. “There are some very bad men out there.”
Daniel tensed. Even though the sheriff was drawing the conclusion Daniel wanted him to draw, it only served to darken and twist his insides. He wanted to scream out he was lying. Instead, he recited an Ave Maria in his head—the first of the ten thousand or more he would be required to recite when he confessed his lies—unless God struck him dead first.
“Think it might be a couple of renegade banditos—Mexicans. They spoke in Spanish.” The sheriff set his pencil down and leaned back in his chair. “Do you agree, Miss O’Malley?”
“I wouldn’t know, sir.” She shifted in the chair as if it had suddenly grown uncomfortable. “I just know they are very dangerous. Murderous men.”
That wasn’t fair. He hadn’t fired a shot and Rafael had only winged the armed men to halt the shooting, not to kill, but he couldn’t make that argument. Daniel wanted nothing more than to run a finger under his collar, but he tucked his hand in his belt, willing it to stay still. Certain his every expression gave away the deception, he watched the sheriff.
“Any chance your brother could help track tomorrow?” asked the sheriff. “Sent one posse out, but they lost the trail. Going back out in the morning. Reckon Rafe’d be an asset with his skills.”
“I don’t know that he will want to, with his bride here and all.” Daniel cast his eyes toward Anna. If he helped track, he could steer them away from the real trail. More lies, but Daniel couldn’t let them know Rafael was injured. For years his brother had protected him, and if this was what it took to repay that, he had to get past his misgivings. “I could do it. He’s taught me what he knows.”
“Which is why we should stay in town tonight,” Anna said brightly. Then, as if she was afraid he might get a word in edgewise, she continued rapidly. “Tell him, Sheriff, how dangerous those men are and we should not be out on the road after dark. Why, we’d never see them approaching. And if we stay here, then Mr. Werner can be part of the posse in the morning.”
No. Daniel tightened all over. “I— We have to get you back to the ranch tonight. Madre—my mother will worry. Rafael will worry. Besides, the thieves are probably already in Mexico.” He tore his gaze away from Anna and cast a quick glance at the sheriff. “I’ll come back at first light.”
Anna shook her head. “It’s too dangerous, isn’t it?” She looked from the sheriff to him.
Damn. Her mouth looked adorably kissable, pink lips slightly open as if she was breathless. Daniel’s head spun. He tried to remember the reasons it was so urgent to get home.
“Danny’s right. They’re probably halfway to Mexico by now.” The sheriff leaned his chair back farther and nodded toward the gun in the corner. “And they lost their rifle.”
“I have a gun in the wagon,” Daniel said belatedly. Then it seemed like the wrong thing to have said, even if it was the truth.
“If you were to encounter any thieves, I reckon the two of you could take care of yourselves. The Werner boys are both great shots and you’re not so—”
“Fine, I’ll go.” Anna popped out of her seat so abruptly, Daniel stepped back.
The sheriff nearly fell backward off his chair before he managed to stand.
“But it is the height of absurdity. If I’m killed, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”
She flounced toward the door.
“Well, here, you might as well take this with you.” The sheriff leaned over and scooped up the rifle. “Don’t expect the owners are going to be back for it.”
Daniel was almost afraid to reach out and take his gun. A cold sweat broke out all over his skin. It was too easy.
“Reckon Miss O’Malley has a better right to this than most, seeing as how she managed to shoot one of them robbers and made ’em give up and run off.”
Her back went rigid, but she continued out the door. What had changed her mind all of a sudden?
Daniel reached out to take his rifle. All right, the thing belonged to his brother’s bride, and he’d probably be able to use it, even if he couldn’t claim ownership. As he went to pull it back, the sheriff didn’t let go.
Oh, hell, did he know? Chills snaked through Daniel’s veins. Had the sheriff just been toying with him to trick a confession out of him?
“You remember, son, that’s your brother’s bride.” The sheriff let go of the rifle.
Daniel stared at him. His brain was moving awfully slow because he’d expected a warning or an accusation, but not one about Anna. “I know that.”
The sheriff nodded. “I’ll see you at dawn, Daniel.”
* * *
Anna clasped her hands tightly in her lap. She wanted to keep swiveling around, checking for men following them. Except a lady of breeding and refinement would rely on a male escort to protect her.
Besides, genteel ladies didn’t fidget. The almost preternatural calm that Olivia always managed was not normal. Still, Anna hoped she could salvage her image as a pampered rich girl seeking adventure, not a desperate Irish immigrant who’d spent five years working in a mill, because her only choices were marriage to another poor immigrant or working her fingers to the bone.
They’d been driving for some time, and Daniel had said little since leaving the sheriff’s office. The bench seat was hard, unlike the padded seats of the stagecoach, and every bump jarred her teeth. If she relaxed, it wouldn’t be so bad, but her thoughts kept scouring the same ground. No man wanted to marry a woman who’d shot a man. No rancher would see her as a fitting bride if she didn’t know her place as a woman. Other women might see her as a heroine, but most men would see her as a freak.
“So you shot one of the banditos,” said Daniel.
“I’d rather not talk about it,” she said tightly. “And I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell your brother.”
Daniel leaned forward and twisted to look at her. “Don’t think it is the kind of thing I could keep from him.”
“I should hate for his first impression of me to be that I go around shooting people. It’s not very ladylike.”
Daniel’s mouth twitched. “Shot anyone else?”
Her jaw dropped. “No! Of course not. I haven’t even handled a gun in years.”
“Then I think we can count it as an aberration,” he said.
“It makes me sick just thinking I shot a man today, even if he was trying to kill us.”
“I would think if he was trying to kill you, some of you would be dead,” said Daniel tersely. He leaned back against the board that served as a backrest.
“That’s an odd thing to say.” She bit her lip. Though the fact that every wound was to the shooting arm of a man who’d pulled a gun had not been lost on her. Her brother once told her that the eye was drawn to muzzle fire and consequently so was the aim. That was just as likely an explanation for the similarity in wounds as thinking he just meant to disarm the men shooting at him. She certainly didn’t want to risk depending on the imagined benevolence of a renegade who’d shot four men.
“Did you get a good look at them?” Daniel asked, his voice less smooth.
“Not really. They had their faces covered.”
Daniel blew out. “Chances are we’ll never catch them.”
“You will try.”
“Huh?”
“Tomorrow when you try to track them. You will do your best to find them, right?”
“’Course. They took one of my favorite horses.” He slowly smiled, his teeth shining white in the moonlight.
Her breath disappeared in a whoosh, and a tickle wiggled through her belly and lower. No, this was not good. “Does your brother look like you?”
His expression went flat. “Yes. We’re ’bout the same height, same hair, same eyes.”
Same breathtaking smile? “What’s he like?”
Daniel’s jaw ticked. He took a second before answering. “He’s a good rancher.”
Which told her nothing. She sighed. “So will you tell him about the shooting?”
She gave up the pretense of being a perfect lady and folded her arms.
“Doubt if I’ll have to.” Daniel twisted the ends of the reins around his hand as if he felt the urge to fidget as strongly as she did. “Not much farther now. We’re on Werner land.”
If they were growing close, the time she would meet her affianced husband was drawing near. Her arms prickled with gooseflesh and a shudder ran through her.
“If you’re cold, there’s a blanket behind the seat,” said Daniel.
Would Rafael be so aware of her every move, too? If he was, she wouldn’t have a chance of persuading him she was anything other than what she was: an undeserving Irish immigrant who had lied about everything.
Chapter Four
Goodness, only one maid to help. Life must be much simpler. We have a dozen servants and two groomsmen. I can only assume it is because the population is so sparse. I am sure I will learn to make do.
After miles of nothing but grassy hills, they crested a rise and drove down into an open valley. A long, low and pale building loomed out of the darkness ahead. Anna’s heart fluttered with anticipation.
As she leaned forward, Daniel said, “That’s the house.”
Her future home. She tried to make out details as they approached. It seemed rather large, although only one level. Beyond the house a barn and fenced corral were barely discernible.
They pulled in front of a long wooden porch. Only moments away from meeting her intended, her palms grew damp. She scanned the porch, waiting for him to come out.
The house was nothing like she’d ever seen back east, and its foreignness only contributed to her uneasiness. Surely the creak of the wagon or the jangle of the harnesses would have been heard from inside. Yet no one had come out to greet them.
Her throat went dry. Anticipation at meeting her future husband, surely. “Where is Rafael?”
Daniel looked uneasy as he set the brake. “He might not be back yet.”
She had the oddest urge to grab Daniel’s arm and hold on. “I’ve come three thousand miles, and he isn’t here to greet me?”
“He planned to pick you up, but with the stolen horses...” Daniel’s voice trailed off as he hopped out of the wagon. “You should just come inside, and we’ll see what’s what.”
When she slipped her hand into his, tingles traveled up her arm. She jumped rather than attempt to find footholds in the dark and hold Daniel’s hand any longer than necessary. Even though the thought of driving away occurred to her, she didn’t intend to do anything so silly. No, this was to be her home, and she’d enter as if she deserved to be here.
He moved to the back of the wagon and shouldered her trunk with ease. She swallowed hard. She could not keep from looking at her future husband’s brother as if he were a refuge in this strange and frightening world of horse thieves and stagecoach robbers, where shooting a man seemed all in an ordinary day’s events. Plus she didn’t have a promise from Daniel that he wouldn’t tell his brother. Far from thinking her a refined eastern lady, Rafael’s first impression would be of a hellion who had shot a man.
“Through that door there.” Daniel nodded toward the dark porch.
So no particular welcome for her, unless Rafael waited inside. Her heart leaped into her throat, and her knees wobbled like jam. She stepped onto the planking, and her boots clunked shockingly loudly against the boards. She was about to tiptoe when the door swung open. Rafael? Hot and cold streams rushed through her.
“You are finally home,” said a short, round woman with dark hair sparsely threaded with silver.
Her hopes dropped like stones through her insides. Still, Anna tried to draw on the mask of a lady and not let her disappointment show.
“Madre, this is Miss O’Malley. Miss O’Malley, our mother, Consuelo Valquez Werner.” Daniel thumped up onto the low porch, her trunk hoisted on his shoulder.
Anna jerked to a halt and debated protocol. Should she extend her hand to her future mother-in-law? Press her cheek to hers? But she’d been too busy contemplating meeting her intended to think about proper greetings for his family members. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Werner. I’m glad to finally be here.”
“Come in, come in,” said the woman warmly. “Oh, I am so happy to see you. Welcome to our hacienda.” The woman enfolded her in a hug. “I have tamales for you.”
Well, that took care of that. Perhaps Rafael would hug her next. Perhaps the family hugged everyone, and she’d overreacted to Daniel’s embrace. Anxious to get inside and see if Rafael was waiting for her there, she peered through the open door. The angle was too much to see inside. Perhaps he was waiting with flowers or candy. That would be exciting and, she supposed, would render his failure to collect her in person forgivable.
“Is Rafael back?” Daniel asked in a very still voice. A cautious voice.
Why was his tone so careful, like a warning? Confused, Anna turned and looked at him. He ducked away as if her scrutiny made him uncomfortable.
“Sí, sí, but he is mucho hurt. He fall from his horse and hurt his shoulder. I have put him to bed.” Mrs. Werner waved her hands wildly. “I give him medicine to sleep.”
“Goodness,” said Anna. She should go to him, but if he was in his bed... No, she was to be his wife. “I will go to him.”
Mother and son seemed to exchange some silent communication, where Mrs. Werner’s brow furrowed, and she gave a tiny shake of her head. “No, no, you must sit. He is sleeping.”