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Nodding, he went to the water pump, filled the bucket and brought it to her with a ladle. She rinsed her mouth and grimaced as she spat on the ground. “Is the wagon ready?” she asked.
“It’s ready, but you’re not.”
“I’m fine. The bacon didn’t agree with me, that’s all.”
Her eyes glazed at the thought of the grease and Ethan almost smiled. “I think it’s more than that.”
She shook her head. “It can’t be. I have to leave.”
He knew she felt both guilty for taking advantage of him and fearful of LeFarge. He wanted to tell her he understood, but he didn’t want her to know that he had read her letter. “Look, I know I’ve been a little—”
“It’s not that. I have to get settled, that’s all.”
Lifting her skirt, she stepped over a patch of mud and rounded the corner of the cabin. Ethan was two steps behind her when she suddenly swayed on her feet. Grabbing the wall for support, she leaned against the logs and slid to the ground. “I’ve never been this nauseous in my life,” she said.
The sight of her took him back to the day of the storm. His breath caught in his chest and he knew that he couldn’t let her leave. Dropping to a crouch, he touched her shoulder. “Looks like I’m stuck with you.”
“But I need to go home.”
He gave her the hardest look he knew how to give a woman. “What you need is rest.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me. It’s just that—”
“You’re going to have a baby.”
The joy in her eyes was mixed with sadness, making her seem older than her years. Understanding flashed across her face, as well, and Ethan felt cold and exposed.
“It seems you know about these things,” she said.
“I do.” His gaze held hers. Was that relief he saw in her eyes, or fear? She would be in danger if she left, but he’d made it clear that he didn’t want her to stay. Without giving his motives a thought, he made a decision. “You’re staying here while I go to town.”
“I was better yesterday,” she said. “Maybe we could go tomorrow.”
“Trust me. The sickness won’t go away for a while, and I’m low on everything from beans to bacon.”
Her face knotted and he wondered what he’d said wrong until he heard a sound that reminded him of a stream bubbling over smooth stones. When she tilted her face up to the sun, he realized she was laughing. How long had it been since he’d taken pleasure in a woman’s good humor? “What’s so funny?” he asked.
The widow tilted her face to his and poked him in the chest. “Don’t ever say bacon to me again. Just the thought turns my stomach.”
Ethan grinned. “So we’ll eat sausage instead.”
The widow got the giggles, and the next thing he knew, the spot she’d touched on his chest was burning, but he was laughing at the same time. The joke hadn’t been that funny, but she had tears streaming down her face, and so did he. Laura used to say that a belly laugh was good for the soul. Except he didn’t have a soul. He’d lost it in Raton. As quickly as it started, his laughter faded into a grunt. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
She looked confused, as if he’d blown out a lantern and left her in the dark. “Mr. Trent?”
Ethan stared straight ahead. “What is it?”
“Will you tell the sheriff I need to speak with him?”
She wanted to tell the sheriff about Dawson, but she didn’t want to share that problem with Ethan. Given his foul mood, he could understand her reluctance. “I’ll do that,” he replied.
“There’s one more thing.”
Ethan flinched. “What?”
“You are going to pay for that bacon remark.”
God help him, he smiled. “Am I now?”
“Definitely. When you least expect it. I’ll sew up your sleeves. Or—”
“Put salt in the sugar jar?”
She shook her head. “You don’t use sugar in anything.”
It was true. He hadn’t eaten so much as a cookie in two years, but this morning his mouth watered at the thought of something sweet—maple syrup on cornbread or a stick of peppermint candy.
With the widow leaning on his arm, he steered her to the cabin and left her by the door with her back pressed against the coarse wood. Then he climbed into the wagon, picked up the reins and doffed his hat.
“I’ll be back around dusk.” Thinking of Dawson’s letter, he added, “There’s a pistol in the cigar box on the mantel.”
Her eyes flickered with curiosity, then in the way of mothers-to-be, she touched her belly. “I’ll have supper waiting for you.”
He gave the reins a shake and took off down the trail. How would it feel to come home to a hot meal and a woman’s company? Probably good, and that was a problem for a man who couldn’t be happy.
Aside from his quick trip to report Dawson’s body, Ethan hadn’t been to town in weeks, but it hadn’t changed. A train in the station was working up a boiler full of steam, and the rattle of wagons filled his ears as he drove to the livery stable.
Glancing at the sky, he saw that it was close to noon. He’d had a hell of a time getting here. The wagon had gotten mired three times and he and his horses were covered with mud. If he had been alone, he would have ridden the roan and just filled up his saddlebags. Yet with a pregnant woman in his care, he needed more than a few bags of flour, coffee and beans.
But no bacon. He could still hear that laughter. It had charmed him, and his own chuckle had been a shock. So was the pressing need in his gut to get back before nightfall. Leaving her alone with a man like LeFarge on the prowl made his skin crawl.
Ethan stopped the gelding in front of the livery stable. He’d thought about keeping the widow’s mare until she was ready to ride, but he’d decided against it. The man who ran the livery had an ailing wife and six children to feed. The mare was income he wasn’t taking in. As he untied the horse, Ethan glanced around for the stable boy. The kid wasn’t around so he left the horse tied to a post. Not answering questions suited him just fine.
Next he visited the Midas Emporium. All two hundred pounds of Mrs. Wingate loomed behind the counter. “Mr. Trent! How are you today?”
Ethan ignored the question. He’d been studiously unfriendly to the town busybody, but in addition to everything else in her cluttered store, she sold books. She’d been the one to shove the dime novels into his hands, so Ethan put up with the chatter.
“Here’s my list,” he said.
He handed her the paper and browsed through the store as she put the order together. The shelves were full of trinkets meant to catch a woman’s eye and he stiffened at the sight of ribbons and fancy buttons. He thought of Laura’s box of doodads, but then a bolt of sky-blue gingham caught his eye.
The widow had one outfit to her name. He had no business noticing, but she’d look pretty in blue. Cautiously fingering the fabric, he wondered what Mrs. Wingate would do if he plopped it on the counter. She would probably bust a gusset with curiosity, but this wasn’t the time to make mischief, not with LeFarge looking for Dawson’s widow.
That meant he couldn’t fetch her trunk, either, so he settled for a plain wooden hairbrush, some white ribbon that could be used for anything, and a pair of trousers and a shirt that were too small for him. He didn’t want to think about her unmentionables, but that had to be an issue, so he picked up a bolt of white cotton. If Mrs. Wingate asked about it, he’d growl at her.
The clerk met him at the counter. “Can I get you anything else?”
Ethan glanced down at the small stockpile. It was enough to support a single man for a couple of months, but a pregnant woman had different needs. Gossip aside, he had another mouth to feed, or two if he counted the baby.
Pulling out his billfold, he said, “I want another twenty-five-pound sack of flour, three more cans of Arbuckle’s, a ten-pound bag of sugar, cornmeal, whatever tins of vegetables you have, dried apples, three dozen cans of milk and a bag of lemon drops.”
“Did you say three dozen cans of milk?”
“Yes, I did.” He slapped a few more greenbacks on the counter. “I’ve had a craving lately.”
Mrs. Wingate arched her eyebrows, but she didn’t say another word as she piled boxes on the floor. Then she glanced at the cotton and stared down her nose. “How many yards of this would you like?”
“All of it,” he said, scowling. He had no idea how much material it took to make a pair of ladies drawers, but it was clear Mrs. Wingate wasn’t going to back down. “I’m reseeding the garden. This is to keep off the frost.”
As if that made any sense. Any sane person would use old flour sacks, but Mrs. Wingate didn’t say another word as he loaded the boxes into the wagon and rode away.
The sheriff’s office was four blocks to the north. A flat-roofed adobe set apart from the storefronts, it was the oldest building in town. Ethan tied the gelding to the rail, hopped down from the seat and walked through the door. His gaze locked on Sheriff Handley who was sitting at his desk reading the Midas Gazette. As the hinges creaked, Handley lowered the newspaper and scowled.
“I’ve been wondering about you, Trent. Did that damn fool woman make it back to your ranch?”
Ethan had planned to tell him that the widow was alive, but Mrs. Dawson wasn’t some “damn fool woman,” and the sheriff had a spiteful glint in his eye. It seemed wise to find out more about LeFarge and the circumstances before he revealed the widow’s whereabouts, so Ethan frowned. “She was a pain that day.”
As Handley rocked forward in his chair, the front door opened again, stirring the air as Ethan looked over his shoulder. A stranger in a gray duster and a fussy black bowler stepped over the threshold, covering his mouth as he coughed. At the sight of wispy orange hair curling over the man’s neck, Ethan felt his blood chill.
The stranger removed his hat and scanned the room, glancing briefly at Ethan before locking his gaze on Handley. “Good afternoon,” he said. “Am I interrupting you two gentlemen?”
“That depends,” Handley replied. “What can I do for you?”
Ethan wasn’t about to politely excuse himself.
“My name is Timonius LeFarge,” the outlaw said. “I’m a detective with Pinkerton’s, and I’d like to ask you a few questions about a missing woman.”
Handley pushed to his feet. “You wouldn’t be looking for Jayne Dawson by any chance?”
LeFarge’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I am.”
“Then we’re on the same side of the law.” Handley stood and extended his hand as LeFarge approached the desk. When the two men shook like old friends, Ethan’s doubts about Handley’s judgment turned into the certainty that the man couldn’t be trusted.
Handley nodded in Ethan’s direction. “Detective, this is Ethan Trent. He’s the man who found Dawson’s body.”
“I see,” said LeFarge. “How far away is your place?”
Ethan’s mind snapped into action. No matter what else happened today, he had to prevent the two men from riding out to his ranch together. Handley knew Ethan lived alone, but LeFarge didn’t. If Ethan could keep the sheriff from blabbing that he was a widower, he and Mrs. Dawson could pass for husband and wife if the outlaw decided to pay a call. Given the circumstances, Ethan doubted that LeFarge would invite Handley along for the ride.
The plan would work as long as the outlaw didn’t already know what Jayne looked like. Determined to glean all the information he could from LeFarge, Ethan forced himself to be cordial. “My place is a ways from here, and the road’s full of mud. We can talk here just as well.”
Handley nodded. “That suits me fine. Have a seat, detective. Ethan can fill us in at the same time. I was escorting the widow back to town when she made a beeline to his ranch.”
“Is that so?” LeFarge lowered his angular body into the chair. “Where is she now?”
“She’s dead,” Ethan replied.
After staring for a good three seconds, LeFarge settled into the chair across from Handley. “Please, sit down, Mr. Trent. It sounds like you have a story to tell.”
Handley pursed his lips. “Why exactly are you looking for her?”
As Ethan pulled up a third chair, LeFarge leaned back like a judge holding court. “It goes back to her husband. The fellow you buried was named Jesse Fowler. Back in Wyoming, he robbed nine banks, shot a woman and killed the real Hank Dawson. When the Feds failed to arrest him, the marshal’s family hired me. It seems Fowler’s been using the man’s good name.”
“The man sounds like trouble,” Handley replied.
“That he is, Sheriff. He got away with a lot of money from those robberies.”
LeFarge sounded grim, but Ethan wasn’t fooled. Greed was burning in the stranger’s glassy eyes as he cocked his head to the side. “I trust we can count on your help, Mr. Trent. I have reason to believe that Jayne Dawson was in possession of the money from the bank robberies. That makes her an accomplice to Dawson’s crimes.”
The man was the smoothest liar Ethan had ever met, but two could play that game, especially if it meant protecting a woman and an unborn child. “She never made it back to the ranch. I found her remains in the middle of nowhere and buried the body where I found it. I figure she froze to death in that blizzard.”
The outlaw blinked like a bobcat waiting for its prey. “Did you check her pockets? Was there anything to indicate where she might have been headed?”
“Not a thing.” Ethan shrugged. “I wish I could help you, but I just came by to tell Sheriff Handley about the body.”
The sheriff rocked back in his chair. “I almost forgot. The hotel sent her trunk over a few weeks ago.”
LeFarge shot up from his chair. “Where is it?”
Handley pointed to the back of the room. “It’s right there. Help yourself.”
The outlaw pried the lock with a knife and opened the lid. The scent of honeysuckle wafted through the air as he tossed dresses and petticoats onto the floor. Lingering over a satin nightgown, he smirked. “I bet she’s a whore.”
Handley shook his head. “I talked to her a bit. That’s not too likely.”
Damn right, Ethan thought. He’d bet his ranch that she had worn that satin on her wedding night.
LeFarge kept riffling through the garments. “Can you gentlemen give me a description of Mrs. Dawson? I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing her for myself.”
Handley pursed his lips as if he were straining to think. “As I recall, she had light hair and came up to my nose. She was pretty but nothing special.”
Wrong. She was very special. Ethan had never met such an iron-willed woman, but he wasn’t about to argue.
“Eye color?” LeFarge asked.
Handley shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Ethan did. Her eyes changed color with her moods, from blue ice when she was angry to a soft shade of aqua when she laughed. “I think they were brown,” he said.
“What was she wearing?” LeFarge asked.
Handley sat straighter in the chair. “I can help you there. She was wearing a dark cloak when we rode out. It was black, or maybe gray.”
No, it was navy-blue with large brass buttons. Ethan nodded. “That’s right. It was gray.”
Shoving the widow’s things aside, LeFarge tore into Hank Dawson’s clothing, snapping his shirts like a dog shaking a rabbit. Next he dumped out the drawers located in the sides of the trunk. A pair of scissors clattered to the floor and ribbons swirled on the planking like a posy of spring flowers. LeFarge kicked everything aside, took a knife from his belt and slashed the lining.
At the rasp of tearing silk, Ethan imagined skinning the outlaw an inch at a time.
