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A sharp pain throbbed in her temple. She wasn’t lying, though, not exactly. She was withholding certain facts for his protection. Men like Mr. McCoy didn’t understand men like Dead Eye.
Despite the bolstering thought, or maybe because of it, she averted her gaze before biting the inside of her cheek.
Emmett had been certain she’d fail on her own, certain she’d come crawling back, begging for his help. He could have at least had the courtesy to be available for the begging-and-crawling portion when the time arrived. “I’m starting on a new adventure. It’s very exciting.”
Exciting in the sort of way a catastrophic train wreck was exciting, but rousing all the same.
A shadow passed before the window, and she shrank back, dipping her head and covering her face. Everyone simply assumed they were a loving family enjoying the afternoon, and she’d relaxed into the illusion. She’d taken for granted the respectability of traveling with Emmett. Alone, she attracted all sorts of unwanted stares and attention.
Bolstering her courage, she stood. She’d made her choice, and she had no one to blame but herself if the going was difficult. Her heart heavy, she reached out and brushed the backs of her knuckles along the cushion of Alyce’s cheek, then ruffled Owen’s hair.
The twins had devoured what ice cream hadn’t melted and claimed their spoons. They were having great fun sweeping their fingers around the glass bowl, seeking every last drop. The task took a great deal of concentration, which meant Tessa had lost her last excuse for lingering.
The ticking clock above the counter propelled her forward. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. McCoy. You have a beautiful family. Despite your difficulties this morning, I feel certain you will prevail.”
She squared her shoulders and focused on the door. The important part was not looking back. Emmett always said that life was not meant to be traveled backward.
Shane caught her hand. “Wait.”
She mustn’t turn around. All of her instincts screamed that he expected something from her. She knew full well she’d never live up to those expectations.
Certainly she’d never been one to linger over little heartbreaks and trivial disappointments. This morning when she’d realized her time at the Harvey House was at an end, she’d set out with dogged resolve. Though she mourned the loss of her delicate new friendships, she hadn’t faltered.
Yet her feet remained rooted in place. She didn’t believe in fate, but something had brought them together on that platform. Of all the people passing through the station, Owen had found her. Surely that meant something in the grand scheme of things.
The preacher at the tent revival had said that in helping others one helped oneself. But what did a retired thief have to offer?
Shane released her hand. “Hear me out. Please.”
The appeal in his voice scattered the last vestiges of her good sense. “I’m listening.”
Chapter Three (#ulink_342bf09c-560b-53a4-b1e9-cef29ea2a117)
Miss Spencer’s direct gaze had Shane tied up in knots again, and he immediately forgot what he was about to say. There was a chance they might help each other—if he took care of the problem plaguing her first. Just once he wanted to do the right thing and have something good come of it.
Before Shane could speak, Owen reached for his spoon and slipped. His body fell forward and he splayed his hands, nicking the edge of his bowl. The glassware slid across the table. Tessa lunged. The bowl dodged between her fingers and careened off the edge. Melted chocolate splattered her skirts before the glass shattered.
Owen sobbed and rubbed the spot on his chin where he’d bumped the table. The boy reached for Tessa and she immediately resumed her seat, pulling him onto her lap while carefully avoiding the shattered glass. Owen grasped at her white lace collar with sticky fingers and buried his chocolate-covered face in her neck. Oblivious of the damage marring her pristine outfit, Tessa rubbed his back and murmured soothing words.
Shane swallowed hard once. Then twice. The twins had sought that affection from Abby, craved her attention. Instead, she’d drifted through their lives like a marionette, going through the motions without any more warmth than a carved wooden block. Everything he’d done to help had only made matters worse.
As Owen’s cries turned into hiccups and eventually subsided, Tessa glanced up, her expression troubled. “I have to go. My shift normally starts at dinner. When I don’t arrive, Dead Eye will start looking for me.”
She was paler by the moment, her movements jerky and frightened. Shane blew out a breath. He’d always had a weakness for the marginalized. All the men he’d hired on the ranch had conquered adversity in one way or another. Finch had lost his right arm and the vision in his left eye during the war. Wheeler was a freed slave Shane had met on a tortuous stagecoach ride through the sweltering Texas heat.
The others...well, the others had seen more than their fair share of hardship. Probably that was why Abby had returned once she’d realized she was in trouble. She knew he’d never turn her away. Yet he suspected a difference in Tessa. As though she’d take any offer of protection as an affront, though clearly she was in need of assistance.
Shane scowled. The outlaw deserved a throttling for terrifying her. Barring that, he’d do the next best thing.
“Let me help,” he said quickly. “Please.”
Owen fidgeted in her lap and she produced a coin he hadn’t noticed before. With a deft flick of her wrist, the coin disappeared. Owen snatched at her fingers and frowned in confusion. She fisted her hands a few times, turning her arm this way and that. With an exaggerated frown of confusion, she brushed Owen’s temple.
“Hmm,” she said solemnly. “What have we here?”
With a flourish she produced the coin from behind Owen’s ear. The boy squealed in delight.
Alyce stood in her chair and leaned over, eagerly joining the game. Without answering him, Tessa absently repeated the trick. Much to the delight of the children, the coin dropped from noses and sprang from beneath dimpled chins with an elegant and imperceptible sleight of hand. Shane was as mesmerized as the children with the rapid disappearance and reappearances of the coin. Only when she dropped the money into her reticule was the spell broken.
She glanced up and he shook his thoughts back to the problem at hand, grasping for a convincing argument.
“The next train doesn’t leave for hours.” He charged ahead. “I have an idea that may help us both.”
Her face softened and his persuasions died on his lips. Abby had an odd habit of staring at a spot over his shoulder, never looking directly at him. The practice had left him feeling invisible. Tessa met his gaze dead-on, her expression open and forthright.
“I’m not sure how you can help.” She quirked an eyebrow. “Unless you have a freshly pressed dress handy or a private stage for a hasty exit out of town?”
“No.” Her directness was refreshing and disconcerting at the same time. “I’m afraid not, but I can offer you a room at the hotel.” At the startled look in her eyes, he quickly added, “To freshen up.”
She gave a sad shake of her head. “I wouldn’t mind staying out of sight and cleaning up, but I can’t displace you.”
“As you can see, our plans have changed.”
A riot of color suffused her cheeks. “Because of me.”
“Never say that. My plans have altered because Mrs. Lund wasn’t a good choice for a guardian. I might not have realized her unsuitability,” he added, “if Owen hadn’t pestered you into returning him.”
Owen grinned at the sound of his name, revealing his two front teeth. “Ball.”
“Don’t paint me as the hero,” Tessa replied, raising her delicately arched eyebrows. “I was a little reluctant to return him. He’s a very good listener.”
Shane dug through his pockets, producing the metal key. “This is the only key. I have some business in town. If you need to change, I can fetch your trunk as well.”
“Not the trunk! I mean to say, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure a dab of water will take care of this.”
Shane didn’t know much about laundry, but he figured it was going to take a lot more than a spot cleaning to erase that damage.
His doubts were forestalled by a flutter of activity. Summoned by the commotion, a woman in an apron bustled over. Together they plucked shards of glass from the floor and wiped up the mess.
Tessa brushed at the stains on her gown. “I can’t very well travel like this.”
“Definitely not.”
Reaching out, she rested her hand over the key. “You said there’s only one key.”
“Only the one.” He’d bought himself some time. With a little effort, his plan would erase the fear in her eyes and make up for the trouble they’d caused her. Then maybe he could convince her they each had something the other needed. “I’ll walk you the distance and be on my way.”
Owen showed no signs of surrendering his perch, and Tessa absently tucked him closer. The boy rested his head in the crook of her neck and stared at the shiny locket nestled at the base of her throat.
With a last glance over her shoulder, she nodded. “I accept your offer.”
Shane blew out a relieved breath. “You’ll be on your way in no time.”
Keeping vigil for outlaws with wandering eyes, Shane escorted his motley bunch to the hotel and made arrangements with the clerk. Miss Spencer was obviously not well-known in town, as none of the staff showed even a flicker of recognition.
Not that anyone could get a good look at her anyway. She spent much of the time helpfully chasing after Owen and Alyce as they reached for the vase of flowers on the round table in the lobby and crawled between the spindly legs of a settee.
The room he’d procured was at the end of the corridor and he walked her that way, then gathered the twins. Owen yawned.
Tessa hesitated. “How long will your business take?”
“An hour. Maybe two.”
“The children appear tired.”
“They usually nap around this time.”
She reached for Alyce, who eagerly took her hand. “I could...I could watch them. You know, while you accomplished your task.”
He hesitated, not wanting to take advantage of her. “If you’re certain.”
Her offer was ideal. Better than he could have hoped. While he was fully prepared to take the twins on his errand, he moved faster without them.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll abscond with your children?” she asked, turning the key in the lock.
Her bright smile stole his breath. Her eyes sparkled and a delightful dimple appeared in her left cheek. He’d been immersed in his own troubles for so long, he’d forgotten the simple pleasure of a moment of joy.
“I’m more afraid they’ll send you screaming into the streets,” he said at last.
“I’m much stronger than I look.”
Her dimple disappeared and he mourned the loss. “I don’t doubt it.”
Tessa turned the key a few times, but no click of the lock sounded.
She removed the key and studied it closely. “The numbers match but one of the teeth is bent. That must be the problem.”
“I’ll see if they have another.”
“No need.”
She reached behind her head and pulled a hairpin from the coil at the nape of her neck, then inserted the slender metal into the space beneath the key. Her brow knit in concentration, she jiggled the hairpin a few times and the door sprang open.
Shane gaped, nonplussed by her odd talent for disappearing coins and difficult locks.
“I—uh,” Tessa stuttered. “I once had a temperamental lock on a boardinghouse door. I learned a few tricks.”
He supposed there was nothing too odd in that. “You’re quite the locksmith.”
“It comes in handy at the oddest times.”
The twins hugged him around the legs before he left, but seemed content to remain with Miss Spencer. Relieved at Owen and Alyce’s easy acceptance of the situation, he made his way toward the train depot with only a twinge of guilt for taking advantage of Tessa’s good nature. The twins had been roused earlier than usual this morning and should sleep easily. Tessa appeared as though she could use the rest as well.
Her intervention with Owen, though unplanned and unexpected, had pushed him out of his stupor. While he’d like to believe he’d have seen Mrs. Lund’s duplicity eventually, viewing her through Tessa’s eyes had forced him into acknowledging her unsuitability.
The telegraph office was devoid of customers, and he accomplished his task in short order. Having a cousin who served as a telegraph operator was convenient. Having a telegraph operator for a cousin who was also married to a lawman was even more helpful.
A flurry of messages were received and dispatched over the following hour, and he took a seat on the bench tucked into a corner of the small office, impatiently tapping his heel. A fine bead of sweat formed on his brow. Miss Spencer must be pacing the floors by now. He checked his watch for the thousandth time. Another forty-five minutes passed before the sheriff appeared. Shane met him at the door in three long strides.
The man was tall and slender and as weathered and thin as a strip of beef jerky.
He presented Shane with a wanted poster. “There’s a reward for Dead Eye. Where would you like it sent?”
A reward. His stomach twisted. Glancing at the picture, his eyes widened at the sum listed on the bottom of the page. Tessa could hire her own private Pullman car with that amount. She certainly wouldn’t need a housekeeping job. He stuffed his free hand into his pocket and shook his head. At least one good thing had come out of this mess.
“You’ve got him, then?” Shane prodded. “He’s locked up?”
“Picked him up straightaway. Didn’t put up too much of a fight. I suppose he didn’t figure anyone around these parts would recognize him.”
For once, doing the right thing had resulted in something good. Maybe not for him, but that wasn’t the point anyway. “Excellent.”
The sheriff pushed his hat back on his head with the tip of his index finger. “And how did you come to recognize him, Mr. McCoy?”
Shane scratched his temple and stared at the floor. “Long story.”
The question had nagged him as well. How had Tessa known the identity of the outlaw? He shrugged. She probably saw all sorts with people coming and going from the café.
“Understood.” The slender man touched the gun strapped against his thigh. “You’d best not stick around, just in case.”
“Trust me, there’s not a chance he’ll connect me with his capture, but I’ll be on my way all the same.”
“Not so fast. You haven’t told me where you’d like the reward sent.”
Shane considered and discarded several possibilities. Best not to leave a trail that might lead back to Miss Spencer. “Send the money to Marshal Cain in Cimarron Springs. He’ll know what to do.”
Once Miss Spencer was settled, he’d make arrangements to have the money transferred. She’d spotted Dead Eye first, after all, and the money was hers. The sheriff jotted down a few notes and went about his business.
His steps dragging, Shane returned to the hotel. Separating from Tessa was for the best. Being around her stirred up a sting of loneliness. Always before he’d thrown himself into work when the yearnings for companionship had grown too distracting, exhausting himself in body and spirit. The children had forced him to keep a part of his heart open, and he’d be wise to be on his guard in the future. Tessa reminded him of Abby when they were young, full of hope and hungry for adventure. He didn’t want to see that optimism fade.
He rapped on the door and Miss Spencer appeared, holding a finger over her lips. A scowl darkened her brow.
“Shh,” she ordered. “They’ve fallen asleep.”
Somehow or another she’d draped the stained portion of her skirt like a fall around her waist, cleverly disguising the spots. There were damp portions around her collar where she’d scrubbed at the rest of the marks, and he forced his gaze from the charming sight. His was an honorable mission, and he did her a disservice by thinking of her in any way other than an unexpected acquaintance.
She slipped into the corridor and quietly shut the door behind her. “Where have you been? What took so long?”
“I’m sorry. I can explain.” He handed over the wanted poster. “They’ve picked up Dead Eye Dan. You’re safe now.”
