Читать книгу Whirlwind Baby - Debra Cowan - Страница 10
ОглавлениеChapter Three
They reached town a couple of hours after lunch. Being without her corset made Emma uneasy enough, but the possibility that Whirlwind’s sheriff might have already gotten information on her had her palms sweating and a hard lump wedging under her ribs. Mr. Ross guided the wagon down Whirlwind’s wide Main Street and reined to a stop in front of a weathered pine building. Several steps led up to a door with a sign hanging overhead that said Jail. She did not want to go in there.
Their ride had been mostly silent, broken occasionally by some polite, inconsequential talk that Emma felt both of them thought awkward. And, of course, none of it had been about the baby. Jake Ross appeared not to know Molly was even there.
The impression Emma had of the small West Texas town was that of a dusty, but neat community. The jail sat between the Pearl Restaurant, which Mr. Ross had told her about yesterday, and the blacksmithy. A hammer struck metal and Emma glanced over to see a large black man inside a frame shop working over an anvil. He nodded politely, and she nodded back.
The low rumble of people’s voices was broken by the clop of horses’ hooves. She managed to get down out of the wagon and pick up the baby from the seat before Mr. Ross rounded the horse. Across the street behind her, she noted Haskell’s General Store, a livery and a saloon.
She mounted the steps with her employer, pushing the glasses up her nose and tightening her hold on Molly. Despite the late August heat, Emma had worn a light shawl in an effort to make it less noticeable that she wasn’t wearing a corset.
Mr. Ross opened the door then followed her inside. The smells of pine and soap mixed with the clean male scent of the man who’d insisted she come. A handsome dark-haired man wearing a badge rose from behind a wide oak desk. A glass-front cabinet behind him held four shotguns. The lawman gave her a friendly smile, his blue eyes twinkling. “Howdy, ma’am. Jake.”
“Davis Lee Holt.” Mr. Ross took off his hat, gesturing toward Emma. “This is Miz York. She’s the lady we hired to care for the baby.”
“Miz York.” The sheriff smiled at Molly, who turned her head shyly into Emma’s neck.
The man seemed friendly and not the least suspicious, but that didn’t ease the tightness across Emma’s chest. Or keep her from mentally checking the derringer in her skirt pocket. On the wall behind him hung two Wanted posters and a notice about a circuit judge. Nothing about a runaway or kidnapped daughter. Which didn’t mean the sheriff was ignorant about her, just that there was nothing on that wall. Being on her guard, almost paranoid, was becoming second nature.
“Little Molly looks good.”
Emma wondered how the sheriff knew the child’s name, then recalled that Jake Ross had stopped by the jail the day he and his uncle had brought Molly to town to post flyers advertising for the position of baby nurse.
The rancher stepped up beside Emma, his big body surrounding her like a wall, close enough that she could feel the sun’s heat from his shirt. She wished this were over, wished she’d never had to come. If Mr. Ross hadn’t found her searching for her corset, she wouldn’t have mentioned a thing about it.
“What brings you two to town today?” The sheriff, who was two or three inches taller than the other man, eased down on the corner of his desk.
Mr. Ross glanced at Emma and said in a low voice, “If you’d rather speak to the sheriff alone, I can wait outside.”
“No,” she said quickly. The thought of him leaving her alone in the jail tied her stomach in a knot. Which just went to show how nervous she was about being face-to-face with the sheriff if she felt safer with Mr. Ross staying in here.
The baby grabbed at Emma’s glasses, yanking them across her nose. She pulled her half sister’s hand away, trying to decide how to delicately report what had been stolen.
Mr. Ross didn’t wait on her. “There was a theft at my ranch last night. One of those thefts.”
The sheriff politely kept his gaze on the rancher, but Emma was aware that the lawman’s attention sharpened. “Same piece as what was taken a week or so ago?”
“Yes.”
Heat flushed Emma’s cheeks and she held Molly tighter to her breasts, feeling practically naked.
Behind her, the door flew open and a feminine voice exclaimed, “Davis Lee, there’s been another one! Oh.”
A broad grin spread across the sheriff’s face. “Hello, wife.”
Emma looked over her shoulder to see a petite brunette move into the room beaming at Sheriff Holt. She tore her gaze from him to look at Mr. Ross. “Hello, Jake.”
“Miz Josie.”
Her warm green gaze lit on Emma and she stuck out a hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Josie Holt.”
“Emma York.” She shook hands, thinking she would probably like the sheriff’s wife if given a chance to know her.
“Oh, I should’ve been quicker with an introduction,” Mr. Ross apologized.
“It’s all right.” The other woman smiled then looked at her husband. “I’m sorry. I can see I’ve interrupted.”
He nodded, an indulgent and amused look on his handsome features. As his wife reached out to touch Molly’s blond hair, a look of painful longing flitted across her pretty features. “What a darling baby. This is the little girl someone left at your house, Jake?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said stiffly.
It didn’t escape Emma’s notice that his voice had changed the instant the baby was mentioned. Nor did she miss the fleeting glances that both the sheriff and his wife gave the man, looks that appeared to be compassion. Emma turned her head to prevent the baby from grabbing her spectacles. If anyone should get their compassion, it should be Molly, especially if the man who’d taken her in didn’t want her.
“Hi there, little one.” Josie Holt bent, looking into the baby’s eyes as she stroked her cheek. “Would you let me hold you?”
Emma didn’t think her half sister would go, but, when the sheriff’s wife opened her arms, Molly studied her soberly then went. Without her sibling’s tiny body covering her chest, Emma felt it was obvious that she wasn’t wearing a corset. She drew the light shawl tighter around herself and made herself very still, the way she did when her stepfather went into one of his tempers.
“Aren’t you a beauty?” Josie murmured, fingering Molly’s fine blond curls. Her voice cracked. “Isn’t she pretty, Davis Lee?”
“Yes.” His gaze touched briefly on the child, then riveted on his wife, and the tender look on his face had Emma’s heart clenching.
Molly grasped a button on Mrs. Holt’s blue gingham bodice and the woman touched the baby’s nose. “You did just fine by finding yourself at Jake’s, little one.”
Emma wondered if the woman would still think so if she knew how quickly the rancher had removed himself from the baby yesterday morning. The sheriff’s wife brushed a light kiss against Molly’s temple before returning her to Emma. From the corner of her eye, Emma could tell that Jake Ross was looking away.
Josie walked over to her husband and said in a low voice, “When you’re finished, would you come to the shop? There’s been another one.”
Beside Emma, her employer snapped to attention. “Beggin’your pardon, Miz Josie, but do you mean another theft? Of…you know?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Emma caught the look Mr. Ross shared with Sheriff Holt, who reached out and took his wife’s hand. “I’ll come as soon as I’ve finished talking to Miz York.”
It was a bit of a relief to know that Mrs. Holt had also been a victim of the embarrassing theft. And, if Josie Holt stayed, maybe Emma wouldn’t have to say much.
“You may as well stay, Mrs. Holt,” she offered tentatively. “That’s why I’m here, too.”
“No!” Josie’s gaze shot to Emma and she whispered, “A…corset?”
The sheriff chuckled. “Honey, we can hear you.”
Smiling, she swatted at him, looking to Emma for an answer.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Last night?”
Emma nodded, adjusting her spectacles.
“Oh, my stars.” Josie clutched at her husband’s hand. “Davis Lee, you’ve got to do something. This can’t go on.”
“I’m doing the best I can, Josie. There are those other thefts I have to worry about, too.”
“I thought the only garments being stolen were ones I’d made, but this most recent theft—the two most recent thefts—those pieces weren’t made by me. You have to do something.”
The lawman looked at Emma. “When did you first notice it was gone?”
“A few hours ago.” So, Mrs. Holt was a seamstress. The sheriff’s blue gaze was steady and probing, making Emma feel he might know she didn’t need these glasses, that her eyesight was just fine.
The possibility that he might find out who she was, why she was in Whirlwind had her skin prickling. “I did the wash yesterday and left everything on the line to dry overnight.”
Mr. Ross’s deep voice rumbled out, “Late last night, I heard a noise outside, but when I looked around, I couldn’t find any sign of anyone. Didn’t realize then that Miz York’s cors—” A dull flush colored his neck. “That anything had been taken off the line.”
“What time was that?”
“I’d say just after midnight.”
“Was it one of your finer garments?” Josie asked Emma, her gaze lingering on the baby.
“Yes.”
Jake Ross didn’t look at Emma or do anything that might indicate he was thinking about their meeting half-dressed in the kitchen after midnight. But she felt a tension stretch between them and she knew he was thinking about it. Because she was.
Josie Holt nodded. “Pearl said hers was taken after dark last night. She discovered it when she went to the clothesline before bed.”
“Pearl Anderson owns the Pearl Restaurant,” Mr. Ross reminded Emma.
“Did she hear anything?” the sheriff asked his wife.
“She said no.”
Sheriff Holt rose and moved behind his desk, opening a drawer in the middle and pulling out a leather-covered book. He flipped through a couple of pages then glanced at his sometime-deputy. “You made note when the last theft like this was reported.”
“Yeah. It was Susannah’s.” Jake stepped around Emma to confer with the lawman. “If I recollect, it was just a little over a week ago.”
As the men discussed dates of the other thefts, Josie eased up to Emma and said quietly, “Susannah is married to Davis Lee’s brother.”
Emma nodded.
“If you need another dress corset, I want you to come by my shop and get one.”
Emma needed a corset, period. But she didn’t have the money to buy one.
The seamstress seemed to sense why she hesitated and said kindly, “I want to give it to you. This is no kind of welcome to a new town.”
Touched, Emma was speechless for a moment. The woman didn’t even know her. “I can’t, but thank you. Really.”
“You can put it on account.”
Emma couldn’t do that, either. What if she and Molly had to run in the middle of the night? Emma wouldn’t be able to pay on the account for a long while and that would be a reminder of her to these people. A reminder she couldn’t afford if her stepfather or his man came looking for her. “I can come in after I get my first wages.”
Josie looked as if she might insist, then smiled warmly. “All right then.”
Behind them, the door opened. Emma turned to see a tall, red-haired girl who looked to be a few years younger than her.
“Mrs. Holt,” the newcomer said. “I locked up the shop and I’m taking lunch to Zeke, if that’s all right.”
“Of course, Zoe. Thanks for letting me know.”
“I won’t be long.”
“All right.” Josie smiled. As the other woman backed out of the office and closed the door, Josie’s attention came back to Emma. “That’s Zoe Keeler. She works for me. Zeke is her younger brother.”
Emma nodded.
Closing the book, the sheriff said to the other man, “I’m gonna come out to the Circle R later on and look around.”
“I figured you would.”
Emma’s heartbeat sped up.
“Can you think of anything else that might be helpful?”
“No.” Her boss looked at Emma with the same question in his eyes.
“I don’t think so,” she said. She hoped the sheriff wouldn’t ask for a description of the garment.
“All right then.” Davis Lee looked thoughtful. “This is the first time this thief has struck twice in one night. I wonder why.”
“I wish he or she would quit it!” his wife burst out. “People are going to stop buying clothing from me.”
“Honey, they know it isn’t your fault.”
“Oh, fiddle, people don’t give a fig about whose fault it is.” She paced in front of her husband, her skirts swooshing against the wood floor. “They just know that things I make are being stolen and they won’t buy anything because they’re afraid it’ll be stolen, too.”
He chuckled, catching her hand and stilling her.
“I hope you’re wrong, Miz Josie,” Jake said. “Because that’s just plain silly.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled as he turned to open the door. “We’ll be on our way, then. See you later, Davis Lee.”
“Yeah.”
Emma said goodbye then preceded Mr. Ross out the door, noticing how the baby watched him. Emma glanced back before starting down the steps and saw the sheriff pull his wife into his lap. Taken by the sight, Emma paused.
Josie put her arms around her husband’s neck and laid her head on his shoulder. Davis Lee Holt was every bit as broad as Jake Ross and taller, but Josie Holt didn’t act one bit afraid of him. Emma wondered what it would be like to be that at ease with a man. Just one.
About halfway down the steps, Mr. Ross stopped. “I forgot to tell Davis Lee something. I’ll be right back.”
“All right.”
As she waited, she talked to Molly, pointing out the livery across the way then a hotel just beyond that looked almost finished. A sign across the front of the two-story stone building said New Owners. Construction to Resume Soon.
So far, the sheriff didn’t appear to have any information about a senator’s missing stepdaughter and daughter. The relief that moved through Emma was so strong it made her light-headed, as if she’d been out in the sun too long.
The heavy thud of boots sounded on the steps behind her and Jake Ross joined her. As they stepped into the dusty street, she started for the wagon, but he halted.
“Miz York, would you like something to drink before we head back?”
She hesitated, wondering if he realized the baby would have to come, too.
“Do you like lemonade? Pearl makes a good one.”
“Lemonade?” she asked in surprise. She loved lemonade, thought longingly of her mother’s. “Yes, I like it.”
“I’m thirsty and you probably are, too. Let’s have us a glass before we head back to the ranch.”
She supposed she could refuse and wait for him in the wagon, but lemonade… “All right.”
He gave a sharp nod and gestured to the right.
As they walked to the Pearl Restaurant, Emma wondered what his feelings toward the baby really were. She didn’t think she’d misread him, but she needed to be sure. She was no good at coaxing information out of people, but she wanted—needed—to know if Jake Ross was the one who should raise Molly.
As they stepped up on the plank walk in front of the restaurant, he stopped abruptly, calling out to a sturdy, red-haired man walking toward them. “Hoot!”
Emma halted beside Jake, keeping her head bent toward the baby. The fewer people who got a good look at her, the better.
The man stopped several inches away. “Jake. Ma’am.” He extended his hand. “Hoot Eckert.”
“This is Miz York, the baby’s nurse.”
“Hello,” she murmured, shaking his hand.
Eckert’s face was as round as his body and the red mustache and long sideburns gave him a jovial look. He peered at Molly. “So, this is the little girl you found.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “I was wondering if you’d had any replies to that ad yet.”
Emma’s spine went to steel. This man ran the newspaper and Jake Ross was asking if a family had been found for Molly. Anger hummed through her.
“No, not yet. If I hear anything, I’ll come out to the Circle R or send Chesterene.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Jake shook hands with the man, who tipped his hat to her and walked on.
Emma didn’t know who Chesterene was and she didn’t care. All she cared about was the disappointment in Jake Ross’s taut voice that he was still responsible for Molly. Emma had to keep her mouth shut—the baby was supposed to be only a job to her.
The lanky rancher held open the door to the Pearl, his expression neutral until she passed in front of him with the baby. Then his face closed up like a coffin.
His reaction to the little girl was so obvious that Emma was unable to stop a flare of temper. “If you hadn’t found someone for the job, would you have sent Molly to that orphanage?”
Surprise flashed through his eyes before they went hard. Emma braced herself. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—do anything in front of these people. And, if he tried, she had her derringer in her skirt pocket.
Jaw clenched tight, he stood in the doorway of the restaurant, looking away. “I would’ve figured something out.”
What did that mean? Emma was afraid she knew. As much as she wanted to stay out of Jake Ross’s way, she had to find out if this was the place for her to leave her half sister. She had to learn as much about him as she could. Without giving away anything about herself.
If you hadn’t found someone for the job, would you have sent Molly to that orphanage? Damn if it was any of her business.
They’d left Whirlwind about an hour ago and that question had been sawing at Jake ever since. He wouldn’t have been able to send the kid there. Still, he didn’t like Emma York asking questions like that. She worked for him. She didn’t need to know any more than that.
But there was something about her. He couldn’t stop staring at her, though he’d managed to keep from it in Davis Lee’s office. The Pearl had been another matter. He’d ordered their lemonade and been surprised by Miz York’s reaction. She didn’t just like the sweet drink; she loved it. The first true smile he’d seen from her spread across her face and chased away the shadows in her eyes. And, just like that, Jake was staring again.
She wore a pink calico dress that hung a little loosely on her slender frame. Her long, dark hair was up today, not down as he’d seen it last night. As the wagon rocked along the hard-packed road toward the ranch, his mind seemed stuck on their meeting in the kitchen. The lamplight had gilded her hair with amber. He had wanted to touch the silky thickness. Because he still did, he tightened his grip on the reins.
Still, thinking about Emma York was a sight better than thinking about his brother-in-law, whom he’d glimpsed as they’d left town. Quentin hadn’t seen Jake and Jake hadn’t stopped to remedy that. He didn’t want to think about his brother-in-law so he turned his thoughts to the visit he’d paid to the sheriff.
He’d been planning to let Miz York go in alone to see Davis Lee, but she’d been trembling. There had been as much apprehension on her face as there had been embarrassment. As difficult as it had been for her to tell Jake about the theft of her corset, it had to be at least that hard to tell another man. No one at the ranch knew why he and the baby nurse had gone to Whirlwind. He didn’t see any reason to deepen her embarrassment by telling his family, who couldn’t do anything about it, anyway.
Knowing her corset had been stolen and observing how tightly she wrapped that shawl around herself had Jake figuring she didn’t have on a corset. Just as she hadn’t last night.
Coming upon her in the kitchen had torched something inside him, something he hadn’t felt in a lot of years. Bathed in the soft amber light, Emma York had looked like an angel. He hadn’t been able to see anything bare save her dainty feet, although that hadn’t stopped him wishing he had.
“The sheriff and his wife are good friends of yours?”
He sliced a look at her. She hadn’t said a word since they’d left town. Or, well, since they’d stopped a half mile back to make a pallet in the wagon bed for the baby, who’d fallen asleep. Miz York had held the child all day.
“Yeah, I’ve known Davis Lee my whole life. He and his brother, Riley. Miz Josie moved here only last fall. She’s a real nice lady.”
“Did she come here to marry the sheriff?”
Jake chuckled. “No. Those two danced around each other for a while on account of Miz Josie coming here to kill one of Davis Lee’s prisoners.”
“What?” The nurse’s jaw dropped.
Jake wasn’t much of a storyteller, but he seemed to hold her attention as he told her about Ian McDougal, the outlaw who had murdered Josie’s parents and fiancé. “He was part of a gang of brothers. They also killed a man from Whirlwind and nearly did in a Ranger when they murdered his partner. When Ian was finally caught, he was put in Whirlwind’s jail to wait for his trial.”
“Goodness,” she breathed. “So did he have a trial? What happened? Did Mrs. Holt kill him?”
“Not in the end, but she had a chance to. He hit me upside the head and escaped from the jail.”
Miz York frowned as she glanced at him. “How badly were you hurt?”
“Just had a big knot on my head. And my pride stung a little. Miz Josie and the sheriff both took off after McDougal, but she wound up letting him escape so she could bring Davis Lee back here because he got shot. The McDougals also killed our stage driver. That man’s brother-in-law ended up being the one to bring in the outlaw. Ian McDougal was tried and hanged not long after. Which he should’ve been, but Loren Barnes had to suffer for his part in it.”
“Why?”
“He made an attempt on McDougal’s life while the man was in jail here. Loren went to prison, but a lot of people, including the sheriff, didn’t think that was right. Davis Lee and his cousin, Jericho Blue, a Texas Ranger, were able to convince the judge to reduce the sentence to nine months. Loren’s supposed to get out next month. His sister, Cora, still lives here so I figure he’ll be coming back.”
“Aren’t people afraid?”
“Of Loren? Naw.” If they had to talk, Jake would much rather talk about this than anything about himself. He hadn’t spoken this long at a stretch since his school days when he’d been required to read aloud from McGuffey’s Reader every single day. “He was only trying to get justice for his widowed sister.”
“Whirlwind seems like such a quiet place.”
“It generally is.” He glanced over, catching a whiff of her soft scent and the flowers that grew in wild patches across the prairie. “What about where you’re from?”
“What do you mean?”
She looked as if he’d caught her sneaking around in the dark. “You come from a big town in Illinois?”
“A little bigger than Whirlwind,” she said quietly.
“You got people back there?”
She looked over her shoulder to check on the baby, but Jake got the impression she did it to avoid giving him her full attention. “Like who?”
“Your husband’s family or yours, I guess.”
“My mother and father are both there. Do you have any family besides the people at the ranch?”
Even now, five years later, it hurt like blue blazes to think about the wife and child he’d lost. “That’s it.”
“Georgia said Mr. Bram hasn’t been here all that long.”
Why was Miz York so all-fired interested in his family? Or was it only Bram? “He’s a drover.”
“Drives cattle?”
He nodded, dark thoughts creeping in. Of his resentment over Delia leaving him the way she had, of her brother, whom Jake didn’t want to feel responsible for anymore. “A lot of ranchers are sending their cattle to market and slaughter by train so work on the cattle drives is drying up. Bram came home about five months ago to work with me and Uncle Ike.”
“How long have your uncle and Georgia lived with you?”
“Always.” His jaw tightened. His whole family lived at the ranch and Jake liked it. Being cast off by their own mother, it was the only home he and Bram had ever known.
For a few short years after marrying, Jake had had all he’d ever wanted except a child with Delia. He’d wanted that more than anything and that desire had killed his wife. Now she was gone and so was his hope of having a family. Pretty much his interest in having one, too.
Jake hoped Miz York would shut up now. He was talked out. She sure did ask a lot of questions for someone who wasn’t all that free with information about herself. He didn’t mind answering some questions, but when she ventured into territory that made him think about his wife, he’d had enough.
They were less than a mile from the Circle R when a slow shrieking noise split the air. At the same instant Jake realized what it meant, a sharp crack sounded. The wagon hit the ground hard on Miz York’s side, the right front wheel splintering.
Before he could grab her, she pitched out of the wagon into the tall grass. She cried out, her skirts flying up to reveal the hem of a petticoat and a flash of white stockings. The crash jolted the baby and she screamed then began to sob. The horse drew up abruptly.
With a sick feeling in his gut, Jake half slid, half scrambled out of the wagon to check the little girl. Though he didn’t want to, he moved his hands over her. She was carrying on as if her tail were on fire, but she didn’t appear to be hurt. No blood, no scratches, no immediately visible broken bones.
He turned, looking for the baby nurse. Where was she? There, yards away, her pink calico dress almost hidden by the tall grass. He strode toward her. “Miz York!”
He told himself to remain calm, but as he moved, a black rage began to build. Knowing that wheel was weak, he’d told Waylon two days ago to fix it after he and Uncle Ike had returned from Whirlwind. Now Miz York might be hurt. The baby could’ve been, too.
Jake reached the slight woman just as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Her glasses were gone, tendrils of brown hair escaping from her chignon.
“Are you all right?” He knelt, but she got quickly to her feet, swaying slightly then steadying herself.
“The baby! Where’s the baby?”
“She’s still in the wagon.” He stood.
The nurse rushed past him.
“She’s okay. Are you?” A glitter in the grass caught his eye and he picked up her spectacles just before stepping on them. They were scratched, but not broken.
“Did you just leave her there?” Her voice trembled with anger. “Did you check on her at all?”
“Of course I did!” he snapped as he followed her to the wagon. What did she think he was, a coldhearted SOB? “She wasn’t bleeding, she wasn’t scratched, she didn’t appear to be hurt, but I wasn’t so sure about you. I’m still not. Did you bust anything?”
“I think I’m fine.” Reaching over the side of the wagon, she gathered the sobbing infant to her, cuddling her close and murmuring to her.
He sure couldn’t fault her care or concern for that child. As she turned toward him, Jake saw a cut over her left eyebrow and a scratch along the line of her jaw. Fury exploded inside him. His fist closed, nearly crushing her glasses. He ripped off his hat and started toward her.
Her eyes went wide and she backed up so fast she hit the side of the wagon. Her arm came up as if to ward off a blow. “Stay away! Stay back.”
“What?” Jake frowned, his gaze skipping over her, looking for further injuries. Maybe she’d taken a hit to the head. Waylon was going to answer for this.
“Stop! Don’t come any closer.” Holding the baby with one arm, she fumbled at her skirt pocket.
It registered then, how her voice shook, how the color had drained from her face. And Jake understood. She thought he was coming after her. She thought he was going to hit her!
That stopped him cold in his tracks a few feet away from her, cooling the rage pumping through his blood. A deep pain sliced at him. “You think I would hurt you? I would never—”
“Please, please stop.” She kept her hand in her pocket.
He realized he had taken another step toward her. He halted, reeling with disbelief and realization. Someone had hit her before. That made Jake angry all over again, but he struggled to keep it from showing.
“I’ll back up,” he said as he did it. The woman was terrified, her green eyes huge in her pale face. The distrust on her face twisted his gut. “I’m not coming closer, see? I’ll stay right here.”
After long seconds, she nodded, her pretty eyes full of turmoil.
Crushing his hat in his fist, he said quietly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
The wariness in her eyes was so deep, so dark that he wanted to gather her to him and soothe her until she knew there was no need to fear him. But that would probably scare her spitless. “Can you tell me if you’re hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she said tautly, her arms wrapped so tightly around the baby that the little girl protested with a loud noise.
“You have a cut above your eye. Your left one.”
She reached up to touch it, looking surprised at the blood on her fingers. “I’m all right.”
She was as frightened and defensive as a wounded animal. He could see she wasn’t going to let him get any closer and they needed to get home before dark. “I’ll tell you what. I’m gonna unhitch the mare. I’ll walk and you and the…baby can ride back to the ranch.”
She looked at the horse, then the damaged wagon. “I’ll walk, instead,” she said quickly.
He started to insist she ride then realized he would have to help her mount. She didn’t want him putting his hands on her.
Agreeing to let her walk went against everything his uncle had taught him about how to treat a lady, but Ike hadn’t seen the pure-dee terror in Emma York’s face when she’d thought Jake was going to hit her. “Are you sure you won’t ride—”
“I’m sure.”
The unsteadiness of her voice told him she was still afraid. He didn’t blame her. She didn’t know him well enough to know that she didn’t need to fear him. “If you’re in pain or hurt anywhere else,” he said gruffly, “I can carry her.”
“I’ll do it.”
He knew the relief was plain on his face when her mouth tightened. After placing her glasses carefully on the corner of the lopsided wagon, he walked around the mare’s head to the other side. Letting Emma York know she had plenty of room.
Jake jammed his hat on his head. After making sure the mare was uninjured, he unhitched her and looped the wagon reins into one hand. Letting his nurse walk to the ranch, especially carrying the baby, grated hard on him. “You tell me if you need to stop or if something starts hurting.”
“I will.”
With one last look back at her, he started walking. But she didn’t. After a long moment, he finally caught her movement out of the corner of his eye.
Someone—some man—had obviously hit her before. Who? When? Was that why she was here? Was she running from someone?
Jake didn’t want any trouble, didn’t need to get involved in someone else’s trouble. He was involved in plenty of his own.
But he couldn’t forget the paralyzing fear he’d seen in her face, her eyes. Jake cursed under his breath. He could shine it up any way he wanted, but he was involved.
