Wait, oh, no! Youre tearing up my work. Please, Mr. Hennessey. Her cool hands grabbed at him and pushed him back down. Her face hovered over him, full of concern, like an angel of mercy. He didnt believe in mercy. Please, you have to let me do this. You have to. I cant watch another man die. So you have to let me help you. Thats all I want to do.
I dont want your help. Get away from me.
Youd rather bleed to death, is that it?
Yeah, now get off me.
No. Im going to save you whether you like it or not. She rose over him and sat on his waist. Silver tears filled her eyes but they didnt fall, and he could only stare.
Were those genuine? He remembered how it had seemed he was looking down on her and shed been crying over him. He could see the faint tracks on her cheeks.
She meant to help him, he could read that plain enough on her face. But she would bring him harm, just the same. Whatever it cost him, he had to get up, he had to find her horse and buggy and send her on her way. Shed bound him with her dress and petticoats, and while any fool could see the yellow gingham wrapped around his wounds, it didnt change the fact that she was alone with himin her undergarments. And with his past
He had to get up. He tried. He really did. His left arm moved and his left hand scrabbled along until he seized on something. He turned toward it. The low branch of a tree. It looked sturdy enough. He pulled, dragging his body along the gritty earth. Rocks jabbed into his spine, but he was moving. Something hard slid off his chest and poked him in his ribs.
His Colt. 45. Relief made him forget about the woman trying to hold him down, talking a mile a minute as she kept on stitching. He pulled on the tree branch with all his might. The tree shook, the limb groaned as if on the breaking point, but he was sitting up. Now if he could just stand
No, hold still, I have to knot it. Her words came in and out, fading along with his vision.
Duncan fought the blackness. Breathing hard, as if hed worked a sixteen-hour shift in the quarry. He fought to stand. And then he saw movement in the shadows. A wolf leaped through the trees.
He let go of the branch and grabbed the Colt. Missed. His reflexes were too slow and his hand was no longer working.
There was a shot, a flash of fire, and the last thing he remembered was his laundry woman kneeling beside him, protecting him with her body, as she fired off a second round.
The darkness stole everythinghis sight, his hearing, his thoughts, and even the pain. There was nothing but blackness taking him down like deep water.
But he wasnt alone. He felt soft fingertips brush his brow. It was the woman.
Chapter Three
It was hard to look at this unconscious man and to not remember another. Betsy let the swell of sadness fill her up. Time had healed her grief, but shed never forgotten. When Charlie had died, it had been a moonless night like this, too, and silent, as if the entire world had lain in wait for him to pass. Shed been just as helpless then.
Like Charlie, Duncan Hennessey had lost too much blood. Hed fought her, breaking open his worst wound. Getting him down the rocky road and shooing off the coyotes that were brazenly following them had drained every ounce of her optimism. Shed had to finally fashion a torch out of a branch and keep it lit to ward off the more dangerous predators.
It had worked, and now the stout log walls of his house protected them. But the animals were outside the door. Even with a torch, she didnt dare head out into the night to fetch more water. She wrung the washcloth from the basin at her side and carefully cleansed the dried blood from his chest. His pulse thudded too fast at the hollow in his throat and his breathing was shallow.
He wasnt nearly as disagreeable unconscious. He was a big man, over six feet, and his build was strong. Even slack, muscles were visible beneath his sun-bronzed skin. He radiated pure masculine strength, as if it came not only from his physical form but also from his spirit.
His skin was hot. The male scent of himsalty and woodsymade her remember what it was like to be married. To share intimacy and morning cups of coffee and quiet evenings, of the immeasurable emotional bond that bound a man and wife. She hadnt minded these years spent alone. That didnt mean she liked it. Only that she hadnt found a man who she could laugh with. One who seemed to fit with her.
The lantern light flickered. The oil was low. She should get up and search through his cupboards for more, but she didnt want to leave him. Not unless she had to. He was dying, she knew it. She feared nothing could stop it. And it was her fault. Hed been protecting her.
He moaned low in his throat, troubled by dreams. Was a fever setting in? She leaned her cheek against his brow. He did feel warm, but not too warm. Yet. The pungent odor of boiling onions mixed with the nettles she had stewing on his stoveboth smelled nearly done, she figured. Soon she would have to go check on them and see. Shed search for the oil can then.
In the meantime, just rest.
The flame writhed and swelled, and the strange orange light swept over the hard crags of his face and the vulnerable underside of his jaw. The shadows seemed to cling to him, as if he belonged to the night. As if there were only the shadow of him remaining.
She finished washing the blood from his chest and wondered, Did she finish stitching the lesser wounds? The horrible gashes spread nearly a foot and a half from his chest to his shoulder. Several were still seeping, but she feared by removing the bandaging, she would break open the clotted places.
He grew still. Was he breathing? Was his heart beating? Fear quickened through her veins as the long second stretched out and then his chest rose faintly, dragging in a ragged breath.
Thank goodness. Just continue breathing, all right? She couldnt help stroking the iron curve of his face. The rough texture of several days growth abraded her fingertips. He was dreaming. His eyes were moving beneath his lids, and his mouth tightened. The hard thin lips that seemed to have been in a permanent frown twisted, not in anger but in agony.
The flame in the glass chimney flared with one last effort before the brightness waned and plunged the cabin into darkness.
Outside the thick walls, a wolf howled. Another answered. So close, she could hear the scrape of paws outside the window. Betsy did not consider it a good sign for the long night ahead. There was no way the predators could find their way inside, but still, it unsettled her to be in a wild land where only the strong and the cruel survived. What benefit did Mr. Hennesseyor any of the mountain mensee in living so far from civilization?
Shivering, and not with cold, she hurried to the warm stove where her home remedies simmered and seasoned. She knew there was a second lantern on the shelf next to the stove. As she struck a match, she heard a thump on the roof overhead and the scrape of claws digging into the wood shingles. A cougar.
The match flared, light glowed, and Betsy quickly lit the cold wick. Bright lemony rays pushed back the wall of darkness, but her fears remained. It was as if death were outside, looking for a way in.
Betsy knew all too well that was one predator no one could lock out.
Duncan saw the light as if from far away. A blurred image that hovered at the edge of consciousness. He felt weighted, as if the air had become heavier than he was and pressed down on him with a mighty force. He could not move. His mouth hurt with thirst. His tongue felt swollen and sandy. The acrid scent of blood filled the air and a noise rushed through the darkness. Something he couldnt place.
Was he dreaming? Or awake? He didnt know. Either way, it was memory that swept him backward to the crash of a door breaking open, the frame cracking into pieces. The drum of an enraged mob pulsed and shouted into his workroom. The hum of the lathe and the sharp, pleasant scent of walnut wood faded with the angry shouts and sweating men, the odor of whiskey strong on them.
There he is! Eldon Greens baritone boomed deep with hatred. Lets string him up, boys.
Hanging is too good for him! his brother Lindon shouted.
Duncan couldnt move for a moment. He stared without believing what his eyes were seeing as men he called friends charged at him. Lindon held a rope coiled in one hand, a noose dangling at its end.
Shock numbed him as the table leg hed been working on whispered to a stop, his chisel tumbling from his hand.
Pain sliced through his chest and he realized it was the noose closing around his neck. He grabbed it with both hands, desperate, panic roaring through him. He had to get it off. This was wrong. All wrong. Why were they doing this?
Shh. A low gentle sound tried to chase away the bad dream, which was no illusion but his life. A memory the cool brush of a cloth soothed into nonexistence.
He opened his eyes. He was in his cabin. In his bed. Staring at the circle of light on the open timbers of the ceiling, where lantern light gleamed. Pain began like a bullet, pointed and deep, then streaked outward. He took a shivery breath.
He already knew it was her. The tug of skin, the drag of thread through raw, ruined flesh. His fists clenched and his teeth ground together. There she was at the edges of his blurred vision, her hair falling over her shoulders and the white lace at her chemise. Her creamy skin looked as soft as silk and her sweet summer scent pounded in his head.
He heard the chink of a glass bottle and the glug-glug of liquid pouring. Whiskey. The sharp scent brought back the images of the memory as the noose burned into his throat, choking him as the end of the rope was tossed over the center beam and pulled. Some nightmares were real, and he was looking at another one.
It was nighthis cabin was pitch-black. He was alone with her. There were signs of no one else in the room. Who else would be here? And she was in her underclothes, wearing one of his flannel shirts that, unbuttoned, slipped off her shoulders.
He tried to lift his head off the pillow. He couldnt. His limbs felt as heavy and dull as lead. Weakness washed through his veins. He was too weak to move. Too weak to protect himself. Too weak to put Miss Laundry Lady on his horse and make her leave.
I was beginning to worry that you would never wake up. She chatted in that friendly way she had.
The way that he despisedbecause they werent friends. He didnt want to be friends. He wanted to be left alone. Horror churned up inside him until he could taste the sourness of it filling his mouth. Just go.
And leave you like this? Not for anything. She seemed to float over him, but then he realized it was the light dancing on the wick. The golden glow lapped at her luminous skin and bronzed her shimmering hair. I owe you my life. And Im the kind of woman who pays her debts.
Git. Shoo.
Go ahead and growl. You dont scare me a bit. Her kindness warmed her soft words and added extra beauty to her serene face. She held a tin cup to his lips. This will help with the pain.
Whiskey fumes nearly had him coughing. His chest wheezed out and puffed in air, and agony drained him. He couldnt speak. He couldnt push her away. He couldnt move.
Shame filled him to the brim with darkness. He managed to turn his head away to stare into the shadowed room. He didnt have the strength to do more than breathe. He was alone with a woman he couldnt trust.
Hed rather bleed to death than let her touch him, and the truth was, he couldnt stop her from it.
Youve lost a lot of blood. She paused as, with a clunk of tin, she set the cup aside. Ive sewed up the worst of the gashes, but the truth is, youre still bleeding. Im afraid this is going to hurt quite a bit, but Ill be as quick as I can. And as careful.
He didnt acknowledge her. He had his pride.
The first stitch hurt no worse than he was already hurting. He took ithe had no choice. She leaned forward and as she worked, he could feel her nearness like a breeze against his skin. The satiny tips of her curls danced and skipped over his arm and abdomen. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the fullness of her breasts.
This was wrong. All of it. His vision blurred into darkness and back again. He tried again to tell her to leave him be, that dying alone was better than this disgrace, but he couldnt form the words. His lips were too numb to speak.
Thats it. Im almost done with this one. That bear sure got you good. Her voice was like poetry, like the sweeping cadence of Shakespeares sonnets. Im so glad youre still with me. Ill have you patched up, and then Ill make a good hot soup. My ma says theres nothing a good bowl of soup cant cure.
Great. Just his luck to be trapped with a talker. He liked his women silentin fact, he liked his women to be absent. Was there any way to be rid of her?
A horses whinny pierced the darkness and even though the thick walls muffled the sound, he knew it was not one of his. He withered at the faint clomp of steeled shoes on the hard packed earth outside his front door. A light flared in the window, bobbing up and then away.
What the The laundry lady set aside her needle and thread and the bed rope groaned as she stood. Her slender shadow fell over him.
With an ear-splitting crack, the door broke open, wood splinters flying into the air as wraiths and ghosts emerged from the night. Eerie dark shapes that became men as the light touched them. Wide-shouldered angry men, with rifles in hand and a lantern shining suddenly into his eyes. Onto the bed. Where Betsy Hunter stood, her hair tangled, her undershirt and skirt covered with spots of blood.
He knew what was going to happen next. Hed been surly and rude and horrible to this prim and sheltered woman, and now he was going to pay for it. He knew how this was going to go.
His mind leaped forward and he saw what was to come in a flash, but it was really the past. The murderous rage, the shouted accusations, the noose closing off his air. He would lose everything. His life, his home, his work, his freedom.
He remembered Ginetta Greens tears as shed spoken to the sheriff and how Duncan had had hope then, hope that reason would rule and it was all a big mistake. What else could it have been? Hed never hurt Ginetta. Hed never hurt anyone. Ginetta had used him, shed lied about him, and shed betrayed him for reasons he would never know.
Betsy Hunter stood in the shadows, radiant as a midnight star in a moonless sky, but he was not fooled. Not by a womans beauty. Not by her seeming goodness. Not by her kindness. She wanted something. What? How was she going to use this to her advantage?
Duncan saw the barred door close on his future once more. Her rescuer with his search party stormed through the dark main room. Beefy hands closed around his throat and Duncan knew the sting of a womans betrayal twice in his life.
At the edges of his vision he saw her. Perky Betsy Hunter, ready to condemn him. No one was going to believe him, a man convicted of rape. Defeat curled around his soul and from a distance he heard the men shouting, the flare of lantern light on a rifle barrel as it aimed directly between his eyes. He felt stitches at his neck tear, felt the hot rush of blood.