Susan Mallery - Wild West Wife

“Grateful? Why, you are nothing but a lying dog. Lucas Stoner is a gentleman and you have no right to even speak his name. You are a criminal, a liar and I’m not sure what else.”

Jesse was too stunned to protest. She was comparing him to Stoner and Stoner was coming out the winner? “You got all this from one letter?”

She nodded, her green eyes flashing fire. “My fiancé is a wonderful man and I’m lucky to be engaged to him.”

Haley was grateful for the argument. Not only did talking about Lucas make her feel less alone, but the anger gave her strength. She wasn’t sure if she believed Jesse’s claim that he didn’t want to hurt her. She hoped he wasn’t lying, but she had no way of knowing for sure.

“Must have been a hell of a letter,” Jesse muttered as he turned back to the fire and poured himself more coffee.

Haley knew if the truth were told, it hadn’t been much of a letter. Just a few lines of Lucas telling what he wanted in a wife. She had replied with a long detailed description of herself, her character and her life in Chicago. His answer had been the stage ticket west.

So she wasn’t completely sure of Lucas’s character, but she had been able to interpret several qualities from both what he wrote and what his words probably meant. And when the little voice in her head asked why, if Lucas was so wonderful, did he have to advertise for a wife, she reminded the voice, and herself, that there weren’t many women in the West. Besides, her entire future depended on the character of Lucas Stoner. She couldn’t bear the thought that he was anything less than perfect.

“It’s getting late,” Jesse said. “If you want to wash up, go on down to the stream to take care of your business. We need to turn in soon.”

His words reminded her of the pressure low in her belly and the fact that she hadn’t had a moment’s privacy since he’d kidnapped her. While she was surprised he was willing to trust her on her own, she wasn’t about to question the fact and hurried in the direction of the running water.

Once by the bank, she found a clump of trees and carefully lifted her skirts. It was dark and she worried about what kinds of creatures might be lurking in the shadows. Still the outdoors was cleaner smelling than any privy in the city.

When she’d finished, she made her way to the stream and quickly washed her face and hands. The water was like ice, but so clean and sweet tasting, she had to drink several handfuls before reluctantly turning back to the camp.

It would be easy enough to run away, she thought. She could simply disappear into the darkness.

A bird hooted from the high branches above her head and something rustled in the leaves next to her. She jumped. Her choices were the enemy in the form of Jesse Kincaid, or the unknown of the forest. For now the man was less frightening.

But as she got closer to the camp, her step slowed and she wondered if she would be better off taking her chances with the creatures of the night.

To distract herself, she thought about what he’d told her about his family and the death of his father. She didn’t know anything about her own family. She’d been delivered to the orphanage when she was only a few weeks old and no one had ever come looking for her in all her twenty-one years. She had often wondered what it would be like to have people related by blood, people who cared where she went and what she did with herself. That was one of the reasons she was so looking forward to getting married. Lucas was going to care about her. In time, he would love her and she would finally belong. He was...

He was not responsible for the death of Jesse’s father. She knew that for sure. He couldn’t be. There had to be a mistake.

Before she could figure it all out, she found herself entering the camp. The first thing she saw was two bedrolls stretched out on opposite sides of the fire. Relief filled her, chasing away the chill and the last of the fear. Jesse had meant what he said. He wasn’t going to ravish her.

When she hesitated, he pointed to the one closest to her. She walked to it, then sank down on the thick blankets. “How did you know I’d come back?” she asked.

“You didn’t have a choice. You’re a city girl and you wouldn’t survive half a day in these woods, let alone half the night.”

She thought about the unfamiliar smells, sights and sounds and knew that he was right. As long as he kept his word and didn’t try to take her, she would be fine. In a few days she would be in town and this would all be just a bad dream.

He tossed the rest of his coffee into the bushes, then stretched out on his bedroll. “I’m not going to tie your hands,” he said. “If you try to escape in the night, I’ll probably hear you and drag you back. Then I will tie your hands, and your feet, too. You won’t like it.”

“I’m not going to try to escape.” At least not tonight, she thought. Maybe tomorrow, when it was bright and she was rested.

“If I don’t hear you, you’re going to be on your own out there,” he said as if she hadn’t spoken. “There are a lot of hungry critters who would like to have someone just like you for supper.”

“You don’t scare me,” she told him.

“I’m not trying to scare you, I’m telling you the truth.”

She raised herself on one elbow and looked at him. “It doesn’t matter if you try or not, I’m tough. I’ve been on my own since I was twelve. Some backwoods criminal isn’t about to make me do anything I don’t want to do, so don’t even try.”

He raised himself on one elbow, too. “You don’t say.”

“I do say.”

He lifted his eyebrows, then smiled. “Good.”

She’d expected several reactions, but not a smile. Not from him. Not after what they’d been through.

Her first thought was that he was surprisingly handsome, in a rugged kind of way. The second was that he looked kind when he smiled, and he made her want to smile back. Which was ridiculous because the man had kidnapped her. So she stretched out on the bedroll and pulled the blankets over her. The wool smelled of horse and hay and the outdoors. She inhaled the scent and thought it was very nice. Clean and safe smelling.

Logs snapped on the fire. In the distance, something howled a mournful cry. An answering yip filled the night. When there was silence again, Haley turned on her side, toward the fire.

“Jesse?”

“Yes?”

“Tell me about Lucas Stoner.”

He was quiet for so long, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he said, “I thought you knew everything about the man.”

“I know some things. What he told me in his letter and what I figured out for myself. But there’s a lot I don’t know.”

“You know he killed my father.”

She sighed. “I don’t believe that. There has to be some mistake.”

“There’s no mistake.” Jesse’s voice was bitter.

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I don’t blame you. I don’t imagine any bride wants to hear that her fiancé is a murderer.”

“Never mind,” she said and closed her eyes.

She heard Jesse draw in a deep breath. “I can’t tell you about him without telling you what I know he did, but if you ask me something specific, I can probably answer that.”

“Is he handsome?” Haley wasn’t sure where that question came from. She’d never thought of Lucas as being good-looking or not. In her mind, he simply existed. But now that she’d asked, she found she wanted to know.

“I’m a man, Haley. How would I know?”

He had a point. “Is he ugly?”

“I don’t think so. He has a scar on his face, though. That might bother you.”

“A scar? What does it look like?”

“It’s a thin, pale line on the right side of his face, from his cheekbone to about an inch from the corner of his mouth. And before you ask, I don’t know how he got it.”