Debra Cowan - Whirlwind Baby

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.