Matthias stood straighter. “She has a gift for drawing people to her.”
“Her cooking is making her famous. A couple of miners nearly got into a scuffle over the last piece of her pumpkin bread.” Holden grinned. “Three have already asked for her hand in marriage.”
Matthias ground his teeth and clenched his fingers. “She’s not
that
single.”
“Last I heard you two didn’t say any vows.”
Matthias was half tempted to wipe the smirk off the other man’s face. “Yet.”
“You better get on the stick. Single women just don’t stay single long.”
Matthias watched the rancher, Rawlings Collier was his name, walk up to Abby. He looked to be complimenting Abby on her cooking but Matthias knew food wasn’t on the man’s mind. The man was a known drinker and his livestock were poorly managed. “I think I’ll ask her for a dance.”
“’Fraid you’re too late,” Holden said, laughing. “Rawlings is guiding her out to the clearing where the others are dancing.”
What the hell was he thinking bringing Abby to town? Matthias wondered. He watched as Collier danced with Abby. The man held her too damn close. He told himself he could be patient.
Abby’s clear laughter rang out. She was trying to show the rancher a dance step. Collier was tram
pling all over her toes and Matthias didn’t like the way his hand eased down Abby’s back.
“Holden,” Matthias said. “Is the minister in town today?”
“Sure is.”
“Find him. I’ll have a job for you before the day is out.”
Holden chuckled. “Consider it done.”
Mrs. Clements glided up to Matthias. “Our Abby looks like she’s having a wonderful time. What’s this, her third or fourth dance?”
“Fifth.”
Mrs. Clements bit back a smile. “But who’s counting, right?”
“Exactly.”
“And have you seen the line of men over there waiting to dance with her?” Holden said.
Frowning, Matthias followed the direction of his gaze. “What!”
“Over there by the large cottonwood tree. I hear they are drawing straws so that it’s fair.”
He’d been so intent on watching Abby that he’d not noticed the collection of men by the tree. As Mrs. Clements had said, one held out his fist, which was filled with a handful of sticks. A rancher pulled out a stick and when he saw it was long, cheered.
The rancher turned the straw back in and walked to the back of a line now seven men deep.
That did it.
Matthias strode across the grassy field toward Abby. Collier had snaked his hand another couple of inches down her back. Dressed in faded denims and a clean gray work shirt buttoned up to his throat, he stood an inch shorter than Abby. He smelled of hair grease and bay rum.
Matthias bit back the murderous urge and managed a smile that looked a little like a snarl. “Abby, care to take a break?”
She glanced up at Matthias, her eyes a mixture of relief and worry. “That sounds lovely.”
Collier held tight to Abby. “We just started dancing.”
Matthias clamped a strong hand on Collier’s shoulder. “You don’t mind if the lady takes a break, do you?”
Collier frowned, stopping so suddenly he trampled on Abby’s toe. “As a matter of fact I do mind.”
Matthias squeezed as his gaze bore into the man.
Collier tried to wrestle his shoulder free but Matthias held tight. The man grimaced. “All right. But the next dance is mine.”
Matthias grinned. “Sure,
pal.
But take your time. Have some punch. Maybe a cookie or two.”
Collier glared at Matthias as he moved toward the saloon.
“You could have at least let the man finish his dance,” Abby said.
Matthias took Abby’s hand in his. The warmth of her skin felt good. “He was finished, he just didn’t know it.” He guided her toward the food table where he poured her a glass of water.
Her fingers brushed his as she took the cool glass. Grateful for the water, she drank it all down. “I’ve been craving water for the last hour but every time I went to get a cup someone else was asking me for a dance.” She refilled her glass and drank more. “I’ve not danced like that in years and was having so much fun I didn’t know how to say no.”
He noted the rise and fall of her chest, the gentle curve of her neck, and the bead of perspiration on her forehead. These last few days, he’d worked harder than he ever had, hoping fatigue would dull his senses enough so that he didn’t want to touch her. It hadn’t worked. “You looked like you knew what you were doing out there.”
“My parents loved music and dance. They both were quite good.”
Damn, small talk had never been his strong suit, but he knew women liked it. And if he were going
to win Abby he’d have to woo her properly. “How about we take a walk. I don’t think you’ve had a proper tour of the town.”
She glanced at the collection of eight buildings. Her eyes danced with amusement.
He laughed, pressing his hand into the small of her back. “All right, I’ll admit it won’t take long, but I thought you’d like to stretch your legs and get away from the line of dancers that are waiting for their turn with you.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “There’s a
line
of men waiting to dance with me?”
The glee in her voice grated. “Looks to be about a dozen at this point.”
She grinned, satisfied. “My, my. I’ve never had a line of men waiting for me before. It’s rather refreshing.”
He guided her toward the mercantile. “Refreshing.”
Her eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief. She really was enjoying herself. “I really shouldn’t disappoint them. They seemed to be waiting so patiently.”
If another man put his hands on her he’d break. “They can keep waiting. Right now you are all mine.”
And he knew exactly what he wanted to do with her.
A
warm glow spread over Abby as she stared up at Mr. Barrington. It would be so easy to love this prideful, strong man. She swallowed and pulled her hand out of his. “I really do think we better get back to the party.”
His eyes narrowed. “What’s the rush?” Frustration made his voice sound more like a growl.
“You are a dangerous man, Mr. Barrington.”
His eyes narrowed. “And that’s bad?”
She tipped her head back, willing her emotions to remain in check. “Very.”
“Why?” His voice sounded angry, defensive.
“Because you are the very kind of man that I could love. You are honest, direct and there’s no denying that you adore your children.”
Her honesty disarmed him. “Then what’s the problem? Stay with me.”
“You’ll break my heart,” she whispered.
He rubbed his chin. “Abby, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You’re talking again about that nitwit Douglas.”
“At the time I loved him with my whole heart. I gave all of myself to a man who could never love me. I can’t do that again.”
He snorted. “You didn’t give him everything, Abby. You were a virgin when we made love.”
Made love. She liked the way he said that. “I wanted to sleep with him. I would have if we’d not been discovered.”
“But you didn’t. Because deep in your heart you knew it wasn’t right, otherwise you’d have found a more private place to be with that twit. You’re a smart woman. Your instincts are good.”
“So my instincts are telling me that I should love you?”
“Exactly. Your instincts are just waiting for your brain to catch up.”
She lifted her chin. He was so close to her right now she had only to lean forward and she could kiss him. “But your heart will always be with Elise.” He frowned, ready to rebut, but she raised
her hand to silence him. “Don’t misunderstand. I will always admire that. You truly loved your wife. She was lucky to have had you love her. But no matter what my feelings, I fear that I would always be second to her.”
He straightened his shoulders. “I will admit that a part of me died with her. But I’m not the same man I was when I met her.” Scowling, he drew in a ragged breath. “I’ve learned there’s more to marriage than love.”
“Honest to a fault,” she said grimly.
“Yes, I am. I’ll never lie to you, Abby.”
“I know.”
She looked into his blue eyes. Right now he was as handsome as any man she’d ever seen. His black hair skimmed the tops of his open collar, which revealed dark chest hair that curled up from deeply tanned skin. His lips were set in a grim line, yet she remembered how soft they’d felt when pressed against her naked breasts. “I wish you could love me.”
Before he could respond gunfire sounded. A scream echoed from the other side of town.
Mr. Barrington tensed instantly. “Stay here,” he ordered.
“The boys!” Abby said.
“I’ll get the boys. Stay.”
Wild horses couldn’t have kept her in her place.
He started running toward the party. And Abby was right behind him, running with her skirts hiked up. When they reached the picnic, her side ached from running and wisps of hair had fallen from her chignon.
A crowd had gathered into a semicircle. The fiddle player had stopped and no one was talking or laughing. Mothers kept their children close and the men stood angry and defiant. Most of them had left their guns in their wagons, in respect of the family gathering.
Abby searched for the boys but didn’t see them anywhere. Fear ripped through her body and she ran along the ring of people looking for them. Finally, she found them on the front row, just feet from Collier. She ran to the boys. The instant they saw her they broke away and ran to her. She hugged them close. Fear jockeyed with relief. “Are you two all right?”
“Yes!” Quinn said. “He shot the mama dog.”
Tommy burrowed his face in her bosom. Abby tightened her hold around his quaking body. All her men were safe and she doubted she’d ever been more grateful than now.
Abby took her first look at the shooter. It was
Collier. At his feet lay the mother dog that the boys had played with earlier.
Collier’s crystal-blue eyes possessed a wild, dangerous look that made her skin itch. She remembered his sweaty hands on her body and how he had pulled her against him so that she could feel his arousal. She shuddered.
Holden, who’d been at the livery, ran toward the crowd, his hand on his gun. He pushed through the people to stand beside Mr. Barrington. All traces of the friendly man she’d known had vanished. He looked almost as savage as Mr. Barrington.
She glanced up at Mr. Barrington, but he wasn’t looking at her or the boys. His gaze was trained on Collier.
“Best you leave,” Mr. Barrington ordered.
“Miss Smyth owes me another dance.”
“She’s not dancing with you,” Mr. Barrington growled.
Laughter cackled in Collier’s throat as he stared at Mr. Barrington. “What claim do you have to her? None. But I’m willing to marry her here and now.” To emphasize his point he fired into the air twice.
Mr. Barrington and Holden drew their guns so quickly Abby only saw the flash of sunlight glint
off their barrels. Mr. Barrington fired. The bullet struck Collier’s gun, knocking it from his hand.
A woman screamed. The crowd scooted back.
Abby flinched.
Collier’s gaze darted between the two men. He inspected his shooting hand before he flexed his fingers slowly.
“Ain’t I entitled to have a good time like the next guy?” Collier said. He snatched up a cookie from the table and took a bite out of it. Crumbs peppered the thick black stubble on his chin.
“Leave,” Mr. Barrington said in an icy tone.
Abby sensed if there weren’t women and children around, Mr. Barrington would have shot Collier.
Collier tossed the cookie on the ground. Instead of leaving, he leveled his gaze on Abby. “She owes me a dance.”
Abby could feel her knees shaking even as she squared her shoulders. “I’ll never dance with you, Mr. Collier.”
Mr. Barrington stiffened, a sure sign he didn’t want her speaking.
“Ain’t I good enough for you, Miss High and Mighty?”
Abby opened her mouth to tell him just what she
thought of him, but Mr. Barrington shot her a look that told her to be quiet.
Chuckling, Collier dropped his gaze to the boys. “Is those your boys, Barrington? They sure are growing like weeds.”
“Leave,” Barrington growled.
Abby tugged the boys behind her skirts. “They are my boys and I’d thank you to look away from them. You’re scaring them.”
Quinn peeked around Abby’s skirts. Collier scrunched up his face. He shouted, “Boo!”
The boy squeaked and buried his face in Abby’s skirt.
Mr. Barrington cocked his gun. “Five more seconds and you die, Collier.”
Collier held up his hands as if surrendering. “I was just making conversation.” Carefully, he backed away and moved toward his horse, a black gelding with whip marks on his haunch. Collier swung his body up into the saddle. “They is your boys, isn’t they Barrington. They got their ma’s blue eyes. Elise was her name, wasn’t it? My, but she was a pretty little thing.” He let his gaze roam the length of Abby’s body. “She ain’t as pretty, but I wouldn’t toss her out of my bed if she climbed into it.”
Mr. Barrington fired his gun through the center
of Collier’s hat. The hat fell off his head. A murmur of excitement rippled through the crowd.
Collier seemed unfazed. “You always was a good shot. But I’m better.” He glanced down at his hat, poking his finger in the hole. “Maybe next time we’ll get a chance to figure out who’s best.”
Mr. Barrington cocked his gun and this time aimed it at Collier’s head.
Collier jabbed his spurs into his mount’s side and rode off, kicking up dust on the food table as he left.
Only after Collier had cleared the end of town did the others begin to talk. Nervous laughter rippled over the crowd, but Mr. Barrington remained rigid. There was a feral edge about him that was both frightening and alluring. The beast barely reined in for society.
Mr. Barrington didn’t relax his stance until Collier was out of sight.
Abby felt a ripple of excitement as she stared at Mr. Barrington’s back. She’d never seen anyone so brave. Just the sight of him excited her beyond reason.
She let out a sigh. He didn’t love her, likely never would. But she’d never wanted a man more than she wanted him.
Rage pumped through Matthias’s veins as the crowd of townspeople smacked him on the back and thanked him. He’d worked hard these last six years to restrain the savage side of himself, but today it had nearly wrestled free of its chains.
When Collier had looked at Abby, he’d wanted to murder the bastard. And he’d have done just that if there’d not been so many children around to witness the violence.
Now that Collier had left, the homesteaders and townspeople started to talk. Their nervous chatter buzzed around his head. Several congratulated him but he was in no mood for niceties. Everyone quickly got the hint and started to back away from him.
Which suited him just fine.
Abby moved toward him with Tommy on her hip, Quinn holding her hand. Tommy had his head on her shoulder and was sucking his thumb. He noted how comfortably the boy fit on her very sumptuous hips. Her full lips were curved into a frown.
Need coursed in his veins and if he had his way he’d have dragged her to the first bed he could find and have her. They’d not see daylight for days.
What the hell was wrong with him? He was acting like an animal.
Matthias shoved a shaky hand through his hair. Life had taught him patience, and he desperately clung to each and every lesson he’d learned the hard way.
“I thought I told you to stay back. Stay out of sight.” A portion of his pent-up rage tumbled out with the words.
Abby didn’t flinch. “That man made me so angry I couldn’t stay quiet.”
His hand still on his gun, he fingered the smooth wood of the handle. “A woman out here needs to be careful. The polite rules of society don’t apply here. His kind would think nothing of dragging you behind a building and—” He stopped when she cupped her hand over Tommy’s ear. “You need to understand the dangers.”
“I’ve an idea.”
“You’ve no idea.”
Fire flashed in her eyes and for a moment he thought she’d argue. “I’m not a schoolgirl, and I can assure you that even the city has its share of evil men.”
A part of him hoped she would fight with him. He wanted to fight. Wanted to dispel the excess energy.
“Hey, Matthias,” Holden said. “I’m going to take the dog out behind the barn.”
Matthias tore his gaze from Abby. He looked down at the dog that lay in the dirt. What a waste.
“I’ll take her,” he said.
Just then the dog whimpered and Quinn squirmed his hand out of Abby’s. “Abby, the dog isn’t dead.”
Tommy wiggled out of her arms and followed his brother.
Abby followed the boys. “Boys, stay back. The dog is injured and will bite if you get close.”
Holden knelt next to the animal. “She’s not doing too well.”
“We don’t want to hurt her,” Quinn said.
Abby knelt next to the dog. Gently, she rubbed its head. The dog opened its eyes for a moment then closed them again. “But she doesn’t know that. She only knows that she hurts and that she’s scared.”
“I’ll take her away,” Holden said, his voice grave. “No sense in letting it suffer.”
Matthias nodded.
For the boys’ sake, both men were careful not to say that they planned to shoot the animal to take it out of its misery.
Abby read the intent in his eyes. “Can’t we try and save it?” she whispered.
Quinn looked up at his father, his eyes filled with tears. “Can’t we save her?”
Matthias rubbed his hand on the dog’s head. The dog lifted her head and licked his hand. Damn, but he felt helpless. “I don’t know what to do for her, son.”
Abby smoothed her hands over the dog’s body. She lay still until Abby touched her back haunch. “Let me have a look at her.”
Matthias would have argued if not for the look of hope in his sons’ eyes. Feeling like he owed it to the boys to try, he gingerly lifted the dog and rolled it over. The dog yelped and growled but didn’t snap.
Abby studied the dog’s leg. “Her leg is broken. There’s no doubt about that. But I don’t see any other injuries. Collier shot at the dog but he may not have hit it.”
“A broken leg is fixable.”
Matthias tapped his finger against his knee. “I’ve set broken legs before.”
“The dog will have to take it easy for a couple of months,” Abby said. “Mrs. Clements has been feeding her and her pups scraps for weeks. She’ll look after her.”
Matthias nodded. He still had his doubts. This was a hard land and the weak didn’t survive, but for now he was willing to give it a try. “Let’s get
her over to the livery. We can set the leg there and then find a quiet spot where she could rest.”
He lifted the dog again and headed toward the barn, with Abby and the boys on his heels. The inside of the barn was cool and shaded and he carried the dog to a soft pile of hay.
Abby found two large sticks outside the barn and hurried toward him. “This should do.” She knelt down and tore a strip of her petticoat off. “And you can tie them with this.”
He accepted the strips. “You boys stand back. I’ve got to set the dog’s leg and she’s not going to like it one bit.”
“Is it gonna hurt?” Tommy said.
“Yes it is, son.”
Tommy popped his thumb in his mouth and held on to Abby’s skirt. The boy had grown so attached to her.
Matthias ran his hand over the dog’s leg. He could feel the break in the thigh. It felt clean, but there was just no telling. “Abby, hold the dog’s head.”
Without a word, she positioned herself at the dog’s head and gently wrapped her hands around its snout. “Ready.”
He spoke soothingly to the dog and then without warning snapped the bone in place. The dog jerked.
The boys screamed. Abby steady, never loosening her hold once.