"I"m in love with you!" She stood and walked toward him, swaying, her lips parted and damp.
"I"m in love with you, Jamie, why do you think I"ve made love with you?
Do you think a secret rendezvous is all right, but you"re afraid of me being here because of my father?"
She had reached him. She started to slip her ams around his neck, but he caught her hands.
"Eliza, I"m not afraid of your father. You should be. He"d send you back east in two seconds if he had the least idea about your trysts."
"He"d make you marry me!"
"No one will ever make me marry anyone."
"You owe me!" She pouted.
"Jamie, I"ve lain with you" -- "Hm. And half of Companies C, D and E,"
he agreed. She freed a hand, ready to slap him. He caught her hand, and for a moment they were very close. Then he saw her smile. Smile like a wanton, with tremendous pleasure. She was looking over his shoulder.
Tess was standing in the doorway. Chaste and beautiful with her golden ringlets piled atop her head, her pure white blouse b.u.t.toned to the throat, her full skirt navy and subdued, her only jewelry a brooch at her throat.
She stood there, very still.
"I was told by a young officer that you wanted to see me here, Lieutenant. I wouldn"t have been so careless as to en85 ter myself, but he pushed open the door, and so here I am, to my great embarra.s.sment.
Good evening, Miss. Worthingham.
Lieutenant, did you send for me?"
"I did not!"
"Then I must offer my apologies. Excuse me." She turned.
"Wait a minute?" Jamie thundered.
Tess ignored him.
Eliza was laughing softly. He caught her and shook her hard.
"You did this!"
"Min. You"ll never get beneath her skirts now, Jamie!" Eliza said happily.
Jamie didn"t reply. He shoved her from him and walked away. He didn"t give a d.a.m.n that he was barefoot or bare chested he was just glad he still had his trousers on. He didn"t know why it was so d.a.m.ned important that he catch Tess, he only knew that it was.
"Tess!"
She was walking away from him, ignoring him. He caught up with her and took hold of her shoulders, swinging her around.
"Tess!"
"What?" She wrenched herself from his hold. He circled her, determined to catch her if she moved.
"I.
called you! Why the h.e.l.l didn"t you stop?" Tess looked at him, wishing she could be half as calm or serene as she was pretending.
She hadn"t suspected a thing. The young soldier had appeared at her door just minutes ago, and he had been very proper, and she had imagined his mission to be a true one. Lieutenant Slater "had requested her presence at his office.
She hadn"t even known that his office and his bedroom were connected.
And she had thought that the summons sounded just like Jamie. He would give her some other trivial order about the next morning. Don"t oversleep, don"t be late, don"t touch anything of mine that I set in your wagon.
And so she had come without a thought. Without a single thought.
She had never imagined what it would feel like to see him in another woman"s arms. It had been awful seeing the brunette worse than naked, draped all over him. Her hair curling over his naked flesh. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s cast against him, his arms locked upon her, the fever between them. She inhaled and exhaled. She wondered if she had heard the words right between them. No one can make me marry anyone. That was what he had said to her. Wasn"t it?
They had been lovers. He had all but admitted it. And maybe they would be again. Maybe he would take Tess to Wiltshire, and he would come back.
Maybe he shouldn"t go to Wiltshire. Because if he did, if they were together, they would become lovers. And maybe he would be just as cool to her. Maybe making love meant nothing at all to him, when the desire within her was something that had never happened before. It was special, unique, precious.
But then again, she couldn"t allow the brunette to win the game. Not this way. She didn"t deserve to win anything this way.
"d.a.m.n you, Tess, will you listen to me?"
"I don"t see what difference it makes, but go ahead." He stared at her hard.
"That was a setup."
She didn"t reply. He caught her shoulders again, pulling her against him.
"I"m telling you, it was a setup!"
She still didn"t reply, and he looked into his eyes and swore suddenly.
"Why the h.e.l.l am I explaining this to you?
Think what you want, Miss. Stuart. To h.e.l.l with you." He left her standing in the street. She heard his angry stride as he started away.
"Lieutenant!" she called. She didn"t turn around until she sensed that he had stopped. Then she turned to meet his eyes.
"I"m very aware that what I just saw was a setup. I"m sorry for Miss.
Worthingham, that she felt it necessary to put 87 on such a show.
Perhaps you might want to provide her with a bit more tenderness or care."
He swore and walked away.
Tess smiled and started to her room. But then her smile faded. It had been a setup, but she had sent him right back to the enemy"s arms.
When she went to bed that night she lay awake in torture, wondering what had happened next. She had advised him to offer tenderness.
Had he done so? Had he slept with the bewitching brunette in his arms, against his heart?
She tossed and turned in wretched anxiety and she very nearly overslept.
If it wasn"t for the timely arrival of Dolly Simmons, she would have done so.
"Up, up, now, Tess, dear! This is the cavalry, you know! Things are done by the dawn here. Lieutenant Slater will want to be on his way!"
Dolly had brought coffee. She slipped a tin mug into Tess"s hands, then, chatting, picked up things in the room.
"What are you wearing, dear, this nice brown cotton? Perfect choice for a hot day on the trail. And just one petticoat-no corset, of course.
You"ll be much more comfortable that way.
Come on, now, Lieutenant Siitter and Jon Red Feather are already out by the wagon." Tess gulped down the coffee and was grateful When Dolly helped her slip into the brown traveling dress she had chosen. Then she frowned, realizing that Dolly was dressed for travel in a mauve suit with a huge, wide-brimmed hat on her head.
"Dolly?"
"I"m coming with you, my dear."
" "You are?"
"Yes. You don"t mind, do you?"
"No, no, I don"t mind. It"s just that ..." She paused. In the outpost, it had almost been possible to forget that yon Heusen offered death.
"Dolly, no one wants to believe me, but it could be very dangerous for you."
"Miss. Stuart!" Dolly drew herself up and looked terribly dignified--and menacing. It would take a hearty soul to go to battle against Miss.
Simmons.
"I have met danger all my life. I have lived in places that would make the ordinary woman"s skin crawl. I have fought Apache, Comanche, Shoshone, Cheyenne and Sioux. I think that I will hold my own wherever I may go." She was quiet for a minute.
"And besides," she added softly.
"I"ve really nothing left here. I"d like to come with you.. I"m a wicked good cook, and I can organize any type of household in a matter of hours."
Tess smiled.
"Dolly, you"re welcome," she a.s.sured her. She finished dressing quickly and stuffed the last of her belongings in a portmanteau. She and Dolly gave the room a last look, then they departed together.
She almost didn"t recognize Jamie when they came to the wagon.
Instead of a uniform he wore a blue denim work shirt and pants and his knee-high boots. His sandy hair fell over his eyes as he cinched the girth on his huge horse, then cast her a quick stare.
"It"s about time."
"It"s barely dawn."
He didn"t reply, but nodded Dolly"s way. He must have known that the older woman had determined on coming, because he didn"t say a word about her appearance. "Get up--I want to get started. Jon and I will take turns driving with you--there"s no reason for you to completely destroy your hands again. And for G.o.d"s sake, keep your gloves on."
"I can manage" -- He caught her arm as she was about to crawl up.
"And don"t tell me that anymore. I know you can manage. It"s ]nst that you can manage better if you listen to me. Got it?" She saluted, gritting her teeth.
"Got it, Lieutenant."
She climbed up and took the reins and Dolly got up beside her. The mules were harnessed, Jon was mounted and two packhorses were tethered to the rear of the wagon. All was ready for their departure.
Colonel Worthingham walked up as they were about to leave.
"Goodbye, Miss. Stuart, good luck."
"Thank you, sir."
"Lieutenant, Red Feather, take care. Remember, we"re here if you need us."
"Thank you, sir!" Jamie wasn"t in uniform, but he saluted smartly. The colonel stepped back.
"Jamie! Jamie, take care!" Eliza ran dramatically from the shadow of the command post. She raced to Jamie"s horse and clutched his hands where they lay casually over the reins.
"Eliza, thank you, I"ll be just fine," he said harshly. "Eliza, come back, dadin". Lieutenant Slater has ridden out again and again. You know he always makes it back." The colonel set his hands on his daughter"s shoulders, drawing her back. Eliza didn"t even glance at Tess, but Tess felt the hostility that rose from her.
She wondered again about what had happened after Jamie had left her last night, and she was infuriated that it should bother her so much, that it should hurt and dig into the very center of her being.
Maybe he would turn around now. Eliza was stunning this morning, her hair ebony against a yellow dress, her eyes huge with anguish. Tess held her breath. Then she realized that Jamie had picked up his reins, that he was shouting to her, telling her they were going.
She called out to the mules. The wagon rumbled forward.
She didn"t look back. She followed Jamie and Jon Red Feather through the open gates of the compound, and she sighed with a soft sound of relief as she heard the gates closing behind her. They were really on their way. Jamie Slater was coming with her. Eliza hadn"t been able to convince him to stay.
About last night. She didn"t know. She just didn"t know. She needed a gun, she reminded herself. She needed a gunman.
It didn"t matter that she wanted the man. If rumor was right, he was one of the fastest guns in the west.
Maybe fortune was beginning to smile upon her just a little.
And maybe, just maybe, she was setting herself up for the heartbreak of a lifetime.
She couldn"t think, and she couldn"t worry. He was with her, and they were on their way, and for now, that just had to be enough.