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  He leaped up on Thunder’s back, bringing him close to Emma and Pearl.

  “I believe we need to ride a bit, Mrs. Suede. We have a few matters to work through.”

  “I believe we do, Mr. Suede.”

  Emma urged her horse to take the lead, but Pearl, being a proper female, seemed happy to trail along after Thunder.

  * * *

  They had ridden well away from the dugout and still Matt hadn’t spoken a single word. Hopefully, he wouldn’t. It would be ever so easy if he kept quiet while she convinced him that he and his child should return to town while she remained here.

  “I’m sure, since you have nothing to say, you’ve come to see that the only fitting thing is for you and Lucy to go home to Dodge. You can tell the marshal that I turned out to be as foul tempered as the number two-rooster in the barnyard.” Since she was not well acquainted with the man, he couldn’t say otherwise.

  “I could tell him that.”

  Was that a grin playing at the corners of his mouth? “You could tell him that Lucy didn’t take to me.”

  “Now, that would be a lie.”

  “If you’re going to tell one, you might as well tell two.”

  Matt barked out a laugh.

  “I’m not much for lying.” He reined Thunder to a stop, then leaned forward in the saddle with his elbow resting on the horn. “And I do keep my vows.”

  “You can rob all the banks you’ve a mind to, if it will keep your friend happy, but go away and leave me in peace.”

  All of a sudden it felt as if bees buzzed inside her. She didn’t want to say anything cruel to him—after all, he’d made her dream come true, or what there was of it. She swung off the saddle. A good stroll over her land should calm her down.

  Imagine him believing that she had the temper of a second rooster! She’d taken only two steps when she heard the click of a gun’s hammer.

  “Get back in the saddle…now.” His voice had become as hard as the metal he gripped in his fist. “Don’t argue, just do it.”

  She took another step away from Pearl. “Why you low-down w—”

  The mouth of the gun flashed orange. A puff of earth exploded near her foot. The blast sent Pearl on a run back over the creek.

  Emma felt a scream gathering in her throat, but she turned it into a foul word.

  “Rattlers sometimes travel in pairs.” He scooted back in the saddle as far as he could. “If I were you I’d climb up here on Thunder.”

  She glanced down. Lordy! Only the fact that Matt had shot the viper’s head off had kept her from stepping on it. It took only a second for her to reach Thunder’s side and lift a trembling hand to Matt. He pulled her up into the saddle ahead of him, then turned the horse to follow the river, south, away from the homestead.

  “Darlin’, you just might be the death of me. Let me have a look at your shoes.”

  Since he seemed so determined that they were truly married, she yanked her skirt nearly to her knee. She turned the shoe, one half of her prettiest pair, this way and that.

  “Any woman who goes homesteading in dancing slippers needs to be watched out for.”

  The nerve of him, pointing out the error of her footwear! She’d put them on only because she had been thinking of the way she and Matt had fit together so easily under that canvas last night.

  “What kind of a man brings a little girl to a place where snakes look the same as the dirt?”

  “Lucy just turned four years old, but she’s known how to keep clear of snakes since she hit the ground walking.”

  Holding on to a temper against someone who had just saved her life proved purely difficult.

  “I don’t know why it is, Matt, but every now and then you bring out the pickle in me.” Why was that? Most of her life she’d been the soul of kindness to nearly everyone she’d met. “Well, once again I’m sorry I called you that name.”

  “Wasn’t such a bad name, considering I’d just fired a gun at your feet for no good reason that you knew of.” His words rustled the top of her hair when he spoke. The hard, shifting muscles of his chest grazed her back with each clip-clop of Thunder’s hooves.

  If she let herself believe that they were truly wed, there would be some things about marriage that she would like to explore. Things to do with the fact that Matt’s abdomen was no longer flat where her backside rocked against him to the sway of the horse’s stride.

  In the past, she’d tried not to wonder about such things. When they popped into her mind she dismissed them by focusing her thoughts on some task that needed doing. It didn’t take long to learn that curiosity had a will of its own.

  Now that she was a married woman, it might not hurt to let her imagination dwell on Matt’s anatomy. Especially that part that had suddenly sprung to life behind her.

  The problem with letting her mind roam free was that it did some troubling things to her body. She had to wiggle in the saddle to ease the strange twisting in her belly.

  All at once Matt slipped off Thunder’s back to walk alongside the horse. He’d turned quiet again, but it was easy to see that thoughts ran wild in his mind. Maybe the stirrings going on between them reminded him of Lucy’s mother.

  It shouldn’t trouble Emma to be the second wife. Indeed, yesterday afternoon she’d have been happy to be anyone’s tenth.

  “Matt…what was your first wife like?”

  “You’d be the one to know that, darlin’.” He glanced up at her with his hat shading his face. She’d been a fool to leave her bonnet behind with the sun beating down, even as early as it was. “Until you came upon me in the livery, I’d never given matrimony more than a passing thought.”

  Matt led Thunder to the creek and let his reins fall free. He gave Emma a hand down from the horse.

  “Let’s sit here for a spell. There are some things you need to know about the boys and me.”

  Emma sat down beside the water. This July morning was a blister. She took off her shoes, rolled off her stockings, then hiked up her skirt to her knees. If this talk was leading to her sharing her homestead, she’d need cool water on her feet to put out her temper. It would be a humiliation to have to apologize a third time for calling her husband an ugly name.

  “The water’s as cool as can be.” Emma scooped up a handful and let it run over her face and down her neck. “Take off those boots and see.”

  He followed her example, even to the scoop of water, then he took off his hat and put it on her head. He might have scolded her about forgetting something so important, but he only tugged the brim down so that her eyes were shaded against the glare of the sun on the water.

  “When I was a kid, Emma, I was as wild as they come. Wasn’t a soul in town would bet a quarter that I’d grow to be a man. Just in time, I found out life was a fine thing and I wanted to live as much of it as I could.

  “During those years I had a friend. No…he was more like a brother. Utah’s the one who made me give a lick for myself. He convinced me to put away my quick guns and take up with him on the roundups. Jesse, Utah, Cousin Billy and I all signed up to cowboy Pendragon’s herds, and some others around Dodge.

  “It was a fine life, the four of us so young and full of adventure. One day, Utah went sweet on a gal from town. I think all of us went sweet on her. But Utah’s the one who married her. She died the next year giving birth to Lucy. After a time, Mrs. Conner over at the boardinghouse minded Lucy while Utah went back to herding cows with Billy, Jesse and me.

  “It wasn’t like old times, though. We’d all grown up over the pain. Then it wasn’t six months later that we lost Utah, too.”

  Tears itched at the back of Emma’s eyes. Matt’s face looked full of sorrow, as if he had gone back to those days and the old pain had turned fresh again.

  “We were rounding up one afternoon. Utah was on the far side of the herd from the rest of us. He was talking to little Lenore, Pendragon’s twelve-year-old daughter. He thought she’d be more comfortable with a blanket under her saddle. That’s
how Utah was, always looking out for others. Well, he tied that red blanket, but it came loose sometime later and was dragging on the ground behind her. For some reason, that spooked the cattle and they started running. Little Lenore saw what was happening and reached around to tie the blanket behind her. She lost her balance and fell off with the cows coming right at her. We couldn’t get across to her, but Utah was already on that side of the herd.

  “He called out for her to stay still. He got to her in time, but the cinch on his saddle gave under the weight of lifting her. Lenore’s horse, not being properly trained for cattle work, had run off. By then Utah’s horse was too skittish to recall his training and took off after the other horse. That left the pair of them standing in the way of the panicked herd with no way to escape.

  “Billy and I were halfway through the herd when Utah picked up the blanket and headed off across the prairie. Somehow he managed to turn the stampede away from Lenore. He saved her life, but there was nothing left for Utah but to turn and face the cattle. His six-gun rang out. We all heard five shots. The leading steer went down and the one after, but we couldn’t get to Utah until it was too late.”

  Emma wanted to say how sorry she was, but mere words seemed so pitiful. She reached out and covered his hand where he fingered little circles in the water sliding by. He glanced sideways and seemed surprised, but he slipped his calloused fingers through hers and squeezed them.

  “The three of us made it over to him before he passed. He asked me to take Lucy as my own and bring her up right. I made a vow as though I was doing something for Utah, but the truth is that raising his little girl became a blessing.

  “It’s for Lucy that The Ghost robs the bank. Pendragon never felt responsible for providing for her, even though Utah died to rescue his own Lenore. If there’s one thing that man values, it’s a dollar.”

  Emma remembered the careless dropping of ashes on the sidewalk and how they had dirtied the hem of her dress. The smug set of his face when he had stepped out of the land office had confirmed that he had high regard for his own position. Apparently no one else mattered. Her original dislike of him was now confirmed.

  “As I see it, Matt, The Ghost is only taking what is Lucy’s due without a bit of crime involved.” What a relief to know that she hadn’t hitched up with a villain. “I’m proud to know The Ghost.”

  “If that’s the case, there are four of us to be proud to know. My cousin, Billy, sets things up with the costume and such, and Jesse provides a horse then hides it while I get out of my disguise. Young Red does his part well away from the actual crime. He keeps the rumors flying about The Ghost.”

  And a very good job he did. Emma couldn’t help a quiet laugh when she remembered Red’s sincerity while he told her to watch for The Ghost.

  “I’ll keep your secret.” Emma laughed again and splashed up some water with her toes.

  All of a sudden Matt grabbed her by the shoulders and pressed her back against the bank. He rolled on top of her and kissed her. The world seemed to drift away while his mouth moved over hers, just the way it had done during their wedding vows.

  Nothing existed but the nuzzle of Matt’s lips, firm and prickly on top, since he needed a shave. The world narrowed to the scent of his skin. The weight of his body, sprawled on top of her, twisted and tickled her belly way down low. She wished he would touch her in places she had never been touched. Was it a sin to become one flesh in a marriage that would last only a day?

  “Darlin’.” Matt lifted his head enough to gaze down at her. “I told you before, I keep my vows. Those we took before Mrs. Sizeloff were as binding as any I’ve ever made.”

  Emma figured he was probably lying on top of her so she wouldn’t have the air to speak, but somehow she didn’t mind that, just now.

  “You are my wife in every way I ever heard of but one. Now, I’d like to make you come back to town with me…hold on, before you call me a mean name, just hear me out. Coming back to town would be the sensible thing, but I know you’re set on putting down roots out here.”

  His brown eyes warmed to amber. Lordy, if she wasn’t about to melt away into the creek!

  “Would you be willing to stay married to me until summer’s end? We’d live here with Lucy, Red and Billy instead of in town. That way, I’d be safe from the marshal and you won’t be out here alone. Before autumn we’ll ride on out of your life like we were never there.”

  “Why would I want to take on the care of grown men?”

  “Because you wouldn’t last the week out here by yourself. Like as not, you’ll be snakebit by nightfall. As for the grown men, cattle aren’t all we know. We’ll build you a house, Emma, and a barn for Pearl.”

  Emma bit her bottom lip trying to ground herself. A woman could forget to breathe if she gazed into those golden-amber eyes long enough.

  “A proper house out of wood?”

  “I took a vow to keep and protect you. That house will see to it once I’ve gone.”

  A woman never did know when a venomous snake might slither into sight, and Matt did offer a fair trade.

  “I believe you’ve got yourself a bargain. Now let me up before summer’s over and nothing gets done.”

  And before she could dwell on the sudden hitch in her heart. The man was a temptation she would struggle with. The last thing she wanted was to finally have a home of her own, only to pine away for the man who had built it.

  Chapter Four

  From a block away Matt heard the crack of a hammer slamming against wood. The echo seemed to wrap around his neck and knot the breath in his throat.

  He’d purposely taken the long way to the dry goods store so that Emma and Lucy wouldn’t see the gallows that had been erected overnight. He’d seen this kind of thing happen often enough to know that the distant hammering was a coffin being built. Some poor soul was gazing through the jail bars, looking at his last afternoon.

  If it hadn’t been for Emma’s quick thinking yesterday, there might have been a double hanging. Matt’s employer would have purchased his own justice as quick as a lick.

  Pendragon figured that in Dodge, money powered the gavel, and he knew how to spend his cash.

  Just when he was about to usher Emma and Lucy into the general store, the marshal stepped out of the Long Branch one door up. He gave Matt a sizing up that made him wonder if he’d shouted those thoughts about getting hanged.

  “‘Rath and Wright, Dealers in Everything.’” Emma read the sign over the door, then snapped her parasol closed. “Do you suppose they have something cheerful to cover the dugout walls?”

  “They have candy.” Lucy tugged on Emma’s skirt and looked up at her with hopeful eyes. “Can I have some? Please, Mama?”

  The marshal seemed too interested in what went on between the three of them. If Emma declared that she wasn’t Lucy’s mother, he might get more suspicious than he already was.

  Emma glanced at Lucy and opened her mouth to say something, but she must have caught sight of the lawman, because she pinched her mouth closed.

  She patted Lucy’s head and smiled lovingly at her.

  “You go on along inside and pick out what you want. Papa and I will be along shortly.”

  “Sugar lump,” Emma said with a sigh as soon as Lucy was out of sight. She swaggered up to Matt, so close that her calico-clad bosom brushed his buckskin vest. She stood up on her toes. Her fingertips traced curly hearts on his shirtsleeve. She whispered in his ear, but the secret was loud enough for the marshal to overhear.

  “You know how long I’ve dreamed of being mama to that little girl, but I’ll purely die if we can’t sneak away by ourselves for the rest of the afternoon.”

  Emma’s teeth nipped his earlobe. Heat flashed up and down his body. He turned his face. The long kiss that he sipped from her lips felt too hot to have been for the marshal’s benefit alone.

  She knocked back his hat and feathered his hair through her fingers from scalp to collar, all the while keeping up with his kiss. Sh
e didn’t take a breath until he heard the marshal’s boots stomp down the boardwalk.

  At last she let loose of him, sliding down until her boot heels clicked on the sidewalk. Her lashes lay like sable against her pink cheeks. Her chest heaved as if she had just danced the length of Front Street.

  All at once she shook herself and opened her eyes. She spun about and followed the path that Lucy had taken.

  “Surely there’s something inside to cover up that dirt on the dugout floor.”

  The hell with the dugout floor! How could she be thinking of coverings after the moment they’d just shared?

  It might have begun for the benefit of the marshal, but that’s not how it had ended. He could hardly walk a straight line into Rath and Wright’s with all the goings-on beneath his jeans.

  By the time Matt’s eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the store, his insides had settled enough to focus on the reason they had come to town. Shopping was no more than a chore to him, but Emma and Lucy looked happy as butterflies in a meadow.

  For a woman who spurned mothering, Emma appeared to take right to it. She kept hold of Lucy’s plump hand while she pointed out this and that object of purchase.

  Lucy wanted ribbon for her hair. Emma pulled three colors from the shelf. She knelt on the floor, eye to eye with the child.

  “I think pink is your color.” Emma dangled a length of pink beside Lucy’s face. “Which one do you like on me Lucy, yellow or blue?”

  His little girl sparkled. She had been asking for a mother since she’d learned to talk. There were some things that a pa couldn’t do as well as a ma. He was of no use at all picking out frilly notions.

  His heart took a warm turn but came up short when he thought about California. Lucy would become attached to Emma over the summer. The inevitable separation might break her heart.

  “It’s only been a day, but already the three of you look like a family. More the glory to God.”