Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) (25 page)

“Absolutely not.” Genie instantly raised a hand. “My Jim was it for me. I won’t think of sullying what we had by chasing after another man.”

“Well, what if another man was to chase after you?”

“Now that,” Genie allowed with a twinkling smile, “would be entirely different.”

*     *     *

It took an immense amount of effort but eventually Kirsten and her mother managed to dump the unconscious Craig Langston onto Kirsten’s bed. Paul Christenson had successfully delivered him to their backdoor from Schooner’s saloon and the bachelor’s party. Dr. Rowe had recommended a few drops of laudanum, so she and her mother had
instructed Paul to use
half the bottle
on Craig
. That, combined with a couple of drinks at his bachelor party had proved more than adequate in sedating the large heavy man. It took a full forty-five minutes for the women to wrestle him free of his clothes and he didn’t stir once.

Everything was going perfectly to plan.

“All right,” Molly wiped her brow, letti
ng a wicked grin split her face.
“I’ll make sure your father finds him early. With any luck you’ll be married by noon.”

Kirsten could practically hear the chinking of money as she crawled into bed with her victim. Tomorrow at this time she would be Mrs. Craig Langston, a dream come true.

*     *     *

Light forced its way through Craig’s closed eyelids and into the hazed consciousness of his brain. He wanted to groan but it would take far too much effort. God, he felt as though he’d been run over by a wagon and at least four horses. It must have been one hell of a party. Too bad he couldn’t remember it.

Why couldn’t he remember it?

Craig had never been one to over indulge or
have trouble holding his liquor,
but Christ, he couldn’t even remember coming home last night, or even leaving the saloon.

Snuggling closer to the warm figure encircled in his arms he wondered fleetingly why he was with Marissa since they wouldn’t be married publicly until that afternoon. Oh well, it felt good to be with her, and
—

Click-click
.

The unmistakable and ominous sound of a shotgun racking shells was enough to sober even the worst of hangovers. Craig leaped out of the bed staring in no small measure of disbelief at Kirsten Jamison reclining on silken sheets of....
her bed?

How could it be?

He snapped his gaze from Kirsten to her father, Mike Jamison,
aiming a double-barreled shotgun right at his naked belly.

“What t
he hell!” Stumbling backward, Craig snatched his trousers
off the floor and turned a harried eye to the door where Mike Jamison
kept
his shotgun at the ready. “What is going on here? Where am I?”

“On your way to the altar it would seem.”

“
No. Hold for just a moment.
” Craig held up h
is hands in a defensive gesture.
“I swear to God I didn’t touch your daughter.”
He gulped back a pit of unease.
Or did I?
No. He banished the thought as quickly as it came.
H
e couldn’t have, there is no way he’d been able to stand last night much less do that… with
her
.

Mike Jamison spluttered, entirely beyond words and held the gun steady as Craig
hastily hauled up his trousers and yanked
on his boots.

Contemplating the best course of action, Craig scooped up his shirt and vest, and cast a harried glance about the room. Jamison stole a murderous glare at his daughter and Craig made a break for the door.

Jamison jabbed the shotgun into his chest. “No you don’t, you son of a bitch! I find you in my daughter’s bed, her
bed
, and you dare to deny that you touched her?”

Craig held his hands out again, silently willing the man not to shoot. Kirsten’s mother stood behind the door looking like a cat with cream. “You!” he accused, glaring from mother to daughter
. Kirsten
sat weeping loudly on her bed, a sheet pulled up to her quivering chin. “You two! You set me up.”

“Set you up?” Mike raged. “You set yourself up and now you’re going to pay the price. Charles!” He bellowed for their
servant
. “Fetch the reverend. He has a wedding to perform.”

“No!” Craig shouted.

“What do you mean, no? You debauched my daughter and now you’re going to make it right.”

“First of all I did not ‘debauch’ your daughter and second of all, I’m already married.”

“
Pah
! You’re not getting married until this afternoon!”

Craig gulped as the older man’s stubby finger caressed a trigger. “I was married a week ago by the justice of the peace.”

A moment of stunned silence settled over the room. No one moved or even dared to breathe. Even Kirsten’s pathetic wails choked off in an outraged gasp. “No!” she cried. “You can’t have been!”

Craig took full advantage of the moment and flung himself toward the door. He nearly collided with half a dozen Jamison servants rushing around the upper level of the house, but he didn’t care. This was a matter of survival. Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, he saw Jamison in hot pursuit.

The first barrel of shot went wide
,
and
white plaster flew through the air
as Craig turned to leap down the stairs, two or three at a time.

“Daddy, no!” A voice screamed from the top of the stairs. “
Don’t kill him.”

The door was
one mere stride away when the gun exploded for a second time. The buckshot splatt
ered against the door. I
nstinctively he ducked, at the same time jerking the massive portal open. Dashing into the morning sun, he broke into a full out sprint. The blood rushed and pounded in his ears, making Mike Jamison’s outraged shouts blessedly unintelligible as he put distance between them.

More than a few heads turned as a disheveled Dr. Langston raced shirtless run. Rumors of impropriety soared.

Craig’s lungs were on fire. He couldn’t maintain this pace for another second. Casting a fleeting glimpse over his shoulder he assured himself that Mike Jamison was no longer behind him. “Jesus Christ,” he wheezed, ducking into a deserted alley and resting his hands on his knees. Leaning against the brick wall of a building he wiped the sweat from his face with the palm of his hand. What had happened the night before?

He was certain he hadn’t done anything with Kirsten. It reeked of entrapment. That was the only explanation. He just didn’t know how those two conniving women had d
one it. “Marissa,” he murmured, panic settling in a pit in his stomach. How would he ever make her understand?

Stepping from the alley Craig made his way toward Carolyn Reed’s house, keeping a watchful eye toward his back.

He passed through the front door without knocking and was instantly met with a half dozen women scolding him about bad luck to see the bride on their wedding day before she came to him at the church. Holding his hands up to thwart their efforts to shove him back out the door, he couldn’t help but feel exceedingly guilty when he caught sight of Marissa’s huge, happy eyes. “Ladies, ladies!” The room finally quieted. “I need a moment alone with my wife.”

“Wife,” one of them teased, “she isn’t your wife yet.” The rest of the group cackled, caught up in the fun of the day.

“As a matter of fact she is and it is imperative that I speak with her immediately.” His eyes swept their faces. “Alone.”

Good humor sucked out of the room with vacuum force, but before the women could file away another small but raucous crowd burst unannounced through Carolyn’s front door.

“That son of a bitch is marrying my daughter right now!” Mike Jamison’s bellow echoed off the walls. “I’ve brought the reverend, so get out of our way.”

An obviously uncomfortable Reverend Hollister shuffled his feet while Kirsten and Molly Jamison wisely stood just outside the front door.

“Marissa,” Craig stepped forward with his arms pleadingly outstretched. Damn but he’d wanted to tell her himself. No. That wasn’t true. He hadn’t wanted to tell her this at all, but the events of the morning needed to come from him, not a riotous mob.

“What is going on?” The words were a question but her eyes said that she already knew.

Standing stock still he could do nothing but stare at her, guiltily.

“Are you going to tell her?” Mike spat. “Or should I?”

“I...” he began miserably, pleading with his eyes. “I...” his shoulders slumped. “I love you,” he said finally. Taking another step forward he placed b
oth hands on her waist.
“Please believe me when I tell you how much you mean to me and that I would never intentionally hurt you.”

All color drained from her face.

“Aren’t you going to tell her why you can’t marry her?”

“Damn it, Mike,” C
raig shot him a dangerous glare.
“I told you that Marissa and I are already married. I’ll show you the marriage documents if you don’t believe me.”

A ferociously heated argument about the events of the morning poured forth
in
immediate
, graphic detail.
Craig could have throttled the Jamison family, staring so smug and superior at his wife. The worst of it was that, after the ugly truth was revealed, Marissa didn’t fly into a rage, she didn’t shout, she didn’t even cry. No it was far worse
than that. She just stood in the center of the room, expression numb
with shock.

“Marissa, I swear to you I didn’t do anything with her.” He clasped her hands, which remained limp even when he squeezed. “I would never
—” H
e swallowed. He had no idea what to say. There were no words to convince her of his innocence, not when he’d been found in Kirsten’s bed the morning of his wedding day
—
naked.

“So.
”
S
he withdrew her hands and buried them in the pleats of her skirt. “Last night you went to the party and got so plastered that you blacked out and don’t remember leaving the bar, much less anything that may or may not have happened thereafter.”

“Er, yes.” he shifted uncomfortably “Plastered would be a good word for it.”

“If you don’t remember anything, how can you be so sure that you didn’t do
anything
with Kirsten? After all you did wake up in
her
bed this morning
with
her
, if I’m to believe her father.”

Damn it all, what was he supposed to say to that?

“They set me up!” He turned a jaundiced eye to the Jamison clan. “
Don’t you think this whole scene
is just a little too convenient? I had two drinks last night. Two!” He held up two fingers for emphasis. “There is no way that two drinks would have made me drunk enough to sleep with
her
.”