No One's Bride (Escape to the West Book 1) (16 page)

Expelling a deep sigh, George finally looked up. “No, you were right, I should have been there. I knew there was something off about that varmint, but I still left her alone. It’s my fault.”

Adam saw his own guilt echoed in the older man’s eyes. “I think we’re both feeling at fault here.”

“And it isn’t neither of your faults,” Marshal Cade said. “So stop beating yourselves up over it. It won’t do either of you any good, believe me. I’ve seen enough guilt in my time to know when it’s deserved and the only person guilty here is that rascal I’ve got in my jail.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be unbiased?” Adam said, smiling.

“Only when I don’t know if the perpetrator is guilty,” he said. “No doubt of that in this case.”

“Darn right,” George growled.

Adam led them through to the parlour where Amy was still on the settee.

“Ma’am,” Marshal Cade said, removing his hat. “How are you feeling? Are you up to telling me what happened?”

She nodded, although Adam could see the slight tremble of her lips. She looked at George. “Are the horses all right?”

“They’re fine. He just scared them, was all. Got them all inside now, safe and sound.”

Some of the tension released from her shoulders. “That’s a relief.”

He walked over to sit in the armchair close to her. “How are you?”

She patted his hand. “I’ll be all right.”

Adam pulled up a chair from the table for the marshal then went to sit beside her. She slipped her hand into his.

“OK,” the marshal said, pulling a small paper pad and pencil from his shirt pocket. “George has told me everything he knows, but how about you start at the beginning so I can fill in the blanks.”

Amy began with the first time the man had arrived at the livery and related the full story, how he’d made her uncomfortable, then not being sure about him, and how he’d returned, lured her from the livery, and attacked her. Her description of their fight had Adam’s mouth hanging open. He knew she was as strong and determined a woman as he’d ever met, but he didn’t know of any female, and not many males, who would have been able to handle themselves against a much stronger attacker the way she had. When she told of how she’d kneed him in the crotch the second time Adam almost cheered. He wanted to go down to the marshal’s office and take a shot himself.

By the time she finished Marshal Cade was shaking his head as he finished scribbling his notes. “Miss Watts, maybe I should deputise you. You are one tough lady, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

A smile crept onto her face.

“And I think it may give you some satisfaction to know that he’s still in a lot of pain,” he said, grinning.

To Adam’s surprise, she laughed. “I don’t know how Christian it is of me to be pleased to hear that, but I truly am.”

At her laughter, some of Adam’s anger melted away, and even George cracked a tiny smile.

Marshal Cade pushed the pad and pencil back into his pocket and stood. “I’ve already found one wanted notice that’s probably him and I’m going to send telegraphs to some of the other marshals around to see if they’ve heard of him. Believe me, he’s going to jail and he won’t be getting out for a good long while.”

“Thank you, Marshal,” Amy said. “That makes me feel much better.”

“He should be relieved too,” he said with a smirk. “I don’t think he’d survive another round with you.”

Adam escorted him back through the post office to the front door. “He truly won’t get out?” he said as the marshal stepped outside, out of earshot of the parlour.

He replaced his hat. “As I said, this isn’t his only crime and I’m guessing a bit of digging will produce more. The only place he’s going is to prison and the only thing you need fret about is taking care of that brave lady of yours.”

Adam opened his mouth to say she wasn’t
his
brave lady, but then thought better of it and simply said, “Thanks, Marshal, I will.” If anyone wanted to think of Amy as his, he wasn’t going to object.

When he got back to the parlour Amy was on her feet, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at George. “So you will not even
think
of not letting me come back to work. Is that clear?”

George spotted him at the door. “Adam, please tell this girl that it’s far too dangerous for her to work in the livery. I won’t be the cause of her being hurt again.”

Adam’s gaze flicked to Amy. She turned her ire-filled eyes on him. “I... uh...”

After the events of the past hour he wanted nothing more than for her to stay with him at all times where he could ensure nothing bad ever happened to her again. But he had to be realistic. “George, I understand how you feel, believe me. But I know Amy well enough to know that’s never going to happen. Better you just let this warrior woman carry on working for you. I think it’s safer for both of us that way.”

She gasped, her apparent outrage tempered by the sparkle in her eyes, and grabbed a cushion, throwing it at him.

Laughing, he caught it out of the air. “See? Even I’m not safe.”

George rolled his eyes. “I ain’t gonna win this argument, am I?”

“Nope,” Amy said. She took his hand. “Stop worrying and stop blaming yourself. You’re one of my favourite people in the world and I don’t want you to be sad. So stop it.”

He harrumphed, but Adam could see the wisp of a smile before it was stamped out. Not even George was immune to Amy’s infectious charm.

He placed a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “Get some rest, girl. And take care of that face.” Then he turned and strode from the room.

Adam followed him to the front door.

“Take care of her,” George said as he stepped out.

“You know I will.”

George looked past him to the open parlour door and lowered his voice to a whisper. “When you gonna tell her how you feel about her?”

Adam’s eyes widened. “How...?”

“Honestly, boy, if I’ve seen a more lovesick man than you in all my days, I can’t recall it.”

Was there anyone in Green Hill Creek who didn’t know how he felt about Amy? “I’m working on it.”

“Well work harder.”

When Adam returned to the parlour Amy had started work on the potatoes for their evening meal. She was facing away from him, standing at the sink, but she wasn’t moving.

He walked up to her and touched her arm. “Amy? Are you all right?”

It took her a few seconds to respond and when she did her voice trembled. “I’m still scared. Why am I still scared?”

He stepped in close behind her, encircled her in his arms and said softly, “Tell me what I can do.”

A tear caught a shaft of sunlight shining in through the window as it fell into the sink. “I don’t know.”

Adam squeezed his eyes shut and leaned his forehead against her hair, willing her fear away with every piece of his breaking heart. “How about I hold you until you’re not scared anymore?”

She nodded and he led her to the settee where they sat and he held her tight, praying silently, until she stopped trembling and fell asleep in his arms.

Dear Amy,

First of all, thank you for allowing me to be so familiar. I’m beginning to feel as though we know each other, even in the few letters we’ve exchanged. Am I wrong? I hope not. I await each of your letters with such anticipation. Thank goodness Green Hill Creek has the railroad now or the amount of time I’d have to wait for them would be torture!

I can’t imagine what being an only child would be like. My brothers and sisters and I are all so close in age that growing up there were always other children around me. My mother is a truly strong woman! There were times when I longed for the peace of it just being me (particularly when my brothers were pestering me), but I think I would have been lonely. I hope you didn’t feel that way at all. I should think your parents showered you with love and attention as their precious only daughter.

I was so pleased to hear you like horses. My own horse is named Stride and he and I spend a lot of time together. Perhaps if you come here you would like your own horse? I would love to take you riding and show you the country around here. The beauty of the mountains will take your breath away. I’ve lived in this area all my life and I still enjoy just sitting and looking at them. In fact, at this moment I’m upstairs where there is a wonderful view I know you would love. I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I am looking forward so much to introducing you to the north Californian countryside. Forgive me if it’s too soon to be thinking like that, but I can’t seem to help myself.

I’ll be honest with you, Amy, I like you very much. I’ve been praying a lot about our future and I am hoping you have too. I’m trying to trust God to lead me in all I do and I’m hoping very much that He leads us to be together. I hope that doesn’t scare you, but I want to be honest about how I feel. I hope you know that you can be honest with me too.

Kindest regards,

Adam.

~ ~ ~

When Amy woke the next morning the sun was already high in the sky.

Horrified, she leapt out of bed, washed her face and struggled into her clothes, practically all at once. She ran down the stairs and found Adam seated at the table in the parlour. He smiled as she burst into the room.

“What’s the time? I’m late!”

She rushed to the cupboard to find something for her lunch. The quickest thing was a couple of apples. They would have to do. When she turned to get her bag, Adam was standing right behind her. She jumped, startled. In her haste, she hadn’t heard him leave the table.

He took her hands in his. “George isn’t expecting you. I went down there while you were still asleep to say you wouldn’t be coming in, but he hadn’t thought you would anyway.”

Although she knew Adam’s motives were kind, she was a little irritated at him for making the decision that she wouldn’t be going to work without asking her first. “But he needs me.” 

He smiled, which irked her even more because it made her insides wobble. It was very difficult to be annoyed with him when her insides were wobbling. Plus, he was still holding her hands. That wasn’t helping at all.

“George was running the livery for a long time before he hired you,” he said. “He can cope on his own for today.”

“But my face doesn’t even hurt anymore.” It didn’t, so long as she didn’t touch it. “I’m ready to go to work.”

“But I’m not ready for you to go.” He sighed and looked down at their entwined hands. “I wasn’t there when you needed me. I should have been there to protect you, but I wasn’t.”

He felt guilty? How could he possibly feel guilt for what another man did?

“You’re not responsible in any way for what happened. You can’t be with me every second of the day.”

“I know, and it isn’t logical to feel like this, but I can’t help it. At least for today I need to be with you. So either you take the day off from the livery or I come with you.”

“What about the bank?” She suddenly realised he was as late as she was. “Wait, shouldn’t you have left already?”

“I don’t have to go into the bank today.” He smiled again. “So here’s my idea. I was planning on doing deliveries today, so we could make a picnic, you could come with me on my rounds, then we could go to the lake and spend the afternoon. What do you say?”

Amy’s objections faded. She couldn’t deny it sounded like an extremely good idea. “I think that’s an inspired way to spend a day playing hooky.”

~ ~ ~

After they’d had breakfast, Adam went to fetch Stride while Amy prepared the food.

They would be travelling by buggy so Amy packed sandwiches along with two slices of vegetable pie she and Adam had prepared the evening before when she’d woken up, feeling much better for having slept. And for having spent quite some time wrapped in Adam’s arms. They’d also made apple pie so she wrapped two slices of that along with a pear each, some grapes, and an apple for Stride.

Adam’s voice called through the post office as she was finishing. “I’ll load everything up. You can come out whenever you’re ready.”

“Almost finished,” she called back, tucking a cloth over the food she’d packed into a basket.

Stride bent his head towards her when she got outside and she rubbed his neck, moving the basket back out of his reach when he surreptitiously stretched his nose towards it.

“It’s for later,” she said. “And you can’t fool me. I know you’ve already had breakfast because it’s often me who gives it to you.”

Adam jumped down from the buggy and took the basket from her, tucking it in behind the seat, next to the mail bag. “If he got to eat everything he wanted he wouldn’t be able to fit into his stall.”

“Doesn’t he mind being harnessed to the buggy?” Stride always seemed to Amy like he wanted to be running free.

Adam smiled and patted his side. “He has good reason to look forward to delivery day. You’ll understand why once we get going.” His eyes drifted down to her feet and then back to her face. “You changed. That’s the one you’ve been working on, isn’t it?”

Amy looked down at the sage green dress she’d put on after he left. She’d bought the material out of her first week’s pay and finished it two nights ago. It was meant to be for church, but for reasons she suspected had very much to do with Adam, she’d wanted to wear it today.

Shrugging one shoulder, she attempted nonchalance. “It is. I thought, since we’d be meeting your customers I should look presentable.”

A small smile quirked one corner of his mouth, tiny wrinkles warming his eyes. “You always look presentable, but that colour suits you. You look stunning.”

Amy gasped in a small breath as her insides somersaulted several times before landing in a panting heap in the vicinity of her navel. Adam held her gaze until she felt like she would drown in his blue eyes, not caring in the slightest that she’d never take another breath.

The spell was broken when Stride nudged Adam’s arm with such insistence that he stumbled to one side.

“Well,” he said, his voice sounding slightly breathless as he glanced at his horse and gave a small laugh, “looks like Stride is eager to be off. Are you ready?”

Ready for what
?

Amy struggled to corral a coherent thought. “
Oh
, to go. Um...” Was she ready? Where were they going again? “Uh, I need to fetch my shawl. I’ll only be a moment.”

She fled back into the house, gasping in a few deep breaths as she retrieved the brown shawl from where she’d left it on the settee.

Pull yourself together. All he did was say you look stunning and then gaze into your eyes as if you were the only woman in the world.
At least, that was how it had felt. She was probably over-romanticising it.

But his eyes gazing into hers...

Don’t make me slap myself, Amy.

Squaring her shoulders, she marched back outside, determined to maintain some semblance of dignity. And this time she managed to keep herself more or less together, even when Adam flashed her a smile that made her stomach feel like it had become a thousand tiny butterflies. Things got a little hairy when he put his hands on her waist to help her into the buggy, but once she was seated it only took a few seconds to regain most of her faculties, even though the skin beneath the dress where he’d touched her was still tingling.

What was wrong with her today? Was it possible that the time she’d spent the previous evening wrapped in the comfort of his embrace had had more effect on her than simply calming her fears?

“Looking fine today, Miss Amy,” Isaiah called from his rocker as they rode past.

“Thank you, kind sir,” Amy called back, smiling and waving to him.

“Hmm,” Adam said as they turned onto a side street.

“What?”

“Seems maybe I should be watching out for Isaiah. I may have some competition.”

“For what?” And then realisation struck; he meant her. At least, she thought he meant her. Did he mean her?

Adam merely smiled mysteriously and returned his attention to the road ahead.

~ ~ ~

It took half an hour, more or less, to reach the first delivery, a small farmhouse nestled in the foothills surrounded by fields of assorted crops, most of which Amy didn’t recognise as they weren’t near harvest time yet. She was ridiculously proud of herself when she correctly identified a small plot of carrots.

Stride apparently needed no guidance as he came to a halt in the open area in front of the wraparound porch. A huge barn off to the left dwarfed the tiny house. It also dwarfed the tiny, wizened woman who hobbled out of the door of the barn and made her way towards them, leaning heavily on a gnarled walking stick.

Stride nickered at her approach.

“Good morning, Mrs Byrne,” Adam said, jumping from the buggy.

Her wrinkled face broke into a grin. “Good morning to ye, Postmaster Emerson.” She moved her gaze to Amy. “And who’s your pretty young lady?”

Amy found herself wanting to grin at being called Adam’s young lady, especially when he didn’t correct the assumption.

“This is Miss Watts,” Adam said as he reached into the mail bag. “Amy, meet Mrs Byrne. She runs this farm.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Byrne,” she said, wondering how on earth this small, ancient woman ran all of this. “You have a beautiful farm.”

“Well, thank ye, Miss Watts. I do have a bit o’ help with it from me strappin’ sons and grandsons,” she replied, as if she could read Amy’s mind. She walked up to Stride and rubbed his nose. He bobbed his head and nickered again. “Oh, I know what you want.”

She reached into a deep pocket at the front of her apron, withdrew a handful of strawberries, and fed them to the eager horse one by one.

Adam looked up at Amy and winked. She smiled in understanding. So that was why Stride looked forward to delivery day.

“Here’s your mail,” he said, handing Mrs Byrne a bundle of envelopes and a small package.

She brushed her hands on the front of her apron then took the letters and slipped them into the pocket from where she’d produced the strawberries. Stride took the opportunity to peer inside, just in case she’d missed any.

“He does get fed, I promise you,” Adam said.

Mrs Byrne laughed and scratched behind Stride’s ear which he seemed to enjoy almost as much as the strawberries. “My boys are exactly the same.” She glanced up at Amy, leaned forward as if she was about to tell Adam a secret, then said in a very loud whisper that Amy had no trouble hearing, “Hold onto her. She’s a beauty.”

Adam darted his eyes to Amy, replying in an equally theatrical whisper, “I’ll do my best, Ma’am.”

Amy put one hand to her mouth to cover her smile, although she couldn’t do anything to hide the blush heating her cheeks.

“Mrs Byrne is very forthright,” Adam said as they rode away.

“I noticed that.”

“Nice lady though. Stride loves her.”

“I noticed that too. So her treats are why he likes going on deliveries so much?”

Adam chuckled. “Oh, it’s not just her.”

They spent the rest of the morning travelling, taking mail to those for whom getting into town was difficult. Most of those they visited were older and Amy discovered that Adam didn’t just deliver the mail. He would always ask after their wellbeing and if there was anything he could do for them. During the course of the morning Amy helped fix a broken fence, found a missing pair of spectacles, held Adam’s jacket while he unblocked a sink, and retrieved a cherished necklace only she could reach from beneath a huge chest of drawers so heavy it hadn’t been moved for fifty years.

And every single person they visited had something delicious for Stride. The horse was in his element.

Amy’s respect for Adam grew even further, if that were possible. He wasn’t just the postmaster, he was a lifeline for the isolated people around Green Hill Creek.

“It’s wonderful what you do for these people,” she said as the buggy ambled in the direction of the lake after leaving the last homestead on Adam’s route. “What would they do without your visits?”