“She must have thought Hammond was right next door to Golden Crest,” Douglas said.
“Why can’t someone from Pritchard escort her?” Harrison asked. “It’s a good-sized town. Surely she can find some willing couple there.”
“People are mighty superstitious in Pritchard,” Cole said.
“What does that mean?” Harrison asked.
“It means Miss Emily spooks them,” he explained.
“It seems poor Miss Emily has gone through quite a few escorts,” Douglas said.
“How many?” Harrison wanted to know.
“Too many to keep track of,” Cole answered, deliberately exaggerating. “Rumor has it a couple of them died. Travis, you’d better take something with you for luck,” he added with a nod in his brother’s direction. “I’d give you my lucky compass, but then I don’t have it, now do I, and all because that sneaking, no good son of a—”
Harrison cut him off before he could get riled up again. “You can’t know if the compass will bring you luck or not, Cole. You’ve never seen the thing.”
“Mama Rose chose it for me, didn’t she? That makes it lucky.”
“You’re as superstitious as the folks in Pritchard,” he muttered. “Travis, do you think you’ll have trouble with this Miss Emily?”
“No,” he answered. “I’m not superstitious, and I don’t believe half of what they’re saying about her either. How bad can she be?”
Two
The woman was a walking plague.
They hadn’t even gotten out of town before Travis was punched, kicked, tripped, and shot at, but not by anyone from Pritchard. No, it was Miss Emily Finnegan who tried to do him in, and even though she swore on her sainted mother’s grave that it had all been a terrible misunderstanding, Travis didn’t believe her. Why would he? He had it on good authority from his friends the Cohens that Miss Emily’s mother was still alive and probably dancing an Irish jig with Mr. Finnegan back in Boston, now that the two of them had unloaded their ungrateful daughter on a poor, unsuspecting stranger living in Golden Crest.
Admittedly, Miss Emily was a pretty little thing. She had hair the color of sable that curled softly around her ears, and big hazel eyes that were brown one minute and gold the next. She had a real nice mouth too, until she opened it, which, Travis was quick to notice, was most of the time. The woman had an opinion about everything and felt compelled to share it with him so that there wouldn’t be any future misunderstandings.
She wasn’t a know-it-all, but she sure came close. He formed his opinion just five painful minutes after he’d met her.
It had been suggested by Olsen, the hotel proprietor, that they meet in front of the stage coach station. Travis spotted her from way down the street. She was standing directly behind the hitching post, holding a black umbrella in one hand and a pair of white gloves in the other. There were at least six satchels lined up in a neat row in front of her on the boardwalk, entirely too many to drag up the side of a mountain.
Miss Finnegan was dressed to perfection from head to toe in white linen. He assumed she hadn’t had time to change out of her Sunday best church clothes. Then he remembered it was Thursday.
They didn’t exactly start out on the right foot. She was standing at attention with her shoulders back and her head held high, watching the commotion across the street. Although it was still early in the morning, a rowdy crowd had already gathered in Lou’s Tavern and were making quite a ruckus. Perhaps that was why she didn’t hear him come up behind her.
He made the mistake of tapping her lightly on her shoulder to get her attention so that he could tip his hat to her and introduce himself. That’s when she shot at him. It happened so fast, he barely had enough time to get out of the way. The little derringer she had concealed under her gloves went off when she whirled around. The bullet would have gotten him smack in his middle if he hadn’t spotted the gleaming barrel and leapt to the side in the nick of time.
He was pretty certain the gun housed only one chamber, but he wasn’t taking any chances. In a flash, he grabbed hold of her wrist and twisted her arm up so that her weapon was aimed toward the sky. Only then did he move close so he could give her a piece of his mind.
And that’s when she whacked him with her umbrella and kicked him hard in his left kneecap. It was apparent that she was aiming for his groin, and when she missed her mark the first time, she had the gall to try again.
He made up his mind then that Miss Emily Finnegan was crazy.
“Unhand me, you miscreant.”
“Miscreant? What in thunder’s a miscreant?”
She didn’t have the faintest idea. She was so taken aback by the question she almost shrugged in response. Granted, she didn’t know what a “miscreant” was, but she did know that her sister, Barbara, used the word whenever she wanted to discourage an overzealous admirer, and it had always been very effective. What worked for her conniving sister was going to start working for her. Emily had made that vow on the train from Boston.
“You only need to know that it’s an insult,” she said. “Now, let go of me.”
“I’ll let go of you after you promise to stop trying to kill me. I’m your escort to Golden Crest,” he added with a scowl. “Or was, until you shot at me. You’re going to have to get up there on your own now, lady, and if you kick me one more time, I swear I’ll—”
She interrupted him before he could tell her he’d toss her in the water trough.
“You’re Mr. Clayborne? You can’t be,” she stammered out, a look of horror on her face. “You aren’t . . . an old man.”
“I’m not young either,” he snapped. “I am Travis Clayborne,” he added, but because his knee was still throbbing from being kicked by the bit of fluff, he didn’t bother to tip his hat to her. “Give me your gun.”
She didn’t argue. She simply placed the weapon in the palm of his hand and frowned up at him. She didn’t apologize either. He noticed that slight right away.
“I swear I’m going to be limping for a week. What have you got in your shoes? Iron?”
Her smile was dazzling, and heaven help him for noticing, she had a cute little dimple in her right cheek. If he hadn’t already decided he didn’t like her, he would have thought she was a mite better than simply pretty. She was downright lovely. He had to remind himself the crazy woman had just tried to kill him.
“What a silly thing to suggest,” she said. “Of course I don’t have iron in my shoes. I’m sorry I kicked you, but you did sneak up on me.”
“I did no such thing.”
“If you say so,” she said, trying to placate him. “You were teasing me about changing your mind, weren’t you? You wouldn’t really abandon a helpless lady in her hour of need, would you?”
The little woman had a sense of humor. Travis jumped to that conclusion as soon as she told him she was helpless. She’d said it with a straight face too, and, honest to Pete, it didn’t matter that his shin was still stinging from her wallop of a kick; he still felt like laughing. He couldn’t wait to be rid of her, of course, but he was in a much better frame of mind.
Mr. Clayborne was taking entirely too long to answer her question. The thought of once again being stranded in the middle of nowhere sent chills down her spine. She let out a little sigh and decided there was only one thing to do.
God help her, she was going to have to flirt with the scoundrel. With a little sigh she pulled out the useless little pink-and-white painted fan she’d purchased in St. Louis for entirely too much money, flipped it open with the dainty turn of her wrist she’d practiced for hours on the train, and held it in front of her face. She was deliberately concealing her cheeks so he wouldn’t see her blush of embarrassment when she did something she considered utterly ridiculous.
She wasn’t just going to try to flirt; she was also going to be coy. She drew a quick breath to keep herself from groaning, then batted her eyelashes up at him in imitation of her sister’s tactics. Barbara had always looked very coy; E
mily was pretty certain she looked like an idiot. God only knew, she felt like one.
She realized her practical, down-to-earth nature was trying to reassert itself and immediately tried to squelch it. She had vowed to change everything about herself, and she wasn’t about to give up now, no matter how foolish she felt.
Travis watched her flutter her eyelashes at him for a long silent minute. No doubt about it, she was crazy all right, and he suddenly felt a little sorry for her. She was definitely out of her element, dressed as she was for a Sunday social in the center of the dirt and grime known as Pritchard, trying her best to be painfully correct in her manners.
He knew she was trying to manipulate him now and decided to have a bit of sport with her.
“Maybe you ought to see Doc Morganstern before you go anywhere, ma’am. He might have something to help stop your eyes from twitching. I don’t mean to be indelicate, but it’s got to be bothering you.”
She slapped her fan closed and let out a loud sigh. “You’re either as completely thickheaded as a tree, Mr. Clayborne, or I still haven’t perfected it yet.”
“Perfected what?” he asked.
“Flirting, Mr. Clayborne. I was trying to flirt with you.”
Her honesty impressed him. “Why?”
“Why? So that you would do what I want you to do, of course. I’m not much good at it though, am I?”
He didn’t answer the absurd question. “The twitching’s stopped,” he drawled out, just to get her dander up.
“I wasn’t twitching,” she muttered. “There isn’t anything wrong with my eyes, thank you very much. I was simply practicing my technique on you, that’s all. Shall we go and collect Mrs. Clayborne and be on our way? I do hope she’s more pleasant than you are, sir. Please stop gawking at me. I want to reach my destination before dark.”
“There isn’t any Mrs. Clayborne.”
“Oh, that won’t do.”
He leaned down close to her. “Will you please say something that makes sense?”
She took a step away from him. The man was entirely too good-looking for her sensibilities. He had the most wonderful green eyes. She’d noticed the color while he was growling at her with obvious irritation and asking her such rude questions. She’d noticed what a masculine, fit fellow he was too.
Travis Clayborne was tall, on the thin side, but with muscles galore on his shoulders and arms. She didn’t dare look any lower, or he’d get the notion she was going to try to kick him again, but she was certain his legs were just as well-endowed.
No doubt about it, he was an extremely handsome man. Women probably chased after him all the time. Foolish females would be helpless against those beautiful green eyes of his. His smile could cause considerable havoc too. Why, he’d just smiled at her once and for the barest of seconds, but it was still quite enough to make her heartbeat quicken. He probably had broken hundreds of women’s hearts already, and she wasn’t about to be added to his list. She had already learned that painful lesson, thank you very much.
Miss Finnegan was suddenly glaring up at him, and he couldn’t figure out what had caused the sudden change. “I asked you why I have to be married to escort you to Golden Crest.”
“Because it wouldn’t be at all proper for me to go riding into the wilderness with such a handsome man. What will people think?”
“Who cares what people think? You don’t know anyone here, do you?”
“No, but I will get to know them, once I’m married to Mr. O’Toole. If Golden Crest is just a day’s ride away, I’ll probably be doing some of my shopping here. Surely you can understand my reservations, sir. I must keep up appearances.”
He shrugged. “If you can’t go with me, then I’ve fulfilled my promise to offer my services. Good day, ma’am.”
He tried to walk away. She was clearly appalled by his behavior. “Wait,” she called out, chasing after him. “You wouldn’t leave me alone, would you? A gentleman would never abandon a lady in distress. . . .”
“I guess I’m not a gentleman,” he told her without pausing in his long-legged stride down the walkway. “And I’m certain you aren’t a lady in distress.”
She grabbed hold of his arm, dug her heels in to stop him from taking another step, and found herself being dragged along in his wake.
“I most certainly am in distress, and it’s vile of you to contradict me.”
“I was handsome a minute ago, but now I’m vile?”
“You can be both,” she told him.
He suddenly turned around to look at her. He knew he couldn’t leave her stranded in Pritchard, not if he ever wanted to look his Mama Rose in the eyes again, and so he decided that the only way he was ever going to maintain his sanity while he led the woman to Golden Crest was to strike some sort of a bargain with her.
“I wouldn’t consider it a compliment,” she announced with a blush he had to admit was downright attractive.
“Consider what a compliment?”
“Being handsome. I thought Randolph Smythe was handsome too, and he turned out to be a hideous creature.”
Don’t ask, he told himself.
“Don’t you want to know who Randolph Smythe is?”
“No, I don’t want to know.”
She told him anyway. “He’s the man I was supposed to marry.”
She went and pricked his interest with that statement. “But you didn’t,” he said.
“No, I didn’t. I was ready to though.”
“How ready?”
Her blush intensified. “Are you going to escort me to Golden Crest or not?”
He wouldn’t let her change the subject now that it had gotten downright interesting.
“How ready?” he asked again.
“I waited at the altar for him. He didn’t show up,” she added with a quick nod.
“He jilted you? Well now, that was a real mean-spirited thing to do,” he said in an attempt at kindness. “I can’t imagine why he’d change his mind at the last minute.”
He wasn’t telling her the truth. He was pretty certain he knew exactly why good old Randolph had changed his mind. The man had come to his senses. Travis wondered if Emily had ever tried to shoot him. That would have been enough to send any man with half a mind running in the opposite direction.
“So there wasn’t any wedding,” he remarked for lack of anything better to say. She was staring up at him with such an earnest, hopeful look on her face, and he guessed she expected him to say something a bit more sympathetic.
He gave it his best shot. “Some men just don’t cotton to the notion of being tied down to one woman. Randolph was probably like that.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Look, lady, I’m trying to be nice about it.”
“Don’t you want to know why he didn’t show up at the church?”
“You shot at him, didn’t you?”
“I did no such thing.”
“I really don’t want to know his reasons. All right? Suffice it to say, there wasn’t any wedding.”
“Oh, there was a wedding all right. Did I mention my sister didn’t show up at the church either, Mr. Clayborne?”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m perfectly serious.”
“Your sister and Randolph . . .”
“Are now legally married.”
He was appalled. “What kind of family do you come from? Your own sister betrayed you?”
“We were never close,” she assured him.
He squinted down at her. “I can’t help but notice you don’t appear to be overly distraught about it all.”
Travis shook his head. He couldn’t understand why the story intrigued him so. He didn’t even know Randolph Smythe, yet he still felt like punching him in the nose for doing such a cruel thing to Emily. Come to think of it, he didn’t know Emily Finnegan either. Why in thunder did he care?
She saw the pity in his eyes and promptly glared at him. “Don’t you dare feel sorry for me, Mr. Clayborne.”
/> She looked as though she wanted to kick him again. Any sympathy he felt for her vanished in a heartbeat.
“It was probably your own fault.”
If looks could kill, they’d have been measuring him for a coffin now. Travis didn’t back down after making his statement, but added a nod to let her know he meant what he’d said.
“And how is that?” she asked, and then accidentally whacked him with her umbrella when she folded her arms across her chest. Because he’d just made such a rude comment to her, she didn’t apologize.
He thought she’d done it on purpose. He grabbed the umbrella, tossed it on top of her satchels, and then answered her.
“You chose an unfit, unscrupulous man; that’s why it’s your own fault, and you should realize by now that you’re better off without him.”
He had just redeemed himself in her eyes. He wasn’t being cruel when he blamed her; he was only being honest. He was right too. She had chosen an unscrupulous man.
“Are you going to take me to Golden Crest or not?”
“What happened to the couple who was escorting you?”
“Be more specific, please.”
“More specific?”
“Which couple are you referring to?” she asked.
She got his full attention. “How many were there?”
“Three.”
“Three people or three couples?”
“Couples,” she answered.
He noticed she quickly lowered her gaze to the ground and looked uncomfortable. The topic was obviously a sore one. Then he remembered that his brother Cole had told him how the superstitious folks in Pritchard were spooked by Miss Emily Finnegan. He really should have paid more attention to the conversation, he decided, realizing that it was a little late to be worrying about it now. Still, he should get all the particulars before he took the woman anywhere, just to be on the safe side.
“You went through six escorts?”
“It was a very long trip, Mr. Clayborne.”
“What happened to the first couple?”
“The Johnsons?”