Whirlwind Bride

Riley clucked to the horse and slid a sideways glance at Susannah. She sat straight and stiff as a rod next to him, her skirts pressed as tight to her as she could get them. Her other hand, white-knuckled, gripped the seat.

“Adam’s been known to play a practical joke, but never anything like this.”

She murmured something incoherent.

“Why do you think he did it?”

She glanced over, a sudden wariness sliding into her blue eyes. “I guess he had his reasons.”

And she knew what they were, the little baggage! Riley knew by the set of her jaw as she turned away that she wasn’t going to tell him. He resented the flicker of admiration he felt at the sight of a little backbone. Little sister could keep Adam’s secrets. Riley would get his answers soon enough.

The silence between them swelled. She looked uncomfortable and color rode high on her finely honed cheekbones.

“Peppermint?” He offered her a short stick of the candy, fresh from his shirt pocket.

Her gaze dipped to his hand, lingered on the sweet. “No, thank you.”

He nodded and popped the candy into his mouth. He understood her embarrassment. Adam had put them both in an awkward position.

They rode with only the noise of creaking wagon wheels and cawing crows until he topped a hill and saw Whirlwind sprawled out in front of him in its neat T-shaped layout. To the northeast, about eight miles from town, sat Fort Greer.

“Where should I take you? Do you have a place to stay? I can get you a stage ticket to Abilene, so you can catch the train back to St. Louis.”

“I’ll be fine.”

He slid her a look. “I’ll take you to the Whirlwind Hotel. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean.”

And Riley would pay for her room. He told himself that should’ve eased his conscience. He was doing what he could, what he should. She certainly couldn’t stay with him at the Rocking H, not without a chaperon.

A hammer rang against metal as they approached a barnlike building at the edge of town, and Riley lifted a hand in greeting as he drove past Ef Gerard’s blacksmith shop. The burly man, with muscles bulging in his glistening, thick black arms, returned the wave. Blatant curiosity burned in his coffee-colored eyes as he caught sight of Susannah.

Being a Friday afternoon, the town was still relatively quiet. There was no activity outside the livery or the saloon right across the street. Cowboys from nearby ranches or passing cattle drives would change that in a few short hours. They would come to town to spend their pay on whiskey and women, but Susannah would be safe inside the hotel.

Businesses lined both sides of the double-wagon-width main street, with the church-cum-schoolhouse crowning the center point of the T, a north-south street aptly named North. Homes were scattered on either side of the steepled frame building. As his wagon ambled up Whirlwind’s main thoroughfare, Riley caught sight of his brother, Davis Lee Holt, in the sheriff’s office. Good. Riley wanted to talk to him.

The mare plodded past Pearl Anderson’s restaurant, the Pearl, then the telegraph office, which also served as the post office. Across the street, Haskell’s General Store was doing a brisk business. On the same side as the saloon, the store was flanked by the newly opened Prairie Caller newspaper on one side and Cal Doyle’s law office on the other. A neat, tidy frame building on the corner was home to the other Doyle brother, Jed, a gunsmith.

Easing the wagon to a stop in front of the hotel, Riley set the brake and looped the reins around the handle.

Susannah reached into her reticule and offered him a silver dollar. “Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it.”

Immediately indignant, he growled, “Put that away.”

“But—”

“I won’t take your money,” he said evenly, not liking the way she made him feel like a hired hand.

Irritation zipping through him, he hopped down and started around to help her down.

“Miz Phelps!”

Riley rounded the back of the wagon, halting when he saw J. T. and Matt Baldwin standing next to the wagon, both offering a hand up to Susannah.

She smiled, erasing all fatigue from her face. “Hello, Mr. Baldwin, Matthew. How nice to see you again.”

The warmth in her greeting to father and son stirred something deep inside Riley, and he felt an unfamiliar heat charge through his chest.

The elder Baldwin elbowed his son aside. “Let me help you down, Miz Phelps. You boys get her luggage.”

Russ Baldwin appeared suddenly beside his brother. While their father handed her down, the Baldwin brothers moved toward Riley and reached for the trunks in the back of the wagon.

All three Baldwins easily had three to four inches on Riley’s six-foot height. Their broad shoulders and massive thighs made them the biggest men around; one or another of them won the arm-wrestling match every year during the Fourth of July picnic. But they were known to be gentlemen in every sense of the word. Riley had always liked them.

The Baldwin men were more than capable, but shouldn’t he be the one responsible for making sure Susannah was settled?

J.T. deposited her beneath the hotel’s green awning as carefully as if she were blown glass.

“You’ve already had your visit with Riley?” Matt stepped onto the boardwalk, balancing a trunk on his massive shoulder.

She didn’t so much as glance Riley’s way. “Oh, yes. I’m sorry I asked you to lug all my baggage out to his ranch, but I wasn’t sure where I’d be staying.” She gave the three men a blinding smile.

They nodded, each grinning as if they’d tipped back a bottle of Pete Carter’s best whiskey. All kept their gazes locked on her with rapt attention. Riley frowned, but told himself to be glad that she hadn’t shared with them the real reason she’d come out to his ranch.

“I’ll be staying here.”

“Good,” both brothers said in unison.

Riley’s jaw clenched as he turned to retrieve the remaining luggage.

Russ, who had already unloaded the largest trunk, plucked the two valises from the wagon before Riley could. “How are things going at the ranch, Riley?”

“Very well, thanks.” He smiled at Russ, trying to figure out why he was annoyed. He’d done the right thing by bringing her to town. She wasn’t his responsibility. Hell, he hadn’t even known she was coming to see him.

The three men asked after Susannah’s health at least twice each, and she didn’t seem to mind at all. Clearing his throat, Riley said, “I’ll get you a room, Susannah.”

She turned, gave him a cool smile that made her look regal and damn infuriating. “That won’t be necessary.”

His lips tightened and he stepped up on the boardwalk. “I’ll be right back.”

He returned a few minutes later and folded a room key into her hand. “Here you go.”

Her eyes darkened. “Thank you.” Matt Baldwin swept off his hat. “Let me escort you inside.”

Susannah smiled and took his arm. Russ shifted her valises to one hand and opened the hotel door.

Gritting his teeth, Riley stepped down into the street, then climbed into the wagon. “I’ll check on you later.”

“There’s no need. You’ve done enough.” If she didn’t wipe that haughty look off her face, he was going to come up there and do plenty more.

He nodded and clucked to the mare, glancing over his shoulder when he heard Susannah’s light laughter mix with the deeper sounds of the Baldwins’. She didn’t even glance Riley’s way as he turned the wagon and headed back up the street. As if he were invisible, as if they hadn’t discussed marriage.

She needed him about as much as a boar needed a teat. She was fine. He was relieved.

Relief was the last thing he felt, Riley admitted as he braked the wagon in front of the post office a few moments later. Irritation, sympathy, even a grudging fascination flickered inside him, but not relief.

He went inside to send a wire to Adam. With his blood doing a slow simmer, Riley found thoughts of Susannah harder to shake than a burr in his sock. When she’d realized he had no intention of marrying her, hurt had darkened her clear blue eyes. At the sight, a fierce protectiveness had flared in his chest. He seemed unable to squelch that, even after seeing her surrounded by the hulking Baldwins. Especially after that.

At least she wasn’t planning to stay in Whirlwind. St. Louis was definitely the place for her. The brutal Texas climate, the unforgiving land, the isolation of ranch life whittled away at women like Susannah. This land had killed his Maddie, hadn’t it?

After he’d turned eighteen, at his parents’ request, he’d spent a year in Boston at university. He hated that closed-up life, the air and sky squeezed out by buildings and countless homes. Except for the friends he’d made—Adam Phelps being one of the best—Riley hadn’t liked anything about the big Eastern city.

As Tony Santos read back his message, Riley thought about apologizing again to Susannah. But another apology, no matter how compelled to make one he felt, wasn’t going to erase the embarrassment between them, the awkwardness. Fishing another peppermint stick out of his shirt pocket, he broke off a section and slid it into his mouth.

Cutting off further thoughts of the curvy blonde, he told the rotund telegraph operator he’d pay extra to have Adam’s reply delivered to the Rocking H as soon as it arrived.

After he left, he walked past the Pearl Restaurant and to the jail for a quick talk with his brother. Davis Lee, older by almost three years, sat on the edge of his scarred, but polished desk, whittling. Wood shavings littered the otherwise spotless pine floor. A single door behind Davis Lee’s desk opened to the four cells of Whirlwind’s jail.

Riley stepped inside the building and closed the front door, noting the quick peel and flash of Davis Lee’s knife. Davis Lee liked to whittle; he was good at it. But he only did it when something bothered him.

“More trouble?”

The eldest Holt, lanky and two inches taller than Riley, looked up with somber blue eyes. “Just came from Cora Wilkes’s house. The McDougal gang held up the stage today and killed Ollie.”

“Damn. Anyone else?”

“No. He’d just brought in three passengers and was headed to Abilene to pick up some supplies for the fort.”

“They killed him on the way out of town?”

“Yes.”

That explained why Susannah hadn’t mentioned any trouble. Sharp relief stabbed at Riley’s chest.

He removed his hat, hit by sadness at the stage driver’s death. “I’m sorry to hear about Ollie.”

“Damn those McDougals. J. T. Baldwin happened upon the scene, sent Russ to town to let me know, but none of us could catch them.” Davis Lee stood, his wiry frame as taut as strung barbed wire. He and Riley had done their share of wrestling and fighting growing up. Despite the two inches in height he had on Riley, it was always a draw. “You should’ve seen Cora.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Check in with her off and on. With winter coming, she’ll need wood and someone to help with the chickens.”

Riley nodded, made a mental note to stop by and offer his condolences on the way out of town. And he’d help out often, too, even though he hated chickens.

Ollie and Cora Wilkes had lived in Whirlwind as far back as Riley could remember. Cora supplied all the fresh eggs in town. Ollie used to let him and Davis Lee ride the boot on short stagecoach runs.

“I’ve had all the trouble I want out of those outlaws.” Davis Lee slid his knife into the top drawer of his desk. Both brothers had blue eyes like their father, but Davis Lee’s dark brown hair testified to their mother’s brunette coloring, whereas Riley had their father’s sandy hair. “I spoke to a Ranger a week or so ago. He thinks they’re closing in on them. ‘Course, they’ve been chasing those Irish bastards as long as the rest of us have.”

“They need to be stopped,” Riley agreed. “I’ll join up if you want to put together a posse and track them.”

“We’re better served to patrol Whirlwind. I plan to do that twenty-four hours a day, especially after what happened today. The McDougals killed Ollie a scant two miles from here. It’s not like them to strike so close. I don’t want to leave the town unprotected.”

“I guess the Rangers are tracking them, anyway.”

“And every bounty hunter who hears about them.” Shaking his head in disgust, Davis Lee ran a practiced hand over the row of rifles in the open gun cabinet behind him. “I can help them out best from here. I’ve already deputized all three of the Baldwins, plus Jake Ross and one of your ranch hands, Cody Tillman.”

“Five deputies? Where do you think you are, Dallas?” His brother gave a small smile. “I need enough men so that someone can stand watch in town while others patrol. And I need someone here at the jail round the clock. I’ve got a murderer in the back, waiting on the circuit judge for his trial.”

Riley cleared his throat, his nerves still jumping at how close Susannah had come to harm. “Adam Phelps’s sister, Susannah, came in on the stage this morning.”

Surprise spread across the other man’s features. “What’s she doing here?”

Riley saw no reason to humiliate her or himself by telling his brother the truth. “Visiting, I guess.”

“Staying long?”

“No.” He walked to the window, wondering if she was settled into her hotel room or if she was off with one of the Baldwins. Whatever she was doing was none of his business, he reminded himself.

“Where’s she staying? The hotel?”

“Yeah.” A glint of blond hair drew Riley’s eye, but it wasn’t her.

“I’ll go say hello.” Davis Lee walked up next to him, looking toward the hotel.

“There’s no need,” Riley said quickly. Too quickly.

His brother sent him a sideways look.

“She probably won’t be here long, is all.” He wondered if she had any idea what trouble she courted by traveling alone, especially through the outer edges of Texas. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.”

“See you Sunday for lunch?”

“Yeah.” Riley and Davis Lee never missed Sunday lunch together, especially since their father had passed on last year. Davis Lee still had a room at the ranch, but he’d taken to staying in town after returning from Rock River to Whirlwind and being elected sheriff two years ago.

Riley left the jail and headed up the street toward his wagon, which he’d left in front of the post office. Other rigs lumbered up and down the street. A group of boys, whooping and hollering, darted out of the schoolhouse.

As he started to climb onto his buckboard, he glanced up and saw Susannah headed his way. He considered letting her pass, but the reminder of how close she’d come to Ollie’s fate changed his mind. Removing his hat, he stepped up onto the planked walk in front of her.

Her step faltered. Sunlight gilded her perfect magnolia skin, lit her eyes like endless pools of blue.

“Susannah,” he said quietly, suddenly uneasy. He had to force himself not to crush his hat.

She stopped and gave him a curt nod. “Mr. Holt.”

“Are you getting settled? Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine.” Her gaze was guarded. “Good.” He ran a hand over his jaw, wishing they hadn’t gotten off to such an awkward start.

She smiled brightly and he thought she was easily the nicest sight he’d witnessed all day. It was a shame she wasn’t cut out for life here.

“Will you be leaving soon?”

“Leaving?”

“For St. Louis.”

“Oh, I’m not leaving. I’m staying in Whirlwind.” His eyebrows shot up and he couldn’t stop the sudden quirk of his lips. “Really.”

“Yes, really. That amuses you?”

“Hardly. You don’t belong here.”

“Pardon me?” Her shoulders stiffened and her gaze turned downright frigid. “I wasn’t aware I was in Riley, Texas. Are you the mayor? The sheriff? Is this your town?”

“Life here is hard.” He flexed his hands on his hat to keep from shaking her. “This land is unforgiving, sometimes brutal.”

“Evidently some people are, too.” That made him feel lower than a whipped dog, but the possibility that he might someday find her pale and lifeless pushed him on. “I just mean it’s not easy here like it is in St. Louis.”

“You might be surprised to learn life isn’t that easy in St. Louis, either,” she said quietly, making him wonder at the shadows in her eyes.

He had no intention of telling her about Maddie, but he had to make her understand. “We have Indians—”

“We have outlaws.”

“We have snakes.”

“We have floods.” Her gaze stayed stubbornly locked on his.

“Things happen here that you’d have no idea how to handle. Things that could get you killed.”

“You think I’m stupid, is that it? Lacking in some way?”

“No, stop twisting my words around. I’m just trying to warn you.”

“And you have.” She smiled, a patently dismissive smile, and started forward. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Holt.”

Frowning at Susannah’s formality, he moved to the edge of the walk so she could pass. He knew it wouldn’t matter a damn if he pointed out that at least in St. Louis she had her father and her brother for protection. “If you need anything at all—”

“Don’t give it another thought.” She tossed the words over her shoulder. “Truly. I’ll be fine.”

She continued down the walk, heading toward the post office. No doubt she planned to wire her brother, just as he had.

Riley’s gaze locked on Susannah. The petite blond beauty’s hair caught the sun and glittered like a star. Dragging his gaze from the enticing sway of her skirts, he climbed into the wagon and picked up the reins, snapping them against Pru’s rump. Damn Adam, anyway.

Chapter Three

If you need anything at all, let me know.

How many times had Riley said that? She needed a husband, but she didn’t see him offering to help with that, Susannah thought indignantly as she walked away from him toward the telegraph office. She could feel him staring.

His gaze burned between her shoulder blades, causing her skin to prickle. She fought the urge to smooth her hair or turn around.

Her voice had come out more stiffly than she’d liked when talking to him, but seeing him reignited the embarrassment she’d felt in his barn. Adam had a lot to answer for.

Couldn’t Riley have married her just because she was told he wanted to … even if he didn’t make the promise himself? Evidently not. She wondered why he’d been so mean. Maybe he was merely concerned. His dire warnings sounded like something her brother might say. But Susannah was staying. She was glad she hadn’t told him about the baby, but what was she going to do now? She wasn’t going back to St. Louis.

Her entire family would be in even more disgrace. First the baby, then this. Paul hadn’t wanted her. It wouldn’t do to advertise that Riley didn’t, either.

Susannah tugged on her gloves and opened the door to the post office, which also served as the telegraph office. She needed a place to live, which she could secure using the money she’d received from the sale of some jewelry before she’d left home.

She sent a curt telegram to her brother, ordering him to respond immediately and tell her exactly what he’d said to Riley. She also asked that he not tell Riley about her “situation,” hoping her choice of words would keep eager-to-please Tony Santos from figuring out that she was expecting. She’d endured all the embarrassment she could for a while. A final plea for her brother to wire some money ended her telegram. It was the least he could do after sending her to Whirlwind under false pretenses.

After leaving the post office, she started back to the hotel, stopping at the Pearl for a dinner of stew and fresh bread. The rich, meaty meal wasn’t the roasted pork with pearlized onions Minnie the cook served every Friday night at the Phelps’s house, but the meal was good and very filling.

Susannah traced a square on the red-checked tablecloth, hit with a pang of homesickness as the aroma of fresh pie and bread drifted around her.

A shadow fell across her plate and Susannah looked up. A tall, lanky man with dark brown hair stood there. “Evenin’, ma’am.”

“Good evening.” Her gaze skipped over a handsome face, then dropped to his tin star. “Sheriff.”

The blue eyes beneath the dark slash of brows reminded her of another pair of blue eyes.

“You’d be Miz Susannah Phelps?”

For one heartbeat, she thought perhaps her parents had sent someone after her. “How did you know?”

“I’m Davis Lee Holt.” A broad smile split his face. “Riley’s my younger brother.”

“Riley’s brother.” Relieved that Davis Lee wasn’t here on behalf of her parents, she kept her smile in place, but her thoughts whirled. Had Riley sent his brother, the sheriff, to kick her out of town? “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same here. My brother thinks a lot of yours. And you, too.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but nodded, anyway. What had Riley told his brother about her? Whatever it was, the eldest Holt seemed too polite to say. Though he didn’t look much older than Riley, his features were sharper and just as compelling. But Davis Lee didn’t make her nervous the way Riley did.

“Riley says you’re here visiting.”

“Uh, yes.” She dabbed at her mouth, then returned her napkin to her lap. She hoped that was all Riley had said.

Davis Lee’s gaze searched her face and she recognized the probe beneath the question. Intelligence glittered in his eyes. She sensed the sheriff knew there was more to her story. If Riley had enlisted his brother to send her packing, he was going to hear from her.

Instead of the leashed wildness she detected in Riley, she recognized a calm in his brother. But he had the same restrained power in his broad shoulders.

After a short exchange about the food and her accommodations, the man bade her good-night. “Hope you have a nice visit in Whirlwind. Please let me know if there’s anything you need. Drop by my office anytime.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

“Davis Lee, please.”

“All right, Davis Lee.” Susannah smiled up at him, relieved that he was leaving. She wondered how Davis Lee would’ve responded if she’d shown up on his doorstep instead of his brother’s.

She paid her bill and went up to her room, looking forward to sleeping on a mattress, despite its lumps.

It was a relief to take off her dusty traveling clothes. She’d let out the seams in a few dresses. The roomier garments, along with her cape, had hidden her expanding curves, but she could no longer lace her corset. In days, her condition would be obvious to the whole world. Soon she’d need a couple of new dresses. Clothes were easy to find, but what about a husband? She couldn’t advertise. It simply wasn’t done.

Pulling the pins from her hair, she tilted her head back and let the heavy mass tumble down her back. She dug her brush from her smallest valise and walked to the window, staring out at the sky, which was turning a vibrant orange and pink. She dragged her brush through her hair, enjoying the comfort of the familiar routine.

Who would want to marry a woman carrying another man’s child, anyway? The stigma of Susannah’s illegitimate child was one reason she’d left St. Louis. Despite its distance from big cities, Whirlwind wasn’t removed from convention.

The land stretched forever, vast and unending, golden plains melting into the flame-colored horizon. Susannah felt small and out of place. Just then, the baby kicked.

Placing a protective hand over her belly, Susannah determined her baby would have a place here, somehow. She’d figure out a way.

And suddenly she had an idea.

For the third time, Riley unwadded the crumpled telegram and stared at it, his shocked numbness edging into a quick flare of temper.

She was in the family way, dammit. A baby!

All last night he’d wondered why she would marry a man she didn’t know, and he’d never once considered that.