Whirlwind Bride

A smile curved her lips, and it kicked through him like a steel-shod hoof.

“What did you have in mind?”

He stood there, a bit stunned, before he realized she’d asked him a question. “Oh. You can stay with Cora Wilkes. She’s newly widowed. Just yesterday, in fact.”

“She doesn’t need someone invading her grief.”

“She needs someone to help her,” Riley said firmly. “And so do you. It’s a good arrangement. I’ll take care of everything.”

A tiny frown puckered the smooth skin between Susannah’s eyebrows.

“I’ll come by the hotel in a few days and take you to meet her.”

“I don’t know.”

He took off his hat, stepped close enough that he could feel the warmth from her skin. “Let me do this.”

The struggle to refuse was plain on her face, but finally she nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Her eyes, endlessly blue and liquid, did something to his insides. And when she smiled, his muscles clenched as if she’d run those small oval nails across his bare belly. Had any man ever turned her down? Probably not.

“Let me walk you back to the hotel.”

She nodded, but didn’t take his arm. As they walked, she kept a wary distance between them. They reached the hotel in silence, and after agreeing to meet on Friday, Susannah disappeared inside, skirts swishing.

Hell. Irritation shot through him and he pulled his hat lower on his head. Reaching into his pocket for the last piece of peppermint, he popped it into his mouth despite how it now reminded him of Susannah. She’d been here twenty-four hours and it seemed that every male in town—except him and Lester Hedges, who was just this side of dead—was already panting after her.

Yes, he would keep her secret, along with a healthy distance. Something about Susannah Phelps made him wonder about things he’d never given a second thought. Such as what it would be like to have a woman like her again. And then he remembered the agony of losing one woman to the ravages of this land, and felt himself take a mental step back.

He’d gotten his answers, found out why she’d really showed up in his barn yesterday. She was expecting, but she was just fine. That was all he cared about.

Only then did he wonder what she’d meant about providing security for her baby. Even though Adam’s plan had failed, did she still plan to marry? Judging from what Riley had just witnessed, Susannah wouldn’t lack for suitors.

For some reason, that thought had him clenching his jaw tight enough to snap.

Chapter Four

In the last three days, Susannah had barely spared Riley a thought. When she was asleep.

She stifled a groan of frustration and smoothed a hand down the skirt of her rose plaid day dress. After wrapping her chignon with a matching ribbon, she put on her short gloves.

As she waited at the Whirlwind Hotel for Riley to collect her and take her to meet Cora Wilkes, Susannah determined that the flutters in her stomach were due to wanting to make a good impression on the widow. They had nothing to do with the way Riley’s blue gaze seemed to see right through her. Or the fact that she hadn’t seen him since that day on the boardwalk in front of Haskell’s General Store. Had he been to town at all?

Drat the man, anyway. He vexed her, but she found herself easily vexed these days. Her emotions had played havoc with her in the last few months. Riley was helping her find a place to live, so she couldn’t be angry at him, but she didn’t want to think about him. Nor did she want to be beholden to him.

The small watch pinned to her bodice showed it was a little before three as she made her way downstairs and out to the front of the hotel. She smiled as she passed Mr. Wavers behind the desk. As she stepped out into the cool October day, she saw Riley in the street several yards away. One broad hand caressed his black-and-white paint’s nose as he looped the horse’s reins over the hitching post.

The short collar of Riley’s white shirt skimmed the back of a strong, tanned neck. He was broad and powerful from his chest to his legs. Intimidating even. Though not as intimidating as that horse, which made Susannah stay right where she was under the hotel’s awning. Riley Holt wasn’t the most handsome man she’d ever seen, but she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off him.

He wore a broken-in, gray felt Stetson today, reminding her that the small flat-brim on her head would serve only as decoration in the strong Texas sun.

He stepped up onto the walk before catching sight of her. “Hello.”

The pleasant surprise in his voice caused a new set of flutters in her stomach.

“Hello.” She twisted the satin strings of her reticule around her fingers. “I’m ready.”

“You look real nice.” His gaze skimmed over her before coming back to her face. Wide shoulders blocked the sun, threw a long shadow across the planks. “We’ll walk if that’s all right. Cora lives just at the end of town.”

“Yes, I’d like that.” In truth, Susannah had walked a bit already today and her ankles were starting to swell, but she preferred walking to riding in something that might force her to sit too close to Riley.

Heading west, the direction Riley lived, they made their way down the wooden walk past the post office and the Pearl Restaurant.

“What have you been doing with yourself?”

“Did you think I might have left?” she asked coolly.

“I figured you stayed. Just to show me.” He grinned, taking any sting out of his words.

Released from school moments ago, children darted past them, skipped into the street to dodge horses and a lumbering wagon driven by an old man.

Riley waved as they passed his brother’s office, and Susannah glanced at the window to see Davis Lee lift a hand. She waved, too. Her skirts swished softly against the planked wood.

“Thought you might’ve missed me the past few mornings.” Riley gave her a teasing smile. “You doing all right today?”

“Yes, thank you.” She didn’t like him asking after her all the time. It made her think he cared, made her wish.

“Do you need anything?”

“No, thank you.” She’d had no luck finding a job and was growing concerned, but she wouldn’t tell Riley that. As they stepped off the walk and into the street, she slid a look at him. “What have you told Cora about me?”

“That you need a place to live.”

“Nothing about … my condition?”

“No. That’s for you to tell her.”

Grateful, she studied him for a moment. “Are you sure it’s all right to call on her? Her husband has only been gone three days. At home, mourners don’t receive visitors for at least a month.”

“Well, things are different here.”

“Yes, so you’ve said.” His reminders were starting to fray her nerves. “I assume you still observe some niceties.”

“Some.”

He sounded amused, which caused her jaw to set. “I thought you said Cora lived at the end of town?” The clang of metal on metal sounded sharply as they reached the blacksmith’s barn.

“She does. Well, outside of town a bit.” He guided Susannah to the left and they walked past Ef Gerard’s smithy. Riley pointed. “See the stage stand?”