Luke's Runaway Bride

Beside her, Olivia’s satin skirts rustled. Dressed in pleated burgundy, the pretty dark woman peered up at Jenny. “At least in Boston, the men conceal them.”

Stepping from the boardwalk onto the rutted path, Jenny watched the stranger disappear down an alley. She brushed him from her thoughts. Glancing up at the quarter moon, she relaxed and smiled. Tonight at the ball, Daniel had formally announced their engagement, and she wanted to waltz with excitement.

In four short months, she’d be Mrs. Daniel Kincaid. She was such a lucky woman. Wasn’t it Daniel himself who’d organized this fine charity event? Such a kind, loving man. Her father was right in his arrangement, after all.

Two months wasn’t a long time from first meeting to engagement, she admitted, but she shouldn’t worry. She and Daniel had a solid base of companionship, and love and passion would grow from there. Marriage and children were what she’d always wanted.

Olivia adjusted her fringed wrap. “Did you tell Daniel where we’re headed?”

“I tried, but he was talking to the banker and his wife, getting a big donation. I couldn’t very well approach them with my bodice gaping open.” With good humor, Jenny glanced down at the space where her button used to be, and pulled her shawl tighter. Her beaded bag dangled at her wrist.

“But we should tell someone—”

“If one more person sees my dress like this, I’ll die of shame. Daniel’s house is just around the corner. His butler couldn’t leave the ball because he was serving drinks at the bar, but he told me where he keeps the sewing basket. He also gave me the key.”

“Well…the fresh air’s nice. My eyes are waterin’ from the cigar smoke, and my nose…” Olivia, more of a sister than a housekeeper, chattered on in her usual lively manner, in a voice that had soothed Jenny since they were children.

Jenny yanked at the tight curls pinned on top of her head, wishing she’d arranged her hair in her usual beaver tail. She agreed with the elderly Windsor sisters next door—her hair was as straight and thin as a plank—but why had she allowed them to curl and powder it? Powder hadn’t been used for decades!

Well, because it was the first time in two weeks, since the loss of their beloved cat, that Jenny had seen the two sisters smile. She hadn’t the heart to refuse their offer.

Thank you kindly, but no. She had to practice saying those words more often.

They turned the corner, passing massive stone-and-cedar houses. Petticoats swished around their ankles. Tomorrow, Jenny would rise early. Her crate of bridal fabrics had finally arrived from the East, and she was itching to cut her wedding corset. In Boston, her late grandmother had taught her how to sew the finest undergarments—“lingerie,” the French called it—and it still gave Jenny such pleasure.

Too bad she wasn’t able to convince Daniel a lingerie store would be appropriate for a woman of her stature, even though it had been her dream since she was fourteen. When would he decide on the type of store he did consider appropriate?

Her father and brothers hadn’t needed anyone’s permission to plan their dreams when they’d decided as a family to move West. Why did she? Even Denver bankers had refused her loan requests, because she was a woman on her own. She still knew that newspaper clipping by heart—“Store owners needed in Denver. Plenty of opportunities for men and women”—and she ached for the challenge.

A train rumbled through the foothills, scattering her thoughts. As Olivia chattered on, Jenny glanced up through the trees.

She spotted him again and lightning bolted through her.

The same tall stranger. Wide shoulders and a massive frame, leaning on Daniel’s porch. What did he want?

He wasn’t looking at them. instead he pressed a bulky hand to his shoulder, and his suede jacket fell open. His white shirt was soaked with a spreading stain of blood.

Her heart jumped madly. Instinctively, she stepped toward him. He needed help.

But if she had a lick of sense, she’d turn around and run. As her footsteps slowed, his head came up. She heard a jingle of spurs. He gazed at her, level and bold, as if he had every right to be here. Her muscles quaked.

Apparently, Olivia hadn’t noticed him. “…And so I answered, ‘Oui, monsieur,’ and he was sure surprised to hear me speaking French. Couldn’t imagine, he said, my folks being runaway slaves. My, it’s cool—”

“Olivia,” Jenny whispered, “look at the porch.”

Her friend came to a stop and grimaced in dismay. “Sweet stars above! Let’s get out of here.”

She tugged at Jenny’s sleeve, jiggling the feathers, but Jenny stayed put. If the man had wanted to attack them, he could have done it already. “He’s injured. He needs help.”

“Are you out of your mind? He looks dangerous! And you don’t always have to be the one—”

“He must know Daniel. He must be a friend. Why else would he be on the porch?”

“Maybe he’s the robber!”

Jenny swallowed, trying to control her fear, wishing Daniel had given her more details about the robbery instead of worrying he’d frighten her. “The sheriff’s looking for the culprit, and the guilty man wouldn’t be so foolish to stand right on Daniel’s porch.”

“We ought to run in the other direction. Bad things always come in threes, and this is the third thing today.”

Jenny’s gloved fingers tightened around her shawl. “That’s an old wives’ tale.”

“You know you believe it. Ever since your shoelace broke this morning, you’ve had a run of bad luck. First the robbery, then your button. Poppin’ off right in front of the entire church committee, I might add, exposin’ more flesh than any of ’em has seen in the last decade. Now this.” She motioned to the stranger. “Let’s not get attacked by a lunatic!”

Jenny drew a clipped breath. He was much bigger than they were. “You’re right, let’s go back and get the men.”

The stranger slumped forward, apparently in pain.

Compassion surged through her. “Are you…are you all right?” she called out.

Olivia gasped. “Jenny, don’t talk to him.”

He stood up, a tall dark figure in the shadows, swaying on his feet. “I’ll be fine. I was…hoping for someone else. Looks like he’s not coming.”

Her voice wavered. “You need a doctor. Who are you?”

He staggered toward the side of the house, to the iron rings that studded the twisted cottonwood where he’d tied his horse. “I’ll be heading out,” he said, not bothering to give his name.

“Are you waiting for Daniel Kincaid?”

The stranger spun in her direction. He peered at her in potent silence. “Who’s asking?”

Her stomach rose and fell. “I’m—I’m his fiancée. I could tell you where he is, but you really should see a doctor. Most of them are at the charity ball. You can see the lights through the trees.” She pointed. “We’ll show you the way.”

“We will not,” Olivia squeaked.

Jenny scowled. “He might be bleeding to death.”

“His fiancée,” the man repeated, stumbling to his horse. In the streaky moonlight, Jenny caught the look of disgust that rippled across his face.

A tremble ran down her spine. Who in blazes was this man? Why was he snarling at the fact that Daniel had a fiancée? Daniel—her beloved, her protector. And hadn’t she just decided, five minutes ago, she should learn to say no? Someone else could help this man. She inched back and signaled Olivia it was time to run.

She was about to spin away when the stranger placed his foot in the stirrup. Instead of swinging up, he staggered back and fell into the dirt. A moan escaped his lips.

Jenny’s breath caught. The man was truly injured.

As still as a boulder, he didn’t rise.

She couldn’t abandon a wounded man. She flung the gate open and dashed to his side.