Chapter 7

7

Dakota rode into Alton without a single horse remaining besides the one he'd ridden there.

His pockets were flush with money. He could now afford to buy a few more head of cattle, although he was also rounding up longhorns that'd gone wild and lived in the mountains just as the mustangs did. So he was building a herd that way, too. But then putting all his money toward cattle would certainly speed things up.

He had one bitter thought of the Darnells hunting him and wondered what the point was of growing a herd if he'd never have a safe and peaceful home?

Dakota reached Alton to find the train hadn't arrived yet. Jake's family had been here a few days, so he'd caught up without trouble. He stabled his horse at the livery. "Where are Jake Holt and his family's horses?"

With a kindly gleam in his eye, the stableman answered, "Some young Irishman took them away. Said he'd bring them back when the family returns."

Donal. He must have ridden to town with the group and then taken their horses back to his place so they wouldn't have to pay to board them. Dakota didn't want to leave his horse behind and find himself on foot when they climbed off the train, so he paid to stable the animal with the intention of bringing it along in the stockcar. He hadn't seen Jake yet and was glad about that because Jake liked to pay for everything.

Jake had invited Dakota to come along and help protect Ginny. Dakota knew Jake's wife, Beth, had a lot of money. She'd brought it with her when she traveled west, and they'd found little to spend the money on, locked away as they were in the canyon. Jake didn't want the trip to cost Dakota anything, but Dakota liked paying his own way. So he went to the train station to pay for his ticket and space in the stockcar for his horse. Ticket in hand, Dakota headed for the hotel just as Jake was stepping out onto the boardwalk.

"I got you a room," Jake said.

Dakota shook his head. "I'd prefer to pay for my own."

Jake laughed. "Too late. Already paid for." Jake came up and patted Dakota on the shoulder. "Thanks for going along with us."

"A room of my own? I've gotten used to solitude, so I appreciate not having to share."

"Yes, a room of your own. I rented out the whole second floor, so no one has reason to get too close. You need to get yourself a wife, Dak. Solitude isn't all it's cracked up to be."

The whole second floor? He knew this hotel and had stayed in it. A room for Beth and the children and Ginny because Ginny needed someone with her. A second for Oscar and Jake. The hotel rented a number of rooms on the second floor. Yep, Jake was spending too freely. But maybe it was worth it to have empty rooms on both sides of them.

Dakota couldn't come up with a smile over Jake's teasing about marriage. "You know I can't be getting a wife. It wouldn't be safe nor fair to bring a woman into my life."

Jake's expression turned somber. "I know. Sorry."

Dakota nodded. "I'm bringing my horse along on the train," he said, wanting to talk about something else, and quick. "When we get back, I'll ride out to the O'Toole place and send Donal in with your horses. How long will we be gone?"

"I don't know if we're going to be away for two days or two weeks or two months. It all depends on a lot of pieces of this puzzle fitting together. We're going to try to slip in, get a judge's ruling on Ginny, and slip back out, hopefully without getting a glimpse of Thaddeus Rutledge. We know he's out there hunting for her."

"I've been to town plenty of times since I settled here. Folks are still hanging the wanted posters and asking questions. That Rutledge is a fool to have spent so much money trying to track down his runaway wife. I'm sure if he gets ahold of her, he hopes to torment her into handing over her inheritance to him. And maybe she'd even do it now that Beth's money isn't at risk. Rutledge should just keep his hands on what he already has and consider it a fair enough deal."

Shaking his head, Jake said, "It's about the money, but only in part. Thaddeus isn't a man who likes to be thwarted. He decides what he wants, and he doesn't stop his pursuing till he gets it. The word no never comes into play. He was cut to ribbons by Yvette when he caught up with Beth that first year we came out here, but even that didn't make him quit."

"Kat and Sebastian said he was limping bad, most likely from being cut. Then he broke his arm being thrown off a train when he tried to get his hands on Kat to shake information out of her in his search for Ginny. Kat said in a letter that his arm didn't heal right. She also said he'd salted money all over Independence, Missouri, to get out of kidnapping charges and a long stretch in prison. That didn't stop him either." Dakota gave a grunt of disgust.

"Beth thinks a man who gets as rich as her pa is likely to be ruthless, though she says her grandfather was a wealthy man and a kind one. The way Rutledge acts, well, his isn't a life any decent person would want to live."

Dakota laughed. " Decent isn't a word Rutledge has any interest in being tagged with."

"Yep," said Jake, "the man's safe from ever being called that."

"You know, even with men around watching for him, Rutledge can't get out here that fast to try to stop us—not if we get to where we're going, quick get the ruling, and ride back home. Am I right?"

Jake gave Dakota a grim smile. "That's our wish for a fact, but we're on the lookout for trouble just the same. The train has made a huge country mighty small. Nothing like the vast land you and I used to guide a wagon train across for months."

Dakota hesitated. "I hope I don't bring more trouble to you than I'm worth."

Jake's eyes flashed with concern. "Getting out of the territory for a week or a month, however long we're gone, might be the best thing that could happen."

Dakota didn't say it, but nothing about what lay ahead sounded like the best of anything. He wondered if the same people snooping around looking for Ginny Rutledge were out to earn themselves some extra money searching for him. He'd tried to move around quiet-like, yet he'd been found twice. The whole Darnell clan were apt to catch up to Dakota someday, maybe all at once.

Dakota followed his old friend into the hotel and almost stumbled in shock.

Maeve stood in the doorway to the dining room. He knew Donal had already headed for home. He'd forgotten about her.

"What are you doing here?" Maeve jammed her hands on her hips.

Apparently, she hadn't known he was coming.

Dakota turned toward Jake, who had ignored both of them and headed straight into the dining room. It was about high noon, and here Dakota was facing another clash with the face-slapper. He narrowed his eyes and stayed well out of range. "I'm coming along on the trip to help protect Ginny."

"No, you're not." She stormed right up to him, and he stepped backward until he hit the now-closed door with his back. Somehow he'd ended up alone with her in the hotel lobby. Was she aiming to slap him again?

With no idea of what to say, instead he just stood there staring at her, breathing her in. She smelled nice, though he couldn't say like what exactly. He'd never given much thought to what a woman smelled like, but to him Maeve smelled like a purely full-fledged adult woman.

She wore a pretty green dress with white lace at her wrists and neck. The color made her hair glow like fire. He wanted to warm himself on the fire of her hair.

He finally found his voice. "You're going because they need your help. That's my reason for going, too."

She looked a little stunned. And then for no good reason Dakota could see, she moved closer. Their gazes locked together. It reminded Dakota of when they'd first gotten to know each other on the wagon train—they'd looked at each other a few times too many. He'd felt drawn to her. He'd known he was headed west for the last time.

Dakota lifted his hands and rested them on her upper arms. He drew her even closer, and she let him. "Maeve, if you want—"

"Maeve! Can you come in here, please?" Ginny's voice slapped aside whatever wild notion had taken over Dakota's mind.

Maeve jumped, then backed away from him, wide-eyed. "What are you doing?" She shook her head almost violently. "What am I doing?"

She didn't wait for Dakota's answer, which was just as well since he had no idea of how to respond. Instead, she whirled around and raced into the hotel dining room. She was gone, but Dakota still felt the warmth of her.

Jake came to the dining room doorway just as Dakota was about to go outside and throw himself into a water trough to clear his head.

"Can you come in now?" Jake asked. "They're serving the meals, and they want to get it all handed out at once."

It wasn't a water trough, but it'd do as a distraction. Besides, Dakota had been living mostly on hardtack and beef jerky for the last few days. A couple of people he'd sold horses to had fed him, but then he'd pushed on, hoping to get to town before Jake left.

Well, he'd made it. But things were a lot stranger than he'd ever imagined. Sure, he wanted to help keep Ginny out of the clutches of her indecent husband. And sure, he liked the idea of putting a lot of miles between him and the Darnell clan. Even so, was saving Ginny and his own life enough to convince him to put up with Maeve?

His thoughts turned all mushy then, as he couldn't come up with a solid answer. Later, he decided, then yielded to the temptation of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a bowl of creamed peas. The hotel cook had baked loaves of soft bread that were still warm, and there was apple pie with sweetened cream and all the hot, strong coffee he could drink.

Dakota focused fiercely on the food in hopes Maeve would vanish instead of sitting there so sweetly, bouncing a baby on one knee, in that pretty green dress.