Page 53 of Native Hawk
Jenny swallowed. “Nothin’. I just…fell.”
Catalina didn’t believe her. “That is not from falling. Did your man do this to you?”
Jenny clasped Catalina’s hands and made a panicked plea. “Please don’t say anything to Miss Hattie. And please don’t tell the other girls. I made a whole two dollars last night. I need the job. If I lose this job, I got no place to go. Please, Miss Catalina.”
Catalina felt sick to her stomach. But she didn’t want to make things worse for Jenny. It was bad enough that she’d lost her virginity, worse that the man who’d taken it had been rough with her. But if Catalina betrayed her trust, it would destroy the girl.
“I will not tell,” she reluctantly promised.
“Thank you,” Jenny said, her eyes welling with tears, “thank you.”
Catalina wondered if she was doing the right thing. No woman should have to endure such pain just to make a living. She only hoped what she’d told the girl was true, that the second time would not be so bad.
Jenny scurried out the door then, and Catalina scowled down at the stained sheet. It seemed like too much blood. And it seemed like two dollars was nowhere near enough for the loss of one’s maidenhood.
Twenty dollars was a ridiculous price to pay for a hotel room. If Drew were smart, he’d stay at The Adams, which was only two dollars a night. But then The Adams didn’t come with a companionable bedmate. Still, with the day growing longer and Chase nowhere to be found, it was clear Drew was going to have to find lodgings soon.
As he stood on the main street of Paradise, his eyes kept drifting to The Parlor.
Some unsavory character was probably sitting in the salon right now, drooling over his Cat. It made his stomach churn.
What was wrong with him? It wasn’t like he had any say over what she did. He wasn’t even going to be in town much longer. And it wasn’t like he owned her.
On the other hand, he’d spent forty dollars on the woman. Hell, that was as much as he’d spent on his Colt.
No, he should just let her be and make a clean break of it. He’d managed to avoid a messy goodbye this morning. If he went to see her again, it would only make the leaving that much harder.
But every time he thought about walking through the door of The Adams Hotel, his gaze was drawn back to The Parlor.
“Ling-miwhxiy,”he muttered, spitting into the dust. Cursing himself for a fool, he let his feet take him down the boardwalk toward the brothel.
He told himself he was only trying to help her get enough money for that sewing machine she wanted. But even he didn’t believe the lie.
He only hoped Lady Luck was with him tonight, because he had just a few hours to earn twenty dollars.
He didn’t see Cat. But there was already a game going when he walked into the salon. The three rough-looking gents had the three things Drew always liked to see in players—piles of silver in front of them, an empty chair, and a nearly empty bottle of whiskey.
“Need a fourth?” he asked while the dealer was shuffling.
They eyed him with suspicion.
“You got silver?” the giant with the grizzled beard growled.
“Enough to last a couple hands, I hope,” Drew said.
The grizzled one glanced at the other two for their approval. The one chewing tobacco shrugged. The dealer, a brute with a broken nose, hesitated.
“How about I buy the next bottle o’ whiskey?” Drew offered.
That got their attention. They kicked out the fourth chair and welcomed him with a nod.
Drew sat down and motioned to one of the girls for whiskey. Then he dug deep in his satchel into his emergency reserves and put the coins on the table.
Miss Hattie herself brought the whiskey and an extra glass.
“Make sure you boys save enough funds for some evenin’ entertainment,” she said, giving Drew a particularly pointed glare. “We got some real pretty girls available.”
The broken-nosed man grumbled, “Jenny’s mine.”
