Page 76 of Native Hawk
She gasped. Then she looked at her hand. The pistol was smoking.
She looked up at Drew. He was staring at her with a strange expression, like a combination of wariness and horror.
He held out his hand. “You want to hand that over, nice and careful, Cat?”
She nodded, lifting it up by the stock with two fingers to hand it to Drew.
She let out a shuddering breath. She hadn’t realized how terrified she’d been.
Above her, the ladies started murmuring softly in wonder. Miss Hattie swept out from behind her to peer down at the wreckage of a man laid out like a corpse on her salon floor.
Suddenly, Catalina frowned.
“Wait,” she said, glancing at Drew, who was cradling his battered ribs. “What did you just say?”
“I said, do you want to hand over the—”
“No, before that.”
“Oh. That.”
While the ladies hushed and leaned over the balcony, Drew set down the gun and dug in his pocket.
He pulled forth something and went down on one knee before her.
“Miss Cat, Catalina…”
Her eyes welled with happy tears as she pressed one trembling hand to her bosom. She was so moved that she gave him her real name. “Catalina Palatino Prosperi Valentini di Ferrara.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Miss Cat Etcetera…will you do me the honor of givin’ me your hand in marriage?”
“Mr. Drew Hawk,” she breathed. “I will give you my hands and my arms and my feet and my legs…”
“All right, that’s quite enough givin’ in public,” Miss Hattie scolded.
The ladies squealed and cheered in delight.
Drew slipped a beautiful ring on her finger. The band was of simple gold filigree, and the brilliant diamond in the middle twinkled through the blur of tears in her eyes.
“I suppose you’ll be wantin’ Cat for the night,” Miss Hattie quipped.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Catalina frowned at the madam. “You will not make him pay for me.”
“For you? No. But I’m still chargin’ him two dollars for the room.”
Drew patted his pockets. Then he crouched beside the man he’d knocked unconscious, who lay snuffling through his broken nose. He dug in the man’s pockets and handed Miss Hattie two silver dollars.
“You’ll prob’ly want to get the sheriff,” Drew told her. “When this fool wakes up, he’s gonna be madder than a hornet.”
“You got that right,” Miss Hattie said. Then she added, “Look, in light of everything that’s happened, I’m gonna let you two have the day off alone. Think of it as a honeymoon. But bright and early tomorrow, Miss Catalina, I expect you to report for work…as my new saloon girl. You’ve got a raise. The pay is a dollar and a half a day.”
“Oh, thank you, Miss Hattie,” Catalina gushed.
Then Drew retrieved his gun, looped his arm through Catalina’s, and led her back up the stairs.
When he closed the bedroom door behind them, he sagged against it. Catalina realized he’d been more injured than he let on. His chest was red where the brute had struck him.
