Page 82 of Montana Lawman Rescuer
He nodded toward the back door. He didn’t want the conversation to take place publicly. Outdoors, he turned toward the bench at the side of the house, where he could count on a little privacy. However, he didn’t sit.
She remained standing, as well. “You have news?”
He didn’t look directly at her. “I saw you this afternoon.”
“I saw you, too, and was so relieved to see you back safe and sound and with those three men caught.”
“You didn’t look like you cared much.”
She grew still. “What do you mean?”
“I saw you kissing that man. Who is he?” He looked at her but kept his feelings banked. He would not let her know how hurt he was.
“You’re mistaken.”
“Are you telling me?—?”
She interrupted his question. “I was most certainly not kissing him. He kissed me as bold as if he had the right.” She shuddered. “He says his name is Fred Ellesworth, and that we were engaged. I don’t remember it, and I don’t believe it. I would never promise myself to a man of such low moral standards. He treated me like—” Her eyes narrowed, and she sucked in a breath. “With utter disregard for my reputation.” She shuddered again, and her eyes filled with darkness.
He wanted to believe her. More than that, he wanted to comfort her. Was she telling the truth? “You don’t remember him?”
“No.” she twisted her hands. “Can he really know me from before, or is he playing some kind of con game?”
The agony in her voice and the sight of her twisting hands erased all doubt from his mind, and he opened his arms and pulled her to his chest. At least they were sheltered from the public, and his actions weren’t jeopardizing her reputation.
“I don’t know who he is, nor if he knows you, but I will be keeping a close eye on him.”
She clung to him. “I’m so glad you’re back and have those men behind bars.”
“I’ll be staying close to home until the judge comes.”
“Then what happens to them?” She shifted so she could turn her face up and watch him.
“Then they will likely go to Great Falls, and the law will deal with them according to their crimes.”
She was silent a moment. “I’m glad that they won’t be responsible for any more killings.”
They sat on the bench, and he told her about following the trio into the mountains. “I knew eventually they would make a mistake, and I would find them. This time they left a trail—a broken branch and cigarette butts. They’d grown overconfident.”
She studied her hands. “We all missed you.”
“Yeah?”
“Mikey kept going to the door to ask for ‘Yesse.’ He fussed at bedtime.”
Jesse glanced at the sky. The sun had dipped into the west, giving a golden edge to the mountains. “Speaking of which, we better go in and put him to bed. I’ll read to him tonight and tuck him in.”
“He’ll love that.”
“No more than I.” He paused at the door. “I’m going to miss that little guy when he goes.” And Emily, too. Even though he’d decided to ask her to consider staying, seeing her with Fred Ellesworth had given him cause to reconsider. He knew she would say he needed to know her past before she could make any plans for her future, and maybe he did. He had no wish to dread people from her former life showing up.
She lowered her head as if something on the ground demanded her attention. “I suppose once I hear from someone at Alliance, I will need to go back, if only to find out who I am and what I’ve done.”
He tried to ignore the tremor in her voice, knowing his doubts about seeing her with Mr. Ellesworth had triggered her fears that she had a dark cloud of shame in her past. But he couldn’t do anything to relieve her concern. He cared about her but intended to guard himself from acting prematurely and unwisely.
They went indoors. He played with Mikey and Muffin, then read a little picture book over and over until Mikey couldn’t stop yawning.
“He’s just delaying,” Emily said.
