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Sarah tried to sit up, but something held her back—something big and solid. Little puffs of warm air brushed against her cheek. A smell drifted around her, a fragrance dusty, dirty, yet familiar. The something that held her back moved. She forced her eyes open.
Mac slumped next to her on the sofa, sleeping but still holding Emma. Sarah tried to shift away from him, but soreness in her neck and back held her in place. She lifted her hand and rubbed her back, easing the muscles enough so she could sit up straight, then she massaged her neck, tipping her head from side to side.
“Are you all right?”
She tried to bite back the cry of pain as she jumped at the sound of Mac’s voice.
He twisted his neck also, grimacing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
She glanced at the window. The outside had changed from black to gray with tinges of pink just starting in the eastern sky. They had spent the night alone. Heat rose up her neck to the top of her unpinned hair.
Mac handed her the baby and stood. “I best be getting out of here before Helen wakes up and finds me.” He kept his voice low as he grabbed his hat and headed for the front door. He stopped and stood still as one of the statues back in Boston, then blinked his eyes as if trying to recall something. “Did you say something last night about Helen not being here?”
Sarah’s face felt hotter than a sunburn in the middle of summer.
“I did, but then—oh, it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. But you need to leave now before someone sees you.”
Mac nodded. “I’ll go get cleaned up and be back before nine to take you to Doc’s to see your brother.”
“Wait.” Sarah tried to stand, but her legs felt leaden. She laid Emma on the sofa and tried again. Once she stood steady on her feet, she shuffled toward him. “Thank you for coming to tell me about Drew last night, but I can make it to the doctor’s office without you.”
Mac smiled down at her. “I know you can, but you can’t go out unescorted, and as you said, Helen isn’t here for you. Besides, I’m also doing this for Drew. I’d like to think if something happened to me, there would be someone to look after my sisters.”
Sarah nodded and reached for the front door handle. For Drew, she could lean on a man. For Drew, she could let him hold her, comfort her. “All right, I’ll be ready by nine, but keep out of sight. I don’t need any rumors started about me.”
“Thank you.” He stepped farther back into the darkened entry hall as she opened the door.
“Where’s the man you got in there?” Petey Waller stood on the porch, pointing a finger at Sarah. A couple of men stood with him. “I told you she was entertaining men all night. And just look at her, looking like a Jezebel. She ain’t fit to raise my niece. I brought me a lawyer and the justice of the peace for witnesses. You can’t get out of this now.”
Mac took a step forward, but Sarah pushed him back farther into the darkness. “What’s all this uproar about? You’re going to awaken my household.”
“What household?” Mr. Waller snorted. “Your housekeeper left last night with her little brother. And I seen a man come sneaking in late last night. He didn’t leave. So you was here alone all night with that rich businessman.”
He shook his finger again. “I knew you and that Mr. Snodgrass was sweet on each other the way he skedaddled it over here yesterday when I started asking questions about you.” He pushed up his skinny little chin and snorted. “But it don’t matter. I’m not letting a hussy like you raise my precious sister’s baby.”
“Mrs. Greer, what is going on?” Helen pushed her way past the men on the porch. The poor girl looked worn out, red-eyed and tired. Her brother pushed up beside her.
“Who are all these men?” Helen glared at the group of men. “And what are they doing here at this hour in the morning?” She reached the open door. “Are you all right, ma’am? Have these bullies hurt you?”
Helen turned her head a bit to the side and winked at Sarah, then with eyes blazing, turned back and faced the men. “You should be ashamed of yourselves, making trouble for a fine lady like Mrs. Greer. Why, I have a notion to fetch the sheriff!”
Helen sucked in a deep breath and opened her mouth to let loose again when a carriage stopped in front of the house. Stanley stepped down.
Mr. Waller turned pale. “But—but I thought—”
Tair trotted around the side of the house and up on the porch. He barked once, then again. Standing at the doorway, he looked inside and howled.
“Whose dog is that?” The voice came from one of the men on the porch.
Helen looked at Sarah and raised her eyebrows in question.
Sarah gave a slight shake of her head. Hopefully Mac had slipped out the back. Surely she could handle this situation by herself. Maybe she—
“Get that cur out of the way.” Stanley raised his booted foot toward the dog. Tair bared his teeth and snarled. Stanley backed off the porch, then lifted his walking cane like a club.
At the moment the dog launched himself at Stanley, Mac rushed out of the hall and pushed Sarah aside, then grabbed the dog’s collar. “Down, Tair, down.”
For a few seconds the dog strained against the bulging arms that held him, but at last he relaxed and sat. Mac turned to the men who had scattered off the porch. “Mrs. Greer’s brother has been gravely injured and is at the doctor’s. She needs to be with him if he awakens. You gentlemen will have to excuse her so I can get her to her brother’s side before it’s too late.”
Stanley shoved men aside as he stomped back up to the porch, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Sarah. “Take care, my dear. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.” He shifted his gaze to Mac. “You best be leaving. And keep that dog tied up, or you might find him dead some morning.”
A growl started deep in the dog’s chest. The sound filled the air as the two men stared at each other. Stanley swung his walking stick wide as he turned to leave.
Tair lunged for the man again. Mac tightened his hold on the dog collar.
Stanley climbed back in his carriage and snapped the whip over the horses’ backs.
With his hand still on Tair’s collar, Mac glared at the men still standing in front of the house. “You might as well leave now, there’s nothing to see.”
Pete Waller took a step forward but stopped when Tair growled again. “You ain’t heard the last of this. You ain’t fit to raise my niece. Just wait till the judge hears about this.”
The other men muttered among themselves for a few moments, then left.
Helen pushed Sarah back into the house. Mac slipped in behind them, dragging his hound with him. Once inside, Helen grabbed the dog’s collar, and Tair followed her like a little puppy to the back of the house.
Sarah waited until the click of the closed door echoed around them, then rounded on Mac, her heart beating hard and her hands gripped in fists so she wouldn’t hit him. “Why did you come out? I had it all handled until you showed yourself. Now they all know who spent the night here.”
His lips tightened. His eyes narrowed. “And what would you have had me do? Hide in here like a wee timorous mousie while Tair ripped out the man’s throat? Because he would have. Have you forgotten how I came to have that dog? How he’d been beaten by those young boys? And that wasn’t the first time someone took a stick ta him. But he’s no pup anymore. If you looked at him lately, you’d see he’s on his way ta his full growth.” His Scottish burr had gotten stronger. “And he’ll no take another beating. Someone at one of the mining camps tried that, and the man’ll never be taking a stick ta a dog again.”
Sarah raised her hand to her throat and tried to swallow. “Did...did he kill the man?”
“Nay, but he’ll carry those scars around for the rest of his life.” Mac ran his fingers over his hair. “This is getting us nowhere. Your brother’s going to be waiting ta see you.” He opened the front door, but looked over his shoulder. “I’ll be back before nine as I said earlier. Be ready.”
“I can go by myself.”
Mac turned on his heel and scowled at her. “No.”
“No, what? Now I should wait like some timorous mousie until you decide that I can come out of my hole?” Sarah rested her fists on her hips. “Well, thanks to what happened here last night—uh, I mean, what didn’t...” She tried to find the words. “The fact that you were in the house most of the night might well cost me my daughter.”
“What do you mean?”
Strange how a man so big could stand so still.
“That man on the porch was Emma’s uncle, and he wants her. My lawyer said he had no case, but I had to keep myself above reproach.” Sarah flung her hands up in the air. “And now I have this mess to deal with.”
Mac’s face paled as her words struck him.
“You won’t lose your daughter over this. You have my word.” He opened the front door. “Don’t leave until I get back.” Without giving her a chance to respond, he left.
Sarah glared at the shut door and huffed. No way was she going to wait for that arrogant man. Lifting the hem of her skirt, she turned to the stairs.
“Mmo-a?”
Sarah’s head twisted sideways. Oh no! How could she have forgotten Emma? Racing back into the parlor, she hurried across the carpet and picked up her baby who was about to slide off the sofa. “There, there now. Momma’s here. We’ll get you cleaned up and see if Helen can tend to you so I can check on Uncle Drew.”
With a hug and a kiss on the baby-soft cheek, Sarah laid Emma on her shoulder and raced upstairs. A half-hour later, after a hurried toilet for her and Emma, they came downstairs and entered the kitchen. Helen sat at the table, her back rigid and her head bowed. The stove sat cold, and nothing had been laid out on the table.
Sarah realized the widow Helen tended during the night must have passed. What a mess the poor girl had come home to. “I didn’t have a chance to ask about the lady you stayed with last night.”
“Widow Grayson passed peacefully. She’s free from pain now.” Helen lifted her head, her face whiter than her apron, her eyes floating in tears. She gripped her hands so tightly together that her knuckles shone white as her face. “Is it true? Is Mr. Hollingsworth near death?”
Sarah dropped into a nearby chair and sat Emma on her lap. “Drew has been injured—that is why Mr. MacPherson was here last night, to tell me about my brother.” Heat burned her neck and cheeks. Maybe that’s why he came by, but that’s not all that happened. Her muscles all seemed to contract as memories of the way she wept all over the man swept through her mind.
She cleared her throat so she could start again. “Drew was in an accident, but he is going to be all right. He has a broken leg and bruised ribs.” She set Emma in her chair and tied the bands that kept her seated. She needed to feed them all before they could go.
Later, after they had harnessed the horse to the buggy she kept in the barn, Sarah snapped the reins. Helen, with Emma on her lap, sat on the seat beside her.
Keeping a tight grip with her gloved hands, Sarah directed the horse through the dusty roads toward the center of the town. She’d seen the doctor’s office sign in the weeks since she’d moved into her home.
When they traveled near one of the saloons, a small pack of half-drunk miners stumbled along the side of the road. Sarah jiggled the reins, and the horse picked up his pace. The men stared at them as the buggy went past, then gave chase.
“Hey, hear tell you women opened up a new brothel.”
“Be by soon.”
“Any more of you gals there?”
Sarah shuddered as she snapped the reins again, leaving the men in the middle of the road. Her jaw ached as she ground her teeth together. She passed the corner of the saloon and saw Pete Waller with a smug look on his face. The hateful, spiteful man was already spreading the word about Mac spending the night at her house.
By the time they pulled up in front of the doctor’s office, Emma was screaming and Helen was white as milk fresh from a cow. Sarah gripped the side of the seat and climbed down. Could her life get more complicated?
***
Mac took the stairs at the boardinghouse two at a time, shrugging out of his jacket and pulling the bandana from his neck. In his room, he splashed water on his face, then grabbed a clean shirt. He had to hurry and get to Drew before his sister did, because he was sure Mrs. Greer was not going to wait until he returned to her home for her.
A few minutes later, Mac stomped down the dirt path leading from the boardinghouse with a couple biscuits stuffed with sausage in his large fists. A third had already been downed, trying to fill the hole in his gut. Bless Mrs. Flanagan’s heart. She had seen what must have been a fierce frown on his stubbly face and offered him some of the sandwiches she’d been packing for miners’ lunches.
Shoving another one in his mouth, he hurried across the road towards Doc’s place. He had to let Drew know about the early morning showdown and what had to happen now for his sister’s safety. He swallowed the last sandwich as his throat went dry. The plan had come to him as he dressed, but could he really do it?
Mac pounded on the doc’s office door as the sun burst over the horizon.
It was a minute before Doc yanked the door open, a frown beneath his mustache and cup of coffee in his hand. “I told you nine, not seven.”
“Sorry, but I need to see Drew before his sister comes. And if my guess is right, she’ll be here well before the time you set.”
Doc waved him in, then pointed to the room where he’d left Drew. “He’s awake. Just don’t excite him too much.”
Mac opened the door to the sickroom while Doc went back to his breakfast.
In the dim room, Drew lay in the bed. The covers lifted above his splinted leg. He turned his bandaged head toward the door. “Have you told Sarah? Did you tell her not to worry?” His voice was low but clear.
“Aye, I told her and I’m sure she’ll be here soon to see for herself how you are.” Mac pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat. “But before she gets here, I’ve got to tell you something.”
“Is she all right? Did someone try to hurt her?” Drew lifted his hands and tried to push off the bed coverings.
“Nothing like that.” Mac told Drew what happened the night before and earlier that morning as quickly as he could.
Drew relaxed back against the bed. “As long as Sarah wasn’t hurt.”
“You miss the point, man. Your sister isn’t safe now. Her reputation’s in tatters.” Mac stood and paced the too-small room. He had to do this, but would Mrs. Greer consent? If she didn’t, she’d have to leave town. There would be no way she would be held in respect now. Word spreads in this town faster than fire in a sawmill. “I dare say Waller and those men with him have already spread the word that your sister had a man stay with her last night. That means that the drunken miners will think of her like those in the saloon or worse. They’d probably pound on the door of that large house and figure it was just another brothel.” He sucked in a deep breath and took the step he vowed he never would until he solved the mystery of his wife’s death. “And since I’m the one responsible, I’ll have to marry her.”
***
“How very gracious of you to offer yourself for such a sacrifice.” Sarah stood at the door of the small whitewashed room where her brother lay in a narrow bed. She shook as the blood pounded in her head. How dare this man make such an assumption? As if she would marry him because he was seen at her house in the early morning. She had survived much worse than her reputation being besmirched. Her husband had seen to that.
She no longer cared what society said about her. And there was no way she was going to tie herself to another man. No way would she willingly put herself under a man’s thumb or in the way of his fists. Once was more than enough, much more.
“So you plan to leave town, then do you?” The big, brawny man looked at her, one of his eyebrows lifting in question.
“I’ll not be leaving my home, scurrying away like a frightened bunny before a pack of howling dogs.” She straightened her spine and stood a bit taller, but nowhere near as tall as the man before her.
He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his face. “Mrs. Greer, you don’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly. Helen and I were verbally accosted by some drunkards on our way here.”
“Sit down, both of you, and let’s talk this matter out.” Drew held onto his head with one hand and pushed up in bed with the other.
Helen handed Emma to Sarah, then rushed to his side. “Please, Mr. Hollingsworth. You need to lie back.” She helped him adjust his pillows and lay back against them.
When he settled down, Sarah smiled at her brother. “All right, Drew, we’ll do as you say as long as you rest. You have to get better.”
She sat in the only chair in the room with Emma on her lap. Taking a deep breath, Sarah raised her head and stared directly at the big man standing at the foot of her brother’s bed. “Go ahead, Mr. MacPherson. Explain to me just why I must marry you.”