Ten minutes later Garrett was sitting next to a sleeping Libby, his heart pounding. He had asked Carmen to leave them alone. She gave him a motherly what-do-you-think-you’re-doing look but picked up a tray of barely eaten biscuits and gravy and left. Garrett was tired, sore and thought he must be out of his mind, but he finally leaned over and gently shook Libby’s shoulder.
“Libby?”
Nothing.
He shook her a little harder and said her name a little louder.
Still nothing. Was she unconscious again? He tried shaking both shoulders this time and practically shouted her name. Her eyes flew open.
“What? What’s wrong?”
Garrett sat back. “I’m sorry to wake you. I need to talk to you right away.”
She tried to sit and gasped in pain as she jarred her ankle.
“Here. Let me help you.” He held her in a sitting position while propping her pillows behind her. “There. Lean back and relax.”
She did lean back and tried to hide her discomfort. She looked truly bedraggled, and it was somehow endearing to him. He gulped involuntarily as he noticed how sheer her chemise was. He could see her nipples, for God sakes. He looked at her face before she caught him looking at her breasts. She was so beat up. He was tempted to say, “How do you like the West now?” but he thought better of it. Best not to antagonize her.
“Do you want some tea or water?”
“Water please,” she croaked.
He turned to the nearby table, poured a glass of water from the flowered pitcher Carmen had left and handed it to Libby. He watched her drink it as her eyes came more into focus. He was not going to propose to an incoherent woman. If he could make himself propose at all. He never thought the word “propose” would be in his vocabulary.
When she handed him the empty cup, he flinched a little. Libby was surprised. She had never seen Garrett in anything but total, full-confidence control. He seemed almost…nervous. “What’s going on, Garrett?” she prodded. “Are you okay?”
She placed her hand on his arm to comfort him. She had practically been killed three times, and she was asking if he was okay? He took a deep breath, looked left, then right, then up at the ceiling for a rather uncomfortable amount of time. Then he looked directly into her aqua eyes. “You have one man trying to kill you and one trying to force you into an unwanted union, all because of their greed. You’ve suffered two head injuries, sprained your ankle and almost died from an infection.”
“And you were shot.”
“Yes. Edward DeJulius is in Deer Lodge and maybe your stepfather is, too. One of them hired the fellow who shot me. And there may be more than one who have fired at us at other times.” He rubbed his shoulder unconsciously and cleared his throat. “Jackson came up with a way to keep you safe, or at least a lot safer, and I agree with him.”
“Let’s do it then,” she said, almost cheerfully.
“You don’t know what it is yet.”
“I trust you.”
“Will you marry me then? Tonight?”
She looked at him for so long he thought he must have snakes growing out of his eyes. And then she laughed. Laughed! Until she realized he wasn’t smiling, that is.
“You’re serious?”
“If we’re married, your stepfather and DeJulius have no claim on you.”
“But you don’t even like me.”
“That’s not true at all. I know I have been…”
“Mean?”
He leaned back and studied her for a moment. “I’ve had a bad…I don’t generally trust women. In my experience, they have…well, I just haven’t had a good experience. But I do admire you, Libby. I’ve never known anyone like you.”
“You do?”
“You’re smart and hardworking…when you work…and you don’t put on airs. You’re brave and mighty resourceful. And beautiful, of course.”
He thinks I’m beautiful?
She was about to agree to the marriage—it was infinitely better than what Elias had arranged—when Garrett threw a wrench into the works.
“It can be a marriage of convenience, of course. Once the other men are out of the picture for good, you could get an annulment.” He coughed. “Unless the union has been consummated, that is. I don’t want your dowry.”
She waited, but he didn’t go on.
She sighed. “Well, if that isn’t the most romantic proposal I’ve ever heard.”
“I’m trying to save your life.”
She looked at her hands for some reason, as if she would find the answer there. She was in a bind, that was true, but she still would have said no if it were anyone but Garrett. She wouldn’t tell him, but he was her hero in so many ways. She realized he had issues with women and could throw an insult out better than anyone she knew, and yet she never had been one to dodge a challenge. She wet her lips with her tongue, momentarily mesmerizing him. Then she looked him right in the eye. “All right.”
He leaned forward. “All right?”
“Yes. I’ll marry you.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
He was taken aback. “You’re serious?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So am I.”
“Are you crazy?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
He laughed. “Yeah, me too.”
She sat up suddenly. “I have to find something to wear!”
“We can do it with you in bed if we need to.”
“I am not getting married in bed, Garrett Winslow. Now leave, so I can get ready.”
He stood. “I’ll send Carmen up to help you.”
“It’s the middle of the night. Is everyone up?”
“Just about.”
“Thank you.” She smiled sweetly, squeezing his hand, and he felt something clutch his heart. That was ridiculous. It would be a marriage of convenience. She wouldn’t stay. This country was too hard on ladies, especially her, apparently.
* * *
Clem returned two hours later with a slightly grumpy man of the cloth, who married Garrett and Libby in Jackson’s study, with Jackson, Carmen, Hector and Clem in attendance. Garrett honestly expected Libby to run screaming from the room, telling them all she’d changed her mind, but she didn’t even look worried. She looked almost serene. Frighteningly serene, in fact. That scared him more than anything. Maybe he was the one he thought would bail in abject terror. Oddly, he felt fine as well. Not exactly thrilled, more like cautiously okay. Much more cautiously okay than he had expected to be. He was smart enough to know that telling Libby he felt “cautiously okay” would be a big mistake.
Libby wore her green gown, to which Carmen had manage to add a delicate lace collar. The bride had taken a bath and washed and dried her hair, which Carmen had helped her fashion into a stylish chignon. She was barefoot, since she still couldn’t get a shoe or boot on her right foot and still had a bruise on her face. She looked simple and stunning, nearly taking his breath away.
Garrett wore clean jeans and a boiled white shirt with a black bolo tie. Libby thought he had never looked so handsome. After they recited the vows, Garrett had placed a gold band on loan from Jackson on her finger. She wondered if it had belonged to Elinora, then realized she had probably taken her ring with her when she left. Elinora always was materialistic. During the ceremony, Garrett kissed Libby very sweetly, not with the fervor he had displayed at the picnic, yet she still felt it to her toes. She could barely stand long enough to sign the marriage certificate, however, as her ankle was throbbing.
Garrett noticed her fatigue and suggested she go back to bed. She looked at him almost in panic. He chuckled. “I’ll come up later.”
She nodded. As she started to limp off, something occurred to him. He grabbed her arm and stopped her, turning to make sure no one was close enough to hear. “Though I know you don’t feel that well, I’m thinking for this marriage to be considered legitimate, we need to consummate it after all. Tonight.”
Again, she just looked at him with a blank expression and he felt compelled to continue.
“I know I said we could get an annulment if we didn’t consummate it, but I realized DeJulius will most likely accuse us of concocting a phony marriage to stop him. I believe the sheriff might ask you if the marriage has been consummated. Do you want to lie?”
She looked at her feet for a long time, then looked back up at him. Did she? She certainly had become accustomed to lying, and truthfully, under the circumstances, it would not have bothered her much to lie again. Sharing a bed with Garrett, though? If she was honest with herself, that could be a wonderful turn of events. It just might loosen up his hardened heart. “No, I don’t want to lie.”
“We could still get a divorce. Although it’s not as much of a stigma as it used to be, it still could affect your reputation.”
“And yours.”
“Not as much.”
She smiled, almost sadly. “These aren’t ideal circumstances, that’s for certain.”
“I’ll be up in a little while. You get comfortable.”
She nodded and limped away. Like she could ever get comfortable anticipating that.
He really did not have her figured out, Garrett realized with an odd sense of almost foreboding. Did she have other secrets? As Jackson walked over to Garrett, Carmen followed Libby up the stairs. Why did Carmen look so happy? It’s not as if she had gotten married.
“Congratulations.”
Garrett looked into Jackson’s face. It did not hold a look of irony. “Yeah,” Garrett said, wondering if he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life.
“Carmen thinks it’s wonderful.”
“I can tell. But why?” Garrett asked.
“She believes you were made for each other.”
“And she knows this because…”
“She says it’s because she knows you, and she can read the heart of Libby.”
“I wish I could,” Garrett said under his breath.
* * *
Carmen walked into Libby’s bedroom as the young woman plopped herself onto the padded seat at her dressing table and perused herself thoughtfully in the looking glass.
“What do you see, señorita?”
“I’m not sure, Carmen. Either a very smart person or a blithering idiot.”
Carmen laughed. “Every woman wants a romantic courtship, which you did not enjoy, but you have married a fine man with a good heart. He has steel around it, though, so you must be patient as you melt it down.”
“He says it is a marriage of convenience.”
“Jes, that is what he says,” Carmen said as she began unfastening the buttons on Libby’s gown. “I think you will be the one to decide what kind of marriage it is.”
She helped the young bride out of her gown as Libby thought about that. Could she really melt Garrett’s heart and have the kind of marriage she only dreamed about?
“And what about señor Jackson?”
Libby’s heart pounded. “What…what about Jackson?”
She opened a drawer and took out her best night dress, which would cover most of her body but was rather filmy and had some lace and a bit of embroidery to enhance it. She removed her chemise and corset, and after donning the night dress, took off her bloomers.
“When are you going to tell him?”
Libby attempted to smile, but failed. Carmen put her hands on her waist and shook her head.
“W…what?”
“That you are his daughter.”
Libby walked over toward the fireplace, where an earlier fire had gone out. Her heart was pounding. “How did you know?”
“You have your mother’s eyes. And you asked a lot of questions about her.”
“Then why doesn’t Jackson see her eyes in me?”
“Men are not as observant as women in matters of the heart. And I am guessing you did not ask Jackson questions about his first wife.”
“No.” She turned back to Carmen.
She sat on the bed and motioned for Carmen to join her. The older woman took Libby’s hands in hers. It was such a comfort. “Tell me about her.”
“But you knew her. You grew up with her, no?”
“Yes, but tell me about her when she was here.”
Carmen looked toward the door, as if she could see Elinora standing there. “She was beautiful and full of life, but she was restless, not suited to ranch life. I think she was not happy here. She was young and spoiled. I believe she cared for Jackson but not enough. Perhaps she thought she could change señor Jackson into something he was not. He was and is a man of the land, just as Garrett is. I think she did not understand him. She wanted pretty things and parties and many people around.”
Carmen stood suddenly and looked back at Libby. “You must tell him.”
“I know.”
“When?”
“I was going to wait until the danger ended, but now it seems…”
“Now it seems time, no, as you enter this new phase of your life?”
Libby took a deep breath and exhaled, puffing out her cheeks. “Yes. Everything got so…so difficult. So complicated. I did not want to deceive anyone. I just wanted to get to know him first and to make sure I would not be under the control of another man like Elias Parminter, my stepfather.”
Carmen gave her hair a few more brushes. “You should start your marriage right. Shall I send señor Jackson up?”
Libby looked at Carmen, her eyes welling with tears, and nodded. Carmen squeezed her shoulders. “It will be all right, chiquita. You have a fine father and now you have a fine husband.”
And a fine headache, Libby thought as she tried to gather up her courage.
* * *
Carmen found Jackson in his study, where Garrett was joining him in a drink of brandy. “Oh, señor Jackson,” Carmen said. “Libby would like to speak to you in her room as soon as it is convenient.”
Jackson, standing at his study desk, raised an eyebrow. Brides did not typically come to him for advice. Or ever, for that matter. “Me? Are you sure? Couldn’t you…uh…?
Carmen smiled mysteriously. “It is you she wishes to speak to.” The woman was enjoying this too much.
Never one to shirk duty, even one as daunting as this, Jackson looked squarely at his cook. She met his gaze with as innocent an appearance as she could muster. Realizing he wasn’t going to get any more information out of her, he nodded and set his glass down on the desk, exchanging a perplexed glance with Garrett, who also looked confused. He headed off as the younger man studied Carmen suspiciously, wondering what that was all about. Was Libby trying to get the marriage annulled already? He had so much to learn about his wife. Wife. It had always been such a dirty word to him. Would it still be? Was he out of his mind?
“You had best give them at least thirty minutes,” Carmen said, ignoring his quizzical look. “Would you like something to eat?”
“No, but I would like some answers,” he said.
She just smiled and swept out of the room. Would married life always leave him feeling so befuddled?
Upstairs, Jackson watched Libby as she shifted from her good foot to her sore foot and stared at her shaking hands as if they did not belong to her. Finally, he took pity on her.
“The wedding night should be joyous. Garrett will not hurt you.”
She giggled, actually giggled she was so nervous. “Oh, I know that. I…I…”
Jackson folded his arms as he leaned against the door frame. “It’s usually best to just say it, Libby, whatever it is.”
She looked at him almost desperately. For a moment, he thought she was going to make a dash past him out the door.
“Well…it’s…I…”
“What is it? It can’t be that bad.”
She looked at her hands again and then back at him. “I…”
He looked at her expectantly.
“If you need more information about the wedding night, maybe Carmen…” Good lord, he was out of his depth.
“No!”
Thank the heavenly Father.
More silence. Then:
“It’s not about that. I…My last name is not Wagoner.”
He didn’t say anything. He wasn’t surprised.
“It’s Parminter. Or at least I thought it was.”
He waited for her to go on, showing no recognition of the name. What was this all about? Was she just trying to avoid the inevitable with Garrett by making small talk?
“My mother was Elinora Parminter.”
He took an involuntary step toward her. “Elinora?”
“Yes.” She saw the color drain from his face and for some reason, it gave her courage. “We should probably sit.” She indicated the two chairs near the fireplace.
He hesitated a moment, then walked toward her. “Let me get a fire going for you.” He knelt down and began building the fire, which gave him a chance to get his thoughts together. He had not heard from or about Elinora in 20 years, since the day she had walked out on him. He had tried to find her for a couple of years and then again when he wanted to marry Reenie, but the Pinkerton agency had been unable to locate her.
“I thought Elinora had died years ago. I tried to find her when I wanted to marry my second wife. A judge in Butte finally declared her deceased.”
“Well, now she is,” Libby said, more sharply than she had intended.
As Jackson busied himself with the fire preparations, his mind quickly turned over the facts.
“And you are almost 21?” he asked, working to keep the tremble out of his voice.
“I am.”
Jackson quickly did the math.
“Are you saying I am your father?”
“That’s what she told me, just before she died.”
She walked to the small escritoire, pulled out the drawer and retrieved an envelope.
He added a log to the fire, then turned and studied her for a long time. She did resemble Elinora. Why hadn’t he seen it before? She handed him the envelope, and he raised his eyebrows.
“My mother asked me to give this to you.”
He stared at it for a moment and then sat heavily, as if his shoulders held the weight of the world. He tore open the envelope, pulled out a folded piece of vellum and read it. Then he looked up at the ceiling and back to the letter before settling his gaze on Libby.
“I didn’t know she was with child. I was on a two-week cattle drive when she walked out on me. She left a note saying the marriage was over and she would never be back.”
“How long were you together?”
“About two and a half months.” He jumped to his feet and began pacing in front of her. “Was she happy?”
Libby mulled it over in her mind. “She was busy and active, which is the life she wanted, I believe, and perhaps she was content with that, but I never thought of her as a happy person.”
“What about you? Are you a happy person, Libby?”
“I try. I don’t give up. I think she did. Do you believe I am your daughter?”
He started pacing again, then stopped directly in front of her as she held her breath. He looked at her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her chin. She had her mother’s eyes but the Butterman mouth and chin. Why, oh, why was he just noticing it now? “Yes.” He opened his arms to her. She hesitated briefly and then lurched into them.
They hugged for a long time and then she stood back.
“I don’t want this to change anything.”
“What do you mean?”
She hesitated. “I…I do not need a father to run my life.”
“I mean to keep you safe.”
“You would have done that anyway.”
“True. I need some time to digest this. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. Or later today, as the case may be. And any time you want. Right now you have a husband who is anxious to see you, I’m certain.”
She nodded and he started to leave, then turned back.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I…I wanted to be around you, to find out what kind of man you were, and then things just happened so fast.”
He digested that, then nodded and left.