“Evening, little brother.” Wes grinned. “I thought I might just drop in for a few minutes. Hope I didn’t spoil Bergette’s party.” His tone left no doubt that he cared little for Bergette’s feelings.
“You saw the two men?” Adam met his brother’s gaze.
“I saw them.” Wes brushed his gun handle. “The big one almost frightened May to death when she stepped out on the porch and found him standing in the middle of the yard like he grew there at sundown.”
“You know who they are?” Adam stood only inches away from his brother. Silently, Wes slipped him a derringer and Adam folded it into his coat.
“I’ve seen too many men not to be able to size them up. They’re shabby and underfed, but both ride like the wind. And the thin one carried your medical bag. A bag you lost right about the time the war ended.”
Wes didn’t need to say more. Adam knew he’d filled in the blanks.
“Only thing I can’t figure”-Wes moved toward the closed doors of the room called the butler’s pantry-“is… are they here to thank you, or kill you?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Adam gripped the knob and opened the door.
FOUR
NICHOLE REMOVED HER jacket, folded her arms, and leaned against the spotless counter. All she’d wanted to do was see Adam McLain again… prove to herself that he was more a daydream and less a reality. No man could have been as kind, or good, or tender as she remembered. She must have lost a great deal of blood to conjure up such a fantasy. All the men she’d known were hard and measured their worth by their ability to fight. All but the doctor, it seemed.
But getting to see Adam McLain again had turned into a traveling minstrel show. Wolf, always protective, insisted on coming with her. She’d spent the war crossing back and forth along the line, outrunning bullets most of the time. Now he thought she needed a bodyguard to travel by train to this little town at the southernmost tip of Indiana. Standing in a fine house, Wolf, puffed up like the bear he resembled, was pacing the polished floor of a room not three strides long.
“I don’t see why you wanted to come here,” Wolf mumbled in a low roar as he scratched his beard.
“I told you,” Nichole answered for what felt like the hundredth time. “I owe him my life, the least I can do is bring back his bag.”
Wolf looked around. “He can afford another one.” He bumped against a cabinet, causing glasses to tinkle like church bells. “All hell’s going to break loose back home. I haven’t got time to ride a train north just to see some doctor.”
“I could have come alone.”
“No, sir.” Wolf shook his head so hard she could almost see some of his fur fly. “If you’re crazy enough to want this, Nick, I’ll be close in case there’s trouble.” He shook one beefy finger at her. “Always have someone you can trust to watch your back. You never know when you’ll have to retreat.”
Nichole frowned. The only trouble she could think of would probably come from her brother. He was uncomfortable about her being a woman. Everything had been fine between them when she rode as one of the men. But since the morning he found her kissing the Yankee, he’d been uneasy. Even with the war over, he still called her Nick and referred to her as “he” most of the time.
When the door opened, she forgot all about Wolf. The man who had held her so gently and kissed her so tenderly appeared before her looking far more handsome than she remembered. His brown hair was combed neatly and the peace had eased the worry lines along his forehead.
He was dressed in a black suit that fit him like it had been tailored just for him, and a shirt so white it deepened his tan. Nichole could never remember a man looking so spotlessly clean. His warm brown eyes stared only at her, as if she were somebody special.
For a long moment, he just stared at her as though he were drinking in the sight of her with one long draw.
“Wes,” he said slowly as he smiled at Nichole and opened his hand toward her. “I’d like you to meet Nichole Hayward and her brother, Captain Wolf Hayward of the Gray Shadows. Miss Hayward”-Adam moved to the side allowing another man to enter-“my brother, Captain Weston McLain.”
The man behind Adam let a smile lift the corner of his mouth as he stepped around his brother. “
“This isn’t a social call.” Wolf’s low voice seemed to rumble around the little room like a loose cannonball. “Nick wanted to return the medical bag you left behind and have you check the wound at her side for healing. Then we’ll be on our way.”
Nichole knew no one in the room except her brother believed the reason.
Adam’s brother’s smile now infected both corners of his mouth. “Well, Captain Hayward.” He turned toward Wolf. “If my brother has got doctoring to do, we best step out of the room.”
“What?” Wolf widened his stance. “I ain’t leaving her alone with some damn-”
“I’ll be all right,” Nichole interrupted. “He’s a doctor, Wolf. What do you think he’s going to do, kill me right here among the china after he risked his life to save me during the war?”
Wolf didn’t look like he planned to be uprooted. “You never know what they’re going to do. Keep your gun handy, Nick.”
To prove her point, Nichole handed her Colt to Wes. “I’m not holding a weapon on the man who saved my life. He’s under no obligation to check the healing.”
Adam slipped the derringer from his coat and did the same.
Wolf glanced at the doctor as though he’d just proved himself a fool to face Nichole unarmed.
Wes broke the standoff by opening the door. “I passed a crop of pies in the kitchen. I bet we can talk the cook out of one. I’ll split it with you, Captain Hayward.” Wes glanced into the hallway. “And if we run into that bandy rooster of a butler, we can use him for target practice.” Wes winked. “I’ve always wanted to test my skill against a Shadow.”
“You wouldn’t have a chance, Yank.” Wolf’s laughter rattled the crystal once more. “Plus, he’d be a waste of bullets. How about we just gut him and fry him up for breakfast?”
Wolf moved through the door. He glanced back at Adam, issuing a silent warning to be careful.
“No,” Wes said, pulling the reb back to the jest. “He wouldn’t make a meal. Probably spoiled meat to the bone. I bet he was bottle fed on vinegar.”
The door closed, suddenly making the little room stone silent. The area, lined with shelves, seemed even smaller than it had when Wolf paced around. Nichole had a sudden urge to call her brother back, but the man she’d traveled days to see stood before her. Now might be the only chance she’d ever have to see him again. The one kind man she’d known was so close she could reach out and touch him and she could think of nothing to say.
Finally, Adam cleared his throat and straightened slightly. “If you’ll jump up on the counter, I’ll take a look at the wound.”
Nichole didn’t move.
He took a step forward and lifted the medical saddlebag from her shoulder. “Thanks for bringing this back, but I won’t be needing it soon. A town doc carries a different kind of bag.”
She fought the urge to reach for the pearl-handled knife stuffed inside her left boot. She’d never hurt him, but a weapon in her hand might make conversation easier, for her at least.
“Would you be more comfortable in another room?” Concern filled his eyes. “I haven’t had time to set up an office yet, but I’m sure in this size house there’s probably a more appropriate place to conduct an exam.”
Nichole looked around. “This isn’t your house?”
“No,” he answered. “I only made it back this morning. I rode with the wounded from the Fourteenth Indiana Regiment as far as Louisville and stayed until they settled in at a hospital. We lost enough men to the war. Even the badly wounded wanted to come home to recover.”
