Briar leaned over and kissed the top of Violet’s head. “Climb in there before you get yourself in trouble.”
Violet leapt into the bed and pulled up the covers. She waited till her father tucked in the quilt and kissed her once more before she held her arms out toward Mina. “You gonna kiss me too, angel?”
“Wouldna miss it for the world.” Mina swept past Briar to press her lips against the cherubic cheek. “Now sleep, lass, we’ve got lots to do tomorrow.”
“Okay, but angel…” She wiggled one finger so Mina would move closer.
“
“You don’t have to teach me nothing, Mina,” she whispered. “I already love you.”
“I already love ye, too, lass,” she whispered back, both surprised and pleased that she meant it. “Now rest that sore eye so it can heal.”
Chapter 5
Briar lay on his back, staring out at the moon that rose over the high plains of Texas. The windows lining the eastern wall of the depot’s lobby gave an expansive view of the night sky blanketing Amarillo-a view that he needed to mull the choice he’d made today. The telegraph office had felt too confining, limiting his ability to think. He had tried stretching across one of the passenger benches, but his legs extended too far over the side and the seats were just narrow enough that he couldn’t curl up comfortably. There was nothing else to do but move his bed out here and set it up near the window. He shifted on the cot, threading his arms behind his head. The curious restlessness he had managed to hold at bay seemed to intensify while he waited for sleep.
Today had been eventful, to say the least. He’d never expected the strangely dressed woman to enter his own life. He’d surely never meant to allow her to take charge of Violet. Perhaps tomorrow would bring wiser thoughts. But as dinner had worn on, she’d looked increasingly tired and probably needed sleep more than he needed to determine the level of her qualifications.
Mina McCoy’s presence had filled the restaurant with a spirit he found intriguing and a concern for his daughter that he could only admire-two very becoming qualities that lured his mind away from the duties at hand and made him acutely aware of her as a woman. The sight of rambunctious little Violet nestled deeply in her lap, the smile of peace written across that cherubic face, had sealed the bargain in his heart, much less his mind. He marveled that his daughter had so easily come to trust the woman, since she gave few people that honor. Despite his interest in his new employee, he felt a twinge of something he could only define as envy. He doubted that Violet trusted him so openly.
And why should she? He’d been caught up passing off his own grief as a need to make her a living and give her everything he could. But he hadn’t given her the one thing she wanted most. The one thing she needed. Unstipulated love.
Oh sure, he’d made a good show of doing his duty. But the love he’d offered her always became a bargain between them-a quick fix to any time-consuming situation that arose. You do this, Violet, and I’ll do that. Yet,
Briar bolted to his feet, needing a breath of fresh air. He threw on a shirt and boots then hurried outside, not taking the time to grab the rest of his uniform. Lantern light down the tracks reminded him that the porter was out checking the roundhouse and making sure the Eclipse was in good working condition for tomorrow. Though the windmill that pulled water to fill the steam locomotives had survived hundreds of wind-storms, it was a contrary contraption at best, needing careful maintenance and plenty of patience. Nathaniel seemed the only man who could square off with the twenty-two-foot mechanical rogue and win.
Its wooden blades had taken on speed since Briar went to bed, indicating a good wind was gusting in from the southwest. The breeze would cool the yards and help the cattle waiting for transport to the Kansas City packing houses to settle down for the night. Maybe now would be a good time to check in on Violet and open her bedroom window to let in a breeze.
He made his way home, thinking of ways he could improve his schedule to allow him more time with her. Tomorrow, he could…Hell, it was already tomorrow. He’d have to do some quick thinking on how to make this the best Sunday he’d spent with her in a long time. Maybe there would still be a surrey available at the livery. If many of the newcomers in town were church-going people, he might have difficulty securing a ride and they’d have to walk. Not that he minded but the wind would wreak havoc on Violet’s curls. A shame the streetcars didn’t run on Sunday.
“Evenin’, Mr. Duncan.”
Deep in thought, Briar hadn’t noticed the constable leaning against the corner of the millinery shop. He started to tip his hat at the policeman then realized he’d left it hung on a peg along with his coat. “Officer Goodnight,” he acknowledged. “Everything quiet?”
“’Cept the wind. It’s stirring up a few tumbleweeds. Forget something over at the station?”
Briar remembered his state of undress and began fastening the shirt he’d left unbuttoned. “No, just checking on my youngun’.”
The policeman tapped his nightstick against the brim of his cap and started to move off. “Working day and night’s no kind of life to lead, Duncan. Take it from someone who seen life at its best and worst. No amount of money’s worth burning the fuse at both ends. Pretty soon it’ll blow up in your face.” He chuckled all of a sudden. “Kiss that little whirlwind of yours for me while you’re at it.”
“Will do, Officer Goodnight.”
“Might as well call me Billy. Your daughter does.”
That precocious child of his had obviously wormed her way into the constable’s good favor. To make quick work of his intentions, Briar decided to go through the alleys. He lengthened his strides past two alleys before rounding the corner to his backyard. There, in the moonlight near the tree that shaded the small garden he’d tried vainly to save, stood Mina.
Hair the color of sunlit plains dipped to the nape of her neck. The angle of her arms as she braced herself against the tree defined the silken slenderness of a woman who valued physical activity. Moonlight shone on the lower half of her face, leaving her eyes in shadow. Yet he witnessed the moment she felt his gaze upon her, sensed that he was watching her.
He wondered if he should turn away, pretend that she was mistaken in believing that he studied her. But just as it had been when she’d stepped off the train, the sight of Mina was far too compelling to look away. The nightdress she wore left little to his imagination, the wind buffeting the cream-colored linen against the curve of hips and generous swell of breasts that her pants and tunic had hidden so well. She looked like a ray of dawn shining through the darkness of the night.
“Is that ye?”
Her whisper beckoned him closer and he could do nothing but answer it with one of his own. “Do you need me?”
Her quick intake of breath unnerved him, its intensity urging him to close the remaining distance between them and satisfy the craving to taste her lips. Blazes! Where had that come from, he wondered, passing it off as nothing more than the long drought he’d suffered in satisfying his body with the softness of a woman’s. But this was more than that. He’d known it from the first time he saw her. Sensed it was different than anything he’d ever felt before…even with Katie Rose. Briar knew if he took one step closer, he would be lost in the spell the night had woven, in the sound of the wafting wind, in the glow of moonlight and the shadows that promised to hide all longings. The compelling presence of this woman drew him as if she were rain needed to parch the desolation of his long forgotten dreams.
She started back toward the house. Briar hurried to fall into step beside her, afraid she would go in, yet praying that she would so that this hunger growing within him would not reveal itself. He would surely frighten her. It sure as sin scared the hell out of him. “You’ve been crying.” He reached out to touch her. “Let me help.”
Briar didn’t know what to offer, what more to say. She suddenly buried her face in his chest, anchoring her arms around his shoulders, holding on as if he were a lifeline.
