“Oui. Thank you.”
She turned away, feeling bitterly disappointed.
Once again, it seemed, Quent’s duties would keep them apart. Not that she had any right to complain, she supposed. He was only doing what was required of a good lawman. But she’d needed the comfort of his arms. Had spent the whole long night anticipating this.
She took a long, deep breath and returned to her shop. Where she lost herself in the backbreaking work of cleaning the debris and restoring the rooms to order.
“Good day, Ruby.”
Ruby’s mouth dropped open. She climbed down from her perch on the chair, where she’d been arranging a variety of jars and bottles on a shelf.
“Hello, Lavinia. Gladys. Effie.”
The three women crowded through the doorway and swiveled their heads, trying to see everything at once.
“What...” Ruby had to swallow twice before she could find her voice. “What brings you ladies to my shop?”
“We’ve been planning to come since the day you opened.” Lavinia, clearly the leader of the gossip pack, made a slow turn around the shop as she spoke. “But you know how it is. With one thing and another, there just wasn’t time until today.”
Ruby could see through the lie. But she was so surprised, and so pleased to have three new customers, she kept her thoughts to herself.
“Arlo said you were quite the brave little hero when that nasty outlaw captured you.” Effie fingered a lacy shawl draped over a table. “He said the marshal claims he’d be dead now if it hadn’t been for you.”
“I’m sure it was a dreadful experience.” Gladys lowered her voice, touching Ruby’s arm as she spoke. “Why don’t you tell us all about it, dear?”
Dear? Ruby had to work hard to swallow her laughter. “There isn’t much to tell. I was caught unawares.”
“Yes. All alone here in your shop. And the rest of the town still at the social.” Gladys caught Ruby’s hand in both of hers, while the other two women gathered close as though sharing secrets. “How did he happen to find you?”
“I suppose he thought a woman alone was an easy target.”
“Arlo says he was following the marshal.” Lavinia’s eyes were boring into Ruby’s. “Were you and Quent Regan here? Alone? While everyone else was at the social?”
“I... Yes.” Ruby was tempted to lie. For her it would be as easy as stealing. Instead, she opted for the truth. “The marshal walked me home from the dance. When he left, the outlaw could see that I was alone.”
“Well, Arlo says he picked the wrong woman when he picked a Jewel.” Effie’s tone made it sound as though she were defending her best friend. “And he said that Neville Oakley was a hero, too. Walked right into that outlaw’s bullets to save you.”
“Oui. He was so fine and brave. The thought of his sacrifice brings a tear to my eye,” Ruby said softly.
“The whole town’s talking about him. It’s comforting to know that we have such a big, brave man in our midst,” Gladys said.
“Did I hear that Diamond’s baby was brought on by all the excitement?” Lavinia hated to be outdone by Gladys or Effie.
“I don’t know if the excitement had anything to do with it. But Diamond did indeed have her baby just after the outlaw was taken away to jail. She has a new little son.”
“A son.”
The three hens clucked approvingly.
“What’ll she call him?” Lavinia was practically twitching with excitement. So much news. And right from the Jewel women themselves.
“I think she and Adam will name him for my father,” Ruby said.
“Why, yes. Of course. Onyx Jewel Winter. A fine name.”
“I think perhaps Onyx Adam Winter,” Ruby corrected gently.
“A fine name. Fine. They’re both well?” Lavinia pressed.
“Very well. And still recovering in my back room.
“You don’t think...?” Lavinia stared hard at the closed door. “Could we have just a peek at the new mother and child?”
“Not today,” Ruby said firmly. “But perhaps in a few days, when Diamond is feeling up to seeing folks.”
“You’ll be sure to tell her we’d like to come calling,” Effie said.
“Oui. Of course.” Ruby could just imagine the look on Diamond’s face if she had to put up with this silly prattle.
“Oh, my,” Lavinia cried, glancing around. “Look at the hats.”
“And the gowns,” her friend Gladys said with a sigh.
“Something smells wonderful.” Effie breathed deeply. “What is so enticing?”
“Potpourri.” Ruby pointed to the small dishes filled with the sweet-smelling concoction. “Mostly dried flowers,” she explained. “And the other lovely scents are coming from these vials and jars of my mother’s skin balm. Would you care to try a sample?”
The three women gathered around as she opened a small vial and poured a bit into each outstretched hand.
“Rub it gently over any part of your body, and it will soften and soothe. It is especially good after a day in this Texas sun.”
The women rubbed and patted and sniffed.
“Oh, my,” Lavinia said. “If it feels this good on my hand, think what it will feel like on my face.”
“Oui. I give you my promise. If you do not feel better, you may return the vial and I will refund your money.”
“You will?” Gladys picked up a big jar. “What do you call it?”
“I am calling it Madeline’s Balm,” Ruby said with a trace of pride.
“Well, I have to have this.” Gladys hugged it to her bosom. “I’ll have the smoothest skin in Hanging Tree.”
“Oh, no, you won’t, Gladys Witherspoon.” Lavinia Thurlong snatched a bigger jar from the shelf. “It won’t be smoother than mine.”
Not to be outdone, Effie Spitz helped herself to a jar, as well.
“I think I’ll try on a gown white I’m here,” Lavinia said.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Gladys beat a path across the room to where the dresses were hung.
“And I need a bonnet.” Effie made her way to the front window, where Ruby had set up a complete display of bonnets, feathers and pins.
The three women were still busy trying on every gown, shawl and bonnet in the shop when the door opened and Ruby looked up to see Quent standing in the doorway.
With his clothes and boots dust covered from the trail, and his guns and holsters at each hip, he looked completely out of place in this frilly shop. He removed his wide-brimmed hat and shook it against his thigh, sending a puff of dust around him.
A light came into Ruby’s eyes that hadn’t been there moments before. And her heart started doing strange things. Missing beats, then fluttering wildly.
“Marshal.” With the three town gossips watching, she tried to appear calm and professional. But her palms were sweating. And she had to press them to the table in front of her to remain standing.
“Ruby.” He knew she had customers, but they were a blur. All he could see was Ruby, standing there looking so beautiful it made his throat ache.
“I...thought you were still in Abilene.”
“I turned over my prisoner to the sheriff in Oak Creek.” He took several steps toward her, until the gun and holster at his hip bumped a small table, sending the display of fancy buttons flying in all directions.
At once he dropped to his knees and began picking them up. Ruby hurried over to kneel beside him. When all the buttons had been retrieved, they emptied them into a dish, then got to their feet.
Before she could turn away, Quent caught her hands. “Ruby, I...need to talk to you.”
“out?” She gave him a bright smile. “What about?”
“About...things.” He became aware that the women in the shop had stopped chattering and were watching and listening.
“Things.” Ruby, too, had noticed the change in her customers. “Can it not wait?”
“No, dammit.” He gave a hiss of frustration. “I mean,
no. It can’t wait. Can we talk back there?” He nodded toward the back room.
“My family is there.”
“Still?”
“Oui. They will probably be there for days, until Doc Prentice says Diamond can make the trip back to her ranch.”
He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of futility. “Then we’ll have to talk here.”
“No!” Nerves had her nearly shouting as she backed away until her hips were pressed to her desk. Couldn’t he see who was in her shop? Didn’t he realize that every word would be repeated? “I... don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Ruby.” He wasn’t about to be stopped now. He gripped her by the upper arms. “I’ve just spent the whole night on the trail, with nothing to do but think. I want this thing settled between us now.”
“This...thing?”
“These feelings. I can’t keep them bottled up inside me any longer. I know there are some who would say we’re all wrong for each other. You have a wicked sense of justice. And you’re wild and irreverent. All the things I can’t be. But maybe that’s why you touch me the way you do. You fill all the empty places in my life. Last night...” His hands tightened a moment, then gentled. He moved them up her arms, across her shoulders. His voice, too, gentled. “Last night was the best night and the worst night of my whole life.”
Lavinia nearly choked.
Gladys cleared her throat.
Effie giggled.
He looked over, and for the first time realized that he was playing to a very attentive audience. His voice was a growl of anger. “Don’t you ladies have someplace to go?”
“Why, no, Marshal. We’re here to shop. But don’t mind us,” Lavinia said breezily. “You go right ahead with whatever you have to say.”
Through gritted teeth he asked, “Where’s Patience?”
“She’s in the other room. Tending to Neville Oakley.”
“You’d better call her out here.” There was a fire in his eyes. “Right now.”
“But—”
“Call her, Ruby.” A little muscle was working in his jaw.
“Patience,” Ruby shouted. “Could you come in here a moment?”
The young woman stuck her head out the door. “Do you need some help?”
“No...” Ruby began.
“Yes.” Quent picked Ruby up and tossed her over his shoulder. “You’d better take care of the shop. Ruby’s going to be busy for a while.”
“Where are you taking her?” Patience demanded.
“To jail. It’s the only place left in this whole damned town that isn’t crowded.” He stalked off, carrying Ruby like a sack of grain.
Lavinia Thurlong, Gladys Witherspoon and Effie Spitz nearly fell over each other to pay for their purchases, so they could follow along at a distance.
Arlo looked up as Quent stormed into the jail and set Ruby on her feet.
“Morning, Marshal. What’s Miss Ruby done this time?”
“Go outside and sweep up, Arlo,” Quent said.
“Already did.”
“Then do it again.” Quent handed him the broom and shoved him out the door, locking it behind him.
Ruby was so furious, she was practically breathing fire. “Do you realize what you just did?”
“I got rid of Arlo,” he said smugly.
“I mean, by carrying me off to jail again. You heard your deputy. That’s what the whole town will think. What has Ruby Jewel done this time?”
“I don’t give a—” He bit back his oath and said, “I don’t care what the town thinks, Ruby. All I care about is what you think.”
“About what?”
“About us. About you and me. I’ve had plenty of time to think this through. I’ll give up the law, if that’s what you want.”
“And why would I want that?”
“Because you can’t stand my badge of authority. You said so yourself.”
She shrugged. “Maybe I did say that. Maybe there was a time when I meant it. But not now. Besides, what else could you do? You said yourself you’ve been a lawman all your life.”
“I don’t know. I could try farming. Or ranching.”
“And what would the town of Hanging Tree do for a marshal?”
“They’d find somebody else. Arlo, maybe.” Even as he said it, he winced.
“Enough of this foolish talk. The town needs you. And you need this town. I won’t hear of you giving up the law.”
“You mean you’d be willing to be married to a lawman?”
“Marriage?” She drew herself up to her full height. “I haven’t heard any talk of marriage.”
“That’s because I haven’t gotten around to it yet. But I’m getting there. Now, there’s the matter of where we’d live. Your ranch is too far from town. And my job doesn’t allow for more than a room in the back of the jail.”
“If you were to ask me to marry you, and if I were to accept,” she said carefully, “there is a simple solution.”
“What?”
“We could hire Farley Duke to add another story to my shop. We could live above it. Of course, it will be filled with frilly dresses and sweet-smelling jars and pots and vials and all manner of feminine frills.”
“And with my luck I’d probably have six strapping sons who’d have to walk through their mother’s prissy shop every day of their lives.”
Her eyes widened. “Is that what you’re hoping for? Six strapping sons?”
He shrugged. “I’d settle for three. And maybe three girls for you.” He was staring at her in a strange new way. “Would you, Ruby? Like children, I mean?”
“At least half a dozen,” she said on a sweet sigh. “I was always so alone. It was my dream to be part of a big family. But I think you’ve forgotten something.”
“I have? What?”
“A proper proposal.”
“You mean...on my knees?”
She smiled. “Oui. On your knees.”
“Ruby, I’d crawl over broken glass for you. Or through fire.” He dropped to his knees and caught her hands. “Ruby, please say you’ll marry me.”
“That is not a very romantic proposal.”
“Dammit, I love you. I want to marry you. Do you love me? Will you marry me?” He waited, feeling his heartbeat stop.
She made him suffer a moment longer. Then she could bear no more. “Oui. Oh, I do love you, Quent. And I will marry you. On one condition.”
“Anything.”
“That you will never again offer to be a farmer or a rancher.”
He stood, then pulled her close. “I give you my word,” he murmured, covering her mouth with his.
“Bon. Now,” she muttered against his lips, “let’s go back to my shop and share our happy news with my family.”
Just then Arlo began pounding on the door. And through the window they could see Lavinia, Gladys, Effie and a crowd beginning to form. All were pointing at the jail and grinning like fools.
As Ruby started to pull away Quent gathered her close.
Against her temple he whispered, “Oh, Ruby, have mercy. I’ve been wanting to hold you like this for so long.”
Giving in to the heat that surged through her veins, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her lips to his throat. “So have I.”
He took a long, deep breath. “There’s a cot in the back room. And the door is locked.”
“But my family...”
“Ruby, you said yourself they’ll be there for days.”
“And the townspeople...”
“Have already figured out what it took us all this time to learn.” He nibbled at the corner of her mouth. “At least for the next hour, let’s just forget about everyone except us.”
“Us.” It was, Ruby thought as she followed him to his room and lost herself in his kisses, the sweetest word she’d ever heard.
And then there was no time to think, as with sighs and kisses and tender touches, he took her to that special place where only lovers can go.
E
pilogue
Carts and wagons clogged the main street. Throngs of ranchers and their families streamed into the Golden Rule. Everyone was wearing their Sunday best. And their best had become much better since they’d begun frequenting Miss Ruby Jewel’s shop.
This day was the biggest in the town of Hanging Tree. Bigger even than the social. And all because two of its most popular citizens were being married.
Upstairs, in the brand-new suite of rooms above her shop, Ruby was surrounded by her sisters.
“Hold still,” Pearl commanded as she laced the ribbons of Ruby’s sheer white chemise. “I can’t believe how much gossip you two have fueled. The whole town is talking about the fact that their marshal spent more nights here than he did at the jail.”
“He can’t stay away from me. I can’t help it if he Haunts his love.”
“If you don’t let me finish lacing this, you’ll be flaunting more than love.” Pearl finished tying with a flourish, until Ruby’s bosom was modestly covered.
“Now this,” Jade said, helping her sister step into frothy white petticoats.
“Ruby.” Diamond called from across the room where she sat nursing little Onyx. “I wish you’d reconsider. I love these rooms. They’re big and spacious and comfortable. But it seems sad to see Pa’s ranch house standing empty.”
“But it isn’t empty.” Ruby fell silent a moment as her two sisters slipped the white gown over her head and began fastening the row of tiny buttons that ran from waist to neck. “You said yourself that you’ll probably stay there a month or two, so that Carmelita can give you a hand with the baby.”
“And then what?”
Ruby shrugged. “I don’t know. I only know that my heart is here in town, with Quent.”
Diamond fastened the front of her gown, then, with the baby at her shoulder, crossed the room and stared at her sister. “Oh, my. I think it’s easy to see why Quent was smitten. Ruby Jewel, you’re as pretty as a brand-new calf prancing in a pasture of clover.” She gathered Ruby close for a hug. “I’m so happy for you. I know how happy Adam has made me. And now little Onyx. And I want the same kind of happiness for you and Quent.”