The Cowboy from Christmas Past. Tina Leonard
she’d have to be able to travel through time like a ghost, which simply wasn’t possible.
At least he hadn’t thought it was.
“What are you going to do with that baby? And what’s her name?”
It hadn’t occurred to him that the warm bundle needed a name other than The Baby, which was how he thought of her. He studied her round face, big, blue eyes, sweet button nose. “Her name is Rose,” he said quickly, “and she is my…my daughter.” He glared at Auburn. “I will protect her and raise her as if she’s my very own.”
Auburn shook her head. “You have to turn her in to the authorities.”
Oh, he knew all about the authorities. There’d be no fair shake for him and Rose with them. “Just let me sleep with her on this divan,” he said, “and I’ll be on my way tomorrow.”
“That’s fine. I need to be moving on myself. However, just a warning, Dillinger,” she said. “The next woman you meet is going to ask the same questions I have. Eventually, you’ll be caught.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help himself. Rose finished her bottle, so he lifted her up to his chest. She gave a satisfying, unladylike belch, which also made him laugh. “Wouldn’t that be rich? Hanged because I’m guarding a child?”
“Hanged?” Auburn frowned. “Isn’t that a little dramatic?”
He didn’t know. “I’m tired,” he finally said. Tired of being tempted by long legs and immodest thoughts about a woman who wasn’t his wife. “Rose and I thank you for your hospitality, and your help. We won’t trouble you past the morning.”
“Fine, bud. Whatever you say.” She yawned and grasped the doorknob. “I’d turn you in to the police, but I don’t want to be found right now myself. You seem like you have that baby’s best interests at heart, and enough money to take care of her, so I’m not going to ask any more questions. All I ask is that you don’t come into my room again. Okay? If you need something, you can give a shout, but no more of the lock trick. It’s kind of stalkerish.”
It was his turn to frown. “You’re not my type,” he said. “You need have no fear of anything untoward from me.”
She looked at him. “Glad we understand each other.”
They didn’t, but it wasn’t important. “Good night,” he said, and busied himself changing Rose’s diaper. It was going to be a struggle, but he’d watched Auburn change one, and the plastic tapes didn’t seem as challenging as firing a gun at a moving target. Rose wiggled and he taped her leg, so he had to start over. He tried not to fumble under Auburn’s scrutiny—he could tell the whiskey-haired woman didn’t completely trust him with the baby.
And then he felt the strangest sensation run through him, like cold on a hot summer day, and a tingling that ran all over him in the worst kind of way—as if a ghost had just walked over his grave.
HE HATED DILLINGER KENT. He was going to kill the gunslinger the second he tracked his murdering carcass down. Pierre Hartskill stood in the ranch house where Dillinger lived, eyeing the place where his sister had been trapped in a loveless marriage. A few logs in the fireplace were charred, the embers below still gray and smoldering as if Dillinger had left in a hurry. Maybe he knew Pierre was on his way to kill him. Perhaps a black angel guarded Dillinger from reaping his just desserts, forewarning him of his impending death. Pierre wasn’t afraid of the reputed gunslinger. Fear was not an option, nor was mercy.
He was going to run him down as Dillinger had Polly, and then he was going to put a bullet through him. And no angel was going to save him.
On the writing desk lay a golden earring. Pierre recognized it. Polly had worn them often, loving the feel of the tiny bells as they danced against her skin. He picked the earring up with cold-chapped fingers, and gave it a shake to hear the bells tinkle again.
And from somewhere faraway, yet loud enough to seem as if it came from this very room, Pierre heard a man cry out.
AUBURN GASPED AS THE cowboy let out a yell of surprise and suddenly went airborne. Thank heaven he’d put the baby on her pallet! He tossed around violently in the air before landing on the couch. He lay still, gasping for breath, crumpled in his long duster, his boots hanging over the edge of the sofa.
“Are you all right?” Auburn wasn’t sure if she should touch him or stay far away. Dillinger was a funny color, his face ashen, as if he might be sick any second. She’d be sick if she’d gotten tossed around like that—she didn’t even like to ride the superdizzying rides at Six Flags.
“I’m fine,” he groaned.
“You’re not fine! What the heck did you just do?” He seemed too sick to harm her, so she approached him, peering down at his prone body.
“A lady doesn’t swear,” he said, groaning again.
“And a man doesn’t fly around a room. I suggest you explain that particular magic trick before I decide to call the law on you, buddy,” she said sternly. “And don’t you dare tell me not to swear!”
He tried to sit up, but failed. “No law. Please.”
Well, she wouldn’t call the law on him—not yet—but she didn’t want him doing that weird levitation again. “Hey, do you want a drink of water?”
“Just take care of the baby,” he said quietly. And then passed out.
“Of all the nerve!” Auburn stared at both of them, sleeping like, well, babies, and a little pity slid into her heart. The man was too big to sleep on the tiny rental furniture, and he was pretty tangled up in that duster. He couldn’t be comfortable. Carefully, she tugged his legs off the sofa so that he was on his back, hanging over one edge, sure, but at least he wasn’t in a ball any longer. “You’re weird,” she told him, but he didn’t move. So she dragged the blanket and comforter off her bed and settled down on the floor beside the sofa next to the baby. “You have a scary daddy,” she told Rose, but the funny thing was, Auburn wasn’t really afraid of Dillinger anymore.
She was afraid for him.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER THE sound of knocking startled Auburn awake. If she hadn’t been deeply asleep, she might have thought twice about opening the door, but she was operating on autopilot. She woke up in a hurry when the security guard peered at her.
“You left your car lights on,” he said. “Thought you might want to know.” His gaze widened as he caught sight of the cowboy on her sofa and the baby on the floor.
“Yes, thank you,” Auburn said, hastily trying to close the door. “I’ll take care of it right now.”
He was mentally cataloging the strange scene in her living room. This was trouble, since she didn’t want any details left behind for an ex-fiancé, who surely had people looking for her. “Thank you,” she said again, more curtly this time, and closed the door.
Locking it, she took a deep breath. Closed her eyes. Wondered why simply running out on a bad idea like a wedding had to be so worrying. She should never have said yes in the first place, should never have allowed her parents to make her feel that she had to find her Prince Charming.
“What are you afraid of?” Dillinger asked, and Auburn jumped.
“I’m not afraid of anything,” she said, grabbing her keys from her purse. “What makes you say such a silly thing?”
He sat up, shrugged. “Just seems that I’m not the only one with secrets.”
“No, but you are the only one who can make himself spin around in the air.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
She gazed at him. “Don’t you remember?”
“Remember what?”