Outlaw's Honor

CHAPTER FIVE (#u28eb3891-9601-5919-b88d-41a19934752e)

MARIAH PACED THE small cabin. She should have finished this days ago and moved on. Staying in one place was dangerous—even in such a small town so out of the way in a remote part of Montana.

Her first week at the Stagecoach Saloon had gone by in a blur. Each day, she told herself that she needed to get her bracelet and move on. Each day, she found another excuse not to do what had to be done.

These nights working with Darby... She shook her head. The work kept her busy. It was afterward, after they closed the bar, when they visited over something to drink. When they talked. When she looked into the cowboy’s gray eyes...

Shaking her head now, she told herself that she didn’t like the way being here made her feel. She didn’t like the way Darby made her feel. Had she forgotten how dangerous all this was—and not just for her?

Mariah stopped in front of the cabin window that looked out on the rolling hills and the town of Gilt Edge in the distance. What am I still doing here?

What if Darby had gotten rid of the bracelet? Just tossed it out like a piece of junk? Or had it appraised and sold it? That was another possibility.

Why don’t you just ask him for it?

She knew that was what he was waiting for. Was that why she hadn’t done that the first day she’d walked into the Stagecoach Saloon? What was the worst he would have done? Accuse her of taking his wallet? She’d seen him pick it up after she’d dropped it. He couldn’t prove she’d tried to take it.

But after she’d heard that his brother was the sheriff... She didn’t want any trouble. And she could hide out here a while just as easily as anywhere else. If Darby Cahill was going to call the sheriff on her, he would have that first day when she’d asked for a job. He could have laughed in her face. He could have sent her packing.

So why hadn’t he?

Was it possible he hadn’t remembered her?

No, she thought, thinking back to their conversations. He was curious about her. Curious about her evil eye pendant. Curious no doubt what she was waiting for. And him? He was waiting too. Waiting to see what she was going to do.

It was time to end the suspense. She needed to get the bracelet back and move on.

Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She quickly checked it since only one person had the number. She’d lied to Darby about not having a phone, always leaving it behind when she went to work.

Taking a shaky breath, she answered the call, knowing it would be bad news. “Yes?”

“He was here looking for you.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“No, of course not. Auntie handled it. She wouldn’t let him inside. He wanted you and then he asked for me. Auntie told him neither of us had been around.”

“You know he’ll be back. It isn’t safe—”

“I had Auntie whisked away in the dead of night. I got word that she is safe.”

“What about you?” Mariah hated the fear she heard in her voice.

“I left, as well, when it was safe. No one saw me leave, so don’t worry. Anyway, I can take care of myself.”

Not against this man. “You know what he’s capable of.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Maybe you should pick up another phone.”

“I won’t call unless...well, you know.”

She did know. Tears filled her eyes. Her hand went to her wrist to stroke her grandmother’s bracelet, only to remember it was gone. The loss hadn’t hurt as badly as it did at that moment. “Please be careful. I know you don’t believe in the evil eye—”

“I’m wearing my pendant,” her best friend, Serra, said. “Why not? We both need all the luck we can get and our grandmothers lived to ripe old ages—maybe we will too.”

Mariah disconnected and tucked the phone behind the pillow on her bed. She had to end this and get moving again. He wouldn’t quit looking for her.

But she wasn’t leaving without her bracelet. Her friend was right. She needed all the luck she could get.

Tonight, though, she needed to clear her head and there was only one way. She grabbed the key to her bike. When she got like this, the best thing she could do was hit the road, let the motorcycle run and push away all the crazy thoughts.

Slipping on her jacket, she stepped outside. The moon peeked over the mountains, a brilliant glowing sphere that gilded the landscape. The air felt chilly and wonderfully scented with pine.

Swinging up onto her bike, she started the engine, loving the sound of its throaty roar, and turned toward the highway out of town. Once she hit the wide pavement, she opened it up and let it run. There was no traffic on the highway this time of night. It was just her and the road. The speed blew back her long hair in a dark wave. She breathed in the night. She was Mariah Ayers, granddaughter of a Roma queen. Nothing could stop her. Not even Darby Cahill.

The thought of the handsome cowboy with those dark-fringed gray eyes and easy smile made her even more restless. He was a temptation, one she couldn’t afford. If she stayed here much longer—

She took the next curve too fast. The bike leaned dangerously, but she managed to pull it back out as the road straightened again. Her heart was pounding. Darby and this place, this feeling, were dangerous. They made her reckless.

Mariah slowed the bike to turn around and head back, feeling as if now she could get some sleep. It was time to move up her plan, time to put Gilt Edge and Darby Cahill behind her. Tomorrow night.

* * *

“SOMETHIN’S UP,” BILLIE DEE whispered and pointed toward the bar.

“Something like what?” Lillie whispered back. The two of them had been in the kitchen talking while Billie Dee made cornbread to go with her pot of Texas ham and beans cooking on the stove.

“Your brother and Mariah.”

Lillie’s attention perked right up. “Like what?”

“I can’t put my finger on it, but they act very strange around each other. Kinda too polite and yet I see each of them watchin’ the other.”

“She’s new. Darby probably just wants to make sure she does a good job. And she’s probably self-conscious knowing he’s watching her.”

Billie Dee laughed. “That woman is anything but self-conscious. She knows exactly what she’s doing—driving your brother crazy.”

“What?”

“He has it bad. Haven’t you seen how off-center he is around her? He’s not his usual cool self.”

Lillie thought about it for a moment. “You’re right. He hasn’t been himself since the Chokecherry Festival. Do you think they met there and don’t want us to know?”

“Why would they do that?” the cook asked frowning.

“Maybe because my brother doesn’t like anyone to know his business. Do you realize he hasn’t even invited me up to see my apartment?”

“You mean his apartment?”

“Whatever. But I think you’re right,” she said, watching Darby behind the bar as Mariah came up to place a drink order for one of her tables. “He’s definitely interested in her. So why hasn’t he asked her out?”