One thing was certain. He loved her with a great passion, would defend her with his life. She had felt sorry for the look of terror in his eyes when he thought she had cholera back in the desert. She realized she should have told him then that she was just sick because she was pregnant, but she knew that knowledge would be a great burden to him for the rest of the journey. She didn’t want to be pampered, and she didn’t want to tell him he would be a father until they had reached their destination and settled in, if settling in was possible in a place like this.
They made their way through more rowdy miners and gamblers and drunks, all of them taking a step back when Jake threatened them with his shotgun. When they came closer to the International, the street became quieter. The worst of the wild nightlife seemed to be behind them, and Miranda breathed a little easier. Now if they could only find a decent room, either at the hotel or the boardinghouse; warmth, a real bed, perhaps a hot bath and hot food.
They approached the boardinghouse first, neither of them aware that they were being followed by Clarence Gaylord. The crowd of men who had first surrounded them had been so confusing, and it had been just dark enough that Miranda had not noticed Clarence standing among them.
Clarence himself grinned at the realization that Miranda had not recognized him. After all, he had longer hair now, and had grown a mustache, was trying to grow a beard too, but it was a little too thin for his liking. He was shocked to see Miranda Hayes had survived, even more surprised to see her traveling with a man who called himself her husband! When in hell had she met him? And who the hell was he? He didn’t remember a man who looked like that at the trading post where his uncle had left her.
He kept to the shadows to see where she would end up staying, waited several minutes while the wagon was tied in front of Mrs. Anderson’s boardinghouse. Finally her husband came out and began unloading the wagon, telling Miranda he had gotten them a room. Clarence watched the man lift her down from the wagon. Just looking at her brought back all the hate he still felt for her, and he wished he could find a way to get back at her now that she was in town.
The bitch! Acting like she didn’t need a man, and here she shows up married to some stranger she must have met along the trail. She had let him get into her easy enough! Who the hell was he, anyway, brandishing that shotgun like he did? He figured the uppity Mrs. Hayes would have married some farmer or a banker or the like. The man with her now was no ordinary man, that was sure.
He put a cigar between his lips and lit it, turning and walking away. He wore a gun himself now, knew how to gamble, had slept with lots of whores. Uncle Wilbur was near to having a heart attack over his behavior, had even come into a saloon one day to beg him to give up his sinful ways. But Uncle Wilbur didn’t know how good this life was. He was damn proud of himself for what he’d learned in such a short time. Real men didn’t go around preaching and abstaining. Real men knew how to take care of themselves in a place like Virginia City. They knew how to bluff at cards and hold their whiskey. They knew how to chew and spit and cuss; and they knew a woman had her place, which was underneath him in bed, begging for more.
He decided he had better get back to his work at the Silver Shoes Saloon, where he did odd jobs for the owner, unloading crates of whiskey, cleaning up the place whenever the crowd thinned out enough to allow it. He liked it there, had learned a lot from the whores and the gamblers. Mellie worked there, and he liked Mellie, although sometimes she seemed a little irritated with him. Hell, she was a whore, wasn’t she? Why wouldn’t she just let him sleep with her whenever he wanted? Sometimes she made him really angry, and once he’d had to punch her. He almost got fired for it, but Toby had let him stay on.
He made pretty good money, had even won some at poker; and late at night, there were always the drunks to steal from. Mellie had taught him about that. Men often passed completely out in her bed, and it was easy then to sift through their pockets, after which the bouncer in the Silver Shoes carried them out to the alley. Clarence often roamed the city at night looking for other drunks who lay in the streets or in the alleys, and in this town most men carried a good amount of money on them. It seemed like in Virginia City everybody was rich. He didn’t have to steal from Uncle Wilbur’s collection plate anymore, hardly ever saw the man now, and that was just fine with him.
Thirteen
Miranda stretched, then snuggled back into the clean blankets that covered the feather mattress. She moved against Jake’s warm, naked body, luxuriating in the reality that they had found a room at this pleasant boardinghouse, a place where they could shut themselves away from the danger and the reckless life of Virginia City only a block or two away. Even with doors and windows closed, a person could hear the rowdy yells and gunfire coming from the saloons and gambling halls, as well as the rumbling explosions at the mines in the surrounding mountains; but the coziness of the boardinghouse made Miranda feel safe and protected.