Outlaw Hearts(91)

Quick thinking. The whole town thought Jake’s reaction had been because he was an experienced lawman from back East. That was the only explanation Jake could think of. How else could he explain the wild shoot-out? He couldn’t tell everyone that the reason he had recognized a robbery was in progress was by the look of the men who waited outside the bank; that he knew why they were there because he had robbed more than one bank himself and knew the setup. Miranda had tried to make him feel better by telling him that at least he had had the right idea for once, had stopped a robbery instead of being a part of one. On the one hand he had done a good thing, but he had paced and smoked half the night worrying about the attention he had drawn to himself.

If we weren’t in such a dangerous place where I might run into somebody who knows me, I’d take these damn guns off, he had grumbled. Once we get out of here and settle in California, I won’t wear them anymore. I promise.

Miranda was just as worried about the bold headlines as he was. He could hardly walk out the door without people surrounding him, slapping him on the back, asking about his skill with his guns, wanting to know where he had been a lawman. She knew it irritated him that he had to pile on lie after lie. At the breakfast table this morning, the other guests of the boardinghouse peppered him with more questions.

She set down the paper when she heard the outside door close. She walked from the parlor into the hallway to see Jake hanging up his coat and hat. “You’re late,” she told him. “You know I worry when you’re late.”

He stomped snow from his feet, then sat down on a bench Mrs. Anderson kept in the hall and removed his boots. “I was talking with the owner of the Yellow Jacket mine.” He set his boots aside and rose, kissing her cheek before leading her into the parlor. “He offered me a job, and I think I’m going to take it.” He moved to the fireplace to warm his hands.

“The Yellow Jacket! You won’t be able to come home at night.”

“I know.” He turned to look at her, still warming his hands. “The pay is good, Randy, five times what I’m making here in town. We’ll need the money if I’m going to set you up right when we reach California. I’ve already let these guns bring me more attention than I want, so I might as well go all the way. Management at the Yellow Jacket wants me to come up there and be a troubleshooter, keep men in line up at the mine, make sure shipments from the mine to town make it without any trouble and that payroll money gets back up there the same way.”

“Jake, that sounds dangerous.”

He laughed almost bitterly. “For me? Hell, I can take on an army, remember? The damage is done now as far as people knowing how I handle myself. If that’s how it’s going to be, I might as well make all the money I can with these things while I have the chance.” He unbuckled the gun belts and threw the weapons onto a chair and held his hands near the fire again. “I’m taking the job, Randy. I want to get us started right when we reach California. We’re going to need a lot of things, a house, furnishings, cattle and such. I don’t have any choice. If I can use what I know for good, then why not do it, especially when it means making a better life for you and the kid.”

He turned, glancing at her swollen belly, loving the sight of this beautiful woman carrying his child. He wanted more than anything to make life good for her, and he hated the disappointed look in her eyes. “It’s just till spring, Randy. I can make a lot of money over the next four months, and I can come home for two days out of every eight. As soon as you’re able, we’ll get the hell out of here and life will be more peaceful, I promise.” He turned back to the fire. “You’ll be fine if you stay right here with Mrs. Anderson. After we get to California and settle into some little nameless town, things will be different. I’ll hang up the guns and just be a common farmer, a man with a wife and a kid who’s no different than the next man.”

She hated the thought of his being gone so much, but he wanted so badly to earn all that he could so they could live well in California. “Will you come and stay when the baby is due? I don’t want to have it alone, Jake.”

“I’ll be here. Nothing can keep me away.” He turned and folded her into his arms. “I don’t like it much more than you do, Randy, but I can’t turn this down. If I’m going to work to earn money legitimately, I might as well be doing what I do best, and making as much as I can.”

“If you feel right about the job, then take it.” Her eyes rested on the guns that lay in the chair, and she thought about the promise she had made not to tell their children about his past. Could they really keep that past a secret like he wanted? The only possibility of doing that was if he hung those guns up forever. She felt like part of this was her fault for having brought him here. They should have headed north to Oregon.