Always, Ellis Read online

  “And you’ve done your best, Papa. You taught me how to defend myself and Mama taught me to keep a house. I’m a proper woman born to life on the plains.”

  “Proper yes,” he agreed whole-heartedly, “and if any man tries to disrespect you, it’ll be the last thing he ever does.” With a growling harrumph he gave her a pointed look. “I’m just watching out for you until you marry someone and become his responsibility. Let him suffer the gray hairs that you give me.”

  She laughed and saw the shadow of concern that crossed his features. “If you’re the one deciding who might be the right person for me, then I’ll never find a husband.”

  “Either way, I’m not ready to lose you too, Ginnie.”

  She stepped closer and set her hand on his arm. “Papa, please.” She saw the haunted look in his eyes and knew that he was thinking of her mother. “When Mama married you, did her parents lose her?”

  It took a moment but then he shook his head. “No,” he covered her hand with his, “but things changed when I lost your Ma.”

  “Things will always change, Papa, but you have me now. Let me take care of things.”

  “I intend to take care of you like I promised your mother.”

  “And you are. Is there something you need me to do?”

  He winced a little and she smiled. It was the same look he had when he had to say something and didn’t want to. “It’s actually something that I’d like you not to do.” He didn’t leave her waiting. “I remember thanking you for making the curtains for our rooms in the back,” he gestured over his shoulder, “but I didn’t think you had any plans on doing things in my office.”

  She shrugged. “I just wanted you to feel at home.”

  Thom leaned forward and brushed a kiss on the top of her head before he stepped back. “It’s a Marshal’s office, Ginnie. Putting those flowers on my desk was a nice thought.”

  “But you don’t like them in there because they’re pretty?” She laughed. “It is where you spend most of your time.”

  “Ginnie,” his tone was full of caution with more than a hint of exasperated humor, “no more wildflowers in my office.”

  Leaning down he pointed to his cheek and with a loud sigh, she pressed a soft peck of a kiss to his cheek. “Fine. No flowers in your office.”

  When he stood back up to his full height, Marshal Halston lifted a hand and brushed her hair back from her face at her temple, moving the loosened strands with his large hand. “That’s my girl.”

  He crossed over into the half of the building that was their private residence, working at the buttons on his vest. He’d been up from before the sun and was set to catch a little sleep in the afternoon before making his rounds in the evening.

  She closed the outside door and locked it before making her way into the Marshal’s office. The two cells against the far wall were empty, thank goodness.

  She meant what she said to her father. She didn’t have a problem working outside by herself. The majority of folks that they’d met were good people, hospitable neighbors.

  And even if they weren’t, there were enough people around who would help if she needed it.

  Still, the idea of having men locked in the cells just a wall away from her home, made her more than a little uneasy. She would never tell her father that. It would make him worry. She was her father’s daughter, after all. Halstons were made of strong stuff, she just had to hope that her father saw that sooner than later, or this new house would end up being her own private jail.

  Chapter 2

  Over a week into his job with the Pony Express, Ellis was struggling to fit in. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do the work. His time in prison had only sharpened his skill at menial tasks. He didn’t even mind sweeping and brushing and lifting. Any kind of task that kept his mind focused on his work and his attention from the other riders made his life better.

  It certainly kept him from seeing the pointed looks from the other riders. They didn’t seem as apt to start up a conversation or anything else as long as he kept his head down. Not everything was so bleak, really. He got along most of the time with a few of the men. Wyeth was the one that made his time the easiest of the group, but he didn’t live on the property. He had a home of his own and a wife that he doted on. It was a good thing to see, Ellis figured, that not everyone who took the job ended up running his horse into the ground or ended up on the pointed end of an Indian arrow.

  At least that was what some of the men in prison had said about the express. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but now, he wondered if some of the problems that the Express was having may be because of some of their riders. He’d met a few that worked at Three Rivers that seemed good at their work, but not everyone seemed willing to give him a chance. Two guys in particular. And two, he could normally handle. He didn’t make it through his time behind bars without learning a little bit to protect himself, but the trouble he had here at the Express wasn’t the kind that was solved by fists, he just didn’t know what to do beyond waiting until they knew him well enough to stop treating him as though they were constantly waiting for him to pick their pockets or kill them in their sleep.

  “I don’t think I’ll manage to stay here that long,” he gruffed as he sat on his bunk shining up his one good pair of shoes. He’d purchased some new clothes when he had some time a few stage stops before Three Rivers. Uncle Samuel sent him money to make the purchase, money he would repay him for, especially since the clothes he’d worn to prison hadn’t fit when he was released, hanging off his body and his good shoes had just plain gone missing.

  His boots had remained, and those were fine for mucking out a stall or digging in the dirt working with the horses, but there was something that stuck in his mind. His ma had always bid him to make sure he had one good pair of shoes.

  His hair as a child and as a young man had been wavy to a fault, sometimes curling up when it was wet, but try as he might, he could never seem to tame the unruly waves. One day as he was headed off to school, his ma stood there on the front step, hands on her hips and a rueful smile on her face. “Son,” she said with more than a hint of humor, “we can’t do a thing to make your hair look anything less than a wild creature, the least you can do is make sure you have a good, presentable pair of shoes.”

  His hand stilled along the heel as he worked, blinking back the tears that gathered in his eyes.

  The front door opened and let in a flood of sunlight. Startled from his reverie he looked up, his lips parted in shock.

  The two men coming in the door stopped their conversation mid-word. A look passed between them before they looked back at Ellis. James Burroughs, a rider who’d started a few weeks before him, lifted his chin in a pointed gesture. “What you got there, Cooper?”

  Ellis looked down at the shoe and cloth he held. “My shoe.”

  James scoffed, and his friend joined him. “You sure it’s yours?” His friend burst out laughing. “You put your name on it?”

  Ellis shook his head. “No,” he tried to be patient, “these are mine. I’m just polishing them.”

  James tossed a look at the other man, a knowing grin that had Ellis grinding his back teeth together. The other man was Matthew Hawkins, and unlike the rest of his family who had gone out of their way to be kind and hospitable, the eldest of the family seemed as though he had taken it upon himself to test Ellis’ mettle and willingness to suffer to keep his job.

  Matthew shrugged, “Looks like they taught you a skill in jail. That’s something.” Ellis felt a muscle tick in his jaw. There were so many things he could say to that comment, but he couldn’t… wouldn’t take the bait. Matthew had been a rider for the Hawkins family since the beginning. There was no way he was going to try to get on his bad side, even though he figured he was already on it.

  He wasn’t going to get caught up in the not-so-innocent ribbing that some of the men were throwing in his direction. It wasn’t just the riders from the Express either. Word of his stint in prison ha
d quickly made the rounds in town and he had been forced to ignore stares and pointed barbs from all manner of people.

  It was tough for him. His nearly two years behind bars hadn’t thickened his skin so much as it had dulled his willingness to defend himself from indignity.

  Even at that moment when all he was doing was minding his own business, it never stopped.

  So, he did what he could to ride out the rain. Ducking his head, he went back to shining his shoes and let the men do whatever it was they needed to.

  He just told himself what he’d said nearly a score of times every day since he’d come to Three Rivers. “It won’t last forever. They’ll give me a chance. Someday.”

  Things didn’t get any better when the rest of the riders returned to the bunkhouse before supper. He’d felt uncomfortable around Matthew and James, but that paled in comparison to the grim awkwardness of meals.

  Ellis had tried to ignore it at first. Tried to tell himself that he was just the odd man out in a group of people that seemed to know and care for each other like brothers, but he’d been ignoring the truth for days. It wasn’t just that. Familiarity didn’t account for the way they handled the circuit riders that came in and turned back around the next day. He hadn’t seen one yet that had received the same blank stares that he had.

  And it didn’t take long for the smile on their faces to fade after a few hushed words from one of the riders stationed in Three Rivers.

  Ellis had even gotten in the habit of just eating whatever it was that landed in front of him. Asking for one of the riders to pass a plate or the basket of rolls earned him narrowed eyes and suspicious looks.

  It would have been hilarious if it wasn’t the bald-faced truth that the others saw him as a thief.

  And would likely see him as a thief for the foreseeable future. He couldn’t think of a single way to assuage their worries with anything but time. He just didn’t know how much time he’d have before suspicions won out over giving him a chance.

  So, he finished his meal early, he didn’t have much of a stomach for it, and went for a walk to clear his head, returning just in time to clear the dishes and take them back to Mrs. Hawkins. It was the best moment of the day to see her sweet smile when she thanked him.

  It was worth it, he knew, it was worth the uncomfortable meals for the smiles here and there.

  At least for the moment.

  It was almost, he swallowed hard past the lump in his throat, almost like home.

  Dawn found Ellis already in the barn, mucking out the stalls with a satisfyingly mind-numbing rhythm. The same motion over and over had once seemed monotonous to him, making him shirk some of his chores to avoid the boredom, but not now.

  He loved it now. The horses didn’t watch him waiting to see him make a mistake. They watched him waiting for their food. Or waiting for him to clean their hooves or take them out for their exercise.

  In the barn he could breathe and not worry that someone would accuse him of taking their air.

  He laughed at the thought and one of the horses nickered in response.

  “Go ahead,” he told the gelding, “have a laugh. I’m not good for much else these days.”

  “Now, son, I wouldn’t go cutting yourself so short.”

  Ellis froze for the space of a few heartbeats and then let out a breath. Setting his pitchfork down, he leaned the handle against the side wall of the stall. “Mr. Hawkins, good morning, Sir.”

  “No need to be so formal with me, Ellis. It’s good to see someone up so early this morning.”

  Ellis shrugged and gave a half gesture to the barn. “I like being in here. It’s quiet and no one minds me being here much.”

  Levi’s eyebrows lifted a bit and Ellis swallowed, wondering if he’d said too much. “Funny you should say that, son. I was just about to ask you how you were settling in.”

  Ellis purposefully brightened his expression. “Just fine, Sir. Just fine.”

  Levi shook his head. “Son, you’re a terrible liar.”

  A hot flush of shame heated his neck. “I wasn’t lying, sir.”

  Levi stepped forward with a smile. “Please excuse my bad choice of words, Ellis. I didn’t mean to worry you.” Walking over to the stall beside the bar door, Levi looked over the wall and nodded in appreciation. “You do good work.”

  The weight he felt in his chest eased a bit. “Thank you, sir.”

  A wry smile twisted Levi’s lips. “I’m guessing that reminding you to call me Levi won’t do me much good?”

  “Sorry, sir.” Ellis winced. “Not for a bit, I’m afraid.” He felt the corner of his mouth tilt up. “Sir.”

  The two men shared a quiet moment.

  “You know, Ellis. I think you and I are more alike than most.”

  The words shocked Ellis more than the friendly smile on the man’s face. Levi Hawkins was a friend to everyman.

  “How do you think, sir?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, instead, picking up the pitchfork to continue his work while they talked.

  He’d cleared the first forkful of hay into the wheelbarrow when Levi spoke. “Well, what you’re doing for one.”

  When Ellis looked up, Levi had already picked up another pitchfork and was working on a stall across the way.

  “Idle hands and such.”

  Ellis nodded. “I had plenty of idling when I was in… when I was away. I like doing things now to keep myself busy. More work means less thinking about everything I’ve lost and missed out on.”

  “You’ve got a lot of life ahead of you, Ellis. Don’t forget that. You paid for your crime. You put that behind you.”

  Ellis wasn’t going to argue with his employer. Hardly anyone would agree with them after all.

  “Have you thought of what you want to do in the future?”

  “I don’t rightly know, sir. My first aim was to find work and make myself useful to folks. From there, I don’t know what I can do beyond that.”

  “I was proud that Samuel brought you to me. That he thought I could be a help to you warmed my heart.”

  “And you have, sir. More than you know.”

  The back door to the house opened and Levi worked his way toward the open doorway.

  “Good morning, wife.”

  “Good morning to you, husband.”

  Ellis looked away as the two shared a look across the yard. He’d been both pleased and shocked to see the gentle love that the Hawkins’ shared with each other. He hadn’t known his father well. Sanderson Cooper passed away while he was still a boy too young for pants. But his mother spoke of him with great affection, making him wonder what kind of a relationship they had.

  Spending time with the Hawkins family, he imagined that his parents must have loved each other like Levi and Olivia did.

  “Anna and I are making breakfast.”

  “That’s a good thing, wife.”

  “Are you hungry?” The teasing tone was filled with love.

  “Of course I am, and I’m sure Ellis here is as well. He got quite an early start this morning.”

  “Well that’s good to know." Olivia Hawkins clapped her hands together. “It’s going to be a busy day for all.” She leaned out over the railing and gave her husband a bright smile before turning to Ellis.

  “Would you let the riders know that if they need any mending done, we have a young lady who will be by this afternoon. She’ll be able to help.”

  Levi leaned on the handle of his pitchfork. “Does she have the time? I thought Virginia would be swamped with jobs from the miners by now.”

  Olivia’s laughter was gentle and full of patient humor. “She would be, but her father had forbidden,” she repeated the word for more emphasis, “forbidden her to ride to the mining camps to meet with the men and they so rarely come to town.”

  “Ah,” Levi nodded with a sage understanding on his face, “she’ll have a hard time making money that way.” Holding up a hand in surrender he bobbed his head. “It’s Thom’s decision to
deny her, but surely he knows that the miners know to behave themselves around her, that the town wouldn’t stand for a fine woman to be abused in that manner.”

  Humor colored Olivia’s face. “Would you say such a thing if it were Anna asking permission?”

  Levi opened his mouth to answer and then shut it just as quickly. His half-hearted shrug drew Ellis’ attention back in his direction.

  “I would send someone with her if I feared for her safety.” He turned to look at Ellis with a smile. “I’d send Ellis with her. He’d make sure she was safe.”

  Ellis blinked up at his employer. “Sir? You would send me to watch after your daughter?”

  “Why not?” Levi nodded at him. “You’re a good-hearted man. You’d protect my daughter, wouldn’t you?”

  “I would, sir. I would.”

  Nodding as well, Olivia’s expression softened. “I’ll mention it to Virginia. Perhaps her father will agree.”

  Levi went back to his work and Ellis to his, but the warm feeling in his chest dissipated when he mulled over the idea. Mr. Hawkins may trust him, but he had serious doubts about Marshal Halston.

  The man had a reputation for being a hard man when it came to the law. There was wrong and there was right, and Ellis wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to come down on the right side of anyone ever again.

  Olivia had put the question to Virginia about the escort to the mining camp, but surprisingly it had been Virginia herself who had decided against asking her father. She didn’t give Mrs. Hawkins a concise reason why. Nor had Olivia pressed for one to satisfy her curiosity. She’d just set the discussion aside for the time being.

  Instead, she’d gone to Patty and Claire O’Neal first. She’d seen that Claire was a sharply dressed woman with an active child of her own. She’d seen the tightly drawn lines around her eyes and figured that there was something she could do to ease the burden.