Good Morning Heart


Good Morning Heart


Good Morning Heart

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“I have been up and dressed for several hours,” Lucy said. “You should have wakened me.” She gave a quick glance at her watch to prove it.

She’d spent the night in a hotel, having gone straight from the train station after arriving back home to pack for this trip. The morning sun shone into her bedroom, making her sleepy eyes blink against its brightness.

She had not slept much since leaving New York City; she’d spent every spare minute working on plans for the upcoming trial in Philadelphia. Her stomach rumbled as her thoughts drifted away to other matters—the trial, of course, but also what might happen with Jack once his case was heard by the jury.

His father hadn’t been able to get him out of jail when he could barely afford bail himself. What if there was another attempt to arrest Jack? Would they find some reason to take him into custody before the trial began?

If he went free, would it be only because his lawyer proved his innocence or would there still be someone waiting outside that door, ready to grab Jack the moment he exited? There were too many possibilities for her to relax while he was gone. But she couldn’t very well ask him to stay here while he waited for the trial date to arrive.

The door to her room opened and Jack stepped inside, a smile lighting his face. He held a cup in his hand, steam rising from its depths. “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

She smiled in return. “Yes, thank you. I did not want to disturb you last night.”

He sat down beside her and leaned toward her, placing a kiss on her cheek. “How is your family?” he asked, taking the cup from her hand. “I spoke with them yesterday.”

Lucy glanced at her mother’s name scrawled across the envelope addressed to Jack, then returned her attention to the young man. Her heart squeezed as she realized how much had changed between them over the past year.

They were no longer strangers—she knew all about his family now. She’d met his brother Tom. She was sure he’d spoken with his sister-in-law, Maryanne, but had never been introduced to her personally. It felt odd knowing more about Jack’s personal life than most of his friends, yet she didn’t feel jealous anymore.

After spending time in the city and observing so many families, it seemed perfectly natural to know who his father was and even how he had died.

“They’re good. My mother has decided to stay on in Philadelphia until the end of the trial,” Lucy answered. “She wants to make certain we don’t lose any important evidence.”

Jack sipped from his coffee, then set it aside. “What are you going to do with your family while you’re gone?” he asked.

“We will go back to New York City for a few days after I’m finished here.” Lucy hesitated. “My brother Tom won’t come, however. He told my mother he wanted nothing further to do with me.”

That news took an immediate toll on Jack’s face. His mouth fell open, and his eyebrows lowered in surprise. “Your brother doesn’t want anything to do with you?”

Lucy nodded. “And my sister, Maryanne, feels the same way.”

“Why?” Jack whispered. “Did something happen between you two?”

“It’s just… it wasn’t easy coming back home,” Lucy explained quietly. “I had to tell them why I’d left, and I think it made everyone realize their feelings for one another may have changed.”

A long silence followed as Jack stared at her. Finally, he rose from the bed and started for the door. “If that’s the reason—” he stopped suddenly, looking surprised.

She smiled as understanding dawned on her own face. It was true, she’d never told him about the incident that had caused her to leave their home almost a year ago. “No, there’s no reason for Tom to suspect us of being lovers,” she added quickly. “In fact, he was shocked to learn I’ve been hired to defend him. You see, he doesn’t believe anyone can help him.”

Jack came back to the bedside and knelt before her. “Tell me what happened between you and your brother.”

“All right.” Lucy sighed as she placed her arms around his neck. “There’s so much to explain… so many memories…” She pressed a kiss on his cheek in apology. “Perhaps later we’ll talk about it, but now you must be getting ready for the day.”

She lifted herself off the mattress, feeling suddenly drained. She needed food first thing to keep her alert, and she had not eaten since boarding the train the night before.

“Where’s my breakfast?” she asked.

His eyes twinkled as he stood and pulled on his shirt. “You need your rest,” he reminded her, but she noticed the smile on his face.

“But you know what?” she said with mock indignation. “I’m hungry enough now to eat a horse.”

He laughed aloud and shook his head at her. Then he scooped a plate from her dresser and poured some of the eggs into it. He gave her half to eat along with his own meal while he dressed.

When he was done, he put away the dishes and returned to the bedside where Lucy lay wrapped in the covers. “Are you sure you’re not cold? The weather seems warm to me,” he teased.

“Not quite yet,” she responded as she snuggled against him. “I’ll be fine once I get warmed up again.”

“I hope you’re telling the truth, because otherwise—” He paused, his face growing serious. “You know there’s nothing I would rather do than take care of you this morning.”

Her fingers brushed through the hair on his chest. “I know.”

“So do you really feel better now?” he asked.

Lucy frowned, confused by his words. Wasn’t he the one who had said he needed to get back to town and get his work done? What did he mean by asking if she was all right? But when she opened her mouth to answer him, he kissed her instead. A soft sigh escaped her lips as his hand slipped beneath the covers, caressing her hip before sliding slowly lower.

The touch sent warmth rushing over her entire body. With slow, deliberate strokes, he stroked the length of her thigh. When he reached the spot where she most ached to feel his fingers, he moved higher.

His breath quickened, and he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, “Now tell me if you feel better, or I’ll start teasing you.”

Lucy moaned softly as she turned toward his mouth and felt the kiss on her cheek. She tried to respond, but all that came out were incoherent sounds as his tongue swept across her flesh.

Jack broke away long enough to look down at her with such longing in his eyes. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

She blushed at his compliment and pulled him down next to her, wrapping her arms around his neck as they kissed once more. They both heard the faint sound of footsteps outside the cabin, which ended abruptly when the door slammed shut.

Lucy and Jack froze, looking at each other in confusion as they listened for another noise. All remained still until the footsteps resumed and faded once again, leaving the two of them alone and wondering what it meant.

“That could have been a bear,” Lucy whispered, pulling away from him to sit up straight.

Jack laughed and reached for her hands as he held her back against the pillow. “There is no bear in this forest, Lucy,” he promised. “It’s probably some of our neighbors.”

“Our neighbors?” Her mind raced with possible explanations for what they’d heard. It was too quiet in the woods around the cabin; she didn’t hear any birds chirping. In fact, the only animal sounds she heard now were the distant cry of some bird high in a tree far away and the hooting of an owl somewhere else in the distance.

There should be more of a breeze, too—something to cool her skin, even after all that time spent under the sheets.

“Yes… well…” Jack cleared his throat uncomfortably as he sat on the edge of the bed. “We’ve never talked about it, but there are others who live here with us, like Mr. and Mrs. Brownell and their children, Tom and Sally.”

“And you know them?” Lucy’s brow furrowed as she watched his reaction.

“Of course, I know them,” Jack answered. “How many times do I have to remind you of how important I am in town?”

“I don’t remember exactly,” Lucy responded as she stared at him. “What do they call themselves when we aren’t around?”

Jack chuckled. “You can hardly blame them for not wanting to introduce themselves. People in town tend to be judgmental and critical.”

“People in town think I’m a thief!” Lucy exclaimed in annoyance. “Why should I expect any different in these parts?”

“Don’t be too hard on them,” Jack said gently. “They’ve had plenty of time to form an opinion about us already.”

“Meaning?”

“Well… you’re just plain peculiar to most people here, and they think that means something bad has happened to you.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jack mused. “Maybe being raised by a lunatic who dresses you in rags.”

Lucy scowled, trying to ignore the slight sting of pain caused by the insult. “If you say so.”

Jack nodded with confidence. “I know what I know. Don’t worry about the other people living here, Lucy. You’re not like them, and neither am I.”

As Jack reached for her hands, his expression grew serious once more. “I hope you realize that this is the most honest you’ve ever been with me, because I intend to hold you to it.”

“Honest?” Lucy asked in surprise. “But I didn’t lie to anyone.”

He shook his head. “No, I suppose you didn’t. But you certainly withheld your true feelings from me. And if there was anything I wanted to hear, it would be your voice telling me that everything will be all right.”

Lucy looked at him curiously, then smiled as she reached for his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “All right, I will tell you,” she vowed quietly. “I’ll trust you. No matter what happens to me, I’ll always find a way to get back to you.”

“Thank you for trusting me.” He leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss on her lips, his fingers lingering against hers before he drew her close.

The touch of his lips ignited a fire deep inside her, and Lucy felt herself falling into the abyss of passion and desire she hadn’t experienced since the first night in Chicago. When he moved away from her, she let him go and reached for the sheet over them.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” she asked in a husky voice as she wrapped the sheet around her body.

“Very sure,” Jack replied without missing a beat.

Lucy glanced out the window at the forest surrounding the cabin and frowned in concern. “We have to be careful… I mean, someone could see us. Someone might come into this cabin to spy on us.”

Jack nodded thoughtfully. “True… but they won’t be able to hide from me if they try to sneak up on us.”

“Good point,” Lucy said with a faint smile as she lay back on the pillow. Then she turned and met his gaze, her eyes full of emotion. “Do you really mean it? You don’t care about being seen?”

“Not much.” Jack leaned closer, kissing her again before drawing back slightly to look deeply into her eyes. “Just keep your hair down and put on those clothes you wore in the saloon. I promise, we won’t be long.”

“Okay,” Lucy agreed. She paused momentarily to watch as he stood and crossed to the door before closing it softly behind him. Then Lucy pulled off the blanket, climbed out of bed, and stepped into the next room where she retrieved the bag of dresses and headed back to the bedroom where Jack waited for her.

***

In less than ten minutes, Jack was ready for the trip to town. He had donned his black pants, a white shirt, and a gray suit coat. His boots were laced tightly, and his hat was tied under his chin. With only one look, Lucy knew he’d made a decision and was prepared to follow through with it.

He came over to her, took her hands in his, and kissed each knuckle gently, making sure to pay special attention to the ring on her left pinkie finger.

“Remember your promise,” he whispered softly. “I’ll be waiting for you at the end of the road.”

Then he released her and walked out the front door without another word or glance back at her. Lucy watched the tall figure disappear in silence, wondering just how far Jack planned to take this strange new relationship.

She had no choice but to trust him, though, because there wasn’t any place else to run to. Lucy had nowhere to go, so she followed.

It seemed like a mile or two when Jack finally came to a halt near a tree and stared toward the road leading out of town. As Lucy approached him, she saw that he was watching some men ride by on horseback who looked like ranch hands.

One of them wore a gun belt and carried a six-shooter hanging in its holster. The other man had a rifle slung over his shoulder. Both men wore hats pulled low on their foreheads, and their horses looked strong.

They stopped to talk to Jack, and Lucy couldn’t help noticing that his mannerisms became increasingly suspicious as they rode past. His arms hung loosely at his sides and his legs bent slightly, giving him the appearance of a relaxed rider rather than one who was trying to hide something.

The conversation continued as the pair passed Jack and headed westward, and Lucy could see that they were talking about an incident earlier in the morning. They didn’t look in the least bit concerned about Jack being armed, although they did exchange a few curious glances as they rode past.

Lucy felt Jack stiffen suddenly behind her, and she turned to see why he was frowning. He held onto the saddle horn with his left hand while he lifted the rifle in his right and pointed it at the riders in the distance. It was almost too late when she realized what was going to happen and screamed in horror as the shots rang out.

One man fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his chest, and his horse reared in fear.

Another rider cried out and dropped his rifle as it fired unexpectedly. A bullet went wide and then hit the horse hard on its flank, sending it galloping away with both rider and animal in hot pursuit of the wounded beast.

“Stop!” Lucy screamed, but it was too late. Two more men fell to the ground as Jack emptied the gun’s magazine. When he reached into the saddlebag, he threw down four more cartridges and quickly reloaded.

As he drew back to shoot, Lucy grabbed his arm to stop him. “No!”

“What are you doing?” Jack asked. “You promised you wouldn’t interfere. Remember? I said I would kill everyone here if you touched my weapon.”

“That’s not why I’m stopping you.” Lucy tried to tug the rifle out of his grasp, but Jack easily held firm.

“Then what is it?” he demanded sharply.

“Those men will tell others that Jack killed them, and then someone might come looking for you. What are we supposed to do then? We can’t keep running forever.”

Jack stared at her, confused by her reasoning.

“We need to wait until dark,” Lucy pressed. “When no one is around, we can leave quietly.”

“Why?” Jack countered. “I don’t want to wait until night. Why should I hide for days and then have to run away when all they’re going to do is find me in the end anyway?”

“Because we won’t be able to fight them off in daylight,” Lucy explained. “These men are professionals and very well trained.”

Jack lowered the rifle, and for a moment, she thought he was ready to listen to reason. But he immediately turned and started walking in the opposite direction from which he’d originally planned.

“Come on,” he said over his shoulder to Lucy as he headed south toward town. “There’s nothing for us to do here. You know that better than anyone else.”

He led her up the side of a hill, and Lucy followed behind as the sun climbed higher in the sky. There was no doubt about it now—they had wasted valuable time. She hoped there would be someplace close by where they could spend the rest of the day, maybe even camp for the night.

The trail led to a small creek bed, but it didn’t offer any shelter. Lucy looked over her shoulder to see if Jack was following, but he was already out of sight. So, she followed, and soon they came upon a small shack made of logs. It had a dirt floor and was surrounded by bushes and trees, which served as a barrier between the house and the trail.

She wondered how many times this shack had been used before, but Jack had brought her here, so she assumed he had a good reason.

Jack opened the door and motioned for her to come inside. The cabin didn’t have a chimney or smoke holes, but the smell of wood burning drifted through. After closing the door, Jack removed his hat and hung it on a peg near the entrance.

“It’s getting hot in there,” Lucy said as she pulled her coat around herself and walked across the dirt floor to stand beside him.

“You mean it’s cool enough to be comfortable,” Jack countered as he lit a fire in the fireplace. “Now, sit down. I’ll get you some coffee.”

Lucy nodded and sat down on the edge of a chair. He took out a pot and filled it with water from the bucket on the floor.

“Is something wrong?” Jack asked, handing her a cup of steaming brew.

“Yes, I just found out that those men were working for you,” Lucy said.

“And what exactly do you think we’re doing here?”

Lucy sipped at the strong black liquid and felt a little calmer after tasting it.

“I told you before we left home that I needed help to take care of business. That’s what brought us to Texas in the first place.”

“But you lied to me!” Lucy protested. “I thought you wanted to go somewhere quiet so that you could settle down and start a family.”

“A family!” Jack burst out angrily. “What about my son? I lost everything because of your lies.”

“Your son doesn’t even remember who you are,” Lucy pointed out. “You’ve lost him forever.”

“I haven’t lost him.” His voice was cold and harsh.

Lucy couldn’t believe that she was sitting here listening to him say such hurtful things, but she had never seen him like this before. For the first time, she saw Jack Crawford as the ruthless killer he was, rather than the man who would give anything to become a rancher again.

“How can you blame me?” she cried. “It wasn’t my fault! How could I have known? You were the one who insisted on coming with me—”

“You’re right,” he cut in. “It was my idea. I knew you were desperate to find a way to raise money for the ranch, so I gave you false information. That’s what brought us here in the first place. And it was me that hired these men to kill my enemies.”

Lucy looked up at him. He seemed angry, but she also saw fear in his eyes. She didn’t know why that surprised her, since he had always appeared to be so calm, but his obvious terror unsettled her more than his anger.

“You’re afraid?” Lucy asked. “Of what?”

“For a long time, I didn’t have anyone to turn to except you,” Jack said, lowering himself onto a wooden chair across from Lucy. “If you hadn’t helped me when I was being chased by the law, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you today.”

“So, you were lying to me then?”

Jack shook his head. “No. You know me better than that. I only told you half of the truth.”

“That’s not fair,” Lucy protested. “We both did the best we could to survive.”

He looked away from her and stared into the fire. “Don’t you understand, Lucy?” he demanded. “I’m nothing without you.”

“Me!” Lucy laughed. “Nothing but a woman whose sole purpose in life is to take care of the needs of others?”

“There’s much more to you than that,” Jack said sharply. “You have so much potential. You could make a difference in people’s lives.”

“And you?” Lucy asked. “Do you have any desire to do anything for anyone else? Is there anyone important to you?”

“I don’t need any more children,” he snapped, “but if I did, I certainly wouldn’t have to look far for a woman willing to bear them.”

“Why are you being like this?” Lucy said, trying to hold back her tears. “I was doing you a favor, not the other way around.”

“I know,” Jack replied. “That’s why I’ve decided that I won’t let you ruin my future. I want you to leave this town tonight and never come back. You’re the last person I’d ever trust now.”

“But you trusted me once,” Lucy countered. “You even risked your own life to help me and protect me from a lynch mob.”

Jack sighed and looked at her, his dark eyes searching her face. “Maybe I did, but you’re right; that was long ago.”

The sound of a key turning in the lock startled Lucy. They both turned toward the door to see a stranger standing in the opening, holding an old-fashioned lantern. “Sorry I’m late,” he apologized. “I was helping the bartender fix one of the horses.”

“Come in,” Jack said. “You know, I should have guessed that someone would come looking for me tonight.”

The stranger stepped inside. “You must be the man I’m supposed to bring into town,” he said. “My name is Joe Darnell. Mr. Crawford has been waiting for you.”

“Mr. Darnell?” Jack asked. “I’ve heard of you.”

“Good,” the stranger replied. “Now, get upstairs and wait for me there.” He turned his attention back to Lucy. “This way.”

They followed him down a flight of stairs and walked through a maze of rooms filled with tables, chairs, and dusty bottles. At the end of the hall, the stranger stopped at an ornate door. He opened it and stood aside, allowing Lucy to enter the room ahead of him.

The room was spacious with a large bed and an elegant wardrobe in one corner, but there were no windows or lamps. It seemed to have once been a private parlor, but now it was just as dingy and neglected as most of the other rooms in the building.

After taking a deep breath, Lucy entered the chamber alone. She closed the door behind her and found herself looking out on a small garden where a single light bulb illuminated a rose bush, a birdbath, and a pair of stone statuary. As soon as Lucy moved to step outside the doorway, two rough hands reached forward to block the opening.

The End

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