Two weeks since she’d left on the stage with her white husband. Fifteen days since he’d told her she washiswife and asked her to marry him. What a fool he was.
The saloon was busy even though it was only midday. A few wranglers, many drifters, some miners, and two baby-faced soldiers from the fort. The bartender was serving a steady stream of drinks. Nadi, the young half-breed, was busy serving and avoiding grabs to various parts of her anatomy. The buckskin skirt clung to her young, high buttocks and was the most sought-after target on her person.
He should have left town days ago, but he hadn’t the ambition to do so. Where would he drift to now? Sonora? Texas? West, to California? Shit; he didn’t give a damn.
By now he’d heard all the gossip. Rumor had it that Candice had jilted Kincaid in Arizona City for him, then had jilted him for Kincaid. It was amazing how the perverted gossipmongers could so totally twist the facts. There was a lot of head-shaking. Men and women alike believed that Candice was that kind of woman, a scarlet woman, a hussy, a breed lover. She was ruined, irreparably.
Was she happy?
He didn’t even want to consider that thought, not when he was so damn miserable. But whose fault was that? It was his, for being foolish enough to marry her—worse, make love to her, fall in love with her. Even now, he didn’t hate her as much as he loved her. And the whiskey only dimmed the pain.
He was sitting there brooding when suddenly—or not so suddenly—a miner was standing before him, a tall, brawny shadow, and the next thing Jack knew, his chair was kicked out from under him. He went flying back onto the floor.
“Hey, breed,” the miner laughed. “Hear you got a taste of a white woman.”
Jack was badly drunk. He shook his head to stop the floor from spinning. He knew he was in serious trouble. He leaned up on his elbows, trying to focus on a pair of thick calves clad in moccasins.
“You know what I think of breeds who fool with white women?” the miner asked. “This!”
Jack saw it coming, the hard, vicious kick to his face. It was one thing to see it and another to react. He tried, and managed to move his head slightly aside, but not enough to avoid the stunning blow. His head slammed against the floor, and he saw stars.
He was still seeing stars when he was being lifted to his feet by many hands.
“What should we do with him, boys?” the miner roared.
“String the no-good bastard up!” someone shouted.
“That’ll teach him,” a wrangler declared, and a round of laughter greeted this.
“He won’t never touch no white woman again,” agreed one of the soldiers.
“Yeah!” It was a chorus.
Jack’s legs refused to work as the miner began dragging him outside, followed by the crowd in the saloon. He was done for. He was so drunk he barely cared. He heard Nadi trying to scream for help. He smiled, thinking, Poor, foolish girl.
Someone threw a rope around his neck. Panic set in, and his heart started to pound, clearing his head a bit. Things were more in focus. His mouth was bleeding from the kick.
“We’ll take him around back where there’s a nice tree with his name on it,” the miner shouted, and everyone laughed and roared their approval.
The cocking of a gun sounded. “I don’t think so.”
Jack knew that voice, but he couldn’t place it. He turned his head, blinking, trying to focus on the rider on the rangy bay.
“Stay out of this, boy,” the miner said.
“What’s his crime?” Luke Carter asked coolly.
“You asking what his crime is?” the wrangler asked incredulously. “He stole your sister from Kincaid.”
“My sister,” Luke said calmly, “was dying in the desert after leaving her husband for dead in Arizona City, This man saved her life. Untie him.”
The miner hesitated, but held at rifle point, he had no choice. He slipped the noose from around Jack’s neck and stepped away, muttering angrily. Jack stood swaying while Luke dispersed the crowd. He wiped his sleeve over his mouth and looked up at Luke Carter.
Nadi came running up and grabbed him, and he leaned on her gratefully.
“You’d best sober up,” Luke said, slipping off the horse. He walked over. “You need a hand with him?” he asked the girl.
“Please,” Nadi’s eyes seemed to beg, her face tense with anxiety.
