“If you want an annulment,” Lucas offered quietly, “it’s possible under the circumstances.”
“Of course I do,” Sharisse said stiffly. “You don’t think I would stay here with a man who doesn’t want me.”
He gazed down at the floor. “So be it. But in the meantime, you will stay here. And if it’s to be the easy way, annulment instead of divorce, then you better stay the hell away from me, because there was never any question about my wanting you.”
There was a silence, and then she said, “Why can’t I leave now?”
“I’m broke, Sharisse. I can’t afford to send you anywhere, let alone all the way back to New York. New York is where you want to go, isn’t it?”
“Yes. How long, Lucas?”
“What’s your hurry? You did come here to get married, remember?” he flung at her. “Consider yourself married for the time being, okay?”
“I find our situation intolerable,” she said flatly.
“You think I like it? I’d just as soon shut you up with kisses, but I’m not going to add to the injuries I’ve already done you.” He stood up and went to the door. “But the reason I needed you here still exists, and now that we’re married, it would cause too many questions if you left right away. You’ll just have to wait this out with me, Sharisse.”
“You won’t tell me the reason?”
“No.”
“Then go, Lucas. And please have the decency not to set foot in this room again.”
He left, sorry he had hurt her, aching to make love to her, full of sorrow and regret.
Thirty-one
Wanting to leave and actually gathering the courage to go were two very different things, Sharisse found out. As the morning progressed she dressed to ride and packed all she could manage to stuff into her portmanteau, which would hook onto a saddle. But as she waited, praying for Lucas to leave the ranch so she could go without having to face him, she had time to think about what she was doing.
What she hadn’t considered before then was that not only might Lucas try to stop her, he also had the legal right to stop her. Even if she managed to get to town and Samuel Newcomb gave her shelter, Lucas could bring her back. No one could do anything about it, least of all herself, because he was her legal husband.
So where did that leave her? She couldn’t stay here, not with Lucas’s true character revealed. Oh, if only he had told her how long he wanted her to stay, then she might not feel so desperate. But for all she knew he might want her around for years. And the way Lucas affected her, she knew it would be only a matter of time before she forgave him everything. If they became lovers again, she couldn’t annul the marriage. She simply had to go and go now.
Lucas did finally leave, taking one of the new mares out for a ride. Sharisse hurried to the barn to have Mack saddle her a horse. She hid her portmanteau and Charley’s empty basket outside the stable. No point in testing Mack’s loyalty. Then she went in search of Charley. She found him in the back of the barn, sitting on the ground staring at a dark corner. When she called him, he wouldn’t respond, wouldn’t even turn around to look at her. Then she saw that the gold eyes glowing out from under a plank in the corner belonged to another cat.
Sharisse was amazed. Lucas had to have brought the cat to the ranch. What a sweet thing to do. But she couldn’t let that change her mind. She had to remember everything else he had done.
Charley obviously didn’t want to leave his new friend, but Sharisse wouldn’t consider leaving him. She locked him in his basket and hurried away. Fortunately Mack didn’t follow to see her secure her belongings to the saddle. There was only one thing more she had to do, say good-bye to Willow and her baby.
It was a tearful affair. Willow didn’t try to stop her. She asked no questions, seeming to fathom Sharisse’s feelings.
Sharisse made it to town without incident. She left the horse at Pete’s Livery where Lucas could find it some day, then headed for the hotel. Wilber, sitting out front of the mail dispatch, called out to her that she had a letter.
That was surprising enough, but what was inside the envelope caused her to cry out with joy. Money! More than enough to get her home! She couldn’t believe such luck, coming just when she needed it most. She wouldn’t have to impose on anyone now, or risk asking Sam Newcomb’s help. She could leave Newcomb before Lucas even discovered her gone.
Sharisse went straight to the stage depot, not even taking time to read Stephanie’s letter. Her only concern was whether there was a stagecoach due. There was, and her luck was holding, for the stage was late and expected any time.
Waiting was nerve-racking. Even when the large, clumsy stage finally rolled into town, Sharisse had to wait an hour while the horses were changed and the driver was fed.
She waited inside the stage. It was an oven, the leather curtains closing out most of the air, but she was hidden.
She was beginning to relax when the door opened and Slade stepped into the stage and sat down beside her. She was absolutely stupefied.
“How—?”
“Saw you come into town,” he told her. “Been watching you ever since.”
“But what areyoudoing in Newcomb?”
