Did it matter if it was today or a week from now? And while she knew a man could hide the monster that lived inside until it was too late, she had the distinct and unwavering feeling that Hawk had already shown her his true self. He was the one who’d taken the time to talk with Papa—instead of shooting him. That curious fact was one she’d wondered on more than once on the journey out here, and even more since she’d arrived.
“I will marry you,” she said softly.
It seemed to take a moment before her words sunk in. When they did, a broad smile lit Hawk’s face, his dark eyes seeming to brighten a shade. “All right. I’ll notify the preacher, then.”
Lina spent the little time remaining of the morning hours hoping her trunk might arrive quickly from the Pass, else she’d wind up wearing her wrinkled and dust-stained green skirt and bodice. Her prayers were answered just after one o’clock in the afternoon, when Deputy Garland and Mr. Morrell arrived with her trunk in tow. She thanked them profusely, and as soon as they left, she dug through the items of clothing inside.
She didn’t have much to choose from, but a soft rose-colored skirt with a matching bodice and overskirt seemed to fit the occasion. It was the nicest dress she owned, although at this point it was several years old. Lina smoothed out the wrinkles as best she could, pulled her unruly hair into a neat chignon, and then sat for a moment, looking at her reflection in the glass she’d set behind the washbasin.
She looked no different. She’d worn this dress to church services a hundred times, and her hair was arranged the same as usual. But yet she was about to become someone’s wife. A man who’d been nothing but kind to her.
Guilt crept in at her motivation for accepting Hawk’s offer. What would he say if he knew? Would he turn on her in disgust, not only at her reason for coming here, but for the simple fact of who her father was?
Would he marry the daughter of an outlaw? Or would those smiles that made her fingers tingle turn to an angry frown?
Lina pressed a hand against her stomach and closed her eyes. She couldn’t let herself go down that road. Matthew desperately needed treatment, and she would doanythingto help him. Even marry a man under false pretenses.
Matthew . . . Not knowing how he fared back at home cut through her like a knife. She’d been responsible for him for so long, ever since the first convulsions had appeared nearly eight years ago, after Matthew had taken a bad fall from a horse and hit his head. Not being there for him now, knowing he missed her . . . The aching sadness that came from those thoughts dug its claws into her heart and refused to let go.
Lina clenched her hands, willing the waves of sadness to disappear. When they did, the worry about deceiving Hawk filled its place. If—no,when—she found her father’s money and got Matthew set up somewhere back East with a physician who truly understood his condition, then she’d figure out what was next. There would be no hiding the truth of the matter from Hawk then.
Lina forced herself to take deep breaths as she dispelled that thought from her mind. When she opened her eyes, she steeled a look at her reflection again. There was no use worrying over what was to come. Only two things should be on her mind right now: her wedding and finding Papa’s money.
A soft knock came on the door, followed by Hawk’s voice. “Lina, are you ready?”
Another deep breath to steady her nerves, and Lina opened the door with a smile—which was impossible to keep from her face when she saw him, dressed in a hardly-worn black suit with a string tie, polished boots, and a hat that appeared to be just purchased.
Hawk cut a fine figure, and she eagerly took his offered arm. Never in all the time she’d been caring for Matthew and taking in laundry and keeping house the past few years had she given more than a passing thought to marriage, and then only to assume it would never happen for her. After all, she was a girl with no money, no parents at home, and a brother who needed someone nearby at all times.
And yet, that girlwasmarrying. As they waited for the preacher with a few of Hawk’s men in attendance, Lina cast away all her worries and that nagging guilt, and simply let herself revel in the fact that she, Carolina Groves, was marrying a man more handsome and kind than she ever could have dreamed up.
Chapter Six
THE CEREMONY WAS SOMEHOWboth too quick and too slow, and afterward, Hawk found himself alone in his house with Lina. Garland had insisted he could keep watch over the office, and even possibly extract some more information from Pete Turley about the stage robbery. When Hawk protested, the other men backed Garland up, and off they’d gone, leaving him here.
In truth, it wasn’t that he yearned to go back to work—it was that expectant look on his new wife’s face that made spending time with her far more terrifying than trying to get Turley to talk or, in fact, facing down an entire gang of men bent on destruction.
