Chapter Ten
“HAWKINS!” STUART BELLOWEDout the made-up name as he and Norah were halfway across the street. There was no reaction from the man in front of the saloon, Tip Maddox. Stuart remembered him all too well. He was the dark-haired one. The one who seemed to be ringleader of the whole group of them.
“Hawkins!” Stuart called again when they reached the edge of the street. He paused to let Norah wipe the bottoms of her shoes on the edge of the board sidewalk. “Where have you been?”
Maddox finally looked up. He glanced at Stuart and then looked around, presumably for the imaginary Hawkins. Finding no one, he turned his gaze back to Stuart, his brows furrowed.
“I’ve been looking for you all day.” Norah’s arm safely nestled around his own, he stepped forward until he was in front of Maddox. “I wanted to—” He paused suddenly and tilted his head as if he were confused. “I apologize. I thought you were someone else. You haven’t seen Reginald Hawkins inside this establishment, by chance?”
“Afraid I don’t know the fellow.” His eyes traced Stuart in an uninterested manner and quickly hopped to Norah. He briefly touched the brim of his hat in greeting. “I do know this lady, however. Good evening, Miss Parker.”
Norah’s fingers tightened around his arm, the only sign she gave that Maddox made her nervous. Stuart fought to control his own expression. He knew without a doubt that Maddox was the one who’d made threats against Jeremy’s family, and the fact that he recognized Norah was enough to make Stuart wish he’d never had the bright idea to drag her over here in order to attempt to work his way in Maddox’s good graces.
“Good evening, sir,” Norah said with a gracious smile Stuart knew reached no further than her lips. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, as I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
“Tip Maddox. I’m a friend of your brother’s.” Maddox gave an obnoxious little bow, that cigar still in hand.
“How interesting. I thought I’d met all of Charles’s friends.”
Stuart bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Norah was certainly playing up her role.
“Not Charles, but Jeremy. Before . . . well, it’s a shame what happened. I’m sorry for any grief he may have caused you.” Maddox looked appropriately remorseful.
The man was likely behind everything that had happened to Jeremy, and here he was, playing the innocent to Norah. Stuart had half a mind to let Maddox know exactly what he thought of him, but settled for grinding his teeth together instead. He couldn’t ingratiate himself with the man—and learn the truth about how Jeremy found himself in prison—if he called Maddox out right here on the street.
“Thank you,” Norah said softly, and Stuart knew it was taking all of her self-control not to show her true emotions. “It’s been difficult for my family, but I try to entertain myself with other distractions.”
Eager to take the attention off Norah, and to accomplish the task he’d come here for, Stuart nodded at the saloon behind Maddox. “After I take Miss Parker home, I thought I’d stop in for a drink. Perhaps you’d like to join me—and Hawkins,” he added lamely, remembering his farce. “A friend of Jeremy’s is a friend of mine.”
“You must forgive me, but I don’t do much in the way of imbibing these days,” Maddox said, his gaze returning to Norah. “I find it tends to upset the ladies.”
A muscle in Stuart’s eyelid twitched. Maddox was far too interested in Norah. He laid his free hand protectively on her arm.
“Of course, and yet most are tolerant of a fellow indulging on occasion,” Stuart said.
Norah’s eyes shot toward him, and Stuart could have kicked himself. What if she thought him some sort of drunkard now? What had possessed him to say such a thing? Maddox’s eyes gleamed as he watched their interaction.
“On the contrary,” Norah said, her voice as light as a feather and her eyes focused on Maddox. “I find the scent of whiskey quite repulsive.”
Stuart cringed inside, not so much at her words but at the way she was looking at Maddox. She blinked at him, slowly but pointedly, and her smile never faltered. It was as if— As if—
“Miss Parker, I wholeheartedly agree. I would never think of bringing a lady such as yourself near a saloon.” Maddox’s gaze slid quickly to Stuart to ensure the jab had hit as he’d intended. “I much prefer to enjoy the theater or a quiet evening conversing in a parlor.”
“Oh, I do so enjoy the theater!” Norah was practically gushing.
And Stuart could barely keep his jaw from hanging open. It took everything he had to maintain hold of his dignity and not go dragging Norah off across the road and away from Maddox.
“Perhaps you’d like to accompany me some time?” Maddox didn’t waver in his gaze toward Norah at all now. It was as if Stuart wasn’t even there.
“I would enjoy that, Mr. Maddox,” Norah said demurely.
Stuart mustered up his ability to speak. “If you’ll forgive us, I must be getting Miss Parker home.” He barely gave Maddox a moment to say goodbye before aiming Norah back across the road.
Once they were safely across the street, Stuart didn’t know what question to ask first. In the span of only a few minutes, he’d gone from worrying that he’d put Norah in danger to admiring her ability to playact to questioning whether she was truly interested in a snake like Maddox. “You know who that was, don’t you?” he finally managed to say.
“Yes, of course I do. You told me, remember?” Norah’s mouth crooked up as if she were amused at Stuart’s question.
Stuart waited until they’d turned the corner to stop. “What possessed you to agree to go to the theater with that man?”
