sure been a quick change. Was it still too painful for Ivy to talk about her husband? The frantic tapping of her pulse in the hollow of her throat told Gideon the subject obviously vexed her.
“I’ll see you at supper.” She turned and walked out the door.
Gideon watched her go, trying to sort out his jumbled thoughts. Whenever she was around, his brain seemed to engage a second too late. He was here to protect her, and that was all. Instead, he had an insane urge to hold her. To comfort her.
Hell. Not getting drawn in by her was going to be more difficult than he’d thought.
* * *
Why had she told him anything about Tom? She didn’t like talking about her dead husband, ever.
After breakfast the next morning, Ivy and Gideon set off for town. They had left the pup in her crate, inside the house. The wagon bumped along the rutted road now dried out from the rain. The wooden seat creaking, she stared blankly at the grass and trees they passed.
She wanted to believe her guard had been down last night because of Tug, and maybe that was part of it, but she also knew it had to do with Gideon. For those moments in the barn watching him feed the pup, Ivy had been aware of only him.
No man had ever looked at her like that, as if his next breath depended on her. Which explained why she’d had trouble falling asleep. That and the times she’d gone to the window, wondering if more of her animals were in danger, if someone was out there watching her house.
She smoothed her navy-and-white-striped skirts, and settled her navy reticule in her lap.
Maybe Gideon’s being here was good. Maybe a man of his size could discourage the low-down snake who was making trouble for her. Though she didn’t like the thought of needing a man for any reason, Ivy couldn’t deny that he’d been only help so far.
Neither of them spoke much during the drive to Paladin. The scents of grass and dirt and clean air drifted around them. The occasional purple flower dotted the green alfalfa fields that spread as far as the eye could see on either side. Once, a redbird swooped over the wagon road.
She was uncommonly aware of the man beside her. More aware than she’d been of any man since Tom’s death. As much as she tried, she couldn’t ignore the granite-hard line of his thigh against hers, the leashed power in his massive frame, the large callused hands that worked the reins so easily. Those same work-roughened hands had handled the pup as gently as she would have.
She sneaked a glance at him. He smelled of leather and soap, and she could see a tuft of dark hair in the open V of his homespun work shirt.
Ivy didn’t want to notice any of those things about Gideon Black, yet she couldn’t seem to help herself. Feeling suddenly hot, she fiddled with the button at the neck of her white bodice. She might be attracted to him, but the first time he showed his true colors—and he eventually would—her interest would fade.
The day was clear and bright, and they arrived in Paladin before noon. Laid out in a quasi-horseshoe shape with the church at its apex, the small town was bustling as people made their way around town or across the wide main street. At the blacksmith’s shop attached to the back side of the livery, a hammer rang against metal.
Besides the mercantile, smithy, bank and jail, Paladin now boasted a telegraph office, a gristmill, a hotel and a sawmill. Nearby, both Little River and Kiamichi River provided water for the town and surrounding farms. Tom wouldn’t have liked how the town had grown, how many people had moved here. She’d learned the hard way that wide-open space wasn’t the only reason he had wanted away from her family.
She and Gideon braked the wagon in front of the livery and walked around the building. Just outside of town and a few yards away was Mayor Jumper’s lumber company. Behind the main office, saws whined and boards cracked; sawdust and wood chips shot into the air. Ivy felt more urgency to go to the bank for a loan to restock her horses and poultry, but she preferred to get her conversation with the mayor out of the way first. She didn’t look forward to telling Leo about his dead horse.
She and Gideon stepped inside the lumber company’s small, neatly kept office. Outfitted with a standing desk as well as a small corner desk and chair along the back wall, the space was spotless. A couple of ledger books were stacked neatly across the top of the taller desk and just behind it squatted a large safe.
Leo Jumper, dressed in his usual three-piece suit, moved out from behind his work area. He stopped in front of her, using a cane with an intricately carved wooden head. There was nothing wrong with his legs; he carried the expensive walking stick to show off his wealth. The sunlight streaming through the windows on either side of the door turned his neatly trimmed hair a fiery-red.
“Mrs. Powell, how are you today?”
“Just fine.” Palms clammy, she introduced Gideon.
“Ah, yes, Conrad told me you had a young man.”
Ivy bet that wasn’t all the stage driver had said. She didn’t bother correcting Leo.
The mayor extended his free hand to Gideon. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
She noticed that her guest’s hand nearly swallowed the older man’s. Curiosity burned in Jumper’s whiskey-colored eyes as they went from her to the rugged cowboy, but Ivy had no intention of inviting questions.
“What can I do for you, Mrs. Powell?”
“I have some bad news.” Tension stretched across her shoulders as she explained about finding the dead mare.
His mouth tightened, his gaze narrowing. “Killed with a knife?”
“Yes.”
“Who would do such a thing?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
“Was the horse roaming?” Jumper’s tone was accusatory. “Wasn’t it in the corral?”
“She was turned out to pasture with the others.”
“This is going to cost me money, Mrs. Powell.”
“Yes, sir.” As it would her. She was counting on the bank loan to help her get by. “And I’m sorry about that.”
Before she could ask if he planned to nullify their contract, the mayor said, “I won’t be boarding more animals at your place. I think the stage line will agree with me.”
Well, that answered that. “What would you like to do with the other horses?”
“Until I can move them, you should take better care and put them up at night. At least the ones that belong to the stage line.”
“I will,” she said stiffly, inwardly cursing whoever had harmed the bay and Tug.
Beside her, Gideon stared unblinking at the other man. Though Ivy didn’t feel threatened by the mayor, she was glad she wasn’t facing him alone.
“I’m on my way out of town so it will be a few days before I can arrange to move the others,” Leo said.
“Very well. I’ve read the contract and know the loss of the animal voids
