Lily groaned and he reached for her hand. Her pulse kicked robustly beneath his fingertips.
“She’ll feel better after she rests and has a good meal.”
Judging by the brothers’ explanations, Lily was cold, tired and hungry. Not to mention she’d encountered a gun-toting outlaw in her path. No wonder she’d fainted. Jake sat back on his heels and rested his hand on his gun belt.
Some days the deception weighed on him heavier than others. “What brings you three to Frozen Oaks?”
Sam and Peter exchanged a glance.
“Our grandpa Emil,” Sam said.
“Emil Tyler?”
“Yep. Our parents died in Africa. We’ve come to live with our grandpa.”
Jake’s misgivings increased tenfold. Emil was an irascible old man who ran a barbershop out of the front of his store, and a high-stakes poker game out of the back. A rumor had been floating around Frozen Oaks that Vic Skaar had recently lost deep to Emil. If Vic had lost money, there was one surefire way to erase his debt that didn’t bode well for the boys. While Jake didn’t peg Vic as a murderer, he wasn’t above hiring someone else.
“Yeah,” Peter said. “Except Grandpa didn’t meet us at the livery like he was supposed to.”
A sharp sense of unease pricked Jake. Emil was missing and Miss Winter was fluttering about like a helpless dove in a nest of grackles. “How far have you traveled?”
“From St. Joseph. Two days by train. The trip was only supposed to take one day, but there was a problem with the engine. Maybe that’s why Grandpa Emil isn’t here.”
“Maybe,” Jake said.
He had a bad feeling Emil had been detained by something far more ominous than a change in the train schedule.
Jake carefully considered his options. He hadn’t paid much heed to Emil’s recent desertion from Frozen Oaks. Given the current circumstances, the time had come to rectify his oversight.
As he calculated his odds of escaping the room unseen, Lily stirred. Her eyes drifted open. Her forehead creased and she glanced around the room. Her gaze landed on his face and he noted the exact moment when she recognized him.
She surged upright and reached for Sam and Peter. “What happened?”
“You fainted,” Peter said. “Like this.”
He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, let his jaw go slack and flapped his arms weakly.
“All right, that’s enough.” A wash of color suffused her pale cheeks. Lily grasped Sam’s and Peter’s face in turn, then patted them up and down. “Are you both okay?”
Jake backed toward the door. “You shouldn’t stand up just yet.”
Her wary gaze swept over him. “Thank you for assisting me. I’ve never fainted before. I don’t know what came over me. You mustn’t put yourself out any longer on my account.”
As her words tumbled over each other, she discretely reached for her reticule and squeezed the bag. No doubt checking to see if he’d pickpocketed her traveling money.
Jake pinched the bridge of his nose and silently willed his forbearance. In that moment he missed being a plain old US marshal. He missed the time when ladies had looked upon him with admiration instead of wariness and distrust.
He shook the unexpected thought from his head. What did he need of ladies’ attention? He’d long ago forsworn having his own family. The world was too dangerous for raising children. Especially out West. He did this job for a greater good than his own. In the beginning he’d felt the occasional twinges of loneliness. Given time, the hollow ache in his chest had eased. He was the rare man who accepted his fate. Some payments went beyond money.
Lily touched a hand to her forehead. “Perhaps you’re right. I need a few more minutes. The room is spinning a bit.”
“Try taking some deep breaths.” His fingers itched to ease the lock of hair from her forehead once more. The feel of the silky texture lingered on his memory. “That should help.”
He retrieved his gloves and yanked the leather over his hands. This job was his life. He’d come to accept his craving for danger as a flaw in his character that wouldn’t be fixed. His desire for the chase was an almost physical pain if not satisfied. The lure of risk and the thrill of capture were as necessary to him as the blood running in his veins. He was a man unfettered by obligations, and happy for it.
“Leave town,” he ordered. Lily was suspicious of him, and he’d exploit her fear to his advantage, even if it pained him. “There’s nothing for you in Frozen Oaks, Miss Winter.”
She gaped at his sudden announcement. “I beg your pardon.”
“You heard me.”
Sam’s eyes widened in betrayal at the harsh tone, and Jake glanced away. He was proud of the work he’d done over the years. He was proud of his career. Though he knew what he was doing was necessary, he wasn’t experiencing that same pride this instant. Terrifying women and children went against his nature.
He reached into his pocket and closed his fingers around the penny he’d been carrying all these years. Why carry the past around in his pocket?
He extended his hand toward Peter. “This is for the next time you’re near the penny candy.”
“Thanks.” Peter grinned, instantly mollified.
He ruffled the boy’s hair. “Share with your brother.”
Catching Lily’s gaze, he set his jaw. “Once you’ve had a decent rest and a good meal, you’d best leave this town, Miss Winter.”
His villainous skills were rusty. He sounded as though he was asking her to tea instead of giving her a piece of advice that may very well save her life. Though he knew what he was doing was for the best, he was trapped, in that moment, into playing the villain.
Her iridescent blue eyes grew puzzled. “Why must we leave?”
“Emil has gotten tangled in some trouble. You’d best keep the youngsters away from that.”
“What kind of trouble?” Lily searched the room as though Emil might spring out from behind the settee at any moment. “Why should I believe you? I don’t even know your name.”
“Jake.” He replaced his hat. “Frozen Oaks might be a ridiculous name for a town, but it’s still a dangerous place. Don’t trust anyone, Miss Winter.”
“Even you?”
“Especially me.”
She gave him a side-eyed glance that had him squirming like a schoolboy brought to the carpet. He glanced away from the curiosity in her shrewd gaze. After years on the job he’d become adept at reading character, and Lily struck him as a woman of unshakable integrity. While he admired the wholesome honesty in her striking blue eyes, this was no place for a tenderfoot.
“Why warn me away if I can’t trust you?” She tucked the rebellious strand of hair behind a delicate, perfectly shaped ear. “Isn’t that a bit contradictory?”
The teasing warmth in her smile whittled away at his resolve. He had to warn her away because if he was worried about her safety, he couldn’t concentrate on his job. Because if he didn’t stop Vic from selling those guns, more men would die on either side of the Cherokee war. Because simply being near her was a dangerous distraction.
Instead he said, “If you stay in this town, you’re in danger. You were hired to keep those children safe.