Pony Express Special Delivery. Rhonda Gibson

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ use, but no one would be the wiser. She sighed. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Jones.” Maggie walked toward the door.

      The air in the office was stifling. She felt weak in the knees.

      “Mrs. Fillmore, I hope you can find a means to pay the loan before the bank closes today.”

      Maggie’s stomach turned. She hadn’t needed Mr. Jones’s reminder that she had to make the payment before closing time. Maggie knew she had no means to pay the money back. Where would she go now? What was she going to do? She had two children to take care of and, thanks to Gus Fillmore, no home for either of them.

      * * *

      Red-hot anger boiled in Clayton’s veins. As soon as they were back outside, he growled, “If I wasn’t a Christian, I’d beat the money out of Gus Fillmore. He has it coming.”

      Maggie reached to take baby James from his arm. “I know how you feel, but what’s done is done.”

      She sounded beaten. Tears ran silently and swiftly down her cheeks. Dinah watched her sister and soon she too was silently crying.

      Clayton hated to see a woman cry. He pulled Maggie to him and let her tears flow into his shirt. Dinah leaned against his leg and also wept. He wasn’t sure if the little girl understood what was going on or if she simply had a tender heart and couldn’t stand to see her big sister so broken.

      After a few minutes, Maggie sniffled and looked up at him. Clayton led Maggie to the bench in front of the bank. Maggie sat down with a heavy sigh. Dinah continued to hang on to his thigh. He bent down and picked her up. “Maggie. I’ll loan you the money to make the payments.” He swallowed hard. He’d been saving his money since day one of working with the Pony Express and knew he’d have enough to cover whatever her payments were.

      Dinah laid her head on his shoulder and stuck her thumb in her mouth. In the last couple of weeks, he’d never seen her suck her thumb. He hugged her against him, hoping to offer the little girl comfort.

      “I can’t let you do that.” She wiped her face with the corner of James’s blanket and then looked up at him.

      He knelt in front of her. Dinah continued to cling to him. Clayton lowered his voice so that passersby wouldn’t overhear him. “Why not?”

      Her hazel-green eyes stared deeply into his. “For several reasons. One, it wouldn’t look right for a stranger in town to pay my debts. Two, I’d still have Gus Fillmore to deal with, and three, I’m not sure I could ever pay you back.”

      “One, no one has to know it was me who gave you the money. Two, you can always fire Gus, and three, I’m in no hurry to get the money back.” He searched her pretty face.

      She shook her head. “I’ll know.” Tears filled the depths of her eyes once more. “I promised Jack I’d protect James’s inheritance, and now I’ve let them both down.”

      Clayton wanted to protect her and the kids. He didn’t want to fall in love with her and he really didn’t want to do anything foolish, but at the same time Clayton knew he’d never let Gus have James Fillmore’s ranch. His fiancée had taught him that women were fickle and money would set them to running into another man’s arms. Nope, he wasn’t about to fall in love with Maggie, or any other woman for that matter. “No, you haven’t. I’ve got an idea, but you’ll have to agree to it.”

      He looked to Dinah, who shivered against him. Clayton tried to shield her small body from the cold wind. He softened his voice and offered the little girl what he hoped was a warm smile. “Dinah, dry your eyes and let’s go to the restaurant and get a big slice of peach pie.”

      She rubbed her face on the sleeve of her pretty coat. “All right, Clayton. I like peach pie.”

      He turned back to Maggie. “We’ve got a couple of hours yet. We’ll go have dessert and coffee and figure something out.” Clayton expected her to protest but instead she stood up, wrapped James tighter in his blanket and nodded.

      Maggie started walking down the boardwalk. “The closest restaurant is at the hotel. I’ve been there a couple of times and they make a pretty good peach pie.”

      “Yours is best,” Dinah said. She looked up at Clayton with big hazel eyes.

      “Sissy makes the bestest pie crust.”

      “I’m sure she does.” He watched the gentle sway of Maggie’s dress. Was it crazy to go to the extremes he was about to, just to help her keep her word to her late husband? Or had God intended this all along?

      Maggie pushed through the door of the Grand Hotel where warm air enveloped them. Clayton and Dinah followed. He was curious as to why the hotel was called Grand. It wasn’t all that big and he’d seen fancier ones.

      She turned to the right and walked into the small restaurant. Once they were all seated, she said, “I can’t even begin to think of a solution, Clayton.”

      The waitress took their orders of coffee, milk and pie. As soon as she left their table, he leaned toward Maggie. “What if I told you I know how to take care of the back payments, get rid of Gus and make sure that James keeps his inheritance?”

      Her eyes turned a deep shade of green. “I’d say that would be wonderful.” Maggie tucked James closer to her. She smiled down into the baby’s open eyes.

      “You might not like my plan.”

      She smiled across at him. A heartwarming smile that made him think his plan might just work. “Well, I won’t know until I hear it.”

      The waitress brought their drinks and pie on a large tray. She set Dinah’s milk in front of her before serving the adults their coffee.

      Dinah picked up her milk and took a big drink. She smiled with a milk mustache. “It’s cold.”

      “And the pie is warm.” The waitress winked at Dinah. She set a dessert plate in front of each of them and then left once more.

      Clayton took a deep breath and then said, “We could get married.”

      Maggie dropped the pie-laden fork she’d just raised to her lips. “Excuse me?”

      He rushed the words past his lips before he lost his courage. “It wouldn’t be a real marriage. I’m not looking for love and I’m not even sure if marriage is fair to you, but it will take care of your current problems.”

      Dinah looked from one adult to the other. “You going to marry Clayton?” she asked. Her innocent question reminded them that the little girl was old enough to understand their conversation.

      “I don’t know, Dinah. We’re just talking. Go ahead and eat your pie.” Maggie smiled at the little girl.

      Clayton tried to read Maggie’s face. What must she be thinking? Was she going to hold out for true love and lose the ranch? Unable to decipher her expression, he took a bite of the dessert. Its sweetness coated his tongue and caused his stomach to churn. Or was it the present topic that had his belly in knots?

      Dinah looked to Clayton. Seeing him chewing, she nodded and went back to eating.

      He felt Maggie’s gaze upon his face. She asked, “How is it not СКАЧАТЬ