Shotgun Marriage. Danica Favorite

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СКАЧАТЬ Day and night, she’d worked so hard to not be. But because of her, Jasper was in a marriage he didn’t want. How could she ask him to give more than he already had?

      The sound of giggles to her right drew Emma Jane’s attention. A beautiful baby girl, with golden hair and dressed in a pretty lace dress, bounced on a woman’s lap.

      “Your baby is darling,” Emma Jane said to the woman, who gave her a smile in return.

      “Thank you.”

      “What’s her name?”

      “Hannah.”

      “What a lovely name. I’m Emma Jane...” She paused at the introduction. No longer Logan, it didn’t seem right to call herself Jackson, either.

      Would being married ever seem normal?

      “Pleased to meet you. I’m Pamela Woodward.” The baby reached in Emma Jane’s direction. “Would you like to hold her?”

      Emma Jane automatically took Hannah in her arms, breathing in the soft powdery scent. Her heart warmed as the baby immediately snuggled up to her.

      Hannah pulled at the collar on Emma Jane’s dress, and Emma Jane gently took the baby’s tiny hands in hers. Such a sweet child.

      Which was when it hit her. Married to Jasper, there would be no children. He’d told her, just before they were married, that theirs was to be a marriage in name only.

      “If it isn’t the town harlot, stealing other women’s beaus and tricking them into marriage.” Flora Montgomery nudged Emma Jane as she passed, giving her a haughty glare, then turned to the baby’s mother. “It’s very brave of you, letting a woman like her hold your baby. But perhaps you haven’t heard...”

      With the pain of not having children heavy in her mind, Emma Jane handed the baby back to her mother. “Thank you for letting me hold Hannah. She is a dear.”

      She turned to leave to avoid making a scene, but Flora blocked her path.

      “You haven’t heard about our dear Emma Jane, have you?”

      Pamela’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve been in Denver, visiting my parents.”

      “After the church picnic, we were caught in a terrible storm,” Flora said. “Jasper found shelter for us at a nearby farm. When we were supposed to be getting ready to bed down for the night, Emma Jane lured him outside, then pushed him into an abandoned mine. She jumped in, and when they were found the next morning, her dress was in tatters.”

      “I did no such thing!” Emma Jane had gone for a walk to clear her head after listening to Flora’s taunts. Well, all right, she’d run out of the barn crying. But Flora had been particularly cruel, telling the other girls that Emma Jane was going to be sold into a brothel. Not that Emma Jane would ever admit to Flora how those horrible rumors had affected her. For whatever reason, Flora had always picked on Emma Jane—had done so ever since they were in school together. Though Emma Jane had often wished she knew what she’d done to offend the other girl, mostly Emma Jane wished Flora would just leave her alone.

      Emma Jane straightened her shoulders. “I’d gone for a walk and fallen into an abandoned mine. I had no idea Jasper was out there. He heard my cries for help and, in trying to rescue me, fell in, too.”

      She looked at Pamela, hoping she’d be sympathetic. “Truly, it was all just a terrible accident, and nothing untoward happened. Pastor Lassiter married us himself, and he would never have done so had any real harm been done.”

      The woman nodded slowly. But Flora wasn’t finished yet. She gave Emma Jane a nasty smile, baring the points of her teeth before turning to the baby’s mother. “I’m sure that’s what Emma Jane would like people to believe. But Mrs. Jackson told me herself. The Logans would have ruined them. They told the sheriff that Jasper...” Flora lowered her voice. “Took liberties.”

      “Jasper would never do that!” Emma Jane stared at the other girl, horrified that she would spread such vicious lies about Jasper.

      “Of course he wouldn’t.” Flora’s voice lacked any kindness. “No man would even consider you in that way. You are, after all, most unfortunate in your appearance.”

      The pitying look Flora gave Emma Jane made her realize that not even the finest dress would ever make her pretty. After all, Flora was the very picture of everything a woman ought to be, with her golden blond curls and bright blue eyes. Emma Jane’s hair was also blond, her eyes blue. But the blond was stringy and streaked with brown, and the girls used to tease her that it must be dirty. And her blue eyes had brown flecks in them that Flora had said came from being evil.

      Even though Emma Jane knew in her head that Flora’s accusations weren’t true, it didn’t make the cold lump in the pit of her stomach go away.

      Flora was right about one thing, however. She had nothing to attract a man like Jasper into wanting to be her husband.

      Still, the dig on Emma Jane’s appearance was not enough for Flora, whose eyes glittered with a kind of blood lust.

      “But what I don’t understand is why you went along with the lies, unless, of course, you were telling them yourself.”

      A sickeningly sweet smile followed Flora’s last statement, and she turned her attention back toward Pamela. “Jasper was so disappointed about being railroaded into the marriage that he spent the night...” Flora looked around, then lowered her voice. “In a place of ill repute.”

      The fact which every woman in church was still whispering about. But they didn’t have the whole story.

      “He was helping Will Lawson—a lawman—rescue an innocent young lady from the clutches of an outlaw.” Emma Jane spoke louder than was polite, but hopefully some of the other gossiping women would finally hear the truth.

      “So you say.” Flora flipped open her fan, then smiled at Pamela. “I just thought I’d warn you so you understood why none of the good families in Leadville are extending invitations to this woman. Bad company corrupting good character and all that.”

      With a final nasty grin, Flora flounced over to her seat in a pew a few rows up. Emma Jane gave the woman they’d been talking to a weak smile. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this. I sincerely appreciate your kindness to me, and I assure you that I’ve been nothing but honest with you.”

      The woman’s noncommittal murmur spoke volumes. Flora’s words had poisoned any hope Emma Jane had of even being able to delight in someone else’s child.

      Then Emma Jane spotted Mrs. Jackson heading in her direction.

      “Stop dawdling.” Jasper’s mother took Emma Jane by the elbow. “We are to be an example for the rest of the church, and you’re making a spectacle of yourself.”

      “Yes, Mrs. Jackson.”

      Face heated, she sat in the Jackson pew where Mrs. Jackson indicated, trying to enjoy the feel of the velvet cushions rather than the hard wooden benches the rest of the church endured. Mr. Jackson, Jasper’s father, leaned into Emma Jane. “Where’s Jasper?”

      “He went to talk to the sheriff,” she answered, further conversation being cut СКАЧАТЬ