Hearts in Hot Springs Page 4

  Mathias rushed off to the Evans Hotel, his heart still beating heavily after the verbal battle with Miss Arnsby. She still hadn’t told him her first name, but no matter, she would. He’d have to convince her he was trustworthy enough, somehow. Finding her crawling around on the floor when it was obvious she wasn’t scrubbing had scared him. Even the way she’d been positioned, kneeling with her back loose like a used-up mare had him worried about her. She’d looked better once he’d lifted her to the chair, but it hadn’t helped her disposition. She was not a woman who liked to be helped with anything, or maybe she was just hurting that bad. After living with Katy for a few years, he’d learned that hurt made people prickly.

  The hotel was a massive sandstone five-story monstrosity that looked like a fortress with its Roman style. It drew in the tourists with its unique look. Those same travelers came to his store for things they needed along the way. That hotel had turned Hot Springs from a simple homestead town to a booming tourist spot. The Evans had its own healing mineral bathhouse. If Miss Arnsby could get healed by the waters, she could open her store soon. Putting her in place to take advantage of the tourist money that flowed into Hot Springs.

  He strode up to the large, curved front desk in the lobby past a fireplace that was bigger than his store’s front window and past masculine leather chairs that didn’t look as if anyone had ever bothered to sit in them.

  The woman at the front desk wore a black skirt and white starched shirt, her face just as stiff.

  “How may I help you?” Though she said the words, her tone cut right to her meaning. She’d rather be doing anything but standing at that desk.

  “I’d like to order two lunches delivered to the new milliner, Arnsby Hats and Pretty Things.” Was that her store’s name? He couldn’t exactly remember.

  She slid a slip of paper over in front of him. “Write down what you’d like, when you would like it, and the address, please. I’ve never heard of that store.”

  He scrawled a quick note on the paper then glanced up to the woman. “I’d also like to inquire about use of the pool in a few hours.”

  She fixed him with her steely gaze. “You’ll have to see if it is available when you need it. Otherwise, there are two other pools available in town.”

  He scrawled the address of the store on the sheet and slid it back to her then drew his money clip from his pocket. Once he’d paid, the woman directed her attention elsewhere. He glanced quickly around the front entry. He’d been too busy with work the last few months to find time to visit the Evans. It had become the social hub of Hot Springs, often hosting gatherings that drew both townspeople and tourists. Sometimes drawing tourists to become townspeople.

  On his way out, he stopped at the bathhouse to see if they had any swim dresses there. His own selection at the mercantile was piteously small. In fact, not only did he have few, they were far from attractive. Miss Arnsby had managed to look like a woman of means every time he’d seen her, even when it had come at a cost, like that morning. She’d almost been in tears from the pain, but her dress had been immaculate and her hair perfect.

  The mineral bath did not sell bathing costumes, so she’d have to settle for something from his store and he could get his own from home. Living in Hot Springs almost required one, since its use was such a big part of not only the economy, but the draw of the whole town.

  As he unlocked his store, he remembered that it was Saturday so Katy wouldn’t be around to make any comment about him spending money on his lunch or bathing with the lovely Miss Arnsby. She wouldn’t approve. Katy didn’t approve of anything anymore. She needed something or someone to pull her out of the pit she was in. She’d been in such a snit that she’d refused to come with him back to Miss Arnsby’s to fix her stove.

  The only bathing costume for women he had left was a blue and white, knee-length dress with matching bloomers. He couldn’t begin to picture her in it. The cut was not flattering. It was quite plain and at least ten other women in town wore the very identical suit. Not a one of them was particularly attractive in it. He’d been told they were a bit cumbersome to swim in as well, since the fabric of the pantaloons was too wide and appeared like a skirt while it was in use. When they weren’t wrapped around the poor wearer’s legs, they were floating up over her behind. The legs were too wide, making bathing a rather daring sport.

  He glanced at his watch. He’d already been gone for longer than he’d planned. Miss Arnsby would be popping mad by the time he returned, since he’d left her stranded in the rocking chair, unable to move.

  He hadn’t brought his buggy when he’d come to help Miss Arnsby, but now he’d need it to deliver her to the plunge. All of the running around was taking him longer than he wanted to be away from Miss Arnsby. He dashed back to his home, the women’s bathing costume in tow. Katy wasn’t in the kitchen as she normally was, and he didn’t much feel like looking for her. He dashed up the stairs to his room and got his own, along with a few drying towels, and hurried out back to hitch the buggy.

  It had never mattered to him that all he had was the buggy. Living right in town and not having a farm, it had served him well. Now, it seemed rather small. He would be sitting quite close on the seat with Miss Arnsby. While he would certainly enjoy the proximity… Would she? He pulled up in front of her store and hitched his horse as the town was rather quiet on a Saturday morning and there was plenty of room. He patted Colin’s flank.

  “This might take a bit. Just relax here for a while. I’ll bring you out back to rest as soon as I get Miss Arnsby settled,” he whispered as he strode up the boardwalk and back into Miss Arnsby’s store.

  He blinked away the bright light and let his eyes adjust, searching for the rocking chair in the far corner. As he made his way slowly to the chair, and everything came into focus, he realized it was empty.

  “Miss Arnsby?” he called.

  She didn’t answer him.

  “Miss?” he searched behind the front counter with the till. She wasn’t there. He heard a scraping sound coming from the back of the building where her living quarters were.

  He stood by the door leading to the back. “Miss Arnsby, are you back there?”

  The scraping sped up, but she didn’t answer. Mathias pushed open the door and a burly man with a bandanna over his face backed away from one of Miss Arnsby’s small crates full of hat making materials. The man put up his hands as he locked eyes with Mathias and started skirting around him to get to the door. The black bandana covering the man’s face moved as if he were speaking, but Mathias heard nothing. His hat covered all but a slit around his eyes.

  Mathias wasn’t a man who wore a gun. As a shop owner it wasn’t his place anymore, but he wished he had one at the moment. At the soft crack of a cocking pistol, both men glanced to the wall where Miss Arnsby lay. She had a small pistol aimed right at the intruder. He flexed his hand over his thigh where his gun had rested for so many years.

  “You had best get your yellow hide out of my store.” She was so calm, and her arm didn’t waiver in her aim.

  The intruder shoved the nearest crate to the floor with a crash of splintering wood and material then turned and ran. Mathias glanced to Miss Arnsby, then to the fast-fleeing man and chose Miss Arnsby over him. Nothing had been taken that he could see. He dashed to her side as she set her small weapon on the floor as her shoulders sagged with fatigue.

  He gently lifted her back off the floor. The gun could be retrieved later.

  “He had the key to the back. I don’t even have the key. I don’t understand how he’d have it.” She mumbled into his shoulder, gripping his shirt front and pressing in close. His heart beat wildly in his ears at both what he’d witnessed and Miss Arnsby’s sudden need.

  “You need to get the lock smith to change it. No one should be able to get into your home but you. It isn’t like we’re living in tents anymore. You paid for the security of a building and you should have it. That lawyer should be fired if he couldn’t even make sure of such things.”

  Mathias could barely keep his anger under wraps as he held her close, only half looking for a chair to set her in. How long had it been since he’d comforted a woman? So very long. Now that the man was gone, the spunk had drained clean out of Miss Arnsby, and she held on to his neck and quaked.

  “You’ve never actually had to use that gun before. Have you?”

  She shook her head. “I know how. I learned when I moved to the city. But I’ve never drawn it against anyone before. My brother-in-law, Beau, told me never to use it unless I was sure I wanted a man dead. You shouldn’t ever point it at someone without cause. But, he was in my store…”

  Even Katy, who’d lost so much, had never clung to him when she’d needed support. He’d never had anyone who trusted him so completely, not even the woman who’d stolen his heart. He set Miss Arnsby back in the rocker where he’d left her before and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his when they released his neck.

  “You did well. He wasn’t here to wish you a good day. People don’t generally sneak in the back door to do good things. I’ll call on the smith today. I know him, and he’ll be over here first thing Monday morning to fix that for you.”

  “I had to have all my deliveries come by the front because Neader said there was no key for the back. I’d considered just boarding it up.”

  She was a smart woman. Boarding it up would keep anyone out until they could fix the problem.

  “I’ll do that for you today, before we go to the plunge, and certainly before I go home.”

  Miss Arnsby shook her head. “I don’t want to go anywhere, Mathias. I’m just too tired. When I heard him rustling around in my back room, I got so scared I forgot all about my back and tried to stand. It gave out almost immediately and I fell. He heard it and came out to see what was happening, then he dragged me into the back room. He wanted me to open up my room, but..” She shuddered. “That’s my room. I didn’t want him in there.” Her voice trembled and he squeezed her cold hands.

  “And he shouldn’t have been there at all. We’ll go another day, but I do want you to go. I think it will help you, and I brought you a bathing costume.”

  She glanced up, and her bright blue watery eyes pierced him to his soul. “You … bought me one? Why?”

  “You couldn’t go without and… I thought it might help you.”

  She swallowed hard and her slender neck tilted slightly. “You have no reason to care whether I open on time, or not. In fact, my business might actually take some from you. Don’t you also sell hats?”

  He did, but he wasn’t about to admit that. Her custom offerings wouldn’t appeal to the local working class like the few plain hats he carried did. The longer it took her to become a part of Hot Springs, the more likely she’d leave like other businesses had.

  “But I do care. I just can’t seem to help myself when it comes to you.”

  Chapter 5

  As Mathias maneuvered the stove into place, he surprised her yet again with his strength. Though the work was heavy and dirty, he didn’t complain. He just set to it as if it were his own chore to do instead of hers. When he’d managed to lug or slide all the pieces back to her living quarters, he then came for her.

  “I don’t want to leave you all alone up here. Want to come back with me?” His eyes danced, and a soft smile played at his lips as if he couldn’t imagine anything better than having her with him. Her heart lurched like a silly youth at the mere idea.

  “Haven’t you moved enough today? I should probably stay right here to save your back.” She tucked her hands together in her lap, wanting very much to be with him, but very much wanting to not be a bother. Especially if he intended to carry her again, with those strong arms wrapped around her.

  He laughed as he scooped her up from the chair like she was made of nothing. “I move crates of merchandise all week long. I think my back can handle it.”

  She didn’t much like it, but her own back was not cooperating. At least she could enjoy the few seconds of pretending like she was like every other woman her age, curled close to a handsome, admiring man.

  Mathias had already set the matching rocker next to where he’d be working before he’d even come out to collect her. As he set her down, his rough cheek rubbed up against hers. The scratch of his chin, only just in need of a shave, was a new feeling and not unpleasant. She reached up and ran her hand over his cheek. His eyes widened and caught hers as a moment of wonder passed between them. She pulled away from him and hid her hand—and her gaze—in her lap. What had she been thinking? Clearly, she wasn’t.

  “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” Heat rushed to her cheeks and she covered them with her hands to hide her embarrassment. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  She hadn’t had a clear thought in quite some time. Ever since this one man had walked into her life and chosen to help her, all her good sense seemed to flow right out the front door. He reminded her so much of her brothers in law who treated her sisters with such care and tenderness. Yet, she’d been courted by a strong and—by all rights—wonderful man in Pierre. He wouldn’t let her do anything. He’d even threatened her when she’d wanted to start her own shop. Once they were married, he’d told her she could put away her silly ideas of owning a business. She’d asked him to leave, not that he’d listened right away. Roger had never made her belly squirm when he looked at her like Mathias did. Nor had she ever willingly touched him.

  “It wasn’t anything. I need a shave, is all.” He scratched his chin, the scraping of his whiskers louder than she expected. “Gets a bit itchy. I was in too much of a hurry to leave this morning to do it.”

  Why would he have been in a hurry? He’d only been coming to help her. The work was hard, dirty, and not enjoyable. Certainly nothing to be excited about.

  “I’m sorry for taking up your whole day, Mathias.”

  He grinned over his shoulder as he made for the work of putting the stove together. “I’m not.”

  He began at the hole in the wall where the former stove had been, fitting the new pipe to the old chimney. He talked with her and joked as he slid and secured each length of pipe to the last and finally got the stove where it needed to be then secured her new black pot-bellied wood burner to the pipes. She was so content, happier than she’d been in a long time just sitting and watching him work, bantering with him about nothing.

  “I’d suggest you hire a chimney sweep or have someone come and clean that chimney for you before you light it. You never know what the last owner left for you or how often they had it cleaned. Those smaller pipes get stopped up sometimes.”

  He’d be surprised to know that she’d cleaned her own chimney before, but she couldn’t do it if she couldn’t stand, much less climb a ladder.

  “Thank you. I’ll do that.”

  He laughed once again and sat down in front of her, crossing his legs in front of him. His hands were filthy up to the elbows, with black oil and dust that had fallen on him as he’d worked. Despite being a grubby mess, he was still ready to spend more time with her and she still didn’t want to stop watching him.

  “You will not. I told you to ask for help with your bed, and I can see from the open door to your room that the mattress is still on the floor. When I get cleaned up, do you want me to get that put right for you? At least then you’d have a proper place to rest.”

  She’d left her door open because she couldn’t close it when she’d crawled on the floor. But did he have to point it out?

  “You need not go in my room.” Her words were more snappish than she’d planned. It was her private space, and someone had already tried to invade her store. She didn’t need another man invading her bedroom.

  He stood and went over to her wash basin, poured some water in and took his time to clean all the dark mess from his hands. When he was done, he took the towel and slowly dried them as he turned back to her. His face was set, and his brows dipped low.

  “It isn’t like I didn’t set up the rest of it. I’m not asking to use it, nor am I asking for you to be in it. I’m asking to help you. You hurt yourself trying to do just that. Why won’t you accept help?”

  Why, indeed? Didn’t he understand that women had worked hard for thousands of years and by asking for his help it made her weak? Roger would say she had no business even doing the little she had. It proved she couldn’t be on her own. If she couldn’t do something as simple as making her own bed, did she deserve to have her own place? Should her inability force her to admit defeat and move back in with Beau and Ruby? Mathias would probably help her with that, too.

  “Don’t you have anyone else to champion? Or do you insist it is only I that shall be the damsel in need of saving today?”

  He sighed heavily and slowly shook his head as he approached her chair once more. Her very skin came to life the closer he came. By the time he was within inches of her chair, she was certain lightening would strike her any moment.

  “You aren’t in need of saving, and I’m not trying to make you someone who is. Have you never had a friend, Miss Arnsby?”

  After calling him Mathias all day, it was painfully clear that she’d never returned the courtesy of giving him her name. She hadn’t been nice at all, or thankful. Had she ever had a friend? One she could share her burdens with? Perhaps her sister Daisy, who was only two years younger, but she was so quiet that even that might be marked as a stretch. Besides, she was in Custer, too far away to be a real friend.

  “I… I’m sure I have. And my name is Nora…by the way.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nora.” He held out his hand to her like the gentleman he was, and when she slid her palm to his, he drew her knuckles to his lips. The fire that had played across her skin a few minutes before scorched her just at the point where he touched her. It took all her effort not to pull away from his grasp. No touch had ever done that before.

  “If you have to think about it with that much concentration, then you’ve never had a true friend. I’m sorry to hear that.”