"Sage, we need to talk about this…" He had no intention of stopping, so to his way of thinking, she might as well settle into the idea.
"No. We need to talk about the boys, and that's all. This” She waved her hand at the space between them. "This, you and me that you seem to think exists has never been more than a boyish infatuation on your part”
"I'm not a boy.” He was getting real tired of having to remind her. He'd been a man since she left. "I'm man enough to be your man," he said in a low tone.
"No," she answered. "Never, Drum”
He watched her walk back into the hotel without another word. He told himself the gun on his hip had more to do with why she didn't want him than his age, but he couldn't be sure. The night he'd first seen her, she'd been crying because her first love, a young Ranger, had been killed. She'd sworn then that she'd never marry a man who lived with a gun within arm's length of him. She'd fallen for a preacher who proved to be an idiot before she married him, and she'd evidently fallen for a doctor who'd died on her right after the wedding.
Drum figured she'd been unlucky in love enough to be marked as trouble by most, but that didn't matter to hint in his mind, she was already his woman.
If I had a heart, he thought that woman would not only break it, she'd stomp on it and set it on fire. There must be something, wrong with me, Drum decided as he followed her inside. Shooting his toes off one at a time couldn't be any less painful than trying to court Sage McMurray.
CHAPTER 8
DRUM MADE IT THREE STEPS INTO HER SITTING ROOM before Sage demanded, "What do you think you're doing here?"
He didn't back down. "I'm doing what I swore I'd do. I'm making sure the boys are safe.” He almost added that he liked the way her gown clung to her, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate his compliment.
Bonnie walked out of the washroom with her hair in rag knots. Without her glasses, she had to squint to see him. "Evening, Mr. Roak. I left you an extra blanket in case it gets cold on the settee."
"Thank you kindly, but I think I'll try the floor.” Drum smiled at the nurse. If possible, she was even plainer without her glasses than with them. "Sleeping on that thing is like trying to sleep in a four-foot canoe.”
Bonnie giggled.
Sage looked at her friend as if she'd lost her mind. She'd never heard Bonnie giggle, not once in two years. ''Good night," she managed as she turned back into her room. Let the man sleep out in the sitting room if he wanted to. She'd be sharing her bed with Bonnie so the boys could have the other room.
The nurse followed her in and closed the door. "I feel so much safer knowing Mr. Roak is just outside.”
"He's not outside” Sage corrected. "He's inside, and if you think that is safer, remind me to introduce you to a few wild animals."
Bonnie didn't get Sage's point. "Why?"
"Because that's what he is: a wild animal. He may look like a man, but trust me, there's the blood of a wolf in him.”
Bonnie laughed. "I don't think we have to worry about Mr. Roak biting anyone.”
Sage crawled into bed and muttered, "I wouldn't be too sure."
She wanted to ask Bonnie why she kept calling him Mr. Roak, but she was too tired to think. All she wanted to do was sleep.
For several minutes the sounds beyond her door kept her awake. Drum moved around and made no attempt to walk softly. Probably just to irritate her, she thought. She heard him look in on the boys and cross to the door, double-checking the lock. Then she guessed he moved to the window, because she thought she heard the rattle of shutters.
All was quiet for a while. Bonnie's slow breathing from the other side of the bed had almost lulled Sage to sleep when she thought she saw a shadow walk the ledge outside her open window.
She didn't move. They were on the third floor. No one would dare step outside or try to stand on the ledge.
Then she smelled the faint odor of a cigar.
The lean shadow crossed again, then sat on the windowsill, half in and half out of her world. He propped his foot against one side of the frame and leaned his head back against the other. The tiny glow of his cigar moved across the midnight.
She watched him through her lashes and wondered who Drummond Roak was truly guarding, her or the boys. He slept so little she couldn't help but wonder if he trusted the night or if he were constantly on guard against the unknown hidden in the shadows.
The thought crossed her mind that this wasn't the first time he'd watched her sleep. That was impossible, of course. She'd been away, and before that, she lived in a busy house full of people on a ranch that was a fortress.
Yet she couldn't shake the feeling. If she hadn't been so tired, she would have crawled out of her warm bed and given him a piece of her mind. In fact, while she was at it, she'd tell him to stop smoking those cigars. But telling Drummond off would have to wait for another time. She needed rest.
Closing her eyes, she relaxed and drifted into sleep, knowing that he was there and despite what she'd said to Bonnie, believing that she was safe.
Once, turning in her sleep, she opened her eyes and saw that the windowsill was empty. Tiny little plops of rain tapped on the wood where Drum had sat. The damp air had also washed away the hint of cigar smoke. She wondered if she'd only dreamed that he'd been at her window.
For the first time in months, she slept the rest of the night through without waking. There'd been no rounds to make, no husband to check in on, just the peace of a gentle rain.
The sun was bright when she shook sleep from her head. Sage brushed her hair out of her eyes, pulled on her robe, and poked her head out the bedroom door. Bonnie was the only one there, fully dressed and looking like she'd been up for some time.
"Morning," Sage said, feeling a little foolish.
"Morning." Bonnie looked up from her mending. "Mr. Roak took the boys and that dumb dog out for breakfast. He told me not to wake you, but the man is having coffee brought up every fifteen minutes so it'll be hot when you do get up." She looked miserable. "So far I've managed to drink most of it. No sense it going to waste”
Sage shook her head slightly, hoping the pieces would fall into place. Since when did Drum have any say over her sleeping habits… or her dog?
Bonnie stood and put the mending she'd been working on in her trunk. "He asked me if we'd be ready to leave by tomorrow. He's decided to take the boys to Whispering Mountain, so hell be riding along with us”
"When was he planning to ask me?"
Sage answered the door and thanked the maid for the coffee. When she turned back to Bonnie, she continued, "You can tell him-"
Bonnie rushed past the maid. "You'll have to tell him yourself. I need to be out back for a while.”
She was gone before Sage could argue.
After pacing around the room for several minutes, Sage decided leaving tomorrow would rush her, but she could make it. Drum was right about getting the boys to safety; even if she wasn't sure she believed that someone was plotting to kill them. The hotel clerk had promised to make the arrangements for Meg's graveside service. Sage had asked that he buy two plots so that her husband's body could lie next to her. The Rangers were sending men out with a map the oldest boy had drawn. Will had wanted to go with them, but all agreed it would be safer if he disappeared with Roak as soon as possible.
Sage began her list. The funeral, supplies for five for the trip, clothes for the boys.
She tapped the pencil several times against the paper before adding, "Say good-bye to Barret's brother” She really didn't care if she ever saw the man again, but she supposed it was the right thing to do.
Bonnie came back into the room, her cheeks flushed from climbing two flights of stairs.
"Will you go with me to see Shelley Lander?" Sage asked her.