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“We saw,” Cole answered, climbing out of the carriage. He helped her down, and by then Trig, Robbie and Marshal Wyman were standing next to the rig.
Trig instantly set into telling them how Robbie had first spotted Mad Dog when he’d gone ashore in Dabbler, looking to see if Cole and Maddie were in town, ready for a ride south.
“We’d decided to sail out of Bittersweet rather than take the trail back to Dabbler,” Cole interrupted to tell them.
Robbie jumped in to say, “I caught sight of Mad Dog at one of the establishments the women we’d taken to Dabbler had set up. I thought he looked familiar. But it was the next day, when Marshal Wyman boarded the Mary Jane—informing all the ship captains that a wanted man might try to arrange passage—that I knew it had been Alan Ridge I’d seen. He was still there, and we hauled him aboard the Mary Jane.”
“I thought you were only making the one trip to Alaska this year,” Cole said to Trig.
“We made out so well on the first, thought we’d try a second one,” Trig answered, “Glad we did, too.”
Marshal Wyman finally got a word in then, and he turned straight to Maddie. “Mrs. DuMont,” he said, “I told you I’d catch Rodriquez. I’m taking him all the way to Wyoming, and I’m sure the judge will issue you the reward money.”
Maddie shook her head. “You caught him.”
“But the bullet you put in his leg is the reason I was able to. He needed some doctoring by the time he got to Dabbler. He promised that dance-hall gal a lot of money to patch him up. She was a bit put out to learn the shooting hadn’t been accidental and he wasn’t the owner of a very profitable mine up by Bittersweet.”
Maddie wasn’t sure how to respond and was saved from doing so when Trig announced the success of the Big Bonanza was the talk of Alaska. A short time later, when the storytelling slowed, she issued an invite to Marshal Wyman. “We’d like to have you join us for Christmas, Marshal. At our hotel, the Empire. Around three?”
“I’d be honored, Mrs. DuMont,” he said, tipping his hat. “Truly honored. Right now, I have to see to my prisoner.”
A silence settled around them as the marshal walked away, joining a few other lawmen that had been waiting on him.
“So you two are still pretending to be married?” Trig asked then.
Maddie’s cheeks burned, but Lucky grinned. “We’d like you to rectify that,” he said.
“How?” Trig asked.
“By marrying us,” Lucky said, looking down at her with a sky full of sparkles in his eyes. “Tonight. Right now.”
Maddie’s heart soared, but then her entire world collapsed when Trig spoke again.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Why not?” Lucky asked, pulling her to his side.
“Because I’m not authorized,” Trig said. “Everyone believes ship captains can perform marriages. In truth, we can preside over funerals when there is a death at sea, but, Cole, you know most ships only carry men. Marrying people never really happens on the high seas.”
“But,” Robbie piped in, “I know someone who can. We have a preacher on board. Picked him up in Dabbler, too. The winters were too much for him. He’s not planning on going ashore until morning.”
As Robbie ran toward the dock Lucky asked Trig, “Are you becoming a passenger ship?”
Trig shook his head. “We will be if your brother has his way.”
“Will he be discreet?” Maddie wanted to know. Though Jack had found a buyer, she didn’t want the news of their marriage to hamper the deal.
Trig laughed. “I’ll talk to him,” he said, leaving the two of them alone.
“We can travel to a neighboring town,” Lucky suggested. “Or take the first train heading east, get married somewhere along the line.”
So touched was she in his willingness to marry her, that Maddie felt bad for having to shake her head. “There are things I need to do here in Seattle. I can’t leave right now.”
“A Christmas party?”
“Among other things,” she said. The sullen look on Lucky’s face had her adding, “But I want to marry you. As soon as possible. Tonight.”
“All right.” With the arm he had around her shoulders, he escorted her toward the Mary Jane. “As long as you marry me tonight, I’ll do anything you want, stay here as long as you want.”
She giggled, though she was smart enough to know better. “I have a feeling I’ll have to remind you of those words—that you’ll do anything I want.” Smiling up at him, she added, “Often.”
