Luke flinched as though he’d been struck with a fist instead of mere words. Matt had always been his champion, his hero. He staggered back a step. “Is that what you think of me?”
Rebecca shot her husband a withering look and rushed to Luke’s side. “Oh, Luke. He didn’t mean to hurt you. Neither of us did. We just want you to be as happy as we are. You’re so alone up here, and you never even try to meet anybody. We hoped you’d like this girl, like her enough to forgive our meddling and start a family.”
Luke sighed and stared down at the floor, unable to look at either of them. “I don’t need a wife, Becky. Don’t you think Christine put me through enough hell?”
“Of course. I’m sorry.” Rebecca took his hand and squeezed it. “Matt and I feel terrible about what’s happened to Miss Montgomery, but you mustn’t worry. We’ll take care of it.”
Luke pinned his brother with a fierce stare. “What is she talking about? What happened to Sarah?”
Matt glanced at Rebecca, and a telling look passed between them. They were so connected to each other they could carry on an entire conversation without ever saying a word. God, he envied them that.
Clearing his throat, Matt stepped forward. “We stopped in town before coming up here. Everyone was talking about Miss Montgomery.”
Rebecca nodded. “That poor girl. After you sent her away, everyone assumed she’d been your lover, and no one would give her a job.”
Luke didn’t know what shocked him more, the word ‘lover’ out of Rebecca’s sweet lips, or the small town hypocrisy that had been unleashed on Sarah. “She told me she’d be all right, that she’d been offered a teaching position.”
“Today she accepted a job from Jack Clark,” Matt informed him.
“Jack Clark?” Luke sank into the nearest chair. He should have known this would happen. Hell, hehadknown it would happen. The three of them had seen to it that Sarah had no choice but to work in a saloon.
Rebecca took the chair across from him, her dark eyes expectant. “What should we do, Luke? You know her best. How can we make this up to her?”
“Sarah has no family, no home. She left everything she knew behind, because you two promised her a better life.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you can make this right.”
Sarah wouldn’t like being the object of Matt’s charity. Against his will, he recalled the fire in her eyes when he’d tried to pay her off that first day.
Matt stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe we can find someone else to marry her. Is she pretty?”
“Pretty doesn’t begin to describe her,” Luke muttered.
“I knew it.” Matt gave him a triumphant smile. “I knew you’d like her.”
“Go to hell.”
Matt laughed. “Go after her, Luke. You know you want to.”
If he wasn’t so angry, Luke might have found humor in his brother’s attempt to manipulate him. As it was, he didn’t see anything funny about Matt trying to inflame him into a jealous rage. Worst of all, Matt was right. He did want to go after her.
He threw up his hands in defeat. “All right. I’ll go.”
* * * * *
SARAH TRIED TO NAVIGATEher way through the maze of tables without spilling the heavy tray of drinks in her hands. Her hair had long since come loose from its chignon and hung in limp tendrils down the back of her neck. She was hot and sweaty, the smoky air burned her lungs, and she was tired of dodging the men who grabbed at her skirts.
Three hours to go. Lord, she didn’t know if she could make it. She’d already been on her feet for seven, running back and forth to the bar while trying to keep the orders straight in her head. How naïve she’d been this morning, thinking this job would be easy, that her main function would be to stand around and look pretty.
A trickle of sweat dripped down her forehead, stinging when it slid into her eye. She set the drinks down at the appropriate table and tried to smile when one of the three men seated there made a suggestive comment. She turned blindly, swiping her face with the back of her wrist.
“Sarah?”
She froze, and then slowly lowered her arm. Luke Chandler stood in front of her. He wore a long black cloak and a wide-brimmed hat, but she would have known him anywhere.
She’d never been so glad to see anybody in her life.
His gray eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Luke.” Her chin rose in proportion to the censure in his voice. “Would you like a drink?”
