“Thank you. I appreciate Doc Holliday more than I can say.”
She did not misread the curiosity in Bronx’s face, and her heart did not read his expression as nosiness. Merely something shared between friends, new or not. The coffee was hot enough, so she poured two cups before talking again.
“I best hurry. My job’s waiting on me.”
“This won’t take but a short spell.”
He sat with her when she patted a pew.
“Malina came here, with no place else to go. And she rightfully stole my heart. She was a child with grown-up eyes that had seen too many things they shouldn’t.” Lila gulped noisily because there was nothing polite or dainty about what Malina had gone through.
Bronx’s lids shuttered for a long minute, as if he’d done, felt the same. “When you’re young, you make mistakes,” was all he said.
“Yes. In her case, she had been brutalized by a man at the gentleman’s club. Which, despite its name, holds no gentleman! This brute paid a quarter for a particular pleasure.” She couldn’t meet Bronx’s eyes. “When she did not perform to his...specifications, he broke the offending organ. Her jaw.”
“My dear God!” Bronx’s fingers turned white around his bluespatter cup.
“All I could do was hold her close.” Even now, Lila wrapped her arms about herself, not caring of the coffee dribbling down her skirts. “I’m sure the nuns at St. Vincent would have taken her under their wing. But one of the men who sometimes came for prayer knew of Doc’s original skills.”
“Ah. Dental surgery.” Bronx spoke slow.
Lila nodded. “Doc came right off. Ever so kind, gentle. Sweet eyes and no judgmental words.” She shivered, recalling the vicious injuries. “He—re-arranged Malina’s wounded face, poulticed her loose teeth, somehow, so they’d tighten back into the bone, wired it all together. He taught me how to feed her broth with a straw. And he checked in on her, too. Until, of course, the business of his arrest and trial. It wasn’t long after his treatments that Malina could eat properly. And smile again.”
The joists of the bench squealed when Bronx tensed and cleared his throat. “She has a beautiful smile.”
“That, she does. I’ll always be in Doc’s debt.”
“Understand.”
“So, I welcome the occasions when he finds his way to stop in. It’s been a good while, though. If you see him, return my greeting.”
“Well, I best report to my job. It’s not an early start today.”
“It’s not a far walk to the site.”
“No. Not worth saddling up Chadwell and hitching him up all day.”
“Curious name for a horse. Do you regret him now, with a job in town?” Lila finished her coffee.
He hesitated, and her skin prickled a little. Was he holding something back? Her spirits fell. Was he just another man trying to keep a secret covered at the top of the world?
“Nope.” He smiled, got up and set his cup down. “I’m simply a man who’s not complete without a horse. He’ll be good to me. Best head off. Asa’ll be expecting me.”
Lila rose with hm. “Make sure you work hard for him.”
“You know Asa? ’Course I will.”
“I do, indeed.” She smiled, looked back in time, and her gaze traveled the room. “Mr. Tibbett helped add this big room and make everything winter-tight.”
Bronx chuckled. “He did a fine job. We met on the train into town. He recommended Miz Frieda’s house to me.”
“Oh, he’s sweet on Miss Frieda, and makes many gentlemanly calls on her. And he’ll not mind it you chatting up with me. ” She smiled but felt a rush of envy. Miss Frieda complained often about her widowhood, about being childless and alone for so long, but even in her dotage, Frieda Dornfeld had found someone to admire her.
She walked with Bronx to the front door. Oh, she enjoyed his company, but her mood darkened further. She had found someone to admire her in her youth, but nothing had lasted long. Her fault, Emmett falling out of love. Regret and dead dreams simmered anew. Bronx’s warm gaze brushed her; she could almost feel it, but here was a man who’d just bought a horse. She knew what it meant. He wouldn’t be staying long.
And he’d never stay for an incomplete woman, anyway.
“Why, that’s a fine thing. Must be why he spoke well of her inn.” Bronx’s voice was so gentle it would lull her to sleep at night.
She tingled despite the impossible, and as well, a twinge of gratitude for Asa rippled through her in spite of her pique. For without his recommendation, she and Bronx might not have met. His eyes twinkled, and she prayed he’d stay.
They might not have a future, but at least they had now.
She poured another cup and sat down again. “I’m glad he did,” she said simply. “Funny how and when we meet those we meet.”
His gaze touched her face first, then flickered to the hook at the door where Emmett’s overcoat hung. “Ever wonder how it might have gone had you and your husband remained in Missouri?”