Joker's Wild Read online

“Please? I need a moment to wash up and drink some water,” another woman called out, and Rosemary saw that the few horses they had looked like they could use a drink too. Giving a heavy sigh, she agreed.

  “We’ll stop for ten minutes and rest up before carrying on.”

  A cry of happiness split the air as the women rushed towards the creek eagerly. The seam of earth filled with water barely qualified as a bubbling creek; rather it was a deep, narrow stream that rushed on past. It was very nearly missed because of the tall grasses around them. Taking the empty canteen, she washed it out and refilled it, before getting to her feet.

  Startled, she dropped it into the creek with a loud plop.

  Joker had reappeared out of thin air.

  “You can’t drink out of it underwater,” Joker said with a grin. “Miss me much, empress?”

  “You’ve been gone forever,” she snapped, bending down and reaching into the chilly water to grab the canteen. Thank goodness it was full or it would have floated down the stream. “I figured you’d ditched us the moment you could, just like any typical man.”

  “I’m not your normal cowboy.”

  “No, you are abnormal,” she confirmed. “I can’t put my finger on it either. You are nice, yet obstinate. Strange, yet polite. You make little sense, yet some things you do seem to mesh with my very own thoughts. You are an enigma, Mr. Joker.”

  “It’s Joaquin Hillard—Joker is a nickname my friends gave me.”

  “Joker seems to suit you a bit better.”

  “Just like empress suits you.”

  “One of us has to get things done, and you were missing for over an hour,” she reminded him, drying her arm off on the fabric of her dress.

  “I got us rabbits for dinner.”

  “I’m hoping we are in Abilene for this evening’s meal.”

  “Do you have family there? A husband? A suitor?”

  Something in his tone made her bristle as she looked at him warily. Why was he asking so many questions? He looked so intense, like her answer might actually matter to him.

  “What is this? What do you care?”

  “I’m asking because I’m curious.”

  “Find someone else to ask,” she said nervously, looking at him for the first time as a man, not just a person to help her get away. Rosemary had never noticed his eyes before. They were a warm golden brown that reminded her of molasses pulls that her aunt used to make. The rich brown hues would turn that same shade of gold as you pulled and worked the sweet taffy, turning it almost a caramel color.

  His eyes were simply magnificent.

  “Rosemary,” he said gently, using her name for the first time, “is there someone waiting for you in Abilene? Is that why you are in such an all-fired-up hurry to get there?”

  “No,” she breathed as if in a trance before biting her tongue. “The only person waiting for me is at the Pinkerton office. I’ll never be helpless or taken advantage of again by anyone—especially the likes of you.”

  “Interesting,” he grinned, nonplussed. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and stood there like he hadn’t a care in the world. “A Pinkerton agent, eh?”

  “It’s none of your business—but yes.”

  Truthfully, she’d read the article talking about the ‘wild worldly women’ who were tackling jobs meant for a man. It had surprised her, the position of the writer had taken, talking about what consequences it would have on the family to have a woman away from home—and how scandalous it was that the agents were actually marrying their partners.

  That part stuck in her craw.

  She didn’t care to marry anyone after dealing with Martin.

  The level of trust it took to deal with someone, a stranger, simply wasn’t there—but Joker didn’t know that. The Pinkertons office in Abilene didn’t know her personal thoughts and beliefs either. Perhaps knowing that she would be independent and strong-willed enough to become an agent would be enough to get him to leave her alone.

  “I think that’s a brilliant idea,” he said gleefully, turning and walking off whistling. She watched his frame, trying not to admire his broad shoulders and the way his waist seemed to taper nicely.

  What?

  Now, he was glad about going to Abilene? He was the most confusing and strange man she’d ever met! Just looking at him made her wonder if he was all there ‘upstairs’. Joker had the rabbits he’d caught slung on a rope and was casually carrying them like it was nothing.

  That was sustenance that someone would have to clean and cook, yet you’d have thought he was carrying several ears of corn instead. Their little fuzzy slack bodies just made her nauseous. Shivering, she swallowed and looked away. She liked rabbit stew—she just abhorred cleaning and skinning them.

  “C’mon empress! These varmints will not clean themselves and these ladies are hungry, aren’t you girls? Who wants something to eat? Can I get a little help?”

  “What?” Rosemary blurted out in surprise. This wasn’t some picnic or tranquil summer day! Why was Joker trying to have a blasted picnic in the middle of nowhere? They were on the run from Martin Espinoza and his crew of hoodlums. She suspected that he was kidnapping women to sell off or put out to prostitution, but couldn’t prove either—thankfully!

  “We need to get moving!”

  “We need to eat, don’t we ladies?”

  The chorus of grumbling and frustrated women told Rosemary that she had lost this battle long before it ever started. Several expectant faces turned towards her—including Joker’s, with a sarcastic pout just for her. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the rest of them and nodded, unwilling to agree to anything Joker said.

  The gorgeous man was getting on her nerves.

  Rosemary sat on the edge of the group of women by herself. She didn’t want to sit with everyone else when she ate because she knew it would be shunned or thought of as ungrateful to be so picky when it came to her meal. A few of the women had thankfully begun stripping the rabbits of their fur while Rosemary looked away.

  She just couldn’t do it.

  Instead, she picked up the turnips, potatoes, and carrots that had miraculously appeared out of thin air. She didn’t even question where they came from, nor the large pot that sat nestled in the coals carelessly. Frankly, it was a little surprising that Joker was so careless with his cookware. She’d seen pans warp or crack from severe temperatures, but he looked like he hadn’t a care in the world.

  As if he knew she was thinking of him, Joker immediately got up from where he was kneeling by the fire and walked over. He plopped down indelicately in the grass beside her, pulling a piece of cloth from his shirt pocket and extending it towards her.

  “No, thank you.”

  “You didn’t even look…”

  “It’s a handkerchief. I’m not blind,” she said flatly, stirring the small bowl with the warped fork she had. Some of the women had spoons and others had forks. She was grateful for any cutlery, and had expected to need to eat the stew with her fingers or sip it from the small tin container.

  “It would be a shame if those pretty eyes were sightless,” he said, setting down his bowl and pulling the draped linen of the handkerchief slowly back… revealing a corn pone biscuit.

  “I thought you might like this?”

  Rosemary gaped in surprise at the unexpected treat. She hadn’t the heart to ask for more vegetables out of the stew because she knew everyone was hungry and they were trying to stretch the food as far as possible between the group.

  “Where did you get that?” she whispered secretively.

  “Same place I got the other goodies.”

  “What other goodies?”

  “Those vegetables and that big old cook-pot,” he grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Why, I robbed Espinoza’s place before I torched it, my little empress. I figured that before I burnt it down that I might retrieve a few items from him first as payment for what he did to all of you.”

  “Whaaat…?” Rosemary began, before throwing back her
head and laughing. Joker snickered happily, breaking the cornpone in half like he was bestowing a gift towards her. He handed her half of the dried muffin and held up his half to his forehead in a mock salute.

  “Enjoy.”

  “Oh, I will,” she retorted, smiling sideways at Joker as she dipped the cornbread that was a little stale into her stew bowl.

  It surprised her at how clever (and a little devious) that he seemed to be—but it was exactly what she would have done too. Why let the supplies they desperately needed go to waste in a fire? She’d been so angry, so outraged, and so frustrated, that she hadn’t given any thought to retrieving the much-needed goods from Martin—yet he had. He’d done as she asked and went out of his way to provide for seventeen strangers he barely knew, but had taken it upon himself to be responsible for.

  “Thank you for all of this,” she whispered, taking a bite.

  “What was that?” he teased softly, holding his hand up to his ear teasing. “Did I just hear you say, ‘thank you’ to lil’ ol’ me?”

  “Yes, I did,” she admitted.

  “Why, be still my heart,” he mocked, laying a hand over his chest and taking a big bite enthusiastically of his part of the cornpone. He stood up quickly and reached for her bowl. “Can I get you some more stew?”

  “No thank you,” she blurted, causing him to frown.

  “I know it’s not the best but its filling and there is plenty.”

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Joker knelt down beside her quietly, watching her. It was like he was actually trying to be nice and polite towards her. One minute he was annoying, and the next he was kind.

  “I’m good.”

  “You can’t be full,” he countered. “You barely ate anything except that muffin I swiped. Don’t you like rabbit?”

  “I’m not much for meat,” she whispered, remembering how frustrated her aunt used to get when she pushed the morsels of beef or chicken around on her plate, untouched.

  “Why didn’t you just say so? Molly doesn’t eat pork after we butchered her pig she raised. He was a cute little fellow and made a delicious slab of bacon.”

  “Ugh,” Rosemary said, scrunching up her nose in disgust.

  “I’m teasing… sort of,” Joker grinned, getting to his feet. He walked over to the pot, serving up several of the women nearby before dumping more stew in the two bowls he was balancing. Returning to her side, he put the two bowls on the ground between them and promptly fished out several turnips and carrots out of one, flopping them into the other bowl indelicately. He then scraped several pieces of meat into his own bowl.

  “There we are—crisis averted.”

  “Prepare yourself…” she teased playfully, smiling shyly at the kind man beside her. “Thank you once again, Joker. I appreciate it very much.”

  He quickly set down his bowl, flopping back into the grass dramatically and raising his hand to his brow. She began laughing once again, covering her mouth delicately as she chewed thoughtfully. It was really sweet of him to even ask, listen, or act on what she preferred—and definitely something she wasn’t used to.

  Chapter 4

  Abilene, Texas

  Joker watched the group of women with a despondent feeling in his gut. He would have been beside himself if his sister was among these downtrodden women.

  They were so tired, so doggedly marching on, and he could only imagine how they ached. His own feet were swollen in his boots from walking hours on end over the patch of terrain. Every once in a while, he’d step just right and catch a sharp rock in the worn base of his favorite boots.

  Molly, his sister, had a heart of gold and always took a stray in under her wing. He wondered how mad she’d be if he suddenly dumped seventeen of them on her doorstep. Everyone needed a place to rest, settle, clean up, and reorient themselves so they could get in contact with their families. Molly’s place would be ideal.

  Maybe those new boots could wait… he mused, knowing that the money would be better spent helping someone get back on their feet rather than covering his own.

  Rosemary.

  Gosh, she was the prettiest thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

  Those thick golden curls that seemed to bounce when she walked were mesmerizing. She had a quirky smile that made her lips purse and turn upwards at the corners in the most adorable way possible. There was a fire in her eyes when she got angry that made his blood race and his heart do somersaults. She was spectacular when she felt passionate about something—he just wished it was aimed more in his general direction.

  He annoyed her, and Joker darn well knew it.

  A Pinkerton.. ha! he thought to himself wryly.

  She would absolutely flip at the idea of what it took to become one—and he knew from experience. He’d been an agent for several years now and kept it to himself. People in these here parts either respected the law or shunned it—some took it upon themselves to protect their property, and he couldn’t fault them for it. They couldn’t be everywhere at once, and unfortunately there had been many a time that he’d arrived on the scene a bit too late.

  That almost happened with Meghan, Jack’s wife.

  Jack had agreed to marry up with one of the women Pinkerton agents in Denver after being paired with another girl and annulling the marriage. Joker had heard of that fiasco of agents marrying their partners—and ran. He wasn’t marrying anyone unless he was the one doing the choosing! It was bad enough he’d sent off for one of those mail-order brides—and then ditched her at the last minute.

  He actually felt guilty about that…

  Women were a precious commodity out here in these parts, and he was pretty sure that even a jilted bride would get snatched up quickly by some eligible man. Single women didn’t stay single very long!

  Texas offered him freedom, a chance to exist under the wide open skies, and run free. It also gave him the ability to become his own person. They had dubbed him ‘Joker’ because of some of the crazy things he did. There was nothing wrong with the element of surprise or enjoying the heat of battle with your opponent—both of which he relished. If he was there to do business, why not have a little fun?

  He was an ace shot with his pistols.

  The guns were named spade and diamond.

  The club was in his pants, he bragged drunkenly one night–earning him the name Joker - once everyone had quit laughing at him where he laid on the ground after falling off his bar stool. He liked to play and kid around—but this mission had been quite sobering.

  He kept thinking one of these women could have been his sister and it bothered him. The sooner Molly found someone to protect her and take care of her, the better he’d feel about her taking over the small inn. She needed someone who would put the fear of God into the bad guys with just hearing his name—but he also wanted them to have a soft spot for his kid sister.

  “What do you think about taking everyone to my sister’s to rest and eat something halfway decent? I mean, my cooking is good, but her’s is positively terrific,” he bragged playfully as he walked beside his little empress.

  “That’s not necessary,” Rosemary said instantly.

  “It makes sense.”

  “I won’t be beholden to you or your family. We just…”

  “Wait a cotton-pickin’ second, empress,” Joker blurted out, pulling her aside as the others walked on, watching them. He stared at her and felt himself struck dumb for a moment as he stared into her hazel eyes framed with the longest lashes he’d ever seen on a woman.

  “Release me,” she replied softly, and he saw the flare of something in those golden-green depths.

  “What happens if I don’t?” he breathed, stepping forward.

  “Then I’ll scream and you’ll have to deal with these other women too.”

  “You know…,” Joker whispered intimately, coming only inches from her face. He couldn’t help the grin that touched his lips as she drew in her breath. Was she hoping he’d kiss he
r, or was she scared of him?

  “Someday you will want me to hold your hand.”

  “But not today,” she countered quietly, staring at him unwaveringly.

  “But not today,” he repeated, backing down.

  Gosh, he wanted to kiss her until she was breathless, to feel and taste those full lush lips that he admired so much. She was a distraction, and a right beautiful one too!

  “You won’t be beholden to anyone and my sister’s place is on the outskirts of Abilene. She could use a hand or two to help about the place, plus I don’t think any of these women want to be reunited with their families with mud, debris, or worse on them. Everyone could use a warm bath, a warm meal, and a cozy night’s rest so they don’t look like death-warmed over… but, hey! If you don’t want to be ‘beholden’ to my family, it’s no problem. It was a charitable, Christian offering, and you are free to turn it down.”

  Rosemary grew silent and drew to a stop. The women kept walking forward from them and she stared ahead unwavering. He knew her mind was processing everything, and he liked that about her. She was a smart lady! Finally, she turned and looked at him, her gaze softening perceptibly.

  “It is very kind and Christian of you. I think it would be well-received, and an excellent idea for everyone to get cleaned up before they move on. Thank you, Joker.”

  He grinned.

  Stretching his hands out before him, popping his knuckles happily, he nodded. This was sheer brilliance on his part and a way to extend his time with Rosemary before she appeared at the Pinkerton office with this hair-brained scheme of hers. She barely ate the rabbit, and he’d seen how she looked away as they were being skinned. She might be bossy, his little empress, but she had an awfully tender heart.

  “So, I guess we’ll be having dinner together then?” Joker tossed out casually, only to see Rosemary roll her eyes before growling in dismay. She stomped off towards the other women, leaving him behind, standing alone.

  “Is that a yes?” he hollered gleefully.

  Gosh, she was something…