Only My Love by Jo Goodman Read Free Book Online Page A

take, and closed his case. "There's really nothing more I can do for her. She needs rest that she'll never find in this car."
    Houston's head tilted to one side and he pushed back the brim of his hat a notch. "Perhaps you'd consider giving the lady and her family your space in the first class car?"
    The doctor's eyes narrowed angrily. "Are you going to insist?"
    Houston appeared thoughtful for a moment. "No, I don't think I am." He indicated that the doctor should move out of the way. When that was done he reached over the seat to Hannah and dropped the doctor's valuables in her lap. "A gift, Mrs. Gruber. Welcome to America."
    Hannah looked at Michael, uncertain what to do.
    Michael, in turn, rounded on Houston. "Now why have you done that? Those things weren't yours to give away."
    "Pardon me," Houston said, "but I recall having them given to me only a short time ago."
    "You know very well—"
    Houston made a slashing motion with his free hand. "Enough. Tell her to keep them else I'll be insulted. Our doctor here doesn't need them. Unless I miss my guess, he's still got pockets worth emptying."
    The doctor's reddening face betrayed him.
    "See what I mean, ma'am? There's honest and then there's honest." His black eyes were smiling at her again. He stepped to one side and motioned to the doctor and Michael to precede him. The doctor moved quickly and went first, leaving Michael to contend with the Winchester pointed at her back. Behind her she heard Houston's low chuckle at the doctor's cowardice. When she stiffened her spine in response, she heard the laughter again.
    At the door to the first class car Houston told the doctor to go back inside. He stopped Michael when she made to follow.
    "Let go of my arm," she said with credible calm.
    Houston's fingers dropped away. "Your valuables, ma'am. Everyone else gave to the cause."
    Michael thought of several names she wanted to call him and by the look that passed over the visible part of his face, he apparently was reading her mind. "Oh, very well," she said, rooting the deep pockets of her duster for her poker winnings. Her fingers touched on three pencils and a note pad before coming up with the money. "I wish you'd give this to Hannah Gruber and her family."
    Houston took the money. His eyes dropped to the cameo pin at Michael's throat. "The brooch, too," he said.
    Michael's hand flew to her collar of her white blouse and there was real pain in her eyes. "It's not valuable."
    "It is to me." A memento, he was thinking, of a very interesting encounter.
    "Bastard," she said softly.
    "So I've heard."
    Michael frowned, uncertain what he meant by his last comment. Her fingers trembled slightly as she unhooked the brooch and she closed her eyes briefly, turning away in the same moment she placed it in Houston's gloved hand. She didn't see him give it a long, almost regretful look, before he dropped it in his pocket.
    "I thought you might stab me with the pin."
    "It occurred to me." Without waiting for Houston's order, Michael opened the door to the first class car and stepped inside.
    * * *
    Ethan Stone wondered if his shock was visible. He felt as if he'd been kicked by a mule when he saw the woman who preceded Houston into the car. He thought he had successfully avoided her altogether. Now, here she was, staring at him straight on, her surprise a palpable thing.
    He watched as her brows drew together and her mouth became flat and serious. Her frown of concentration touched every one of her features. Her spectacles had slipped to the tip of her pared nose. Her eyes—dark green, he noted now—were clouded as she tried to place his face. Her teeth caught her lower lip and worried it gently, causing her chin to wobble slightly. Ethan saw her struggle to grasp the elusive memory that would allow her recognition of another place, another time, and he didn't release his breath until he saw annoyance cross her face as she couldn't do it. The moment had stretched as an eternity in Ethan's