UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY

By Layne Richards

PART TWO: 

In the bedroom, Ben was lying back on the bed, his uninjured arm behind his head. 

"Would you like some more water, Mr. Warner?" Lacey asked him.

"No, thank you."  He propped himself up on the elbow of his uninjured arm to get a better look at her.  "And, please--call me Ben," he said, in his softest, most caressing voice.  "You've seen me without my shirt, Miss Lacey."  That smile that was impossible to resist.  "You've even touched me.  That oughta put us on a first-name basis, don't you think?"

At that moment, Lacey felt as though she couldn't think.  That soft, intimate note in his voice made her shiver.  It was as though his voice were a pair of hands running over her body--making it react in ways she'd never felt before.

When she was able to speak again, she asked, "Are you hungry?  I can fix you something."

"Not right now." 

Ben was studying her closely.  It made her uncomfortable.  "Well, you need to rest, and I have chores to do, Mr. Warner."

"Ben," he reminded her again. 

"Ben.  So, I guess I'll leave you alone to rest, and I'll get some work done.  You can call me if you need anything.  I'll check on you later."  Lacey was feeling a need to escape.  To get away from that intense gaze. 

"All right, Lacey."  Her name on his lips was like honey pouring from a bottle.

As she went out and closed the door, Wade lay back and closed his eyes.  He drifted off to sleep with a smile, looking forward to regaining his usual strength and the few days before the Greer and the rest of the boys came back for him.

Lacey ate a sandwich and spent the next few hours working around the house and barn.  Coming in hot and tired, she took a quick sponge bath and changed into a clean cotton dress, deriding herself for doing it.  She knew she wouldn't normally bother changing clothes in the middle of the day--but he was here to see her!  The excuse she finally made to herself was that it wouldn't do be seen dirty in front of company.  Taking down her hair, which she had put up for working, she brushed it until it shone, and left it loose.

Then she quickly warmed up some soup left over from her supper the night before.  When it was ready, she put a bowl on a tray with some bread and a cup of milk, and took the tray to the bedroom.

Ben Warner was unmoving and appeared to still be asleep.  Well, he had lost a lot of blood.  Lacey set the tray on the dresser and walked quietly over to the bed, intending to pick up his hat and put it on the back of the chair with his vest and shirt.

When she leaned over to pick up the hat, she couldn't help but notice his face.  As she straightened up, she stopped and just watched him sleep for a few minutes.  Watched the rise and fall of that broad chest.  She saw a small crescent-moon-shaped scar beneath his right eye, wondered how he had gotten it. 

A lock of his thick, brown hair had fallen over his eyes, and she longed to reach down and brush it away.

"Enjoyin' the view?"  That soft, slow drawl, completely unexpected, made her gasp and turn a deep, becoming shade of pink.

"I- I-  thought you were asleep," she managed to stammer.

"I was.  Until a coupla minutes ago," he smiled at her.  "I smelled somethin' that made me awful hungry."

"Soup," Lacey told him, recovering and moving swiftly over to the dresser for the tray--glad that she had something to do to avoid looking at him.  "I brought you some soup, since you didn't have lunch.  If you're feeling hungry, you must be recovering quickly."  She moved the tray to the bedside table.

"Well, I haven't had anythin' since supper last night," he told her.  "And by the way-"  That knowing drawl was back.  "When you were leanin' over the bed just now-  I was enjoyin' the view."

Completely flustered by the way this man talked to her, Lacey chose to ignore that remark.  "Can you eat okay by yourself?"

"Oh, I'm sure I can.  Once I sit up."  Ben pushed himself back with his elbows, and raised himself to a sitting position on the bed.  "Could you get me that other pillow?"

She put it behind his back, so that he could sit comfortably.

"Thank you, darlin'"  That soup smells real good."  He reached for the bowl and began to spoon up the food.

"I'll be back for the tray in a little while," Lacey told him, heading for the door.

"Wait."  The single word halted her at the door.  "Won't you stay and talk while I eat?  It's rare that I get to talk to a pretty girl."  His smile was irresistible.  "The boys are okay to have around most of the time but, sometimes, it's nice to have some female company."

He smiled at her again, and indicated the rocking chair beside the bed.  "Sit down, Lacey, and tell me some more about yourself."

Everything in her was telling Lacey that this was against her better judgement, but that smile and that soft voice were not to be denied.  Hesitantly, she moved to the chair and sat.

"So, you live here with your folks?"  Ben's close observation of her left her a little breathless.  "When will they be back?"  Not for a few days, he hoped, for a couple of reasons.

"They're due back on Sunday," she told him.

Good.  They'd have the next few days all to themselves.

"They left you here alone all this time?"  Ben adopted a surprised tone.

Lacey bristled.  "I'm not a child, Mr. Warner.  I can take care of myself!  Besides, our neighbor, Mr. Johnson, has been by to check on me.  He's coming again in a day or two."

So, he would have to watch out for someone.  One man he could handle easily, even in his current condition.

"Pretty girl like you must have a lotta young men hangin' around."  This time, his voice was light and teasing.

The question took her off guard.  "Oh, no!  I-  I was engaged last year, but-"

"But-"  He prompted her.

"He was killed."

"How?"  Ben was now more intent on every move of her muscles, every inflection in her voice.

Lacey met his eyes.  "He worked for the railroad.  He was guarding a stage.  The last stage Ben Wade and his gang robbed before they sent him to Yuma prison.  They shot him."

Her words took him by surprise but, without missing a beat, Ben said quietly, "I'm so sorry, Lacey.  That must have been so terrible for you."

"Yes, well-"  Her eyes dropped.  "It was a shock."

A shock, but not devastating, Ben thought to himself.  Ben Wade was an expert at reading people, and he had seen no grief on her face, or in her eyes.  For whatever reasons Lacey had been about to marry this man, she had not loved him.  Interesting.

"What about you, Mr. Warner," Lacey asked him, thinking that, if she asked the questions for awhile, she might be a little less nervous.  "Do you have a wife and children?"

"Neither."  A mask seemed to fall over his face at that.  "No time.  No opportunity."  His eyes met hers in a teasing look again.  "And I'm afraid I'm startin' to get too old for all that now."

"Nonsense."  Lacey's curiosity got the best of her.  "How old are you?"

His voice dropped to its lowest, most seductive tone.  "Let's just say I'm too old to be thinkin' half the things I'm thinkin' about you, darlin'."

"Please, Mr. Warner-  Ben-"  Blushing again, she entreated him.  "I wish you wouldn't talk to me that way."

"I'm sorry, darlin'.  I'm makin' you uncomfortable."  Ben decided he was moving in on her a little too fast.  "The kind of women I'm usually around expect this kinda talk, I'm afraid.  I'm not used to decent young ladies any more.  Please forgive me."  He put on his most contrite expression.

That look melted Lacey.  She forgave him instantly.  As she gathered up his dirty dishes, she noticed his blood-stained shirt and vest still lying across the chair. 

"I'll wash these for you this afternoon," she told him, throwing them over her shoulder.  "They should be dry by morning.  If-"  She stammered slightly, embarrassed.  "If you want me to wash your pants too, I can find you a pair of my pa's to wear in the meantime.  They won't fit too well, but-"

"I can make do with them," Ben told her.  "Thank you, darlin'.  It'll be nice to have some clean clothes."

Lacey looked in the chest and got out a pair of her pa's work pants.  Laying them across the bed for him, she picked up the dishes and started to leave the room.

"Lacey."  Ben's voice stopped her for the second time.  That low, seductive tone again.  "Aren't you gonna help me with these?  I'm not sure I can handle this myself."

He couldn't help but chuckle at the look he saw on her face.  "Go on, sweetheart.  I'm just teasin' you.  I'll manage."

Her face a deep rose shade, she went out and closed the door behind her with a sigh of relief.  That afternoon, while he slept, Lacey heated water on the cookstove and scrubbed his clothes.  The shirt and vest took several scrubbings, but she managed to get all the blood out.  She hung them to dry and cleaned up the kitchen, then put on a pot of beans and made cornbread.

The afternoon passed with her working and humming, her mind constantly on the man asleep in the bedroom.  She hadn't heard the name Warner before, but there were many ranches west of them.  No doubt, he was someone new who had taken over a place from someone who had sold out.

Around suppertime, she heard a noise in the bedroom.  Opening the door quickly to make sure he was okay, Lacey found him sitting on the side of the bed.

"What are you doing?  You shouldn't be up!"  She went to the side of the bed.  "Whatever you need, I'll get it for you."

"I just need a drink of water," Ben told her.  "I was gonna try to get it myself and not bother you, but when I tried to stand, I got dizzy."

"You just lie back down," she told him firmly.  "I'll get you some water."

When she brought it from the kitchen, he was lying down again.  "I'm sorry to be so much trouble, darlin'."

"It's no trouble," Lacey told him, averting her eyes from his.  "You're injured.  You're just going to have to accept the fact that you need help for the next few days."

"You're bein' so good to me, sweetheart."  Ben accepted the cup from her hand, caressing her fingers as he did so.  "A woman hasn't been this good to me since-"  He trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.

Lacey wanted desperately to ask him when was the last time a woman had been so good to him--was dying to know if he had a woman somewhere.  But something in his eyes told her to let it go for now.  If he wanted to tell her about it, he would.

Instead, she asked, "Are you ready for some supper?"

He smiled at her.  "What've you got cooked up, darlin'?"

"Nothing fancy, I'm afraid.  Just beans and cornbread."

"Darlin', you don't know how good fresh cornbread will taste.  Fellow who does the cookin' in my outfit is a decent enough cook, but he never makes anythin' but biscuits."

She brought two plates to the bedroom and they ate companionably.  When they'd finished, Lacey put the plates on the bedside table and they went on talking, Ben propped up on the pillows, Lacey in the rocking chair.

He told her about some of the places he'd been--San Francisco, Dodge City.   She told him about the year she'd spent teaching school before returning here to the farm.  Ben noticed that she didn't bring up her fiancé again.  It made him all the more curious, but he decided to let it be for a day or two.

When the clock in the kitchen chimed ten o'clock, Lacey jumped up.  "Heavens, is it that late already?  I'd best be getting to bed."  She gathered up their dirty dishes from earlier.

"I'm not puttin' you out, am I, Lacey?" he asked.

"Putting me out?"  She looked puzzled.

With a nod of his head, Ben indicated the bed on which he was lying.

"Oh!  Oh, no," she replied.   "This is Ma and Pa's room.  I sleep in the loft."

In the kitchen, she stacked their dishes and left them for morning.  Then, she stuck her head into the bedroom again.  "Well-  Good night, Mr.-  Ben," she corrected herself.  "If you need anything in the night, just call for me."

"Anythin'?" he asked, somehow managing to make that deep voice both innocent and suggestive at the same time.  "I can call you no matter what I might need?"

"You know what I mean."  Lacey's blush was back.  "I thought you weren't going to talk to me like that any more."

"Sorry, darlin'."  Ben cast his eyes down with a devilish grin.  "But that blush is so pretty on you.  Can't hardly resist teasin' you.  Good night, then, and Lacey-  Thank you again.  For everythin'."

When she had left, Ben Wade settled back on the bed, smiling to himself.  For a day that had started out so badly, this one was endin' well.  His cut from the robbery would be about ten thousand dollars.  You could do a lot with that kind of money.  Maybe even buy a ranch, if he wanted to think about actually becoming Ben Warner.

His injury was already on the mend.   For all the years he had been putting himself into situations where he could easily be hurt or killed, this was only the third time he'd ever been shot.  The first time had been years ago.  He'd been a green kid, and had tried to hold up the wrong man--a man with a lot more experience and a lot less conscience than Ben had at that point in his life.  He'd been damned lucky to escape with just a flesh wound.

But the best thing about this day had been that he'd chosen this place to come for help.  A place with no one home for the next six days but a pretty young woman.  And Ben had been on the trail--and without a woman--for awhile now.  "Course, it would take him a couple days to feel up to anythin' more than talkin' and flirtin'.

But Lacey Miller looked like she'd be worth the wait.  Might even be a virgin, since her fiancé had been killed before they were married.  And she had already proven that she wasn't immune to his charm.  Ben still found her engagement to a man she obviously hadn't loved puzzling but then, out here women married for convenience all the time. 

A man who had been working for the railroad would have been makin' a lot better money than any of the farmers or ranchers around here.  Although, he thought, with a wry smile to himself, not nearly as much as a man could make stealin' from the railroad.

What would Lacey do?  How would she react--if she found out that he was Ben Wade?  He'd just have to make damn sure he didn't slip up and say anythin' he shouldn't.  At least, until it was time for him to leave.  And by that time, he'd already have taken what he wanted from her. 

Ben looked around the bedroom he was occupying.  Cozy.  The furniture--bed, dresser, wardrobe, table, and the rocking chair in which Lacey had sat--were obviously homemade, but they had been made by a man who knew what he was doing.  The braided rugs on the floor, the curtains at the windows, and the brightly colored quilt on the bed gave it a feminine touch.  He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a place he thought of as cozy.

Getting up off the bed slowly and carefully, he blew out the lamp and got under the quilt.  He was looking forward to the rest of this week.

For her part, Lacey lay under her own covers in the loft, thinking about nothing but Ben Warner.  Every time she closed her eyes, she saw nothing but his handsome face--those piercing blue eyes and that beautiful smile.  Except when she was seeing those broad shoulders, strong arms and wide chest. 

This is no good, she thought to herself.  She had work to do in the morning and, if she didn't get to sleep, she was going to be too tired to do anything.  But it was no use.

She kept seeing that face and hearing that deep voice, calling her darlin' and sweetheart.  Did he talk that way to every woman he met?  Or, Lord help her, did he have a woman somewhere who usually heard all those endearments?  He hadn't said anything about having someone, and she hadn't wanted to ask him.  But now, she couldn't help wondering about it. 

Lacey was also wondering why she should care.  He was a rancher from miles away.  Several years older than her, she could tell, and he was going to be gone in a few days. 

Ben Warner hadn't talked like a man who had a woman in his life, though.  He hadn't asked his foreman to bring anything back from town for a lady friend.  He talked as though he'd done a lot of traveling--by himself.  Surely, he wasn't!

Silly, she scolded herself.  All this is silly.  He's going to be here a few days, while he heals.  Then he'll be gone and you'll never see him again.  For some reason, the thought of his leaving was already troubling her.  Lacey finally dozed off, his voice still in her ears.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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