Page 68 of Borrowed Time

He wondered what the house where she’d grown up looked like, whether something in its furnishings had inspired her current style.

After they left the last store and walked over to the depot, his hand stole into hers, almost by its own volition. She startled, but then her fingers tightened around his, as though acknowledging that it was safe for them to make this contact, since they were miles away from Flagstaff and hadn’t seen a single soul they knew. All day, they’d only introduced themselves as the Prewitts, rather than say outright that they were brother and sister, so Seth had a feeling most people they’d encountered thought they must be husband and wife.

Fine by him. They hadn’t really spoken of marriage — how could they, when they were so recently acquainted and had so many more pressing matters occupying their minds? — but he thought he’d be very proud to call Devynn Rowe his wife.

If she’d have him, of course.

Hand in hand, they walked up the steps to the depot…and then froze.

Standing at the edge of the platform was Samuel Wilcox.

At once, Devynn tugged her fingers free from Seth’s grasp, and he didn’t try to stop her.

What the hell was Samuel Wilcox doing here?

Luckily, his back was mostly to them, and he appeared to be staring down the tracks, most likely trying to determine whether he could see the approaching train.

“Here,” Devynn whispered, and hurried over to stand where the ticket shack mostly blocked Samuel from their view.

“Of all the rotten luck,” Seth murmured. “What the devil is he doing in Williams, anyway?”

“I have no idea,” she replied, a frown plucking at her brows. “But I know the Wilcoxes owned a lot of property that wasn’t right in Flagstaff or its immediate environs, so maybe he was checking on that.”

Seth supposed this explanation sounded logical enough. “He wasn’t on the train this morning, though,” he pointed out, and she shrugged.

“I didn’t notice him, either,” she said. “For all we know, he drove a wagon of goods out here or something, and is taking the train back.”

Again, Seth was forced to admit that was a possible option. Load up a wagon with supplies for your ranch or farm, drive it to Williams and leave it there, and then get on the train and head back to Flagstaff and be home before sundown. Samuel would have had to leave somewhat early, but still, he could have made the journey in half a day and had room to spare to conduct some business before he had to get on the eastbound train.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” she continued. “There’s no way he could have seen us holding hands. All we need to do is wait for him to get on the train and then board as if everything was perfectly normal. We’ve already established a legitimate reason for us being in Williams today, so if he sees us at that point and asks any questions, we’ll be able to answer truthfully.”

How cool she was, how calm! Seth wished he could be that unrattled by the situation, although he knew there was absolutely nothing to be gained by panicking. His first instinct had been to grab her and translocate back to the hotel, but doing so would have been even more risky; while Samuel didn’t seem have to have noticed their presence, plenty of other people had. Vanishing into thin air just wasn’t a viable option in such a crowded place.

And there came the sound of the train’s whistle, signaling its approach to the depot. More people crowded toward the edge of the platform, and he could only be glad of that. The bigger the crowd, the better the chance that he and Devynn would be able to get on board and escape Samuel’s notice. With any luck, they’d end up seated with the entire length of the train separating them, and the Wilcox warlock would never even guess that he’d shared a ride with the Prewitt “siblings.”

They both knew to hang back until the throng had thinned somewhat. By that point, Samuel had disappeared, signaling that he must have already boarded the train. Maybe they should have done a better job of keeping him in their sights, but when Seth and Devynn climbed onto the railcar nearest them, he couldn’t see any sign of the other man.

Although Seth didn’t quite sigh, he also didn’t hold back a relieved breath as the two of them sank into their seats just a moment before the conductor called out his final warning that they were about to leave the station. The train whistle blew, and they began to chug their way back to Flagstaff.

“That was close,” Devynn murmured.

Too close.

“But it looks like he must be in another car,” Seth said in the same undertone. “So I think when we get to Flagstaff, all we need to do is wait until almost everyone has left the train. By that point, I’m sure he will be long gone. It’ll be closer to dinnertime, and I have to think his wife would want him home.”

Or…would she? The couple seemed amiable enough in public, but all sorts of things could go on behind closed doors, the sorts of words and actions that the people involved would want to keep hidden from the light of day.

No, that was probably his imagination running away with itself, based purely on his dislike for the man and not much more. If nothing else, Jeremiah Wilcox seemed as though hekept a pretty close eye on the doings of his family members, and if Samuel had ever stepped out of line, the family patriarch would have made sure he corrected his behavior, and fast.

Funny to think he had such a good opinion of Jeremiah now, where once upon a time the Wilcoxprimusmight as well have been the Devil himself.

The train car was crowded enough that Seth thought it probably a good idea not to hold Devynn’s hand, as much as he might have wanted to. No telling who here would be staying in Flagstaff for a few days, or even at the same hotel that had been their home for the past week and a half. He’d just have to grit his teeth and tell himself that maybe — just maybe — they’d be heading back to Jerome very soon.

A very different Jerome from the one he knew, but still, it was McAllister territory no matter what the century. It wasn’t until he’d been away for so long that he realized how much he missed the pyramidal slope of Cleopatra Hill, the looming shape of Mingus Mountain…the red rocks of Sedona off in the distance.

That place would always be home to him, and he knew he was glad that Devynn wanted to make it her permanent home as well.

Despite not being able to take her hand, Seth had to admit there was something almost soothing about that journey back to Flagstaff, about the sway of the train car and the twilight landscape passing outside the windows. In here, even though they were surrounded by strangers, they still seemed to be in a safe cocoon where no one appeared to care who they were or where they had come from.

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