"Or you can telegraph Reese or David."
"I know."
"I'll be traveling under the name G. M. Smith," Lee reminded her.
Mary nodded.
"Are you sure you don't want to return to Cheyenne to stay with your family at the ranch while I'm gone?"
The train whistle sounded in the distance.
"I'm sure," Mary said. "And you had better hurry or you'll miss the train."
"But…"
"I'll be fine," Mary assured him, moving to stand between Judah and Maddy. "We'll be fine. Go slay the dragons. Go rescue the fair little maiden."
Lee jammed his hat on his head, opened the front door and headed toward Utopia's dusty Main Street. He had passed through the wrought iron gate to Ettinger House and was halfway down the street when he heard Mary behind him.
"Wait, Lee!"
He stopped and waited as Mary, skirts in hand, shapely legs visible, caught up to him. "What is it? Did I forget something?"
She let go of her skirts. "You didn't let me give you my favor." Mary held out a red ribbon.
Lee stared at her. Her face was flushed from the exertion of running in skirts and corset, her lips were reddened, and several strands of inky black hair had come loose from her elegant chignon. Lee shook his head in wonderment. She had gathered her skirts in hand and run out of the house, and exposed her long lovely silk clad legs to anyone who cared to look, just to give him a red ribbon. "Have I your favor now, Mary?" he asked in a husky baritone voice.
"Yes," she answered breathlessly, staring up into his pewter gray eyes.
"And when I return from Washington?"
"Yes."
"Then tie it on." He dropped his leather satchel in the dust and extended his arm so Mary could fasten her favor beneath Madeline's.
"Are you certain?" He had to ask because afterward, there could be no turning back.
"I'm certain." Mary smiled up at him. "You see, I had another reason for getting everyone all dressed up to see you off."
"And what was that?"
"To remind you of what you have to come home to."
Lee stepped closer to her and traced the heart-shaped neckline of her dress with his finger. "Some reminder."
"Do you like it?"
"The dress is okay," he teased.
"Only okay?" she questioned.
"Yeah, but the woman inside it is pretty special." He leaned toward her. "One favor from you isn't enough. I need another."
"Then, take it," she said as she closed her eyes and waited for his kiss.
Lee thought about Mary all the way to Chicago. He thought about her as he gave his report to William Pinkerton and dreamed of her as he dozed on the east-bound train and after he reached his destination and had settled into a comfortable room at the Madison Hotel. He dreamed of her good-bye kiss, the way she looked in her ruby red dress running down the walkway to catch him and tie her favor around his arm. But most of all, Lee dreamed of the other favors she had promised when he returned. He told himself to turn around and head back to Utopia. He told himself that the best thing he could do for Mary was to send her away from him before it was too late—before he ruined her for Pelham Cosgrove. Lee told himself that he should send her back to Cheyenne so she could have the kind of life she deserved with a better man than he was, but deep down, Lee knew he couldn't… wouldn't do it.
He wasn't that noble or self-sacrificing. Mary had reached a decision. She was ready to explore the attraction between them, and Lee intended to take full advantage of her curiosity and her temporary weakness. He had been fighting his attraction to her from the first day they met and he'd be damned if it wasn't time to do something about it. She'd married him in a church before God and witnesses, and while he might not have been her first choice, he was the man she ended up with. And Lee meant to end up in her bed, just as soon as he finished his business in Washington.