Sadly shaking his head, Rex made a tsking sound. “Heard tell you nearly bought the farm. Where was Simmons during all of this?” Was Rex trying to distract him with questions?
“I planned to ask you that. Neither he nor Stubbins was here to help. Aren’t you in charge of them?” He cast an assessing look at his partner as if judging his ability to handle the bouncers, and Rex stiffened and his hands fisted. Bode waited. Still, the man said nothing so Bode waved a hand dismissively in his direction and stomped up the stairs. He’d had enough for one day. Going from the joy of purchasing a home to the terror of almost being killed, it surely would exhaust any man.
At the pink light of morning, Bode hurried out of bed. After a quick wash in cold water and a shave, he bolted down the stairs. He’d need to restock and inventory the liquor quickly since he had plans for the day. Regardless of his fatigue, he’d lain awake for much of the night and decided sometime in the dark to visit every church and midwife that day with Violet and Baby Barry. Logically, one of the ladies or ministers might know something about the baby. If they could find the mother, the woman might know the identity of the schemer who wanted him publicly shamed and dead.
The bouncers helped him move his bedroom furniture to the new house. For all that the house stood empty, he and his wife at least had a place to spend their wedding night. Near noon, he’d finally finished with the jobs he had to see done that day, both in the bar and at the new house.
Without speaking to Rex, who silently scowled at him, Bode swiftly left the business and made his way to the rooming house. There, Miss Andersen disappointed him when she indicated that Violet and the baby were at the Baptist Church, cleaning. “Not everyone is idle, you know.” Ignoring the woman’s needling, he thanked her before heading toward the bridge across Table Creek.
At the bridge, he stopped to retie one of his brown leather shoes. Bending, he caught sight of Stubbins following him at a discreet distance. The man turned to face away from Bode as he bent over. Still, there was no mistaking the man’s shoulders or odd way of standing, always leaning to the right. Rex controlled the man. Had he ordered him to follow Bode? Evidently, his partner took the attempts on Bode’s life seriously and wanted to be sure he had protection. The thought mollified him since he’d still been angry about the absence of Rex and the bouncers the previous night.
Before he reached the church, he saw Violet coming toward him. She pushed the baby carriage and smiled brightly when she caught sight of him. After the strain of last night, her happy face caused a bubble of worry to burst inside him. As he returned the smile, he wondered absentmindedly how she could be so joyful after the sorrow and loss she’d faced in life. Was it her personality or did it have something to do with this personal connection to Jesus Christ that she’d tried to tell him about at lunch yesterday?
Putting the thoughts out of his mind, he greeted her with a kiss tenderly placed on her blushing cheek. She gasped and pulled away from him. “Isn’t this too public a place for that, Mr. Parker?” Her set down was delivered half-heartedly, letting him know that she’d been glad of the gesture.
He chuckled and looked away from her to check the baby. The contentment of the sleeping baby testified to Violet’s gift as a mother. “Did he keep you up during the night?”
She beamed as she too looked at the baby. “No, he cuddled into me and slept most of the night. He’s almost six months old, I think, and is old enough to go longer between feedings.” Fussily she tucked the blanket closer to the baby. “I think he knows I’m his mother now. We get along as if we’ve always been together.”
Bode cleared his throat. “That may be so, but we can’t keep him if—”
Violet cut him off with a gasp. “Of course we’ll keep him. I’m not sending this precious darling to an orphanage.” Outrage stiffened her spine.
Searching for the words to calm her, Bode put a hand on her arm. “Wait, that wasn’t what I meant. We’ll keep him unless he was stolen from a decent family who is looking for him. It’s important that we visit ministers and midwives today to find out if any of them recognize the little guy.”
Reluctantly she nodded her head. Steering her in a new direction, they headed for the Methodist Church looking for all the world like a young family out for a stroll. If only their lives could be that idyllic.
While the minister they spoke with could recommend midwives to interview, none of them recognized Baby Barry. With each interview, Violet grew happier while Bode’s frustration blossomed. By the end of the afternoon, he was hungry and sullen.
Looking at the baby who suckled greedily from a bottle, he snorted and glowered. “Sure is hungry for a guy who did nothing but sleep this afternoon.”
A tinkle of laughter from his wife melted some of his bad mood. “Oh, he was a busy boy. Mrs. Rasmussen’s daughter played with him while her mother and I cleaned the church. It helped so much and wore him out. Didn’t his sleeping make the afternoon so much easier?”
“I wouldn’t call anything about the afternoon easy. Frustrating and fruitless are the words I’d choose.” He put his napkin down and motioned for the girl to clear his plate away. They’d ended up once again at The Table Creek Café. Violet had joked that it was becoming “their place” and he liked the sound of that. It meant they were building history and a connection between them. He felt more of his heart being claimed by this woman.
As they strode up the main street on their way to the mercantile, Heinz stepped out of his shop. He grinned broadly and slapped Bode on the back. Or, at least he tried to slap his back. Due to the difference in their heights, the pat landed somewhere near the bottom of his rib cage.
“I see my shave and haircut did the trick. You’re looking like a family man for sure. Why, you’ve even borrowed a baby!” The little man laughed at his joke and peered into the carriage. “He’s a handsome one, though he won’t need my services any time soon with that bald head of his. I said the same thing earlier this week when I saw him.”
Bode and Violet exchanged a shocked glance. “Who did you see him with, Heinz?” Bode tried to keep the excitement out of his voice.
The man looked at him oddly before laughing. “Why would you ask something like that? Did you forget who you borrowed the little tyke from?”
Deciding how much to tell the gossipy old man, Bode decided to admit that the baby had been abandoned the day before. “We’ve spent the whole day looking for clues to where he belongs.”
The barber rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Can’t tell you where he belongs. You’ll need to ask your partner. It was him that had the baby when I saw the little guy last.”
Chapter 7
“I swear I have no idea why the old guy connected me with this kid. As God is my witness, this is the first time I’ve clapped eyes on the kid.” Rex wiped sweat from his forehead as he declared his innocence. There was a nervous quality that led Bode to doubt his word.
Ever since Violet’s arrival, his partner had behaved oddly. From last night’s absence to his alleged connection with the baby, Rex made him question the quality of the man’s loyalty.
Standing his ground with arms crossed, Bode refused to believe in Rex’s guiltlessness. “Come on Rex! You know Heinz might exaggerate, but he never lies. It’s why everyone’s so ready to listen to his gossip.” He stared determinedly at his partner.
“Okay, okay! For goodness sake, you’d think I’d robbed a train the way you act.” Again, he ran his handkerchief across his sweaty brow and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “I want your wife to refuse to marry you. It won’t be good for the business to have a religious little miss married to you.”
“Where’d you get him from?” Rex’s motive didn’t seem as important as finding out if Barry had been snatched from his real home. Bode loomed over Rex, forcing an answer from him with his proximity and his glare.
Rex held out his hands, palms up, in a gesture of surrender. He attempted, Bode thought, to look apologetic but couldn’t
pull off the expression convincingly. “I went to an orphanage in Omaha. There’s paperwork in my room to prove it. Told them I wanted a boy to inherit my businesses one day.” He sneered as he shared the last bit of his story. “As if I care what happens after I’m dead. I just don’t want to share while I’m alive.”
That last sentence was telling. After all, Rex shared the saloon with Bode. Perhaps their young partnership didn’t stand a chance of working. Ignoring the comment for now, he focused on getting what he needed from the man. “Get the papers for me. Violet and I are keeping that baby. It’s like a bible verse my mother taught me—What you meant for evil, God turned around for good.”
His partner jeered at him. “See what she’s done to you already. Talking about bible verses.” Snorting in derision, he left the room and returned minutes later with a large envelope that he handed to Bode.
Now was not the time to voice his doubt. Soon he knew he’d have to find a way to get out of this partnership.
Without another word said between them, Bode left The Ferryman. Deep in thought, he ignored the few people who greeted him and made his way to Mayor Lewis’ house and knocked on the door.
Apologizing to the woman who answered the door, he asked to see the mayor. She sniffed with indignation but led him into a parlor overflowing with knickknacks and paintings on the walls.
Lewis rose to greet him as he entered. “Surprised to see you. Something new happen?”
Giving a nod, Bode held out the envelope. “These are papers from an orphanage in Omaha. My partner brought the baby from there and is behind the scheme. He doesn’t want me married and tried to discredit me so my wife would insist on an annulment.”
Looking through the papers, the mayor-cum-lawyer smiled. “These should make it easy for the judge to agree to the adoption. Be sure you and the missus start living together in that house you bought and everything will go smoothly from here.”
Bode didn’t add that everything would go smoothly only as long as the attempts on his life stopped. Those attempts didn’t seem to be part of Rex’s scheme to discredit him. Logically, why would his partner want him dead?
At the front door, he asked the mayor about the time it would take to process the adoption. “Will you be able to speak with the judge tonight or tomorrow?” At Lewis’ affirmation, the two men firmed up their plans for the family to come to the mayor’s office on Monday and Bode left.
Walking quickly down three blocks and over two streets, he reached the rooming house. Maybe Miss Andersen would feel generous and provide him with a meal. The smell of beef roast reached down the path and seemed to pull him to the door.
When Violet opened the portal, Bode’s grin nearly split his face. Her hair drooped and there was a stain on her white shirtwaist. She looked the image of a hardworking wife and mother and he adored it.
He leaned in close to her and rested against the doorjamb. “Hello, my beauty. Any chance I can have supper with my wife and son?”
She giggled even while she blew a tendril of hair out of her eyes and off her face. “I worry about your eyesight if you think this is a beautiful look, but I’d be glad to have you share our supper table. Let me take care of it with Miss Andersen.”
She quietly crossed the foyer and he followed. When he began to speak, she put a finger to her lips and pointed at the baby buggy against a wall in the foyer. “Barry’s napping.”
He rolled his eyes and bit back his comment. When wasn’t that baby napping? As far as he knew the little one only woke to eat and then went right back to sleep. Life must have been rough on the baby since Rex took him out of the orphanage. Maybe life in that institution wasn’t so great either. Seemed like Barry was making up for a lack of peace and safety now that Violet mothered him.
Begrudgingly, the landlady agreed to let him stay for supper. When she turned her back, Bode crossed his eyes at her. This started his wife giggling which she covered with a cough so Miss Andersen would be none the wiser about his antics. Violet definitely had relaxed with him. Tomorrow promised to be the true start of a marriage he now anticipated rather than dreaded.
While the women chattered during the meal, Bode kept silent and only answered questions directed at him. He didn’t want to seem overly friendly with any one woman and give credence to gossip about his roguish behavior. When silence settled over the table, he finally spoke up. “I wanted to let everyone know that I discovered where Baby Barry came from.”
Five sets of eyes fixed on him as they waited for details. “Someone I don’t intend to name brought him from an orphanage in Omaha to this town. The person hoped to cause enough trouble so Violet would annul the proxy marriage.”
Suddenly every woman at the table started to comment. Every woman except Violet. As he watched, fat tears slid down her cheeks.
“Are you sad, my sweet wife?” The tears surprised him. He’d been sure she’d be comforted by the news.
Wiping away the tears with her napkin, she put it back on her lap and reached out for both his hands. Gripping them, she gave him a watery smile. “I’m simply relieved and these are tears of joy. Somehow, Barry felt like mine from the first moment I held him.”
Wanting to kiss her, he held himself in check. He shuddered to imagine what Miss Andersen would do to him should he demonstrate his affection at the table. Releasing one of her hands, he lifted gentle fingers to push tendrils of golden-brown hair behind her ears. “I understand the feeling. It’s how I felt about you when I first touched you. You are meant to be mine.”
Regardless of the spinster who presided over the meal, Violet turned her lips into the hand near her ear and kissed his palm. The gesture acted like a commitment between them, touching him to his core.
Thank the Lord he only had one more night before they married. The thought brought a secret smile to his lips that caused Violet to blush. From her reaction, he decided maybe his thoughts hadn’t been such a secret after all.
With supper completed, he and Violet left the table to enjoy time spent with their son. Cyrus Bingham’s insistence on a proxy marriage certainly had turned out well.
Unused to infants, he dandled the baby uncertainly, careful to help the little boy hold up his head. At the fake growls and kissy noises he made, Barry erupted into belly laughs that had his new mother and father laughing along with him.
Handing the boy over to Violet, he looked at her quizzically. “I never asked why you chose Barry for his name. Is there a significance to it?”
She kissed the baby’s bald head and then smiled at her husband. “You told me that in your mother’s family, one of the children was always given the mother’s maiden name as a first name.”
“Right. My mother’s family name was Bode.” Understanding dawned. “I see. Barry’s name will really be Barrigar Parker.”
By her grin, he knew he’d guessed correctly. “I’d like him to share your second name so we’ll call him Barrigar Palmer Parker.”
Contentment settled deep inside him. Moving from the tan armchair, Bode settled his weight beside her on the sofa. He wrapped an arm around his wife and the son he’d claimed for her sake.
Chapter 8
That night Bode slept at the new house. As he settled into bed, he thought back to a conversation he’d had with the barber, Heinz. If anyone knew about threats Arnold might have voiced, it would be that man. He regularly drank with the bar owner.
When he asked the barber about the threats, Heinz stared in confusion. Then he jumped to his buddy’s defense. “Arnold don’t hold with thugs and such. His place ain’t fancy and the hooch is watered down, but you can be sure he ain’t out to get you.”
The trouble with Heinz’s defense of Arnold was that Bode believed him. Something felt off about the idea of Arnold threatening him. Considering that he only had Fifi’s word that the man meant to harm him, he no longer believed the idea was credible.
Rolling onto his back, he stared at the plastered ceiling as he ruminated on the problem. Who wanted to hurt
or possibly kill him? Letting go of the question, he allowed sleep to overtake him.
The squeak of a floorboard brought him awake. Darkness filled the room and the dim light of dawn was barely discernible through the bedroom window. A match flared near him and a candle glowed eerily next to Rex’s face.
His partner grinned at him. “Brought a party to your house Bode Boy! Time to get up and enjoy it.”
Sleepiness disoriented him and he struggled to make sense of the situation. “How’d you get into my house?”
Rex smirked. “Guess you didn’t know that I roomed with the Tomkins family before they moved out of town. Funny how I forgot to give them back the key when I moved out.”
Not seeing anything humorous about it, Bode glared at his partner. Reaching toward the chair by the bed, he grabbed for his pants. The audible click of a revolver’s hammer being pulled back alerted him to the presence of at least one other person in the room.
Without taking his eyes away from his partner, Rex addressed that other person in a crooning voice. “Now Stubbins, don’t get carried away. My buddy here just wants to gird his loins. You and I both know he doesn’t own a gun.”
Oddly enough, the memory of Rex telling him the story of his previous partner being run down by a wagon came to Bode’s mind. Without a care for his safety, he jumped to his feet and whirled to face the man. “That wagon that almost hit me, was it you or Stubbins driving it?”
The man’s spectral-like laugh lifted the hair on Bode’s neck. “You should have been easier to pick off than my last partner. Now there was an intelligent man, but I stilled managed to kill him.”
Those words confirmed his fears. Rex admitted the murder freely to him because either he or Stubbins planned to kill him. Would he then try to murder Violet?
Willing himself to stay calm, he ran the layout of the room through his mind. He had so few things. Still, there was a letter opener in one of the handkerchief drawers of his dresser. Not that it would prove much of a weapon when facing a revolver.
A Bride For Bode (The Proxy Brides Book 21) Page 6