Anne nodded, frowning. “You do know that Mr. Brady is a vigilante?”
“Yes, and I am indebted to the man for what he did when my stagecoach was attacked. He’s been kind and respectful since then, and…a good friend.”
A wry smile crossed Anne’s lips. “Mr. Brady does seem to be a good man, but he can also be quite violent. Have you read any of Professor Thomas Dimsdale’s articles on the vigilantes in the Montana Post?”
“Yes, I have over these past several days. I am interested in starting a newspaper here in Alder. I have learned a lot about life out here just reading those articles.”
“Well, Professor Dimsdale came here from Canada for his health, but I have heard he is failing fast. He did manage to get his articles compiled into book form. It’s called The Vigilantes of Montana. You might want to read it. Perhaps you will meet the professor when you go to Virginia City. Things are so much more civil there. It’s the capital of Montana Territory, you know. Maybe if you visit the Post, you could come up with some ideas for our newspaper here. The professor had his printing press shipped all the way up here from St. Louis. You say that’s where you are from?”
Elizabeth suspected Anne Henderson was quite the town gossip. “Yes,” she lied, hating the hole she was digging for herself every time she lied about her background.
“Some people are not fond of some of the tactics of the vigilantes,” Anne went on, “but then, they are all we have to keep order in these parts, and it’s no easy job. I just don’t want my daughter exposed to any violence, mind you.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Mrs. Henderson, I assure you Mr. Brady will not be a part of my teaching. He does also live in this boardinghouse, but he is gone far more than he is here. I have seen neither hide nor hair of him for nearly two weeks now. Ma Kelly has told me I can use her parlor for teaching, and it’s quite safe here. I hope I can convince the townspeople to build a small schoolhouse for us. Perhaps you could convince your husband and others to see that gets done.”
Anne nodded. “I will try.” She cleared her throat. “I am afraid I have to tell you, though, that…well…Henrietta Deets, the blacksmith’s wife, is hesitant to send her son here for school because… Well, gentleman or not, town gossip has it that Mr. Brady is sweet on you…and after all, you both live under the same roof. The other mothers and I feel either you or he should perhaps find other quarters.”
Elizabeth struggled with a quiet anger at the insinuation. She’d been wanting to form a women’s club, a way to get together with the other women here, but now she wasn’t so sure that she wanted to know any of them. At the moment, she marveled at the fact that a lady of the evening like Sarah Cooper could be easier to talk to and a more understanding friend than the “proper” Anne Henderson. If she and the other women found out why she really came to Alder, they would probably run her out of town before she could explain.
Still, Anne and the other women were entrusting their young children to her, and she needed the work. She tried to look at the situation from their point of view. “I can understand your concern,” she told Anne. “Please consider that our both living here was just how circumstances left things. I needed a safe place to stay and I knew no one, so Mr. Brady thought this would be the safest place for me for now. I have already given thought to moving out, but I am so new here, I have no idea where I would go. I went through a bad experience and am not ready to live alone. Ma Kelly has been very good to me, and my room is on the second floor in back, not near Mr. Brady’s. And like I said, he is gone far more than he is here. When he returns, I will bring up the matter.”
“Perhaps Mr. Brady is the one who should move out. He obviously is one who would be just fine living alone, and Ma’s place is about the best quarters you will find in Alder, so you should stay. Heaven knows it’s a rough town. Please don’t take offense. I am just telling you how it looks to others. You seem to be a very nice young lady. I’m sure you want to keep your reputation intact, since you will be teaching.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you.”
Anne rose. “Just get a message to me when you are ready to start classes and I will tell Mrs. Deets and Ethel Green. Will you be at the picnic?”
“Yes. And you should know Mr. Brady has asked me to go with him. I am not prepared to be walking around alone in this town. I hope you understand.”
“Certainly. I am sure Mr. Brady will be quite the gentleman. As a guard, of course, a person couldn’t ask for better than Mitch Brady, especially a woman. He’s known to staunchly defend the female person, even the…well…the ladies of the night. You should realize, though, that he also frequents those same ladies for pleasure.”
Elizabeth felt an unexpected stab of jealousy, combined with a great desire to hit Anne Henderson. “That matters little to me,” she lied. “As I said, Mr. Brady is simply an acquaintance who helped me out of a bad situation. He is also a single man who has a right to visit anyone he wants, including the women to whom you refer. I have no control over that.”
They finally said their good-byes and Anne Henderson left with her daughter. Elizabeth turned away with a sigh. Where she or Mitch lived was none of the woman’s business, but she could see where it might lead to gossip.
Ma Kelly came into the room then, wearing an apron. “I was preparing bread dough, but I heard some of your conversation,” she told Elizabeth. “Don’t let the so-called proper women of Alder get to you, dear. They obviously don’t think anything wrong is going on here—yet. But she’s right that if you or Mitch don’t move out soon, the talk will get worse. I’m sure Mitch will be the one to move, and he won’t mind.”
Elizabeth thought about Anne’s remarks about the prostitutes. “Where would he go? To live with one of the whores?”
Ma Kelly snickered. “Does that bother you?”
Elizabeth faced her. “I have to admit that it does.”
Ma folded her arms and raised her chin. “Elizabeth, I have a feeling that the man hasn’t visited any of those women for a while now—not since meeting you. I’ve come to know him pretty good, and I expect he’s the type who would step away from such things if he found a special woman he cared about. I know from the few things he’s said to me that he thinks of you as special.”
“Actually, he has expressed feelings for me. He wants to court me, although I’m not sure what his idea of courting is. He did bring me those roses.”
Ma smiled. “Well, for that man to admit to feelings means he cares a great deal. I’d give some weight to it.”
Elizabeth walked over to a stuffed chair and sat down. “But he’s violent, Ma, and lives a dangerous life. He’s made a lot of enemies. I’m afraid to let myself care about him. Besides that, there are things about me… I mean, part of the reason I left was to get away from a big, strong man who was abusive. I am having a hard time letting myself trust any man, let alone one built like Mitch Brady, with that violent side.”
“Big and strong matters little.” Ma Kelly sat down across from her. “Honey, when it comes to women, there is nothing abusive about that man. He’d never harm a hair on your head.”
“He doesn’t know the whole truth about me. No one here does.”
“Well, there’s no truth that would cause Mitch Brady to be mean to a woman. I watched him drag a man out in the street once and beat him near half to death for taking his fist to one of the whores. He kicked him out of Alder and said if he ever came back, he’d kill him outright. He’d do it, too. And throwing men out of town for hurting a woman has happened more than once.”
Elizabeth stared at a frayed spot on the chair. “Well, the fact remains, one of us can’t remain here. It’s only right that I move. Mitch has lived here a lot longer.”
“I’d like to see you stay, and I suspect Mitch would never make you move instead of him. This would be a much safer place to meet with the children than a place where you’re alone. Besides, I enjoy your c
ompany and appreciate your help in the kitchen. Well-bred as you seem, I am surprised you have so many domestic talents.”
My mother was once a servant. There was so much she needed to talk about but was afraid to bring up. “My mother taught me how to cook and clean and such so that I could always take care of myself. She used to say that you never know when you might end up alone and poor. She was so right.”
“Well, the dance and picnic are only a couple of days away, so I reckon Mitch will be back any time now. I guess your living situation is something you’ll have to discuss with him.”
“Yes, I suppose,” Elizabeth answered. Among other things. The thought of Mitch with other women stirred far more anger and jealousy than she cared to admit. She rose and walked to a window. “Right now I just hope he does make it back and that he hasn’t been hurt.”
“There is another solution to the housing problem,” Ma Kelly told her.
Elizabeth faced her. “Oh?”
Ma nodded. “You two could get married.”
Elizabeth gasped. “Married!” She laughed. “That’s ridiculous! I hardly know the man!”
“Oh, you know him pretty darn good already. And out here, men and women usually marry quick. I’ve known perfect strangers to marry just for convenience. Usually both widowed, the man needing a wife to cook for him and care for kids left behind and the woman needing a man’s help and protection as well as help with her own brood of kids.”
“Well, neither of us is in that situation. Honestly, Ma, how can you talk about marriage? That is the last thing I want. I’ve seen the worst that can happen when a man takes over a woman’s name and possessions.”
“Mitch Brady isn’t that kind of man.”
“You don’t know that for certain.”
“Well sometimes you can know a person just a few days and know him damn good,” Ma retorted. “Others you can know for years and find out you never knew them at all. Mitch Brady is the kind you get to know real fast. The man is an open book.”
Elizabeth faced the woman. “And I knew the other kind of man back East. He destroyed my trust in men.”
“Suit yourself, but I guarantee Mitch is thinking marriage.” Ma patted her shoulder and walked back into the kitchen.
Elizabeth stared after her. Marriage! What a ridiculous thought. No man was going to own her the way her stepfather had owned her mother…and no man was going to get his hands on her precious heirloom necklace. Nor was any man going to touch her intimately again. Besides, men like Mitch Brady weren’t the marrying type. He’d more than likely love to get his hands on her without the trappings of marriage. He might have feelings for her, but he sure never mentioned getting married.
Still, there was that little part of her that liked being close to him. She hated admitting it, but with Mitch gone for nearly two weeks, she was scared to death he was hurt or dead. She’d be very happy to see him walk through the door unscathed, yet seeing him again would mean having to make a lot of decisions she hadn’t expected to have to face when she first came to this place.
She touched her lips, unable to forget how gently he’d kissed her the day they went to Alder Gulch. She’d had no idea a kiss could feel that nice, or that a man like Mitch Brady could have a gentle bone in his body.
Twenty-one
Elizabeth answered the door off the kitchen to see Sarah Cooper standing there holding two brown-wrapped packages. “I have your other two dresses here.”
“Oh, come in!” Elizabeth stepped back to let her inside.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Why on earth shouldn’t you come in? In fact, what are you doing at the back door? There is more mud in the alley back there.”
Sarah smiled a bit sadly. “You don’t want people to see me coming in the front door, honey, especially now that I hear you’re going to be teaching soon. A teacher has to watch her reputation and who she’s seen with.”
“Well, then I’m not so sure I want to teach,” Elizabeth joked. “Now come inside. It’s actually a bit chilly this morning. Ma has some coffee on the stove.”
Sarah looked around before stepping inside. “I see you’re wearing the brown flowered dress.”
“Yes. I just got it back from Lee Wong’s, cleaned and pressed. It fits really well. You’re a good seamstress, Sarah.”
Sarah set the two packages on the table. “Well, here are your other two dresses. They should fit just as well. Sorry it took a little longer than I thought. I wanted to do an extra nice job, considering you’re probably used to the finer things in life.”
Elizabeth poured two cups of coffee. “That was nice of you, but I am fast learning that out here it doesn’t make much difference how perfect something is.”
Sarah snickered. “In more ways than one.”
Elizabeth smiled, urging Sarah to sit down to the kitchen table. “Ma went shopping. And as far as you thinking you shouldn’t come in, I’ll not stand for people dictating whom I can and cannot be seen with. I like you and I’m glad to have someone I can visit with. How have you been?”
“Oh, life is the same as always. Work all day…sometimes half the night, if you know what I mean. More men have been pouring in, headed up into Alder Gulch.”
Elizabeth was already learning to ignore why Sarah had been up half the night. “Yes, and I don’t like how they are blowing and hacking that gulch to pieces. This is such beautiful country, and miners are destroying it.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows. “So you’re already growing to appreciate this wild country?”
“For its natural beauty, yes. But it’s a bit too wild in other ways.”
Sarah chuckled. “That’s a fact.”
“Mitch took me up into the gulch about two weeks ago,” Elizabeth told her. “He ended up in a shooting confrontation with Trudy Wiley and some of her men and then went on into the gulch like the shooting was nothing. Then we went to see a woman whose son I thought I might be able to teach, but he’d been killed in an accident with a supply wagon. I felt so sorry for the mother. I can’t imagine living up there under such sad conditions and lacking so many amenities. It’s bad enough here in Alder, let alone in the gulch. And then to lose a child…” She sighed. “That and the shooting—it all just made me see how lawless and hard this place is.”
“And winter is coming on. It hits here earlier than in places at lower elevations, and believe me, you haven’t seen winter till you’ve spent one in Montana.”
“So people keep telling me.”
Sarah sipped some coffee. “Speaking of our wild vigilante, Mitch Brady, I am supposed to tell you he’s back, and he’s fine. Had a few troubles but nothing he couldn’t take care of.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Back? He hasn’t been here.”
“Well, he wanted me to tell you he’s staying in a room above the Antelope Saloon. He’ll send Randy over to get his things from here.”
Elizabeth felt a keen disappointment. “Don’t…certain women also live above the saloon?”
Sarah smiled wryly. “Yes, but one of them has left for Virginia City. Mitch took her room.” She leaned closer. “Mitch isn’t using their services, if that’s what bothers you.”
Elizabeth folded her arms. “I find that hard to believe—and no, it doesn’t bother me.”
“Of course it does. I’m no fool, Elizabeth Wainright. I’ve been around way too long for that. You love this country because Mitch is here, and the ‘wildness’ you speak of refers to Mitch Brady. He’s become your hero.”
“Nonsense.”
“I don’t think so. I saw the fallen look on your face when I told you where he is. And if you’re wondering why he hasn’t been over here to see you, it’s because he only got back late yesterday and he was in bad need of a bath and a shave and some sleep. He didn’t want you to see him that way. I ran into Ma Kelly yesterday morning at the dry-goods
store and she told me what Anne Henderson said about you and Mitch living under the same roof. Mitch stopped by my place with some material he got in Virginia City and asked me to make him a couple of shirts. I told him what Ma said, and he decided right then and there not to come here last night. He doesn’t want to spoil your chance to teach. That big galoot really cares about you.”
Elizabeth drank some of her own coffee, her feelings mixed. She’d tried so hard not to care, but knowing Mitch was back made her want to see him right away. “He should have asked me about it first. I hate for him to have to live someplace else. Ma cooks for him and keeps his room straightened. Who will do that for him now?”
Sarah gave her a knowing look. “Honey, he won’t lack for such attention over at the Antelope.” She grinned. “I assure you, though, he’s not seeing any of those women in any other way. When he dropped off that material, he admitted to me that he missed you a lot, and he wanted to know if you’re all right.”
If he knew the truth, he wouldn’t be so worried about my reputation. Elizabeth felt herself falling into a deeper and deeper mess. She was beginning to care too much about a man who had the ability to legally send her back to New York, where she was probably now wanted…for murder and theft. She had no doubt that Alan Radcliffe had done a grand job by now of setting her up for judgment and sentencing. She found herself blinking back tears.
Sarah sobered. “Elizabeth, what is it?”
Elizabeth waved her off. “Oh, a lot of things.”
“Honey, I’m serious about Mitch staying away from the women over there. Don’t be upset by it. Oh, he’ll talk with them and drink with them and be the man that he is, but he’s got a real thing for you and he knows you wouldn’t give him the time of day if he was doing anything more than that.”
Desperate Hearts Page 16