“Good morning, Laura. Sam.” She walked straight to Samuel. She leaned down and kissed his cheek before sitting in her chair. “You didn’t need to stop talking on my account,” she said, looking at the two of them.
“We were just chatting about the weather,” Samuel said. “Nothing important or interesting.”
“Well, I slept well.” Cynthia picked up a biscuit from the basket in the middle of the table. She looked at Laura. “I heard you crying in your room earlier, Laura. If you need me to comfort you, please come to my room. I don’t mind sitting and talking to you. I know you must be in so much pain. And there is so little I can do to help.”
“I am so grateful for… all you’ve done for me, Cynthia.” Laura couldn’t stop thinking about what Samuel had been about to say. Most likely it was about the suspected affair between their spouses. She didn’t want to talk about that. She didn’t want to believe it. She would return home today and look through her husband’s things to see if there was any indication, any clue he’d left behind to prove whether or not he’d done such a thing.
Samuel was actually quite interesting and charming when he wasn’t drinking heavily. He was lively and alert. When Cynthia was around, his whole personality changed. She wished she had come down just a few minutes sooner. She wanted to talk to him while he was sober and willing to be reasonable. She wasn’t convinced of the possible affair. She didn’t want him to tell her anything more.
She ate as calmly as she could, thinking about what she wanted to do next. Cynthia talked to Samuel, who rarely put the newspaper down to look at her. He ate behind it and grunted his answers to her. She didn’t seem to notice. Laura watched them with her lids lowered, aware of every word they said – or didn’t say – to each other.
When she was finished, she dabbed at her lips with the napkin and set it down on her plate. She looked at Cynthia. “I appreciate the two of you letting me stay here. But I think I’m going to go home now. I think I’m strong enough to be on my own again.”
Samuel dropped the newspaper as if it had caught fire. He looked at her through narrow eyes. She looked back at him in surprise.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Samuel asked. “Don’t you think you might need a little more time here to clear your mind?”
Laura noticed the way Cynthia was looking at her husband. Both of them were wondering why Samuel wanted Laura to stay. She shook her head. “I really think it’s time to go home.”
She looked directly at him and he looked back at her. She felt like they were connecting for the first time. Was he responsible for the death of her husband? Did Samuel really kill James in a jealous rage? She had her doubts.
“Is everything all right, Laura?” Cynthia asked in a hard tone, standing up and giving her a sharp look.
Laura looked down at her hands, folded in front of her chest. “Yes, I… I want to be where I feel his presence. I want to pack some of his clothes to give to the church and put away the things he used to use. I’m not going to get rid of them all right away. But I know other men can use his things and I know he wouldn’t want any of it to go to waste.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you, Laura,” Samuel said.
“Thank you.”
The look on Cynthia’s face softened. She nodded and came around the table with her arms held out for a hug. Laura allowed herself to be hugged, dropping her eyes to look at Samuel, who was still seated. They shared a knowing glance before Laura closed her eyes and gently pulled away from Cynthia.
As she turned toward the door, she thought of how everything had changed now. She didn’t see Samuel and Cynthia the same way. She had learned intimate details about Cynthia and what she was really like. She was confused about Samuel. He seemed pathetic to her now. He was stuck; he was unhappy. He was convinced that Cynthia had been unfaithful with James. Was he sad enough to kill the only real friend he had?
Laura felt sorry for him.
Right now, she just desperately wanted to get away from them both though.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SAMUEL SITS IN THE GARDEN
SAMUEL SITS IN THE GARDEN
Three hours later, Laura was sitting outside on the porch behind her house, sipping tea and wishing it was not raining. It had been steady for several days, taking short breaks so that the earth could absorb some of the water before starting up again. It would only rain like this for a short time. The crops needed it. She knew that.
She marveled at the fact that the rain didn’t make her want to cry. She had been crying randomly for nearly two weeks, but these huge teardrops didn’t bring on her sorrow.
“May I get you anything else, Mrs. Youngblood?” She heard next to her. Cynthia had insisted that her maid, Lucinda, accompany Laura home and help her while she grieved. She shook her head, smiling softly.
“No, Lucinda, thank you. Is your brother still in town? I want to send a message to the Collins house. Do you think he would take it for me?”
“Oh, I’m sure he would, but I’d better ask.” Lucinda nodded, smiling. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can get for you?”
“No, I’m fine right now.”
“Okay, let me go ask him to come up here. Unless you want to give me the message to relay to him?”
“I’ll write it down and give it to him. I don’t want you to have to remember all of it, and it might get mixed up if someone else says it. Does that make sense?”
Lucinda nodded. “It does. I’ll be right back.”
She hurried back into the house. A short time later, a young man came through the door. He was about nineteen years old. When Matthew was six, he had been taken from his home and put in an orphanage, along with Lucinda. Lucinda found a job as the Whitman’s maid. After leaving the orphanage, Lucinda lost track of her brother. After an extensive search, Samuel had found him living under a bridge when he was fifteen. He was a trustworthy young man who worked as a handyman for various people in Wickenburg.
He approached her chair and knelt on one knee so that he was eye level with her. “Do you need a favor, Mrs. Youngblood?”
“Yes, Matthew. I know the weather is not comfortable for a drive. However, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to go to the Collins’ house and ask if Mr. Joshua Crawford can pay me a visit when he can. I need to speak with him at once.”
“I can do that.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Matthew nodded. “Lucinda said you were going to write a note. Do you have a note?” He looked around curiously, noticing that there was no pen or paper on the table beside her.
“I’ve changed my mind. I just want him to come here and talk to me if he will.”
Matthew nodded once more and went back into the house.
Laura looked out at the rain, rehearsing what she wanted to say to Joshua when he got there. She waited on the porch, for another hour, accepting another two biscuits from Lucinda. She was restless, tapping her foot and swinging her leg as she waited. Finally, she stood up and went around to the front of the house, watching up the street for Matthew to return.
“I am so sorry, Mrs. Youngblood, but Mr. Crawford is not at the house. Mrs. Collins said that Mr. Crawford has traveled to Louisville with Mr. Dunford to consult with colleagues about… about...” Matthew faltered at the end and cut his words short, a sympathetic look on his face.
Laura raised her eyebrows in surprise. She nodded, indicating he didn’t have to finish the sentence. “Oh? Did they say how long he will be gone?”
“She said he will return tomorrow. Would you like me to fetch him for you tomorrow when he returns?”
Laura turned away, looking out over the field in front of her house. “I… I will let you know, thank you, Matthew. I’m sorry to make you go all that way in this weather.”
“It’s not far, Mrs. Youngblood, and helping you is my pleasure. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Laura shook her head. “No, thank you, Matthew. I’m very surprised that he went t
o Louisville. What could have prompted that?”
“I really don’t know,” Matthew replied.
She looked up at him, as if surprised that he heard her thoughts. “Oh, I’m sorry, Matthew, I was talking to myself. I don’t need anything else. Thank you for doing that for me.
“My pleasure, really. And you have my sympathies, Mrs. Youngblood. I enjoyed working for your husband. He was a kind man and a good employer. He was a great man. He was a big influence for me, too. Him and Mr. Whitman.”
“Did you work with Mr. Whitman often?”
“I have on occasion. Whenever Lucinda tells me they need something done around the house.”
Laura looked at him again. “Does he pay you well when you work for him?”
Matthew looked surprised by the questioning, but answered without hesitation. “Always. Mr. Whitman is a good man, too. He just… well, he stays on the bottle and I don’t think that’s good for his health. It seems to me like he’s just so sad all the time and drinking doesn’t make him happier.”
“Have you had occasion to see him when he’s not drinking?” She thought about her observation this morning. Samuel could hold a conversation well when he wasn’t drinking. She almost found him to be pleasant.
“I have, and he seems like a good guy to me.” Matthew was looking at her with great curiosity and surprise. “Why all the questions, Mrs. Youngblood? You should know them better than I do. You’ve been friends with them longer than I’ve been alive.”
Laura smiled at him. “Thank you for that.”
Matthew smiled back at her a bit impishly. “I’m glad to see you smile, Mrs. Youngblood. I always liked you and James. I am so sorry he isn’t with us anymore.”
“Thank you, Matthew.” She gave him a grateful look. “I am, too.
Matthew nodded at her and tipped his cowboy hat before turning and going back to his wagon. The rain was tapering off. Her anxiety was growing. She wanted to say something to someone. She wished she and Samuel had not been interrupted that morning. It would have been an interesting conversation indeed.
It wouldn’t matter if they thought her sudden visit strange so soon after announcing that she would be staying at home from now on. She only wanted to talk to Samuel anyway. She’d listened to the plans Cynthia had made, though she hadn’t looked up from her plate while they’d been talking. Cynthia would be in Wickenburg, visiting Mrs. Carlton and her sisters, who were all part of her group from church.
She could find Samuel, if he was still there. She’d left the journal in the study, kicking it up under a table so that it might look like it hadn’t been taken in the first place. She hoped he would find it. He would find it eventually, she was sure of it. They would have a talk about their spouses. She was going to stand up for James. She had looked around the house, but was anxious for Joshua’s input. She hadn’t put much effort into finding anything. She knew she didn’t want to find anything, and that would taint her investigation. She needed Joshua to look so that if something was found, she wouldn’t so easily dismiss it.
As she pulled on her rain boots and jacket, she wondered if Samuel had anything that would actually prove something had been going on between them. Something real and tangible, like love notes. She hoped it wasn’t true. The very thought made her heart ache twice as much as it already did.
Joshua’s face floated through her mind. She saw him smiling at her. She was willing to bet real dollars that he would never be unfaithful. She knew James. She wasn’t going to question her judgment until she got all the facts. If Samuel had proof there was something going on, she would know he was responsible for James’s death.
What would she do with the information? If Samuel knew she suspected him, would he hurt her? Would he try to kill her too?
To prepare herself for anything, she wore a dress with a pocket and placed a small knife into it. The knife was kept safe in a sheath.
The rain stopped almost the moment she left the house. She took the wagon to the Whitman house slowly, not really wanting to go back there again so soon, but knowing it was necessary if she wanted to confront Samuel without Cynthia around. Roads that were usually dusty were muddy instead. She could smell the crisp moisture in the air. She lifted her head and breathed in through her nose, enjoying the pleasant scent. It was so much nicer than the usual dusty smell that lingered in the air all around town.
She didn’t hurry the horses along. It would be some time before Cynthia would be back and even if she returned, she wasn’t bound to make a scene if she saw Laura there. However, she would prefer that Cynthia not be there. She could come up with an excuse as to why she had come back, but didn’t really want to. She detested lying and sometimes told the truth without thinking about what the consequences might be. Those were situations where it was better to just say nothing.
She brought the horses to a halt in front of the steps that led up to the front door. The house was very similar to her own, but larger.
Gerald, the groomsman, was standing at the ready and took the reins from her. “How long will you be staying, Mrs. Youngblood?”
“Bring the buggy back around in an hour, please, Gerald.”
“Yes, ma’am. Please allow me to offer you my sympathies on the loss of your husband. James was a fine man. I liked him very much.”
“Why, thank you, Gerald.”
“I did want to be here for the wake, but Cynthia…” He didn’t finish his sentence.
In fact, Laura was beginning to notice more and more that many people didn’t like Cynthia. She and James had not socialized with a lot of people other than Cynthia and Samuel. Therefore, she had rarely seen other people’s reaction to Cynthia’s behavior. She herself hadn’t even noticed it until now. She wondered why she was so sheltered and had let her friend manipulate her for most of her life.
Laura went up to the front door and knocked. The housekeeper, Pam, answered. She smiled with a look of surprise on her face.
“Hello, Laura. Did they know you were coming? I thought you had just left.”
Laura nodded. “I did leave, and I’ll be leaving again. I think I may have forgotten something.”
“Oh, so you won’t be staying? Well, come in; don’t stand out there in the moist air.”
“Thank you, Pam.”
“Mrs. Whitman isn’t home. You can go ahead and look for whatever you left behind. If you need me, I’ll be...”
“Where is Mr. Whitman?” Laura interrupted her.
“I’m sorry; I don’t really know where he is.”
“It’s all right. I’ll have a look around and see if I can find it.”
“If you tell me what it is, I’ll keep my eyes out for it.”
“It’s a little bauble. A gold broach.”
“Not something your husband gave you, I hope?”
Laura smiled softly. “How sweet of you to think of that. But no, not terribly important. I just thought I brought it and I didn’t see it with my things.”
“All right, I’ll watch for it.”
“Thank you, Pam.”
She walked past the living room, remembering the conversation she’d had with Joshua in that very spot. She remembered how she felt coming out of the study and seeing him immediately, nearly running into him. They hadn’t been as close as she would have liked. She would have gladly run into him. She imagined that his body was solid as a rock. The thought made her feel warm inside.
She chided herself silently. She should not be thinking about Joshua yet. Not the way she was anyway. She needed to mourn for James.
However, remembering her conversation with Joshua made her feel warm and tingly. It made her stomach do turn-overs. She went to the room she’d been staying in and poked around a little bit, playing along with the pretense that she was searching for her lost broach, in case anyone saw her.
When she was sure that no one was watching, she went to Samuel’s study. She pushed the door open and poked her head in. It was dark. She could only see from the light cast throu
gh a small opening between the heavy drapes. She crossed to the other side of the room, bumping her toe into a short red ottoman. She pulled the drapes, opening them wide. The sunlight burst through them, lighting up the room.
She turned around.
Her eyes went directly to the table she’d pushed the book under. She couldn’t see the corner of it sticking out any more. She looked out the window for a moment and then around the room. No one was there. She hadn’t expected anyone to be.
She knelt down and felt under the table as far as her fingers would go. It was gone. There was nothing under there.
He’d found it right away, she hoped. It could have been Cynthia who found it, she realized. What would Cynthia do? And how would she not still be here now, arguing with him, throwing a temper tantrum? Pam hadn’t looked nervous or alarmed when she arrived. Surely she would have immediately let her know what was going on if there had been an argument. The help were always more in tune with what was going on than people thought. Laura imagined that the ones who worked here at the Whitman’s home probably had many, many stories to tell their friends.
She decided she needed to find Samuel. She wandered from room to room, poking her head in each door. If no light met her eyes, she knew there was no one in the room and went on to the next one. He had to be on the property. The only place she would not allow herself to look would be his bedroom. However, she saw no reason why he would be in that room. Not during the day. Even when he stayed drunk the entire day, he was rarely in his room or in bed. He wandered around the property, holding a drink in one hand and mumbling to himself about the sad state of his life.
She went to the window of the study. As she passed, she glanced at his desk and noticed that the journal was sitting there, open on top of it. Some of the pages were ripped out and lay beside it, crumpled into balls.
An Unexpected Dilemma Bride Page 11