Sins of the Mothers (Texas Romance Series Book 4)

by Caryl McAdoo

  “You’re lusting, aren’t you? I can tell. Isn’t that one of the deadly sins?”

  Moses shook his head. “Was not.”

  His partner smirked. “You most certainly were, I saw it plain as day written all over your face.”

  He burst out laughing. “Guess you could be right, But wasn’t a woman I hankered after. Steak and mashed potatoes with all the trimmings, that’s what I’m desiring, and all I was thinking about.”

  Jethro laughed. “You just ate, and you’re wanting more food?”

  “Oh, maybe only daydreaming. No harm in that.”

  “Well, we’re about out of powder, and while you’re in town, look for us a smith, a good one. And go ahead and get yourself the biggest best steak you can find.”

  “Not my turn to go.”

  “Well, I’m not going. So either you get yourself to town, or we’re back to panning in the creek.”

  “It’s been six month, Jet.”

  “Don’t call me that, you know –”

  “I do, it’s true, but –”

  “No buts. Make a list of what we need and find us a smith, a good one. Better yet find two. I’ve got an idea liable to save us bucket-loads of time and effort.”

  “What might that be?”

  “A hammer mill. Shouldn’t be that hard to build, but materials for it’s liable to weigh better than two ton.”

  “Jethro Risen, how are you supposing I’m to get all that up here onto the mountain? Especially without anyone seeing?”

  “We have the smiths build it in parts. That way, no one could really know what it is. Then we can put it together up here.”

  Moses laughed. “Fine. Never been sorry I partnered with such a brain, even if you can’t cook. I’ll go and find us two smiths. You got drawings ready?”

  “Of course.” His partner smiled. “And there’s one more thing I want you to do while you’re in town.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Ask John Wheeler’s little sister to marry you.”

  Moses snorted. “Now why would I go and do such a thing as that? She don’t know me, and I’ve only seen the girl that one time.”

  “Yes, and you’ve been talking about her for a month now.”

  “Have not. Besides, she isn’t even the pretty one. The other girl, the younger one that married John’s cousin Caleb. She’s the beauty.”

  “But already married! I’m telling you, because whenever you go to talking about Lanelle Wheeler, there’s a sparkle in your eye and you light up all over. Not to mention all the mush you start spouting.”

  Moses balled his fist and held it toward his partner. “I do not.”

  “Isn’t lying another one of the deadly sins?”

  He closed his eyes and nodded. “I’ve taught you well, Jethro Risen. So if you’re knowing the truth, tell me when are you going to turn away from your heathen ways and start loving on Jesus?”

  His friend knew him well alright, maybe too well. Was a lie to be sure, denying his attraction to the lovely Lanelle. Truth be told, for the last month, he’d thought of little else. How could he be so smitten after only saying two words to the little lassie?

  Three days and over thirty easy downhill miles later, Moses found the first smithy. The man took the drawing, studied on it a bit, then shrugged. “Seems easy enough. What is it?”

  “My partner’s latest grand invention, but if he wants to spend his dust this way, then who am I?”

  For a bit, Moses and the smith danced around the price, then the man finally nodded. “Deal, I’ll need half now, the rest in say, a month, when I’m done.”

  “Why so long?”

  “Lot of work, lot of iron. I’ll have to get some of it cast.”

  Moses extended his hand. “Aye, a month then.”

  The second and third he talked with couldn’t help him. Too busy. Then he found another one; a younger man stoking a charcoal fire, wearing a leather apron. Surely looked the part, except for his age.

  “Your pa handy?”

  “Handy as a pocket on a shirt before the fever got him. Last I heard, him and ma was living up north on some river.”

  Moses nodded. Lot of grown men had dropped everything to hunt the mother lode. Lord knew he’d been one his own self. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-five.”

  “No, really. How old are you?”

  “Well, I was there though I have no memory of the day. Mama’s the one kept up with it until I’s old enough. Born March 20, 1826 according to her.”

  “Twenty-five like you said, sure don’t look it.” He extended the page with the second part of Jethro’s drawing. “Can you make this for me?”

  The man studied it more than a minute then eyed him before he nodded. He handed the paper back. “Where’s the other three?”

  “Other three what?”

  “Drawings, that’s only a fourth of it.”

  “How d’you know?”

  The fellow shrugged and kept on fanning his fire. “Does it matter?”

  “Guess not, can you make me one?”

  “Do I get to make the rest? And help put it together?”

  Moses laughed. “What’s your name, sir?”

  “Elijah.”

  “Well now, Elijah, I’ll have to have a word with my partner about that, but maybe. If we can work something out, how long would it take you?”

  “Two weeks, maybe three. You got running water?”

  “Yes, what about it?”

  “Steam would be better.”

  Normally smart mouths put Moses off, but he liked this guy. Reminded him a lot of Jethro back when. “Steam engines are hard to come by.”

  “Not really, I’ve made two so far. One big enough to run your hammer wouldn’t be that hard. Got a Long Tom?”

  “Sure.”

  “Same engine could run that too.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” For a bit the smith haggled, then with the price settled, he stopped working his forge and stuck out his hand.

  “I’ll need that drawing back and half my money.”

  Exactly as he planned, Moses got to the Wheeler Dealer, except now ’twas the Mercantile, a bit before closing time. The young lady, Mary, if he remembered right, finished up with an older lady and her son. He browsed some. John sure had laid in a lot more stock. The woman left, and he stepped up to the counter. “John around?”

  She nodded. “He’s upstairs. Is there something I can help you with, sir?”

  “No, ma’am, suppose not unless you know where I can find Miss Lanelle’s father.”

  “Oh, well.” She smiled and her cheeks grew red. “Uh, I best get John for you then.” The young lady hurried around the counter then stopped. “You’re Moses Jones, right? The man we met our first day here?”

  “Aye, ma’am. That’d be me. Got a good memory, you do.”

  Her flush faded. She smiled then hurried upstairs.

  Soon his friend shook his hand heartily. “So how can I help you, Moses? Got something special I need to order for you?”

  “First, I need a favor, then I’ll tell you why I really came.”

  The proprietor laughed. “Well sure, how can I help?”

  Moses pulled the pouch out of his pocket and handed it to his friend. “I’d like you to cash that out for me. Dollars if you got ‘em.”

  John opened the sack, looked up, then strolled to his front door and locked it. He turned back. “Where’d you get these?”

  “That’s exactly the question we’re trying to avoid. If you don’t have the green backs, dust will do.”

  “We got it.” He stepped toward the back. “Mary, can you come here, please.”

  Shortly John and his cousin’s lovely wife had the money counted out, just short of two thousand. “Now my friend, the real reason I’m here.”

  “Yes, of course, another favor?”

  “I’d be honored if you’d let me take you and your sister to supper. Been hankering for a good steak, and I’d like the co
mpany.”

  “Really? Uh, sure, Moses, be pleased to.” He laughed, “Not exactly what I expected. Don’t know what I expected, but that definitely wasn’t it.” He faced Mary. “You and Caleb be alright for the evening?”

  She smirked. “Of course, we will. I’ll go tell Lanelle to get ready.”

  Seventy-four dollars for the three of them, but Moses didn’t care. Best steak he’d had in years, maybe ever. He waited until the lovely lady finished her meal, then faced her brother. “John, I’d like your permission to marry your sister, if she’ll have me.”

  The lady in question gasped then leaned back in her chair. “Mister Jones, I appreciate the steak, I do. It was delicious and your company pleasant, but I hardly know you.”

  “I understand, and of course we can have as long a courtship as you believe is proper, but I’m smitten. I’ve not been able to think about much else for a month now since that first day when my eyes were blessed with the sight of you.”

  John touched his hand. “Well, my friend, this is unexpected, again. You’ve come to town full of surprises, haven’t you? And I must add, a first. Most miners interested have been asking her right there in the store. You’re the first, Moses Jones, to whom I give my blessing.”

  “Then that’s a yes?”

  “Indeed, you have it. You’ve only Lanelle to convince, and I’ll throw in my high opinion of you.” He looked to his sister. “He’s a good man, Nellie, one of the best I know here in San Francisco.”

  He faced the lady that he hoped would become his bride. “If I had time, I’d go to Texas and ask your father, but I figure your brother here will have to do under our circumstances.”

  “What do you say, Lanelle? Will you accept this Irishman to come courting?”

  No, she wanted Caleb, but so far, all he could do was hem and haw around the subject of marriage—whenever she got any chance to talk with him. She hardly ever caught him alone anymore. “How old are you, Moses?”

  “Thirty-four. Be thirty-five later this year, in October.” He rolled his R.

  “Been married before?”

  “No, ma’am, never.”

  “You visit the sporting ladies?”

  John put his hand on her forearm. “Lanelle.”

  “John, leave her be. She can ask me anything and I’ll answer her true.” He turned back to the woman. “Your answer is no, never, ma’am.”

  “Never ever, not even one time?”

  “Aye, that’s correct. Not ever, not with anyone.” He smiled and leaned in close. “I’m a virgin.”

  Now that was a shock, shame she couldn’t say the same. “You cashed in a lot of gold this afternoon, is there more where that came from?”

  John shook his head but kept his peace and didn’t chide her again. Maybe he wanted to know the answer, too.

  “Aye, ma’am. Seems we’re getting mighty close to the main vein, though I’m sure you understand why I’d ask you to keep that piece of information under your hat.”

  “Of course.”

  He laughed, then leaned in close again. “Getting close to the mother lode, we’re thinking.”

  “How’s your partner going to feel about us, if there ever was to be an ‘us’?”

  “Jethro Risen is the best heathen I know. This very night was his idea. Told me to have a steak dinner and ask you to marry. Seems he’d been hearing me gush about you for a month now. By the way, Miss Lanelle, are you a believer?”

  “Yes, sir, baptized when I was nine. John, Caleb and me all got saved at the same camp meeting.”

  “Good to know. I was hoping that’d be the case. So what do you say? I can’t come too often, but I’ll take every opportunity to spend time with you until you know if you want me or not.”

  She closed her eyes. Well, sure would get her cousin off his duff. She could find out for sure and for certain, as Miss Priss would say, exactly where his love and loyalties lie.

  If he wasn’t going to send his princess wife back home to her daddy where she belonged, then maybe she ought to marry this man. John seemed to like him well enough.

  And bastard…well, a real nasty word any way a person looked at it.

  “When you coming back to town, Moses?”

  “A month. Three weeks at the earliest.”

  She nodded. “Come see me, then. Maybe I’ll know my heart.”

  “Fair enough.”

  She smiled, but there wasn’t anything fair in this life. Not for her anyway.

  Chapter Five

  Lanelle set her basket on the table then smiled at the little princess. “Want to get out?”

  “No, not this morning, I’ve got too much to do.”

  Of course she did, the first lady of business. That’s what her brother called smarty pants. “Know where John is?”

  “I do.” Mary stopped her pencil from writing more on its list and actually looked up and gave Lanelle her attention. “He’s in the attic, they both are. You off to the market?”

  “Thought I’d get some vegetables for a stew. What are they doing up there?”

  “Putting in that vent they had made.”

  She nodded.

  Though she knew exactly where the boys worked, she succumbed to continue playing Caleb’s stupid games. “Well, maybe one of them can go with me. I hate being a single woman in this town, can’t go anywhere alone and feel safe.”

  Mary nodded then returned to her ledger and lists. So eat up with the store, the princess didn’t even have a clue. ”Stew for supper, huh? Sounds good. I could make a pudding if there’s any good-looking berries, or fruit for a cobbler maybe, if not.

  “Caleb loves pudding.”

  “Yes, and I have everything for cookies here.”

  “Stew or soup, depending on meat available. Don’t know which yet, nothing really sounds good. You craving anything?”

  Mary looked up again. “Vegetable soup sounds fine to me, and something light to go with it, maybe a nice salad?”

  “Sure, I love soup, too. The men are liable to fuss over a meatless meal, but who cares?”

  Mary chuckled then turned her focus back to the papers spread over the table. Lanelle marched upstairs then climbed the ladder up through the scuttle hole. Caleb and John huddled at the far end looking at the new hole in the wall.

  She stepped off the last rung onto the wooden floor. When did they put all that up there? With a good layer of hay, it could be a loft.

  “Brother dear, I need a private moment with Caleb.”

  John faced her. Even in the shadows, she could see the disgust on his face. “No, you don’t. We’re busy here. Everyone is. Why aren’t you?”

  She stepped closer. “That’s none of your worry, and oh yes, I do need a minute and I will have it. Please skedaddle. Caleb, tell him.”

  “He isn’t going to tell me nothing, Lanelle. You two are fixin’ to mess everything up. I don’t know how y’all live with yourselves.”

  “Hey, everything’s already messed up. It’s all been wrong since our cousin here got the bright idea to marry the princess—or rather her money.” She looked past her brother to Caleb.

  He only shrugged and John kept working.

  “Oh, fine, guess the whole world can hear our business. It’s been over three weeks, Caleb Wheeler. Moses is likely to be here any day now.”

  Standing, he stretched his back. “I know.”

  “Well, what is it going to be? Me or her?”

  John rose, too, and stepped in front of Caleb. “Do you even hear yourself, Nellie? They’re married. She’s having his baby.”

  It took everything inside her not to scream out so was she, but she kept her tongue in check. “That’s easily remedied, brother. We love each other, have forever.”

  “Well it’s wrong.”

  She leaned out. “Isn’t that exactly what you said, Caleb? Go ahead and tell him, tell him all of it.”

  John threw an arm out, palm up. “All of what?”

  “Your sister’s gone and got herself…�
� He swallowed then looked away. “She’s with child.”

  “What?” He spun back around. “Oh Sis, how could you?”

  “Me? How could I? And I’ve got myself… You men are ridiculous. It’s him, too! I did not do this alone! He’s the one who went and married Miss Priss.”

  “Keep it down, Nellie.” Caleb stepped around her brother. “Look, I’m sorry. But I can’t divorce her.”

  “Oh? Are you afraid someone might hear? And why can’t you? I’m the one you love, and I’m giving you the son you’ve always wanted.”

  “She’s pregnant, too. You’ve had your eyes open all along. She’s innocent. Mary didn’t know, and she hasn’t done anything but be wonderful at every turn.”

  “Oh, wonderful is she? You’re a fool, Caleb Wheeler!”

  “No, Lanelle. Think about it. I sure have. We can work it out.”

  She closed her eyes. Her pounding heart fell and pounded in her gut. She was going to be sick. “Well then, what? What are you planning?” She clinched her fist. “You think you can have us both?”

  “I…uh –”

  “Keep on sneaking around with me then act all high and mighty with her, playing your husband role to the nines? So is that it? I’m your harlot, and Mary’s your wife?”

  “Oh, Baby, no.”

  “Don’t you dare ‘baby’ me! For ten years now, you’ve been having your way with me, and lying your face off. Well, no more! I’ll marry Moses Jones, if he’ll have me, and give him your baby boy!”

  “No, you can’t do that. You don’t love him.”

  “So? What do you think that matters? It doesn’t! Not one bit!” She turned and slid down the ladder just like she once did back home, back when life was grand, and he belonged to her, lock, stock and barrel, all hers.

  She hurried downstairs and took the back door outside, running. Then the tears came, hot, horrible tears. She kept running. But she couldn’t get a good breath. She slowed, gasping, sobbing.

  People stopped and watched. She wiped her cheeks and gulped breaths to keep from crying. How could he do this? How could he betray her so? Because he didn’t love her! That’s why.

  He didn’t love her at all.

  Never had.

  She was the fool!