Her Unexpected Destiny_Seeing Ranch series

by Florence Linnington

  Her eyes trailed back to his, and this time, they locked on tight. The world around the two of them disappeared, and suddenly, all Matt saw was his girl. Every line and curve of her face was perfection. He ached to unpin her braids and run his hands through her locks, to cup her chin in his palm and turn her lips up to his, to find out what she tasted like.

  “Matt, I...” Melissa took in a long breath and held it.

  “Uh-huh?”

  She smiled in a strained way. “I feel I am growing… rather close to you.”

  Matt blinked in surprise.

  “I care for you,” Melissa said in a rushed way. “Very much.”

  “I care for you very much,” he blurted out in one rushed exhale.

  “There is something that I wish to speak with you about before our relationship proceeds any further.”

  Matt swallowed, aware that his body had naturally shifted toward hers. He forced himself to stay back, to keep the space between them. He didn’t want to be forward and scare Melissa. Instead, he needed to show her she could trust him.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Melissa! Matthew!” Pa’s voice rang across the yard. “Supper’s up!”

  Matt could have cursed at the awful timing, and that was something he never did.

  “After supper?” Melissa timidly asked.

  “Yes.”

  This time, he allowed himself a little rein to do what he wanted. Sweeping Melissa’s hand up, he lightly kissed the back of it. She inhaled quick, her eyes widening. He could tell by the smile playing on her lips that she liked the gesture.

  “After supper,” he promised her.

  She nodded, the lantern light dancing wild in her eyes.

  Matt extinguished the wick, and they strode side by side to the house. They didn’t touch as they walked, but Matt felt they were much closer than they had been only ten minutes before.

  Melissa was opening up. She was ready to share with him.

  Kicking the mud off his boots, Matt grinned ear to ear. If Melissa had something to tell him that night, maybe it was time he also took their relationship onward to the next step.

  By the time he entered the kitchen and sat down at his place, he had decided: that night, everything would go up a notch.

  12

  12. Allie

  Chapter Twelve

  May 1883

  Allie walked around all day long, afraid to go back to the factory, afraid to go to the boarding house. The scene from the office flashed constantly in her head. Mr. Burke’s eyes. His touch. The thwack of the umbrella on his head. All of it was burned into her memory.

  She walked familiar blocks and strange ones, the whole time looking around herself with anxiety, terrified that at any moment, the police would come for her.

  Mr. Burke may have made his threat simply to terrify her, but there was truth in it. If he wished to destroy her, he could.

  When night finally fell, Allie watched the boarding house from the shadows across the street. She waited until curfew had passed to sneak around to the back. There was a ladder there she could use to sneak into the house. She’d never used it before, but some of the other women had done so when they needed to slip in during after-hours.

  Carefully, she placed the ladder against the exterior wall and even more carefully climbed up it. She had no plan. All she knew was she needed a moment to breathe, a place to lay her head.

  “Juana?” she whispered as she reached the second-floor window.

  Her friend gasped loudly and rushed to help her climb inside.

  “Where have you been?” Juana demanded, her voice shaking.

  The room they shared was nearly dark, a solitary candle flickering on top of the wardrobe.

  Allie could not speak. She stood in the middle of the room, pressing her hand to her mouth. Her fingers were so cold. How could they be that cold in May?

  When Allie didn’t answer, Juana continued on, sending a barrage of questions her way. “What happened? The factory told the missus to fetch the police if you showed up here. They said you had done something bad. And you were not there when I came in from lunch. Allie, what is going on? Please, tell me.” Juana’s voice was demanding, afraid.

  Allie closed her eyes and took a long breath. Somehow, she felt that the inhale gave her strength. Even if it was only a shred of power, she would take it.

  “Juana, Mr. Burke forced himself upon me.”

  Juana’s eyes went wide in horror. “¡Dios Mío! Did he… did...”

  “I hit him across the head with an umbrella,” Allie tearfully explained.

  Juana placed her hands on Allie’s shoulders. “Good for you.”

  “Not good for me, Juana.” Allie shook her head frantically. “He is coming after me. He said that he will make me pay.”

  Juana looked frozen.

  “Juana?”

  Allie’s friend swallowed, blinked as if she were waking up. “Yes. Yes, then… um...” She dropped her hands from Allie’s shoulders and began pacing around the room. “He is not a kind man, that Mr. Burke.”

  Allie scoffed. “I know that, Juana.”

  Juana stopped pacing and turned to face Allie. “If he says he is coming after you, my dear friend, then he will.”

  Allie’s blood ran cold. Mr. Burke’s wrath was what she’d feared, but hearing someone else speak of it out loud made it more real. Allie was not imagining the danger; she was truly immersed in it.

  “I have heard stories about him,” Juana whispered. “He is ruthless when it comes to money and power. Caroline Dawney said that there was a woman, a lady of the night, and he—”

  “Stop.” Allie plugged her ears. “Juana, I do not wish to hear any more.”

  Juana began wringing her hands. “You must leave, Allie. There is no other choice.”

  “Leave?” Allie repeated.

  “New York.” Juana nodded passionately.

  Fresh tears filled Allie’s eyes. “But where will I go? What will I do?”

  Juana took Allie’s hands in hers. “Think of what may happen if you stay. If you take this to the law, will they believe you?”

  “I do not know,” Allie answered mournfully, knowing the answer was likely “no.”

  “And if word of this does get out, if you tell everyone about Mr. Burke...”

  “It will tarnish his reputation awfully,” Allie finished.

  But did a man such as Mr. Burke even care about his reputation? He walked into places and took what he pleased. He ran in the most powerful circle in the city. Did his comrades even care about what he did to women?

  Allie did not know. She also did not believe staying around to find out was a risk worth taking.

  “Here.” Juana rushed to her bed and fell to her knees. Out came the tin can where she kept her savings—what little she had managed to put away. “You must take this.”

  “No,” Allie firmly said, pushing the can away when Juana attempted to hand it to her.

  “And how much money do you have?” Juana demanded.

  Allie bit the inside of her cheek. “Not much” was the answer.

  “Take it.” Juana reached into the tin can and pressed the withdrawn money into Allie’s hand. “It will buy you a train ticket, plus more. You can live off of it for a few weeks if you’re frugal.”

  Allie looked at the money in amazement. “Juana, how...”

  “Do not even say thank you.” Juana looked fiercely into Allie’s eyes. “For the past three years, you have been my dearest friend. You understand what that means, yes?”

  Allie nodded, eyes and throat burning. She was an orphan with no one to go to, no one to love her except for the friends she made. She understood Juana absolutely.

  “Then you take this money, and you get yourself somewhere safe.”

  “Where is safe?” Allie choked out.

  Juana shook her head sadly. “I do not know… Far away. That is all I can say. Now hurry. We must pack your things. Mr. Burke’s goons may come looking for y
ou at any moment.”

  Allie stuffed the money into her apron pocket, and together they rushed around the room, packing up what Allie owned in her one bag. She had very few belongings: a second dress, a hat, undergarments, a hairbrush, and a tattered copy of Frankenstein.

  “That’s all,” Allie said, sweeping her gaze around the room—her last gaze.

  For this was the last time she would be in this boarding house. It was, perhaps, the last time she would set eyes on Juana.

  No. It could not be that way.

  “I will return,” she promised, seizing Juana’s hand. “Eventually.”

  “No,” she hissed. “You cannot do that.”

  “The city is big.”

  “And they know that where I am, you will likely be,” Juana argued.

  It was the truth, and Allie would not put someone else at risk through association.

  “Then I will write.”

  Juana’s lips pressed together. “With no return address?”

  “With no return address.”

  Juana considered it for a moment. “It must be when you are far away. Somewhere safe.”

  “It will be,” Allie promised. “Oh, Juana, I cannot thank you enough.”

  “And I told you not to.”

  “I will miss you so much.” Allie’s voice broke, and she buried herself in Juana’s shoulder. The other woman hugged her so tightly Allie felt as if she might break in two.

  From down the hall, muffled voices sounded. Men’s voices.

  The boarding house was women only. No men were allowed. Ever. Not unless they had some business to attend to there.

  Police? Mr. Burke himself come to find Allie?

  Her legs stiffened, and she could hardly breathe, but Juana sprang into action.

  “Go,” she whispered hurriedly, pushing Allie toward the window. The voices were getting closer. Allie could hear footsteps as she took her bag and climbed awkwardly over the windowsill and onto the ladder.

  “This is her room here,” she heard Mrs. Estleman, the matron who ran the boarding house, say.

  Allie looked up as she descended, catching one last glimpse of Juana’s face in the moonlight.

  “God bless you,” Juana whispered.

  “God bless you,” Allie replied just as Juana slid the window shut. There was muffled knocking, and Juana asked who was there. Allie heard nothing else. Her feet were on the earth, and she was running.

  Keeping to the shadows and alleys, she darted behind buildings when she could. That was dangerous, though, as thugs waited in the dark spots, hoping to catch an unsuspecting victim such as herself.

  Once she was halfway to the train station, she slowed down, doing her best to walk as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Inside, however, she shook in an awful way.

  “I would like a ticket for the train that is about to leave,” Allie told the man behind the glass.

  He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as he took her money and slid her a ticket. “It’s boarding right now. You best hurry.”

  She nodded and rushed to the platform, her heart hammering away. The ticket was for Philadelphia. Allie knew that would not be far enough. In Pennsylvania, she would board another train. Then, if it felt necessary, she would board another one.

  She would ride to the ends of the earth if that was what it took for her to leave everything that had happened behind.

  Finding a spot on the train, Allie perched on the edge of her seat as she waited for the journey to begin. The whole while, she swept her gaze across the train’s platform. The dark made it hard to see anyone’s faces, but she hoped that, were the police or Mr. Burke to appear, she would recognize them right away. Perhaps she would have the chance to flee through the far end of the train.

  Allie wrung her hands together. Oh, how could this be happening? Only that morning everything had been going as expected, and now she was fleeing, leaving behind everything she had ever known.

  Her life in New York had not been grand. In fact, it was often downright awful. Her body constantly ached from the work at the factory, and though she spent all day long weaving cloth for others, she’d never had a new dress for herself. She’d never had suitors, never gone to school past the age of twelve.

  But at least she had Juana and the other women in the boarding house. And at least she understood her life. She knew New York. She knew who she was.

  The train jerked, its wheels screeching as it rolled away from the station. Allie breathed a long sigh of relief. She had done it. She was leaving it all behind.

  Terror filled her, but there was also a sense of freedom. Her whole life, she had wanted more. She wanted to wake up in the morning and have an hour to herself. She wanted to visit the countryside she’d only heard about, to be courted by a man, to open her eyes and have something other than that dour factory waiting for her.

  Now, through a most unfortunate set of circumstances, her old life was ending. Soon, a new one would begin.

  She did not know whether to curse the devil or thank the Lord.

  Allie set her mouth in a hard line and stared out the window, watching the dismal yards of New York roll past. If this is what you want of me, God, then I will do it. I will follow Your will. I will trust that You are taking me where I need to be, even if I do not understand it.

  13

  13. Matt

  Chapter Thirteen

  June 1883

  All through supper, Matt’s knee shook up and down under the table. At one point, Pa shot him a questioning look, and Matt realized that he’d knocked his boot against his father’s leg.

  He couldn’t help it, though. He’d felt confident going into supper, but the more he thought about what he was about to do, the more nervous he became.

  It was an odd situation, really. He and Melissa were already engaged. But, then again, they were engaged in a practical kind of way. They’d agreed on marriage long before they set eyes on each other.

  What was happening now had nothing to do with pragmatism.

  With the meal over, the women set about cleaning up. Instead of going out to check on the animals one last time, as he often did at this time, Matt hovered by the front door.

  “Ma.” He cleared his throat.

  She turned to look at him, and he jerked his head in the direction of the hallway. From the kitchen table where he was packing his pipe, Pa lifted his face in interest.

  Wiping her hands on her apron, Ma followed Matt down the hallway. His palms were sweating, and he could feel both Melissa and Pa watching them as they exited, but he paid them no mind.

  Matt stopped at the very end of the hallway. Melissa was sleeping in his old room, which meant he couldn’t go in there, and he had enough respect to not barge into his parents’ space without asking.

  “What is it, Matthew?” his mother asked in a low voice.

  The words were all clumped up in his throat, but he did his best to get them out. “I was thinking,” he whispered, “well, Melissa and I have been getting closer lately.” He cast a glance toward the main room. Neither Melissa nor Pa were visible, but he could hear the clinking of the dishes in the wash bin.

  “That’s good,” Ma said, her voice equally low.

  “Uh-huh,” he agreed. “And I thought that what I’d really like to do is give her something to show her how much she means to me. I know you said you’d like to give her your ring as a wedding gift, but I thought maybe I could give it to her now.” Matt spoke quickly, eager to explain himself, as he wasn’t sure whether his mother would be keen on his idea or not. “And then, for the wedding, I’ll buy her another ring. It’s that, you know, the ring is such an important part of our family, and...”

  He trailed off, self-conscious and losing steam.

  “And you want to show her that she’s a member of our family now,” Ma finished.

  Matt gave her a grateful look. “That’s right.”

  “It’s a wonderful idea.”

  His chest filled with joy. “Yeah?�
��

  Ma pulled him into a tight hug. “I’ll fetch it now,” she whispered.

  She left him standing in the hall, anxiety and excitement competing for space in his heart. Within a minute, she was back, the ring in question nestled in a handkerchief in her palm.