The Truth About Love

by Nerys Leigh

  Escape to the West

  Book 5

  The

  Truth About

  Love

  Nerys Leigh

  ESCAPE TO THE WEST BOOK 5: THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE

  Copyright: Nerys Leigh

  Published: 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval systems, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted, without written permission from the author. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Extracts from the Authorised Version of the Bible (The King James Bible), the rights in which are vested in the Crown, are reproduced by permission of the Crown’s Patentee, Cambridge University Press.

  Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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  The Escape to the West series

  No One’s Bride

  A Hope Unseen

  The Wayward Heart

  An Unexpected Groom

  The Truth About Love

  More Than Gold

  Each of the stories in the Escape to the West series takes place at the same time as the others. There may be occasional mentions of the other books in this one, but don’t worry if you don’t remember those or haven’t read them yet. Understanding the references isn’t at all necessary to this plot and won’t spoil your enjoyment in any way.

  But if you do get them, you might just experience an “Ohhh, so that’s what was happening” moment!

  PLEASE NOTE spellings throughout the book are British English because the author is British and it’s far easier for her to avoid embarrassing mistakes sticking to what she knows. She hopes you find the differences in our shared language quirky and delightful!

  Prologue

  April 1870

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Clive leaned back onto his elbows on the bed, pursing his lips. “Hmm, I’m not feeling it. Try more pathos.”

  Clasping her hands together at her breast, Jo donned her best starving urchin expression and wailed, “I’m pregnant!”

  He burst into laughter. “Yeah, a touch too much pathos.” He sat up and beckoned, taking hold of her waist when she walked up to him. “This is our big chance. Once you get the money from Lord Wetherington to keep quiet about his son’s indiscretion, we can do anything. The two months we’ve put into this are going to pay off like nothing we’ve ever done before. All you need to do is convince the old man that the indiscretion exists.”

  “I know.” She knew very well. She’d been the one catching Aaron Wetherington’s eye, pretending to enjoy his drunken advances. She’d even been able to convince him they’d consummated their liaisons on more than one occasion, when he’d passed out and awoken the next morning with no memory of what had really happened the night before.

  Clive gave her the look that turned her insides to mush. “You can do this. You’re the best.”

  She raised one eyebrow. “Better than you?”

  “Oh, well, I don’t know about that.” He grinned and reached up to tweak her nose. “Try it again.”

  Stepping back, she reached into her heart for the emotion she needed to make it convincing. It wasn’t difficult to find. “I’m pregnant.”

  He clapped his hands together. “Perfect! Where did that come from? Honestly, I got shivers. I’m telling you, this is going to make all our other schemes seem like nothing. We’re gonna be rich!”

  His enthusiasm made Jo laugh. They’d been together for almost two years and she’d learned so much from him. Clive was thirty-four, older than her by seven years, and his experience showed. Yes, she’d been good enough before she’d met him to get by through swindling people out of their money, but partnering with Clive had taken things to a whole new level. They were so much better together.

  Reaching out to take her hands, he pulled her down onto the bed and caught her lips in a kiss that stole her breath away. She smiled up at him and he ran his fingers down her cheek.

  “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” It wasn’t the first time he’d said those words and she still never quite believed him, but they were nice to hear anyway.

  “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me too.” He was, by a long way. “So when we have the money, we can get out of New York?”

  His eyes didn’t leave hers. “Sure, sweetheart, whatever you want.”

  Touching her fingertips to his handsome face, she willed herself to say the words she’d been trying to say to him for days. Surely there wouldn’t be a more perfect time than this.

  Taking a deep breath, she whispered, “I’m pregnant.”

  He chuckled. “That one was a bit too wistful. Go with the last one. That had more fear in it.” His smile faded when she didn’t answer. “That wasn’t practice, was it?”

  She shook her head, her heart dropping when he sat up and turned away from her.

  He ran one hand over his dark hair. “How? We’re always careful.”

  She sat up beside him, clasping her trembling hands together in her lap. “I guess not careful enough.”

  Long seconds of silence stretched into what felt like hours.

  “How long have you known?”

  “A few days, for sure. I suspected, but when my monthly didn’t come, I knew. It always comes on time.” She hesitantly touched his shoulder. “But we’re going to have money now. We can find a house and settle down. We... we could get married. Be a family.”

  Her heart pounded as she waited for his reply. A small voice in the back of her mind told her she was being foolish, that she never should have opened herself up to him, let him take over her life. No one else had ever held sway over her like he did. She’d been independent since she was fourteen. Her life hadn’t been easy, but it was always hers. Until Clive.

  But what could she do? She was in love.

  After an agonising half minute, he turned his face to her, and she breathed out when he smiled.

  “Sure we can, sweetheart. We can do whatever you want. You and me and...” he placed his hand on her stomach, “...Junior here. A family.”

  Relief flooding through her, she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her face to his shoulder. “It’ll be good, you’ll see. We’re going to be so happy.”

  “Sure we are.” He wrapped his arms around her and lowered her beneath him to the bed, his gaze heating. “We’ll be real happy.”

  As his lips claimed hers, she allowed herself to believe it was the truth.

  ~ ~ ~

  Two days later, Jo woke to the morning sounds of the Lower East Side filtering in through the window of their tiny boarding house room.

  A smile crept onto her face. Today was the day, the start of her new life with Clive and their baby. She mentally packed her bags. It wasn’t hard, she didn’t have much. Even before Clive, she’d learned to travel light. Leaving in the middle of the night wasn’t unheard of when an incensed target somehow managed to find her.

  But all that was behind her now. She and Clive could afford to rent a house that would be all theirs. Not a big house, true, but she didn’t need a grand mansion like the rich
people she swindled had, with rooms upon rooms that they never used and probably forgot they even had. Just a living room and a kitchen, and maybe a parlour, but that wasn’t essential. And two or three bedrooms, one for her and Clive, one for the baby, and one for any more children they’d have in the future.

  There would be curtains at the windows and rugs on the polished wooden floors and a white lace tablecloth on the table. Every morning she would pick wildflowers to put in a vase on the mantel. She’d even learn to cook. She’d need to, now there would be a baby. She would be a good mother, who took care of and loved and protected her children. Learning how to do all that wouldn’t be too difficult. All she’d have to do was everything her own mother hadn’t.

  Stretching, she rolled over to look at Clive’s side of the bed. It was empty, but that wasn’t unusual. He had probably gone to get them breakfast, like he often did. Maybe he’d even bring her pastries today, now they had Lord Wetherington’s money and could afford them. She’d outdone herself when she’d gone to him the previous day to convince him his wayward son had fathered a child. The performance of a lifetime. He’d believed every word.

  Of course, Aaron Wetherington would probably be able to persuade his father she’d been lying, eventually, but she and Clive would be long gone by the time the drunken oaf had even slept off his perpetual hangover. Gone with the money his father had given her to keep quiet and fix his ‘little mistake’. Gone to their new life.

  She sat up, stretched her arms over her head with a yawn, and swivelled her feet onto the cold floor. She’d make herself presentable for when Clive returned with their pastries.

  A piece of paper on the chest of drawers that slouched in the corner of the room caught her eye. She walked over to pick it up. The paper was folded in half, her name written on one side. A twinge of fear nipped at her gut, but she ignored it. What reason did she have to be afraid? Everything was finally going her way.

  Maybe it was a love letter. That must be it. He’d left the mother of his child a note to tell her how much he loved her while he got them breakfast. The fear vanished and she smiled as she unfolded the piece of paper.

  My dear Jo,

  I’m sorry, but I can’t stay.

  Her stomach clenched, the words blurring before her as her hand began to shake.

  I don’t think this will be a shock to you. You knew who I was when we met, and I never claimed to be anything better. I wouldn’t make a good father or husband. These last years with you have been more than enjoyable. You’re a wonderful woman and I think I even love you, as much as I’m able. But I don’t want the life you do and I never will.

  Take care of yourself and the baby. If you choose to keep him, make up something about me. Don’t tell him the truth, he doesn’t need to know that. Maybe you could say I was a hero or something, who died in some selfless act.

  Have a good life, Jo. You deserve it.

  All the best,

  Clive

  For a few seconds she simply stared at the letter in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. She must be dreaming, a nightmare she’d wake up from with Clive beside her in the bed. It had to be.

  A panicked thought suddenly came to her and she pulled open the drawer where she’d put all the money. Three ten dollar bills were left, out of the dozens there’d been the night before. Heart pounding, she yanked open every other drawer, her desperation growing. Her clothing remained, his was gone, along with all the rest of the money.

  The letter slipped from her trembling fingers and she stumbled back from the empty drawers.

  “No.”

  Not knowing what she was searching for, she looked around the room, as if that would bring an answer. As if Clive would spring in through the door and shout “Surprise!” and tell her it was all a terrible joke.

  But he wouldn’t and she knew it.

  “No, no, no, no, no.”

  The room spinning around her, she fell to her knees, gasping for a breath that wouldn’t come.

  What would she do now?

  ~ ~ ~

  The house was the very definition of unprepossessing, no different to all the others around it in the low class neighbourhood. But everyone knew what went on here.

  Jo stood in front of the mildly scruffy building, staring at the peeling black paint on the door. She raised her hand to knock and then dropped it again. It had taken her four days to get this far. On previous days she hadn’t even made it onto the street before turning around, promising herself she’d come back the next day.

  Her hand went unconsciously to her abdomen. Fear had been her first reaction when she’d first suspected she was pregnant, but over time she’d come to accept it, and even look forward to having a baby. A chance to raise a child right, the way she hadn’t been. Surrounded by love. She could love a child, she knew she could. She hadn’t had much practice so far, but in her heart she knew she had a lot of love to give.

  But now...

  A tear trickled down her cheek and she swiped at it in annoyance. She didn’t cry, ever. Not since she was eleven, since her father left.

  She raised her hand again, her fist hovering an inch from the door’s surface. There were no other options. She was alone, unmarried, and pregnant.

  She had no choice.

  Swallowing, she knocked twice.

  The door opened within five seconds. If it had taken any longer, she would have turned and run.

  An older woman in a grey woollen dress looked her up and down. “How far along are you?”

  She had to swallow again before speaking. “I-I’m not sure. Four or five weeks, maybe.”

  The woman nodded. “You got money? Fee’s fifteen dollars.”

  Jo gave a small nod.

  “All right, come in.”

  She followed the woman into the hallway inside. There was a tang to the air, like acid, and her gut shuddered.

  The woman indicated a room to the right. “You can wait in there.”

  There was a young woman sitting on one of a handful of wooden chairs in the room, barely more than a child, her dress worn and tight across her middle despite her thinness. When Jo stepped in, she raised impossibly sad eyes, the eyes of someone for whom hope was a distant memory.

  Jo’s heart hit her throat. She backed from the room. “I can’t do this. I can’t.”

  Spinning on her heel, she grabbed the handle on the front door, threw it open, and ran out into the street. She gasped in deep breaths of air that was far from fresh but sweet as roses compared to inside the house.

  The door slamming shut behind her made her jump. Looking back at its black surface, she shook her head, pressing a hand to her abdomen.

  There had to be another way.

  Whatever she had to do, she would find it.

  Chapter 1

  “Can you see them?” Lizzy said, bouncing in her seat.

  Although she wasn’t anywhere near as excited to be arriving, Jo hooked her elbow over the back of her seat to peer through the window beside her. Grime from the week long train journey from New York coated the glass and she leaned forward to see better.

  “There are so many people, how do we know...”

  The train slowed, pulling into Green Hill Creek’s station, and a cluster of men came into view.

  Lizzy jumped from her seat. “Over there! That must be them!”

  Next to her, Louisa took her hand and pulled her back down, looking embarrassed. Jo covered her smile. The two were complete opposites, with Lizzy’s constant enthusiasm and Louisa’s almost painful poise, and yet they’d become the best of friends. They all had, all five of the mail order brides travelling to California to marry. It was a new experience for Jo, having real friends with no ulterior motives. Despite her natural inclination to distrust everyone, she was enjoying it.

  “Oohhhh, they’re all so handsome,” Lizzy gushed. “I can’t even decide which I want to be mine.”

  Jo twisted round and rested her chin on her hands on the back of her seat, reluctant t
o catch sight of her husband-to-be. “Calm down, Lizzy. They’re only men.”

  “They’re not just men, they’re our husbands. Or will be soon. Aren’t you excited to meet Gabriel?”

  She shrugged. “I guess.” Although excited wasn’t the word she would choose. Resigned would be a much better fit.

  Lizzy touched Jo’s arm in a gesture of sympathy Jo had learned was always completely genuine. “Don’t worry, it’s all right to be nervous. I’m sure he’ll be handsome and wildly romantic and you’ll be madly in love in no time.”

  The exuberance of youth. Jo could pinpoint the exact point in her life when she’d lost hers. By the time she was Lizzy’s age of twenty, she’d been well aware for a long time that life was cruel. Her life, at least. Now, at twenty-seven, she was well and truly jaded. But she couldn’t help but hope that nothing happened to dampen Lizzy’s naive enthusiasm. It had been nice to be around her innocence, if just for the week they’d been on the train together.

  “Don’t ever change, Lizzy,” she said.

  She laughed. “I’m not sure if I could, even if I wanted to.”

  “I don’t think I can see Jesse,” Louisa said, looking worried as she peered through the window.

  Lizzy followed her gaze. “He said he has light brown hair, didn’t you say?”

  “That’s right, but I don’t see light brown hair. I see three with dark hair and one blond who must be your Richard. Then there are two older men, but neither of them can be him.”

  Jo still didn’t look. Gabriel would be one of the dark-haired ones. She’d done all her wondering about him when she received his first letter. Now she wanted to put her disappointment off for as long as possible. She stifled a humourless laugh. Emotions like that had never been a problem for her before Clive came into her life. He’d ruined her, in more ways than one. What did it matter what Gabriel was like, as long as he provided for her and her child? She would never allow a man into her heart again.