If Crusader loses the race, Edward will have to stay in Texas.
Eden couldn’t remember when she’d been prey to such conflicting emotions. She’d always loved going to San Antonio. It was a beautiful old town with a strong Spanish heritage, a vibrant German community, and a welcome for anyone who wanted to stay for a few hours, a few days, or the rest of their lives. Impressive buildings of brick and stone stood three stories high, sunlight reflecting off their huge glass windows. Most of the family was staying at the Menger Hotel next to the Alamo. The race would finish in the plaza in front of the hotel. The limestone and ironwork edifice was one of the most impressive buildings in San Antonio and the best hotel.
It was late afternoon, but the streets and plaza were comfortably crowded with wagons, carriages, and men on horseback. Crusader was tethered to the back of the buckboard Jake had used to convey Isabelle to San Antonio. She steadfastly refused to ride a horse unless it was impossible to get to her destination any other way.
“It’s not as bad as London,” Edward was telling Eden, who rode next to him. “London streets are nearly impassable any time of day.”
Eden agreed with him, but the noise and crowded conditions irritated her. Knowing the conclusion of the race would mean the end of her time with Edward made her feel worse. That she couldn’t stop thinking about throwing the race mortified her. What kind of woman would consider winning a man by cheating?
“Your father can take care of our bags for us,” Isabelle said to Eden. “I want to see Suzette as soon as possible.”
“I ought to go with Edward so I’ll know where Crusader is stabled,” Eden said.
“He can show you later. Right now, Suzette is more important.”
Eden didn’t know what she could do for Suzette that her mother couldn’t, but she didn’t argue. The messages from Hawk and Zeke had been reassuring, but neither man had conveyed anything beyond the essential facts that their wives had not been hospitalized and the babies had not yet been born.
Eden had stayed at the Menger before, but now that she’d been to London, she had a better understanding of just how elegant the hotel really was. Corinthian columns on marble pedestals rose from the lobby to support the floors above. Garlands decorated the columns, which each bore four lights that flooded the lobby with a warm glow. Plants in large pots and high-backed chairs set against the wall softened the effect of the white walls and columns.
“I want a room facing the square,” Isabelle stated. “I intend to watch the finish of the race from the comfort of the roof outside my window, not fighting the crowd on the street below.”
“I told Hawk to reserve the front rooms on all three floors weeks ago,” Jake said. “The name’s Maxwell,” he said to the clerk. “I trust there’ll be no problem with the reservations.”
The flustered clerk ran his finger down the page of the The flustered clerk ran his finger down the page of the register in front of him. It came to a stop three quarters of the way down and his expression relaxed into a smile. “No problem at all, sir. You have all twelve front rooms.”
“Maybe that’ll be enough since Hawk and Zeke already have rooms,” Isabelle said to Eden. “You can stay with your father and me. The rest will have to settle it among themselves.”
Since Matt had seven kids, five adopted, and Drew had six, three adopted, Eden expected there’d be a lot of settling to be done. Pete’s and Luke’s wives, with five children between them under two, had decided to stay home. Will was bringing his son Riley and Junie Mae’s boy, Scott, but Idalou said three-week-old Belle was too young to travel. That still left thirty children if all the older ones came, and seven more couples. The hotel would be overrun with the Maxwell clan.
“Could I have the numbers of the rooms occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Hawk Maxwell and Mr. and Mrs. Zeke Maxwell?” Isabelle asked.
“They’re on the back overlooking the garden,” the clerk said.
“Come on,” she said to Eden. “I have to see Suzette for myself before I can relax. Hawk never tells me what I want to know.”
“They’re not here,” the clerk said. “They left for the hospital early this morning.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Did they leave a message?” Isabelle asked.
The clerk shook his head.
“Which hospital and how do I get there?”
“Edward can finish up here,” Isabelle said as soon as the clerk had given directions. “Jake, drive me to the hospital immediately.”
“Go on,” Edward said when Eden hesitated. “I’m sure the hotel porters can help me with the luggage.”
The ride was short, but Jake managed to cut off two buggies, nearly run over a wagon, and scare one horseman so badly Eden could see the whites of his eyes. Isabelle was out of the buckboard and inside the hospital before Jake could get the horses tethered. The woman in charge tried to tell her mothers-in-law weren’t allowed in hospital rooms without a doctor’s permission, but Isabelle marched down the hall opening each door until she peeked inside the third, gave a small gasp, and entered the room. Fearing the worst, Eden hurried after her.
She entered to find Suzette sitting up in bed, nursing a tiny infant, with Hawk at her side looking so bemused Eden was nearly betrayed into a laugh. Hawk, the guy who never lost control, who never showed emotion, had had all the underpinnings knocked from under him by the sight of his wife nursing an infant with her mother’s golden hair.
“Say hello to Zoe Maxwell,” Suzette said with a tired smile. “After scaring us for the last few months, she came without any trouble.”
Isabelle could barely wait for Zoe to finish nursing so she could hold her newest grandchild. In the meantime, she peppered Suzette with questions until she was convinced both Suzette and her daughter were doing fine.
“Where are Zeke and Josie?” Eden asked Hawk.
“In the next room,” Hawk replied without taking his eyes off his daughter. “Josie started her labor soon after Suzette, but the doctor said it wasn’t going to be quick.”
As though to confirm Hawk’s statement, a long drawn-out wail penetrated the wall between the two rooms.
“It scares me every time I hear her,” Suzette said, “but the doctor says she’s strong and doing fine.”
“I’ll go see.” They’d barely left the room when an infant’s cry reached them.
“Do you think that came from Josie’s room?” Eden asked.
“We’ll soon find out.”
Josie was glowering at her husband when her mother-in-law charged into the room without knocking. “I told Zeke it was going to be a boy. A girl would never have been so stubborn or caused so much pain.”
A doctor was checking the baby while a nurse cleaned up the room. It was impossible for a man as dark as Zeke to look pale, but he had lost a lot of color. “We’re going to name him Jessie.” He looked wrung out, but his voice was still a deep, resonant bass.
“Is he okay?” Josie asked the doctor. “After I’ve gone to this much trouble to have him, he’d better be perfect.”
“You have a healthy son,” the doctor said, “with all his toes and fingers. Would you like to nurse him?”
“I guess I’ll have to if he’s going to grow big enough to get some woman in trouble one of these days.”
The doctor looked shocked, but Eden knew Josie talked tough to hide the softness of her heart.
“He’s a handsome baby,” the doctor said. “I expect he’ll have lots of women giving him the eye if he grows up to be anything like your husband.”
“Why couldn’t I have had a girl?” Josie moaned.
“They’re more trouble,” Isabelle said, looking over the doctor’s shoulder to make sure her grandson was indeed healthy. “If you have a girl, you’ll be pacing the floor every evening waiting for her to come in. This young man will be keeping somebody else up at nights.”
Having finished checking the baby, the doctor handed him to Isabelle and left.
“It’s been quite a su
mmer,” Isabelle said, smiling down at Jessie. “Pete’s twins, Luke and Will’s daughters, and now these two.”
The nurse finished tidying up while Eden helped Josie into a fresh nightgown. Once the bed was ready, she climbed in and held her arms out for her son.
“Are you hungry?” Isabelle crooned to the baby. “Your mommy said such terrible things, I think I’ll keep you. I like little boys.”
Eden moved to where she could see the baby. His big brown eyes never left his grandmother. He looked more like his mother than his father. He would definitely be a heartbreaker when he grew up.
“I like little boys, too.” Josie’s expression softened when she turned her head to look at her husband. “I already have a big one to look after. I don’t suppose a little one will be too much harder.”
“Easier but more time-consuming,” Isabelle said as she surrendered Jessie to his mother. “Now we’re going to leave you alone so you can get some rest before the family arrives. How long does the doctor want to keep you here?”
“That depends on Suzette,” Josie said. “I don’t want to leave her alone.” leave her alone.”
“I’m going to sit with her a while. She doesn’t look as strong as you. I’ll leave Eden to keep you company. Zeke looks about as useless as Hawk.”
Eden had always thought it was ironic that such big, confident men as her brothers could be reduced to helplessness by a tiny baby. She wondered if Edward would feel that way.
“Do you know any jockeys who are free to ride?” Edward asked a man who was one of the sponsors of the race now two days off.
“We don’t have much call for really good riders of Thoroughbreds around here,” the man told him. “The best ones are in New Orleans.”
Since it was too late to bring a rider from New Orleans, Edward was limited to those in San Antonio. He’d interviewed two men and rejected both.
“I’ll ask around, but you’d be advised to go with whoever has been riding your horse unless it’s you.” The man paused, his brows knitted before he spoke again. “It’s rumored that you already fired one jockey.”
“He refused to ride the horse the way I told him.”
“Are you a trainer?”
“No, but I’ve worked with the horse for six months and know what it takes to make him run his best.”
“Maybe, and maybe not,” the man said. “Jockeys don’t pay much attention to owners, who generally don’t know what they’re talking about. The scuttlebutt is that you don’t know much and your horse is a rogue.”
It angered Edward that one ignorant jockey could ruin his and Crusader’s reputation with just a few words, but it didn’t surprise him. His horse was unknown and he was a foreigner. Even this man, who had no reason to care about Edward one way or the other, had turned stiff and a little unfriendly when he’d heard Edward’s accent. “He’s wrong,” Edward said, “but I guess the only way to prove that is to win the race.”
“How are you going to do that without a jockey?”
Edward left without telling the man he had a jockey. He just didn’t want to use her.
He was still wrestling with his conscience about allowing Eden to ride Crusader. Eden was convinced her unknown attacker had been trying to take the horse out of the race, but Edward couldn’t get it out of his mind that the gunman was aiming at Eden. Someone had already taken Black Cloud out by injury. If the shooter had been after Crusader, why wouldn’t he have tried something similar?
Attempting to kill Eden wasn’t something someone was likely to do on the spur of the moment. Murder was a serious matter, even in Texas. Now if he’d been the target, that would have been another matter. What was one foreigner more or less? He wondered why people didn’t stare when he passed. A glimpse of himself in a store window provided his answer.
He was dressed like every other cowboy in a town full of cowboys. Until he spoke, there was nothing except his height to make him stand out from the crowd.
That provided some comfort. Though he still felt out of place—one month in Texas wasn’t nearly enough time to erase the effects of twenty-five years in England—he had begun to feel more comfortable with his surroundings. He knew that had a lot to do with the acceptance of the Maxwell family . . . and of Eden. Which brought him back to his problem of finding a jockey for Crusader. If he didn’t, the only way to make certain Eden wouldn’t be in danger was to withdraw his horse from the race.
That would mean forfeiting the chance to win the purse money, to win money on bets, money without which he couldn’t buy a ranch or ask Eden to marry him. He would have no future. But if Eden did ride and something happened to her, he would not only have no money, no future, but no wife, either. What would he do then?
Return to England? No. That was impossible. He’d work as a common ranch hand before he begged his family to take him back. What place would he have? He didn’t know who his father was, his mother didn’t want him, and his place in the family had already been taken. He would be a penniless dependent. After having run the estate and been the patron of the village of Green Moss, he couldn’t endure the humiliation.
What could he do in Texas with no money? Wait a year for another race? Surely he could find a good jockey by then. But he couldn’t keep working for Hawk and Zeke even if they were still willing to give him a job. After having kissed Eden, held her in his arms, made love to her, it would be impossible to be so close and not do something to dishonor himself.
He could go farther west and hope fortune smiled on him. He could race Crusader for side bets. From what he’d heard, there was a lot of money around gold mining towns like Virginia City and Tombstone or sophisticated cities like San Francisco and Denver. Someone would always be willing to back his horse to win. But that would mean leaving Eden. Could he endure that?
His audible curse drew the startled attention of two women who were window shopping. Since the older woman immediately put herself between Edward and the younger one, he could only assume the curse, uttered with an English accent, had convinced the woman he was a very dangerous person, possibly a deranged one.
There didn’t seem to be a solution to his problems, but he There didn’t seem to be a solution to his problems, but he knew one thing for certain. He couldn’t allow Eden to ride Crusader, and he’d have to tell her tonight. He didn’t know how to begin. She was going to be angry and argue with anything he said. Maybe he ought to talk to Jake or Isabelle. One of them might be able to—
His chain of thought snapped when he saw a man who looked amazingly like Finn talking to the jockey he’d fired. They were between fruit and vegetable stands in Market Square, a place Edward would never have come near if he hadn’t been looking for a jockey. Certain he was mistaken, he hurried on. Finn was back at the ranch with Brady. A few steps later he paused, reconsidered, and turned back. The stranger looked too much like Finn for Edward not to make sure. The two men had moved deeper into the market when Edward caught sight of them again. It was hard to be certain in the crowded aisles.
Working his way around women poring over fruit, dodging children running down the aisles, and moving aside for men carrying baskets or sacks of produce, he worked his way closer to the two men. He didn’t want to take a chance that one of them would recognize him, but he had to get close enough to be sure it was Finn.
The two men paused next to a stand of potatoes that were being put into crates and carried away in preparation for closing the market for the day. Edward was able to circle around and approach them from the back. It was too noisy to catch anything they were saying, but he caught an occasional word during lulls in the surrounding noise. The man was Finn. Edward could never mistake that sharp, nasal voice.
Now the question became why had Finn left the ranch after Jake had put him in charge, and what was he doing in San Antonio?
With so many members of the family wanting to visit with each other, it was inevitable that the clan would gradually take over the lobby, front hall, and lounge of the hotel. The wome
n compared notes on the progress of their children while the men talked about the attacks. Children from two to twenty, struggling to hold their excitement within bounds their parents would accept, looked forward to one last holiday before most of them would start a new school year. Everybody was excited to learn that Suzette and Josie had had their babies and were doing well. Hawk and Zeke would be staying at the hospital for the night. Consequently Eden was surprised when Zeke entered the hotel.
She tried not to be amused at Zeke’s awkwardness in accepting congratulations from his family on the birth of his son. She was surprised when he hurried over to ask where he could find Buck.
“I don’t know if he’s here yet.”
“I need to talk to him as soon as he arrives,” Zeke said.
“Is something wrong?” She couldn’t imagine why Zeke needed to talk to Buck. They’d hardly seen each other in years.
“I ran into one of Chet’s former cowhands on the way over here. He reminds me of Rupert Reison.”
Eden couldn’t immediately place the name.
“He’s the man who tried to kill Buck and nearly killed Jake instead.”
Then she remembered being told about the farmers who’d settled on Jake’s land while he was off fighting the war. One of them had followed Jake when he took his first herd to Santa Fe. He’d tried to kill Buck because Buck had found the body of a boy Rupert had beaten to death.
“Buck had more contact with Rupert’s sons than I did,” Zeke said. “When I wasn’t working, Rupert kept me chained in the barn. If that man is related to Rupert—he’s the right age to be one of his sons—then something strange is going on. All of those people were farmers. They hated ranchers. I can’t think of a single good reason why a son of Rupert Rei-son would be working for anybody in the Maxwell family.”
“You ought to talk to Dad.”
“Not until I’m sure. I don’t want to upset him for no reason.”
Texas Loving (The Cowboys) Page 27