“Emma is the sweetest thing,” Annabelle said, wrapping the baby snugly in her own shawl. “I can’t believe how chilly it’s gotten.”
Annabelle’s smile at the young mother melted his heart. If he was to keep his promises to both her and his pa, he needed to find a way to maintain his distance.
Joseph looked up and noticed clouds rolling in over the mountains. The sky was already darkening, which meant a storm would hit before afternoon.
He tried not to groan at what would be an inevitable delay in his mission.
“I’m not used to this weather,” Meg said. “Back home, summers were so hot. I thought Isaac’s brother was funning us when he told us to bring our winter things. But one of the women in town said that they’ve had snow in June here. June! Can you imagine!”
Annabelle nodded. “I remember it well myself. It wasn’t much snow, of course, and it melted right away, but it was still quite the surprise.”
Why did her smile have to be so engaging? Even though she was talking to Meg, and not him, he felt just as drawn in by the woman as Meg clearly was. Her face was animated, and her smile crinkled her eyes.
Joseph turned away, unable to continue watching Annabelle. He couldn’t afford to be given one more reason to like her.
As he turned, he noticed Slade riding in. Though they would be unable to visit the sites until after the storm passed, this would give them a chance to discuss their plan.
Annabelle must have noticed his change in attention, and she followed his gaze, then stood. “Slade.” She looked at Meg. “We must talk to him about what happened to your husband. Perhaps he can be of service where the sheriff was not.”
She didn’t wait for Meg’s answer, but held the baby tighter to her as she moved in Slade’s direction and waved.
“Slade!”
He dismounted and came toward them, handing his reins to a boy before arriving at the camp. “Good morning, Annabelle. Joseph.” He nodded in his direction before approaching the ladies.
“Slade, this is my new friend, Meg. Her husband was attacked by some ruffians, and I’m hoping you can help find these horrible men.”
Annabelle relayed the story with such passion that any doubt he’d ever had about her character and willingness to engage with others was wiped away. She had been listening, with all her heart, and was acting upon it.
Stop it, Joseph. She wasn’t his to be thinking this way about. He knew better. Had warned himself multiple times to avoid doing so.
He turned his attention to Meg, who was engaging in the conversation with Annabelle and Slade.
No, that wasn’t good. Because her engagement only reminded him of how Annabelle’s warmth had drawn her out. Even as the baby gave a slight cry and Annabelle handed her back to her ma, he couldn’t help but think of how wonderful Annabelle was with a baby.
He gave a small cough. “Since you have it all in hand here, I think I should go check on Nugget.”
Without waiting for an answer, he retreated to their own camp, where he could find at least a moment’s peace from his thoughts of Annabelle.
*
Annabelle watched Joseph retreat, feeling the chill in the air more acutely in his absence. She’d given up her shawl for the baby, and now her arms were starting to prickle against the coming storm.
“I’ll make some inquiries,” Slade said, as he, too, watched Joseph leave. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to catch up to Joseph to tell him our plans.”
“Of course.” She gave him a smile, the kind she hoped Joseph would be proud of. “I appreciate you taking the time.”
He nodded, then left, leaving her alone with Meg and the baby.
“Thank you,” Meg said when they were alone. “I am so glad the Lord brought you to us. He’s clearly watching over our family.”
Annabelle held out her arms for the baby. “Do let me hold Emma again. She’s such a dear. I’ll take you to breakfast with Gertie, who will want to hold her, then I’ll never get to hold her again. She does love babies so.”
That warm memory, and the sweet baby placed in her arms, put a tiny crack in Annabelle’s heart. Gertie did love the little ones. How could Annabelle have shut her out for so long?
They walked to Gertie’s, Meg chattering about life in Kansas. Annabelle had no idea how hard farm work was. It certainly sounded just as difficult and desolate a life as these miners faced. Getting up with the sun to work in the fields all day, laboring for a crop that could be wiped out by drought, fire, animals, disease and a host of other problems.
How was mining any different?
Annabelle shook her head. Farmers weren’t risking their lives and putting families in danger. They didn’t spend their earnings on whiskey, women and gambling.
Joseph didn’t, either, a small voice told her.
Nonsense, she told herself right back. There were plenty of reasons to dismiss Joseph.
He was leaving.
Which was why she would put him completely out of her mind.
Fortunately, it was easy enough to do when they arrived at Gertie’s because Joseph wasn’t there. Nugget was, and she immediately launched herself at Annabelle.
“Annabelle! You were gone ever so long!”
She smiled and wrapped her free arm around the little girl. “I was visiting my new friend, Meg. And this is her baby, Emma. Isn’t she a dear little thing?”
Gertie swooped upon them. “I love babies. Let me have a look.”
Just like that, the baby was taken from her arms, and Annabelle gave Meg an “I told you so” look.
Meg smiled shyly, but was immediately engaged in Gertie’s enthusiastic banter as she placed a dish of food in front of the woman. Though Annabelle was pleased to see her so well taken care of, it was almost a shame to give up her job. For a few moments, it had felt like she belonged again. Back before everything in her life had become so hard.
For Nugget, though, it was a welcome change. The little girl hadn’t let go of her hand. Again, Annabelle’s conscience panged at the thought of this little girl leaving her. Nugget had lost so much already. Was it fair to make her lose someone else?
“What have you been doing while I was gone?”
Nugget scowled. “We had to go wash dishes with Polly. Only she got mad at us and chased us away.”
That didn’t sound like the Polly she’d once been friends with. Had Annabelle’s attitude soured her old friend so much? Then Joseph’s words came back to her. Polly was jealous. Over nothing.
“How about I go talk to her?” Annabelle ruffled the top of the little girl’s head, then withdrew her hand. “And when I get back, we’re going to do something with that hair of yours.”
A comment that earned her another scowl, but that was fine. She didn’t want to push Nugget away exactly, but if a few hair brushings was all it took to diminish Annabelle’s popularity, she’d take it.
“I’m going to the creek to talk to Polly,” Annabelle said over her shoulder at Gertie and Meg. “I’ll be back shortly.”
She avoided the path that she’d taken yesterday where she’d run into those men. Her ankle was now throbbing again. But she couldn’t put off this errand. Polly’s attitude was affecting everyone else.
Her trip to the creek was quieter than it had been the last time, and she easily found Polly, clean dishes in one pile, and already beginning the wash for the day.
“Hi, Polly.”
The other girl didn’t turn and look at her. “Go away. I don’t need you slowing me down again. You tell Ma—”
“What? Something that you’ll contradict later?”
Polly spun, her face red. “So what? You’re going to tell on me now?”
Annabelle took a deep breath. “No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” This making up was harder business than the idea had originally sounded.
“Look.” She took another step in Polly’s direction. “I know I said some awful things. I deeply regret them. But what I regret even more is that I�
�ve lost a good friend. So if we can talk about whatever else is bothering you, I’d like to clear the air. Even if you don’t want to be friends again, at least we could be—”
“Nothing.” Polly’s stare was full of pure hate. “You are nothing to me, and never will be. You think you’re better than everyone else, and you don’t give a whit for anyone other than you.”
The backs of Annabelle’s eyes and throat stung. She could own a certain amount of selfishness, but surely Polly knew that there was more to her than that.
And if Joseph hadn’t spoken to her about Polly earlier, she might have walked away. But this wasn’t about Annabelle’s behavior, not really.
“Joseph said he heard you and Tom fighting this morning. Something about you thinking he and I were engaged in a flirtation?”
Annabelle stared at Polly, ready for her to spew more venom in her direction. But Polly didn’t say anything, not even as Annabelle could see the steam practically rising out of Polly’s head. When she blew, it wasn’t going to be pretty. But better here than with the little girls again.
“I have never encouraged Tom. I’ve always seen him as your beau, and I’ve always believed that the two of you were going to be married someday. I would never interfere with that. Regardless of what you think of me, I want you to be happy. And if he’s—”
Polly shook her head furiously. “Just this past fall, you were telling me about how I could do better. I never imagined you were giving me such friendly advice because you wanted him for yourself.”
Annabelle’s heart hurt at the memory. She had told Polly that she could do better. Because frankly, Tom was on the lazy side. If Polly married him, she’d end up just like her mother, working hard to take care of a family while her husband squandered it all on whiskey and cards.
But that wasn’t something she could say to her now. Not with their friendship so damaged.
“I was wrong to judge,” Annabelle said instead. “I didn’t know his heart, and I should have listened to you. I’m sorry. I’ve truly never had designs on him.”
Her stomach ached at the way Polly looked at her. She could list dozens of reasons why she didn’t like Tom, but they would only be taken the wrong way.
If she were to chase after a man, it would be someone like Joseph. She closed her eyes. Why couldn’t she stop thinking of the impossible?
“I am so sorry that you don’t think better of me,” Annabelle said, opening her eyes to look at Polly. “I know I deserve it after how judgmental I’ve been. But if you could find a way to at least call a truce, for the sake of the others around us, I promise I’ll do what I can to make amends.”
It had taken a long time for Annabelle to find friends like Gertie and Polly, but with a few thoughtless words, she’d ruined it. Worse, though, it seemed like Polly now thought her capable of even more foul deeds than she would ever contemplate.
“You can never fix this.” Polly spat out the words like Annabelle was a bug she’d swallowed. “Just leave. We don’t want you here.”
If only it were that simple. Because if she could go, she would gladly go visit her aunt, build a new life for herself in the city, and forget about the mess she’d made.
Polly returned to her work with the wash. This was not how Annabelle had envisioned the conversation going. Perhaps she’d been too ambitious thinking they would be able to forgive, and maybe even hug. But surely she could have done better than to have broken things between them even worse.
Chapter Eighteen
“I’ll only be gone a few hours.” Joseph tried prying Nugget from his legs, but she was having none of that. She’d seemed perfectly content remaining behind the day before with Annabelle and Caitlin, but today seemed to be a completely different story.
“You’re just like Papa! Always leaving.” The little girl’s lip jutted out in such a perfect pout that Joseph was almost convinced to remain behind. After all, the sky looked like a storm was moving in.
Fortunately, Annabelle, as always, seemed to know the perfect solution. “None of that,” she told Nugget firmly. “Joseph will be back in time for supper. You’re going to be so busy playing with Caitlin that you’ll hardly notice him missing. Now go get the brush from Gertie so I can fix your hair. Then we can play by the creek for a while.”
Though Annabelle ruffled the little girl’s ratted hair with a gentle wave and a smile, the set to her eyes brooked no argument, and Nugget released his pant leg.
“You promise you’ll be home for supper?” The big eyes blinking at him would have extracted his promise even if he’d had other plans. He’d be home for supper, no matter what.
“I already did. Now listen to Annabelle, because I’m sure she has a wonderful day planned for you.”
He hugged his sister, and then she scampered off like she’d gotten exactly what she wanted. Joseph shook his head. He’d never understand females.
“As always you know how to handle her.” He smiled at Annabelle, who shrugged.
“Children aren’t so difficult. I’ve always enjoyed them.”
The genuine smile that filled her face reminded him of his previous thoughts about her and motherhood. “You’re going to make an excellent mother someday.”
He might as well have slapped her for the shock that registered on her face. Or at least that’s the expression he thought he’d caught before she replaced it with a more serene but blank look.
“Perhaps someday. But I have no intention of marrying anytime soon. There’s a lot of world to see and a lot of things I’d still like to do.”
She’d spoken wistfully of her ambitions in the cabin. He still knew so little of her, despite feeling like he’d known her all his life.
“Like what?”
“Go back East, for one. I haven’t seen my mother’s family since I was small. My aunt Celeste has asked me to come visit, and my father says that once he’s convinced my heart is healed, I can go.”
An expression he didn’t recognize skittered across her face. “I know it sounds silly, but I’d like to go to the balls like Mother described. Certainly, we have the theatre and other pleasant diversions here, but Mother says that the social scene where she grew up was delightful. After all, that’s how she met my father.”
And in that instant, Joseph understood. Annabelle’s future wasn’t here. Not the way her eyes had lit up at the thought of her mother’s descriptions of the balls. He’d never been to any such thing himself—could not imagine what would draw anyone to them. But he’d seen his sisters giggle over pictures of ladies in their finery, and knowing how similar in character Annabelle was to his sister Mary, understood the draw.
A trip back East and a fancy ball—those were things Joseph could not reasonably expect to provide for Annabelle. Not with so many mouths to feed and feet to shoe.
If anything was capable of convincing Joseph that he needed to put Annabelle out of his mind, it was hearing of her dreams for her future. He cared too much for her to ask her to give up her dreams when she’d already lost so much.
Annabelle seemed to sense the change in his mood. She reached out and touched him lightly on the arm. “I’m not going to abandon you, Joseph. My father has asked me to be of assistance until Nugget is properly settled.”
A sly smile stole across her face. “In truth, I’ve come to love that little scamp, and I don’t think I could leave until your family’s affairs are in order. And I do hope you’d allow me to write.”
Joseph nodded, willing himself to find a way to speak. In her grief, he’d caught the unspoken story of the sacrifices she’d made. The things she’d given up for her father’s ministry. Here she was, sacrificing one more thing. While he could tell by the light in her eyes that she didn’t view her time with Nugget as a sacrifice, he couldn’t ask her to do it any longer than she had to.
Annabelle Lassiter was an amazing woman, and she deserved to have a life of her own. Lord, he prayed, help me set Annabelle free.
Joseph already knew that he had to fi
nd the silver as quickly as possible, but knowing that one more life hung in the balance made it all the more urgent.
He bade Annabelle goodbye, then climbed onto the horse Slade had waiting. Hopefully they’d find silver today.
Slade had taken a look at the clouds moving over the mountains and declared that the storm would go around the area. He had been partially right.
They came to a narrow ridge, and looking across the valley, he could see the rain fall on Leadville. Glorious. The valley was packed with houses and other buildings. He could see why some of the townspeople still grumbled about wanting to make Leadville the state capitol. The city boasted growth that he hadn’t seen the likes of anywhere near home.
“Your pa’s mining claim should be just over the next ridge,” Slade shouted back at him.
Once they crossed the ridge, Slade pulled out a map, then pointed at an outcropping of rocks. “That’s it. This claim used to belong to Slim Deckert, but then he lost it in a card game to your pa. Slim thought it was a great joke he’d pulled over on Bad Billy, since none of his crews had found anything other than pyrite.”
Joseph picked up a shiny rock. “I take it this is pyrite.”
“Yep. No offense, but your pa was known for being a fool. There’s sayings about suckers here in Leadville, and your pa could be described by just about every one of them.”
He knew Slade was being honest, and with the anger he had against his pa, he hadn’t expected the words to sting so much. It was bad enough having the foul deed that had come to light, but it seemed like there was a never-ending string of missteps that had him wondering how such a miscreant could have fathered him.
What a tragic end. Though fitting, for all the foolishness his pa had done. Living a fool, dying a fool.
“Doesn’t look like there’s anything here.” Slade rubbed his jaw and looked at Joseph. “Frank says you still have family back home. Why don’t you sell the claim, take the money and go home? I’m sure there’s some wide-eyed sucker that’ll buy it. We’ve enough land brokers in town who’ll gladly do the job for you. In fact, I can recommend a guy.”
Love Inspired Historical November 2014 Page 87