Radclyffe - Promising Hearts

by Promising Hearts (lit)

  "How is Jed?" Jessie asked immediately, looking from Caleb to Vance.

  "Better," Caleb said with satisfaction. He started toward the dispensary. "He's not going to be able to walk to the wagon. I'll help you get him on a litter." Over his shoulder, he added, "Vance, why don't you go over with Kate what she'll need to do about the bandages."

  "Right." Vance smiled at Kate and reviewed with her the routine for twice-daily bandage changes. "The most important thing is to look out for signs that the wound is festering. Is all that clear?"

  "Yes. I understand."

  "You're getting quite a lot of practice with treatment these days."

  "It's wonderful," Kate enthused. "Jessie and I talked about the midwifery last night. I want you to know that I'm serious about learning."

  "I never thought otherwise." Vance hesitated. "I could teach you medicine, Kate. Most medicine is still learned in apprenticeship, not school. Or you could spend a few months back East at one of the colleges, and then apprentice with me."

  "I've thought of it. Jessie and I even spoke of it." Kate smiled. "I think what you do is amazing and so important." She glanced toward the partially opened door where a murmur of voices could be heard.

  "If I'd never come here, if I'd never met Jessie, I might want to do something like that. But I'm happy already with my life. I want to be a midwife. You said yourself it's something the people here need."

  "That's true."

  "It's what I need, too."

  Vance nodded, thinking about choices that were made because they were right and not merely expected. She thought about her own choices and knew that she would make the same ones again. She would go to war with Victor because she believed it was right. She might have come to New Hope because she'd given up choosing, but she planned to stay because it was what she wanted. What she needed. She thought of Mae, and smiled. Yes, just what she needed.

  "Once Jed is settled, I'll take you out with me so you can get acquainted with your future patients. That way, they'll know that we're working together and that you'll be looking in on them from time to time," Vance said. "All right?"

  Kate nodded vigorously. "Oh yes. That would be just perfect."

  Jessie returned in time to hear Kate's pleased exclamation. She imagined Kate and Vance were talking about Kate's schooling again.

  When Kate turned to her with shining eyes, Jessie smiled. "I'm going to go get some things the doc says we'll need, and then we can go."

  "I'll walk with you," Vance said quickly.

  Surprised, Jessie nodded. "Come on along."

  There was something in Vance's expression that told Kate she wanted to talk to Jessie alone. Kate squeezed Jessie's arm briefly. "You go ahead. I want to say hello to Jed and talk to Caleb for a minute."

  "All right." Jessie nodded to Vance and they stepped outside and into the street. "Something on your mind?"

  Vance skirted the edge of a quagmire in the center of the street that was left over from the most recent rain. "What do you know about the Golden Nugget?"

  "Besides the obvious?" Jessie nodded to a passerby and waited until they were out of earshot. "Not much. It's been the Nugget pretty much as long as I can remember. I think there was a time it was called something else, but the purpose was the same."

  "You know who owns it?" Vance saw no reason to be circumspect with Jessie. Kate and Jessie and Mae were friends. From the fond looks that passed between Jessie and Mae, she had wondered on occasion if perhaps they had once been more than friends. She found it did not bother her as much now to think of it. In fact, she was glad if Mae had been with someone who appreciated her, and she imagined that Jessie would have.

  Jessie glanced sideways at Vance, then straight ahead. She'd yet to be able to read anything behind the doctor's set expression. "The only one I've ever seen giving orders in the place is Frank, but I don't actually know that he owns it."

  "Let's say he doesn't. Who might?"

  Jessie slowed as they neared the general store, settled her back against a post facing the street, and set her boot heel on the edge of the raised board walkway. Vance draped her arm over the hitching rail, leaned against it, and crossed her ankles. Anyone watching would have thought they were just two friends out for a leisurely stroll.

  "It would take some money," Jessie said thoughtfully. "Thaddeus Schroeder--he owns the newspaper along with Kate's father--might have enough. He's been here almost as long as the town has. He's a family man, though, and seems decent. I can't quite see him behind the Nugget."

  "Caleb would have the resources as well," Vance said, "but I think that unlikely, too."

  "There's Wallace Fitzpatrick--he owns the lumber and supply yard, and Mason at the bank." Jessie shrugged. "There might be one or two more, but I'd just be guessing."

  "What about the land title office? You think anything might be recorded there?"

  "Deeds are usually printed in the newspaper, but I don't know how far back those records go." Jessie studied Vance. "Kate might be able to tell you that, but if there is some trouble brewing, I don't want her a part of it."

  Vance tightened her jaw and said nothing. It had been a long time since she'd confided in anyone. Since Milton--and Victor. The silence grew, and she knew that Jessie would not question her. If she gave no explanation for her concerns, she would be making a statement as to the limits of the friendship forming between them. "Whoever owns the place has a hired man to oversee it." Her words came out hard on the wave of her fury. "He took after Mae yesterday. Left bruises on her face and her arms."

  "Bastard," Jessie swore.

  "Yes."

  "And you want to go after him?"

  Vance met Jessie's hard blue gaze. "Wouldn't you?"

  Wordlessly, Jessie nodded.

  "Mae got me to promise I wouldn't," Vance said wryly. "I'm still not sure how that came about."

  "I'll wager she worked it around to her being hurt if you went off and got yourself killed."

  Vance laughed softly. "Something like that."

  "The problem is, they're right. And if something happened to Kate, I wouldn't last."

  "You and Kate," Vance said carefully. "People here don't make a fuss?"

  Jessie grimaced. "Well, Kate's parents did. But most folks keep to their own business and let others mind theirs."

  "I didn't promise Mae I wouldn't go after whoever's behind things. He as much gave his permission for this bastard to do what he wanted with the women at the Nugget."

  "I'll ask around."

  "I don't want you to put yourself in any jeopardy," Vance said quickly. "Any information you might--"

  "Mae means something to me, too," Jessie said, her voice tight.

  "I'll see what I can find out."

  Vance nodded curtly. "Thanks."

  v "I'll come by this evening to take you back to town," Vance said three days later when she turned the buggy into the lane to Kate and Jessie's ranch. "It will probably be close to suppertime when I've seen to these calls."

  "You don't need to be driving me around, you know," Mae said.

  "Lord knows, you spend enough time traipsing over the countryside.

  Have you been to bed at all in the last few days?"

  Vance squinted in the bright sunlight. Her eyes felt gritty and she was tired, but having Mae beside her on a beautiful early summer morning seemed to infuse her with an energy she hadn't felt since before the war. "It's been one of those weeks when everyone seems to feel poorly at the same time. I've had a chance to nap a time or two."

  "I won't mind if you come to visit late at night, you know," Mae said.

  "I'm not sure how much sleep I'd get, in that case."

  Mae flushed despite the wide-brimmed, feathered hat that protected her face from the sun. The deep green was a shade darker than her eyes and matched her silk dress. "That might depend on just how tired you really were."

  Grinning, Vance jumped down and came around to Mae's side of the buggy. "That's one thing I don't seem to
feel when I'm around you." She circled Mae's waist as she stepped down to the running board and swung her off and around to the ground, taking advantage of their closeness to brush her lips over Mae's cheek. "You look beautiful."

  "Have I managed to cover the bruises?" Mae asked quietly.

  Vance's heart twisted with sympathy and anger. "Yes. You needn't feel embarrassed by something that was not your fault."

  "It's pride, I suppose." Mae waved as Kate came to the door of the ranch house. "But I don't have much more than that."

  "You have the strength to make hard choices," Vance said as they walked toward the house. She kept her hand on Mae's back, in the hollow just above her hips, enjoying the way Mae's body moved beneath her fingers. "And you take responsibility for those young girls, when no one else, not even their families, is willing to. That's honorable."

  "Hush," Mae whispered. "Your brain's getting soft from lack of sleep."

  Vance laughed as she and Mae climbed up to the porch.

  "Hello," Kate called, pushing loose strands of hair back from her face. The kitchen was still warm from the baking she had done early that morning, and the breeze felt wonderful against her hot skin. She regarded Mae and Vance fondly, thinking that when Vance laughed, she looked far younger than Kate had suspected. "I've got coffee on, if you'd like some."

  "I'm afraid I can't stay," Vance said. "Mrs. Emerson sent word that all five of her children are complaining of stomachaches. And that's just the first of a long list." She smiled at Kate. "And before you ask, no, I'm not making any stops today on our expectant mothers. Plan on coming around with me again the day after tomorrow."

  "Yes," Kate replied eagerly. "I will."

  Mae touched Vance's hand in a fleeting caress as Vance stepped away. "Be careful today."

  "I will. I'll see you later." She touched the brim of her black felt hat. "Kate."

  "Supper's at six and I'm making chicken and biscuits." Kate took Mae's arm as she fixed Vance with a stern look. "And I expect you to be here to help eat it."

  "Then I certainly shall," Vance said with a small bow.

  Mae watched Vance walk down the porch, climb into the buggy, and drive away. "She looks tired," she murmured anxiously.

  "She looks happy," Kate said softly. "I don't think I've ever seen her look that way before. It's nice."

  "I suppose if she were made of straw she wouldn't have come through all she has," Mae said with a sigh. "Silly of me to worry."

  "Come inside and have something to drink. Jed's asleep, so we don't need to hurry." As she led Mae through to the kitchen, she said gently, "And it's natural to worry about someone you love."

  "Why, I never said--"

  Laughing, Kate held out her hand. "Here, give me your things, then sit down and we'll have some tea. And you didn't need to say. You just have to look at her and it shows."

  "I'll have to be more careful."

  "Why?" Kate sat down across from Mae and regarded her seriously.

  "You can't think Vance would mind?"

  "Maybe not, but I imagine there's a fair number of people who would."

  Kate took Mae's hand. "I know you could stand up to whatever might be said, and I'm sure Vance can. And if the look on Vance's face this morning means anything, she needs you to keep looking at her just the way you do."

  "Lord, Kate. Feelings sure do complicate things."

  "They do. Especially when they're wonderful." She sat back and worried her lower lip with her teeth for a second. Then she said quietly, "Anyone who doesn't know you as well as I do wouldn't have noticed, but I can see that someone's hurt you. What happened?"

  Mae flushed for the second time in just a few minutes, this time with embarrassment. "Nothing to trouble yourself about."

  Kate's dark eyes snapped. "Our friendship is very important to me. I'll not have you minimize it by thinking I shouldn't care about what happens to you."

  "I..." Mae took an unsteady breath and smiled wanly. "I'd almost forgotten how stubborn you are. I won't even try to convince you it's not something you need to know about."

  "Good. That's showing sense." Kate smiled tenderly. "Tell me."

  Mae relayed the essentials of the event while leaving out much of the horror. "He won't catch me not paying attention again. And the next time, I won't worry about who else might be coming along if something happens to him. I'll just put a few holes where he'll be sure to feel them."

  "Good." Kate's expression was grim. "I think it's terrible that you should have to worry about someone like him hurting you or the girls."

  Mae studied her curiously. "But you don't think it's terrible that we're whores?"

  Kate looked surprised. "Terrible? Of course not."

  "How is it that a young girl from Boston has such a different way of looking at things than most folks do?"

  "I think," Kate said, "it's because I'm different. Loving Jessie and knowing that some people would say I shouldn't--that makes me look at what people call right a little more carefully."

  "Vance doesn't seem to set a lot of store in what people say about her."

  "Well, it seems that you're outnumbered, then."

  Mae laughed. "Seems so."

  "Does Vance know what happened?" Kate asked carefully.

  "She knows, and it was all I could do to keep her from rushing off to settle scores."

  "I imagine." Kate knew that Jessie would behave precisely the same. And if anyone raised a hand to Jessie, so would she.

  "It's a rare thing, being cared for that way." Mae shook her head.

  "I thought I'd run out of that kind of luck."

  Kate smiled. "I'd say all four of us are lucky."

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Jessie pushed away from the table with a sigh. "Lord, Kate. I'm going to get spoiled eating your cooking. It will be a chore swallowing what passes for food out on the trail."

  Kate gave her a sharp look. "Is that going to be sometime soon?"

  "I expect before long I'll have to see where the herds have wandered off to after all this rain," Jessie said vaguely.

  "I thought you were going to wait for Jed to recover so he could go with you."

  "That will be some time yet, I imagine," Jessie said. "What do you think, Vance?"

  Vance, seated across the wide oak table, nodded as she looked from Kate to Mae, who sat beside her. "He's doing very well, largely due to the fine care from you two these last few weeks. But he's still a ways away from riding."

  Kate kept her gaze on Jessie. "Can it wait until then?"

  "It depends on what the linemen have to say about the state of things. Charlie will be down from the high country in a day or two.

  I'll know better then." Jessie glanced at Vance. "I've got a good saddle horse out in the barn. With all the riding you're doing, you might want to have a look at him."

  After a second's hesitation, Vance stood. "You're right. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. I can't keep using Caleb's or paying the liveryman every time I need a mount."

  "Let's take a walk and I'll show him to you."

  Mae watched the two of them leave the room, Vance in her white shirt and trousers and Jessie in dusty denim and a sun-bleached blue cotton pullover. "I'm not so sure why I ever thought they were different.

  Times like this, I can't tell them apart."

  "Yes," Kate said thoughtfully. "What do you think they're up to?"

  Laughing, Mae shook her head. "Something too dangerous for us, I'll wager."

  "Of course." Kate smiled fondly. "I'll torture it out of her later."

  "A wonderful idea."

  v Kate snuggled up against Jessie, wrapping an arm and a leg around her body for comfort more than warmth. "Mmm, you smell like hay and sunshine."

  Jessie laughed. "I think you just said I resemble a barnyard. You want me to get a wash before we go to sleep?"

  "You smell," Kate said, kissing Jessie soundly for emphasis, "healthy and strong and I like it."

&n
bsp; "Lucky for me," Jessie murmured, gently guiding Kate on top of her body. She kissed the tip of Kate's chin, then her mouth, sliding both hands into Kate's long dark hair. She sighed her appreciation as she nibbled at Kate's lower lip.

  Kate kissed her for as long as she dared, basking in the warmth of Jessie's embrace and the tender, persistent demands of her hands and her mouth. She lifted her face away just short of the point where she would be helpless to stop, smiling at Jessie's groan of protest. Her face felt hot and her body shimmered to the call of Jessie's desire. "Did you and Vance settle on the price of a horse?"

  "What?" Jessie asked, her voice and expression befuddled. She caught the ribbon at the neck of Kate's nightgown in her fingers and tugged it loose. When she went to slide her hand beneath the soft cotton, to Kate's softer breast, Kate laughed and twisted away. Jessie frowned.

  "Wha...what?"

  "You remember. You and Vance and the trip to the barn." Jessie looked so adorable in the glow of the firelight, edgy and confused and wanting, that Kate was fast losing her curiosity about Jessie and Vance's conversation.

  "Kate." Jessie blinked. Her vision had already gone blurry the way it did when loving Kate got her insides all jittery and jumpy. She half sat up, holding Kate to her with one strong arm wrapped around her shoulders as she delved beneath her nightgown and lifted Kate's breast into her palm. She rubbed her mouth over the swiftly tightening nipple. "I can't make sense of anything right now."

  "Oh," Kate sighed, cleaving to her, body to body, and went back to kissing Jessie where she had left off. When Jessie groaned and rolled her over, pinning her to the bed, Kate had already forgotten everything except Jessie's touch. She wanted to close her eyes and drift on the warm cloud of pleasure that built as Jessie kissed and stroked her way from Kate's throat to her breasts and lower, but she watched Jessie love her as long as she could. When Jessie murmured her name and took her with her mouth, Kate let passion steal the last of her reason.

  When Jessie murmured her name again a few minutes later, her cheek pillowed on Kate's stomach, Kate stroked her damp hair and face. Contentedly, she whispered, "You drive every thought from my head."