“It was kind of Corny to help.” Theodore’s gaze still didn’t leave Dottie. What did he think about? Did his heart still leap in his chest at the sight of her pretty face?
Rebecca turned away to tidy the bandages spread on Uncle Giff’s bureau, giving herself time to think. Theodore and Tad had both loved Dottie. Maybe they both still did. What if Theodore didn’t want to marry Rebecca anymore, now that Dottie was back?
A booming crack made her jump. Another gunshot? No, it was just thunder, rolling long and loud. The first pat-pitters of raindrops hit the roof. The posse was still out in this weather. Maybe they were close enough to Silver City or one of the other mining towns to take shelter. She shouldn’t expect any word on Johnny or Tad for a while, but she prayed for them while Theodore kept his silent vigil at Dottie’s side.
Theodore sat back in his chair, adding the creak of wood to the noise of the rain. “Why do you suppose the Gang shot her?”
In the back, of all places. She must have made those cowards angry. Rebecca could relate to that. “Maybe she refused to give them her horse and tried to outrun them. Maybe Tad’s right, and they’re getting bolder and meaner. Whatever the reason, now they’ve shot two people.”
“Attempted murder is a serious charge.”
Theodore’s words sent shivers down her arms. Sometimes when she thought of her encounter with the Gang, she wanted to find them again and kick them in the shins. Other times, she wanted to hide, like she did now. She shivered and pulled her thick gray shawl tighter around her shoulders.
“You’re worried, aren’t you?” Theodore’s eyes glimmered in the dim of the lamplight. “Not about Dottie, but the posse.”
“People I care about, including my brother, are out there, and I’m trying not to worry, but it’s hard to trust they’ll be well when my pa wasn’t.”
“How insensitive of me. I wasn’t thinking.” Theodore rubbed his brow. “I’ve been a brute, Rebecca, and I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not been an easy few days for any of us.”
“True, and things may get stranger, now that Dottie’s back. Try not to worry about Johnny, though. The sheriff and others from Silver City will outnumber the Gang, and Tad knows what he’s doing. He won’t do anything that would put Johnny in danger. You can trust him.”
It was the first time she’d heard Theodore compliment Tad. “It sounds trite, but trusting anyone, including God, isn’t easy for me tonight. I’m making the choice, minute by minute, to depend on God to take care of our men.”
“You can trust me to be honest with you. I’m not perfect, Rebecca, but I wouldn’t lie to you, even to comfort you.”
Nodding, Rebecca stepped closer. Theodore rose from the chair, and for a moment, she thought he might hug her. Instead, he extended his arm to the chair back, offering her the seat.
“You’re spending the night here?”
“Mrs. Horner will keep me company, and Cornelia will spell us in the morning. I hope you don’t mind her helping here instead of at the mercantile.”
“Of course not.” The ghost of a smile played about Theodore’s lips. “She’s a giving person, isn’t she? I never noticed until recently how hard she works at the store and at home, with all of those siblings.”
“She’s a gem.”
“Guess what?” Theodore crossed to the doorway. “The fireworks didn’t come today, after all, but I sold several pieces of the crystal in the front window.”
“Really?”
“At last, eh? Less for you to dust.”
She smiled. This was the closest they’d ever come to bantering. “You’ll order more.”
“I suppose I will.”
“I don’t know what a miner wants with crystal, anyway.”
“Neither do I, but if they buy, I’ll order more. Miners can be spontaneous when they’ve struck it rich. Which reminds me, I was thinking, if the county seat moves to Silver City like folks are saying, more miners will go, so the mercantile should move, too.”
Disappointment pinched Rebecca’s stomach. She’d only been in Ruby City a month, and she’d come to view it as home.
A home was the people, more than the place, though, wasn’t it? She swallowed down her doubts, lest Theodore think she was unsupportive. “You know business far better than I do, Theodore.”
“The shops in Silver City can withstand the competition. The Cooks are eager to make the move, Wilkie said he’d probably go, and Uncle Gifford wants to move the livery so he and Tad will have more business.”
Rebecca probably shouldn’t share Tad’s news, but Theodore would be her husband. He should hear things from her first, shouldn’t he? “Actually, Tad isn’t going to Silver City. I’m not sure how he’ll serve as deputy, but he’s going to try his hand at ranching.”
“Really?” Theodore looked confused then happy at the prospect of Tad being out of their lives. He continued to talk about Silver City until Mrs. Horner arrived. Theodore took his leave, Mrs. Horner settled into the padded chair, and Rebecca shifted against the hard-back one. Once both ladies curled in thick quilts, Rebecca dimmed the lamp.
She let her eyes shut and listened to the rain, praying for the posse and for Dottie, too. And Theodore, of course, last but not least.
Their conversation had been pleasant. A step in the right direction, even if it didn’t plunge to the depths of vulnerability she’d felt when they first discussed her father’s death.
Not once, however, had they mentioned the fact that the annulment hadn’t happened today, and when Theodore mentioned moving to Silver City, he’d only talked about the mercantile. Not the people involved, not them as a pair.
Rebecca’s eyes opened again and didn’t shut for a long while.
It was probably near dawn, but the night was still dark and wet when Tad lit a lone lamp, illuminating the livery in a pale glow. He hung his soggy coat and hat on hooks, and then dried, fed, and stabled his borrowed mount. Johnny did the same with his horse before he climbed the ladder into the hayloft.
“Oh, your pa’s up here.” His whisper from above was a mite too loud.
But if Pa slept in the livery, Dottie must be in the house. Tad would go inside and check, but first he wanted to get Johnny settled. “You won’t get much rest up there once dawn breaks and Pa opens shop. Want to bunk on a bedroll on the parlor floor?”
“Nah, thanks.” Johnny’s voice carried down from the loft. “I could sleep standing up.”
They would have slept under the stars if not for this storm, so each member of the posse had headed for their respective homes. Nothing sounded better than a change of clothes and a soft mattress, and even the narrow, lumpy cot at the jail sounded appealing.
“Good night, then.” Once Johnny was out of sight, Tad doused the lamp and slipped into the house. A faint glow emanated from Pa’s bedchamber. Tad’s wet boots made sucking sounds as he crossed the wood floor.
Dottie lay on her side, her dark hair splayed over Pa’s pillow. A lumpy figure with light brown hair curled into the padded chair—Mrs. Horner? That left Rebecca in the hard-back chair, wrapped in a quilt, sleeping upright, propping her head on her fist.
He wouldn’t wake them. He took a step backward. Squelch. Rebecca’s eyes flung open, as if she hadn’t been fully asleep. Seeing him, she sighed in obvious relief. “You’re back.”
“All of us.” He tipped his head in the direction of the livery. “Johnny’s in the hayloft.”
“So’s your pa.” She smiled. “Did you find the Gang?”
He shook his head and dropped to the floor. “The rain washed away their tracks. How’s Dottie?”
“She’s been fitful from pain but is resting well now. I’m sure you have a lot to talk to her about, but I’m not sure tomorrow will be the best time for anything serious—”
“We need to know details about the Gang, Rebecca.”
“I meant about her, and you, and Theodore.”
That? “I don’t care a lick about dredging up the past.
”
“Don’t you want to know where she’s been? Or why she came back?”
Tad could just make out the top of Dottie’s head from his spot on the floor. He gazed at the dark curls, searching his gut and his brain for a reaction. He’d had plenty of time tonight to think about her, but he’d spent more time thinking of Rebecca.
“I’m curious, but the minute she left, I decided I didn’t want to be with someone who baited folks against each other, someone who was one person with me and someone else with another.”
“Then why did you and Theodore fight?”
“Theodore blamed me for pushing Dottie away, and I got tired of defending myself. Although it seems to me, neither of us drove Dottie anywhere. Ralph White didn’t force her to run off with him.” He thought a minute. “You know, I’m curious about one thing related to her leaving town. What happened to Ralph? Did she say?”
“Not a word.” She plucked at the quilt.
He could fall asleep right here, wet clothes, sitting upright against Pa’s dresser, but the sounds of stirring carried from the kitchen. Pa must’ve awoken when Johnny stumbled into the hayloft. Tad should rise and greet his father, but he didn’t have the strength to move yet. “I know you must have been afraid when Johnny rode off.”
“I was, for both of you. I’ve spent all night entrusting you into God’s care, ripping you back from His arms so I could worry about you some more, and then repeating the process.” She smiled, but her eyes were sad. “You know how I am. Scared to death.”
He did know. It was what drove her to want to marry Theodore, that and the commitment she made to him, sight unseen. It was no small thing.
But neither was the fact that she was still making a mistake.
Mrs. Horner stirred. Tad stood, and Mrs. Horner rubbed her eyes. “Is Dottie worse?”
“No, ma’am,” he said. “Sorry if we woke you.”
Pa’s grinning face peered in the doorway. “Welcome home, Tad. Catch the Gang?”
“Not in this weather.”
“Another time. Go get changed, and I’ll get something hot on the stove for you.”
“I should start breakfast at the boardinghouse, if you don’t need me, Rebecca.” Mrs. Horner stood and folded her quilt into a precise rectangle.
Rebecca was insisting she was fine when Tad slipped out. After rubbing down his wet hair with a horse blanket and changing into a set of dry clothes he stored in the livery office, Tad padded through the kitchen door in his stocking feet. Rebecca and Pa cradled mugs of coffee in their hands, and Theodore stood at the head of the table, presiding over a tray of toast and eggs.
When had he arrived? It must have been when Tad was toweling off his hair, because he hadn’t heard a thing.
Theodore acknowledged him with a nod of his head before turning to Rebecca. “It’s from Mrs. Croft’s. I figured you’d all be tired.”
“How thoughtful.” Rebecca cast him a grateful smile.
Breakfast on a rainy morning after a difficult night. It was the sort of thing a fiancé would do for his ladylove. If Rebecca was determined to stay with Theodore, at least he was starting to treat her better.
Tad would have to be content with that. Maybe Rebecca was right and love would grow with Theodore. Tad sat at the table and forced a smile. “That’s right kind of you, Theodore. Join us.”
Theodore did, sitting by Rebecca. It was the first time Theodore had sat at this table in months. “Any news with the Gang?”
Tad spooned up a portion of the steaming eggs. “Rain washed away their tracks, but we’ll head out again once things dry out. I have to take that horse back to the livery in Silver City, so I suppose I’ll do that when the sheriff and I form another posse.”
Rebecca stiffened, but Pa bent over the table. “What’s the livery there like? Are they up to a little competition from Fordham and Son?”
Pa knew full well that Tad intended to ranch. Why was he ignoring that? Tad just nodded, glad he had a hunk of toast in his mouth that prevented him from speaking.
A soft knock sounded on the door. Rebecca hopped up to admit Corny Cook. “Good morning.”
“I can stay until noon, unless Mr. Fordham needs me—oh, hello Mr. Fordham. I didn’t see you there.” Corny’s cheeks went as red as her hair.
“Howdy,” Pa said, since three men in the room went by Mr. Fordham, but it was obvious Corny’s words were for Theodore.
Hmm. Tad chewed, smiling.
Theodore swallowed a swig of coffee. “Take your time, Corny. It’s good of you to sit with Dottie.”
Rebecca offered a tired smile and gestured to Corny. “Dottie’s still asleep. I expect Dr. Wilkie will be here soon to check on her.”
“What should I do in the meantime?” Corny’s voice trailed as Rebecca led her back to Pa’s room.
Pa rubbed his belly and stood. “I’d best feed the stock.”
Theodore rose. “And I should open the mercantile.”
“Before you go”—Tad set down his mug—“I’m sorry we never made it to Judge Harris.”
“It’s not your fault.” Theodore didn’t meet his gaze, but at least he didn’t issue recriminations. “You had to help Dottie.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
Tad sat at the table for a while after his cousin left. He should clear the dishes and find somewhere to sleep after a long, draining, confusing day.
Maybe one good thing had come out of the night, though, if his relationship with Theodore was beginning to heal.
Rebecca returned to the boardinghouse and marched to the kitchen, prepared to scrub the breakfast dishes. She found Mrs. Horner wiping a serving bowl with a dish towel.
She rushed forward, her stomach lurching with guilt, and reached for the towel and bowl. “Oh, that’s my job. I took too long with Cornelia.”
“Don’t be a goose, dearie. You were up all night.”
“So were you.”
“I’m embarrassed to say that I wasn’t.” Mrs. Horner laughed, and to Rebecca’s relief, the traces of wheeziness were gone. She might be a trifle uncomfortable with her landlady, after what she’d said last night about Rebecca choosing the wrong sort of security, but her anger diminished sometime during the night while the two of them worked together when Dottie was violently sick.
“I remember well you holding back Dottie’s hair.”
“And I fell right back to sleep afterward. I don’t remember another thing all night long. That chair was mighty comfortable.”
More so than the oak chair, for certain. Rebecca’s backside still ached.
Nevertheless, she had committed to assist Mrs. Horner in exchange for her room, and Rebecca didn’t want to be thrown out on the street. “I promised to help with breakfast and supper. I need to keep up my end of the bargain, and I’ll be sure to find someone to sit with Dottie while I get supper going here.”
“Never you mind about supper. I’m capable of cooking.”
“But—”
“Dearie, I’m cooking supper, I’m cleaning it up, and you are free to do what you wish until whatever time Cornelia needs you back at the livery.”
She was about to protest when she thought of her comfortable bed upstairs. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Go on and do something fun while I launder the sheets.” Mrs. Horner grasped the dish towel and shooed Rebecca out the door with it.
Fun? Nothing sounded more fun than a nap, but if the sheets were to be laundered, she couldn’t argue. Rebecca plodded back outside with a thank you. She could have gone to the creek, but her feet traversed by memory and took her to the mercantile, where Theodore set her to work scooping nuts into small muslin pouches tied off with red ribbon for tomorrow’s Independence Day festivities while he decorated the porch with red, white, and blue garland.
An hour later, he strolled past her. “Those look festive.”
“I think they’re a wonderful idea. Sometimes, a person works up an appetite dancing the night away. And a thirst.”
Rebecca smiled at Theodore’s enthusiasm. His hazel-brown eyes twinkled, and he started to hum “Yankee Doodle” when he passed through the gray curtain to the storeroom. He’d seemed so pensive last night, but he’d brought breakfast this morning, which had been a gracious gesture. If Dottie’s return bothered him much today, it didn’t show.
It was starting to bother Rebecca more and more, however. Fatigue could make a mind go places it shouldn’t, and questions rose that she couldn’t construct answers to, no matter how hard she tried.
Rebecca finished scooping nut meats, tidied the scraps, and set the basket on the shelf behind the counter. Then she poked her head behind the curtain. “It’s close to noon, so I’m off to the livery.”
He looked up from his inventory. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then, but I don’t expect you or Corny to work with me. Just enjoy the festivities.”
“That’s kind, but I don’t mind helping you.” Her place was by his side, if this was to be her mercantile, too.
“You’ll be pulled away to dance, anyway.”
She hadn’t given the matter a thought. “I won’t be dancing.”
“I’m sure Ulysses won’t take no for an answer.” Theodore chuckled.
Rebecca shook her head, waved good-bye, and strode to the livery. While she’d packaged nuts at Theodore’s, the street had been transformed for tomorrow’s Independence Day celebration. For several nights over the past few weeks, Rebecca had stitched on Cornelia’s party dress while Cornelia, Mrs. Horner, and Mrs. Cook fashioned garland of red, white, and blue flags. They hung off the businesses now in a festive display. She smiled as she walked.
A flag fluttered over the barbershop door when it opened, and Dr. Wilkie paused in the threshold. She hurried toward him as he turned the OPEN sign over so it read CLOSED. “Dr. Wilkie?”
My Heart Belongs in Ruby City, Idaho Page 17