She tucked her hair back under her hat and walked over to a tent that had been pitched away from most of the others. “You were saying?” she questioned as she plopped down on the ground.
Rich joined her before attempting to answer. “They tolerate you because you’re a nice person to be around.”
“A nice person, eh?”
“Exactly,” Rich said, watching her carefully. “I mean, that’s what I figured a long time ago. Despite your penchant for wounding me, I’ve grown rather accustomed to having you around.”
She chuckled and the tension eased a bit. “Rather like the bumblebee with its stinger, eh?”
Rich remembered the pin he’d given her and nodded. “Sort of like that.”
“So what’s this serious matter you have to discuss with me?” she asked him bluntly.
Rich was taken aback for a moment. He hadn’t figured she’d just jump in like that, though he should have known better. Now he was hard pressed to remember how he’d planned it all out. “Well, to begin with, I . . . well . . . I missed your company once you’d left.”
“That doesn’t seem too serious.”
Rich swallowed hard and looked at the ground. “It’s more serious than you could imagine.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I can imagine quite a bit. I’m a writer, you know.”
“And quite the artist,” Rich added.
“How’d you know that?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“I found your journal with Montego. It was I who sent it to you. I saw your sketches there. I especially liked the one with Brenton and Caitlan working together. Looked so cozy and romantic.”
Jordana shifted uncomfortably and looked up at the moon. “Oh, really? I don’t suppose I remember that one as well as some of the others.”
“Well, it certainly caught my attention,” Rich replied. He watched her for a moment, not at all sure how to continue. Why should it be so hard to speak the truth? What was keeping him from just declaring how he felt? His promise to her, that’s what. He’d promised he wouldn’t be more than a friend and now he had to either deny himself or break that promise. “It’s a lost cause,” he muttered.
“What is?”
“Fighting this.”
“Fighting what?” Jordana countered, causing Rich to lift his gaze to her face.
“You know very well what I’m talking about. I knew it was a lost cause to fight this, especially when after seeing you in breeches looking for all the world like some grubby railroad worker, you still made my heart race. You cut your hair off and dance with women, you flail knives at me and flip me onto the ground, and still I’m consumed with my thoughts and desires.”
Jordana’s face took on an expression that bordered on horror. At least that’s what Rich was afraid it was. “What are you talking about?” she asked very slowly.
Rich got to his feet and began to pace. Glancing at a group of men playing cards not twenty feet away, he motioned to Jordana. “Come with me.”
She followed him away from the tents and off to a distant outcropping of rock and sage. When he finally deemed them to have enough privacy, Rich tried again to explain. “That kiss back in Laramie . . . well . . . it’s just that—”
“It’s just that what?” she prompted, suddenly seeming to take great interest in his words.
Rich pushed his hand back through his hair in frustration. “Well, it changed things.” He could feel his chest grow tight. How in the world was he ever going to say all he was thinking—all that he felt?
“I thought we decided it was just a case of nerves,” Jordana replied, her voice not sounding at all sure.
“Well, it wasn’t just that,” Rich answered and shook his head. “Look, I don’t know what to say. I want to be with you, Jordana, not just part of the time, but all of the time. I want to protect you, but you obviously don’t need protecting. I want to be a friend to you, but then we end up kissing. I want to make you happy, but I don’t know how to do that either, except to avoid any kind of matrimonial entanglements.” She was looking at him very oddly, and finally Rich gave up and began pacing. “I just can’t go on like this,” he added. “I know I made you a promise about just being friends, but I feel like everything changed with that kiss.”
Jordana nodded. “I know. It changed for me as well, and now I don’t want to be friends with you anymore.”
The words so startled Rich that he stopped pacing. “What? What are you saying?” He thought his heart would break if she told him good-bye, and yet he felt certain that this was exactly what she would say.
“I’m saying that I agree with you. The kiss changed my mind on us being just friends,” Jordana replied.
“But . . . I mean . . .”
She lifted her slim hand to push back the hair that had fallen across his forehead. Just then the wind caught the brim of her hat and sent it flying off her head. She went after the hat, but rather than put it on her head, she simply held it at her side. Her own hair fell down around her face and with a mischievous grin, she shook it out and said, “I might as well look a little bit like a young lady. That way maybe it will help with what I have to say to you.” She moved toward him and Rich backed up a step. “Better yet, maybe it will help you with your response.”
“I don’t understand,” Rich said. He longed only to hold her, to touch her, and she was driving him mad. Why couldn’t she see that her nearness was making a fool out of him? He was babbling one minute and stammering the next. What kind of hold did she have on him that she could evoke such a response?
“I don’t want to be friends,” she reiterated, again moving toward him. “I want more. I want to be your wife and your friend. I want to wake up with you in the morning and go to sleep with you at night. And I want to spend all the time in between with you . . . well, maybe just most of the time in between,” she said with a grin. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Rich felt the wind go out from him. Had he heard her correctly? His mouth dropped open in amazement. Finally he found his voice. “Miss Baldwin, are you proposing marriage to me?” She was only inches away.
She bit at her lip and stepped back as though he’d somehow slapped her with his words. Uncertainty crossed her expression. “I . . . well . . . like we said, the kiss,” she stammered, then seemed to compose herself. “Look, you may never want to marry me. You may never want to marry anyone, but things have changed. I’ve fallen in love with you, and I know that was probably foolish, but I couldn’t help it,” she babbled uncontrollably. She looked up at him with a helpless kind of shrug. “I always go after what I want. And, while I know our agreement, I also know I was the one to set it in place. I only wanted friendship. I wanted you to prove to me that men and women could just be friends, and now I’ve gone and messed it all up. But . . . well . . . it’s your own fault. You kissed me and—”
“And I’m gonna kiss you again,” Rich said, pulling her into his arms. Without waiting for further comment, he bent down and touched his lips gently to hers. She sighed against him and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaving him little doubt of her pleasure in his actions.
Rich lost himself in the moment, and all he knew was his love for this woman. This sweet, overwhelming sensation of being washed away in a flood of passion and happiness. “I love you,” he whispered as he let his lips trail along her cheek. She was grubby and dirty, but he’d never wanted her more than he did just now. No matter what happened, he couldn’t let her get away from him again.
“Oh, Rich, I love you,” she said, gazing up with such longing that Rich thought they’d both be better off to return to camp. He let go of her rather abruptly, then reached back out to take hold of her hand. “Come on. I know if I hang around here any longer, you’re going to put me in danger again.”
Her look of confusion was quickly replaced with a grin of understanding. “You’d just better watch yourself, Mr. O’Brian. I believe you’ve met your match.”
“Oh, I’m quite certain of th
at,” he replied. “And just so you know it, the answer is yes. I’ll marry you. God knows there’s probably not another man around who could handle the job. Besides, you’ve already got me halfway broken in.”
She giggled out loud. “I know. I know. And you have the scars to prove it.”
32
“But you can’t mean it, Charlie!” Jordana declared. “You have to be there when they drive the last spike in at Promontory.”
Charlie smiled and shook his head. “I’m going to help Mark Hopkins run the ceremonies in Sacramento. We mustn’t disappoint our own people, those who helped us to get this thing started in the first place. We have to include them. We would never have made it without their support, and they deserve to have some fun as well.”
“But, Charlie, you’ve worked so hard to make this happen,” Jordana replied. “I feel like we’ve been friends forever, and yet I know it’s just because of all that we’ve been through together. I can’t imagine your not being there. Why, even my parents have wired and they will be there. In fact, I believe my mother would have hired her own private coach if she could not have found a seat on the Union Pacific train. She’s so excited about this railroad, my father can hardly control her.”
“Sounds like you and your mother favor each other considerably,” Charlie chuckled, and the warmth in his eyes showed he meant the words fondly. The train whistle sounded outside and Charlie instantly put away his books. “I have a bit of a surprise for you on the train. Why don’t you come along with me and see what it is?”
Jordana rose and smoothed the lines of her simple calico gown. She had styled her rather unruly hair by simply using a ribbon as a band to hold it back away from her face.
“You looked decent as a young man,” Charlie said, pulling on his coat, “but you look even better as a young woman.”
Jordana gave her shawl a coy flourish. “Well, I must say, dressing this way gets me a great deal more attention.”
“I’ll just bet it does!” Charlie opened the door for her. “But what about that Mr. O’Brian? I doubt he’d want you getting too much attention in his absence.”
“Well, he won’t be absent for long. He just has a few loose ends to tie up with General Dodge and then he’ll be back to share in the celebration with my folks and me.”
Jordana stepped down from Charlie’s private railcar, which was parked on a siding at the Ogden station, and allowed him to help her across the tracks to where the afternoon train was coming in from the West. She had no idea what Charlie had in mind but hoped it wouldn’t involve too much on her part.
Glancing up, Jordana saw Brenton step down from one of the passenger cars. Caitlan was right behind him, her pregnancy quite evident.
“Brenton! Caitlan!” she squealed in delight, hurrying to cross the remaining distance, and was soon embraced by her brother. “Charlie said he had a surprise and this is just grand.”
“Oh, but we’re not the only part of it,” Caitlan offered.
Jordana turned from Brenton’s embrace just in time to see Kiernan step down from the train holding baby James. Victoria, in a lovely gown of mauve and gold, waited for Kiernan to offer his hand before also stepping onto the depot platform.
“Oh, Charlie! This is wonderful! Now we shall all be together,” Jordana said with great joy.
“And you can share your news with them.” Charlie gave her a wink.
Jordana shook her head and poked Charlie in the ribs. “It’s a surprise, Charlie.” They all laughed at her unladylike response.
“So when do Mother and Father arrive? And where will we meet them?” Brenton asked anxiously.
“They’re coming out immediately,” Jordana replied. “And they’re bringing Amelia and Nicholas. Although how they ever managed to pull Amelia away from her beau is beyond me.”
“I can arrange for your folks to be picked up and brought here,” Charlie stated with a broad smile. “I don’t want them celebrating on the wrong side, after all.”
“That would be grand, Charlie. But just remember, there won’t be a wrong side after the eighth of May.” Jordana still couldn’t believe that soon she’d be seeing all of her family in one place. “The whole idea of this railroad is to be a binding tie to pull the country together. We’re celebrating unity, after all.”
“It should definitely be a celebration to end them all,” said Brenton.
“Yes, and Charlie refuses to be there. He feels he owes the people of Sacramento some sort of party.” Jordana assumed a mock pout. She quickly grinned, however, and gave Charlie a wink. “But I guess I can forgive him. After all, he’s brought you all here to me, and nothing could have been nicer.”
When they tired of chatting on the platform and Caitlan appeared to need a rest, Charlie escorted them all to his private car. “I’m not taking this one back. I’ll leave it here so that you and your family can enjoy it. There are plenty of beds and a nice sitting room and office. You should have it much better here than in the makeshift hotels they’re putting together.”
“Oh, Charlie, how thoughtful.” Jordana leaned up and kissed the older man’s cheek.
“Now you’d best not do too much of that,” Charlie told her. “Mrs. Crocker is a mighty jealous woman.”
“And with good cause,” Jordana replied. “Men like you don’t come along every day.”
“And for that, the railroad and half the population of California are most grateful,” Kiernan added.
After the laughter had died down and the party made their way inside to the comfort of Charlie’s private car, the family was able to sit and share all the news.
“The baby is to come sometime in June,” Caitlan replied when Jordana inquired of her condition. “I’m supposin’ there are those who will question me bein’ seen in public in my condition, but I had to come.”
“Of course you did,” Jordana assured her sister-in-law. “Expectant mothers can’t just hole up in some hiding place until they deliver. What a convoluted notion! Now, tell me all about your plans for building a big house in Sacramento.”
“Our plans have changed,” Brenton replied before Caitlan could answer. “We’re going back to New York with Mother and Father. Caitlan would like to see something of our home in Baltimore, and we thought it might be nice if she had the baby where Mother could be nearby.”
“Aye, especially since she missed out on seein’ little Jimmy when he was born,” Caitlan offered.
“New York can be painfully hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter,” Jordana reminded. “You’d best prepare yourself for almost anything.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Caitlan replied.
“I might as well tell you that Kiernan and I are going to accompany them as well,” Victoria said, smiling with pure admiration at her husband. “Kiernan feels we deserve the visit, and besides, he wants to check out some supply houses that might be able to offer him the goods he needs for his new furniture business.”
Jordana felt rather deflated. It wasn’t that anything had really changed for her, but suddenly everyone had plans that didn’t include her at all. But wasn’t that how she wanted it? But then she reminded herself that she did have plans. Very special ones!
“Well, I suppose I should tell you my news as well . . . although I had thought to wait until Mother and Father arrived,” Jordana said hesitantly.
“What is it?” Brenton asked first.
“Yes, tell us now,” Victoria pressed.
Jordana drew a deep breath. “I plan to stay out here—somewhere. I’m not entirely sure where I’ll be or for how long.” She saw their expressions take on a worried look. “However, you’ll be happy to know that I do not plan to remain alone. I’ve considered all the counsel everyone has given me, and I believe I would be better off having someone with me all the time. Someone who could afford me a little extra protection. Someone who could help me not to feel quite so lonely.”
“What are you saying?” Brenton questioned.
Caitlan
laughed. “She’s saying she’s finally going to marry Captain O’Brian.”
Jordana grinned. “You are always so intuitive, Caitlan.”
“That’s your news?” Brenton asked. “Is it really true?”
“You and Mr. O’Brian are marrying?” Victoria half questioned, half exclaimed.
Kiernan looked at her with a knowing nod, and Jordana was extremely gratified by the obvious approval in their eyes.
“Yes,” she finally replied. “That’s my news. Rich and I are going to be married right away. Hopefully before everyone goes east.”
“Oh, but won’t you come back to New York with us?” Victoria asked. “Just think of it. Mother could have such a grand time giving you a proper wedding.”
“Aye, and ya could be there for the baby’s comin’,” Caitlan added.
“Mother and Father would probably enjoy that a great deal,” Brenton encouraged.
Only Kiernan remained silent and Jordana was glad for that. She had no heart for telling them how much she despised the East and all its conventions. Not that the West wasn’t setting up its own rules for society, but there were still places out here where she could get away from it all and be herself.
Realizing she’d hardly heard the continuation of the conversation around her, Jordana interjected, “I promise to think about what you’ve said. I know it would please Mother greatly if I were to let her plan a wedding for me.” Suddenly she felt as though convention had settled upon her shoulders. Oh, why aren’t you here, Rich, to make me feel better?
——
“They’re here! They’re here!” Victoria declared, peering out from Charlie’s office window. “Mother and Father are coming this way, and look who’s with them!”
Judith Pella, Tracie Peterson - [Ribbons West 03] Page 28