by Caryl McAdoo
So glad she already knew its contents, she sat quietly—if not patiently—and waited.
He finally looked up. “Can you help me tomorrow? In two, three days at most, I can have the bath house finished if you will.”
“Then I won’t.” She loved the expression that elicited and laughed. “You’ve made it perfect all by yourself, and I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want you to stay no matter how long it took, but of course I’ll help you. What do you need me to do?”
“Watch for leaks. It’ll save me a lot of steps.”
“I can do that.”
After he finished his drink, to her dismay, he excused himself. She drained hers then sipped another one, but decided to stop there. A couple more, no telling what she might do. Better to keep her wits…and her honor.
She helped him the next day and the one after that. He’d think he had it ready, then she’d discover another leak.
Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, it all worked, and the only water remained in her tub. She waited for him to return from the pump house, then followed him inside her new bathhouse.
Opening the hot water stopcock, he checked all the pipes and let it run. He looked so cute standing back with his arms crossed over his chest, obviously admiring his handiwork.
Beside the tub, she knelt and put her hand in the water, already wonderfully warm. “You’re amazing, Charley.”
“Thank you, but it’s Uncle Henry who built the first one I saw. He claimed the Romans had baths over two thousand years ago that as many as five hundred people could enjoy at one time. Public fountains where the water ran day and night.”
She stood and eased over next to him. “Where’d they get the water that they could waste it in such a manner?”
“Aqueducts brought it from the mountains. Some of them are still standing. Uncle Henry visited there on Aunt May’s European book tour.”
She’d learned about all that studying and had seen pictures in books, but still liked him telling her about it. A wild idea struck her.
Without any debate, she grabbed him and fell over the edge, pulling them both into the oversized wooden tub. He came up sputtering, wiping water from his face. “You’re crazy. Why’d you do that?”
Grinning, she gave him a wink. “Oh, I just figured you needed to be the first one to try it out. And well…I’m all hot and sweaty and…”
Suddenly unsure as to what to say in the moment, she kissed him. For too long, he just stood there, then at last, he kissed her back as the warm water’s level rose.
“Sign here, here, and there.” The banker pulled his finger away from pages, then leaned back in his chair. Lacey Rose complied then counted out the wad of greenbacks, putting them in neat stacks. He recounted the money.
Did bankers trust anyone? Then he handed over the deed. “If you ever need anything, Miss Longstreet, I’d be pleased if you’d come see me first.”
Tired of correcting people, she let the ‘miss’ go by without correcting him. If the man had half a brain… She put the fancy looking title to her home in her clutch, careful not to bend it, then stood.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll keep that in mind.” She smiled then turned to leave.
“Miss.”
She stopped and faced him. “Yes? Is there something else?”
He jumped up and rushed around his desk. “Perhaps dinner? To celebrate.”
She eyed the man, twice her age at a minimum. Either he leaned toward being a letch or the old boy only wanted to cozy up to her money.
“Sorry, sir. I have a train to catch. My barrister in New York has sent word. It appears all my legal troubles are going to be over in the same week.” She laughed. “If only Harold had thought to leave a will…but who could have possibly known he would be murdered so soon after we wed?”
Took her too long to reach the big city, way past business hours. So instead of going to her lawyer’s office, she headed to her hotel. The day before, in a moment of weakness, she’d wired the Astor and booked a room.
But why not? She was about to be a very well-to-do lady, and why shouldn’t she indulge herself? Her dear departed husband would have wanted her to.
Her first love would never have condoned it, but Harold always traveled first class, claiming it only cost an extra twenty percent.
She was worth it.
Charley put the last of his things in the carpetbag, slung on his money belt and cinched it tight, then faced her.
She sat on his bed, hair rumpled, still in her gown. Oh, how he did love that wild mane of hers. He’d never seen anything like it and would relish a lifetime of just enjoying it, running his fingers through.
How could a female look more desirable? Plus, Marah had a heart of gold. Spoiled? Yes. Opinionated? Sure, but his mother would love her.
“You don’t have to go.”
A deep breath made its way out as a long sigh. “We’ve been over this before. And yes, I do.”
“But he’s dead. You said so yourself. The dead can’t hold you to an order. You found out she’s married and alive. Isn’t that enough?”
“No. I gave my word, and I aim to keep it. Far as Lacey’s concerned, her husband died and left her a widow. She might need help getting back home. Besides, Marah, you’d never want to leave all this for Texas.”
She jumped to her feet and drew within inches of him before stopping. “Promise me you’ll come back. Even if you’ve got Lacey in tow. Please give me your word this isn’t goodbye. As long as I know….”
“I can’t, not until I find her. And….”
“And what?”
“I don’t know the what. Only that I’ve got to find her and take her home. I owe Wallace that much.”
“What about me? You come in here and steal my heart, and now you’re running off. I can bear it if you promise.” Tears welled then overflowed and trickled down her cheeks.
He wrapped his arms around her, but he’d delayed long enough.
She snuggled in tight. “I love you, Charley.”
Did she?
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m torn, sweet one. But I gave Wallace my word, and we’ve been partners for better than twenty years. I’ve got to find Lacey Rose. She’s the closest thing to a daughter he ever had. They’re all counting on me—Aunt May, Mama, and Miss Laura. I don’t want to disappoint them.”
She pushed him away, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh, but you’re fine with disappointing me. Go then! Go find your runaway. But remember this, I love you and.…” She sniffed, filled her lungs, then wiped her cheeks. “You can’t say what I’d do. Just send me word, and Lexie and I will be on the next train to Texas.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“I said it, didn’t I?”
He stepped in close and kissed her one last time. Before he succumbed to the temptation to please her, he forced his feet to move. They carried him outside and into the waiting carriage. His own tears flowed, but he couldn’t stay.
Not until he found Lacey. Maybe he’d been wrong about loving her, talked himself into it.
But he had to find her.
See with his heart who he loved the most.
Chapter Twenty-five
That next morning, it didn’t seem right to Charley being in Freddie’s home, especially after what he’d been doing with her daughter the past few days.
But he needed the lady’s help, and all the coin he could hang onto helped make the decision to stay. She joined him at the breakfast table after the tenth…or was it a baker’s dozen of cock’s crows?
“Good morning, Charley.”
“Yes, ma’am. Sure is.” He resisted Wallace’s snarky ‘sorry you missed it’ response to any late arrival in similar situations. So much reminded him of one of his most favorite people on earth.
“Maybe getting back home and experiencing Uncle’s absence firsthand would make his passing more real, but Charley couldn’t imagine ever getting completely over his partner being gone.
&n
bsp; After he cleaned his full plate and she her dainty bit of nothing with coffee and only the slightest pleasantries of conversation, she smiled at him. Or at least he took it as a smile.
“What are you thinking? Any ideas?”
“Yes, ma’am. I plan on visiting all the morticians until I find the one who buried Longstreet.”
As if that was not at all what she expected, she shook her head. “Why them?”
“I mostly thought to find out where the man was buried, go from there.”
“What about Glenn Falls?”
“The blackmailer said Longstreet didn’t go until the fall, but I figured I’d go there next if I can’t find the man’s grave. Or even if I do.”
“Marah wrote me about the bath house and how much time you saved her with the new water system.”
“I was happy to help however I could. After all your hospitality…it was the least I could do. You’ve helped me so much.”
She nodded then extended her hand that held a piece of folded paper. “Here. We want you to have this.”
He took the offering then opened it. A bank promissory note, and he couldn’t believe the amount. “No. I can’t accept this. You don’t owe me any money, Miss Freddie. Especially not five hundred dollars.”
She reached over and patted his hand. “We want you to have it. Now if you don’t need it to get home on, then save it for when you come back. We both want to see you again with or without Lacey.”
Though he heard her words, he didn’t believe Marah had any interest in laying eyes on Lacey Rose. “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll be careful with it. I’d love to come back for a visit, maybe even deliver Aunt May’s next manuscript in person.”
She chuckled. “You certainly do know how to warm an old lady’s heart, dear one. And my daughter…you brought a sparkle back into her eye I wasn’t sure would ever return. I’m grateful that in knowing you, she’s able to see her life isn’t over. Since Curry’s demise and Cyle’s rejection, she’s been so obsessive over those horses.”
“She’s a superb lady and quite wonderful with those animals. They’re definitely a passion.” He returned her mirth. “You’ve done yourself proud in rearing her, ma’am.”
Had he told her his heart, or only what she wanted to hear?
Hurry then wait. Lacey Rose hated sitting outside courtrooms, stuffy airless corridors with nothing to do.
The judge having the lawyers for sidebar after sidebar. More likely than not, they all plotted against her. Why hadn’t she thought to bring a book or at least buy a newspaper? Except all those rags wrote about those days was that awful war.
Oh, that Mister Dithers could be correct and the dreadful killing would end within the year!
Rubbing her tummy, she heard again the old wild man’s prophesy over her son. Called to greatness. She reflected on Mother Humphries’ claims on his age. Did they really believe he could be that old?
How could a man live that long and still get around like he did? Maybe he was a prophet, or even an angel.
His prediction that Lincoln would get the nomination definitely proved true. The war lasting until at least next spring seemed inevitable.
If what she’d been hearing about Lee holding off Grant, it didn’t seem so certain that it would end that quick, but.…
The big double doors opened, and her barrister marched straight toward her then at the last step, veered, and sat beside her.
“They’ve ask for a continuance.”
“What’s that? What does it mean?”
“A delay. I objected. The judge asked them to make a new offer. So here we are. The bankers will give us eighty cents on the dollar. That’s a lot of money, Miss Longstreet.”
“That’s letting them steal twenty percent of my money, sir.” The look in the man’s eyes told her everything she needed to know. “How much are you willing to give up of your fee?”
He chuckled. “Five percent.”
She did the math, except it got a bit fuzzy with all the zeros. “Tell the greedy leeches that I’ll agree to ninety cents, if you’ll reduce your fee by seven and a half.”
He patted her knee then left his hand there. “How about eighty-five, and I stay at five off?”
Without saying a word, she glared at his fingers until he removed them. “No, get them to take the ninety and you cut off six and a half.”
Two hours later, she signed for eighty-eight cents on the dollar, remembering Miss Jewel telling her the number eight stood for ‘new beginnings’ in the Bible. And he cut his by six, just to get it all done and over.
Once she signed in all the right places, he stood. “What bank would you prefer your money to be transferred into? I wouldn’t recommend you walking around with that much cash.”
“Well, I certainly will not be leaving it in theirs, that much I know. Which one do you use?”
“Several, but I like First National the best.”
“How far is it?”
He smiled his rather smug grin. “Right across the street.”
“Good. We’ll stroll right over and set me up an account.”
Took Charley two days to find Longstreet’s grave. No flowers or other embellishments adorned it, but a fresh Lacey-sized footprint told him she’d visited in the last few days.
Shame it wasn’t back home, he could track her to wherever, but with all the brick sidewalks and streets, it wasn’t an option.
Going to Glenn Falls was out, not with her being in town, except New York City could hardly be called a town, and hiding in it would be as easy as a beaver slipping into its stick house. He waited the rest of that day, standing next to a giant oak that gave him clear view of the mound, but some cover as well.
If she came again, he’d prefer to see her before she spotted him.
Darkness drove him back to Freddie’s, who had thankfully gone out. Next morning, he beat her and the cock up. Wouldn’t do, Lacey coming early, and him missing her again. Mid-afternoon, a female about her size and shape descended from a hired carriage and walked toward the grave.
It was her. Her face as young and innocent as ever, but with a new knowing, took his breath away.
It came back hard. He filled his lungs easy and slow, willed his heart to stop thumping so wildly in his chest.
Wanting to see exactly what she did, hear what she said, he waited until she reached the grave and knelt beside it before easing toward her, careful of where he put each foot, never taking his eyes off Lacey Rose.
For the longest, she stared at the mound of dirt. A tear slipped out and trailed down her cheek. “Got to wait a year, but your grave marker is paid for and will be installed.” She chuckled, and gazed up to the sky.
She closed her eyes and lowered her chin. “You’re going to have a son, Harold. When he’s bigger, I’ll bring him to visit you. I’m not sure what all I’ll tell him…about you. For certain nothing about our first night together, but a man needs to know about his father, the good and the bad.”
Folding a leg under, she sat on the ground. “The house is finally in my name now. And I got a lot of the money you meant for me to have. Had to get a lawyer here and one in Glenn Falls, too. Of course the blood suckers took their pound of flesh.”
A shadow fell, her heart pounded and her mouth went dry. Not in a good position to protect herself, she frantically tried to figure what to do. She turned. “What!” Her heart took to beating like a caged cat. Could it be?
“Charley? Is it you?”
He extended his hand. “Yes, Lacey Rose. I’ve come to take you home.”
She took it and let him pull her up. “But how…how did you find me? Wind up here? I thought… Did you quit the army?”
“No. Wallace Rusk got shot in the leg then wouldn’t let them have it no matter what they said. Uncle Henry asked me to take him home, but Aunt Rebecca, and Mama, and Aunt May all together couldn’t get him to agree, either. He’s dead, Lacey. I’m sorry.”
Of their own, her eyes clenched shut. Like they could no lo
nger bear the light of day or to see what Charley was saying. Her heart stopped. Not Uncle Wallace, not the daddy of her heart. The flood of tears forced them open.
“Oh no, Charley. It can’t be true.” Her knees buckled beneath her and she started down, but he grabbed her and pulled her in tight, holding her upright. She breathed him in and almost fainted for his smell, his touch.
Nothing had changed. Why had she ever thought it would? His arms felt wonderful around her.
But sorrow overwhelmed any joy his embrace brought.
For too long, she cried on his shoulder. She wanted to fall on the ground and pound her fists into the dirt until the horrible truth reformed itself or Uncle came back. But that could never happen.
Just the other morning, she’d read in the Bible where King David said, he could go to his baby, but he couldn’t come to him. It was the same with Uncle.
At some point, she indeed would go to Heaven and see him again.
That last day she’d hugged him, he held her tight and whispered in her ear that he loved her like a daughter, told her to be a good girl.
Then she’d gone and kissed Charley. In front of God and everyone. In front of Uncle.
Her deed rolled shame over her. She’d failed him. Then worse, run away, and…and….
Sobs anew beset her, and she melted into Charley.
Stroking her hair, he sighed. “I’m so sorry. I loved him, too.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “When he found out about the ransom note, as my commanding officer, he ordered me to come get you and bring you home.”
What had he said? A ransom note? She leaned back. “What ransom note?”
“From a guy called himself the King of Diamonds. He sent it to Aunt May, wanted five thousand gold for you. I caught up with him in St Louis. He claimed you and him were partners before he loaned you to Longstreet. You were supposed to be back that day. Said Longstreet had promised. But he hadn’t showed.”
She pushed away from him.