A Heart Made for Love

by Linda Tillis

  “Well, then, he got just what he deserved,” Roxanne snapped.

  Samuel walked over to the window seat and sat next to Roxanne. “It’s not that simple. We had a maid who was murdered just before Thanksgiving. We think she may have been killed because she was mistaken for Mae.”

  Roxanne gasped. “No! You mean someone may have tried to kill Mae? But who would…” She stopped as she answered her own question in her mind.

  Samuel looked at Roxanne. “Ma’am, you’re gonna have to go with me Monday and talk with Captain Lance. He’s gonna need to know all this, and he may have some questions for you.”

  She looked up at Samuel with a question in her eyes. “I’m not real comfortable talkin’ to the law.”

  “It’ll be okay,” he assured her. “I’ll be with you.”

  She looked at him for several long seconds, and then turned to Garth. “Sir, I’m about run out of steam. Would it be okay if I go home now?”

  Samuel drove Roxanne home in silence. It was near dusk, and they passed a small group of deer. “Oh, they are so beautiful. I used to feed some in the woods out behind our shack when I was a kid. If I sat real still, they’d come right up and eat from the corn pile, and I could almost touch them. They had the most beautiful, sad eyes. Kinda like they were born knowing that, eventually, someone would shoot ’em.”

  Samuel didn’t speak.

  “I know. You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

  He turned to look at her. She was really a beautiful girl. “No. Anyone who appreciates the beauty of a wild animal must be pretty smart.”

  When the motorcar stopped in front of Roxanne’s new home, she turned to the door, and Samuel reached out and caught her hand in his. She turned and looked up at him. He looked into her eyes for a long time. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “For what?”

  He reached out and lightly ran his fingertip over the bruises on her arm. Roxanne was mesmerized, as his finger traced the marks on her arm.

  “For this,” he whispered. “I would never hurt a woman on purpose. God made women to be loved and respected. I’m sorry.”

  Roxanne sensed this man was gentle to the bone, until you threatened someone he loved.

  She put her hand on his. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.” She slid out the door and almost ran to the house. Roxanne was already older in her heart than this man would ever be. And she didn’t like the way her heart turned over at his touch.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  It was Monday morning, and Roxanne sat stiffly in the front seat of the motorcar.

  She had visited Mae Sunday afternoon, just to make sure she didn’t blame her somehow. Mae had actually thanked her for taking good care of the little locket. It was now hanging from a gold chain and nestled against Mae’s heart. She had been pale, with a look in her eyes that Roxanne knew well, the look of a terrified woman aware of her own vulnerability.

  Mae was surrounded by people who loved her. Which was more than Roxanne could ever claim. Roxanne remembered when she had been afraid, and vulnerable, and chained to an iron bedstead. It had been three years ago, and she’d never looked back, until now. She doubted the old man who’d bought her was going to go to the law and complain about the beating she’d given him. He had still been breathing when she left, not that she cared one little bit.

  However, now she was going to have to talk to the law, and it made her skittish.

  She looked over at Samuel. He was always a little standoffish, but this morning he really seemed to be in another world. He looked as if he was working on a serious problem and couldn’t be bothered with anything else.

  Roxanne had deliberately worn her long-sleeved white blouse with her brown serge skirt. The bruising on her arm, a sickly yellow-green this morning, covered a large area. She hadn’t wanted to explain it to anyone, so she’d just covered it.

  Samuel spoke, and it startled her. “How is your arm this morning? I hope it’s not painin’ you any.”

  That he asked about her arm at the same moment she was thinking about it startled her even more.

  “No. It’s not pretty, but it don’t hurt any.”

  “Good, and I’m real sorry.”

  Roxanne nodded her acceptance. “Once your pa told me what was going on, I could see as how you’d be a right bit touchy about the little box. Who did you say made the box?”

  “Hansu, the little Chinaman you see around the house sometimes. He’s been working for my family since before I was born. He taught me how to carve, make furniture, and a lot of things I would never have known about if he hadn’t showed up.”

  It was one of the longest speeches Roxanne had ever heard come out of him. The little Chinaman must mean a lot to him. The only person Roxanne had ever had feelings for was her nana. So much had happened, in the almost four years since her death, she’d never had time to grieve the loss.

  They coasted to a stop in front of a big building. The sign over the front doors announced it: Leon County Sheriff Office. Roxanne just sat, still as a statue.

  “I promise you this will not be hard. The man we’re going to talk with is a good man. He won’t pressure you. And I’ll be right there with you.”

  Roxanne gave a deep sigh. “All right. Let’s just get this over with.”

  Miss Edith Hampton gave Samuel a bright smile. “Is the captain expecting you, Mr. Hinton?”

  Samuel colored slightly. “No, ma’am, but we really need to speak with him.”

  The young secretary gave Roxanne a long look and then entered the captain’s office.

  “Well, now…” Roxanne smirked. “That one would like to get to know you better.”

  Samuel gave her an alarmed look. “What?”

  “Didn’t you see the look she was givin’ you? She wouldn’t scream if she ran up on you in a dark alley.”

  Samuel had turned a deep red. “That’s enough foolishness.” He was saved from any further response by the captain’s arrival.

  “Good morning, Samuel. I hope this is a social visit?” Captain Lance took a moment to assess Roxanne and then nodded. “Ma’am.”

  Samuel stood and shook the captain’s hand. “Good mornin’, sir. I wish it was a social visit. This is Miss Roxanne…” Samuel realized he did not know her last name. He turned to Roxanne and waited for her to speak. She stubbornly refused, standing mute.

  Samuel continued, after the captain had seated them in his office. “Roxanne arrived in Tallahassee sometime around Thanksgiving. She was in Pensacola prior to coming here.” The captain sensed the tension between the two. He was totally familiar with the stubborn look on the young woman’s face.

  “She is working for Taylor’s now, and just moved to one of my sister’s houses. While she was moving in, some important information came out. Pa and I figured you should know about it.”

  Both men waited for Roxanne to provide further information. And waited. Samuel, usually very patient, snapped. “Roxanne, just tell the man what you know.”

  She looked at the captain and could see the hint of a smile. “Oh, all right. I don’t know anything for sure, but I can tell you what I saw that night. A couple of years ago I met this man. He was mean. We…had business.”

  The captain made an assumption about what kind of business, based on Samuel’s discomfort.

  “And when I asked for my money, he knocked me across the room. And then he threw something at me and said, ‘The woman who had this won’t be needin’ it anymore.’ The next morning I found it. It was a pretty little carved box, so I kept it. A few months ago, I came across this same man. He was very drunk, and I managed to get into my room and lock the door before he spotted me.”

  Roxanne was unaware she was wringing her hands. “I heard him go into the room next to mine, and I didn’t hear anything else, so I figured he had passed out. About three hours later, I heard someone in the hall, so I opened the door. There was this gentleman, you know, dressed like a dandy, and real high-toned.”

&nb
sp; Samuel made a choking sound. Roxanne shot him an impatient look, then continued. “I spoke to him, but he pretty much ignored me and walked into the room next door. I could hear them talking but couldn’t make out the words. A short time later, there was a shot, just one, from that room. I knew the gent had seen my face, so I jerked open the door to run. The gent was coming out of the room, so when I saw the bartender from around the corner coming down the hall, I grabbed his hand and pulled him into my room.”

  She looked at the captain but could tell nothing of his thoughts from his expression. “But as I was closing the door, the gent looked me right in the eye, and he knew that I knew. I’m no fool. I packed my stuff, waited a couple of hours, then headed to the train depot and took the first one out, which was to Tallahassee.” She folded her hands in her lap, and met the captain’s stare head on.

  “Now, that’s an interesting story. It would seem, Miss…” The captain just waited, with a polite smile hovering around his mouth. After what seemed like forever, Roxanne gave in. “Gibson. It’s Roxanne Gibson.”

  “It would seem, Miss Gibson, you are a very fortunate young lady, to be here telling this story. Did you ever know this man’s name?”

  “Men don’t usually talk a lot while we’re doing business. I don’t get a lot of names.”

  Samuel had a pained look when he spoke to the captain. “Sir, the thing the man threw at Roxanne belonged to my sister. It was taken from her almost three years ago, during an attack. Mae never saw the faces of her attackers, so we were never able to hunt them down.”

  Captain Lance shook his head. “That’s way too many connections to be coincidental. Miss Gibson, if you saw the gentleman again, could you identify him?”

  “Oh, yes. He had some of the coldest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”

  “Could you describe him well enough for a police artist to draw a likeness?”

  “Well, I guess it depends on how good your artist is.”

  The captain smiled. He stood, went to the door, and leaned out to speak. “Miss Hampton, I have a job for you.”

  Samuel had sat quietly for most of an hour now, just watching Miss Hampton draw. Roxanne had been very persistent about the man’s features.

  Finally, Miss Hampton laid down her charcoal and looked at the finished drawing. She looked up as she turned the drawing around for Roxanne to inspect. Neither woman was prepared for Samuel’s reaction.

  “Damn!” Samuel immediately reddened. “Beggin’ your pardon, but I know him.”

  The captain looked at the drawing and smiled a very cold smile. “Well, it appears I will be needing to speak with one Langford Hardwick again.”

  ****

  Mae sat in the back garden, holding the latest of Edward’s letters. She could almost feel his lips on hers when he wrote of missing her. Remembering how well she fit in his embrace started her imagination running wild.

  What would it be like to have him make love to her? She almost laughed aloud at her own foolishness. He was coming home soon. One more month and she would have everything a woman could ask for.

  She had filled three houses with women and children. The newest “family” member was a fourteen-year-old girl by the name of Louise. She was five months pregnant and had been disowned by her parents. The father was the drunken son of a neighbor. She told her parents he attacked her in the barn one evening. Somehow all the blame had been placed squarely on Louise. She’d heard about Mae’s village from the sister of her Sunday school teacher.

  Mae gave a contented sigh and smiled to herself. The Methodist ladies were spreading the word. Maybe not intentionally, but then, gossip did spread like wildfire. It was not important how they heard of her, as long as they arrived for help. Mae was thinking about how well these displaced women had melded together when she heard a step behind her.

  “I’m not disturbing you, am I, dear?” asked Eleanor.

  Mae laughed. “No. I have a new letter from Edward, and nothing could ruffle my feathers right now.” Eleanor joined Mae on the bench.

  “When will he be home, dear?”

  “He says early September, no specific date, just when he can tie things up.”

  “Mae, I don’t mean to pry, but have you spoken with Edward about your event?”

  The smile slowly faded from Mae’s face. She had worried over this matter for some time. “No, I haven’t told Edward, but I have accepted the fact I will have to, at some point. I tried a few times, but the time just never seemed right. It’s a difficult conversation to begin.”

  “Mae, I know you were very young when your mother passed away. I don’t know how much you know or have learned over the years about what goes on between a husband and wife. If you have questions, dear, I would be glad to answer them for you.”

  “Eleanor, you are my dearest friend, and I know you would help me with any problem I might come against. A few weeks after the event, Doc Walters visited to check up on me. He wanted to make sure I was not with child, and that my menses had stabilized. He said that, from all he could see, I was going to be fine. I should still be able to have children when the time comes.”

  Eleanor was certainly glad to hear all this, but it still did not address the facts. Mae was going to have to tell Edward she was not a virgin, and why.

  “Mae, Edward seems like an honorable man. And the Lord knows a doctor should be able to understand what you have been through. But I suggest you tell Edward everything, at the earliest possible opportunity. He may need some time to adjust to the idea. You want to know in your heart that he has absolutely no reservations when the two of you marry. You want no secrets between you when you begin your life together.”

  “Thank you, Eleanor, for being such a wonderful friend. You are a wise woman, and I will do as you say. Edward says we have much to talk about, but he has no idea how much.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It was late, and the sun was orange and low in the western sky. Mae had better pick up her pace or she would be late for supper. She had been busy with Emma while time had slipped away.

  Mrs. Harrison had sent Emma and Jimmie to Mae. She was the cousin of Mrs. Harrison’s cook. Mae had worked with Emma on the sewing machine today, and Emma was making good progress. She had been a little hesitant, as she had a natural fear of all things mechanical. Her years of living in the backwoods had kept her isolated from such things. It had also kept her in bondage to a man who had brutalized her and her young son.

  She’d been with Mae for three weeks now, and it showed. The bruises had faded on both of them, and little Jimmie no longer had the dark circles under his beautiful blue eyes. He seldom spoke, but Mae did see an “almost” smile yesterday, when Samuel gave the child a small horse he’d carved for him.

  Mae had just cinched the saddle on her horse when a scream rent the evening air. She ran around the house to see a very large dark-skinned man dragging Emma by her braids. Little Jimmie was frozen in place, with a look of resigned terror on his face as if this was a scene he had witnessed many times.

  Mae found herself suddenly back in time, in a place she had hoped she would never have to visit again. She could smell whiskey and feel rough hands. Her vision began to blur. She might have fainted if Emma hadn’t screamed again.

  Mae sucked in a deep breath and yelled at the man, “You let go of her, right now!” The man paused, looked at Mae, and then continued to drag Emma toward a horse and wagon.

  Even as her eyes were seeing this, her mind was saying, “This is what Papa feared; this is why he was worried about this project.”

  This was the moment Mae would have to prove herself. Instinctively, she found the little beauty and fired a round into the air. The man froze and then turned slowly toward Mae. The look on his face would have urged most men to full retreat.

  “I said let her go, and I meant it. I don’t want to have to shoot you, mister.”

  The man let out a bark of laughter. “You think you can hit me, little lady, before I can take your gun away f
rom you?”

  Mae stood her ground. Her heart was racing and her insides quivering, but her voice was firm. “You can try, but I warn you, I will not hesitate.”

  The man had let go of Emma and now turned fully to face Mae. “You’re the reason I’m here, ain’t ya? You’re the one who put some crazy notion in her head, like she can just up and leave and get away with it. She’s got a home, and I’m takin’ her back to it.”

  As the man reached out to grab Emma again, Mae fired. The man’s arm jerked in reaction to the white-hot pain. He wheeled sharply and took a step toward Mae, then stopped. He could see she had gone pale, but her grip on the pistol was firm, and her arm was rock steady.

  “Emma, get up off the ground and come here. Jimmie, you come to me, too. Now.”

  Jimmie’s eyes were round, admiration shining through them. He kept one eye on the angry man and began to walk slowly toward Mae. Emma was scrambling away from the man, but she didn’t have to worry. He was busy stanching the blood flow from the flesh wound in his upper right arm.

  When both Emma and Jimmy were standing behind her, Mae lowered the pistol.

  “Sir, I suggest you get in your wagon and leave. My papa has heard the shots, and by now he’s about two minutes away. I don’t mind telling you he feels even more strongly about men who abuse women and children than I do.”

  Emma whispered something in Mae’s ear. The man had not moved and still looked as if he would gladly kill her. Mae spoke again.

  “You just stand right there and don’t move.” Mae walked to the wagon, keeping a close eye on the man. She reached in under the seat and took out a rifle. Keeping one eye on him, she unloaded the rifle, placing the bullets in her pocket, and then shoved it back under the seat. Mae stepped back from the wagon.

  “All right, you can go now.”

  The man stood there, staring at Mae. “I’ll be back. And I’ll take what’s mine. And you…” Before he could finish his threat, they all heard the truck tearing up the road.