by Annie Boone
“Promise?” She scowled at him.
Lucas nodded. “Of course. I’m sure she’ll be back in no time.”
Her heart thudded in her chest and she held the paper anxiously. Inhaling deeply, Susannah nodded and forced herself to accept this. Olivia was innocent, there was a mix up. She believed what Olivia had told her husband, and prayed that this would all work out for the better.
“Good. Because she’s going to get married and Simon is waiting for her.”
Chapter Sixteen
The town of Berryville was nearly the same size as Rocky Ridge, but with a complicated street pattern that left Olivia Foster more confused the moment she made a turn. Upon her arrival, she immediately lost her way and couldn’t have left the town if she wanted to. Praying in gratitude for clear skies, she also asked for help and guidance in finding the right place.
What was it that Lucas had said to her? She felt the clink of coins he had given her in her pocket, and she wrapped her cloak tighter around her body. It was still cold in the middle of spring, and all she wanted was a cup of cider and a warm bed.
Something behind her fell, and she jumped at the noise of the loud crash. Clutching her heart, she looked around wildly, waiting to see something she dreaded. Or someone. Her eyes caught the sight of the three men arguing over the broken boxes and spilled vegetables, but she knew none of them. And the more she looked around, the more she noticed how little she did recognize.
Tension spread through her shoulders and she could feel the fear making its way back into the corner of her life. It had started to fade over the last couple of weeks, but returned after seeing the poster Mr. Jessup showed her. Olivia took a deep breath and glancing around knew she needed to start moving. Pulling her bonnet back on properly, she ducked her head down and started walking.
It took her two hours to find the hotel. Lucas had mentioned there was only one, and it was behind the stagecoach station, but it turned out that it meant two streets behind the station and two buildings down. The streets curved and changed without order, so she had passed it three times before realizing what it actually was.
Hurrying inside, Olivia sighed as the warmth breached her skin after so long in the cold. It was a small hotel with only a second floor and small set of stairs to the side, but the carpet was bright and the man behind the desk was cheerful.
“Good afternoon!” He repeated, beckoning her over. “Come in from the cold. How can we help you today?”
With a hesitant smile, she reached into her pocket and held onto the coins. “I’d like a room, please? Just for a couple of days. I’m here to visit with a friend,” she added after a moment. “She just had a baby, so I’ll be here a few days. We haven’t decided how long.”
Stroking his goatee, the man nodded and glanced around. “Of course, of course. It’s springtime after all, that’s when all the babes decide to be born. Now then, let’s get you that room. We have a spare on the second floor, first door on your left. Here’s the key. Now, might I get your name?”
“O—Ophelia,” she stammered, turning red. “Ophelia James.” It was the first alternative name she could think of, but it didn’t make her embarrassment any less. Fortunately, the man never knew either way. After she paid, he handed over her key and she hurried up to her room.
There were no bags to put away, and Olivia didn’t know what else to do once she locked the door and sat on the bed. There was a small chest, a nightstand, and the bed. She had no windows, and nothing else there. Slipping off her shoes, she found herself with nothing to do and all she had with her with her thoughts.
After holding them back all day, now there were no place for them to go and there were too many. The first tear slipped free, and it broke the dam within her. Her heart pounded in her chest and a hiccup escaped. She sniffled, and the rest of her tears spilled forth. Curling up, Olivia picked up the pillow and let the emotions slide over her.
Fear racked her body and she was grateful she was alone, grateful there were no windows for her to be seen. What if they did? What if the wanted signs were hung in this town as well? What if they were everywhere? Or worse, what if Jack’s family came after her? Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes tightly.
Though Lucas meant well, there was only so much that he could do and he had practically told her that she shouldn’t return to Rocky Ridge. Olivia tried to figure out exactly where she went wrong, and what she could do about it.
Eventually, it was too much and she exhausted her abilities. Slowly she pulled up the blankets over her body and wiped the tears on her pillow before drifting off to sleep. Tossing and turning through the night, Olivia spent the next few hours cooped up in her room. She ate little, trying to figure out what to do next. But no matter how much she prayed, she couldn’t tell if she should move on or stay where she was.
She was wide awake by the time the sun arose. Every part of her was ready to start milking the cows and preparing breakfast but when Olivia sat up, she recalled that she wasn’t close enough to the Jessup place to do such a chore. Though it sometimes annoyed her, now she would give anything to be back there.
What if she never went back? The thought had trailed through her mind a few times before, but she hadn’t taken it seriously. Now she tried to imagine that. Olivia fixed her dress for the day and pulling on her jacket, went outside for a walk. She had a lot to think through.
It was a cold, blustery day. The sun was out, but the wind cut her skin like knives. Pulling her cloak tighter, she contemplated on her options. Glancing around at the town with the brown and white buildings and crowded streets, Olivia wondered how the place could be so disorienting. The streets seemed simple enough, but she knew that the further she went from the hotel, the longer it would take to get back there.
“Well, I definitely won’t be staying here,” she murmured after taking another wrong turn. Frowning, Olivia glanced around warily, finding a sign for a restaurant. Deciding that she might as well feed herself while she was lost, she went in. She took the first seat she saw and ordered eggs and bacon for breakfast.
When she finished eating, she counted out the money she had left. She figured she could wait here for a week. Then she’d have to do something. If she heard nothing from Lucas Jessup, then she knew she’d have to move on. It was that, she realized, or find herself dragged back to Vermont for trial. Back to Uncle Theodore and Adam Parker.
She shuddered at the thought, dropping her fork. Hurriedly she went up to the counter and paid before stepping outside, hoping the cold air would straighten her up. Olivia braided her strawberry blonde hair, and kept her gaze down as she went.
No matter where she went, she could feel eyes on her, people taking notice of the tall girl with the bright hair that didn’t belong there. There was no way to avoid them. Praying there was no one around to recognize her, Olivia hurried back towards the hotel and hoped she would find it more quickly this time around.
Chapter Seventeen
He could hardly sleep the night through with so much energy coursing through his body. Simon tossed and turned, impatiently waiting for the time to pass and the sun to return. It was different this time, however, in the sense that there was energy buzzing throughout his entire body. Every part of him wanted to get up and move, to take action and do something.
It was hard restraining the urge to get up and go see her. It took everything he had to wait, knowing he needed his rest. There was still another day until he was going to propose. Squinting his eyes open to stare at the ceiling, Simon wondered if that meant he really had to wait until then to see her. He would have to endure another tortuous night like this before talking to her.
With the extra time on his hands, he pushed back the rush of guilt and rising doubt. But Lillian was there until it was time for him to head over to the boarding house. After putting on his best suit and preparing his speech again, Simon finally headed out.
His heart hammered all the way there as he pressed the horse into a gallop. The hoof beats of
the horse matched the pounding of his heart, and they worked as one to reach the house as quickly as possible. It was mid-afternoon, and the sun was high in the sky. A slick layer of sweat spread across his forehead as Simon made his way there, leaping off the horse before grabbing the flowers from his saddle bag.
As he reached the porch, Simon briskly fixed his collar and straightened out the wrinkles. Rolling back his shoulders, he took a deep breath and knocked firmly on the door. He pulled on a smile and waited.
“Oh. Simon.” Susannah opened the door, eyes wide and half her face hidden in a thick scarf. While she looked much better than when he had seen her last week, the woman was still clearly recovering from her illness.
Perhaps that’s why, Simon decided as he nodded at her, she had decided to open the door though they had planned for her to send Olivia to answer it instead. She’d said she didn’t want to get in the way of the proposal, and once Olivia answered, they were supposed to go out for a walk. If they returned during suppertime, only then would Susannah intervene, preparing them a picnic under the stars.
“Is Miss Foster here?” He looked around the room trying to hide his confusion.
A mix of expressions spread across Susannah’s face. He didn’t understand most of them and the few he did recognize, Simon wasn’t certain he liked. Shifting his weight, he fussed with his jacket and tried to recall if he was missing anything. He had the flowers, he had polished his boots, his shirt was clean. What else could be the problem?
“Oh dear.” She whispered it, and released the heaviest sigh that a small woman could manage. It was more than he would have expected, and it had a lot of weight to rest on her shoulders. “Oh dear, oh dear. Oh Simon.”
Susannah Jessup’s eyes welled up with tears, alarming him immediately. But before he could open his mouth to ask her what was going on, she grabbed his elbow and pulled him inside. “Um, Mrs. Jessup?” He stammered at the strange action.
“Come in, come in. Please. We need to talk. Lucas? Lucas, where are you? Simon is here. I completely forgot about tonight, and after everything had happened things got out of hand, I suppose. We’ve been trying so hard to work this out, we’ve hardly slept. Well, I’ve had to sleep since I shouldn’t have gone to town. I’ve been in bed all week trying to shake this nasty illness. My point being, Lucas has hardly slept. And I have been desperately worried, I assure you. Waiting on the mail and hunting down information. Lucas went down to Colorado Springs even in the hopes to find more information and it’s just been chaos and trouble since.”
They entered the kitchen as Simon obediently trailed after Mrs. Jessup but found himself having a hard time following her story. He had no idea what was going on, but from the little he could gather things were not good.
Fortunately, they found Lucas hovering over the kitchen table. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, dark oak that seated eight folks and had engraved designs. Usually it was a lovely sight. But this evening, it was absolutely drowning in paperwork.
Looking up, Mr. Jessup offered an apprehensive nod before raising a hand that stopped his wife’s rambling. “She’s not here, Simon.” The words were simple and short, so short that it took a minute for them to sink in. He walked around the table just as Simon noticed a sketch of a familiar girl, and picked it up. His mouth turned dry as he gaped.
He put the flowers down and stared at the piece of paper, wondering if this was a dream. Heart hammering, Simon tried to imagine Olivia hurting someone but couldn’t. So why was she being hunted down like a common criminal? When had this happened? What was going on?
“What happened?”
“She was framed for murder,” Lucas started off with that immediately. Simon clung to those words immediately, certain it was the truth no matter what others said. “I’ve received proof as of this afternoon, Simon. While this is her story to share, I feel there’s some parts of it I can give you. The folks back in her hometown wanted to use her, and so she left when she learned of their scheme. That’s what brought her here. She was running away from them.”
Simon’s eyes were wide and his mouth dropped open. He looked in complete shock.
“They bribed an official to send this poster to Colorado towns when they learned where she’d run to from her old boss, Dr. Hadley. But after using my resources, we know they faked this plot and there is no warrant. She’s going to be safe.”
The tension that had building in his shoulders didn’t dissipate. He started to pace, shaking his head. It was nearly impossible to imagine, to understand this. “Then where she is? How is she taking this? I need to see her. Why didn’t she tell me?” Simon slapped the paper back down, looking back and forth between Susannah and Lucas. “Where is she?” He demanded, louder than he expected.
“I didn’t want anyone else looking for her,” Lucas put out his hands to calm him down, using his low soothing voice. “I sent her on the first stagecoach of here.”
Susannah grabbed him before he could leave. “Wait, Simon. Please, we had no idea what was going on, and we didn’t want her to be in danger.” She glanced back at her husband tearfully, clearly overwhelmed. She looked just as he felt in his heart as it beat loudly against his chest. “He sent her on the stagecoach, but we have no idea if she’s really there. It’s been a week, and she may have gone further, we don’t know. We were just trying to decide what to do when you arrived.”
He swallowed, and turned towards the hall. “Well, I’ll tell you what happens now. I’m going to find her. She needs to know she’s safe, and that all this trouble is over. She needs to come back here. Olivia isn’t alone anymore. I’m going to make sure of that.” He nodded and left without another word, not letting them say anything otherwise.
Back on his horse, Simon turned and rode back towards town. The cold late afternoon air cut across his skin, and every part of him felt alive. His nerves stood on end as he clung to the reins and started off. The evening was coming to a close and the sun had started to set so he raced it west until he reached the next town.
People were still out and about, fortunately. Breathless, he roamed the streets and wound his way through a few blocks before pulling out the sketch of her. Hurriedly he ripped off the Wanted script before showing it around, hoping someone might recognize her. Climbing off his horse, Simon asked folks over and over wondering if they had seen the beautiful tall girl with light red hair.
It took twelve people to find one who nodded. “Yes, the woman who eats at the café. She eats there most days.” The older woman scratched her thin, eyes to the sky. “Doesn’t eat much. Doesn’t talk much.”
Nodding, Simon felt a thrill surge through his veins. “Yes? Where might I find her? Is she still around here?”
She shrugged. “I see her headed in that direction afterwards. Probably the hotel, my dear. You head down that lane, and take two lefts.” Her hands gestured limply in that direction, and Simon was off before she ever put her arm down. Zigzagging across the crowds, Simon clutched the sketch in his fist as he finally found the faded hotel sign.
“You have a woman here,” he informed the man behind the desk. “Tall. Soft red hair. Big eyes. Quiet. I need to see her.”
The man chuckled from his book. “Oh, do you mean our Miss James?”
His heart thudded, staring at the man. Would she do that? Would she call herself that? He tried to imagine a reason, realizing that a woman trying to hide wouldn’t use her own name. Of course. But she’d chosen his, of all names. His throat constricted. “Yes. Where is she? Please, I have to see her, I have to talk to her.”
“Simon?”
It was only a whisper, but it stilled every bone in his body. Inhaling sharply, he turned and found her there on the stairs, looking right back at him. Their eyes met, and he completely forgot the man he had been talking to. Hurrying over to her side, he took one of her outstretched hands.
“I’ve been looking for you.” He managed a weak smile.
She sniffed with watery eyes, smiling. “I’m glad y
ou found me.”
Chapter Eighteen
The sun was already high in the sky, and it truly felt as though it were already through a good part of the day. It was a lie, however, since it was hardly morning. That’s what summer did to people, confused them about the sunlight. Her bones reminded her of the several hours she had already been up, and her stomach rumbled reminding her there hadn’t been time to eat yet.
“Ha,” she mumbled, and pulled out the right folder. “Here it is. And… oh dear.” The pile of letters spilled off her desk. Groaning, she knelt down and still clutching the folder, tried to pull the envelopes and folded papers back into their proper pile. “Of course, it’s not like I’m doing anything else right now, am I?”
The door creaked open, and she reminded herself she needed to oil the hinges. Where was that can, in the barn? “Put the letters down.” Susannah turned and found her husband standing there with an amused glance down at her. “And the folder.”
Standing up, she gave him a sheepish smile and felt a strand of hair fall out of place. Again. “It’s the third time,” she mumbled, reluctantly obeying Lucas.
“Then stop running around,” he pointed out to her. “It’s supposed to a beautiful Saturday, a happy one. And you’re ruining it by trying to get everything done at the same time. You haven’t even stopped since you woke up. And I know you never slept. Here, eat this.” He placed a muffin in her hands and led her out into the hallway.
Perplexed, she stared at the treat. “When did I make these?” Racking her brain, she wondered if it had happened yesterday. There had been a lot of cooking to do. There was the cake, the bread, the pie. But muffins? She sniffed it, uncertain if it was her own recipe.
“You didn’t.” She looked at him and he smirked. “I did. When you were sorting through the flowers for the third time.”