Kitabı oku: «Rebel with a Heart»

Chapter One

Riverwalk, South Dakota November, 1879

A splinter jutting from the boardwalk pierced Trace Ballentine’s trousers. He cursed his luck. He growled at fate. How could it be possible that he was facing one of the most pivotal moments of his life with a piece of wood stabbing his rump?

Admittedly, he hadn’t slipped by accident, but he hadn’t intended to take a woman down with him, either. Still, here the lady was, sprawled across his lap in front of the ticket counter at the train depot, with the contents of her valise scattered near and far. Undergarments and shoes, ribbons and hatpins littered the boardwalk, mostly crushed under the stack of books he had been carrying.

He snatched his shattered spectacles from under his knee and plopped them on his nose.

Even through a spiderweb of broken glass he knew this woman. Even after sixteen years of foggy memory and change he recognized his one true love.

“Why, you big...” She seemed to be searching for the nastiest word in her vocabulary.

“Oaf?” he supplied.

“Dolt.”

The accusation didn’t sting; she’d called him worse dozens of times in playfulness. Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t wounded to his soul.

Lilleth Grace Preston stared straight into his eyes without knowing who he was.

In every fantasy he’d ever had of their miraculous reunion they had showered tears and kisses all over each other.

He had vowed to love her forever, and damned if he hadn’t. He’d cherished her memory since he was fourteen years old, yet not a twitch of her eyebrow or a blink of her lashes revealed that she recalled him.

To be fair, how could he have expected her to? The last time they had been together he had been gangly, whereas now he was tall and filled out. Over the years his hair had darkened from blond to brown. These days he wore a beard, trimmed short and neat. Back then he had barely sprouted peach fuzz.

He was nothing like the boy he had been, while she looked very much the same. With her red curls, snapping blue eyes and mouth that went from a grimace to a smile in a flash, he’d have known her even if he hadn’t been cursed with a mind that remembered nearly everything.

“Kindly remove your person from under me, Mr....?” She arched one brow.

It’s me. It’s Trace.

“Clark,” he declared. He wrinkled his brow, then added a hiccup.

“Mr. Clark, your—”

“Clarkly, that is. Mr. Clark Clarkly, at your service, miss.”

“Mr. Clark Clarkly, kindly remove your knee from my bustle.”

“Your...? Oh, my word, I beg your pardon.” He straightened his leg and reached for her hand, desperate for just one touch, even if that touch was through a leather glove.

She allowed him to help her to her feet. He then made a show of being a buffoon by attempting to straighten her skirt.

Curse it, he was a buffoon, and he didn’t even have to act a part. Of all the disguises he could have chosen for this assignment, why did it have to be Clark Clarkly?

Had he ever dreamed that he might run into Lilleth Preston he’d have made himself a lawman or a cowboy. Anyone but good old Clarkly, the bungling, bookish librarian.

But Trace was good and stuck now. Most of the citizens of Riverwalk had made the acquaintance of Clarkly—run into him, quite literally. He couldn’t change identities midassignment. Too much was at stake. The innocent inmates at the Hanispree Mental Hospital depended on Clarkly.

He ought to thank his lucky stars that Lilleth hadn’t recognized him. It broke his heart, but it was for the best.

Hot damn, he was stuck in a muddle of his own making with no way out. There was nothing for it but to dive in headfirst.

Lilleth slapped his hand where it attempted to straighten that fascinating, if tweaked, little bustle behind her skirt.

“Mr. Clarkly! Have you no shame?”

Good girl, Lils, he thought, you still hold your own against anyone.

“Why...yes. Usually, that is. Miss, you pack quite a wallop.” He shook his slapped hand, then stooped to gather her belongings from under his books.

She would think he was an idiot for plucking up her lacy, pink-ribboned corset, but that was as close to intimacy as he was likely ever to get with her.

Lilleth crouched beside him, her hand already in motion to deliver another swat. He shoved the garment at her, but not before he noticed that it smelled like roses.

“Don’t you lay a finger on those bloomers.” Lilleth leveled a glare at him, snatched up her belongings and stuffed them into her valise. She snapped it closed, then stood up.

November wind, blowing in the promise of the first snow, swirled the hem of Lilleth’s skirt. Her toe tapped the boardwalk with the one-two-three-pause, one-two-three-pause rhythm that he remembered. She was struggling with her temper.

He gathered up his books and, in true Clark style, layered them in alphabetical order. He’d intended her to notice that, and she had. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“It has been a pleasure, truly.” He offered his hand. “I’m sorry about the little knock-you-down. My deepest apologies, and welcome to Riverwalk.”

Most women wouldn’t accept his apology, given that he’d been clumsy upon stupid upon rude, but he left his hand extended just in case.

Lilleth stared at his face for a long time, studying, weighing, judging.

“I’m ever so sorry, Miss...?”

“Well, accidents do happen, after all.” She shook his hand. The smile that had haunted his dreams pardoned him. “I’m Lilly Gordon.”

Gordon? Married? No! Sixteen years ago she had taken his hand, pressed it to her twelve-year-old heart and vowed to marry him and only him.

“Hey, Ma, Mary’s getting hungry.”

A boy, no more than ten years old, walked up to Lilly Gordon carrying a baby.

“Cold, too,” the boy added, frowning and shooting Clark an assessing look.

The baby didn’t appear to be hungry or cold. In fact, it was bundled against the chill so that only a pair of blue eyes—Lils’s eyes—and a pert little nose peeked out.

Trace admired the boy for stepping up. Some big galoot had just knocked his mother down.

“Make Mr. Clarkly’s acquaintance, Jess.” Lilleth took the baby from the boy’s arms. “Then we’ll be on our way. There’s the hotel, just up ahead.”

“A pleasure to meet you, young man,” he said. And it was, too, now that the shock was wearing off. He extended his hand.

The boy cocked his head, studied his face as his mother had done, and then, like her, made up his mind in an instant. He shook Clark’s hand.

“Well, good day, then, Mr. Clarkly,” Lilleth said.

A spray of red curls tumbled out from under her hat. Her smile warmed him in places that hadn’t been warm in forever.

Jess picked up his mother’s valise, his own, and carried a smaller one tucked under his arm.

Trace watched Lilleth and her little family walk toward the Riverwalk Hotel. It was a good thing it was so close, for the temperature seemed to be dropping by the minute.

He was proud of Lils. She had grown to be a fine and beautiful woman. Even with a baby riding her hip the sway of her gait would be enough to catch any man’s eye.

It was a lucky thing for him that she was married.

He had his mission, one he was dedicated to. Mrs. Gordon had her family. Life would go on.

Yes, it was very lucky that she was married. He hadn’t really thought Lilleth would remain his Lils forever. Everyone grew up, everyone changed. No one remained a child forever. Not him, and most certainly not the lovely woman walking away from him.

Lilly Gordon glanced back. She arched one brow and smiled with the shadow of a question crossing her face.

He gripped his armload of alphabetized books tight.

It’s me, Lils. It’s Trace.

* * *

Blessed heat poured from the fireplace in the lobby of the Riverwalk Hotel. Lilleth walked past the check-in desk, pointing Jess toward the big hearth.

November in South Dakota was a beast.

“Sit there, Jess.” She pointed to a big padded chair, one of a pair flanking the fireplace. “Get your sister out of that blanket so the warmth can reach her.”

Lilleth removed her coat and gloves. She stood before the fire, letting it warm her, front then back. It took a few moments, but the bitter cold finally quit her bones.

She glanced about, relieved to see the hotel lobby empty of patrons. Through an open door to her right she heard the ting of utensils against plates. An aroma of fresh warm bread swirled throughout the lobby, mixing with the scent of burning wood.

The moment she checked into her room, she would take the children to the dining room for dinner. They had to be hungry. The strenuous travel they had been forced to endure left little time for leisurely meals.

Riverwalk in November was not a place she would choose to be, but choice had been taken from her some time ago.

The hotel clerk bent down behind the tall counter. Lilleth took that moment to attempt to straighten her bustle. It had been crushed and bent beyond repair. No amount of yanking or pulling made a whit of difference to its appearance.

By all rights Mr. Clark Clarkly ought to pay for it. The man was beyond clumsy. Thank goodness it hadn’t been Jess he had bowled over. He and Mary might have been injured. Mr. Clarkly ought to take his stroll with a warning to fellow pedestrians tied about his neck.

But there was something about him...something almost familiar. She couldn’t at this very second imagine what it was, though.

“I’ll be back, Jess. I’m going to check in, then we’ll get something to eat.”

Frigid wind huffed against the windowpanes, but the hotel lobby was lovely and warm. Thank the stars that she had been able to wire ahead and get reservations on short notice.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Green.” Lilleth read his name from the plaque on the counter. “My name is Lilly Gordon. I’d like to register for my room, if you please.”

Mr. Green looked her over with interest, as men tended to do. It was a fact of life that nature and her mother had bequeathed her a figure that attracted men’s attention. She had quit taking offense to their reactions years before. Men were men, after all, for good or ill.

“Mr. Green?” she asked, returning his attention to her face. “My room?”

The man blushed, ran his thumb down a list of names on the hotel register and then frowned.

“That’s Mrs. Gordon,” Lilleth said, feeling uneasy. The clerk ought to be smiling and handing her a key by now. “Mrs. Lilly Gordon.”

He clicked his tongue against his teeth, then ran his forefinger over the register one more time. Halfway down, his finger stopped. He withdrew a pair of spectacles from his pocket, placed them on his nose, then bent low to peer at the page.

Lilleth tapped her foot.

Mr. Green closed the book and pressed his long, thin fingers on top of it. He cleared his throat.

“I do apologize, Mrs. Gordon. There appears to have been a mistake.”

“Kindly check again.” Tap tap, tap. “My reservation was confirmed.”

“I see that, yes.” The man shifted his weight. “But it appears that your room has been given to someone else.”

Lilleth took a breath, slowly and calmly. She let it out, drawing deep down for a smile. You catch more men with lace than you do with homespun, she reminded herself. This philosophy was also something bequeathed by her mother.

“I’m sure you can provide them another room. Certainly they will understand once you explain the mistake.”

“I’d like nothing more, Mrs. Gordon, but the couple in question are the elderly parents of the owner of this hotel. I can’t rightly send them out in the cold.”

Tap, tap...”I’m not asking you to do that. I’m simply asking that you give them another room.”

“There are no others. I’m sorry.”

“No other rooms?” There had to be another room; she had reserved one! “Do you see my children over there, Mr. Green? Mary’s only a baby. Would you send her out into the cold?”

He truly did appear remorseful. She brightened her smile and forced her toe to be still.

“Not by choice, no, I wouldn’t. But it’s out of my hands.”

“Whose hands would it be in, then, Mr. Green?” This error would be corrected or she was not Lilleth Preston. “We’ll wait right here in the lobby until you find the person who can correct this error.”

“It won’t do any good. No rooms means no rooms. The hotel is booked up long term. There won’t be a room here or anywhere else for a good while.” Mr. Green reopened the register and flipped through a few pages. “Look for yourself. There’s the Grange meeting in town. All the farmers and their families are here for it.”

She would not take the children back out in the cold. They had only now quit shivering.

“Be that as it may, I do have a reservation.” Lilleth looked about. There was nothing for it. “We’ll take the lobby, then. The chairs by the fire will do well enough for now.”

It served Mr. Green right to be choking on his Adam’s apple.

“Come along, Jess,” she called toward the fireplace. “Let’s have a bite to eat before we settle into our chairs for the evening.”

“May I be of service in some way?” said a low voice from behind her.

A deep breath, hands planted on her hips and a slow pivot brought her about to face a well-dressed man standing beside Mr. Green.

“And you would be?” She arched a brow. This had better be someone who could fix the situation.

“The owner of this establishment. Is there a problem?” he asked.

“There most certainly is, Mr....” She shooed her hand between them, since he hadn’t felt it necessary to reveal his name. “My reservation has been given away. According to Mr. Green, my children and I have no place to go but out in the cold to freeze to death.”

“There is the meeting of the Grange. The whole town is booked.”

“And I am one of the people who booked.”

“I understand your frustration, ma’am. Let me think on it a moment.” The hotel owner frowned and twirled his mustache between his thumb and forefinger. “There is Mrs. O’Hara’s. She might have a room.”

For some reason this made Mr. Green’s eyes go wide as dollars.

“Very well, I suppose that will have to do.” If it didn’t she’d be back to camp out in this lobby. “And where will I find Mrs. O’Hara?”

“A few streets north of here will be a saloon. Make a right and go three blocks. That will take you near the edge of town. You can’t miss the place. It’s the only building around.”

She’d rather not walk the children past a saloon, but there appeared to be no help for it.

She bundled Mary up tight. Jess took the bags.

“Give my regards to Mrs. O’Hara,” Mr. Hotel Owner called as she hustled the children out into the first snowfall of the season.

“Auntie Lilleth,” Jess said, his shoulders hunched under the burden of the bags. “I hope Mrs. O’Hara’s place isn’t far. It’s so cold I can’t rightly feel my toes.”

“Careful, Jess, ears are everywhere.”

* * *

Trace opened the front door to Clark Clarkly’s Private Lending Library, stumbled inside and then closed the door with the heel of his shoe.

He shivered from the chill lingering in his coat and dumped the load of books on his desk, letting them fall out of order. He tossed his broken glasses on the pile.

Ordinarily, he would light a fire in the big hearth that took up most of the wall behind his desk, but not this afternoon. Snow drifted past the window, growing heavier by the minute, and he needed to get to Hanispree Mental Hospital.

Unless he missed his guess, the staff wouldn’t venture away from their cozy quarters to make sure the inmates were warm. It was back out into the cold for good old Clarkly.

Over the years, as an investigative journalist for the family paper, Trace had uncovered plenty of nasty secrets. Hanispree Mental Hospital had some of the worst. It was a stink hole of corruption. The more he poked around, the more determined he was to expose the malignant soul of the place.

To the casual observer, Hanispree looked like a resort where the wealthy might come to relax. Its gardens were manicured and the marble staircase inside gleamed. Expensive wood floors reflected layers of polish.

The truth that he had discovered ate at his gut. Polished floors and gleaming marble were a facade. Hanispree Mental Hospital was little more than a prison for the cast-off members of wealthy families. He was certain that some of them had no mental illness whatsoever.

A movement beyond the window caught his attention. He figured he’d be the only one foolhardy enough to go outdoors with a storm blowing in. He walked to the window and pulled aside the filmy curtain.

What the devil? Lilleth and her little brood were making their way down the boardwalk, their bodies leaning into the wind. He’d assumed they would be settled into the hotel by now.

He started to reach for the doorknob, to run after her and find out if there was something amiss.

But she had a husband, no doubt a fine man who was at this moment coming to her aid. Trace would do well to remember that he was not himself at the moment, but Clark Clarkly.

If she discovered who he was it might spell disaster for the exposé he was writing. If his true identity was revealed, what would happen to all the folks at Hanispree? He needed to keep his distance.

Trace peered after Lilleth, his eye to the windowpane trying to see up the street, where Mr. Gordon no doubt waited with open arms.

The investigative journalist in him began to gnaw at something. It was trivial, really. But Lilleth detested being called Lilly. He’d witnessed her wrestling half-grown boys to the ground for teasing her with that name.

A knock low down on the front door brought his attention and his eye away from the window.

He opened the door to let in a flurry of flakes and young Sarah Wilson.

“Little Sarah.” He closed the door behind her, then brushed an inch of snowflakes from the brim of her hat. “What are you doing out in this weather?”

“Good day, Mr. Clarkly. I’ve come to borrow a book.”

Bless her heart, coming out in the elements. He was familiar with Sarah. She was a nine-year-old bundle of curiosity, as well as a dedicated reader. Her mother was in frail health, and Sarah escaped into stories as often as she could.

Clark Clarkly and his lending library did have their uses in the community. He wasn’t a complete waste.

“As luck would have it, I picked up a shipment of new books just an hour ago.” Trace lurched toward the desk and snatched one up, along with his shattered spectacles. “I’ve just the thing for a girl your age, Miss Sarah.”

He opened the ledger on his desk and Sarah signed her name in it, her promise to return the book.

“I’ll bring it back real soon,” she said.

“Not until the weather clears.” He would give her the book to keep, along with a few others, when his assignment was finished and he went back home to Chicago. “Come along, I’ll see you home.”

Trace put on a heavy coat, picked up his collection of new books and gathered Sarah’s mittened hand in his.

Outside, he closed the door behind him and glanced in the direction that Lilleth had gone, but she and her family had vanished.

Met up with her husband, no doubt, the lucky man. In his mind’s eye, Trace saw the pair of them snuggled in front of a snapping fire. He wished his Lils and her man the best, truly he did.

“You’re going to like this story, little lady.” Trace walked in a direction away from Hanispree Mental Hospital, but there was no help for it. “It’s the tale of a girl just your age.”

* * *

Main Street was deserted, the silence profound. Only the shuffle of Lilleth’s and Jess’s footsteps on the boardwalk disturbed it.

Wisely, the folks of Riverwalk had withdrawn into their homes. Tendrils of smoke curling out of fireplaces made the cold outside seem that much worse. Only yards away, people were tucked into houses and fully booked hotels, enjoying warmth and companionship.

With any luck, Mrs. O’Hara’s place, whether it be a boardinghouse or private home with an extra room—Mr. Hotel Owner hadn’t offered that information—would be warm and have food for the children.

Biting cold wasn’t the only thing troubling her about Main Street this afternoon. The utter stillness was almost spooky. Out in the open, with no one else about, it seemed that eyes observed her every step. It was silly, of course, as she’d been careful.

A block back, she had been startled by a curtain being drawn aside. Her gasp had nearly woken baby Mary, who slept sweet and warm, against her breast.

“It’s all right, Auntie Lilleth,” Jess had said. “It’s probably Mr. Clarkly. The sign over the door says that place is his lending library.”

“It makes sense that Mr. Clarkly would be a librarian, the way he stacked those books in alphabetical order.” For some reason it didn’t bother her that he might be watching. Funny, when for the last two weeks she’d done nothing but live in fear of folks who stared too intently at her family.

“And Jess, don’t forget, call me Mother. Anyone might hear you.”

“Uncle Alden won’t come to Riverwalk.” Jess shifted the small valise under his left arm to his right. “He’s too afraid of ghosts.”

True, Alden Hanispree had an unnatural fear of them. It was probably the very thing that had spared her sister’s life. Had he not been such a fearful little man he might have murdered Bethany instead of having her committed to his haunted mental hospital.

Still, just because Alden Folger Hanispree was a cowardly man didn’t mean that he wasn’t dangerous.

Dangerous, and greedy for their inheritance, he was a powerful enemy to her niece and nephew.

“He might send someone, though.” Lilleth stopped. She lifted her nephew’s chin in her fingers and looked him in the eye. “I’ll protect you, I swear it. But Jess, we can’t be too careful. Watch every word you say and don’t trust anyone but me.”

“I wish my father was still alive. Uncle Alden couldn’t hurt us then.”

“I wish that, too.” Lilleth traced the curve of Jess’s cold cheek. It had been only six months since his father’s death. Too little time to keep Jess’s eyes from becoming moist. “But he sees us from heaven, I’m sure of it.”

“Do you think, somehow from way up there, he can help us sneak Mama out of the mental hospital?”

“Well, if he can, you know he will, and if not, maybe he’ll send someone our way who can help us.”

She couldn’t imagine who that would be, since she wouldn’t allow anyone close enough to be able to help. She wouldn’t say so to Jess, but it would be she who would have to figure a way to get Bethany away from Hanispree.

“Everything will turn out fine, Jess, don’t you worry.” Lilleth shifted the baby in her arms. She was small for a twelve-month-old, but nonetheless the weight was beginning to take a toll on Lilleth’s back. “We’d better get to Mrs. O’Hara’s before we freeze.”

“Sure, Ma.” Jess stepped forward with a long stride.

If her brother-in-law was watching from above, as she firmly believed, he would be proud of his only son. Jess was a brave and intelligent boy.

Praise the saints, they were nearly to the saloon, then only a few more blocks to sanctuary.

“Jess, come walk on the far side of me.”

Things went on in a saloon that a ten-year-old didn’t need to be privy to. It would take a heavier snowfall than this to keep men of low morals and women of loose values from their amusement.

Despite the cold, the front door was open to let out the choking smoke that built up in those places. If it were up to Lilleth, Jess would never be old enough to witness mostly exposed bosoms and the men ogling them.

“When we walk past the front door of the saloon, squeeze your eyes closed.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, but a grin crossed his face. And weren’t his eyes cracked open a slit?

Well, a grin was better than tears. Blooming adolescence would be something for Bethany to deal with once they set her free.

All would be right when she was Auntie Lilleth again, free to spoil and coddle.

They had taken only a few steps around the corner of saloon when the wind began to howl. Cold air bit through their wool coats. Mary whimpered in her sleep. The three blocks to Mrs. O’Hara’s couldn’t come soon enough.

It became difficult to see through the swirling snow.

Just in time, Lilleth spotted a house in the distance.

“That way, Jess.” She pointed through the shifting white veil.

In another moment a front porch came into view. A front porch with a red lantern hanging from the eves!

It couldn’t be. Mr. Hotel Owner would not have sent her here...he couldn’t have. Maybe Mrs. O’Hara simply liked red lanterns.

In any case, there was nothing for it but to knock on the door. The children couldn’t take much more of the cold. Lilleth’s own feet were becoming icy stubs.

The door opened after the third knock. Dim light and warmth spread over the porch.

“Is there something I can do for you, missus? Are you lost? And in this weather!”

Jess didn’t bother to hide his grin or squeeze his eyes to respectable slits. Clearly, he was bedazzled by the woman with nearly purple hair, clown-red cheeks and eyes lined with black. Or more likely it was her mostly exposed bosom that made his eyes pop wide in wonder.

“No, not lost.” Lilleth took Jess by the shoulder and turned him to face the street. “The owner of the Riverwalk Hotel directed me here after he gave away my room.”

Well! Mr. Hotel Owner would not insult both her and Mrs. O’Hara by his little joke. This would not be the last he heard of it.

“On occasion I do rent upstairs rooms. But this wouldn’t be the place for you and your children. It wouldn’t be seemly. I’m sorry.”

“I understand, Mrs. O’Hara. We’ll find another place.”