“When he first came to town, my brother let him stay in his house,” Christy provided. “You know, it’s the strangest thing. I don’t really remember his speech problem. Maybe it’s just that I’ve gotten used to it. I guess since he was always that way, I have forgotten he talks any differently.”
Ginger nodded enthusiastically. “Isn’t that strange how that happens? Sometimes I can’t tell if my dreams are memories or dreams.”
“Oh, you poor dear,” Christy cooed.
“So how long did he stay with your brother?” Lana asked.
“I don’t know. You can ask my brother a little later though if you really want to know. He’ll be by to pick me up.”
Lana nodded absentmindedly. It looked as if she would have to wait. Ginger and Christy were so distractible. If she told them the truth they would probably make a bigger effort, but that was one thing that Nick had said not to do that she wasn’t going to disobey.
Worrying Ginger wasn’t necessary, and she wasn’t going to be the one to cause extra worry.
“I’m going to make us some coffee,” Lana stood and whisked into the kitchen. Despite a mumbled ‘okay’ from Ginger, it didn’t seem that the two women even noticed that she’d left the room.
Lana’s mind twisted and turned with theories and speculations as she prepared three cups of coffee.
Once she had added a bit of sugar, she went into the pantry and pulled out three large biscuits from the basket she had prepared the other day.
Lana loved baking. She had never had much of an opportunity to do it before, but now she had every opportunity and necessity to do so.
The children seemed to love her creations and Lana had to admit she enjoyed them herself. And they liked to help her make things too so it was a good way to connect with them better which translated into better cooperation for school things which they were less excited about.
Lana took the plate of biscuits into the kitchen and came back for the three cups of coffee.
“Did you hear that Jonas’s mother died of influenza three months ago?”
“She did? How did no one hear about that? I can’t believe it! Such a sweet woman too,” Christy was shaking her head.
Lana sipped her coffee and let the women’s conversation wash over her, trying to glean details and facts about the town and its inhabitants. It seemed that there was not a single town member who Christy and Ginger didn’t know about.
They seemed to know who liked who, who went where and who was buying what. Lana did find it all interesting.
A knock at the door finally brought their conversation to a close. “That must be my brother.”
Lana jumped up and hurried to the door. She was going to ask Christy’s brother the same question she had asked Christy.
The man waiting on the other side of the door was a little shorter than Nick. He had a head of dark black curls and a tan that made it look as if he spent every waking moment underneath the sun.
“You must be Christy’s brother.” Lana looked him up and down. He certainly looked trustworthy, but she didn’t need to trust him to ask him a question.
“That I am. Is that sister of mine ready to go?”
Lana looked back to where Christy was hugging Ginger and telling her something about bringing more apples when they needed them. “I believe she is coming now. Actually, do you mind if I ask you a question before you go?”
“Sure thing.” Christy’s brother spoke with a lazy drawl that was almost comical to listen to.
“I was wondering if you knew who Jake Gold was.”
Christy’s brother stroked his chin for a moment and then his eyes lit up. “You know, it’s funny you should ask. There was a man that used to go by the name of Jake Gold, I think. I mean, he only told me that once.”
“Really? Who?” Lana tried not to show how interested she was. She didn’t want to answer questions about things she shouldn’t be talking about or asking about.
“Actually, it was Jake from the general store. When he first moved here, he accidentally introduced himself as Jake Gold. He told me that he had a bad relationship with his father and now goes by Jake Dawson because he didn’t want to use his father’s last name.”
“Oh,” Lana tried not to show how much the information meant to her. She had talked to Jake Gold. He had helped her get her groceries. Could the man that spoke funnily at the general store have been responsible for Daniel’s death?
“Why do you ask?”
Before Lana could respond, Christy walked up. “I’m sorry for taking so long.”
Lana retreated before she could be pressed for answers. She needed to find Nick and tell him what she’d found out right away. What if he started asking questions of his own and accidentally told Jake that they knew Daniel owed him money?
Or maybe, Nick could talk with Jake and see why they had torn Ginger’s cabin all apart.
Lana hurried back into the parlor. “Ginger, how do you get to Nick’s ranch from here?”
“Why?” Ginger looked at her curiously.
“Oh, I had some questions for him.” Lana knew it was vague, but she hoped that Ginger would believe her.
“You just follow the path through the woods behind the smokehouse. It goes straight there. You can take one of the horses from the barn, or if you walk, it’ll take a good ten or twenty minutes to get there depending on whether you walk or stroll.”
“Where are the children?”
“They are actually going to go over to Christy’s for a while. They wanted to play with her children. Christy’s brother will bring them back later.”
“Oh, okay. Will you be okay here alone for a bit?”
Ginger giggled. “I’ve lived here for years. I’ve even slept here alone with the children. I’m sure I’ll be fine. Tell Nick I said hello.”
Lana nodded and hurried outside. She could wait till Nick came around, but she didn’t know when that would be. It had been a full day and a half since he’d been by last.
She wondered why he was staying away. A farmhand had come and done the chores and Lana had taken care of the chickens. She had actually missed Nick and his schoolboy antics.
The path was very clear and easy to find, just like Ginger had said it would be. It didn’t take her as long as she thought it might have to get there.
She had been too distracted by the flowers and trees on the way to really notice how long she had been walking. It was a beautiful walk. The sun sent sparkles of light down onto the trail and small blue and brown fuzzy butterflies stirred up from the mud puddles on the side of the trail as she passed. Several times she stopped to examine a flower on the sides of the trail. She remembered what the city was like in contrast to here in the west.
It was no wonder that people like Daniel preferred it out here. It was peaceful and quiet, and people lived on their ranches with their families, making their daily lives about each other instead of about rushing here and there.
When she broke out of the woods, she was standing in a clearing. There was a small cabin off to one side. It looked considerably older than Ginger’s cabin. There were also other buildings scattered about, which were similar to those on Ginger’s farm.
By the barn, a figure was splitting wood. She stood for a moment taking in the picturesque scene and had to admit to herself that Nick was quite good looking. He was putting a great deal of energy into the ax as he brought it down. And the wood parted as if it were butter instead of wood.
She moved closer but couldn’t bring herself to say anything. It was rather mesmerizing to study him as he repeated the motion again.
He set a log on top of another larger log and brought the ax down with frightening strength, splitting it into two. The pieces fell to the sides and again he grabbed an uncut log and placed it where its predecessor had been. Lana waited until he had split two more and then spoke.
“Nick?”
He jumped and spun around, holding the ax like a weapon instead of a tool.
For a
moment she felt a twinge of fear.
“Lana! What are you doing here? You startled me! I could have hurt you.”
“I- I’m sorry. I needed to speak to you right away.”
“What about? Ginger? And the children? Is something wrong?” He looked like he was strung tight like a spring, alarmed and ready to take action.
“No, everything is fine. The children went with Christy and Ginger said that she would be all right for a little while, so I walked over to talk to you.”
“What was it that was so important?” Nick peered behind her, “Wait, did you walk? Why didn’t you bring a horse?”
“I- I don’t exactly know how to saddle a horse and ride one really well. I’m from the city, remember?” Lana meant it as a joke, but Nick didn’t smile. “And besides it's just a 10-minute walk. Why make such a small thing into a big job?”
“We need to teach you how to ride. That’s something that is important to know out here,” Nick said still looking worried.
Lana nodded, “Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I found out who Jake Gold is.”
“What?” Nick’s eyes went wide and for a moment he looked impressed. Then his face fell, and he looked worried again. “Who did you talk to? I told you not to go poking about on your own. What if-”
“He works at the general store. He’s the Jake at the general store. Can you believe that?” Even now, it was hard for Lana to believe. While Jake at the general store had seemed a little off, she hadn’t pegged him as someone who was rich, a gambler or someone who was willing to kill someone else.
“Are you sure? How do you know this?”
Lana began with how Christy had come to the house and then she retold her conversation with Christy’s brother.
Surprisingly, Nick didn’t interrupt her and was silent for several seconds after she’d finished. “You talked to Ginger about Jake Gold. I specifically said not to involve her.”
“I didn’t tell her anything important. I only asked her and Christy if they knew anyone by the name of Jake Gold. I just said I was curious about the name because I heard it in town and wondered who he was. Isn’t it worth it that we know now?”
“I don’t know. It does change a lot, but what if Ginger had asked questions? What if she had asked around town who he was to tell you an answer to your question? She wouldn’t have had any idea what she was getting into.” Disappointment covered Nick’s face.
“I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t think if it that way,” Lana admitted with concern.
Nick shook his head, “It’s all right. I know you meant well, but you have to be more careful. We have no idea what kind of people we are dealing with here. If they are who I think they are, they killed my brother-in-law and I don’t want to lose anyone else to them and I don’t want you to get hurt either.”
Lana looked away. It felt so uncharacteristic to hear Nick saying something that wasn’t criticizing or trying to send her home. “I’ll be more careful. Do you think it was him? Who killed Daniel?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know for sure that it wasn’t an accident? What if we are reading a lot into this?”
“It wasn’t an accident. I found the pin. It was hidden inside a feed bin in the barn. Daniel would have never done that.”
“What pin?”
Nick shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. I do know that this Jake Gold is not at all who he seems to be. From what I’ve heard, he is rich enough that half the town has paid him money at some time or other and several people owe him. Why in the world is he working in a low paying job in a general store?”
Lana shrugged, “Maybe he likes to keep a low profile.”
“I don’t know. Whatever the reason, I don’t like it. He has to be up to something.”
“Let’s go into the house,” Nick put the ax down and stepped away from the stump. Lana stepped backward, and as she did so, her foot landed on a log and it slipped underneath her weight.
She felt herself falling backward toward the ground. Just when she thought there was no way to avoid it, Nick reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, catching her.
Lana gasped as he pulled her up. She looked up into his eyes and it seemed like time just stopped for a moment. Lana was breathing fast. Her heart was racing, and she suddenly realized that she felt very attracted to Nick.
Nick didn’t move for a moment and then he finally spoke. “Careful, you wouldn’t want to break your leg like Ginger did.” Nick gave her a little smile and then let her go.
A strange feeling settled into the air between them. If they had been any other people in any other situation, Lana would have thought that Nick was going to kiss her.
She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. The moment was suddenly gone as the sound of approaching hoofbeats redirected their attention.
“Nick?” The call came from a rider on a horse, approaching fast. As he drew up, Lana recognized him as Nick’s friend, Derek.
Lana almost felt disappointed and she wasn’t even sure why.
“Nick, I need to talk with you,” Derek sounded as if he had something urgent to say.
Nick nodded. “Lana, I’ll take you home in a minute, just give me a sec.”
Lana nodded and walked away toward a small garden she had spotted. She knew that whatever it was, they wanted to talk about it alone.
The important thing was that she had told Nick what she had discovered. What he decided to do with that information was up to him.
Chapter 21
“What’s wrong? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” Nick wiped his hands on a cloth that he kept at the entrance of the barn.
“I haven’t seen a ghost, but I did find something out a little worse than that. I found out that this Jake Gold is part of the Linden Bandits gang.”
“Are you sure?” Nick’s throat constricted. He had been hoping that Jake was just a small-town gambler who made his wealth ripping people off and passing as a simple man at the general store.
But if Jake was part of the gang, that would make things a lot more complicated. Justice seemed to be a bit further away than he would have hoped. And that also meant it was likely that Jake’s reasons for being a menial worker at the general store might be more sinister than anyone thought.
“I was talking with this man in the saloon. He said that he works for Jake. There is no mistaking it. My buddy says that he works for Jake and Jake meets with them at night outside of town.”
“Your buddy? I thought you said he was just a man at the saloon?”
“He is. I mean we started drinking together and it turns out he is actually a jolly fellow.”
“He’s part of a gang, Derek. None of those people are harmless, jolly fellows.” Nick looked at his friend incredulously. He was sure that he must still be under the influence of the whiskey.
“I don’t discriminate. I mean, who’s to say that he’s there because he’s a bad person? Maybe he’s just misunderstood. He gave us this information, didn’t he?”
“How do you know it’s credible? You were both drunk after all.”
Derek shook his head, “I know an honest man when I see one. I know that he was telling the truth.”
Nick began to pace back and forth. “Maybe, but I need to be sure myself. We can’t just start accusing people of being in a gang without proof.”
An Encounter of Courageous Hearts: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 16
