Before the Dawn

by Beverly Jenkins

  As Seth handed Leah down from the carriage, she asked him, “Is the owner’s name really Dinah?”

  “No, it’s Florence, but she thought Dinah sounded better.”

  Leah smiled as she pulled back her black veil to free her face.

  Seth asked, “Are you sure you’re up to this? I can take you back to Eloise’s.”

  “No, this is fine. I’ll be by myself soon enough.” And she would be. “Right now, company’s what I need.”

  “Then I’ll be on my best behavior.”

  Leah stopped. Another man had said that to her; a dark-eyed man with braided hair, a man she’d been trying not to think of.

  Seth peered down into her face. “Are you all right?”

  Leah shook herself free. “I’m sorry. I lost myself for a moment there. Let’s go in.”

  He nodded and they started up the walk.

  The place wasn’t very crowded. There were ten small tables spread around the medium-sized room, each sporting a dark blue tablecloth. Enjoying Dinah’s luncheon fare were a group of suited businessmen, a family with two adorable little girls, a couple of solitary miners, and at a table in the back four young women, all in competing hats, sat laughing and giggling over their meal.

  “How about over there by the window?” Seth asked.

  Leah could see the sunshine falling across the table he’d indicated and approved of the choice. “That looks fine.”

  Under the curious eyes of some of the other diners, Leah preceded Seth to their table. He helped her with her chair, then took his own seat.

  Leah picked up her menu. The funeral had not left her with much of an appetite, but she knew she needed to eat something. “What would you suggest?”

  “The beef stew’s awfully good.”

  “Then that’s what I’ll have. And a glass of lemonade.”

  Seth gave their order to one of the white-aproned, male waiters. The young man thanked them and headed to the kitchen.

  Leah could smell bread baking and chicken frying. The fragrant aromas made her think the cook might be pretty good. Having run her own establishment, Leah was impressed by the efficiency of the waiters moving in and out of the tables, delivering trays laden with eye-pleasing dishes. She was just about to ask Seth how long Dinah’s had been in business when Ryder walked in.

  Their eyes met across the room. She thought about last night and the solace he given. He’d shown her a decency that had been touching; a decency she’d needed. On the heels of that came remembrances of other times. Every fiery moment she’d ever shared with him flashed across her mind. Every kiss, every caress…

  Grabbing hold of herself, she looked back to Seth. He must have seen something in her expression because he turned toward the door to investigate. When he saw his half brother he groused, “What the hell’s he doing here?”

  Leah didn’t know, but watched silently as he took a seat on the far side of the room.

  “He didn’t bother you last night after I left, did he?”

  “No,” she replied quietly. She didn’t think Seth needed to know what had occurred. No one needed to know, but it was a moment she would treasure in spite of her and Ryder’s differences.

  Ryder had been momentarily stunned to see Leah in the diner. What the hell was she doing here, and with his gentleman brother no less? He knew they’d buried Cecil Lee this morning, but he’d made a vow to stay away from her, and he couldn’t very well do that if he tripped over her every time he turned around. He needed to speak with her, though, if only for a moment. Last night, he’d offered to pay the funeral costs, and he was a man of his word. Pushing back his chair, he crossed the diner.

  When he reached her side, her black attire and the grief in her swollen, red eyes opened up another of the spaces he’d mused upon earlier. “I’d like to talk with you.”

  Leah looked up. He was standing too close. All she could think about was last night. “I paid for the funeral, out of the money you—I had.”

  Their eyes held, mingled, searched. He said quietly, “I thought we’d agreed—”

  “It’s okay. Please. Seth and I are about to have lunch. Can we talk about this some other time?”

  Ryder’s jaw tightened. “I suppose.”

  Seth said coolly, “Then leave us.”

  “I’m not talking to you, Seth.”

  “You’re not talking to her either. Or are you deaf?”

  Seth stood.

  By now, people all over the diner were staring—discreetly, but staring just the same.

  Ryder drawled coolly, “The lady has been impressed by you, Seth. Don’t spoil the illusion by showing her your true self.”

  Leah could feel her temper rising. “Stop this!” she hissed.

  Both men stared down.

  “Cecil was put in the ground less than two hours ago,” Leah reminded them, her tone curt. “I came here to set aside my grief, not to be fought over by two morons fighting like gulls over a piece of dead fish!”

  Both men looked properly chastised.

  Leah lowered her voice. “Now, Ryder, you are going to go back to your table. I will speak with you later. Seth and I are going to have our lunch.”

  Ryder’s jaw grew tighter in response to the light of triumph glowing in Seth’s gaze.

  Leah saw it, too. She snapped, “And Seth, if you gloat, I swear I’ll leave here right now and walk back to Eloise’s if I have to.”

  Ryder’s eyes glowed with satisfaction.

  Leah glared up at him, asking, “Are you still here?”

  The light died. “Enjoy your lunch,” Ryder said frostily. He turned and walked out of the diner.

  By the time the waiter brought their meal, Leah, ignoring the wary stares of the other patrons, had just about regained her calm. Seth, still smarting from her short tongue-lashing, hadn’t said a word.

  Once they began on their stew however, he asked, “Are you still angry?”

  “No.” She wasn’t.

  “Then let me apologize for my behavior. Ryder makes me loco.”

  “I could see that. Apology accepted.”

  “If you want to know the truth, I haven’t been blistered like that since the summer Ryder and I drank all of Eloise’s dandelion wine.”

  Leah looked up from her plate. “When was this?”

  “I think I was twelve. Ryder must’ve just turned ten. We were so drunk, we thought we could fly and jumped out of a tree. I broke my right leg, he broke his left.”

  “So the two of you did have some good times, then?”

  “If you want to call being sick as dogs for a full day afterward good times, I suppose we did. After Eloise set our legs and we stopped puking, she whipped us up one side and down the other. Last serious whipping she ever gave us if I’m not mistaken.”

  He looked over at Leah, adding, “Haven’t thought about that for a long time.”

  She wondered if he were pleased by the memory. “You two should bury the past.”

  Seth took a large swallow of his lemonade, then put the glass down. “Tell him that.”

  Leah shook her head. Did they not know how precious family could be? Evidently not. Leah thought it best she change the subject. “Tell me about yourself, Seth.”

  “Well, I’m thirty-eight, unmarried—” he stated looking directly into Leah’s eyes.

  She didn’t blink. “And?” she prompted.

  “I’m presently working with a group of men trying to start a Black town. We’ve sent flyers back East, and so far the results have been encouraging.”

  “Where will the town be?”

  “South of here. If we can get the money to buy up the rest of the land, we could open for business tomorrow.”

  “That sounds exciting. How close are you to your goal?”

  “Another two thousand or so should do it. Hard for folks like us to get our hands on that kind of capital though.”

  Leah nodded understandingly. “Well, I wish you luck.”

  “Thanks.”

 
; They finished lunch and drove back to the telegraph office. The clerk smiled when they entered. “Your reply’s here.”

  He handed Leah the response, and she read:

  SO SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT CECIL. STILL LOOKING INTO JUDGMENT. PLEASE STAY IN DENVER. WILL WIRE ADVICE SOON. SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. RADDOCK.

  But she didn’t want to stay. She assumed he wanted her to remain in Denver because contacting her on the long train ride back East would be next to impossible. A deflated Leah sighed. She had no desire to stay here at all, but she would.

  “The judge wants me to stay here,” she said, handing the message to Seth to read.

  He replied, “I’d be lying if I said I was disappointed.”

  Leah took the compliment but said nothing in response.

  “Who knows,” Seth added, “maybe after everything’s all said and done, I can convince you to stay here permanently.”

  Leah had no trouble reading between the lines; Seth found her attractive. Admittedly, Leah found the golden-skinned Creole and his thin moustache attractive as well, but she didn’t see the two of them advancing any further in their relationship, at least not in the near future. She wouldn’t be ready for any commitments or promises until the events swirling around her life were settled and laid to rest.

  The young clerk sat watching them as if they were in a theater show.

  Leah ignored him, and said to Seth, “How about we let the future take care of itself for now and just enjoy each other’s company?”

  “I’ve no problem with that. Do you want to wire the judge anything else?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then let’s get you back to Eloise’s.”

  When they returned to Eloise’s, Leah told her about the telegram from Judge Raddock. “He seems to think the court ruling can be reversed.”

  “That’s promising news,” Eloise replied. She was seated in her small parlor. Having just returned from driving her pastor back to his home, she was still dressed in the black dress she’d worn to the funeral.

  “I suppose, but he wants me to stay here while he looks into it. Sam says you have a cabin out back you sometimes let?”

  “I do.”

  “No offense, Seth, but I don’t wish to stay with your aunt a moment longer.”

  He smiled. “I understand.”

  Eloise asked brightly, “Does that mean you want to move into my cabin?”

  “Yes, if I could.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. Me and Alice would love the company.”

  Leah smiled.

  Eloise hoisted herself off the flowered love seat, and said, “Well, let’s go take a look at it then.”

  The cabin had one room. There was a fireplace, a bed, a table and chair, and little else. It was clean however. There were leather shades over the paneless windows and a hooked rag rug on the plank floor.

  As Leah set her handbag on the bed and removed her veil, Eloise said, “It’s not a palace.”

  “But it will do nicely,” Leah replied, looking around. “How much do you want a week?”

  “If you help out around here, I won’t charge you a thing. The place’ll be here whether I get any money for it or not.”

  “But Eloise—”

  “Don’t insult me, child. Right now you need a haven, and this is it.”

  Leah wanted to haggle over the issue a bit longer, but the sparkle of warning in Eloise’s eyes made her keep her mouth closed.

  Eloise smiled knowingly and nodded at Leah’s wisdom. “Now. Seth, all her trunks are still in the parlor where Sam left them yesterday. Once you bring those, there’s a dresser in my back room we can move in here.”

  Leah didn’t know what she’d done to have such an angel come to her rescue, but she dearly appreciated the woman’s many kindnesses.

  Once Seth had moved in the trunks and the dresser, it was early evening. He stood with her in her sparsely furnished new place, and said, “I need to be getting back to town, Leah.”

  “Thank you for all your help,” she told him genuinely. He’d stood by her at the funeral and for most of the day. He’d been an angel of sorts as well.

  “You’re more than welcome. In reality I’m hoping it’ll get me some points.”

  She grinned. “It has.”

  “Then I leave here a happy man.”

  Their eyes held for a long moment. She felt the pull of his maleness but noted it lacked the power and intensity of his brother’s. Banishing thoughts of Ryder, Leah walked with Seth out to the road, where his carriage waited.

  He got in. Looking down at her, he said, “I know you’re grieving and you have a lot on your mind right now, but friends of mine are having a dinner Saturday night, and I’d be honored if you’d let me escort you.”

  Saturday was a few days away. Leah didn’t know how she’d feel by then, but decided she’d go, if only so she wouldn’t sit in the cabin and brood. “I’d like that, Seth.”

  “Careful now,” he cautioned with a smile, “you’re giving me hope.”

  She laughed. “What time Saturday?”

  They spent a few more moments discussing the details of their outing. When they were done, Seth said, “Get some rest.”

  “I will.”

  He slapped down the reins and she waved good-bye.

  Leah walked up to the house and went inside. Eloise had on her hat.

  “Are you going out?” Leah asked.

  “Yes. Old Lady Crumwell needs more salve for her arthritis. Promised her I’d bring it this evening. Will you be all right alone?”

  “Sure.”

  “Well there’s chicken and dumplings in the icebox if you get hungry. Me and Ol’ Tom’ll be back late.”

  “Who’s Ol’ Tom?”

  “My mule.”

  “I see.”

  Miss Eloise smiled. “You sure you don’t want someone with you?”

  “No, I’ll be fine. Truly.”

  “All right then. You can have full run of the house. Take a bath if you like. Ryder fixed me up one of his fancy bathing rooms, and there’s plenty hot water in the boiler.”

  Leah thought that a grand suggestion.

  “There’s only one place you’re not allowed, and that’s the room down at the end of that hallway there. It’s where I keep the paintings and sculptures I’m working on. I don’t like them seen until they’re finished.”

  Leah had no problems respecting Eloise’s privacy. “Don’t worry.”

  Eloise’s voice turned serious. “Things didn’t work out with you and Ryder, I take it.” It was a statement not a question.

  “No, they didn’t,” Leah admitted.

  “Well, I won’t pry, your spirit’s been bruised enough I sense.”

  Leah was grateful for the woman’s understanding.

  Miss Eloise said encouragingly, “You’ll survive. We women always do. Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Thanks, Eloise.”

  Slowly nursing a drink, a brooding Ryder Damien sat on his fancy, black Victorian sofa, his well-polished boots resting comfortably atop an equally fancy coffee table. When Sam came in, Ryder looked up at him and raised his glass in silent salute.

  The gray-haired Sam took one look at Ryder’s feet, and barked crossly, “If you don’t get those boots off my table…”

  Ryder smiled. “Your table? As I remember, I signed the bank draft.”

  “Did you go all the way to San Francisco to get it? Do you dust it and polish it so it’ll stay nice?”

  Because Ryder knew he couldn’t answer yes to either of the questions, he put his feet down. “Happy?”

  “Very. What’re you so riled about?”

  “Saw Mrs. Montague, this afternoon.”

  “After the funeral?” Sam asked.

  “Yes, she was in town with my gentleman brother.” After a few moments of silence, Ryder added, “Tried to talk to her—”

  “But she told you to go waltz with a bear.”

  Ryder smiled. “Somethin
g like that.”

  “Well, what did you expect?”

  “Just what I got, I suppose.”

  “Give you guff?” Sam asked.

  Ryder thought back. She challenged him in a way no woman had ever done before. “Lots of it.”

  Sam’s voice intruded upon his thoughts. “She says you were mad and asked her to leave Sunrise because you want her to be someone she’s not.”

  “I was mad because she was a virgin and didn’t tell me.”

  “I told you she didn’t belong in a cathouse, but did you listen?”

  “No, Sam, I didn’t.”

  “Well you should’ve.” Sam then added, “But if she was a virgin—does that mean she wasn’t married to your pa?”

  Ryder shrugged. “See the problem I’m having? Who knows what the truth is?” Ryder drained his drink. “Maybe I’ll just let Seth have her.”

  “Pigs’ll fly first.”

  Ryder raised his glass in yet another salute. No, he’d never surrender anything to Seth, certainly not the black jewel Leah Montague, even though that was a direct contradiction to the vow he’d made this morning.

  “Well,” Sam said, “I’m going over to see Mable. You?”

  “Going to sit here a minute or two more, then work on some reports.”

  “Okay then. I’ll see you later, and keep those boots on the floor.”

  Amused, Ryder nodded.

  Sam’s exit left him alone. As the quiet resettled, Ryder set down his empty glass and stretched his tired arms and shoulders. He had a stack of papers on the desk in his study a foot high and he wasn’t looking forward to them. After being tossed out of Dinah’s by Leah this afternoon, he’d gone back to the office in so foul a mood none of the clerks wanted to approach him, and that suited him fine because he hadn’t wanted to be bothered. The only thing he’d wanted was the woman who’d been sharing a meal with his Creole brother.

  Ryder stood and ran his hands through his unbraided hair. What was wrong with him? He was mooning over her like a lovesick cowhand. He’d never let a woman claim his mind this way before and it had to stop. He was a mixed-blood Cheyenne brave. He had no business running behind a woman with his tongue dragging on the ground, especially one he was having investigated. There were other, more agreeable women available. But I don’t want them, the voice in his mind echoed.