Moment in Time, A (Lone Star Brides Book #2)

by Tracie Peterson

  “Does it hurt?” he asked her.

  “Not anymore,” Alice replied. “It was very painful at first—something I’ll never forget.”

  “Did the police kill the bad guys who did it—the ones who killed our pa?”

  Alice shook her head. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Looking around her at the questioning faces, Alice straightened. “I don’t know, Simon. I guess because they never found out exactly who they were.”

  “That’s enough talk about it, Simon,” their mother interjected. “I’m sure your sister would rather not speak on something so sad just now. Why don’t you go see if you can find our bags?”

  “I’ll go with you,” Jake said, and he and the boy headed off toward the baggage car.

  “Are you and Simon hungry?” Marty asked, taking charge.

  “No, we ate the food we’d brought along,” Mother replied. “Of course Simon thinks he’s always hungry.”

  “I spent time working at an orphanage in Denver, and I know exactly how little boys can think themselves starving to death.” The two exchanged a smile at this.

  Marty motioned the women toward the depot. “Well then, we have a carriage waiting and a bit of a drive to get to the ranch. At least you picked a pretty day, although my brother-in-law has some concerns about the weather turning bad. Feels it in his bones.” She smiled and spoke as if she and Alice’s mother were old friends.

  Alice felt slightly jealous at their ease. Already she was thinking of the things she would discuss with her mother—things that had to be said and questions she desperately needed answered.

  Marty crossed the depot and led them out the other side to the Barnett carriage. “Why don’t we go ahead and settle in while the fellas collect your things.”

  Alice followed in silence. She wasn’t exactly sure what to say or feel. It all seemed very strange. That morning she’d had a million questions to ask, but at the moment not one came to mind. She waited as her mother settled into the backseat while Marty took her place in front. Her mother smiled and scooted to the far side of the carriage.

  “There’s plenty of room,” Mother said, patting the leather upholstered seat. “We’ll just squeeze Simon in between us.”

  Reluctantly, Alice climbed into the back with her mother. She wasn’t sure why, but she suddenly felt very awkward and out of place. There was no good reason for it, but the discomfort continued.

  “So you live in Chicago?” Marty asked Ravinia.

  Alice’s mother nodded. “We have two small rooms at a boardinghouse. It’s just across the street from where Simon attends school, so I don’t have to worry about his having a long walk.”

  “And how does he like school?” Marty asked. “Is he a good student?”

  Alice saw her mother’s hesitation. “Well, I can’t say that he really enjoys it. He hasn’t made good friends in our time there. Most of the neighborhood boys tend to bully him because he’s small.”

  The thought of her little brother being hurt caused Alice anger. Why was it the big and mean folks of the world thought they had a right to cause the smaller, gentler people trouble? Was there no justice in this life at all?

  “As for studies, I don’t think Simon has a head for it.” Mother looked to Alice and smiled. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s no dummy, that brother of yours. Rather, he’s a hard and cautious worker. He’ll do whatever I need him to, but book learning hasn’t ever appealed.”

  She turned her attention back to Marty. “Not like it did with Alice.”

  Marty had turned sidewise in the seat in order to talk to the women behind her. “I found school to be a bore, myself, but my sister insisted it was necessary. I know now that she was right.”

  Alice’s mother gave her a sidelong glance. “I’m sure you continued your studies, didn’t you?”

  Alice shook her head. “I finished eighth grade and . . . and . . .” She drew a deep breath. “I finished eighth grade. It was enough.” There was no sense in telling her mother that in her absence, Alice had felt it necessary to quit school and take care of the house and her father.

  Mother seemed to understand her discomfort and changed the subject. “I had always thought Denver a large and dirty town, but Chicago exceeds her greatly. There is so much more activity there, and they are in a constant state of building something new—even with the country in such monetary hardship. The railroads coming through the city and the Great Lakes shipping traffic give Chicago a great many people and problems to handle.”

  “I’ve never been to Chicago,” Marty said, glancing out the window.

  “Then you were only one of a few who didn’t make it to the World’s Fair last year.” Mother clasped her gloved hands together. “It’s believed that nearly 27 million people came during the six months the fair was in operation.”

  “We read all about the fair while in Denver,” Alice murmured.

  Marty nodded. “Yes, we enjoyed the coverage given it by the newspapers. It sounded quite unusual.”

  “Oh, it was. They built an entire city—the White City, they called it. A separate area for amusement provided rides and games and sideshows. Goodness, it was quite amazing.”

  Marty seemed to consider this for a moment. “I take it you and Simon attended the fair?”

  “I actually had a job helping to serve food. Simon was allowed to help me with cleanup when he wasn’t in school. It earned us a little extra money and allowed me to take Simon on the Ferris wheel. He didn’t stop talking about it for months afterward.”

  Alice smiled at the thought of her little brother’s pleasure. She was glad he’d had the opportunity to do something so fun. He would never have known such a thing had he remained in Denver.

  Marty motioned back toward the building. “Here they come.”

  Jake carried a small trunk while Simon managed a large carpetbag. Alice smiled as the boy struggled to hoist the bag up to the carriage. She quickly leaned forward to help.

  “That looks heavy,” she said, giving him a smile of approval. “Good thing you’re so strong.”

  Simon nodded and climbed up behind the bag as Alice pulled it inside. “I can carry a lot when I’m not wearing this coat.” He pulled at the traveling jacket in discomfort. “Mama said I had to wear it on the train, ’cause that’s what a gentleman does.”

  “Well, you’ll be happy to know that gentlemen out on the ranch dress a little different,” Marty told him. She gave him a wink and Simon smiled.

  “Can I ride a horse?”

  “Of course you can,” Marty declared. “The question is, do you know how?”

  Simon frowned and plopped down between his mother and sister. “No. I never got to ride.”

  Marty reached over the seat and chucked him on the chin. “Don’t pout. We have people aplenty to teach you. You’ll be a natural in the saddle before you know it. Your sister is even learning to ride.”

  The boy grinned, and it warmed Alice’s heart to see how naturally he related to Marty. She could only hope that somehow, some way, she might find the same openness with him. Of course, he had been the one to initiate their embrace, and he mentioned they had her picture and Mother had told him about her. Had Mama kept Alice a part of their family all these years? It gave Alice a great deal to ponder.

  It wasn’t long before Jake had the trunk secured and had reclaimed the driver’s seat. “Are we set for home?” he asked, calling over his shoulder. Everyone nodded their approval.

  “Good. Then we’re off,” he said and snapped the reins.

  Alice sank back into the leather upholstery and said very little. Marty and her mother chatted as if they’d known each other for a long time, while Simon was intent on watching the sights and people around them.

  I don’t really know either of you. You are flesh of my flesh but complete strangers. How could that have happened in such a short time?

  The thought really bothered Alice. Then doubts crept in. She had never really known her mother. At leas
t not in the way she thought she had. The woman Alice knew would never have gone away and left her daughter behind. It was a stone in her shoe to be sure, and like a pilgrim set upon a hundred-mile journey, the rock only served to rub a wound deep and painful.

  Robert gave the expectant mare a pat on the rump. “You’ll be a mama soon.” He left the stall and had just grabbed up some oats when Marty located him. “We’ve got Alice’s family settled in the Montoya house,” she declared. “Hannah said to tell you supper will be in an hour.”

  “Sounds good. I just wanted to check the paint. She’s due to foal most anytime.” The brown-and-white-blotched horse whinnied softly as if to agree with his comment. He poured the oats into a small feeding trough and then returned the bucket to the wall.

  Marty put her hand to her belly. “I wish I were.” She laughed. “I know I still have months to go, but I would be a whole lot happier to have my baby here safe and sound.”

  Robert put his arm around Marty’s shoulder. “Ma says the baby will be here before you know it. She’s lookin’ forward to spoilin’ him, too.”

  “Oh, has she decided it’s a boy?”

  He chuckled. “I don’t think so. I recollect her calling him a her a time or two.”

  They walked together toward the house, but Marty stopped without warning. “I wanted to talk to you—alone.”

  “Me? Why?” Robert was surprised by the sudden change in his aunt’s tone.

  “I guess I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong, but I wanted to ask you about your plans to marry Jessica.”

  “I don’t have plans to marry Jessica.”

  She looked at him with a stern expression. “That’s not what I’ve been told.”

  “Me either, but it’s the truth,” he said, trying to make light of the situation. “Folks have been sayin’ that for years, but it don’t make it so.”

  “And does Jessica know this?”

  He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’ve tried to tell her.”

  “And what does she say?”

  “She changes the subject or makes like it’s not a problem. But it is.”

  Marty’s expression softened. Her head cocked to one side. “And why is that?”

  “Because I have feelings for someone else.”

  He wasn’t sure it was the right time to share that information, but if anyone would understand, it would be Marty. His aunt had always had a way of making him feel at ease, and Robert realized he probably should have talked to her about Alice a while ago.

  “Alice?” Marty questioned, as if reading his mind.

  Robert nodded and glanced overhead at the thick white clouds. “She’s got to me, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

  “You always have been one to take up for the disadvantaged. Are you sure this isn’t just another case of your wanting to fix an injured critter?” She smiled and crossed her arms. “’Cause a woman is a whole lot more complex than a cat with a broken foot.”

  Robert chuckled. “You still remember that?”

  “How could I forget? You were only six and so very worried about that animal. I didn’t think you’d ever let it walk on its own again. Just kept carryin’ it around with you all the time. And, as I recall, the cat wasn’t any too pleased about it.”

  “I suppose it had something to do with being confined in that crate,” he replied. “But I know Alice isn’t a cat. She’s a beautiful woman, and yes, she has been hurt, but I . . . well . . . I love her.”

  Marty shook her head. “Then heaven help you.”

  “What would you do if you were me, Aunt Marty? Everyone knows about Jess, and I don’t want to hurt her.”

  “It’ll only hurt her more if you don’t put an end to it. Being in love with someone else while you’re expected to marry another is never a good foot to start out on.”

  “Sometimes I just want to sweep Alice up and run off with her.”

  “Then do it. But set things straight with Jessica first, or you’ll always regret it.”

  Chapter 17

  With breakfast over and the men off to their chores, the women of the house began their routine. Alice had taken to helping with the ironing and was busy at work in the kitchen when her mother decided to join her.

  “You seem happy here,” Mother said, taking hold of a nearby chair. She studied the ladder back of the simple piece for a moment. Running her hands along the top rung, she cleared her throat. “I hoped maybe we could talk now.”

  Alice knew that Hannah and Marty were busy outside and wouldn’t be back in for a while. “That would be fine.” She put the iron back on the stove. “Would you like to sit?”

  “Yes.” Mother took a seat without further prompting. “I find that I’m quite exhausted.”

  Alice noticed that her appearance was that of a woman who’d been days without sleep. Her color was pale and her eyes seemed more sunken today. “Did you not rest well?”

  “Well enough.” Her mother smiled. “I think the weight of everything is just coming to rest on me.”

  Alice took a seat across from her mother and folded her arms against her body. Suddenly she felt very vulnerable and wasn’t at all certain she could say the things that had been on her mind.

  “Alice, I know I hurt you in leaving. But you need to understand why I had to go.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Mother looked up and met her gaze. “It wasn’t ideally what I wanted. I had hoped that things could be worked out another way.” She twisted her hands together. “I don’t know where to start, but it’s important you understand that I always loved you, and I wanted you with me.”

  “But not enough to take me with you when you snuck out that night.” Alice hadn’t meant to reply in such a manner, but now that it was out there she didn’t try to take it back.

  “You’re right to be angry with me. I was angry with myself.” She gave a heavy sigh. “I knew you were the light of your father’s eye, and he would always treat you well. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be said about me or even Simon. You see, your father was a very jealous man. He always seemed to fear someone would come and steal me away from him.” She smiled sadly.

  “I suppose it was because I was very popular when we courted. I had many suitors, and your father had little patience for his rivals. When you were born nine months after we married, I thought he would finally realize there was nothing to fear, that I was his and we were a family. But, Alice, that wasn’t how it was.”

  Alice frowned. She knew her parents were given to arguments but had never understood why. Now she tried not to form any opinion on the matter before her mother could share her story.

  “Your father was involved in some underhanded illegal affairs. I think you know that now, given the things Marty said to me about the envelope you were looking for and the missing gold certificates.”

  “I know that he was used by someone to deliver forged certificates.”

  Mother shook her head. “He was the one forging them, Alice. He was in the middle of everything that was going on. He had cohorts, to be sure, but your father was nobody’s fool.”

  “You’re saying he willingly did wrong?” Alice leaned forward. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “I know you do. You always loved him so dearly.”

  “I loved you, too,” Alice threw back. “I thought you loved me.”

  “I do love you, Alice. I do.” Her mother reached out to touch her daughter’s hands, but Alice quickly pulled away.

  “How can you say that after what you did? You left without warning, and I never heard from you again.”

  A heavy sadness seemed to wash over the older woman. “I wrote you letters. I wrote a great many. Your father wouldn’t let you see them or even acknowledge them, from what I know now. He wrote to me and threatened me—he threatened to see me jailed if I so much as tried to come back and take you away. I felt so bad that I even offered to return to our marriage, knowing that it would be a living hell. But
he told me no. He didn’t want me back.”

  “I can’t believe that,” Alice said, shaking her head. “Papa loved you and Simon. Simon was the son he wanted.”

  “As I said earlier, your father was a very jealous man.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Alice knew she was letting her temper get control of her. She tried to calm down, but with her mother’s next words there was no hope of that.

  “Your father didn’t believe Simon was his son. He thought I had betrayed him with a business associate.”

  Alice felt sickened and wasn’t sure what to say. Her mother seemed sincere in what she was saying, but this just couldn’t be the truth.

  “I don’t . . . I don’t believe you.”

  Tears formed in her mother’s eyes. “That’s exactly what your father said to me when I told him that I had never been with anyone but him, that Simon was his son. He knocked me to the ground and walked away, never willing to discuss the matter again.”

  Alice wanted to scream that it was all lies, but in the recesses of her memories she recalled her father’s indifferent treatment of Simon. She had always believed that it was nothing more than favoritism, and since it benefited her, she had given it no other consideration. Especially in light of the way her mother always seemed to compensate and show Simon extra attention.

  “Your father wasn’t the man you think he was. He was tied up in all sorts of deals and had all manner of evil friends. I feared for our safety, but even more so, I feared your father and what he might do. That’s why I had to go. I had to protect Simon from your father’s wrath.”

  “But you didn’t see fit to protect me.”

  “Alice, I knew he would never hurt you. He lived for you. He adored you. There was no question in his mind as to your heritage. But you need to know that I never intended to leave you behind. I had planned to come back for you the next day. I thought I could go to the school and take you from your classroom. I planned for the three of us to board a train for Chicago and stay with a distant cousin there. By putting miles between us and your father, I hoped he would see the error of his ways and make changes. I never intended for it to be the end of our family.”