Deborah Camp

by To Seduce andDefend

  Holding his hat by the brim, he ran his fingers around it as he crafted a safe reply. “I think you have everything you need now, don’t you, Luna?”

  “I’ll never have everything I need. Anyone in their right mind knows better than to fold when you have a winning hand.” She took a step closer, laying her fingers on his, stopping their movement. “I’ve been thinking about you ever since that night at the barn dance.” Her tone was husky, reminding him of whiskey and cigar smoke. “Been thinking about that big gun of yours. Any time you want to holster that gun …”

  He stepped back, away from her touch, all of a sudden feeling like he’d brushed against a big, sticky cobweb. “Think about the predicament Jennie Hastings is in, Luna. She has a young son and she has traveled here to make a good life for herself and him only to be hit by the news that her husband was unfaithful. I think you might find it in your heart to help her out. Maybe you could sell her a few acres of the land …”

  Luna moved away from him. “Not interested. Tell Adam howdy for me, won’t you?”

  “Have I overstayed my welcome, Luna?”

  “I have a randy husband waiting for me upstairs, Zach.” She looped her arm in his and escorted him to the foyer. “Don’t be a stranger, you hear?” she said, opening the front door.

  He rocked his hat onto his head, feeling as if he had lost this round of the fight.

  “Who in holy hell is that?” Luna asked, her tone turning unpleasant again. “It had better not be who I think it is.”

  Zach turned and his heart froze for an instant and then sank like a stone in his chest. Marching along the path to the house was the most mule-headed woman on God’s green earth. Jennie Caldwell Hastings.

  Chapter 3

  Jennie scarcely had a moment to consider the woman who had stolen her husband’s affections before Zach swooped during the porch steps and took her elbow in a firm grasp.

  “I told you I would handle this,” he said under his breath as he turned her around.

  “All I want to do is talk to her.” Jennie tried to wrench her elbow free and craned her neck to see over Zach’s broad shoulder. “I am Jennie Caldwell Hastings,” she called to the curvaceous woman clothed in a stylish dress. She swallowed a taste of jealousy. “You knew my husband Charles.”

  The woman’s smile could freeze molasses, but her voice was as warm as honey. “You come back any old time, Zach.” Then she went inside, shutting the door behind her.

  “Why I never!” Jennie’s momentary insecurity turned to shocked disbelief. “She didn’t even acknowledge me. I have a mind to tell her that manners are —.”

  “You are going to leave her be,” Zach said, motioning her to move along the path and away from the house. “We don’t need to be riling her up until we can get some information out of her.”

  “That’s why I’m here. I simply want to sit down with her and get to the bottom of what happened between her and Charles.”

  “She isn’t in the mood to talk about it – especially with you.”

  “Why not me?”

  “Because she knows you are here to claim that land and she isn’t going to hand it over to you, pretty as you please.” At the street he looked left and right. “How did you get here?”

  “I walked.”

  He shook his head as he gathered the reins of a horse tethered in front of the house. “Can you ride a horse?”

  “Not without a sidesaddle,” she said, still stinging from Luna’s cold shoulder. “I have no problem walking back to the boarding house.”

  “Well, I do.”

  He looked past her and Jennie heard the sound of an approaching vehicle just as Zach lifted a hand high into the air.

  “Hey there! Is that Mrs. Gladdens?”

  The buggy came to a stop and a woman wearing a lace-trimmed bonnet peeked out from beneath the canopy. Her voice was soft and her accent was from the Eastern seaboard.

  “It certainly is, Counselor Warner. I’m on my way to the dry goods store.”

  “Would you be so kind as to allow Mrs. Hastings here to ride with you?” Zach turned back to Jennie and motioned her forward. “Mrs. Jennie Hastings, this is one of my other clients Mrs. Sarah Gladdens.”

  “Hello. Pleased to meet you,” Jennie said, coming closer until she could see the woman’s lightly lined face and deep-set dark eyes. “I don’t mean to impose. I can walk.”

  “It’s no imposition. By all means, join me.”

  Zach escorted Jennie around to the other side and steadied her as she climbed up into the buggy. The scent of roses wafted from Sarah Gladdens as she scooted sideways on the tufted, leather seat to give Jennie more room. There was a refinement about the older woman. She wore a black dress with shiny ebony buttons marching down the front of it. Jennie wondered if Mrs. Gladdens, too, might be a widow.

  “Come by the office tomorrow afternoon, Mrs. Hastings, and I will be happy to discuss this issue with you further.” Zach touched the brim of his hat and nodded toward them. “Goodbye now, ladies.”

  The buggy set off and Jennie tamped down her irritation with Zach. She realized her gloved hands were balled into fists. She flexed her fingers and willed herself to relax.

  “Counselor Warner is handling my divorce … or he will be in three or four weeks,” Mrs. Gladdens said, handling the reins expertly. “You have to live here for ninety days before the court will accept your divorce petition.” She sent a quick smile to Jennie. “But you probably already know that. Is that why you’re here, too?”

  Jennie glanced at her and smiled. She was even older than Jennie had first thought. The dark brown hair peeking out from her bonnet was streaked with white. “No. I came here to claim the land my late husband left to me.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed …”

  “That’s okay. I assumed you might be in mourning because you are dressed in black.”

  She glanced down at her dark clothing and gave a short laugh. “So I am. Do women still do that? Wear black for months or even for a whole year?” She glanced sideways at Jennie’s periwinkle blue dress. “I see that you don’t follow that custom.”

  “I did follow it for a month. Where did you live before you came here?”

  “Boston. How about you?”

  “St. Louis.”

  “Have you been here long?”

  “I actually just arrived yesterday.”

  “Is the land you inherited near Guthrie?”

  Jennie nodded. “Yes, but we’re staying at the Philpot Boarding House for now.”

  “We?”

  “I have a five-year-old son.”

  “How nice. My son and daughter are back in Boston with relatives. They didn’t want to come here and I didn’t want to add to the upheaval of their lives by forcing the issue. But they are older – Richard is seventeen and Beatrice is fifteen. I’m staying with friends who own this store.” She reined in the gray horse, easing the buggy into the alley beside the dry goods store. “Whoa there, Dusty.” She hooked the reins around the brake and turned slightly to face Jennie. “Won’t you come inside with me so that I can introduce you to them?”

  “Very well.” Jennie hitched up her skirts and carefully climbed down from the buggy. A bearded man was tacking a sign to the front door. It read: HELP WANTED. He smiled when he saw them and his white teeth shone from his thick beard and mustache.

  “There you are! I was just telling Rachel that I thought you might have fallen down a well.”

  Sarah Gladdens laughed and motioned for Jennie to precede her into the high-ceilinged store. Jennie’s tapping heels echoed in the large building and drew the attention of a woman who stood behind a long counter. She wore the same blue bibbed apron as the man who had greeted them at the door.

  The vast store smelled of candle wax, tobacco, and lamp oil. Rows and rows of goods marched down the length of the room. At the far end, one wall held bolt upon bolt of material. Sitting on the top shelf near the ceiling were hats for both men and women, but none of
them were particularly stylish.

  “Bob and Rachel McDonald, let me introduce you to a new acquaintance of mine,” Sarah said. “This is Mrs. Hastings.”

  “Jennie Caldwell Hastings,” Jennie said, extending her hand to the other woman. “Pleased to meet you. You have quite an impressive place here.”

  “Mrs. Hastings arrived in Guthrie only yesterday.”

  “Hastings.” Bob McDonald went around the counter to stand by his wife. He stroked his black beard. “You wouldn’t be related to the late Charles Hastings, would you?”

  “Yes, he was my husband.”

  “Your husband?” Rachel exchanged a startled glance with her husband. “I didn’t know … that is, he never —.”

  “How long have you lived in Guthrie?” Jennie interrupted, anxious to change the subject. She felt as if her face was as red as an apple. Was this how it would be? Every time she met someone, would she have to explain why Charles married someone else while he was here? The thought of that made her feel sick to her stomach.

  “We were in the Land Run,” Bob McDonald said. “In fact, we were one of the first to get their business up and running. Only took us two days.”

  “Two days!” Jennie looked around the cavernous space. “You built this in two days?”

  Rachel laughed and rested her cheek briefly against her husband’s shoulder. “Heavens, no! Bob is a good carpenter, but not quite that good. We were in a tent at first. It took us nearly a month to erect this building.”

  “Still … that is quite impressive.”

  “Did you say you received some new bonnets, Rachel?” Sarah asked.

  “Yes! I do hope you like them. Come this way, ladies.” Rachel walked to the back wall where the sewing notions and bolts of cloth were stacked. She stopped beside a large round box and lifted the lid. “There are five,” she said, lifting a pink creation from the hat box. “This one is pretty … no?”

  Jennie looked from Rachel to Sarah Gladdens. Sarah frowned and wrinkled her nose. Stifling a smile, Jennie watched as Rachel removed four more bonnets from the hat box, getting a head shake from Rachel for each one.

  “You don’t like any of them?” Rachel asked, obviously disappointed.

  “Not really.” Rachel reached for the dark green one. “They are so old-fashioned and too much alike. Lace in the front and a bow in the back. You ordered these from Chicago?”

  “Yes, from a Chicago salesman and he said they were what all women were wearing there.”

  “He lied,” Sarah said, succinctly.

  Jennie couldn’t stifle her giggle and she was glad when both Rachel and Sarah joined in. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh,” Jennie said. “They aren’t that hopeless. With the right ribbon and some gathered material inside the brim to frame the face … they could be quite fetching.”

  “You might be right …” Rachel said, examining the bonnet again

  “If one could sew a stitch,” Sarah handed the bonnets back to Rachel. “Unfortunately, I was taught to arrange flowers and host teas. Sewing was done by housemaids and seamstresses. By the way, Rachel, I saw Sharon Streeter earlier and she said her divorce went through without a hitch and that …”

  Jennie moved away, allowing the woman some privacy. She moved along the aisle, examining a variety of goods that ranged from bed linens to lamp shades. At the front of the store, Bob McDonald had grabbed a broom and was sweeping the floor. Jennie’s gaze moved from him to the “Help Wanted” notice he had placed on the door minutes ago. She thought of her dwindling funds and wondered …

  “I noticed your sign on the door.” Jennie cleared her throat of nerves and took a deep breath. She had never in her life applied for work and she wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. “What type of help do you need?”

  He lifted his brows, obviously surprised by her question. “Clerking, stocking, keeping the floor swept.” Resting an elbow on the top of the broom handle, he cocked his head to one side. “Do you know someone who might be interested?”

  Jennie’s chest tightened to keep her galloping heart confined. “Yes … that is, I am.”

  Bob lowered his thick brows. “You are what, ma’am?”

  “I … am interested. I can sweep, place things on shelves, and I am schooled in numbers.” She sensed that someone was behind her and turned slightly to see that Rachel and Sarah were there, both wearing incredulous expressions.

  “Why would you want to work here?” Sarah asked, clearly puzzled. “What about your little boy? Who would take care of him if you were working?”

  “I could find someone.” She thought immediately of Dottie Dandridge, who was watching him now for her. She had met Dottie and her little girl at breakfast that morning at the boarding house and Dottie had offered to watch Oliver for a reasonable sum.

  “What about your ranch land? Won’t you be moving out of town?” Sarah asked.

  “No, not for a while.”

  “We were thinking about hiring a man,” Bob said.

  Jennie nodded and stared at the toes of her shoes, feeling her face heat up again and wishing she had kept her mouth shut for once. Of course, they wouldn’t hire a woman when there was a town full of men needing work.

  “Have you ever worked outside the home?” Rachel asked, moving to stand slightly in front of her.

  Jennie’s shook her head and she steeled herself for the rejection she knew was about to follow. “No.”

  “I hadn’t either before we came here,” Rachel said. “I hadn’t done a lot of things before we came here.” She glanced at her husband and they shared a knowing smile. “I suppose we could hire a woman ….”

  Bob nodded slowly and looked at Jennie again. “If you’re sure …”

  “I am quite sure.”

  Sarah Gladdens moved past them and snatched the sign off the door. “Well, that was fast … just like how most things happen in Guthrie.”

  “After twenty years of living with a man, you’d think I would know him inside and out,” Sarah mused as she looked out the window of the Cooktop Café.

  Jennie followed her gaze. Wagons rolled past, some weighted down with lumber and others with burlap sacks full of building supplies and food staples. She and her new acquaintance had walked from the dry goods store down Division Street to the café for a cup of tea.

  “It came as a complete surprise when my husband told me he was in love with someone else and he was leaving us,” Sarah said, a sad smile touching her lips.

  Jennie’s heart went out to her and instinctively she reached across the café table to rest her hand on top of Sarah’s. “So many years together … how could he?”

  Sarah gave a quick shrug and then met Jennie’s gaze. “How could your husband marry Luna Lee?”

  Jennie looked away, feeling suddenly exposed and vulnerable. Sarah placed her other hand on top of Jennie’s and patted it.

  “It’s a small town, dear heart,” Sarah said, softly. “Word gets around fast as a lightning strike. I think it’s quite big-hearted of you to take your husband back after he had married Luna.”

  Jennie shook her head, still unable able to meet Sarah’s gaze again. “I didn’t know he had married her.”

  “Wh-what? He didn’t tell you what he’d been up to here?”

  “He came to Guthrie to buy land for us, but when he returned to St. Louis he said that the land was over-priced and not good for farming.” She sat back and forced herself to look across the table at Sarah again. The older woman was smiling sadly and shaking her head. “After his death, I found the deed to land he had purchased.”

  “That must have been quite a surprise.”

  “I was confused. I couldn’t understand why he had kept it from me. So I came here to sort it out and to claim the property.”

  “And that’s when you found out about him and Luna Lee. Were you visiting her when I came upon you this morning?”

  “I tried to visit with her, but she wouldn’t even acknowledge me! She was very rude. Do you know her well?�
�

  Sarah laughed softly under her breath and let go of Jennie’s hands. “Everyone in town knows her. Am I a friend of hers? No.”

  “I heard that she is married now to a wealthy man.”

  “That’s right. A retired judge. She is a social climber, but I can’t fault her for that. Some of my best friends married for position and money and hoped that love would come after. What do you plan to do now?”

  “I plan to claim the land that I know Charles would want me and his son to own.”

  Surprise flitted through Sarah’s dark eyes and frown lines bracketed her thin-lipped mouth. “What does Zachary Warner say about that?”

  “We haven’t discussed it fully as yet. He didn’t want me to meet Luna, but I thought I could sit down with her to discuss this misunderstanding and come to a reasonable conclusion. Once she understands that Charles and I reconciled and that he only came here to provide a better life for his wife and child, she will surely agree the land should be ours. What does she need with it now anyway?”

  “If you want my advice … and I’m giving it to you whether you want it or not … you should follow Counselor Warner’s instructions. You are a stranger here and he knows these people and how things work and how they don’t work in Guthrie. He has helped many a woman out of a thicket of troubles, I can tell you.”

  “Has he helped you? You trust him and Mr. Polk?”

  “Yes, I trust them, and when my divorce petition is finally filed, I know Counselor Warner will use every legal weapon at his disposal to grab as much money as possible from my philandering husband.”

  “It appears he was right about Luna. He said she wouldn’t talk to me. But why is she being so hateful? I’m the wronged party! She has remarried and lives in a fancy house. She has the world on a string, so why would she be afraid of speaking with me about Charles and his intentions?”

  “She probably is of a mind that she doesn’t have to speak to you. As far as she’s concerned, you are the ex-wife of her late husband and have no claims on any property that is now legally hers.”

  “But that can’t be.” Jennie folded her arms and rested her elbows on the table top, refusing to acknowledge that there was any logic in Sarah’s reasoning. “Charles came here to purchase land for us, not for some other woman. I didn’t even know about the divorce! That certainly can’t be right.”