Ma pulled him into a tight hug. “I’ll fetch it now,” she whispered.
She left him standing in the hall, anxiety and excitement competing for space in his heart. Within a minute, she was back, the ring in question nestled in a handkerchief in her palm.
As she pressed it into his hand, she kissed his cheek. “She’s a special girl… and you’re a special man.” Lifting the corner of her apron, she dabbed at her eyes.
Matt blinked back his own tears. Not much could make him cry, but the sight of his sweet mother getting sentimental could always make the tears flow.
With one last sniffle, she went back into the main room. Tucking the ring safely away in his pocket, Matt followed.
“Melissa,” he said, standing near the table.
She turned from her dish washing. “Yes?”
“Once you’re done there—”
“She is finished,” Ma said briskly, rolling up her sleeves and plunging her hands into the soapy water. “Go ahead,” she told Melissa. “Take a nice walk.”
“Oh. All right.”
Matt waited as Melissa untied her apron and hung it on the hook near the shelves. The whole time, the air in the room seemed alive—much like it sometimes was before a thunderstorm. His parents’ silent knowing pushed in around him, making him feel even more jittery.
Opening the door for Melissa, he let them out into the night air. The sky was clear, stars sparkling throughout it. The heat was still there, thick as always, but breathing came a tad easier than it had when the sun was shining.
“We can go down the road some,” Matt suggested.
“That sounds nice.”
They walked side by side, Melissa’s hands clasped in front of her. Matt watched her out of the corner of his eye, wishing he could see her better.
“I am glad we have this time to ourselves.” Melissa took in a long breath, then let out an equally lengthy exhale. “There is much I wish to tell you, Matt. About my… past. My life.” Her voice pinched tightly at the end.
Emotion bubbled through Matt. This was the Melissa he’d been waiting for. He wanted to lift her into his arms and twirl her around. There was pain in her voice, though, and that made him hesitate.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She stopped walking and turned to face him. “It is a hard confession to make. I fear that once I reveal my story, you will not care for me anymore.”
“Don’t say that.” Before he knew it, he was taking both her palms in his. Melissa gasped slightly, looking down at their clasped hands, but didn’t draw away.
“Matt, I...” She sucked in a shuddering breath. Not being able to see her eyes was killing him.
“Let’s go to the stable.”
“Oh. Um...”
Keeping his hand around hers, he led her to the stable. Her fingers were tight around his knuckles, making him think that she was as eager as him. Had she been dreaming about touching each other as much as he had?
In the stable, he lit the tin lantern and hung it back on its hook.
“That’s better,” he said. “Now, we can see each other’s faces.”
Melissa didn’t answer. Her forehead was wrinkled, and she was staring at the ground with a frown.
“Melissa.” He touched her shoulder, and she looked up at him, worry heavy in her eyes. “I have something for you.”
“What?”
Matt’s fingers shook as he pulled the handkerchief from his pocket. He hoped she couldn’t see how darn nervous he was.
Unwrapping the handkerchief, he revealed the ring. A shiny silver band held a sparkling diamond with two small pearls on either side of it.
Melissa’s gasp filled the stable. “Matt,” she breathed.
“Do you like it?”
“I...” Her mouth hung open, but no more words came.
“It was Ma’s. Pa gave it to her as an engagement ring, but she never wears it. She says she likes her plain wedding band best.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Melissa murmured, still staring at the ring.
“I planned on giving it to you on our wedding day, but I think now is as good a time as any.” Matt searched her face, looking for her reaction, but her features were unreadable.
“You’re a part of this family now, Melissa,” he continued. “Ma and I talked about it, and this is our way of showing you that. Of showing you how much you mean to us.”
Abruptly, her lips pressed together, and tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Matt,” she whispered.
“And I want to say right now that I don’t care when we get married. I want you to know that I’m not gonna push you into anything. Your life before this was hard. I understand that. What with your brother and all… What I’m saying, Melissa, is that I’m here for you. Whatever you need, let me give it to you.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she turned away, the back of her hand pressed to her mouth. Fear struck Matt. Had he said something wrong?
I shouldn’t have mentioned her brother.
Blast. His speech had been going so well, and then he had to go and bring up something as sad as her brother’s death.
“You are an amazing man,” Melissa choked out between tears, her face still turned away. “More than I deserve.”
“Don’t say that,” he fiercely argued.
“If only you...” She took in a shuddering breath.
“Melissa.”
When she didn’t respond, he lifted her chin with his finger. Finally, their gazes connected. Her eyes were still watery, and he wanted nothing more than to stop those tears from coming.
“I care for you deeply, Matthew Denton,” she whispered. “Deeply.”
Matt swallowed. “Can I put this ring on you? Make you my official bride-to-be?”
Her gaze dropped to the ring in his other hand, and her entire face folded in agony. “No.”
The word was a punch to his gut.
“Wh—what?” he asked. Surely, he hadn’t heard right.
Melissa pressed her fist to her pursed mouth and shook her head. “It is not right.”
A thousand knife stabs couldn’t have hurt more. Matt tried to open his mouth, but it was like his jaw was stuck.
“It is not right,” Melissa repeated.
Matt’s body hummed with an agony he’d never felt. Dropping his hand from her face, he took a step back. “You’re changing your mind?”
Melissa’s pained gaze pierced him. “I am not the person you think I am, Matt.”
“I don’t care. You and me, we’ll figure it out. No one is perfect. Just take the ring, Melissa. Please.”
If only she would let him slide the ring onto her finger, everything would be fine. It would be proof that she believed in their future together.
Melissa looked down. “I told you I cannot do that.”
He couldn’t take another word. His very soul already burned from her tongue’s lacerations. He needed to get away from her, needed to clear his head.
“If that’s the way it is,” Matt answered through gritted teeth. “Then fine.”
Turning on his heel, he stomped from the stable, the ring burning a hole into his palm.
Melissa didn’t follow. She didn’t call out after him. He walked all the way to his little house, where he threw the front door shut before sinking onto the end of his bed.
Dropping his head in his hands, Matt closed his eyes, wishing he could shut out all the thoughts assaulting him.
I made a mistake. Who agrees to marry a woman they’ve never met? No girl for me in town, and no girl for me from the agency… I’m destined to be alone.
They were the kind of things the devil might whisper in a man’s ear, but right then those thoughts felt real. Matt had messed up, and now he got to suffer for it.
14
14. Allie
Chapter Fourteen
May 1883
From Philadelphia, Allie boarded the next train immediately. She had seen a police officer at the station there, and the sight of him sent sh
ivers through her. Had Mr. Burke informed the police in other cities? Was she a wanted woman in more places than New York?
The possibility made her certain beyond a doubt that Pennsylvania was not the haven she sought. She needed to flee further, to escape to…
To where?
To a city, where she could procure work in another factory and bleed into the background? To the West, where she could perhaps cook for cowboys or clean hotel rooms?
Where she ended up did not matter so much. Escaping did.
Staring at her lap as the train pulled out of Philadelphia, the sudden awareness of someone looking at her startled Allie. Gasping, she snapped her head up.
“Oh, goodness,” the young woman standing there said. She pressed her hand to her heart. “I apologize. I did not mean to startle you.”
Allie took in the other woman: her plain, red traveling dress, the drawstring purse clutched in her hands, and the eager expression on her brown-eyed, freckled face. She looked to be barely out of her teen years. The sight of someone her own age made Allie warm up immediately.
“That’s quite all right,” Allie answered. “I was lost in my thoughts and did not hear you approach.”
As the train took a sharp turn, the girl clung to the back of the seat opposite Allie. “I was wondering… You see, the man I was sitting next to is asleep and snoring awfully loud. In addition...” She cast a look over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “He is not the freshest smelling member of the human race.”
Before she knew it, Allie was laughing. The sound tickled her ears. She had not expected to laugh that day—or anytime in the foreseeable future.
“You would like to sit here?” Allie asked.
The girl licked her lips and tentatively looked at the seat next to Allie. “If that is all right. I do not wish to intrude. I saw you over here, and I said to myself, well there is a nice-looking girl. Perhaps we would enjoy each other’s company. But if—”
“Please, have a seat.” Allie scooted closer to the window to allow her optimal space.
The girl’s shoulders loosened, and she sighed in gratitude as she settled in beside her. “Thank you very much.”
“It is my pleasure.”
“Melissa Russell.” She offered her hand, and Allie shook it.
“Pleasure to meet you. I am… Allie.”
She dropped her gaze, worried Melissa would ask why Allie hadn’t shared her last name.
Now that she thought about it, perhaps she should have offered a fake name instead. That way, if any law enforcement were to question Melissa, she wouldn’t be able to say she met an Allie at all.
Melissa, though, seemed unperturbed by the lack of information. She only smoothed her dress and looked at Allie with interest. “And where are you from?”
“Philadelphia,” Allie lied quickly.
“I am from New York.”
“I have never been.” It hurt her to lie, especially to such a friendly spirit, but Allie knew she had no other choice.
“I am glad to never have to return.” Melissa sighed and turned her gaze to the window. The train was passing through the slums of Philadelphia, and Allie had been purposely not watching the shacks slip by. They reminded her of the worst parts of New York—something she did not want to think about. Wherever her future lay, she hoped it was far away from dirty streets and crowded buildings.
“Why is that?” she asked.
Melissa’s lips quirked into a smile. “Because I am going somewhere far better—Wyoming.” She sighed more than said the last word.
“Wyoming Territory?” Allie repeated. When she thought of it, Indians and hills full of mountain lions came to mind. Wyoming was a wild, dangerous place… or so she had heard. Allie herself had never traveled farther than Philadelphia, and that morning, switching trains in it had marked only her second time there.
“May I ask what is waiting for you in Wyoming?”
“A husband.” Melissa winked.
“Oh, that’s nice. He has gone ahead and claimed a plot?”
“Oh, no. Matthew was raised there, on the farm his parents have.”
“Ah. And you met him in New York?”
“No.” Melissa looked slightly sheepish as she pulled a folded piece of paper from her drawstring purse. “We have only corresponded. I have never met him in person. See?”
She handed Allie the paper, which appeared to be some kind of list of advertisements or articles at first. Upon closer inspection, she realized she was looking at columns detailing individual women’s traits. One boasted about a young blonde’s ability to work hard and another explained that the woman had years of experience caring for children.
“We met through a mail-order bride agency,” Melissa explained. She pointed at the bottom of the page. “There is my advertisement. I suppose it’s a little silly to be carrying this around, but I feel it brings me good luck. Well, that and Matthew’s letters.”
Allie glanced at Melissa’s advertisement, not reading it, only noting that it contained no photograph of her, unlike some of the other ones.
“I have never heard of this practice before,” she said, handing the paper back.
“At first, I thought it was rather unorthodox, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.” Melissa sighed lightly. “As big of a city as New York is, there is no one there who would like to marry me. No one with a whole business, that is. The only men who ever tried to court me didn’t have two cents to rub together.”
“Now, I can understand that.”
Melissa’s eyes lit up. “Yes, you see. It is a somewhat strange situation, but this man, Matthew Denton, and I have exchanged a few letters. He seems very nice, and he promises me Shallow Springs is a wonderful place to live.”
Allie wondered why this man didn’t marry a woman from his own town. That way, he would at least know his bride before committing to her for life. Melissa seemed to be a wonderful girl, though, and the question was rude. So Allie just smiled, glad to be distracted for a while.
“There are very few unmarried women in this town,” Melissa said abruptly. “In case you are wondering.”
Allie laughed. “You just delved right into my mind.”
“Where are you headed?”
Allie’s stomach soured. “Cincinatti,” she lied.
Indeed, Cincinatti was a good stop. From there, perhaps she would get on a stagecoach and head south or west. Her jaw tightened as she thought about it, and her hands began to shake. Her whole life had been upended in one moment, and all because a man who held more power than her believed he could do as he pleased.
“Do you play cards?” Melissa asked, taking a deck from her purse. “I do love them.”
“I haven’t played much. I’m afraid I cannot properly remember any games.”
“I can teach you.”
The wheels churned underneath them as Melissa taught Allie pinochle. When they tired of the game, Melissa told Allie stories from her life, detailing her move to New York when she was twelve.
“It was only John and I,” she explained, wearing a wistful look. “Our parents died when I was very little.”
“Mine as well,” Allie confessed. “They both departed before I was one.”
Melissa’s eyes widened. “Oh, dear. I am sorry to hear that.”
“They arrived here from Germany years before I was born. My Aunt Lena was already here, and she took over caring for me after they passed.”
Perhaps sharing a bit about her life was dangerous, but Allie found she could not stop herself from doing so. It felt nice to talk so honestly, if only for a minute.
Melissa lightly touched Allie’s wrist. “So we have something in common. We are both orphans.”
A strange mix of gratitude, sadness, and hope swept through Allie. Melissa was truly wonderful, and Allie hated that they would soon say goodbye.
“You have your brother, though, do you not? John?”
Melissa’s lashes fluttered, and she looked down. “He
died a year ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Allie breathed.
Melissa smiled sadly. “He was a good brother. The best anyone could ever hope for. I trust that he is looking down on me and agrees with where I am taking my life.”
Allie nodded. “I can already tell you have a wonderful heart. I am sure he is quite proud of you.”
Her Unexpected Destiny (Seeing Ranch series) (A Western Historical Romance Book) Page 9
