In the Shadow of the Mountains

by Rosanne Bittner

  Susan turned at the sound of her name, not even sure what Bea had told her. “Yes, ma’am,” she answered.

  Talk turned to church, and Bea’s plans to win more members and work to raise money to build a much bigger, fancier church than the simple wooden structure that had been quickly erected for the Reverend Stanner to conduct services in.

  After the meal, Chad asked to use the smoking room, as he liked a thin cigar after eating. Will Stanner and his family returned to the parlor, where Bea said she would join them shortly for games of checkers and chess. She followed Chad to the smoking room, closing the door. Chad pulled out a thin cigar and held it up as though to question if he could light it.

  “Be my guest,” Bea told him. “I wanted to see you alone for a minute, Chad, to talk business.”

  He lit the cigar, taking a puff before sitting down at Kirk’s desk, enjoying the accepted familiarity he had with this family now. “What is it, Bea?” he asked, now on a first-name basis with the woman.

  “I want to recoup some of the money Kirk loaned to that Red McKinley. We both know it will be a cold day in hell before the man begins to pay any of it back. We also lost heavily on those government drafts we purchased to support the Volunteers.”

  Chad leaned back in the leather chair. “There’s plenty of money coming in from the other businesses and most of the mines yet.”

  “That’s true. But there is also plenty of money going out. This house cost more than I had planned. And with the new gold strikes in Montana and Idaho, we’ve lost some of our outside investors, let alone the way things have slowed at the banks. Some people can’t pay back their loans, loans made on claims that turned out to be worthless. Some people took out loans to build houses to stay in Denver, then ran off to Montana. We have to recoup some of that money, Chad. I want you to find someone to get those houses sold. As far as the worthless claims, I have another idea that could net us enough to make up for all our losses.”

  Bea moved closer, pulling a chair up to the desk and sitting down directly across from Chad. “It involves a bit of deceit, Chad. I don’t want Kirk to know. From time to time I will ask you to do things that I won’t want Kirk to know about. He’s too generous and almost too honest for his own good. I believe in honesty, Chad, but in business, sometimes a person has to be ruthless and practical, and Kirk is incapable of either. I have a feeling you would understand what I’m saying, understand what is needed to survive in business.”

  Chad watched her carefully, elated that she had so much confidence in him that she would actually ask him to do something behind Kirk’s back. He had won her over by a bigger margin than even he had anticipated. “I understand completely,” he answered, puffing on the cigar once more. “I don’t like being ruthless, mind you, any more than I suspect you do. But we’re talking about protecting our own here. If it will help protect Irene’s future, I’m all for it.”

  Bea grinned. “I knew you would be. What I want to do is sell off some of the worthless claims, as well as a couple of our own mines that have nearly stopped producing. I was talking with a realtor today who told me people back East are investing ridiculous amounts of money in worthless mines. Some other businessmen and I have advertised heavily in eastern newspapers, touting how the only truly endless supply of gold is right here in Colorado. The man with whom I spoke tells me eastern investors are swallowing the stories, buying up every hole in the ground for ridiculous prices. Kirk would never go along with such a scheme, but we have to protect Colorado, Chad, keep Denver alive, keep the money right here. I’m told the Gregory Lode is suddenly selling for four hundred dollars a foot, with some investors paying up to two thousand dollars!”

  Chad frowned. “I’ve heard some of the same, but I wasn’t sure you’d go for something like that.”

  “I’ll do anything to protect what I’ve worked so hard to build.” Bea sat a little straighter, breathing deeply, suddenly looking to Chad as if she were a warrior ready to do battle. “I want you to send an agent east to sell stock in some of the more worthless claims, as well as in the California Girl and Red Valley mines. I want you to set up a bogus company. Leave the Kirkland name out of it. The money will go into our own banks, and when the investors get out here and discover the mines in which they bought shares are worthless, they will have nowhere to turn. The company who sold them the shares will have folded. We will draw up papers to show we bought out the company, and since we supposedly did so at a great loss, we are refunding nothing. They will be out their money, and we will have made a tremendous profit.”

  Chad slowly smiled. “Ma’am, I have to say you are the shrewdest businesswoman I have ever met. You could give the most successful man a run for his money.”

  “Can you do it…keep it all looking perfectly legal?”

  “Sure I can, but what about all those investors who will be out their money?”

  She rose, holding her chin proudly. “What about them? If a man is foolish enough to throw his money to the wind without seeing which direction it’s blowing in, it’s his problem, not mine. I’m careful with my investments, as anyone should be. If others are careless with theirs, they have to expect to suffer the consequences.”

  Chad nodded. “I fully agree. We think a lot alike, Bea.”

  She smiled. “I know. That’s why I think you’ll be good for Irene. She tends to be too much like her father, too kind hearted and generous. How are things between you, Chad? Have you heard from her lately?”

  “I hear from her often, and I write her at least twice a week.” He rose from the chair. “I love her, Bea, and I miss her. She sounds pretty lonely in her letters. I hope you won’t send her back next year. In fact”—he tamped out the cigar—“I ought to tell you I want to marry her. I’m sure you know that. I just have to give her a little more time when she gets back.”

  Bea sighed, touching his arm. “Kirk is insistent she wait until she’s eighteen, but that’s only a little over a year. You know you have my full blessing, Chad. I do want Irene to be happy, and I know you can do that for her.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ll try.”

  “I have to join our guests now.”

  “I’ll be right along. And don’t worry about this little discussion. I’ll get the job done.” Bea patted his arm and nodded. Chad watched her leave, wanting to jump up and down at his victories. To win over a woman like Bea Kirkland was a major accomplishment. He knew exactly how to handle her. Money was her religion, her first love. That was all he had to remember.

  He looked at himself in a huge, gold-framed mirror that hung over the marble fireplace in the smoking room, and smoothed back his thick, sandy-colored hair, grinning at his good looks. He glanced at the intricate carving of the woodwork around the fireplace, touching it lightly, wondering for a moment about the wood-carver called Ramon, the one John had told him about. Maybe one day when he built his own mansion for himself and Irene, he would hire Ramon Vallejo to do some work for him.

  Irene sat down to write another letter to Chad. Over her lonely months away from home, she had begun to feel closer to him and relied on his letters full of love and even some humor to keep her going. She could see his bright smile and dancing gray eyes as she read, realizing how he must love her by his long letters, which must take a considerable amount of time to write, in spite of the long hours her mother must require of him.

  She no longer doubted Chad’s love for her, and she loved him, too. She felt very mature now in realizing her love for Chad was simply different from what she had held for Ramon. Her love for Chad had taken longer to grow, and thus must be more solid. Chad was of her own race, a Protestant, a businessman who understood the immense responsibility that came with being a part of the Kirkland empire.

  Yes, she was growing up. She understood these things better now. It had been a childlike Irene who had loved Ramon. Now she was becoming a woman, learning some of the finer rules of etiquette and social amenities, even studying French. She had wanted to study Spanish, since i
t could be used in Colorado, but for some reason her mother had directed the school that she should study French instead.

  She put pen to paper, telling Chad about how dreary the winters in Chicago were compared to those in Colorado.

  “I think it’s the weather that makes me even more lonely. The sun hardly ever shines here in winter, and the air is so damp. Half the time the snow we get is more like slush, a mixture of snow and rain, and it is always windy. Even now, I look out my window and see only gray clouds and a cold rain.

  “Chicago is much bigger than Denver, for it is on Lake Michigan and is a shipping port. I cannot begin to tell you how big Lake Michigan is, but then, since you are from Pennsylvania, I suppose you have seen Lake Erie, and perhaps you saw Lake Michigan on your way west. Chicago is also a center for railroads that come in from every direction. Mother would faint if she could see how many warehouses and docks there are here. I can already see that we must work hard at bringing the railroads west to Denver, if we ever want to have a truly profitable link to the East.”

  She frowned, leaning back in her chair and realizing she was starting to think a little more like her mother. She reminded herself to be careful, that money should not be so important that she would hurt her husband because of it, the way Bea had hurt Kirk.

  She didn’t want that kind of marriage. With an educated attorney like Chad for a husband, she could let him take care of business matters. She could concentrate on being a homemaker, tending to her children, giving them the attention Bea had never been able to give her own children. She understood it was different for Bea and Kirk. Kirk was a wandering man who cared little for money, and they both had started out the hard way. She didn’t totally blame her mother for her actions and behavior. It was simply that she didn’t want it to be that way for herself.

  She thought about Chad’s sweet kisses, the way he had so gently held her before she left, making her realize she actually loved him and would miss him. Still, there was a special place in a corner of her heart for Ramon Vallejo, her first love, foolish as it had been. To her chagrin, she had not forgotten Ramon’s kiss, the unbridled passion it had aroused in her, a passion not even Chad had been able to unleash. Why it had been different with Ramon, she would never know for certain. He belonged to someone else now. At least she had managed to get over the hurt of it and get on with her life.

  She gazed out the window again, wondering what was happening in Colorado, hating being away from home in spite of the friends she had made at the school. The teachers here were pleasant but stern; the room she shared with another girl was bright and neat, and the food was good. But this was not home. She missed her brother, missed her father. Most of all she missed the mountains. The only thing that soothed her homesickness was thinking of her trip into the mountains with Kirk, of the peace and strength she had found there.

  She continued her letter.

  “I will be home in about four months. Right now that sounds like forever, for I miss you and I miss Colorado so. I even miss Sierra, and looking at the mountains. I hope you are remembering to exercise Sierra for me…”

  Susan rode her horse through the soft snow, enjoying the odd Colorado weather—thick snow on the ground, but a warm sun shining. Soon the snow would be gone, but it would remain heavy in the mountains to the west. She loved looking at those purple and gray bastions with their brilliant snowcapped peaks.

  She wondered what it was like in the mountains. Coming from Illinois, she had never seen such country, never lived where it could snow so fast and furiously, only to disappear within a day or two under warm sunshine. Colorado was the only place where a person could go out in only a light sweater and throw snowballs.

  She liked these rides alone, her chance to dream about Chad Jacobs, her chance to pretend he was here with her, telling her he loved her, not Irene Kirkland. It was a foolish, fairy-tale dream; but sometimes when Chad looked at her, she wondered if it could come true. She saw such loneliness in his eyes, saw a desire there that he must think he was forbidden to act on. She could not forget how he had looked at her when she mentioned going riding alone, and ever since that night she had almost expected him to come and join her.

  But a whole week had passed, and there had been no Chad. Sometimes she thought she might die from loving and wanting him so much. Her dreams were totally hopeless and had made her so sick, so unable to eat, that she had actually lost weight. She knew that somehow she had to get over these feelings, and she had even prayed to God to help her, to forgive her for wanting someone who was pledged to another. She told herself she was young. There would be other men. Time would take care of the hurt. Still, over four months had passed, and her heart continued to ache for Chad Jacobs.

  She reached her favorite spot, near an old, abandoned cabin, where the creek danced over smooth rocks, never freezing because it was always moving, now slightly swollen from a mild mountain runoff. She wondered how much deeper the creek would become in the spring. She had yet to experience her first springtime in Colorado, but she had heard about how much higher the rivers and creeks became when the snow melted in the Rockies.

  She knelt and touched the water, gasping at how cold it was. She stood up, keeping hold of her horse’s reins as the animal took a drink from the icy stream. Susan turned to gaze at a growing Denver in the distance, then noticed someone riding in her direction. Immediately her heartbeat quickened, and she felt every nerve end come alive when she thought maybe, by some miracle, it could be Chad Jacobs. She told herself it was a foolish hope until the figure came closer, riding Irene’s horse, Sierra. She knew the horse, knew Chad rode it often to exercise the animal for Irene, knew no one else but Chad would be on that horse.

  She stood frozen as he came closer, her eyes wide, her throat dry, a cold sweat moving from her neck down to her feet. He rode up close then, giving her that look that made her feel faint. He halted Sierra, holding her eyes for a moment, looking a little sad. “I was hoping I’d find the right place,” he told her, dismounting then and leading Sierra to the stream.

  Susan swallowed. “Hello, Chad. What—what on earth brings you out here? Is something wrong? Is my father looking for me?”

  He met her eyes, moving his own over her in a way that made her feel naked and on fire. “No,” he answered, appearing a little nervous. “I just—” Chad sighed, looking away, appearing apprehensive and despondent. “I was looking for you, Susan,” he told her, feigning a tone of guilt in the words.

  He turned and met her eyes again. “My God, this is as wrong as can be, but I couldn’t help myself.” He stepped closer, making sure to hold her eyes in his own hypnotic gaze. “For months I’ve been trying to think of a way we could be alone, so that I could tell you what I have no right telling you. I’ve fought these feelings for so long, Susan, prayed about them, searched my soul.” His eyes actually teared. “When you mentioned the other night how you like to go riding alone, I just…I felt you were telling me something, Susan…telling me to come out here so we could talk.”

  She closed her eyes, turning away, wondering if she might pass out. She kept hold of the reins, shivering, trembling, trying to think straight. Was she misinterpreting what she had seen in those handsome eyes? “About…what?” she squeaked, finally managing to find her voice.

  She felt his hand on her shoulder then. “You know what, Susan. We’ve read it in each other’s eyes for months, almost from the first day I met you. I’m all but promised to another, but the whole thing was practically arranged. I don’t have the kind of feelings for Irene that I have for you, and I don’t know what to do about it. I couldn’t go on this way any longer. I need to know, Susan, if you have the same feelings for me that I have for you.”

  The touch of his hand brought forth such passion, such wicked desires, that she thought again how this man must be an instrument of the devil. But then again, perhaps not. Perhaps he could really love her! Perhaps God meant for them to be together! Why else would Chad Jacobs risk losing out on marryi
ng the richest woman in Denver by coming here to meet with the daughter of a poor church minister?

  She turned to face him, her chest heaving in near gasps. “And what are those feelings, Chad?” she asked.

  He touched her face with his hand, rubbing a thumb over her cheek. “God forgive me,” he said softly, “but I think I’m in love with you.”

  She closed her eyes and fell against his chest, and Chad moved his arms around her. “I’ve watched you,” he told her, rubbing his hands over her back, “talked with you, socialized with you. I’ve seen how good and sweet you are, what a wonderful wife you would make. Everyone thinks I should marry someone from my own so called class. I though the same way myself. I even thought I loved Irene, but now she’s written to tell me she’s found someone else. It hurts, Susan. It hurts so much. You’re the first one I thought of when I got Irene’s letter.”

  “Oh, Chad, I can hardly believe this is happening.” She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “I do love you so much. But you were promised to Irene, and I never dreamed anything could come of these feelings. I’m so sorry, so sorry she hurt you.”

  He allowed a tear to slip down his own cheek before he leaned down to meet her mouth in a deep, lingering kiss that told him all he needed to know. She was young and spontaneous and bursting with love and passion, eager to please him quickly and make sure she hung onto this miraculous new love. He could feel the heat from her body, feel the fire in the kiss she returned with amazing hunger, considering her innocence.

  He knew exactly how to handle such young, urgent love. He forced her lips apart, moving a hand to lightly grasp at her bottom, doing things he knew were totally new to her, things that would quickly unravel any inhibitions she might have. He slaked his tongue into her mouth, groaning lightly, pressing her against his hardness to show her how much he desired her.