Ballad Beauty

by Lauren Linwood

  When Mo realized her responses were half-hearted at best, she bellowed, “Shake it off, gel. You knew you weren’t goin’ to see Noah for weeks. I don’t know why yer mopin’ around so. Quit pickin’ at your food like a love-struck fool.”

  “I’m leaving tomorrow, Mo.”

  Her aunt snorted. “What the blazes are you talking about? Noah told you to stay put, and stay put is what you’ll do.”

  “I’ve decided not to wait for Noah.”

  Mo was dumbstruck. “I don’t understand.”

  Jenny shrugged. “I’m not quite sure I do either, but it’s something I have to do.”

  Calmly, she explained how Noah told her he would give up being a Ranger for her. Mo’s jaw fell open, the shock plain on her face.

  “See what I mean? I’ve only known Noah a short while. You’ve known him half his life. You recognize what being a Texas Ranger means to him. I do, too—now that I’ve read his letters.”

  “But he loves you.”

  “Yes, I think in his way he does. But he loves Rangering more. Those letters made it clear to me.”

  Mo frowned. “I should never have suggested you read them.”

  Jenny placed a hand on Mo’s arm. “No. I’m glad you did. You saved us both time and heartache. Noah would’ve grown tired of a stagnant life. I see that now. He would have withdrawn from me, and I would never have known the reason he was dying inside.”

  She wiped away a tear. “I’ll always love him, Mo, but I can’t see that love destroy the only thing he’s meant to do. It’s because I love him that I have to let him go. Can you understand that?”

  Mo put down her fork and slid her chair next to Jenny, drawing her into a warm embrace. “Go ahead. Cry it out.”

  Jenny buried her face against Mo’s shoulder. The tears flowed for a long time.

  Finally, she got hold of herself. “I want you to come with me, Mo. We have the reward money the bank sent us. We can start a new life.”

  Mo’s look of alarm almost caused her to laugh. “I ain’t goin’ back East, Jenny. It’s not for me. Give me the wide open spaces of the West. I’m like Sammy in that respect.”

  “I don’t want to return to Boston.”

  Mo looked surprised. “But that’s the only life you’ve ever known. Where do you think you’ll live?”

  “I want to go to San Francisco.” Jenny paused. “I’ve fallen in love with the West, Mo. The spirit of the people. The room for opportunity. There’s nothing left for me back in Boston. I’d like to make my life here. From everything I’ve read, San Francisco’s the place to be.”

  Mo patted her hand. “I’ll come visit you, gel, but I intend to live in Prairie Dell till my dying day.”

  They argued for a while, but Jenny knew how entrenched her aunt was in this cabin. In the long run, she convinced Mo to promise to make a yearly visit to see her.

  “What’ll you do there? In Frisco.”

  Jenny shrugged. “I have a few ideas. It’s the biggest city west of the Rockies, so there’s bound to be room for a McShanahan. What’s the fastest way to travel there?”

  “If yer heart’s really set on leavin’, I guess you could go up to Carson City. Get a train or stage from there.” Mo thought a moment. “Sid’ll take you. He gets itchy feet every now and then and likes to take off. If’n you leave after our regular Saturday night date, he can get you there and be back in time without missing out on any action.”

  She grinned. “Ever the businesswoman, Mo?”

  Mo returned her grin sheepishly. “Wouldn’t stay in business otherwise, dear.” She hugged Jenny tightly. “Oh, how I will miss you.”

  Noah gazed out at the landscape that rushed by the window. He closed his eyes. They were tired and gritty from lack of sleep. He rubbed at them and turned his head away, pushing it into the cushioned upholstery.

  “Bah-stahn. Next stop in ten minutes.” The conductor passed by him as he sat forward and placed his head in his hands. What had happened to his well-ordered world? The one where he was in charge. The one where he knew who he was and where he was going and why he did what he did.

  Jenny McShanahan had happened. That’s what. Her image danced before him. He’d turned his life upside down for her. He’d quit his job as a Ranger after Withers had been found guilty, not even staying to see him hang. He rode like hell back to Prairie Dell, only to find Jenny gone.

  The scene with Mo had been an ugly one. He ranted and raved, but Mo wouldn’t budge an inch. She’d only say that Jenny had decided they shouldn’t marry. No, she didn’t know exactly where she’d gone, only that once she settled in, Jenny promised to write.

  He knew of only once place she’d go. Back to Boston. So he’d hopped on an eastbound train to a place he didn’t want to go to seek out the one thing he couldn’t live without.

  Jenny.

  He ached at the thought of her, but he’d realized he couldn’t live without her. He needed her like birds needed to fly and fish had to swim. He needed her because when the sun came up in the morning, he didn’t feel he could live through another day without her. He would find her and convince her he loved her. He had to. He couldn’t stand the pain anymore. He’d live anywhere she wanted and do whatever she wanted him to do, but they had to be together.

  The train rolled to a halt. Noah gathered his lone bag and disembarked. He knew the best way to trace her would be through the person who’d meant the most to her—Dr. Randolph. The only way he knew how to find the man was at The Thompson School.

  Three-quarters of an hour later he stood at its gates. The stone edifice rose four stories high. He wondered how it had looked to a young Jenny when Sam first brought her here all those years ago. She’d probably been scared to death.

  He walked through the gate and up the stairs to knock at a massive oak door. A gray-haired servant in a starched white pinafore answered the door.

  “May I help you, sir?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m needing to get in touch with Dr. Randolph. My name is Noah Webster.” He watched her brows raise in typical fashion as he introduced himself in his western drawl. “I’m an old friend of his family and in town for a day or two. I would really like to call on the Randolphs and let my mama know how they are,” he finished politely.

  “This way, sir.” The retainer motioned him into the imposing hall and closed the heavy door. “Wait here, please.”

  She indicated a seat, which he took, and placed his bag next to it. He watched her ascend the main staircase and then looked around at his surroundings. He stood to look more closely at a sketch on the wall, which looked like a Winslow Homer. A voice interrupted his inspection.

  “May I help you?”

  He turned and saw a forbidding woman behind him, glasses perched on the edge of her rather prominent nose. Her white hair was caught in a severe bun and emphasized her homely face. In that face, though, lay a great strength and cruelty.

  As she sized him up he said, “Miss Thompson, I presume?” She was everything he’d imagined the old dragon to be.

  The headmistress looked startled. “Why, yes. And you would be?”

  “Noah Daniel Webster, ma’am.” He enunciated each name slowly and for once took delight in the reaction it caused.

  “Mr. Webster?”

  He turned to see a man in his mid-forties descending the stairs at a rapid rate. He was impeccably turned out in a gray pinstriped suit and starched white shirt that looked as if it could stand on its own.

  “I believe you’ve met Miss Thompson.” The physician nodded curtly at his employer.

  “I see you are taken care of, Mr. Webster.” The woman’s frosty stare lingered on him a moment before she turned and retreated behind a nearby door.

  Noah held out his hand. “Thank you for seeing me, Dr. Randolph.” He judged a
man by his handshake, and the doctor lived up to what Jenny had shared about him.

  The older man looked him in the eye. “Now what’s this about, us being old friends?”

  “A small untruth that I hoped would guarantee me an audience with you, sir. I need to speak to you about Jenny.”

  Dr. Randolph’s eyebrows raised a notch. “Hmmm. Why don’t we adjourn into the parlor?” He led Noah to a sitting room off the main hallway and indicated a seat. The physician sat opposite him.

  “So where is she, young man? I know you were her guide at one point.”

  He blanched. “You mean . . . she isn’t here in Boston with you and your family?”

  “No. Frankly, I’m puzzled by the whole business. I had word from her as she traveled to Nevada to meet up with her father.” A withering glance crossed his face. “I certainly didn’t approve of her taking off across the open countryside with a stranger as her guide.”

  “She can be headstrong, sir.”

  Randolph grunted. “I see your point, son.” He frowned. “She wrote me again weeks later from Carson City of her father’s sudden death from illness. Pity, her going all that way. Said she’d write me in more detail when she was settled, but that’s been awhile.” He looked into Noah’s eyes. “Are you telling me you don’t know where she is either?”

  A sick feeling churned in his gut. “No, sir. I left her with her aunt in Prairie Dell. When I returned for her, she was gone.”

  He looked pleadingly at Randolph. “Her aunt wouldn’t tell me where she’d gone. I’ve got to find her, sir. It’s very important.”

  The physician studied him carefully. “From her brief correspondence earlier, I gathered Jenny was having the time of her life out West. Said she felt like she’d come home.” He squinted as if trying to remember something. “She said, ‘The confines of the East no longer hold any appeal to me.’ That’s the phrase she used.”

  He sighed and resumed his inspection of Noah. “You came an awfully long way to track her down, Mr. Webster, for purely a social call.”

  “Yes, sir, I did. When I find her—if I don’t strangle her first—I’ll tell her I love her and that I want to marry her. I thought she’d understood that before I left.”

  Randolph burst out laughing. “Got under your skin, did she?” He slapped Noah on the back. “Might as well come home with me for supper, Mr. Webster. You can catch a train first thing in the morning. I bet we can entertain you with some stories about Jenny in the meantime.”

  CHAPTER 31

  Noah rode into Prairie Dell, ready to have it out with Mo. Carson City had been a huge bust. Dr. Randolph said that was where his last communication with Jenny came from, so he headed there first.

  He’d been able to track down the last place she was seen, a bank where she’d deposited the finder’s fee check. Without his Ranger credentials, though, he was hard pressed to find out much else. He’d taken a pretty little clerk to lunch and flattered her till the cows came home, but all he got from her was that Jenny had set up two accounts, one for herself and one for Mo. The gal wouldn’t divulge anything else to him. She was afraid she’d lose her job, and he couldn’t blame her.

  It might take half his lifetime to scour every town in the West. He didn’t want to find Jenny after twenty years, only to show her his gray hair and wrinkles. He had a lot of living to do, and he intended to do all of it with only one woman.

  That’s why he was back in Prairie Dell. Surely Jenny had contacted Mo by now. He believed Mo when she said she didn’t know where Jenny was that first time. He also knew Mo had a stubborn streak a mile wide. This was going to take more than sweet talk. He must convince Mo McShanahan that he was the right man—the only man—for her niece.

  He stopped Star in front of Mo’s cabin. Before he could dismount, Sid and Sherm came sauntering down the street to meet him.

  “Hello, boys.”

  “‘lo, Noah. Come to see Mo?” Sherm gave him a huge grin.

  “As a matter of fact, I did.”

  Sid snorted. “Ain’t there. She’s off in Frisco, visiting that sweet niece of hers.”

  His heart skipped a beat. “When’s she due back?”

  Sid laughed. “I’m going up to Carson City tomorrow to get her. Made her promise she’d be back in time for our regular Saturday night date.”

  “Mind some company on your way up there, Sid?”

  “Better ‘n talking to myself.” Sid smiled at him. “You must really need to see Mo pretty bad.”

  He didn’t reply.

  Sid shifted from foot to foot. “Can you leave ‘bout seven?”

  Noah tipped his hat back from his face. “I’ll be there.”

  The two men waited in the noisy station for the train to pull in from San Francisco. Sid pumped Noah for information, but this was a private matter. All he asked for was a few minutes alone with Mo before Sid escorted her back to Prairie Dell. Sid agreed only too readily. He realized that Mo would share the entire story with Sid on the journey home.

  Noah hoped this one would have a happy ending.

  Now he watched as Mo descended the stairs, looking around for Sid. She saw him and waved, a wide smile on her face. He caught a glimpse of Jenny’s smile in her aunt’s, and his heart fluttered. Sid greeted her and took her bag and then conferenced with her briefly.

  When he finished speaking, Mo looked up. She spotted him and nodded. She said something to Sid and then made her way over through the teeming crowd on the platform.

  “Mo.”

  “Noah.”

  They stared at each other for a moment, neither one knowing how to begin.

  He finally broke the ice. “I’ve gone out of my mind, Mo,” he said bluntly. “I’ve already been to Boston and back. You’ve got to tell me where she is.”

  She hesitated. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mo, you know that I love her. That I’ll go crazy without her. Please.” His last word was a whispered plea that he echoed again. “Please.”

  He saw the minute she decided to open up. Her face lost its stubborn determination and seemed to melt with relief.

  “I never wanted her to leave, Noah. I want to make that clear.” She sighed. “It’s all my fault that she took off in the first place.”

  He listened patiently as she told him about encouraging Jenny to read first Sam’s letters and then his own ones to her. She explained how Jenny got the notion in her head that Noah was making a dreadful mistake by giving up the Rangers for her.

  “She thought you’d eventually come to resent her, Noah. She said she loved you enough to let you go and allow you to keep following your heart’s desire. She learned from your letters how important being a Ranger was to you. She didn’t think you’d ever be happy if you had to settle down.”

  He shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t begin to understand that kind of sacrifice. It made him love Jenny all the more.

  “I would give up the earth and go live on the moon as long as I could do it with her.”

  She winked her one good eye at him. “Then you need to tell her that, son. It’s a good thing you are.”

  Noah arrived on Jenny’s doorstep a little after nine at night after a busy day catching up with his brother Mark and making plans for the future. He was surprised not to find her home. It wasn’t safe for a woman to be out alone on a cold, dark night in a big city like Frisco.

  He waited one hour, then another, and then several more. Mo had told her Jenny was working as a seamstress and midwife, thanks to her experience at Dr. Randolph’s clinic. He couldn’t imagine where she might be. He planted himself on her doorstep and dozed fitfully, waking every few minutes full of worry.

  Dawn was breaking as he saw her coming up over the rise. She looked tired. Even in the dim light, he could see the dark circles under her eyes. A
s she neared him, he could hear her humming in the quiet, cool morning. It was her childhood favorite, “The Black Velvet Band.” He began singing the words of the last verse as she approached.

  Oh all you brave young fellows,

  A warning now take you from me,

  Beware of pretty young damsels,

  You might meet around in Tralee.