by P. Creeden
At that time, it had been nearly twelve hours since Jeremiah had left her without a word. She wondered if the deputy marshal would remain in Yuma, or if he would return to Creede again. She couldn’t help but look for him among the crowds of people in the city. But it had been four days since she’d arrived in Creede, and she’d not even gotten so much as a telegram from him. Would she ever see him again?
“So, what do you think, Penelope?” Seffi asked.
Penelope blinked and shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I’d let my mind wander. Pardon me for asking you to repeat yourself?”
Seffi offered her a knowing smile. “What do you think about coming to the ball tonight at the Tivoli Ballroom? It will give you a chance to meet more people from town in a happy atmosphere. It’s the event that everyone looks forward to each month. You really should come.”
Penelope’s eyes went wide. “I... I don’t know. I’m not sure if I have anything appropriate to wear.”
“You always dress so well,” Vivian said, “Almost anything I’ve seen you in so far would be suitable for the ball.”
Would it really be all right? Seffi and Vivian Morgan had met her at the train station at her grandfather’s request, since he’d been writing back and forth with Mrs. Morgan and asking her to keep an eye on Penelope for him once she arrived. After his death, Seffi had continued correspondence with her grandfather’s lawyer. She’d done her duty in taking care of Penelope since she’d arrived and even shown her to the small homestead that she had just outside of town near the Long Shot cabins. In fact, they’d shown her just about everywhere in town that she needed to know. They’d invited her to church the next Sunday and treated her as though she was family. She’d yet to meet Seffi’s three sons, but was planning to on Sunday. The town had been a bright and colorful place with electric lights at night and lots of people going from place to place during the day. It was all a bit overwhelming at first, but slowly, Penelope was growing accustomed to it. And she felt comfortable enough with the two women to voice her fears. “I really don’t know much about dancing.”
A wide smile spread across Seffi’s face. “That’s no problem at all. My son, Holt will be your first dance partner, and he’s a great lead. We’ll take good care of you, nothing to worry about there.”
“All right, then,” she said with a small sigh.
Vivian clapped her hands. “You know that the event is called the Matchmaker’s Ball? Several women who attend the ball find themselves getting married to men who danced with them there soon after.”
A picture of Penelope dancing with Jeremiah flashed through her mind. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought before sinking toward her stomach. A nice thought, but Jeremiah wasn’t even in Creede. “How lovely,” Penelope said, trying to force a small smile. She’d go to the ball and meet new people and dance with Holt, but she wasn’t sure if she’d dance with anyone else or even give anyone the kind of attention that would be required to get matched. Her heart just wasn’t in it.
Night had fallen by the time that Jeremiah’s train finally arrived in Creede. The electric lights dotted the street and people in fine regalia walked from all corners of the town toward the Tivoli Ballroom. Had it really been a month since Jeremiah had last been in Creede? He remembered seeing the young women in their dresses talking about the lovely time they’d had. A lady in gold ringlets passed by, and his heart skipped a beat in response. He rushed forward, “Penelope?”
But the girl turned toward him and she was much too young, wore too much makeup to be his porcelain doll. The girl shot him a questioning glare.
He tipped his hat. “Pardon me, Miss. I thought you were someone I knew.”
“That’s quite all right,” she said and then turned and whispered something to her companion. The two of them giggled as they walked away.
Heat rushed to Jeremiah’s cheeks. What was he thinking? Would Penelope really be going to the ball tonight? She’d have only been in town a few days. His heart sank. It was possible. It was possible that he was wrong, and she didn’t feel the same way about him as he did about her. It was possible that she fell in love with someone during the past few days and he invited her to the ball. It was possible that he was too late and too old and too daft to court her. Court her? Was that what he wanted to do?
He swallowed hard against the lump that formed in his throat. Yes. He loved her. Yes, he wanted to court Penelope Warner. Normally, he’d have to ask for her father’s permission, but with her alone as she was, what would he do now? Would another man take advantage of her situation? His heart raced at the thought. What he needed to do right now was find her. But how? He had no idea where in Creede she could be. He had no idea where to turn. But he surprised himself when his feet arrived at the livery where Angel and her husband Henry lived.
What was he doing here?
He shook his head. He knew why he was here. They were the only people in town who might have heard of Penelope. They might even know where she was or who he needed to see to find her. His hand began knocking at the door before he gave it any more thought.
After a moment, the door cracked open. Angel peered through the narrow opening and then swung it open wide. “Jeremiah! What are you doing here? I heard you’d become a deputy marshal and left us for Arizona.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Jeremiah felt heat rush to his cheeks. “Well, that was just a temporary position. I’m back in Creede now.”
“Great! Have you eaten? Do you want to come in and have dinner with us?” she offered, stepping to the side to allow him to enter.
He came in, but his hands couldn’t stay still. They continued to wrench his hat in his hands. Somehow, he felt that there was a great deal of urgency necessary right now. He didn’t want to spend another minute waiting to see Penelope. He wanted to see her tonight if it were possible. “Actually, I’m not hungry. I was looking for someone and wondered if you might have heard of her or know who I need to talk to to find her.”
“Her?” Angel asked, lifting a brow as a small smile lifted the side of her lips into a crooked smile.
More heat rushed to Jeremiah’s cheeks. “Yes. Miss Penelope Warner. She should have arrived here by train about three or four days ago. She’s alone in this world and only twenty-seven. I’m not sure who she’d have met in town or how she would have gotten to her property. I was supposed to escort her and help her do those things, but ran into a snag.”
Both Angel’s brows lifted this time as her eyes grew wide. “What does she look like? I don’t know that name.”
Jeremiah’s heart fell as he gestured with his hand at his shoulder. “She’s about yay big, with gold ringlets in her hair. Pale as the moon. Frail as a porcelain doll.”
Angel huffed a laugh. “I don’t think I ever knew you to be so poetic, Jeremiah.”
His stomach twisted at her teasing. “Have you seen her though?”
Her brow scrunched a bit. “Maybe. I think I saw a young woman meeting that description walking with Seffi Morgan yesterday. Although I thought she was my age, not twenty-seven.”
“She does look younger than she is,” he said with excitement growing in his chest. “I just need to ask Mrs. Morgan if she knows where I can find her then?”
Angel nodded. “Seems like it.”
“Where can I find Seffi? Do I need to go out to the Morgan’s ranch?” he asked.
“Not tonight, you don’t. Seffi will be at the Matchmaker’s Ball. You can find her there. Maybe you’ll even find Miss Warner there, too.”
Jeremiah’s hands fisted on his hat. That was what he was afraid of. Somehow it hurt his heart to think that she might be dancing in the arms of another man. He stepped toward the door and opened it himself. “Thank you for the help, Angel. I’ll go find Mrs. Morgan.”
He didn’t wait for her answer but was already several strides away from the door when she called out, “I hope you find this woman, Jeremiah. I’ve never seen you so determined.”
And she was right. Je
remiah was as determined as he’d ever felt. He marched toward the Tivoli Ballroom, blind to all of the beautiful young women in their dresses milling about just outside the building. He searched for the slender older woman with gray peppered through her hair. He’d seen her before about town and remembered her from when she’d met with Angel, but hadn’t ever spoken to the lady. Men and women in fine garb came in and out the doorway he headed toward. His heart squeezed in his chest as he stopped just in front of the closed doorway and looked down at himself. He still wore his duster and denim trousers. His gun belt still hung on his hips. What was he thinking? He couldn’t go in there looking like this. He’d stick out like a sore... dirty thumb.
He swallowed hard and considered everything he was doing. It was already after seven in the evening. Almost eight. Could he really crash the party going on in the ballroom just to ask Mrs. Seffi Morgan where he could find Penelope? Even if she pointed him to her new home, he couldn’t go running over there and knocking at the door at this hour. Could he? And what if he’d been wrong about their feelings toward one another? What if he was alone in the way that he felt? Then the last thing he needed to do was rush to her home in the middle of the night.
The door swung open, allowing the music to spill out louder than before as a couple exited the building and skirted past Jeremiah. He peered in and his eye fixed on the gold ringlets of a lady in a blue checkered dress. His breath hitched as he convinced himself it was probably the same woman he’d run into on the street. But then the couple turned, and Jeremiah caught a glimpse of the woman’s face before the door closed and the music dissipated. And his heart stuttered. “Penelope,” he whispered.
Chapter 12
Holt Morgan was a patient teacher and actually made Penelope laugh when she stepped on his toes for the third time in their first dance together. He held her hand in his and shook his head as he huffed a laugh. “You’re getting better all ready. See! You didn’t even press all your weight on my toes before realizing they were under your foot this time.”
She laughed and followed his lead again. It was good to laugh. It was right to come out that night and listen to the music and meet new people. She could almost forget the melancholy that had hung over her since the moment she’d been abandoned on the train. For the first time in several days, she was having fun, and she was thankful to the Morgans for allowing her this moment.
“Excuse me, but may I cut in?” a deep voice said from behind her, and her hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Holt looked up with a smile and then confusion flickered across his features as he pulled her toward him and stood protectively in front of her. Penelope turned around toward the sound of the voice that had the slightest familiar ring toward it. Leather and horses. She smelled them before she looked up into the face of Jeremiah Washington. And her heart skipped in her chest as her eyes widened.
“Jeremiah,” she whispered past the tightness in her throat.
As his gaze went from Holt’s to hers, his face softened again and a small smile grew on his lips. Her heart fluttered. His expression truly changed when he looked at her. Even though she wasn’t sure what that meant, she hoped that it meant that he had affection for her, just as she had affection for him. He said in a soft voice, “Penelope.”
“You two know one another?” Holt asked, still standing between the two of them.
Penelope nodded, and then realized that Holt couldn’t see her from behind him, so she said a little overloud, “Yes. I know him.”
Finally Holt turned around. “Are you all right with him cutting into our dance?”
She nodded again.
Then Holt bowed slightly toward her and toward Jeremiah before stepping back and leaving the two of them alone. They both stood, facing each other and smiling like dimwits. Around them the attendees of the ball continued to dance until the music stopped. Then it changed and the man on the stage with the musicians called out, “Grab your partner now and do-si-do!”
Around them people partnered up and swung arm-in-arm. With a wider smile, Jeremiah offered Penelope his arm and then the two of them joined in and swung about. They followed the man’s directions as they danced in a square with other members on the dance floor. Penelope stepped on no one’s toes and found the melancholy slipping away entirely as her laughter escaped her unbidden. When the two of them promenaded down the center of the line of dancers to each side, Penelope held Jeremiah’s arm tight and relished in his scent.
Then the song ended, and the two of them clapped their hands along with the rest of the attendees. Finally, Jeremiah leaned in toward her. “Do you think you could step outside with me for a moment so we could talk?”
She nodded and then shot a glance toward where Holt, Seffi, and Vivian were standing with smiles on their faces, watching her like guardians. Seffi gave her a happy nod, and then Penelope met eyes with Jeremiah again. “I’d be happy to.”
After she took hold of Jeremiah’s arm, he led her out of the ballroom as the band started into the next song. The night air struck her as a little bit chilly once they stepped out into small yard area. Other attendees milled about the area as couples talked and headed back inside to dance. Jeremiah stopped and turned toward her and pressed a twenty-dollar bill into her hand. He turned away as he said, “I’m sorry.”
She opened her hand and looked down at the money, confused. “What’s this?”
He turned back toward her with a miserable look on his face. “I didn’t do the job I set out to. I didn’t escort you here to Creede and take care of you like I should have. That was the money you paid me to do that job.”
Penelope’s heart sank. Was she nothing but a job to him? “So, the only reason why you’re here... the only reason you asked me to come out... was so that you could return this money?”
He shook his head vigorously as he bent down so that he could look her directly in the eye. “No. It’s not the only reason I’m here. But I felt that I had no right to move forward until we took care of what had happened before. I wish I could have come here with you and finished the job. I would have loved to spend more time together, getting to know one another, and I hated having to leave you early without saying goodbye.”
“Then why did you?” she asked as the pain squeezed in her chest. “Why did you leave me like that?”
His face scrunched up as though she had slapped him. “I had to do my duty as a deputy marshal. No matter what I wanted, I had to return that fiend to the prison from which he’d escaped and had to make sure that he’d not be able to escape again.”
Slowly she nodded. She was being selfish to have wanted him to choose to stay with her instead of returning to Yuma with that fugitive. Honestly, she was proud of him for being a forthright lawman above everything else. “I understand.”
His brow furrowed as his frown deepened. “Do you forgive me?”
Her heart squeezed in her chest as she laughed and shook her head. “There’s nothing for me to forgive you for.”
Surprise lit up his features and then he looked down on her with a brightness to his smile that she’d not seen before. “And that’s exactly why I love you.”
Her heart froze in her chest and she suddenly couldn’t breathe. The moment broke and she exhaled, saying, “What?”
“You are unlike any woman I’ve ever met, Penelope. You look frail and small, like a church mouse, but you are braver and stronger than that. You have more iron in your spine than most men, including deputy marshals. But you’re soft and feminine, too, but without the guile most women have. You go forward in life with honesty, and I love that too.”
She blinked up at him, her heart thrumming in her chest. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
He nodded offered her a hand. “Yes. I love you, Penelope. And if you feel the same, I’d like to court you with the intention of marriage.”
Her eyes went wide as her throat squeezed tight. Then finally, she reached forward and set her hand in his. “Yes, I love
you, too,” she whispered.
He squeezed her hand and then pulled her into his arms, holding her tight against his chest and rubbing her back. “I missed you so much. I didn’t realize I could miss someone like that when we’d only been apart a few days.”
Leather and the scent of horses filled her nostrils as tears stung the backs of her eyes and laughter bubbled up from her core. Then she pulled back and looked up at him as the happy tears spilled over her cheeks. “I missed you too.”
He leaned in toward her upturned face and brushed his lips against hers. Then he pulled back, his eyes hooded. “If I had my way, this courting period would be awfully short. I’d be willing to see the preacher about a wedding tomorrow if you were willing.”
Penelope’s eyes went wide and she blinked, not knowing what to say.
“You will not!” a voice cried out from her elbow, making Jeremiah release her and jump back away from her. Penelope suddenly felt cold in the absence of his heat. But then she turned her gaze toward Seffi Morgan, who stood with her arms folded over her chest.
Penelope’s cheeks heated to be found in such a compromising position with her suitor.
Seffi lifted a brow. “We will set a date for the wedding in three weeks. And in the meantime, the two of you will court properly. I will make sure of it. Her grandfather had asked me to act as her guardian in his stead, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. Are these terms acceptable for the two of you?”
Penelope’s eyes remained wide as she nodded and then met gazes with Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s eyes were fixed on hers as he smiled and said, “More than acceptable.”
Three weeks later, Jeremiah stood at the front of the church beside the pastor, with nervousness twisting his stomach. What did he have to be nervous about? He was getting everything he’d ever wanted. He was getting Penelope for his wife. When he spotted her at the end of the aisle and the pastor’s wife began playing the organ, Jeremiah’s heart thrummed in his chest. Even though Penelope always looked more beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen, today, she looked like an angel.
