Secrets of the Heart

by Vickie McDonough

  “Because you are returning to society, and you have nothing but the clothes on your back.”

  “And those are mine.” Jamie grinned widely.

  Cooper couldn’t very well explain he’d never use most of those clothes since he’d be leaving soon.

  “Why don’t we take luncheon at McCradys?” His mother tugged his arm, and he turned, allowing her to guide him toward the tavern well known for its fine food.

  Cooper’s forward progress halted when he came to a man leaning back in a chair. His crossed arms lay on his chest and his feet rested on the handrail, blocking the walkway. The man’s face was hidden beneath his black hat.

  “Excuse me, mister,” Cooper said.

  He pushed back his hat and looked up at him with a steely gaze.

  Cooper took a step back, bumping into his brother. “That’s one of the men who attacked me,” he whispered over his shoulder to Jamie. Turning back to the man, Cooper’s heart skipped a beat when he saw a gun pointed at his chest. His hand edged ever so slowly toward the knife hanging under his shirt.

  His mother gasped, and she backed up, running into Jamie. “What do you want with us?”

  The man with the droopy moustache jumped to his feet, ignoring Cooper’s mother. “So you remember me, huh, kid?” His gaze dropped to Cooper’s hand. “Git that hand away from that gun and keep ’em where I can see ’em.”

  “I don’t have a gun,” Coop said.

  “Look. . .” Jamie set their mother behind him and stepped forward. “We don’t want any trouble.”

  “Well, seems to me you’ve got it whether you want it or not,” boomed a deep voice behind them.

  Cooper spun around just as Jamie and their mother did. Two more men with guns had sneaked up behind them. Cooper glanced around but knew that no one had noticed their predicament.

  “Let’s just take a little walk that way.” The biggest man said as he waved his gun toward the alley.

  “What makes you think we’ll go anywhere with you?” Jamie challenged. “There are people everywhere. Somebody will see you and know you’re holding us against our will. The City Guard’s office is just down the street.”

  The man sneered. “Go ahead and holler, but there’s a pretty little gal that just might like to see y’all first.”

  Cooper felt the skin on his face tighten at the man’s declaration.

  “What girl is he talking about?” his mother asked, turning to gaze at him.

  Cooper looked at her. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Oh God, take care of Hannah. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her ride off alone when she was so upset. With resolve, he turned to Jamie. “They must have Hannah.”

  “Hannah? What does she have to do with this?” Jamie narrowed his eyes as he stared at Cooper. Though he wanted to slink away like a dog who’d stolen the steak off his master’s plate, Cooper held his brother’s gaze.

  “So y’all coming or not?”

  Jamie silently nodded, finally breaking his gaze. In unison, they turned in the direction the big man’s gun waved and followed the man who had been sitting in the chair.

  ❧

  Hannah jumped when the door banged open again. Her abductors had returned bringing some more people with them. She sighed. With a room full of captors, there’d be no chance for her escape.

  The small room began to fill with people. One, two. . .five people walked in. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized Cooper’s lean form coming through the door. No, Lord, not Cooper, too. Sam held a gun to his back. Hannah looked up to meet Cooper’s gaze, and she saw the regret encompassing his handsome face.

  “Sit down,” Arlis Sutherland ordered as he stood, his chair squeaking as if happy to be relieved of its monstrous burden. He motioned a hand to the only woman in the group, and as she stepped out from behind Cooper, Hannah realized it was her future mother-in-law, Heather Reed. She walked over and sat in the chair Mr. Sutherland had just occupied. Mrs. Reed offered Hannah a soft smile and reached out, grasping her hands. She was grateful for the silent support.

  Cooper sat on the edge of the desk, next to Hannah. He subtly reached a hand behind her and briefly patted her back. Warmth traveled up her spine, and it took all the restraint she could muster not to jump into his arms.

  Hannah glanced up, expecting to see Lucas Reed, but instead, her gaze collided with Jamie’s. He walked over and stood behind her chair and his mother’s. Heather glanced over her shoulder into Jamie Reed’s eyes. He offered her a reassuring smile, then cast a peculiar glance in his brother’s direction.

  “Now, I want to know where my papers are.” Mr. Sutherland smacked his meaty fist on the table near Heather Reed, and she jumped and leaned back, eyes wide.

  “You’re too late,” Jamie told him, the timbre of his voice sounding much like Coop’s.

  “What do you mean?”

  “My father and a number of his associates have already seen the information,” Cooper said.

  Ppffp! Sutherland exhaled a loud breath, which sounded to Hannah as if he practically strangled on it. “You’re lying!”

  “No, we’re not. Evidently you haven’t been home or you would have already been arrested.” Cooper lifted his chin in the air. “So you see, you’re too late. By now the captive sailors have been set free. You’re a wanted man, Mr. Sutherland.”

  Ruthie’s father stood glaring at him. Turbulent emotions flashed across his thick face, and his gray eyes darkened like angry thunderclouds. He turned his gaze on Hannah, and she became increasingly uneasy under his scrutiny. “Well, in that case, I may need a hostage to insure my safety. Sam, get the girl.”

  Hannah flinched at the icy tone of his voice. She felt the nauseating sinking of despair, and she bit her lip until it throbbed like her pulse. Feeling like a trapped animal, she looked at Cooper and then over to Jamie and Sam, who hadn’t yet moved. Suddenly, Cooper jumped to his feet, but Jeeter jammed his pistol into his back and growled, “Sit down, sonny, ’fore I knock ya in the head with my gun like I did before.”

  Sam crossed the room in three steps and moved in Hannah’s direction before a knock on the door halted him. He turned to Mr. Sutherland, who nodded for him to answer.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s me, Lily. Jeeter said I was to bring some more water and some whiskey.”

  Sam looked at Mr. Sutherland. He nodded again. Hannah thought Mr. Sutherland probably reasoned he needed a drink about now. She exhaled a sigh, glad for the short reprieve, and shot another prayer heavenward.

  Sam opened the door just wide enough to slip his slim body through, then pulled the door shut behind him. Moments later, the door burst open. The room instantly filled with people with guns drawn. Jeeter’s flintlock boomed behind her, and Hannah jerked her head down. The doorjamb splintered into tiny fragments just inches from her father’s head. Jamie leaped from his chair. With the strength of youth behind him, he wrestled away the pistol Arlis Sutherland had just pulled from his waistband. As if blasted with a stick of dynamite, Cooper flew off the desk and knocked Jeeter to the floor. Boss cowered in the corner, eyes wide, anger battling with defeat. Several members of the City Guard strode over and quickly took Boss into custody.

  Hannah massaged her ears with her fingertips and opened her mouth wide in hopes of clearing the ringing. The acrid odor of gunpowder stung her eyes. She looked over at Heather Reed. The older woman sat with her hands over her face. Wide brown eyes peered over her fingertips.

  “Hello, Sutherland. Seems you have something that belongs to me,” Richard Madison seethed through clenched teeth. He strode over and grabbed Sutherland by his cummerbund.

  Michael stepped into the doorway with his gun ready and surveyed the scene. Buster slipped in behind him and went to stand protectively next to Hannah. He growled a low snarl and took a step toward Jeeter, who still wrestled with Cooper on the floor near Hannah’s feet. Boots scraped against the wooden floor as the two men struggled. At the sight of the large
dog’s bared teeth near his face, Jeeter’s spirit seemed to wither. In a matter of seconds, Cooper had the man on his feet with the gun now in his back.

  “Well, Arlis, it looks to me like you’re a bit outnumbered. What do you suppose we should do about it?” Hannah’s father asked.

  Arlis Sutherland scanned the room. The defeat registered on his face. “I fail to see that I have a say in the matter.” He knocked his former business associate’s hand off his cummerbund, and his large body hunkered down on the only empty chair in the room.

  Richard Madison holstered his pistol and turned toward Hannah. “Are you all right, princess?”

  Hannah jumped up and threw her arms around him. “Yes, Papa, but I was so scared for a while. I thought for sure they were going to take me away and I’d never see you again. How did you ever find me?”

  “We had the good Lord’s help, your mother’s prayers, and a little bit of luck. Seems Jason Mayburn was riding out to talk to me about borrowing the services of my new bull. When he arrived, we were all half-crazy from looking for you. You’d been gone all day and it was getting dark and nobody had seen you. Mayburn mentioned that he passed three people, two men and a woman, on his way to Madison Gardens. He said the woman resembled you and didn’t look too happy. So we packed up and made a beeline to town. Buster was the one that tracked you down once we got here. I guess you owe that ol’ dog a big bone.”

  Hannah knelt down and gave Buster a big hug. He plastered a wet, sloppy kiss on her face. “Eeww!”

  The tension broke around the room as everyone, except for the prisoners, started laughing. The City Guard members who’d been waiting outside, guarding Sam, left to escort the four men to jail.

  “Richard, thank you so much for rescuing us.” Mrs. Reed stood and hurried to his side. “I suppose you’ve heard that Cooper has been returned to us.”

  His smile stretched from ear to ear. “Yes, he borrowed a horse and my son.”

  “We can’t thank you enough for your help.” Mrs. Reed brushed the hair back from Hannah’s face. “Are you all right, dear?”

  Hannah smiled. “Yes, thank you.”

  “Well, I would imagine you’d like to get out of here.”

  She nodded. “That I would, most certainly. I’m famished.”

  Heather nodded to Jamie. “Wouldn’t you care to escort your fiancée, son?”

  Jamie slipped past Cooper. “Yes, ma’am, I would.”

  Hannah darted a glance at Cooper, who matched her strained smile with his own weak one. Her heart skipped like a ricocheting lead ball.

  “Might I have the pleasure?” Jamie stepped toward her, and she looked up at him with effort. He reached for his hat and seemed to realize it was gone. He turned and searched the floor.

  “Looking for this?” Michael grinned as he handed Jamie a smashed black hat. Jamie took it and fluffed it and pressed it onto his thatch of dark hair. He turned back to Hannah and gave a smile so like Cooper’s that Hannah wanted to cry.

  “You’ve grown up to be quite a beauty, Miss Hannah.”

  She cleared her throat and felt her cheeks flush. She peeked around Jamie’s arm and over at Cooper. He scowled at his brother’s back, then shoved his hands to his hips, and his shoulders slumped as he stared at the floor. The aching in Hannah’s heart became a fiery gnawing.

  “We were headed over to McGrady’s to dine. Might I have the pleasure of your company as we walk there?” Hannah forced her gaze away from the man she was in love with and turned her attention on the man she would be marrying. She nodded and hesitantly slipped her hand in the crook of his arm, flashing Cooper an apologetic glance. She knew he was just as displeased with the situation as she, but now wasn’t the time for a confrontation.

  “Heather, if you don’t mind enduring my company until that rascally husband of yours can join us. . .” Hannah’s father offered his arm to Mrs. Reed.

  “It would be my pleasure, kind sir.”

  Hannah saw Michael flash a teasing grin at Cooper and offer him his arm. Cooper scowled at him and stalked out the door alone.

  “What do you suppose has gotten into him?” Mrs. Reed asked.

  Nineteen

  This is my wedding day. Hannah exhaled a heavy sigh and stared out her bedroom window at the gray, dismal morning, which mirrored her emotions. The threat of a spring thunderstorm hung heavily in the air, every bit as foreboding as Hannah’s feelings about today’s event. This should have been the happiest day of her life, but she felt as if she were going to her own funeral rather than her wedding.

  Cooper had avoided her ever since her rescue and his family’s return to Reed Springs. Hannah knew he was hurting as much as she, but she also knew that she had to see him one last time. Once her decision was made, Hannah dressed hastily, hoping to get out of the house before her mother awoke. She pulled on a gown and tied a blue sash around the high waistline. Cooper had commented once that the ribbon brought out the color of her beautiful eyes. Her chin wobbled, and she let out a strangled gasp as tears blurred her vision. I wonder if Jamie even knows the color of my eyes.

  Hannah collapsed on her bed and cried out loud to God. “Oh Lord, am I doing the right thing in honoring my parents’ wishes and marrying Jamie? ‘Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart’—that’s what Your Word says. I’ve been doin’ my best to take delight in You. But how can I marry Jamie when I know my heart will always belong to Cooper?” She pulled a handkerchief from the dwindling stack she’d set on the table next to her bed the night before and blew her nose. “I tried to talk to Mama, but she insists she and Papa must not go back on their word to Jamie and his parents. Is that more important than their own daughter’s happiness? Oh, it’s all so confusing.”

  She allowed herself only a few moments to pour out her heart before God, then got up from her bed with resolve. If she was going to have any chance of getting away and seeing Cooper, she’d best get going now before everyone else got up. She put on her shoes and tiptoed as quietly as she could down the long hall. The clicking of her heels resonating against the wooden floor was deafening in her ears. If her shoes didn’t give her away, surely the roar of her beating heart would.

  Hannah tiptoed into the empty kitchen. Evidence that her mother was up and had already begun baking was everywhere. She sighed, thankful that her mother wasn’t in the room just then. As she was relishing in the success of her escape, her mother came barreling in the back door, carrying a pail of eggs. Hannah’s heart sank all the way down to her toes.

  “You’re up early on your wedding day. I suppose you’re a bit anxious.” Her mother huffed a laugh and set the bucket on the table. “I know I sure was the day I married your father.”

  Anxious, yes, but not in the same way her mother meant. “I want to go for a short walk before things get hopping around here.”

  “Taking a walk around your home for the last time before you marry is a grand idea. It’s a good way to say good-bye to your past and to embrace your future. But then it’s not like you won’t be coming back often. It’s only a brief walk from Reed Springs.”

  “I—I should go before time gets away from me.”

  The door banged again, and Chesny entered, carrying a pail of frothy milk. She cast a tight-lipped glance at Hannah. “Smile, child. It’s yo’ weddin’ day!”

  Was everyone against her?

  Her mother nodded. “Jamie is a good man and handsome, too. He’ll make you a fine husband.”

  Hannah gave the women a weak smile and ran out the door just in time to hide the tears that gushed forth again. Buster fell into step beside her, and she patted his big head, welcoming his company. The mile-long walk did little to calm her turbulent emotions. In the back of her mind, she could feel God’s gentle encouragements. . . . “Trust Me”. . . . “Trust Me.” But it was so hard to trust Him when there seemed to be no possible way out of her unwanted marriage.

  As Hannah crested the last hill, the sun peeked through a b
reak in the clouds on the horizon. Things were still quiet at Reed Springs. It looked as though everyone was still asleep, but she doubted that was true.

  Hannah’s eyes were glued to the house in hopes of catching Cooper alone. A movement in the corner of her eye drew her gaze to the opening barn door. Cooper walked out and looked around, as if he sensed her presence. Buster whined when he saw him.

  She lifted two fingers to her mouth and blew out a whistle she’d perfected as a child, and her dog added a bark. Cooper’s head jerked toward her, and their eyes met over the distance. He slowly raised his hand in acknowledgment, held it there for a moment, then disappeared back into the barn.

  Heart plummeting all the way down to her boot tips, she turned back toward home. “Well, that’s it, boy.” She pressed Buster’s head against her skirt, needing the love she knew he’d give her. Her lower lip trembled, and tears welled in her eyes. “Cooper won’t talk with me.”

  She sighed a loud breath, determined to do what everyone expected of her, and continued walking. In a matter of hours, she’d be living at Reed Springs with Jamie, his parents. . .and Cooper. She shook that image from her mind. She had to put Cooper Reed out of her thoughts. It seemed that he had already done so with her. With resolve, she headed back to prepare for her wedding.

  The clip-clop of quickly approaching hoofbeats stopped her dead in her tracks. She whirled around just as Cooper rode up on a gray horse that she hadn’t seen before. The big animal nickered to her. . .and that was more than Cooper did. He jumped down to the ground and stood looking at her with a hard, unreadable expression on his handsome face.

  She tried to hide her misery from his probing stare. Her newly found resolution melted in his presence. “Cooper—please—won’t you do something to stop this?” Hannah reached out to touch his arm.

  “There’s nothing to be done.” He stared at her with a hard, steely gaze. The blue eyes she loved so much now filled her with icy apprehension. “You want me to tell my own brother that I fell in love with the woman he’s going to marry?”

  “Yes!” That didn’t sound so unreasonable to her.