Something Borrowed

by Rebecca Hagan Lee

  She did, and Lee approved. And the two of them were very late for breakfast.

  She received a present from Lee every day for a week following her birthday. He said it was to make up for the honeymoon he'd missed, but Mary suspected he showered her with gifts to keep from having to say what he felt. She loved the gifts, but more than anything, she wanted the words.

  But except for the fact that the words didn't come, she and Lee lived the life of newlyweds who are hopelessly in love.

  Mary told him of her plans for the school and Lee eagerly pitched in to help with the preparations. He papered and painted, arranged furniture, and carted the cast-offs up to the attic. He unloaded the desks and supplies, the books and slates, and even gave his opinion on the style of the school uniforms.

  Mary helped Nan and Birdie get the house back in order. She helped Louisa to cook and Syl to sew the uniforms. She admitted to Lee that Syl was, in fact, a madam and that three of the upstairs girls from the Silver Bear would be starting school come summer term. They also discussed the state of affairs in town—that unless the mine reopened, Utopia was dead.

  Lee understood that they couldn't let that happen. He set out to find a way to make the mine productive once again.

  Their only disagreement came late one afternoon when Lee, Mary, Judah, and Maddy sat on the edge of a small pond. Lee and Judah had spent the afternoon fishing.

  Actually, Judah spent the afternoon fishing. Lee spent most of his time patiently baiting Judah's hook, unsnarling the line, and removing the catch. Mary sat on a blanket nearby keeping a close eye on Barker and Maddy, who occasionally ran to Lee and fished for a while before returning to the blanket and the pretend tea party she, Barker, Mama, and Mary were having.

  "Have you ordered everything you need for the school?" Lee asked, baiting yet another one of Judah's hooks and carefully casting the line into the pond before he handed the pole back to Judah. Maddy stood watching, Barker at her heels.

  "I think so."

  "And have you paid for everything?" came his casual question.

  "Why do you ask?"

  "I just wondered where the money was coming from."

  "If you must know," Mary said. "I wired Reese and asked him to send me the money."

  "That's what I thought."

  "What's wrong with asking Reese to send money? It's ours."

  "It's yours. And I don't mind you spending your money to supply the school if that's what you want to do with it, but I don't want you spending your money on this house," Lee reminded her.

  "But the school's in the house."

  "Yes, but all this redecorating is expensive. You'll run through your annual allowance in no time flat."

  "But Lee, I want to contribute. It's not my money, it's our money and our house."

  "You do contribute. And besides," he said, "I've got money, loads of it, just sitting in bank accounts drawing interest. I need someone to spend it on. And I'll be happy if you'll oblige me by letting me pay the bills."

  "You're welcome to pay the bills, my love," Mary told him. "Believe me, I'm relieved to know you're loaded with cash. I didn't know how we were going to make ends meet on your Pinkerton pay and after you quit… The mine still isn't open and frankly, I wasn't sure how much longer I could afford to support the town. I've been worrying about it for months."

  "'Mary Two-shot, all you had to do was go to the bank and get a draft on my account."

  "I didn't know you had an account."

  "I opened one the day after your birthday."

  "All this time I've been worrying, wondering if I should telegraph Reese again, and you had money sitting in the bank?"

  "Yes. And all you have to do from now on is walk into the bank and sign a draft for however much you need."

  Mary snorted. "Easier said than done."

  "What do you mean?"

  Mary sighed, knowing she'd said too much, yet also knowing Lee would not stop asking questions until he got an answer. "I'm not allowed to enter the Ajax Saloon, Bank, and Assayer's Office of Utopia, Colorado Territory."

  "Who told you that?" Lee said. "I see ladies going in and out of there every single day."

  "You don't see half-breed Indians going in the bank ever."

  "You can't go in because… ?"

  "Because I'm part Indian and Hugh Morton hates Indians." Mary smiled at him. "Fortunately for us, he has nothing against handsome Irishmen."

  Lee was confused. "But I thought you have an account there. I've seen you pay bills with Ajax bank drafts."

  "I do have an account there. I can keep my money in his bank, I just can't go in to use it. He doesn't have anything against money, just certain people."

  "Then how did you open an account? How do you do your banking?"

  "Syl does it. That's how we met and became friends. I couldn't go into the Ajax to open an account and Syl offered to do it for me."

  "Silver Delight?"

  "Sylvia," Mary corrected. "Sylvia Delight."

  Lee laughed. "Does Morton know the town madam does your banking for you?"

  Mary shrugged her shoulders. "I doubt it. Syl banks for several other women as well."

  "Syl banks for her girls, Mary. I'd be willing to bet that the only woman Syl banks for besides herself and her girls is you."

  "Maybe so, but that doesn't matter to me," Mary said, "as long as I have access to our money. Wait, what are you doing?" She watched as Lee quickly rolled up the line on his fishing pole.

  "Keep an eye on Judah and Maddy for me," he instructed. "I'll be back in a little while."

  "Lee? Where are you going?" Mary's voice rose a bit higher when she realized exactly where Lee was headed and what he might do when he got there. "Hugh Morton's prejudice doesn't matter."

  "The hell it doesn't!"

  Mary jumped up to follow. "Lee!" She placed her hands on her hips and stomped her foot for emphasis as she shouted his name.

  "I'll be back before you know it," he promised as he headed toward the path leading into town and the Ajax Saloon.

  "Poppy!" Maddy squealed. "Go wid Poppy!" She ran toward Lee.

  "No, sweetheart." Lee squatted down to Maddy's level. "You can't go with me."

  "Why not?"

  "Because Poppy has to take care of some business in town. Grown-up business," Lee explained.

  "What bidness?" Maddy demanded.

  Lee glanced up and met Mary's somber gaze. "I'm going to defend Mary's rights against the town bigot," he answered carefully.

  "Poppy do what?" his daughter asked.

  Lee thought for a moment, then studied the earnest expression on his little daughter's face. "I'm not really sure," he admitted. "But I think I'll start with a punch in the nose and go on from there."

  "Lee," Mary said. "Please, don't cause any trouble."

  "I'm not going to cause it," he answered'. "He caused it. I'm going to put an end to it." He stood up, then walked over and kissed Mary on the forehead while Maddy scampered off, satisfied with Lee's answer and bored with the lack of attention.

  Lee reached up and traced the frown lines on Mary's face with the tip of his finger. "Don't worry, Two-shot. I know what I'm doing."

  Mary started to reply but Judah's cry of triumph stopped her. She turned in time to see the older man, with Maddy standing close by, pull another fish from the water.

  Judah swung the fishing pole toward the bank and Maddy clapped her hands in delight as she reached for the fish. "Maddy help Zhudah!" she exclaimed.

  "Madeline! No!" Mary yelled a warning just moments before Maddy grabbed hold of the slippery trout.

  She came away screaming and holding her hand.

  "It's all right." Lee hurried to his daughter's side, dropped down to his knees, and began wiping Maddy's hand with his handkerchief, inspecting the damage.

  "She was pricked by the trout's fins," Lee called to Mary. "But she's all right. See, Maddy?" Lee held her hand to his lips, "Poppy will make it all better." He kissed his daughter's tiny h
and.

  Maddy stopped crying and hugged him, then glanced at her hand and ran calling to Mary. "Mama! Mama! Mama make better."

  Mary grabbed the doll as Maddy ran onto the blanket and into her arms. Maddy held out her hand. "Mama kiss make better," she ordered.

  Mary took Mama and carefully touched the doll's painted lips to Maddy's almost invisible wound. "There," she said when she finished. "Mama made it all better."

  Madeline stared at Mary, then pushed the doll away. "Not want doll," she said very clearly as she threw herself into Mary's arms. "Want Mama."

  Mary hugged Maddy, kissed her tiny fish prick, and all her other fingers as well. Lee stood for a moment and watched. His dreams had come true—he had a family at last.

  Then he waved to Mary, Madeline, and Judah, and hurried down the path toward Utopia and a long overdue confrontation with the owner of the Ajax Saloon, Bank, and Assayer's Office of Utopia, Colorado Territory.

  And at supper, later that evening, if anyone noticed the bruised knuckles on Lee's right hand, nobody commented on them.

  In the days that followed, Mary found that the daylight hours she spent in Lee's company were limited. Her days were filled with the ordinary demands of Maddy and Judah and Louisa and Syl and the families of the miners, friends who shared a part of their lives, and the town of Utopia itself. His were spent interviewing the men left in town about the mine conditions and inspecting the site. But their nights belongs to each other. And she and Lee made the most of those nights—making love until the wee hours of the mornings, sleeping, then waking to start the day. The time they had together was special, and both of them understood that the days were ticking away. Nearly two and a half months had passed since their wedding, and Mary knew that the life she shared in Utopia with Lee and Madeline could come to an end if Lily Catherine wasn't found very soon.

  "I sent a letter to David last week asking about the legalities of Tabitha's will in view of the fact that Maddy is my little girl," Lee said. "And I got an answer this morning. It seems we're in practically the same situation as David and Tessa, except that David isn't Lily's natural father but is legally recorded as such. And although I'm Maddy's natural father, I don't have a legal record of it."

  "Too bad we don't have a forged marriage certificate for you and Tabitha like the one Senator Millen paid to have made for Caroline and David," Mary said, thinking aloud.

  "Now, there's a thought," Lee teased. "We'll hire a forger."

  "If it will guarantee we get to keep our daughter, I'll gladly pay for it."

  "Oh no, you won't," Lee said. "We have to do this legally."

  Mary sighed. "If only Tabitha had tied this loose end a bit tighter. If only she had named you as Madeline's father. There has to be a way. If only we can find it in time."

  Two days later, Ned Sampson delivered a telegram to Lee. It read:

  HAVE FOUND LILY CATHERINE STOP SAFE AND SOUND STOP SARRAZIN IN CUSTODY STOP SHALL I BRING OR WOULD YOU PREFER TO COME GET HER STOP REPLY IMMEDIATELY STOP DANIEL WILLIS.

  Lee turned to Mary. "It's up to you."

  "You've waited a long time for this day," Mary said. "I think you should go get her."

  "How do we tell David and Tessa?" Lee asked. "They've waited even longer than I have. Should we send a telegram or a letter, or go in person?"

  Mary thought about it for a moment. "You go get Lily Catherine and I'll take Maddy and Judah to the ranch and tell them in person."

  "Okay," Lee agreed.

  "I'll help you pack."

  Lee issued last minute instructions as he stood waiting for the Denver Pacific. Once again Mary, Judah, and Maddy were dressed in their Sunday best to see him off. And once again Lee had ribbon favors from his ladies tied to his arm. "Don't forget that, even with us traveling light and fast, it's going to take a week to get back."

  "I know."

  "You remember how to reach me."

  Mary nodded. "Who are you this time?"

  Lee thought for a moment. "I'm Jones again. L.K. Jones."

  "All right, Mr. Jones, I'll telegraph you if I think I might be delayed."

  "Delayed? Why would you be delayed?" Lee wanted to know.

  "When I'll be trying to open a school and settle in the new students who are going to be boarding with us, helping cook meals three times a day for an entire town, interviewing the mining engineers in your absence, keeping track of an active two-and-a-half-year-old girl like Maddy and a dog like Barker, and also making sure Judah doesn't get into any danger during the day, there are any number of things that might detain me." She stared up at Lee. "Especially when I suspect I might be in the family way."

  Lee hugged his wife, then kissed her right there on the platform for all to see. "Good Lord, Two-shot, what a time to tell me!"

  "I only suspected it this morning when I lost my breakfast. And I did promise that you'd be the first to know."

  "I can't go to New York," he said. "I'll just have to telegraph Willis and tell him to bring her here." He raked his fingers through his hair.

  "And make David and Tessa wait another day or two? Make us wait another day or two when you know that time is running out? Oh no, Mr. Jones, you're getting on that train and going to New York to retrieve your niece, then you're going to march into Robert Pinkerton's New York office and resign before the ninety days are out. And then, Mr. L.K. Jones is going to become my husband, Lee Kincaid, once again. And that's an order."

  "Yes, ma'am." Lee saluted her.

  The train whistle sounded its last warning for passengers to board.

  "You'd better go," Mary said in a repeat of their last parting.

  "This is the last time," he promised. "You'll be okay while I'm gone?"

  "Don't worry about us," Mary said. "Just bring your birthday suit home without any holes this time."

  "I'll do my best."

  "That's all I ask."

  Lee stared at his wife. She was beautiful, warm, wise, loving, passionate, and courageous. All the things that he had wanted in a wife but had never thought he would find again. And he loved her more than life. "Mary, I…" He stopped abruptly. It wasn't the time or the place. She deserved to hear him say the words over a romantic breakfast, or late at night when she lay in his arms. She deserved a better setting than a crowded railroad platform.

  "What is it?" She looked up at him, recognized the warmth in his gray eyes and thought for a moment that he might be on the verge of telling her how he felt.

  "Take care of yourself," he replied hurriedly. "I'll see you in Cheyenne in a few days."

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty- Four

  Lee had only been in New York half a day and already he was tired of it and eager to get home. And in a few minutes, when his interview with Robert Pinkerton—Allan's younger son and head of the New York office—was over, he could take Lily Catherine Alexander and go back home to Mary and Maddy and Judah. But for now he sat in the Pinkerton office, with Lily on his lap, her head pillowed against his chest, and waited.

  Lily had come as a surprise. Even though Lee knew David wasn't her father, he had been expecting her to look a bit like Mary or even Maddy, but Lily was aptly named. She was tiny and fragile-looking, with skin so fair the network of blue veins showed through. She had curly white-blond hair and big blue eyes. Though only a few months younger than Madeline, Lily weighed far less. But like Madeline, Lily Catherine favored her grandmother. And Lily Catherine was as quiet, well-mannered, and polite as Maddy was outgoing. When she spoke, it was in a whisper, almost as if she were afraid to make any noise. But she was affectionate. She clung to Lee, and he realized that she needed his nearness. She was going to a new home and to parents and a family that loved her already, but at the moment, she felt lost. A little girl surrounded by strangers who had been taken away from the only home she'd ever known.

  "Good to see you again, Lee." Robert Pinkerton stepped out of his office and walked over to shake his hand. Lee didn't stand up.

  "I see you've mad
e Lily's acquaintance."

  "Yes."

  "She's a precious little girl," Robert said. "And we're lucky to have found her in all this mass of humanity." He waved an arm toward the window and the crowded streets below.

  "How did you find her?"

  "We waited until Sarrazin wired money from Washington to a bank here in New York, then watched to see who picked it up. Luckily for us, Mrs. Sarrazin did. Easy as pie once we knew where to look and for whom to look," Pinkerton pronounced. "Now, how about you, Lee? How are you feeling?"

  "Fine."

  "No ill effects from the gunshot wound?"

  "No," Lee said.

  "Daniel Willis filed a report. I'm sorry about Mrs. Millen. It was tragic, but it wasn't your fault."

  "Yes, it was tragic," Lee said. "And if I had had any idea that my visit would provoke such an action, I wouldn't have gone alone. But I didn't anticipate her reaction. Having met her, I realized I should have recognized that Cassandra Millen couldn't face another family scandal—that she wouldn't allow the senator's name, her name, to be tarnished."

  "The senator's name was bound to be tarnished, Lee, whether she liked it or not. She couldn't prevent it and neither could anyone else." Robert paused. "Sarrazin has come clean. Senator Millen was more corrupt than any of us imagined. Not only did he try to force David Alexander to marry his daughter, Caroline, he paid to have a marriage license forged and bribed a clerk to record it. And still, he set out to ruin David. Senator Warner Millen even financed that counterfeiting ring in Denver—the one you and Tabitha investigated two or three years ago."

  "What?!" Lee was clearly surprised.

  Robert nodded. "I guess that's why he was able to get an expert forger to create a marriage license for David and Caroline."

  "Then Sarrazin wasn't blackmailing the senator with the scandal involving Caroline or even L-I-L-Y." He spelled Lily's name because, over the past few weeks, Lee had learned that little girls had very big ears. "But something even bigger and uglier."

  "The scandal involving Caroline would have definitely damaged the senator's reputation and might even have hurt his re-election, but let's face it, people talk and gossip travels fast, and almost everybody in Washington knew about it in some way or another. What Senator Millen couldn't allow to come to light was that he was responsible for financing the ring of counterfeiters and had used his influence to have the counterfeit bills circulated. But the unfinished business with David bothered him enough that he had a man keep track on the Jordan-Alexander clan."