New Beginnings Spring 20 Book Box Set

by Hope Sinclair

  “In addition to the various wifely duties I expect you to perform,” Roger continued, “I will also expect you to respect my time and space. I keep very busy with work and won’t stand to be interrupted when I am in business meetings—or for that matter, when I am socializing with my friends. I go to the tavern regularly, as well as to the recreation hall, and I won’t change these habits when we are wed… Do you understand?”

  Roger was talking to her as if she were a child, just like her father had. But she didn’t take to it the same way she did to her father’s words. “I understand,” she said in a voice that sounded sharper than she’d planned.

  Roger looked at her curiously, taken aback by her tone.

  “I… I don’t fell so well,” Sylvia added, dulling her voice a bit. “My stomach is still upset from earlier, and I’m awfully tired from my travels. Perhaps I should do as Father has done and go rest up before supper.”

  Roger nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll show you to your room.”

  “That’s all right,” Sylvia replied as she stood up. “I’ll find it myself… and I need to stop in the water closet along the way.”

  Thankfully, that last part made Roger abandon his pursuit, and he nodded again to dismiss his fiancée.

  EIGHT

  Sylvia found her way to her room without hassle—and without actually stopping at the water closet. She’d only said that bit to ward off Roger anyhow, and she wasn’t going to stop in, just for the sake of her ruse, on the off chance that he’d change his mind and follow.

  Once she was in her room, she locked the door behind her, then scurried over to the bed, fell down onto it, and started crying. He seems such an awful man, she thought to herself. I really wish I didn’t have to marry him!

  Sylvia cried for a while, until it felt like she was running low on tears. Then she focused her energies on more productive, positive things and turned her inward conversation upward to her Heavenly Father. She prayed to Him for guidance, comfort, and His blessings, and she asked Him to look after the baby inside of her and protect it from the strife she, herself, was enduring.

  Sylvia cried a bit more after that, then prayed again, and she went through various emotions. She was angry at one point, sad at another, and confused the whole while.

  Eventually however, her stress and physical tiredness caught up with her, and she fell asleep. But just a short while after she did, before her dreams could even find her, she was startled awake by a knock on her door.

  I hope it’s not Roger, she worried as she sat up.

  “Yes? Who is it?” Sylvia called out. She patted down her hair and clothes and tried to get her mind straight.

  “It’s me. Open the door,” Mr. Wallace answered.

  Sylvia wasn’t happy to hear her father’s voice. But she was happy not to hear Roger’s. She went over to the door, opened it, and nodded to greet her father.

  “Supper’s ready and will be served in a few minutes,” he said. “So get yourself ready, and get to the dining room.”

  “I’m not… I’m not very hungry,” Sylvia lied. “My stomach is still upset from earlier, and I think it best that I stay in bed for a while.”

  Mr. Wallace shook his head and looked at her disparagingly. “All right,” he said, clearly displeased. “But do try to make it out of your room sometime this evening, so that you and Roger can interact more.”

  Sylvia was just about to agree with her father, like she always did, when she felt compelled not to.

  “Father,” she began cautiously, “I was wondering… is it… is it necessary that… that I marry Roger? We’re already a great distance away from New York, in a place where you have considerably fewer contacts. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t the distance adequate safeguard for your reputation?”

  “Silly girl,” Mr. Wallace sneered. “It doesn’t matter that we’re no longer in New York. No matter where we are, your last name is still Wallace. And before you have that child, or word spreads even a mile, you’d better change it… or else.”

  Sylvia didn’t have to, or want to, question what “or else” meant. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. So instead of saying anything, she just nodded and bowed her head.

  “As I said,” Mr. Wallace added triumphantly, “do try to make it out to sit with Roger sometime later this evening.” He turned and walked away, without even waiting for Sylvia to reply.

  Sylvia quickly shut and locked the door behind him, and she went back over to the bed. She’d lied to her father about her stomach being upset, but her falsehood was turning into a truth. Her belly was starting to ache, but not from sickness nor the sensitivities of her pregnancy. Quite simply, she was hungry.

  She lay down on the bed, hoping to fall asleep again and temporarily calm her hunger. But she found it difficult, and she started tossing and turning—as she turned onto her other side, she felt something firm pressing into her side.

  The apple! she remembered. I still have the apple Jacob gave me. She sat up, reached into her pocket, and extracted the plump red fruit. Her mouth watered as she looked at it, and a moment later, she grinned in satisfaction as she chewed her first bite.

  Sylvia thought more on Jacob as she ate the apple, and her thoughts maintained her smile. She didn’t know him well, but she knew they got along together, and she felt thankful to have met him and have him there. Truth of the matter was, other than the lovely land, he was the only good thing about the Bonanza, and realizing this made Sylvia feel a tinge of guilt, which she tried to resolve.

  Whatever you feel for him, she told herself, it’s just neighborly, friendly fondness, not anything of the romantic or affectionate sort.

  She told herself this repeatedly, even though she knew it was not true. She just kept saying the words over and over again, in the hopes that she’d convince herself to believe them.

  In any event, Sylvia’s hunger was satiated enough that her stomach no longer ached, and when she lay down again, she fell back to sleep with ease, lulled by more pleasant, confusing thoughts of Jacob.

  When she next awoke, it was dark outside, and she was pretty sure it was nighttime and everyone else was asleep. But still, she acted cautiously, just in case. She quietly got out of bed and tiptoed to the door, then out into the hall to check things out.

  Indeed, the house was still, silent, and mostly dark, all of which made her feel secure enough to proceed. Her hunger had returned and was much stronger now, and she knew that she had to get food for herself, and for her baby.

  Sylvia made it to the kitchen without encountering or rousing anyone along the way, and she went straight over to the counter to look for food. She didn’t bother lighting a candle or oil lamp, as there was a good deal of moonlight coming through the window. After several seconds of searching, however, she wished that she had. As she pulled out a jar of dried dates, she inadvertently knocked over the adjacent jar, which fell to the floor with a loud crash.

  Oh no! she cried inside. What have I done? Someone’s sure to have heard that noise. She worried that she had awakened her father or Roger—or both—and she started away from the counter to go back to her room before anyone could find her. But she couldn’t move. She couldn’t leave the broken glass on the floor, lest someone else unknowingly happen upon it and get injured. She wouldn’t wish such a thing on anyone, not even her father or her fiancé, no matter how she felt about them. So she bent over and started sweeping the mess to the side.

  A few seconds later, she heard an earful of noises, some of which were unfamiliar. But she definitely recognized the sound of footsteps and someone cocking their pistol.

  “Stand up… slowly, with your hands up. And don’t do anything to make me shoot you,” a man said.

  Sylvia was relieved, yet still terrified. “It’s me,” she told Jacob. “Sylvia.” She stood up slowly, with her hands up, as he’d instructed, and he lowered and relaxed his weapon and put it back in his holster.

  “I’m sorry,” Jacob said, lowering his eyes. He felt
embarrassed and nervous. “I didn’t know it was you.”

  “It’s okay,” Sylvia smiled, standing at ease. “I know it’s late, and the noise must have startled you when you heard it.”

  “It sure did,” Jacob replied, looking up again. “When I heard it and didn’t see any light coming from the kitchen, I worried that there was a thief or prowler in here… I sure am glad it was you though.”

  Jacob blushed, and his heart fluttered. He realized that his last statement could be taken two different ways, and that there was truth in both of them.

  “What are you doing in here in the dark anyway?” he asked, trying to change the direction of things. He was, after all, talking to a taken woman.

  “I wanted something to eat,” Sylvia explained. “But I didn’t want to make an ordeal of it or wake anybody.”

  Jacob chuckled and looked down at the floor. “Looks like you made an ordeal of it anyhow,” he joked, eying the chunks of glass. Sylvia had managed to sweep them out of the way, but they were still visible.

  “But as far as waking anybody,” he went on, “I don’t know how sound a sleeper your father is, but Roger is like a bear in winter when he sleeps… That’s why I was around outside, you know. Ever since the last rustling, I’ve been going around the ranch at night, at different times, to check up on things and make sure there’s no trouble.”

  Sylvia smiled warmly. She was sure this task wasn’t his as ranch hand, and she was moved that he did it out of his sense of personal duty. Her father and Roger didn’t do anything unless it involved money.

  “So far, I haven’t seen anything out of line,” Jacob went on, “other than Roger’s occasional drunkenness and a few curious, yet timid coyotes.” He snickered, and was surprised when Sylvia didn’t join him.

  “Roger’s a drinker?” she asked, surprised.

  Jacob was surprised too. “Oh, I thought… I thought you would have already known that,” he stuttered. He inadvertently glanced down at her belly.

  “I don’t really know much about Roger at all,” Sylvia admitted.

  Jacob was even more surprised now, and his stutter got worse. “But aren’t the two of you… aren’t you… aren’t you mar— Aren’t you having his… having his… Aren’t you together?”

  Sylvia bowed her head and sighed. “Yes and no,” she answered.

  Jacob arched his eyebrow.

  “Like you,” Sylvia went on, “I’ve lost a lot over the years, and my life hasn’t turned out how I’d hoped or expected. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father never remarried. He gave himself to work, much like your father gave over to drinking, and he, too, was forced to do whatever necessary to save his family—or, more aptly, his family name.”

  “I… I don’t understand,” Jacob said.

  Sylvia took a deep breath. She’d already told him so much, there was no going back now. “Roger and I aren’t married,” she explained. “But come Monday, when we go to the magistrate’s office, we will be. And from then on, we’ll live as a couple. But the truth is, we’re strangers. Indeed, we’ve met before, but mostly in passing. Roger is my father’s business associate, and Father called on him for a favor. He asked Roger to marry me, so that I could legitimately have my baby.”

  Jacob was more surprised than ever. He’d made a lot of assumptions about Sylvia. But apparently, none of them were true—and he had mixed feelings about it.

  “About a year ago,” Sylvia went on, answering what had to be Jacob’s unasked question, “I took up with a man who was the son of one of my father’s biggest competitors. We kept our relationship from our fathers a secret, as we knew they’d never approve, but we had plans to run away and get married.

  “Obviously, we didn’t go through with those plans. He chickened out and left me when he learned I was with child… And that’s why Father had to find someone to marry me.”

  Jacob’s heart ached for Sylvia. It pained him that she been through so much and been so mistreated. She’d had a man take advantage of her, and her own father was pawning her off on another.

  “And what a man he’s found for me,” Sylvia added with an unenthused, sarcastic chuckle.

  Jacob lowered his eyes, then lowered his head. He felt bad for Sylvia and couldn’t have agreed more with her last comment.

  Sylvia shook her head and sighed again. She felt the urge to cry, and a few tears escaped her eyes before she could stop them. “I tried to talk to Father earlier, to tell him that Roger and I weren’t suited for each other,” she elaborated, “but he wouldn’t hear it. He wants me to be married sooner than later.”

  Jacob’s heart felt heavy, but he found reason to lift his spirits a bit. “You and I have a lot in common,” he said sincerely. “And it seems—”

  Before Jacob could say anything more, there came a loud noise from outside. It was the sound of something falling, or crashing, against metal.

  “What was that?” Sylvia asked.

  “It’s probably nothing,” Jacob answered. “Probably just one of the cats or dogs chasing a rat—or maybe a coyote. But, whatever it is, it’s my concern, not yours. I’ll go out there and tend to it, and you go back to your room and go back to bed.”

  Sylvia reluctantly nodded and started toward the hallway. But Jacob reached out to stop her. “Take this with you,” he said, handing her the bread from the counter. “It may not be much, but it’ll hold you over… And sometime tomorrow, I’ll bring you another apple.”

  Sylvia’s cheeks were as red and full as the plump apple she’d eaten earlier, and her heart raced as she ran out of the kitchen.

  NINE

  Jacob tossed and turned. He was deeply disturbed by everything he’d just seen and heard. And it didn’t help matters that the sun was already rising on the horizon. It was Saturday, but still, he was expected to rise at a respectable hour.

  I can’t let this happen, Jacob told himself. I can’t let any of this happen. I’ve got to stop it all—and I’ll start with what’s most important.

  Jacob lay in his cot in the servants’ house for another hour or so, planning his course of action. He was still very tired when he got out of bed, but his resolve fueled him to find vigor.

  He ate a quick breakfast and did some of the chores required of him. As a ranch hand who lived on the land, he had work to do even when the others, including the boss, did not. He did his chores thoroughly and with due care, though truth be told, as he did them, his mind was elsewhere.

  Once he’d done enough to call it an honest morning, Jacob went back to the servants’ house to freshen up and grab a few things. Then he headed off to the main house.

  It was lunchtime, and as he neared the house, he could see Roger, Mr. Wallace, and Sylvia in the dining room at the table. Roger and Mr. Wallace were busy eating something that didn’t look too appealing, and Sylvia sat there moving her food around her plate with a sad, dissatisfied look on her face.

  Jacob had no intention of interrupting their meal, so he paced back and forth a little, then went to the back of the house, where he halfheartedly did some unassigned chores just to make himself look busy.

  About ten or fifteen minutes later, he heard the sound of the front door opening, followed by the sound of conversation between Mr. Wallace and Roger. He immediately stopped what he was doing and turned toward the house, and no sooner than he did, he saw Sylvia approaching.

  “I saw you from the dining room. And I figured you’d come to see me, to bring me the apple you promised,” she said playfully. “So… have you got it?” She looked at him expectantly and smiled.

  “I’ve come to give you something else,” Jacob answered in a serious tone. “Something better.”

  Sylvia looked at him curiously.

  “I’ve come to give you a way out,” Jacob clarified. “You don’t want to marry Roger, and in light of what I know about him, I can’t let you marry him. But your father wants you married, and your baby deserves to be born in wedlock and have a father—so… so be it! I’ll marry you
and be your child’s father.

  “We can run away from the ranch tomorrow night and hideout until morning. Then you and I can go to your appointment with the magistrate and get married… Your father will get his way and preserve his reputation, and you and your child will avoid what’s sure to be a miserable life with Roger.”

  Sylvia felt short of breath, and her head was spinning. Sure enough, she had developed a liking for Jacob and daydreamed about him, but she never imagined those dreams could become a reality—or that he’d confront her with such things out of the blue.

  “But… but… but we barely know each other,” Sylvia said. “And we both could… we could lose everything. My father might disown me and might fire you. You… you could be kicked off of this land for good. You could—”

  “I don’t care,” Jacob interjected. “Come what may. None of that matters… You’re right, we barely know each other. But you can’t deny, there’s something between us, and it’s something stronger than you could ever have with Roger, who is also a stranger to you.

  “As you noted last night, we’ve been through a lot of the same things. We’re a good match for each other. We have common values—and I’m confident that a great love could grow between us.

  “But you’re also right that we both stand to lose a lot if we pursue it… Personally, I don’t care. I don’t care if I’m fired or kicked off of this land. My job isn’t as important as you and your baby, and my connection to this land is not as important as the connection between us. That is what needs to be protected.”

  Jacob stepped closer to Sylvia and gazed into her eyes. “I’d rather serve you than serve the Bonanza,” he added. “And I’d be honored to give your child the type of loving, attentive father neither of us ever had.”

  “Are… are you sure?” Sylvia asked, gazing back into his eyes.

  “I’m certain,” Jacob answered.

  “All right,” she replied. “I’ll run away with you, and Monday we’ll get married.”