by Lilah Rivers
“Speaking of well-off,” Amy started.
Clinton said, “Amy,” in a slow, cautionary tone.
In the breach, Giles cut in, “In any case, I owe you both a debt of great thanks, for taking care of Jodi before I could retrieve her.”
Amy repeated, “You—? Retrieve—? She’s not some lost dog or runaway slave, you pompous dandy!”
“Amy—” Clinton repeated reproachfully.
“No, Clinton!” Eyes still fixed on Giles, Amy went on, “You may think you’ve been very clever about all this. But this is not right, and it will never come out the way you think. You might wrangle my Jodi into a life of quiet misery, but you’ll never have the happy house you want. You’ll be two lonely people, miserable together. And why? Why? Why did you even come here?”
“I’ve only one reason,” Giles replied calmly. “Love.”
Amy looked him up and down with a bitter sneer. “Well, at least you’ve found one person to love you… yourself.”
“Jodi!”
Jodi’s heart skipped and she spun around, her mouth dropping open to see the two familiar faces bounding through the crowd toward her.
Chapter 48
“Mother, Father!” Jodi felt that she could hardly breathe, her heart pounding in her chest. She jumped into her father’s arms, instantly warm and comforting even in that waning summer heat. He pulled her close, his familiar smell flushing Jodi with warmth.
“Hello, Daughter,” he said, his voice a low and loving tone.
“Father!” Jodi turned to look at her mother, sweet and smiling and tearing up with blooming joy and relief. “Mother!” Jodi wrapped her arms around her mother, pulling her close. “I… I can’t believe you’re here!”
Amy hugged Jodi’s father and mother in her wake, then introduced Clinton to them. Amy turned to Clinton herself with one brow raised. “Odd that we should all meet up here like this, eh? And with one of us behaving so strangely.”
“Perhaps not so strange,” Jodi remarked.
Clinton confessed, “Given the dearth of proper medical attention, and knowing how strong the bond between Jodi and her parents here is, I took the liberty of sending a wire.”
“And I’m certainly most glad he did,” Martin Hoffman said, chest puffing out as he turned to Amy. “I shall be your physician until the birth of your child, Amy, if you will so permit me.”
Amy smiled, actually blushing to Jodi’s eye. “I’d be honored, sir.”
Clinton addressed the Hoffmans, “You’ll stay with us, of course.”
“Of course,” Amy repeated, excitement and a certain relief brimming in her voice.
That’s when Martin and Ellen caught site of Giles, standing behind Clinton. But he had to step forward and be recognized. Jodi could instantly sense the tension between the two men, and of course there was no reason to guess as to why; at least not as far as Jodi was concerned.
“Giles,” Martin said.
“Doctor Hoffman, Mrs. Hoffman. I… we were just on our way back to Providence.”
Martin looked him up and down. “Were you now?”
Giles tapped the big trunk next to him. “For a fact, sir.”
“Well,” Martin said, “I’m sure your Alice would be gratified to know it.”
Your Alice, Jodi silently repeated.
Giles cleared his throat. “Yes, Alice, well, I look forward to seeing her again, of course.”
“Fortunate for you, then,” Martin said, turning and extending his hand. Jodi’s cousin Alice stepped through the crowd, a second porter with another trunk on another cart behind her.
Jodi’s heart jumped to see Alice, but she knew by the blood draining from his face that her cousin’s appearance was hitting Giles a lot harder—and for good reason.
There were too many people and too much tension for all of them to go back in a single carriage. Martin arranged to hire a carriage ride for himself his wife, Alice, and Jodi, while Giles rode back with Amy and Clinton. He’d suggested going back to his hotel room in town to meet them all later, but Martin insisted that he come back with them to, as he put it, “Begin straightening these things out.”
As thrilled and surprised as she was to see them all suddenly appear, Jodi was cautious about what questions to ask, especially to Alice. Alice was a damaged soul to begin with, and she had the idea that there was more to what happened in Rhode Island after her departure than Jodi yet knew.
“Alice,” Jodi said, “I’m so glad you came.”
“Are you?” Alice just looked at Jodi in the long silence she let linger.
“Well, of course! I’m just so surprised by it all.”
“I can imagine,” Alice retorted. “Somewhat spoils the surprise you had in store for me upon your return!”
Ellen interjected, “Alice, please —”
But Jodi was ready to speak for herself, and she did. “Alice, I know that, um, the way things would have happened, there would have been a lot for us to work out.”
“And we’ll have plenty of time to do just that,” Martin assured them, “all in good time.”
The tension that thickened in the little carriage was almost intolerable. Jodi finally asked, “Did you have a pleasant trip in?”
But one glance at their expressions told Jodi she needn’t have asked. She knew the origins of their mutual misery, but she also sensed that there was more to know, that things were worse than she could have imagined.
There was also a bright light on the other side of that darkness. Jodi had been heartbroken to be heading out of Angeldale, for what she was certain was the last time. She’d told her best friend a fairy tale, and she felt sure Amy had known it. Jodi would never be back.
Now, Jodi had new reason to be optimistic. Not only was she no longer leaving, but everything else had changed. There’d be no more question of doing Amy any harm; her own father was there to ensure Amy’s safe delivery. And there was no reason for Jodi to return to Providence to see her parents with them there at the Burnett homestead. Jodi wasn’t sure how all this would affect Scott’s newly faltered reputation, but she felt certain that it would have a positive influence. Jodi felt strong again, energized by her reunited family.
If we can straighten things out with Scott, and straighten them out for Scott as well, maybe… everything will turn around, then! Or, even if not? If we really love each other? Surely that’s what God intends, or why would He send the Hoffmans, and Alice, too? True, Clinton sent the wire, but it was God pulling the strings! I can see that; He’s creating something new, and I am perceiving it.
And I won’t lose sight of it again.
But a cold knot tightened in Jodi’s gut; recollections of Scott’s stony expression, his calm disinterest, his emotionless farewell which had hurt her feelings then and still rang with a tinge of pain.
If he’s even interested in hearing me out, Jodi had to caution herself. Why would he be? What kind of woman will I appear, coming and going at a whim—one day a courtship, and the other just another citizen, coming and going with little more than a nod?
Her heart started to beat faster as the carriage pulled her closer to the Burnett place.
No, Jodi told herself, I created this mess, and I will straighten it out. I’ll make him understand what I’ve only just come to understand. I’ll make this work out, with my family and friends, and with my God; I won’t fall short of the mark again.
I don’t dare.
Chapter 49
“So, there I was,” Alice said, leaning forward a bit as if to make her point, “waiting for you to come back. And you were going to bring her back with you?”
“You knew that was my intention.”
“Only as needs be,” Alice countered, “and not as your wife!”
Giles was trapped, and Jodi knew it as well as everybody else in the room. “Things weren’t necessarily going to shake out that way.”
Jodi could hardly contain the heat of her growing rage. “You what? You were going to tear me away from my
friends, from Angeldale, from… from a truly good man, unlike yourself—for what?”
“For your own good, Jodi! Whether or not you loved me—and let's be honest, I’d have to be very optimistic—but it's still clear enough to see that you don’t belong here. Your presence has been a complication for everyone involved—”
“Speak for yourself,” Amy put in.
“Your place is in Providence,” Giles said to Jodi, loudly to clarify, “with your family.”
“That's for me to decide,” Jodi told him.
“She’s right,” Clinton agreed, “and you, my fine good Samaritan, I severely doubt your story. Why not put it that way when I came to you before?”
Jodi turned to Clinton. “You... you did?”
“We only had your best interests at heart, Jodi.”
“Of course,” Jodi agreed, “I don’t doubt that, but—”
“He tried to buy you,” Giles shouted, “for a stake in his ranch! That's the manner of person you’re dealing with! Slave drivers, the two of them!”
Martin shook his head. “Hold your tongue, boy!”
“I tried to appeal to his financial ambitions,” Clinton explained.
“And I backed his play,” Amy added.
“An admirable try,” Martin assured them, turning his glare to Giles. “Was their price not high enough?”
“Not by half,” Clinton said. “Though it was all we could offer.”
Giles shook his head. “I never considered that offer to be truthful. I turned it down in the language you were speaking. I don’t care to air my offense in public but, in truth, your offer sickened me to my very core!”
Alice cried, “Poppycock!”
“It’s true, my love. I’ve been misunderstood here from the start! Whatever Jodi and her friends thought they heard, it was suggested by their own expectations. I never proposed marriage.” He turned to Jodi. “Did I?”
Jodi knew the trick he was trying to play. “Not precisely, but you did say that God intended us to be together.”
“Together, yes,” Giles agreed, eyes shifting as he thought fast. “But only together in the sense that family should be together; a daughter and her parents, cousins, and… and marrieds, all together. That’s what I truly meant, Jodi, not… Did you really think that—? Oh, Jodi, I owe you a big apology, clearly, and—”
“Stow your chicanery,” Jodi warned, taking two steps toward him. “I’m done trying to navigate your web of lies! You’ll say anything or deny saying anything at all, just to get what you want. And what is that, Giles? Answer me that? Do you want me? You had my heart last year. Do you want Alice? You had hers only last month… until this very day, it would seem. Is it money you want? Stature? Or is it to recover your self-respect? Because as much as we have all been gossiped about, ground through the rumor mill, you have suffered worse than all! Your reputation must be in utter tatters!”
“Utter,” Martin agreed.
“And for a man in sales,” Jodi went on, “this would be the end of your career, of your livelihood and your life. That might sway a businessman even if he was truly in love with one cousin or the other—or neither.”
Giles looked at her, at Alice and the others, all eyes fixed on him. He stammered, clearly searching for an excuse which was simply not there.
Finally, he had to speak the only thing left to say—the truth.
“I’d hoped to… to hedge my bets, so to speak. But that’s what any good businessman would do. Martin, I think you’d agree.”
Martin huffed and shook his head, and Giles turned to Alice. “I didn’t know how you’d react. You have to admit, we haven’t been getting along of late.”
Alice shook her head just a bit, as if so perplexed that her belief had to be suspended. “We’re adults, Giles—relationships are not always a skip through the wildflowers!”
“No, of course not. You chide me, Alice.”
“And you sicken me, Giles.”
A mean silence passed across the room. “I know, and I deserve it. But I will prove to you, to you all, that this was just a… I had good intentions, you must know that.”
No answer came back, each person looking at one another, some glancing at the ground. Clinton wrapped his arm around Amy, and she snuggled into the comfort of his embrace.
“I think it’s time you left,” Clinton said to Giles, nobody raising a word of disagreement.
He looked around, nodding as he seemed to accept that he had no choice but to leave. “All right, but I’m not giving up this easily. I know I’ve made a mistake, but I’ll show you… I’ll show you all who you’re dealing with.” He turned to each of them as he put on his top hat and stepped toward the door.
“Good day,” he added, stepping out and slamming the door behind himself.
Jodi and the others all exchanged a look, a long, knowing silence passing before Clinton shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“I’ll ride him into town.”
“Keep your eye on his gun hand,” Martin advised, holding his worrisome wife tighter.
Chapter 50
Doyle was out on his rounds, no limp lingering to tell the tale of his heroism. But he was glad enough to show his resilience, his quick-healing strength. And the impression he made among his fellow citizens remained long past any visible effects of the injury. He’d already established himself as the future leader of Angeldale, perhaps even all of New Mexico.
The mayor was reasonably enough behind the shift in power, and that had made sense to Doyle; whatever made the voters happy would make him happy, Doyle knew that as well as Scott did.
And Doyle knew he could play certain games the way Scott just couldn’t seem to do. While Doyle had often admired his mentor’s integrity, he could also see the impracticality of it, the effectiveness of other, less direct approaches.
Doyle had already made advancements it had taken Scott years to match, and things were going to change even faster in the future.
A man with a familiar face approached Doyle from the opposite direction, walking toward him. He stopped abruptly, eyes wide as he pointed a cautious finger into Doyle’s face. “You… you’re the deputy, isn’t that right?”
“It is,” Doyle confirmed.
“Dooley, isn’t it?”
“Doyle, Deputy Hollett to you. And you are…?”
“Giles Devlin, Deputy; call me Giles.”
“All right, well, if you’ll excuse me, um, Miles.”
“Giles,” he corrected, glancing around. “Actually, it’s fortuitous that you and I have bumped into each other like this.”
“Is it? You have some criminal matter for me to look into?”
“Just that, sir, just that. May we… walk and talk?”
Doyle looked around again, clearing his throat. He nodded, and the two men strolled down a small side street off the main thoroughfare.
