CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It was ten minutes after eight o’clock by the time Henry finally located Dr. Dodge, as he was leaving the Hole in the Floor Saloon. Elizabeth and her son, Johnny, had been tucked away in the hotel for more than an hour. He’d had a steak supper sent to her room along with a bowl of chicken soup for the child. As he and the doctor hurried through the streets on their way back, Henry couldn’t get Elizabeth’s story out of his mind. The timing was actually right. He’d never have remembered otherwise, except that John had taken an extended trip to Denver because Blake and Ann had wed and he wanted to give them a few weeks of privacy. Ann hadn’t wanted to leave town because her sister was just getting over being sick. Since it had been years since John had any time away from the ranch, he’d volunteered to go instead, leaving them the house. Henry had made the arrangements for him. A week in Denver, and another in Santa Fe.
Matching the doctor’s long strides, Henry hurried after him through town. John had seemed different upon his return. Happier. Relaxed. That could have been the result of Blake finally marrying, but then, perhaps a different reason was responsible. It was the most content he’d ever seen his friend.
How sad that John hadn’t brought Elizabeth back here. Or knew that he’d sired a son.
“You’re mighty quiet, Henry,” Ray Dodge said, a concerned tilt to his brow. “What’s on your mind? Other than this young boy you’ve just met?”
“Just been a helluva long day, I guess.” And it’s not over yet. Not by any means, whether I like that fact or not. Look at me. Here I am, believing Elizabeth’s story without an ounce of proof. He thought of the depth of concern in her blue eyes.
She could easily be a schemer, just after John’s money. When John died, Henry had wired the sad news to his friend, Judge Harrison Wesley, a circuit judge that resided in Denver. When a person of such substantial wealth passed, news traveled fast. Elizabeth could be from anywhere. And Johnny could be anyone’s son.
I may be her attorney, but I’m also John’s and the ranch’s. I can’t turn a blind eye to their needs just because she walked in with a sad story. No, I can’t and I won’t. Proper steps will be followed. I’ll do my due diligence. I won’t leave one stone unturned. But what does she actually want?
They hadn’t gotten that far in the conversation before he’d insisted she return to the hotel and eat.
The men strode into the Eden Hotel. Only two tables in the café were taken. Karen Forester glanced up from filling salt and pepper shakers on the counter. She set them aside and hurried forward. “Hello.”
Henry nodded. “Did they eat the supper I had sent up?”
“Every last morsel.”
“Good.” He headed for the stairs. “Thank you. Be sure to put that on my account. And anything else they might need while they’re here. I think she’ll be too shy to ask, so please check with her in the morning by knocking on her door, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. I’ll write myself a note so I don’t forget.”
At room six, he quietly knocked on the door. It wasn’t a few seconds before the door opened.
“I’ve brought Dr. Dodge.”
Relief crossed Elizabeth’s face. Her hair was down, brushed, and a long braid now fell down her back. She still wore the same skirt she’d had on earlier, but she’d changed into a soft-blue blouse that brought out the color of her eyes. Weary lines fanned out from their corners and cradled her missing smile.
“Thank you, Mr. Glass. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you. But I will, I promise.”
He waved the comment away.
“I can’t pay you either, Doctor. I want you to know that up front.”
“No need to worry about that right now,” Dr. Dodge replied as he strode for the bed where the small boy lay between sheets only, his face flushed with fever. He placed his palm on Johnny’s forehead and immediately pulled off the top sheet. The child was too sick to react, but his eyes followed the doctor’s moves. “We’ll need ice, Henry,” he said over his shoulder. “More than they’ll have downstairs. You’ll need to go to the icehouse.”
Turning, Henry started for the door, but Elizabeth caught his arm before he stepped out.
“Your kindness means so much to me,” she said. “I never expected this to happen. And having—” Her voice broke, and she looked away.
“Please, Mrs. Smith,” he said, “you don’t need to keep thanking me. Any decent man would do the same. Let’s concentrate on getting your son better, then we’ll worry about the other issues. And you needn’t worry about the money. Each year, Eden sets aside a sum for truly needy widows.” She was a widow, so to speak, if what she said was true. There was no evidence yet that she was lying. He shouldn’t just label her a deceiver because what she’d told him was difficult to believe.
Actually, what she told me is easy to believe. And at face value, the boy’s age matches up with the trip John took. I’m not much of an attorney if I can’t see the picture that’s emerging right before my eyes.
“I’ll put in your request for it, if you’d like.”
And cover the cost myself of anything that goes over the amount. John would do the same for my son and his mother.
“Right now, though, I need to get that ice.” He went to her ceramic water pitcher, which sat in a large matching bowl. He took up the bowl. “You best let me go.”
She stepped back, an amount of relief softening her expression. “Yes. Thank you.” She gave a small smile when she realized she’d just thanked him again.
Henry found himself bounding down the stairs. At the bottom, he spotted Mavis and Emma at a center table in the dining room. The sight stopped him in his tracks.
John’s daughters are here. Is his son upstairs?
Mavis saw him and waved him over. “Henry, would you like to join us?”
The trust in their eyes almost did him in. Here he was, daydreaming about the beautiful woman in room six who claimed her son was their half brother. Does she believe he’s entitled to part of John’s fortune? How would I ever explain that? He’d pledged to John that he’d always look out for his girls. Wouldn’t John also want me to look after a son he never knew he had?
“Thank you, but no. I’m on, er, I have to . . .”
Mavis sat forward, concern in her eyes. “Karen told us about the poor little boy upstairs. How you fetched the doctor for him. How is he? If there’s anything we can do . . .”
“They’re newcomers,” Emma added. “Came in on yesterday’s stage, just a day after us.” Her smile resembled John’s.
Karen appeared with a small plate of cookies and set them on the table between the two young women. “You off again, Henry?”
“Yes. To the icehouse.”
Emma covered her mouth. “For the child?” She looked at her sister and then at Karen. “He’s quite sick, then?”
“The doctor is with him as we speak. He has a high fever.”
Karen’s brow creased. “Where’s she from?” she asked.
Blast. He needed to shut his mouth and get moving. “I’m really not at liberty to say. You’ll have to ask her.”
“You must be representing her,” Karen said. “Interesting.” The waitress had a habit of ferreting out information about anything or anyone in Eden.
Mavis cocked her head, her concerned sympathy deepening. “Do you know her, Henry? Is she family? Maybe a sister or a cousin?”
His intimate involvement would look that way. “No, no, nothing like that. Good evening, ladies,” he said and gave a polite nod. “I really must be on my way. Doctor needs that ice now.”
And I really don’t want to give out any more information or be backed into a corner where I’ll have to hedge on the truth. That’s not the kind of man I am. But until I know more, I can hardly make a fair call to all concerned.
Pivoting on his heel, he made for the door like a frightened boy. He welcomed the coolness of the night on his face. He cut between the buildings on the shortest route to the icehouse, located down by the river and behind the rocks opposite the Spanish Trail Cantina. Walking briskly, he crossed the road and weaved beside the Hole in the Floor saloon. Its name boasted of a urinal at the foot of the bar. It wasn’t exactly a hole, but more like a slanted trough to accommodate anyone who didn’t want to make the trip to the outhouse. Henry avoided the establishment like a sore tooth.
The moon gave off enough light that he didn’t have any trouble seeing Saint Rose along the route. The half-French, half-Spanish priest stood in front of the adobe church, looking at the stars.
“Padre?”
The priest searched out Henry from the direction of his voice. “Ah, hello,” he said. “The beautiful evening made it impossible to stay inside.”
“Yes. I noticed you’re stargazing. Are you looking for anything in particular?”
“Everything in particular,” he said evasively. “But in reality, from my bedroom desk where I was reading, I noticed two shooting stars, and thought to take a walk. Since then, there’ve been two more.” He gave a small laugh. “Where’re you off to in such haste?” He looked down the road toward the Spanish Trail Cantina, the only business left in that direction.
“Not the cantina. The icehouse. We have a sick child. The doctor sent me.”
“I see. I will keep him in my prayers. What’s his name?”
Henry swallowed. “Johnny.”
There was a moment of pause. “We wouldn’t want to lose another John, now, would we? Please send word tomorrow on his condition.”
“Will do,” Henry called over his shoulder as he rushed away. That’s strange. Two Johns? It was a coincidence, to be sure. Henry didn’t believe in signs. As a lawyer, he dealt in hard fact. Period.
Sure you do. If that’s the case, why did the hair on the back of your neck prickle? Is Johnny really John’s son?
If yes, they’d all been given a great gift. But how will the girls feel? And Blake? How would he handle this amazing discovery, if indeed Mrs. Smith’s story proved true? Henry had to be sure before anything could be said. He’d make Elizabeth understand. And what if she won’t agree? What if she insists on making her claim right away? Mavis and the rest are just coming to grips with losing their father and finding out he wasn’t the monster they’d been led to believe. They need time. And that’s exactly why I need to search out the truth. I’ll do my best to be as sure of the boy’s parentage as I can be before anything is said. Will I be able to talk Elizabeth into waiting?
That was what he’d find out soon enough.