CHAPTER FIVE
The girls filed into the hotel room in stunned silence. Even though they’d only been gone an hour, the bed had been nicely made, the floor swept, and the windows opened to welcome the fresh, clean air. The room was cheery, albeit simple. Everything about Eden was simple. The complete opposite of what Belle was feeling inside.
When they’d left the lawyer’s office, sights Belle hadn’t seen before jumped out before her eyes. Their father had adored Eden—a father who had, in all reality, loved them as well. That revelation was still so razor sharp she wanted to fall to her knees and weep. At the end of Main Street, near the hotel, an enormous rock face jutted several hundred feet to the sky. No fortress she’d ever seen in a book looked as strong, as impenetrable. In the other direction was a line of businesses flanked in the distance by lofty mountain peaks. Grassy plateaus of sunlit emerald preceded the gorgeous snowcapped heights. Fatigued from the long trip and anguished over finally confronting their father, even in his death, she’d missed all this grandeur earlier. She turned back to the door, where Lesley waited.
“Thank you for walking us back,” Belle said, clasping his hands. So much was running through her head, she’d barely been able to explain to Lesley what the lawyer had said. She’d said nothing about Vernon and Velma. That bit of gossip would send his straitlaced parents into hysteria, and they needed no more ammunition to think her beneath their beloved Lesley. Perhaps her inheritance would soften them. One could hope.
He rubbed his thumbs over the backs of her hands. “You know I’m always happy to help in any way.” His green-flecked blue gaze held her spellbound. “Once we return, opening bank accounts may prove difficult for you and your sisters. Husbands usually do that. But I’d be honored to introduce you to my banker. My whole family has been with him for years. With our recommendation, he’ll be open-minded, I’m sure.”
“You’re a godsend, Lesley. I’m so thankful you took the time off to accompany us.” Her heart welled with sadness. She hadn’t yet been able to express how the news about her father had affected her. That would take far more time to come to terms with.
“Are you sure there isn’t anything more I can do?” His gaze searched hers. “Lawyers are notorious for their twelve-letter words. I’m sure Mr. Glass is no exception.” His smile was warm. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to explain anything that seemed confusing.”
Lesley. So steady. So reliable. He didn’t mean to make her feel inferior. And if she were honest, the prospect of never being in Mavis’s situation was so appealing as to outweigh such minor aggravations. Lesley had money he wasn’t afraid to spend, and he often did so—on her. In a life with him, there’d be no scrimping, no mounting debts. Was that so wrong to want?
Am I the only one who sees the world for what it is? A place that requires struggle to stay alive.
Without warning, several of Velma’s favorite sayings popped into her mind: “Being poor quickly gets old.” “Marrying above her status is the only chance for a woman to improve her lot.” “It’s just as easy to fall in love with a man who has as with a man who hasn’t.” “Having an empty coffer when the debtor comes to call makes an old woman out of a maiden.”
Belle vowed that if she could control her thoughts, she’d never think of that duplicitous woman again.
She forced a smile. “Just your being here means so much. All we need is some rest and time to talk things through. Thank you for understanding.”
He pressed his cheek to hers and then proceeded to his room at the end of the hall. She was grateful he wouldn’t be far. The trip from the lawyer’s office to the sanctuary of the hotel’s four walls had taken less than a minute, but that was long enough for her to notice the abundance of men watching them from all four directions. Even with Lesley at her side, the curious glances were unnerving.
She’d never be comfortable living in such a place—“rustic,” as Lesley called it, and with so few women. She’d seen him notice the fine layer of dust on her shoes and the sandy grit on her fingers. No matter her father’s wealth, this town was the antithesis of everything she’d done to improve her social station.
The sooner we’re out of Eden, the better.
The five of them stood like mannequins in the center of the room.
“Katie, Lavinia, come over here.” Belle patted the tall, quilt-covered bed. Their faces looked wan and moist, the shock still apparent in their expressions. “Climb up. And you too, Emma. Come over to this side, where there’s plenty more room.” She circled the bed and put out a helping hand.
We’ll get through this moment, this hour, and then decide the best course of action. How could Father have expected us to stay here now that he’s gone?
If Belle had to decide this moment, she’d take the fifteen thousand dollars and return to Philadelphia as quickly as possible. Her insides trembled at the thought of so much money. Enough to last a lifetime. Enough to make her swoon right now.
And for each of us. How generous Father had been. Even after waiting for years to hear from us, to no avail.
Mavis sat in one of the chairs by the window, rubbing the end of her absent finger through the padded finger of her glove—a habit when she was troubled. Lavinia untied the ribbons under her chin and held her latest creation in her hands, staring. Unable to afford buying new, she’d refashioned the same headpiece over and over. Katie nibbled her lips. Whereas Emma’s dimple usually looked so attractive, strain lines now marred her pretty face. Belle’s heart ached to see her sisters so out of sorts.
“We mustn’t worry,” Belle said, sitting in the other chair. “I know you all hurt as deeply as I do thinking Father believed we had betrayed him. We didn’t know the truth.” Guilt pushed down on her shoulders. “If we’d known, we would have come right away. There’s no question about that.”
She glanced around the dead-quiet room. All gazes were lowered to hands or the floor, or eyes were simply closed.
“We must be pragmatic. Father wouldn’t want us to fall apart now, thinking about his feelings. We’re Brinkmans. As strong as he was. As strong as Mother had to be to protect us.” In reality, she wanted to collapse in Lesley’s arms and cry for a year. And still, she knew that would do little to fill the deep hole she felt in her soul.
“I don’t understand,” Emma whispered, reclined on the pillow, her arm thrown over her eyes. Strands of her hair had fallen free from her French twist; the color reminded Belle of strawberry frosting. Emma worked in a wool-and-fabric store in Philadelphia, and deeply loved the owners. They’d taken her on as a daughter when she’d needed the connection most. “What did Mr. Glass mean, Father sent us letters and money?” She lowered her arm and sat up. Her crinkled brow of worry was one Belle was used to seeing from her sensitive sister. “Could our aunt and uncle really be that despicable? I just can’t, just can’t . . .”
“Don’t call them that,” Belle replied curtly. “They aren’t our relations. And now that we know how they’ve betrayed our whole family, the very idea of them sickens me.”
Katie shook her head. “I don’t believe any of it!”
Mavis finally raised her head. “That’s because you’ve known no other mother and father besides them. And because their treachery hurts too much to consider.”
“But . . . but Uncle loaned me the money to go to normal school. It was generous . . .”
“It was our money to begin with.” Belle had to make her understand. “And he’s drawn you out a schedule to pay him back.”
“Maybe it’s a cruel trick, and Father was really as crazy as the Crowdaires said,” Lavinia whispered, trancelike, almost as if she’d missed the whole conversation.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Belle that Lavinia had not called them by their names. Her analytical sister had dark good looks, so unlike their mother. But maybe exactly like our father? Besides loving the finer things in life, she also adored a room filled with chattering children. The proprietor at the tailor shop where she worked had eight little moppets and recruited Lavinia often to watch them when she had errands. It was a toss-up which part of her monthly income came from needlework compared to child rearing. Nothing made her happier than their smiling faces eager to see her.
“Maybe he paid Mr. Glass to say he sent letters and money as another way to hurt us,” Lavinia went on. “Or Mr. Glass and Mr. Harding could be in cahoots to cheat us out of our inheritance.”
Belle didn’t believe that for a second. Henry Glass seemed to be a straight-up fellow. And Blake Harding? To her surprise, it wasn’t his scar that popped into her head when she thought of him again, but his piercing blue eyes and the deep affection he clearly felt for their father. She hadn’t liked him like she had Mr. Glass, but she didn’t sense he was a crook. “No. Mr. Glass’s loyalty to Father was apparent. He’s on our side. And you saw the signed will yourself,” she went on. “He could be disbarred if he’s lying.”
Agitated, Belle stood and looked out on the town. Several cowboys trotted down the street and halted at the sheriff’s office, kitty-corner to the hotel. From the other direction, a stagecoach pulled to a stop below her window. The shotgun messenger climbed onto the top of the stage and began handing down luggage to the driver, who climbed to the street below.
“To me, it’s obvious.” Belle kept her gaze trained on the men below. “The crooks we know as the Crowdaires hid the letters for Mother from the beginning. They absconded with money intended for our upbringing. That’s why they were able to move to a finer house, take trips, buy expensive clothing. As much as I hate to believe it, that’s the truth of the matter. Don’t you remember the tailored garments she loved?”
“Yes,” Lavinia blurted. “Something new all the time. I hated when we had to wait on them like servants once they retired to the parlor. Little girls wearing white aprons, using a tray for sherry, and curtsying.” She shook her head. “We were such fools.”
Emma wiped at tears. “We were children.”
“But we grew up,” Belle whispered. “We should have suspected something.”
A woman was being helped down from the stage. And then a small boy. She had a short conversation with the driver, pointed at a trunk, and then, son’s hand in hers, turned and entered the hotel. Another woman to join the ranks of the few.
“I wonder why Mother kept us with them for so long,” Lavinia said, and then paused to swallow down her grief. “I was young, but I think I remember her speaking now and then about moving on.”
“She did,” Mavis said, nodding. “But it didn’t make sense at the time, with the fighting. The war was still going. I think she felt safer with the Crowdaires.”
Belle glanced around the street and behind the buildings for as far as she could see through the window. She needed to get outside, forget about this for a few moments. “I wonder where the church is,” she murmured. “That’s where Father’s grave would be.” She felt drawn to searching for it, but leaving the hotel room would mean walking down that boardwalk again, to face the men’s curious eyes.
Katie took out her hankie and blew her nose as tears spilled over and ran down her face.
“I wonder if Mother knew about any of Father’s letters,” Lavinia choked out, wiping at her own tears. “Would she have returned? Brought us with her? She probably thought Father didn’t want her anymore after she abandoned him.”
Belle glanced toward Mavis. Their leader was being very quiet. “What do you think?”
“There’s no one besides the Crowdaires in the position to execute a deception of this magnitude. You’re all too young to remember, but they weren’t that well off when Mother brought us to their home, looking for a place to stay until she could decide what to do. I’m not judging Mother for taking us away from Eden, but I do remember she was a strong woman, nothing like the mother you all remember, who became sickly and remained in bed, weak and confused.”
Katie’s eyes grew large. “Do you think . . .”
Everyone gasped.
Belle went over and put her arm around Katie. “Thoughts like that won’t do us any good. Mr. Glass said he would get to the bottom of how all this transpired. I suggest we concentrate on the problems at hand. Tonight, he may want our decision about the ranch and whether we’re staying in Eden. I suggest that before we discuss further whether to upend our lives, we take time to reflect and relax. Our minds and hearts are full to overflowing.” She glanced around. “At least mine is. Let’s wash our faces and see if we can’t find the church where Father is buried. At this moment, I feel the need to be close to him.”
“Reflect?” Emma sputtered. “What do we have to think about, Belle? You’re not actually considering staying in Eden, are you? We know absolutely nothing about cattle, horses, or ranching—let alone running any of the other businesses. My vote is to take the cash offer and go directly home.”
“I disagree,” Lavinia said. “Staying in Eden sounds like a challenge. At the very least, an adventure. I’m keeping an open mind.” She turned toward Katie.
Katie looked despondent. “I don’t know what to think. I’ve never pictured myself doing anything other than teaching. Does Eden even have a school?”
Mavis leaned forward in the chair, seeming drained. “Belle’s right,” she said. “We have much to learn. Not only about a father we don’t remember, but the home he’s built, the town he’s lived in, and the friends he’s made. We may never have this chance again.”
“Home?” Katie asked, confused.
“Eden. As Mother said, he lived and breathed the country here. She said the land was his glory as well as his downfall. I wish I remembered more, but I was busy watching over my sisters.” She winked, and then a bittersweet smile played at her lips. “And I loved every minute. Now come on, let’s go find the cemetery. We’ll feel better. We’re not made of glass. We’re John Brinkman’s daughters. We better start acting like it.”
Belle nodded her agreement.
Emma climbed from the bed. “Mr. Harding is rather frightening, with that scar running down his neck. I wonder what happened to him. Does anyone know?”
“I don’t,” Mavis said. “But I do have vague recollections about how painful it looked back then to a little girl.”
Belle went to the washstand and splashed water on her face. With a washcloth, she blotted dry her cheeks, forehead, and chin. “As Mother used to say, character and strength are more important than looks.”
Lavinia slipped off the bed, joined Belle at the basin, and began to freshen up as well. “That’s funny coming from you. Lesley is very handsome.”
Belle smiled. At least the girls were smiling again after this exchange, and Mavis didn’t look quite so glum.
A loud blast rent the air, followed by a thunk in the siding beside their hotel window. Everyone screamed. Lavinia and Emma fell to the floor, and Mavis, who was still sitting by the window, flew across the room to crouch behind the bed next to Belle. Katie stood in front of the mirror, her eyes frozen wide in fear.
Was that a gunshot? Belle glanced around from her position. No other shots sounded. Is it safe to get up? Was it just a random volley? Painful knots twisted her belly. Slowly, she stood and inched toward the window.
“Get down,” Lavinia breathed. “You’ll be killed!”
After a few moments, Belle peered around the curtains. Everything down on the street looked normal. “No one seems upset out there. There’s a couple people looking around, but that’s it. I guess all is clear.”
Emma hugged herself, her eyes as large as saucers. “Famous last words—until a bullet flies through that window and strikes me in the head. One more reason to get on a homebound stage as soon as possible.”
“I agree,” Belle breathed out, thankful no one had been hurt. They couldn’t possibly stay in a town where gunshots were such an everyday occurrence that the residents barely reacted. Emma was agreeable to going back to Philadelphia, but Belle had better think of some ideas to sway Mavis. Her older sister had the most pull with Katie and Lavinia. If not, Belle would be stuck here, without Lesley. This was a sticky wicket just when Lesley was so close to proposing. If the vote were taken now, there’d be two for home, one to stay, and two undecided. Katie would want to please Mavis, Belle was sure. Action was needed.