CHAPTER EIGHT
Belle sat up in bed, her quick breaths shallow in the dark room. Mindful of Mavis sleeping soundly next to her, she wrapped her arms around herself and glanced at the window, opened just an inch. The curtains stirred, and cool air caressed her heated skin. The night was quiet. No more gunshots.
Mavis fumbled with the sheets. “Belle? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you have a nightmare?” Mavis reached out and touched her arm. “Things will work out. No need for you to bring your worries to bed.”
Belle shook her head. “No, not a bad dream. Just thoughts of Father, and how he longed for our return. It’s a stone on my chest. All those years of waiting . . .”
Mavis placed her pillow against the delicately carved wooden headboard and sat up, drawing the bedding up with her. “I know. When I begin to feel overwhelmed, I try to think of something else.”
“Like what?”
“Darvid. About happier times, when we first met.”
Belle didn’t have memories like that, though. Even thoughts of Lesley wouldn’t chase away the deep sorrow wedged inside like a sharp knife. This trip had not turned out the way she’d envisioned.
“I wonder if they have the makings for molasses cookies downstairs? A few dozen hot from the oven sounds good.”
Belle smiled. Sometimes the five of them got up in the middle of the night to bake some delicious creation. Lavinia would always eat a little too much and feel sick. Katie usually fell asleep on a chair nearby but never wanted to be left out. Thank God they had one another. Belle knew she wouldn’t be able to get through this without her sisters. A smidgeon of her distress evaporated. “I appreciate your effort to cheer me up. Do you know the time?” Belle lit the candle on her nightstand.
“My watch is across the room, on the dresser. Do you want me to get it? I can, if you want. Or get you some water?”
Mavis looked rested even though the moon was still bright in the window. Her lacy, high-necked nightgown ruffled under her chin, and her rumpled tresses framed her face in softness. No one would ever guess she was a twenty-three-year-old widow.
“No water, thank you. Having a drink will only make me need to use the chamber pot—and I’d rather not. Remember that yellow chamber pot we had as girls?” She gave a quiet laugh, feeling better with each moment that passed. “I was always fearful of falling in.”
“Yes, I do. And it was so large and always so cold. Velma would get so angry if we forgot to empty it.”
Belle shivered. “I’m just coming to grips with what they did to our family. If not for them, who knows what would have happened? Mother and Father may have reunited.” Hot tears suddenly threatened in the back of her throat, but she pushed them away. “We’ll never know. The Crowdaires need to be brought to justice. We can’t let them get away with what they stole from our family—and I don’t mean the money. For years, I’ve ached for a father’s love but hardened my heart thinking he was a monster. Vernon never let a day pass without besmirching his name, setting our minds against him. If only it were possible to do things over. If only . . .”
She felt more than saw Mavis nod. “I know. I worry about Emma, Lavinia, and Katie. They were too young to have any recollection of Father at all. At least you and I can remember a few things.”
Is that true? If Belle concentrated, she thought she could recall being picked up and held in their father’s arms. His scent. The deep, rumbling sensation of his laughter. She thought he might have liked to cup her cheek with a work-roughened palm, but she couldn’t be sure.
And Blake? Do I remember him? Or did I imagine the mysterious boy who liked to stay in the shadows unless dragged out by us girls?
“You’re lost in thought again,” Mavis said softly. “I think being here will spark more memories from our past, and of Father in particular. At least I hope so. I know on the trip here, everyone was in agreement that we’d come, listen to what our father’s lawyer had to say, visit his grave and the old homestead, and then return to Philadelphia and resume our lives. But Belle, think about all Eden has to offer.”
“Six months is too much to ask!”
“Not really. Not in the scheme of our whole lives. Why do you want to run home to your catering job? You dislike it, from all you’ve said. Have you changed your mind?”
“That’s not the reason, and you know it. I loathe restaurant work. It was just a way to supplement my stipend and pay some of the expenses that Vernon, the cheat, was always complaining about. I’ll not go back to spilling hot soup and scalding coffee everywhere. And I won’t have to—not with the money from Father. Mavis, you must reconsider.” Belle felt like she was being strangled. “Don’t forget my plans with Lesley.”
Mavis was gazing at her, questions in her eyes. “What plans, Belle? I don’t want to be cruel, but could your plans be hopeful thinking? He hasn’t asked you to marry him yet, and you’ve known him now for a year.”
“He’s been dropping hints. I wouldn’t exaggerate over something so important.”
“But do you love Lesley? Can you spend the rest of your life with him?”
“I-I think I do. I can’t see myself with anyone else.” Having to defend her feelings to Mavis stirred resentment. She knew Mavis had settled by marrying Darvid. He was a friend, but their marriage had turned out well, in spite of that. “What is love exactly, anyway?”
“I think the answer to that is different for each person,” Mavis answered thoughtfully. “The security and friendship Darvid provided is one kind of love, but I’m sure that might sound boring to you.”
Mavis was right about that. Belle would never settle for merely security and friendship. She’d rather remain a spinster. Love stirred the soul, making thoughts of anyone else impossible. Love flew you up to the stars on magical wings. Love made even the dreariest day look sunny and bright. At least that’s what Belle believed.
Lesley and I are almost there. We just need a little more time.
Mavis smiled kindly at her silence. “The party you keep speaking of . . . ,” she went on. “You believe it’s to be the announcement of your engagement?”
“I do,” she said with confidence. “Lesley’s parents have been planning it for weeks. I know they’d be very unhappy if I decided to delay my return.” Especially Mrs. Atkins. Belle pictured the woman’s cranky frown, an expression Belle had already seen more times than she could count.
“We’ll never have a chance like this again.”
Feeling obstinate, Belle frowned. “What chance is that?”
“To do something really extraordinary with our lives. If we take Father’s money now and turn the ranch—the thing he loved the most in the world—over to Mr. Harding, we’ll never know what we might have accomplished. To me, it feels like Father is here, alive, asking us one last time to come back to Eden. Making a hasty decision before we know all the facts doesn’t feel right.”
A warm gust of wind through the gap in the window made the candle flame dance and the shadows move across the wallpaper. Mavis pleaded with her eyes, a tactic she knew worked all too well on Belle. “It’s what Father wanted,” Mavis said. “A father who loved us dearly. It’s also the best option, monetarily speaking.”
Disgruntled, Belle sighed. “So Mr. Glass says.”
“No one can know the future, Belle. Not even you.”
“Maybe the ranch can’t withstand a payout of seventy-five thousand dollars, so they’re tricking us to stay.”
Mavis pushed back into her pillow. “You’re being cynical. We’re all still young. Handing the operation over feels like giving away a treasure that was meant for us. What if we really could be a benefit to the ranch? Or the town? Isn’t that a captivating thought?”
Belle scoffed. “Our father and Mr. Harding have been running the ranch for years. Do you believe you know better than them?”
“Not better than them, but we could contribute something different. We’re Brinkmans. This is our destiny.”
Belle rolled to her elbow, suddenly warmed inside. Is that true? Does each person on earth have a predestined purpose? Something significant she’s given a chance to fulfill if she chooses to accept the challenge? For years, all she’d worried about was making a good match and being a wife. Back East, that was what women did—unless they wanted to go into service of some kind. But here, in Colorado, all kinds of possibilities existed. Her future was a blank slate. What she chose to write on it was up to her.
“Belle?”
“I’m thinking.”
Mavis softly laughed. “Good.”
“You’re making this very difficult, you know. It’s ironic that the tables have turned. You were the one who didn’t want to come, and I had to talk you into the trip. I just don’t know how Lesley will take the news.”
“You don’t think he’ll wait six months?”
Lesley was her best chance at a good marriage, a respectable life. A social standing in Philadelphia that no amount of money could buy. “I don’t know.” Her gaze strayed over to the darkness of the night outside the fluttering curtains.
“He will if he loves you. Better to find out now . . .”
“The others might not agree. Emma is set on returning. Tonight, she may have convinced them of her reasons. Katie was shaken by the gunshots. I may not be your only obstacle.”
Mavis laughed. “I can’t believe you said that. With both of us working together, the others don’t stand a chance. Remember the time we had fifty cents saved between us? You and I wanted to go for ice-cream sundaes, and they wanted to go to the zoo. You know how that turned out.” She winked. “Or all the decisions about what to see on our yearly theater excursion? When we stick together, we’re unstoppable. I’m confident that if we desire it, Father’s wish will come true.”
Mavis threw back the covers and stood. “Let’s go wake the others and take a vote.”
Belle started. “Now? Are you afraid I’ll change my mind?” What if Lesley doesn’t understand? I’ll be tossing away my whole life. Mavis can’t grasp that. This is a new beginning for her. A way to run away from the hurtful memories of a dead husband, a broken-down apartment building, a tedious job. She has ample reason to want to begin anew. But I may be making the most catastrophic mistake of my life.
“Maybe.” Mavis pulled on her robe. “I won’t be able to sleep until I know the outcome.”
Belle’s stomach pinched as she watched Mavis fasten her sash. In the blink of an eye, their lives had changed. She just hoped they’d all be smiling when the six months had passed.