Chapter 16
Rose somehow got back to her room. Numb from shock, she flung herself on the bed. She couldn’t even cry, just lay there, trying, and failing, to understand why Deke had turned on her. He’d always been so friendly, so full of humor. But tonight? That stony expression on his face, those cold eyes… Why couldn’t he see she wasn’t at fault? That Mason had grabbed her?
She could hardly bear the thought of it.
And why did he tell her to speak to Jake?
After a time, she pulled herself together enough to get ready for bed. The simple task of removing the cream satin gown reminded her of how happy she’d been earlier in the evening, back when Deke had looked at her with love in his eyes. Now everything had gone wrong. What was left? Not only had she lost Lucy, she’d lost Deke, too. That night, she couldn’t sleep, just tossed and turned. Maybe things would look brighter in the morning, but she highly doubted it.
She was right. The next day, a gloomy sky awaited when she got out of bed. A perfect match for her dark mood. She didn’t even want to get dressed and leave her room, but life went on, she supposed, and the worst thing she could do was hide from the world and wallow in self-pity.
And besides, what had Deke meant? She very much wanted to speak to Jake Grunion.
Dressed in the brown wool bombazine—it suited her mood—she knocked on the door of Jake’s office. He called to her to come in and broke into a gleeful smile when he saw who it was. “Have you seen the receipts from Gaston’s last night? The Frenchie did all right. We made a small fortune.”
Seating herself, she couldn’t even pretend to smile. “That’s not why I’m here.”
Jake’s smile faded. He couldn’t miss the woeful state she was in. “So tell me.”
She wouldn’t hint around. A direct question would be best. “From what I understand, you were at the duel between my husband and Mason Talbot. Is that correct?”
Jake got a leery look in his eye. “I was there.”
“You were Emmet’s second.”
“I was.”
“I want you to tell me what happened. Exactly what happened.”
“Be happy to, but it’s nothing you don’t already know.” Jake accompanied his remark with an elaborate shrug.
“So tell me anyway.”
“Well, it was like this…” In his harsh voice Jake told the same story she’d heard before. It had all started when Emmet—Mr. Peterson—figured he’d been insulted by Mason Talbot. Declared it an “affair of honor,” and demanded satisfaction in a duel. Who fights duels anymore? Everyone thought he was crazy, tried to talk him out of it, but he got stubborn and wouldn’t change his mind. “That’s when he asked me to be his second. He’d asked Deke Fleming first, but Deke didn’t want to get involved and had the guts to say so. Not me. I didn’t want to lose my job, so I couldn’t say no.” Jake frowned in exasperation. “Are you sure you want me to go on with this? It ain’t pleasant.”
“Just tell me what happened.”
“All right, if you’re sure. Since I was Emmet’s second, it was up to me to arrange everything, like finding a site for the duel. It couldn’t be just anywhere. Being as dueling’s illegal, it had to be a place where the sheriff couldn’t find us. I discovered the perfect spot—two miles from town on the river, lots of trees, no farms around. The next day, shortly after dawn, that’s where we met. I remember how cold and foggy it was—perfect weather for a duel, they said. Not many were there, only a few people from town who’d heard about it. Emmet’s farmhand, Deke, was there. I’d found a doctor to be on hand, and of course Mason’s second, Rudy Avery, was there, and that’s all.”
Jake opened a desk drawer and pulled out a flask. “Throat’s scratchy.” He took a swig and held out the flask to her.
She could tell how nervous he was. “Too early for me, Jake. Please go on.”
He sighed and returned the flask to the drawer. “Mr. Talbot was the one who was challenged, so he got to choose the weapon. It’s no surprise he chose pistols. Over in France, they fight their duels with swords, but I don’t think either Emmet or Mr. Talbot ever owned a sword in their lives. When the time came, they stood back to back, each pointing their pistol up in the air. I’m the one who had to call ‘Begin.’ It was like some kind of bad dream, you know? I’d never seen a duel in my life, but here I was, about to see two people try to kill each other. They walked ten paces and turned. Each aimed at the other. Emmet fired and missed. Less than a second later, Mason fired and you know what happened.”
“He was killed instantly?”
“Uh…yes.”
Jake’s hesitation told her a lot, but she ignored it. Hearing how Emmet had suffered would only add to her misery. “So that’s all you know, Jake?”
“Uh…yes.”
Why did he hesitate? Plain to see her shifty-eyed manager had either lied or left something unsaid. “You’re not telling me everything. What did you leave out?”
Jake took his time answering, just sat frowning, rubbing his jaw. Finally he gave a firm nod, as if he’d come to a decision, and looked her in the eye. “You’re right. I didn’t tell you everything. Kept my mouth shut. Feared for my safety.”
A chill gripped her heart. “Tell me now. I want to hear all of it.”
“You’ve got to understand, Mason Talbot has a lot of power in this town.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“He’s got connections. He could do you serious harm.”
“Just tell me. I’m ready for anything.”
“All right, you asked for it, Mrs. Peterson, although I dunno what you can do when you find out.” Jake shut his eyes a moment, as if to get his thoughts in order. “Like you already know, Mr. Talbot’s second was Rudy Avery. The night before the duel, he came to my door and said he had to talk to me. Since one of my duties was to negotiate, see if I could keep ’em from actually dueling, I said sure and asked him in. So he comes in and…” Jake nervously ran his hand over his slicked back hair. “Damn, I don’t like talking about it, but you say you’ve got to know?”
“I’ve got to know.”
Jake took a deep breath. “Rudy had a message from Mr. Talbot that he wanted me to give to your husband. He said to tell him that when the duel started, and they’d walked their ten paces and turned, he would fire his pistol over Mr. Peterson’s head. So, of course, he wanted Emmet to do the same.”
“So in other words, they’d both aim high and neither would be harmed?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I guess it’s common to do that. After Rudy left, I rushed right over to the River Queen and told Mr. Peterson. You should have seen how relieved he looked. By then he’d calmed down a lot, got beyond all that rage and anger and how he’d been insulted. He knew he’d got carried away believing a duel was an ‘affair of honor.’ It had a romantic kind of sound to it. He’d be a hero like those fellows in The Three Musketeers. But by then he’d begun to realize his affair of honor was more like an affair of stupidity, and in the morning, he could be dead or badly injured.”
“So he agreed?”
“He didn’t hesitate. I got word to Rudy. The next morning, after we gathered for the duel, I checked with him to make sure Mr. Talbot got the message. When Rudy said he had, I was mighty relieved. We’d found the perfect solution. Mr. Talbot could keep his honor and no one would call him a coward. Emmet would still have his so-called satisfaction, for whatever that was worth, and he wouldn’t be shot dead. He was a tough boss, but a good man, and I didn’t want to see him killed for no good reason. The rest you pretty much know.” Jake slumped back in his chair. “When they took their ten paces and turned, I wasn’t worried. I knew what was going to happen, or thought I did. Like I expected, Emmet took aim and missed. Then Mr. Talbot aimed, fired, and my boss fell to the ground. I couldn’t believe it.”
At first, Rose’s mind refused to register the significance of Jake’s words. “So what you’re saying is, Mason Talbot deliberately shot my husband?”
“He was supposed to aim way high, like your husband did. Well, he didn’t. The plain truth is, Mason Talbot murdered your husband in cold blood.”
His words were hard to accept. Several seconds went by before she trusted herself to speak again. “But why would he do such a terrible thing? I can understand Mason would be angry at being challenged to a duel, but was that reason enough to deliberately murder my husband?”
Jake sat straight and gave her a long, searching gaze. “You don’t understand, do you?”
“I guess I don’t.”
“Then it’s time you knew the truth. The River Queen sits on one of the most prime pieces of land in all Sacramento. Mason’s been after it for years. The building itself is well built, of sound construction. He wanted to remodel and expand it, like you’re doing now. The Egyptian looks good, but it’s flimsily built and probably won’t survive the next flood. It isn’t enough for Mason Talbot. He wants the River Queen so bad he’d sell his own mother to get his hands on it.”
She struggled to understand. “If that’s the case, then how was my husband able to buy the River Queen when it was up for sale?”
“Mason’s luck ran out. The day it went up for sale, he was in San Francisco. By the time he got back, it was already sold. He went wild—went to your husband and offered nearly twice the sale price, but Emmet refused to sell.”
“I wish to God he had.”
Jake shrugged. “So Mason was hung out to dry, and he’s been mad ever since. He hasn’t given up, though. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I’ve seen how he sweet talks you. Maybe he means it, but maybe—I’ve gotta be honest here—he’s more after your hotel than you.”
“I see.” She must stay calm and composed. It wouldn’t do to break down in front of an employee, even though he’d totally shocked her. She’d asked for it, though. And easy to see he’d spoken the truth. Deke must have known. Now she understood why he got that cold, hard look in his eye when he talked about Mason. “Thank you, Jake. I appreciate your honesty.” She stood to go.
“Any time, Mrs. Peterson.” He stood, too. “I don’t know what you plan to do, but one thing you’d better keep in mind.”
“And what is that?”
“Mason Talbot is an evil man. He’s got no conscience. If he wants something, he’ll go after it, and he don’t care who gets in his way. If I was you, I’d have nothing more to do with him.” Jake gave a rueful smile. “It’s not my business, but I’m just saying.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
When she left Jake’s office, all she wanted was to get upstairs and back to her room. She didn’t throw herself on the bed this time. Enough of such a time-waster. But for a while, she sat on the side of the bed, willing her insides to stop shaking, struggling to understand the significance of Jake’s shocking words. The worst of it was, she’d asked for it. Now that she knew the truth, that Mason Talbot had deliberately killed her husband, what should she do? She tried to think, but couldn’t concentrate. So much had gone wrong. Her life was a disastrous mess. She needed help. Someone she could talk to. Someone calm and rational who had good sense.
* * * *
Dulcee Bidwell picked up her flowered porcelain teapot. “Would you like more tea, Rose? Looks to me like you could use a second cup.”
“I would.” Sitting in Dulcee’s cozy kitchen, Rose felt more relaxed already. The warmth of the ginger peach tea had done a lot to calm her jangled nerves. Pouring her heart out had helped, too. She couldn’t ask for a better listener than her elderly friend who’d sat nodding with genuine sympathy while Rose recounted the several causes of her misery. “So there you have it, Dulcee. I’ve lost my daughter. The man I love has rejected me, and I just found out my husband was deliberately murdered.”
Dulcee pursed her lips. “Landsakes, you’ve got more problems than you can shake a stick at.”
“You could say that, yes.”
“You need to take them one at a time. Let’s start with Lucy, shall we? Isn’t getting her back most important of all?”
At the thought of her daughter, a pang of desperation welled within her. “Of course it is. I want my child back. I’ve gone about as far as I can go.”
“I agree.” Dulcee finished pouring the tea and set the pot down firmly. “From what I’ve heard, what you’ve done with the River Queen is amazing. But the problem is, you live there. That’s fine for you, but you don’t want Lucy living over a saloon, do you? You can’t move back to the farm, so first off, you’ve got to find a decent place to live.”
Dulcee was making a lot of sense. “I never thought of living by myself.”
“What woman does? We’re not supposed to be independent. We live under our parents’ control until we marry.” An ironic smile crossed Dulcee’s face. “Then our husband takes over.”
“I’ve been so dependent I never gave a thought to living by myself. The more I think about it, though, the more I realize I wouldn’t want to go back, even if I could.”
“Now you’re getting some sense in your head. There’s no reason you can’t find a place of your own.”
“Of course I can. A little house would be nice, if I could find one to rent or even have built. I could afford it.”
Dulcee nodded approvingly. “And then you’d need someone to look after Lucy when you’re at the hotel. I hear Sacramento’s finally going to have a school. You could enroll her. She’s old enough.”
“Of course she is. That would be perfect.”
“Problem solved.” Dulcee flopped out her hands. “You see? All you need do is keep your head straight and think it through. Here’s what else you should do. When you leave here, you should march right next door and have a talk with Ben and Coralee. Tell them what you plan. Give them a deadline. Not longer than a couple of weeks, I’d say, and then you’re going to take Lucy and that’s that. Meantime, you’re looking for a house and enrolling Lucy in school.”
“You make it all sound so easy. They might not let me in, though.”
“You’ve got to try, that’s all I can tell you.” A corner of Dulcee’s mouth pulled into a slight smile. “Now what’s the next problem?”
Rose had to laugh. Dulcee might be old, but her mind hadn’t lost a bit of its sharpness. “The next problem is Deke Fleming. I’ve fallen in love with him, but he doesn’t love me anymore, if he ever did in the first place. Now he’s very, very angry.” She heaved a sigh. “Not much you can do about that, I’m afraid.”
Dulcee cocked her head. “Now, hold on, missy. You told me Deke got mad because he saw you kissing Mason Talbot.”
“Thought he saw me kissing Mason, but like I said, I wasn’t.”
“Doesn’t matter. Either way, do you think he would’ve gotten this mad if he didn’t care about you?”
“I suppose not.”
“It’s plain to see the man was jealous. That’s why he acted that way. Of course, he loves you.”
“So what do you think I should do?”
Dulcee sat back and rolled her eyes. “Goodness gracious, you don’t have to do anything. Don’t let this go to your head, but no wonder the men are after you. You’re pretty and you’re smart. You’re witty and you’ve got a good sense of humor. And besides all that, you’ve got spirit and you stand up for yourself. That’s what men truly admire in a woman, what they find irresistible. We’re supposed to believe that to catch a husband a girl should be all mealy-mouthed and not a brain her head, but that’s not so. Deke sees you for the special woman you are. Mark my words, he won’t stay away for long, and you won’t have to lift a finger.”
“You think so? I’m not so sure I’m the independent woman you think I am, especially after last night.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself. No woman without spirit would have chosen to run that hotel. From what I’ve heard, you’re making a big success of it. You took a chance, defied everyone to do it, and by golly you’ve come out on top.”
Maybe Dulcee was wrong, but even if she was, Rose felt better. “You don’t think I should go find Deke and apologize?”
“What for? Judging from what you’ve said, you didn’t do anything wrong. If you ask me, it’s all Mason Talbot’s fault. He’s an evil man. Bad enough he killed Emmet, but he did it on purpose? What a terrible thing.”
“I know, and I’m trying to decide what to do about it.”
“Oh, my dear!” Dulcee’s eyelids lifted in alarm. “You can’t do anything. It’s not fair, and it’s not right, but you’re looking for trouble if you go after a man like Mason. I know you’d like to, but if you value your safety, you’d best leave it in God’s hands.”
“I’m listening.” Rose took another sip of tea. “And I do believe you’re right.”
* * * *
At the end of her visit with Dulcee Bidwell, Rose climbed in her buggy and drove straight next door to the farmhouse. Walking to the front door, she recalled the last time she was here, that awful night they’d locked her out and thrown her clothes on the ground. What a wreck she’d been, her belief in herself in shreds. Today was different, though. This time she strode to the front door with head held high and knocked with a firm hand.
Coralee opened the door. To Rose’s great surprise, she smiled. “Come in.” She swung the door wide. “Ben’s gone at the moment. Lucy’s in the kitchen. She’ll be so glad to see you.”
In the kitchen Lucy was at the table eating her lunch. With a dimpled smile, she hopped off her chair and flung herself into Rose’s arms. “Where have you been? I missed you.”
Holding her daughter tight, Rose lost the last of her doubts that what she was doing was right. She held Lucy at arms’ length and grinned. “It won’t be long now, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be fine, and we’ll soon be together again.”
Later, after Lucy had gone down for her nap, Rose had an honest talk with Coralee. “As soon as I can find a place to live, I’ll be coming for Lucy. You can tell Ben she’ll have a nice place to live, a nice school to attend, and she’ll be with her mother, which is how it should be. Surely he’ll have no objections.”
Coralee nodded decisively. “You know how he is, Rose, hardheaded and stubborn, but he’s beginning to waver. Deep in his heart he knows Lucy should be with her mother. I can’t wait to tell him your plans. By the time you come back, I promise he’ll be gentle as a lamb.”
* * * *
Rose drove the buggy back to town with spirits high. No more muddled thinking. Now that she had a plan, she needn’t spend another anguished minute worrying over Lucy. Tomorrow she’d start looking for a place for the two of them, and that would be pure pleasure.
As for Deke…
Dulcee had it right. Deke was jealous. Maybe that meant he loved her and would surely come back. If so, she wouldn’t have to lift a finger.
As for Mason …
For a brief moment, her mind clouded with worry. Mason Talbot had deliberately murdered her husband. Now that she knew, shouldn’t she go to the sheriff? Surely that would be the just and proper thing to do, but like Dulcee said, she’d be looking for trouble if she went after him. No, she wouldn’t do it. She was a mother with a child to raise, and that came first.
How wonderful that she’d finally made her decisions and knew exactly what she was going to do! She laughed aloud and burst into a chorus of “Oh! Susanna,” perfectly timed to the clip-clop of the horse’s hooves. The worst of her problems were behind her. Nothing more could go wrong.