Without waiting for another word, Richard headed for the front door. He’d pushed through, stepping out into the sweltering heat of another summer day, when he heard the hotel owner call out from behind him. “Make sure an’ tell all your friends back in Shreveport about the Bellevue! Tell ’em they’re welcome to stay any time! They can . . .” The man’s grating voice finally fell silent when the door shut behind him.
“Stupid bastard,” Richard spat.
Outside the sun shone brightly in the sky, its gaze searing everything it could touch. It stood straight overhead, blazing down accusingly. Not even the slightest kiss of a breeze had dared to show itself, instead letting the sun rule the day with its heat. Richard shielded his eyes with his hand and stalked off down the street, grumbling to himself.
In the short time he had spent in Lee’s Point, he had come to loathe the town. It was as if he had stepped back in time to a simpler era, where people made do with far less in the way of basic amenities. He was half surprised that they even had running water or electricity. There was nothing even remotely comparable to the comfortable life he lived back in Shreveport. Every day he spent in the town was worse than the one before. How Adrianna had survived here for as long as she had was a mystery to him.
The very thought of Adrianna caused a welling in his chest and a tightness in his throat. It was as if he had been pierced by a lightning bolt of emotion, striking him flush in the heart. If he were a weaker man, he might have grown upset. “Oh, my darling, Adrianna,” he muttered.
His relationship with her was another problem that continued to gnaw at the edges of his mind. He had gone from the elation of finding her behind the piano in that decrepit tavern to the horror of seeing her out on the street in another man’s arms, the image of her limp body jarring him. Even though he had told them all the facts at the doctor’s office, those who had come into contact with her in the short time she had been in town had conspired to keep them apart. Although he had explained that he and Adrianna were engaged, they hadn’t even allowed him to be in the same room as his betrothed. Before he knew what was happening, his sweet Adrianna had been whisked away!
When he’d found out where she had been taken, he had been livid. The very thought of her living under the same roof as that barbarian who had laid hands on him at the doctor’s office caused his blood pressure to rise. When he had marched up to the door and demanded entry, he had been turned away. He had even been threatened with physical violence if he chose to return. Leaving had been one of the most difficult moments of his life.
When he had gone to the sheriff’s office to demand that Adrianna be handed over to his custody, he had been rebuked. That fat ass of a lawman had explained that since he and Adrianna were not legally married, there was nothing that he could do. Richard had begun to give the man a piece of his mind but had stopped when the sheriff became visibly annoyed, jangling the key ring that hung from his belt as a threat. Richard had nearly taken the man up on his offer; a night on a jail cot could not possibly have been worse than another night in that fleabag hotel!
“Afternoon,” an older man offered Richard as he passed on the boardwalk, but he ignored him and walked on; he would have as little to do with these people as possible.
He stopped at the telegraph office but had no messages waiting. He had kept the wires between Lee’s Point and Shreveport busy with messages being sent to and received from his business. Even though he was out of the city, money waited for no man and he was no exception. There were matters that he needed to tend to in order to ensure that the lifestyle he and Adrianna deserved was waiting for them upon their return.
Rounding the corner next to the auto mechanic’s shop, Richard proceeded to the town’s lone diner. “EAT” was the only visible signage. He had taken all his meals there since he’d arrived in town and, while the food was hardly passable, he knew that he needed to keep his strength. Pushing the door open, he found the diner nearly empty. A scattering of patrons sat at the tables, the faint sound of voices and the occasional clink of silverware rising to mix with the whirr of the ceiling fans. A radio chirped in the distance, an old-timey tune breezing around the diner, carried on the wafting smells of the greasy kitchen. Walking past a heavy-set woman in a floral print dress and a farmer puffing furiously on a corncob pipe, he took a seat at a booth near the window that afforded him a view of the hardware store across the street.
“What can I do ya for?” the waitress asked when she finally sidled up to the table. To Richard’s eyes, all waitresses were cut from the same cloth; fat and homely. This one was no exception.
“What’s the special?” he asked curtly.
“Corned beef and hash.”
“Fine,” he snorted. “That’s fine.”
“Whatever works for ya, darlin’,” she said as she left to place the order.
As he waited for his meal, Richard’s mind raced over what he was to do next. He would accept nothing less than Adrianna accompanying him back to Shreveport. But while she was confined to bed, he had little choice but to remain in Lee’s Point and bide his time until he could make his move.
But what should that move be?
The man who opposed him was, in his own way, formidable; Quinn Baxter struck him as the sort who would fight for what he wanted. Still, Richard had faced many men who believed in brawn over brains, and he had triumphed over them all on his way to success.
The problem was that he was out of his element. Things out in the sticks didn’t work the same way they did in a board room back in civilization. What he needed was to find an advantage, something that he could use against his enemy to pry his beloved free.
But what?
As if in answer to his unspoken question, a voice spoke from beside him. “Richard Pope, I’m to understand?”
Richard turned to look upon a dapper young man wearing a suit that, while a good year removed from the styles of Shreveport, was far more fashionable than anything he had seen in Lee’s Point since arriving in this one-horse town. A bowler hat sat tilted across heavily pomaded hair as the man’s eyes regarded him.
“That’s right,” Richard replied. “Who the hell are you?”
“The name’s Dewey Fuller,” the man said, extending his hand in greeting. He grinned broadly as he added, “And I just might be the man you’re looking for.”
“What do you mean?” Richard motioned for him to take a seat opposite him in the booth.
“I heard that Quinn has your fiancée and refuses to let you see her,” Dewey began.
“That’s right. But how did you know?”
“News travels fast in this little town.”
“I’m going to ruin that ignorant clod. He won’t think he’s so smart when I get through with him.”
“I know just how you can do it,” Dewey said confidently.
The two men talked in low tones while Richard ate his meal. When he finished, Fuller picked up his hat to leave, extended his hand and said, “Good luck, friend.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“It will work. I guarantee it.”
“Hmmm,” Richard said to himself as he left the eatery, “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“A
ND THE FIRST
ten articles of the Constitution are called?”
Jesse stared at Adrianna intently, his thumb tapping rhythmically against the tabletop. His face was twisted tightly in concentration, his mind racing to find the elusive answer.
“The Bill of Rights?” he asked with little confidence in his solution.
“Correct!”
“Crackers!” he exclaimed with obvious pride. “I can’t believe I actually remembered that!”
Late afternoon sunlight streamed through the west-facing windows, inching its way across the wooden floor. Through the open sashes, birds and insects called out to elusive companions, signaling an end to one day and the beginning of another. Summer flowers suffused the air with their sweet aroma. A week had passed since Adrianna had collapsed outside of the Whipsaw. In the time she had been convalescing at the Baxter house, she had slowly regained her strength to the point where she had been out of bed for part of the day. Once she was able, she’d insisted on restarting Jesse’s school lessons, beginning early in the day to make up for lost time. She was happy to help Jesse with his schooling. It kept her mind off the possibility that Richard could use his influence with a judge and she would have to return with him.
“I’m so proud of you.” Adrianna beamed. “You’ve taken to one subject right after the other. I’m certain that all of these things will count toward your being able to graduate from high school.”
“Maybe I’m not such a big dummy after all,” he allowed.
Adrianna had been surprised by Jesse’s aptitude. Once they had received the books from the school and a list of the lessons, he had taken to his studies like a fish to water. One subject after another had been explored; literature, history, mathematics, and even science had proven to be little challenge to the boy’s sharp wit. But what had impressed her the most was his attitude. He had never complained, instead choosing to sit with nearly rapt attention as she had explained one lesson after another. As she saw his pride in his own work, so she felt pride in hers.
“In the future, you’ll be glad you learned all of this,” she explained.
Something in Jesse’s expression hardened at her words. He looked her in the eyes for a second before breaking away, his gaze drifting across the table and down into his lap. “My future,” he said absently.
“Of course,” Adrianna added. “When you’re ready for a career.”
“I don’t know how it’s gonna help me standing behind a bar.”
A wave of pity washed over Adrianna at the boy’s words. Once again, Jesse had spoken harshly about the life Quinn was struggling to provide for him. He strove for more than his brother hoped for him but was unable to tell him his worries, to tell him that he wanted more. Jesse felt as if his life were being planned for him without regard to what he wanted. Adrianna understood; it was not very different from her own experience.
“That’s up to you,” she soothed.
“Is it?”
“Sure it is,” she explained. “Everyone makes their own choices in life as it relates to their future. Others in our lives, family included, might have ideas that are different. We listen to them, but the final decision is ours. Things will work out for you, Jesse.”
“Oh yeah?” he disagreed. “I’m stuck in this damn chair!”
“Well, if Roosevelt can become president of the United States while being confined to a wheelchair, you can go to college and be whatever you want. You’ve got as much courage as he has.”
“I knew he had polio. But I didn’t know that he was stuck in a chair.”
“A friend of my father’s worked in the White House. He told us about the president being in a chair.”
“Well, he’s rich, so he doesn’t have to worry about making a living for himself.”
“I have confidence that you are going to be all right. You’re smart, Jesse. You’ll get through school, and you’ve got something else going for you. You’ve got horse sense.”
He looked at her and grinned.
“I mean it, Jesse. Some people have a lot of book learning but no common sense to go with it.”
While Adrianna was spending her time helping Jesse with his mind, she’d pushed Quinn to help with the boy’s body. He was using the bar Quinn had hung over his bed to lift himself out of his bed and into the chair. The goal was not only to make him more independent but to strengthen his weakened limbs.
“That chair will hold you back only if you let it,” she chided.
“Yes, it will. I’m not like you!”
Confused by his statement, Adrianna asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Once you’ve paid your debt to Quinn, you’re free to pack up your things and head on down the road,” he explained. When he looked at her, she could see that his eyes were bleak. “You can go on and do anything you want! I don’t have that choice!”
The strength of Jesse’s words took Adrianna aback. Most of what he said was indeed true; as soon as she had repaid Quinn for the damages she had caused in the automobile accident, she would be free to leave. Richard Pope’s being in town certainly complicated things, but the end result was the same; she would have the option of leaving for good.
But was that what she wanted? In the short time she had been in Lee’s Point, she realized there was more to Quinn Baxter than her first impression of him had suggested. It was evident that he dearly loved his brother and was willing to do anything to help him, even sacrifice his own future by running a tavern that he hated.
Thinking back, after the crash his tone had been aggressive, even a touch frightening. But now, when he walked into a room, she found herself short of breath, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She’d never felt this way before, and it both excited and unnerved her. What scared her even more was the thought that he might not feel the same about her. His offer of marriage might only be a ploy to save her from Richard.
“Jesse, think about it. You have lots of choices,” she said.
“Like what?”
“For one, you don’t have to work at the Whipsaw just because Quinn wants you to. That’s your choice and no one else’s. If you want to leave Lee’s Point and go off to college, that’s your choice as well. All you have to do is set a goal and work toward it.”