Yellow Rose Bride Read online

  “Then you will allow me to help you?”

  “I…let me think about it, Franz. I’ll talk to Mother and see how she feels about visiting Aunt Josie and Aunt Judith.”

  “And if she will go?”

  “Then, I’ll take her there permanently.”

  Franz returned to cleaning the harness, and Vonnie stared out at the ostrich pens, her mind no more settled than before. What Franz said made sense. If she stayed, more than likely there was nothing but heartache ahead.

  The birds strutted around the pens, occasionally pecking at the ground. They would be drumming soon, males and females trying to attract one another in preparation for egg-laying season. Her father had enjoyed the process of choosing the best birds, pairing them, planning for the laying, and then the hatch.

  They’d been through numerous hatchings and care of the new babies, and while it had been a tedious process—making sure newborn legs didn’t bow, carefully measuring their feed—her father had reveled in it. She smiled, remembering his joy at having fifty percent of the little hatchlings survive. A very good percentage, he’d boasted.

  “My father loved this ranch,” she said, more to herself. “I feel I’d betray him by selling.”

  “You will decide what is best.”

  “My father was a fighter, wasn’t he?”

  “That he was,” Franz agreed.

  “He would stay and fight.”

  Franz cleaned the harness, softly humming as he worked the oil into the dry leather.

  “But if I lost Momma, too…”

  Suddenly the answer was clear to her. If the move would restore her mother to her former self, that would be Teague’s wish.

  “Thank you, Franz.”

  “You have decided what you will do?”

  “Not entirely. But with Daddy gone, Momma not herself, Adam getting married, what is here for me?”

  “Then you will sell?”

  “I think it’s my only choice.” She patted the old man’s arm. “Thank you, again. Give Audrey my love, and tell her I’m praying for her.”

  Judge Henderson settled more deeply into his favorite chair and sipped his coffee, watching Adam stare out the window at the deepening twilight.

  “What did you find out?”

  The judge studied the bottom of his glass. “Tanner has a serious buyer. Spoke to him about it this morning. He had a question on the title, so it was easy to find out who the prospective buyer is. A speculator from back East. Money. Plans to move out here as soon as the deal is closed.”

  “So, Tanner was telling the truth.”

  “It seems he told the truth about wanting Vonnie’s ranch, too. His buyer is willing to pay her whatever it takes to get the land.”

  “But it wouldn’t be beyond Lewis to threaten her, to frighten her into selling out to him?”

  “Ordinarily, I’d say no, but in this instance, I can’t be sure. From what Tanner tells me, he won’t be making a penny on Vonnie’s land. Purely a bonus for his buyer. His land is sold, providing the buyer comes to terms with the ostriches being there.

  “Something is always going wrong over there. Frankly, I’m puzzled by what’s happening.” Adam stepped away from the window.

  “A severed head falling out of the cabinet. What a cruel, hateful thing for someone to do.”

  “I can’t imagine how it was accomplished. Killing the bird without creating a disturbance, then getting into the house. Who, other than Tanner, wants to see Vonnie gone? And why? If Tanner has a buyer for his land then he has no motive.”

  “Teague had no enemies?”

  “I’m sure he did—doesn’t every man?”

  “He and your father didn’t get along,” the judge suggested.

  “P.K.’s a thorny old goat, but he wouldn’t sink this low, even if he had a motive, which he doesn’t.”

  His father had hated Teague enough to strike out, but he would never seek bitterness and revenge on Teague’s daughter. Sure the family needed money, but Baldwins wouldn’t stoop so low as to harass a woman.

  “P.K. and Teague didn’t care for each other and that’s the bottom line. P.K. wouldn’t go out of his way to create trouble for Teague, and he wouldn’t go to any effort to help him out. Teague’s gone. Past forgotten.”

  “You don’t have to remind me what P.K.’s like,” the judge grunted. “Don’t know how you’ve put up with him all these years.”

  “I know him better than anyone,” Adam said. “Hard, unyielding, unforgiving, but evenhanded and fair. He’s never dealt under the table, you know that.”

  Even if he lost the ranch, P.K. would do what he felt was right. Adam remembered his father talking about the jewels. He’d have taken those all right, but that was different. Wasn’t it?

  “Then who is doing this to Vonnie?”

  “I don’t know,” Adam said, going back to stand at the window. The thought was keeping him up nights. “I don’t know.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Vonnie snipped a thread and pushed the needle into a pincushion before shaking out the dress she’d finished hemming.

  “One more completed,” she said aloud, her elation only slightly diminished by the knowledge she had one more to go.

  A knock at the front door sent her attention to the clock on the wall.

  “Three o’clock already?” she murmured.

  Time had gotten away from her again. Quickly hanging up the finished gown, she ran downstairs to answer the door.

  “Beth.” Vonnie smiled. “I’m sorry, I lost all track of time.”

  “That’s all right,” Beth said, stepping inside. “I’m a little early, by at least two minutes, and besides, I know you’ve got loads of work and I so appreciate your making time to fuss with me.”

  “I have the basic dress basted together.” Vonnie led Beth upstairs to the sewing room. “Think you’ll see that the gown is coming along nicely.” A cold March wind rattled the shingles.

  “Of course, at this stage, Nell, Susan and I can make any changes you’d like—”

  “I’m sure it will be lovely,” Beth said absently. She stepped to the dress Vonnie was working on. “This is nice.”

  “Thank you. When your gown…”

  Beth seemed more interested in the second dress.

  Vonnie spread three versions of the same design across her drawing table.

  “You see how this neckline goes here? I’ve seen you wear it before and it’s very attractive. Of course, the lace creates a lovely line, softer, feminine. And, with that, I thought of the sleeve with a point over the wrist, with the lace trim peeking over the edge. Lace will cover the front of the skirt and—”

  “It’s fine. Really.”

  Vonnie laid the design aside, her eyes avoiding the small diamond on the third finger of Beth’s left hand, Adam’s token symbol of a contract undertaken for life. But Beth didn’t seem her usual bubbly self today. She hadn’t for weeks now. Was she ill?

  Beth glanced up. “Did I tell you the date? October first.”

  Vonnie smiled. “Lovely time of year.”

  “Yes. October first.” She stepped to the sewing table, perusing the sewing items. “Mother and I decided the men’s suits would be dark rose, with white shirts.”

  “Rose?”

  “Adam hates the color.”

  Somehow that didn’t surprise Vonnie. Rose.

  “Carolyn is hostessing a tea for me, girls only, of course, a week from Saturday. You’ll be there?”

  Vonnie put the sketches away in a drawer. “Of course. May I help?”

  “No. Carolyn’s doing it all.”

  Silence.

  “I haven’t mentioned it,” Vonnie said, “but I may be selling the ranch and moving Mother to San Francisco. Her sisters live there and would like to have her come be with them. I think the change will do her good.”

  “Moving.” Beth turned to look at her. “When?”

  “I don’t know. Soon, I think.”

  Was it her imagination
or was Beth behaving even more strangely today? Her exuberance was missing. Her zest. Beth couldn’t know about her relationship with Adam.

  “Sheriff Tanner has a buyer for the ranch. I suppose it will depend on how soon they want possession.”

  Beth’s eyes clouded. “I’m so sorry. I’ll miss you.”

  She laid a hand on Vonnie’s arm, giving her a comforting squeeze. Vonnie caught a hint of uncertainty in Beth’s eyes, as if she needed reassurance. About what? The marriage?

  “I’ll miss you, too,” Vonnie said, and sincerely meant it. Beth, Hildy, Mora and Carolyn had been her friends as long as she could remember.

  She’d miss everything here. Friends, the town, her comfortable life. Starting a new life and a new business wouldn’t be easy, but it would be easier than staying here and watching Beth and Adam together. Watching them move into a home, start a family. Her heart ached for the dreams that would never come true now.

  Beth’s expression sobered. “Oh, Vonnie, life is changing for all of us. Sometimes I wish…”

  “You wish what, Beth?” she asked gently.

  “I wish we could have stayed younger longer, having fun, no responsibilities, and no worries.”

  “What are you worried about, dear?” Vonnie realized that, in spite of everything, she loved this childhood friend. “Surely you’re not having doubts about marrying Adam.”

  “Certainly not. Adam is such a dear man…devoted friend. I am so very lucky to be marrying him, aren’t I? It’s…oh, I don’t know. Pre-bridal jitters months early, I guess.” Beth changed the subject. “Did I tell you Daddy bought an automobile?”

  “Really?” Vonnie asked.

  “I took Adam for a ride the other night. I think we’ll probably be buying an automobile when we’re married.”

  “That’s nice.”

  Vonnie had never seen an automobile, but she had seen a picture of one in a magazine once. She didn’t think she’d like one.

  Beth left after a while. Vonnie stood at the window and watched the buggy rattle out of the yard before she went to the kitchen to have a cup of tea, hoping it would help relieve the headache that had started at the nape of her neck and seemed to be getting more intense by the moment.

  She took a steaming cup to Cammy, tried to persuade her mother to come downstairs for a spell, then gave up. Cammy was content to stay in her room with the photograph album, believing that Teague would be coming home any moment now.

  Sometimes it seemed Cammy thought Teague was still at war. Other times she seemed to know that the war was over and Teague had survived, but believed that he was in town, or on an errand, and would be home shortly. Sitting down at the kitchen table, Vonnie kneaded her temples. Shoving her half-empty teacup aside, she got up.

  Thinking fresh air would help her headache, she decided to take the carriage into town. She asked Roel to keep an ear out for Cammy since he was replacing a board on the front porch.

  “I’m sure she will sleep all afternoon, but if she should call for me, please look in on her.”

  “Sí, señorita. Do not worry. I’ll be right here until it’s too dark to work.”

  Vonnie planned to look at new threads and buttons, anything to take her mind off Adam and Beth.

  The town bustled today. Seeing people going about their everyday lives made her feel better.

  Guiding the horses to the hitching rail in front of the mercantile, Vonnie climbed down and wrapped the holding rein around the post.

  Shaking the wrinkles out of her skirt, she stepped onto the sidewalk, only to come hard up against someone.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said automatically. Her head lifted when a pair of strong hands steadied her.

  “Where’s the fire?”

  “Buttons,” she stammered. “Ran out an hour ago.”

  “Had to come into town for feed,” Adam said at the same time. He was still holding her arms; her hand still rested on his chest. She noticed there was a button missing on his coat and almost mentioned it, stopping herself in time. Beth would be sewing his buttons, not her.

  “I have to go,” she managed.

  “Yes…good to see you.”

  His hands left her arms, and she suddenly felt a shiver move over her, a cold breeze on her skin.

  Tipping his hat, he said quietly, “Don’t dawdle long. Ladies shouldn’t be out after dark.”

  She made herself turn away and go inside the mercantile.

  “Hello there, Miss Vonnie. Haven’t seen you in several days,” Mr. Beasley called out from the rear of the store. “Something you need?”

  “I want to look around a bit,” she said, longing to lose herself in the bolts of cloth and ribbons.

  “Take your time. I’ll finish filling Adam’s order. If you need anything, sing out.”

  “Thank you.” Adam’s order. Was she hexed?

  She walked along the ready-made dresses, forcing interest in material and design, knowing those in the catalogs she got from back East were much more recent than Mr. Beasley’s.

  “Garrett?”

  Adam’s voice coming from the front door caught her by surprise.

  “Yes?”

  She peered around the tables stacked with bolts of calico and cottons.

  “The wheel on Vonnie’s buggy is loose. You got a bolt about four inches long?”

  “I may have,” the storekeeper said. “Let me see what’s back here.”

  “Oh, dear,” she murmured, realizing that it was too late for the livery to repair the wheel.

  “Can you fix it?” Vonnie called, keeping a safe distance.

  “Enough for you to get home. Then Genaro or Roel will have to take it off and fix it right. The axle may need to be replaced.”

  “Here,” Mr. Beasley called out. “Will this work?”

  Adam examined the bolt the storekeeper handed him.

  “That should do it. Do you have a piece of heavy wire? About two feet long?”

  “I have that.”

  “Vonnie, it’ll take about fifteen minutes,” Adam called.

  “Can I help?”

  “No,” he said, closing the door.

  She browsed a few moments longer before wandering outside. Adam had shed his heavy coat, laying it over the hitching rail. As he bent to look closely at the tilting wheel, she picked up the coat and automatically examined it. Two buttons were missing.

  “Will this do?”

  Mr. Beasley came out of the store and handed Adam a length of heavy wire.

  “That will work,” he said, and thanked him.

  The storekeeper turned to Vonnie. “Did you find anything you wanted?”

  “Yes, I did,” she said, taking Adam’s coat inside the store with her.

  Ten minutes later she’d purchased and sewn two buttons on the garment and tightened the others. When she went outside, Adam had finished resetting the wheel, sliding in the temporary bolt and wiring it into place.

  “That should do it,” he told her. He stood back to survey the wheel. “It will hold until you get home, if you don’t drive like a crazy woman.”

  “When have I ever driven like a crazy woman?” she asked.

  He grinned.

  “I hear you’ve taken a ride in Leighton’s new automobile?”

  He looked up, and she quickly looked the other way. The blue of his eyes always caught her by surprise.

  “You talk to Beth?”

  “She stopped by this morning. We had a nice visit.”

  She resisted the urge to ask if Adam had noticed Beth’s recent preoccupation. It was really nothing they needed to discuss.

  He leaned on the hitching post, smiling.

  “Well.” She realized she was taking up too much of his time. “Thank you for repairing the wheel.”

  “Have Roel check all of them.”

  “I will, I will.”

  She felt his hand on her waist as he helped her aboard.

  “By the way, I sewed two buttons on your coat and tightened the others. Beth would
thank me.” She returned his smile. “She would want you looking your best.”

  “Alma’s tried to get the coat away from me for days. She thanks you.”

  She reached for the reins. “Maybe Alma could use some help.” Keeping up with three men took time and effort.

  “You know P.K. wouldn’t have anyone new in the house.”

  She wanted to ask—oh, she wanted to ask, but she had no right. After all, it wasn’t any of her business. Still…

  “How does he feel about Beth?”

  Adam picked up his coat and slipped it on. He buttoned it slowly, taking his time before answering.

  “He likes her.”

  “Beth is a special girl,” Vonnie admitted.

  “Yes, she is,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers.

  “Well, I’d better be on my way. Ladies shouldn’t be out after dark.”

  “Evening, Miss Vonnie, Adam.”

  Vonnie looked up to see Franz setting his stool beneath one of the lampposts. Without her realizing it, evening had approached and Franz had begun his rounds.

  “I didn’t realize it was so late,” Vonnie said.

  “I started my rounds early,” Franz said, picking up his stool again. “Audrey is worse today, and I wanted to be home with her this evening.”

  “I’m so sorry. Can we help in some way?” Vonnie asked.

  “No. I wish you could,” he said, sadness in his voice.

  Moving on to the next lamp, Franz slowly worked his way down the street in the twilight.

  “I must be on my way,” she said.

  “See you Sunday.”

  “Yes, see you at services.” But not for long; she and Mother would be leaving for San Francisco soon. Then there would be no more chance meetings, no more Adam.

  Vonnie slapped the reins against the horses, and the buggy rolled off.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Adam sat in front of the fireplace, lost in thought. Beth was a kind and lovely woman, if a bit naive. Only one hitch. He didn’t love her. He’d tried to tell himself that what he was doing was all right as long as no one got hurt. But Beth would be harmed if he married her. She would be denied love, the kind of lasting love a man or woman needed. The kind he had for Vonnie. With all the problems, he loved her more now than he had seven years ago.