Before the Dawn (31 page)

“I am.”

He grinned. “How about I see you home?”

“We can't just leave. That would be rude.”

“Yes, it would be, but I'm known for that.”

Amused by his honesty, she shook her head. “Well, I'm not.”

“How about dinner this evening, then?”

Leah wasn't sure how she felt about where the evening
might lead.

Once again, he read her mind. “Just dinner. Nothing more,” he assured her sincerely. As a man he wanted her in his bed, but as a man whose feelings for her seemed to be rising and solidifying by the minute, he didn't want her to believe bedding her to be his sole concern.

“Where will we go?” she asked.

“Dinah's?”

Leah smiled. “That sounds fine.”

They agreed on a time. He picked up his coat, grabbed the basket and escorted her back.

Much to Ryder's delight everyone was packing up to go home. There was church tomorrow morning and folks had chores to do before sunset.

With Eloise's blessings, Ryder drove Leah home. He set the brake and walked her around to the little cabin. He pulled her into his arms. “One last kiss and I'll go.”

“Only one?” she teased back.

“You are such a naughty woman.”

“That, too, is your fault.”

Laughing, he kissed her long and hard.

“Um, excuse me, I'm looking for a Mrs. Leah Montague.”

They both turned to the sound of the strange voice. An obviously embarrassed young White man stood there. He had blond hair and blue eyes. His gray suit bore the familiar rumples of a train passenger.

An equally embarrassed Leah backed out of Ryder's arms. She smoothed her hair. “I'm Leah Montague.”

His blue eyes widened. He then stared at Ryder.

Ryder, arms crossed, stared back. He hadn't liked being interrupted. “And you are?”

“Um, Daniel Morton.”

Morton then looked at Leah again. “But the judge didn't say you were—” His words faded to a stop.

Leah raised an eyebrow. “Black? Colored?”

Ryder fumed silently, then asked, “Is this the lawyer?”

She responded. “I believe so.”

She saw that Morton's young face had turned an even brighter red. For some unknown reason, his youth maybe, Leah took pity on him, and asked, “Shall we start over?”

He nodded vigorously, gratefully. “Please. My name is Daniel Morton. Honored to meet you, Mrs. Montague.”

“Pleased to meet you, too, Mr. Morton. This is Mr. Ryder Damien.”

Morton seemed puzzled a moment, then he knelt and opened his valise. He extracted a paper tablet that had writing on it. He stood, silently scanning the words, muttering, “Ryder Damien. Ryder Damien.”

His face lit up. “Ah here it is, I knew the name sounded familiar. Let's see, Ryder Damien. You're—”

He stopped then as if he couldn't believe what he was reading. When he looked up, his eyes were wide once again. “Why, you're Mr. Montague's son!”

Leah supposed he was a bit surprised to find the son kissing his stepmother, but life was sometimes complicated. She wondered if he were old enough to understand that yet.

Ryder asked distantly, “Is there a problem?”

“Uh, no sir. Not at all.”

Morton turned back to the more friendly face of Leah. “I've taken a room in Denver. I'd like to sit down and talk with you sometime in the next day or so. We have the preliminary hearing on Wednesday.”

“So soon?” Ryder asked.

“Yes, I believe the sooner we begin to move on this, the better.”

Ryder agreed, but wondered why the judge had sent this cub to represent her interests. He didn't look old enough to
spell
law, much less practice it.

“Would you like to meet now?” Leah asked.

Ryder's eyes widened. She was supposed to be having dinner with him.

Morton smiled. “I'd hoped to, but I wouldn't want to impose.”

Ryder was about to say,
good she'll see you tomorrow
, when Leah replied, “Then let's meet now.”

Leah saw that Ryder looked like a little boy who'd just been told he couldn't have any ice cream.

“Mr. Morton, would you excuse us for a moment?”

Watching Ryder warily, he responded, “Certainly.”

She beckoned her lover over to the porch. Ryder gave Morton a look that made the young man tug nervously at his collar before walking over to where Leah stood. It took all she had not to smile at the sullen look on his face. “Ryder, I do believe you're pouting.”

“Cheyenne braves don't pout.”

She smiled. “My apologies. We can have dinner when you return.”

“I know.” Ryder also knew he was being selfish. However, he resigned himself to not seeing her tonight and not being able to hold her again until he returned from Virginia City. He wasn't happy about it though. “I want you to have Sam telegraph me if any trouble comes up.”

He looked over at Daniel Morton. “Couldn't the judge have sent you someone older?”

“He's supposed to be very good,” Leah assured him.

Ryder didn't appear impressed. “Well, I'm going to head home. I'd kiss you good-bye, but I don't want to shock the children.”

She grinned, then said genuinely, “Have a safe trip.”

He stroked her cheek and stepped off the porch. Walking by Morton, he growled, “Represent her well, or I'll have your hide.”

Hearing that, Leah's hands went to her hips and she
shook her head with mute amusement. As he disappeared from sight, she missed him already.

 

Leah showed the young lawyer into her small residence. He looked around at the sparsely furnished space, then, at her request, sat on one of the chairs. He pulled out his papers and pen. “I already know some of the details surrounding your marriage, but I need to be clear on everything.”

Leah began by explaining the relationship between Monty and her mother, Reba, then told the truth behind her own marriage.

Morton asked, “So in reality, the marriage between you and Mr. Montague was a sham.”

“Essentially yes. He hoped it would ensure my future.”

“A noble gesture,” he voiced while he wrote on his tablet, “but let's hope our worthy opponents don't find out.”

Leah asked, “Will I be called upon to testify?”

“More than likely. We're going to try and prove that the thirty-year lien on Mr. Montague's assets and the subsequent confiscation of the estate by the court to pay the lien was improper. If I were they, I'd challenge your right even to inherit the estate, so we must be prepared to counter that.”

They talked well on into the evening about strategies, how he wished her to dress, and the demeanor she needed to maintain while being questioned by their opponents.

“Now, this matter with Mr. Damien.” He held her eyes. “I have no idea how his presence in your life will affect our chances of regaining the estate. Honestly, it can't help, especially if everyone already knows the two of you are—involved.”

Leah sighed. “Well, we can't wave a wand and make it disappear.”

“I know, but they'll have trouble seeing you as the de
serving young widow when you've taken up with your late husband's illegitimate son.”

Leah's jaw tightened.

He smiled kindly, “I mean no offense, but I want you to be prepared to hear exactly that, and more, because they'll undoubtedly attack your character.”

He gathered up his tablets and papers and placed everything back into his small black valise. “They're also going to challenge your rights to the estate because of your race.”

Leah nodded. “I know.”

“Just so you're prepared.”

He stood and put on his rumpled coat. “We'll be waging an uphill battle and I have no idea if we'll prevail, but I will them give them a fight. I don't want to hand my hide to Mr. Damien.”

Leah smiled. In spite of the awkwardness of their initial meeting, she felt confident having this young man on her side.

It was dark when she walked him to the door. “Thank you, Daniel.”

He nodded. “Thank you.”

He gave her the name of his hotel, then said, “We'll get together again before Wednesday but I'll be doing some investigating on my own in the meantime.”

Leah nodded. “If there's anything I can help you with, please let me know.”

“I will, and I'll see you in a couple of days.”

After he was gone, Leah stood with her back against the door. She was admittedly nervous about Wednesday's proceedings but vowed to face it with her head held high no matter the outcome.

 

By the time Ryder made it home, he'd already decided to cancel his trip to Virginia City. An underling could be dispatched to the stockholders' meeting and the Nevadans who
wanted his money to invest in their mine would simply have to wait. He had more important business here. The creditors who had been awarded Louis's estate would undoubtedly mount a formidable campaign to keep it. If he were they he'd have already conducted an investigation into the widow's past, so whatever dirt was unearthed could be presented to the judge. Failing that, her race would be attacked next, along with her relationship with him. With that in mind he planned to alert his own lawyers in the morning, just in case the back East cub needed reinforcements.

Ryder also needed to find out what the hell had happened to the Pinkerton he'd hired. If there was some damaging news, he wanted to know before her opponents. In reality, though, he didn't care about the Pinkerton's report or how the hearing turned out; he just wanted everything over so he and the
Morenita
could concentrate on the future. He had more than enough money for her to live comfortably by his side for the rest of her life, so the monetary value of the estate and the fifteen thousand he'd lost meant little. Leah, however, had come to mean a lot.

 

Leah got ready for church the next morning, then went to the house to see if Eloise were ready as well. The house was quiet, though, and no one answered Leah's knock on the studio door. Deciding to see if Eloise might be with Alice, Leah went back outside.

Moving as quietly as she had done before, Leah peeked through the tress bordering Alice's domain, and sure enough there sat Eloise.

She was saying, “I know it has to be done, but this will be the hardest one.”

Leah wondered if Eloise was referring to her studio work.

Eloise quieted as if listening to Alice, then responded,
“Well it's going to be finished soon. Then we'll both feel better.”

When Eloise rose, Leah came out of hiding and casually revealed herself as if she'd not been eavesdropping, “Good morning, Eloise.”

A startled Eloise swung sharply around. For a moment Leah saw something strange in the old woman's eyes, but it vanished so quickly, Leah thought she must have imagined it.

The eyes were now shining with the familiar kindness. “Good morning, dear. You startled us. Didn't she, Alice?”

“I'm sorry. I just came to see if you're ready for church?”

Eloise smiled. “Sure am. You go on around to the front. Let me grab my Sunday school books, and Ol' Tom and I will be there in a minute.”

Leah nodded then left to go wait out front.

When they returned from church, Eloise went back into her studio, and Leah journeyed on to her cabin. A folded note had been tacked to the door. Hoping it might be a parting note from Ryder, she took it down and hastily opened it. The letters of the words had been cut from newsprint and were glued to the paper. Ice filled her veins as she read:

The words filled her with such fear, she thought she'd be sick. Her hands were shaking, and a cold sweat ran down her back inside her blue dress. Not knowing what else to do, she ran to the house yelling, “Eloise!”

Eloise met her in the kitchen. She took a look at distressed Leah's face and asked with alarm, “What's happened?”

Leah handed her the note.

Eloise read it and whispered, “Dear Lord. Where'd you find this?”

“On the cabin door.”

“We have to tell the sheriff. Come on, I'll hitch up Ol' Tom.”

For a moment, Leah couldn't move. The raggedly spaced words kept echoing in her head. Someone wanted her dead!

“Come on, Leah!” Eloise called urgently.

Her voice seemed to free Leah from the spell. She shook herself and followed Eloise out to the barn.

Because it was Sunday, many of the shops and businesses in Denver were closed. There were fewer people on the streets than during the week, but there were plenty of folks in front of the sheriff's office. Late last month, a mob had attempted to storm the jail with the intentions of lynching Andrew Green and his accomplice, a Black man named Withers, but had been turned back by Sheriff Cramer and the city police. As a result, a large contingent of law-enforcement officers was now guarding the facility around the clock.

Leah and Eloise were stopped by one of the guards far short of the jail. When they showed him the note, he looked between the Black women, and said, “I'll let the sheriff know. He's at home right now.”

“But—” Leah began.

He cut her off. “I said, I'll let the sheriff know.”

“Isn't there anyone else I can speak with?”

“No.”

Realizing she'd get no satisfaction there, at least not today, she asked, “When can I see him?”

“Try back in a couple of days. This Green thing's got everybody's hands full.”

“And if I'm dead before those couple of days are here?” Leah asked.

He didn't even flinch. “I'll let the sheriff know.” That
said, he turned away and went back to his post beside the door.

An angry Leah shared a look with the tight-lipped Eloise. They returned to the wagon.