Deborah Camp (22 page)

“Regina, wait. I didn’t mean that. Regina, come back.”

She continued to the house with a bruised heart but a clearer vision of why Theo Dane was pursuing her. He was enchanted with the singer at the Gold Star, and that girl was no more. Theo Dane was infatuated with an illusion.

H
e’s bad for me, bad for me, bad for me
. The chant flew around and around in her head like a crazed bee. Regina tried to shut out the voices of Lu and Bitsy, but snatches of their conversation stung her.

“… oh, I think Eric is just as handsome as Theo, in his own way.”

“So do I. And Stu is ruggedly handsome.”

“You think so, Lu?”

“Oh, yes. He’s the kind of man a woman would feel safe around.”

“That’s true. And Eric is so smart. Why, he could be president, he’s so smart.”

“President? Oh, Bitsy, how you go on. He
is
intelligent, though. And he’s a good man. He has such a calm disposition. I bet he went to a fancy college.”

Regina rubbed the clothes on the scrub board and resumed her chant. It had been a whole week since they’d had the three men over for dinner and Bitsy and Lu were still talking about it. She’d promised not to dwell on thoughts of Theodore Dane, but Bitsy and Lu weren’t making it easy.

Even Joy rattled on and on about the gentlemen callers. Joy had been spending a lot of time at the sheriff’s office to renew her friendship with Deputy
Howard Ash. She was there now and would no doubt bring home stories of Stu for Bitsy’s eager ears. And if they talked about Stu, they eventually talked about Eric. And any talk of Eric brought them around to Theo.

“Has anyone seen Adelaide Smith in town?” Regina asked, diverting the women to another topic. Lu and Bitsy stared blankly at her for a few moments before they seemed to recall Adelaide.

“Oh, no, I haven’t,” Lu said, turning to Bitsy. “Have you?”

“I heard she and her husband left for someplace in Missouri where they have relatives.”

“Anybody hear whether or not Mr. Smith stayed sober?”

“I didn’t hear anything about that,” Bitsy said, shrugging. “She made her choice, Regina. You can’t save them all.”

“Maybe Mr. Smith had the fortitude to keep his promise to her,” Lu said, ever the optimist.

“I hope you’re right,” Regina said. “I’ve been worried about her. Hey, wonder what happened to the Hampfs’ petition?”

“Dorrie told me yesterday that they were holding off on it until after the trial,” Bitsy said.

“I have faith that Theo Dane will go easy on Mrs. Nation now that he’s seen what good work she does here,” Lu ventured.

Regina handed Lu a ball of wet clothes to put through the wringer. “Lu, Theo doesn’t have a soft heart like you. He didn’t get his reputation as a hard-nosed lawyer by going easy on people.”

Lu cranked a blouse through the wringer and handed it to Bitsy, who hung it on a line. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t try to talk Mr. Wilson into reconsidering his charges. Theo strikes me as a reasonable man.”

“You could find good points in a barrel of
barbed wire,” Bitsy chided. “Regina’s right. No matter how nice Theo is around us, he’s a lawyer, and Tom Wilson is going to pay him out of the money he hopes to get from Mrs. Nation. The more Theo gets outta Mrs. Nation, the more he’ll get paid. That’s what butters his bread.”

“Then their visit here served no useful purpose?” Lu asked, clearly dismayed.

“I think it changed the other two’s minds, but I’m not convinced Theo Dane is all that softhearted where we’re concerned.”

“Absolutely.” Regina scrubbed an apron vigorously, trying to remove gravy stains. “Theo Dane is loyal to nothing and to no one except money and what and who it can buy him.”

“Regina!” Lu said. “You don’t mean that. What did he do to you to make you want to lash out so?”

“Yeah, did he do somethin’ out here that night?” Bitsy asked. “You were all red-faced when you came back inside.”

Regina felt her face heat with the memory of his hungry kisses. She shoved aside the disturbing recollections and forced herself to remember that he hungered for a saloon girl, not for her.

“Regina?” Lu asked, placing a damp hand on her sleeve. “What happened out here?”

Regina shrugged and forced a lightness to her tone. “Nothing much. He shed some light on himself, and I didn’t like what I saw.”

Bitsy turned from hanging one of Annie’s pinafores on the line. “What did you see?”

“He doesn’t appreciate the simple pleasures of hearth and home. He spends his free time in saloons, drinking and gambling and whoring. That’s how he amuses himself. Well, he can have that life. I’m done with it.”

“Done with it?” Bitsy asked, frowning. “What’s that mean?”

“I … ah, what I mean is …”

“She’s done with any thoughts that those activities are harmless,” Lu interjected, handing Bitsy another wrung-out dress, then she looked toward the road. “Back here, honey!” she called to Annie, who was climbing down from a wagon full of children. Joy’s two sons jumped down after her. Lu waved to the driver. “Thank you, Mr. Daniels!”

The driver doffed his floppy hat, then slapped the reins against the backs of two black horses. The Daniels children called good-bye to Annie and the Edwards boys.

“Nice of him to drop them off after school each day,” Bitsy said. “At least we’ve got one good neighbor around here. Hey there, Annie, did you have fun in school today?”

“Uh-huh.” Annie gave her mother a hug. “I made this picture.”

“Let me see.” Lu examined it, then showed it to Regina and Bitsy. “It’s lovely. Looks like this house, doesn’t it?”

“It is this house,” Regina said. “You’re a good artist, Annie. Did you make any new friends today?”

“Uh-huh, and I played jump rope, and Papa watched us.”

All three women froze for a moment before Lu crouched in front of her daughter and gripped her small shoulders.

“What do you mean, Papa watched you?”

Regina moved closer to hear Annie’s answer. Her hands felt cold, even though she’d had them in hot, soapy water.

“From across the street,” Annie said. “He watched from across the street, Mama.”

“Across from school?” Regina asked, and Annie nodded. “Did you talk to him?”

“Nope. He didn’t come close enough to talk. I’m not sure I want to talk to him, Mama. Do I have to?”

“No, Annie.” Lu gathered her close and shared a worried look with Regina. “In fact, you shouldn’t. You let Mama do the talking. Don’t let Papa come near you unless I’m around.”

“Okay.”

“I thought he was long gone,” Bitsy said.

“So did I.” Regina dried her hands on her apron. “What’s he hanging around for?”

“You don’t think he’ll try …” Bitsy bit her lower lip and looked pointedly at Annie. “Well, try something stupid, do you?”

Regina knew by their expressions that Lu and Bitsy were thinking that Jack might kidnap Annie to force Lu to come back to him.

“I don’t know what to think,” Lu said. “I’m just so surprised that he’s still in town. I sure haven’t seen hide nor hair of him.”

A merry whoop rent the air and they all jumped as if they’d been buckshot.

“Now what?” Regina muttered, gazing toward the front of the house. She half expected to see Jack, and a mixture of fear and dread made her hands shake. Relief brought a smile to her lips when she spotted Jebidiah; then she clasped her hands together in a moment of joy when a familiar black-clad figure came into view.

“It’s Mrs. Nation!” Regina cried, and ran toward her, arms outstretched. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again! You’ve been sorely missed.”

“My, my!” Mrs. Nation laughed. “I think I’ll tour more often if this is the kind of reception I receive.”

Regina stood back while Lu and Bitsy took their
turns embracing Mrs. Nation. As usual, Mrs. Nation seemed as solid as a rock. She smiled patiently while the others welcomed her home. She patted Annie’s head. “I bought a storybook for you in Kansas City, young lady. It’s in one of my bags.” She gestured to the laundry.

“Finish that up, ladies, and come inside. I have a surprise for you. Jebidiah, you can take my travel bags upstairs. Annie, come with me and I’ll give you that book. It’s full of pretty pictures. I’ve got slingshots for the Edwards boys. What are their names?”

“Billy Bob and Barney,” Annie said.

“Did you do well on your speaking tour?” Lu asked.

“Yes, I’m well pleased. I even earned money for my defense in this ridiculous lawsuit Mr. Wilson has drummed up.” She started for the house again with Annie hopping at her side like an excited bunny. “And I made some valuable friends. This house looks like heaven to me. I pined for it and all of you. Any new boarders, Regina?”

“We had one, but she returned to her husband.”

“God bless her and keep her,” Mrs. Nation said, her voice trailing her, then the back door swung shut behind her and Annie.

“Thank heavens she’s home,” Regina said, sighing with relief. “I worry constantly that I’m not doing a good job here. I need Mrs. Nation to supervise me.”

“You shouldn’t worry so much,” Bitsy said. “Mrs. Nation wouldn’t leave you in charge if she thought you couldn’t handle anything that might come up.”

“That’s just it, Bitsy. I can’t. What with the bill collectors and that banker, Mr. Cooper, breathing down our necks, and now Jack’s still lurking
about—it’s too much! In these trying times Mrs. Nation needs to be here to answer her foes.”

“That Jack,” Lu said, shaking her head sadly. “Why doesn’t he just go home and leave us be?”

Regina placed an arm around Lu’s shoulders. “Let’s not worry about that now. Let’s get this laundry on the line and then go inside for a homecoming celebration.”

“If Mrs. Nation earned some money, we might can stop worryin’ so much,” Bitsy pointed out. “Wonder what kind of surprises she’s got? She mighta brought us some perfume or lace or something like that!”

“I doubt that Mrs. Nation would spend her hard-earned money on such finery,” Lu said.

They finished hanging the wash and went inside. Jebidiah was in the kitchen cutting up a hen.

“So, we’re going to have a special homecoming meal,” Bitsy observed.

Jebidiah grinned. “It’s ’bout time for Miz Nation to find her way home again. But this here hen’s being sacrificed to honor our houseguest.”

“We have a guest?” Regina asked.

“Yes, Miz Rose. She in the parlor with Miz Nation. Oh, she a fine, fine woman, she is. Smells like a lavender bush and looks like a queen.” Jebidiah cackled. “Not that I’d know what one of them queens would look like. I sure never seen none, ’cept in pictures.”

“This sounds right interesting,” Bitsy said, heading down the corridor to the parlor. “Maybe Mrs. Nation has brought home some kinda queen she met on her journey.”

Curiosity drew them all into the parlor, where Mrs. Nation was pouring tea for a handsome-looking woman. The stranger wore an impeccably tailored dress of forest green. A matching feathered hat perched on her silvery hair. Her eyes
were brilliant blue. Regina could understand why Jebidiah had called her a queen. She had a regal bearing: chin tipped up, shoulders squared, back straight as an arrow.

“Oh, here are my companions,” Mrs. Nation said. “Come in, ladies, and meet a captain in our ranks.”

“A captain? Jebidiah thinks she’s a queen,” Regina said, smiling.

“Bea, allow me to introduce Bitsy Frederick, Lu Beck, and Regina Rose. Where’s Joy?”

“Joy’s in town visiting a friend,” Regina said. “She’ll be back soon.”

“Regina’s my right hand.” Mrs. Nation gestured toward her guest and pride sparkled in her eyes. “Ladies, you’re all in for a treat. I’m proud to have this woman as my guest. I present to you the famous Teddy Bea.”

“Teddy Bea!” Regina gasped and stared with rapt admiration at the woman. No queen could have pleased her more.

“Welcome to Eureka Springs,” Lu said, extending her hand. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Same here,” Bitsy said.

Mrs. Nation slapped one knee and laughed. “Regina, have you lost your voice?”

Regina cleared her throat nervously. “I can’t believe it. I read everything you write, but I never thought I’d actually get to meet you!”

“Regina is the one I spoke to you about,” Mrs. Nation said. “Your writing helped her decide to come here and work with me.”

“Then I feel I’ve been successful,” Teddy Bea said, shaking Regina’s trembling hand. “I’m glad I’ve influenced you.”

“You have. Oh, yes, you have,” Regina babbled, then brought herself up short and ordered herself to make sense. “It’s a great honor, Mrs.—”

“Call me Bea. Everyone does.”

“Then don’t tell her your last name,” Mrs. Nation said, laughing. “I’ve asked her time and time again to call me Carry, but she can’t bring herself to do it. Be forewarned, if she knows your last name, she’ll use it.”

“I was brought up to show respect for my elders,” Regina explained. “And my betters. You and Mrs. Nation are my heroines.”

“You’re all very kind to welcome me this way,” Bea said, settling onto the sofa again. “When I met Carry and heard about her upcoming trial, I just had to come and offer what support I could. This town should be grateful to her for trying to open their eyes. Instead, they’re putting her through this terrible ordeal.”

“I’m thinking it will be of benefit to us all.” Mrs. Nation motioned for them to sit in the parlor chairs. “This will spotlight my work and perhaps make people better understand my objectives. Bea has said she will write a guest editorial about why I smashed those saloons and submit it to the newspaper here for publication. That’s bound to change some minds.”

Regina cleared her throat. “Yes, if they’ll print it. Mrs. Nation, what do you mean, ‘smashed those saloons’? You’ve only taken a hatchet to one of them, correct?”

Mrs. Nation poured tea, letting Regina’s question hang in the air.

“Mrs. Nation?” Regina probed, hoping against hope. “You haven’t smashed another, have you?”

“I demonstrated in Lawrence.”

“She was magnificent,” Bea said, blue eyes sparkling with admiration. “With hatchet in hand, she marched inside the Forked Branch Saloon and told those drinkers what was what.”