Faith (Goldwater Creek Mail-Order Brides 1) (10 page)

F
aith stayed
in her room the rest of the day, not even coming out for supper. She feigned illness, only opening the door twice—once for Maisie, who gave her a tray of food and tried to fuss over her like a mother hen, and once for Jax whose concerned look nearly broke her heart.

She couldn’t bring herself to come out of her room, because she couldn’t face any of them.

After it got dark, she took her hooded cloak out of the trunk and set it on the bed. Then she turned off her lantern and sat by the window, waiting for Jax to go on his nightly mission. She would have to follow him no matter how dark the night. She needed to know where the mine was located.

After the way he'd evaded her question in the saloon about his nightly excursions, she had to assume that he went to the gold mine. If he'd been going to the saloon, there would be no reason not to tell her. The only other place she could think of would be the mine. And now that Lefty had made sure that he would make good on his threat, she had no choice but to follow Jax out into the night—it was the fastest way to learn its location.

Unfortunately, Jax did not leave the house. Faith sat by the window for hours and, by the time she finally gave up, it must have been past midnight. She slipped into bed and had a fitful night, tossing and turning.

What if Jax never went to the mine again?

She would have to come up with some other way to find its location. Maybe she should become closer with his friends. Surely one of them would know where the mine was. Jax couldn’t have been keeping it all to himself all this time. Perhaps Ryder could clue her in.

The next day, she realized she couldn’t stay in her room any longer. She didn’t want anyone to suspect that something was amiss, so she needed to follow the normal routine. Even though she was overtired, she forced herself to get up and make her way to the kitchen for breakfast.

“Are you feeling better?” Maisie’s face was wrinkled with concern.

Faith managed a smile as she glanced around the kitchen, relieved that Jax was not there. She didn’t know if she could fake it in front of him so easily. “I’m feeling much better. Thank you.”

She hated that by betraying Jax she would also be betraying Maisie, who had become almost like a surrogate grandmother to her.

“Some flapjacks will fix you right up. I got blueberry syrup today. That’ll cure whatever ails you.”

Maisie enthusiastically dished up a huge plate of flapjacks, but Faith had no appetite. She pushed small pieces of flapjack around on her plate, watching them become heavy with the dark blue syrup while Maisie bustled around the kitchen.

Noticing that Faith’s plate was still full, Maisie slipped into the seat beside her. “You sure you didn’t get bad news from your family? You can tell old Maisie, you know.”

Tears pricked the backs of Faith’s eyes at the woman’s concern. “No. It was nothing like that,” Faith said quickly, not wanting Maisie to worry. “My stomach was just a little unsettled.”

Maisie studied her for a few seconds, then, apparently satisfied with the explanation, she pushed up from the table and went back to the stove. “Robertson’s getting the buggy ready to take you to Bessie Mae’s.”

Faith’s brow creased “Bessie Mae’s?”

“For the quilting circle.”

Faith had forgotten all about the quilting circle. When she’d accepted the invitation, she’d still been fooling herself that she might be able to somehow get out of the deal she made with Lefty, but now the thought of making friends with the other women in town had little appeal.

What was the point of making friends? She’d already decided she’d pack up and leave town after giving Lefty the mine location‚ if Jax didn’t kick her out first.

Then again, Bessie Mae seemed to know an awful lot about what was going on. Maybe she knew where the entrance to the gold mine was? It might be wise to go to the sewing circle—she might learn something that could help her.

“Oh, gosh, I’d forgotten.” Faith pushed her plate away. “I better go get ready.”

Luckily for Faith, she didn’t see Jax at all that morning. She busied herself in her room, gathering her sewing things into a little wicker basket, then hopped on the buggy with Robertson who mercifully wasn’t very talkative.

The man said little other than mentioning that he was on his way to Golden City and would pick her up on his way back. That was fine with Faith.

Bessie Mae’s farm was not nearly as nice as Wild Heart Ranch. It was older, more rustic. Faith imagined it was probably built fifty years ago when the area was first being settled.

Even though it was rustic, the farmhouse wasn’t without its charm. The large clapboard house was sited in the middle of a lush green meadow. Next to it sat a large barn made from rough-sawn brown boards. Colorful flowers were planted all along the house’s wrap-around porch. Behind the house, one could see large fields with log fences. Inside the fences were a variety of animals—chickens, cows, goats, horses.

Bessie Mae had the screen door open before Faith even got one foot up onto the porch.

“Welcome! Welcome!” Bessie Mae pulled Faith into the home which was frugally furnished. The furniture looked lovingly worn, the rugs utilitarian. There were no knickknacks cluttering the place up, but several colorful paintings hung on the wall.

Bessie Mae saw Faith admiring them. “I painted those myself.”

Faith turned around, astonished. “You did?”

Bessie Mae nodded. “It’s just a hobby. My real passion is the animals on the farm. Come on into the kitchen. You can help me prepare the refreshments.”

She walked into a sparsely decorated kitchen which smelled of sugar cookies and mint. A deep copper sink with a well pump above it sat under a pair of windows. A tin pie box stood in the corner. Bessie Mae crossed to it and slid a plate of cookies out from the middle shelf, then set it on top of the cast-iron stove before reaching into an oak icebox for a clear glass pitcher filled with something green and loaded with sprigs of mint.

The others arrived one by one, and they set the refreshments out on tables and settled in a circle in the living room.

Much to her dismay, Faith fell into an easy camaraderie with the other women. They were all so friendly and easy to talk to. All except for Darcy, who kept darting strange looks in her direction. Faith didn’t let it bother her, though. What did she care? She wouldn’t be hanging around very long in Goldwater Creek.

Faith had brought the poetry book and while the others worked on the quilt they were making for Jane Longmire, she worked on the cover. At the very least, she could repay some of Jax’s kindness by fixing it for him, even though he would certainly hate her after he discovered her betrayal.

“I hope you are finding Goldwater Creek to be a good home,” Lena asked.

“Oh, yes.” Faith’s tone was wistful. She realized she had actually started to think of Goldwater Creek as home. At first, it had just been some strange land to her. A side track until she could get back to Boston. But over the past few days, she'd realized that she’d come to appreciate the area. The openness and the feeling of freedom. She'd been so sure that she'd never want to live anywhere but Boston, but all that was changing now. She could see how she could appreciate this slower, more rural type of life. Too bad she would never get the chance.

“What are you working on there?” Sally asked as she rubbed her swollen belly.

Faith held the book up. “It’s a poetry book I found in the library at the ranch. It was so worn out that someone made this cover and I figured it must have special meaning.”

Bessie Mae and Lorna exchanged a glance that made Faith nervous. Did they know something about the book? Maybe it really did have the map to the gold mine in it … or
had
the map.

“I’m not sure who it belonged to,” Faith continued. “Inside it has the name Mary.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes at Faith and leaned over to look at the page of the book. “You mean Jax never told you about Mary?”

“No.” Faith looked around at the others who were all staring at her with various compassionate looks on their faces. All except for Darcy. Darcy looked like the cat who ate the canary.

“Why, Mary was Jax’s wife. She was a saloon girl. I assume you know he has an affinity for them.” Darcy’s voice had a tone of importance. As if she was privy to Jax’s secrets and was now rubbing it in that poor Faith didn’t even know her own husband had been married before.

Faith felt a stab of jealousy. She remembered seeing Jax with the saloon girl right after their wedding. Is that where he went at night? To be with saloon girls?

But he had acted so tender and nice to her. Maybe it was all an act. Maybe he was that way with all women and she would just be another one of his conquests. Something convenient to have at home in between saloon girls. Had he frequented the saloons when he’d been married to Mary?

Faith remembered the way he’d acted when he’d seen her with the book in the library. She’d thought it was because the book had the map to the gold mine, but now she realized the book had been important to him because it had been Mary’s.

“What happened to her?” Faith asked. Had Mary left him because of his infidelity? Somehow the fact that Jax cheated on his wife made Faith feel a little better. She knew it should have made her feel worse, but if Jax was a cheater then she wouldn’t like him so much and it wouldn’t hurt when she had to betray him.

“Run off? No. Mary died in a buggy accident along with their unborn child just over three years ago.”

F
aith felt
like she’d been slapped. Jax had lost a wife and and unborn child? Why had he never mentioned it?

Her look of confusion must have been apparent and Darcy trotted off to the kitchen with a smug smile on her face while the other women suddenly became very interested in the sewing projects in their laps.

Bessie Mae frowned after Darcy. She leaned over and patted Faith’s arm. “Don’t mind her. She was sweet on Jax. She’s just jealous that he married you and not her.”

Faith’s eyes flicked toward the kitchen. “He never mentioned anything. Why wouldn’t he tell me about his wife … and child?”

Bessie Mae shrugged. “Jax is a man of few words.”

Few words, indeed. Darcy’s comment about Jax’s ‘affinity for saloon girls’ burned. She should have known better than to think Jax would be any different than Charles.

For all she knew, Jax's late night excursions involved another woman. Not that she had a right to be jealous. She knew full well their marriage was just a business arrangement … but still, she’d
thought
it was becoming more than that.

It was just as well that she found out what Jax was really like before she became too invested. He was following the same pattern as Charles. Acting nice at first, generous, kind. But sneaking off behind her back. Next the drinking would become more and more apparent—though Faith realized she'd never actually seen Jax drunk. After that would come the abuse, both mental and physical.

He'd already started the pattern by lying to her. Well, not lying
exactly,
but a lie of omission. He'd been evasive when she'd asked if it was the saloon he went to in the middle of the night and now she knew why. It was a sure sign he was going to the gold mine and he did not want her to know about it. Just like Charles, he didn't want to let Faith in on his most important ventures.

He'd also failed to tell her about his first marriage, a little detail that one should not forget to mention to their current spouse. Never mind that Faith had not told Jax about
her
first marriage. That was different, wasn't it?

None of that was important now. What
was
important was that she'd discovered the truth before it was too late. Before she'd lost her heart. She had been right all along. There was no such thing as true love.

Faith stabbed the needle into the fabric. It was for the best. Lefty had put the pressure on and she knew he would not wait long for her to give him the information he needed. It would be that much easier once she purged any feelings she’d started to develop for Jax Blackburn from her heart.

R
obertson was
quiet again on the ride home which was just as well with Faith. She didn’t want conversation to distract her while she was busy making plans for the night’s activities in her head.

A couple of times, she caught Robertson looking at her strangely out of the corner of his eye and she got the unsettling feeling that he knew something or wanted to say something to her but didn’t know how to say it.

Was he trying to tell her something or was it just her guilty conscience? Faith decided to remain quiet pretending to focus on inspecting her sewing project so as to discourage any conversation.

Thankfully, Jax was not at the ranch and Maisie was busy. Now that she had discovered the truth about Jax and made up her mind about what she was to do, she just wanted the whole thing to be over with. She couldn’t face Maisie, so she took a light, early supper and retired to her room, claiming that she still was not feeling well.

The only bright spot in the day was that she did not cross Jax’s path. She had nothing to say to him. With any luck, she would discover the location of the mine entrance that night and be gone from Wild Heart Ranch and on her way back to Boston on the morrow.

Laying her cloak on the bed, she slid the window open wide enough for her to wriggle through. She wanted to be prepared to slip out, without the creaky window giving her away, as soon as she saw Jax leaving.

If he followed his normal pattern, he would take off on foot, heading west toward the mountains. Faith didn’t know how far the mine was, but it couldn’t be too far if Jax walked instead of taking Indigo. Either way, she had good sturdy boots and determination. She could make it.

She settled into the chair by the window and waited for nightfall, praying that this would be one of the nights Jax ventured out to the mine.

Several hours later, Faith was awakened by the hoot of an owl. She jerked upright in the chair. Had she fallen asleep?

Panic surged inside her.
Please don’t let me have missed my chance!

But luck was on her side. She hadn’t slept through Jax leaving. A glance out the window revealed the dark shadow of a tall, broad-shouldered figure rounding the corner of the barn. Jax. He’d probably disturbed the owl on his way out.

Mouthing a silent prayer of thanks for the bird’s warning, she threw on her cloak and shoved her upper body through the window, shimmying her legs over and dropping the short distance to the ground, then hurried to follow Jax.

The path meandered through the woods, the trees providing Faith with much-needed cover. She was careful to stay well behind Jax and lucky that the moon lit the forest well enough for her to see where he was going. But even if it hadn’t, she might still be able to find the mine for she could see he was traveling a narrow but well-worn path.

The forest was quiet. Only the rhythmic chirping of insects intruded on the night. When Faith glanced up, she could see the stars peeking out from above the canopy of leaves. The scent of damp earth and pine tickled her nose.

Once, she stepped on a stick, the cracking sound sending her heart jolting. Jax hesitated and turned but she quickly jumped behind a tree, so all he saw was the empty forest.

As she walked behind him, she scoured the forest for landmarks. A gigantic oak tree, a narrow creek, two large boulders set next to each other. She would need these landmarks to be sure she was on the right path when she came back to show Silas the way to the mine.

They’d walked for about twenty minutes when Faith could see the lights from a house shining through the trees. There was a house out here? It looked tall—two stories and definitely off the beaten path. Judging by the lights, it was occupied. Much to Faith’s surprise, Jax turned down a path that led to the house.

Did he have a woman here?

She knew Charles had frequented a similar house in Boston. That house had also been off the beaten path and filled with the kinds of women that married men didn’t want anyone to see them visiting.

Her gut churned. Was
this
where he’d been going almost every night? The nerve of him!

Faith followed him down the path and watched as he walked up the steps to the front door, opened the door and let himself in.

Obviously he was a frequent visitor.

When was he going to visit the mine? Would he do his business here at the house and then continue out to the mine after? Should she wait in the woods for him and how long would it take?

Curiosity got the better of her and she crept closer to the house. The sound of women’s laughter and clinking glasses drifted out from inside, drawing her even closer. She suddenly found herself right below one of the windows.

The windows were high, but she could stand on her tiptoes and peek right in. She just wanted a glimpse of what was going on inside.

Resting her fingertips on the jagged, worn wood of the window sill, Faith raised up on her tiptoes, clutching the bottom of the sill for extra stability. Her nose just reached the bottom of the window and she craned to see what was going on inside—

“Faith? What are you doing?”