Meet the New Dawn (39 page)

“No. I’ll … be all right. I just … want to go home. If you get a doctor, he might … recognize me … ask questions. Charles would … find me. I don’t want him to find me.”

He sighed. “All right. But I’m getting you out of these clothes and giving you a nightshirt to put on. And I’ll have no arguments or bashfulness. I’ll not have LeeAnn Garvey dying in my hotel room. Now how would that look?”

Her body jerked in uncontrolled sobs. She was too weak and in too much pain to object. He undressed her with gentle hands and quickly put a nightshirt on her. She could not help but wonder at his kindness, his sincere sympathy, the respectful way he did not let his eyes linger on things he should not see. He was so different. She had known only brutality for years and had begun to think all men must be that way. But Joshua Lewis was sweet and gentle, and it reminded her of the way her father had treated her mother. She had almost forgotten there was such a thing as kindness, such a thing as men who were strong but gentle, brave but loving. Joshua Lewis was all those things. She could tell right away.

“Now you just lie right there and sleep,” he told her. “Here.” He poured some whiskey. “Drink a little of this. I’ll get Matthew to sleep. Don’t you worry about anything. I’ll see that you get home to Colorado.”

Colorado! Why did it suddenly sound so good? Colorado. Home. Mother. But there was no more father. Would her mother still love her? Would she forgive her? Who could tell? But she must take the chance. If Abigail Monroe was the same woman she had left behind ten years ago, she would welcome her daughter, no matter what.

Joshua sat down in a big chair with Matthew, who at two in the morning was droopy-eyed and confused. He held the boy close and talked softly to him, and in moments the child was fast asleep in his arms. Joshua stared for several minutes at
LeeAnn Garvey, wondering what kind of hell the woman had been living in. If Zeke Monroe had known, he’d have come to Washington and plowed through the streets, going straight to Charles Garvey and sinking his blade into the man’s evil heart, that was sure.

Yes. He would take LeeAnn Garvey home where she belonged.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The train rumbled through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and into Kansas. It was May, 1880, and the prairies were alive with wildflowers, except for the vast expanses now farmed. With every mile left behind her, LeeAnn Garvey felt more free. Her heart became lighter. She felt like she was coming out of the pits of the earth into bright sunshine and fresh air, for she was leaving Charles Garvey, and she wondered why she had not had the courage to do so until now. She glanced at Joshua. Perhaps it was because of him that she had the courage. She had always felt so afraid and alone before, not knowing where to turn for help. Why she had run to him in her panic the night Charles beat her she wasn’t sure, but she was glad she had done so.

From the way her mother had talked about Bonnie Lewis, now Bonnie Monroe, LeeAnn was not surprised that this adopted son of hers was a gentle and caring person. It was a little unnerving to realize how fate could lead people down unusual pathways. Who would have thought that the little crippled baby her own parents had taken to Bonnie Lewis all those years ago would end up being so important to her own life? And who would have dreamed that LeeAnn Monroe would marry a Garvey? It made her wonder just how much control anyone had over his life. Perhaps everyone’s destiny was cut out for them from the day they were born.

She hugged her little Matthew. What would be his destiny? He looked so Indian that even though he was mostly white no
one would believe it. She kissed his dark hair. She would protect and defend him. Her son would not suffer for his looks. The thought brought pain to her heart at the realization of how her own father had suffered, and the hurt it must have brought him to die without ever seeing his daughter again. She doubted she would ever get over the guilt of that, but at least if her mother accepted her, it would help a little.

She wished someone had told her all the things she had just learned through Joshua. If only she had known! Surely her parents could not fully blame her for something she didn’t know in the first place. She could understand why it was kept secret, and naturally her parents would never dream that somewhere along the way their daughter would meet and marry a Garvey. She wondered now how she could have done such a thing, why she didn’t sense the man’s evil ruthlessness long before they were wed. But she had been too caught up in Garvey’s wealth and prominence. How could she, the daughter of a woman like Abigail Monroe, move so far astray from the way she had been brought up? She remembered her mother mentioning to her that LeeAnn reminded her of her own sister, after whom she was named. Abbie’s sister had also wanted a man of wealth, who could put her in fancy clothes and make her socially prominent. She had thought she met such a man on the wagon train, and he had turned out to be a gambler, who stole her away and sold her to outlaws to pay a debt. That LeeAnn was murdered. Now this LeeAnn shivered, realizing how close she had come to being killed herself. Unlike her dead aunt, this LeeAnn was being given a second chance at life.

Joshua stirred and changed positions, his head leaning toward her and touching her shoulder. She felt a faint stirring, but years with Charles Garvey had left their scars, and the thought of being with any man again made her feel nauseous. How she was going to forget the horror of Charles Garvey’s touch she was not certain, but somehow she must, and being home on the ranch would help. Still, there most certainly had to be kind men. Look at how her father had always treated her mother. And Dan and Bonnie Monroe were apparently very happy, the way Josh talked about them. And of course there
was Josh himself, who had kept her under guard until he could get her out of Washington. Now he was going with her all the way home, refusing to leave her alone. He had taken care of everything: buying her some extra clothes, getting the train tickets, everything. He had even requested a leave from the
Times.
His assignment in Washington was finished anyway. He would take some time off and bring LeeAnn Garvey home, though he told no one. They had slept right on the train for several days, and she ached all over. When they reached Topeka they would get off for a night and stay in a hotel before switching to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe train that would take them to Fort Lyon. It would feel good to sleep in a real bed all night.

She leaned back and watched the Kansas prairie pass by. Yes, she was entering familiar country, and it felt good. She thought about what Josh had told her about the A T & SF tracks going right past the northern section of her father’s ranch now. Surely that had made her parents very unhappy. Through Josh, she was seeing the real picture of what had happened to the Indians, and it saddened her. It was probably a good thing her father had died when he did, for things could get worse yet. The days of freedom for the Indian were gone, and she did not doubt that a little of Zeke Monroe had died with them, giving him all the more reason to let his life end. She blinked back tears. Poor father. Through letters from Bonnie, Josh had learned that Zeke Monroe had also been suffering severely from arthritis, something Bonnie and Dan had later learned from Abbie. It all made sense then. Zeke Monroe would not die a crippled man. But the fact remained that he had died without seeing his daughter again, and she could not stop the tears that seemed to come so easily now. She sniffed and stared out the window, and then a hand was closing over her own, squeezing hers reassuringly. She turned to look into Joshua Lewis’s gentle hazel eyes, and he smiled.

“Buck up, girl. You’re going home,” he told her.

She smiled through her tears, and with his other hand he reached up and brushed the tears from her face. “You’re looking much better, LeeAnn. The bruises are fading some.”

She looked back out the window, and he kept hold of her hand.

By that evening they were in Topeka, and Joshua got her a room of her own, where she enjoyed the luxury of a hot bath and took a nap before he returned to take her to dinner. She ignored the way people stared at her, a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman carrying an Indian baby. The bruises that still showed on her face didn’t help any. Was she a captive just recently released? Was the young man with her some kind of government agent? LeeAnn had grown accustomed to the stares and really didn’t care anymore. She ate her fill, her appetite returning more with every mile she put between herself and Charles Garvey.

“I am sure he’s disinherited me and his son from his will and filed for divorce by now,” she told Joshua over dessert. “Not that I care. Knowing what I know, I could never live on Garvey money anyway. It would be an insult to my father.”

“Well, I don’t think there would have been much anyway, LeeAnn. I’d been doing some investigating of my own, and Charles Garvey was on the verge of bankruptcy. He let too many others handle his business for him, and he was getting cheated right and left by his own men. Serves him right, to say the least, considering the way he cheated people himself. All hell will break loose soon and he’ll find himself a nearly broke man, which I doubt he’ll be able to handle.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “Which leads me to something I am very worried about, LeeAnn.”

She met his eyes. “What is that?”

“I want you to be very careful. Stay close to the ranch and Wolf’s Blood once you’re home. I don’t trust Charles Garvey one whit. What he learned about me and about you triggered that strange, almost insane side of him. And once he finds out he’s losing his fortune on top of it, he’s going to be a desperate, demented man. It would not surprise me at all if he found a way to blame you and probably me, too, for his misfortunes, and now he knows who you really are and where you’ll probably go.
I’m worried he’ll come looking for you—find a way to have you and the boy killed.”

She swallowed, her fear of Charles Garvey building all over again. If he got her alone he would make her suffer dearly before he killed her, of that she was certain.

“Look, I don’t want you having nightmares over it,” Joshua consoled. “I just want you to consider the kind of man he is and be very careful. I think as long as you’re on the ranch you’ll be safe, until we know for certain what will happen to Charles Garvey. I’ll probably go on north from the ranch to see Dan and my mother, then head back east and clean some things up, check out Charles Garvey. Then I’m coming back out here to start my own newspaper, as well as do whatever I can to help the Indians.”

She searched the kind eyes. “You’re a good man, Joshua Lewis. What would I have done without having you to turn to? Anyone else would have told Charles where I was and let him come for me.” She blinked back tears. “Thank you—for all of it.”

He smiled softly. “I knew the first time I saw you, before I even knew who you really were, that you didn’t belong with that man. And now that I know you’re Zeke Monroe’s daughter, it’s just that much more incentive to help you. Now eat your dessert and let’s get you back so you can get a good night’s sleep. The train leaves at seven A.M.”

They finished their meal, and he walked her to the hotel and to the door to her own room, carrying Matthew on his shoulders, somehow thinking he had to prove to her he was as strong as any other man and the leg brace did not hamper that strength. He lifted the boy down when they got to the door to her room, and the child clung to his mother’s skirt as LeeAnn and Joshua stood looking at each other, both suddenly realizing it was possible they were falling in love.

Joshua sighed deeply, leaning against the doorjamb. “LeeAnn, when all this is over, and you’re divorced and I’m settled—”

“Don’t,” she said quickly, looking away.

He reached out and grasped her chin, making her look at
him. “Why not? You’re beginning to mean very much to me, LeeAnn. We’re cousins, but not by blood, only by circumstance. My father was Winston Garvey, much as I hate to admit it. Zeke was my uncle, but only because my Indian mother’s husband was Zeke’s brother. So we have no blood relation, LeeAnn, and I don’t see why we can’t … I mean … damn it, LeeAnn, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

She closed her eyes. “You shouldn’t. Once I’m free of Charles I want nothing to do with men anymore.”

He reached out and grasped her arms. “LeeAnn, you know good and well that not all men are like him. Look at your own parents!”

She hung her head. “You don’t understand. You don’t know … what he was like. It wasn’t just … the beatings. I could have …” He saw a panic building and kept a firm hold of her arms. “… could have stood the beatings, if he … would have treated me like … like a normal woman.”

“Don’t talk about it now, LeeAnn.”

“But you don’t know! You don’t know! He was … demented! Sadistic! I can’t … think about being with anyone else—ever! I just want to be left alone!”

He forced her to him, embracing her, until she broke into sobbing against his chest and clung to his jacket. “I don’t believe that, LeeAnn.” He kissed her hair. “And the best way to forget that man is to let a man love you the right way, show you the beauty of it, show you a man can be gentle. That’s the only way you’ll get over this, LeeAnn. And some day you’ll let that happen, and the man will be me. I can’t bear the thought of it being anyone else.”

She cried for several minutes, while Matthew began running up and down the hallway, oblivious to his mother’s problems. Joshua kept kissing her hair, then moved his lips to her temple. “LeeAnn,” he whispered. “Don’t cry, LeeAnn.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket, and keeping his left arm around her he reached up with his right hand and began wiping at her eyes and nose as she leaned back slightly. She finally met his eyes, and then he was leaning closer. She wasn’t sure why she
let him kiss her. Perhaps she only wanted to know if he could be telling the truth. He met her mouth in the sweetest, most tender kiss she had ever tasted. Charles had never kissed her this way, even before they were married. It made her tremble with feelings totally new to her in spite of being a married woman with a child.

The kiss lingered for several seconds until he finally pulled away, smiling. “See? Was that so terrible?”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest again. “Joshua, I can’t promise anything right now.”

“You think I don’t know that? I just wanted to give you something to think about. I promise not to do that again and not to press you about anything else.” He gave her a squeeze. “Now get some sleep.”

She pulled away, slightly flushed from the kiss. She unlocked her door, then looked up at him again, realizing he had to be much younger than Charles. “Josh, I don’t even know how old you are.”

He grinned. “Twenty-six. Is that bad?”

She opened the door, then bent down and picked up Matthew. “I guess not. I just thought of it. I’m twenty-eight. Is that bad?”

His hazel eyes took in her voluptuous beauty. “I hardly call two years a problem. Considering the situation, that’s the least of our worries.”

She smiled through tears. “I suppose so.” She put her fingers to her lips and reddened once more, feeling like a young innocent all over again. “Good-night, Josh.”

His smile faded. “Good-night, LeeAnn. I … I hope I didn’t offend you. I do love you. I know you’re in a fix at the moment, but we’ll straighten it all out, LeeAnn—together.”

She sniffed and held Matthew close. “I’m not offended, Josh. I’m flattered. Thank you for being such a good friend.”

He sighed. “I want to be more than a good friend.”

Their eyes held. “Bear with me, Josh. Give me some time.”

He bowed slightly. “The first thing we’ll do is get you home, and you’ll be there in just a couple more days. Sleep tight.”

He turned and went to his own room, and LeeAnn went into
hers. Both of them slept restlessly that night.

The train ride to Fort Lyon found LeeAnn Garvey more relaxed and happier than she had been in years. Nothing more was said about their feelings. What would be, would be. For now they were at least great friends. It felt good to have a man who really cared about her and intended to protect her. Little Matthew took to Josh well, and that was important, too. But LeeAnn could not bring herself to think any further than friendship for now. For the moment, the most important thing was that she was going home.