The Homesteader's Sweetheart (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

J
onas took refuge in the barn, pulling the milking stool into Molly’s stall and leaning his head back against the placid animal.

He felt silly hiding from his own children, but he couldn’t bear hearing any more comments about Penny.

“I miss her laugh.”

“She was helpin’ me read.”

“She liked to have fun.”

“She played awful mean tricks on a body!”

“I miss her hugs.” That had been Breanna, accompanied with an overdone sniffle.

With no more haying to do, he’d been stuck inside canning all the vegetables, fruits and berries that were ripening daily. Unable to escape from the kids’ chatter, which happened to be full of reminiscing about Penny.

Problem was, he missed all of those things about her and more. He felt like he had a gaping hole in his chest where his heart had been.

After the barn-raising, Penny had been adamant that Abbott wasn’t courting her, but when the suitor and her father had shown up, she’d barely said anything at all, which wasn’t like the outspoken gal he knew. If she’d wanted to stay with Walt, she would’ve fought harder, wouldn’t she?

Was she even now preparing for a wedding?

The thought created a burn in his gut. He didn’t want to believe she’d marry that man, almost as much as he’d wanted to believe she would consider marrying
him.
But he’d ruined the chances of courting her when he’d pushed her away after the fire. Hadn’t he?

One niggling doubt kept pressing on him like a headache just behind his eyes that he couldn’t get rid of.

Why had Penny really ridden in the bronc contest? She’d said the money was for Breanna. If he sold the fancy saddle, he could probably get another fifty dollars. It would make up the difference he needed to pay for Breanna’s treatment. Although now…after he’d thought about Penny’s questions mighty hard, he wanted to find out more about the doctor in Cheyenne before he committed to anything. He wouldn’t do anything to endanger his daughter.

His thoughts tracked back to Penny. Had she really ridden in the bronc contest, risked being thrown off, risked her identity being revealed in front of that large crowd, for Breanna’s sake? If so, did it mean that she really loved his daughter?

And if she loved Breanna…could she possibly come to love
him?

He wished he knew the answers. Wished he had confidence that she’d meant it when she said she would consider courting him.

The barn door opened and Jonas hunched down even farther next to Molly. Couldn’t he have a few minutes alone to lick his wounds?

But no one called out for him. He didn’t hear any sounds of footsteps on the packed-dirt floor or any stall doors opening as if someone was searching for him.

“We’ve got to do something.” Maxwell’s voice was pitched low, but with most of the horses out to graze, the barn was quiet enough for Jonas to make out his son’s words clearly.

“I know.” That was Oscar. What were the two up to? “We’re all miserable without Penny around. Pa most of all.”

What? How could they tell? Jonas had been doing his best to act normally, even playing games and joking around with the boys after supper most nights. He hadn’t wanted them to know the depths of his sorrow since he’d sent Penny back to Walt’s place the night of the fire.

“I thought for sure she’d come back.” The third voice belonged to Edgar, which surprised Jonas, as he’d been the one most reluctant to let Penny get close. “Maybe that creepy friend of her pa’s kidnapped her or somethin’ and she can’t get loose of him.”

Jonas had a hard time believing anyone could keep Penny against her will. She was strong. Strong enough to gain his entire family’s trust. Strong enough to worm her way into their lives.

“I dunno,” Maxwell replied skeptically. “What if she thinks we don’t want her to come back?”

“Pa don’t seem to be catching on to our hinting about her.”

So
that
was the purpose of their continued remarks about Penny? To convince him to…what?

“We could write a letter, maybe pretend it’s from Pa, and ask her to come back.”

“What if she
does
come and asks him about the letter—and he don’t know anything about it?” That was Maxwell. His son that considered every angle carefully before making a choice.

He needed to put a stop to their finagling, though, before they got themselves—and him—in a spot of trouble.

He stood up from his hiding place beside Molly, his head clearing the edge of the stall, and cleared his throat. Loudly.

All three boys jumped and whirled toward him, the guilt on their faces speaking more than words. Jonas let himself out of Molly’s stall and joined them in the open area just inside the barn doors.

“I guess you heard all that.” Oscar was the first to speak, but didn’t look particularly apologetic.

“I heard. What makes you all think I’ve been missing Miss Penny? I’ve been acting happy, haven’t I?”

Edgar answered, “That’s the thing…we can tell you’re fakin’ it.” He shrugged. “We figured if we was missing her then you was prob’ly hurting even worse, since you’re sweet on her and everything.”

Jonas couldn’t deny his feelings for Penny.

“And you thought that if you all talked about her enough I’d do what? Ride down to Calvin and ask her to marry me?”

“That sounds like a good plan, Pa. Better’n ours.” This from Maxwell. Jonas’s usually reserved son said it with dancing eyes.

“You want me to saddle your horse?” Edgar asked, bouncing on his toes.

“You should probably change first. Maybe wear your Sunday suit?” Oscar offered.

Jonas blew out an exasperated breath and sat down on the nearest hay bale. “I’m not going to go to Calvin. And I’m not going to ask Penny to marry me.”

The three boys deflated.

“Why not?” Oscar asked.

Jonas took off his hat and ran his hand through his sweat-matted hair. “She would’ve come back if she wanted to. She’s the kind of person who does what she wants.” Up until her father had come, anyway.

“What if she can’t?” Edgar asked. His earnest expression wasn’t hiding any ulterior motives. He was honestly concerned for Penny.

Jonas shook his head.

“Miss Penny told me not to be afraid. That if I wanted to be a doctor I should try.” Maxwell sat down next to Jonas and stretched his still-casted foot out in front of him. “Are you afraid if you ask, she’ll say no?”

His son’s question hit a little too close to home. Jonas didn’t want his boys to see him as weak, couldn’t admit that he was afraid Penny would find him lacking and leave, just like his parents had.

“She doesn’t belong here,” Jonas insisted against both his sons and the voice in his head that was starting to take their side. “Do you really think someone like her, someone fancy, could be happy on this little homestead?”

Do you think she could really love me?

He couldn’t voice the words, couldn’t give them life.

Oscar shrugged. “She seemed happy enough when she was here before.”

“That was for a few weeks. A little over a month. If we got married—” Just saying the words sucked all the breath from him and he had to start again. “If we got married, she would be here for good. You know everyone has to pitch in around here. She couldn’t do fancy tea parties or the like.”

“She seemed to like the barn-raising well enough,” Maxwell offered.

“Yeah, she was making friends with all the women. And at church, too,” Edgar said.

“She knows how to drive the wagon now, so if she really needed to visit, she could jaunt off to town,” Oscar said.

They had an argument for everything!

And the voice in Jonas’s head was agreeing with them. Penny
had
seemed happy here, with them. She’d filled their lives with joy and laughter.

It was
Jonas
who’d gotten scared and sent her away.

“I need to think this through. Pray about it.” Jonas stood and moved out of the barn. What he needed was a long walk and time to figure things out.

Dear Penelope,

How delightful to hear from you after all these years! You didn’t mention a husband in your letter. Are you still single?

I’ve been married to my dear Mr. Kenneth for these past three years. He has many investments in the railroad and we are blissfully happy together.

It seems a fortuitous coincidence that you came across the situation addressed in your previous letter. I’ve often wondered what happened to the child from so long ago.

And yes, you were correct about my childhood episodes. They abated shortly after my fourteenth birthday.

Do stay in touch.

Millie

Exultant, Penny refolded the letter and slipped it back into the thick cream-colored envelope. In her hands, she held the proof that Breanna didn’t need an expensive and possibly dangerous treatment to correct her epilepsy. Along with the two other letters Penny had obtained from respected physicians, she hoped to put Jonas’s mind at ease. If she could just get back to his homestead.

She needed to tell him her news, as quickly as possible. But Penny settled back onto the settee in her parents’ parlor to wait for her father to arrive home. She’d promised she wouldn’t run off again, and she would keep that promise. She just needed to find a way to convince her father to take her back to Bear Creek. And Jonas.

She and her father had come to a tentative agreement about Mr. Abbott, and she didn’t want to do anything impulsive to ruin their accord. Sam, too, had settled since their return home. He’d apologized to their parents for his previous pranks and irresponsible behavior, and even taken a job at the livery, working with horses all day. Yes, Sam was growing up and becoming the man she’d known he could be.

Her former friend Millie’s veiled reference to Penny’s unmarried state had barely registered. That might’ve bothered her before, but not now that she knew the White family, and loved them, she couldn’t be disappointed in her circumstance.

If only she could convince Jonas that they belonged together. She’d gone with her father, but after a week away from the Whites, she was desperate to see them again, desperate to tell Jonas how she felt about him. She should have done so before she left, but she’d let fear get in her way.

She’d spent two days convincing her father that she would never consider marrying Mr. Abbott. He hadn’t believed her about Abbott sabotaging Jonas’s farm, but after a lot of blustering, he finally came to accept that a wedding was not in the future.

He’d said he would take care of things with Mr. Abbott, and Penny hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the man since.

She’d gone to Calvin’s town marshal to explain about what had happened at Jonas’s homestead, but been disappointed that Marshal Danna Carpenter couldn’t do more. Without firm evidence against Abbott, it was Penny’s word against his. And although the marshal had said she would question Abbott, Penny knew the man wouldn’t admit to any wrongdoing.

Penny wished she’d gotten a better look at the figure on horseback she’d seen that morning while walking over to Jonas’s homestead. If she’d seen Abbott’s face clearly, maybe then the marshal would have believed her.

The front door opened and closed. Finally, her father was home. She rose and smoothed the skirt of one of her simpler frocks. Wearing the fine silks and satins she’d enjoyed before wasn’t as important to her now.

“Father? I need to talk to you.”

The floor in the hallway creaked as her father drew near, but he didn’t respond to her greeting. She took a deep breath, prepared to explain all her reasons for visiting the Whites.

“I’ve just received a letter and it has some very important information that I need to share with Grandfather’s neighbors. It’s about the little girl, Breanna.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere near that farmhand, my darling.”

The unexpected voice preceded Abbott’s appearance in the doorway. Penny glanced behind him, expecting to see her father, but the hallway was empty.

“I’m afraid your father has been detained at his office.”

Penny backed around the sofa, putting it between herself and the man she hadn’t wanted to see ever again. What was his purpose here?

“I have to admire your independent spirit, my dear. It will make settling you more enjoyable for me. I’m not sure how you convinced your father to discourage my suit, but I’ll have my way in the end.”

She suppressed a shiver at his sinister words, but forced a brave face.

“Mr. Abbott, as you said, my father is away. It’s not appropriate for you to be here, so I’ll ask you to leave.”

Abbott slipped a derringer from the inside of his vest and pointed it at Penny. “I think not. You’re coming with me.”

“I won’t.” Somehow, she kept her voice from shaking, but the sight of his weapon unnerved her. Would he really shoot her if she didn’t do what he wanted?

“You’re questioning whether I’ll fire on my intended bride. Your face is so delightfully expressive, my dear.” He inhaled deeply, his eyes closing momentarily. “Yes, breaking you will be ever so enjoyable.”