Undaunted Love (PART ONE): Banished Saga, Book 3 (7 page)

Jeremy turned sideways, shielding Savannah from jostling against the doorway and moved into the entranceway. He sat with Savannah on his lap on a chair beside the black walnut hallstand and continued to look around. “I had forgotten how impressive these homes are,” Jeremy said in a near whisper to Florence. “Aunt always made us stay in the servants’ quarters, unless she dragged us out to be seen by friends in an attempt to exemplify her Christian charity.” His glance took in the white wainscoting, the mauve satin wallpaper that covered the upper half of the walls and the fine furniture relegated to the entranceway. He bit his lip from saying anything more as he noted the butler returning.

He motioned for them to follow him. “Mrs. Chickering just returned home and was desirous of a quiet afternoon. However, she will make an exception for you. Please follow me.”

They followed him up the stairs to a sun-filled yellow sitting room, with flourishing ferns sitting in a bow-fronted window overlooking Beacon Street and the Common.

“Florence, what do you mean, Mrs. Montgomery might need a doctor?” Sophronia demanded as she stood near the fireplace waiting for them. She had been staring into the painting of a quiet mountain glen with light sparkling through the tree branches as at dawn but turned toward them at their arrival. “Please, lay her on the settee.”

Jeremy did as he was bid, stroking Savannah’s hair once before he backed away a step.

“I don’t need a doctor,” Savannah said. “It’s not that bad this time.”

“This time?” Jeremy bellowed. “How many times has that man hurt you?”

Sophronia moved toward the settee, pushing Jeremy out of the way. “Mr. McLeod, it’s nice to see you are one male with good sense. I suspected as much when I met you last year at Clarissa’s when you called with your brother, Richard. However, I must insist you let Savannah breathe. Give her some space.” Jeremy backed up a few paces, his gaze never leaving Savannah’s prostrate form on the settee.

“Now, Savannah, you will tell me what he did and allow me to determine what needs to be done,” Sophronia said.

“He gripped my arms, struck my cheek and kicked me in the shin. Nothing that requires a doctor.”

“What has he done in the past?”

Savannah curled into a ball, squeezing her eyes shut. “Nothing that needs to be discussed now. It has no bearing on today’s events.”

“Oh, but I disagree. It has everything to do with today’s events, and our ability to show a court that you left him due to cruelty.”

“Court?” Savannah whispered as she opened her eyes to meet Sophronia’s. She flinched as Sophronia traced the red welt rising on her cheek below her left eye.

“Of course, my dearest Savannah. You wouldn’t think your aunt Betsy or I would have you simply leave and be a scorned woman in society? We want you to be a divorced woman.”

Jeremy hissed and Florence gasped. Savannah watched as Sophronia turned her icy aquamarine eyes on them to silence them. “If you are going to be scandalous, dearest, you might as well be a true sensation. Why allow Clarissa to have all the notoriety?” She smiled tenderly at Savannah as she tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. “And you must be free of that man.”

“What must I do?”

“Never fear. I’ve asked my butler, Poole, to send for my lawyer, and I’m sure he is en route by now. He will know what needs to be done.”

“Mrs. Chickering, thank you,” Savannah said, as tears streamed from her eyes.

“None needed. I had hoped you would come to me, but I had never expected it would be so soon nor in quite so dramatic a fashion.”

CHAPTER 7

Montana, July 1902

THE DRY, HOT BREEZE blew down the canyon and into town, and small funnels of dust formed in the front walkways of the homes we passed. The mountainsides in the distance were a baked gold, incandescent in the early evening light. I maintained a loose hold on Gabriel’s arm as we walked toward his uncle’s house.

Gabriel reached out and clasped my arm as I stumbled in a rut on the side of the road. I steadied myself and moved away from him, brushing down my skirts. “I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

“No need to apologize, Rissa.” He offered his arm again, and I reached for it with shaking fingers. Gabriel reached down to cover my hand with his, holding it firmly in place. I moved a step closer to him, and we walked at a sedate pace to Aidan’s home on Pine Street. Although Aidan was currently in San Francisco, Amelia lived there as his housekeeper and cook. We spent many evenings there with our friends, at what had become our informal gathering place.

“Clarissa,” Gabriel said with a note of hesitancy in his voice. “Won’t you tell me what troubles you?”

“It’s nothing. Nothing that won’t be resolved with time.”

“Have I done something?”

“Of course not,” I whispered. I blinked rapidly to prevent any tears from falling.

“You’ve been distant lately, darling. Tell me what I can do to help.”

“There’s nothing you can do. It’s all my own doing.” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat.

He paused for a moment on the walkway toward his uncle’s house. “You say there’s nothing troubling you. Then in the next breath that there’s nothing I can do to help. Don’t you want what we had? Why did everything change in April?”

“Gabriel, now is not the time,” I whispered, as I forced a smile at a passing couple.

“When is the time? You’re never home. You don’t want me near you. I thought we’d moved past what happened in Boston.”

“Gabriel—”

“Dammit, Rissa,” he said, as he stepped in front of me and gripped both of my arms and glared at me with azure eyes lit with pain. “Be honest with me. Tell me what I can do to make you happy.”

I shook my head. “There’s nothing you can do. I—”

He backed away, releasing my arms before I finished. “I see. Well, can you at least act as though I make you happy for our friends? They’ve gone to some trouble for our anniversary dinner.” He motioned for me to precede him up the walkway.

“For my sake, can you please try?” Gabriel asked again, as he knocked on the front door of his uncle’s house.

I nodded, moving a step toward him and gripping his arm as Colin eased open the front door.

“Welcome!” he said in a booming voice. He enveloped me in a warm hug before releasing me to slap Gabriel on the back. “Amelia’s in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner. Seb and Ronan are in the living room, playing with little Nicholas, and Anne’s had her supper and is already asleep.”

We entered the small foyer to Aidan’s house with its staircase leading upstairs. The main doorway was in the middle of the house. To the right was a large room he used as an office. To the left was a formal sitting room connected to a dining room. The previous owners had added a kitchen in the back, transforming the once-square, two-story building into an irregularly shaped residence. A pantry and another small storage room were next to the kitchen. Behind Aidan’s formal office was a bedroom, currently used by Amelia and her children. Upstairs, three nice-size bedrooms remained largely unused.

“
Gavriel
!” Nicholas yelled as he rose from the floor and clamped onto one of Gabriel’s legs. “We get to eat cake!”

Gabriel chuckled as he ruffled Nicholas’s russet-colored hair. “That we do, little man. Today is a day to celebrate.”

Nicholas scrambled back to Sebastian to continue their marbles match. Sebastian, our friend and overseer of one of the local lumber mills, glanced toward us and nodded, his long, lean frame still sprawled on the floor. “Gabriel, Mrs. McLeod.” He smiled, before returning his attention to Nicholas.

I managed a wan smile as I met Ronan’s gaze. “Hello, Ronan. How did you travel here?”

“Seb took one of the wagons from the mill and picked me up.” Ronan sat on his wheelchair in the living room, watching Nicholas’s and Sebastian’s antics, his sherry-brown eyes lit with pleasure.

“Doesn’t weigh more than a few two-by-fours,” Sebastian said, before he began to tickle Nicholas.

Over Nicholas’s delighted shrieks, Colin said, “That’s not what you were muttering as I helped you. You were carrying on worse than an old woman.”

Amelia swatted him on his arm as she hugged first me and then Gabriel. “Men will do no end of bellyaching if they think there’s a receptive audience.” She smiled at Ronan, Sebastian, her son Nicholas, and Colin before retreating to the kitchen.

I moved to follow Amelia. However, Colin directed me to a dining room chair. “Don’t even think about it, Rissa. This is one meal that I’m looking forward to eating!”

“I’d have to agree with Colin,” Ronan said with a wink. He wheeled his well-used wheelchair—made of sturdy maple, designed by Gabriel; and steel to form the wheels, forged by Colin—into the dining room. The steel wheels were a simple design with little ornamentation. However, with enough determination and arm strength, Ronan was able to move himself short distances. “Not that I don’t appreciate your attempts to feed me, Clarissa. But a man does look forward to a good home-cooked meal.”

“I’m not that bad in the kitchen.” At their smirks, I remained seated.

“Disastrous is the word most often used with you and the kitchen,” Colin said with a grin.

I knew their remarks weren’t intended to harm, but, in my present state, they only added to my melancholy.

Soon Sebastian rose from the floor, carrying Nicholas with him toward the kitchen to wash their hands. Gabriel settled next to me at the dining room table with Colin sitting at my left, Ronan on his other side. Amelia scurried to and from the kitchen, carrying platters of food, and before long the large oval table was covered with a delicious feast. Green beans, beets, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls and slabs of a carved roast filled bowls and platters.

Sebastian emerged from the kitchen, sat next to Ronan and propped Nicholas by him. Whenever Amelia settled, she would sit next to Gabriel and Nicholas.

“Amelia, sit down so we can begin. I can’t imagine you have any more food out there for us,” Colin said. He reached for a roll but stilled his movements as Amelia entered the room from the kitchen. He flashed her a quick grin as she glared at him.

“I want this meal to be perfect for our celebration.” She beamed at everyone present and took her seat, setting down the bowl of mashed potatoes.

“Clarissa and I thank you, Amelia, for this fine meal,” Gabriel said. He reached out to grip my hand.

I smiled and nodded.

“We couldn’t have you celebrate your anniversary with Clarissa’s cooking, Gabe,” Sebastian said as he served himself a slice of the roast and passed the tray.

“Although you might have appreciated being alone,” Ronan teased with a twitch of his eyebrows.

“Ronan,” Amelia scolded, but he only laughed as I blushed. “I know Clarissa continues to improve in her cooking, but a day like today calls for a feast.”

“Any word from the eastern McLeods?” Colin asked.

“Yes, I just received word today from Richard,” Gabriel said. “I haven’t even been able to share it yet with Clarissa. Florence and Richard are intent on making us aunt and uncle.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Amelia gushed.

“I agree,” Colin said with a wry smile. “Hard to imagine Richard a father, though he or she will be one lucky child.”

“He sounds scared out of his britches.” Gabriel laughed and a wistful smile remained on his face as he thought of his brother in Boston. “I can see him now, fussing over little Florence.”

“Why so pensive, Colin?” Ronan asked.

“Oh, just wishing I’d be around to help teach him or her the blacksmithing songs I’m learning. They’re different from the ones in Boston.”

“As though you can sing,” Ronan said with a laugh.

I paled and gripped my fork tighter as they continued to tease each other, Sebastian joining in to comment on Colin’s attempts at yodeling.

“Ah, it will be wonderful to have a little one in the family again,” Amelia said. “It seems baby Anne is growing up too quickly already.”

“Yes, wonderful,” I whispered. “I’m very happy for them.” My knuckles had turned white, and I had to force my hand to relax.

“Well, I for one, hope to hear similar news from other McLeod relatives,” Colin said.

I knew he meant well but still flinched at his words.

I heard Gabriel chuckle as he caressed my neck. “All in good time, Colin. And I will remain hopeful the baby will have Lucas’s musical abilities.”

“Ah, Lucas. I do miss hearing him play the piano. That’s the one thing missing from our gatherings,” Colin said. He leaned away from the table, taking a momentary break from the dinner.

“When’s the baby coming, Mama?” Nicholas asked as he looked at me and then poked his head under the table as though he was trying to see my belly.

I flinched at Nicholas’s question while everyone else laughed. As the laughter subsided, I noticed that Amelia was watching me with an assessing look in her blue eyes.

“Never mind that there is no baby,” I said as I blinked away tears. “If you will excuse me a moment?” I rose from my chair and stumbled into the living room and then out the front door onto the front porch, hearing a confused, “Mama?” from Nicholas as the front door closed behind me. I collapsed onto the bench next to the door. A soft breeze blew, cooling the town after a warm July day.