A Lady in Defiance (23 page)

Mr. McIntyre nodded. “Yes, I can see where it would be
embarrassing for Hannah to show up in a few years declaring that the junior
senator from North Carolina is the father of her child. The scandal would ruin
the boy’s career.”

“He doesn’t have enough sense to know that Hannah would never
do that.” Naomi leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. “Now I suppose
we’ll have to put up with detectives checking on us every so often.”

“If I was Frank, I would want regular reports.”

You would
, Naomi thought. “Great minds think alike,” she confirmed, her voice rich
with sarcasm.

Mr. McIntyre harumphed and rose to his feet. “This is
probably the first of semi-annual reports the Pinkertons will send back.
Neither Ian, Wade nor I will tell this man anything, but the rest of the town
will talk...freely. I can’t stop that.”

Naomi stood as well and looked at Mr. McIntyre. “If there’s
any chance that he’s here on Billy’s behalf, and I highly doubt that, I’d
appreciate you letting us know. Otherwise, I don’t care what he finds out.” She
shrugged, at a loss for a plan of action. “I don’t know anything to do other
than just go on with our lives.”

~~~

McIntyre poured himself a cup of coffee at his bar and took a
seat at one of his tables near the window. If the Pinkerton man followed his
same routine, he would be down shortly and McIntyre planned to ask what
information he would be sending back to Page. Beckwith had questioned dozens of
people over the last two days. Certainly, he had come to some conclusions by
now.

McIntyre told himself he was only curious because everything
that happened in Defiance was his business. He denied there was any noble
motive involved regarding Her Highness. This was just good business.  He
took a sip and looked up when he heard a door shut. Beckwith started down the
steps, hesitated when he saw McIntyre then finished his decent.

“Help yourself to some coffee, Mr. Beckwith, and if you have
a moment, I would like to talk business.”

Beckwith was a stern, no nonsense man with a chiseled, boney
face that matched his charming disposition. Deepening his perpetual frown, he
strode toward the coffee pot sitting at the end of the bar. “Have you decided,
McIntyre, to fill me in on those belles down the street? Or should I write my
report based on what the townsfolk speculate about them?”

McIntyre found the question annoying. He could well imagine
what the established citizenry of Defiance was telling Beckwith. A town full of
bored men was just as gossipy as a church full of old biddies. In his opinion,
the sisters’ reputations had suffered enough and though he could clear things
up, it bothered him to have to do so. It bothered him because he was fighting a
compulsion
to defend Naomi−and her sisters−from the
scandalous report.

Perhaps there was a less intrusive way to fix things. “Do you
ever freelance, Mr. Beckwith?”

Beckwith’s eyes widened for an instant as he joined McIntyre.
“I have been known to pick up work on the side, but only occasionally.”

“I would like someone located. If you were to bring me this
information in, say, a month, you would be back in Defiance to see the sisters’
hotel up and running. You might even be here for the birth of Hannah’s child.
I’m sure that’s information your client would like to have.”

Beckwith sipped his coffee and eyed McIntyre skeptically.
“Sounds like you want me out of the way.”

“What I want is the whereabouts of Frank Page’s son Billy. A
thousand dollars now and a thousand dollars when you put his address in my
hand.” Sure of how this man’s ego worked, McIntyre added, “If you can find
him.”

“Oh, I can find him. However, the client was expecting a
report soon. I can’t explain a delay of a month or more...and I assume you
do
want the report delayed?”

“Two thousand dollars upon delivery of the requested
information should help you think of an excuse.”

Beckwith tapped his knuckles on the table. It was a generous
sum, McIntyre knew, and far above what Beckwith was getting paid working for
the Pinkerton agency. Whether he would accept the side job wasn’t really in
doubt.

“All right,” the man nodded. “I’ll do it. I’ll have to go
back east myself, though. I also assume you don’t want me using agency
resources.”

“You assume correctly...by the way, weren’t you a lawman
before you joined the Pinkertons?”

“Cleaned up some of the meanest cow towns in Kansas and
Texas.”

McIntyre nodded, speculating on future possibilities.

Chapter
19

Fall didn’t creep into the Rockies, Hannah decided, it
erupted
almost overnight. Aspens, green one day, blazed orange and yellow the next,
splashing the surrounding mountains with pockets of fire. The air went from
warm and flirting with humidity to drier and colder, all at once. The change in
seasons made her all too aware of her rapidly expanding middle. Though she had
of course noted the rounding of her stomach, without mirrors for a daily view
she wasn’t able to gauge the true impact of her new profile−until she
caught sight of her shadow one September morning in the backyard. The alien
silhouette stopped her in her tracks.

Is that me?
She wondered in awe.
With six more weeks to go, this baby
was going to be huge. I’ll be as big as Sampson by the time he’s born!

Hannah pulled her skirt in beneath her stomach to accentuate
the shape. She turned this way and that, stretched and leaned back. Without
warning, a stabbing pain struck deep at her midsection and she doubled over
with a loud, “Oooow!”

As if by magic, Rebecca was at her side, leading Hannah over
to the stoop. “Here, sit down.” Gingerly, she helped Hannah settle down on the
back steps. “What happened? Are you all right? Has this happened before?”

Hannah laughed at her sister’s concern. “It’s fine. The baby
just kicked me. Hard.”

Rebecca nodded acceptance of this answer and dropped down
beside her. The two sat in silence for a time, studying the distant peaks and
considering things. Finally, Rebecca looked at Hannah. “Are you scared?”

On the surface, it was a ridiculous question, but Hannah
somberly shook her head. “Only a little. Every time the baby moves, unless he
kicks the daylights out of me, I think that he’s such a miracle. I feel so
humbled that God would let something so good and beautiful come out of such a
stupid mistake.” She hugged her perfectly round potbelly, anxious to meet her
child, and let her mind wander home to Cary. “I wonder where Billy is. I wonder
if he misses me. I wonder if he’ll ever meet his baby.” She looked back at Rebecca
and spoke with regret in her voice. “I’m beginning to forget what he looks
like, yet, I feel like I still love him. How is that possible?”

A rhetorical question, she didn’t really expect an answer.
She loved Billy, probably always would, but that was water under the bridge
now. Instead, squaring her shoulders, Hannah moved her focus beyond herself and
tried to think of the bigger picture. “I know without a doubt that everything
has happened for a reason, though.” She smiled at Rebecca, surprised at the unexpected
mix of peace and trust the thought gave her. “I’ve seen what God can do with me
if I let him. I’m willing to accept his plans for me.” She glanced down. “For
us.”

Rebecca laced her fingers and twirled her thumbs, as if
mulling over Hannah’s comments. “I don’t think Naomi is quite there yet.”

“No, she’s still wrestling with God. She hasn’t accepted that
all of this is by design. And she still goes down to the stream every night
when she thinks we’re asleep. But I do think something is changing in her
heart. She’s a little less sullen.”

“I thought I saw some changes, too, but after that episode
with Hank, I don’t know. She seems so…” Rebecca shook her head. “
Disappointed
in herself. The fact that she pulled the trigger on that gun haunts her. I think
she thinks God won’t use her if she’s too...”

“Hot-headed? Willful?” Naomi interrupted from behind them.
“Or perhaps brash and immature are the words you’re looking for?”

Rebecca flinched. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t talk about you as
if we’re dissecting a bug.”

“No, it’s all right.” Naomi waved away her sister’s guilt and
took a seat between them. She had her Bible and stared at it for a moment, then
set it down behind her. “Ever since John died, I’ve had some pretty heated
conversations with God.”

Hannah pitied her sister. Naomi was so strong and so used to
fighting everyone’s battles. To have to give up, step back and hand God the
reins…well, she couldn’t imagine how hard that must be for her. Hannah had
discovered, though, that was the only way to live. Letting God take over had
removed so many burdens from her heart. Now, if Naomi could just do the same…

“I had the wrong person on the throne,” Naomi almost
whispered. “I loved John more than God.” She stared at her hands in her lap,
laced as if she was praying, and Hannah saw her chin quivering. “Accepting that
scared me, but it freed me, too. Freed me to
start over
searching for
the only relationship that really matters. Trying to let go of John and accept
life here has been the hardest thing God’s ever asked of me−” Her voice
broke as she dropped her head into her hands. When she spoke again, through her
fingers, Hannah could hear the tears and the frustration. “This place is
horrible. The people are cruel and selfish. But I’m trying, I’m trying so hard
to care about them and…just accept things.”

Hannah laid her hand gently on Naomi’s back. “Maybe you just
have to go one person at a time. Starting with Emilio…”

Rebecca pulled her long, black braid around and stroked her
jaw thoughtfully with the end of it. “Considering the way you’ve been tested,
Naomi, I think you’ve done well.” Her voice was soft and re-assuring. “You
didn’t let John’s death break you and you’ve tried to turn the other cheek.
Tried harder than I’ve ever seen you.”

“Never mind the fact that I nearly shot a man?”

 “Well, you’re not exactly known for being a pacifist,
little sister. You are protective. He’s all right now and I would bet he’ll
never bother us again.” Rebecca dropped her hand on Naomi’s back too and tried
to smile. “Like Hannah said, maybe for you the best way to deal with Defiance
is one person at a time...”

Movement down by the stream stole Hannah’s attention. She
half-heard Rebecca’s voice trail off as she and her sisters watched someone
ambling slowly along the water. They sat silently as Daisy—no, it was Mollie
now—picked her way thoughtfully along the bank, head down, her shawl pulled
tightly around her.

“It’s Mollie. I’ll go invite her up.” Hannah worked to get to
her feet with a shove from Naomi. She waddled down to the water, hailed her
friend, and the two drew near. “It’s good to see you, Mollie.” And Hannah truly
was glad. “Do you have time to come eat some lunch with us? We were going to do
a quick Bible study outside then make sandwiches for the men and us.” Hannah
could see a deep loneliness in Daisy’s eyes. “Please?”

Daisy looked at Hannah’s dress, the blue gingham jumper. “I
see the clothes are fitting?”

Hannah nodded but kept what she hoped were puppy-dog eyes
trained on her friend. Buckling, Daisy nodded. Gleefully, Hannah hooked her arm
through Daisy’s and walked her friend up to her sisters.

“Hello, Mollie,” Rebecca greeted.

Naomi nodded at the girl. “Nice to see you again.”

Daisy dipped her chin in return and smiled self-consciously
at them.

Hannah squeezed her friend’s arm with warm invitation. “I
told Mollie we were going to do a quick study then go inside and get lunch
ready for everyone. She’s agreed to stay and help.”

“But I want to stay in the kitchen,” Daisy told them quickly.
“I don’t want any of the men to see me.”

“Well, for our study why don’t we go sit by the fire pit?”
Naomi suggested as she stood up. “There are more seats.”

The group moved and as they settled down on the makeshift log
seats, Hannah prayed for a Scripture that might speak to Daisy. Instead, questions
came to mind.

“Mollie, how long did you say you’ve worked for Mr.
McIntyre?”

“A year and a half. Originally I thought I would stay for a
year, long enough to save up stagecoach money to go home to Kansas.”

The answer seemed to beg for follow-up so Hannah didn’t feel
too intrusive with another. “If you don’t mind me asking, then why are you
still there?”

Hannah saw Daisy suck in an almost imperceptible breath as
she stared in to the cold, blackened remnants of a fire. “After a while this
life,” the light died in her eyes, “it makes you feel so dirty and worthless.
Your spirit dies. I couldn’t go home now and face my mother.” She looked up
then. “I just couldn’t. She’d never understand how I can do what I do.” Daisy
shook her head. “She’d never forgive me.”

At first, Hannah was taken aback by Daisy’s honesty, but
obviously the girl felt comfortable enough to open up. Perhaps it was because
Hannah had been so forthright about her baby. Maybe here in this circle, she
knew she wasn’t judged.