Courting Miss Adelaide (20 page)

Charles shifted in his seat. “Is matchmaking a hobby of yours?”

She laughed. “I’m an incurable romantic. I believe love can overcome all obstacles.”

This woman lived in a make-believe world. “I have to disagree with you on that point. I’ve seen that love can’t resolve all obstacles, can even die if problems are severe.”

She waggled a finger at him. “Perhaps in that case, there hadn’t been true love in the first place.”

Charles frowned. Perhaps his parents had married for the wrong reasons. Still, how could a man know if he were truly in love? “Yes, well, you could be right. It’s impossible to judge.”

“No, it isn’t impossible. Nothing is impossible.” She glanced down at their cups. “My, goodness, I think a refill is in order. I’ll be right back.”

Charles stared after Mrs. Larson. If only…

He mustn’t let this woman override his logic. He knew life held impossible situations, unworkable relationships. Things he wasn’t meant to have.

Like Adelaide Crum.

Chapter Thirteen

F
rances’s hazel eyes went wide with alarm. She took a firm hold on Adelaide’s arm, determined to show her out.

“I’m not leaving. I want to ask him about William coming—”

“No, don’t.” She let go of Adelaide’s arm. “I’ll, ah, I’ll go ask him.”

Frances scurried to meet her husband, with every step her limp grew more pronounced. As Adelaide watched, Frances gestured toward the house. Ed’s face went from calm to angry. He pushed past her, leaving his wife to struggle along behind.

Adelaide braced herself, refusing to give in to the icy fingers of terror snatching at her belly. She sent up a prayer for assistance. A blessed sense of calm settled over her.

Ed clomped up the wooden steps onto the porch and burst through the door, his face contorted into a scowl.

Any man who could harm a child had to be stopped. Adelaide believed Ed Drummond to be such a man. Frances came through the door and joined her husband.

“You want the boy, too, is that it?” he demanded.

“No, I—”

“You’ve got the girl. You aren’t getting the boy. No one’s getting another boy of mine.”

What was he talking about? He made it sound as if she’d taken Emma from them. “I only want William to spend some time with his sister. She misses him.”

Ed shook his head. “Get yourself a husband and have your own children. Stop trying to get mine.”

She raised her chin. “Then stop treating them badly.”

He stomped closer until he stood over her, the odor of sweat clinging to his clothes. “Who said I hurt children?”

“Are you?”

Crimson dotted his cheeks. “Until I lost—” He swallowed and narrowed his gaze. “I’m doing the best I can. Leave my children and my wife alone.”

“I’m only asking William to visit his sister one night.” Adelaide marveled at the steadiness of her voice.

“If Emma wants to be with William, she’ll come back where she belongs.”

“I talked with William’s teacher. He’s missing school. You’re breaking the agreement with the Children’s Aid Society.”

“Until the crops are in, I need William in the fields.” Ed folded his arms across his chest. “I’m teaching him the importance of work and of obedience, like my father taught me.” He unfolded his arms and pointed a finger in her direction. “You have no idea who I am. What me and the missus have been through.” He tugged Frances close. “I mean to take care of what’s mine.”

“If any harm comes to William, I’ll contact the sheriff.”

He shot her a glare, then faced Frances. “You’d better not have asked that meddler here.”

Frances shook her head. “She came on her own, Ed. I swear.”

“She’s not to step foot in this house again.”

“I won’t let her in. She didn’t mean nothing by it.”

Ed pushed open the screen door, and then turned to face Adelaide. “Enjoy Emma while you can. I aim to have my family back together.” He smiled an odd, secretive smile that didn’t reach his eyes, then stalked across the yard.

“You shouldn’t have said those things,” Frances whispered. “You upset him.”

If this visit set the wheels in motion for losing Emma, Adelaide didn’t know how she’d bear it. She’d been foolish to run ahead. Why hadn’t she prayed about the situation? Adelaide swung around to face Frances. “Tell the sheriff what your husband is like.”

Frances looked at her blankly, then sank into a chair, weariness settling on her face. “Give Emma a kiss.”

Adelaide bent down beside her and touched her arm. “Come home with me.”

She shook her head. “He’d only come after me and blame you for my going. He’ll simmer down.”

“Please, I can’t leave you here.”

“Ed needs me. You don’t understand what he’s been through.” She pulled herself to her feet and walked to the sink. First she picked up a knife, then a potato and peeled it. “I’ve got dinner to fix.”

Adelaide couldn’t drag Frances out of her home. If Ed was abusing his family, fear or some kind of misguided loyalty would keep her at his side.

“Adelaide.”

“Yes.”

“You made Ed mad. The more he thinks about it, the madder he’ll get. Don’t dawdle. Tell Emma William sends his love.”

Not looking up, Frances nodded. Though it pained her to do it, Adelaide hurried out the door, leaving her classmate behind.

Clearly Frances blamed herself for the tragedies in her family—perhaps the main reason she wouldn’t leave.

Had Ed Drummond been responsible for the death of his only child? Had his wife and mother-in-law known it and been afraid to tell the sheriff? Or perhaps, after tragically losing those they loved, both the Drummonds had lost their minds.

Adelaide untied the reins and climbed into the buggy. She looked back at the small, faded farmhouse, the wood leeched by the sun. “The house of death” Frances had called it, and it looked that way.

Please, God, protect Frances and William.

No one could make her bring Emma back here after her visit today. She’d find a way to get William out of there, too.

As she took up the reins, her hands trembled. What if Ed insisted on Emma’s return? Perspiration beaded her forehead. She would do anything to keep Emma and William safe.

Anything.

Slapping the reins on Shadow’s back, she drove out of the barnyard, a cloud of dust kicking up behind as the horse clipped along. Her mind drifted to the encounter with Ed. A pheasant flew low in front of the buggy, catching the horse unaware. Before Adelaide could react, Shadow shied and bolted, ripping the reins from her hands. The reins flapped against the horse’s back, out of reach. Up ahead she saw a sharp turn.

“Whoa!” But the spooked horse didn’t hear. Shadow didn’t slow. Adelaide held on with both hands.

Rounding the bend too fast, the right back wheel slid off the road. Adelaide screamed. The buggy tipped dangerously, and then righted, only to slam against a rock. Wood cracked and the buggy lurched, almost throwing her from the seat. The weight of the buggy got the horse’s attention and Shadow slowed, coming to a winded halt beneath an elm tree.

Heart pounding, Adelaide scampered down to survey the damage. The wheel tilted outward and the buggy sat at a precarious angle. She peered beneath the buggy. “Oh, no.”

Something had broken. This buggy was going nowhere and neither was she.

She looked up and down the road, but saw no one. She didn’t dare ask the Drummonds for help. She’d walk to the Tulley farm.

At a distant shout, her head snapped up. In the field next to her, Ed Drummond hurried across his acreage. Before she could move, he broke into a run.

“God, help me.”

Remembering Frances’s warning, Adelaide raced to the horse and with shaky fingers clawed at the buckles of the thick leather straps on Shadow’s back and the front of the buggy. They stuck, then gave way with a jerk. She worked to free the poles holding the lathered horse in place. At last, they fell away.

Holding tight to the leather strap on Shadow’s head, as the horse pranced nervously beside her, she glanced over her shoulder. Her heart stuttered in her chest. Ed was getting closer, maybe a hundred yards away.

No time to remove all the pieces of leather. She tugged, yanking the reins free, and then looked again. Ed—fifty yards away and closing the distance fast.

Adelaide ran to the side of the buggy, pulling, coaxing the horse nearer, her fear of the man greater than her fear of the animal. Hanging on to the reins, she scrambled aboard the conveyance and thrust out a leg.

The animal sidestepped away from her rustling skirts. “Please, Shadow, let me get on.” Ed ran hard, but Adelaide kept her voice soothing.

As if the horse understood her plight, on her second attempt, Shadow stood motionless. She threw a leg over his back and pulled herself upright. She bunched up the long reins in her hands and held tight to the padded belt encircling the horse’s back. Praying Shadow wouldn’t get tangled up in all the loose straps hanging from him, she clicked to the horse. He started off slowly.
Too slowly.

She glanced back. Ed stretched out his arms, ready to grab her. She kicked Shadow’s flanks. “Move, Shadow! Move!”

The horse sprang to life beneath her. A death grip on the belt, she slid backward, but hung on, and they galloped up the road as Ed jumped the ditch, shouting obscenities. Over her shoulder, she saw him, fist raised toward her, standing amidst the dust stirred up by Shadow’s hooves.

Minutes later, with Ed out of sight, Adelaide slowed the horse, sagged against his neck and thanked God for keeping her safe and for Shadow. The horse had accepted his passenger, dragging gear and all, and hadn’t caused her one whit of trouble, a blessing because she had no more heroics left.

She slipped into town by the back streets. A few passersby gawked as she rode past. Back straight, she nodded as if riding bareback through town dragging leather occurred every day.

With the livery in sight, she thought she’d made it without discovery, but then Charles exited the wooden building. He gaped and ran to her, taking hold of Shadow’s bridle, bringing the animal to a halt. “Addie, are you all right? What happened?”

She couldn’t very well say where she’d been. “I had a problem with the buggy I rented. The wheel broke so I rode the horse back to the livery.”

“You rode a
horse? Bareback?
” His normally chiseled jaw hung slack. “Dragging that leather, you could have been hurt.”

“Well, I wasn’t.” It gave her satisfaction to see the amazement in Charles’s eyes, and maybe a dash of admiration, too.

He gestured. “Climb down. I’ll ride the horse in for you.”

Adelaide lifted her chin. “I’m doing fine on my own.”

He frowned. “Why were you out in a buggy alone?”

“Don’t you have things to do at the paper?”

He took a step back. “You’re a stubborn woman, Adelaide Crum,” he grumbled as she clicked to the horse and rode past. “And adept at avoiding my questions.”

Pretending she hadn’t heard, Adelaide rode to the stable door. The freckle-faced lad stopped in his tracks, squinting into the noonday sun. “Sakes alive! What happened?”

“If you’ll give me a hand down, young man, I’ll explain.”

Dropping the water buckets he carried, he ran to her side, probably faster than he’d moved in his entire life. Adelaide slid off the horse, right into his arms. By the time her feet hit the ground, his face matched his carrot-red hair.

Needlelike pain shot through her legs, and they almost buckled beneath her, but she remained on her feet. Peeling off her gloves, Adelaide explained what had happened. “I’m sorry about the buggy. It’s out on Conner Road.” She smoothed her skirts. “I’ll pay for the damages, of course.”

“Probably an axle. I’ll tell the boss.”

Adelaide nodded. “I’ll be sure and tell Mr. Lemming how considerate you’ve been.”

Except for a small rip in the seam of her skirt, she looked no worse for her experience. Walking home, every step sent an ache through her backside and up her limbs. Still a tiny thrill of pleasure slid through her. She’d managed to escape Ed Drummond, had ridden a horse—without a saddle, at that—and had even impressed Charles.

When she reached the back of her shop, Adelaide stopped short, her heart pounding in her chest. There on the brick in red capital letters and dripping like blood, someone had painted: YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT MOUTH.

The threat, still damp to the touch, hadn’t been there when she left this morning. That meant Ed Drummond could not have penned it. Who had? Who wanted to scare her?

Perhaps someone angry about her stand on suffrage had done this.

Then she remembered Jacob Paul’s icy stare when she’d caught him setting that fire a few weeks back. Could it be Jacob, a boy she’d once had in Sunday school?

Inside her shop, Adelaide could barely keep up with Laura’s chatter. Normally she loved her friend’s chitchat and would want every detail of her visit with Charles, but today she needed time alone, time to think about the meaning of those words in the alley. But most of all on what she should do next about Ed Drummond. What would he have done if he’d caught her? She shivered.

With God’s help she’d get William out of that house, maybe Frances, too.

“Adelaide, you look worried to death.” Laura’s voice cut into her thoughts. “I didn’t say
that
much to Mr. Graves.”

“What?” Adelaide gave Laura’s arm a squeeze. “Oh, I’m sure you didn’t. Would you mind staying this afternoon? I forgot some pressing business.”

“Is something wrong? You aren’t yourself.”

“I’ve let some things slide and now that you’re here, I’d like to tend to them. Can you stay?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be back in time to pick up Emma from school.”

“It’s only a few blocks. Why not let her walk alone?”

“No, I couldn’t.” Adelaide realized too late how sharp her tone had been. “I like to get her myself.”

Laura’s brow furrowed.

Adelaide patted Laura’s arm. “Thanks for looking after things.”

Adelaide grabbed her bag and rushed out the front door, turning right toward the sheriff’s office. Dodging a group of men quibbling over who owned the best hunting dog, she hurried to her destination.