Deborah Camp (19 page)

“Bitsy, you didn’t!” Lu said, her eyes wide with alarm.

“Sure I did.” Bitsy glanced toward Joy to share a quick smile. “And he said he wouldn’t sign neither if I’d do my dance right then and there.”

“Sounds like something Theo Dane would say,” Regina noted, then eyed Bitsy’s preening smile. “Anyway, I want to see this petition and ask the Hampfs if they’ve lost their senses.”

“I wouldn’t bully them, dear,” Lu said.

“We’ve tried to be pleasant and nice and neighborly,” Regina pointed out. “None of that has worked. Maybe we should show our claws for a change.”

“Yeah,” Bitsy agreed, hooking her fingers and striking like a cat. “Let the fur fly!”

“Bitsy, please,” Lu scolded. “Don’t encourage her. Be calm, Regina. Don’t let your anger get the best of you.”

“I will, I will.” Regina pulled on her gloves. “Now quit fussing over me as if I’m prone to fits of rage.” She glanced at the women and then past them to where Jebidiah stood in the doorway. “Where’s Adelaide this morning?”

Jebidiah ducked his woolly head. The others stepped back from Regina, suddenly reluctant to converse. Regina propped her hands at her hips and waited for someone to speak.

“Well?” she asked. “Is someone going to tell me or must I guess?”

“She done gone,” Jebidiah muttered. “She took her baby and herself back to her husband.”

“When did this happen?”

“Earlier this mawnin’,” Jebidiah said.

“Has her husband been here?” Regina asked.

Jebidiah shook his grizzled head.

“She’s been visiting him,” Joy spoke up. “None of us knew that until this morning, right before she took off back home. I would have come over and woke you up if I thought you could talk her into any different frame of mind, but I knew it wouldn’t do no good. She believes her man has
turned over a new leaf. She wants to believe it, so nobody’s going to change her mind about it.”

Regina sighed. “Well, I hope her husband is made of strong stuff and stays away from the saloons. If not, she’ll be back.”

“Least that’s one mouth less to feed,” Jebidiah said. “But I’ll sorely miss that baby boy. He growed on me.”

“Well, I’m off.” Regina walked briskly to the front door. “Jebidiah, will you drive me?”

“Yes, Miz Rose.” Jebidiah hustled out ahead of her and climbed onto the buggy seat. He took up the reins and waited for Regina to settle beside him. “Get up there, Gardenia.”

Regina waved to the other women. She tilted her bonnet forward a little to shield her face from the sun. The clip-clop of Gardenia’s hooves sounded loudly on the silent street. As the buggy neared the end of the lane, Regina could heard the sounds of town—voices, harnesses jingling, hooves thumping, wagons creaking. It was Monday and it looked as if everyone had business to conduct. The general store was doing a brisk business, with buggies and wagons parked side by side in front of it. The blacksmith’s overflowed with horses to be shoed and buggies to be repaired. As their buggy passed several spas, Regina could see people inside.

“This here place gets busier and busier,” Jebidiah observed, having to slow Gardenia to a leisurely walk because of the congested main street.

“It’s the mineral water and the cures offered.”

“Sure are a lot of sick folks.”

“Or people who think they’re sick. Some of them are lazy, I imagine, and just want to avoid work.”

Jebidiah chuckled. “And some of them like them massages and the pretty girls giving them.”

Regina poked Jebidiah in the ribs with her elbow. “Hush that talk. How do you know about such things, anyway?”

“Alls I know is whats I hear.”

Regina spotted a familiar figure and sat straighter on the buggy seat. “There’s Harriet Hampf coming out of Theo Dane’s office. Pull over, Jebidiah, and park this thing. I’m getting out.”

“Wait just a minute, Miz Rose.” Jebidiah tugged on the reins. “I gots to find a place to park first. This here town is busier than a beehive. Whoa there, Gardenia. Don’t you go prancing like some parade horse.”

“Pull over there in front of the bank,” Regina said, pointing to the spot. “There’s room, isn’t there?”

“Barely.” Jebidiah urged Gardenia toward the hitching post. The horse shied in the close quarters between a frisky saddled mare and a draft horse hitched to a dray. “Settle yourself, hoss. Ain’t nobody gonna mess with you. Them hosses are minding their own bizness.” Jebidiah offered one hand to Regina. “You go on and I’ll stay here with this here fidgety hoss, Miz Rose. You don’t needs me to go with you, do you?”

Regina sent him a chiding smile. “Stay put, Jebidiah. I won’t be long.” She accepted his helping hand and climbed down to the street. Lifting her skirts a fraction, she moved across the dusty ground toward the offices of Carmichael and Dane. Harriet Hampf was nowhere in sight, so Regina went into the lawyers’ offices. She didn’t expect anyone to be in the outer office and was surprised to find not only Theo and Eric there but also Sheriff Stu. She imagined they’d all been visiting
with Harriet Hampf and had signed her insipid petition.

“Miss Regina,” Sheriff Stu greeted her. “Aren’t you looking lovely this morning.”

“From the frown on your face, I take it this isn’t a social call,” Theo said around a thin cheroot. He narrowed his eyes against the curling smoke.

“I saw Harriet Hampf leave here. I suppose you all signed her misguided petition.” She looked at each in turn, but her gaze lingered on Theo. Her heart begged him to contradict her.

“We read it,” Stu said.

“But we didn’t sign it,” Eric hastened to add.

“Yet,” Theo tacked on.

“Theodore,” Eric said, his voice low. “Don’t.”

Regina stepped closer, anger fueling her. “You aren’t seriously considering signing that document, are you? What does it say? What reasons does it list for closing the boardinghouse?”

“How did you hear about it?” Stu asked.

“The whole town is talking about it. The reasons,” Regina persisted. “What are the reasons?”

“It says the boardinghouse attracts an unwanted element into town,” Eric said, frowning. “And something about encouraging the dissolution of marriages.”

“What?” Regina gasped. “What kind of rubbish is that?”

“Now, Miss Regina,” Stu said. “Only yesterday I had to deal with an irate husband. Seems you were keeping Mr. Smith from his wife, Adelaide, and his baby boy.”

“I wasn’t keeping anyone from anyone. Mrs. Smith came to the house of her own volition and she left in the same manner. We fed her and tended to her wounds, wounds inflicted by Mr. Smith himself. Mrs. Smith was afraid her husband might beat the baby next.”

Stu’s eyes bugged out. “Beat a baby? Why, I don’t believe he’d do that.”

“And I suppose you don’t believe he’d do harm to his wife either,” Regina charged. “I guess she put those bruises on her body all by herself just to get attention and make folks feel sorry for her.”

“Now I didn’t say that,” Stu objected. “You’re putting words in my mouth, Miss Regina, and I don’t cotton much to it. I don’t know what’s been going on in the Smith house, and neither do you. What I
do
know is that I’ve been called to that boardinghouse on occasion to calm down some poor husband who’s trying to get his wife to come home where she belongs.”

“And slapping down any woman who gets in his way,” Theo reminded the sheriff in a cutting tone. “The women in that boardinghouse aren’t being kept there against their wills, Stu, and anyone barging in there without an invitation is a trespasser.” He stepped to the door and flicked the cheroot outside, then faced them again. “However, sometimes do-gooders do more harm than good. Did you want something, Miss Rose? Or have you stopped in merely to give us a tongue-lashing?”

Regina considered his words and decided he was attempting to remain neutral. The mule-headedness in her decided that wasn’t acceptable. She wanted him on her side, come what may. “Before you gentlemen sign that petition, I believe you should know more about the boardinghouse, firsthand.”

“And how would we accomplish that?” Eric asked.

“By accepting an invitation to dinner there. You shouldn’t be so hasty to drum Mrs. Nation out of town, and I think you’ll see that, once you observe for yourself the good work done in her home. Even the churches here don’t feed the homeless or
those down on their luck, but Mrs. Nation’s door is always open to them. And yes, we board wives who have left their husbands. Where else can women and children go when the men in their lives drown in liquor?”

“Their relatives,” Stu suggested. “Keep it in the family, I say.”

“Providing the family will or can take you in,” Regina said. “Won’t you visit the boardinghouse before you hasten its closing?”

“When?” Theo asked.

“When?” Regina echoed.

“Tonight,” Theo said.

“Tonight?” Regina squeaked.

“No, no,” Eric said, coming to her rescue. “Not on such short notice, Theo. Let’s be fair. Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. How about the day after that?”

“That’s fine with me,” Theo said, and his smile dared her.

“Me, too,” Regina said. “I’ll expect you three gentlemen at six o’clock sharp. That’s when we open our doors to all in need. You, of course, will be our special guests.”

“It will be our pleasure. May we bring something?” Eric asked.

“Wine, perhaps?” Theo’s dimples poked at his lean cheeks. “Or brandy for an after-dinner drink?”

“Theo,” Eric said, groaning.

“Just bring yourselves and open minds.” Regina headed for the door, but paused to toss a smile over her shoulder at them. “That will be a tall enough order for the three of you, I’m sure.”

Theo saluted her. After she’d gone, he noticed Eric’s frowning disapproval. “Now what have I done?”

“Why must you always be so rude to her?”

“Rude? Come on, Eric. I was teasing her.” Theo batted a hand at him. “She left smiling, didn’t she?”

“Because she has a good heart and certainly not because of anything you said to her.”

“I’ve got to be going,” Stu said, sidling toward the door. “Oh, I plumb forgot why I came in here in the first place.” He withdrew two envelopes from his back pocket. “I stopped at the post office for my mail. There was some there for you two, so I volunteered to bring it.”

“Thanks, Stu.” Eric took the mail from him.

“I’ll drop around that night and we’ll go over to that boardinghouse together.”

“Fine. See you then, Stu,” Eric said, shaking his hand. “This might prove to be very interesting.”

“Yeah, might be. At least I’ll get a home-cooked meal.” Chuckling, he let himself out onto the street.

Eric glanced at the envelopes. “One for you and one for me. I hope this is a bank draft from Mr. Ferguson for that will I drew up for him last month. Is that a letter from your mother?”

Theo nodded and sniffed the envelope. “Lavender. It must be Mother.” He looked at the postmark. “She’s in Lawrence, Kansas. She must be visiting your folks.”

“She does a fair amount of traveling these days.” Eric waved a bank draft and grinned. “Mr. Ferguson came through.”

“Good for you,” Theo rejoined, his attention captured by his mother’s lacy scrawl. He moaned softly at one bit of news. “She’s staying with Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Cal, but she’s also in Lawrence to attend some kind of rally.”

“W.C.T.U. rally, I take it.”

“Yes, what else?” He folded the letter and stuffed it back into the envelope. “When is she going
to tire of that? She’s becoming downright rabid.”

“Now, Theodore, you don’t really think she’ll quit being interested all of a sudden.”

“And why not? She grew weary of potting and gardening and quilting soon enough.”

“But this isn’t a pastime for her, Theo. This is personal. She’s committed to it. I thought you’d have realized that by now. She’ll never give up her work with the W.C.T.U.”

“Yes, she will.” Theo glared out the window while his mind displayed a vision of his stately mother marching down the middle of Main Street, America, waving a placard and wearing that fiercely stubborn frown that she’d cultivated over the past three years. Three years! Maybe Eric was right. Maybe she wasn’t going to become bored with her speeches and marches and whatnot. After all, it had been three whole years.

“Dear Aunt Bea has even reached my mother,” Eric said, tucking the bank draft into his vest pocket. “I wrote to Mother about the
Tom Wilson versus Carry Nation
case and she wrote back to urge me to be lenient with Mrs. Nation.”

Frowning, Theo shook his head. “Women.” His thoughts flew to Regina Rose, and the temptation to share his discovery of her past with Eric burned in him. His conscience won out. He wouldn’t tell. It was a stupid secret to keep, but it was hers, not his. He saw Harriet Hampf march across the street and go into the dry goods store. The tall, thin woman wore her usual expression—horseshoe frown, glinting eyes, and lowered brows. She always looked as if she was mad at the whole world. “Mrs. Hampf is certainly on the warpath.”

“Yes, but why? What has Mrs. Nation done to her to make Mrs. Hampf want to run her out of town?”

Theo chuckled. “Regina told me that Mrs. Nation took over Reverend Hampf’s sermon one day, and the missus didn’t like it one little bit. She’s hated Mrs. Nation ever since.”

“But is that reason enough to close down the boardinghouse?”

“No, of course not.”

“So you aren’t going to sign the petition?”

“Hell, no.”

Eric glanced sideways at Theo. “Then why didn’t you just say that to Regina? Why make her think you’re dead-set against her?”

“I’m not for or against anybody, Eric. I can’t afford to be involved in these petty fights. Not while I’m representing Wilson against Mrs. Nation. I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.”

“True, but why not explain it to Regina?”

“I have. She doesn’t want to listen.”

“Maybe if you weren’t so insolent toward her.”

“Maybe you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Theo shifted his gaze from the street to confront his cousin’s challenging glare. “This may come as a surprise to you, cuz, but Regina Rose happens to like me a great deal.”

“Ha! Yes, I am surprised, Theo. As a matter of fact, I’m flabbergasted. How did you arrive at this startling conclusion?”