Deborah Camp (20 page)

“By the way she responds to my kisses.” Theo grinned at Eric’s wide eyes and slack mouth. “That’s right, cuz. I’ve been courting the lady and she hasn’t exactly spurned my advances.”

“That’s not how it was at the picnic, Theo. She was running away from you and she begged me to take her home.”

“She wasn’t running from me. She was running from her past.”

“What about her past?”

“Nothing.”

“Theo, what about—”

“It’s
her
past, Eric. I don’t have any right to tell you about her. Ask her if you want to know.”

“But you know something about her?”

“A little. She’s private about her past. That day at the picnic I pressed her, tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn’t. We argued and she ran.” He escaped to his office, but Eric was on his heels.

“I just don’t want you behaving badly toward her because of some misplaced anger.”

Theo sat behind his desk. “Misplaced anger? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Your mother and father, that’s what. Don’t take your anger out on Regina.”

Theo pulled a stack of legal forms closer to examine them while he wrestled with his temper. “Eric, you’re out of line. I have work to do, so excuse me.”

Eric shrugged. “Regina’s a nice girl, Theo.”

“I noticed.”

“Just be careful not to hurt her.”

“You sound as if you’re sweet on her yourself, but I happen to know it’s her sister-in-law who’s caught your fancy.”

“Lu Beck is married.”

“So?” Theo looked up from the document before him. “Her husband’s a drunk and a nuisance.”

“But he’s still her husband.”

“Yes, but for how much longer and what are you going to do about it?”

Eric gathered in a deep breath and released it with a husky chuckle. “Oh, no, you don’t.” He waved his hands in front of him to ward off Theo’s barrage of questions. “We were talking about you and Regina, not about me and Mrs. Beck.”

“Lu,” Theo said, grinning. “I believe you call her Lu when you two are alone together.”

“We’re never alone together. Annie is always with us.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Theo winked. “A little girl makes a formidable chaperone.”

“You win, Counselor, I’m going to my own office.” Eric hurried out the door and across the hall.

Swiveling in the chair to face the oval window, Theo stared at the blue sky and congratulated himself on shaking off Eric’s pestering references to his parents. Theo withdrew his mother’s letter from his jacket pocket and read it again.

     Dear Theodore,

           Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Cal send regards. I’m staying with them and getting in a nice visit. I came here to hear Carry Nation speak. She’s magnificent. Which brings me to the reason I’m writing.

           Aunt Dorothy tells me that you are representing some saloon owner bent on ruining Mrs. Nation. Why, Theo? I know you think I’m throwing myself into the W.C.T.U. because of what happened to your father. It’s true, your father’s death was the impetus for me. However, the more I learn about the problems associated with open saloons, the more I know that I must do something. I can only wonder how you can remain so aloof.

           Are you so angry with me for finding other interests that you are blinded to Mrs. Nation’s contributions? Cal says you’re honor-bound as an attorney to defend the saloon owner. If only you could hear Mrs. Nation speak. She’s so eloquent and forceful. I wish your father could have heard what she has to say. Her words might have saved his life.

           I didn’t approve of your father’s decision, but I went along as his wife. My days of being
a wife are, sadly, over—have been for three years. I was so lost and alone after your father’s death, but now I have a new purpose. You say I’m obsessed. Perhaps I am. Be glad for me, son.

           Theo, don’t let your heart crust over with bitterness. If you must side against Mrs. Nation, so be it. But let’s not allow this to come between us. I love you. I need you.

As always,

Your loving Mother

Theo folded the letter and placed it in the top drawer of his desk. For a long time he stared at the blue sky and thought of bygone days when his parents had been the center of his happy world. Had he allowed a crust to grow over his heart as his mother had implied? And what of Eric’s charge that he might be venting his anger through his dealings with Regina?

“Regina.” Just the sound of her name made him smile. “The Wild Irish Rose.”

Oh, she had been something! He remembered lusting for her when he’d watched her on stage at the Gold Star Saloon. Her voice had made him quiver deep inside. It still did, but in a different way. She was no longer the unreachable songbird. He could touch her now, kiss her, hold her close to his beating heart.

A wry smile slanted across his mouth. And she, in turn, could slap him, yell at him, and run from him.

A restlessness stirred in him and he stood to pace the length of his office. Enough games! He had teased her and taunted her and tried to melt her resistance. It seemed that every time he made headway, she erected a new wall for him to climb.

He might have been able to forget her a few weeks ago, before he had remembered her from the Gold Star; before the cotillion, when she’d taken his breath away; before the picnic, when her kisses had taken him to new heights of pleasure. But he couldn’t turn away from her now. She was awash in his blood and the mistress of his imaginings. He had to know her, had to have her in every way.

“Obsessed,” he said, recalling his mother’s letter. He laughed, the irony not lost on him. “Like mother, like son.”

“I
t’s a woman’s nature to cling,” Lu said, trying to describe her feelings to the three men seated in the parlor of Mrs. Nation’s house. “That’s why it hurts so badly when I hear someone suggest that we’ve abandoned our husbands and our homes.” She absently stroked her daughter’s hair. Annie slumped against her mother on the settee, eyes closed, her breathing deep and slumberous.

“What do you mean—cling?” Theo Dane asked, propping one elbow on the fireplace mantel and crossing his legs at the ankles. “Like a vine?” His smile was gently teasing.

“More like one clings to a treasure, Mr. Dane.” Lu returned his smile, but hers held a hint of sadness. “Women hold tight to things that mean something to them. It’s against our natures to let go, don’t you see? That’s why it’s absolutely ridiculous for anyone to suggest that a woman would blithely walk away from her husband, her home, all that is so dear to her. Why, leaving my husband was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life! Staying with him would have been the easier road to travel. I might have suffered through a lifetime of that misery if it weren’t for my Annie. She deserves better.” Lu glanced at her child and
laughed softly. “And it seems that I’ve kept her up past her bedtime.”

“Let me take her upstairs,” Joy offered, reaching for the child.

“I can’t bother you for that, Joy,” Lu said.

“It’s no bother.” Joy lifted Annie into her arms. “I’ve got to tuck in my two wild Indians, too, so I’ll say good evening to you gentlemen.”

“And what about you, Mrs. Frederick?” Eric said, leaning forward in the upholstered armchair. “How did you hear about Mrs. Nation’s home?”

“I read about it in the newspaper,” Bitsy said, waving good night to Joy. “I was having a heap of trouble with my husband and I tore out the article. I figured that if worse came to worst, I could head for Eureka Springs.” Bitsy let go a bitter laugh. “Well, gents, worse came quick as a bunny. It does that when a man takes hard to drinking. In no time a’tall, life ain’t worth livin’ when you got to live it around a drunkard.”

“Bitsy was black and blue when she arrived,” Regina recalled. “She lived way up in the Missouri Ozarks and she’d walked most of the way.”

“I was afraid to accept rides from strangers,” Bitsy explained. “And I looked such a sight, I didn’t figure decent folks would stop and pick me up anyway.”

Stu cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. “Your husband beat you?”

“Toward the end, yeah. That’s what made me decide to leave. I thought he might just kill me someday.” Bitsy nodded at Lu. “She’s right about it takin’ courage to leave. I wanted to help my husband and I hated to leave him to himself and his poor old mama, but I couldn’t tolerate it no longer. He wasn’t gettin’ any better and I didn’t know what I could do for him. He was a sweet old
thing when I married him, but on the day I left, he was a dragon! I didn’t hardly know him.”

“Yes, they become strangers,” Lu added, her voice husky, her eyes glassy as if she were in a daze. She blinked and forced a smile to her lips. “That’s what makes this place such a haven.” She gestured to encompass the cozy parlor. “To have a safe place to go is so important. Mrs. Nation is the most generous person I’ve ever met.”

“Why did she pick up this cause?” Stu asked. “Was Mr. Nation a drunkard?”

“Oh, no,” Regina said, shaking her head. “But Mrs. Nation’s first husband, a doctor, became one. It broke Mrs. Nation’s heart to watch such a fine man wither before her eyes. He died in her arms, a shrunken shadow of what he once had been.”

“Where is her second husband?” Stu asked.

“He and Mrs. Nation are …” Regina swallowed her reluctance. “Well, they’re divorced.”

“Did her obsession ruin her marriage?” Theo asked with a knowing smirk. “Must be hard for a man to love a woman with an ax in her hand.”

Regina sent him a hard glance and sensed the others in the room extending their glares of disapproval.

“Theodore, we shouldn’t accept a lady’s hospitality by spitting in her face,” Eric said, his tone sharp. “This is Mrs. Nation’s home and she’s not here to defend herself.”

Theo bowed. “My apologies. My little joke seems to have fallen flat.”

“Yes, just like your head,” Regina retorted, and didn’t care that she’d shocked the others. For his part, Theo laughed heartily, encouraging Stu and Eric to join in.

“Regina, you should be ashamed,” Lu said, but her eyes held sparkles of amusement.

“Why should Mr. Dane be the only one here to attempt a joke?”

“Why, indeed,” Theo agreed.

“I hope this visit has served our purpose,” Lu said, getting back to the evening’s theme. “We believe that most people don’t understand what this home is and what it does for those in need.”

“And not only for drunkards’ wives either,” Bitsy added. “We had seven extra for dinner tonight. Those folks wouldn’t have had a bite to eat if Mrs. Nation didn’t provide for them.”

“Either that or they might be forced to steal food,” Lu said. “I believe we eliminate more problems than we create.”

“And I believe you might be right,” Eric said. “How many do you usually have at supper each evening?”

“Anywhere from six to fourteen or fifteen,” Bitsy answered. “In the winter sometimes there are twenty or more. Isn’t that right, Regina?”

“Yes. One Christmas Mrs. Nation served supper to thirty-two hungry souls. Jebidiah told me about it. Mrs. Nation doesn’t blow her own horn much and that’s why people aren’t aware of her generosity.”

“Who cooked the meal we ate tonight?” Stu asked.

“All of us,” Regina said, but Lu shook her head.

“Not entirely true,” Lu said. “Regina did most of it. The rest of us stirred the pots and set the table.”

“Miss Rose is a lady of many talents,” Theo observed, and his gaze drifted to Mrs. Nation’s pipe organ. “Does anyone play that thing?”

“Mrs. Nation,” Regina said, then hurried to talk of something else for fear Theo would ask her to sing and perhaps even bring up her past. “I received
a letter from her today. She should be returning soon.”

“Yes, the trial date is in two weeks,” Theo reminded them.

Eric cleared his throat. “Too bad we have that unpleasant business facing us. I hope it won’t damage the friendship we’ve built.” He looked pointedly at Lu.

“I hope so, too,” Lu said.

“I don’t see why we can’t remain friendly, no matter what the verdict is regarding Mrs. Nation.” Stu stretched his arms over his head and winked at Bitsy. “You ladies didn’t put her up to going into that saloon, swinging that ax.”

“That’s right,” Eric agreed. “You had nothing to do with that business.”

“Nothing, except that we stand behind her
and
her actions,” Regina said, and sensed the mood in the room change dramatically. It was as if the men had blown a bubble of hope and she had pricked it. Even Lu, usually so staunchly behind Mrs. Nation, seemed unhappy with Regina’s assertion.

“You don’t mean to say that you approve of Mrs. Nation destroying private property,” Theo challenged.

“I believe one must do whatever it takes to get some people’s attention. If an ax will do it, so be it. That event certainly opened some eyes.”

“Yes, and it certainly made some people believe that Mrs. Nation is as crazy as a bedbug,” Theo added with a smirk. “Not that some people needed proof of that.”

“Her actions were a bit rash,” Lu said, almost whispering. She winced when Regina glared at her. “Well, Regina, you must admit that she went too far that night. Mr. Dane is correct in saying that she caused many people to think she’s unstable. That kind of display only makes Harriet
Hampf seem all the more right about Mrs. Nation.”

“She won’t be doing anybody any good in jail,” Stu said. “And that’s where she’ll end up if she keeps breaking the law. Don’t get me wrong,” he added, when Regina opened her mouth to lambaste him, “I think she’s doing her fellow man a good turn here, but she can’t go around smashing saloons and expect to get away with it.”

“Since she’s not here to defend herself, I’ll say only this in her behalf.” Regina sat straight, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Liquor and the sale of liquor have never served any useful purpose.”

“I must disagree,” Theo said, leaning back against the mantel. “The sale of liquor is a thriving business, and a man can have a drink without getting drunk. A good wine enhances any meal. A sip of brandy is better than many desserts—and better for you, I believe. A shot of whiskey has dulled many a sharp pain. Why, my own mother fixed a hot toddy for my sore throat when I was only ten! The problem with Mrs. Nation
and
with you, Miss Rose, is that you carry everything to extremes. Just because there are some who bend their elbows too often doesn’t mean we should do away with all liquor and make everyone suffer.”