Fire, The (10 page)

"You're beautiful," Kevin said.

"Thank you," Sadie said as redness swept over her face.

Kevin moved toward the naked woman but stopped after one step. He sensed that she was still very uncomfortable with the whole situation and wanted to give her some space.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

Sadie lifted her head and nodded.

Kevin smiled sympathetically. He regretted a lot of things he had done this day. He regretted consuming several glasses of whiskey and allowing Andy to talk him into visiting a whorehouse, of all places, but he didn't regret meeting Sadie. He would have paid five dollars just to have coffee with this gentle soul.

"That's OK," he said. "Is this your first day?"

Sadie gazed at Kevin for a few seconds before responding.

"It's my first time."

The revelation snapped Kevin out of a stupor.

"This is your first time with a man?"

Sadie nodded.

Kevin shook his head and turned away. He knew now that he couldn't follow through, not with this one. He couldn't fathom how she had managed to find herself in a place like this.

"What are you doing here? You don't belong."

Sadie looked at Kevin with eyes he couldn't read.

"I'm paying off a debt."

"You're paying a debt? To whom?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, it does matter," he said.

Kevin wasn't quite sure why it mattered, but it did. If nothing else, he wanted to have a chat with the cretin who put her up to this.

"Do you have other clothes you can wear, outside clothes?"

Sadie nodded.

"Go get them and put them on."

"Why?"

"Because we're not doing this."

"Don't you like me?"

Kevin laughed to himself. He loved this girl already.

"I like you, all right. I like you a lot. That's why I'm taking you out of here. Go get your clothes. Go get them now. Please."

Sadie opened her mouth and stared at Kevin with puzzled eyes but did as instructed. She threw on her nightgown and walked out the door. When she returned to the Franklin Room a few minutes later, she wore a simple white work dress.

"Do you have a coat?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"No problem. You can wear my mine."

Kevin lifted his suit jacket from the rack and helped the girl slip it on. When she was fully clothed, he stepped back and smiled. Sadie wouldn't win any fashion awards wearing a gray men's suit jacket over a white dress, but she still looked nice. She still looked beautiful.

"Are you ready?"

"I suppose," she said.

"Good."

Kevin grabbed Sadie's hand and led her through the hallway and down the stairs to the main floor, where several other couples walked to and from private rooms and a more public bar. He didn't see Andy but didn't really care. He'd have plenty of time to catch up with him later.

He glanced at Sadie and saw her look back with wide eyes. He could only imagine what was running through her mind.

"Do you have another place to stay?" Kevin asked.

"No," Sadie answered. "Not anymore."

"That's OK. I think I can fix that too."

Kevin retrieved her hand and led her down the corridor to the lobby, where Maggie and Jenny talked quietly and went over entries in a book. The women lifted their heads and smiled at Kevin as he pulled Sadie toward the reception desk.

"Well, that was quick," the madam said. "Did you enjoy yourself, Mr. Johnson?"

"I did. I enjoyed myself very much."

Kevin slapped a double eagle on the counter.

"Have a nice day, ladies."

"Thank you, Mr. Johnson, but Mr. O'Connell has already paid your fee."

"This isn't for my fee, Miss Ryan. This is for my conscience," Kevin said.

He looked at the women behind the desk and noted widely differing expressions. Maggie stared and frowned. Jenny stared and beamed.

Kevin tipped his hat at the madam and started to lead Sadie to the exit.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Johnson?" Maggie asked.

The frown on her face had turned to a scowl.

"It's real simple, ma'am," Kevin said with a smile. "I'm reducing your inventory."

CHAPTER 18: KEVIN

Kevin didn't waste a moment trying to right a wrong. After liberating the contents of his safe-deposit box, he escorted Sadie directly to the Intermountain Bank and attempted to retire her debt with seventy-five double eagles.

He had expected the process to go smoothly. He had expected to walk into the financial institution and pay off Henry Hawkins' outstanding balance in one fell swoop. He had not expected a difficult and time-consuming encounter with Preston Pierce. Three minutes into what should have been a straightforward conversation, communication broke down.

"What exactly is your interest in Miss Hawkins' affairs, Mr. Johnson?" the bank owner said from behind a large mahogany desk.

"That's really none of your business," Kevin said. "I understand that Sadie owes you fifteen hundred dollars and I intend to pay it in full."

"The arrangement I made with Miss Hawkins called for payments to be made, with interest, over the next twenty-two months," Pierce said.

Kevin looked at the short, slight, mustachioed man with growing contempt. He couldn't believe that Sarah had spent even five minutes with this creep.

"I understand the terms of this loan," Kevin said. "I also know that loans can be paid off early. If any interest has accrued this month, I'll pay that too. I have the money with me now. Let's get this over with."

"It's not that simple."

"Sure it is," Kevin said. "I pay you what she owes you and you let her get on with her life."

"I can tell from your breath that you've been drinking today, Mr. Johnson. I typically don't do business with men who are not in their right mind."

Kevin leaned forward and got in Pierce's face.

"Listen, mister. I know exactly what you're trying to do. You're trying to punish this girl for mistakes her father made and make a tidy sum on the side," he said angrily. "Well, I'm telling you now that that's not going to happen. I'm going to pay you now, you're going to draw up some papers, and we're all going to part a little wiser."

When the room got quiet, Kevin glanced to his left and saw two open-mouthed tellers. Their customers looked on with wide eyes. He then turned to his right and saw Sadie give Pierce a payback smile. She was clearly enjoying this. She had a right to enjoy this.

Kevin returned to Pierce in time to see his white-hot glare. He didn't care how mad he made the man. If he did nothing else in 1910, he would set this matter straight.

"Have I made myself clear, Mr. Pierce?"

"Indeed, you have, Mr. Johnson," the banker said tersely. "I'll get the papers now."

Kevin gave Pierce
seventy-six
eagles a few minutes later and guided a newly emancipated woman out the bank's front door and onto Sixth Street. He had never felt better.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that. Not all men are that way," he said as he stared blankly at a busy intersection.

Kevin adjusted his derby hat and straightened the collar of his shirt before returning his attention to Sadie. He saw her look back with adoring eyes.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"Thank you for helping me," she said. "No one has ever shown me such kindness. No one. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"You don't owe me a dime. You deserve a fresh start and now you have one. If you make the most of it, I'll consider our business complete."

"I will. I promise."

"Good. I insist on only one favor."

Sadie turned white.

"You want a favor?"

Kevin laughed to himself when he saw her face. Talk about a poor choice of words. He started to clarify the meaning of his statement when he decided instead to have some fun.

"Yeah, I want a favor – and I want it now."

"What . . . what do you want?" Sadie asked, drawing out each word.

"I want what every guy wants when he helps out a girl."

Sadie turned red.

"I want your company at dinner."

CHAPTER 19: SADIE

"So let me get this straight. Your name really is Sadie Hawkins?"

Sadie looked at Kevin with puzzled eyes and nodded.

"Is there anything wrong with that?"

Kevin laughed.

"No. It's a pretty name. I've just heard it before."

Sadie wasn't at all sure that Kevin Johnson wasn't making fun of her, but even if he was she didn't care. He had saved her from a life of squalor. He could ask pointless questions all night long.

Sadie looked at her large bowl of Irish stew like a mountain lion looked at a deer, but she resisted the temptation to eat quickly. She didn't want to leave the impression that she was an uncultured waif. She wanted to impress this kind, handsome man, not turn him off.

"Kevin?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you help me? You don't even know me."

Kevin frowned and looked away before returning to his dinner companion.

"I helped you because I couldn't bear to see someone like you caught up in that life. Even if you had managed to pay off your debt, you'd have still been a damaged woman – a damaged woman with no prospects. I couldn't let that happen."

Sadie smiled and gazed at a man who was as close to a Prince Charming as she would ever find in this or any town. She couldn't believe how much her life had changed for the better in the span of a few hours.

"I appreciate what you did. I appreciate it so much. I only wish I could do something for you."

"I've already told you what you can do. Make something of your life. Get out of this town if you have to," Kevin said. "Find a purpose. Find someone who appreciates you for the wonderful person you are. I mean it."

"I'd like to do something, but I don't have any special skills or knowledge."

"Sure you do. Everyone does. What have you done for the past few years?"

"I cooked and cleaned for my father and finished high school."

"There you go. That's something. What did you like in school?"

Sadie pondered the question and the questioner. No one had ever asked her something like that. What girls liked in school was as relevant as what career they wanted to pursue. Girls like her didn't light the world on fire. They married miners or merchants, had babies, and made life comfortable for
others
. They didn't think of themselves.

"I liked writing and figuring, particularly figuring. I liked working with numbers. I still do."

Kevin smiled and pushed away his baron of beef.

"You like math?"

"I like math. I'm good at it too."

"You are?"

"I am."

Kevin rubbed his hands together.

"Maybe I should give you a little test to see how good. Are you all right with that?''

Sadie nodded.

"OK then. Let's start with an easy one. A young buck named Kevin – that's me – has eleven more nickels than quarters. How many coins does he have if the total value of his coins is two dollars and sixty-five cents?"

Sadie looked away for a few seconds and then returned with a smile.

"He has seven quarters and eighteen nickels, in addition to a lot of double eagles."

Kevin looked at her with wide eyes.

"How did you figure that out so quickly?"

"I told you. I'm good at math."

Kevin chuckled.

"It appears so," he said. "Are you good at square roots?"

"I think so."

"Well, let's find out. What's the square root of five hundred and twenty-nine?"

"Twenty-three."

"Are you kidding me?" Kevin asked.

Sadie wasn't quite sure what he meant by the question, but she guessed that she had solved the math problem. She enjoyed impressing someone she very much wanted to impress.

"Did I get the answer right?"

"You
know
you got the answer right. All right, Princess, let me think of something else."

Kevin stared into space and rubbed his chin, as one might do if he were mulling over a host of delicious options. A moment later, he returned to Sadie with a wide grin.

"OK. Try this on for size. Train A, traveling seventy miles per hour, leaves Wallace for some godforsaken town in Montana two hundred and sixty miles away. At the same time, Train B, traveling sixty miles per hour, leaves the same godforsaken Montana town for Wallace. When do the two trains meet? And how far from each city do they meet?"

"Do you have something to write with?"

"I don't, but I'm sure the waiter does."

Kevin hailed the waiter and asked him for a pencil and a slip of paper. When he received the items, he gave them to Sadie and repeated the problem. She scribbled a few equations on the slip and gave him an answer in thirty seconds.

"The trains meet two hours after leaving their stations," Sadie said with a self-satisfied grin. "They meet at a point a hundred forty miles from Wallace and a hundred twenty miles from that godforsaken town in Montana."

Kevin laughed and looked at Sadie with animated eyes.

"You're amazing, Sadie Hawkins."

Sadie beamed. She had impressed this rich and obviously educated man and done it on his terms. Her good day continued to get better.

"I'm glad you think so."

"Have you ever thought of going into teaching?"

"No. Why?"

"Why? You'd be an incredible math teacher, that's why."

Sadie sighed and soaked up every word. No one, but no one, had ever talked to her this way. She wondered how much of what this man said was flattery and how much was truth. In the end, it didn't matter. She liked hearing what he had to say.

"Thank you," Sadie said. "When I was younger, I dreamed of going to college. I dreamed of getting a degree and doing something important, but I soon realized that that dream, like a lot of things, would never happen. My father barely made enough money to support the two of us."

Kevin peered at her with a more thoughtful expression.

"Never give up on your dreams."