“What happened with Coalie’s employer?” he asked thoughtf
ully.
“He took my money, but he wouldn’t let me have Coalie,” Tessa answered carefully. “He cheated me. I didn’t care about the money. Just Coalie. I had to do something!”
“So you decided to take him?” David guessed.
Tessa nodded without looking at him. “I packed my things and waited for two days until Coalie came to deliver more coal. I asked him if he still wanted to live with me. He did.” She peeked at David to try to gauge his reaction. “We sneaked down to the train station, bought Coalie a ticket, and boarded the train going west.”
“That’s why you used your brother’s ticket to come to Peaceable.”
“Yes.”
She realized now that she’d planned to leave Chicago from the moment she learned of Eamon’s death. She didn’t mind the city so much, but she missed the country. She longed for fresh air and freedom and a home of her own. She’d only stayed in Chicago because her brother needed her. The plan to spirit Coalie away had come to her when she discovered she ached at the thought of leaving him behind. She planned to escape the city and rescue Coalie at the same time. Together they would start a life for themselves in the country. Peaceable seemed like just the right place. The ticket from Eamon was a legacy that meant everything to her. It was the ticket to a new life.
Tessa hadn’t understood the value of Eamon’s belongings when the nurse at the hospital gave them to her. She’d barely listened when the nurse carefully listed each item as she handed it over—a train ticket to Peaceable, Wyoming Territory, twelve dollars in cash, and a receipt for lodging in a place called the Satin Slipper. But later on, in the lonely apartment after Eamon’s funeral, Tessa remembered she had the means to leave. And a reason. She didn’t want to stay in a Chicago apartment without her brother. She wanted a home and a family of her own, and she dreamed of finding a new life in Peaceable. With Coalie.
When she and Coalie arrived in Peaceable needing a place to stay, one of the men at the train station told them the Satin Slipper had rooms to let. And Tessa took that as a sign. Somewhere up above, Eamon was looking out for her.
Until she met Arnie Mason…
Tessa shifted in her chair. “Now that you know the truth about Coalie, what do you plan to do?” she asked David, her eyes mirroring the anxiety she felt at revealing so much. “Send him back to Chicago?”
David shook his head. “How can I, when I don’t know where he is?” he asked, meeting Tessa’s gaze. “Wyoming’s a big territory,” he elaborated. “I wouldn’t know where to begin looking.”
They both knew he was lying, that he need to look only as far as his family’s ranch outside Cheyenne. But the fact that he was willing to pretend lifted Tessa’s spirits.
“You’re not going to tell Liam Kincaid?”
“No.” David gazed at her, his dark gaze penetrating. “If Liam Kincaid wants to know where Coalie is, he’ll have to ask somebody else. I won’t volunteer the information.” David knew that Lee wouldn’t ask about Coalie’s whereabouts. He wasn’t interested in the boy. He was interested in Tessa or, more specifically, in keeping his promise to Tessa’s dead brother. “You don’t have to worry about Liam Kincaid.” David told her the truth. “I don’t believe he’s after Coalie.”
“Is he after me?” Tessa asked. “Do you work with Liam Kincaid?”
“Not anymore,” David answered truthfully, “though I did during the war. I can’t tell you what Liam’s doing, Tessa, but I can tell you not to worry about him. He’s not your enemy.”
She looked up at David, studying his face, probing. “Are you my enemy?”
David shook his head. “No.” His lips formed a half-smile. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I only want what’s best for you. I want to take care of you.”
Tessa shuddered in reaction. She didn’t want him taking care of her. Or making promises he couldn’t keep. She’d learned from bitter experience that the people who promised to take care of her always died. Tessa could take care of herself and Coalie. She didn’t want David Alexander on her conscience.
* * *
David watched as Tessa sipped her tea. She’d come to Peaceable on the run. And from the moment of her arrival, all her efforts, all her concern had been for Coalie, never for herself. It was remarkable. She was remarkable. David knew her secret, and he admired her all the more for having kept it.
Tessa Roarke had taken an innocent child away from the man who hurt him. She hadn’t ignored the situation but had taken matters into her own hands, despite the law and the hardships. And by working in the Satin Slipper Saloon, she had knowingly sacrificed her reputation to provide for that child.
David Alexander wished he had done the same. He took a drink of strong tea, trying to see his way clear once again, but his mind filled with memories of things he wanted to forget
It had been raining in Washington as he exited the theater through the stage door after spending several minutes chatting with the actors.
He would have liked to stay longer, discussing the finer points of the Shakespearean drama, but it was late and he had a long day ahead of him. Pulling his evening cape around him to ward off the rain and chill, David had stepped into the alley.
He saw her sitting on a wooden packing crate shivering in the downpour only seconds before he heard her crying. David walked over and touched her shoulder. Startled, she looked up. David recognized her—Caroline Millen, Senator Warner Millen’s daughter. He remembered meeting her at one of Millen’s social evenings; the senator had introduced them. It had been his daughter’s first formal gathering, and Millen had asked David to escort Caroline to dinner. As he stood in the theater alley he studied her face. She couldn’t have been a day over sixteen.
He spoke her name.
She stopped crying long enough to answer him.