With a shaking hand Nellie knocked on the door of Jace’s hotel room. Her heart was in her throat as she planned what she’d say to him.
He opened the door, his face full of sadness, but when he looked at her the sadness left and was replaced with anger. “Come to say goodbye?” he asked, then he walked away from her. He was packing.
“I came to apologize,” she said, stepping into the room. “You were right about everything. I was totally wrong.”
“Oh?” he said, putting shirts into his case. “Wrong about anything specific?”
“This morning a girl brought your letters to me. It seems her aunt lied to the postmaster’s son, and the letters were given to the aunt rather than being delivered to me.”
“How interesting,” he said, but there was no interest in his voice.
“And this morning Mae came to tell me that she and her friends had lied. You didn’t try to…to kiss them.”
“No, I didn’t,” he said, turning for a moment to glare at her.
Nellie took a breath. “I came to apologize for all I said and even for what I thought.”
He walked toward her, and Nellie’s heart almost stopped, but he just kept walking toward the bureau to get his razor. “So now what am I supposed to do? Say that everything is fine? Forgive you for everything and start all over again?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I only know that I love you.”
He paused for a moment, his hands on the clothes in his case. “I’ve loved you, too, Nellie. I’ve loved you from the first day, but I’m not strong enough to fight your family. You believe everything they tell you. I don’t want to spend my life fighting for a piece of you.”
“I didn’t know,” she said. “I didn’t know about the letters.”
He turned to look at her. “And you didn’t know about Warbrooke Shipping either, did you? Tell me did your father put you up to coming here? Or did you make a pledge with your greedy little sister? If you get Warbrooke Shipping you’ll give them—What? A hundred dresses a year for Terel, new freight wagons for your father?”
Aunt Berni had said to grovel if she must, but Nellie couldn’t bear any more of this. “My family has only wanted what’s best for me. They did not want me to marry a man who left town without leaving a message, or one who courted many women at once. There was no proof that you had sent letters or that you hadn’t—”
“Kissed all the girls?” he said angrily. “There was proof. There was my word. You should have believed me. You should—”
“Yes, I should have,” Nellie said, fighting tears. “But I didn’t. I’m not much of a fighter, Mr. Montgomery. I just wanted to do what was right for everyone concerned, and it looks as though I’ve’ failed. I apologize for inconveniencing you.”
“Your apology is accepted,” he said tightly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a train to catch.”
There was a knot rising in Nellie’s throat, a knot that threatened to choke her. She couldn’t speak. She just nodded then and left the room, walking down the stairs and out of the hotel. She walked home, but she wasn’t aware of moving. As surely as though she’d been killed, she knew her life was over.
Berni sat in the kitchen, still reading People magazines, when she heard the front door open. She expected Nellie, her handsome hero on her arm, to come running into the kitchen. Instead, Berni heard Nellie’s heavy footsteps going up the stairs.
“Now what?” she mumbled. “Antony and Cleopatra didn’t have this much trouble.” She snapped the magazines and mocha and chocolates away and went upstairs. Nellie was prostrate on the bed. She looked about two inches away from suicide.
“So tell me,” Berni said, licking her fingers.
Nellie didn’t answer, so Berni wiggled her ears.
“He says I should have believed him,” Nellie whispered.
“Ah, men like blind obedience. Nellie, let me give you a little advice from somebody who’s known a few men. I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, but there’s a saying that man’s best friend is a dog and that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Man’s best friend is a dog because that’s what he wants a woman to be: a dog. He wants a pretty little wife, preferably blonde, who will do whatever he wants, when he wants it. He wants to be able to say, ‘Come on, let’s go,’ and she’ll get up, tail a-waggin’, and follow him. He doesn’t want her to ask questions about where or when or how, and he does not want her to have an opinion.
“For a woman, she’s found out that she can trust something like diamonds because they don’t run around at night, nor do they constantly point out how she should behave.”
These words seemed to have no effect on Nellie, so Berni continued. “Don’t you understand? You weren’t his best friend.”
“I have other responsibilities.”
“Yes, of course you do, but you’re trying to talk logic to a man who’s in love. Being in love is enough of an alien emotion to a man; you can’t try to introduce logic to him, too.” Berni looked down at Nellie, who was softly crying into her pillow, and knew she was making no sense to her. The first time a woman fell in love she was so full of hope, so full of the belief that if she could just get this guy then everything in her whole life was going to be fixed, that never again would she be angry or lonely or would her skin break out. Love was going to solve problem. Berni knew it was no use trying to tell Nellie a few truths. Truth had nothing to do with love.
“All right,” Berni said, sighing. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out. Maybe it’s best to forget him.”
“I’ll never be able to forget him. He has been so good to me, and I have treated him very badly. Now he hates me, and I deserve it.”
Berni wanted to tell Nellie about sex, wanted to tell her to use her beauty and sexiness to capture Jace, but she knew Nellie would never understand. Nellie had no idea how to go about taking what she wanted.
This morning, after she’d sent Nellie off to see Jace, she’d thought her job was over, but she’d underestimated how hurt Jace was. It was time for Plan Two. She closed her eyes and did a little wishing and rearranging of people.
“Nellie, what you need is to get your mind off this man. Reverend Thomas stopped by and asked you to run an errand for him.”
“I can’t,” Nellie said into the pillow. “I have to see to my family.”
“Oh, your father and Terel have already left the house.”
Nellie turned to look at Berni. “Left? But they have guests coming today. I have to prepare the food.”
“Not today. They’ll be gone all day, so you’re free.”
Nellie sniffed. It wasn’t like her family to leave unexpectedly. “Where did they go?”
“To Denver. Your father received a telegram saying his investors wanted to meet with him in Denver today, so he went up there. And Terel went with him.”
“Terel went with Father to a business meeting?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? But that’s what she said, that she wanted to help her father with his clients. Between you and me, I think this had something to do with it.” From behind her back Berni pulled a Denver newspaper. “Look on page six.”
Nellie sniffed and sat up, took the newspaper, and opened it. “ ‘Christmas Eve special,’ ” she read. “ ‘Every clothing item in every store in Denver is on half-price sale today only.’ ” She looked at Berni. “Every store?”
“All of them, so I guess that makes you free for the day. How about going to see Mr. Montgomery again?”
The tears started anew. “I couldn’t. He…he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Berni sighed. “Unfortunately, you’re probably right. So maybe you ought to spend the day doing whatever the preacher wants you to do.”
“I don’t think I feel up to seeing anyone. I think I’d just like to stay in my room today.”
“Of course. I understand. Broken hearts take a long time to mend. Besides, those kids don’t need anybody. They’ll be fine. Maybe after Christmas someon
e else can tend to them.” She stood. “I’ll go and leave you alone.”
“What children?”
“What do you mean, what children?”
“The children you said don’t need anybody.”
“Oh, them. Nobody special, just a few orphan kids. That good-looking preacher said they were alone out at someplace called…now, what was it? Journey?”
“Journada? That falling-down old ghost town?”
“That’s it. He said the kids were out there alone and hungry, but it doesn’t matter. They’ll find food, or maybe they won’t. It’s not your problem. Why don’t you stay in bed, and I’ll bring you up a tray? I’m quite handy in the kitchen. I—”
“The children are alone? With no food?”
“That’s what he said. How about some nice hot chocolate? Or maybe—”
“I’m going to them,” Nellie said, getting off the bed.
“I don’t think you should. After all, they’re just a bunch of kids. Who cares if they starve or not?”
“I care. Do you know where they are in Journada?”
“In one of the shacks. Nellie, you can’t go out there all alone.”
“I must. The children can’t be left alone. I guess Father took the buggy, so I’ll have to rent one.”
Berni sighed, trying to hide a smile. “If you are determined to go, then you could borrow my carriage.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“No, of course not. I’ll prepare a food basket while you go to the stables and get it.”
As soon as Nellie was out of the house Berni got her emerald magic wand from her trunk and waved it over the bed. A large basket appeared. “Now, what to eat?” she murmured, then she waved her wand and a couple of Cornish hens, wrapped in bacon and stuffed with bread crumbs and preserved fruit, appeared.
She had a great time conjuring up food, then bottles of wine. She added a damask table cloth, Limoges china, and heavy silverware. Leaning back in her chair, sipping on brandy-laced coffee, she directed everything into the basket. Of course it wouldn’t all fit, so she had to put a little spell on the basket, then a second spell when she realized the basket weighed over a hundred pounds.
“They’ll never notice,” Berni said. “Lovers always think everything is magic. A bell rings and they think it’s because of them. A small basket produces an endless quantity of food and no doubt they’ll take it in stride.”
She directed the basket to float down the stairs ahead if her and only just grabbed it as Nellie entered the room. Nellie had the buggy waiting, ready to go off to save the hungry children.
“Good luck,” Berni called after her as Nellie took off. Berni went back to the parlor, pulled her magic wand out of her pocket, and waved it. The end of the parlor disappeared, and she could see the train depot. Jace Montgomery was standing before the ticket window.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the ticket agent was saying, “but you’ve missed the train.”
“Missed it? I’m fifteen minutes early.”
The agent looked at the clock on the wall behind him, then at his pocket watch. “That’s true.” He frowned. “I don’t think the train’s ever been early before. Late, yes, but never early.”
“When’s the next train?” Jace snapped.
“It’s…” The agent trailed off as he looked at the schedule. “That’s odd. Usually there’s a train through here every thirty minutes, but today there isn’t another train for four hours.” He looked at Jace and shrugged. “Maybe it’s because it’s Christmas Eve.”
“Some Christmas!” Jace muttered. He grabbed his case and started back to the hotel. What he wanted to do was get drunk, so drunk he wouldn’t remember ever having been to Chandler, Colorado.
Berni waved her wand and Jace disappeared. Another wave and she saw Terel in a Denver store fighting a tough-looking woman for a silk blouse. The store clerks looked ready to drop from exhaustion as they tried to wait on the hundreds of pushing women.
“I may have overdone it on the sales,” Berni said, but she waved her wand so she saw the Denver street. “Now, Terel dear, who can we find for you? Someone you deserve, but someone who will make you happy.” She scanned the street until she saw an old buckboard. In the back were six kids, three of whom were rolling about trying to kill one another. On the seat in front was a big, dirty, but good-looking, farmer who ignored the kids.
“Well, well, well, just who are you?” She reached into the air to retrieve a computer printout. “John Tyler,” she read. “Thirty-two years old, widower with six illiterate, loud kids. Raises pigs. Very poor, will always be poor. Good heart. Vigorous in bed.”
Berni looked back at the man as he got down from the wagon seat. “Not bad. Not bad at all.” She looked at the kids. They were a handsome bunch, even if they were as dirty as the pigs they raised. “Just what Terel needs: someone to think of besides herself. A few years of cooking and cleaning and washing should teach her a little humility.”
She waved her wand and the picture split down the middle, Terel on one side, John Tyler on the other.
“Okay, kids,” Berni said, popping a chocolate into her mouth. “Meet and fall in love. Don’t just fall in love; fall madly, passionately in love forever. Got it?”
She waved her wand and Terel dropped the blouse she was looking at and started for the front door of the store, while John Tyler turned away from the feed store and headed toward Terel. “Terel Tyler,” Berni murmured. “It could be worse.”
She waved her wand again, and this time she meant to take care of Charles. He had always been so penny-pinching, so afraid to spend any money, that he’d forced his eldest daughter practically into slavery.
Berni watched Charles at his meeting, watched him eyeing what the businessmen were ordering for lunch. She could see he was dreading the bill. “What he needs is someone to help him spend his money.”
For Charles Berni found a pretty widow in her forties, a woman who believed talk of money was impolite conversation and who had no idea there was any connection between her many expensive dresses and the fact that her husband had died and left her penniless.
“Fall in love, Charles,” Berni said, and she waved her wand.
“That takes care of them. Now let’s see about Nellie.” She waved her wand and saw Nellie just as she was arriving in the old town of Journada. She still had to search the buildings for the kids, so Berni knew she had time.
Berni waved her wand over herself and was suddenly wearing a black velvet walking suit, a saucy little hat perched over her left eye. As she reached the front door of the Grayson house she snapped her fingers and it began to rain and thunder, the wind blowing fiercely.
Berni stepped outside and got a face full of water. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered, then she snapped her fingers and the area over her stopped raining. In perfect dryness she walked to the hotel. Around her people were struggling so hard against the rain and wind that they didn’t notice Berni walking in a dry, calm place. A few people, looking out windows, saw Berni walking in a dry spot, but they rubbed their eyes and didn’t believe what they saw.
Berni arrived at the Chandler House just as Jace was downing his sixth whiskey. “Are you Jocelyn Montgomery?” Berni asked, looking down at him seated at the table. They were the only people in the bar at this hour of the day.
Even two thirds drunk as he was, he winced at the name. “Jace,” he said.
“Your mother told me Jocelyn.”
He looked up at her. “You know my mother?”
“Quite well. When I told her I was coming here to visit relatives she asked me to say hello to you. I meant to yesterday, but I…I…” Berni started crying so she could no longer talk.
Jace was instantly on his feet as he helped her to sit down. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Can I be of any help?”
“I’m just so worried,” Berni said, sobbing into a lovely linen handkerchief. “It’s my niece. She went out into this storm to deliver some food to orphaned children and hasn’t returne
d yet. I’m so worried about her.”
“I’ll get the sheriff for you, and he can send some men out to look for her. Do you know where she went?”
“A place called Journada. She’s lost, and it’s all my fault! There are no children out there. The children are at the Coronado Mine. I got the names mixed up. My Spanish never was too good.”
Jace patted her shoulder, and she could smell the whiskey on his breath. Actually, it wasn’t a bad smell at all. She’d had some interesting times with men who smelled like he did. She looked at him over her handkerchief. Too bad she had only a day and a half left; too bad she was trying to be on her best behavior. Jace Montgomery was a very sexy man.
“The sheriff will find her. I’ll go get him now.” He started out of the room. “Oh,” he said at the doorway, “what’s your niece’s name?”
“Nellie Grayson.”
Jace just stood there blinking for a moment. “Nellie is out there alone in this storm?” His voice was rising. “You sent Nellie out to a broken-down old ghost town?”
“It was an accident. I just got the names mixed up. Spanish was—” She didn’t say anymore because Jace was gone.
Berni leaned back in her chair, took Jace’s glass of whiskey, and drained it. She propped her feet on another chair, then pulled her wand from her little purse (the wand was conveniently collapsible) and waved it. Before her appeared Jace tearing into the stables, throwing a saddle over an enormous black stallion (Berni sighed at the sight of the animal, a proper horse for a hero), and galloping away. Berni split the screen and watched Nellie searching through the shacks in Journada.