The Fugitive Son (31 page)

She hugged him and nodded her head. “All forgiven, but from now on, try treating me as a grownup for a change.”

Lolani had, indeed, prepared a huge meal. “It’s almost as if you were expecting us tonight,” Elsie said as her eyes took in the bounty of food.

“She always cooks like this,” Ned answered. “We have many drop-in guests, so she’s learned to prepare for extras.”

Friendly chatter and laughter surrounded the table as the family got reacquainted and new friends exchanged pleasantries. Taking a break from trying to follow all the conversations, Elsie gazed around the rustic, but elegant, dining room. Enormous rugged beams crossed the high ceiling, from which a massive iron chandelier hung, its oil lamps spreading light and shadows around the room. Aged wooden planks covered the walls from the floor, stopping about half way up, where they merged with navy-blue wallpaper stamped with burgundy and pink flowers. Combined with heavy plank furniture, the effect was breath-taking.

“Will that work for you, Elsie?” Peter’s question interrupted her reverie, startling her back to the conversation.

Flustered, she confessed, “Sorry, I wasn’t really listening. What did you say?”

Peter patiently explained what he had been talking about, a building they had found on the Plaza they thought would be ideally suited for her mercantile. “Do you want a rest from the wagon? Or would you like to ride in to town tomorrow to look at the building? We haven’t unloaded any of your freight wagons, knowing you’d want to check things out and decide on the interior arrangement before we signed the lease.”

Elsie’s heart seemed to skip a beat or two. She nearly squealed, “You’ve already found a building? Oh yes, let’s go see it. How early can we leave?”

Everyone at the table laughed at her enthusiasm. Arrangements were quickly made for the trip back to town. Isaac and Andy wanted to go with her, as did Ned and Peter. “Since I know more about dry goods than anyone else at this table, I think I’d better tag along as well,” Trip said.

“If we want to get an early start, we’d best get you all situated in your rooms,” Peter suggested. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up later.” Turning to Andy and Isaac, he asked, “Do you fellas want to stay in the house, or would you rather bunk in one of the cabins out back with the cowboys?”

“Any place safe from bounty hunters,” Isaac replied.

“Don’t imagine you’ll run into bounty hunters out here,” Ned told him. “Santa Fe is pretty much a free territory for everybody. A man makes it on his merits, not his skin color or nationality.” He turned to Lolani and nodded toward his sister. “Will you show Elsie to her room while I take these two out back to the bunkhouse?”

Elsie gasped when Lolani opened the door to what would be her room. Sunny yellow walls surrounded an iron canopy bed, draped in eyelet. The quilt was made of tiny yellow checked gingham interspersed with pale pink rosebuds. Matching fabric flounced beneath the quilt as a bed skirt, and eyelet ruffles peeked around the skirt’s bottom. The wooden floor boasted a soft, pale pink carpet.

“It’s just like my room back on the plantation!” she exclaimed, marveling at her brothers’ obvious efforts to make her feel at home. And then another thought quickly entered her mind. It seemed her big brothers were determined to keep her perpetually thirteen, down to the stuffed dolls and little girl touches around the room.

“How did they do that? How could they remember and replicate my room, even down to the tiniest detail?” she mused aloud.

Lolani shrugged. “Brothers love you very much.” She reached into Elsie’s valise and began hanging up the few pieces of clothing Elsie had brought in with her. The trunks could be brought in tomorrow.

When she realized Lolani planned to act as her personal maid, Elsie shook her head. “I can do that,” she said. “Please don’t feel like you have to wait on me. You’d best head back to help Trip with his unpacking.”

At the mention of Trip, Lolani perked up, seemingly eager to get back to him.

“How long have you two been together?” Elsie asked.

Lolani hung her head. “Many, many moons. But then I go home to my tribe, and now come back again while Trip was gone.”

Elsie digested this bit of information, wondering just what their relationship was.

“My tribe, they tell me not to come back to village without husband.” Lolani sighed. “They send me back here and tell me to make up my mind to be Indian or white. Not both.”

“Have you decided?”

Lolani nodded. “Want to stay with Trip,” she paused, “if he wants me.”

Not knowing how to reply, Elsie kept quiet as she emptied her valise. She determined to talk some sense into Trip. What was he thinking, keeping this lovely girl in limbo for so long? Of course, he should do the right thing by her and get married. My goodness, what kind of a man was he? Men! Sometimes they could be so obtuse!

During his last illness, Papa had urged her to find a husband and get settled in life. “Find someone who will love you and take care of you,” he had insisted, almost as though he was sending her out on a treasure hunt. Granted, she would like to have a husband to love her and share her life with, but did she really need a man? She had already proven to herself that she was resilient and capable of handling her own affairs. The long journey across the Plains and mountains had taught her self-reliance, giving her confidence that she could handle just about any situation she might have to face. Surely, after facing all the dangers and hard work of the trail, life in Santa Fe would be easy by comparison.

No, she didn’t need a man. She would only marry for love. And she knew for a certainty that Alistair Abner Ainsley the Third, aka Trip, had no place in her heart. She kicked at a plush ottoman, as if giving Trip the boot.

Lolani looked up from unpacking, startled. “You okay, Miss?”

Elsie laughed. “Yes, I’m fine. Just kicking somebody out of my thoughts that had no business being there!”

“Andy, the man who came with Isaac – he looks good, true?” Lolani asked.

Even though she wasn’t looking for a man, Elsie had to agree. Isaac’s friend did, indeed, look good. Very good. Maybe she should get to know him. Just as a friend, of course.

At breakfast the next morning, Isaac arranged for her and Andy to sit near each other. He was so obvious in his matchmaking efforts it was embarrassing. “I think you should go back into town with us,” he suggested to Andy. “We may need your help scouting out Elsie’s new store.” Turning to Elsie, he added, “That’s okay with you, isn’t it?”

Elsie nodded. What else could she do? To refuse in front of everyone at the table would be rude, and what possible excuse could she use to turn down help?

As the group climbed into the wagons for the ride to town, Trip thwarted Isaac’s efforts to put Elsie and Andy together in one wagon. “I need to talk to Elsie,” Trip said. “She can ride in my wagon with me.” Before Elsie could demur, he grabbed her hand and helped her onto the wagon bench beside him.

Gazing at the lovely landscape as the wagon lumbered and lurched along the narrow road, Elsie tried to make light conversation. “Looks much different in the daylight, doesn’t it? When we came through here last night, everything looked so dark and gloomy.”

To the east, the sky wore streaks of pink and yellow, with faint golden wisps hovering over the horizon. “Gorgeous sunrise means a glorious day, right?” She continued chattering, trying to get some response from Trip. Finally, she gave up and blurted, “You said you needed to talk to me. So talk!”

“I had no idea Lolani would be here. When she left to go back to her tribe, I thought she was gone for good. So I didn’t lie to you about not being married. We never had any intention to hook up permanently. She needed someone to look after her, and I needed a woman’s touch in my life. That’s all it was.”

Elsie listened quietly, trying to hold in her anger. When she could no longer contain herself, she turned to him, “You used her! Can’t you see she loves you?” she demanded.

“Loves me? No way. I told you we had a convenient arrangement. That’s all. My father was an English nobleman who happened to get a lovely Indian maiden in the family way. While he allowed my mother to raise me, he insisted on getting me an education, setting me up in business, and ensuring that I would have a distinguished life. His plan for me included a lovely white girl with some standing in the community, some white grandchildren for him, and a good life for all of us.”

Now that Trip had finally started talking, it seemed like a dam had broken. He talked on and on about his plans for the future, about pleasing his father, and about how happy Lolani would be back with her own people.

Elsie listened to his nonsense for as long as she could take it. “Lolani doesn’t want to return to her people. They’ve more or less told her she can’t come back without her husband. You’ve ruined her as far as they are concerned,” she informed him.

Trip shook his head. “It’s not supposed to work that way. We both agreed it wouldn’t be a permanent arrangement.”

“As unbelievable as it may be, the poor woman has fallen in love with you,” Elsie accused him, a sarcastic note in her voice. “And you’ve taken advantage of her love for years. If you’re a decent man, you’ll marry her and make her an honest woman.”

Trip tried one more time. “When your brothers hired me to come rescue you, I harbored a secret dream that you were the woman I needed. A woman I could love and who would satisfy my father’s ambitions for me.”

Elsie reined in her temper. Blow up at him in disgust, or take pity and let him down easily? She wanted to pound some sense into him. Instead, she softened her voice and turned directly toward him.

“Look, Trip, I appreciate all your help on the journey out here. I realize I might not have made it without you. We enjoyed some fun times along the way, and I learned to trust your judgment. But I’m not looking for a husband right now. I want to focus on getting my business up and running.

“And if and when I ever decide to marry,” she continued, “it will be to someone I love and can’t live without – not someone who marries me to please his father.”

Seeing Trip’s disappointment, Elsie put her hand on his arm. “Honestly, Trip, you should think about marrying Lolani. She loves you, and I’m certain you have feelings for her, too. Forget your father’s dreams and live your own. You have the freight company now. Lolani will make a wonderful, loyal bride, and you both will raise children you and the community will be proud of.”

“That’s your final ‘no,’ then?” Glumly, Trip turned his eyes back to the road. “Can we still be friends?”

Elsie giggled, breaking the tension. “I’d love to be friends with both you and Lolani.”

She was glad to end the conversation when the wagon carrying her brothers, Isaac, and Andy pulled to a stop in front of a long, low adobe building on the Plaza. Stone reinforcement pillars paraded down the length of the colonnade that fronted the building, appearing to hold up the low-hanging roof of red tile. Large store windows faced the street, protruding a few feet out from the main wall. They’d be perfect for displaying the wares inside. As her gaze moved upward, she caught her breath in amazement. Blazed across the length of the colonnade was a huge, freshly painted sign: “Condit’s Dry Goods.”

“How do you like it? Is this what you had in mind?” Ned asked as he helped Elsie from the wagon.

“I’m speechless,” she gasped. “But I thought we were just scouting out a place…”

Peter laughed. “When this came on the market, we knew it was exactly what you wanted and didn’t want to take a chance on losing it. So we bought it for you! We didn’t make any changes inside or build the shelves yet, figuring you’d want to add your own touches and lay everything out the way you want it.” He pulled a large key chain from his pocket and handed it to her. “Let’s go in and look around.”

Elsie’s hand trembled as she tried to fit the key in the lock. Her own store! At last, she was doing what she wanted to do!

Andy stepped forward, offering to help. “Keys can be tricky sometimes,” he said, as he put his rough, tanned hand over hers to help direct the key into place.

Once again, his touch electrified her, making her trembling even more pronounced. She pulled back, and then noticed Andy had felt the shock, too. What was happening? Mama had always said that when she met the right man, she’d know it by his touch. Was this what she meant?

She glanced discreetly at the others. No one else seemed to notice her strange reaction to Andy. As soon as the key turned in the lock, they all rushed in, eager to see the future mercantile.

About all Elsie could seem to say as she took in the details of the large empty space was “I declare!” The door opened into the middle of the sales floor and the windows looked out onto the busy Plaza. A big box stove reigned at the rear of the building in the center – a perfect place for the men of the city to sit and discuss weather, politics, and whatever else they wanted to talk about. “I declare!” she said again and again.

“Is it going to work for you?” Peter asked.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “I’ll put groceries to the right, bolts of cloth and racks of clothing on the other side of the entrance, tables here near the center for dishes and pottery, and…”