Ballad Beauty (24 page)
Authors: Lauren Linwood
CHAPTER 31
Noah rode into Prairie Dell, ready to have it out with Mo. Carson City had been a huge bust. Dr. Randolph said that was where his last communication with Jenny came from, so he headed there first.
He’d been able to track down the last place she was seen, a bank where she’d deposited the finder’s fee check. Without his Ranger credentials, though, he was hard pressed to find out much else. He’d taken a pretty little clerk to lunch and flattered her till the cows came home, but all he got from her was that Jenny had set up two accounts, one for herself and one for Mo. The gal wouldn’t divulge anything else to him. She was afraid she’d lose her job, and he couldn’t blame her.
It might take half his lifetime to scour every town in the West. He didn’t want to find Jenny after twenty years, only to show her his gray hair and wrinkles. He had a lot of living to do, and he intended to do all of it with only one woman.
That’s why he was back in Prairie Dell. Surely Jenny had contacted Mo by now. He believed Mo when she said she didn’t know where Jenny was that first time. He also knew Mo had a stubborn streak a mile wide. This was going to take more than sweet talk. He must convince Mo McShanahan that he was the right man—the only man—for her niece.
He stopped Star in front of Mo’s cabin. Before he could dismount, Sid and Sherm came sauntering down the street to meet him.
“Hello, boys.”
“‘lo, Noah. Come to see Mo?” Sherm gave him a huge grin.
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
Sid snorted. “Ain’t there. She’s off in Frisco, visiting that sweet niece of hers.”
His heart skipped a beat. “When’s she due back?”
Sid laughed. “I’m going up to Carson City tomorrow to get her. Made her promise she’d be back in time for our regular Saturday night date.”
“Mind some company on your way up there, Sid?”
“Better ‘n talking to myself.” Sid smiled at him. “You must really need to see Mo pretty bad.”
He didn’t reply.
Sid shifted from foot to foot. “Can you leave ‘bout seven?”
Noah tipped his hat back from his face. “I’ll be there.”
The two men waited in the noisy station for the train to pull in from San Francisco. Sid pumped Noah for information, but this was a private matter. All he asked for was a few minutes alone with Mo before Sid escorted her back to Prairie Dell. Sid agreed only too readily. He realized that Mo would share the entire story with Sid on the journey home.
Noah hoped this one would have a happy ending.
Now he watched as Mo descended the stairs, looking around for Sid. She saw him and waved, a wide smile on her face. He caught a glimpse of Jenny’s smile in her aunt’s, and his heart fluttered. Sid greeted her and took her bag and then conferenced with her briefly.
When he finished speaking, Mo looked up. She spotted him and nodded. She said something to Sid and then made her way over through the teeming crowd on the platform.
“Mo.”
“Noah.”
They stared at each other for a moment, neither one knowing how to begin.
He finally broke the ice. “I’ve gone out of my mind, Mo,” he said bluntly. “I’ve already been to Boston and back. You’ve got to tell me where she is.”
She hesitated. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mo, you know that I love her. That I’ll go crazy without her. Please.” His last word was a whispered plea that he echoed again. “Please.”
He saw the minute she decided to open up. Her face lost its stubborn determination and seemed to melt with relief.
“I never wanted her to leave, Noah. I want to make that clear.” She sighed. “It’s all my fault that she took off in the first place.”
He listened patiently as she told him about encouraging Jenny to read first Sam’s letters and then his own ones to her. She explained how Jenny got the notion in her head that Noah was making a dreadful mistake by giving up the Rangers for her.
“She thought you’d eventually come to resent her, Noah. She said she loved you enough to let you go and allow you to keep following your heart’s desire. She learned from your letters how important being a Ranger was to you. She didn’t think you’d ever be happy if you had to settle down.”
He shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t begin to understand that kind of sacrifice. It made him love Jenny all the more.
“I would give up the earth and go live on the moon as long as I could do it with her.”
She winked her one good eye at him. “Then you need to tell her that, son. It’s a good thing you are.”
Noah arrived on Jenny’s doorstep a little after nine at night after a busy day catching up with his brother Mark and making plans for the future. He was surprised not to find her home. It wasn’t safe for a woman to be out alone on a cold, dark night in a big city like Frisco.
He waited one hour, then another, and then several more. Mo had told her Jenny was working as a seamstress and midwife, thanks to her experience at Dr. Randolph’s clinic. He couldn’t imagine where she might be. He planted himself on her doorstep and dozed fitfully, waking every few minutes full of worry.
Dawn was breaking as he saw her coming up over the rise. She looked tired. Even in the dim light, he could see the dark circles under her eyes. As she neared him, he could hear her humming in the quiet, cool morning. It was her childhood favorite, “
The Black Velvet Band
.” He began singing the words of the last verse as she approached.
Oh all you brave young fellows,
A warning now take you from me,
Beware of pretty young damsels,
You might meet around in Tralee.
They’ll treat you to whiskey and porter.
Until you’re unable to stand,
And before you have time to leave them,
You’ll be sent down to Van Diemans Land.
Jenny stared at Noah as if she were seeing a ghost.
“You exiled me to Van Diemans Land, you know. I’ve been miserable without you.”
His low voice, raw with emotion, caused her throat to tighten. She tried her best to sound matter-of-fact. “You look tired, Noah. I’ll get you some breakfast, and then I have a lot to do. That all-night delivery has thrown me behind on my dress orders.”
She pushed past him and inserted her key in the lock, quickly opening the door and setting her basket down.
He followed her silently inside and closed the door. He grabbed her and spun her around. “You’re not too busy for this.”
She was pulled into his arms as his mouth descended on hers. She would not give in. Not this time. She had to be the strong one. She had to do what was best for him.
Even if it meant her heart would break.
She put her hands on his chest to push him away, but he wasn’t going anywhere. She fought his kiss, fought with everything she had, but it was deep, fierce, possessive. Then it turned utterly tender. She couldn’t help but respond to it.
Her hands crept up around his neck, her fingers pushed into his wavy hair. She kissed him with all the longing and love that had been bottled up inside her, all the loneliness and heartache she’d experienced since they’d been apart.
She finally broke the kiss and gazed up at him. His sky blue eyes were still full of passion and desire. She tried to pull away from him, but his arms held her fast.
“You want me, Jenny. You can’t hide that.”
Her face puckered. She willed herself not to cry. “That’s not good enough, Noah.”
He gazed at her tenderly. “Yes. It is. I’ve always wanted you. I think I loved you from the moment you marched into that whorehouse, bursting into doors and rattling nerves. You were the sweetest angel with an iron will. I wanted you from that moment on. I’ll always want you, Jenny. Always.”
“Oh, Noah.” She dropped her head to his chest. He stroked her hair as she began to cry.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. Everything will be fine.”
She raised her tear-stained face. “No, it won’t. I can’t let you give up being a Ranger, Noah. I can’t sit by and watch you grow unhappy. I won’t—”
“I don’t
want
to be a Ranger anymore, honey. I’ve found something I love much, much more.” Her brought his hand to her cheek and grazed his knuckles across it. “Being a Ranger was good. But being with you is even better.” He brightened. “And I landed a job today. I start tomorrow alongside my brother Mark at the
Examiner
as a reporter. Same thing my grandfather did for a living, on my mama’s side. I guess reporting runs in our blood. It’s the start of something new. As
we
finally begin our lives together.”
The tender look he gave her caused her to shiver.
“But it doesn’t really matter how I earn a living, as long as I have you by my side. I want to wake up by the woman I love for the next fifty years.”
Her heart overflowed with love. She could tell by his face that he’d thought everything through. She knew then and there that they could build a life together, a good one, full of love and laughter.
“Would you settle for seventy-five instead?”
The bright smile that lit his face melted her soul.
“Sold! And we’ll make babies. And none of them will ever even think about robbing any banks.” He grinned at her. “How many do you want? Three? Four? Five?”
“How about one to start?”
She opened her cloak and guided his hand to her stomach. The bulge was small but still obvious.
Noah’s eyes gleamed with surprise. He kissed her again, a kiss that bonded them together for all time.
“Jenny. My ballad beauty.” His voice was rough yet tender. “You’ve given me a second chance at life. Now for the third time—will you marry me?”
In reply, she brought his mouth down to hers.
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