Change of Heart (2 page)

“Jase! Why did you leave me, Jase?”

“I went to meet the stage, Zack. You knew
your aunt was arriving today.”

“But you shoulda taken me with you.”

“You were sleeping, son. I didn’t want to
wake you.”

“It was only a nap.” The boy scratched
through his blonde curls. “You could’ve waked me.”

Jase set Marietta’s belongings on the porch
and scooped the boy into his arms. “This is your aunt, Zack.
Marietta Randolf, your mother’s sister.”

Marietta smiled at Zack and moved closer to
him. “Hello, sweetheart. Your mama wrote me many letters telling me
all about you.”

Zack pulled away from her and hid his face in
Jase’s shoulder. “I want to go home, Jase.”

“We’ve come to the fort to meet Marietta,” he
said, pulling the boy’s face from his shoulder and forcing Zack to
look at him. “I told you she was coming to take care of you, Zack.
You and I talked about that.”

Zack shook his head. “You told me, but I
didn’t want to hear.”

“Don’t worry, Zack, it will be all right.
You’ll like Chicago,” Marietta said, reaching toward the boy and
touching his cheek. “You’ll go to fine schools and have all sorts
of children to play with. There’s so much to do in the city, you
can’t even imagine.”

Zack pulled away from her. “I got plenty to
do and a fine home here with Jase. I don’t need no children to play
with or no fine schools. I got Jase. He plays with me and teaches
me all I need to know. I don’t need anyone else.”

Jase held the boy away from him. “I’m not
your family, Zack. Miss Randolf is. She’s your ma’s sister. She’ll
give you a wonderful home and be a good mother to you.” He set the
boy down.

Zack stared at his feet. “My ma’s gone. I
don’t need a ma anymore.” He looked up at the man beside him. “All
I need is you, Jase.”

Jase hunched down next to Zack and took off
his hat. “Son,” he said, fingering the wide brim, “we talked about
this. A boy needs to be with his family. It’s God’s way, Zack. Your
ma wants you well cared for and loved. She wants you with your
aunt.”

The talk of Kathy’s demise and her wishes for
Zack grieved Marietta to the point of collapse. She moved next to
the porch, steadied herself, and listened as Zack and Jase went
on.

“I don’t want to leave you, Jase.”

Jase rubbed his hand over his face and
focused on Zack. “I know, son, but you’ve got to be a man about
this. Miss Randolf has traveled a long way to come for you. You
belong with her. Believe me, Zack,” Jase said encouragingly,
“you’re going to love Chicago. It’s an elegant, wonderful city. I
know. I’ve seen it.”

Tears trickled from Zack’s blue eyes across
his rosy cheeks. “Jase,” he said thoughtfully, “I don’t understand
why I can’t stay here with you.” He wiped his nose on his
blue-calico shirtsleeve. “But I’ll leave if you say I have to. I’ll
do anything you say, Jase.”

He embraced the child. “You’re a good
soldier, Zack. You’ll see. You’ll like living in the city.”

The boy pulled away from him and looked up.
“If you say so, Jase.”

He touched Zack’s cheek and stood, glancing
at Marietta before turning to Zack again. “Go inside now, son. See
if you can help Miss Amy.”

“Okay, Jase.” Zack shuffled up the steps and
turned back to look at him. “I always do what you say, but I don’t
want to leave you.” He quickly turned and went back inside.

The second the door closed, Marietta allowed
a few determined tears to trickle down her cheeks as she sat on the
porch and dangled her legs over the edge. She pulled a hanky from
the pocket of the coat she wore under her cape and wiped her face
and nose.

Jase sat next to her, twirling his hat in his
hands. “I’m sorry about Zack. He’s been through a lot, but he’ll be
all right.”

Marietta looked up at him a moment, then she
looked away.

“Zack will be all right,” Jase said, “and so
will you.”

“Of course he will,” she said on a
disbelieving breath. Would either of them ever really be all right
again?

“Miss Randolf… ” Jase said hesitantly.
“Ma’am, if you’re up to it, there’s a bit of business we need to
discuss.”

“Business? What do you mean?”

“About your return trip to Chicago. I know
all of this has been something of a whirlwind for you, but I’ve
arranged for your immediate return, just as you requested. You’ll
leave in the morning with a caravan of three other wagons heading
for the Missouri River and passage back to the city.”

Marietta started to weave as darkness settled
over her. She nearly passed out at the thought of traveling again
so soon.

Jase steadied her with a strong hand on her
shoulder. “Are you all right, Miss Randolf?”

She took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m fine,
Mr. Kent, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to leave tomorrow. I won’t
leave until I’ve paid my respects to Kathy and Clint.”

He let go of her shoulder. “But, it’s all
been arranged.”

“Surely one day won’t make any
difference.”

He stared down at her. She could read his
eyes as easily as she’d ever read any book. Though reluctance
seemed to tug at his heart, he clearly understood the need she had
to visit her sister, to see for herself that Kathy was really
gone.

“Refusing you would be no more possible than
flying to the moon,” he said softly. “All right, Miss Randolf. I’ll
arrange for your journey to be delayed a day or two.”

“And you’ll take me to Kathy?”

“If that’s what you want.”

She touched his arm, squeezing it lightly.
When she drew back her hand, she said, “It’s what I must do, Mr.
Kent. I thank you with all my heart for taking me to my
sister.”

“The Morgans were the closest friends I’ve
ever had, Miss Randolf. It is my sincere pleasure to help Kathy’s
sister in any way I can.”

“Welcome to our home, Miss Randolf.”

Marietta stepped inside the modest quarters
of Lieutenant and Mrs. Will Carson. “I hope I’m not imposing too
much.”

“You’re not imposing at all. It’s a delight
to have your company.” Amy looked ahead to Jase. “Come in
here.”

Jase entered and smiled at her. Zack ran to
him, but Amy picked him up before he reached his target, squeezing
the boy as he struggled against her.

“Jase, save me,” Zack said, giggling as he
reached for Jase.

The big man came to the rescue. “You won’t be
crying for help to escape the arms of a lovely woman for long,
partner.”

Marietta could feel her face turn a crimson
color.

Jase fidgeted. “Sorry, ladies.”

“Nothing in the world to apologize for, Jase.
No truer words ever spoken.” Amy moved her gaze to the boy in
Jase’s arms. “Zack, those gingerbread men we were working on are
ready now. They’re waiting for a little boy’s discriminating
taste.”

Zack pushed himself out of Jase’s embrace and
bolted to the tiny kitchen off the parlor of the close military
quarters.

“I guess he likes gingerbread. I’ll have to
remember that.” Marietta sighed. “That and about a thousand other
things.”

Amy put her arm around Marietta. “You’ll do
fine, honey. Zack’s a great boy. He’ll help you along the way.”

Marietta was astonished at how comforting the
words of this young woman were to her. Amy most certainly was at
least four or five years shy of her own twenty-nine years, yet she
spoke with the wisdom and reassurance of a woman twice her age.

“Thank you, Mrs. Carson. I’ll need all the
help I can get.”

Amy pushed at a stray blonde strand that had
escaped the hair piled on top of her head. Her blue eyes softened,
and she stretched to reach a five-feet, two-inch stance. “You’re a
strong one, Miss Randolf. Isn’t she, Jase?”

“Anyone who can make the trip from Chicago to
Fort Kearney can handle one little boy,” Jase replied.

“I hope you’re both right.” Marietta looked
around her surroundings. “Where would you like me to put my
things?”

“You’re going to bunk with me, sweetie,” Amy
said. “My husband will sleep on the sofa, and Zack can sleep on the
floor next to him.”

“And, if the colonel doesn’t mind,” Jase
added, “I’m going to see if I can pull up a piece of wood in his
quarters for the night.”

“You’re staying at the fort tonight?” Amy
asked, surprised.

“I promised Miss Randolf I’d take her to
Kathy and Clint’s graves tomorrow.”

“But, I thought you wanted to leave for
Chicago immediately,” Amy said to Marietta.

“I can’t leave until I’ve told my sister
good-bye, no matter how eager I am to return home.”

Amy placed a warm hand on Marietta’s
shoulder. “Of course you can’t.” She looked up at Jase. “We should
have considered that, Jase. How heartless of us.”

“I’ll change the arrangements as soon as I
bring Miss Randolf’s things in from outside,” Jase said,
straightening his stance. “I’ll find Jackson and tell him the trip
to the Missouri River is going to be delayed.”

Jase left after bringing in Marietta’s bag
and trunk. When the ladies were alone in the parlor, Amy led
Marietta to the sofa.

“Sit, honey,” she said. “If you don’t, I’ll
fall over myself. I can feel your exhaustion clear down to my
toes.”

Marietta removed her cape and coat and
lowered her body to the softest couch she’d ever sunk into. “I
think I’m sitting on a cloud.”

“I understand completely,” Amy said. “I
remember the unbearable trip out here. We came overland from the
Missouri River on a rig like you’re going to take back. I think I
turned the trail into mud with my tears. I had no idea how grueling
the trip to Fort Kearney would be.”

“Where did you come from?”

“Independence.”

“It’s civilized there. Not like St. Louis or
Chicago, but civilized.”

Amy laughed. “More or less.”

“I don’t mean to insult your home city. What
I meant was how could you leave Missouri to live out here? The
thought of any woman living in this wilderness is unfathomable to
me.”

Amy’s blue eyes sparkled in the gray light of
late afternoon. “Ever been in love?”

Marietta shook her head. “I haven’t had time
for such things.” Nor did she have the inclination to let any man
influence her life. Her mother had preached against letting
infatuation with a man cloud good judgment. A woman should lead her
life conservatively and carefully, her mother always said. For
Marietta, that precluded falling in love.

“When you’re in love,” Amy said, letting her
voice drift to a heavenly softness, “you’ll willingly live anywhere
to be near your man.”

Marietta looked around the tiny quarters. “I
find that hard to believe.”

“If you fall in love, you’ll believe it.” Amy
looked at her carefully. “Hasn’t love already enticed you to do
something you might not have done otherwise?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You traveled here because you loved your
sister, and you want to care for her son, give him a good
home.”

“That’s true.”

“Love enables us to do many things we never
thought we would or could do.”

Marietta was still letting Amy’s words sink
in when Zack tore into the room.

“Where’s Jase?”

“He had some business to take care of, Zack,”
Amy explained. “Are there any gingerbread men left in the
kitchen?”

“Some.”

“Do you think you’ll have room for beef stew
and pumpkin cake for supper?”

Zack rubbed his tummy while his eyes grew to
the size of eggs. “I better do something to work up my appetite
again. Ma always told me work makes a boy hungry. You got work for
me to do, Miss Amy? I want to get hungry for that pumpkin
cake.”

Marietta hid the tears Zack’s reference to
Kathy caused inside her.

“The wood’s out back,” Amy replied. “Bring
some in for the stove, then get the bucket by the back door and
fetch water from the well--lots of it. Fill the cistern full. You
know where the well is.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Zack said, saluting Amy.

Amy returned his salute. “Hop to,
soldier.”

Zack dashed out of the room.

“We’ll wear that boy out carrying water for
us, Miss Randolf. I’m assuming you do want to take a bath before
you do anything else. Am I right?”

Marietta was amazed at Amy’s thoughtfulness.
“How kind of you, and what a mind reader you are.”

Amy sat next to Marietta. “I’m no mind
reader. I’ve been where you are now. The first thing I wanted when
we reached the fort after the long journey was a hot bath. I’d
expect you to want no less.”

“Bless you, Mrs. Carson,” Marietta said,
hugging her.

“Not Mrs. Carson, Marietta. I’m Amy.”

Marietta released Amy from her embrace. “Amy,
my first frontier friend.”

“Just so you know, Kathy was my friend too,
and I miss her terribly. She was a wonderful girl.” Amy wiped away
a tear. “Not nearly as pretty as you, but sweeter than sugar.”

“Thanks. I’m glad to know Kathy had friends
in Nebraska.”

“Everyone at the fort loved her,
Marietta.”

She couldn’t hold back the few tears that
slid down her cheeks.

Amy went to a rustic wooden stand near the
door, opened the top drawer, and withdrew several hankies. She
walked back to Marietta and handed her the tiny cotton squares.

“You have a good cry if you feel the need.
I’ll get water heating on the stove as fast as Zack can haul it in.
I’ve already set up the bathtub in the bedroom.”

“Thanks, Amy, but I have no intention of
giving in to the tears.”

“If you’re not up to a good cry, then lie
down and rest while I draw your bath. You don’t look like you could
stand another minute on your feet.”

“But I can’t let you bother and fuss over me
like this. I’ll fix my own bath.” Marietta began to get up.

“I won’t hear of it. You sit and close your
eyes, and I’ll call you in a little while.”