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Perfect submission, perfect delight!
After supper, the men retired to the parlor while Adelaide did the dishes.
“I hope you don’t mind if we talk without Adelaide in here,” Mr. Reese said to Bradley.
“As long as you don’t ask me to keep anything from her.”
“No, I just thought it might be easier to discuss ideas without her.”
Bradley nodded. “Do either of you have any ideas?”
Mr. Harris ran his tongue over his teeth. “He wants to marry Adelaide and won’t give up that idea, correct?”
“Correct,” Bradley answered. “I sent him a telegram today after my meeting with her and told him she had a very different story. I also asked if he would reconsider marrying her and find someone else. He responded with a no and said she was delusional.”
“Addie? Delusional?” Mr. Reese scoffed. “I don’t think she’s the delusional one.”
Mr. Harris shook his head. “The only option I can see is if she gets married.”
“She has been here six months, hasn’t she? How can she not have had any suitors?” Bradley asked.
“She has had plenty of young men come wanting to court her, but for one reason or another, I haven’t allowed them to,” Mr. Reese said.
“I see.”
Mr. Reese looked him over. “I’ll be right back.”
Mr. Harris and Mr. Connor looked at each other. He was gone for two minutes before he came back with a piece of paper in his hand.
After Mr. Reese settled into his chair, he spoke, “Do you mind answering a few questions, Bradley?”
Bradley shrugged. “I guess not.”
“Good. Are you a born-again Christian?”
Bradley blinked once. “Yes.”
“What do you mean by that phrase?” Mr. Reese asked.
Bradley shifted in his chair. Where was he going with this? “It means that I surrendered my life to God so that I could be born of His Holy Spirit through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Mr. Reese smiled slightly. “Thank you. How far are you willing to go to earn someone’s trust?”
“If I really care for that person, I’m willing to do whatever is necessary.”
“As a Christian, aren’t you supposed to care for everyone?”
Bradley took a deep breath and smiled. “Yes. So I should be willing to do that for everyone, too. Although, I don’t do it as much as I ought.”
Mr. Reese chuckled. “Who do you love more than anything else?”
“God.”
“If you were to marry, would that change?”
“I hope and pray not. If it does, I pray someone points it out to me.”
Mr. Reese stared at him for a few minutes. “How old are you?”
Bradley started. “What?”
Mr. Reese raised his eyebrows. “Do you have a problem with the question?”
Bradley cleared his throat. “I just wasn’t expecting it. I’m twenty-six.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Adelaide lean against the doorframe.
Mr. Reese leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “When you enter a courtship, are you willing to court the young lady for at least six months before you ask her to marry you? Assuming of course that the courtship lasts longer than a month to begin with.”
“What are you doing?” Adelaide asked.
“Let him answer the question and then I’ll answer yours.”
Bradley pondered the question. With closed eyes, he said, “If—and that’s a big if—I were ever to court a woman, I would take my time. I haven’t ever thought of an exact period of time since I never planned to marry, let alone court a woman, but if she is most comfortable with at least six months, I will respect her wishes.”
Mr. Reese could have lit up the room if it were possible. “To answer Adelaide’s question, I am finding a way out of this situation.”
Adelaide slid into a chair. “What?”
Mr. Reese winked at Mr. Harris. “Are you up to a trip out East, Edward?”
Mr. Harris chuckled. “I wondered where you were going with this. I think I could do that.”
Bradley scowled. “If anyone goes to talk to Raskins, it should be me.”
“Why?” Mr. Harris said.
Bradley nodded toward the cane. “He’d take one look at you and beat you and send you back here in a cattle car.”
Mr. Harris stood up slowly and picked up his cane. “Ah. But he won’t know about this.” Mr. Harris gripped the cane with one end in each hand, then pulled. The cane came apart revealing a sword. “Not to mention, I’ll be going there in your behalf to inform him that Adelaide is unavailable.”
“How will she be unavailable?” Bradley protested.
“First and foremost, she doesn’t want to marry him. Second, you will be courting her with the intention of marrying her. He never did that, so he can’t claim he has more right to her. Third, he never had, nor will he have, Allen’s blessing on the marriage, and any force he uses will be grounds for an annulment in any Western court, which is where it would be tried.”
Bradley stiffened and glared at the two men sitting across from him. “I never intended to marry, at least not this young. And I don’t intend to change that now. Adelaide is a beautiful woman, and from what way I have seen, she is also a great cook and housekeeper. She will make someone a wonderful wife. But I’m not interested. And besides, she obviously wants to be courted for six months first. How would that work with my job, with Raskins threatening her, and with me being so uninterested?”
Mr. Reese smiled. “I’m sure you can take a temporary leave of absence from the Pinkertons or ask for a more permanent job here in Cheyenne from Mr. Pinkerton?”
“Such as? You already eradicated the biggest crime ring in the city.”
Mr. Reese smiled. “There are plenty of other crimes that are yet unsolved.”
“No,” Bradley said.
Mr. Harris turned his gaze to Adelaide. “You’ve been awful quiet, Adelaide.”
“I don’t have much to add. I know practically nothing about Mr. Connor besides that he meets the list I made up.”
Mr. Reese sighed. “If you hadn’t heard what he said about refusing to court you, would you consider letting him court you?”
Adelaide bit her lip. “I don’t know. Probably.”
Bradley’s head jerked up. “Why?”
Adelaide smiled. “You are a gentleman, kind, considerate, wise, and meet my most basic requirements, unlike anyone else.”
“Anyone else? There are others who have asked and haven’t met them?”
Mr. Reese nodded. “Half a dozen. Some met only three, but most only met four of the requirements.”
Bradley’s eyebrows furrowed. “Which one didn’t they meet?”
“The last one,” Adelaide said. “The one about courting me for six months.”
Bradley shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I will go get the coffee and pastries.”
Bradley smiled. “I will gladly excuse you, Miss Brown.”
Adelaide stood up and left the room.
“Bradley,” Mr. Harris said. “Think and pray about this tonight. Then how about you and I meet for breakfast at the café nearest here and talk?”
Bradley nodded. “I will do that.”
“What about me?” Adelaide asked as she came back with the coffee and pastries. “Don’t I get a say in it?”
Mr. Harris smiled. “Of course. While Bradley and I eat and talk, you and Allen will eat and talk here.”
Adelaide set the tray on the coffee table. “Mr. Connor, do you like your coffee black or with cream and sugar?”
“No cream, but two teaspoons, please.”
Adelaide smiled. “Three coffees with two teaspoons of sugar each coming right up.”
Bradley looked at the other two men. “You like it that way, too?”
Mr. Reese chuckled. “Yes, we do.”
“What about you, Adelaide?”
Adelaide poured the three cups. “I don’t like coffee at all.”
Bradley’s mouth dropped open. “How do you survive without coffee?”
“Very easily. Here is your coffee, Mr. Connor. I drink tea instead.”
“But tea doesn’t have the same effect as coffee does,” Bradley protested.
Adelaide delivered the other two coffees and passed the tray of pastries around. “No, but I haven’t become dependent on it, either.”
Bradley shook his head. “You got me there.”
Mr. Harris and Bradley exchanged a couple of stories from their detective days before Bradley looked at the clock on the mantel. “If I’m going to be up for breakfast in the morning, I need to go. Thank you for a lovely evening. I can’t tell you the last time I had such a cozy, homey evening.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Mr. Harris said.
“Thank you again for listening to my side,” Adelaide said.
“You’re welcome.”
“Please pray for God’s will, not your own,” Mr. Reese warned.
Bradley smiled. “I will try.”
