The trip downriver to Goose Chase seemed to happen in a fog. As was his habit, Mr. Wily said only a few words. He did occasionally nod or shake his head, leaving Fiona to wonder whether he was offering an opinion on the day’s events or thinking of something else altogether.
When they reached Goose Chase, she watched Mr. Wily scurry past with her bags. “Where are you going?” she called.
“Boardinghouse,” was his curt response.
“Of course.”
She followed in a numb state and allowed herself to be led to a small suite on the front corner of the rooming house by the elderly proprietor. As soon as the woman left, Fiona crossed the compact parlor to the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Exhaustion sifted through her like heavy sand, and she lay back on the narrow bed.
“What happened, Lord? I was so happy. Was that just this afternoon?” Tears welled, but she closed her eyes against them. “Or was it a lifetime ago?”
Fiona gave herself over to sleep so deep that she had difficulty awakening. Was it a nap or a night’s worth of slumber? The sun shining high in the sky gave no clue, nor did the tiredness in her bones.
This time of year, the sun dipped below the horizon for minutes, not hours, and even then darkness never quite came. To think she might have considered living the rest of her life under such conditions.
Sighing, Fiona let her eyes droop once more. She tried to pray, but much as she wanted to, she could not get beyond the question of why God allowed her happiness to be so short lived. Da would remind her that happiness is never guaranteed, but for the moment, she didn’t care to hear it.
“To be truthful, I never did care to hear it,” she said with a chuckle. “Oh, Da, what will I be telling you about this escapade of mine?”
A knock at the door startled her, and she sat bolt upright, her head swimming. “Yes?” she managed as she smoothed her hair.
“You’ve got a visitor, miss,” the proprietor said.
Fiona’s heart leaped. Tucker had come for her. She climbed to her feet. “Tell Mr. Smith I’ll be right down.”
“No, miss,” she said. “It’s the doctor to see you down in the parlor. Doc Killbone, that is.”
Fiona swallowed her disappointment then walked to the bowl and pitcher. “Tell him I’ll be down directly, please.”
The image that met Fiona across the basin was a stranger. She quickly averted her gaze and poured water into the basin. Her face washed and hair combed and neatly tucked into a braid, she descended the stairs to meet the town doctor.
“Forgive me for making you wait, Dr. Killbone,” she said as she shook his hand.
“Nonsense, dear.” The doctor studied her much the same as Ian had only yesterday. Or was it the day before? “When Mr. Wily delivered your brother’s note, I must say I was surprised. I had to come and see for myself that you’d actually decided to take me up on my offer to see to your safe passage to medical school. That is why you’re here, isn’t it?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, absolutely. Did you say my brother sent you a note?”
“Yes, indeed.” The doctor patted his front pocket. “Short and sweet it was. Asked me to see to your safety and to send word if he didn’t make it to town before you left.”
“But how?” She shook her head. “How did Ian send a note?”
“Oh, it weren’t Ian. Braden’s the one who sent the note.” He smiled. “I can see you’re confused. It seems as though Mr. Wily ran into Braden on the way out with the woman from Texas. I guess your brother figured you’d be heading for the hills when he found out who Wily was carrying upstream.”
“So Braden knew?” Her eyes narrowed. “And you know. Who else knows about my humiliation?”
“There, there, now,” the doctor said. “Goose Chase is a small town, I’ll give you that, but we’re private people. We don’t cotton to disparaging words being said about our own.”
“Our own,” she repeated. “Funny how I didn’t feel like I belonged until I had to make the choice to stay or go. I certainly don’t pretend to understand what the Lord’s planning now.”
Doc Killbone crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, I don’t know, Miss Rafferty. Perhaps the Lord is merely guiding you away in order to prepare you for your return.” He paused. “Now tell me, Fiona Rafferty, are you certain you want to take those folks at the college up on their offer to educate you in medicine?”
Was she? “Sure as I can be right now,” she answered honestly.
Again he studied her. Then he slowly began to nod. “Fair enough. In that case, I believe I can recommend a suitable escort and a ship heading south.”
“Escort?” Fiona shook her head. “I came here alone, and I can certainly go home the same way.”
“Dear, if I recall, the reverend and his wife sent you forth from Skagway under the supervision of Mrs. Minter’s brother, the ship’s captain.” His brows shot up. “I rarely forget these things.”
“Yes, that’s true,” she said. “It seems so long ago I nearly forgot.”
“Time passes quickly, I’ve found, when we are most happy. I warrant you will blink and find medical college has ended.” He smiled. “Rarely do I find someone so well suited to the trade. Now don’t forget your promise to come back here and help me someday.”
“I won’t forget,” she said, “but I wonder if I might ask one favor from you.”
He gave her a sideways glance. “What’s that, dear?”
“Might you write my da? He’s going to be awful upset when he finds out what I’ve done. I wonder if you might tell him what you’ve told me about my aptitude for the healing arts.”
Dr. Killbone considered her words. At last, he nodded. “Of course, I’d be happy to do that. Why, if I had a daughter, I would be proud if she turned out like you.”
She almost cried. Instead, she focused her attention on listening to the doctor as he told her about the trip she would be making. “It’ll be another ten days before she sails, but—”
“Ten days?” Fiona rose and began to pace. “Forgive me, Dr. Killbone, but I expected I would be leaving much sooner.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but that’s the best I could do.”
At the kind doctor’s distraught expression, Fiona forced a smile. “Yes, well, then I will just have to make the best of it, won’t I?”
“Are you sure?”
Ten days spent in the same town with Tucker Smith and his fiancée? No, she’d never make the best of that. Never. “Of course,” she said.
“Then let me tell you about the trip. It’s a mite confusing, but I’ll write it all down if you think that’ll help.”
“Yes, please,” she said.
The doctor removed a slip of paper from his pocket and began to draw on it. By the time he finished, Fiona had more questions than tears.
The biggest question of all, the one she dared not ask anyone but the Lord, was about Tucker. She uttered it later that night as she once again lay on the narrow bed, waiting for sleep to overtake her.
“Lord, why did You let me fall in love with him?”
“Lord, why didn’t you stop me from loving her?” Tucker scrubbed his face with his hands, then sat back to lean against the hard rocks where he had once toiled happily. “Why didn’t you just stop me? Why?”
The words echoed in the small chamber and wrapped around his broken heart. Never would he forget Fiona Rafferty.
Yet his honor forbade him from allowing these feelings free rein. He must keep his word. To do any less would put him in the same category as his father.
That would never happen.
Then there was the situation with Meredith. The poor girl blamed herself for Tucker’s mess, and nothing he could say would assuage her guilt.
Never had anything come between them, but the situation with Elizabeth could if not handled properly. He must convince Meredith that she had done nothing wrong, that he bore her no ill will.
But how?
It was a fine mess. Fiona’s absence called to his heart while Elizabeth’s claims challenged his honor. In a perfect world, the Lord would answer his prayers by telling him to fetch back the one he loved and send the other packing.
God would never instruct anyone to do wrong. Tucker knew better than to consider it.
Still, he tried to cogitate a way around the conundrum. How long Tucker sat in the cave, he had no idea, but when he rose, the cold had stiffened his joints and numbed his legs. Stomping the feeling back into them felt good on more than one level, so he continued it even after it was no longer necessary.
“What in the world are you doing?” Braden called to him from the ridge. “You look like you’re doing some kind of crazy dance.”
“Come down and try it,” Tucker responded. “It’s quite therapeutic, actually.”
“Is it, now?” He crossed the distance between them to shake Tucker’s hand. “I’m a plainspoken man, Tucker,” he said, “so I’m going to ask you straight out what’s going on here.”
“Just stomping around, Braden,” he responded.
“No, I mean what’s going on with my sister and that city woman over at Ian’s place?” He paused. “Amy and I met up with her and Wily a few miles downriver yesterday. I found it odd that a woman would travel all the way from Texas with her pa and not even announce herself with a letter before she arrived.”
“Now that you mention it,” Tucker said, “that does seem a bit peculiar, doesn’t it?”
Tucker’s hopes soared. Could he have found a loophole?
“’Course Amy saw it different. She figured it was just a woman’s way of surprising her beau. I’m here to ask if you’re that woman’s beau.”
“Her beau?” He thought on it a minute. “I was once. I asked her pa for her hand in marriage.”
“And?”
“And he said yes. So did she.”
Braden cocked his head to the side. “Are you saying you were dallying with my sister while you had a woman waiting for you back in Texas?”
Before Tucker could respond, Braden hauled off and hit him. Tucker saw stars and then felt the earth spin. Ian stood over him, demanding he stand up again.
“Stop it right now, you two.” Ian pushed Braden out of the way and hauled Tucker to his feet. “Fighting is not going to help the situation.”
Tucker swiped at his nose, and his hand came away bloody. “I’d stand here and take punches from now until forever if it would bring back Fiona and fix the mess I’ve made.”
“You leave my sister out of this,” Braden said.
“I love your sister,” Tucker responded. “But Elizabeth is pressing her suit, and I’m not going to break my word.”
Ian looked like he wanted to throw his own punch. “I want to hear how this happened, Tucker. How did you lead my sister into believing you were free when you knew you weren’t?”
“I didn’t know,” he said. “I thought we’d agreed that Elizabeth no longer wanted any part of me. Her pa told me she would never bear the Smith name. Said it belonged to a family with no honor.”
He practically spat the words then gave the brothers a look that dared them to comment. When neither responded, he continued.
“I never spoke to Elizabeth directly. I dealt only with her pa, although she stood there and heard every word and never spoke. Under the circumstances, it was the right thing to do, what with Elizabeth being a woman and the flighty sort.”
Ian nodded, but Braden barely blinked.
“When Merry and I left Texas, I understood that we did so with no encumbrances except for the ones our father bore. As you both know, I took those on. The Smith name is now clear and free of any hint of dishonor. My intent is to keep it that way.”
“So what you’re saying,” Braden said, “is that you and this woman’s da agreed there would be no wedding; only now she’s come up here to present herself as your bride?”
“That’s the way I see it,” Tucker said. “I’m not rightly sure there’s another explanation, although it does seem a bit odd that her pa’s in Goose Chase, waiting for us.”
Ian nodded and rubbed his chin the way he did when he was thinking hard on something. “I reckon we can take the woman at her word. Or…”
“Or?” Braden asked.
“Or we can do ourselves a bit of investigating.” He gave Tucker a direct look. “What say we all make a trip to Goose Chase together?”
“What do you have in mind?” Tucker asked.
“Just a friendly meeting with your future father-in-law.” Ian shrugged. “I have to wonder if he’s figuring you’ve hit it big up here. If so, he might be wanting to change his mind about the value of the Smith name.”
Tucker looked at Braden then back at Ian. “I did use my uncle’s money to pay off Pa’s debts. I reckon Elizabeth’s pa might have heard tell I’d done that and figured I’d sent gold money instead of an inheritance.”
“Well, did you tell anyone it was an inheritance?” Braden asked.
“I don’t remember,” Tucker said. “Probably not. I didn’t make much of an explanation to anyone.” He squared his shoulders. “Much as I appreciate your offer of help, I’m going to handle this myself.”
The Rafferty brothers seemed to be sizing him up. Ian nodded first; then Braden slapped him on the back. “You’re a good man, Tucker,” he said. “I know you’ll do the right thing.”
There it was again. The right thing. How sick he was of doing the right thing.
And he hadn’t even come to the hardest part yet.
That came the next day when Tucker reached Goose Chase and walked past the boardinghouse and Doc Killbone’s office to step into the lobby of the hotel. He saw Elizabeth’s pa from across the room and, for one long minute, tried to decide whether to announce himself or run.
But running was for cowards, and Tucker Smith was no coward. Walking like his boots were making their way through quicksand, Tucker pushed across the Deever House Hotel lobby to stand in front of his father’s former business partner.
“Well, now,” Cal Bentley said as he rose with difficulty, “I’d know Tucker Smith anywhere.” His rheumy gaze studied Tucker a moment. He smiled. “You’re doing well up here in the frozen North, I’ve heard. Quite well, indeed.”
“Is that why you’re here?” he countered.
The older man looked stunned. Then the mask returned. “I’m here because my daughter has decided she can’t live without you, Tucker Smith. I’m here to press her case and insist you live up to your promise to marry her.”
“Insist?” It was Tucker’s turn to do the studying. “Did you anticipate I might reconsider the promise I made?” He took a half step toward the older man. “Were you concerned I might not do the honorable thing, Mr. Bentley?”
“Eh…no…of course not, son.” He fingered the tip of his mustache. “It’s just that sending the girl up here without an escort would not have been proper, you see. As her father, it is my duty to see to her welfare until she is safely handed off to her husband.” He leaned away from Tucker. “I hope you don’t mind, but I found myself with a bit of free time yesterday and wandered up toward the church. I’ve arranged for the reverend to speak the vows tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning?” As soon as the words were out, Tucker knew he’d shouted them. “Tomorrow morning?” he repeated in a softer voice. “Why so soon?”
Mr. Bentley looked away. “Time is of the essence in these matters. A man can’t run his business from all these thousands of miles away, can he?”
“How is the business, Mr. Bentley? Prosperous as ever?”
“Never mind,” Elizabeth’s father said. “I do just fine. Now what say you and I celebrate the impending nuptials with a juicy caribou steak?”
Food of any kind would have turned his gut, but especially so when Tucker contemplated how he’d be sitting across the table from his father’s former business partner, the man who had called in his father’s loans and laughed when the elder Smith defaulted and ran.
“Thank you,” Tucker said, “but I must decline. Until tomorrow morning,” he said as he made his exit. He reached the back of the hotel before he doubled up and lost what little he still had in his stomach.