14
Having woken up incredibly sore the day after Matilda had knocked him to the ground, Zayne had taken Dr. Gessler’s advice and retreated to his bed in order to allow his body time to heal. He’d resolutely remained in bed, even though his soreness had disappeared after the first day, hoping that Agatha, since it had been her pig that had landed him in bed in the first place, would pay him a visit and they could clear up matters between them.
That hope, however, had never materialized, and he’d begun to think, since he’d been languishing in bed for over two days, that it probably never would.
Reaching over to grab a stack of papers concerning the new mining deal he was in the midst of completing with Willie, Zayne tried to shove all thoughts of Agatha aside. He began leafing through the pages but gave up a moment later when she continued to plague his every thought.
Why she was still so upset with him, he hadn’t a clue. Yes, he’d blundered with the whole marriage situation, but Agatha had never before denied him her company, even when she was irritated with him. And that led him to believe that she might be a touch more than simply irritated with him at the moment.
He had a sneaking suspicion her avoiding him had something to do with that disturbing “closure” business she’d mentioned to Francis. But since he didn’t understand what the closure matter involved and Francis wasn’t responding to any of the messages he’d sent a servant to deliver, he was left with unanswered questions.
The one thing he did know for certain was that he missed Agatha’s company quite dreadfully, missed their amusing conversations and the sound of her laughter and . . .
Heels clicking against the floor had him leaning forward, a slice of disappointment stealing through him when only his mother came into view.
“Expecting, or hoping, for someone else?” Gloria asked as she moved to the bed, plucked up some of the papers strewn across it, and began to busy herself with mothering.
Taking a step back after plumping up his pillows, she shook her head. “Honestly, darling, I thought after our last chat that you were determined to fix matters with Agatha. Telling the poor lady you were quite fond of her while you were in the midst of proposing was not really an effective method.”
“Fondness is an emotion that most ladies long to receive.”
Gloria waved the comment away. “You then, from what Cora explained to me, rescinded your horrible offer.”
“I was slightly annoyed over the whole rejecting-me-out-of-hand business.”
“Ah, hmm,” Gloria muttered before she plopped down in the nearest chair and began, much to Zayne’s surprise, to look through the papers she’d scooped off his bed. “Matters going well with Willie?”
“Until I decide what I want to say about Agatha, yes, I’d like to discuss Willie.”
Realizing that whatever his mother finally did decide to say regarding Agatha was not going to be pleasant for him to hear, he leaned back against his recently plumped-up pillows and summoned up a smile. “Willie has agreed to form a partnership with me and help me rebuild the mine. Hamilton’s been sitting in on our talks, and he decided that this mining venture should be backed by the Beckett name and funds. Because of that, Willie will soon be leaving to set our plans into motion, and the Beckett family should see, in a year or two, a substantial profit.”
“That’s lovely, dear,” Gloria said. “And how do you feel about Agatha tracking down this poor Willie and allowing you to finally do what’s right for the man?”
“I thought you weren’t quite ready to discuss Agatha?”
“I’ve suddenly found my words and organized my thoughts.”
“That’s a little frightening.”
“Yes, it is,” Gloria agreed. “So, tell me, what do you have in mind next?”
“As pertains to . . . ?”
“Agatha, of course.”
“Since she apparently doesn’t want to speak with me, I’m not certain how to proceed.”
Gloria nodded. “That’s exactly what I thought you’d say, which is why Cora and I have come up with a plan.”
“A . . . plan?”
“Indeed. And it’s a good one—one of our best, if you must know.”
“I was under the impression Cora was put out with me at the moment.”
“Oh, she’s furious, but she still adores you, dear. That’s why she’s hosting a intimate dinner party at her house, and we’re going to sit you right next to Agatha.”
“You do remember that, even though Dr. Gessler proclaimed me recovered, he did caution me against placing myself in dangerous situations.”
“He was referring to placing yourself in Matilda’s vicinity, not Agatha’s, and I highly doubt she’ll try to inflict any harm on you while dinner’s being served.”
“Matilda might though.”
“Not if you treat Agatha with the proper amount of respect and don’t get annoyed with her again.”
“That’s a daunting idea, especially since Agatha annoys me frequently.”
“Which I’ve always thought is very telling.”
Zayne quirked a brow. “How is that telling?”
“She brings out emotions in you I rarely see.”
“I get annoyed with you all the time.”
Gloria laughed. “No, you don’t, you’ve only started getting that way since I started meddling in your life, but that has nothing to do with getting Agatha back.”
“I don’t recall asking you to help me get Agatha back. In fact, if we look at this objectively, it might be best if I simply let her go.”
“That’s a horrible idea, and of course you need to get her back. The two of you fit each other to perfection.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“You complete each other. You’re happiest when you’re with her. You smile more, laugh more, and seem more at peace.”
His breath stuck in his throat when it suddenly struck him that everything his mother was saying was exactly the truth. Zayne caught her eye, saw the compassion in them, and sighed. “I don’t know what to do next.”
“Which is why it’s a good thing you have me for your mother. I have a few ideas—one of which I’m going to ask you to put into motion at the dinner party.”
“And that would be . . . ?
“You’re going to have to grovel.”
“I don’t think I’m capable of groveling, Mother.”
“I’m certain you can summon up a good grovel if you set your mind to it. Consider this—Hamilton groveled, Theodore groveled, and even Grayson groveled. If you want Agatha back, groveling will be required.”
“Did I miss anything good?”
Zayne turned his head, his mood immediately improving when Piper skipped into the room, her golden curls bouncing even though they were tied back with a red ribbon that exactly matched her dress. She stopped by the bed, leaned over, kissed his cheek, did the same to Gloria, and then pulled up a chair. Demurely placing her hands in her lap, she tilted her head. “Mama says to give everyone her regards. She and Ben are off to get ice cream. Even though I love ice cream more than anything, after eavesdropping—I mean, overhearing Mama and Aunt Arabella discussing your sad plight this morning, Uncle Zayne—I thought it would be better if I came over here to offer you some much needed assistance.”
Smiling, Zayne tilted his head. “While I appreciate your giving up a treat in order to help me, darling, I must point out the fact that you’re, well, eight.”
Piper’s expression turned stubborn. “I helped Uncle Grayson win over Aunt Felicia, and I was only six at that time. Age needn’t be taken into account when one is dealing with matters of the heart.”
“Good heavens, you’ve been in your Aunt Arabella’s stash of romance novels again, haven’t you, dear?” Gloria asked.
Grinning, and not appearing at all abashed, Piper nodded. “I do enjoy a good romance, Grandmother, and because of that, I feel I’m becoming an expert on relationships.” She looked at Zayne. “You are a classic case of what a hero should not do to win the affections of the heroine.”
“I hate to tell you this, Piper, but Agatha and I have never been involved in a romantic relationship.”
“And that is why I insisted Mama let me come over here today. I know I’m young and that you’re just humoring me at the moment, but no one has brought up the real problem between you and Agatha.”
“And you’ve figured out what that problem is?” Zayne asked slowly.
“Of course I have. It’s all about feelings.”
The collar of his shirt suddenly felt a little tight. “Feelings?”
“Exactly,” Piper agreed. “I heard Grandmother mention something about groveling, but what should be behind that groveling?”
“Ah . . . feelings?”
“And feelings of the romantic kind,” Piper added before she looked at Gloria. “I know everyone seems to think that if Uncle Zayne just tries again and asks Miss Agatha to marry him properly, everything will work out for the best, but it won’t, not until Uncle Zayne examines himself and decides why he wants to marry her—and not because of that silly idea he had to save her from herself.”
“Saving Agatha wasn’t a horrible reason to want to marry her,” Zayne argued.
“It was, as was your proposal attempt,” Piper argued right back. “You should have taken flowers, red roses at that, and a well-prepared speech where you would have proclaimed your undying love and devotion. That would have caused Miss Agatha to swoon at your feet and accept your proposal.”
Zayne blinked. “Can you honestly see Agatha swooning at my feet?”
“Well, not with that dismal attempt at proposing you gave her. But it might have happened if you’d approached the matter properly.”
“Darling, Miss Agatha is a progressive, independent lady. She’s not the type to expect romance.”
“I’m an independent lady too, Uncle Zayne—at least I will be when I grow up—but I’m telling you right now, I’ll expect romance from the gentleman I decide to marry.”
Glancing to Gloria, Zayne arched a brow. “I cannot believe I’m in the midst of this particular conversation with my eight-year-old niece.”
“She’s always been mature for her age, Zayne,” Gloria returned, “and she’s right. We adults have missed the obvious.”
“Miss Agatha deserves love, Uncle Zayne,” Piper said softly. “If you don’t love her, you shouldn’t have asked her to marry you. And you shouldn’t grovel the next time you see her unless you can figure out how you feel about her.”
“I’m not certain how I feel,” he admitted.
Piper sat up straighter. “Perhaps now would be a good time to examine your feelings.”
Heat began to trail up his neck. “I don’t really think that’s necessary.”
“Do you enjoy her company?” Piper continued, ignoring what he’d said.
“Well, yes, most of the time, except when she’s being irritating.”
“I’ve seen you when Miss Agatha’s irritating you, and most of the time you look amused.”
“That might be true, but—”
“Do you miss her when you’re not around her?”
“Ah, as to that, I suppose . . . yes, I miss her.”
Piper beamed back at him. “Then maybe you really do love her, but since you’re a gentleman and gentlemen are known to be rather peculiar with matters of the heart, you just haven’t realized that yet.”
“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to claim I’m in love with her.”
“Then you shouldn’t ask her to marry you again. It’s not fair to Miss Agatha, and even though I really wanted her to be my aunt, much more so than I wanted Helena to be my aunt, you should leave her alone.”
It hit him then, hard over the head, completely out of the blue.
Piper was right.
It had taken a child to point out the obvious.
Agatha deserved love, and he certainly wasn’t ready, or perhaps even able, to give her what she deserved.
He cared about her, truly he did, but he hadn’t really considered love.
He’d rushed his proposal because she’d come to his rescue time and time again. He was at heart rather old-fashioned, and her rescuing him instead of the other way around had rankled. That was exactly why he’d proposed to her in the first place, but . . . he’d been completely ridiculous.
Marriage was for life.
He’d forgotten that.
But . . . he wouldn’t mind waking up next to Agatha for the rest of his days.
Swallowing, he tried to reign in his unruly thoughts. Dwelling on waking up next to Agatha when he was stuck in a room with a meddling mother and a young niece was bad timing. Piper had seemed rather adamant about him not pursuing Agatha unless he was in love with her, but . . . could it be he might be just the teeniest bit in love?
His head immediately began to throb, but before he could contemplate love and whether or not he was actually experiencing it, Mr. White knocked on the door.
“Begging your pardon, Mr. Beckett, but Mr. Higgins is downstairs, along with his wife and two children. He would like a word with you, but I wasn’t certain whether or not you’re up for entertaining.”
Seeing this unexpected visit as a welcome distraction from discussions of feelings, Zayne smiled. “Show them right up, Mr. White. In fact . . .” He turned to Piper. “Why don’t you run down and greet them, Piper? If Mr. Higgins brought his children, they’d probably feel more at ease if you escorted them up here.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Piper muttered before she got to her feet, skipped over to Mr. White’s side, and disappeared through the door.
“Have I ever mentioned that I’m glad she’s my niece and not my daughter?” Zayne asked, turning to catch Gloria’s eye.
“She’s certain to cause Hamilton and Eliza no small amount of trouble when she gets older, but she was right about you and Agatha. I never once thought to question you about your deepest feelings in regard to her, having assumed you had more than your fair share of them, but now I’m not so sure.”
“I care about her, truly I do, but . . .” His words came to a halt when Piper charged back into the room, a little boy on one side of her and a slightly older girl on the other. Mr. Higgins and his wife followed, and Zayne couldn’t help but notice the improved condition of Mr. Higgins’s appearance. His hair had been recently cut, his jacket and trousers were new, and his eyes held a trace of excitement instead of worry.
“I must say that you’re looking better, Mr. Beckett,” Mr. Higgins exclaimed as he moved forward and shook Zayne’s hand. “I truly felt sorry for you yesterday when I visited, sir, and appreciated that, though it was clear you weren’t feeling well, you still took the time to pull together that deal for me.” He stepped back and brought his wife forward. “This is my wife, Lydia, and those are my two blessings, Jared and Alice.”
“It’s delightful to meet you, Mrs. Higgins,” Zayne exclaimed as he introduced his mother to the Higginses. Pleasantries were exchanged, and then Mrs. Higgins moved closer to the bed, her eyes suddenly glistening with tears.
“Willie told me you’ve been ill of late, Mr. Beckett, so I do apologize for descending on you like this. But since we’ve decided to leave for the West so quickly, I didn’t want to neglect to thank you properly.”
“There’s no need to thank me,” Zayne said. “Willie’s the one who started the mine up in the first place, and it was just luck on my part that I happened to discover gold.”
“You didn’t have to offer him a partnership, or even try to track him down.”
“That was actually Miss Watson’s idea,” he admitted.
Mrs. Higgins smiled. “Of course it was, my dear, because that’s what we women do, point our gentlemen in the right direction, but you didn’t have to listen to her. Because you did, it tells me you’re a man of great character, and you will always have my deepest gratitude for changing our lives forever.”
A lump suddenly formed in his throat. He hadn’t really considered how much he would be changing this family’s life. Granted, he’d known almost from the moment Agatha had made the suggestion regarding Willie and the mining claim that it was the right thing to do, but he’d never thought the matter through.
The last pieces of the ice surrounding his heart took that moment to shatter, and he felt a sense of peace he hadn’t felt for far too long.
It was all Agatha’s doing, that peace.
She knew him as no one else did. Knew exactly what he’d needed to make himself whole again, and . . . he didn’t want to lose her.
Unfortunately, he’d made a mess of things, but perhaps, just perhaps, he could begin again with her, begin as friends and see where that led.
He swallowed around the lump. “I’m just thankful, Mrs. Higgins, that your husband was so willing to take on this daunting job. The mine’s a disaster at the moment, and it’ll be slow going until the snow clears in the spring. I do hope you won’t regret moving out there with your children.”
“We’ll be fine, Mr. Beckett,” Mrs. Higgins assured. “The children are looking forward to this adventure, and with the more than generous salary you’ve settled on my Willie and then a stake in the profits in the future, well, our lives will be better than anything we’ve ever known.” She smiled. “The children are especially looking forward to going to one of those frontier schools. Willie told me there’s one right in Colorado Springs.”
Zayne returned her smile. “Miss Watson will be thrilled to learn of that. She’s very adamant regarding children and education.”
“Speaking of Miss Watson,” Willie began, “we stopped by her house before we came here. I wanted to thank her as well. She received us graciously, but our visit was cut short when Dot showed up to speak with her.”
Zayne felt the smile slide right off his face. “Dot was visiting Agatha?”
Willie nodded. “I must admit I thought it was somewhat odd that Dot would pay a visit to Miss Watson, but then, when I overheard her saying something about finding a Mary, I realized that Dot was simply there to impart some type of information.”
A dribble of sweat began to trail down his back. “And was Agatha excited about the information Dot imparted?”
“I suppose she did seem a little excited.”
“Wonderful,” Zayne muttered before he forced another smile. “You didn’t happen to hear anything else, did you?”
“Well, there was mention of a—” Willie shot a look to the children, who were chatting with Piper and Gloria, and then lowered his voice—“brothel and something about someone hiding there.”
“I see.” Keeping his smile firmly in place, he nodded at the Higginses. “I do hope you’ll forgive me, Mr. and Mrs. Higgins, but knowing that Miss Watson has suddenly become apprised of the location of Mary, a woman who is incredibly dangerous, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut our visit short.”
“I do hope I haven’t passed on news that’s going to make you ill again, Mr. Beckett,” Mr. Higgins said slowly.
“I’m sure I’ll feel much better once I find Miss Watson.”
“Now, Zayne, there’s no need to be hasty,” Gloria said, her attention no longer centered on the children. “You’re in no condition to go chasing after Agatha, and besides, we haven’t finished our discussion yet regarding feelings.”
“I think it’s about time we took our leave,” Mr. Higgins said, taking Mrs. Higgins by the arm. “I’ll send you a telegram when we arrive in Colorado. Children, it’s time to go.”
Before Zayne could even blink, the Higginses had left the room, leaving him with Gloria and Piper.
“I do believe that’s the fastest I’ve ever been able to clear a room,” Gloria said. “Do you think it was because I mentioned discussing feelings?”
“Nice try, Mother, but I’m not distractible at the moment.” Zayne swung his cast over the edge of the bed. “Would someone mind fetching me my crutches?”
It soon became quite clear that neither Gloria nor Piper were opposed to fetching his crutches—there was just the little problem of their bolting out of the room with crutches in hand after they’d been fetched.
“That’s not going to stop me!” he yelled, grabbing hold of the bedpost to pull himself to his feet.
“You’ll only make matters worse if you go after Agatha in a temper!” Gloria yelled back.
Pausing for just a second, Zayne realized his mother might have a good point, but Agatha was probably already making plans to investigate brothels. He couldn’t sit by and allow her to do that.
She might not be a typical damsel in distress, but she was a damsel who was destined for trouble, and knowing Agatha, she’d find that all too soon. Whether she liked it or not, he was going to rescue her for a change.