Chapter 29

Jessie wiped tears from her cheeks as she entered her house later that night. She was so emotionally drained that she had walked home alone, something she would have never done before.

Susie, the maid, was dusting the living room when Jessie entered the house.

“Miss Jessie! What in tarnation are you doin’ here? Why are you crying? Sugar, you better hop right along back to that ball of yours before your momma comes up in here to tan your hide.”

“There is no ball. There’s just people dancing. There is no engagement,” Jessie collapsed against the wall as she ended her words with a sob, trying to suppress it by clamping her hand over her mouth.

“What are you talkin’ about, honey? No engagement? Don’t tell me he ended it.” Susie crouched down beside her.

Jessie shook her head. “No, I did.”

Susie sighed. “Thank goodness. I was hoping that would happen. I never trusted him. I’m glad you came to your senses. But why are ya so upset? You’re rid of that man!”

“What if I was wrong?” Jessie sobbed. “What if he really loves me and he never meant to lie?”

“Oh, don’t you dare go crawling back to him. I refuse to allow it. He don’t deserve you,” Susie scolded.

Jessie shook her head and sniffled as if she hadn‘t heard the words. “What am I supposed to do now? All of this money gone to waste.”

“Gone to waste? Listen to me, honey. We both know who you really fancy. And it’s not that sheriff. That man came by here earlier today to drop off something for you. Now, it seems to me that if a man comes all the way from Arizona to return a faded blue dress…”

“Colt was here?” Jessie interrupted.

“Yes, he brought a dress. It’s laid out on your bed,” Susie told her.

Jessie jumped up, gathered her bright yellow skirts, and rushed for the stairs up to her room.

Once at the top of the stairs, she entered her room. There, laid out on the pastel quilt, was her unruffled dark blue dress, just as she had left it. A new set of tears began making their way down her cheeks as she caressed the coarse fabric with her fingertips. So many memories sprang back into her mind as she gazed at the dress, unsure of how to react.

Then, it hit her.

If Colt had brought this by her house today, then he must still be in town!

She turned and rushed back down the stairs, calling Susie’s name.

“What in the name of thunder is wrong with you?” Her brother stood at the end of the stairs, his arms crossed and his stance impatient.

Jessie didn’t take time for details. “I can’t explain it all right now. Someone is in town that I must see. Susie!”

The maid came from the parlor. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Did Colt say if he was leaving today or not?” Jessie asked.

“He didn’t say. I’d imagine he’d be staying in the Anderson hotel, though,” Susie explained.

“Colt? That cowboy? What is he doing here?” Jake demanded.

“Susie, explain it to him. I’ve got to find him,” Jessie called over her shoulder as she hiked up her skirts a modest length and made her way down the hall back to the front door.

She walked elegantly until she was out of view of the house, then she broke out in a run. There was no way she could miss Colt. Not when she needed him this much.

She ran until she reached town, out of breath and tired from running in all of her stays. She slowed to a walk as she entered the busy part of town, staying away from the City Hall until she reached the Anderson hotel. She walked into the lobby and stepped up to the clerk’s desk.

“Can I help you?” the clerk asked.

“Yes. What room is Colt Kidd staying in?” Jessie asked.

The man looked at her oddly.

“It’s of the utmost importance,” Jessie insisted.

The clerk rolled his eyes and looked up the number. “Room 25. Just up the stairs to your left.”

Jessie nodded her thanks and turned to the stairs, but stopped. How could she face him? What would people say? It was most improper, and she couldn’t afford to have their names sullied. Not now. Not when they had such a limited amount of success.

She backed away a few steps, then a few more, until she was out on the street.

This was all so wrong.

So improper.

She heaved as she turned toward home, glancing back at the hotel once more before trudging forward.

She had no idea what to do or where to turn. There was no saving herself now. She was ruined. Adam had been her last hope, and she had a feeling that her money was what he really loved about her.

Why did the money have to even be there? She had everything she needed as it was!

With nowhere else to look, she turned her eyes upward.

I know that somehow you have a plan in this, God. Help me to trust in that no matter what happens.

*****

Colt tossed and turned, unable to even think of sleep with the way his mind was racing. He couldn’t get that image of Jessie so happy in Adam’s arms out of his mind. It was driving him batty.

He stared up at the ceiling, growing impatient with himself.

Why wouldn’t his heart listen to his head’s reasoning?

Jessie was happy, why wasn’t that enough for him? He saw her smiling and happy, looking in that scoundrel’s eyes, and yet it infuriated him rather than put him at ease. Part of him wanted to march right back there to that mansion she lived in and demand that he speak to her, yet the other half of him wanted to run as fast and far away from Myrtleville as he could.

Something in the back of his mind seemed to scream words that he didn’t want to hear.

Just be patient.

Trust your Savior. He’s got this.

You don’t understand this now, but you will one day.

Colt threw a pillow over his face and suppressed a scream. He was leaving this place first thing in the morning, and the sooner he got South Carolina out of sight, the sooner he could work on forgetting.

Forgetting Jessie Steele.

That thought made him begin dreading the coming weeks and even more so, the next morning.

*****

Jessie jerked awake, sweat rolling down her back and her hair clinging to her face.

No.

It couldn’t be.

He wouldn’t

It was just a bad dream.

But the dream had seemed so much like a memory that she couldn’t deny the nagging feeling in her stomach.

She threw back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing at her eyes and trying to get her breathing back to normal. What she needed to do was calm down while she processed what she had just remembered.

She closed her eyes, breathing deep and slow.

She knew what she had to do now.

Grabbing her plain dark blue dress, she made a quick job of putting it on and grabbing a shawl to wrap around her shoulders. Opening the door of her room, she held a pair of shoes in her hand as she walked quietly down the stairs in her stockings. Once at the end of the stairs, she made her way to the front door and out into the chilly night air. She donned her shoes on the porch and took off running down the road for half a mile until she reached the outskirts of town. Even though the town was sleeping, she walked down the public streets with elegance and grace, keeping her chin up high and a confident pep in her step. If there were any unscrupulous characters out in the dark near her, they would not take her for a naïve girl.

Visions of that man who had tried to attack her back in Plateau flashed into her mind, but she shoved them away. There would be none of that. Not when she had a mission.

She neared the hotel and stopped. If she remembered correctly, Colt’s window would be third window from the back of the building on the second floor. She looked around on the ground and found three small rocks, uttering a prayer that she was throwing them at the right window.

Throwing all of the rocks one at a time, she waited until the curtain cracked open. That face, though groggy and disgruntled, had never looked better to her.

She waved at him, and when recognition dawned on his face, he disappeared from the window.

Jessie waited for a few minutes until a rustling came from behind the hotel and Colt’s figure came into view. She walked in his direction until they met in the middle.

“What in the name of everything sensible are you doing? It’s got to be three in the morning, and you’re out here skipping stones on window panes, you crazy woman,” he grumbled.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Kidd,” Jessie teased.

Colt gave her a half smile and waited for her to explain why she was there.

Jessie dove right in. “The reason that I summoned you out here was because I have a problem.”

“As usual,” Colt teased in turn.

Jessie rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious. Adam and I had an argument earlier and the engagement is… no more.”

*****

Colt suppressed a smile as the words left Jessie’s mouth. Now was not the time to be selfish, however, and he must listen to her problem that she was trying to convey to him.

“Well, tonight I had a very strange dream. I remembered everything, Colt. I remember why I left here in the first place. I don’t remember the accident, but I remember what I was doing,” Jessie told him.

Colt smiled. “That’s great, Jessie. It really is.”

“Well, just wait ‘til you hear the whole story. Before I left for Arizona, Adam and I had another argument. Somehow I found out that he was after my inheritance, and I was determined to…”

“Inheritance?” Colt interrupted. “No one mentioned an inheritance.”

“Yes, apparently I’m an heiress. Anyway, I was in the process of chewing Adam up one side and down the other when he mentioned his father. Apparently his father had run up some gambling debts and he needed to pay them off as soon as he could. Once I found out this, I decided to try to find Adam’s father. The last anyone had heard from him he was on the Dottie Belle Ranch in Arizona. I thought that maybe his father could talk him out of this fool scheme before anyone got hurt.” Jessie put her head down. “I guess I failed.”

Colt put a hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “Now wait a minute. What was his father’s name?”

“Umm… D- Derek? No… David? No, that’s not it either.” Jessie’s eyebrows drew close together.

Colt stilled.

It couldn’t be.

“Damian?” he offered.

“That’s it!” Jessie snapped her fingers.

Colt swallowed hard. “What’s Adam’s last name?”

“Jeremiah.”

Damian Jeremiah.

One word.

Writer's Block.

Well, that's two words.

See what I mean? I don't even know how to form coherent author's notes!

Anyway, thanks to my musician brother's advice, I was able to finish this chapter (thanks Ty) so don't be all mad at me! I was very

Very.

Very.

Blocked.

Ugh!

Anyway, enjoy the plot twist!