mind, but she quickly dismissed it. Brash, know-it-all Tolley Northam could never be accused of having such a wounded disposition. He’d always done most of the wounding.
She set the brake and climbed down from the wagon, taking care that her new high-topped white shoes didn’t slip on the narrow step. As she walked toward Tolley, remembering to take small, ladylike steps as she’d learned at the conservatory, he caught sight of her and gave her a smile of recognition.
Something slammed into her chest. She stopped walking and reached up to see what had struck her. Nothing. Not even a stray rock whipped up by the train wheels or blown by the wind. It was his smile, the one that sent all the girls into a swoon. Even Laurie fell for it as a young girl. But no more. She’d known Tolley all her life, and she’d never let him have her heart, no matter how devastating his smile. She exhaled crossly. A troublemaking young man simply shouldn’t be that handsome.
Continuing her walk toward him, she hurried to mend her attitude. No matter what he’d done in the past, even Tolley Northam didn’t deserve to hear bad news delivered in an unkindly manner.
* * *
Tolley’s heart began to race. He could hardly believe the beautiful vision gliding toward him with the grace of a skilled ice skater on a frozen pond. Little Laurie Eberly. My, how her gait had changed from the stride of a cowhand to that of an elegant lady. How she’d grown into a lovely young woman in two years. Her face had the slender lines of a Greek sculpture. Her posture exuded confidence and refinement rivaling any Boston debutante’s. In all of his boyhood mischief, he’d never flirted with girls, but this beautiful woman’s appearance tempted him to try.
Nonsense. The Eberly girls were like sisters to his brothers and him. Of course, the Colonel always wanted at least one marriage between the two families. Maybe he should marry this little gal. Then the Eberly family would turn out to welcome him home next time he traveled.
“Good morning, Tolley.” Laurie offered no smile, and her eyes held a guarded look as she approached him.
“Morning, Laurie.” Tolley smiled, which only made her wince. “If you’re meeting somebody, I’m afraid they didn’t arrive or went off before you got here.” He should’ve talked to more of his fellow passengers to see if they knew any of his friends. But he’d spent most of his travel time talking about himself to anyone who’d listen. Another failure on his part.
“I came to meet you.” Laurie touched his arm, and a spark shot clear up to his shoulder, raising gooseflesh on his neck. “Nate asked me.”
He had no time to examine his response to her or his bitter disappointment. Before anger could take hold of him over his family’s careless neglect, tears shone in her eyes, and fear crowded into his heart. “What is it? Mother?” Three years ago, Mother and the Colonel went to Italy for her health. Did her heart finally give out?
Laurie shook her head, and her sunny red curls bounced around her face. “It’s your father, Tolley.” She gripped his arm more firmly. “Doc says it’s apoplexy.”
For countless moments, Tolley couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Finally, he managed, “I-is he—?”
“No, he’s not gone.” The words not yet hung in the air between them.
Laurie stared away for a moment, then gazed up at him with sweet compassion. “Your family is with him now. I know your mother will be glad to see you.” She waved a hand toward a box wagon he recognized from the many times he’d visited the Eberly place while growing up, the ranch next to his own family’s spread. “Maybe we can find someone to help load your trunks.” She glanced around the area.
“I can get them. Just drive the wagon over here. No, wait. I’ll get it.” In the past, the Eberly girls would’ve considered his gentlemanly offer offensive, being capable cowhands themselves.
This new Laurie simply smiled. “Thank you.”
Tolley quickly loaded his trunks and took the reins. As he drove, he and Laurie didn’t speak. His mind disoriented, he couldn’t even think of what to ask about his father’s illness.
The familiar sights of Esperanza, along with the newer buildings, filtered past his numbness. Mrs. Winsted’s mercantile. Williams’s Café. The barber shop. Across the street sat the bank, the sheriff’s office and two empty buildings. At the corner where they turned south, the Esperanza Arms, his sister’s hotel, loomed over the town with its three towering stories, shops lining the south side and a narrow portico on the east.
Tolley guided the team of horses around the corner headed south and urged them to a brisk trot. Down one side street, he spied Mrs. Foster’s boardinghouse. On another street stood the high school Tolley helped to build. Would anyone remember that good deed?
The more important question? Would he see the Colonel before he died?
* * *
Laurie clung to the side of the driver’s bench, sure she’d tumble to the ground if they hit a bump. Tolley drove with understandable urgency, but he also skirted around the worst of the ruts and dips in the road. He obviously hadn’t lost his driving skill while in Boston. Aching sympathy rose up within her, accompanied by a pinch of shame over her poor attitude about coming to town to fetch him home.
While she couldn’t say for sure, it appeared Tolley had changed. Even before she delivered the bad news about the Colonel, Tolley’s gaze in her direction appeared softer, gentler than before. His countenance exuded some quality she couldn’t name. What she’d first regarded as belligerence in his posture now appeared to be vulnerability, especially in light of his father’s condition.
“What happened?” His question startled her out of her reverie.
“Nate said they found him unconscious in the barn last evening. I didn’t press him for details because he needed to get back to the ranch.”
Tolley kept his eyes on the road and gave her a curt nod. “Doc’s with him?”
“Yes.” Her brother-in-law, Doc Henshaw, was the most capable doctor in the San Luis Valley.
“If anyone could help the Colonel, it’s Doc.” Tolley smiled, and Laurie’s heart warmed at his attempt at problem-solving. But then, he’d always been that way, from trying to fix her broken corncob doll to trying to figure out how to build a bridge over Cat Creek. Once again, shame pinched at her conscience for assuming the worst about him. Since Tolley’s childhood, his father had heaped condemnation on him, sometimes warranted, sometimes not. Laurie needn’t add her own disapproval.
Four Stones Ranch lay about six miles south of Esperanza. Even at a brisk trot, it took over twenty minutes to traverse the distance. Tolley turned down Four Stones Lane and drove into the barnyard at the back of the house. His brother Rand, an older version of Tolley and second oldest of the four Northam children, came out to meet them just as Tolley jumped down from the wagon.
“Tolley!” Rand shook his brother’s hand and slapped him on the back as if nothing was wrong. “Good to see you. Welcome home.”
Tolley gave him a shaky grin. “I wish it could be under better circumstances.”
“Rand, is there anything I can do?” Laurie remained on the driver’s bench, knowing what his answer would be but still needing to offer. Her pa had come over here once they got the news of his old friend’s illness, but he must’ve left already, for
