Banking on Temperance (22 page)

“I am trying to, Temperance. Come back here.” He tried to kiss her again, but she evaded him.

“But I am a good girl, Jake, not some dance hall doxie. If you want to take further advantage, I’ll need some proof of your intentions. Other than a new bonnet. Although the bonnet is quite lovely.” She rose from his lap and took her seat beside him, once again presenting the picture of a demure maiden.

“How much more proof do you want? You excite me, Temperance. I’d prefer to stop this buggy right now and make love to you.” He leaned down again, and she let him kiss her once more. “That’s what you want, too, isn’t it?”

“Maybe so. But my ma and da raised me right. I will go no further with you until we marry.”

Jake brought the buggy to a halt so abruptly Temperance had to grab onto the seat to avoid falling. “Marry you? Who said anything about marriage?”

“I did. I’m adding it to the conversation right now. You have been aware from the first time we met that I’m not the kind of girl you usually spend time with, but yet you pursued me. So I want to know right now what your intentions are.”

To make him aware of what he could have, she kissed him once more, softly, before she increased the stakes and gave him a kiss filled with the kind of passion she had only experienced before with Basil. She broke away from him as he attempted to get his breathing under control before he addressed her. She batted her eyes at him several times, imitating what she’d seen the dance halls girls do to Basil.

“So it’s marriage you want, is it? With a man whose job takes him away from home?”

“My ma and da were married for twenty years, quite happily, and Da traveled every week. Maybe that’s why they were so happy. Their life was spent in short bursts of time together, followed by enough separation to make them want to be back with each other.”

“But when I travel, it’s not for a week at a time. It’ll be months.”

“I would wait for you.”

“You’d have to live here in St. Louis.”

Temperance was on the verge of panic. “No! I can’t stay in St. Louis. I must take my family to Oregon. It’s what my da wanted for us and I made him a promise we’d get there.” She would never reveal the real reason for her panic. She couldn’t stay in the same town as Basil and be married to another man.

Jake laughed and wrapped his arms around her again. “But I just told you, I’m done with Oregon after this year. When I marry, my wife will stay in St. Louis, where I spend most of my days. Would you have me trek your family out into the wilderness only to have you abandon them and come back here with me?”

His arms, which surrounded her, suddenly lost their warmth and became a vice. A prison. Or so she thought.

All was not lost. He was her last hope, and she’d have to find a way to make him see reason. And reason, to her line of reckoning, did not involve staying in St. Louis. She and her family were bound for Oregon, one way or the other.

Weeks rolled into a month and longer, but still Basil caught no sign of Temperance on the streets of town. She had done a complete disappearing act, and he couldn’t go after her by showing up at the restaurant or the cabin. So when Jake appeared at the bank to discuss his needs to get the wagon trains outfitted, Basil was eager to talk to him.

“What’s going on, Jake?” he asked as he reached across the desk to shake hands. He motioned to the seat in front of the desk, trying not to remember it was from that very seat Mr. Jones had tumbled to the floor of the bank, thereby setting in motion the chain of events that led to where he and Temperance were today. Which was nowhere.

“Things are going well, Basil, although I haven’t seen much of you at the card tables this winter.”

“I haven’t been in the mood for a game of chance lately. But I guess it’s a way of life for you, since every time you lead a wagon train out of town, you have no way of predicting the outcome.”

“True enough. I’ve about got this year’s group ready to head out. I think I’ve put together a good crop of people, at least judging from their letters and their deposits. Just a few more wagon slots to fill, and I’ll be ready to head out with fifty wagons in early April.”

“Good. I’m glad things are going well.”

“Yep. And you should be paid back, with interest, by the end of March.”

Basil eyed Jake, trying to decipher what Temperance found so appealing. “Everything’s in order, then, with your supplies?”

“Pretty much. I’ll wait until the final days to load up on perishables, but I’ve got oats for the animals, pemmican, wagon parts, flints, guns, bullets, and all that in storage and ready to sell to the wagons as soon as they arrive. First ones are already coming in. I love seeing the enthusiasm they all have when they first start out. I try to make a game out of it, guessing how long it will take for that excitement to fade.”

“And how long does it take?”

Jake grinned. “Usually a few weeks, although there are some who remain upbeat the entire trip. It depends on what kind of hardship comes our way. It’s a rough slog, though, even without major complications, and I’m always happy to see them get to their final destinations so I can turn around and come back here.”

Basil offered Jake a cigar, and both men sat quietly while they went through the ritual of lighting up, and taking the first few drags of the pungent tobacco. Finally, Basil broke the silence.

“Are you still seeing Temperance? How is she?”

Jake glanced up from his boots. “Well enough. We’ve been having fun together this winter. She wants us to get married, and let me take her family to Oregon.”

“Really? So will you?”

Jake shifted in the chair. “Every instinct in my body is telling me it would be a mistake. Not the marriage so much, but taking them west with me. You know what I said about how some wagons just seem to be destined to fail? How a black cloud hangs over them?”

At Basil’s slight nod, Jake rose to his feet and began to pace in front of the desk. “The image I get every time I see their poor excuse for a wagon sitting out at the cabin is one of doom. Judging from the hard time they had just getting from Pennsylvania to St. Louis I’m sure I’m not far off the mark. Already one life has been lost. I don’t want to take them, but Temperance won’t have it any other way. I’ve even told her I won’t be going back to Oregon after this year, but she insists. And she can be persuasive, so I’ve not given her a definitive answer yet.” Jake laughed as he slid back into the chair. “There’s still a month left before I have to let her down, and I am enjoying her company.”

Basil could barely control the burn he was feeling. He gritted his teeth. “So what will you do about her when it does come time for you to head out?”

“Since she thinks she’s fully capable of driving the wagon across the country. I’m going to come up with a plan to test her. Not sure yet what it’ll be, but I’ll think of something. If she passes my test, I’ll let her and that blasted family of hers come on the train. Hell, I’ll even marry her, if that’s what she wants. Why not? She’s comely enough. I would have to bring her back here, though, after we get her family delivered to Oregon. I wouldn’t want to leave her there for years. Might as well take full advantage of my rights as her husband.”

Basil could barely see straight, he was so angry. He was mad at Jake’s cavalier attitude towards Temperance’s safety, but even more so, he was fuming at Jake’s assessment of Temperance. She was more than ‘comely enough.’ She was a beautiful, petite, sprightly handful of a woman who made life interesting. Didn’t Jake see any of that? Basil forced himself to get his emotions under control, and replied with the only appropriate comment he could make. “Won’t you be putting her in harm’s way by testing her?”

“I won’t ask her to do anything we won’t encounter on the way to Oregon. And as for putting her in harm’s way, once we’re out on the trail, my responsibility will be for the whole train, not just her. She’ll have to fend for herself most of the time.”

“That’s a pretty harsh statement, Jake.”

“It would be different if it were just her and me traveling as members of a train run by someone else, but I have to take care of all the lives on the train. Fifty wagons translate to over 200 people. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and a lot of equipment that can break down. Not to mention keeping the livestock and all those people from the hands of those wily Indians along the way.”

“Sit down, Jake, you’re making me dizzy with your pacing.” As the man took his seat again, Basil glanced at him. His friend, yet his adversary. Basil wouldn’t ever turn his back on Temperance and her needs. Even as the thought formed in his head, he realized he was lying to himself, since he had done just that.

Jake replied. “You know well enough a wagon master is only as good as his last venture. She’s going to have to take care of herself if she gets on with a train. She thinks she’s capable. I don’t. So, I’ll have to do something to convince her otherwise.”

“You’re right, Jake. Your responsibility is to the whole train, not just one wagon. And if she can’t lead the family, it’s best to leave them behind. Just don’t drag things out and let her get false hopes up.”

“Oh, I’ve got a few weeks left, so I’m in no hurry. Quite possibly by that time, my wagon train will be filled, anyway.”

Basil glared at Jake. “So you’ll still not let her go west even if she succeeds in whatever scheme you come up with to convince her she’s not capable? You’re already thinking she won’t make it, but you should never underestimate her.”

Jake glanced across the desk at Basil. “Seems to me as if you know the lady well. I’ve often wondered why you never went out with her. You had a chance, in the months I was gone. Now I’ve got her, and I think that bothers you more than you care to admit.”

“I never took you for a cruel man, Shelton. But, if you play with her emotions, or give her false hope, that’s exactly what you are. I would never have introduced you to her, had I known your true character.”

Jake stood. “Well, it’s my ‘true character,’ as you call it, that has kept me alive all these years. First prospecting for gold and then as a wagon master. I’ve held many lives in my hands, unlike you, who simply sit behind a desk all day. Paying attention to my gut has kept me out of the line of fire more than once, and I’m not going to deny what it’s telling me now, even for the sake of a lovely lady.”

“I’m sorry, Jake. Didn’t mean to offend you. Please sit back down.”

Jake took his seat once more. “Since all my talking to her has fallen on deaf ears, I think the test of her abilities is the only way she will admit defeat. If you have any other suggestions, I’m eager to hear them.”

Basil remained silent. What could he say?

“Aren’t you two good friends? Can’t you try to talk some sense into her?”

“We aren’t friendly anymore. She quit working here, and I haven’t seen her in quite awhile.”

Jake glanced across the desk. “Oh. I thought you were a friend of the family.”

Basil wished the man would go away. Or at least stop asking questions. “Of the family, yes. Of her, no. Even if I was to talk to her, she is not inclined to listen to anything I have to say.”

• • •

Jake listened to the catch in Basil’s voice. “I see.”

Somehow, there was more to the story than Jake currently was aware of. He sensed it in Basil’s voice when he talked about Temperance. Maybe he was mistaken and they had gotten close, but she pulled away from him? Or vice versa? Was that why Basil introduced her to Jake? To take her off his hands? Was she maybe not as pure as she led him to believe? She certainly had acted a bit brazen a couple nights ago, when she let him fondle her breast. Right before she started talking marriage. Maybe she tried the same ploy with Basil, only to be rebuffed by him?

Jake and Basil haunted the same places in St. Louis, and the dance halls and taverns were filled with women who were all trying to find a husband to make their lives more comfortable. Some were willing to go to great extremes to tie a man down. But Jake and Basil both were aware of all the tricks by now, and had a few of their own. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Temperance had tried to get Basil to marry her, and he wisely said no. Why else would she have left the job at the bank for the tedium of the laundry?

If Basil was the one to have stepped back from a relationship with Temperance, Jake was grateful he was there to take his place. Basil’s loss, as he viewed it. After all, Temperance was a great lady. Her outgoing nature at the various socials and dances they had attended in the past couple of months helped him tremendously in his attempts to meet and do business with all the right people. His list of contacts to make his job easier had grown fat over the winter, and a lot of the credit was due to her. She was part of the reason his train of fifty wagons had filled up so quickly, since all the respectable businesses in town sent folks his way over the other wagon masters vying for the same people.

So, she helped advance his career. But what had he done for her, other than to buy her a bonnet? Maybe it was time to stop thinking about Temperance’s wish to move her family west as an annoyance, a subject to be avoided at all cost, and take a hard gander at what she was attempting to do. Maybe he could take her family with him on the train this year. Lord, having that sweet thing in his bed every night on the trail would help make the trip more enjoyable.

He could stay in Oregon for one winter before heading back to St. Louis to pick up the next group heading west. By then, her family would be situated and she could return to St. Louis with him. The burden of caring for her entire family would then be off their shoulders, and he and Temperance could begin their life in St. Louis as well-respected members of the community.

The more Jake thought about it, the better he warmed up to the scenario. Maybe, to ease Temperance’s mind, he’d put off changing his route for a couple of years, and make an annual trek to Oregon to check on the family. Without a man, he didn’t know what they could do in Oregon to get by, but it wasn’t his worry. All he had to do to satisfy Temperance was get them there. And if he promised to do that, Temperance would stop toying with his emotions, and finally satisfy him.