MB01 - Unending Devotion (25 page)

He jumped from the high seat of the sleigh and glanced around to the scattering of other houses with the same weatherworn, peeling paint. They’d likely been white several years ago when they’d first been built. But now the boards were a dirty gray—the same color as the slush mixture that sat in lumps along the dirt streets.

He hadn’t noticed before just how shabby and sleazy Harrison looked.

With narrowed eyes, he surveyed the Stockade. From the outside, everything was placid and silent—just as it always was during daylight hours.

But every place he’d gone that morning, everyone had talked about how Bella had run away during the night. And Carr was apparently handing out favors to anyone who could give him information about the girl or Lily. Apparently he’d put the rumors together and figured out Lily’s involvement.

Connell had no doubt Carr’s men were still out searching.

He tossed a canvas over the load of supplies and then turned toward Stuart’s house. His muscles were tight, and he prayed no one would suspect him.

“Where have you been?” Lily met him at the back door, her brows wrinkled.

At least she’d kept her promise and stayed in the house as he’d asked.

“I couldn’t rush anything and draw attention to myself,” he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. “And of course I had to calm Vera and Oren down without giving away my escape plans. They’ll be safer not knowing.”

She nodded, and the worried lines on her forehead eased.

“Are you ready to go?” He peered past her through the kitchen to the front room, where Daisy lay curled on a faded settee.

“Stuart found an old skirt and blouse that belonged to his wife.” Lily followed his gaze and her expression softened. “At first Daisy didn’t want to wear them. She thought they were too big and unfashionable. But I finally convinced her to put them on.”

“No need to worry about fashion at a time like this.”

“I offered her mine too, but apparently what I wear is even less fashionable.”

He’d never paid much attention to her attire. “It doesn’t matter what you wear. You’re always beautiful.” The words slipped out before he could stop them. He ducked his head, but not before he caught sight of the smile that tugged at her lips.

Fingers of heated embarrassment grabbed his neck. Why had he gone and said something like that? What was coming over him?

“We need to be on our way,” he said quickly, starting across the kitchen, hoping to hide the color that was making its way to his face. “Before anyone sees the sleigh outside and starts to wonder why I’m here.”

She followed him into the sitting room and bent over Daisy. “Connell’s back, my dear.” She smoothed Daisy’s hair away from her face, revealing features that were as smooth and pretty as Lily’s. It was a wonder Carr or Maggie or some other shanty boy hadn’t made the connection between the two sisters—that Tierney had been the one to see it.

Daisy stirred.

Lily combed her fingers through the girl’s hair. “Wake up, Daisy. We need to be on our way.”

After a bit of coaxing, Lily finally managed to rouse the girl. In no time they were bundled in buffalo-skin blankets and ready to go.

He hid them under the canvas among the supplies, tied down the covering, and started on his way, doing his best to act like he was on a regular ride out to one of his camps to deliver supplies.

He took the tote road north out of Harrison, knowing he had to stay as far from the main roads as possible. The indirect route would make a longer ride for the women, but heading north around Budd Lake was the safest.

His heart didn’t stop pounding in tempo to the horse hooves until after they made it over the border into Gladwin County. Even then he didn’t allow himself to take a break until they’d gone ten miles east of Harrison.

He found a wayside tavern and refilled the coal warming box he’d brought along for the women. Briefly, he let them get out and stretch before starting on their way again.

There was only one safe place he knew to take Lily, only one person in the world he trusted to take care of her as well as he would. He’d pushed the horses hard, trotting them at a brisk pace all day. And when they finally reached the outskirts of Bay City, night had fallen.

“Where are we?” Lily’s voice was groggy. Thankfully, she and Daisy had slept most of the long day.

Daisy was still asleep and snuggled between them on the front bench of the sleigh where he’d finally agreed they could sit.

“We’ve only got five more miles now.” The soft jingle of the Swiss bells that hung from the horses’ collars kept an easy rhythm with the swish of the blades in the snow. A quarter mile to the east, past the edges of the few remaining pines, lay Saginaw Bay and beyond that Lake Huron. It was frozen and lifeless now. But once it thawed, it would teem with ships from far and near coming to transport the bounty of the lumber camps and sawmills to ports in Chicago and the East.

Lily sat straighter. Through the darkness in the distance, they could see the first flickering lights of the city. “Are we safe?”

“Carr wouldn’t dare come this far after you.” At least he hoped.

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then she reached across Daisy and found his gloved hand underneath the blanket on his lap. She squeezed it. “I know you’ve risked a lot today, doing this for us. Thank you.”

He’d tried not to think about how much trouble the rescue was going to cause him. He’d told himself that Carr wouldn’t find out about his involvement, that no one needed to know why he left Harrison in the busiest part of the lumber season. He’d consoled himself with the instructions he’d given to Stuart to tell anyone who asked: He’d had to leave for a family emergency.

But his insides had frozen into crusted ice, leaving an unshakable chill in the depths of his soul. He reminded himself he hadn’t done anything wrong, that he’d only stood up for what was right. If Daisy wanted to leave her life of prostitution, she should have the freedom to walk away from it without anyone trying to stop her.

Carr had gone too far once again. And Stuart and Lily were right. It was past time for someone in the community—someone influential like him—to let Carr know he couldn’t get away with his vileness or his tight-fisted control of Harrison.

Now that he’d taken the first step, surely others would follow. Wouldn’t they?

And even if they didn’t, was it possible that God was nudging him to stop sitting back and to begin doing more to deal with some of the problems that surrounded him?

When Lily started to pull away, he captured her hand, not wanting to break the connection with her. “Did I really hear a thank-you?” He tugged her playfully. “I’m shocked.”

“I can be grateful when I choose to be.” Her voice was light. “And I can also be quite admiring.”

“I’d like to see that.” Little did she know exactly how much he wanted her admiration.

“I have been a little rough on you at times, haven’t I?”

“A little?”

“Or a lot.” She laughed softly. “Maybe I can make it up to you.”

“And just how do you propose to do that?” The banter warmed his insides.

“I promise you won’t have to rescue me again.”

“I like that promise.” He grinned.

“And no more middle-of-the-night scares.”

“That would be nice.”

“I’ll do my best to focus on taking care of Daisy now.”

“Sounds like you’re going to start having a normal life.”

She grew quiet. “I don’t think I really know what normal is.”

His own thoughts turned sober. What would she do now that she had Daisy? What kind of life could she possibly make for herself and the girl?

They rode in silence, the chill of the night slithering around his feet and legs, sending a shiver over his skin.

“Have you ever thought about having a normal life, Connell?” she finally asked.

“With all your dangerous rescues, mine seems tame compared to yours.”

“No. I mean a real life. Away from the lumber camps.”

A real life? What was
real
anyway? A big home with a wife and a baby and a job as the supervisor over his father’s sawmill like Tierney? Was that real? That could have been his life—would have been his—if Tierney hadn’t stolen it all away from him.

Instead, he lived with Stuart Golden in a cluttered house, ate his meals at a hotel, and had nothing to show for his work. He calculated numbers day after day, always with the stress of trying to make those figures add up to something bigger.

But deep inside he knew it was a losing battle. Eventually McCormick Lumber would cut down every profitable pine and be forced to move on. The hunger for more would never really be satisfied, and he would always have to race to find more fuel to feed that insatiable appetite.

“What would you do if you didn’t work in the lumber camps?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Lumbering is all I’ve ever known.”

“Didn’t you ever want to do anything else?”

“It’s never been about what I wanted. It’s always been about the business. McCormick Lumber. And what’s best for the company.”

“You’ve never really thought about doing anything else?”

Had he? He honestly couldn’t remember that he’d ever had one thought about pursuing any other ambition except the lumber business. From his earliest memories, Dad had drilled into him the importance of succeeding, of working hard, of doing his part. And he knew Dad was counting on him or Tierney to someday take over the business.

“There has to be something else you’d like to do besides lumbering,” she persisted. “Something you’ve secretly dreamed of doing.”

He shook his head. “In a family like mine, the only dreams that matter are those of my dad.”

Daisy stirred.

Lily pulled her hand back into her lap, leaving him wishing he could hang on to her and her passion for life just a fraction longer.

“Maybe it’s time for you to start making your own plans and having your own dreams,” she said softly.

Daisy pushed herself up from her resting place against Lily’s shoulder. “I’m so cold and hungry.”

Lily lifted the blanket off her lap, shifted it onto Daisy’s, and tucked it around the girl.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so cold in my life.”

“We’re almost there.” Lily lifted her sister’s feet back onto the warming box.

“And I’ve got a horrible headache.”

Connell clamped his lips together to keep from saying anything. The girl’s complaining had worsened as the day had progressed. She was likely experiencing alcohol withdrawal. From what he’d heard, most prostitutes drank heavily. Some even drank themselves to death.

Even so, his frustration had mounted with each passing mile. The girl obviously took Lily for granted and expected her to take care of her every whim—and probably always had.

“Where are we going?” Daisy asked as Lily tucked her under the crook of her arm like a little girl.

“We’re in West Bay City,” Connell said. They were no longer passing the small farmhouses that dotted the countryside but had entered the residential neighborhoods of the western side of town.

Through the darkness of the evening, the lamplight from the windows of many new houses cast a glow on the snow-covered dirt road. Most of the houses were simple two-story structures made of scrap lumber. Brightly painted, they sat close to the streets and belonged to immigrants—Germans, Poles, French Canadians—who provided cheap labor to the many mills, lumberyards, and factories along the river, including McCormick Lumber Company.

Every time he returned, the city sprawled larger. No longer was business confined to the Saginaw River waterfront and Lower Bay City on the east side. Industry was booming everywhere—restaurants, hotels, clothing stores, boardinghouses, churches, new schools.

As the lumber industry had expanded, so had the city. The problem was that eventually Michigan was going to run out of white pine, and when it did, what would happen to the city that had relied upon the logs for its life?

“And where exactly are you planning to take us?” Daisy’s voice was irritable, as if she needed someone to blame for her misery and decided Connell should be the scapegoat.

Only then did he realize Lily had never once asked him where they were going. She trusted him. Believed in him. Had utterly and completely placed her life in his hands.

The thought frightened him and made him marvel at the same time. When he glanced across Daisy’s head and met Lily’s gaze, her brows lifted, no doubt waiting to hear the answer to the question.

“I’m taking you home,” he said.

Her brows arched higher.

“You’ll be safe there.” And if she were in his house, she’d still be very much a part of his life. Maybe then she’d forget her idea of taking Daisy someplace far away. Maybe she’d like his home. Maybe she’d stay.

The fact was he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. And he was sure he’d do just about anything to keep her from slipping away.

Chapter
20

“T
his is your home?” Lily was utterly unprepared for the enormity of the residence.

Connell had jumped from the sleigh and was already around to her side, holding out a hand to help her down.

But she couldn’t move. She could only stare at the tall Queen Anne–style mansion that seemed to sit on a throne of lattice and reign amidst the sprawling block-long grounds. Each of the dozens of various sized windows was lit—big bay, round arched, small square, diamond, and even stained glass. In the darkness, the interior lights illuminated the elaborate details of the grandly built home, almost as if the owner had planned to display it like a museum piece.

Connell followed her gaze. “Dad had it built three years ago.”

She’d guessed that McCormick Lumber was prosperous and Connell’s father was a wealthy man. But she’d never really thought about Connell belonging to a completely different class and way of living. She’d only seen him in his shanty-boy attire and thought of him as a backwoodsman.

She hadn’t pictured him in an elaborate home—not one like this with terra cotta brick, pretty gables covered with decorative patterns, and steeply pitched roofs. The prominent circular tower with its conical peaked roof made it look almost castle-like.