Too Rich for a Bride (35 page)

Ida stepped off the train and blinked to adjust her eyes to the post lanterns. The sun was sinking behind the Rocky Mountains and shadows stretched across the valley. Respectable women didn’t walk about town after dark. She looked around the platform for a porter who could help her find suitable transportation to the sheriff’s office.

Instead of catching the attention of a porter, however, she caught Colin
Wagner’s gaze. He strolled toward her like he didn’t have a care in the world. Would he be able to do that if he were guilty of the improprieties she was investigating?

Am I looking at a friend or a foe, Lord?

“Good evening.” His smooth voice held no hint of guilt.

Ida took a deep breath. “Mr. Wagner.” She raised her chin a notch. “Are you taking the evening train?”

“No. Mollie said you were on a business trip and were coming in this evening. I realize you don’t want to see me socially—unless, of course, you’ve changed your mind.” A coy smile softened his features.

Ida shook her head.

“At any rate,” he continued, “it’s dangerous for you to be out alone at night. I was out taking care of some business of my own and thought I could give you a ride to the boardinghouse. Surely that would be permissible.”

Was she looking at a mere scoundrel, or someone who was even more of a threat to her than that? Did he know where she’d been and what she’d found out?

“I have other plans. Thank you.” Ida pulled her mother’s pendant watch from her reticule and turned it toward the light from the post lantern.

Before she could read the time, Colin snatched it out of her hand. His smile wasn’t that of a charmer, but the sneer of a snake. “What do you say we call this cat-and-mouse game a wash and get right to my proposition?”

“You’re being childish.” Ida straightened to her full height, fighting a surge of fear. “I’m not interested in hearing another word you have to say.” She held out her hand. “Return the watch.”

“I have a better idea.” His voice dripped with syrup. “How about you come with me, and I’ll see to it that not only do you get the watch back, but that Miss Hattie is released, safe and sound?”

He’d taken Hattie hostage?
Ida’s knees threatened to buckle. Her arm fell to her side.

“I thought you’d see it my way.” Colin reached into Ida’s cape and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her off the platform.

Her boots sank into the snow, her spirit taking the plunge with them. Miss Hattie was in danger.

Trust in the Lord
. Surely at least one of the many folks milling about outside the depot would notice them.

“Why couldn’t you and Mollie just learn your lesson?” Puffs of steam carried Colin’s words into the cold night air. “You should’ve kept your nose in your own business.”

As Colin charged up the street toward his buggy with her in tow, Ida’s thoughts proved as erratic as her steps. He’d switched the ore to teach her a lesson? Why wasn’t anyone helping her? She should call out, but she couldn’t. Her determination to get answers had put Hattie in danger.

Please, Lord. Keep Hattie safe. I’m trusting You. Please help me
.

At the buggy, Colin stopped abruptly and stared at her, his grip still strong. “Women don’t belong in business. You and Mollie don’t belong.”

“Then why did you represent Mollie? Seek our secretarial services? Put in a good word for me?” Ida sighed. “Pretend?”

“I started out wooing Mollie. She would have eventually realized she needed to give up her business pursuits for me. But then you came along—more my type.”

Ida resisted the urge to spit in the despicable man’s face. An escape would require more of a distraction than that. She needed to be patient. Wait for the right moment.

“You’ve had your fun, playing in our world, but it’s time you realized your true purpose.” His voice softened and so did the lines at his eyes. “Your place is in the home with a man who can provide everything you need.
Who can take care of you properly.” His breath hot on her face, Colin shifted his grip on her arm, expecting her to step up into the seat.

Ida rose to her full height and met his gaze. “You’re wrong, Mr. Wagner! My place is
not
in your kitchen. And I assure you that my true purpose has nothing to do with you.” She stomped the top of his foot and punched him in the gut with her other hand.

Snarling, he lost his hold on her long enough for her to run into the middle of the street. She nearly ran headlong into a young woman, painted up and baring her chest.

“Get the sheriff! Please!” Ida begged her. She recovered her footing and darted around several mules, hoping to see Boney Hughes, hoping the other woman was racing toward the sheriff’s office, but she didn’t dare turn around and risk losing ground. Clutching her aching side, she willed herself to keep running toward the Third Street Café.

Before she reached the safety of the restaurant, Colin jumped in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “You fool! You could have had it all.”

Behind him, a familiar ice wagon rounded the corner. And the man driving it needed only a moment to size up the situation. Ida had seen that look on Tucker’s face before, at the mud puddle.

“Wagner!”

Ida relaxed at the sound of Tucker’s familiar voice, firm as iron, yet smooth as butter.

Colin jerked around as Tucker jumped from wagon. Her captor shifted his grip to her arm, squeezing her tight to his side. “Raines is your
‘other plans’
?”

Ida nodded, unable to take her eyes off the ice man with the perfect timing.

“If you don’t let go of Miss Sinclair this moment, your fate could meet you right here, saving you the trouble of a trial.” Tucker pointed behind them.

Ida was able to turn her head far enough to see Sheriff Snelling and his deputy standing within ten feet of her and Colin.

The younger man pointed a gun at Colin. “Do as the man said, Mr. Wagner. Let go of the lady.”

When he did, Ida felt herself falling. Then tender, strong arms scooped her up.

Thank You, Lord
.

THIRTY-NINE

ucker watched Colin Wagner shuffle away with a deputy on either side of him and blew out a deep breath. Ida had given the lawmen enough information to arrest him, and it sounded like Henry Blackmer, Mollie O’Bryan, and many others would have a lot more incriminating evidence to offer them.

Tears trickled down Ida’s face. “I’ve made such a mess of things.”

Tucker pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and slipped it into the hand that held her mother’s pendant watch.

Staring up at him, she blotted her tears. “You’re certain Hattie is safe?”

Tucker nodded. “While you were talking to the sheriff, Deputy Alwyn told me that Judson stopped by their office today and told him you too had reason to suspect Colin of a crime. Alwyn went to the boardinghouse to follow up with you and had just returned from Hattie’s when a woman came in and told him and the sheriff what was going on in the street.”

A woman from Myers Avenue, to be precise. He intended to thank Felicia for her kindness as soon as he could.

“Colin’s threats were just a ploy to scare me? To make me go with him?” The pain in Ida’s moist blue eyes tightened Tucker’s throat.

“Yes.” He choked out the word.

“I trusted him.”

A bitter taste rose in his mouth. “Countless people trusted Colin. And many people stood to lose a lot of money because of what he did.” Tucker met her tender gaze and brushed a golden brown curl from her face. “What you did today—digging for the truth and standing up to Colin Wagner—took a lot of courage.”

Ida drew in a deep breath. “Tucker Raines, you were God’s answer to my prayers for help.”

Emotion tightened Tucker’s throat, and he swallowed hard. He wanted to kiss the woman he loved, but this wasn’t the time or the place.

“You’ve had a long day. I need to take you home.” He tucked his arm around her and led her to the wagon. The partial embrace wasn’t a kiss, but it felt mighty fine, nonetheless.

Thank You, Lord
.

Riding down Bennett Avenue in the ice wagon beside Tucker Raines, Ida felt a contentment she hadn’t experienced in the office, the millinery shop, or at the stock exchange. And watching Tucker guide the two draft horses up Hayden to Golden Avenue, she couldn’t think of any place she’d rather be.

Tucker wasn’t like any man she’d ever met. He never pretended to be something he wasn’t. He set his own work and plans aside to follow God’s plan for him and to meet the needs of his family. He was a man who had suffered the loss of a dear friend in a tragic drowning. A brother who had watched his sister spiral into a sorrow that took
her
away from him too. Tucker was also an honest example of what it meant to live life and fight
battles carrying the shield of faith. His quiet strength had supported her and comforted her whether she’d deserved it or not.

She loved him.

He brushed the brim of his worn hat and tugged it down over one eye. “I think I’m ready for a newer hat. The one you bought me was nice and all, but—”

“It wasn’t really you.”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“I didn’t mean to flaunt my money. I only wanted to give you a nice gift.”

“I know.”

And if Ida didn’t know about his obligations in California, she’d say the two of them belonged like this side by side, forever and always.

FORTY

uesday morning, as Ida made her way down the hill to Mollie O’Bryan’s office, her heart relived every moment from the previous evening. When Colin Wagner had met the train and tried to kidnap her, she’d tasted a fear she hadn’t experienced since the day the miners found her at the creek. Colin had fooled and betrayed her, as well as everyone in the business district and everyone in the church.