Bride of Second Chances Page 14

  “Maybe we should check a store that sees a lot of customers. Some people talk and don’t realize how much others hear what they say.”

  “It’s a shame people insist on talking at all when it comes to unpleasant topics. Marcy doesn’t still bother you, does she?”

  “Not really. It’s awkward to pass her by. We manage a polite greeting, but that’s about it. I’m sorry I’m not more like Rebecca. I’ve tried to be more like her. I don’t know how she managed to befriend so many. She had a real gift.”

  “I like you just the way you are, Jane.” Thinking she might not believe it, he stopped her and waited for her to look at him before he continued, “I mean it. I wouldn’t have you any other way. You’re the better half of me.”

  With a slight blush on her cheeks, she looked away and said, “You’re the better half of me, too.”

  “Ah, once again, you’re charming without knowing it.”

  Smiling, he led her down the sidewalk, mindful to step aside to let her walk around the patches of snow. They entered the business district and she motioned to a mercantile.

  “Let’s see if the owner can tell us all the places we might go.”

  He indicated his agreement and followed her into the mercantile.

  The bell above the door rang, and the owner, a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties glanced up and smiled. “Can I help you find anything?”

  Jane looked at Jeremy who scanned the store. It seemed vacant at the moment, thankfully. He gave a slight nod and walked with her to the counter. After he cleared his throat, he began in a low voice, “I received word that I’m adopted.” Unsure of how to continue, he glanced at Jane.

  “We’re looking for his mother,” she softly said. “The matter is personal because his mother was a part of an establishment known for entertaining men.” She shot him a meaningful look, and the owner’s eyes lit up with understanding. “We’re passing through, you see, and aren’t familiar with Omaha. We hoped you might tell us where such establishments are located?”

  Jeremy’s heart raced the whole time she spoke. This was it. Soon he’d either see his mother or know she was no longer alive.

  “I can write down a list for you,” the owner told her.

  The front door opened, and Jeremy thanked God the man hadn’t entered the store before then. He knew he wasn’t doing anything wrong, but the thought that someone might know he was about to go into a place of ill repute was making him break out into a sweat.

  “Hey, Pa,” the owner said with a wave. “Ma sent you in here by yourself?”

  The owner’s father shook his head with a wry grin. “You got a swell head ever since you bought this place from Lindon.” He approached Jeremy and Jane. “Hi, name’s Dave Larson.”

  Jeremy shook his hand and wondered if he should give his name since the man’s son happened to be writing up a list of brothels for him. Finally, he decided the first name would be harmless enough and told it to him.

  “Nice to meet you, Jeremy.” He turned to Jane.

  “Oh, Jane. My name is Jane,” she said.

  “I don’t recall seeing you here before. Is there anything you need?” Dave asked.

  “I got it, Pa,” his son called out. “You go on and do your haphazard search for food. I’m sure Ma will be in soon enough to give you the list you forgot to bring in with you.”

  “That’s not fair, Jacob,” Dave said as he picked up a basket. “I used to manage just fine before I married her.”

  “So I heard.” He winked at Jeremy and Jane as he wrote on the paper in front of him. “Before he married my ma, he lived on jerky.”

  Dave grimaced. “Not anymore. Anyway, if you two need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  Jeremy thanked him, suddenly realizing his hold on Jane’s arm had tightened under the strain of being in an awkward situation. He immediately loosened his hold. It didn’t have to be awkward. Neither Dave nor Jacob knew him or Jane, and they wouldn’t know the name of the woman Jeremy and Jane were looking for so if word got out, then no one would be able to figure out the situation.

  Dave headed off down to the back of the store where the staple items were on the shelves, so Jeremy turned his attention to Jacob who finished writing out the list and handed it to him. He counted the number of places his mother might be at and sighed. This wasn’t going to be a quick trip through town. Who knew Omaha could have so many—as Jane called them—establishments?

  “Thank you,” Jeremy said, motioning to the list.

  “Anytime,” Jacob replied.

  Glad that part of the ordeal was over, he led Jane out of the store and exhaled. The chilly air felt good on his flushed face.

  “It’ll be fine, Jeremy,” Jane told him. “No one back home will know.”

  He knew she was right, and he didn’t have the feeling that Jacob was the type to tell anyone personal information like what they’d just shared with him. He said a quick prayer that they’d find out about his mother sooner rather than later and read the first establishment on the list. It seemed to be the one closest to them, so he took Jane by the elbow again and led her across the street.

  As they neared the saloon up ahead, he realized his steps were slowing so he picked up his pace. When they reached the entrance, he hoped there wouldn’t be anything inside that would offend a lady’s sensibilities and opened the door. A couple of men sat at the bar and another group played cards at a table. He fought the urge to close the door and hightail it right back to Edith’s. He didn’t know which was worse: the liquor or stale smell of smoke that hung heavy in the air.

  At least there were no immodestly dressed women, and thinking one of those women could be his mother made his skin crawl. Reluctant, he let Jane go in before him and took off his hat. Ignoring the stares from a couple of the men who not only seemed to be sneering at him but ogling Jane, he pulled her closer to him and approached the bar where the bartender polished up the mugs.

  “You two don’t look like the kind of people who belong here,” the bartender gruffly stated, his gaze sweeping them up and down. “The church is further down the street.”

  A couple of men snorted.

  “Actually,” Jeremy began, “I’m looking for someone. I was told she might,” he winced, “work here.”

  “What’s the name?” he asked as he set down one mug and picked up another to polish.

  “Eliza Nitsick.”

  “Don’t you already have a woman?” one of the men called out.

  “If you don’t want ‘er, I’ll take ‘er,” another added, chuckling.

  “She’s my wife,” Jeremy snapped and brought her up against his side, not caring if it was too close in public or not. If one of those greasy men so much as laid a hand on Jane, he’d introduce them to his fist. It was disgusting to think one of them might have been with his mother or might even be his father. He scanned the room and tried to estimate if any of them were old enough to have fathered him. He didn’t think so. Returning his attention to the bartender, he asked, “Does anyone by that name work here?”

  The bartender put the other mug down and put his palm up. “I might recognize it.”

  Sighing, Jeremy let go of Jane and pulled out his wallet. “How much?”

  “Eliza must be important to you.”

  Before Jeremy could make a retort, Jane smiled and said, “It’s someone’s dying wish. We can’t disclose the full matter, but we have something important to tell her. We’ll be happy to pay any amount you feel is fair.”

  The bartender glanced from Jeremy to Jane and shrugged. “I’ve heard of her. She used to work here. Damn fine prostitute she was, too. Made me a lot of money. I tell you when that preacher took her on out of here, I lost some notable clients who used to take her out to their places for entertainment purposes. We’re talking wealthy men. You have a woman like that bringing in that kind of money and you don’t forget her.”

  Jeremy didn’t realize he’d made a fist until he noticed the paper was crumpled in hi
s hand.

  “Uh…” Jane rested a hand on his arm before she cleared her throat. “I’m not used to such talk, sir,” she told the bartender.

  At least he had the nerve to blush, Jeremy thought in irritation. The bartender had no right to speak of Eliza that way, whether Jane was in the room or not.

  “Sorry, ma’am,” the bartender said. “We might get women in here, but they aren’t ladies.”

  “You mentioned a preacher?” she asked, not seeming to be disturbed by anything he’d said.

  “Right. It was a double ‘p’. Preacher…” He drummed his fingers on the counter and then snapped his fingers. “Peters. PP. Preacher Peters.”

  “Do you happen to know where his church is?”

  “Sorry, ma’am. I don’t darken any churches.”

  “Well, thank you for what you told us. How much would you like?”

  “Hmm?”

  She pointed to Jeremy’s wallet. “For the information? How much should we pay?”

  The bartended sighed. “It’s on me. I can’t take advantage of a lady.”

  “Thank you again.” Jane offered an uncomfortable smile and turned.

  Blinking, Jeremy hurried on out of there with her and didn’t breathe until they were outside. That was the most difficult thing he’d ever been through, and there was no way he would’ve been able to maintain his calm with the way that bartender had talked about his mother.

  “This is good news, Jeremy,” Jane told him, looking excited. “A preacher took her on out of there. That means she didn’t stay in this business. Maybe she got a new start in life. We have to find him.”

  Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded. “Right. We need to find out where Peters is.”

  “Do you want to go back to the mercantile and ask Jacob where he is?”

  “No. We’ve bothered him enough. Let’s find another store further down and ask someone else.”

  Slipping her arm around his, she took a step forward and he joined her.

  ***

  Jane knocked on the preacher’s door and offered a comforting smile to Jeremy. The poor man looked overwhelmed, and she supposed if she was learning about her mother, she would be, too. But she was greatly encouraged to learn they’d be talking to a man of God. This might be the best news they’d receive regarding Eliza.

  When the door opened, a man with thinning gray hair greeted them, and Jane figured she would do the talking. “Hello. My husband and I were looking for Preacher Peters, and someone told us to come here. Did we get the right house?”

  “You most certainly did.” He moved aside and motioned for them to enter. “I’m Bill Peters.” A plump woman with a full head of white hair emerged from the parlor and smiled at them. “This is my wife, Martha.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Jane said. “We’re Jeremy and Jane Graham. Jeremy is a preacher.”

  Jeremy shook Bill’s hand, and she was glad to see that he was finally relaxing.

  “Come on in and sit down,” Martha said as she motioned to the parlor. “I’ll bring out something to drink. Is coffee to your liking?”

  “That will be fine,” Jane replied. “I can help.”

  “Don’t be silly. We have a pot ready.”

  While she went to the kitchen, Jeremy and Jane took off their coats and hats as Bill shut the door. Once they hung up their things, they sat on the couch and Bill sat across from them.

  “So what brings you kids on by?” Bill asked.

  She glanced at Jeremy to see if he wanted to explain the situation, and since he straightened up in a manner that indicated he was ready to speak, she folded her hands in her lap and let him do the talking, glad he felt comfortable enough to do so.

  “I’m looking for a woman who I recently discovered was my mother. When I was born, I was adopted because my mother was, for lack of a better term, a lady of ill repute.” He cleared his throat. “I went to one of the saloons, and the bartender told me you knew her. Her name was Eliza Nitsick.”

  Bill nodded while Martha brought in the tray of coffee cups and the coffee pot which she set on the table in front of them. “I did help a woman named Eliza. She didn’t want to be there. When she was fourteen, she was sold into that business.”

  “She was sold into it?” Jeremy asked.

  Jane accepted the cup of coffee Martha handed her and smiled her thanks.

  “I don’t know why she was sold there, and I didn’t know she had a child. All I know is that she didn’t want to be there, so I paid for her passage to South Dakota to work for my cousin. Last I heard, my cousin died, but Eliza stayed there and married a good man.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Jane inserted.

  “I wish all stories ended as well as that one,” Bill replied before he turned his gaze to Jeremy. “I’m sure that since you’re a preacher, you know people don’t always have a happy ending.”

  “Yes, I know,” Jeremy said.

  “What was she like?” Jane wondered.

  Bill smiled. “She was a nice woman.”

  “She had the gift of gab,” Martha said, handing Jeremy and Bill their cups. “Everyone at the church liked her. She had a way of making everything sound exciting. There are few people who come into your life like that, but when they do, you remember them.”

  “Some people let their misfortune make them bitter,” Bill added. “Eliza refused to dwell on the past. That’s how she survived as a prostitute for as long as she did. She was in that profession for twelve years. When someone told me about her, I went down to the saloon to talk to her, and she left that same night and never looked back.”

  “She was a sweet young woman,” Martha said before she sipped her coffee. “She didn’t take anything for granted.”

  “She sounds lovely.” Jane looked at Jeremy and tried to judge what he thought of everything he was learning.

  Jeremy held the cup in his hands but didn’t drink the coffee. “Is she still alive?”

  “I don’t know, but given her young age, I think so. She’d just turned twenty-seven, if I remember right.”

  “I think that’s right,” Martha said. “Would you like to know where we sent her?”

  After a long moment where Jeremy stared into his cup, he finally nodded. “Yes. Yes, I would.”

  Excited, Jane sipped her coffee and tried to imagine what it’d be like to meet Eliza while Bill and Martha continued to tell them all they remembered about her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A month later, Jane was sweeping the floor when someone knocked on the door. She quickly swept the dirt to the corner of the kitchen and set the broom against the wall so she wouldn’t forget where the pile of dirt was. Wiping her hands on her skirt, she went to the door and opened it, surprised when she saw her brother holding his two-month-old baby. Hank and Irene were standing next to him.

  “Hi there, Jane,” Will said, giving her a smile that immediately made her suspicious of his motives for visiting her. “I thought you’d like to see your nephews and niece. I’ve been remiss in coming over so you can meet little Alexander.”

  He held the baby out to her, so she took him in her arms. It felt good to hold a baby, even if it was Will’s child.

  “I see your marriage is going well,” Will continued. “What with you expecting and all.”

  Considering she only found out that she was expecting a child three days ago, she was surprised he already knew. “Word gets around fast.”

  “It’s not like Lincoln is so big we can’t keep up with what’s going on with our family.”

  Forcing a smile, she moved aside and asked him to enter, only because she loved her nephews and niece and didn’t want to punish them because she couldn’t stand him. “Would you like a drink or a snack?”

  Hank started to nod, but Will shook his head at him and smiled at her. “We don’t want to impose on your generosity, Jane.”

  Her stomach twisted up into knots. She had a bad feeling about this. Since when did her brother refuse a sn
ack? Her nephew squirmed in her arms, so she turned her gaze to him and couldn’t help but adore him. This was what it would be like when she held her own child. As much as she wanted to enjoy the glimpse into the future her nephew was giving her, she couldn’t. Not with the smile her brother had plastered on his face and the way his children sat next to him in the parlor with their hands folded in their laps and sweet smiles on their faces.

  With a sigh, she decided to ask the question she knew she would soon regret. “What is it, Will? Why are you here?”

  He laughed and shrugged. “I came to see my sister. I also came so that my children could see their favorite aunt.”

  She chose not to remind him she was now their only aunt and cleared her throat as she reluctantly sat across from them. “You haven’t stopped by before. I’ve been living here for four months.”

  “And your presence at our house was greatly missed.”

  “You were ready to…” She glanced at the children and stopped herself from finishing her bitter reply. Taking a deep breath, she cuddled her nephew and said, “You were quite eager to see me married at the time as I recall.”

  “A mistake. I admit it. I’m sorry, Jane. But it is good you married Jeremy. Even if you weren’t his first choice, things have worked out better than any of us anticipated.”

  She looked away from him so he wouldn’t see how his words stung. It wasn’t as if she harbored secret feelings for Jeremy when he courted Rebecca, but still…

  He shifted and adjusted his tie. “I’ve seen him around town, here and there, and he’s happy. And of course, you’re with child, so…” He shifted again and chuckled. “Naturally, things are much better here than they would have been if you’d married Micah.”

  Gritting her teeth, she made direct eye contact with him. “We’ve established that things are much better for all parties since I became Jeremy’s second-choice wife. Will you please get on with the reason you’re here?” Then she could go on with her life and try to forget this visit ever happened.

  “Right.” He patted Hank and Irene on the back and smiled. “I thought you might enjoy spending time with them again. They miss you terribly. You miss your aunt Jane, don’t you?” he asked them.