Chapter 16: All About Money

~If music be the food of love, play on.~ —William Shakespeare

“Why didn’t the two of you get married right away?” Jake asked into the silence that had fallen between them.

“He had to finish studying first.”

“Ah.”

“As soon as he had completed his education, he went back to America to make the necessary preparations for the wedding and our future life. Once it was all arranged, Father, Mother, and I were to travel to New York. We expected it all to take a month or two—but then six months had passed, and I had heard very little. He only mentioned that there were some issues to be sorted out, and he would write when all was ready.”

Dannie paused to wipe away a tear. “Then my parents fell ill, and I was sent to stay with friends. And then the day came when I received a note from the doctor saying that Mamma and Papa were dead.”

Dannie bit her lip, trying to keep her emotions from running away with her. “I wrote to Paul, relating what had happened. There was no reply. I have no close relations in England, and my parents didn’t leave me much in the form of money. So, blinded by shock and grief, I took what was perhaps the most foolish step of my life and boarded a ship to New York.”

Here Dannie’s voice turned bitter. “When I arrive at his house, what do you think? He tells me that he has long broken our engagement. Then, to add insult to injury, I find out that he has been engaged to another woman for at least two months already, and the wedding is set to take place in a week’s time.”

“And he never told you?” Jake narrowed his eyes.

“He had written a letter, but in all the commotion, he hadn’t sent it. It had ~slipped his mind~.”

“How do such things slip yer mind?”

Dannie had to give a bitter laugh. “I think he wanted to be spared the embarrassment.”

“But why did he suddenly change his mind? There had to be some reason?”

“I told you the reason,” Dannie stated in a flat voice. “It was all about money. His father had made some poor business deals, and they had lost a considerable amount of their fortune.

“Paul was not ready to give up the comfortable life he had led since birth. He married an heiress to secure the riches and place in society that meant more than anything to him. He was afraid of his new fiancé’s family finding out about me, so he just shut me out.

“His sister, Margaret, was mortified. She was a good friend to me through it all.

“Anyhow, that’s how I found myself alone in a strange country with little money and no connections. Luckily, I’m not as useless as some would make me out to be.”

“Hey!”

“With a little advertisement, I was able to give private music lessons to affluent young ladies. Meanwhile, I sought more permanent employment and finally answered an ad in the paper to teach a young lady who lived in the West. The rest is history.

“And if this new job doesn’t work out, I won’t rest. I’ll find something else. Contrary to popular opinion, a woman can make it on her own if she really wants to.”

“I reckon there ain’t anything in this world that can stop you,” Jake chuckled. “So, you like music, do you?”

“Do you play any sort of instrument?” Dannie answered with a question.

“I’ve got this.” Jake pulled a harmonica out of his coat pocket.

Dannie’s eyes lit up. “You never told me you could play the harmonica!”

“Yeah, well, can’t say I felt very comfortable tellin’ it to someone with a musical background.”

“But you will play something now?” Dannie begged with pleading eyes. “I’ve never actually heard anyone play the harmonica before.”

“Seein’ as you’ve asked so politely for once,” Jake teased.

Dannie laughed and settled down more comfortably beside him.

Jake brought the harmonica to his lips and began playing.

The music that filled the cave spoke of long cattle drives, of the sun’s burning heat, and of nights spent beneath the stars. It rang of danger lurking behind every corner, of outlaws on the loose, of gunfights and shoot-outs.

It was as though the life Jake led as a cowboy flowed from his little instrument, speaking of both the romance of his lifestyle and the realism of it.

Dannie closed her eyes and let her imagination take her far away. So far away that she didn’t even notice when at last Jake ceased to play and returned the harmonica to his pocket.

“I think we should hit the sack…” Jake’s voice died as he noticed that Dannie’s eyes were closed. “You seem to have a habit of fallin’ asleep on me,” he whispered with a chuckle. “Do I really make such a great pillow?” He gave his arm a bit of a shake, but Dannie hardly stirred.

“You sure fell asleep,” he said, his voice very low. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?” Looking over, he noticed the bedroll Dannie had spread out earlier on the other side of the fire. Carefully, Jake stood up and lifted the sleeping Dannie in his arms.

Dannie stirred a little. “I’m sorry, Paul,” she mumbled. “I hadn’t meant to fall asleep.”

“~Jake~, Dannie,” Jake softly corrected as he carried her to the cluster of blankets. “It’s Jake, not Paul.” Kicking one of them aside with his foot, he placed Dannie down as gently as he could. He then took the blanket and covered her with it. Standing up, Jake gazed at Dannie as she slept. “Though I’m wonderin’ if you wish it were Paul?”

Jake walked back to where he had been sitting and poured himself the last drop of coffee. He leaned against the wall of the cave and sipped the hot, black beverage. Staring at the fire, he could make out the form of Dannie as she slept on the other side, her long black hair slightly tangled on the cave floor.

“You fall asleep in my arms, but you are imagining you’re in his,” he spoke to her in a whisper. “He broke your heart, he deserted you, he left you alone and vulnerable—but, for some reason, you still wish it was him here with you and not me. No matter what happens, it’s him, always him.”

Jake fell silent at this. Come to think of it, why should he care? Dannie had annoyed him from the very start. She was demanding, she was rude, and she was proud. The two of them were worlds apart in just about everything.

Besides, he had just confessed to being a hunted man with a dangerous cattle rustler hounding him. He really wasn’t the sort of man any woman would consider.

And yet, sitting here, watching her sleep, Jake found it really bothered him to know she was in love with another man.

“Just for one day, Dannie, could you forget about him? Just once, could you let it be me and not Paul?”