Chapter 17 #3
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Dorothy asked, smiling up at him.
“I … well … We have to leave today,” Warren said.
“I know,” she said, not sounding nearly as sad as he’d hoped she would be. “I was hoping you could maybe stay a little longer.”
There was no way. Michael was desperate to get home to his wife. It would be selfish of Warren to keep them apart just because he wanted to spend more time with Dorothy. He shook his head. “I’ve put it off as long as I can.”
She nodded solemnly, but again didn’t look nearly as dismayed as he’d hoped. “I understand. So, I guess that means we go back to writing letters?”
What did her lack of emotion mean? He’d really thought there was something between them. But she seemed to so easily accept that they could go back to simply being pen pals of sorts.
“About that,” Warren said hesitantly. “I kind of … well … I might have suggested something to Mac and Sadie, and they said they think it’s a good idea.”
Dorothy shifted her feet. “What did you suggest?”
Gosh, his heart was beating so fast he could hardly catch his breath. If she said no, he didn’t know what he would do.
“Warren, for goodness’ sake, just say it,” Dorothy urged with a twinkle in her eye that confused him.
Drawing in a deep breath, Warren steeled his nerves.
“Okay. Dorothy, would you like to come to Unity with me? I checked with Mac, and he said Sadie can help him at the office, and he would love to have someone in Texas that he can trust. You know that there is no one he trusts more than you. And it would mean the world to me?—”
She stepped closer to him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly.
“I would love to,” Dorothy whispered when she finally stepped back, leaving him giddy. “Let me just grab my things. They’re already packed.”
Warren, stunned into disbelief at how easy this had been, stammered, “You’re sure?”
She cocked her head to one side. “I’ve just been waiting for you to ask, you know. And if you hadn’t, I’d have followed you out west anyway.”
With a grin, she hurried away to her hotel room, leaving him in a happy daze.
A couple of days later
“I can’t believe you had such an adventure without me!” Kyle complained.
“You were busy being in love,” Michael said with a shrug.
They were seated in the dining car of the train, and heads turned toward them at the volume of Kyle’s protest. Warren sighed. Kyle was forever drawing attention to them. If it wasn’t his constant need to be busy, then it was his loud laughter, his poker games, or something else.
Luckily, with Alice by his side, he was a little more contained.
They had picked him, his girl Alice, her sister Chrissy, and Chrissy’s husband, Jason, up on the way out to Texas. They were a happy bunch, having settled all of Alice and Chrissy’s affairs back east so now they were free to move west with their beaux.
“Didn’t you have enough adventures with me?” Alice teased Kyle, who smiled ruefully.
Warren was grateful for Dorothy sitting beside him, her hand securely laced in his.
He couldn’t wait to get home. It was almost like a physical ache to be back with all the people they had missed.
He could only imagine how Michael felt. His wife was back there waiting for him to return. The sooner they got home, the better.
And part of Warren’s eagerness was because he had every intention of asking Dorothy to be his wife as soon as they arrived. He didn’t want to waste another minute and couldn’t wait to introduce her to all his family and friends.
If he was right, and he suspected that he was, then El Aguila would start up again soon if he hadn’t already.
He was tied into the trouble at the firm in some way, but for the life of him, Warren couldn’t say how.
It was a piece of the puzzle that Warren hadn’t managed to find yet, but Dorothy was proving a beautiful distraction, and he couldn’t say he minded.
“I can’t believe we’re leaving New York with exactly the same amount of help as we arrived with,” Kyle said for the hundredth time. They’d been traveling for three days so far, and he’d complained about it day and night.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Michael said, lowering his newspaper enough to regard Kyle over the top of it.
“We have several marshals on the case, some financial agency looking into the firm, and Mac firmly in our corner. I’d say we accomplished a good deal.
No, we aren’t returning home with an army of mercenaries with enough guns to overthrow El Aguila, but we are returning with something. ”
Kyle shrugged. “If you say so.”
“You haven’t really contributed much,” Warren ribbed him.
“I know,” Kyle admitted without any hint of embarrassment. “I got a little distracted.” He looked at Alice. “Okay, a lot.”
She laughed and smacked his arm playfully. “Behave.”
“It’s such a challenge for me, you know that,” he said plaintively.
Warren shook his head, but Dorothy was chuckling at them. He had been sitting too long. That was the problem. “Should we go for a walk?”
Dorothy nodded. “I would love to.”
They rose and set off to the back of the train. The caboose held a sitting area that allowed passengers to watch the view go by through large windows, and there was a little porch-like area that they could stand on and get some air.
“You seem a little annoyed with Kyle,” Dorothy comments.
Warren shrugged. “He can be impossible when he’s cooped up. It’ll be better when we reach Unity. As long as he has plenty of space to roam, he doesn’t get into so much trouble.”
“And when will we arrive?” Dorothy asked.
“Oh, barring sinkholes and derailments,” Warren said with a chuckle, “another week.”
Warren opened the door to the caboose for Dorothy and they stepped inside.
It was deserted. They took seats where they could see the landscape passing, although Warren was happy just to sit and look at her.
He took her hands in his and held them firmly.
She squeezed his hands back and together they sat in a happy silence.
After a while, she leaned her head on his shoulder, and he put an arm around her shoulders. He could see this being how they ended every day in Unity. Sitting by the hearth with a cup of coffee. Maybe some children sleeping in a room nearby …
Suddenly the door burst open, and Kyle came running in. His eyes were wide, and he was pale as a ghost.
“What happened?” Warren asked, sitting up, startled. Of all of them, Kyle was the least likely to panic. It was fair to say he’d never seen that expression on his friend’s face, and it worried him deeply.
“Something has happened back home,” he said, thrusting a newspaper page in front of Warren.
Taking it, he and Dorothy read the page Kyle indicated. Still, it took a moment to find the article. It wasn’t front-page news and was in small type near the bottom.
“Mining town in Texas attacked by bandits and burned to the ground. Few survivors.”
Warren’s blood ran cold. “Oh no.”
“It doesn’t name the town,” Kyle said. “But it could be.”
“It might not be,” Warren said, clinging to a slender thread of hope.
“What are the chances it isn’t?” Kyle retorted, his eyes flashing. “All our friends, Warren. Our family. We don’t even know if they’re alive!”
He thrust the paper back at Kyle, feeling Dorothy’s hand still in his and drawing strength from it. “El Aguila had better hope he didn’t hurt our people. It’s one thing if he torched the town. But if he hurt anyone we loved …”
Warren locked eyes with Kyle, who nodded once in clear, wordless agreement.
He half expected Dorothy to chastise him, but instead she pressed his hand firmly and said, “If he did hurt your loved ones, I’ll do anything I can to help you find justice. You’re not alone in this, Warren. You’ve always had your friends, but now you’ve got me too. And I can help. I can.”
He knew she could. She’d been a huge help throughout the whole ordeal in New York. They might not have made it out alive without her.
“I know.” Warren gathered her into his arms and settled his chin on her head, then locked eyes with Kyle, who was standing unusually quietly, the somber expression on his face matching Warren’s.
“We’re going to get home. And we’re going to take care of business.
We’re going to finish this business with El Aguila once and for all and move on with all our lives. I promise.”
As Kyle slipped away, Warren rested his cheek on Dorothy’s soft hair and prayed quietly.
Guide us, Lord. Help us finish this mess so we can all live in peace at long last. Please.
His own little bit of peace shifted in his arms and gathered him closer, and for a short while, Warren put aside the fear and worry and just held Dorothy close, grateful for this greatest of gifts God had given him.
Grateful for all the many blessings in his life, no matter what trials might be waiting just up ahead.