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Beau’s heart sank at her words. She was an actress, just like Jane. Although in light of her connection to his parents he should have expected this. A cold, unreasonable anger began to stir inside him, outdistanced by a sense of dread. He held his odd fury in check. Barely. He had no doubt that audiences adored this woman—how could they not?—but he also knew the public had once adored Jane, as well.
A fresh image of the broken woman he’d left in Mattie’s brothel shot through his mind. No longer able to fill theaters with her talent and youth, she’d turned to a life of prostitution.
And now this woman, this actress sitting before him, with her youth and beauty and painful vulnerability, could easily end up in the same predicament as Jane.
Alone. Dying. Destitute.
The temper he rarely acknowledged swirled up so fast, so unexpectedly, his throat ached from having to swallow back the emotion.
Lord, show mercy to this woman. Guide her path.
“Go on,” he said in a remarkably calm voice.
She ran her tongue across her teeth and nodded. The words spilled out of her in a rush, her voice halting and emotionless as she told the story of Tyler running off with her sister.
With each detail Beau gripped his chair harder and harder, trying to ignore the shock and anger that rose within him as the sordid events unfolded before him. Amazingly, Beau remained silent throughout Hannah’s incredible tale.
As she came to the end of her story, she tapped her fingers quickly against her thigh in a rapid staccato. “I pray I’m not too late. The last time anyone saw them was three days ago.”
Needing a moment to process all the information, Beau punched out an angry breath and batted away a fern leaf dangling close to his head.
Too many thoughts collided inside his brain, making it pound from trying to sort through the particulars. Tyler had often been thoughtless, but he had never gone so far before. This time, Beau’s rash, selfish brother had done the unthinkable. And now a young woman’s reputation was all but ruined.
The pain their parents would feel when they discovered Tyler’s indiscretion would destroy them. Patience and Reginald O’Toole were good, honest, moral people. They had created a brood of four boys and one girl. Each member of his beautiful family, other than Beau, had made a life for themselves in the theater in some form or another. All had continued to honor God as their parents had taught them. Except, apparently, Tyler.
“There’s more.” Hannah’s words broke through Beau’s thoughts and jerked his attention back to her.
The pattern on her dress blurred before him, and Beau found he had to lower his gaze to her shaking hands to gain control over his own emotions. “Go on.”
“Rachel isn’t free to run off like this. She’s engaged to be married. Her fiancé is my father’s protégé, of sorts. Although each will handle my sister’s recklessness differently, neither will take this news well. My father, especially, is not a man prone to forgiving selfish acts of any kind.”
Beau gave his head a hard shake, but dread consumed him. He breathed in the scent of expensive perfume and fresh soil from the potted plants. One thought stood out over the rest.
He had to ask the question. Had to know. “Is your father Thomas Southerland? Reverend Thomas Southerland?”
Her mouth dropped open. “You have heard of him?”
“I met him when I was in seminary.” And to say they hadn’t seen eye to eye was a gross understatement.
Worse, the good reverend now held Beau’s future in his hands. His voice was strong among the other members of the Association. With a few well-chosen words, Reverend Southerland could decide Beau’s future in Greeley, Colorado. Although the man didn’t trust Beau’s modern views, he had been coming around.
What would the reverend think when he found out what Beau’s brother had done, with the man’s own daughter no less?
Beau couldn’t let it matter. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him.
The Scripture gave him hope, and he lowered his head to pray. Lord, tell me what to do. Give me wisdom to—
Hannah’s voice broke through his prayer. “If you’ve met my father, then you understand why I must find Rachel. If I can get to her before she…before they…Well, the point is—” Hannah closed her eyes and swallowed, looking as though she had to gather her courage for the rest. “Rachel must accept the consequences of her actions.”
Beau sensed there was more to the story, a personal element Miss Southerland wasn’t going to reveal to him just yet.
It would be wise to focus on the particulars. “Why do you think they’ve come west?”
“They were last seen boarding a train headed this way.” Her words came out steady, suspiciously controlled. “With your mother and father in London and the rest of your siblings in New York, you are my only hope.”
He opened his mouth to speak but clamped it shut as a couple strolled by, their heads bent toward one another in an intimate gesture that spoke of familiarity. Partners. Beau ignored the odd spasm in his throat at the sight and said, “How did you know where to find me?”
She gave him a sheepish grin and pulled a letter from her coat pocket that had his handwriting on it. “I apologize, but I read your latest letter to your brother. I was desperate. I had hoped to find out…something.” She lifted her shoulders in a helpless gesture.
Before he could comment, she added, “Rachel’s fiancé will be devastated at the news of her disappearance with Tyler. But, as you can imagine, it is my father who will find the whole scandalous affair unacceptable. He warned Rachel to stay away from me. I’m afraid he’ll blame me for this.”
Beau had a terrible, gut-jerking sensation at her words. “Does your father not approve of you? Of your career?”
She looked away from him, but not before he saw the same sad, vulnerable light in her eyes that he’d witnessed earlier. “No. He does not.”
“Well, then. That’s one thing your father and I would agree on.”
Her face drained of color, the pale skin standing out in bold contrast to the dark slash of her eyebrows. “What…What did you say?”
Beau moved his shoulder, a gesture that communicated his own frustration. “Don’t you realize what can happen to you?”
“To…me?” Her angry gaze slammed into him like a punch.
All right, yes. He knew he was speaking too boldly, but he had to make his point now that he’d begun. “Jane Goodwin, one of the premiere actresses of her day, and once a dear friend of my mother’s, is dying of a terminal illness in a brothel.”
Beau ignored the shock in her eyes and pressed on. “Is that the legacy you want?”
Chapter Four
Hannah sat motionless under Reverend O’Toole’s grim stare. Who did this preacher think he was to judge her, to heap her in guilt for a lifestyle someone else had chosen?
“You can’t possibly believe every actress turns to…” She wound her hands tightly together in her lap. “Prostitution.”
“Most do. Especially those without family support.”
At his toneless response, bitter disappointment built inside her. In all things that mattered, Beauregard O’Toole was just like her father. Quick to judge. Unwilling to see past the exterior of a person to the heart that lay underneath.
“The point is this,” he continued, his voice flat and emotionless and nothing like the rich baritone of earlier. “Once your looks are gone, there will be few options left to you.”
My looks? Few options? The gall of the man!
He’d judged her before knowing all the facts. Her future plans were solid and well thought-out. The real estate in which she’d invested had already made her five times the money she’d earned on the stage. In a few years, she could retire a wealthy woman, free to offer her time and money to abandoned women and children in need.
She steeled herself as she’d done in her father’s presence and ignored the hollow, shaking feeling of loneliness that took hold of her. “How can you talk like this? What about your mother and sister? They are actresses as well.”
“They have family who love them, who accept them and will provide for them no matter what.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Can you say the same, Miss Southerland?”
She gave him a noncommittal sniff and focused her gaze on the plant behind him. As she absently counted the leaves, instant fear tripped along her spine. How could she face her father with this defeat? She’d failed to protect Rachel, again. And Thomas Southerland would never forgive her for it. Never.
But Hannah couldn’t turn back now. She would not continue accepting blame for Rachel’s bad choices. The time had come for Hannah to confront her father armed with the facts.
It would be up to him to decide if she spoke the truth.
Hannah fixed her gaze on Reverend O’Toole. She would confront her father with or without this man’s help, with or without Rachel by her side. Hannah would break the cycle of sin in her life at last.
She had three weeks before Rachel’s wedding. Three weeks to redeem them both. Three short weeks.
Yet here she sat with a man who saw her in the same ugly spotlight as her father did. Beauregard O’Toole had let her down, to be sure, but Hannah would not hold a grudge against the man. The fault lay mostly with her. She’d been a fool to build him up in her mind. She had wrongfully put her hope in him, a mere man, and not the Lord.
That was one mistake she would never make again.
Disappointed with them both, Hannah stood.
The reverend unfolded his large frame and rose, as well.
“I was mistaken in asking for your help,” she said. “I thank you for your time.”
“Wait.” He took a step to his right, effectively barring her exit. Although he stood close enough for her to smell the scent of lime on him, a deceptive calmness filled the moment.
But when he still didn’t speak or move aside, Hannah’s heartbeat picked up speed. Surely, he wasn’t trying to trap her, to use his size to intimidate her?
Just as real panic began gnawing at her, he took a step back. She started to push around him, but he stopped her with a gentle touch to her arm.
“Don’t leave,” he said, surprising her with his mild tone. “I fear we’ve become sidetracked from the real issue here. Please, sit back down and we will discuss the next move together.”
Hannah was tired. She was frustrated. But she was also out of options. With a reluctant sigh, she lowered herself back into the chair she’d occupied earlier.
Reverend O’Toole settled in his seat, as well. “You were right to come to me, Miss Southerland.” He cleared his throat. “I have contacts all over the territory, in areas most wouldn’t dream of going.”
Hannah closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to the bridge of her nose. Was he offering his help after all?
Did she still want his assistance knowing he’d already judged her and found her wanting? Should she risk the humiliation of spending hours, perhaps days, with a man who considered her one step away from prostitution?
She lowered her hands and slowly opened her eyes. “I don’t believe I want your help.” Her tone came out a little too spiteful, a little too high-pitched, and she regretted her rash words as soon as they left her mouth.
Where else could she go? Who else would assist a woman traveling alone, one who knew nothing of the surrounding territory? Certainly, no one with honorable intentions.
Feeling incredibly vulnerable, Hannah flattened a palm against her stomach. The twisting inside warned her she had little time left. But then she remembered what Patience O’Toole had always told her. “If you’re unsure what to do, allow God to take the lead.”
How do I do that, Lord?
As the silence between them continued, Reverend O’Toole rubbed a hand across his mouth and nodded as though he’d come to an important conclusion. “When we first met, outside the…That is, when we met on Market Street, I was on a special errand for Jane Goodwin, one I am afraid cannot be neglected much longer.”
His odd change of subject took Hannah aback. Was this his way of dismissing her? Unexpected panic threaded through her. “I don’t see how that is relevant to—”
“I want you to accompany me to Charity House. If after our errand you decide you want to continue your search for your sister, you won’t go alone. I won’t allow it.”
“You won’t allow it?”
His arrogance stunned her into silence.
She opened her mouth to speak. Closed it. Opened it again. But still no words came forth. Her fingers brushed across the letter folded neatly in her pocket. Was the compassionate man she’d found on the pages a complete fabrication?
As though reading her mind, regret flashed in Reverend O’Toole’s eyes and his expression softened. “Forgive me, Miss Southerland, I spoke abruptly. What I meant to say is that this concerns my brother as well as your sister. I have a responsibility as much as you do to see matters restored.”
Of course he had a stake in the outcome of this debacle. And yet…why did she sense his offer of assistance was more personal than he was admitting? He claimed he knew her father. Was there more of a connection than he was letting on?
A slow breath escaped from her lungs and she pressed farther back into her chair. What was keeping her from trusting Reverend O’Toole? Why couldn’t she simply accept his assistance and proceed to the next step in finding Rachel?
All right, yes. She admitted that she’d come here hoping to find something special in this man, the admired son of her beloved mentor and friend. She’d hoped to find something more in him than she’d found in other men, something she hadn’t been able to define.
But, again, Hannah reminded herself this wasn’t about her. With nowhere else to turn, she needed Reverend O’Toole’s help. She would trust God to take care of the rest.
The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.
Yes. She would trust the Lord to guide her path.
“Thank you for your offer, Reverend O’Toole. I would very much like to accompany you on your errand.” She pulled herself to her feet. “Please, direct the way.”
Beau followed Miss Southerland’s lead and stood, as well. But as his gaze captured her closed-lipped expression, something dark in him shifted and realigned itself. What had previously been anger and frustration now gave way to guilt.
Feeling like a fiend, he knotted his hand into a fist at his side, sucked in a harsh breath and then relaxed his fingers. Because of his own arrogance, Miss Southerland was wary of him.
Understandable, under the circumstances.
“Follow me,” he said, accepting that he would get very little warmth from her now.
He’d unfairly judged Miss Southerland because of the hours he’d spent with Jane Goodwin. Setting aside his own prejudice now, he studied the woman walking beside him with fresh eyes. Her clothes were elegant and fashionable, her carriage graceful and refined. She was everything clean, unblemished…pure. No one in their right mind would mistake this woman for a prostitute.
Except, of course, a preacher too caught up in his own grief and frustration to see the truth standing before him.
Beau was reminded of a verse from the book of James. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.
He’d spoken from the bias of his own circumstances, not with the compassion of a minister. What sort of preacher did that make him?
Lord, forgive me my bold, outspoken words. Help me to make amends to this woman properly in a way that will bring You glory and her peace.
The moment they exited the hotel, cool mountain air slapped him in the face and shimmied under his collar. Beau immediately steered Miss Southerland back inside. “Wait in here, out of the wind, while I find us suitable transportation.”
As he turned to go, he shot a quick glance at her over his shoulder. She stood gazing at him with a quiet, clear-eyed look that held far too much worry in it.
A muscle locked in his jaw, and he let out another quick hiss of air. Why hadn’t he focused on easing her concern for her sister, instead of allowing his own worries to influence his behavior?
Returning to the curbside, Beau blew into his cupped palms and silently reviewed the harsh words he’d used with Miss Southerland.
His delivery had been insensitive, to be sure, but he didn’t believe he’d been wrong in warning the actress of the life she could find herself leading if she didn’t take care. She might be pure and innocent. Today. But she was only a few bad choices away from becoming another Jane. And then men would flock to her for all the wrong reasons.
Everything in Beau rebelled at the notion. The responding growl that came from his throat sounded almost primitive.
