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Then she moved from Wilnoty and hugged Dancing Cloud. “Thank you for bringing my precious Lauralee to me,” she said, tears swelling in her eyes. “You have made her such a fine husband.”
“I wish we could have been here for you sooner,” Dancing Cloud said, brushing a tear from Nancy’s eyes as she stepped away from him. He gazed at her at length, seeing how she had so aged since he had last seen her. Her hair was gray and her eyes were sunken.
“But where is Brian Brave Walker?” Nancy asked, looking past Dancing Cloud, as though expecting to see Brian come from the train at any moment.
“He is practicing being chief in my absence,” Dancing Cloud explained.
Nancy nodded. “I see,” she murmured. “Oh, but I do wish I could have seen him, too.”
When Paul reached Lauralee, she was swept into his powerful arms. “It’s good to see you again, Paul,” she murmured, then slipped away from him, having felt a sort of desperation in the way he had held onto her.
As she gazed into his eyes she became somewhat uneasy. She knew now without a doubt that he still cared for her. Even with the gorgeous woman at his side who seemed to adore him, he could not hide the fact that he still cared for Lauralee.
“And thank you, Jana,” Lauralee blurted, reaching a handshake toward her. “Thank you for thinking enough of my aunt to accompany her to the train station.”
“It has been my pleasure to look after your aunt’s needs,” Jana said, gently shaking Lauralee’s hand. “She has been a comfort, also, to Paul. First his mother passed away from a lung ailment. Then his father passed away a short while ago. He had a heart attack.”
“Oh, I am so sorry,” Lauralee said, turning back to Paul as she slipped her hand from Jana’s. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s been hard,” Paul said, nervously shuffling his feet. And to change the subject, he reached a hand to his son’s shoulder and scooted him over to stand before him. “We have another Noah in the family. Meet our son Noah.”
Lauralee bent over and placed a hand to Noah’s cheek. “Hello,” she murmured. “I’m so glad to make your acquaintance.”
“As I am yours,” Noah said politely as he smiled at Lauralee. He looked over Lauralee’s shoulder at Wilnoty. His eyes locked with hers for a moment, then he went to Dancing Cloud and offered him his hand. “It’s a great pleasure meeting you, sir.”
“It is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a fine young man,” Dancing Cloud said, thinking it refreshing to find the young man so polite, so earnest in his offer of friendship.
Lauralee watched young Noah’s eyes. They always shifted back to Wilnoty. Her insides tightened when she saw the sudden interest both children had in each other. Her only consolation was that her daughter was way older than Noah. Nothing could ever transpire between them except friendship.
Wilnoty stepped forward. “Noah, my name is Wilnoty,” she said, taking his hand. They ran off together toward the carriage that waited at the curb.
“Seems they have made a fast friendship,” Nancy said, smiling. She slipped an arm through Lauralee’s. “Shall we now go to my house? We shall pick flowers for Abner’s grave, then we shall pay him a visit before it gets totally dark.”
Paul and his family said their goodbyes and left in their horse and buggy.
Because she wanted to sit beside one of the windows, Lauralee was the last to board Nancy’s carriage. Nancy had given the driver instructions to travel slowly down Broadway Avenue, giving Lauralee and her family time to enjoy this grand street and its changes.
Lauralee gazed from the window as the carriage left the curb. Just as it began to make a left onto Broadway, she gazed out the window at Brian’s Place Saloon at the very end of Broadway. It had grown in size. It now had two stories. And with its fresh coat of paint it had such a look of respectability.
When the carriage swung onto Broadway Avenue, with other horse-drawn vehicles and men on horseback, Lauralee once again enjoyed riding along the street that was the center of Mattoon’s commercial and society activities.
She settled back against the seat and admired the majestic brick buildings and the displays in the plate-glass windows of the shops on the lower floors. She marveled at the various hats with their decorations of plumes and artificial flowers. She gasped at the display of the frilly dresses and underthings in other windows.
Now past those tempting, somewhat daring displays, she gazed over at the Byers Hotel. Remembering having been there to try and find Clint McCloud, she shivered.
She looked quickly elsewhere, at the Dole Opera House, the first real theater and largest building in the town. She had heard that many famous actors appeared on the stage of this opera house.
They rode on through town, past Gibbs’s Livery Stable, more general stores and saloons, and The Pennsylvania House, a three-story building that had been brought in piece by piece on a railroad car.
And then the business district was left behind and the carriage passed
lovely homes on each side of the street where trees towered over them like large, opened umbrellas.
The colors of the maple and oak trees were magnificent, a blending of crimson reds and yellows. Birches lent their yellow colors to the backdrop of the city. Flowers of all various colors and designs bloomed in flower boxes and along the borders of the yards.
Lauralee gazed from the window when the Peterson House came into view. A deep sadness engulfed her at the remembrances of why she was there, and who she would never see again in his upstairs study inside the stately house.
Her Uncle Abner.
