Page 20 of Heart of the Storm (Hearts Over Wyoming #1)

Twenty

St Louis, Missouri – Fall 1824

A cold blast of air hit Tessa in the face like walking into a stone wall. She dismounted Old Billy and leaned against him for a moment to allow the ache in her limbs to ease. Fatigue took hold of every part of her, but she was finally at the end of her journey…or, at least, this part of her journey.

She straightened, and wrapped her coat more firmly around herself. She was back home in St. Louis. Home. What did that even mean? St. Louis had never felt much like home, even less so now, after all these months away in the wilderness. It didn’t even feel like the same place. The farm where she’d grown up had never really felt like home, either. All her life, she’d simply lived in a place with four walls, nothing more.

The gray sky above mirrored the heaviness in her chest. Nearly three months since she’d left the Tetons…the Teewinots. Each day had been a struggle she needed to overcome, not because of the terrain or weather. Thoughts of Adrian Storm pulled her deeper into the confusion that had plagued her since their parting.

To this day, she didn’t know what had caused Adrian’s angry outburst, and why he’d pushed her away. Her hand went to the leather sheath dangling around her neck. Adrian had given her something very personal and precious to him as a parting gift, which only added to her confusion.

Were the feelings she had for him simply an illusion? Had she read him so wrong to think he’d shared those feelings? Whatever it was, after his return to his village, he’d changed and become cold and distant. That night, he’d reverted back to being the angry warrior she’d first met.

Tessa sighed deeply. She’d left the mountains for one reason, and one reason only, and not because of Adrian’s parting words. Later, she would deal with Adrian Storm. If he thought he could simply push her away, he hadn’t gotten to know her very well.

She glanced over her shoulder as wagons creaked behind her and harnesses jingled. The wharf along the shores of the Missouri was quiet so late this afternoon and with a storm on the way.

“Let’s get the wagons unloaded and everything stored before the rain hits,” she called out to Ike and the others. With so few of them, the return journey had been even more strenuous than before, but they’d made it.

Ike cast her a searching, almost concerned look. He knew why she was here, even if he didn’t fully understand. “We’ll be here, if you need us.” The others looked up from their tasks behind him and nodded.

Tessa stood straighter and held her chin up high. There was no time to rest, not yet. That would come later. For three months, she’d been focused on one thing that had kept her from turning around and riding back to where she’d left her heart. Now she was here, and the time had come to face her father.

“I’ll be fine,” she said with a quick smile, and faced the old building with the weathered sign out front that read Missouri River Fur Company .

With a deep breath, she squared her shoulders, held her rifle in a familiar grip, and headed for the door, which was closed. Ribbons of smoke rose from the chimney in the back. Tessa didn’t knock. She opened the creaking door and stepped into the dimly lit room. It seemed even darker now than before, especially with no sunlight. This had once been a refuge, a place where she was comfortable. Now, it felt more like a tomb.

The light from an oil lamp flickered on the desk, and the fire crackled in the hearth. Tessa’s eyes fixed on the man sitting behind the desk. He sat hunched over and looked to have been sleeping before she walked in.

“Hello, Father.”

Calvin Beckett looked up through watery eyes. Clearly, he’d been drinking. His face looked pale, much as she remembered him the day she’d left all those months ago, when he’d been lying in bed with his injuries.

The once-dominant figure she had known all her life now looked frail and gaunt.

For a moment, he simply stared at her. His sunken eyes flicked over her without any emotion and not much life.

“You don’t look well, Father,” she remarked, and set her rifle against the wall.

Calvin Beckett scoffed. He reached for the whiskey bottle on the table, and took a long drink. “That good-for-nothing doctor couldn’t fix me after my accident,” he scoffed. “Now I’m just sittin’ here…waiting to…"

She hadn’t expected this. Words failed her, and before she could think of an appropriate response, he spoke again, his voice rough and dismissive.

“You made it back alive.” No warm greeting. There was no hint of care in his words. “Wondered if you’d make it back.”

Tessa stood still, but her hands began to tremble. The heavy cloud of disappointment hovered over her, and she steeled her back.

For months, anger, doubt, and a need for truth had driven her back to St. Louis. Her motivation for going into the mountains had always been to gain her father’s praise and approval, but she had returned for a different reason. There was still that small part of her that hoped for his approval, but …No. There were more important things in her life now, and it wasn’t her father’s praise.

Annoyance simmered beneath her skin until it rose into anger.

“Ike and a few others made it back. Not all of them,” she said, her voice clipped.

“Didn’t think any of you would be back. No doubt I wasted my money on your foolish venture. I should have never let you go. Should have sent for Rattler to take over. Because of your foolishness, this company is about to be bankrupt.”

She clenched her jaw to suppress the rage bubbling up. She stepped closer to the desk, and placed her palms on the surface. Papers were haphazardly strewn around and an overturned ink well had spilled ink over the ledger. Tessa stared into her father’s eyes.

“The man you trusted so much – Victor Rattler – was a snake,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

His brows rose, showing interest in what she said for the first time. “Was?”

Tessa leaned in closer. “I killed him.”

Calvin sat up straighter. A harsh laugh came from his lips and he almost looked impressed. “What did he do to get you so riled that you’d shoot him?”

An icy chill seeped down Tessa’s back. Her father had always been calloused, but he was even worse now.

“If Rattler’d had his way, you would be bankrupt now, father. My idea, my venture, worked exactly as I had hoped. I traded for more pelts at rendezvous than anyone has ever done.” She continued to lean in, staring at her father with unwavering eyes. “Rattler killed most of my men and stole everything.” She straightened. “And I got it all back. Despite it all, I brought back more furs than several brigades of trappers could procure in an entire season.”

Calvin Beckett shifted in his seat with a groan. When their eyes met, he didn’t look at her as unfeeling as before. Tessa’s eyes fell to the cane beside the desk.

“Well, then.” He cleared his throat. “If that’s true, I suppose the company won’t go under after all. You done good, girl.”

There it was. The praise she’d always longed for. It wasn’t much, but they were the only words of pride he’d ever spoken to her.

“It’s a little too late for praise, Father,” she whispered.

“I thought that’s what you wanted to hear, Tessa.”

Tessa turned to stare into the fire in the hearth. Then at the beaver pelt hanging on the wall behind the desk. Then back at her father. Slowly, she shook her head.

“That was before…” she whispered. Thoughts of Adrian swirled in her head. She pushed him out of her mind. Later, she could think about him and fill her mind and heart with the memories. She could plan for the future, but not now. She squared herself in front of the desk and leaned over it again.

“I left St. Louis this past spring with one goal, Father. To make you proud of me. But that goal has changed. “I know what I’m capable of, and it doesn’t require your approval. I don’t need or want it anymore.”

“Has it now?” He looked almost amused. “You females are so fickle,” he added. “A man never knows what it takes to please a woman.”

Tessa ignored his dig. “I almost didn’t come back,” she whispered. “If things had been different…I would have stayed.” She coughed and shook her head. She had to focus and stay on course. More firmly, she said, “The only reason I came back is to look you in the eye and demand the truth from you.”

Calvin looked thoroughly puzzled at that. “What truth? First it’s praise you want, and now the truth. I don’t recall lying to you, Tessa.”

“Yes, you lied,” she said, her voice rising. “Years ago, when you returned from your first excursion into the wilderness, you told Mama that the farm we were lived at was now yours, because the man who owned it was dead, and so was his son. You stood by the hearth and said Jacob Storm was killed in an accident, along with his son, Adrian.”

Tessa held her breath. Her eyes never left her father’s to gauge his reaction. A shocked expression came over him, and his pale face looked even paler.

“What would you remember from so long ago?” he growled.

“Not much,” Tessa conceded. “But enough. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. I know what I remember.” She pounded her fist on the desk. “Tell me you remember Jacob Storm, the man you said was your friend, and his son, Adrian. Tell me!”

Calvin sat straighter. His hands gripped the sides of the chair. “Of course I remember,” she nearly shouted back. “But what’s that got to do with anything?”

Tessa’s eyes narrowed, and if she leaned over the desk any further, she’d have to climb on top of it. “Did you kill Jacob Storm and leave his son for dead in the wilderness?”

Calvin’s eyes grew wide, then his face reddened with rage. “Who told you that? No one would know about–?” He caught himself before saying more.

Tessa swallowed hard. Her heart pounded in her chest. She stared at the man in front of her. He’d all but confessed, and the truth was written in his eyes. Adrian’s story was true. A small part of her had wanted to doubt him, to claim he hadn’t remembered the incident correctly, but now…there was no longer any doubt.

“The boy you said was dead is very much alive,” she said, her voice oddly calm and quiet now. “I didn’t want to believe him when he told me my father was a murderer, so I had to come back to find out for myself.” Her voice finally cracked. Tessa took a step back and wiped her hand over her face. “I have the truth now, Father.”

Calvin stood suddenly, his cane scraping on the floor. Tessa took a step back, her eyes fixed on the once-powerful man now so weak before her. They faced each other. Tessa reached for her rifle she’d propped up against the wall. Calvin smirked.

“Did you come here for the truth so you can then kill me?” he mocked.

Tessa glanced at the weapon in her hand. “The thought has crossed my mind,” she said. “But that would make me no better than you. So, no. I didn’t come to kill you. I came to tell you that your fur company is done. I’ll reimburse you for all the supplies I bought this spring, but the profits from the furs will be mine. Without me, this company will crumble. For years, you’ve profited because of me, but I’ll no longer be your employee. And I won’t lose any sleep over the fact that you’ll die a penniless and broken man, alone.”

She turned on her heels and stormed out of the office. The door slammed behind her with finality, the echo bouncing off the walls like a gunshot.

Her heart hammered in her chest as she stepped into the cold air of the city. It was over. She’d done what she came to do and extracted her own kind of vengeance. Now, she had to move on. She had one more mission to accomplish and do what she’d neglected to do earlier. She had to return to the mountains and tell Adrian she loved him. She had to convince him of the life they could build together, if he’d have her.