Chapter Twenty-Nine
Shiloh and Annie finished breakfast and left early in the morning again so that Shiloh could teach Annie how to ride. When Adam came to the breakfast table, he hesitated, looking at the two empty seats. Before he sat down, he looked at his father with raised eyebrows, nodding toward the empty chairs.
"Annie is learning to ride this morning," said Ben.
"It's just as well," said Adam, sitting down and placing his napkin in his lap. "Did Shiloh tell you she's going with Edwin to San Francisco?"
"No, she didn't mention it. You talked her into it?" asked Ben, looking intensely at Adam.
"Pa, I didn't force her to say yes, if that's what you're getting at. I just reasoned with her."
"Is she comfortable with her decision?"
"No. I don't expect her to be comfortable until after she performs and realizes what she's missing…or that it's really not important to her, but I don't see that happening." Adam had loaded his plate with eggs, bacon and flapjacks. As he poured maple syrup over his pancakes, he continued. "Pa, the bid for that land to the north we've been looking at is coming up. The attorney is in San Francisco." Adam looked up at his father, who was watching him over his cup of coffee. "I thought I could go tender the bid in person and see some of Edwin's and Shiloh's performances. That'll give me time to try and speak with Signora Biscaccianti."
"When would you leave?'
"The end of this week," he answered, chewing a mouthful of flapjack.
Shiloh and Annie spent the majority of the rest of their week packing Shiloh's trunk. The clothes she wore in Boston during her performances there were made specifically for her, so she kept them. Annie would be going back to San Francisco to begin her job as a doctor's assistant until she could locate a medical school that would accept her as a student. She chose to work, keeping her knowledge up to date and her skills honed for school, though she didn't have to work since she had received an inheritance from her mother that would allow her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. The ability to help people who were ill or in pain was a passion for her, something that made it easy to understand the things that drove Shiloh…loyalty, high personal standards, the commitment to see things through. The last part was the reason Annie knew that deep down, Shiloh wanted to sing and write. Because she had split her focus in college, perhaps she now felt she had to choose between them. Annie had hoped she'd be able to find a happy medium between her ranch, her horses and her music. Even though her opinion of Adam had been quite low in the beginning, Annie realized that Adam had slowly, and probably very painfully, become the person that could reason with her the most. After all, he knew her better than Edwin or herself. There was probably no one else, other than Adam's father, who knew her better.
Shiloh's trunks and bags had been moved to the Ponderosa from the Flying W the night before they were leaving for San Francisco. Once the buckboard was loaded the next morning, Shiloh and Annie rode in the buggy with Ben and Adam with Hoss driving the buckboard. Adam had purchased the tickets several days before, including the tickets they would need for the steamer from Sacramento to San Francisco. He allowed three days to reach Sacramento, planning one extra day in case the stagecoach was delayed. They met Edwin at the stagecoach office ready to board along with one other passenger. When they were seated, Edwin and the extra passenger were seated on one side. Shiloh ended up in the middle with Adam and Annie on either side, but remembering her conversation with his father her first evening home Adam had her move to the outside next to a window, taking the middle seat between her and Annie. She smiled shyly at him for the favor, and remained quiet most of the trip. Adam watched the muscles in her jaw flex, her hands clasped into tight fists leaving her knuckles white. When the stagecoach stopped to rest the horses, he watched her raise her hand to her neck rubbing the knotted muscles there. He watched her drink water from the ladle at the water pump, trying with a hand that was shaking so much she had to use both hands to drink.
"How are you?" he asked quietly.
She avoided his eyes, but managed a slight smile. "I'm fine, thank you. The window seat helps." She flexed her fingers, trying to ease the aching caused by clenching her fists. When they boarded the stagecoach to continue, Adam took her hands, unclenching them and laying her left hand flat in her lap, holding her right hand for the duration of the trip.
Once in Sacramento, Adam was able to secure berths for them on a steamer a day early, so they were immediately able to board. Annie and Shiloh shared quarters lavishly adorned with plate-glass mirrors, marble-topped tables, red plush upholstery, brass lamps and opulent woodwork. While Edwin and Annie opted to remain in their quarters for the trip, Shiloh accepted an invitation from Adam for dinner, joining him in a dining room appointed as extravagantly as their quarters.
"Shiloh, not that I'm trying to discourage you…it took too much to get you to do this, but you were right when you said performing in San Francisco would eventually get back to Virginia City. You need to be prepared for that. If Tom Maguire happens to be in San Francisco and sees you, he'll know." The lobster Adam had ordered for them for dinner was delivered to their table. Shiloh sat back in her chair with her hands in her lap staring at her plate. Adam watched her, knowing she was processing the thought of Virginia City discovering that she was Isabella Whitney.
"Adam, you were right. I've had second thoughts about singing since I've been home, and I worried this might be my last chance. Even if this goes well, I don't know how I'm going to fit it in. And I have no idea what will happen when Virginia City finds out. Whether it's good or bad, it's still something I'll have to deal with." She glanced quickly up at him, then back down to her hands in her lap. "The truth is I'm terrified." She tilted her head to the right. "Not about the singing…about what happens after it's over."
Adam smiled warmly. "Shiloh, whatever happens, you won't have to deal with it alone. And I think you're underestimating the time you have to fit this in."
"Well, there's a lot that I want to do with the ranch…things Daddy wasn't interested in doing."
Adam cracked his lobster. "Like what?"
Shiloh already had the meat out of her lobster tail. "Like timber and mining. I was thinking about bidding on the land just to the north of the ranch. It's for sale, you know."
Adam laughed and teasingly pointed his fork at her. "You can't do that. We're bidding on that land."
"So? Why should that make a difference?"
Adam stopped in mid-chew, raising an eyebrow, looking across the table at her. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Dead serious," she replied. "That land is covered with trees. A lot of them are pines, but there are big stands of hardwoods there, too."
"Yes, I know," he answered as he finished chewing. He washed his food down and stopped eating again. "You've never bid on land before. Don't you think this is something you should have discussed with me?"
"I'm discussing it with you now," she said as she cracked a claw. "Anyway, I said I was thinking about it," she said haughtily. "But you're right…I've never done anything like this. If the ranch is going to succeed and grow, I need to learn…not just buying land, but bidding timber contracts. I don't really expect to win, but it would be a good experience for me, don't you think?" she asked, looking up from her lobster.
"Do you even know how to prepare for a bid like this?"
"I've done some homework," she said coyly.
"What about mining?"
"Well, I haven't really thought as much about mining as I have timber, but Daddy always said we were sitting on a mountain of silver. I think I'd like to pursue that and see."
"It takes a lot of time to supervise mining operations. Timber is seasonal, but mining goes on all year. Are you sure you want to take that on?"
"I realize I'd have to hire someone to oversee it. I have no desire to be that involved with the day to day workings of a mine."
Adam chuckled while he finished his last bite and placed his dinner napkin on the table. "Can we talk about this when you get back home? You have something else to occupy your time right now."
"That's true, but I have to have the bid for the land in by next week, and the seller is in San Francisco. But then, you knew that," she said cynically, taking a drink. "Just think Adam. We're competitors."
He didn't care. Her eyes were sparkling at him, and she seemed happy and relaxed at the moment.
