As the stage coach rumbled
into town, the dry fall wind whipped the clothing of the residents of Four
Corners, who had seen fit to come out so early on a Saturday morning.
Several of the women in town were making their way down the dirty street
in an attempt to complete their individual errands before the storms set
in. The coach came to a halt and the driver swung down from atop
his perch. The man who rode shotgun began handing down several large
valises and other forms of matching luggage. The driver helped a
middle aged woman with beautiful blond hair down out of the contraption.
The woman moued her full mouth up in distaste at the dirty, rough-hewn
town. Why in the world did her son have to choose this God-forsaken
place in which to inhabit?
After that awful altercation
in St. Louis, she felt that she needed to lay low for awhile, and what
would be better than a visit to her bright, handsome son. Every once
in a while she felt a twinge of guilt about not being available both physically
and emotionally for her son, but she stuffed those feelings down deep inside
her soul, like a last minute article being added to her overstuffed luggage.
And if everything panned out here, an added incentive would be to see Mr.
Josiah Sanchez again. He made her feel things she hadn't felt in
a long time. It was a pity he was so poor.
Buck was heading out
to meet the coach, with JD hot on his heels. Surprised to see Maude
Standish standing there with her ever present voluminous amount of baggage,
he strolled up to her and took her hand in his. Maude had always
liked Buck's charm ever since she met him and permitted him to press his
lips to her gloved hand. The youngster that always seemed to tail
the older ladies' man hovered near by. Maude considered him to be
annoying, with his persistent questions and lack of sophistication.
She couldn't understand why Ezra had such an objection to working Mr. Dunne
up in a con, just even for a joke. If her son was developing a conscience,
then she would just have a fit of apoplexy right there in the main street
of Four Corners. But that wasn't likely to happen.
"Now, Mr. Wilmington,
could you please tell me the whereabouts of my male offspring?" inquired
Maude in a genteel manner.
JD looked confused for
a minute, but Buck answered, "Why, he's probably over at the saloon.
Why don't I take you there?" He shot JD a look to be quiet about
anything concerning Ezra. Chris and Buck both knew that Ezra had
not informed his mother about his marriage to Angelina, or his newest acquisition,
the saloon and hotel. The two men escorted Ezra's mother over to
the hotel first and helped her check in, then they made there way into
the saloon. Most respectable women would not have found themselves
in that kind of setting, but then they weren't Maude. Although she
could play just about any roughneck under the table or sweet talk any banker
out of his cold, hard cash, she never appeared to let the criminal life
she led touch her in any way.
She spotted her son
sitting at his normal table across the saloon, engaged in what appeared
to be a fierce game of poker with a couple of ranchers. He was totally
absorbed in the game, but she knew that Ezra was always aware of the danger
which constantly surrounded his occupation. For a fleeting moment,
Maude was able to step outside of her role as a mother and surveyed her
son with a critical eye. Ezra was a very handsome young man, with
an engaging temperament and a keen intelligence. She just rued his
taste in women; he always seemed to get hurt in the long run. But
he looked healthier than he had in a long time. Maybe the clean dry
air of the Southwest was healing after all.
Maude slowly made her
way over to Ezra's table, but her son was so engaged in the game, he didn't
bother to acknowledge her presence. He took the hand once again,
and he didn't have to even cheat. Oh, how boring, thought Maude,
as she noticed the recognition in his eyes. Those striking emerald
eyes were the most noticeable thing that his biological father had bestowed
upon him. She had always told him she didn't really know who his
father was. It was easier for her to admit that way than to tell
the truth. Maude had to admit, she relished that perennially startled
and uncomfortable look Ezra always had when she showed up to visit.
But this time it seemed to be magnified about ten times. I wonder
what he's got up his sleeve this time, she thought to herself as Ezra rose
to meet her.
"Mother, what
a surprise to see you here. I thought you were visiting some of the
cousins in Birmingham.," Ezra caught himself saying, as he tried
not to be circumspect about his behavior.
"I missed you and I
thought I would see what my dear little boy is up to these days," she smiled
sweetly.
"I'm fine, Mother."
Just then Angelina came
flying into the saloon and threw her arms around Ezra's neck, kissing him
firmly on the mouth. His arms automatically responded and pulled
her close to him. He totally forgot the presence of his mother at
that moment in time and he kissed his wife deeply and thoroughly, much
to the delight of the men standing around in the bar. Maude was slightly
shocked for a moment as she watched this totally uncharacteristic (for
Ezra) display of affection, then she became slightly annoyed as the kiss
proceeded, finally becoming down right livid. Ezra finally put Angelina
back down on the floor and gazed down at his wife's beautiful, expressive
face. That was one of the things he loved so much about her - her
inability to mask her emotions. He knew that she could never lie
to him, at least not effectively. "To what do I owe this honor, my
dear?"
"Nathan and I, we think
we may have a treatment for some types of wound infections. Isn't
that wonderful?" Angelina gushed. About that time, she noticed a
well dressed, middle-aged woman standing next to Ezra, with an irate scowl
on her face. Ezra noticed Angelina's attention shift to his mother
and winced. He had hoped he was going to have an opportunity to explain
to his mother about all of the recent changes in his life. He also
hadn't had time to brace Angelina about certain episodes in his past that
he wasn't very proud of.
"Ezra, who is this woman?
Why is she clinging to you like a common trollop?" demanded Maude angrily.
"Mother, she is not
a trollop," Ezra responded as he watched his wife's eyes narrow for a second
time at the insult. "I would like you to meet Angelina Devereaux Standish.
My wife." He turned to Angelina, who also appeared to be very
annoyed, and introduced Maude. "Angel, this is Maude Standish, my
mother."
The air stirred noiselessly
as the two women faced off. The patrons at the bar stared, taking
in the entertainment laid out before them.
"What do you mean, your wife? Ezra,
stop this charade right now, it isn't funny," demanded Maude. She
was getting a blistering headache and she didn't find her son's jest at
her expense the least bit hilarious. She surveyed the young girl
at Ezra's side with a critical mother's eye. The girl was most definitely
a half-breed, there was no denying that. Maude couldn't believe that
her very practical and somewhat jaded son had had his head turned by this
blatant little hussy. She had to admit the girl was very attractive,
but was certainly not good enough to enter the Standish family.
What made it worse, the shameless girl glared right back at her.
This chit certainly had not been raised in a genteel manner befitting the
position she was to uphold as Ezra's wife.
"Mother, I promise you. There is no
joke. Angelina is my wife. We were married about a month ago,"
Ezra patiently explained. He was desperately trying to think of a
way out of the predicament in which he found himself. He turned to
Angelina, who was visibly seething at his mother's demeanor towards her,
and quietly whispered, "Could you excuse us a moment? I really need
to talk to Mother about some recent events."
Angelina snapped back, "By all means, take
all the time you want. I'm sure you have a lot of explaining to do,
especially when you get home." She haughtily turned on her heel and
strode out of the bar. Maude was amused and at the same time, appalled
by the young woman's behavior. Ezra gestured for her to take a seat
and motioned to the barkeep, who brought them two shot glasses and a bottle
of the house's best whiskey. He was going to need all the fortification
he could get, having to deal with his mother. The problem was Maude
could drink him under the table any day of the week.
"My, they are actually starting to serve better
alcohol in this dingy little town of yours," Maude remarked sarcastically
as she tossed down one shot and poured herself another.
"I will take that as a compliment about the
improvement in the quality of the libations served at this establishment.
I hope to introduce a few more refinements to the establishment in the
near future." Ezra took in the confused look on Maude's face, with
a little childish glee. "Let me explain. I am now the manager
and proprietor of this saloon as well as the hotel adjacent. Your
son is moving up in the world."
"Where'd you get the money to sink into this
place? I knew you had saved up a little but not nearly enough to
afford this place."
"Thank you ever so much, Mother, for your
undying confidence in my procurement skills. Actually, my wife loaned
me some of her inheritance in order to purchase the place outright."
"What's the one thing I've always told you
about a con, Ezra? Don't ever let them trap YOU. By all means,
court the girl, seduce her even, but you're not supposed to marry her,"
remonstrated Maude, staring disbelieving at her son, who seemed to be such
an enigma to her now.
Ezra's eyes narrowed at his mother's implication.
"Be careful, Mother. This isn't nor ever was intended to be a con.
I married Angelina because I wanted to, not because of some money scheme.
You should know better than anyone that I never get that intimately involved
with any of my targets. As long as I'm being honest with you , there's
something else I need to tell you. You're a grandmother."
Maude's expression turned pasty and her lips
pressed together in a thin line. "When did this come about?
You couldn't have been involved with your, um, wife, that long. So
what happened?"
Ezra swallowed, anticipating the berating
he was going to receive from his mother before it was said and done.
"Actually, Angelina is the cousin to my daughter, Victoria. She's
ten and Ma, she's so perfect. Victoria's intelligent, kind, and very
beautiful. She's going to be coming back here in the spring to live
with me and Angelina. I would like you two to get to know each other.
She needs to know about my side of the family."
"Don't tell me, if she's ten, then that was
back during the War. I take it, she's Clara's. Well, how do
you know that little tramp isn't lying to you," reasoned Maude. She
wasn't about allow her son to spend his money on the child whose father
was God knows who.
"Ma, Victoria has my eyes." That caught
Maude's attention. Those eyes would forever haunt her every time
she gazed upon Ezra's handsome face. They were a reminder of a love
that had died long ago with the disappearance of Ezra's father. She
hated that her son would have to feel the irony of a love gone bad every
time he looked at his daughter. In a way, she also hated the granddaughter
she had never met for having a piece of the legacy that her long-ago lover
bestowed upon her life. Ezra watched as ghostly emotions flickered
across his mother's face. He had seen her become melancholy like
this only a few times in his life and he hated himself for not being braver
a few months ago and settling this with her then. Lord only knew,
what he was going to have to do to make it up to Angelina when he got home.
"Mother, are you feeling okay?"
"Just a little overwhelmed. So I take
you haven't told your wife very much about your past. She seemed
certainly surprised to see me. What else haven't you told her?"
"Ma, there's a lot I would like to keep hidden
for now. There are things about my past I'm not proud of and some
of them would, if they got out, only do more harm than good."
"I take it you haven't told her about being
sick???"
"No, and I want to keep it that way for now.
Let me tell her in my own good time. And, Mother, one other thing.
Don't go making up any stories about my childhood, like you did last time,
please?" Ezra pleaded with Maude, who had to stifle a laugh at the embarrassing
tales she had told on her last visit. They both finished their drinks
and rose from the table. He escorted her over to the hotel and leaving
her in the lobby, explained, "I need to go home for a while and talk with
Angelina. Will you please try and make an effort to get along with
her?"
"I won't promise anything," replied Maude
over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs to her room. Ezra shook
his head dejectedly for a moment, fleetingly regretting that the rift that
had always been present between the two of them. Then shaking that
thought off, he put his black hat on his head and walked out the door of
the hotel, steeling himself for the ensuing battle with his beautiful new
bride. It was going to take a lot of charm and even a few well-placed
untruths to come out of this unscathed.
Angelina was seething by the time she walked
home from the saloon. How dare Ezra allow his mother to treat her
like that? Of course, she didn't know that his mother was even alive,
but he certainly had never mentioned her before now. She fumbled with the
key as she tried to unlock the front door. She finally wrenched it
open and stormed inside, only to slam it resoundingly behind her.
She even relished her little temper tantrum. Well, Ezra was going
to have to explain a whole lot when he got home tonight. Angelina
made her way into the kitchen and started to prepare supper. Ezra
had teased her mercilessly about her lack of culinary skills. He'd
be lucky if she didn't poison him now, as the thought of slipping some
strychnine into the biscuit batter flitted through her irate mind.
The thing that bothered her the most was the
idea that she was so upset over what someone else thought about her.
She had never allowed anyone's opinion, with maybe the exception of her
father, ever really affect her life to a great extent. Even Ezra
didn't have that kind of power over her. If he had, Angelina would
have given up on cooking a long time ago. Why should his mother's
decidedly jaded outlook affect her so? Maybe it was because Ezra
was seemingly close to his mother and Angelina cared about Ezra, therefore,
she didn't want to create any kind of conflict between him and Maude.
She calmed down some as the cooling fall breeze fluttered the curtains
at the window.
By the time Ezra finally got home though,
Angelina was riled up again. Usually if he was going to be late,
he would send one of the local boys to tell her. But she had dinner
ready two hours ago, and still no peep from him. About eight o'clock,
Ezra strolled through the door and hung his hat and dusty coat on the pegs
next to the door. He looked down the hall into the kitchen but he
saw no lamp lit in there or in the sitting room. He made his way
quietly upstairs, thinking that his lovely wife was working the second
bedroom she had turned into an office for her research. But she wasn't
in there. He opened his bedroom door and glimpsed Angelina,
standing in a stark white night gown peeking out between the closed curtains
at the dimly lit town. He strode across the floor and attempted to
put his strong arms around her waist. She was totally unreceptive
to him, even when he kissed her lips softly.
"I'm home???", he murmured softly. "Is
this any way to greet your husband?"
Angelina jerked her chin up to stare into
his sexy green eyes, and snapped, "I thought maybe you had forgotten you
were married." She jerked away from him but he snaked an arm out
and caught her wrist, spinning her to face him.
Ezra's hurt-filled eyes stared down at her
angry chocolate ones. "What are you intimating, my dear?
Certainly you are not making the accusation that I would be unfaithful
to you. You should know me better than that."
"I thought I knew you but I found out I was
wrong about that."
"Are you referring to the unexpected presence
of my mother?"
"You could call it that. I can believe
you allowed her to behave like that towards me. Didn't you even tell
her about the fact you were getting married?"
"I wanted life between us to start off well
without bringing my mother into the middle of it."
"Is there anything or anybody else that you
want to tell me about from your past, Ezra? I don't like surprises.
I'm mad that you didn't trust me enough to tell me about your family or
to even introduce me to them. Am I that much of an embarrassment
to you?"
Ezra's stare softened. He pulled Angelina's
resistant body close to his. Her head finally relaxed enough to come
to rest upon his well-muscled chest. "Angel, you could never in a
million years be an embarrassment to me. How could you ever think that?"
Angelina snuggled closer in his embrace and
sighed, "It was apparent that your mother wasn't thrilled about you being
married to someone of my heritage."
Ezra chuckled softly as he stroked her long
raven hair. "That's just Mother. She can deal it out but she
can't always take it. I'm not saying it's right, but it was the way
that she was raised, the way I was raised even. It's just I can recognize
true beauty when it's right in front of my face. Don't worry about
my mother, sweetie. She just doesn't like surprises, well, at least
not being on the receiving end of them. You two share a lot in common,
if you would just try to get along."
Angelina caressed his torso with her well-manicured
nails. Ezra backed away slightly so that he could kiss her delicate
mouth. His tongue penetrated her honeyed recesses, mimicking things
yet to come. Their heartbeats began to race as their hands explored
each other. He cupped her breasts through the night shift, eliciting
a moan from her parted lips. She ground her hips against his hardening
groin and he slid his hands down to her waist to pull even closer to his
lower body. Panting, Ezra lifted her into his arms and carried her
over to the bed, laying her down on her back and slowly moving over her.
Angelina strained to get closer to him, but he took a moment to remove
his clothes. He still couldn't get over the fact that his wife still
blushed every time she saw him naked, even though they had been married
for about a month now. If this was the way all of their arguments
were going to turn out, he was going to have to make Angelina mad more
often.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, forcing
him close while she hungrily tasted his lips. Ezra slipped his hand
between her upper thighs and began caressing her moist heat. Angelina
writhed against him, wanting to reach the peak of pleasure that he was
so adept at generating within her. She reached down and took his
turgid shaft in hand, causing him to groan hoarsely. She guided him
to her opening and he thrust forward, almost forcing her back against the
headboard. She screamed softly as he began to rhythmically undulate
his hips against her pelvic region.
"Oh, God....aah, Ezra, don't stop...please...,"
Angelina panted, growing ever closer to her climax as he thrust faster
and harder.
Ezra could feel the pulses of her orgasm around
his rock-hard manhood. Her increasing erotic motions against his
lower torso forced him over the edge. He thrust deeply one last time
and spilled his seed within her. For a moment, he lay spent on top
of her, still lodged within her damp sheath. He reveled in the feel
of her body, the rightness of their togetherness. But at the same
time, his thoughts wondered back to the cause of their spontaneous behavior
and he knew he would have to tell her some of his closely guarded secrets
before Angelina found them out from his mother. He rolled over,
much to Angelina's displeasure. She enjoyed making love with Ezra
immensely, but she loved the time afterward when he was truly open to her
emotionally and always dreaded when he began to pull away. He pulled
her into his arms and gingerly stroked her hair, as she ran her fingers
in random patterns across his chest.
"Ezra?"
"Hmmm...," he murmured, almost asleep with
the hypnotic caresses.
"Tell me about what it was like for you growing
up," Angelina softly pleaded with him.
Ezra roused himself enough to actually think
about what she had asked him. Angelina had never really inquired
about his past life before, and he guessed he had kind of taken advantage
of her original disinterest. "Angelina, can't this wait until morning?"
"No, it can't. Ezra, I'm married to
you and I hardly know anything about you. I didn't even know that
your mother was alive until today. Are there any more surprises that
I should know about?"
Only my whole life, he thought, as he tried
to steel himself in order to have enough courage to tell her everything.
He opened his mouth and quickly shut it again. "Angel, there's a
lot that I don't think I'm prepared to discuss with you or anyone else.
Please understand it's not that I don't trust you, it's that I haven't
dealt with some aspects with any kind of closure. Let's make a deal:
I can ask you one question about your past and you can ask me one as well.
Both of us will endeavor to answer the query as honestly as possible.
Is this an acceptable compromise?" He gazed at her, a questioning
look in his emerald eyes.
Angelina silently nodded. Well, a little
is better than nothing at all, she guessed. Ezra thought a minute,
then asked, "What happened to your mother? You never talk about her."
She sighed imperceptibly as her shoulders
slumped forward. "My mother died when I was five. Because she
was married to my father, she was allowed to live off of a reservation.
But you know my father's family, they're not the kindest souls in the world.
So my mother talked my father into returning to her people for a while.
My brothers went with us to Oklahoma territory and we lived there for about
a year before she died. There was a typhoid outbreak in the village
and neither my father nor the village medicine man could do anything but
watch the people die. After that, my father returned to the South
and my brothers went off to War. I was allowed to stay with my mother's
people until I was about ten or eleven years old. From then on, I
lived with my father, except for infrequent visits to my mother's people,
or what was left of them anyway. My turn....let me see....how did
you decide to become a gambler?"
Ezra winced at the question that forced him
to reveal much more than he had planned. "Well, it started like this.....
"Ezra Standish, get down here right now!"
Ezra heard his aunt, his mother's sister, yelling from the bottom of the
stairs. He trudged down the hallway, then down the stairs, coming
to rest in front of his very daunting aunt. He stood there, his little
eight-year-old body trying not to tremble in fear. If he was in a
lot of trouble, then Aunt May would end up telling Uncle Henry and he would
get a beating for sure. This had to be the worst place he had lived
at in his short, but very eventful, life. "Just what did you think
you were doing, gambling behind the schoolhouse like that, young man?
That way of life is an instrument of the devil and will come to no good.
I don't know what Maude allowed you to do, but you will not behave like
that in our home, do you understand?"
Ezra nodded his head sullenly. May
grabbed his skinny arm in her firm grip. "Now you will help out in
the stables for the rest of day, until your uncle gets home. You'll
receive your punishment then. Now get." She abruptly released
him, causing him to stumble back.
Ezra ran out to the barn as fast as his
skinny little legs would carry him. It seemed like he was always
hungry anymore, but he didn't dare complain because all he ever heard from
his aunt and uncle was how expensive it was with another mouth to feed.
And his hateful cousins didn't make the situation any better. If
he hadn't promised his mama that he would stay there until she could come
back and get him, Ezra would have been long gone from the Alabama farm.
The fact that he was a bastard was thrust in his face time and time again.
Maude's family had not been thrilled at her lifestyle choices, but when
her only offspring was foisted onto whatever relative who was available,
the accusations and demeanor of her family toward Ezra became unbearable.
The funny thing was Aunt May's punishment most of the time was sending
him out to the stables to help the stable hands.
Ezra loved being around the horses, appreciating
their intelligence and beauty. The slave who was head stableboy was
a wizened old man named Sam, who had taken quite a liking to the shy, quiet
boy. He wasn't a believer in the old voodoo traditions but that boy's
eyes were very disconcerting, like the child could see through to someone's
soul. Sam had heard that Ezra was a prodigy with cards and numbers,
and could apparently judge a man's character with amazing accuracy for
a little boy. It was a cruel world that couldn't recognize the intellect
and promise of the child, only because he wasn't born with his father's
name. Ezra also had the makings of an excellent horseman and showed
great promise at being able to mimic the upper crust's behavior.
"How d'ya do, Master Ezra? What you
be doing out here on such a fine day?" inquired Sam, his face wrinkling
even further in concern for the downtrodden boy.
Ezra glanced up at Sam with those startling
green eyes, which seemed to be filled only with despair and sadness.
"I'm supposed to help you out until Uncle Henry gets home and he can punish
me. What do you want me to do?" His little body looked almost
starved, when he should have had all the food he could ask for.
Sam replied kindly, "Why don't you give
me a hand with the tack? Then maybe you could help me curry the carriage
horses. Master Ezra, what did you do to get into trouble this time?"
"I was playing poker with some of the older
boys behind the school at recess. I think I made the mistake of winning,
because the next thing I know, Tommy Warren is about ready to beat the
stuffin's outta me. The teacher came in time but I was the one who
got in trouble for having the cards in the first place."
Sam nodded to himself and went back to
work on the carriage harness in front of him. Ezra sat right next
to him and oiled his part of the traces. That was another thing.
The little boy could sit for hours on end and never say a word, and generated
a comfortable silence around him. Not the mindless chatter that children
his age normally maintained. When Ezra wasn't in the stables with
the horses, usually he was curled up with a book, usually intended for
an adult reader, under the magnolia tree behind the main house, attempting
to puzzle out the larger vocabulary words.
Sam was mildly surprised when Ezra quietly
asked, "Sam, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Master Ezra, anything. I ain't
too sure if I can answer it for ya but I give it a good try."
"Do you think I could ever be a gentleman?"
"Why, boy, you already are. You gettin'
to be well educated and all. You know how to ride horses real good,
too."
"No, Sam, I mean where I could actually
make something of myself. Uncle Henry was tellin' Aunt May that I
would be lucky to get a decent apprenticeship somewhere because I'm a bastard.
But what does me bein' a bastard with me gettin' to be a gentleman?
I thought as long as you were educated, dressed nice and had a lot of money,
it didn't matter about a daddy." Ezra argued, more at himself than
at Sam.
Sam sat down next to the boy and said,
"You listen to ole Sam. He may not know much, but I reckon that I
do know that a real man's life isn't determined by what he has or what
family he was born to, but rather what he did with his life. You
are blessed, boy, and don't forget it. Use those gifts that God gave
you. Those who will love you for who you be won't care who your daddy is,
understand?" Ezra nodded slowly as Sam's speech sunk into his mind.
"But remember this, and well, always see what others have to offer.
Don't judge them as these people have done to you."
Well, to make a long story short, Uncle
Henry arrived that evening and Ezra was soundly beaten with a switch off
of the magnolia tree. He only lived there for about a year before
his mother returned and moved them off to another part of the South.
On one trip, Ezra watched the professional gamblers on the riverboats and
determined that gambling was the life for him. He remembered old
Sam's words about making the best of his talents. Not that his mother
objected to them either. Once she realized what an asset he would
be to her schemes, Maude no longer left him with family but rather dragged
him around the country with her.
"And kept it up until the War, but by then,
my mother and I had a falling out, primarily about Clara and I set out
on my own. Now it's time for bed, little girl." He ruffled
Angelina's hair as if she was Victoria, then snuggled down deeper under
the covers, drifting off to sleep with her in his arms. Angelina
lay there quietly as she thought about her husband's childhood. She
marveled at the things he had accomplished based upon sheer will alone
and her heart filled with love at the thought he was always trying to give
her and Victoria a better life. Many people saw him as shallow and
self-serving, forever searching for the next beneficial angle, but Angelina
was starting realize that it was just a method, finely honed, for protecting
himself against the world who had shunned him for his illigitimacy.
She knew what she had to do in the morning, she just hoped that Ezra wasn't
going to hate her for it afterwards.
The next day after Ezra went to work, Angelina
dressed in one of her finest dresses and marched down to the hotel.
When she stopped in the lobby, she inquired with the desk clerk which room
was her mother-in-law staying in. The young man at the desk informed
her of the number, but added that Mrs. Standish has already left for the
morning and did not leave a time when she would be returning. Angelina
stomped her foot, not knowing where to look for Maude. She walked
out the door and almost ran straight into JD on the board sidewalk.
"God, Mrs. Standish, I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was
going," he blushed.
"JD," she soothed. "It's okay. I'm as
much at fault as you are. And would you please call me Angelina?
Mrs. Standish is Ezra's mother, not me. Speaking of her, have you
seen her?"
"I think she was down at the church talking
to Josiah."
"Thanks ever so much," she replied sweetly.
Prayers aren't going to save her this time, she thought to herself, as
she made her way down to the church. Angelina knocked on the door,
then pushed it open on squeaky hinges. The two conversants did not
seem to notice her presence at first, so she was able to catch snippets
of their discussion.
"Maude," reasoned Josiah. "Ezra's old enough
to be married. I personally think that he made a wonderful choice.
Anybody that knows your son can see he's head over heels for the girl."
"In lust maybe. But she's a halfbreed."
"So, he's a bastard. Don't go pulling
the rules of civilized society into this. None of us could win, not
even you." He reminded her carefully. "You're going to have to let
him go some time. Don't ask him to decide where his loyalty lies,
because he's the one that'll be hurt the most by it."
"My son would never turn against me, Josiah."
"I wouldn't place a bet on that one, Maude.
You don't know how much Angelina has done for him."
"Like give him that money. I told him
that if he had to seduce her for it, that was fine, but you should never
get trapped in a con."
"Maude, it wasn't a con. Ezra did the
right, upstanding thing. And he's going to get to be near his daughter
soon. Don't forget her."
"How can I!!"" Maude railed at him.
Josiah just smiled, watching the woman he loved being forced to accept
that not everything in life was going to go her way. All in
all, it was a good lesson for her to learn. "I haven't even met the
child and I already despise her. You don't understand what I saw
my son go through with that tramp Clara. She broke his heart and
now he finds out that he has to be linked to her forever through their
child. And his wife is that bitch's cousin. How do I know she
won't treat him the same way?"
"Because I'm not like Clara, Mrs. Standish."
Two surprised faces turned to look in Angelina's direction. "Josiah,
could I have a moment alone with Ezra's mother." Josiah nodded and
stepped out of the door, rapidly making his way to the saloon to get the
rest of the men. This was a fight no one would want to miss.
"What do you want?" Maude grumbled.
Angelina made her way to the front of the church, standing in almost the
exact same place as she had a month ago across from Ezra and vowing in
front of God and everybody that she would love, honor and obey him for
the rest of her life. That sentiment would just be lost on her, Angelina
thought, if I tried to explain it to her.
"I want to talk to you about Ezra. The
thought that we can't get along is tearing him apart. You need to
accept that I am part of his life now. I don't want to take your
son away from you but I'm not going to sit idly by and watch you manipulate
him into any more self-destructive behavior."
"Is that what he told you?"
"No, I can surmise a lot of this for myself,
but Ezra and I have a very open relationship built on trust, which he hasn't
had in his life until now."
"He hasn't told you everything," Maude sneered.
"You would have never married him if he had."
"You underestimate me and there's nothing
you could say that could ever make me doubt my husband."
"Don't try to come between me and my son,
girl. You won't win."
"It's interesting to me that just recently
you've turned into a mother hen. It seems that when Ezra was a child,
you never had much time for him, always leaving him at relatives' houses
while you traipsed around on your little schemes. Then you involved
your own son in your degenerate lifestyle. To me, that is not the
epitome of good maternal skills."
"My son had a chance to get out and he decided
that he liked the life too much. He'll always go back to gambling
and scheming, it's a part of him and there's nothing you can do about it.
But you, on the other hand, well, my son could always do better than a
halfbreed, he was raised better than that, even if you are a rich one."
Angelina stiffened at the insult. Maude
saw this and went in for the kill. "Do you really think he'll stay
with you? Ezra is accustomed to being able to pick up and leave whenever
he wants. When the novelty of your marriage wears off, don't think
that you'll be able to keep him at home and in your bed. Variety
is the spice of life, as the saying goes."
"Is that what happened between you and Ezra's
father?" Angelina shot back spitefully. Okay, no more Mister Nice
Guy.
Maude made a move to slap Angelina across
the face, but Angelina skillfully caught her hand and held it in a very
painful grasp. By this time, the men had made it to the back door
of the church and stood watching, speechless at the drama unfolding before
them. Maude tried jerking away with all her strength, but Angelina
managed to hold on even though she had been knocked off balance.
Maude went for her hair, hissing and clawing like a highly pissed off cat,
while Angelina held on and attempted to deflect the blows. Ezra caught
Angelina and Josiah caught Maude, effectively pulling the two women apart.
Both were squirming and struggling to resume their fight, so Josiah picked
Maude up and carried her outside. Ezra held Angelina roughly by the
arm and followed Josiah out the back door, dragging his wife along behind
him.
Josiah, still toting an irate Maude, walked
over to a nearby water trough and uncermoniously dropped her in.
The rest of the group stood shocked that Josiah would have enough nerve
to do that. Angelina found it to be the most hilarious site she had
ever seen, and began laughing hysterically at the soaking wet figure that
was her mother-in-law. Ezra spun around on her and picked her up,
walking over to the bench on the sidewalk in front of the General Store.
He sat down and without any regard to convention, began to spank her as
if she was a recalcitrant child. Angelina yelled indignantly as he
made a public spectacle of them. Ezra wasn't hurting her physically;
it was just her pride that stung.
He finally let her up and walked her over
to where the others were assisting his mother out of the watering trough.
Ezra had to admit it was a funny site to see his mother taken down a notch,
but he could never admit that there in front of the two women. "I
want you to apologize to each other. You don't have to like each
other or even get along but you will apologize. Mother, I'm married
to Angelina and that isn't going to change. I'm sorry if I didn't
handle it very well, but I was anticipating something like this happening.
I love you, but don't ask me to choose." He turned to face Angelina.
"Angel, please don't resent my mother for what happened to me as a child
or get angry for some of the things she's said. My opinion of you
isn't going to change. But I should have been more upfront with you
about certain things in my past. I just find it very difficult to
trust after all these years. Sometimes you might have to remind me
that I'm being too secretive." He bent his head forward and gently
brushed his lips against hers.
A few days later, Maude was packed up and
ready to go to New Orleans. She promised Ezra that she would make
her way back to Four Corners some time next spring after Victoria came
to live with them. Angelina stood silently by while Ezra said good
bye to his mother. Maude turned to get on the stagecoach, but suddenly
turned. She walked over to Angelina, who visibly tensed for a confrontation.
Maude pulled her aside and said, "I'm going to trust you to take care of
him. Whatever he tells you about his past, be understanding.
I regret that I wasn't at one time in my life and I lost the love of a
good man because of it. I see so many traces now of him in Ezra that
it's haunting. And my dear, I know he hasn't told you everything."
"I thought you didn't know who Ezra's father
was?" Angelina asked confused.
"My dear, there's only one man who could be
Ezra's father. But because of particular circumstances, I could never
reveal who that was. It's better if Ezra doesn't know." Maude replied
sagely. She turned and gave Josiah a kiss on the cheek, then clambered
up into the awaiting conveiance. Ezra slid a comforting arm
around Angelina's waist and waved to his mother as the coach drove out
of sight. As the going-away party dispersed from the street, Ezra
and his wife were left standing there alone. He gazed down at her
beautiful face and asked, "What did my mother say to you?"
"That she trusts you to me..." she drifted
off. They linked arm in arm and walked toward the hotel, when Angelina
softly murmured, "What else haven't you told me?"
The End
