Paradise Falls

by Ruth Ryan Langan

  “The young are always impetuous.” Greta Gunther sighed as she glanced over at Fiona and Gray, standing off to one side with Charlotte and Schuyler Gable. “I seem to recall that you and Broderick were just as impetuous.”

  Rose had the good sense to spot someone she needed to speak with at once, and made a quick departure.

  * * *

  Fiona could hardly keep her mind on each day’s lessons. Her students seemed to share her excitement.

  Whenever she got too close to Will and Edmer, they would fall silent, until she began to wonder if they might be planning a wedding gift for her new home.

  New home. The thought of it always brought a lump to her throat. She couldn’t wait to make her home with Gray.

  Because she had no family, she had asked Broderick to walk her up the aisle.

  Rose had been horrified. “He’s none too steady on his feet yet. What if he should stumble?”

  Fiona merely smiled. “I suspect, with my nerves, I’ll be the one to stumble.” She turned to Broderick at the supper table. “We’ll hold each other up.”

  He shook his head. “Rose is right. I don’t want to do anything to embarrass you.”

  She lay a hand over his. “You could never embarrass me, Mr. Haydn. I would consider it an honor if you would take my father’s place beside me.”

  Gray later told her that his father had wept when he’d relayed their conversation to him. “You’ve made my father a very happy man.”

  “It’s the least I can do, since his son has made me so happy.”

  He brushed a quick kiss over her lips, then drew away when Rose stepped out onto the porch between them. “You know the rules, Grayson. You’re to have no private contact with Miss Downey until the wedding.”

  He turned away and climbed up to the seat of the wagon. On the way home he mentally counted the days left, and then began counting the hours. If he was a caveman, he thought miserably, he could have simply carried her off to his cave. There was a lot to be said for early civilization.

  * * *

  “There’s no doubt about it.” Rose tied the ribbons of her bonnet. “Spring is early this year. Why, it’s positively balmy.”

  “Perhaps even Mother Nature is eager for the wedding.” Broderick winked at Fiona as he held the door for his wife.

  Wedding. The very word had Rose bristling. The closer they drew to the day, the more prickly she became. She paused in the doorway. “We won’t be long. I just want to measure the windows in Grayson’s parlor.”

  Fiona bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing. When she and Gray had learned that his mother intended to make draperies for their parlor as her wedding gift, his first thought had been to refuse to allow her inside his home.

  “She’s only using that as an excuse to see where I live.”

  Fiona had placed a finger to his lips. “Hush, Gray. Whatever her reason, it’s her first gesture toward some sort of peace.”

  “Peace.” He’d huffed out a breath. “You’ve lived in her house long enough to know that peace with my mother comes only on her terms.”

  Fiona merely smiled. “Then do it for me, Gray. Let your mother satisfy her curiosity about your home, and let her make draperies for the windows.”

  “I hate dark covers that hold out the light.”

  “As do I. But once the wedding is over, we can use them...” She thought a moment. “In one of the upper rooms if we choose. Or maybe in the barn. Do you think the cows would mind them so very much?”

  With a roar of laughter he’d dragged her close and kissed her. “What did I do to deserve such a smart, clever woman?”

  Rose’s parting words broke through Fiona’s reverie. “Just remember that if Grayson should come over while I’m gone, I will expect the two of you to behave in an honorable manner.”

  “You needn’t worry, Mrs. Haydn.”

  “But I do, Miss Downey. You don’t know my son as I do. There was an incident in the past—”

  “Rose.” Broderick caught her by the arm and practically dragged her out the door.

  Fiona listened to the sound of the wagon before returning her attention to her dress. She was grateful that today was Saturday, and she could spend some time trying to make over her mother’s old wedding gown. It had been in the box with the other things her aunt had sent from Chicago. Almost as if, Fiona thought with a smile, her dear mother had known that she would have need of it. Though she’d spent many an evening sewing, it needed a bit more work before it would fit her like a proper wedding dress.

  She could have taken it to the millinery shop in town, but she didn’t want anyone else touching this fabric. She lifted it to her face and breathed deeply. It still bore the lingering scent of roses. The scent that would always remind her of her beloved mum.

  * * *

  Fiona was so engrossed in her work she had no notion of the passing of time. She was seated cross-legged on the floor of the parlor, her dark hair spilling like a veil around her face, with the wedding dress spread across her lap.

  Hearing the backdoor open she pressed a hand to the small of her back and set aside the needle and thread. When a shadow fell across the threshold, she looked up with a smile.

  Her eyes widened when she saw not Rose and Broderick, but Flem.

  “You’re alive! Oh, Flem, your mother was so sure the man who’d been hit by the train wasn’t you.” In her eagerness to make him welcome she began to gather up the folds of the gown and set it aside. “Why didn’t you send word that you were alive?”

  When she turned he was still standing in the doorway, looking at her in a way that had her smile fading. “What’s wrong, Flem?”

  “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong, teacher.”

  He looked faded and worn. His once golden hair was dull and lifeless, as were his eyes. His clothes were shabby. A stubble of beard darkened his cheeks and chin. It was obvious, by the way his clothes hung on him, that he’d lost weight.

  He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned lazily against the wall. “I figured I’d come back and fleece the locals out of a little money before heading back to Chicago.”

  “You aren’t staying?”

  “In this godforsaken place?” He snorted.

  “But your mother is so lonely without you, Flem. She’s been miserable since you left.”

  “She’s been miserable all her life. Why should that change?”

  “Flem.” To hide her shock she turned away and gathered up her gown, carrying it to her room.

  When she turned, she was startled to find that he’d followed her and was standing directly behind her.

  “I hear there’s going to be a wedding.”

  She felt the first thread of fear along her spine and knew that she needed to get him out of her room. Lifting her chin she started toward the open doorway, but he stepped in front of it to block her way. “The whole town’s talking about the pretty little teacher and my big brother.”

  “Step aside and let me pass, Flem.”

  He merely grinned. “What’ll you do if I won’t?”

  “I’ll shout for your father.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “I’ll give you this. You know how to use that brain.” His hand snaked out, snagging her wrist. “But I’m smarter.” He dragged her close. “No use pretending my folks are around. I saw their wagon at Gray’s when I passed. That’s why I’m here now. I wanted the house, and you, to myself.”

  She nearly gagged at the stench of his breath. “You’re drunk.”

  “That’s right. What’re you going to do about it, teacher?”

  She tried to push free, and he gave her a shove backward that had her stumbling against her bed. She scrambled to her feet and stood facing him. “What is this about, Flem?”

  “It’s about having what I want. I’ve always known Ma keeps money in the house.” He reached into his pocket to display a wad of bills. “The sugar bowl, the flour sack—even the root cellar. She thinks I don’t know, but I’ve always been
able to help myself when I needed some. Whenever I won enough, I put it back so she never even knew I’d borrowed it. That’s the only reason why I came back. But when I heard the talk about the wedding, I decided to take care of some unfinished business between you and me while I was here.”

  “There is nothing between us, Flem.”

  “You don’t think so?” He looked her up and down in a way that had her skin crawling. “When I’m through with you, it’ll be between us forever. I’ve just decided on the perfect wedding present for my big brother. Every time he beds his wife, he’ll know that I had her, too.”

  * * *

  Gray had left a note for his mother on the kitchen table, inviting her to make herself at home, then he’d left for town.

  There wasn’t anything he really needed, but he hadn’t wanted to be there when his mother came calling.

  He knew Fiona was right, and that he had to let the anger go, the same way he always had in the past. But before, he was the only one hurt by Rose’s out-of-control temper. Now he had a wife to think about.

  Wife. The word had him whistling. Chester perked up his ears at the sound and moved closer to lay his head on Gray’s lap.

  He still found it hard to believe that Fiona was willing to spend the rest of her life with him. He knew he didn’t deserve her. She was the finest, sweetest woman he’d ever known. On top of that, she was so beautiful she took his breath away.

  He knew one thing. He would never settle for a marriage like that of his parents. He marveled that his father could have endured for so long. As for himself, he’d have rather lived alone for a lifetime than submit to that sort of quiet desperation.

  Now, with Fiona, his entire life had changed.

  He scratched behind his dog’s ears. “We’re the luckiest ones in the world, Chester.”

  He pulled up at the train station and called a greeting to Gerhardt Shultz.

  The stationmaster walked up to Gray’s wagon and lifted a hand to shield the sun from his eyes. “Sorry, Grayson. You’re too late.”

  Gray arched a brow. “Too late for what?”

  “To pick up your brother.”

  “Flem?”

  Gerhardt nodded. “Came in this morning on the train. I told him about the sad news I’d delivered to your folks, but he just laughed and said he sure wasn’t any ghost.”

  Gerhardt shook his head. “Same old Fleming. Still able to make a joke out of everything.”

  “Yeah, that’s Flem. Where was he headed?”

  “Why, home of course. He was going to go into town first and sober up a bit—”

  “Sober up?” Gray was suddenly alert. “He’s drunk?”

  Gerhardt shrugged. “Don’t know about drunk, but I could tell he’d had a bit of whiskey. Anyway, after I told him about your wedding, he said he wanted to get right out there and offer his personal congratulations to your bride.”

  Gray was already leaping down from the wagon where he proceeded to unhitch the team. As he pulled himself onto the back of one of the horses he called, “I’ll be back for the rest later.”

  With Chester running alongside, he took off in a cloud of dust, leaving the stationmaster to stare after him in confusion.

  * * *

  Fiona glanced around wildly, looking for something with which to defend herself.

  Flem merely laughed as he advanced toward her. “Don’t think a pitcher and basin will stop me this time. If you try it, I’ll use them to slash that pretty face of yours.” His smile turned into a snarl as he caught a handful of her hair and dragged her close. “And I think you know me well enough by now to know I mean it. With the mood I’m in, I don’t care if my brother marries a beauty or a beast.”

  Fiona felt tears sting her eyes and blinked them away. This was no time to show him any weakness. “Let me go. This is evil.” She shoved roughly at his chest, but that only added fuel to his anger.

  “Oh, teacher, you have no idea what evil is.” He slapped her hard enough to snap her head to one side. “But I’m about to show you.”

  For a moment she saw a shower of stars dancing before her eyes. When her vision cleared, she felt his mouth on hers and tasted his fetid breath. His rough hands tugged at the neckline of her gown and she felt the buttons pop as he tore at it.

  “No.” She pushed hard enough to have him staggering back a step before he steadied himself with a hand to the wall.

  “Oh, yes, teacher. You don’t have a chance in hell of stopping me.”

  Knowing she needed to keep him talking, she searched her mind for something, anything that might distract him. “What has made you this way, Flem?”

  He tugged his shirt over his head, baring his chest, and began fumbling with the fasteners at his waist. “What way?”

  “So angry with all those who love you. Is it the fact that you feel you failed someone who needed you?” Even as she said the words, she remembered. “It was Amelia, wasn’t it?”

  His head came up sharply. “You know about Amelia?”

  “I do. Yes.” She was aware that he’d gone very still, though whether it was a good sign or not, she had no idea. She knew only that she had to keep him distracted. “Gray said that you and Amelia had fallen in love, but when she came to you with the news that she was expecting a baby, you refused to marry her.”

  “Did my noble brother also boast that he offered to marry her in my place?”

  “He did. But he was too late.”

  “Oh, no. Not too late. His timing was perfect, as always. And so was mine.”

  “I don’t unders—”

  “You’re as dense as he is, teacher.” He gave a hollow laugh. “The two of you deserve each other.” When she merely stared at him he said, “I didn’t love Amelia. I didn’t even like her. But I saw her making eyes at my brother after church one Sunday and decided to prove to him that I could take her away from him. The same way. I always took everything I wanted. And do you know why?”

  Without waiting for Fiona’s response he sneered, “Do you know what it’s like to have to live up to a big brother who is always so damnably perfect? In school, the earnest student. In the fields, the one who worked harder than the mules. To the people in town, to the congregation in church, he was considered a model citizen.”

  “Surely you know that you’re your mother’s favorite.”

  Her words had him peeling back his lips in a snarl. “That wasn’t enough. Ma was too easy. I learned how to play her before I could walk, but I always knew that Gray could see through my little games. He didn’t have to tell me. I could see that look of disapproval in that quiet manner of his, and I hated him for it. Hated that everyone admired my big brother instead of me. But that all changed after Amelia.” Flem’s tone lifted in triumph. “Amelia was so easy. All I had to do was smile at her and she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. Of course, getting her out to her uncle’s barn wasn’t as easy. She kept whimpering like a stuck pig. I warned her that if she ever told him, I’d make her out to be the town whore. Afterward, when she told me she was having a baby, I told her the truth. That I didn’t love her. Didn’t even like her. That it had all been my plan just to prove something to my brother. Of course, Gray didn’t know any of that. So when he went to her uncle and offered to marry her out of some sense of nobility, it got even better. Now it looked like Gray’s mess.”

  Fiona couldn’t hide her horror and revulsion. “You allowed the whole town, and your own parents, to believe that the baby was Gray’s?”

  “Why not? I thought it was the perfect touch.” He laughed when he saw her eyes fill with tears, and his fingers clutched the front of her dress, dragging her close. “Now it’s time for my ultimate revenge on my big brother. Maybe, if I’m really lucky, you’ll present him with my baby nine months from now.”

  “No! Oh, no!” The sound of Rose’s voice, high-pitched with shock and fury, had him turning toward the doorway, where she was standing beside her husband, clutching his arm. “God help me, I can’t believe wha
t I’ve just heard.”

  Her face was twisted with pain, and her words were wrenched from a heart shattered beyond repair. “I wish to heaven that had been your body on the tracks, Fleming. At least then I could have mourned your death. But now, to learn of such hideous deceit from your own lips...” She turned to her husband and buried her face against his chest, sobbing pitifully.

  Gray was standing just behind his parents, and it was plain, from the look of black, blinding fury in his eyes, that he’d heard everything. The sight of his brother naked to the waist, and the bodice of Fiona’s gown hanging in tatters, sent him over the edge.

  As he pushed his way past his parents and into the room he paused to touch a hand to Fiona’s cheek. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. Before she could speak he lunged across the distance that separated him from his brother and locked his arms around Flem’s waist, driving him into the wall. The two of them fell to the floor and Gray rose up, landing a fist in Flem’s face. He had the satisfaction of feeling bone crunch as a fountain of blood spurted from a broken nose.

  With a howl of pain Flem doubled over and pressed his hands to his face.

  “Get up,” Gray shouted. “Get up and fight me, you miserable coward.”

  He picked Flem up and stood him against the wall before landing a second blow to his midsection that had Flem dropping to his knees on the floor, where he curled into a ball and lay sobbing.

  “Enough, son.” Broderick stepped in front of Gray and placed a hand on his arm.

  “No.” Gray shook it off. “It will never be enough for what he’s done.”

  “I know.” Broderick’s tone was rough with pain.

  “You don’t know the half of it.” Gray brushed past his father and yanked Flem roughly to his feet.

  Blood spilled down his face and stained a chest heaving with sobs. When Gray lifted a fist, Flem flinched and covered his face with his hands.

  “I understand your need for vengeance,” Rose called from the doorway. “If I were a man, I’d do the same. But there’s no need, Grayson. My revenge will be enough for all of you.”

  Gray turned in time to see his mother cross to the bed and sink down on the edge. Her eyes revealed the depth of her shock.