For the Love of Annie

by Sabrah Huff Agee

  "It seems to me that she should have been grateful to you for all you did for her. What happened?"

  Cooper had been momentarily lost in thought. At her question, he looked up. "Excuse me?"

  Mary Louise bit her lip. "I— I was wondering why she left you. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, it's none of my— "

  "Why did she leave?" Cooper shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I think she was bored. We'd been married four years when an acting troupe came to town. I took Marietta to one of their performances and she was enthralled. She begged me to take her the next night, and I did. I'd never seen her so excited about anything. For days all she could talk about was that play and the people who performed in it. The day the troupe left town, I came home from work to find a note from Marietta. It was lying atop a stack of freshly ironed shirts. In the note she said that she was leaving with the acting troupe. She thanked me for taking care of her all these years and asked me to forgive her for leaving.

  "Of course, I immediately went after her and caught up with her in the next town. The moment she saw me she burst into tears and begged me not to make her go back. When I questioned her about it, she insisted that this was the life she wanted." Cooper sighed. "So I came back alone."

  "And you never saw or heard from her again?"

  "For a while I received letters. She told me about the places she'd been, the people she'd seen. She sounded happy. After a time, the letters stopped coming. I guess she just lost interest."

  Mary Louise tilted her head. "It must have hurt when she stopped writing."

  He shrugged. "It did hurt some. I really cared about Marietta— probably in much the same way you cared about your brother. I wanted her to be happy and, I think for a time she was."

  "She obviously loved you, too."

  Cooper smiled wryly. "If she did, she had a funny way of showing it."

  "I know, but at the end, she entrusted you with her most precious possession. If she hadn't loved you, she would never have entrusted Annie to your care."

  He nodded. "Yes, and for that I'll be eternally grateful." He blinked and looked away for a moment.

  "Cooper, I understand how you feel, I really do. But your job is dangerous. What will become of Annie if you should be killed?"

  "I've thought of that. And you'll be relieved to know that the first thing this morning I asked my attorney to draw up a will appointing you as Annie's guardian should something happen to me."

  "Oh, that's reassuring," she murmured drily. "All I have to do is wait for you to die."

  Cooper laughed for the first time since she'd dropped by his office. "Just don't get any ideas about making it happen sooner than it should."

  "Will you at least let me visit with Annie? Will you allow me to get to know her before I return to Belle Rive?"

  He heaved a heavy sigh. "All right. I suppose, since you are part of Annie's family, I should let you visit her."

  "How very generous of you." Her tone belied the sincerity of her words. He arched a brow and she quickly changed her tone of voice. "I'm sorry, that was unfair. When may I see her?."

  "You can go up now, if you like. Go out the front door, turn left and you'll see an alley. Take the wooden steps leading to the second floor of this building. That's where Annie and I live."

  "You don't mean that you and that child live over the jail?"

  He sighed. "Where else would a sheriff live, Miss Markham?"

  "Oh. I didn't think, I just...I beg your pardon, I meant no offense."

  Cooper grinned crookedly. "S'all right. None taken. Just tell Lizzie who you are and that I gave you permission to visit Annie."

  When Mary Louise was gone, Cooper shook his head in amazement. Marriage? To her? Not on his life. He wasn't opposed to the institution itself, but he wanted a wife who was...well...domesticated. He certainly didn't want one like Miss Mary Louise Markham. She was too independent, too self— possessed. Most of the women in his life had been independent types— and in the end, they'd left him. No, if he married it would be to a woman who needed him.

  AT THE TOP of the long flight of stairs, Mary Louise knocked on the door to Cooper's living quarters and waited nervously for someone to answer it. When someone finally opened the door a crack and peered out, Mary Louise smiled. "Hello, you must be Lizzie Jackson?"

  The woman eyed Mary Louise suspiciously. "Who want to know?"

  Uh oh, Mary Louise thought. "Let me start over," she said. "My name is Mary Louise Markham. Sheriff Matthews gave me permission to come up and visit. He told me to tell you it was all right."

  The woman appeared to study Mary Louise for a moment longer and then, seeming to have made a decision, she opened the door wider. "Annie's takin' a nap right now. But you kin come in and have a cup of coffee while you wait for her to wake up."

  Mary Louise stepped inside and followed Lizzie to a surprisingly cozy kitchen. She let her gaze wander around the room and took note of the freshly scrubbed floor, the small table and chairs painted sunny yellow, the blue checkered table cloth, and the pot of red geraniums on the window sill. "I must say, I never expected anything quite so pleasant as this over a jail." Then she flushed a deep red. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply— "

  "Have a seat," Lizzie said, as she gestured to the table in the middle of the room.

  Mary Louise pulled out a chair and sat down gingerly. "Has Sheriff Matthews always lived here?"

  "'Course not. He moved in when he was elected sheriff. That was seven, goin' on eight year ago."

  "And how long have you worked for him?" Mary Louise watched the woman take down a cup and saucer from a shelf over the wood stove.

  Lizzie chuckled. "Off and on since the day he was born."

  "My goodness!" Mary Louise accepted the cup of coffee Lizzie handed her. "Won't you join me?" she asked when Lizzie moved to stand at the other side of the room.

  "'Scuse me?"

  "Would you care to join me in a cup of coffee? I'd like to ask you about Annie, and about her...her father."

  Lizzie seemed flustered for a second, but she quickly regained her composure. She poured a second cup of coffee and sat down across from Mary Louise. "What you wants to know 'bout Cooper and Annie?"

  "Cooper seems to love Annie very much, even though she isn't his child." Seeing Lizzie narrow her eyes, Mary Louise quickly explained. "I'm aware that Annie's mother was married to Cooper at the time Annie was born, but my brother, Willie, was Annie's natural father." She paused and when Lizzie didn't comment, she continued. "Willie died of the fever last year. I loved my brother very much, so you can understand, can't you, why I'd be interested in his daughter?"

  Lizzie set down her coffee cup. "Is you here to take Annie away from Cooper?"

  "No." Mary Louise looked into her cup. "Well, I suppose I should admit that I came here hoping to do just that. But now that I've seen Annie with Sheriff Matthews and witnessed how much they love each other, I realize it would be cruel to attempt to separate them." As if I could, she thought.

  "So why is you still in town?"

  Mary Louise grinned. "You get straight to the point don't you? So do I— I hate playing silly games." She leaned back and sighed. "I'm still here because I want to get to know my niece. I hope that someday I can take her to visit Belle Rive— that's my home in Tennessee. My father lives there and he wants to see his only grandchild."

  "How come you ain't got no chil'en?"

  Mary Louise laughed. "Because I don't have a husband."

  "An' why ain't you?" Lizzie leaned back and surveyed Mary Louise. "You a right handsome woman with that silver hair and them bright, blue eyes like Annie's. Seems to me you oughta have a husband by now, and young'uns of your own."

  Mary Louise traced a finger around the rim of her coffee cup. "To tell you the truth, Lizzie, I don't particularly want to get married, and even if I did, haven't found a man who interests me. The men I know think a woman's only good for running his household and filling his bed. I'd want more than that, I'm afraid
. If I were to marry, I'd want to be an equal partner in the marriage, not a mere servant."

  Lizzie nodded, seeming to approve of Mary Louise's idea of how a marriage should be. Then she looked thoughtful. "They may be a man out there who'll give you jus' what you is lookin' for."

  Mary Louise smiled wistfully. "I seriously doubt that."

  Lizzie grinned. "I b'lieve they is."

  COOPER heard Annie's giggles when he was half— way up the stairs. He removed his badge and holster and stored them, then walked toward the parlor. At the doorway, he stopped and stared. Was that really the proper Miss Mary Louise Markham crawling on her hands and knees? And with his daughter astride her back? He grinned appreciatively as he eyed the tantalizing sway of Miss Markham's shapely derriere as she crawled over the braided rug. Though he hoped to remain unnoticed a moment or two longer, Annie spied him in the doorway.

  "Papa!" she shouted gleefully. "Ah— nee wide hossy!"

  "So I see," Cooper said, chuckling. "And a lovely horse at that."

  Annie dismounted from her "horse," and toddled across to Cooper. Groaning, Mary Louise sat back on her knees and blew an errant curl from where it hung in her face. "You've come home early," she accused.

  Cooper had to drag his gaze away. The sight of the lovely Miss Markham on her knees summoned up all manner of indecent fantasies. Clearing his throat, Cooper pointed to the mantle clock. "I always get home around six o'clock."

  Mary Louise stared at the clock in disbelief. "Six o'clock! Do you mean I've been crawling around here on my hands and knees for over an hour?"

  "I guess it does." Cooper suddenly wished he had come home early as he bent to scoop Annie into his arms. "How's my baby girl?"

  "Ah— nee wide hossy," she replied.

  "Yes, I noticed. Where's Lizzie?"

  "ZeeZee go home. Weezie stay wif Ah— nee."

  "Weezie?"

  "That's me," Mary Louise said as she struggled to rise. "When Willie was a baby, he couldn't say Mary Louise, so he called me Weezie. It stuck."

  "Why did Lizzy leave?" he asked, suddenly suspicious.

  "She wasn't feeling well so I told her to go home and I'd stay with Annie until you got back."

  Cooper narrowed his eyes and glared at the woman. "And just who gave you the authority to do that? When I said you could visit Annie, that didn't mean you could take over my household."

  Mary Louise rolled her eyes. "Oh, stuff and bother, Sheriff Matthews. I told you, Lizzie wasn't feeling well. And since Annie and I were getting along very well, I didn't see any harm in letting the poor woman go home early." She put her hands on her hips. "Are you going to stand there and tell me you would have wanted her to stay even though she was sick?"

  Cooper frowned at the question. "Of course not. But you might have come down and asked me about it before blithely taking it upon yourself to send her home."

  "Blithely?" She laughed out loud.

  Cooper flushed and muttered, "You know what I mean."

  Mary Louise sighed in what sounded like resignation. "All right. I apologize for using my own good judgment. Should it happen again, I'll request your permission before taking anything upon myself."

  "I'd appreciate that," Cooper grumbled.

  Annie, who'd been listening to their exchange, clasped Cooper's cheeks between her hands and turned his head to face her. "Papa fuss," she said, frowning.

  "I'm not fussing, Annie, I just— "

  "Papa fuss at Weezie." She put a hand over his mouth and shook her head. "Don't fuss at Weezie."

  Cooper took her hand away. "All right, you win." He kissed Annie's cheek.

  "I'll get my shawl and be going," Mary Louise said. "Thank you for letting me visit with Annie today. I enjoyed every precious moment."

  "You're going?"

  She was sliding her shawl over her shoulders when she paused and looked up at him. "Well, yes. I thought that's what you'd prefer now that you're home."

  Cooper knew he should be glad to be rid of the meddling woman, nevertheless, he found himself searching for a reason to keep her here a while longer. "What are your plans for supper?" he asked abruptly.

  She shrugged and hesitantly replied, "I'd planned to dine in the hotel. Why?"

  Cooper shrugged and tried to keep his voice nonchalant. "If you can stand my cooking, you're welcome to join Annie and me for pot luck."

  She beamed a smile at him. "Why, I'd like that very much. Thank you," she replied, and proceeded to remove her shawl.

  Mary Louise soon discovered that Cooper Matthews was quite adept in the kitchen. While she sat at the table and entertained Annie, he whipped up a batch of cornbread, fried some ham and potatoes, opened a jar of string beans and put them in a pot on the stove and, in no time at all he had supper prepared and on the table.

  "My goodness," she said, when he took his seat across from her. "If you're trying to impress me, you've succeeded."

  He actually looked surprised by her remark. "Excuse me?"

  "I said I'm impressed. That is the reason for this display of your culinary talents, isn't it?"

  Cooper stared at her a moment and then laughed. "You think I cooked supper to impress you?"

  "Didn't you?"

  "No. I cooked supper for the same reason I do it every night— so that Annie and I— and you— could eat." Puzzled, he cocked his head. "Now, why don't you tell me why you think I would want to impress you?"

  "Well, I..." Mary Louise felt her cheeks grow warm. "I thought it was your way of showing me up, of proving that you were a better parent than I could ever be."

  Cooper, who'd taken a bite of food, chewed slowly and swallowed. "Come again?" he said when he could speak. "How can my cooking supper show you up?"

  Mary Louise avoided his gaze. "Because I can't."

  "Can't what?"

  "I can't cook," she snapped. She waited for him to laugh, or to make some snide remark. When he didn't she was perplexed. "Well...?"

  He glanced up at her and grinned. "That's a deep subject."

  "You have nothing to say about my being unable to cook?"

  He shrugged. "So you can't cook, so what?" He picked up the plate of cornbread. "Here, you haven't tried my cornbread."

  Mary Louise hesitated and then looked at him. His gaze was warm, his smile cordial. If he thought less of her for her lack of cooking skills, he hid it well. "Thank you," she said at last, taking a piece of the warm bread. Her fingers brushed his and she almost jerked from the shock that streaked up her arm. She wanted to look at him, to see if he'd felt the same tingle, but she couldn't bring herself to lift her gaze. Instead, she picked up her fork. "E— Everything smells divine," she murmured.

  Some time later Mary Louise laid down her fork and leaned back in her chair. "That, Sheriff Matthews, was as fine a supper as I've ever had."

  "Care for dessert? I think Lizzie left a pecan pie in the cupboard."

  She moaned. "Thank you, but I don't think I can eat another bite." She stood up and began to clear the table. "I'll do the dishes." She glanced up at him and smiled sheepishly. "I might not cook, but I'm an excellent maid."

  Cooper grinned and tossed his napkin on the table. "Great. I hate doing the dishes— I usually leave them for Lizzie." He scooped Annie from her high chair. "While you wash the dishes, I'll give Annie her bath and get her ready for bed."

  COOPER dried Annie, stood her on the bed, and pulled her nightgown over her head. After a few seconds of struggle, he managed to pull the little girl's arms through the sleeves. "I don't know how Lizzie manages to do this so easily," he panted as he began to button the gown. "I feel like I've been trying to dress a wiggle— worm."

  "Wigga— wum," Annie repeated and giggled. "Ah— nee wigga— wum."

  "You certainly are." He stood back and held out his arms. "Come here, Miss Wiggle— Worm." Annie bounced on the springy bed and threw herself at Cooper. She shrieked with delight when he caught her and swung her in the air. He kissed her plump cheek. "Let's go find Weezie," he
whispered.

  They found Mary Louise still in the kitchen. She was singing softly to herself as she dried the last of their dishes and put it in the cupboard. Cooper grinned at Annie and put his finger to his lips. They stood in the doorway and watched Mary Louise for several minutes until she turned toward the table and spotted them.

  She stepped back in surprise. "Oh!" Then she put a hand over her heart. "I didn't know you were there. You scared the living daylights out of me."

  Annie laughed. "Weezie go— oh!" She jumped in Cooper's arms, mimicking Mary Louise's recoil upon seeing them. Then she laughed again.

  Mary Louise chuckled and tapped the tip of Annie's nose with her damp finger. "Oh, you thought scaring me out of a year's growth was funny, did you, young lady?"

  Annie rubbed her nose and giggled. Cooper grinned and said, "I must say that I certainly found it entertaining."

  Mary Louise wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm so happy I was able to amuse both of you." She pulled the dish towel from around her waist. "But now that I'm done with tonight's performance, I must be going. It must be nearly eight o'clock."

  Cooper searched his mind for a way to forestall Mary Louise's departure a bit longer. "It's nearly nine. Too late for a lady to be walking the street alone."

  "Well, I can't very well stay here, and you don't need to get Annie out in the night air so soon after her bath." She walked into the parlor and picked up her shawl again. "I'll be fine. The hotel's only a block from here."

  "It's two blocks." He shoved Annie into her arms. "Wait right here till I get back."

  "But— " Cooper was out the door and running down the stairs before she could say another word.

  In moments, he was coming back though the door. Behind him, the deputy Mary Louise had met the day of her arrival stepped through the door. "You remember my deputy, Charlie Killgore, don't you? Charlie's going to stay with Annie while I walk you home."