For the Love of Annie

by Sabrah Huff Agee

  Cooper rubbed the back of his neck. How had she known that her father was sick? A letter? But the mail hadn't come in yet. Wasn't due until later today. Something wasn't right, he could feel it in his bones. "Thanks for telling me about this Claude Earl. I guess I'd better get on home. Mary Louise probably left me a note explaining what's going on."

  Cooper hurried up the stairs two steps at a time. He found a note on the kitchen table and picked it up to read it.

  "Darling," it said, "I've gone to run some errands. I'll probably be back before you, but just in case, you can find me at Eli's office." It was signed, "Your loving wife, Weezie."

  No mention of her father in the note. What on earth was going on? On the off chance that Eli could shed some light as to why Mary Louise left so suddenly, Cooper went to the lawyer's office.

  "Cooper," Eli said when he saw his friend enter the front door. "Good to see you. How's Mary Louise?"

  "I was hoping you could tell me," Cooper answered.

  Eli frowned. "Me? What makes you think I'd know anything about your wife?"

  "Claude Earl just told me that Mary Louise took the train to Memphis this morning. 'Said she'd gotten word that her father was ill. I found a note on the kitchen table saying she was coming here this morning to discuss something with you. I thought perhaps you might know something."

  Eli frowned. "But, I haven't seen Mary Louise since the wedding, Cooper. As a matter of fact, no one's been here today except..." He paused and then a look of horror crossed his face. "Oh, my God." Eli sat down slowly.

  "What's wrong? Eli, why are you looking at me like that?"

  Eli motioned for Cooper to take the chair opposite him. "Cooper, Lizzie was here earlier today."

  "Lizzie? Here?"

  Eli nodded. "This morning. We had a difference of opinion and were discussing the matter rather heatedly. At one point I thought I heard someone come in, but when I looked in the waiting room I found it empty. I'm afraid what I heard may have been Mary Louise leaving my office."

  "You're afraid? What does that mean?"

  "It means I think she may have overhead Lizzie's and my discussion."

  Cooper leaned back and leveled a hard gaze at his attorney. "I think there are some things you need to tell me, Eli, and I think you might as well begin at the beginning."

  MARY LOUISE looked up as Sarah stormed into her bedroom. "I only arrived in Memphis a few hours ago, and then I find out that you've left your husband! Have you lost your mind, Mary Louise," the woman asked without preamble.

  "There are things you don't know, Sarah, so don't preach at me."

  "What kind of things."

  "For one thing, my marriage to Cooper was based on a lie."

  "Based on what lie?"

  "Cooper didn't marry me because he loved me, he married me because he thought it was the only way he could keep Annie."

  "You believe he doesn't love you?"

  "I don't just believe it, I know it for a fact," Mary Louise snapped.

  "That's ridiculous, Mary Louise. Of course he loves you."

  "You don't know everything that I know, Sarah."

  "Now, you listen to me, Mary Louise Matthews. I've seen the way your husband looks at you, and I've seen the way he cared for you when you were sick. If he doesn't love you he does a darn good job pretending that he does. I'd settle for that kind of pretense any day."

  Mary Louise stood up, and then crossed to the window. "Maybe you would, but I won't," Mary Louise murmured as she stared through the polished glass. "The bottom line is that Cooper lied when he said he was in love with me and I don't trust him, anymore." She looked over her shoulder at her old friend. "What's a marriage without trust, Sarah?"

  Sarah shrugged. "He made a mistake. He's human, after all. I'm sure he regrets whatever it was that he did. Won't you give him another chance? For your sake as well as his?"

  "And risk my heart again? I don't think so."

  "What about the baby, his baby?"

  "Cooper doesn't know about the baby. There's no reason he should ever know about it."

  Sarah let out a anguished groan. "You can't mean you're not going to tell him about his own child?"

  "My child. This is my child, Sarah. Cooper may be able to keep Annie from me, but he's not going to get this baby."

  "He'll know, Mary Louise, he's not stupid. You know he's not going to keep Annie from you and your father, and when he brings her to visit...he'll know."

  "Not if I'm not here, he won't. I'm making plans for an extended trip to Europe, and while I'm there...I may decide to adopt a child."

  Sarah gave Mary Louise a hard look, then shook her head and sighed. "I give up. You're just too bull— headed to listen to reason." She moved to the door. "But, I'm telling you, my dear friend, you're going to live to regret this, Mary Louise."

  Mary Louise listened to her friend's retreating footsteps. "I know," she murmured. "I already do, Sarah, I already do."

  MARY LOUISE stood outside the library and smoothed her skirts in an attempt to still her shaking hands. She'd known it would only be matter of time before Cooper came to claim Annie. She'd been home only a day and a half and already he was here. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the door to the library.

  Cooper stood across the room, his elbow resting on the mantle. "Hello, Mary Louise," he said. "Happy New Year."

  She didn't acknowledge the greeting. She was afraid she'd cry if she did. "Won't you sit down?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice formal and cool as she avoided his gaze.

  "I'd rather stand, if you don't mind." Cooper seemed not to know what to do with his hands and he finally tucked them under his arms. "You're looking well, Weezie."

  "I'm feeling quite well, thank you. I seemed to be none the worse for the wear after my bout with chicken pox."

  "I'm glad."

  Mary Louise waited for him to say more, and when he didn't, she murmured, "I guess you've come for Annie?"

  He glanced at the floor and then raised eyes. His gaze was hopeful as he said quietly, "I've come for both of you. You're still my wife, Mary Louise."

  "Our marriage was based on lies."

  He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Weezie. I was wrong not to tell you the whole truth."

  "I'm sorry, too. Things may have turned out differently if you'd only trusted me enough to tell me how things stood."

  "I was afraid. I was terrified if you knew the truth that I'd lose Annie. But, Mary Louise, I swear to you, I didn't lie when I said I love you."

  "You swear?" She laughed bitterly. "You swear and I'm suppose to just forget everything that's happened? You say you love me, but how do I know you're telling me the truth? How do I know that you don't have some ulterior motive, some hidden agenda? Do you have any idea how much it hurt me when I learned the real reason you married me?"

  "Mary Louise, forget all that. Let's start over, let's pretend none of that ever happened. Please, Weezie, I love— "

  Mary Louise shook her head. "Don't say it. Don't tell me you love me, Cooper, because I won't believe you."

  "But I do lov— "

  "Don't, please don't."

  Cooper's sigh was frustrated. "All right, I understand your doubting my feelings, I suppose I'd feel the same were I in your shoes. But, you were willing to marry me and share Annie's and my home even without love. Why can't you still do that? All I'm asking is that you give me a chance to earn your trust, to prove to you how deeply I— "

  "I agreed to the arrangement when I thought you were being totally honest with me. I even admired you for not pretending to feel something you couldn't or wouldn't feel. And that day I returned to Hollisburg I was going to tell you that I didn't want a sham marriage, that whether you loved me or not, I wanted our marriage to be a real one in every sense of the word."

  "Weezie, I— " Cooper reached for her, but she stepped away from him.

  "But that was before I learned the truth about you, before I discovered just how low
you'd stoop to get your way."

  "Then there's nothing I can say to change your mind?"

  She turned her back to him. "Nothing. As a matter of fact, I asked Papa to file for an annulment in my behalf." That wasn't a lie, she thought, she really had asked. Unfortunately, Papa had thus far refused to grant the request.

  "Weezie, won't you at least— "

  "Cooper, I'd like you to leave. I have be beginnings of a headache."

  She managed to hold back her tears until she heard him open the door and quietly close it behind him.

  SHE'D BEEN weeping for nearly half an hour when she heard a light tap on the library door. "Who is it?" she called, wanting nothing more but to be left alone in her misery.

  "It jus' me, Cora."

  Mary Louise opened the door. "What is it, Cora?" she asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

  "Annie wants to know can she have a tea party. It bein' so clos' to supper, I figgered I best ask you first."

  Mary Louise blinked in surprise. "Annie? Annie's here?"

  Cora's expression was concerned. "Yes'um. Don't you 'member? She been here ever since your Papa brought her back with him from— "

  Mary Louise shook her head. "I know, Cora, but I thought her father...is Cooper still here?"

  "No ma'am. Mister Matthews, he left out of here 'bout half hour ago." She felt in her pocket. "Lawd, I done nearly forgot. He give me this note fore he left."

  Mary Louise all but snatched the envelope from the old woman's hands. "Tell Annie she may have her tea party, Cora," Mary Louise mumbled as she tore open the envelope and withdrew the folded paper. Her eyes filled when she recognized Cooper's masculine scrawl:

  "Dearest Weezie," he began. "I'm sorry for all that has happened, but most of all I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you, and will always love you more than you will ever know, though I realize that I have destroyed any chance I might have had to prove it.

  I know that you love Annie and knowing this has made my decision to let her go much easier. I have explained to Annie as best I can that she is to remain here with you and Angus. I'm not sure that she understood everything, but someday she will. She loves you and her grandfather, and I'm certain the two of you will make sure that her life is a happy one. My only request is that you will put aside your feelings about me long enough to allow Annie to visit me in Hollisburg from time to time. Yours sincerely," And he'd signed it, simply, "Cooper."

  Mary Louise stared in disbelief at the letter. He was leaving Annie? Suddenly Mary Louise laughed and twirled around the room. He was leaving Annie with her! Mary Louise ran to the door of the library and threw it open. "Toby!" she yelled. "Please hitch Prancer up to the buggy as quickly as possible." She turned to the obviously stunned Cora. "Cora, pack a bag for Annie. Just a small one, I don't have time for more than that. I'll send for the rest of her things later." Then she summoned Amos. "Amos, if you will, please bring my pistol from the top drawer of my bureau and make sure it's primed and loaded."

  "Mary Louise, what on earth is going on?" Angus asked from the top of the stairs.

  "Nothing to worry about, Papa," she called up. "I've got an errand to run and I don't have a second to lose."

  "An errand? What sort of errand calls for a pistol? If it's that dangerous, I should think Toby or I should take care of it for you."

  Mary Louise laughed joyfully. "No Papa, this is something I must do myself. Just pray that I'm not too late."

  COOPER leaned against the outside wall of the depot and waited for the train that would take him back to Hollisburg. As he waited, he tried not to think of the future, tried not to contemplate the years of emptiness he faced now that he'd lost both Weezie and Annie. He knew that if he allowed himself to dwell on it, let the threatening despair take over, he might well throw himself under the train instead of climbing on it. A whistle blew in the distance and Cooper straightened. Thank God, he thought, the train's on time. He began walking toward the place where passengers were forming a line at the edge of the platform.

  With a resounding blast of the whistle, the train roared into view and with much hissing and snorting finally came to a stop a few feet from the waiting passengers. A door at the far end opened and the newly arrived spilled out of the train like peas out of a poke. Moments later the air reverberated with a cacophony of shouted greetings as family and friends rushed toward those getting off the train.

  Cooper waited patiently for several people to board ahead of him. Then, as he placed his foot on the first metal step, he thought he heard someone call his name. Uncertain, he looked over his shoulder. Seeing no one familiar, he turned back to the steps. He froze when he heard the sharp report of gun fire.

  "Stop that man," came a shout from behind him. Cooper looked in the direction of the voice and was astounded to see Mary Louise standing atop a large wooden crate near the end of the platform. She held Annie in one arm and with the other she brandished a pistol over her head. "Stop him," she yelled, "he's a deserter."

  "What the— ?" Cooper's words were lost as two huge men wrestled him off the train's metal steps and down to the platform. He struggled for only a moment before yielding to the strength of his burly captors.

  "We got him, ma'am. He ain't goin' nowheres," called one of the brutes.

  Hands shaking with nervousness, Mary Louise put away her pistol and climbed down from the large crate. Ignoring the gawking throng that parted like the Red Sea on either side of her, Mary Louise, with Annie in her arms, walked across the platform toward Cooper and stopped just a foot or two from him. "Thank you, gentleman," she said to the huge men gripping Cooper's arms.

  "You say he's a military deserter, ma'am?" one of the men asked.

  Mary Louise's gaze never left Cooper's stony countenance. "He isn't in the military," she replied.

  "Then he ain't no deserter," the other man retorted, and he let go of Cooper's arm. Seeing his partner's action, the second man released him, too. Cooper massaged his arms where the men had held them, but he didn't move from where he stood.

  "What else would you call a man who is about to abandon his wife and daughter?" Mary Louise asked, still holding Cooper's furious gaze.

  "Well..." One of the men scratched his head. "I reckon you could call him a deserter at that."

  The crowd murmured until Cooper spoke in an icy tone. "Is it desertion when the wife asks her husband to leave and the husband honors her request?"

  "I cain't see how it could be if she done that." The larger of the two men looked sternly at Mary Louise. "Did you ask him to leave, ma'am?"

  She bit her lip. "Well, yes, I did."

  "Well then— " the first man began.

  "But I changed my mind," Mary Louise said quickly. She looked out at the crowd, many of them women. "And, as everyone knows, changing her mind is a woman's prerogative. Right ladies?" Several women in the crowd looked at each other and nodded.

  "So you're sayin' you don't want him to leave?" the second burly man asked.

  Mary Louise shook her head. "No, that's not what I'm saying."

  The first man spat tobacco juice on the wooden planks of the platform. "Gol— dang it, woman, then what in the Sam Hill do you want?"

  "I want him to take his daughter and me with him." Then she spoke directly to Cooper. "Please, Cooper, take us home."

  "Home, Papa," Annie echoed. "Pease?"

  Without a word, Cooper took Annie from Mary Louise's arms. He kissed the child's cheek and whispered, "I love you, Angel— face." Then handed her to one of the burly men and turned back to Mary Louise, grabbed her upper arms, and lifted her until she stood on tip— toe, her face a mere inch from his. "I should beat you for this," he snarled.

  "I probably deserve it," she whispered, "I was such a fool, Cooper. I love you, and if you'll just forgive me I swear I'll— " She never finished the thought, for at that moment Cooper kissed her. He kissed her until her heart pounded. He kissed her until her skin prickled. He kissed her until her toes curled inside her shoes. Finall
y, just when she thought she might expire from sheer pleasure, he broke the kiss. He set Mary Louise back on her feet. Then, taking Annie back from the astounded man, Cooper grabbed Mary Louise by the hand and turned to face the crowd. "If you ladies and gentlemen will excuse us," he said quietly, "my family and I have a train to catch."

  With Annie cradled in one arm, Cooper led Mary Louise to a seat midway down the car and once she was settled, he sat down beside her. "Do you mind telling me what made you change your mind?"

  She smiled up at him, tears making her eyes sparkle. "You gave up Annie," she whispered. "I knew you had to love me to sacrifice so much."

  Cooper swallowed hard. "I...I couldn't separate you from her. Though I never meant to, I'd hurt you deeply. I didn't want to hurt you any more." He leaned over and kissed her softly. "I'm so glad you're coming home, Weezie. I don't think I could have stood losing the two of you."

  Mary Louise smiled. "You mean, the three of us."

  "Excuse me?"

  Mary Louise touched his face. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, Darling." She took his free hand, the one not holding Annie, and placed it over her belly. "Say hello to your son, Cooper."

  Cooper stared at her in confusion. Then, as he realized what she was saying, his face split into a wide grin. "My son? Really, Weezie?"

  "Well, Sarah said there was no way to be sure, but I know it's a son, Cooper. I'm as sure of that as I am of my love for you." She laughed softly. "I guess we'll need to add a room to our quarters over the jail, won't we?"

  Cooper shook his head and reached into his breast pocket. He withdrew a legal looking document and handed it to Mary Louise. "What is this?" she asked, looking at the folded deed.

  "Max's wedding gift to us. You're going to love Rose Hill, Weezie. It has enough rooms to hold at least a dozen children."

  Mary Louise stared at her smiling husband. "A dozen?" she squeaked, picturing herself with twelve children hanging on to her skirts. Then her gaze settled on Annie and she thought again of the child nestled in her womb. Smiling, she leaned her head on Cooper's shoulder and murmured, "I hope we're up to the task you've set for us."