"Only briefly. I have to admit, after all these years, I can't imagine him doing such a thing to you. If I can help in any way, I will. I want you to know that." Clay said. "You and Amy are welcome to stay at the ranch with us. We've got a spare bedroom, and I hate to see you spend money on a hotel room, when I can offer a room for you, for nothing."
Beatrice looked at him, a hint of surprise crossing her features. "After the way I've treated you, I am shocked you would want to help me in any way."
"Water under the bridge. You are Amy's mother, I respect that."
"You forgive very easily, don’t you?" She eyed him.
"Something I learned in the army, ma'am. Holding grudges gets you nowhere. Despite what people in this town thought. I believed in the Union. I fought for that belief. However, I fought people I knew too, people that had been friends. I'm not proud of that. That's where I learned to forgive. Because God forgave me, too. However, when I saw her just now, forgiveness wasn't in my heart. I'll admit, I wanted to tear after George for this." Clay admitted contritely.
"The Sheriff has gone to arrest him. I insisted on it. No man has the right to treat a woman that way. Amy didn't want to send the Sheriff after him, but if a man gets away with hitting one woman, what's to stop him from hitting another. He won't get away with it." Beatrice frowned as she stared out the window. "I don't understand it. Any of it. First Martin, now George. It's out of character. I thought George at least a man, I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things. Especially about you. When I saw, the look on your face when you walked in, I knew…you love my daughter. And love is important in life. I won't stand in your way, ever again."
Some of the tension inside Clay was washed away by her words of conviction. He could tell it took a lot to admit her wrongs, and he respected her for saying what she did. He took her hands. "I promise, I will never hurt her. I love her too much…"
"I can see that now." Beatrice smiled at their hands. "And she's going to be alright, in time."
"Thank God!" Clay murmured.
The doctor came out of the room and sat down.
"Would you like a cup of coffee, the desk clerk just sent some up?" Beatrice asked.
"That would be nice, I was up late last night delivering Mrs. Kemp's third baby." The doc explained as he looked at his pocket watch.
"Boy or girl?" Beatrice asked when she handed him a cup of steaming coffee.
"Boy, that makes three boys now. And she so wanted a girl. I reckon she'll try again next year." The doc laughed.
"So how is Amy?" Clay wanted to know, he had to break into the conversation.
"She's going to be alright. Just going through a lot of pain right now. She'll need rest." The doc explained. "I gave her something for the pain, laudanum, it will make her sleepy, so let her sleep all you can. It's the best way to heal, for now. When she starts healing, she'll need to move around a lot, so she doesn't stiffen up. And we don't want her coming down with pneumonia."
"We'll take good care of her. I want to thank you for coming by." Beatrice said.
"I can't imagine a man acting like that. Taking advantage of a woman, that's about as low as a man can get. I don't want to know who did this, Beatrice. I might be tempted to retaliate in some way." The doc said.
"The Sheriff is arresting him now." Beatrice nodded.
"Good. Well, I better be moving along. I need some sleep." The doc shook his head.
"Thanks again…" Beatrice saw him to the door.
"Can I go check in on her?" Clay asked as she turned to look at him.
"Of course…"
Clay went inside and sat beside her on the bed. He reached for her pale hand and held it in his, warming it. His thumb absently stroked her.
He stared at her black eye and listened to her moan softly when she shifted about. She was asleep now and he wished he had the right to crawl into the bed with her and hold her, but he didn't have that right. Not yet at least.
When he heard her soft snore, he smiled, and left the room.
"She's sleeping pretty well now." Clay told Beatrice.
"Good. She didn't sleep well through the night." She explained.
"Listen, I want you to consider my offer to stay at the ranch. If you decide to, let me know, I'll send a wagon for you."
Beatrice's mouth flew open. "I appreciate that. Perhaps when she's up to being moved, we'll consider your offer. She would be safer there."
"Yes, and you too." Clay smiled.
She reached on tiptoe to kiss his cheek as he headed for the door. "Thank you, Clay!"
"No thanks needed. If you moved out there, I wouldn't have to worry about the two of you so much."
Beatrice glanced up into his face. "You worry about me?"
"If Martin could kick you out after twenty-four years together, yes, I do, Mrs. Clark. I'm not being nosey, but…have you filed for divorce?" Clay asked.
"Why…yes, I have."
"Then all the more reason to move out there on the Double R. Please consider it, and as soon as possible." Clay encouraged.
"Thank you, Clay, I will." Beatrice nodded.
"Good. I'll be back as soon as I can spare the time." Clay informed her. "But if you should need me in the meantime, please feel free to send word to me."
"I'd like to ask you something Clay. You may consider it none of my business, but Martin mentioned it, and I'm sure he wants to hurt you with this, so I'm asking you?"
"What do you want to know?"
"Was Reno your real father?" She asked, holding her breath for his answer.
"Oh…so I guess that rumor is still going around. Well, maybe it's time I set everyone straight. Yes, he is my real father. The reason I know is I asked my mother about it, before she died. She was in love with this man, Caleb Winston. He was a farmer I believe. He was someone she met just a few weeks before she married Reno. She liked him a lot. Even thought of running off with him. But he was killed…at a poker table. Someone called him a cheat and shot him dead. Mother was beside herself for some time after she found out. But she stayed with my dad, Bob Reno, despite her feelings for the man. He wasn't my father, they never had relations. The reason I know it's true, is she told me on her death bed."
"I see…Martin told me about it. Only a little different version. Martin is the man that killed him. He told me so."
Clay looked stricken. "I didn't have any idea about that."
"Now, I want to tell you something. I don't know for sure if Martin knows this, but he's not Amy's father."
Clay looked shocked.
"Her father's name was Joe Collins, and I loved him dearly. We were going to run off and get married. My parents wanted me to marry Martin, but I was in love with Joe. Joe wanted to go to California, dig for gold. I thought maybe, maybe he could strike it rich and my parents would change their minds. So I told him to go and come back for me when he struck it rich. He didn't want to leave me, but I convinced him I'd wait for him. But time went by, I was pregnant and unmarried. So I married Martin instead. It would seem your mother and I had similar problems. A lot in common. Martin thinks he has that over your head. I wanted you to know…"
"Thanks for telling me. But he can't hurt me with that. And…I didn't know Martin wasn't her father. Does she know?"
"No…but I'm going to tell her. She needs to know."
He nodded. "If you need help, I'll be there for you." Clay reached for her hands.
"You've been kinder than I deserve." Beatrice touched his shoulder.
"No ma'am, but women are a commodity more precious than gold to me. I won't see either of you hurt anymore. And despite my temperance now, if anything else happens, I intend to take action…" He warned.
She seemed to choke up; she laid a hand on his arm and nodded. "Thank you again…"
"See you soon." He smiled.
When he'd first arrived, he wanted to find out who did this and go after them, but after talking with Amy he realized she wouldn't like that. Therefore, he tempered himself. Neverthe
less, everything within him wanted to retaliate for this atrocity. And someday, they'd get their comeuppance!
Chapter Sixteen
All the way to the ranch, Clay studied on how to deal with George. Naturally, if he was arrested the matter should be closed, but somehow he didn't feel right about it. Seeing Amy suffer like that, made him want to meet George head on. Not doing anything about it was hard.
Billy and Becca were glad to see him, even though it was late when he got in.
"What happened?" Billy asked as Becca fixed them some coffee and they sat at the kitchen table. After telling them what happened, both of them were wide-eyed.
"George is responsible for it. For some reason, she went out there to break the engagement off. He didn't take the news too well. She's got busted ribs, a black eye and a busted lip. She's in a lot of pain right now. Beatrice got hold of the Sheriff and filed a complaint immediately, to have him arrested. They went after him."
"Did you see them lock him up?" Billy asked his face a storm cloud.
"No…but I'll be checking on that tomorrow. And he better be behind bars."
"Is she going to be alright?" Becca asked as she sat down at the table by Billy.
"Yeah, with plenty of rest. I want the two of you to know that I offered for them to come out here and stay with us until things settle out. Beatrice filed for divorce; she and Amy are living in the hotel. I thought if they came out here, maybe they wouldn't run into so much trouble. Beatrice seemed to appreciate the invite. I never saw that woman look so unsure of herself. She's trying to act strong, but now with Amy in such bad shape, she's about to fall apart." Clay said, looking from one to the other. "But if either of you object, tell me now."
Billy looked at Becca; Becca smiled and put her hand on Billy's. "We don't object, it's a good idea."
"I can't imagine Beatrice and Martin getting a divorce after all this time. I mean what is it, twenty-four or five years? Why now?" Billy asked.
Clay smiled a more relaxed smile than he had in a long time. "Thanks, I appreciate you welcoming them. Yeah, but Martin kicked her out, physically kicked her out and she had no choice. She didn't say why, or what went on before that, but it must have been some argument. I think this is one time that a divorce has been too long coming. I'm sure Amy is upset about it. But…due to her condition, I really didn't get a chance to talk to her."
"Is George responsible for burning the place down too?"
"No, and I am sure of that." Clay looked at Billy. "I went out to his place and confronted him with it the other day." Clay shook his head. "He didn't do it. Which, I have to admit, surprised me. But…he knows who did, and he won't tell."
Billy watched him closely.
Clay shook his head. "He's not that dumb. In truth, it could be a lot of people. It could be a bunch from town, or just one person that wants to get rid of me. Since I've been back, I feel as though I’m some kind of explosive, waiting to go off. I'm bringing trouble to you and I don't want that. You don't deserve it. I've thought of going away, but…that won't solve anything, you're still my brother, and it would make me look like a coward. I've got to find out who did it, and I've got to see that George pays for what he done, too. Although I don't have a lot of faith in the justice system here in this town, Beatrice made the first move and I won't upset that. It was the right thing to do. Going to the law first was right. I respect that." Clay informed them. "You don't know how hard it is for me to control my temper. When I saw Amy, it was all I could do to keep from going straight to George and tearing into him. The only reason I didn't was that Beatrice said she sent the Sheriff after him. That's what Amy wanted."
"Poor Amy. She must be in a lot of pain." Becca shook her head. "I can't imagine anyone attacking a woman. Especially a fiancée."
"According to Beatrice, she rode back to town in the pouring rain, and in such pain that someone had to drag her from her horse and carry her inside the hotel." Clay frowned.
Clay glanced at Becca. "I'm a little surprised at George. I didn't think him that low. If I had my way about it, he'd be looking worse than her right now. But…we'll see what the law does first. At least the doctor gave her laudanum."
"So we aren't going after the one that burned the place?" Billy asked.
Clay saw the anger building inside Billy and he wanted to temper it, for now.
"Not until we know who it is, Billy. Even then, we should turn it over to the law first, or take them to the law, one." Clay decided.
"What do we do in the meantime?" Billy asked, anxious to find the ones that burned the ranch.
"Wait. It's a game of patience. I know that isn't your strongest point, but we've got a ranch now, and a family and nothing is as important as that. Except…Amy and Beatrice too. They are so alone now, and in need of a family atmosphere. That's why I invited them out here. Thought it might restore some of their faith in family." Clay glanced at Billy, noting the way his finger hooked into his cup. He sipped his coffee and stared at the floor for a while. "I can't imagine Beatrice going through this at her age. I sure never seen her so dispirited."
"So did you and Amy get things straight?" Bill asked.
Clay shook his head and looked at Billy. "No…she's not up to that right now. You should have seen how bad she looked. She's got a black eye, a swollen lip, and her ribs hurt so much she can't hardly breathe. She could hardly move. And I couldn't…touch her." Clay looked distraught. "She's in too much pain to do any talking or anything else."
Billy almost smiled. "Or anything else?"
"Yeah…" Clay nodded with a smile.
"Will George do time for it?" Billy scrutinized his brother.
"I don't know. She isn't his wife, so he had no right to beat her." Clay saw Becca's head come up in surprise. He explained. "Well you see, a man can legally beat his wife and the law won't interfere, but since they weren't married yet, that should make some difference. I'm waiting to see how this all plays out. I think they might try to put him in prison a while. However, one thing, George has a lot of political clout in this town. You know, he's acting Mayor, so I don't know if they'll do anything. They might try to sweep this under the rug so to speak. But I assure you of this, if they don't, I will."
"That would be a good thing." Billy nodded with a slight smile.
Clay glanced at Billy. "It sure would make me feel better. Holding back the anger, sure takes a lot of work."
There was a silence in the room, and then Clay looked around.
"Juan and the men gone to bed?"
"Yeah, they were bone tired. We're building a bunkhouse for them to live in while they are here." Billy told him. "The barn is nice, but it's no place to live. They said they all enjoyed staying here, and helping out."
"Now that's a dandy idea." Clay perked up. "I should have thought of that sooner. You know, your father was very generous to send them here. I can't begin to tell you how much they have worked and been there for us."
"He knows how rough things can get, especially when you are first starting out. They had a hard time when they first started building their ranch together. The Indians gave them such a fright. And dad, bless his heart, he just can't quite forgive them for all they did back then. Even though now, they seek peace, Dad still holds a grudge with them. And that's not like him to be vindictive."
"Sometimes, things happen that are hard to forgive. I can understand that. But I'm going to write your father and thank him for sending Juan and his men. I don't know what we would have done without them."
"It's a little strange. Dad doesn't make friends that easily with people, but you and Billy…it was different somehow. Like he recognized you as good people from the start. That doesn't happen often. My father can be a hard man at times, but he's always fair…except maybe to the Indians."
"Most of our Indian trouble has died down now, since they are on the reservations in Oklahoma Territory. But every now then there is a flare up. And the wars between the white man and the red are as bloody and unforgiving as
the one I just came from." Clay admitted. "You know…the war is over, but in the hearts of the people of the south, I'm not sure it will ever be over. The south lost, and it was a huge blow to the ego. Pride can do a lot of harm. And the south had a lot of pride. Nevertheless, as far as I'm concerned, that war is over. I want some peace, myself."
"You fought for the North didn't you? That must have been a hard decision" Becca asked him.
"Yeah…" He waited to see her reaction, but it wasn't what he thought it would be.
"My father didn't fight in that war, but he thought seceding from the Union was wrong. He favored the north too. Knowing how people felt, he didn't talk much about it. We don't believe in slavery, we believe in hard work, and pay for what is done." Becca smiled at him, and laid a hand over his.
"By golly, I'd have married her myself, if you hadn't beat me to it, Billy." Clay laughed.
Billy chuckled. "So you and Amy gonna straighten this out between you?"
Clay looked at Billy seriously.
"I hope so. Given time. What she went to do, took courage. And what he did, it will take some getting used to for her. I wish she hadn't gone alone." Clay sighed. "Well, I think I'll turn in for the night. I'm gonna get up early, do some chores and maybe run into town tomorrow and see if she's any better, and if they have decided whether they want to come out here. Amy might not be able to travel for a few days though."
Becca smiled at him. "Try to get some rest. Goodnight."
"Yeah. See you guys in the morning. Thanks for the coffee, Becca." Clay smiled.
Becca smiled.
"See ya," Billy smiled as he got up and followed Becca to the bedroom.
Clay sat there at the table for a few minutes. He bowed his head and whispered. "Thank you God, that she's gonna be alright. I appreciate that. I also want to thank you for sending Becca to Billy. She's swell. In Jesus name…Amen."
He went to bed and slept like a baby.
Chapter Seventeen
This Side of Forever (Book Five of the Brides of the West Series) Page 12
