by Taylor Lee
“Lei, if you leave now you are walking out on me forever.”
“I’m walking out on you?” She laughed a strangled laugh. When she got to the door she turned to him. “Good bye, Wyatt.”
She closed the door behind her.
~~~
Chief, Alono, Elena, and Alex arrived several hours later. They knocked on the door. When Wyatt opened it, Chief was surprised and concerned when he saw Wyatt’s face. Something was wrong.
Elena and Alex ran into the room shrieking with excitement. Wyatt tried to smile and said, “Okay, you two, I have a little more work I need to do. Alono, please take them downstairs and see if that ice cream place is still open.”
When they left, Chief turned to Wyatt with concern.
“What is it, Wyatt? You look devastated. What has happened?”
“Lei’s gone.”
Chief stared at him for a minute. He asked, “Jesse?”
Wyatt nodded and turned his back to Chief, but not before Chief saw a look on Wyatt’s face he hadn’t seen for over five years. It was a mix of anger and grief. As before, Chief wasn’t sure which one would win out.
Chapter 23
Joey was outside the dojo smoking a cigarette when he saw Lei go by. He called out to her, but she didn’t seem to hear. She continued walking toward her room. Three white men were following her carrying some of her bags. He knew from their hard, expressionless eyes that they were Tong.
He hurried to catch up and called her name again. When she looked at him over her shoulder, he was shocked at the pain twisting her face.
“Lei, what’s wrong? Has something happened to Wyatt? The children? My God, what is it. You look like there has been a death. Is it something with your father?”
He followed her in the room and grabbed hold of her arm. To his shock, she burst into tears and collapsed in his arms. Joey was not a man to show his emotions, but the pain and grief on her face was so profound that tears ran down his own face.
“Lei, please tell me what has happened. Is someone hurt?”
She shook her head and said in a whisper, “No, and no one is dead.”
Joey turned to the men in the doorway. He spoke in Chinese, confirming their identity, and told them to wait outside.
Lei cried, uncontrollably. For many long moments, Joey was unable to comfort her. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she stopped crying— so suddenly it frightened Joey. The tears seemed like they might lessen her grief, but the tortured look of grief and pain returned making his heart ache.
Joey handed her a glass of water, sat down at the table, and held her hands. Without being told, he knew only one thing and one person who could cause Lei to look the way she did.
He said, “Wyatt?”
She nodded.
She sat quietly for several minutes then spoke. “Joey, I am leaving tonight. I won’t be back. These men will go with me so you don’t need to worry about me being safe. I will have my father send some of his people to pack up my things. When you and I are finished talking, please send Ri here. He will want to leave when I do.”
“Lei… wait. Please talk to me. Don’t do anything rash. Lei, sometimes… things happen when two people are in love. It may seem like the end of the world, but usually…”
She broke in. “Please, Joey. Stop. This isn’t a lover’s quarrel. What I am going to say to you is in complete confidence. I am talking to you as my sensei. I need to know that what I say you will never tell Wyatt. Will you make that sacred promise to me?”
“Lei, I don’t know if I can make a promise like that. I’m sorry, but I am also Wyatt’s sensei and beloved friend. He is like a son to me.”
“Then, please, Joey, leave. You can’t help me. Send Ri here as quickly as possible.”
She tried to pull her hands out of his, but he held firm.
“No, Lei, I’m not going to leave. I’m not going to let go of you. Yes, against my better judgment, I will promise you that what you tell me I will never tell Wyatt. You have my sacred oath. Now what has happened? I need to know. Before you go on, let me tell you what I do know. Wyatt loves you. He may not have told you that, but he loves you, Lei.”
He held up his hand when he saw the fierce disagreement written on her face.
“No, Lei. I understand he has not been faithful to you. I know that. It pains me deeply. But I know Wyatt as well as I know anyone. I know that he loves you, Lei.”
Lei shrugged. “You may be right, Joey. With what little bit of his heart he hasn’t committed, he may love me. I know that he doesn’t love the whores he fucks or Jesse or the next Jesse or the next one. You and I both know who he loves, Joey. I can’t compete with a dead woman. It is a losing fight. And you know as well as anyone that I will not participate in a losing fight.”
Joey sighed “You are right about Vivian, Lei. But since you and Wyatt have been together, for the first time in nearly six years, I have seen the Wyatt I used to know. He started out resisting loving you—minimizing how he felt. But that has changed. You know that, Lei. I can’t believe you don’t know that.”
“Joey, more than anything in the world I would like to put what I know about Wyatt behind me. I want to accept the way he is, to stay and fight for him. I hope leaving him is the hardest thing I will ever do because I am not sure that I will survive this. If it was just me, Joey, I would stay. I would make the selfish decision to stay because that is what I want to do more than anything in the world. But it isn’t only about me. I have someone else to protect. That person deserves to be in a family where his father loves his mother.”
“Good God, Lei! What are you saying? Are you pregnant?”
“Yeah, Joey, I am. So much for the master rank by the end of the year, huh? Sorry about that, Joey. One more of the disadvantages of training a woman. I guess all you men were right.”
“Lei, stop. Stop now. Please don’t say that to me again.”
“God, Joey. You sound like Wyatt.”
“Lei, you cannot mean that this is what I can’t tell Wyatt. That you are having his child? You want me to promise that I will not tell Wyatt something that profound?”
“No, Joey, I don’t want you to promise. You already did and I hold you to that promise.”
“Lei, I beg you to release me. Wyatt deserves to know he has a child.”
“No, Joey, he doesn’t. He does not deserve to know that.”
Joey held her hands, his face taut, agonized. Shaking his head as though still in shock, he hesitated, “Lei are you sure? Maybe it is…”
“No, Joey. I’m sure. I didn’t believe it at first. You know how I grew up, Joey. How sheltered I was. I was surrounded by men. The only women my father allowed near me were my maids. Like every one else on the compound, they were terrified of my father. I remember some of the women fighters I met in China. They talked about how their courses stopped when they were training. At first I assumed that was what it was. But as the months passed, it became clear. There is no question. I am pregnant.”
She swallowed a tortured sob and her face twisted with scorn. “No, Joey, only someone as self-centered as Wyatt wouldn’t notice the changes in my body.” She sniffed and brushed at an errant tear. “I hope he is more attentive to those pregnant mares of his that he dotes on!”
Joey frowned, muttering almost to himself, “I… I don’t understand. Wyatt is never careless. In all the years, all the…” Then as if realizing the implications of what he was about to say, he choked back the words, his face heating.
Lei glared at him. “What Joey? Why stop? Say what you were going to say. In all the years of fucking every woman in four territories he never got one pregnant? Is that supposed to make me happy? That somehow I’m so irresistible that he just couldn’t help pouring his seed in me? Hah! More like it was just one more way to mark me. Claim me.”
She glared at him. Joey saw a look of such intense anger he was shocked. The only other person he had seen with that level of anger was Wyatt.
“Lei
, you are angry. You have a right to be angry. But you need to think about what you are doing. For the sake of the baby…”
Lei’s voice was as fierce as her expression. “Oh, yes, Joey. I am angry. I didn’t know I could feel the kind of anger I am feeling now. But I am angry at Wyatt. I’m not angry that I am carrying his child. I… I… will love this baby as much as a baby can be loved. And goddamn it, Joey, Wyatt will never know what he is missing. “
She leapt to her feet, thrusting her chin in the air, her face contorting with distain. “No! Let Wyatt turn to his dead wife for comfort. Wyatt can warm his body at night with memories of a woman long dead. It’s been enough for him for nearly six years. I’m certain it will be again.”
Joey was appalled. Seeing her relentless fury, he tried again to reach her. “Lei, I understand how angry you are. But I beg you to reconsider your decision. Please, Lei…”
She shook her head, cutting him off. “I am leaving tonight, Joey. It is unlikely I will see you again. That saddens me deeply. But I cannot have contact with any of you. You know better than anyone that I have another person to deal with. My father.”
Joey shook his head and put his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Lei nodded, confirming she knew he understood what she was saying.
“You see, Joey, you know I am right. The only way that I am going to be able to convince my father not to have Wyatt killed is if I pledge that I will never let Wyatt see this child. My father will never tolerate the man who got me pregnant, then left me for other women. He will never allow that man to have anything to do with his grandchild. It is going to take everything I have to keep my father from killing Wyatt. You know that, don’t you?”
She stood up and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Please know how much I honor you. You believed in me when no one else did. I am sorry that I have given you this burden to carry. You are my sacred second father. You have a right to know. Wyatt does not.”
Joey shook his head. His pain and sorrow were so intense, he was unable to reply.
“Joey, please go get Ri. He will want to leave with me. I am going to get my horse. I will be leaving within the hour. Let’s make this our good by.”
Joey stood up, tears streaming down his face. He walked over, took both of her hands in his, kissed them, then turned and left the room.
~~~
When they arrived at the train station in Cheyenne, Wyatt took the children aside and told them that Lei would not be joining them.
“Why, Daddy, where is she?’ asked Elena in surprise.
Alex looked as startled as Elena. “But, Dad, Lei said this morning when she kissed us good bye that she would see us at the train station. Where is she?”
Wyatt responded, his voice was hard, “You both need to understand sometimes plans change. We can’t do anything about that. Lei’s plans changed.”
To Wyatt surprise and discomfort Elena burst into tears. “But she was going to buy me a special doll in Washington. We were going to go shopping together. Why isn’t she here?”
Alex added, “She was going to teach me how to play GO on the train. She said I was smart enough to learn the game. She said she and Ri played it when he was five. I know I could learn it.”
“Of course, you can and you will,” Wyatt said. “Uncle Joey can teach you when we get back. Elena, I will take you shopping. I will buy a doll for you like I always do.”
“I don’t want Uncle Joey to teach me. I want Lei to,” Alex said with tears in his eyes.
“I don’t want you to buy me a doll. You always do. I want Lei to be with us. I want her to buy me a doll like she said she would,” said Elena between sobs.
“That’s enough, both of you. Lei is not coming and that is that. Please pick up your things or we will be late boarding the train.”
Wyatt’s tone and hard eyes startled both children. They stepped back in surprise.
Chief moved forward and took each of the children’s hands and pulled them close to him. “I know this is a surprise to you both. It is to me as well. I am sad that Lei isn’t coming. She must have had a good reason, so we will have to have a good time even though she won’t be with us.”
The children looked up at Chief and then over to Wyatt, who was standing to the side piercing Chief with a cold glare.
Alex moved away from Wyatt. He asked Chief in a tearful voice, “Grandfather, why didn’t Lei say good bye to us?”
Chief knelt down and put an arm around each of them, hugging them close. “You know Lei loves you. I’m sure if she could have said good-by to you she would have. Your father is correct. Sometimes things happen that we don’t understand. We just have to do the best we can to accept them. Now let’s make sure we have all of our bags so that we are ready to get on the train.”
Neither one of the children looked at Wyatt. Instead, they hung on tight to Chief’s hands as they prepared to board the train.
Chapter 24
The Interior Building in Washington was impressive. Shouting to Wyatt, Chief, and Alono to hurry, Elena and Alex raced each other up the marble steps. They ran inside, eager to see whose shouts echoed the loudest as they charged down the hallway. Alono caught up to them to keep them from dashing through the building. Wyatt and Chief followed behind. Chief mused to himself, this was the pattern of their visit. Alono picked up the role Wyatt usually played with Elena and Alex. He tried to channel their exuberance and answer their endless questions as best he could. Only when Wyatt wanted to impress upon them a particular historical fact or point out a building or monument did he initiate or participate in the conversation. Chief was surprised at his continued reserve. The train ride had been particularly challenging. It hadn’t been much better since they arrived in Washington. The children at first were surprised by Wyatt’s stony silence, but soon were referring all their questions and comments to Alono or Chief. Chief explained to them that their father had many things on his mind, that they should be patient with him. He tried to convince that everything would be all right again soon.
~~~
Tom Caldwell met them at the top of the stairs. Tom was a distinguished almost dapper man dressed in the height of current fashion. He was known around town as a “fixer.” Only the three men on the steps and his Washington crew knew that Tom’s real work was to be Wyatt’s eyes and ears in the legal and financial communities based on the East coast. Everyone attending the ceremony today would think Wyatt was just one more rich client of the exceedingly well-connected Mr. Caldwell. Tom kept his excitement to see Wyatt in check as he came forward, but couldn’t hide the high regard in his eyes. Tom was one of the first members of the Caballeros, and one of the first to see the leader in the young upstart. He never once questioned his decision to put his future in the hands of a nineteen year old half breed kid. His loyalty paid off. He grew wealthy along with Wyatt and only came to admire him more as the years went by.
Tom nodded to Chief and then moved to grasp Wyatt’s hand. “Christ, Wyatt, it’s not fair. The rest of us get fatter and balder as we get older. You son of a bitch are more handsome than ever. No wonder your reputation with the women is as big as that ego of yours,” he said with a hearty laugh.
“But the fact that you are hooked up with Lei Chang must mean things have changed. From what I hear, beautiful doesn’t begin to describe her. By the way, where is she? We are all looking forward to adding some female pulchritude to the press pictures at the ceremony. From what I hear, the Secretary has a way with the ladies. He specifically asked if she would be attending. Of course, we all know whose daughter she is. That little behind the scenes nugget has the Washington gossip mill in high gear.”
Wyatt held up his hand and broke into Tom’s nonstop pleasantries with a grim smile. “Tom, it’s good to see you, my friend. My only questions for you are how the hell you do put up with this town and, Christ, do you really wear that suit every day?”
Tom smiled and said in a low voice, “Look, Wyatt. If I am going to be your man in Wa
shington – at least I’m going to look good. How else could I charge you the exorbitant fees that I do if I didn’t look like the rest of the assholes? And, hell, anyone who looks like you do in a three piece suit shouldn’t complain.”
Wyatt shook his head and as though Tom didn’t know Chief introduced him, Alono, and the children.
Tom greeted the group, with a knowing nod to Chief, welcoming them to what he assured them was an auspicious event even in Washington, a town known for special events.
Wyatt again broke in. He said almost as an aside, “I regret that Lei won’t be joining us.”
Tom looked up from his conversation with Chief. “Really? I understood from our conversations that she was instrumental in developing the conservatorship concept…” He stopped in midsentence, seeing Wyatt’s face.
“Yes, it was her idea and as I said, I regret she won’t be joining us.”
In the style of a true Washington insider, Tom pasted what he hoped was a reasonably sincere smile on his face. He had heard from the Wyoming Caballeros that Wyatt was involved with a beautiful woman. He was disappointed that she hadn’t come. Like everyone who knew and cared about Wyatt, Tom knew the pain he had been through and was delighted to hear he was in love with a wonderful woman. He hid his thoughts and said instead, “Well, I guess we’ll make the best of it. We’ll have to use your handsome face instead to get that extra copy I am looking for.”
After the Secretary of the Interior made a flowery speech and awarded Wyatt a medal of commendation, he asked if Wyatt would like to say a few words. To his surprise, Wyatt bowed slightly and stepped up to the front of the room. He delivered spontaneous remarks that had the sophisticated, easily bored Washington elite sitting up and taking notice. No one could miss the impact of this handsome, articulate man. It was well known he was the wealthiest landowner in the state of Wyoming three times over. According to the gossip, Wyoming was only one of the states in which he owned properties. In simple, elegant language, Wyatt described the importance of business and government working together to usher in genuine reforms in the new century for the good of the citizens. His sincerity and powerful presence captured the crowd.
