Give Me a Texan

by Jodi Thomas

  That thought brought a smile to her lips.

  As she placed Violet on the bed, she noticed a note propped against one of the pillows. READ IMMEDIATELY had been scrawled across the folded front.

  Mina’s heart quickened and, despite her resistance to dreading anything before knowing why she should, she ignored the demand and set the note on the table. Violet’s clothes needed changing and change them she would, before doing anything else.

  The simple act of settling the lass into bed relieved some of the tension growing inside Mina. Some of it, but not all. ’Tis silly ye are, Mina reprimanded herself silently and grabbed the note. She turned down the light and made her way through the dark to Briar’s room.

  A quick glance told her that he’d been just as thoughtful to her, but her own meal could wait. Read immediately kept echoing in her mind and felt as if it were branding the skin against her pocket where the missive now rested. She took out the note and unfolded it.

  Received a telegram from Nathaniel. He and his bride are arriving tomorrow. They’ll need to stay at the house until either they or I can make other arrangements. I thought you might want to clear your things out and put them in Violet’s room. You can bunk in with her once they return.

  The mayor’s got the whole town in an uproar making glad-to-meet-you preparations for some film star that’s passing through on the eastbound, so I’ll be busy decorating the depot. Don’t know when I can check back again.

  But I know I’ve left Violet in good hands.

  Hope you were doing something you both enjoyed tonight. We’ll talk about all that’s gone on the past few days. I’ve been grouchy. I was just worried you’d take it on yourself to show Violet the graveyard. It’s the one thing I couldn’t forgive if you did.

  —Briar

  Mina’s legs felt as if they were stuck in quicksand. She sank onto the bed. “Saints and begorra,” she whispered aloud, “I’ve done it this time.”

  If only she could turn back the clock a couple of hours. She stared at the note as if it were Briar and he could answer the question that exited from her lips as little more than a squeak, “Any graveyard?”

  Chapter 12

  Both of their duties that morning had kept them so busy, there’d been no time for Mina to find out the repercussions of the note. He’d asked her to listen to the wire all shift so that he could do the myriad of tasks required of preparing for the film star’s arrival. When he told Mina that Violet could help some of the other children pick flowers they wanted to offer Chaplin, she’d almost insisted that the lass remain with her. She didn’t want to take the chance of Violet telling her father where she’d spent the previous evening until Mina had time to explain it to him herself.

  All day long the station filled with journalists, the mayor and city officials positioning themselves for front row view of the celebrity. Kaira Corbett, one of the women of the press, insisted that the station clock be set exactly with the one on the courthouse so all their clocks were synchronized and the band could start up a minute before the eastbound’s arrival.

  Much to Mina’s surprise, wires started coming in from all points. Wires that had nothing to do with the constant chatter on the wire about Chaplin’s impending visits along the rail line.

  Briar had apparently sent a message to every telegrapher in range asking them to find out her mother’s location, including visiting their local cemetery. One of them had found her.

  Mina began to cry as she transcribed the dots and dashes.

  Buried in Charleston, S.C. Stop. Nothing but her name, dates of birth and death listed on tombstone. Stop. Born, May 23, 1876. Died, May 24, 1892. Stop.

  Her mother had been barely sixteen years old, and she’d died two months after Mina’s birth. She must have been sick, sick and scared. She must have done the only thing she could do, leave her infant with its father. An act of love far greater than Mina ever dreamed possible. An act only someone who truly loved her child would be brave enough to do.

  Forgive me, Mother. Mina willed her thoughts to heaven, knowing her mother now abided with Violet’s. ’Tis I who should ask yer forgiveness.

  She would have to thank Briar for what he’d done. For setting her past to rights. For caring enough to know she could never truly be happy anywhere until she knew.

  Sam interrupted her. “Briar sent me in to give you a break. Said you’d been at the wire long enough.”

  Briar. The celebration. Nathaniel. Mina’s mind had to focus on the tasks at hand. What a time for Nathaniel to bring home a bride. The couple would arrive on the train that followed Chaplin’s and everyone in town would be so exhausted from all the day’s events to give their own a rousing welcome home.

  Mina decided she would use some of the flour she’d found and bake them a pie. As she passed the decorated tables and streamers that hung from the ceiling welcoming Chaplin, she realized baking a pie would be about as useless as trying to convince Briar to take a break. The tables were laden with every baked good imaginable.

  The least she could do was take Briar a glass of something cold. That is, if she could find him.

  She stepped out of the door and almost had to fight her way through the surging throng of people. The brass buttons of the constables’ uniforms gleamed in the sun, pinpointing the amount of law enforcement called in to control the crowd. How was Briar getting anything done? she wondered, having to bite back a flair of temper that erupted any time she couldn’t move as quickly as she preferred.

  “Enough of that, you boys! Violet, drop that pie now or I’ll send you back to Mina and you won’t get to help the other children.”

  Mina forced her way through the onlookers so she could take the children off Briar’s hands. Where were the other parents and why weren’t they watching them?

  A pie flew through the air narrowly missing Mina’s head. The sound of several thuds warned that others had been thrown as well.

  “Uh-oh,” a tiny voice exclaimed and then yelled, “Scram!” and something else too quick for Mina to decipher.

  All of a sudden miniature bodies sliced through the crowd, dodging in and out from adult entrapment. Mina recognized the ebony curls headed her way and grabbed just as Violet tried to rush past. “All right, lassie. That will be enough. Stand and take yer comeuppance like the suffragette ye want to be. Time to do a wee bit of suffering for a good cause.”

  “But Daddy’s going to whoop me good this time.”

  Eyes the color of twilight rounded in a look so pleading, Mina had to hide the amusement that threatened to override her disappointment with the child’s actions. “I’ve not seen him take a hand to ye in all my time here. But ye owe him an apology, and an apology ye’ll give him, else take ye home I will. Ye’ll march straight to yer room and think about the extra work ye’ve put on yer poor da in cleaning up those pies.”

  “Oh, all right, but I don’t really want to.”

  “Ye really have to. So be done with it.”

  Despite her reluctance, Violet turned around and headed back to Briar. Mina followed making sure that she didn’t veer from her obligation.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’ll help you clean up the pie.”

  “Why did you throw it after I asked you not to?” Exasperation and something else filled his tone. Exhaustion.

  “Here, let me help,” Mina offered, grabbing one of the rags he’d been using to wipe the benches set up for the elderly. Egg whites sprinkled the backs of several of them. The platform would have to be washed clean or someone would trip.

  “Answer me, Violet. Why did you throw that pie?” Briar was not letting Violet off with just an apology.

  “Jimmy called me a liar, so I told him to stop or I’d hit him. You said I couldn’t hit nobody with my fists no more, so I picked up that pie.” Violet shrugged. “I warned him, Daddy, like you always told me. But he called me a liar, liar, has-to-mind-old-man-Briar. You ain’t no old man and I ain’t no liar, so I hit ’im.”

  Briar’s eyes closed as
he knelt beside his daughter as he, obviously, fought for words of wisdom. “You shouldn’t let someone goad you into not behaving well, Violet. If you react to them, then they’ve won. If you act like it doesn’t matter what they say, then it takes the wind out of their sails. He can’t bother you unless you let him. Understand?”

  “I think so.”

  “Good. Now look at me.” Father stared at daughter. “Why did he call you a liar?”

  Violet dared a glance at Mina. “I can’t tell.”

  Briar’s gaze met Mina’s. The moment she’d worried about all night and through the day had finally arrived. He was about to learn where she’d taken Violet. She had to face it sometime, and she wouldn’t forego the repercussions at the child’s expense. “Tell him, sweeting. We’ve done no wrong.”

  The more Violet said, the redder Briar’s face became. He stood and glared at Mina. “Give me the rag.”

  “I want to help. Ye’re tired. Briar, ’tis sorry I am—”

  “It’s best you leave.”

  Knowing she’d overstepped some boundary he’d not been willing to remove, she asked, “May I have a final word with the lass?”

  “You’ve told her enough.”

  It took everything within Mina to look one last time at the two faces that had become so beloved. She was not even being given a chance to say a proper good-bye. Mina turned and walked away, flinching as she heard the tiny plea, “Come back, angel. Come back!”

  Briar threw the rags into the wash bucket, splattering the floor he’d just cleaned. Damn, but he was mad at himself for sending her away so abruptly. Damn, but she was wrong for having taken Violet to the cemetery without his permission. No matter that it was Boot Hill and not where Katie was buried. Taking her was his choice, his right, his responsibility.

  One that you’ve failed at miserably, he reminded himself justifiably. A glance at his child, sitting on the bench weeping her eyes out, only made him feel worse. She apparently was none the worse for the visit to the graveyard, but Mina’s leaving looked like it would make her ill. Already the other eye was swelling to match the bruised one and she kept acting as if she wanted to lose her lunch.

  To hell with Chaplin and anything else that needed to be done. He must find Mina and tell her he’d overreacted. That he was tired, and too stubborn for his own good, and, frankly, so in love with her that he didn’t know what to do with himself anymore. When all this fanfare for the mayor was over, the three of them would ride out to Katie’s grave and, together, they’d say a proper good-bye.

  “Want to go find Mina with me?”

  Violet stopped sobbing. “You mean you don’t want her to go away?”

  “I just needed time to think, pumpkin. Sometimes men don’t know their own minds,” and hearts, “as you women do.”

  An engine whistle blew, signaling the incoming train. The band started up, playing, “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You.” As the train pulled into the station, the waiting crowd surged forward, giving a rousing cheer.

  Briar grabbed his daughter’s hand and took advantage of the opening he saw in the pathway. “Let’s check the telegraph office. She knew Sam wanted to meet the man, so she’s probably taken the wire back.”

  Sam said he hadn’t seen her.

  She wouldn’t have left her post unmanned and wouldn’t have disappointed Sam. She’d obviously left the depot and that meant she’d taken his words to mean something more.

  Regret and a pain unlike any he’d ever felt before sent Briar’s fist slamming against the station wall. A bloody swath colored the textured surface as he pulled his hand away and sputtered a mouthful of curses. “What the hell have I done?”

  “You hit the wall,” Violet informed.

  Briar looked down at his child and began to laugh, her words having more meaning than she could ever imagine. “You’re exactly right, pumpkin. I hit it for sure and it’s all crumbling down around me. Thank God. Do you think you and your pals would want to go on a treasure hunt for me?”

  “Yeah, Daddy, what are we looking for?”

  “The only treasure I need other than you, little lady…and that’s Mina. I’ll check and see if she’s gone to the house and you and your friends go through the crowd and see if you can spot her. Get her to go to the ticket office with you, if you find her.”

  “What if she won’t come with me?”

  “Tell her that she can’t go without saying good-bye. It’s not fair.” He knew how Mina would react to that and once she returned, he’d never let her go again.

  Briar had never gotten home so fast. Much as he feared, Mina’s valise was gone, and the wedding bowl, completely repaired, had been left on Violet’s bed. The sight of it made the worst of his fears possible. She had given up on him. Mina was saying good-bye.

  There was only one place he could think she could go where she might believe no one would find her at the moment. The train itself. Everyone in town would be visiting with Chaplin, but the train would be empty. Briar gathered a deep breath and sprinted down the path he’d just traveled.

  Minutes later, he passed Mayor Beasley as His Honor boarded the eastbound. “Have you seen the new telegrapher?”

  Beasley shook his head. “No, just your daughter and her cohorts. It seems they’re playing hide and seek inside the cars. Hardly the welcome to give our guest.”

  Violet’s presence inside meant she’d traced Mina here somewhere. All of a sudden a small, frazzled-looking man appeared from around the doorway of the Pullman that Briar headed toward. “Good heavens, are those your children?”

  “Was one of them a little girl with a black eye?” Briar recognized the film star from the playbills the mayor had shown him.

  “Indeed.”

  “She’s mine. They in your car?”

  “Yes, and I’m afraid they’re trying to, how do you say it in Texas, lassue a most becoming blond woman.”

  “She’s mine, too,” Briar informed, making sure the man whose reputation with women preceded him knew that Mina was off limits.

  “Lucky man.” Chaplin straightened his necktie and glanced at Briar in askance. “Do I look like a man with something profound to say?”

  Briar laughed. “Don’t worry. This isn’t a lynch crowd. They’ll love whatever you tell them.”

  “Good, I never know for certain what mood I’m to be met with. I rather enjoy preaching to the already devoted.”

  Mayor Beasley must have caught sight of his hero, for his voice came barreling over the crossover that linked the two cars. “Welcome on behalf of the children of our fair city and please be our guest at supper during your stay.”

  The door to the Pullman swung open. A disheveled Mina stood in the entrance, surrounded by a dozen little hands locked around her arms and legs. “Ye wanted me for something?” she asked in exasperation.

  “That I do. Now if you children will leave Miss McCoy and me alone for a while so I can apologize and tell her everything I want from her.”

  “Does that mean y’all are gonna kiss again?” Violet looked up at her father and grinned.

  Briar’s eyes met Mina’s. “I hope so.”

  “You gonna let him kiss ya, angel?”

  “Depends on just how sorry he is.” Mina smiled in return.

  “Oh he said he was a pretty sorry-son-of-a—”

  “Violet, don’t repeat that!” Briar’s hand clamped over Violet’s mouth until he realized it still smarted something fierce from the blow against the wall. Little ears sure had big mouths to go with them.

  “Well, you said it, Daddy.”

  “Go play. Go toss pies at each other. Better yet, go keep Chaplin busy for a good thirty minutes or so. I think I need to repair the door to his Pullman for him.”

  “Aye, lass.” The honey-colored eyes filled with a look that sent Briar’s blood to heating. “Tell him something’s wrong with the latch. And tell him ’tis an hour it might take. A slow hand is needed for this repair. Tell Charlie ’tis a lengthy time we’ll be needing.”<
br />
  Her gaze traveled a slow path from the tip of his head, down to boldly admire places that would have to play hide-and-seek themselves if she didn’t turn off that come-hither smile. Briar blushed for the first time in twenty-seven years.

  When the children raced past, she swung the door to the Pullman open and laughed that all-engaging snort he’d fallen in love with the first time he heard it.

  “Must be the devil’s own deception. ’Tis not a bit unhinged,” she teased.

  Briar pulled Mina into his arms. “No, but I am, my angel, and I need you to teach me how to fix what I didn’t even know was broken inside me. Forgive me. Marry me. Stay with me tonight and every night hereafter.”

  “I will,” she whispered against his lips, “until ye show me every shade of sunrise in yer arms.”

  The Love Letter

  LINDA BRODAY

  In loving memory of my husband, Clint.

  Your light still flickers inside,

  reminding me to go on and

  reach ever higher for my dreams.

  May you have the restful peace you earned.

  Chapter 1

  Spring 1889, Texas Panhandle

  There were two kinds of loneliness in the world—one that taunted with each breath and one that sat quietly, jabbing holes in a body’s spirit. Amanda Lemmons knew a lot about both.

  With a steely glint, she surveyed the rocky terrain of the Texas Panhandle. Leaning heavily on a staff, she trudged behind the sheep, her moccasins scraping earth that stretched endlessly toward the deepening pink and purple sunset.

  Drawn by the scent of fresh meat, night predators threatened with the approaching darkness. She increased her pace and motioned to Fraser, her border collie, to push the flock.

  Clumps of purple horsemint amid yellow buttercups dotted the landscape of the unused north pasture, becoming mere shadows in the twilight. One black silhouette caught her eye as she approached. Leaning, she picked up a worn, felt hat. No doubt the Stetson belonged to some high-struttin’, bowlegged cowboy who staked ownership in the world and everything in it. Didn’t take much guessing to know the saddle tramp worked on one of the cattle empires surrounding her fifty-acre strip of battleground.