Rebecca Atkins: Attorney At Love (Lonely Cowboy Series)

by Susan Leigh Carlton

  Susan Leigh Carlton about 27,000 words

  Tomball, TX

  susan@susanleighcarlton.com

  REBECCA ATKINS: ATTORNEY AT LOVE

  A Trace Atkins Series Romance Novel

  by

  Susan Leigh Carlton

  COPYRIGHT

  Susan Leigh Carlton 2013

  Published by Amazon

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  CHAPTER 1 REBECCA ATKINS: THE BEGINNING

  The fall roundup was over. The count showed the Bar S had another good year.

  The newly blended family had grown accustomed to each other quickly. The Barlett family had not had a male member of the family since Joshua had gone off to the Civil War, where he would lose his life on the second day of the battle at Gettysburg.

  Trace Atkins was wounded in the same battle not 50 feet from where Major Bartlett had gone down. When Trace returned home to the Rocking A Ranch, his beloved Clara had lasted barely three months before succumbing to the “wearies”.

  Trace lived alone for almost two years before he mentioned to the preacher how lonely it was on the Rocking A out on the prairie. The preacher introduced him to Sarah, a widow, and the mother of two young boys, Thomas and Josh. After a short courtship, Sarah agreed to Trace’s proposal of marriage. Shortly after the proposal, Trace decided he couldn’t ask Sarah to live on the Rocking A when she was accustomed to living in a big ranch house. Trace didn’t realize the extent of what Sarah had. Had he known, it would have made him even more reluctant to hold the widow to her engagement promise.

  In addition to inheriting the estate of her late husband, Sarah had extensive property in her own right as a daughter of the fabled Kleburne family, then owners of the largest ranch in Texas.

  When Trace told Sarah he would release her from her promise to marry him, she read him the riot act. She really gave him what for.

  “Release me? Release me!” she sputtered. “ I’m not yours to release. I wish you would listen to yourself whining like a little boy. You don’t sound like the man I started to love and not the one that asked me to be his wife. You certainly don’t sound like the man the preacher told me about either.”

  He said, “Maybe I had better go.”

  Sarah answered, “Maybe you had.

  Trace left. The road back to the Rocking A was long and lonely. He puttered around for two days and decided he needed to resolve things. He rode back to the Bar S. He was met in the yard by Josh, the younger of the two boys. “Mr Trace, are you still going to be our pa? “

  “I don’t know whether your ma will still have me, but we’ll see.

  He knocked on the door and Sarah came to the door. “Can I come in? I would like to explain the other day.”

  Sarah said nothing, so he continued. “I just didn’t think a lady such as yourself and your two boys should live in the kind of conditions my ranch would have. I still don’t, but we need to come up with something to make this work out.”

  “I agree with you. Do you have any ideas?”

  “I could sell the ranch and we could live here. It’s just dirt and you and the boys are more important to me than than dirt.”

  “I have some ideas, if you will listen to them.”

  “I’ll listen. After the other day, I’m a better listener than talker.”

  She told him about the extra furniture she had and how they could move it to the Rocking A. It would solve some of the money part of his problem.

  They hired a relative of the Bar S foreman to live on and run the Rocking A. It worked out beautifully. The young man and his wife turned out to be perfect tenants.

  Shortly after this, the preacher told Trace and Sarah he had it on good authority the railroad was coming through and had begun purchasing right-of-way. He also told Trace the proposed route would pass right through the Rocking A.

  * * *

  About eighteen months after the wedding, they found out Sarah was pregnant. A worrisome and fretful Trace was afraid to let her do anything. She put up a fuss about this and won out… as usual.

  In due time, Sarah Rebecca Atkins was born, a tiny replica of her mother. Becky, as she came to be called, was an instant hit in the Atkins household. The boys lost their aversions to girls immediately. Each wanted to hold her. Her daddy wanted to hold her as did her mother.

  The boys were fascinated at the feeding process. Living on a ranch, they had witnessed first hand the feeding of colts and calves from the mares and cows, but the idea of a baby feeding from their mother was totally different. Neither of them believed they had fed that way. They would never have believed their pa loved to feast on these same breasts, but they weren’t told about it and it remained a secret between Sarah and Trace.

  From the very beginning, Becky was a good baby. She began sleeping the night through at about four weeks. Until then Trace would get up and bring her to Sarah for her middle of the night feeding. Sarah reveled in the love and attention shown both to her and to Becky. Trace was a doting father.

  When she was a month old, they took her in to Cimmaron to be checked over by the doctor. He told them what they already knew. Becky was perfect. They took her to be introduced to the preacher and to Elizabeth. They agreed, she was indeed a beautiful baby.

  * * *

  Becky did everything early. She cut teeth early, she crawled early and began walking just after she was eight months old. When she gained mobility, she was into everything. Everything. Anything within her reach was fair game. Her pa took her everywhere with him. Trace swore she was saying daddy before she was 6 months old.

  She smiled her first smile while being held by Trace. Sarah said, “It’s probably gas,” but Trace didn’t accept that. Through it all, Sarah just smiled. She was happier than she had ever been in her life. Even though Becky received a lot of Trace’s attention, there was plenty left for her.

  Trace proved to be a very attentive husband. He did not want Sarah to exert herself. “Honey, I’m fine and I’m healthy. Women have had babies since Adam and Eve. I have to do things. You can’t be mother and father.”

  “You’re right, but you’re so special to me, I want to protect you. I know, you don’t need protection all of the time, but I can’t help it. I couldn’t be there for Clara, because of the war, but I can and will be there for you and for our family.

  * * *

  Becky went through school in Cimmaron. Then, Trace and Sarah in conference with Becky decided she would go to the university in Austin.

  She graduated from the University of Texas Summa Cum Laude. Becky decided she would like to study law. Since money was not a problem, she decided to attend George Washington University in Washington, DC.

  She again excelled and was number one in her class and editor of the law review. She was one of only three women in her class and did not receive as many offers as the male students, still she accepted an associate position with a major law firm in the district.

  Rebecca was assigned a mentor in the firm. Unfortunately, her mentor told her, “Women have no worthiness in business
and should stay home. Why don’t you find yourself some nice young man and raise a family? Maybe you’ll be blessed with a son.”

  She told him, “I’m more qualified than either of the two associates from my class and most of the others in the firm. Why did the firm hire me if you aren’t going to allow me to do meaningful work?”

  He replied, “I wasn’t privy to that decision. I would not have made such an offer.”

  He relegated her to minor cases and to research. She saw two male students from her class who ranked much lower than she did, assigned more prestigious cases and work load. One of them even assigned work to her.

  Becky did not hold to the belief women should stay home. She was frustrated even after her mentor retired and she was assigned to another partner in the firm. She had better case assignments under the new mentor but she still lagged behind her peers.

  Finally, completely fed up, she wrote her parents that she had made the decision to resign her position. Always supportive, Sarah wrote back, saying, “Whatever you decide, you know you have our support and our love. You can always come back here. There is enough work for a lawyer in our business to keep you busy. We are thinking of consolidating our holdings, and now we have all of the dealings with the oil companies involving contracts and leases, we could use your expertise.”

  * * *

  Becky went for a walk one evening along the beautiful streets of Georgetown. It was a quiet and peaceful day with a faint breeze. It was not yet sweater weather, just a pleasant day for a walk along the tree lined streets of her neighborhood.

  As she walked, she became aware of a stray dog following her. She stopped, squatted and called softly. He came eagerly to her, licking her hand and wagging his tail. Looking at his markings, she decided it was a beagle. Her father had owned several beagles he used for hunting.

  Growing up, Becky had loved all of the animals on the ranch, often feeding an orphaned calf by pouring milk into a sock and letting it suckle on the sock. She had not been able to have a pet since she had started college back in Austin and she missed having a dog around.

  Looking around, she saw no one to whom the dog could have belonged. She put the dog down and continued her walk. The dog followed her, occasionally hiking his leg on a tree to mark it, then running to catch up. He followed her all the way home. She picked the dog up and said, “Well, Mr. Beagle, I’ll just take you in until I can put signs up and find your owner.” His tail wagged vigorously from side to side.

  Rebecca got two dishes out and put water in one and scrounged up some food for the other dish. The dog was thirsty and lapped the water immediately,. Rebecca fixed some dinner for herself and sat down to eat it. After the dog had eaten his food, he came over to Becky’s chair, lay down beside it and went to sleep.

  Two days later, she still had not put up any signs, and had started calling the dog “Bandit” because of the dark colors around his eyes. She let him out to do his business and when finished, he came back and scratched at the door. Whenever she left the house, Bandit was at her side. “I really need to put some signs up so your real owner can find you. I hope he doesn’t because I’ve kind of taken a liking to you.” She started to jog, Bandit running happily along at her side, tail waving in the air.

  CHAPTER 2: CHARLES HAS A BIG BREAKUP

  Harvard Law School is one of the premier law schools in the country. It is located in Boston and attracts students from over the country. One, from Atlanta, Georgia, was Charles Wilson. He’d grown up in comfort, the only son of a wealthy cotton trader. Harvard Law was his first and only choice for a school.

  Following graduation he had his pick of major firms in New York and Washington. His grandfather had been a US senator from Georgia. Charles was aiming for the same type of career or maybe higher so he chose Washington. He joined a lobbying firm for one of the primary clothes manufacturers. They made no secret they intended to rely on his family ties to the cotton industry to help them succeed.

  Charles had a girlfriend in Atlanta prior to law school. When he chose Harvard, the relationship fell apart. It was one of his first failures and did not sit too well with him. He was considered a big catch in the social circles. He owned a house in the exclusive community of Georgetown, just off Wisconsin Avenue. He was invited to most of the balls and parties held by the inner circle of society. He attended to most of those to which he had an invitation.

  At one of the New Year’s Eve parties, he met a beautiful girl named Cynthia Swearingen. It was said her family was “old money”. Charles became the escort of choice for Cynthia. After several months of dating, Cynthia decided she would move into the house owned by Charles in Georgetown.

  At the parties, it turned out she was a big flirt. She had frequent guests at the house, with no notice to Charles. Since he was working hard to establish a reputation at the firm, her parties began to affect his sleep and were causing him problems at work. They were sitting in the living room one evening and Charles decided to bite the bullet. “Cynthia, I have to work long hours and I need my rest during the week. I want you to stop having these late parties every night,”

  “Why should I stop having fun just because you have to work?”

  “I am not getting enough rest and it is affecting my performance at work.”

  “It’s affecting your performance at home too, she said.”

  “What do you mean by that?” he asked.

  “I would think it would be obvious. You never have any time for me. You go to bed and go to sleep. I have my needs. You’re not meeting them. You’re no fun any more.”

  Charles was stunned at this reflection on his manhood. No one had ever accused him of being lacking in that department. “Cynthia, that was not a very nice thing to say. It is an insult and I don’t like it.” With that, he got up from the sofa and went to bed.

  “See there, that’s what I mean,” she said.

  Some time later, Charles was awakened by the sounds of a party. He got out of bed and went to the living room. “All right everyone, the party is over. It’s time for you to leave.”

  One of the revelers who was slightly inebriated, came up to Charles, and said, “Just who the hell do you think you are?”

  Charles said, “For one thing, this is my home. Now leave.”

  “We’re not leaving until Cynthia tells us to leave, so there.”

  “Cynthia has no say in this. The party is over, now go home or I’ll get the police.” Reluctantly, the people began to leave. Charles went back to bed but it was quiet. For a little while…

  Cynthia was furious. She came into the bedroom and asked, “What do you mean, sending my guests home. Some of them were my best friends.”

  “Yes, they weren’t my friends and I have to get up and go to work this morning, and it’s after midnight. Now go on and let me get what sleep I can,” he said.

  “This is not over. Not by a long shot,” she shouted, and spun on her heels and left the room.

  Cindy was still in bed when he got up the next morning. He checked the ice box and found nothing to eat. Her friends had eaten it all. He decided he would have to get something from one of the street vendors on the way to work. It was not a pleasant way to start the day and he was somewhat groggy for the most part of the day.

  “It will be nice to get home and go to bed early” he thought. On the way home he stopped at the market to get a few things for the larder, since he was sure Cynthia would not have done any shopping.

  When the carriage pulled to a stop in front of his house, he was flabbergasted. The lawn was strewn with his clothes and other belongings. Cynthia had evidently decided to throw him out. Of his own house.

  It didn’t matter that it was his house and he had been paying all of the bills except for Cynthia’s clothes and he had even bought some of those. She had determined to make a grand exit.

  That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Theirs had been a very tumultuous relationship. Cynthia was petty, selfish, and demanding. It had to be her way
. For the most part, Charles had gone along with it, leaving it to Cynthia to run the house. He decided it was time to end it. He called the police and when they arrived, he demanded they remove her from his property. She argued and fought it but when he produced a deed showing his ownership of the property, she was led away by the police. It was indeed a grand exit, just not the one she planned.

  After she was gone, he was sitting on the stairs when it dawned on him, it was too quiet, and no wonder. The house was empty save for him and the furniture. The beagle, Shakespeare was not home. Shakespeare was not really his dog; Cynthia purchased Shakespeare after she moved in with Charles.

  Cynthia had never liked him and declared he was filthy and she didn’t want him around. When Charles told her, “I’ll take him and he will stay here. Cynthia hmphed and left the room. The back door was open, and was probably the way Shakespeare had gotten out. It was her final act of retribution, and it hurt. Charles began walking the neighborhood but could find no trace of Shakespeare. He decided he would put out flyers seeking help from the public. Shakespeare was friendly and surely someone had found him.

  Charles sadly trudged back to his empty house. Shakespeare had been more than just a pet. He had been Charles’s friend. Now he was gone and Charles was alone.

  CHAPTER 3: REBECCA FINDS A DOG

  Rebecca knew she should have put signs up by now indicating she had found a dog, along with a description of the dog. Instead, she was in the market asking advice of the butcher.

  “I found a stray beagle and he has attached himself to me. He follows me everywhere if I let him out. Back on the ranch, our dogs were not house dogs. They were fed house scraps and bones and such. That won’t work here because I’m going to be working and he will be in the house all day. I’ll leave water out for him but I don’t see how I can do food that way.”

  The butcher said, “First, house dogs aren’t human. They should only be fed once per day. They won’t get as much exercise as your ranch dogs did so they don’t need as much food. Otherwise, they would get fat. You should just feed them left overs. I’ll give you a sack of bones and you can use them.