One Thanksgiving in Lusty, Texas

by Cara Covington

  “There is one more mitigating factor that Mr. Watson uncovered.” Grandmother Chelsea looked around the table, a woman who appeared to be arming herself for battle. “In every case, the two grifters targeted wealthy individuals and never took everything those targets had.” Then she looked at Pamela. “Sadly, child, your father was the one exception to that pattern.”

  Pamela tilted her head slightly as she considered this new information. “I think it was the timing. My dad hadn’t yet got his finances in order after the medical expenses incurred by mother’s illness. Had they not been running that scam exactly when they were, the money they got from Dad wouldn’t have wiped out his finances.”

  “I was hoping you’d pick up on that fact. That’s what we thought, too.” Grandmother Mattie said.

  “Mother…you’re not thinking of letting those two con men off the hook, are you?” The look of horror on Martin’s face was mirrored on Nick’s and, in fact, on the faces of most of the younger men in attendance. “Do I have to remind you that they are con men? They’ve broken the law and deserve to go to jail!”

  Grandmother Chelsea appeared to be considering her two sons for a moment. Pamela flicked a glance at the grandfathers. All four of them were sitting back in their chairs, their attention focused on Martin and Nick Kendall. Their smirks told Pamela they were anticipating Chelsea’s response.

  “If you look at everything only in terms of black and white, my darlings, you’ll end up being completely color blind. And if you don’t believe in redemption and second chances, well, then, it’s going to be an uncomfortable future for the both of you. Your world will become so narrow you won’t even have room to turn around.”

  When she kept her sharp gaze on them, and even raised one eyebrow, they both slowly nodded.

  “You’ve made a couple of good points, Mother,” Nick said. “What are you thinking of doing, then?”

  Pamela didn’t miss the irony of that question, and by the looks on Adam’s and James’s faces, neither did they.

  “That’s the interesting part. I’ve spent a fair bit of time over the last week talking with Jan.” Grandmother Chelsea looked around the table. “Janice Michaelson is the granddaughter of one of my oldest friends, Franny Williams Smith. Just forty, Jan was widowed two years ago when her husband of twenty years was killed in a car accident. Jan was never able to have children, and after the accident, her sister Millicent moved in with her, after having devoted herself to their ailing mother, who died just before Jan’s dear husband.

  “Both women are quite wealthy in their own right, and Jan was also left very well provided for by her husband. Millie is a teacher, never married, and Jan has devoted herself to working with children’s charities. When I called Jan a month ago, she and Millie were quite willing to help us set a trap for those two grifters. Mr. Watson has an associate in Durant who’s been keeping an eye on the women because, of course, we didn’t want anything to happen to them.” Grandmother Chelsea sighed.

  “Is there a problem, then, Mother?” Warren Jessop asked.

  “You could say that. It appears that our very clever plan has had unintended consequences. You see, Jan and Millie have very recently both fallen in love—with those two grifters.”

  * * * *

  Fred Thomas and Gary Morris had found two absolutely perfect marks. Two women with hearts as generous as their bank accounts. Janice Gates Michaelson was a widow—young for all of that, just forty—who, after the sudden death of her husband two years before, had been dedicating herself to working with two charity groups. One was to the benefit of unwed mothers, and the other was a children’s charity that she volunteered for alongside her sister Millicent Gates.

  Millicent, a spinster, was a school teacher and had moved in with her sister Jan in the wake of Jan’s personal tragedy.

  Yes, these two women made perfect marks for him and his partner. There was just one not so small problem.

  Fred had fallen for Janice, and Gary was smitten with Millie.

  This was the second time they’d brought the women to the Ostrich Feather Emporium for supper. Oddly named it might be, but Fred Thomas thought it was the best restaurant, ever. The lighting was just right, and the atmosphere…the atmosphere was…perfect. Jan was perfect, and he didn’t know if he could ever get tired of looking at her. He didn’t want to ever get tired of looking at her.

  Fred suddenly recalled a book he’d been made to read in school, A Tale of Two Cities. He now understood how one moment really could be both the best of times and the worst of times.

  Gary was telling Jan and Millie a silly joke. His best friend’s voice sounded softer, more emotional than Fred had ever heard it. They’d talked, the two of them, about this insurmountable problem facing them, so he knew that Gary was on the same page he was on—they both wanted something that was impossible.

  Two weeks ago, they thought to give it just a bit more time, figuring that whatever it was that had come over them with regard to these two women would pass, like the three-day flu.

  But nothing had passed, and in fact, Fred knew with absolute certainty that he was totally, completely, and irrevocably in love with Janice Gates Michaelson.

  The women laughed at Gary’s joke, not a phony laugh but a genuine, truly amused kind of laugh. Fred looked at Gary and knew the truth.

  There was just no way on God’s green earth they could ever con these two women. At this point, he was pretty certain their conning days were behind them.

  The waiter took away their dinner plates and handed each of them the dessert menu. Both women enjoyed their sweets. Fred liked that about them. Janice wasn’t a stick woman, by any means. He’d seen too many women trying to be like that ’60s model, Twiggy.

  Whenever he saw a woman with that sickly-thin build, he always thought of drug addicts. His mother, near the end of her hard, way-too-short life, had become so thin her clothes had hung from her.

  Give me a woman who enjoys her food and knows her worth. Janice did both. She really is perfect. Perfect for me.

  He had a moment to wish that life could have been different for him. If his mother hadn’t given in to her demons, what kind of a man would he be today?

  Fred Thomas felt everything within him go perfectly still. He had lived his life according to the hand he’d been dealt and his own choices. He hadn’t lived a very commendable life. But maybe he could make other choices now. He wouldn’t be able to live the future he suddenly craved: a future with the only woman he’d ever fallen in love with. It was beyond hope that he could confess his sins and still be a man in her eyes.

  But he could be a better man and make better choices, and he could, by damn, do that in honor of her.

  The waiter took the orders for dessert and then left them alone.

  “So, when are you going to show us this great investment opportunity?” Janice asked. Her smile wide, her eyes shining…this was the picture of her he’d hold in his heart forever.

  “We’re not,” Gary said. He looked at Fred. “Please tell them. You’re better with words than I am.”

  “What is it?” Millie asked.

  “What’s wrong?” Janice asked. Both women looked worried.

  We don’t deserve their concern.

  “We had intended to show you this amazing opportunity and sweet-talk your money into our hands. But we can’t…because there really is no amazing opportunity. It was all just a scam.”

  “What do you mean?” Janice asked. She didn’t look angry, just curious.

  “We’re not the men we’ve portrayed ourselves to be, the men you think you’ve come to know. We’re grifters. Con artists. For the last twenty-five years, that’s all we’ve done. All we’ve known how to do.” Fred sighed. Despite the heaviness in his heart, a part of him began to feel lighter.

  This is what doing the right thing feels like. He drew in a deep breath. “We’re not going to be that way anymore.” He reached for Janice’s hand and brought it to his lips. “Thank you. Thank you for
…well, for just being you. Getting to know you these last several weeks has made me want to be a better man.”

  “I feel the same way,” Gary said. He reached for Millie’s hand and held it snugly. “This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” He swallowed visibly. “But it’s the one true, right thing, as well.”

  Fred knew exactly how he felt.

  “But, Millie? You deserve a man who’s worthy of you. One who can provide the kind of life you deserve.” Gary inhaled deeply, and Fred understood his friend was experiencing that same bittersweet awakening within.

  “As do you,” he said to Janice. “And that’s not me. It’s not us.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure what kind of work we’ll get, going forward, but it’ll be honest work from here on out. We’re maybe a bit old to be starting real careers, but we’re strong and healthy. We’ll manage.”

  “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be okay,” Gary said.

  “But…but what about us? Fred, I thought…well, I thought that maybe you…you felt something for me!”

  “Oh, sweetheart. Feel something for you? I love you. Way too much to stay after we came to you under false pretenses.”

  Fred pulled his wallet out. He laid a hundred-dollar bill on the table, more than enough to cover this meal. He brought Janice’s hand to his lips and kissed it once more. Girding his loins, he told his brain to let go of her and just walk away.

  It would have worked, he figured, if she hadn’t suddenly grasped his one hand with both of hers and held on tight.

  “I love you, too. And you don’t have to leave. I don’t want you to leave.” Janice looked over at Gary then back at him. He hadn’t noticed, but Millie had hold of his friend’s hand just as fiercely as Janice clutched his own.

  “We both really, really need to do the right thing here, sweetheart,” Fred said.

  “Fred’s right. For once, that’s what we have to do, no matter how much it hurts.”

  “But you see, we knew you were grifters from the first moment we met you,” Millie said.

  “You weren’t the only ones with a secret agenda,” Janice said. “You met us, intending to con us. And we met you, intending to entrap you.”

  As he watched, a tiny single tear trembled down Janice’s right cheek. “And then we got to know you. We don’t want to entrap you. And we don’t want you to leave, either.”

  “But…we have nothing to offer you.” Fred looked over at Gary.

  “We don’t even know how to…live in polite society,” Gary said.

  “Because you think you’ve done nothing but play a part?” Millie asked.

  “That’s exactly what we’ve done,” Gary said.

  “He’s right. We study a situation, and then we assume the character that will give us the greatest success. That’s what we’ve done all of our lives.” Even back in the orphanage. Fred threw that thought away. He wasn’t going to blame his choices on his circumstances. When he became an adult, he became responsible for his own decisions.

  “I think you have an inflated view of what you call ‘polite society,’” Janice said. “What you described is the way most people behave. How they relate to a boss or to an associate in a social setting. It’s all a little calculated, really. The place when the role-playing goes away is at home and among loved ones.”

  “We don’t know how to…” Gary looked at Fred.

  “We don’t know how to have a home,” Fred said. “Not the kind you mean.”

  Janice and Millie looked at each other. Fred didn’t think he’d ever seen anything as beautiful as Janice’s smile.

  “I love you, Fred Thomas.”

  “I love you, Gary Morris.”

  “If you’re willing to try…we can show you how.”

  If they were willing to try? Fred had never had a dream, not for the whole of his life. Not until he met, and then got to know, Janice Michaelson.

  “Won’t you get in trouble with…well, whoever it was that asked you to entrap us? We won’t have you do that. And we’ll turn ourselves in and face whatever charges are coming.”

  “No, we won’t, and no, you won’t. We’ll come to an agreement and make sure everything is taken care of. Everything will work out. Do you trust me?” Janice could be one determined woman when she set her mind on things.

  “I trust you with my life,” Fred said.

  “What about you?” Millie asked Gary.

  “What he said.” Gary turned to Millie. “I don’t deserve you, but I want, very much, to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “That’s what I want, too,” Fred said. “To spend the rest of my life with you. To be a better man with you.” He swallowed his pride and, shaking, cupped Janice’s face. “Will you help me?”

  Janice leaned forward and put her lips on his. She tasted like everything sweet and good, and Fred knew he’d gladly be her slave for the rest of his life.

  “With great pleasure,” Janice said. “Let’s have dessert and then go home. To our home.”

  Fred rested his forehead against hers and didn’t even mind the tears that fell. He now understood another famous quote, this one fairly new. Today really was the first day of the rest of his life.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What have you been thinking about, baby?” Adam asked. “You were quiet all the way home.”

  The solid click of their front door closing followed by the soft snick of the lock coming from behind her had become one of Pamela’s favorite sounds.

  She’d asked James, not very long after they’d arrived in Lusty, if he locked the door to keep them safe. “No,” James had said. “We want it locked to keep family out.” And then he’d given her such a sexy look she’d understood perfectly why they wanted to protect their privacy.

  So, yes, she did love that sound. Sometimes she didn’t need any more than that to get her horny.

  Pamela took Adam’s hand when he held it out to her. “I remember having a talk with my mom once, when I was about eighteen. I guess you could say I’d lived a sheltered life because there were people and situations I’d never been exposed to in my growing-up years. But when I was eighteen, I went to a party a friend of mine was having. Her cousin Mike, who lived in Boston was there—with his boyfriend. It shocked me. Sure, I knew there were gay people in the world. I’d just never met any. I wasn’t offended or anything like that. I think I was more just curious about their relationship.

  “So when I got home from the party, Mom was there, in the kitchen. She said just reading and having some hot chocolate but I knew she’d been waiting up for me. I told her about meeting Mike and his boyfriend, and I asked her what she thought about that—about same-sex romances.” Pamela smiled. “She got this far-off look in her eyes, and she said, ‘the heart loves who and how the heart loves. And there’s really nothing wrong with that.’ Those words have stayed with me ever since. And I think those words actually helped me to say yes to the two of you. Because there was no doubt my heart loved you both.”

  Adam kissed her hand, and the three of them began to head upstairs.

  “Over the years, here in Lusty,” James said, “we’ve had ménages, both heterosexual and bi-sexual, and couples, both heterosexual and gay.” They’d reached the bedroom, and James came over and gave her a sweet kiss. “You’ll never find any of us doubting the power or the aptness of love. Not even if it involves a pair of heiresses falling for a couple of grifters.”

  Pamela grinned. She couldn’t help it. For a moment, back at the New House, she’d thought most of the younger men—her own included—were going to protest. Until Grandmother Chelsea’s sharp look and wise words had them all thinking better of it.

  “At first, when I discovered the grandmothers weren’t going to turn over the whereabouts of Thomas and Morris to the authorities, I was really mad. A part of me wanted them to pay for what they’d done to my father. But the more I thought about it, the more I ended up looking at things differently. If not for them, I’m not sure we’d be married yet. An
d while I can’t deny they’ve broken the law and cheated people, including my dad, out of money, my dad wasn’t blameless in that, and neither were the others. All that kind of took the edge off my anger.

  “Then, hearing how Jan had lost her husband, and her sister had remained single to look after their mother until she passed, it made me glad the two women had fallen in love. And I have a feeling that, in the end, we’ll find out that, while those two con men likely won’t be going to jail—primarily for a lack of evidence—there will likely be some restitutions made. Grandmother mentioned redemption and second chances. I just think there’s room here for that.”

  “Martin reminded me that not everyone who breaks the law gets caught, and some who do get caught end up not being prosecuted in the end—or the charges get bargained away.” Adam shrugged. “I was very much with Martin’s and Nick’s initial objections about giving those two a pass, especially because Reg had been one of their victims. And I guess I’m a little more rigid in my thinking than some, because I’m not crazy about how things ended up. But I can understand and accept Grandmother Chelsea’s decision. Especially if you’re all right with it.”

  “I never expected that Grandmother Chelsea would seek justice on my dad’s behalf in the first place,” Pam said. “Knowing that those two, Thomas and Morris, aren’t going to be conning people anymore, I’m content with that. And who knows? They may go on to contribute greatly to society. Maybe they’ll do something phenomenal that they never would have accomplished if not for Grandmother’s intervention and those two women.”

  She didn’t mind Adam’s snort, though she did like James’s amused chuckle. It was time to put this particular conversation to bed. So she let go of Adam’s hand and wound her arms around his neck.