by Janet Dailey
Forcing a smile, she crouched down to her niece. “Let’s get your jacket off.” It stretched tightly across the shoulders, the seams threatening to burst their threads. “You’re growing like a weed, Lindy. We’re going to have to buy you a new jacket.”
“This one is too small,” Lindy agreed.
“How would you like to go shopping in Corpus Christi tomorrow and we’ll buy a new one?” Marissa suggested brightly and watched the girl’s face light up.
“No!” The explosive denial from Deke nearly made Marissa jump out of her skin, even though she’d been expecting it. Even Lindy looked startled by his barely suppressed anger and turned a half-frightened look at him. It was Lindy who prompted him to temper the harshness from his voice. “You aren’t going shopping tomorrow.”
“Why not?” Lindy wanted to know.
“Because I said you’re not.” Deke came back with a hard-bitten answer that refused to discuss it.
“Go wash your hands for lunch,” Marissa instructed, rather than argue with Deke in front of his child. She waited until Lindy was out of the room before she straightened to confront her brother. “You are being totally unreasonable.”
“She can get by without a new jacket for awhile longer,” Deke stated. “It isn’t something that has to be purchased tomorrow or even next week.”
“No, it isn’t,” Marissa agreed. “But she needs to get out. Lindy has been cooped up here for almost two weeks. How much longer are you going to keep her a prisoner in her own home?”
“That’s my affair!” he snapped. “It doesn’t concern you.”
“It concerns Lindy, so therefore, it concerns me!” she retorted just as sharply. “What is the harm in taking Lindy to Corpus Christi to shop for a new coat?”
“You know damn well Angie’s there!” he hurled at her savagely, the first break in his control that she’d seen.
“So what?” Marissa argued. “I’ll be with Lindy. You can’t keep her locked up forever.”
“No.”
“All right, I won’t take her to Corpus Christi,” she pretended to concede. “We’ll do our shopping in Goliad. But Lindy needs to get out—at least for a few hours.” She held her breath, noting his hesitation. “You know I’m right, Deke.”
“Okay.” He gave in with grim reluctance. “Take her to Goliad, but you be back here by four o’clock.”
“I will,” Marissa promised, and felt guilty for deceiving him when he so obviously trusted her.
Chapter Five
The massive stone walls marked the perimeters of the Presidio Santa Maria del Loreto de la Bahia, established in 1749. This Spanish fort, or presidio, was built to protect the Mission Espiritu Santo a mile to the north.
Under the serenity of a Texas blue sky, its barracks, chapel and the other structures enclosed within its protective walls stood quietly. There was nothing about its silent grounds to reveal its infamous place in Texas history. Nothing to tell that once the companion cry to “Remember the Alamo!” had been “Remember Goliad!”
On March 6, 1836, the Alamo fell after thirteen days of glory holding off the siege of the Mexican Army under the command of Generalissimo Santa Anna. One hundred and eighty-seven “Texians” died at the Alamo—the expected help from Colonel James W. Fannin, Jr. and his men never came. Fannin was at Goliad, where his scouts brought back reports that led him to believe the main force of the Mexican Army would come his way. So he maintained his position at Goliad to defend it.
But when the Mexican Army massed against him at the end of March, Fannin had the choice of fighting till the death of the last man, as those at the Alamo had done, or surrender. He elected not to sacrifice the lives of the 342 men in his command and accepted Santa Anna’s terms of surrender. Fannin and his men were imprisoned within the walls of the Presidio La Bahia along the banks of the same San Antonio River that flowed past the Alamo. On the last Sunday in March, Palm Sunday, Santa Anna violated the terms of surrender and ordered the massacre of Colonel Fannin and all 342 Texans.
“Remember Goliad!” became a rallying cry for the Texas Revolution, a poignant phrase that was echoed after the glory of “Remember the Alamo!” A few hundred yards outside the wall of the presidio, a monument marks the grave of Fannin and his men.
It was inside the walls by the chapel where Angie waited. She glanced anxiously at her watch. It showed thirty-six minutes past the hour of one. Something must have gone wrong. Just as she looked up, she saw a tall, dark-haired woman walk around the corner of the building—a blond-haired child skipping at her side. Although she’d only seen her once before, Angie recognized her daughter, Lindy, immediately and experienced a rush of elation.
Hurrying forward to meet them, she could hardly take her eyes off Lindy. When she finally looked at Marissa, her smile was warm with gratitude. Her friend of seven years ago had matured into a handsome woman with clean, strong features.
“It’s good to see you again, Marissa,” Angie said, and meant it.
“I had forgotten how beautiful you are. No wonder I was so popular that summer until—” She stopped, not finishing the sentence, but Angie guessed that Marissa meant until Deke met her and monopolized her free time.
“Thank you.” Angie accepted the compliment without any reference to what had been left unsaid and looked down at the little girl. Her blue eyes darkened with love. “Hello, Lindy.”
“I remember you. You visited school one day,” Lindy said in recognition.
“Yes, the day you found the rock with the fossil in it.” A stiff breeze whipped her hair, swirling amber strands across her face. She tucked them behind her ear. “I wondered if you’d remember me,” Angie admitted.
“Your name’s Angie,” Lindy recalled.
“That’s right,” she smiled, but inside she was scared. She wanted so much for Lindy to like her, but she suddenly didn’t know what to say to her. She wanted to take Lindy in her arms and just hold her—but she couldn’t, of course. So she ran a caressing hand across the front of Lindy’s plum-colored jacket. “That’s a pretty coat you’re wearing.”
“It’s new. Marissa bought it for me today,” Lindy informed her.
Angie had thought as much since the warm day didn’t require a jacket that heavy. “I like it.”
“Thank you. So do I. It’s my favorite color.” Her interest switched to a different topic. “Have you been here before? Do you know what’s over there?” She pointed to the far corner of the walled enclosure.”
“No. This is my first visit to the presidio,” Angie admitted.
Lindy turned to look up at her aunt. “Can we go over there and see?”
Marissa glanced at Angie to be sure she had no objections to her precious time with Lindy being used in this manner. Since she was able to go with her daughter and share her experience in a new place, Angie didn’t mind.
“Sure. Let’s go look,” Marissa agreed with the request to explore. For Lindy’s benefit, she went through the motions of officially including Angie. “You’ll come, too, won’t you, Angie?”
“Yes,” she accepted at once and fell in step with them, Lindy walking in the middle.
It soon became apparent that Lindy was too impatient to walk. She’d dart ahead, a miniature dynamo of energy, then wait with a great show of forbearance for Angie and Marissa to catch up with her.
Finally Marissa suggested, “Why don’t you run ahead, Lindy, and we’ll follow?” But Lindy didn’t jump at the idea. Instead she hung back. “What’s the matter? I thought you were in a hurry to see what was over there.”
“I promised Daddy I’d stay close to you,” Lindy explained.
“He just didn’t want us to get separated. I’ll still be able to see you if you run ahead,” Marissa assured her, and she didn’t need to explain to Angie why Deke had extracted the promise from his daughter. Angie watched Lindy tear off across the parade grounds to the far wall. For several yards, she and Marissa walked together with neither breaking the silence until Marissa finall
y spoke. “I wish we’d kept in touch. I never did understand why you ran away to Arizona.”
“I was seventeen, confused and scared—and pregnant.” She lifted her shoulders in an expressive little shrug. “Everyone was deciding what was best for me and nobody was asking how I felt. They were pushing me into a marriage that I wasn’t sure I wanted. So I ran off to my uncle’s in Arizona, but they all followed me—my aunt, Deke, your parents.”
“I thought you wanted to marry Deke.” Marissa looked at her with some surprise. “You were in love with him, weren’t you?”
“I thought I was in love with him during the summer, then when I found out I was pregnant, it all suddenly became different. He seemed like a stranger.” There was a confused shake of her head, unable to sort it out even now. “It’s hard to explain.”
“But, after you were married, surely—” Marissa began, but Angie interrupted her.
“We never lived together as man and wife.” She went on to explain, “The day we were married I asked him whether he’d have married me if I hadn’t been pregnant and Deke admitted that he probably wouldn’t have. I was only seventeen, but I knew a baby wasn’t a good enough reason for two people to marry. Of course, Deke said we could make it work. How could it when we were both being forced into it?”
“I can’t believe that Deke felt that way.” It was difficult for Marissa to accept that anyone could force her brother into doing something he didn’t want.
“He did. He didn’t even treat me the same way he used to,” Angie remembered. Before Deke hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her, and afterward he’d been reluctant to touch her. “So I stayed at my uncle’s. It gave me a lot of time to think.”
“About Lindy,” Marissa guessed. Deke’s claim that Angie hadn’t wanted Lindy had always bothered her. “Did you give her up willingly?”
“Willingly?” she repeated the adverb on a painfully amused note. “I don’t think any mother gives up her child willingly. I had time to do a lot of thinking. I’d like to believe that I did what was best for her. I had nothing to give her but my love. Deke could give her that, plus a home and all the other advantages of money and position.”
“I think I understand now,” his sister murmured and paused, reaching out to warmly clasp Angie’s hand.
“That means a lot to me,” Angie replied, discovering again that she had found a friend.
Lindy came racing back, out of breath. “It’s just a wall. I looked, but I can’t find any way to get up on top,” she panted.
“That’s just as well,” Marissa laughed. “You’d probably fall and break a leg.”
“Where shall we go now?” Lindy wanted to know.
“Let’s look through the museum,” Angie suggested.
“Okay,” lindy agreed with alacrity.
This time Lindy was content to walk with them as they recrossed the yard to the stone structure in the presidio that housed the museum. Angie fielded most of her daughter’s non-stop chatter, while Marissa deliberately played a minor role in the conversartion.
In the museum, Marissa lagged behind the mother and daughter pair, giving them a chance to get acquainted. Lindy was quick to take advantage of the tolerance of her companion to ask endless questions about the artifacts on display, exposing the curiosity Angie had only been told about before.
As they left the museum and walked out into the bright Texas sunshine, Lindy unselfconsciously slipped her hand into Angie’s. Her heart swelled with a radiant joy at the innocent gesture of trust. In her happiness, Angie forgot all the pain of the past. Marissa was somewhere behind them, she knew, but for the moment this little part of the world contained only herself and Lindy.
Slowing her steps, Lindy looked up at Angie and tipped her head at an inquiring angle. “Haven’t you got tired of answering all my questions?”
“I haven’t yet,” Angie smiled.
“You’re nice,” Lindy concluded as if it had been in question.
“Thank you.” Angie was deeply moved by the unsolicited compliment and tried not to show how much it affected her. “I like you, too. I know any mother would be proud to have a little girl like you.”
“I don’t have a mother. She died when I was born,” Lindy declared in an off-hand way and started walking again.
“Do you ... Do you ever wonder what she, was like?” Her casual inquiry faltered.
“Yes,” Lindy nodded, not at all upset by the question. “I asked Daddy about her once.”
“Oh?” Angie hesitated, aware of Deke’s opinion of her. “What did he tell you?”
“He told me she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world,” Lindy skipped along beside her for a few paces, then resumed a walk, looking off into the distance as if reliving the conversation. “He said I was going to look just like her when I grew up. She had blond hair, too, like me. Only her eyes were blue—a midnight blue, he said, like a Texas sky full of stars.”’ With a sideways glance at Angie she declared, “He loved her more than anything.”
Angie was grateful that Deke had given Lindy a beautiful memory of her mother, except that she knew he hadn’t done it as a kindness to her. He had done it solely for Lindy’s sake.
“I’m sure your daddy loves you, too,” she murmured.
“Oh, he does,” Lindy replied without hesitation. “But when he loved my mother, I wasn’t born yet.”
“I had forgotten that,” Angie admitted, silently marveling that her daughter was able to make the distinction.
A little frown appeared on the child’s forehead. “I think Daddy still misses her. That’s why he doesn’t smile very much.” She paused and turned to Angie, an earnest expression sweeping over her face. “One time I was sick and Daddy stayed with me. When I woke up, he had tears in his eyes. He said it was because he was afraid he might lose me and he was happy I was better.”
“I’ll bet he was very happy,” Angie agreed huskily.
“I’m never going to leave my daddy,” Lindy stated.
“No, you’re never going to leave your daddy,” Angie barely whispered the words.
“Angie, Lindy,” Marissa called to them, and the pair turned as she approached. Regret was in the glance she directed to Angie. “It’s after three.” Then she reminded Lindy, “We promised your dad we’d be home by four.”
“I remember.” Lindy released Angie’s hand to stand with her aunt. “I want to show him my new coat.”
Marissa smiled apologetically, regretting that she had to be the one to bring Angie’s afternoon with her daughter to an end. “I’m sorry.”
Tears stung the back of her eyes as Angie shook her head in a definite dismissal of the apology. “No matter what happens, I’ll always be grateful for what you’ve done. Thank you.” She quickly hugged her friend. With overly bright eyes, Angie crouched down to Lindy. Not knowing when she might see her daughter again, she wanted to make the most of the moment, and she ached with a love that she couldn’t show. “How about a hug, Lindy?” Her voice wavered on the light note.
Lindy’s hesitation was slight. Naturally affectionate, she curved her arms around Angie’s neck to embrace her. A knee touched the ground for balance as Angie held her daughter closer, closing her eyes tightly to shut off the sudden rush of tears.
“You take care of yourself and be good,” Angie whispered and drew back to smooth the white-gold hair away from Lindy’s cheek.
“I will,” Lindy nodded, not quite understanding the strong undercurrents of emotion she sensed.
“Angie.” Marissa’s suddenly anxious tone triggered an alarm.
The instant Angie glanced up, she saw the reason. Deke was standing at the exit, poised in a motionless stance like a predator before it moves in for the kill. Her heart was pounding in her throat as adrenaline rushed through her system, heightening all her senses.
“Daddy!” Lindy finally saw the object of their attention and abandoned Angie to race to his side.
Angie slowly straightened to stand erect, riveted by
his steel gaze. Deke paid scant attention to Lindy and her excited chattering, except to place a possessive hand on her shoulder and press her to the length of his leg.
“Angie—” Marissa murmured.
“Remember—you didn’t know I was here,” Angie reminded her, without glancing away from Deke. She didn’t want Deke directing his anger at Marissa.
Scarcely thirty feet separated them, yet it seemed to take forever to cross it. Her nerve ends quivered under the rake of his eyes. It was all she could do to keep from bolting and running away. The teak-hard contours of his features were too blatantly virile, his looks too strikingly dominant. Power was etched in every muscled limb of his body.
Not until Angie reached him did his gaze flick to his sister. “Take Lindy to the car.”
“Deke—” Marissa attempted a protest.
But he cut across it with a threateningly quiet, “Now.” He firmly pushed Lindy toward her aunt.
“Aren’t you coming with us, Daddy?” Lindy was suddenly worried, aware something was wrong.
“No. I’ll follow you home. Go with your aunt,” Deke ordered. Even when he wasn’t looking directly at her, Angie knew he was aware of every breath she drew. She held her silence, like Deke, wanting Lindy to be out of hearing before it all erupted.
Lindy tried to twist her hand out of Marissa’s grasp. “I want to ride with you, Daddy.”
“Do as you’re told.” His harsh retort froze the child. Lindy didn’t know what she had done to make him so angry. The confusion was in her face as she let Marissa lead her away.
“You shouldn’t take it out on Lindy just because you’re angry with me,” Angie told him and felt the full censure of his gaze.
