by Merry Farmer
Julia let out a giddy yelp and clapped her hands, but Vivian sniffed in irritation. “We’ve been over this. You have to marry Price so that we can—”
“Save the ranch?” Bebe finished for her. She glared from Price to Vivian. “Would you still feel that way if I told you Price has been stealing money from our family for years?”
“Nonsense.” Vivian made a gesture to brush the idea away, but fear filled her eyes.
“He’s been skimming money off the top of cattle sales since he arrived,” Bebe pushed on.
“No!” Julia gasped, her eyes wide with excitement.
“He’s got an entire account at a bank in Denver where he’s been stashing the proceeds. I’ve seen the deposit slips,” Bebe went on. “And the loan he took out against the ranch?”
“The mortgage?” Vivian’s voice and confidence began to fail.
“Not a cent of it went to the ranch,” Bebe said. “He put the entire amount of the loan into his own account, and he never made a single payment on it.”
“But…but if no one was repaying the loan, wouldn’t the bank have said something?” Melinda asked, rising and coming to join their group.
“Solomon made a few payments,” Bebe said. “He’s bent over backward trying to save us, but Price didn’t show us any of the correspondence.”
“I always did like him,” Julia said.
“Why didn’t Solomon come to talk to us in person?” Vivian demanded, suddenly filled with rage.
“Would you have bothered to stop and give the man the time of day if he had approached you?” Bebe asked.
They all knew the answer. Every one of them knew how deep Vivian’s and Melinda’s prejudices ran when it came to their black brother-in-law being more successful than they were.
“This isn’t fair,” Vivian said, stomping her foot. She whirled on Price. “Give us back our money this instant.”
“No,” Price said, oddly calm.
“That’s our money,” Melinda shouted. “It’s ours. You stole it.”
“I didn’t steal anything,” Price said. Bebe opened her mouth to contradict him, but Price beat her to it. “Your father signed over complete authority to manage his finances to me. So did you when you inherited his estate. Everything I did was completely legal, and any court of law would agree.”
“But you took all of our money,” Vivian said, dripping with frustration.
“Yep,” Price said, beaming with pride. “Swiped it all out from under you, and none of you noticed or did a thing.”
Bebe saw red. She clenched her hands into fists. Price was walking a dangerous line indeed if he thought he could stand there and brag about his thieving ways. “We’ll sue anyhow,” she said. “We’ll get everything back.”
Price laughed. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“Yes,” Hubert and Julia answered.
Price ignored them. “I’m smarter than all of you,” he said, then turned to Hubert. “Even you. Go ahead and try to get the money back. I think you’ll find that every last thing I did was legal.”
“But it isn’t fair,” Melinda wailed.
“Who cares about fair? I’ve got my money,” Price said. “The only thing that could be considered illegal or worth prosecuting is the fact that you haven’t made any payments on your mortgage.”
“But that’s not our fault,” Vivian said. “You didn’t show us any of the paperwork.”
“And you never asked,” Price said. “That’s more like carelessness on your part than anything criminal on my part.”
Vivian growled, then burst into, “Get out! Get out of here right now. Take your things and leave town before I have Sheriff Knighton arrest you.”
“Like I said, the law won’t—”
“The law might not.” Hubert took a step forward, his fists at the ready. “But I will.”
Without hesitation, even though it was out of character, Hubert wheeled back and punched Price across the face with all his strength. There was a sharp crack, and a spray of blood spattered across Melinda’s skirt as Price went down. Melinda shrieked and Price roared in pain.
Bebe yelped in triumph, ignoring Vivian’s scandalized look. She wanted to kick the snake while he was down, but Hubert grabbed Price by the collar and hauled him to his feet before she could.
“These unfortunate ladies might not have a lot of friends, but I do,” Hubert said. “I have friends all up and down the west coast, and you’d better believe they’re all going to hear your name. Not one of them will do business with you, I can guarantee it. Your money won’t be good for anything but stuffing mattresses.”
Price struggled out of Hubert’s grasp, dripping blood everywhere. He backed up to where his coat was draped over a chair and picked it up to put it on. “Fine. I’ll leave. I’ll leave town and you’ll never hear from me again.”
“Good,” Julia snapped.
“You can try your best to ruin me, but I doubt you’ll have time, seeing as you’re ruined yourself. Good luck paying off your mortgage,” Price went on with a wicked smirk. “I believe you have—” He paused, tilting his head to the side. “—seven days to pay the full amount or risk foreclosure?”
Melinda gasped. Vivian went from red to pale in a heartbeat. Bebe wanted to scream.
“I still get all my Christmas presents, don’t I?” Reese called from the other end of the room.
“Well?” Price asked, starting for the door. “Does he?”
Before anyone could settle their rage enough to answer him, or even stop him, Price darted out into the hall.
“What are we going to do?” Melinda wailed.
“This is all your fault,” Vivian shouted, rounding on Hubert.
“My fault?” Hubert balked.
She surged toward him, hatred in her eyes. “If you hadn’t come back and turned Bebe’s head, Price would have married her and we’d’ve had the money from his family, and everything would be fine.”
“Vivian,” Bebe sighed, shaking her head. “Price wasn’t planning to stick around after the wedding. He was going to go through with it, but as soon as his family sent him the money, he would have left with everything. You know he would have.”
“And after I’m done, he’ll be lucky to get a job shining shoes anywhere outside of his own family,” Hubert added.
Vivian let out a sound of pure frustration. “It’s still your fault,” she yelped, tears coming to her eyes. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. It’s your fault that we’re going to lose everything.”
Hubert clenched his jaw, but didn’t say anything. He glanced to Bebe as if for instructions.
“Solomon said we could go live with him and Honoria if we have to,” Bebe told them.
Melinda let out a wordless shriek and clapped a hand to her heart as though she’d been insulted.
“I’d sooner go to work at the whorehouse than live with that—” She pressed her lips shut over what would, no doubt, have been a terrible word.
“You might have to go work at the whorehouse,” Bebe told her firmly. “Unless you’re willing to make concessions.”
“No,” Vivian said with a stomp of her foot, although Bebe wasn’t sure what she was referring to. “No, no, no, no. None of this is happening.”
“We’re going to be homeless,” Melinda wailed.
“I don’t want to be homeless,” Reese said, getting up from his corner and coming to join the group at last. In spite of being far too old for it, he burst into tears like a toddler.
“You’re not going to be homeless,” Hubert said, a strange, resigned sort of calm coming over him.
“They might,” Julia added in a low whisper.
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Vivian shouted at Hubert, then groaned. “I’m never going to trust another man ever again. Never, ever.”
“What about me, Mama?” Reese asked.
“You’re not a man, sweet ‘ums. You’re Mama’s little prince,” Vivian said, then hugged her son and burst into tears.
Bebe watched the situation deteriorate, feeling completely helpless. She exchanged a look with Julia, who merely shrugged. It didn’t make her feel even slightly better to know that she would land on her feet as long as she had Hubert with her and Julia as her champion. She’d marry Hubert and do what she could for Vivian, Melinda, and Reese, but she didn’t have high hopes for things working out happily.
“I’m going to go after Price,” Hubert said at last.
Bebe glanced to him, eyebrows shooting up.
“What?” Julia asked what Bebe was thinking.
“He’s probably headed back to your ranch to pack his things and leave,” Hubert explained. “Someone needs to watch him to make sure he doesn’t take the silver.”
Melinda squealed and burst into a fit of tears that had her sinking to the floor in a pile of ugly skirts and misery. Bebe did the only thing she could think of that would help and crouched at her side. She tried to put an arm around Melinda’s shoulders, but her sister batted her away.
“You’d better go,” she whispered to Hubert. “We’ll sort everything else out later.”
Hubert nodded, then turned to leave.
“This is a catastrophe,” Vivian wailed, sinking into a chair at the nearest table. “And we’ve paid so much to rent and decorate the ballroom. We’re not going to be able to return any of this.”
“I’ll talk to Mr. Kopanari,” Bebe said. “He’s a nice man, and he’ll find a way for us to pay for the ballroom. And I’m sure he’d know of someone who’s getting married soon who might be willing to buy the decorations from us.”
“Oh, and I suppose you’ll ask if we can have jobs cleaning the hotel rooms while you’re at it,” Vivian squeezed out through her tears. “Maybe he’ll even give us a closet behind the pantry to live in.”
“The apartment in the saloon is available,” Julia offered.
Melinda burst out in another sob. Reese threw himself across his mother’s lap and wept. Bebe sighed and sat on the floor. Maybe working at the hotel wouldn’t be such a bad idea. But Vivian was right about one thing. The whole mess was a catastrophe.
Chapter 12
It was the strangest Christmas Hubert had ever experienced in his life. His family was filled with joy, seeing as all of them were together for the first time in seven years. Lael had returned from college late on Christmas Eve, surprising everyone with gifts and stories of crazy professors who were running him ragged. Heather’s fiancé wasn’t able to be there, but he’d sent a giant basket of treats from Seattle that they all dove into after the candlelight Christmas Eve service. Everyone in his family was smiling, laughing, and giddy with joy.
Hubert was suspended between the warm satisfaction of having made love with Bebe, the nerve-wracking rage of Price leaving her family high and dry, and the expectant happiness of knowing that the way was clear for him and Bebe to make a life together. He had no idea whether to laugh along with the rest of his family, confess everything that had happened and everything that would happen soon, or to rush back to the Bonneville ranch to spend Christmas Day with Bebe. Especially since none of the Bonnevilles had shown up for the Christmas Eve service.
“You can go out there if you need to,” Athos said to Hubert halfway through Christmas Day, as the two of them stood by the fireplace sipping mulled wine while the younger kids opened the last of their presents. “No one would think less of you.”
“I know, Pops.” Hubert frowned and took another long drink.
His father stared at him in thought. “You said that Price left without a fight yesterday?”
Hubert nodded. “I tailed him out to the ranch, then stood by while he packed his belongings. The scoundrel barely even looked at me the whole time. It took him ten minutes to throw everything he owned into a suitcase and leave.”
“And he didn’t try to take anything that belongs to the Bonneville girls?”
“Not a thing.” Hubert sighed.
He should have been happy to get Price out of their hair so fast. Except that seeing the backside of that rat for the last time meant the end of the Bonneville ranch and Bebe’s life as she knew it. Although he’d make sure she was happy again in no time. It was those blasted sisters of hers and that spoiled nephew that were the fly in the ointment. No one in town would treat them kindly. Hubert was fairly certain they had relatives back east, but Vivian wasn’t the sort to run for help with her tail tucked between her legs. She was the kind of woman who would stick around and make life miserable for as many people as she could. Which would only make Bebe miserable.
“Go out to the ranch,” Athos said as Hubert sighed over his conclusions. “I can tell that’s where you want to be.”
“It is, Pops, but I don’t know if they want me there.”
Athos hummed sagely, taking a drink.
“Because it’s not just about Bebe,” Hubert went on, voicing his thoughts. “It’s the rest of them that concern me.”
“Uff.” Athos shook his head. “Vivian Bonneville in a snit isn’t anything any man wants to deal with.”
“I’m just afraid I’ll have to deal with it for the rest of my life,” Hubert said, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Well, son.” Athos clapped him on the shoulder. “Vivian Bonneville, and Melinda and Reese, aren’t your problem to solve. Neither is their ranch. You should focus your efforts on making Bebe happy.”
Hubert glanced sideways at his father.
“You are going to marry her now, aren’t you?”
“Of course.” At last, Hubert broke a smile. “It’s all but a done deal at this point.” Because he wasn’t about to walk away from Bebe after bedding her. Not only would that be cruel beyond measure, now that he’d had a taste of her, he wanted more. Much more.
“Good for you.” Athos slapped his back one more time as Hubert’s face went hot with the memory of being with Bebe. “It’s just a shame that, thanks to Price’s duplicity, it’s too late to pay off that mortgage loan.”
“Yeah,” Hubert sighed.
But as soon as his father moved away to turn pages for Ivy as she played Christmas carols on the piano, a thought struck Hubert. It wasn’t too late to pay off the Bonneville debt. They had until New Year’s Eve to pay the amount in full. One week. And no, the Bonneville sisters didn’t have a penny to their name, at least not enough to settle the debt, but that wasn’t the only source of income available to them.
Christmas Day wore on, and the idea that Athos had seeded in his mind grew. It kept him lost in thought for the afternoon as his family played games and sang songs. It stuck in his throat as he joined them for their Christmas feast. And it kept him awake through the night, doing sums and making plans.
By morning, he had a fully-formed plan of action. It wouldn’t be easy. It would mean sacrifices needed to be made, but it was something he was increasingly convinced he had to do.
Which was how he found himself standing outside of The First Bank of Haskell before it opened, stomping his feet and rubbing his hands together to ward off the cold as light snow drifted down, dusting Main Street.
“Hubert?” Solomon greeted him as he arrived to open the bank. “What brings you out so early this morning?”
“I need to talk to you,” Hubert said, following Solomon inside when he unlocked the doors.
The lobby was warm, thanks to the radiators that had been installed the year before, which encouraged Hubert in his mission.
“What can I do for you?” Solomon asked, gesturing for Hubert to follow him behind the counter and back to his office.
“It’s the Bonneville loan,” Hubert said, heart beating as though he were about to go into battle. “How much to they owe?”
Solomon glanced over his shoulder at Hubert in surprise as they turned into his office. “A lot.”
“I need to know how much,” Hubert pressed on.
“I’m not really in a position to reveal that information to anyone outside of the family.” Solomon took off his coat and hung it on t
he stand in his office.
“I won’t be outside the family for long,” he explained. “I’m engaged Bebe.”
“What about Price?” Solomon arched a brow.
“Price is gone,” Hubert said, unsurprised that the rumors hadn’t started circulating yet. “And it turns out he was a lying, cheating thief.”
“Bebe told me,” Solomon said, sitting and gesturing for Hubert to do the same. “But she didn’t tell me he was gone.”
“He left yesterday,” Hubert explained, then launched into an explanation of everything that had happened since Bebe had come to him on Christmas Eve.
He back-tracked to explain some of the story of what Price had done to the Bonnevilles as well, and between what he knew and what Solomon knew, they pieced together an even broader, darker picture. Solomon listened with a concerned frown and agreed with Hubert that the whole thing was a crying shame that could have been prevented if people had paid a little more attention, but also that Vivian hadn’t exactly inspired people toward charity where the Bonnevilles were concerned.
“So you see,” Hubert finished the story, “that’s why I need to know how much the Bonnevilles owe.”
“I still don’t see why.” Solomon frowned, steepling his fingers in front of him.
“Because I intend to pay off the remainder of the loan.”
Solomon’s brow flew up. “You intend to pay off the debt?”
“Yes.” Although the thought of doing so filled him with as much dread over how Vivian would react as it did confidence in how overjoyed Bebe would be.
Solomon let out a long, low laugh, shaking his head. “Those women never did anything to deserve you.”
“Bebe did,” Hubert said, both irritated that Solomon would discount her so quickly and understanding exactly why he did.
Solomon nodded in agreement. “Are you sure you have the money?” he asked.
“I’ve done better than people think these last seven years,” Hubert explained. “I have a substantial sum in a bank in San Francisco. Now, I fully expect that it will take every penny I have to pay off the loan, but I’m willing to do it.”