“I have no relatives left that I know of, besides, you gave Seth and me our greatest gift.” Her gaze rested on Katie who was devouring a cookie. “We loved her like she was our own flesh and blood. Henry was a confirmed old bachelor and he adored her. Katie has been a ray of sunshine brightening up our lives.” Pearl’s eyes glistened with tears.
Scarlett didn’t know what to say. She felt so humble because her little girl had brought such happiness to others.
“She even has Steve eating out of her hand. He comes here, otherwise he keeps away from people for the most part.” Pearl sighed heavily. “Poor man, tragedy has marred his life, I’m sure of it. Even so, on the few occasions he ventures into town he always buys Katie a candy stick. What that man needs is a good woman.”
“Well, don’t look at me.” Scarlett grimaced. “I’m not the marrying kind. I can’t have Liam, so I don’t want anyone else.”
Pearl took hold of her hand and gently squeezed her fingers. “You were so young when you met him, little more than a girl.”
“I might have only been sixteen in years, but I was a woman, Jake made sure of that.”
“Forget the past, my dear. You’re young with your whole future ahead of you. There’s plenty of time for you to find another man to love.”
****
The next two weeks flew by. Scarlett knew she was a quick learner, although the speed at which she learnt how to milk a cow, hitch the horse up to the buckboard and drive it, surprised her.
Pearl was ecstatic. “I’m pleased with what you’ve learned. You’ll be able to cope here after I’m gone. I’ll ask Steve to keep an eye on you.”
“I don’t need his help.” Scarlett wanted as little contact with men as possible from now on.
“Now I’ve taught you how to cook,” Pearl said, watching as Scarlett whipped up a batch of biscuits. “The man will be pleased to come here like he does for me.”
She didn’t like the almost cunning gleam lighting up the usual weariness in Pearl’s eyes. “Don’t try matchmaking. It won’t work.”
Scarlett felt her greatest achievement was her ever growing relationship with Katie. They had bonded well, and Pearl was so happy and relieved. I can go peacefully now she kept saying.
Don’t leave us she wanted to beg Pearl. How could she be that selfish, knowing the pain her friend was enduring? Even the potions she took from the doctor, didn’t completely take the pain away.
“Come on, darling, you can cut the biscuits for me.” Scarlett handed her daughter the round cutter and Katie set to work energetically. The three of them were laughing when a quick knock came to the door.
“Mind if I come in, Pearl?
“Steve, of course not.”
With a delighted shriek, Katie climbed down from the chair and dashed toward the tall bewhiskered man who swung her up in his arms.
The breath caught in Scarlett’s throat. The man’s scraggly beard touched his chest, his dark hair reached his shoulders. He was dressed in buckskin pants and a blue shirt. She tried to speak only the words stuck in her throat as she stared at this apparition from the grave. “Liam?”
His body suddenly went rigid, his mouth dropped open in shock. His eyes, the same color blue as Katie’s darkened. “Scarlett?” He stood motionless as if his feet were nailed to the floor.
Katie squirmed in his arms and he put her down and she scurried over to Pearl.
“The nuns told me you were dead.” Scarlett jumped up and sprang at him, pummeling his chest with her fists in a maddened frenzy. “You didn’t even try to find me.” She sobbed and screamed at the one time. “All those years I’ve loved you, and you didn’t care enough to see if I was all right? You’re just like all the other men. Use my body then cast me aside like a piece of rubbish.”
Pearl, looking even sicker than normal, took Katie’s hand and started out of the room. “Sort out what’s wrong between you,” she threw over her shoulder.
“I never thought of you as a piece of rubbish. I loved you, Scarlett. I thought you were dead. They told me only a couple of crew members survived.”
“Half of New Orleans knew what happened. The nuns at the convent nursed us. None of the other good folk wanted anything to do with a few soiled doves and gamblers.”
He sat down. He had aged since they last met, the skin around his eyes was deeply wrinkled. What she could see of his face was tanned, and there was a slight puckering of skin under his left eye and cheek. A burn scar perhaps?
“What happened to you?” She stepped over to the stove and picked up the coffee pot.
“I was carried down-stream and a rafter picked me up and took me to his place. I was badly burned and drifting in and out of consciousness for days.”
“You didn’t even try to find me,” she accused. “Coffee?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“You haven’t asked about Katie?”
“Why would I ask about Pearl’s child? She’s a sweet little cherub, though.”
“She’s my child, Liam.”
He banged the coffee mug on the table. “Yours?”
“Yes, mine and yours.”
Every vestige of color leeched from his face, his eyes blazed. She couldn’t decide whether it was anger or shock. In a few words she told him what had happened and why she was here.
“Sonofabitch!”
“No. Daughter of a bitch. No, make that whore,” she screamed.
“I never thought of you as a whore, Scarlett. I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“I loved you, Liam, I’ve never stopped loving you.”
“What!” He inhaled deeply, noisily. “Katie is mine? No wonder I instantly felt a connection to her.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?” She faced him across the table, waiting for what? I love you, Scarlett? I want to marry you? Make a home for the three of us? She waited with bated breath as he gnawed his lower lip.
“I still love you, Scarlett, but….”
She stifled the cry of joy on seeing the somber expression on his face.
“I’m not the man I used to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you think I wear this beard? I’m scarred in body and mind. I’m a freak.”
“No, you’re not.”
He stood and shrugged out of his shirt, and she let out a gasp of horror. His left arm had obviously been badly burned, the scars still vivid, the skin stretched tightly. In one section the flesh looked as if it had been burnt to the bone.
“Like to see my back? It’s nearly as bad, and if I shaved off this beard, you’d recoil in horror.”
“I would not.”
“Yes, you would.”
“Shave it off and I bet I wouldn’t.” She stared straight into his eyes, her gaze never wavering. “You think I’m that shallow? Of course you do, I’m a whore. No-one would expect anything better from the likes of me.”
“Stop it. I’ve never thought of you as a whore – ever. What about Katie? One look at my scars and she’d be terrified. Now I know she’s my daughter I’d die if she recoiled from me, and she would.”
“It’s not your body that’s really scarred.” Pearl shuffled into the room with Katie a step or two behind. “It’s your mind.”
“I’m a freak.”
“You are not. You think your scars are worse than what they are. My Seth was like that. It could have ruined his life if I hadn’t changed his way of thinking.”
“It’s different. I mean, losing an arm is awful, but burnt flesh is….”
“No different,” Pearl snapped. “What will Scarlett and Katie do once I’m gone?”
“I’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”
“It’s not enough, Steve, um, Liam. Scarlett has pined for you for nearly four years, you need to marry her and legitimize Katie. You owe them that much.”
“I’m not the man I was. You understand don’t you, Scarlett. I couldn’t stand to have your pity even if my appearance d
idn’t repulse you.”
Scarlett couldn’t believe the hopelessness and self-loathing in Liam’s voice.
“I love you, not the skin covering your bones.” She rushed out of the room vowing not to let him see the tears springing to her eyes. Finding him after all these years only to have him reject her was heart wrenching. I won’t let him hurt me again. I won’t.
She stumbled over to an apple tree, and wrapping her arms around the trunk she wept. For years Liam had caused her pain and he was still doing it. Time passed, she didn’t know how long, didn’t care.
“Scarlett,” Liam called out to her.
Ignoring him, she edged around the back of the tree hoping he wouldn’t see her.
“I know you’re there.”
Why should I be skulking around like this she thought with a sudden spurt of defiance. I’ve never done it before, so why start now?
“I’m over here.”
He strode up to her. “Pearl certainly has a temper when she’s riled. I was lucky to escape with my life.”
“I always thought she was placid.”
“Me too.” He picked up her hand. “I’m sorry for the way I carried on. You’ve had a hard life, I don’t want to burden you with anymore hardship. I’m scarred in body and mind. I own a tumbledown cabin with a few acres in the Black Hills. I pawned everything I owned, and raided my bank account. All told it didn’t amount to much. What kind of life is that for a woman and small child?”
“It….”
“Don’t interrupt me. I want to say what has to be said. There was no money left after the Elegant Lady sank. She was all my father and I owned. I hunt, do a bit of horse wrangling for other ranchers. We can get married for Katie’s sake and you can continue to live here. Pearl said this place will be yours when she passes. I’ll call in regularly to see to things for you.”
She pulled her hand free. “It’s not enough,” she yelled. “I want more from you.”
“It’s all I can offer.” He turned on his heel and strode off, mounted his horse and galloped away.
Back at the cabin, Pearl had put the biscuits in the oven and was clearing up. Katie was playing with wooden blocks piling them on top of each other, then swiping them with her hand and laughing as they tumbled to the floor.
“You look like you need a strong coffee,” Pearl said.
“Thanks. The way I feel at the moment, I could swill a bottle of whiskey.”
“So, that’s your Liam?”
“Yes. Oh, Pearl, I know I’m crazy, but I still love him.”
“Nothing crazy about that, he’s a fine young man, who’s been broken by what happened to him on that steamboat.”
“He offered to marry me, said Katie and I could stay here, he’d live at his place and call in regularly to make sure we were all right.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Pearl handed Scarlett a mug of coffee, then turned to lift the tray of biscuits out of the oven.
“It’s not enough. I want a proper husband, one who will live with us, share a bed with me. Share everything.”
Pearl laughed. “You’re a beautiful young woman. Are you trying to tell me you can’t entice a virile young man to share your bed?”
“Well….”
“The spark is still there, I saw it in Liam’s eyes, the way he stared at you, the pain and longing. He still loves you, but thinks he’ll be a burden to you. His confidence is battered, he’s worn down with guilt and insecurity.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yes, I do. Once I’m gone, with a strong young man here, you could easily make a living off this place, and there’s no reason why you couldn’t lease a few more acres.”
“What would I do without you?” It was a stupid statement to make considering the circumstances. Thankfully, Pearl didn’t seem to notice. She was so thin now, she looked as if a puff of wind would blow her over. Her time on earth was nearly up. With a heavy heart, Scarlett knew this. Most nights she would hear Pearl moaning with pain as the growth in her body slowly ate her away. It wasn’t fair. Why did good people have to die before the allotted span of four score years and ten?
Chapter Eight
Mid-afternoon, Liam returned. Katie gave an excited squeal and dashed up to him; he picked her up and swung her around a couple of times much to her delight.
“I’ve been into town, and I saw the Preacher. We’ll be getting hitched tomorrow afternoon at four o’clock, would have been earlier only he’s got a burying to attend to.”
He glanced at Scarlett and she knew he was expecting opposition from her. Pearl was right. She loved Liam and wanted him to be her husband in every sense of the word. She didn’t doubt for one moment her ability to seduce him. All she had to do was set a trap and lure him into it. A few scars were nothing, it’s what he had inside him that counted. Katie needed a father, and she needed and would have, a loving husband.
“I booked two rooms at the hotel, a double for you three, and a single for me. I thought we could have supper at the diner by way of celebration, plus it would be too late to drive home.”
“Sounds good,” Scarlett said. She had no intentions of sharing the room with Katie and Pearl.
****
For her wedding, Scarlett chose to wear a green gown. It had been part of her “working wardrobe.” She had got Ruby’s seamstress to make it a little more demure by taking out a back panel and fashioning it into a new top with a stand up collar and tiny buttons running from throat to waist. On her head she wore a matching bonnet.
“You look beautiful,” Pearl said. “You both do.”
Katie was resplendent in a blue dress with lace trim, Pearl wore her habitual black mourning gown. Since arriving at the cabin, Scarlett had never seen her wearing any other color. Had she not been so ill, Scarlett would have tried to talk her into wearing something other than black.
When Liam strolled into the cabin, Scarlett gasped in surprise. He had trimmed his beard and cut his hair. Dressed in clean buckskin pants and a white shirt with a black waistcoat over it, he looked as handsome as he had when they first met in what seemed another lifetime.
“Well.” His smile caused Scarlett’s heartbeat to escalate. “I’m one lucky man having three such pretty ladies to escort.” He stared at Scarlett, and a pulse throbbed in his jaw. “Well, little darlin’.” He picked Katie up. “You do look beautiful.”
A plump little hand reached out to stroke his face. Scarlett was moved by the love shining from Liam’s eyes as he gazed down at their daughter. After tonight, she hoped he would be looking at her the same way.
“Getting married, getting married,” Katie said in a piping voice.
“That we are, darlin’, I’m aiming to be your Pa.”
“Pa!”
“Yes, would you like that?”
“Pa. Pa.”
“I think she likes the idea of me being her Pa, I sure do.”
Liam helped them into the buckboard, his face registering surprise when Scarlett picked up the reins.
“Pearl taught me how to do a few farming things.”
Liam didn’t wear a gun belt, although she noticed a rifle resting in the scabbard against his saddle. The horse ambled along giving her a chance to watch Liam who rode a little ahead of them, straight-backed and princely looking.
Twisted Creek’s main street was almost empty. A few horses were hitched outside the saloon. The bat-wing doors swung open and a drunken cowboy was pushed out on to the street.
“Now get out and stay out,” growled a male voice. “Ya ain’t welcome here.”
Scarlett was glad when they passed by without incident. She knew what could happen with liquored up cowboys.
The white wooden church sat on a slight rise. It had arched windows and doorway and was surrounded by pretty flower beds. Some-one obviously liked gardening.
A thin, elderly man, wearing a black suit and white clerical collar waited for them. “Good afternoon, Liam, ladies. My wife and daughter will act as your witnesses.�
�
Scarlett had never been inside a church except the chapel at the convent in New Orleans. Nothing fancy here, long wooden pews, bare floorboards. A table at the front was covered by a white cloth trimmed with gold. A white candle stood in a brass holder. A bible was propped up against a brass stand.
The service was over in five minutes. Liam took the simple gold band Scarlett had been wearing out of his pocket and slipped it on to her finger. Scarlett Jones was now Mrs. Liam Stevenson for better or for worse, in richer and in poorer, until death did them part. She had no intention of dying yet, and certainly wouldn’t willingly part from Liam.
They stood and chatted to Preacher Armstrong and his wife for a few moments. As it transpired it was the daughter who did the gardening. She was a tall woman, so plain that Scarlett felt sorry for her. About thirty years old at a guess, and obviously destined to remain a spinster.
After they left the church they made their way to the livery stable to hand over their horses. The livery man promised to take their bags to the hotel for them.
With Liam’s arm linked through Scarlett’s on one side and Pearl’s on the other they walked along the street with Katie skipping along in front of them.
Arriving at Dulcie’s Diner, they were shown to a corner table and handed menus. Scarlett ordered scrambled eggs on toast for Katie, while she and Pearl had small beef steaks with vegetables and gravy. Scarlett almost always ordered this when eating out. At least she knew what she was getting that way. Liam ordered a large beef steak with beans, vegetables and gravy. Slices of bread, still hot from the oven, were placed in front of them along with butter.
“Mm, nice,” Liam said, biting into his bread. It dripped with butter and when some dropped on to his beard, glistening like a diamond, Scarlett reached out her finger and gently brushed it away. She heard his sudden intake of breath, which infused her with confidence. After tonight, she planned to be Mrs. Liam Stevenson is every sense of the word.
“How’s Jake?” Liam suddenly asked.
“He hasn’t changed, mean and ornery as ever.”
“He was always kind to Seth and me.”
“I know.” Scarlett squeezed Pearl’s hand.
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