Aidan knew there was some truth to what his mother was saying. And, he also knew this place meant everything to his family. He was a fourth-generation Langley, and he was feeling the pinch of responsibility to ensure the Langley traditions continued. But marriage? If he married Maura, could he commit to a family? It wasn’t that he was opposed to having children. He wanted a houseful. But, he wanted dark-haired, dark-eyed children. Like Beth.
He sat between his mom and dad on the overstuffed sofa in the great room. All three of them lost deep in their own thoughts. The faraway look on his father's face tugged at his heart.
His mother pulled his hands into her lap and looked at him.
"Aidan, I'm sorry you have the sole burden of carrying on the Langley legacy. Your father and I were blessed with three beautiful children, but you are my only surviving child.”
Aidan's shoulders sagged. He knew this subject was painful for his mother.
"Let's don't talk about this, Mom."
"We have to, Aidan. It's the reason we are in this position. Your sister was stillborn. Then your father and I waited three more years before we were blessed with you and your twin brother, Aaron."
"But Aaron only lived a few weeks, right?"
"Yes. The doctor said he failed to thrive. You were fat and round and—"
His dad chimed in. "And you had a set of lungs that could be heard clear into town."
His mother smiled. "That's right. You were the lucky one. Aaron was weak. He couldn't hold his food down. Day by day we watched him wither away until one day—" His mother choked back a sob. His father moved next to his mother and put his arm around her.
"Ah, Sunshine. I know. It doesn't get any easier even after all these years."
His mother leaned in and lay her head on his dad's chest. They were still so much in love after almost thirty-five years of marriage. He wanted a marriage like that. That's why he had waited to marry hoping he could convince Beth to come back to The Legacy and make a life with him. But she kept putting him off. Telling him maybe next year, or the year after, she would grow tired of her life in Portland and come back to New Dawn Springs.
His mother was right. It had been eight years since he graduated college and left Beth in Portland. Now, her time was up. His family needed him, and he would not let them down.
“So, you see, Aidan. It's up to you to save the Langley legacy. It's up to you to carry on and not just the name. We will have the name no matter where we live. But this place, this piece of land, is the cornerstone of blood, sweat, and tears of all the Langleys who came before us. And it is a beacon of hope to all the Langleys to follow. Something to pass down to your children, and their children, and their children's children."
Aidan looked at the faces of his parents. He knew what this place meant to them. It meant everything. And the thought of losing it made it a little easier to make his decision.
Aidan understood what his parents were asking of him. He would like to jump on his horse and gallop across the land like he did when he was a kid, mad at the world and looking for a place to hide. But he was an adult now. And twenty-nine-year-old men didn't run out on their family when things got rough. He thought about the proposition for another half a second and said goodbye to his first love.
"Okay, I'll do it. I'll marry Maura Jackson."
His mom stood and hugged him. She pulled back and looked up at him. Tears beaded in her eyes. Were they sad tears or happy tears? He couldn't say, considering the gravity of what he was about to do. He certainly felt like crying.
His mom sniffed and wiped her eyes with her apron. "I suppose I should let Mary Jo know we are all in agreement and the wedding is going to take place after all. We have so many plans to make in such a short time."
His mother hurried out of the room, leaving him and his father alone. Aidan's mind churned with the enormity of what he had just agreed to, but he was determined to do what he could to save his family's legacy even if it meant marrying a woman he didn’t love. Or even know.
He and his dad sat in companionable silence until his mother's parting words crept into his thoughts.
"Wait. Did Mom say something about a short time? When is this damned wedding supposed to take place?"
A few beats of silence passed before his father answered his question.
"Day after tomorrow."
Chapter Three
Maura sat rooted in place when her parents finally told her the arrangement consisted of her marrying Aidan Langley. Aidan. Langley. The man afraid of snakes and who screams like a little girl.
She thought about letting loose a scream—something to terrify her standoffish papa. But it would only send her momma into a heap of nerves and what was the point?
She wished she could disappear back to her ordered life as a nanny. But, thanks to this damned economic disaster that stole away everyone’s happiness, she figured she had two choices. Not marry and see her momma suffer even more than she already did or marry and try to figure out how to be married to someone who considered her beneath him.
“A reprobate, huh? I’ll bet if I’m not happy about this arrangement, Aidan Langley is livid.”
She smiled to herself at the thought and decided to become the Jackson sacrificial lamb. She admitted she wasn’t in complete rebellion mode at the thought of marrying Aidan. Thoughts of him in the creek did things to her. Made her think of things. Feel things.
She was holed up in her room, trying to make sense of it all when a soft knock on the door interrupted her inappropriate thoughts regarding a very handsome Irishman.
"Maura. It's your mother. Can I come in?"
“Of course, Momma. Come in." She lay on her bed and stared at the tin ceiling. She wasn't really mad at her momma. Her papa, she just might not ever speak to again, since he was the one who made the deal that forced her into a marriage with Aidan Langley.
She heard her momma come into the room and softly close the door behind her. The bed squeaked under her weight, and yet, her momma kept her silence. Curious, Maura crooked her gaze to the woman sitting next to her on her broken-down mattress.
"Momma?"
The woman who gave her birth wiped away her own tears with her dirty apron.
"It will be okay, Momma. I'll get through it. We'll all get through it—somehow."
She couldn't stand to see her momma sad, so she pushed away her own fears, scooted close, and wrapped her arms around her momma's shoulders.
"Oh, honey. If there was any other way, don’t you think we’d have done it? But there just isn't. We are on our last prayer. The bank has already threatened to take all our equipment, and we can't farm without it. Your papa and I were hoping we would have a few more years of good crops. Then we could have paid it off and breathed a little easier knowing we didn’t owe nobody nothing."
"Just give them the tractor and plows. We can eat from the garden. We can share our vegetables with those Langleys. They can share their beef with us. We don't have to worry about losing the farm. We can eat just fine. Maybe even sell some of those herbs or trade them for coffee or sugar. We can do it, Momma. We can."
"Child, you don't understand. The bank doesn’t lend money on equipment that can break down or get stolen. They want something solid to hold their money's value."
"What are you sayin', Momma?" Maura knew what was coming, but she wanted to hear it for herself.
"The bank took interest on the farm as collateral for the money we borrowed on the equipment. And we can't make enough money selling vegetables and corn to make the payments. We are at the bottom of the well, knee deep in mud. You must know that if we weren't desperate and up against the fence, I wouldn’t have allowed your papa to make this arrangement to marry you to that Langley boy. You are my only child, Maura. I want you to be happy."
"I know, Momma. I guess nobody’s happy nowadays. I’ll do what I can to—” She didn’t know what she had intended to say before her emotions turned her tears loose.
Her momma hugged her h
ard. “My precious baby girl. Sometimes, we women have to do things we never saw comin'. I've had my share of heartaches and sacrifices—”
Her mother stopped short. It was as if she were going to tell Maura something but changed her mind. "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you do your best to be as happy as you can, Maura. That’s the only control we have in this world. Just—be happy if you can."
"Look on the bright side. Once Aidan and I get married, and the banker thinks we are one big happy family, maybe the Langleys won’t mind if I move back home. After all, there’s no need for the bank to know where I live, right? As long as we get the government contract, then Aidan and his family will be glad I’m not under foot."
Her mother's sad look tore at Maura's heart. "What's wrong, Momma? What is it you haven’t told me yet?"
Her mother looked guilty. "This merger, between the Langleys and us, it's not a temporary one, honey. We will legally combine our lands with theirs under one title. Your papa and Sully Langley will be co-owners. Neither one of them can ever sell any of the land. It will be passed down to the next generation. That's why it is so important for you and Aidan to marry. We can't have two families fighting over everything when Sully and your papa pass on.”
Maura’s stomach hiccupped at the realization of what her momma was telling her. “You mean Aidan and I are required to have children—together?”
Her momma’s smile was sad. “That’s the only way I know to have children, honey. Together. Once you two have children of your own, then they can lay claim to the entire Jackson-Langley legacy. You can see how important that is gonna be, can’t you?”
Maura closed her eyes against her mother's words. She would not only be married at twenty-four years of age, she would have to stay married until they parted in death.
She gleefully thought about him passing sooner rather than later, but in order for the land to pass down, she would have to get pregnant. Hmmmmm.
“So, after I have a child, let’s say just the one, that child would be entitled to everything?”
“Yes, everything. All of the lands of both families and all the property that would entail.”
“Even the big Langley house?” she wondered out loud.
“Yes, even the Langley house.”
The thought made her smile.
"Maura, you are scaring your momma. Please tell me you aren't plotting Aidan Langley’s murder. I fear the law will know it was you all too quickly if the boy comes up missing. Or dead."
Her mother was too close to the truth albeit she was just kidding. Maura changed the subject. "When is this blessed union supposed to take place? Ten years from now, I hope." She tried joking, but her mother's sad look made her sorry she'd been flip.
"No, darling. It’s—"
Maura's gut twisted inside her stomach.
"Momma, when is the wedding?"
Her momma hesitated for just a bit, then squared her shoulders and spoke. "Day after tomorrow, honey. The wedding is this Saturday."
Chapter Four
Later that afternoon, Aidan sat slumped in the passenger seat of his best friend's car, staring out the side window on the way to town.
"Hey, what's got you all down in the mouth? You look like you lost your best friend, but I'm still here." Tommy Hillman laughed at his own joke and steered his 1926 Chrysler Model G-70 roadster around the deep ruts left by the recent rains and busy traffic. The car had seen better days, especially with Tommy at the wheel. The eight-year-old car was a college graduation gift to Tommy from his parents. But that was when his dad had a thriving law practice and his mother owned her own dress shop. Money had been plentiful then.
"Shut up, Tommy. Just drive, will ya?" Aidan was in no mood for conversation.
Tommy shrugged his shoulders and shoved the Chrysler into a lower gear, sending the small but powerful six-cylinder roadster down the road toward New Dawn Springs.
A couple of bumps and a few rattles later, Tommy spoke up. "Okay, you've had time to stew, and it is only five more miles to town, so what gives? You are in a piss poor mood today so if I have to take a back road to find out what’s going on with you, I will."
Aidan felt Tommy's side glance, and he wanted to ignore him, but he could use his friend's advice. And he knew Tommy wasn't kidding.
Tommy played the jokester, but it was a front to put everyone at ease and make him likable. Aidan knew that underneath his friend's jovial exterior, Tommy was a savvy businessman, determined to work his way back up the financial food chain after the stock market crash stole his parents’ fortune.
"I mean it, Aidan. Give me the scoop. You’ve got less than ten minutes before we reach town. Out with it. I’m pulling over to the side of the road until you do."
Tommy took his foot off the gas. "Okay. Okay. I—I'll tell you. Go ahead and pull over. This is going to take a minute."
For the next fifteen minutes, Aidan told his best friend about his parents’ request to marry Maura Jackson and everything that went with it. When he was done, his friend was silent.
"Shocking, right?" Aidan cut an I-told-you-so look.
His friend finally turned to him and grinned. "Aidan Langley, you are one lucky bastard."
"What the hell are you talking about? Didn't you hear me? I am supposed to marry that Maura Jackson girl. It's a life sentence with a person I don’t love. How in the hell does this make me lucky?"
Aidan was certain Tommy had been hitting the moonshine a little bit too early this morning.
"Come on, my friend. Where's your entrepreneurship? Professor Livingstone would be disappointed you didn't learn more under his tutelage at good ol' U of Oregon Business.”
"Tommy, what are you rambling about? What has my business degree and marrying the Jackson girl to save my family's land got to do with each other?"
"Aidan, you are the one marrying the girl. You should be the one to dictate the terms of the marriage contract between your dad and Harvey Jackson."
"The contract has already been created. Your dad did it at my dad’s request. So how am I going to dictate what the contract says?" Aidan stared out the open car window.
"You wanna marry her without putting in your two cents? That doesn’t sound like the Aidan Langley I know," Tommy teased.
"No. Well, truth be told, I don't want to marry her at all. But I have to in order to prove to the bank we are one big happy family so they will give us the loan we need to get that wheat contract."
Tommy questioned him. “Is that the government wheat contract I heard my dad talking about? He said there’s a lot of money in that contract.”
Aidan shrugged his shoulders. “Dad says there’s—enough to keep both families from losing everything.”
“How long is the contract?”
“Five years with the possibility of two more if the government thinks the wheat is helping feed the families displaced by the depression.”
Tommy nodded his understanding. “Excellent. Then we’ll change the contract. My dad is working from home these days. I know where he keeps his current client files. I’ll just add a little tweak here and there to the pages before your dad and Harvey Jackson sign the agreement between your two families. Then, when you are ready to shuck the ol’ ball and chain, you walk away with all the cookies."
Aidan was all ears. "That doesn’t sound very ethical, Tommy. What’s the catch?”
"You said you have to marry her because the bank wants guarantees. Well, give them a guarantee."
"Like what?"
"All the bank is interested in is securing their money. They don't give a crap if you marry the girl or not. But someone has convinced the bank that if you and this girl marry, you can combine both families’ resources and make enough money to repay the bank. All they are interested in is protecting their money, right?"
Aidan thought about Tommy's observations. "No, the bank wants more than a guarantee we’ll pay the money back. They want a guarantee that we are not all going to wake up on
e morning and kill each other over this stupid feud Harvey Jackson’s uncle started a million years ago. He tried to shoot my dad, ended up shooting my mom in the shoulder, and tried to justify it all by accusing my dad of poisoning some fancy horse Old Man Jackson owned.”
"Aidan, you are missing the big picture. If you don't marry the girl, you can't get access to her land. And if you don't get access to her land, you won't gain the attention of the right investors. Investors with the kind of money to make you the kind of profit I'm talking about."
"Investors? Money? Now, what are we talking about?"
"After the stock market crashed, only the smartest of the smart still have money to invest. And they want a sure bet. That's where I come in."
“You come in? Where? I have no idea what you are talking about now. What investors? We already have a deal with the bank. We don’t need investors. As soon as they have a copy of the signed government contract, they will loan us the money we need to fulfill the wheat contract. And they won’t do that until Maura Jackson and I are married. End of story."
Tommy thumped him in the back of the head, he assumed to loosen his brain. Not sure it helped since he still wasn't following what Tommy was getting at.
"Look. Agree to marry the girl, but don't sire any Jackson-Langley babies."
"But if I don't have kids, who will The Legacy go to? That is part of the marriage arrangement."
"Aidan, for such a smart guy, sometimes you are as dense as a box of rocks. I said marry the Jackson girl and stay married to her in word and deed as long as you need to. But once you get that government contract locked down, I can take it from there. I'll set everything up, and you won't have to worry about a thing. You can take your money and set the Jackson girl free."
"Set her free as in divorce her? How can I do that? You know my parents won’t like—”
"I'm not sayin' make a public spectacle of it. I’m guessing this girl isn’t any happier to be marrying you than you are her, am I right?”
Aidan's Arrangement: (The Langley Legacy Book 4) Page 3