When it was one o’clock and Claudia was well on her way to Boston Cole made his way to the train station. When he got there the train was already stationed. It seemed like it was ahead of schedule. Cole made his way for the conductor.
However, when got close to the front cart he heard people speaking. There was a gruff male voice he does not recognize that he assumed belonged to the conductor but speaking with him was a soft feminine voice that he swore he knew.
Cole decided to get closer. As he did and as the conversation continued his eyes grew in surprise as he realized who the voice belonged to. Evelena. But shouldn’t Evelena and Claudia be well on their way to Boston by this point? Cole was confused as he moved closer to the conductor cart and took a peek inside. As he did he saw none other than his wife’s sister standing there with the conductor. But why would Evelena be talking to the conductor?
Suddenly, Cole realized what was going on and ran toward the carts holding the gold. He didn’t want to believe it, but it was the only thing that made any sense. As he ran down the length of the train he didn’t see anything and was confused. Maybe he was mistaken.
However, just when he was about to walk back to the conductor cart he heard the tell-tale sound of gold coins falling on the ground. He rushed toward the sound and realized that the criminal was on the other side of the train tracks. He quickly jumped from one side to the other and was met face to face with none other than his own wife.
“Claudia!” Cole yelled out as he approached her. There was anger in his face. How could his own wife do this? What would the town say when they figured out that the sheriff’s wife was the criminal stealing countless gold coins from the gold-trains?
He would be the ridicule of the town. He looked at his wife who was still bent down trying to pick up the gold coins she had dropped. He grabbed her arm harshly and forced her up.
“Cole… please… I can explain.” Cole looked down at her angrily. To think that he thought he loved this woman. He didn’t love anything short of a criminal. He could feel something like vile build up in his mouth. He was trying to contain his anger before he did something he regretted.
“I hope to hell you can or I am going to end up putting my own wife in prison!” His voice was full of malice as he looked down at her. He was in a state of shock.
He then roughly looked inside of her pockets and found countless gold coins.
“What the hell were you going to do with all this? Am I not good enough to provide for you? Why do you have to steal?” He asked harshly before emptying her pockets. Cole had never been this harsh with her before and for the first time in her marriage she felt a little afraid of her husband. What would he do to her now that he knew her secret?
She looked up at him without an answer and this just made him angrier. He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip around her arm even more. She flinched in pain before he started to pull her. He was going to bring her home and get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did.
Chapter 8
The couple finally got back home and Cole roughly pushed his wife into the couch. He would get answers out of her one way or another. Claudia looked up at her husband and could see the anger in his face. She didn’t want to upset him but, who wouldn’t be upset at a time like this? But she had to make him understand, one way or another.
“Claudia, you are going to tell me right now what the meaning of all this is.” His voice was cruel as he looked at his wife and paced around the room. He ran his fingers through his sweat soaked hair and stared at her.
“Well go on now. Or do you want to admit that you are a thief and that I am going to have to go out and tell the town that my wife is a criminal? How do you think that would make me look as the sheriff?” Cole seemed to be getting angrier by the minute and Claudia would have to do something if she had any hope of salvaging their marriage.
“I have a good reason.” Cole looked at her skeptically, but Claudia continued. “My mother, she is very sick. She has a rare disease and they want a lot of money for her treatment. My sister and I had to get the money somehow… we didn’t want to steal, but we didn’t have a choice.” Claudia suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to him. It was her mother’s letter.
He grabbed it and read it over.
“So your mother is doing better because of the money you sent over to her?” He looked at the letter and then at his wife and sighed. His wife wasn’t a bad person. She didn’t have a bad heart. She had been doing bad things with good intentions. He looked at her with something like understanding in his eyes.
“Claudia… I haven’t been completely honest with you either and I have been a bit of a hypocrite with you just now. I had no reason to treat you the way that I did and I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me.” Claudia looked at her husband and rubbed her arm where he had bruised her. She could understand his anger, but when had he been dishonest to her?
“I need to confess something.” He finally said, looking down and toying with the tassel of his hat. “You know the murderer running throughout the town?” He asked his voice low. Claudia looked at him with her eyes big.
“You don’t mean?” Cole nodded his head shamefully. “It’s true. I am the murderer who is terrorizing the town.” Claudia couldn’t believe it.
“But why?” She finally asked. She couldn’t understand why her husband would go around killing people. At least her crime didn’t hurt anyone. Cole sat down with his head in his hands, hiding his shame.
“My father. He has a lot of debtors who owe him a lot of money. He forces me to go out and kill these people and take their money so that they pay him back.” Cole was on the point of tears as he confessed this. Claudia looked at him, a little skeptical. This didn’t make any sense.
“Wait… what do you mean he forces you, how can he force you?” Claudia asked as she walked up to him. She needed to know the truth. They needed to be honest with one another once and for all.
“He threatens me by threatening Olivia… and you.” Cole said looking up at his wife with red eyes. There were tears streaming down his cheeks now as he admitted his own weakness to his wife. He couldn’t even stand up to his own father.
“Threaten how…?” Claudia asked with a hint of fear in her voice.
“He would hurt you both…” Cole admitted as he looked down in shame. He wasn’t even good enough to protect his own family. Claudia frowned before hugging him. He had murdered those people to protect her not because he was some cold-hearted killer. She looked at her husband with new eyes before gently hugging him again.
“I’m so sorry…” Cole finally said as he pulled her tighter to his chest. They both started to cry as the realization of what just happened kicked in. Claudia shook her head.
“Don’t apologize… we are both victims here… neither of us wanted to do what we did… but we did it for the people that we loved… I don’t think you are a bad person… but your father is.” She said softly looking into her husband’s eyes.
He looked down at her and gently cupped her face. He would never have thought that she would forgive him. He leaned down slowly and kissed her lip gently. She kissed back and they held hands. They stayed like this for a moment.
“But we have to get out of the town. We can’t keep living here. Sooner or later they will discover the truth.” Cole looked at his wife and nodded.
“You’re right. We should leave right away.”
“We can go back to Boston and start a new life there” she suggested as she looked at him. He smiled and nodded.
“Does that mean I get to see snow again?” They both smiled at the comment before packing their bags for their new life.
Chapter 9
In a matter of hours, Claudia, Cole, and Olivia were all on a train together headed for Boston. It was a sudden move, but it was a necessary one. In Boston, Cole’s father wouldn’t be able to hurt them and Claudia wouldn’t have to steal. She would be by her mother
side and would provide for her that way while Cole would do all that he could to get the money she needed, in an honest fashion, in order to take care of his mother-in-law. As the train sped along the iron tracks Claudia looked out the window realizing that she was once again on a train to a new life.
*****
Eventually, after a short time in Boston Cole found a job with the Boston police. He was good at his job and made considerably more than he did in Bloomingfield.
Claudia’s mother, after a few months, was back to full health and looked better than ever. There was no threat of her dying in her bed.
Eventually, Cole and Claudia scrapped up enough money to buy their own home and had been living in it ever since. It was a small but cozy home and the two of them really loved it. It felt like a home.
Better yet, they were finally husband and wife. Claudia would cook dinner and sleep with him and Cole would go to work and provide for her. They were finally affectionate and loving as any married couple should be. They were finally happy together.
But on the first night of their new home, they had gotten even closer. On the first night, a passion came over them and before Cole knew what was happening they were in bed together. This was not like the other times. This time was different. This time, there was a passionate emotion there that could only be seen between a husband and a wife.
As they kissed in bed that night, they knew it wouldn’t end in cuddling and they didn’t care. As the night progressed things got more natural and the couple got more comfortable in each other's skins.
*****
Now nine months later Claudia’s mother and Olivia were visiting the Pearse household. As they knocked on the door Cole answered it with a bright smile on his face. He ushered them inside and seemed to be a bundle of excitement. He looked at them and brought them to the bedroom.
“She’s beautiful.” Claudia’s mother squealed as she laid eyes on her granddaughter for the first time. As Claudia held her new baby girl she knew that their days of lying, killing, and stealing were over.
*****
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Chapter 1
Cassandra toyed with her skirt, admiring the beauty of her dress. She was filled with giddy anticipation as she waited for Ian to arrive with the carriage. Ian was Jonathon’s cousin, and this evening was his wedding gift to the two of them. Well, his and Cassandra’s cousins’. He would drive the carriage himself, taking them first to Antoine’s Restaurant and then, after that, to the French Opera House on Bourbon and Toulouse.
Truth be told, she didn’t much care about the restaurant, though she would never have said so to Ian or her cousins. It was the thought of the opera that had her on the edge of her seat, barely able to contain herself. She had loved music for as long as she could remember and had dreamt of seeing an opera from the time she was a young girl.
She had never been before and, truth be told, she would probably never have the opportunity to go again. She and Jonathon were not particularly wealthy. Tonight’s extravagance they owed entirely to the kindness of Ian, Hannah, and Christine. Most of the family had given them practical gifts, things that would be useful to them as they started their lives together.
However, Hannah and Christine, knowing her deep love of music, had had another idea. They had easily talked Ian into the plan. Normally he carried passengers for fare, but he had agreed to take this night to drive Cassandra and Jonathon.
Christine and Hannah, for their part, had scrimped and saved to pay for the evening at the opera. Even Cassandra’s dress had been a gift from them. They had bought the material and, with a bit of persuasion, convinced their mother, Marie, to sew the dress.
Cassandra smoothed the material as she admired it once more. It really was a thing to behold. The material was a light rose-colored silk with black velvet bows on the bodice and the sleeves. It had a short train, which also boasted adornments of black velvet. They had even included a folding fan that matched the dress. She had never felt more beautiful in her life, she decided.
She blushed when she looked up to find Jonathon smiling down at her. She hadn’t yet managed to wrap her head around the fact that he was actually her husband now. The sight of him still made her feel as giddy as a school girl.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then he closed it again and instead placed a kiss on the top of her head. She laid her head on his shoulder as he squeezed her hand and the two of them continued to sit in comfortable silence as they waited for the carriage to arrive.
They didn’t have to wait long. Jonathon laughed as she almost came out of her seat at the sound of approaching hooves. Ian drew the carriage to a halt in front of them, and Jonathon smiled as he offered Cassandra his hand.
“Madam,” he said laughingly as he helped her into the carriage. She laughed as she accepted his hand and climbed into the carriage. Once he had settled in beside her they spoke excitedly in hushed tones all the way to Antoine’s. In truth, he didn’t care much for the idea of going to the opera. But her enthusiasm was infectious and he found that he was almost as excited as she was.
It had always been that way between the two of them. When she was happy, so was he, simply because she was happy. And when she felt sorrow, he felt it right along with her. The two of them had been inseparable since childhood, and neither could imagine life without the other.
When they arrived at Antoine’s they were greeted and escorted to a small table beneath an elegant chandelier. The place really was quite charming, Cassandra decided. She made a decided effort to calm down and savor the experience and the food. As anxious as she was to get to the opera, she knew that she would never again have a night like this one, and she didn’t want to waste a single moment of it. By the time they reached the French Opera House she could barely contain herself.
She gasped in wonder at her first sight of the lobby. Wide columns rose up to meet ceilings adorned with flowers and the floors gleamed like jewels. There were circular settees, elaborate centerpieces adorning the middle of each, and luxuriant curtains graced the various domed windows and archways. She had to make a conscious effort not to stop where she stood and turn round in circles trying to take it all in.
The concert hall itself surpassed the lobby tenfold. Three rows of balconies and private boxes ringed the main floor and the vastness of the room took her breath away. She tightened her grasp on Jonathon’s elbow as she drank it all in.
Jonathon took little notice of the opera house itself, instead enjoying Cassandra’s reaction to it. She had never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment, he thought. Her silken blonde hair was swept into elegant ringlets and the dress that her cousins had had made for her complemented her slender frame perfectly.
But what really struck him, what really made her beautiful, was the way that her brown eyes sparkled as she took in the sights around her. His heart swelled as she looked up at him, and he thanked God that he had been lucky enough to make her his wife.
They found their seats and Cassandra studied the program. The name of the opera was Mignon. It was not one she had ever heard of, although she did recognize some of the singers by name. Her heart soared as the first notes rolled through the air of the auditorium. She didn’t understand a word of what was being said, but the music itself spoke to her in a way that she felt right down to her bones. She felt that if she had died right then she could have died happy.
It was a mercy that she could not know just how different her life would be in only three months’ time.
*****
Cassandra lay in t
he guest bedroom of her cousin’s house staring blankly at the walls. She had not left the bed since Jonathon’s funeral. The fever had taken him so suddenly. He had taken a turn for the better and they had thought he would make a full recovery. But it was not to be. It was like that sometimes with yellow fever, the doctor had told her.
Her heart refused to accept the reality of it, and her mind shied away from it violently anytime the subject came up. She couldn’t bear to think of him being gone. So she allowed a small part of her to keep believing that he would walk through the door at any moment, that this had all been a bad dream.
But she knew that that was not true. She also knew that she needed to start making some kind of plan for her future without him. She couldn’t stay with Hannah forever. While Hannah and her husband, James, would no doubt open their arms and their home to her without hesitation, she knew that they could not afford to support her.
The same could be said of Ian and Christine and their respective spouses as well. They would doubtlessly welcome her, but there was no way that they could support her and…
She rested her hand against her belly. She had told no one of the baby yet. She had just been about to break the good news to Jonathon when he had fallen ill. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that thinking of it brought. He would have been so happy.
Her reverie was broken by a soft knock at the door. Sitting up, she hastily wiped the tears away and tried to push those thoughts out of her mind as Hannah entered the room bearing a tray with a bowl of soup.
“I thought you might like to try and eat something,” she said as she settled on the bed next to Cassandra. Worry was painted across her delicate features. Cassandra nodded dully as she accepted the tray. The last thing she wanted to do was eat, but she knew that the baby needed nourishment.
So far everyone had assumed that her bouts of nausea were brought on by nerves. And for the time being she was happy to let them think so.
AFRICAN AMERICAN URBAN FICTION: BWWM ROMANCE: Billionaire Baby Daddy (Billionaire Secret Baby Pregnancy Romance) (Multicultural & Interracial Romance Short Stories) Page 64