Drina’s Choice

by Agnes Alexander

  “I’ll help, too.” Milly took some of the bed covers Drina had in her hand.

  Drina nodded. She didn’t say anything else to Aaron, but left the room with the two saloon girls following her.

  * * * *

  “Where have you been, Brit? I insisted you come home early because I’ve invited the mayor and his wife for dinner tonight. You know I don’t like to rush at the last moment when I’m having a dinner party. Now you only have a few minutes to get dressed appropriately.”

  “I don’t see why we have to be so formal with the mayor and his wife.”

  “Well, my dear, just because we have to live in this primitive place doesn’t mean we have to live like the dregs of society do.”

  He knew in his soul his wife was one of the most irritating women he’d ever met. Though he’d wanted to slap Drina Wilcox when she ordered him out of her house, he still thought the woman had been interesting. Maybe he’d like to get to know her better, after he got Aaron out of the picture. He almost smiled, thinking that she would probably argue with a man, but she would never be as irritating as Adeline. Through his teeth he said, “I don’t think we live like the dregs do, my sweet.”

  She waved her delicate hand in the air. “Of course we don’t. I’m here to see that we never do. Just because you dragged me away from the society I loved in San Francisco, doesn’t mean that I’ll ever forget what the proper thing is for a well-bred lady to do. When my father gets his ranch here, I plan to turn this area into the center of polite society.”

  “I have every faith in the fact that you’ll always be the perfect lady, no matter where we live, my sweet.” Brit wanted so badly to walk over and slap her across her well-pursed mouth. But instead, he headed out of the room. “I’ll be ready shortly.”

  “Hurry. You know I don’t like for anyone to be late for my dinner parties. Especially the host.”

  Brit was out of sight when he shook his head and let his mind consider the frustration he felt. I wish this woman would get off my back. I know her pa or father, as she prefers to refer to him, is one of the richest men in San Francisco, and as his only child she stands to inherit a fortune, but how much longer is the old devil going to live? It gets harder and harder to be married to her, but I can’t do anything about that until she has the money or I’m in charge of the railroad. I thought at least when she went to meet her aunt I’d have some freedom from her. But no, she didn’t even get as far as Phoenix when she decided the trip was too dirty and hard without her father’s private railroad car. She refused to go any farther. So what did the bitch do but turned around and came back here. And she’s already starting her winter entertaining. Why does she think she has to be the supreme hostess of Hatchet Springs? When I get the Wilcox ranch for her pa, she’ll probably want to have somebody visit there every few days and her excuse will be that she has to show off her father’s new home.

  Brit jerked a clean shirt from his wardrobe. Slipping his arms into it he began to think about acquiring the ranch. Now that the attempt on Aaron’s life had failed and it looked like making Aaron’s new wife mad enough to leave him would fail, what was he going to do next?

  He had come up with several plans, the first of those being the attack on the old hermit, who he’d discovered was important to Beulah. If that came to fruition, maybe he could forget the others. Certainly, Beulah would be so upset she’d make Aaron’s life miserable, and his pretty Drina would become disenchanted with the marriage.

  But, was Cleg Keller capable of carrying out the murder? Surely, he wasn’t so dense he couldn’t kill a man more than twice his age. Especially since he had the help of his two idiot sons. Of course, Cleg didn’t manage to hurt Lottie as much as he asked him to do, but that could be because the whore started talking about Aaron.

  He frowned. How much does she know, anyway? She could ruin everything if she were to tell Aaron her suspicions, and there was no doubt in Brit’s mind that she had suspicions about him. Did she know he owned the saloon? Of course, she does. I’m sure she told everything to Milly. She’s got to be the next one to go even if she hasn’t been turned out to work yet.

  He chuckled. Maybe they really have gone away. I’m sure they weren’t at the Wilcox ranch. If that snippy little wife of Aaron’s wouldn’t let me stay after I told her he slept with Lottie on her wedding night, she sure wouldn’t let two whores come into her house. I wish they would’ve gone there. Coming face to face with Lottie and Milly would have been a sure way to make Mrs. Aaron Wilcox head back to Savannah.

  “Brit,” Adeline’s high-pitched voice came down the hall. “Are you ready, dear? A buggy is pulling up to the house. I’m sure it’s the mayor and his wife.”

  “Coming, Adeline.” He pushed thoughts of Drina and the whores out of his mind and went down the stairs trying to decide the best way to kill his wife and get away with it. He only had to wait until she had her father’s millions to do the job.

  * * * *

  Aaron lay in his bed wondering what was going on in the rest of the house. He felt helpless. Damn Cleg Keller to hell. He’s the reason I can’t get out of this bed and do the work I’m supposed to be doing. I should have killed him two years ago instead of sending him home with his tail between his legs. I knew at the time I’d regret it, and now, I sure do.

  He sighed. As if I don’t have enough regrets already, I’m worried about Drina. How in the world am I ever going to get her to forgive my awful behavior? She deserves so much better than me, but I want to try to make it up to her. I only pray she’ll give me the chance to do so.

  His door opened. His heart began to beat faster. Maybe it was Drina.

  Milly entered. “Mrs. Wilcox wanted me to tell you that Mr. Win seems to be warming up. He was almost frozen when Gus found him.”

  “Why was he out in this weather?”

  “We don’t know. He didn’t tell Gus and he’s still not able to talk.”

  “Is Gus still here?”

  “Yes. Mrs. Wilcox told him to wait because we might need him to go for the doctor or something.”

  “Ask him to step in here before he leaves, Milly.”

  “Yes, sir. I will.”

  “Thank you.”

  Milly left, and in a matter of minutes, Gus entered the room with his hat in his hand.

  “Did you want to see me, Boss?”

  “Yeah, Gus. What’s going on?”

  Obviously nervous, he told Aaron what had happened. “I didn’t know what else to do, but when Salty told me to bring the old man here, I felt I had to do what he said.”

  Aaron nodded. “You did the right thing. Do you think Win will be all right?”

  Gus seemed to relax a little. “Best I can tell. The women are doing a good job working on him.”

  He acted as if he wanted to say something more and Aaron prompted, “What else, Gus?”

  “How do you know I wanted to say somethin’, Boss?”

  “Just call it a hunch.”

  “All I wanted to know is why them women from The Swinging Door is here?”

  “They came to bring us a message.”

  “Does your wife always let women like these come in the house?”

  Aaron shook his head. “I think it’s because they do things differently in Savannah. They don’t judge people by the kind of job they do. They more or less wait to see how a person is going to treat them.” He didn’t know if this was true or not, but it sounded good and it would keep Gus from asking too many questions.

  “I see. Maybe we should all do that.”

  “I’m sure we should.”

  “Can I ask you somethin’ else?”

  “Sure you can.”

  “I know Miss Milly ain’t worked upstairs at The Swinging Door yet, so do you think she’d be interested … I mean do you think…What I want to know is..” He couldn’t seem to get the words out.

  “Gus, are you trying to tell me you’re interested in Milly?”

  Gus actually blushed. “Well, I been a watch
ing her work on that old man. I think it’d be nice if somebody would be there … I mean…”

  “You are interested.” Aaron shook his head. “I can’t speak for Milly, Gus. The only thing I can say is that you need to talk to her about it.”

  “I guess I could go to The Swinging Door and talk to her.”

  “I’m not so sure these women will be going back to The Swinging Door.”

  Gus frowned. “Then maybe I better forget it.”

  “Why?”

  He twirled his hat and almost dropped it. “Just forget I said anything, Boss. I’m an old man. I shouldn’t be thinking about such things.”

  “You’re never too old, Gus. At least I hope you’re not. I’m no young bull myself.”

  Gus laughed. “Boss you probably ain’t even thirty yet.”

  “I was thirty last July, Gus.”

  “You’re still a young man.”

  “Maybe so, but I hope to still be going strong when I’m twice or three times that age.”

  “I hope you are, too, Boss. That little wife of yours seems to be just what you need.”

  “I agree with you. She’s a special lady.” He changed the subject. “Do you think they’ll get the cows to the winter pasture today?”

  “Might do it by midnight since we got started as early as we did. We wanted to get past this rough weather, if we could.”

  “Good. You men will deserve a bonus for all the work you’ve had to do since I’ve been laid up.”

  “Now, Boss, you know we don’t mind. You’re good to us, and we don’t mind returning the favor.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “Well, I guess I better get on the trail. I might be able to catch up with the rest of the crew before they reach the pasture.”

  “I don’t see the need. I’m sure by the time you got there, they’d have already turned the herd on the land. Just hang around the bunkhouse in case Mrs. Wilcox needs something.”

  “Are you shore?”

  “I’m sure. And if there’s nothing to eat out there, come back about supper time. I’m sure somebody can find you something.”

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s not something you need to thank me for. You deserve it.” He glanced at the man. “Ask Mrs. Wilcox to please come give me a report on Win when she gets a chance.”

  Chapter 15

  At supper time, Drina squared her shoulders and entered Aaron’s room with a tray. “I’ve brought you something to eat.” She set the tray on the table beside him hoping she could get away quickly. “I’m sure you can serve yourself.” She turned to leave.

  “Drina, wait.”

  She hesitated, but didn’t stop. She didn’t want to stay in this room with him. She was still hurt and angry.

  He added, “Please.”

  She turned and looked at him. Her voice was sharp. “What do you want from me, Aaron?”

  “I want you to sit down in your rocking chair and talk to me.”

  “I have nothing to say.”

  “If that’s the way you want it, you don’t have to say a thing after you tell me how Win’s doing. Then, I’ll do the talking.” He nodded toward the chair. “All you have to lose is a few minutes of your time.”

  She decided she might as well give in. He wouldn’t keep her long, because she wouldn’t let him. She took a deep breath and plopped down in the rocking chair. “Mr. Win is doing much better. He’s sipping some soup and he’s trying to tell Beulah who pushed him out of his cabin into the cold.”

  He frowned. “Pushed him out?”

  “That’s what he said. According to him there were three men who came to his place, ate his supper and threw him out of the house and he thought they were going to shoot him. But he said they decided to let him freeze to death.”

  “Three men?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m sure it was the Kellers.”

  She couldn’t help being a little surprised. “Isn’t that who you said shot you?”

  “It was. Those men will do anything to anybody for a dollar or two.” He sighed. “I wonder if Brit Vance was behind this, too.”

  Aaron wasn’t making sense.

  “Why would he want somebody to hurt Mr. Win?”

  “I have no idea, Drina. This is all getting complicated, but there has to be an answer somewhere.” He rubbed his hair out of his eyes and tried to sit up. “If I could just get out of this bed so I could take care of all of this.”

  She jumped up and put her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t try that again. It’s been a struggle to get you to this point. I will not let you injure yourself. Now, lie down.”

  “Why do you care? You walked out of here angry and you act like being here in the room with me is worse than being pinned in a cage with a rattlesnake.”

  She swallowed. “I’m trying to be civil, Aaron. I know you’d prefer for Lottie or even Milly serve your meal. But they’re tied up. Milly took a plate to the bunkhouse for Gus and Lottie seems to be the person Beulah wants to help her with Win. I was stuck with cooking, and with everybody else busy, I ended up here.”

  His voice was calm, but firm when he said, “You’re dead wrong, Drina. There’s nobody else in the world I’d rather have in this room with me than you.”

  Her eyes met his, and she wondered what kind of lie he was telling her now. Yet, his eyes seem to be clear of deception. At least, they looked as if he was telling the truth, but she couldn’t be sure. “Well, I’m here with you now. Please say what you have to say. I need to go wash the dishes.”

  Aaron looked at her for a long minute and she wondered when he was going to speak. Finally he broke the silence. “Forget it, Drina. You’re in no mood to listen to anything I say and I’d be wasting my breath.”

  She said nothing because she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t mean to be as stern with him, but he had to realize that after what she’d learned about him, she couldn’t be the same friendly person she was before.

  Before she could speak he said in a loud voice, “Take the tray with you when you leave. I’m not hungry.”

  Drina glared at him and was almost as loud when she said, “I will not take the tray. You have to eat to keep up your strength.”

  His head jerked toward her. “I don’t have to eat if I don’t want to.”

  “I guess you think I can’t cook. Well, let me inform you, I’m a good cook.”

  “Are you as good as Beulah?” He sounded as if he barked.

  Drina paused. She knew he’d never believe her if she said she was, but she had no intention of letting him skip this meal. “No, I’m not, but I’m almost as good. Now, eat your supper.”

  “What if I refuse?”

  The door opened and Beulah stuck her head in. “What’s going on in here?”

  “What do you mean, Beulah?” Drina looked at her.

  “We can hear you two all the way in the parlor. Why are you yelling?”

  “I’m sorry, Beulah,” Aaron said.

  Drina looked down. She felt guilty. After all, she was the one who started it all by being determined he wouldn’t have her thinking thoughts about his handsome face and well-developed body. She knew nothing would ever come of it, and she didn’t want to have her heart broken. At least, not broken like it had been when she learned where he spent their wedding night. But Beulah was right, they didn’t have any right to disturb the other people in the house.

  “I’m sorry, too.” Drina looked at Aaron. “We’ll be quieter.”

  “Thank you.” Beulah closed the door.

  Aaron gave her a half smile. “I guess we just had out first fight.”

  “It was childish of us. We should have known better.”

  “All right, let’s call a truce. I won’t yell if you’ll sit down and talk with me.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Yes, Drina. From this day forward you’ll always have a choice. I know I shouldn’t have pushed you into marriage before we even met, but I swear to you, I was so fu
rious I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time.” He shook his head. “But no more. From now on, I won’t be making decisions for you.”

  She shook her head at him. “Well, I’m making one for you.” She reached for the pillows and put them behind his back. She then placed a towel across his lap and picked up the tray. “I hope it’s not too cold.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

  “Are you complimenting me or are you being facetious?”

  He winked at her. “Can’t you tell the difference?”

  “With you, no I can’t.”

  Aaron smiled at her and began to eat. After a few bites he said, “This is good, Drina. Don’t tell Beulah but I like these dumplings as much as I like hers.”

  “Flatterer.”

  He ate for a few minutes, then looked at her. “Have you eaten yet?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I didn’t want to keep gobbling in front of you.”

  There were several minutes of silence. Drina broke it when she whispered a two word question. “Why, Aaron?”

  He put his spoon down and said, “I’ve been asking myself that question ever since I woke up the other night and found you holding my hand. I’ve never regretted anything as much as I regret what I did on our wedding night.”

  “Thank you for saying that.”

  “I mean it Drina.”

  She nodded and stood. She busied herself setting the tray aside, fixing his pillows and tucking him back in bed.

  “Will you come back before you go to bed?”

  She picked up the tray with the dirty dishes and the towel. “Do you really want me to?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  She sighed. “I’ll come back.” She headed to the door.

  “Drina,” she tuned and he went on. “We can get past this if we want to bad enough.”

  “Maybe.” She went through the door.

  * * * *

  A knock sounded on the bunkhouse door. Gus frowned. Who in the world would be knocking? Most anybody who was familiar with the place would simply walk in.

  He didn’t bother to put on his boots or button his shirt. Ambling to the door in his sock feet, he opened the door and his mouth fell open.