by Tia Siren
No one was left in the underground, except Anton alone.
It was now Java’s turn to taste the dose of his own medicine.
Chapter Nine
Sitting by the window, Tasia’s mother, Tonya, was thinking about her daughter. She was regretful of gambling their house for the sake of her entertainment. Tasia had not come back home for over a year now. She spent Christmas alone. No gifts. No Christmas trees. Just a simple meal.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Someone was outside the entrance door.
“Who’s that?” Tonya yelled.
No one answered. Instead, the knock kept on going, louder and louder.
For goodness’ sake. Who’s that? “I’ll be right there. Hang on minute….”
As she opened the door, a slim black woman stood before her with a baby girl clutched in her arm. She did not recognize her. She had changed so much. That little girl she had once taken care of was now a full grown woman.
“Tasia? Is that you?” Tears welled up in Tonya’s eyes. Disbelief clouded her mind.
“Mama?” Tasia began to cry.
“It’s you. Thank goodness, you’re alive. Oh, my daughter…”
Lifting her arms up, Tonya let them rest on her daughter’s shoulders as she pulled her in closer, savoring the moment. Every second of it was more precious than diamonds. It was a gold that can never be purchased, its value beyond a price one could afford.
The baby smiled at her grandmother sweetly, entertained by her reaction.
“Is that my granddaughter, Tasia?”
“Yes, Mama. Her name is Alexis.”
“Oh, sweet heaven. She’s beautiful!”
“Like mother, like daughter.” She laughed.
“Where’s your husband?”
“Ummm… Let’s talk about that inside Mama. I don’t think this is a good place for that topic.”
“Yes, of course. Sorry, darling. Come on in.” Tonya shut the door.
****
It had been days since Tasia had arrived back in Chicago. Since then, she had been praying that her mother would not ask about Alexis’ father. She thought Anton was already dead, and she did not want to keep her hope up, afraid to be hurt again.
Since he was gone, Alexis had been her source of strength. She was the reason she found the courage to visit her mother again. Without her child, she would have gone insane by now.
“Alright, Alexis, mommy and grandma will take you to the park. You like that, don’t yah?”
Alexis giggled, exposing her toothless gums.
“Mama…”
“Yes, Tasia?”
“Are you ready? I’m gonna take Alexis to the car, alright?”
“Yes, darling. Just make sure you put her in the car-seat. She’s not allowed in the front passenger seat.”
“Cool. Thanks!” Tasia made her way down the stairs to the carport where the car was parked.
Driving to the park, Anton came to her remembrance as she noticed Alexis was sleeping. She really looks like her dad when she’s asleep.
As they came to stop at the intersection, Tonya noticed her agitated face. “Is there something bothering you?”
“Ha? Ah, no… I’m alright, Mama. I’m just thinking of what we should feed Alexis when she wakes up.” She lied.
Truth be told. She was thinking of Anton.
Sitting on a red picnic mantle, she watched her baby crawl around. How she wished Anton was there to see their daughter’s growth. But he was not. He was dead. As least that was what she thought.
Not far off, Anton stood under a tree, trying to find the courage to approach his family. Papa, if you ever hear me, please help me be a father that I should be to my daughter.
Since the time Anton saw his father’s reflection during the fight with Java, he was convinced his father had long desired his forgiveness. As Anton allowed himself to forgive, a sense of relief followed him all the time. It was the power of forgiveness that had taught him healing.
A cold breeze hissed at him. Goosebumps stood up on his skin. Was it his father’s spirit who was helping him out?
“Alexis, don’t go that far,” Tasia told her daughter.
Oblivious to who was behind her, a hand grabbed Tasia’s shoulder. She recognized his smell and the texture of his palm. Don’t tell me his ghost is haunting me?
Every doubt was abolished when she heard him speak.
“Tasia?”
She could not get it wrong. His strong, but soft Russian accent was remarkable.
“Anton?” She excitedly turned.
Gems of precious tears began to roll down involuntarily from their eyes. They were both speechless – tamed with surprise and gladness that miracles really do happen. And a happy ending was possible.
“How did you find us?” She asked with thankfulness in her voice.
“I’d do everything to find you and our daughter.”
He shifted his gaze at Alexis while she was crawling around, exploring her skills. She got her golden brown hair from her father. Her eyes were Hazel, a little bit lighter than her mother’s eyes. But her skin tone was mixed. A little lighter than Tasia’s. And a little darker than Anton’s.
“She’s beautiful. She looks just like you, Tasia. Can I hold her?”
“Yes, of course. She’s your daughter, you know. Our child.” Tasia blushed.
Taking her up from the ground, she wiggled her hands as she played with her father’s nose and eyes. Her smile was priceless. Suddenly Anton felt that same sensation of love that his father must have felt when he had held Anton for the first time.
Watching, Tasia was crying. The tears of pain and sorrow were replaced with tears of joy and thanksgiving. Finally, they could now live in peace and harmony without worrying about tomorrow.
She stood up, and then approached them. As she did, Anton wrapped his arm around her while the other was holding Alexis – the chain that interlocked them together.
****
THE END
Mail Order Bride Collection
The Gambler’s Bride – A Clean Western Romance
Chapter One
The sun was burning brightly in the Virginia sky. Caroline was grateful she had thought to wear a pretty hat with a wide brim. It kept her face from burning. She walked briskly down the sidewalk, anxious to get home. Her shoes were beginning to wear and she hadn’t thought to ask her mother to purchase her a new pair while she was out.
She preferred to choose her own shoes anyway. She would just go past the store on her way to work in the morning and stop for a pair. She passed several young men who were walking in the opposite direction. They all looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.
She could see the differences in their smiles and wondered if they realized they did that. She passed them every day on her way home. One of them was tall and thin and though he wore a shirt and tie, he didn’t look like he was coming from an office. The two with him were dressed in work clothes. They were shorter than their companion and were almost always covered in dirt. It was an odd sight until Caroline became used to seeing them.
Over the last six months or so of passing them every day, she had noticed that they all looked at her in different ways. The tall one greeted her with a quick nod of his head and half a grin. One of the other boys gave her a leering look and his eyes scanned her from head to toe every day. The third was the one she liked. He looked friendly, his smile was warm and genuine and she saw a gentleman in him.
The three never spoke to her and she never said anything to them.
She was almost home, turning onto her street and walking to the third house on her left. She didn’t look up at it as she went through the gate and down the sidewalk, missing all the new flowers that had recently been planted and the artfully shaped sculptures and fountains that dotted the wide green yard. The groundskeeper was a master at his craft. But Caroline didn’t notice.
She went up the steps to the front porch, crossed it and pulled open the storm door first. She went through both doors and immedi
ately stopped to the sound of upset voices in the den. She made a beeline for it, dropping her light shawl, which she had regretted taking in the first place and her hat on the foyer table.
“Who’s there?” She asked as she went, not recognizing the voices. She was surprised when she turned into the den to see it was her family that was upset, not some visiting stranger. Raised voices were not common in Caroline’s home. Her parents were extremely calm people, upstanding citizens in their small town.
“Caroline!” Her little sister Dorothy came running over to her and threw her arms around her middle.
“Ooof, Dottie, what’s the problem?” Caroline attempted to disentangle herself from her sister’s grip, but Dottie was too upset.
“Oh, Caroline, that’s it. We’re done. Nothing left. It’s all gone! Oh, Caroline!”
Caroline looked up at her parents in confusion, but they weren’t much help. Her mother was holding a glass that had some type of liquor in it, probably brandy. Another wave of shock went through Caroline. What in heaven’s name could have happened that would make her mother drink the brandy that had been in the cupboard ever since Caroline could remember.
“Please someone tell me what’s going on here?” She said, taking her sister’s face in between her hands and giving her kisses on her forehead. She hugged her and Dottie finally released her.
“It’s a terrible situation for us, Caroline.” Her brother replied. He was standing with their father next to the huge bay window, staring out over the land, where their cows and horses were.
“What is?”
“We’re bust! Got no money left! We’re done!” His words came out forceful and he didn’t even look at her. She shook her head.
“I am afraid I don’t understand, David. What does that mean?”
Her father was the first to look at her. His round face was red with anger and frustration. When he spoke, she knew the underlying pain in his voice was real. The anger he felt wasn’t directed at her, she could see that. “Mr. Stapleton has up and stole all the profits from our restaurant for the last three years. He’s been fudging the books, lining his pockets with stolen cash for a long time. Now he has disappeared and no one knows where he or the money he stole is at.”
Caroline frowned. “I don’t understand. How can that be? Is there anything you can do? Do you know where he is?”
Her father shook his head. “I don’t know where he is. There is nothing I can do. He has pulled off a scam that will ruin this family. We can’t keep the business going for long with no money behind it. We would have to start from scratch with a corner food stand.”
Fear ran down Caroline’s spine. The restaurant had been her family’s life. They all worked there, they were comfortable because of it and the plan was to continue running it for the next hundred years if possible. Without it, there was only her job.
Her secretary’s job.
She looked around herself at the furnishings and other luxuries she hadn’t seen before. Her mind even took her to the front yard, where there were beautiful sights to be seen. This would all disappear.
Her breath caught and her mind began to race. There had to be some way to prevent this from happening.
“Father,” she said. “What will we do? Do you have a plan?”
He stomped to the couch and dropped down as if he had given up on life. “Right now, I’m too angry to think of one. Surely there will be one. But no, I have no plan for now. We will have to do something.”
“Can we get a loan from the bank?” Caroline sat next to him and put one hand on his knee. “Papa, we have to do something! We can’t just give up.”
He nodded. “Oh, we might not have a choice, daughter. Our loans at the bank are already in place from the expansion this summer.”
Her heart fell into her stomach. She had forgotten about the expansion. They had been considering opening another restaurant, as well. She shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. The weight of it all gave her a headache.
She lowered her head to her hands, trying to think. No loan from the bank. No money in profits. Very little in petty cash kept on hand in the restaurant safe. What would they do?
Dorothy began crying loudly. “Oh, papa. We will be living on the street.”
He shook his head. “No. That won’t happen, Dottie. We will get through this. God is on our side.”
“On our side?” Dorothy stood up, her small face pale and thin. Red rings had formed around her eyes and she shook her long brown curls around as she spoke. She clenched her fists and stomped her foot. “If he was on our side, then why did this happen? We haven’t done anything wrong to deserve this! We go to church every Sunday and all that. Why would he do this to us? Why didn’t he stop Mr. Stapleton??”
David was the one who replied to their sister, looking at her, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his pants, his suit jacket open and pushed back behind his elbows. “That’s not the way he works, Dottie. You’re just too young to understand it.”
“Well, I don’t understand it! I don’t understand it!” She stomped her foot again. “Mr. Stapleton is the Devil! He’s the Devil!”
With that, she turned on her heel and ran out the door, weeping. David turned back to the window. Her mother began to cry. Caroline stood up.
“I’ll go after her. I will talk to her.”
She was out the door only a few minutes after her sister and could see when she opened the door that Dottie was already at the barn. She was going for her horse. Caroline had to get to her before she went riding off. She wasn’t in the mood for a horse race.
“Dottie, wait!” She called out. Her sister stopped at the door of the barn, turned back to look at her and then dropped to her knees, crying. Caroline ran to her and dropped to her knees next to her, wrapping her in her arms tightly. “Sshhh. It’s going to be okay, Dottie. It really is.”
“No. This is too much. We can’t run the restaurant with no money. You heard what Daddy said.”
“I did. But you have to trust that things are going to work out the way they should. There is always a blessing on the horizon.”
Dottie shook her head, covering her face with her small hands. “No, Caroline. This is too much. This is too much. God hates us.”
“Dottie, don’t say that. You know that isn’t true. He has blessed us tremendously all through our lives. There are dark times, too. You can’t expect all sunshine and roses all of your life.”
“Why not?” Dottie was just being unreasonable. Caroline could tell that even her young sister could see that. “I want sunshine and roses. I don’t want to be desolate and poor. Where will we live when they take the house? Why is God doing this to us?”
“Dottie, this isn’t the work of God. This is the work of evil. It was evil and deception that caused Mr. Stapleton to do what he’s done.”
“But why did God allow it to happen to us? We are good people!”
“He doesn’t exactly allow these things to happen. He just takes what’s bad and makes something good out of it. This is a fractured world, Dottie, it’s imperfect and there are bad people who don’t know or care about following God’s laws or even moral laws.”
Dottie snorted.
“Please don’t believe otherwise, Dottie, just because you are in a bad place. You can’t lose faith because he is going to come through for us. There will be a way.”
“Lots of people lose their money and never recover.”
“Lots of people don’t know God. When you have to start out all over, you have to trust that he knows what he’s doing and that he’s there with you through the storm.”
Dottie became quiet, her tears stopped. She was thinking about Caroline’s words. She didn’t really see what God could do at this point since he didn’t give money out like a bank. She looked up at her sister’s eyes.
“Do you really think things will work out just because we go to church every week?”
Caroline smiled softly. “No, that’s not what I’m saying, D
ottie. I’m talking about faith.” She put her finger on her sister’s chest just above her heart. “It’s in here. That’s where you have faith. And if you have it, you will have peace, too. Trust in him. He will give you peace to get through this.”
Again, Dottie was quiet, staring out over the land. “I don’t want to leave here, Caroline.”
“I know you don’t. I don’t either. We will have to see what happens. But right now, we really need to be strong for mama and papa. Do you agree?”
After a moment, Dottie nodded. “Okay, Caroline. I’ll pray on it and maybe he will make me feel better and bring someone who will give Daddy a lot of money and everything will be okay.”
“That’s the spirit, honey. You pray and we’ll see what happens.”
Chapter Two
When Caroline woke up the next morning, her first thought was that she wanted to go back to sleep. She didn’t want what was happening to happen and her anxiety level was rising. She swung her legs over the side and sat there for a moment, thinking.
She was just twenty and had concentrated on her family’s business and her secretary job since she was 17. She had only one boyfriend in her life so far. He had left with his family the year before and she had missed him ever since. She’d had no love interests since then and hadn’t really been looking. She was always busy with work, her family or the restaurant.
She pulled on her robe and went down the stairs, smelling the strong smell of fresh coffee. That meant her father and brother were either already up or about to. She and her sisters didn’t drink coffee.
She pushed open the door to the kitchen and saw her mother at the table, crying. When her daughter came in, Anna tried to stop, wiping her tears with a tissue. “Oh. Good morning, Caroline.”
“Good morning, mama. Are you all right?”
Her mother didn’t answer, just held in a new batch of tears. She shook her head.
Caroline went to her and leaned to put her arms around her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay, mama. Something will change this situation and make it right again.”
“I hope you are right, Caroline.” Anna got up and went to the stove. She stood there cracking eggs into the pan and moving a spatula around to scramble them. Caroline wondered how many she was going to put in the pan when she didn’t stop adding them. She went to the stove and took the egg batch from her mother and stopped her from her cooking.