The Boss

by Stephanie Hunt

  It was a kind gesture, and one that Tina considered seriously. But she couldn’t get around the fact that he just wasn’t the type of suitor her parents had in mind for her. “We will see.”

  They discussed everything from the weather to the nature of the economy to Jacob’s horses. Jacob also owned a large collection of pistols and considered himself quite the shot. He wasn’t a violent man, but he liked to have firearms on hand in case he ever needed to defend himself or other loved ones. Before they concluded their meeting, Jacob invited Tina to go for a ride with him at his ranch some time in the following week. Tina said she was unsure but that she would get back to him. If her answer was yes, she would leave a note on this very bench saying so by the following Wednesday. If it was no, she would not leave a note. They agreed to part ways with this idea in place. Tina hoped that she would be able to say ‘yes’ but she was uncertain.

  That Sunday, after church, Tina entered the living room of her house to find her father reading a newspaper by the fire and smoking a pipe. The rich aroma of the Virginia tobacco filled the air and created a pleasant sensation.

  “Darling!’ exclaimed Henry. “I have some good news. We received a reply to your mail-order bride application. It looks as though a very well-established older gentleman who owns lots of property and manages several factories is interested in you. In fact, in his letter, he said that you were the most striking woman he had ever come across. Here is his picture.”

  Henry handed his daughter a letter which was written finely in cursive and signed “William J. Hornhill” at the bottom. The picture of the man was unflattering. He had short hair, a bushy grey moustache, and looked as though he were more than a few dozen pounds overweight. But most troubling of all was that he looked even older than her dad.

  “How am I supposed to marry this man?” said Tina, on the verge of tears. “He is older than you!”

  “Yes, but he can give you a very good life. His credentials are more than impressive. And when he passes on, you will inherit his wealth. You should be able to give him many children before that happens. And best of all, he lives right here in town, so you will be able to visit us often.”

  Tina hesitantly decided to go along with it. She wasn’t going to change her father’s opinion, and the strength of his opinion made her long for Jacob more and more.

  “Okay, Dad,” she said. “I will meet him. For you.”

  “Splendid,” he said. “I will arrange a meeting. This Tuesday should work well. He can come to our house and have dinner with us, and I am sure that you will see that he is not a bad guy. I pride myself on being a very good judge of character.”

  But no matter what Henry could say, Tina knew deep down in her heart that she would not be convinced. But she couldn’t argue with her dad at the same time – that always got her nowhere.

  The days whizzed by and Tina occupied herself with her sewing. She was getting pretty good at it, not in small part because of her mom’s tutelage. When Tuesday rolled around Tina got dressed in one of her best outfits – a white evening gown – and joined her family at dinner.

  “Mr. Hornhill should be arriving presently,” said Henry jovially. “In the mean time let’s have a little champagne to celebrate.” He uncorked a bottle and poured Tina and Dorothy a glass. A few minutes later and the doorbell rang. Henry got up and went to the door, opening it and letting Mr. Hornhill in. William took off his overcoat and closed his umbrella. Evidently it had been raining hard outside.

  “Henry!” exclaimed William. “It is good to finally meet you in person! Let me just say that your reputation precedes you. I have heard of your politics and that you are a very well-to-do businessman.”

  “How great of you to say, William. We were most impressed by the rapidity of your reception of our application and myself, my daughter, and my wife are extremely pleased to have you join us tonight. We were just indulging in some champagne. May I pour you a glass? Here, let me take that coat from you.”

  “Champagne would be lovely, thanks,” said William, who proceeded to hand Henry his soaking coat. Space was made for William at the table and a place was set for him next to Tina. Tina noticed that he was a rather tall and stern looking fellow. He didn’t seem to have the same laugh lines that Jacob had, and she doubted if anything funny ever came out of his mouth.

  It was remarkable, to Tina, how little William said to her over the course of the dinner. He seemed to pay most attention to her parents, as if he were trying to win them over first before capturing Tina’s heart. She could not see spending her life with this man. He was too proper, too formal, too unyielding. And he wasn’t a cowboy. After they finished their main course, Tina excused herself from the table and speedily made her way up to her room. She began scribbling out a note as fast as she could that was intended for Jacob. She signed it at the bottom and folded it in half. She used a fetching red envelope to seal the letter in and put it in her handbag. Then she made her way back down the stairs and waved goodbye to the three adults. “I am going for some fresh air, I will be back soon,” she said.

  The hastily made her way to the park where she and Jacob had had such a pleasant time together. She took out the red envelope, and with a piece of tape, secured it underneath the bench in question and gave it a jostle to make sure it was on tight. The essence of the letter was that she was really looking forward to meeting Jacob again on Wednesday.

  When she returned back home, the three of them were still engaged in conversation at the dinner table. “Come join us!” exclaimed Henry jovially. “We were just about to put away the rest of the meal and have some brandy. It turns out that Mr. Hornhill is quite the connoisseur.”

  Tina felt invigorated by her initiative in setting out the letter, so she decided to sit down and indulge. They poured her a brandy and her dad even offered her a cigar. She lit it up and puffed mightily, sending out a ring of smoke into the centre of the table. “So, Tina,” continued her father. “The arrangements for the marriage are all set. We will have it at the St. Paul’s church near the orchard a month from tomorrow. All of our friends and nearby family will be in attendance. What do you say to that, daughter?”

  Tina felt backed into a corner once again. She didn’t really feel like she was in a position to disobey her father. As he said himself, he is putting a roof over her head and supplying her with food and clothing. But in the back of her mind, she wished she could just elope with Jacob. Tears welled up in her eyes once again. But she managed to give a nod in assent.

  As they wrapped up the night, William gave Tina a warm hug. He had strong arms, and she felt relatively safe being held by them. But she didn’t feel a spark of electricity the way she did with Jacob. She tried to get a read on William’s personality by looking into his eyes, but they were icy cold. She got the feeling he was mainly a man of business and not a man of love. It would be awkward to marry this near-stranger. She could not picture being his wife and hoped that she could figure something out before the wedding.

  The days flew by and Tina spent most of her time knitting and talking with her mother. Her mother was so proud of Tina for going through with the mail-order bride plan and was so reassuring that she was going to have a nice life with William. Tina did not let on that she was very disappointed and had this secret romance with Jacob. When Wednesday finally arrived, she made her way to the park at the appointed time and found Jacob waiting for her, reading a novel. As she approached he heard her footsteps and looked up at her. They made eye contact for a while, and then she approached and sat down next to him. “It’s good to see you, Tina,” said Jacob.

  “Likewise! I had butterflies in my stomach the whole way over here. Jacob, it’s awful. My family is making me marry this cold, old man who has a lot of money but is not very nice.”

  “Well they probably just want what’s best for you,” he responded. “But I know how it is to feel as though you have to do something when you don’t want to.”

  “When I’m around you I don’t fee
l as though I am being forced into anything. I am with you because I want to be. That wonderful day we had with my friends and the picnic was one of the best days that I can remember. I just want more of those in my life.”

  “Well let’s not lose touch. Even if you do end up marrying this fellow, you and I can still have meetings like these. Although we will have to be very discreet about it, otherwise things could get ugly.”

  “What if we made our affair public. I know that you can’t support me right now, but what if, after I married William, you showed up on the scene. Then you two would have to duel, would you not?”

  “Yes, if I showed up after you two were married things would likely end in a duel. But I think I could best him. I am very quick to the trigger and I have won many duels in my life.”

  “So why don’t we go through with it? Why don’t I marry him and then find some of his money and bring it out to you? And then when we’ve cleaned him out substantially you can make your interest in me public, and then William would have to have a showdown with you. Once you beat him, you and I could leave town and have a nice little life together.”

  “It’s an interesting plan. Let’s see if we can make it work.”

  The two of them spent the evening in each other’s arms on the bench, watching the leaves fall. At one point they got up and walked around the park a little bit, seeing the squirrels and birds run about. Then Tina asked, “Are you a good duelist?”

  “I have been in over 25 duels and needless to say I’ve won them all.” Tina was impressed.

  That night in her bed Tina thought about Jacob. She thought about his strong arms and imagined them hugging her. He imagined the two of them lying in bed together, sharing an intimate moment. She knew that her plan would work, and that they would be able to get rid of William shortly after they were married. She was not looking forward to consummating the marriage, however. She thought maybe she could get William drunk enough so that he passed out before the deed could be done.

  The next morning at breakfast, Tina, Dorothy, and Henry sat at the table eating porridge. Henry and Dorothy were still very content at their meeting William the night before. They thought that things were wrapped up quite nicely in a neat little package. Their daughter was going to marry a rich, successful man who could provide for her. Little did they know of her own plans that she was hatching underneath the surface.

  “Mother, I’d like to go horse-back riding with Kate today, if it is alright with you,” announced Tina suddenly.

  “Well I had planned on giving you another sewing lesson this afternoon, but I do suppose it would be alright. You need your socializing time and horse-back riding is a fine pursuit, your father and I both agree on that.”

  So that afternoon Tina walked over to Kate’s house and asked her if she wanted to go horse-back riding in the fields and orchards around their houses. Kate very much did, so they saddled up and went riding. They covered a lot of territory and found some excellent, beautiful scenery in the woods and in the fields. All of a sudden, when in a shaded part of the woods, they walked into an ambush. A total of four bandits laid in waiting for them, two in front and two that jumped behind them. They were surrounded. The tallest of the four bandits, their leader, spoke up: “We’ll be taking those purses off of ya. Not to mention those thoroughbreds. I’m sure we can find a better use for them than yas. Now, go along, be quick about it.”

  Tina and Kate were in such shock that they did not know how to answer. Plus, neither of them had ever had a real live pistol pointed at them before. Now there were four. Tina slowly removed her purse from her arm and began to hand it to the tall bandit. Kate took Tina’s lead and did the same. Tina felt crushed because she had a lot of cash in her wallet that she was saving for an outing with Kate and Eric.

  Just as the lead bandit began cackling to himself about the great score he was about to walk away with, a shot was fired from behind him and a red explosion of blood erupted from his chest. Then three more shots were fired and the three other bandits went down as well. Tina had no idea who the mystery man was who saved them and vanquished the bandits. She was too much in shock to dismount and look around. So she stayed put. And then, from the shadows, emerged none other than Jacob Farraway. “Thought you two could use some help,” said Jacob coolly.

  Tina was speechless. So Kate jumped in. “Oh my gosh! You came at the very best time! How did you know we were here and needed help?”

  “I was walking along this path from a friend’s house and heard some commotion,” explained Jacob. “So I hid in the shadows to determine what was going on. Luckily I had my loaded carbine shot on me so that I could quickly dispatch of your so-called robbers. Wasn’t it lucky that I was here right when you needed me the most?”

  Tina was still shock. But she managed to muster a reply: “Lucky hardly even covers it. You are my hero and saviour!”

  Tina swung her leg over and dismounted her horse. She ran up to Jacob and gave him an enormous hug and a kiss on a cheek. She could not see Kate’s reaction to this but somehow knew that she was smiling broadly at this act. Kate knew, as any best friend would, that Tina had found love. Tina’s resolve to carry through with their plan of eloping after having married William was stronger than ever.

  Tina didn’t much feel like riding after this incident. So she took up her purse from the dead bandit and retrieved her friend’s as well, and the three of them continued down the shady path through the canopy of foliage into the forest. They were moving west now, away from the orchard, and chasing the sun towards a beautiful evening glow. Tina and Jacob were afoot, and Kate was still mounted.

  “I feel as though we could let Kate in on our plan, Jacob,” announced Tina. “She is my best friend and would keep any secret if we asked her to.”

  “Alright. Let’s share it with her then,” agreed Jacob.

  And so Jacob and Tina included Kate in their little secret. They told her of how they planned to go ahead with wedding with William Hornhill and how after they were together they she would have meetings with Jacob until finally, by William’s honour, a duel would come about. Jacob would clearly win this duel and then, with William’s money, Tina and Jacob would be free to live their lives unfettered.

  Kate was clearly shocked by this plan as it seemed so drastic to her. But she could also sense the love between Tina and Jacob and knew that nothing could stand between them. So she gave them words of encouragement and basically supported them to the best of their abilities. After another hour or so of walking Jacob decided that he would be off and walked in the direction of his home. Tina and Kate mounted up and trotted all the way back to Kate’s house where they took care of their two horses and chatted a bit more. Tina then left Kate and headed back to her own home, adding, “Kate, I’ll see you at my wedding!” Kate nodded sadly but somehow managed to make a smile to see her friend off with.

  The week passed very quickly and the day of the wedding approached. Dorothy helped Tina get ready for it by helping to find the most perfect wedding dress in the entire town f0r her to wear. Trying it on at the store, Tina had to admit to both herself and her mother that it was beyond stunning. They made all sorts of other preparations too. They selected the prettiest roses to ornament the tables. They found the best band in town to play music to enchant the guests and family members alike. And the venue of the reception, they picked a beautiful country pavilion house very close to the church where the formal ceremony would be held. Guests would be able to stroll leisurely to the pavilion and have a seat and drink wine, spirits, beer, and eat to their heart’s content.

  Tina wasn’t even nervous about the wedding. She knew, in the back of her mind, that her relationship with William would not last. And this realization gave her strength. Even though Jacob was not a guest at the wedding, he was very much with her in spirit. As the hour of before the ceremony dawned, Tina was in one of the back rooms of the church getting ready and making final adjustments to her outfit. She was standing in front of the full length
mirror, peering at herself, when she heard the door open behind her. It was William. He stepped through and appraised her fully. There were a few moments of silence until he stepped up to her and put a hand on her cheek.

  “You are not supposed to see me before the wedding, William. It is bad luck,” uttered Tina, summoning as much courage as she could to face him.

  “That’s just a silly superstition. If I want to see my girl before the ceremony, I will.”

  “I am not a foreman in one of your mills that you can command. I am your fiancé.”

  Silence ensued. Then a hard smack and Tina’s left cheek was left red and sore.

  “Let me get one thing straight with you,” replied William. “I may not be your boss, but I will be your husband. You will obey me in all matters. Is that clear?”

  “Y-yes,” stammered Tina. William quickly turned around and left the room. Tina was left in shock. She had not expected such cruelty. Not even from him.

  She brought a hand up to her cheek and examined the mark he had left in the mirror. It didn’t look too serious. It just stung a bit was all. And besides, what was she going to do now? They were going to be married within half an hour. There was no way the ceremony was being called off now.

  When it was time to enter the church’s main room Tina could hear the beautiful music the organ made before she could see the multitude of guests who had shown up to watch her get married off. The music was delightful, very classy and old-fashioned. Just the way her parents liked it. As she approached the aisle she saw Kate and Eric in the front row. Kate was very emotional and it looked like she was going to cry at any moment. Eric was much cooler and looked very handsome and composed. Dorothy and Henry, her parents, were also in the front row. They looked very proud. Especially Henry, who had a big grin on his face as if to say, “I thought this day would never happen.”

  As she approached the dais where the minister was stationed, she saw her husband-to-be, William smiling at her. She saw nothing but cruelty beyond the smile, and was continuously reminded of the violence he had shown her. She thought, somewhat morosely, that she was probably the only one in the room at this time who knew that dark streak that this man had. He had been so good at covering it up. She thought with satisfaction how smooth he would look once Jacob had dealt with him.