“Well?” Daphne’s voice had a bite of anger in it.
“Well what?”
“Did you get the deed back?”
“I don’t have it.”
“I KNEW IT!” she shouted. “Those people at the bank don’t do anything they don’t want to. Why did I let myself believe you could change things?” Micah looked sad. “I’m sorry. I’m just angry. Not even about the farm, I’ve been expecting that for a while and resigned myself to it. It’s my candlesticks. I hoped to give those to my kids one day,” her countenance softened and tears welled up in her eyes again, “but, I’ll probably never have kids anyway.” She stood up, tears still rolling down her cheeks and looked into Micah’s caring eyes, “I guess I better collect my belongings and get out of here. I am sorry you wasted your time coming out to Colorado. I wish I had something I could give you for your trouble, but, well, you know my situation.”
She turned to walk into the house. Micah caught hold of her wrist and pulled her into his arms. She looked up at his face while his large hand gently wiped the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t come here for a farm, or money, or candlesticks. I came here for a wife; I told you that.” He leaned down to kiss her soft lips which were ready to accept his. They stood, suspended in time, enjoying each other’s embrace. For the first time in years, Daphne’s heart felt light and her stress melted away. She wanted this to last forever, but she felt the pressing deadline to get off the property.
When the kiss ended, Micah looked at Daphne, seeing a new woman. Her face had completely changed. She looked younger…no, happy. “Daphne, I have to tell you something about…” He was cut off by the beat of hooves coming down the road. Daphne was seized with fear again. The two bankers, Mr. Albertson and Mr. Gantry, were riding at full speed down the lane.
“Oh no,” Daphne exclaimed, “I’ve never seen Mr. Albertson out here before!”
Micah reached down and took her hand, intertwining his fingers in hers. She squeezed his hand and looked up at him. He gave her hand a little squeeze back and a faint smile crossed his face. Her fear subsided. She had nothing to fear, her strong man was here…she felt safe.
When the men arrived in front of the house they both jumped down from their horses and ran over to the front porch. Daphne noticed something different about Mr. Gantry; he was acting strangely…scared. She looked at Micah quizzically. What had happened at the bank?
“Hello Ms. Haynes,” Mr. Gantry spoke in a voice that was familiar to Daphne, but the meanness was gone from it.
“Hello Mr. Gantry,” she said almost as a question. “How can I help you this evening? I am working on getting out of the house. I will be gone by sundown, I promise.”
“That won’t be necessary, Ms. Haynes.” Mr. Albertson stepped forward stretching his hand out to shake hers. “It appears the bank has made a mistake and you will no longer need to vacate the premises today, or ever I suppose.” He motioned for Mr. Gantry to come forward. Mr. Gantry rushed to the man’s side reaching into his breast pocket to pull out the deed to the farm. “Here is the deed to the land, Ms. Haynes. I trust you will find it is all in order.”
Daphne looked at the paper in disbelief as she took it from Mr. Gantry’s outstretched hand. She handed it to Micah who had a broad smile on his face. He nodded, “Everything appears to be in order gentlemen, but I am confused. You were prepared to take this property at sundown when you suddenly realized the bank made a mistake? Aren’t you two the bank in this scenario? Didn’t you two make a mistake?”
Daphne had never heard anyone talk to the bankers this way before. They had the whole town under their thumb with overpriced mortgages and scare tactics. Micah had nothing to fear from these men, however. He owed them nothing and they were threatening someone he loved. Daphne was impressed and glad he was there.
“Well, yes sir.” Mr. Albertson looked uncomfortable as he made this admission.
“Why didn’t you say that then? We made a mistake.”
“I am sorry. Ms. Haynes, we made a mistake in foreclosing on you early. Will you forgive us?”
“I suppose so. I am glad to have my farm back.”
“Thank you, Ms. Haynes,” Mr. Albertson said.
“Yes, thank you,” Mr. Gantry added. “We best be on our way I suppose.”
The two men turned to leave when Micah stopped them. “Was there anything else gentlemen?” They knew he was referring to the candlesticks and stopped dead in their tracks. Mr. Gantry was hoping he may have forgotten about them, because he was unable to get them back.
“Well, you see, I was unable to get the candlesticks.”
“Hmmm. Unacceptable. You see I said I wanted the candlesticks back, and I didn’t want to see you here without them. Yet, here you are, and no candlesticks.”
Mr. Gantry was squirming; racking his brain for an answer that may get him out of trouble. “I’m sorry sir. I tried my hardest, and I didn’t want to miss the deadline you had set. You said you wanted us here in an hour.”
“With the candlesticks,” Micah interrupted. “What should we do about this, Daph?”
“I think we ought to let them off the hook. I already have all that I need.” She leaned into him and gave him a kiss. “I’ll be happy without the candlesticks.”
“You boys are lucky. I am not nearly as forgiving about these sorts of things as Ms. Haynes is. As far as I am concerned, you folks stole those from her when you sold ‘em; and that is what I told the marshal this afternoon when I talked to him about the board’s actions. He promised to look into it right away. You boys are fortunate you were only following orders. Looks as if all you’re going to lose is your jobs.”
His last words fell like a hammer on the men’s ears. “You have no authority to make such a decision,” Mr. Gantry said indignantly. “Just because you have two million dollars in the bank doesn’t mean you control the place.”
“You’re right, Mr. Gantry, but I think this does.” He removed his hat and pulled a document from the band and handed it to Mr. Gantry. “You see Lonny, when I left you this afternoon I bought the bank. It is now the newest member of The Dawkins Company, a company which I own.”
Daphne was trying to take all of this in. She knew Micah had some money; after all he was coming to pay off her farm; but two million dollars, plus enough left over to buy a bank? How much did he have, and why had he come to help her out. Certainly he could have had his pick of women back in Texas; he didn’t need a poor widow in Colorado. She snapped the paper out of Mr. Gantry’s hand and looked it over. As she scanned the document her eye caught the signature line, “Jonathan Dawkins” clear as day. Her jaw nearly hit the ground.
She was about to speak, but Micah spoke first. “That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier.”
“Johnny?” He nodded. “How is it possible…how did you…what happened to you?”
“Well, I sprouted. I was only sixteen last time I saw you and a lot has changed since then…obviously. I grew the beard before I came out here because I didn’t want you to recognize me and feel like I was taking pity on you.”
“I don’t think I would have recognized you anyway. You look so different.”
“After you left town I went to Texas with Ma and Pa to try our hand at ranching, but they died only about a year after we got there. The place was too much for me to handle on my own and I was getting ready to lose it. The man that owned the bank that held our mortgage was a very kind man and offered me the opportunity of a lifetime: I could work for him twenty hours a week as payment for the ranch, and he would teach me the bank business.
While I was working there our money shipments were robbed by highwaymen a couple of times, which got me thinking that there had to be a safer way to move the money. I designed a new armored stagecoach that would keep the people, and the money, safe. When I showed it to the old man, who had become like a father to me, he started working on the first one immediately, and formed The Dawkins Company. He gave half of the company to me and let me run it. W
e were running money all over the state, and things were going extremely well, when the old man died.
When he passed he didn’t have an heir, and because we were so close he left me the bank and his portion of the company. I started to expand the company by buying more ranches and banks, and before too long the company had grown very large, but I was very lonely. I went back home to Pennsylvania to see if I could put down roots there, but it never felt right. While I was there, however, I went to visit your Ma. She told me about your situation, and that Hank had turned into a dead beat, so I sent one of my men to check it out. The news he brought back, troubled me but because Hank was not abusive, and you were still married, I kept my distance.
I moved back to Texas to continue growing the company. I started to buy small newspapers around the state, and things continued to get better for the company, but worse for my love life. All the women I met only wanted to marry me for my money. I was overjoyed when my people brought me a small ad that had been sent to one of my newspapers. It was you, and you were looking for a husband. I knew I had to try to disguise myself if I would have any chance at winning your heart; you were always stubborn about taking charity. I never stopped thinking about you and through all the years; I wanted you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
“Of course I will, although, I don’t know what I think about you keeping tabs on me all these years.” She smiled and kissed him deeply. “Where did the name Micah come from?”
“Middle name. I use it sometimes when I am trying to go unrecognized in Texas. You like it?”
“No.” She laughed and fell into his lips again. “And I don’t like this beard either.”
Mr. Gantry cleared his throat to try to get their attention so they could leave. “Are we done here sir?”
“Yeah, we’re done. You boys should probably leave town now that you don’t have jobs. I will be happy to write reference letters for ya’, but if I hear even a whisper of you treating poor folks badly, I will find you and I won’t be so lenient next time.” Without another word the two men got on their horses and rode away.
Chapter 9
Daphne and Johnny wed a couple of weeks later and went on a proper honeymoon, something she never got the first time around. Daphne could not help feeling like the luckiest person in the world. A month earlier she had been on the verge of bankruptcy, and was now married to the richest man she had ever known and she loved him more than life itself, to boot. Thanks to a steady diet, she had put on some weight and looked more like her old self every day—slightly older of course.
Johnny had actually purchased all of the land surrounding their property, and populated it with huge crops of corn, beans, and dozens of other things. He had also purchased cattle, sheep, horses, chickens, and goats. He employed nearly all the town which had fallen into a depression because of the way the bank had been treating the people, and it was coming back nicely.
Every day, when he came home from work, Johnny would hitch up the buckboard and take Daphne on a ride around the property. He had begun construction on a new home for the two of them, and it was nearing completion. One day when he arrived at home he said, “Daph, let’s go for a ride to look at the house. They started the trim today and I want to see how it looks.” He had had the trim shipped in from Europe and had not seen it yet in person.
The night was beautiful and Daphne was enjoying the ride with her husband. She slipped her arm into his and laid her head on his shoulder. “I love you,” she whispered. They rode on in silence each enjoying the company of the other until they got to the new house. He stepped down and came around to help her to the ground. They held hands as they walked to the front door.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
“Why? I have seen the inside before.”
“Just do it for me, please?”
She closed her eyes. He swept her off her feet, and carried her through the doorway. Setting her down he said, “Ok, open them!”
When Daphne opened her eyes she looked up at the ceiling to see the new crown molding. “It is beautiful, Johnny.”
“Look, they finished the fireplace today.”
Daphne excitedly looked over to the fireplace. Tears sprang into her eyes as she ran across the room. “How did you…” She reached out and grabbed her grandmother’s candlesticks from the mantle and clutched them to her bosom. It had been ten years since she had seen them, but she recognized them instantly.
“I bought them from the people that the bank sold them to.”
“You’re the reason Mr. Gantry couldn’t get them back?”
A smile was forming on his lips. “Yes ma’am.”
She ran across the room and jumped into his arms. “Has our bed been delivered yet?”
“I think so, why?”
She smiled a huge smile. He smiled back, and carried her to their new bedroom.
Mail-Order Husband: The Millionaire's Debt Page 3