Life, Love, and Second Chances

by Anderson, Amanda

  “You will need to stay the night. The train to Selma only runs in the morning. This will likely be the same train, but many things must be loaded and offloaded before we can continue on our way. It is likely that we will not have much of a stop in Selma though we may have to change trains. I hope you have arranged to have sleeping quarters?”

  “Oh yes, I think I will be much more comfortable that way. I admit I am exhausted.”

  “Travel is always tiresome.”

  Adele felt relieved at having found a friend although Mary didn’t speak much she was pleasant and Adele found her to be only sixteen and overwhelmed by the journey, much as she was. She traveled with the Bartens and took her meals with them as much as she could. The trip seemed to become much less frightening with them along with her and she found herself enjoying it immensely.

  With the stops and changes travel was slower than she had feared. She had been traveling for ten days when she arrived in Shreveport. She felt more assured as she stepped off the train this time. The Bartens explained that they thought to spend a couple of days there and Adele found the idea appealing. She sent a telegraph to Peter explaining her plans so he would not expect her earlier. He had told her to take her time and enjoy the journey so she decided no harm would be done by the delay. As much as she wanted to be in Texas she feared meeting her new husband and she thought the time might help to fortify her for the last part of her journey.

  The weather hadn’t cooled, but she was accustomed to the heat and found that she enjoyed the beauty of Louisiana. She shopped with the Bartens and took her meals with them. After two days they were ready to continue their journey and boarded another train, this one would take them on the final leg of their journey together and into Austin.

  In Austin Mrs. Barten went with Adele to the Stage office and enquired about the time of departure for Adele. She learned that the next stage would not be leaving for two days. Adele had not expected this and since she was running low on funds was not exceptionally pleased. Mrs. Barten must have seen the worry on her face because she offered to take her home with her. Adele resisted at first, but the other woman insisted that it would be no imposition and that she would like to have the time with Adele since she had grown quite fond of her.

  Adele relented gratefully and after sending off another telegram to Peter, accompanied the Bartens to the tall brick home of Mr. and Mrs. Tartly, Mrs. Barten’s sister.

  The welcome she found there was exuberant and she found that she felt as if she had known the family her whole life. Mr. Tartly knew of Peter and vowed that he was an excellent business man and well known for the quality of his beef. He explained that the Mineral Springs Ranch was boasted to be one of the finest in all of Texas and some said the cattle must reap the benefits of the mineral springs because they were some of the heartiest found in the state if not the country. When Adele had asked what Peter looked like it seemed to her that Mr. Tartly had changed the subject rather abruptly, but perhaps she had misread him.

  Her stay with the Tartlys was short, but enjoyable and when she boarded her stage she took with her the addresses of both Mrs. Barten as well as her sister as well as promised to write.

  She settled into the stage with the other passengers and took a deep breath, almost there.

  4

  Adele studied the lush environment through the window as she rolled ever closer to her husband and the life she would soon be a part of. She saw flowers of every color as they nodded their heads in the gentle breeze. She was captivated by the vastness of the land and how it seemed to reach right up and touch the sky. She had always loved Georgia, but she had lived in the heart of Atlanta since her birth and had never traveled far from the city. She was amazed by the openness of the land and felt a pang that she hadn’t appreciated it more on the train. Now though there was little else to amuse her.

  Adele let her eyes settle on the passengers around her. there was one middle-aged woman who smelled like onions and two men who appeared to be business men. There was one man who did little but snore and an ancient woman at his side who did little but scowl. Adele wondered at the diversity enclosed in the coach with her and wondered what kind of people would populate the town and ranch she was to make her home. No one spoke to her and she wondered if she was dressed inappropriately.

  She mentally assessed her garments. Her dress was of the appropriate length and style. The dark green with deep brown trim was fashionable and modest. She thought of her hair and remembered that she had styled it simply knowing she would probably sleep at some time and didn’t want a style that would not last. Perhaps she had something on her face?

  She pulled a crisp white handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped it over her face. It came away with nothing more than a bit of grit from the road on it. She let her eyes survey her company and found the younger men watching her intently and the onion woman scowling darkly. Finally she’d had enough.

  “Is there something the matter?” She asked the woman who appeared shocked. “Well, it’s just that you were scowling at me and I can’t think of anything I have done to offend you and I was curious.”

  The woman grunted. “You’re Peter’s new wife, aren’t ya?”

  “Yes.” She answered simply.

  “Well, he’s a good man and he deserves better than a tramp like you coming in here and taking all he has ‘cause he hasn’t the sense to tell you no.”

  Adele was astounded. “I beg your pardon? I am no tramp! I am a respectable woman and what goes on between a man and his wife is no concern of yours!”

  The two young men burst into laughter. One spoke up. “I’d say there’s not much to worry about. There won’t be much going on between you and old Peter.” They continued to laugh and Adele felt her heart sink, something was wrong.

  “What do you mean by that?” She asked and wanted to curse the tremble in her voice.

  The men stopped laughing abruptly and eyed her in confusion. “She doesn’t know, Teddy! She really doesn’t know.”

  “What?”

  The speaker shook his head. “Nope. I want to see the look on your face when you meet him. I’m not ruining it now.”

  The two men continued to laugh and the woman scowled and shook her head. The older couple snored on ignorant of the conversation around them.

  Adele wanted to scream. These people knew her husband and would not tell her a thing. What was wrong with him? Was he mean or odd in some way? Was he disfigured?

  She let her mind examine the possibilities and found that she did not care what he looked like. She knew from his letters that he was not a cruel man. She could handle anything else. If he was kind she could love him. With that settled as best it could be she determined not to speak to her fellow passengers again.

  She settled herself against the seat and watched the world go by. Things would be fine, she felt it in her heart.

  It took four hours for the stage to make it to Mineral Springs, Texas. Adele stepped from the coach feeling tired and stiff, but also filled with hope and excitement. She scanned the boardwalk for her husband, but since she didn’t know what he looked like it was a futile effort. She looked up when she heard her name and met kind brown eyes.

  “Would you happen to be Mrs. Peter Davidson?”

  Adele smiled at the older man and nodded. “I am.”

  His smile broadened. “I am pleased to hear it. You are even prettier than your miniature, my dear.” He hesitated and Adele had an idea of who he was. The news didn’t affect her the way she had feared, she was delighted. Yes, he was older than she had thought, but he was handsome and appeared to be kind.

  “I am Peter Davidson, your husband.” His eyes searched her face carefully.

  Adele allowed her smile to broaden as she offered her hand. “Then I am most pleased to make your acquaintance, husband.”

  Adele saw the shock in his eyes, but he concealed it quickly. She also saw the scowl of the woman who had smelled of onions and the looks of shock on the men who had found
her marriage so funny. She didn’t care. She felt a measure of happiness in simply knowing. Of course Peter was not the sort of man she would have chosen for herself had she known, but she thought now that she would have been missing out somehow.

  Peter took her hand and after kissing her knuckles tenderly, tucked it into the crook of his arm.

  “I will admit that I was unsure of your reaction to finding yourself married to a man old enough to be your grandfather. I am pleased that you are not insulted.”

  Adele laughed lightly. “You are certainly not old enough to be my grandfather as my father was sixty-three on his last birthday.” She gave him a sad smile.

  “I am sorry for your loss, my dear and I hope that you will find happiness here. Perhaps something in this wild land can bring joy into your life again.” He said sincerely as he led her to a fine carriage parked outside the hotel.

  “I believe I will be happy here. Already I feel the sorrow lifting from my heart like the web of a spider in a strong wind.” She answered sincerely.

  He placed his warm hand on hers that rested on his arm. “I hope I will never bring that web down upon you again, my dear.”

  Adele did not understand the pain that darkened his light blue eyes, but she wanted to erase it with everything inside her. Peter spoke then and his eyes cleared as he smiled down at her. “I thought you might want to freshen up and have a meal before we are on our way? It may be a while before you are in town again.”

  “Oh, how thoughtful! I admit, I do feel the need to freshen up a little, if it isn’t too much trouble.” She said as she looked at him from the corner of her eye. She could feel eyes boring holds through her and she wondered why everyone would be so angry with her for marrying Peter. She resigned herself to wait and ask him when they were on their way.

  “It is no trouble at all. I have secured a room for you already and I will have your trunk sent up to your room so you can dress for dinner, my dear. I hope you will not be offended that I do not do the same. We are more relaxed in our decorum out here and often do not see the need for the extravagance.”

  “I truly hope this is no inconvenience. I admit that I did not always find it prudent to dress for dinner when I was at home and found it impossible at the hotel, since I had no fine clothes in which to change into. ”

  “It is no inconvenience at all. I hope you bought a few elegant garments along with the necessary ones I asked you to purchase. I would like to sit with you and let them all get their fill of gawking so we might enjoy our next visit without it.”

  Adele looked at him in surprise and saw the twinkle of mischief in his eyes and the slight tilt of his lips. She could not see herself kissing those lips, but she could see herself loving this man if only because he could make her laugh and she did laugh. It bubbled from somewhere deep inside her and she let it out with a little gasp.

  “I fear you are a very wicked man, husband, and I think we will get on just fine.”

  “That is my fondest wish.”

  5

  Adele dressed carefully for dinner. She felt it was an extravagance to take a room at the hotel just to have a bath and change her clothes, but Peter had waved off her protests. He’d had her trunks delivered and she decided to wear the blue silk dress the Bartens had helped her make on the train.

  The maid came in to help her with her buttons and she smiled gratefully at the girl who couldn’t have been more than sixteen.

  “Thank you for your help. I fear it would have been impossible for me to dress without your assistance.”

  “It is my pleasure Mrs. Davidson. I admit that I was a little curious. Everyone has been talking about Mr. Davidson taking a young bride and I wanted to see you up close.”

  Adele just smiled and the girl continues.

  “How will you stand it? I know Mr. Davidson is nice, but he’s just so…” The girl broke off and blushed when she realized what she was saying. “I’m sorry ma’am. I shouldn’t be speakin’ about him that way.”

  Adele stiffened her spine. “No, you shouldn’t.” She didn’t say that she didn’t know how she would do her duty to Peter, but she would.

  She made her way to the dining room and was surprised to see Peter sitting at a table with two other men. She wanted to have the chance to observe them before she joined them at the table, but Peter looked up the moment she entered and met her wary gaze with his happy one. He stood and held his hand out to her. Adele took a fortifying breath and stepped to her husband.

  “Ah, my dear wife, you look stunning.” Peter leaned in and gave Adele a gentle kiss on the cheek. “The blue complements your eyes perfectly.” He smiled into those eyes as he spoke. “I would like to introduce our traveling companions. These fine gentlemen will be going back to the ranch with us.”

  Peter motioned to the lanky, man with the salt and pepper hair. Adel figured he was in his fifties or so. “This is Dan Blackburn, he works as a wrangler on the ranch and he will be the man you should go to if you need anything from town, and this is my son, Bradley.” His eyes met the other man and Adele turned her attention to him as well.

  The moment Adele’s eyes fell on the man Peter called son she felt her heart quicken and her knees weaken. Peter raised his bushy brows at her reaction and she blushed uncomfortably.

  “It is very nice to meet you both. I apologize for my reaction, I was unaware Peter had a son.” She tried to smile sweetly at the men and Dan seemed genuinely happy to meet her, but the dark scowl Bradley sent her said more than words could express. He wasn’t happy about her marriage to his father and he wasn’t planning to hide it. She had made him her enemy just by being here.

  “I am glad to finally meet you Mrs. Davidson.” Dan said. “I will be glad to take care of anything you need at the ranch. Just give me a holler, ma’am. I am usually around the barn somewhere. I can do a little of most anything, but my sewing isn’t much to look at.”

  “I appreciate the warning. There’s nothing worse than a crooked seam.” Adele said with a grateful smile.

  Dan laughed appreciating her light banter.

  “I suppose I should extend a welcome to my new mother, but I admit I am disinclined to do so. I can’t help but wonder what you are really after here.”

  Bradley said in a low voice that made Adele shiver. His voice was deep and she could almost feel the vibrations of it in her heart. He was not a rough cowboy either. He was dressed for work, but still managed to hold a certain amount of culture that set him apart from Dan. His hair was a light brown that Adel wanted to examine closely. She wondered if it would shimmer in the sun as she thought it would. She ran her eyes over his chiseled jaw and the hard set of his full lips before her eyes met his again. She almost yelped as she realized they were cold as stone and the color as one as well, not brown or green or even grey, but a strange mix of all three at the same time. The oddity of it made her gasp. His eyes held promises that frightened Adele more than she wanted to admit. He would definitely be a man to be avoided at all cost.

  “That is enough from you.” Peter intoned in a voice that brooked no argument. “I have a right to live my life how I see fit and I won’t have you mistreating my wife because of my decision. She has done nothing to earn your anger.”

  Adele saw the muscle in Bradley’s jaw, but he didn’t make another comment. She sat down beside Peter and ordered her dinner when the waiter came to the table. She didn’t taste it though. She sat and wondered desolately how she would live in a house with Bradley when he clearly despised her. Would he be cruel to her if the opportunity arose?

  The longer she sat at the table the more wretched she felt. This was not the life of happiness she had sought. She could live with the fact that Peter was so much older than she, but she didn’t know if she could survive the obvious animosity his son held for her. It took her a moment to realize that Peter had spoken to her.

  “I’m sorry, I did not hear you. Did you ask me something?” She said when she noticed all eyes were on her.

 
; Peter smiled and patted her hand where it rested on the table. “It is alright my dear. I simply asked if you were finished with your meal. We should be on our way if we are to be home before dark.”

  She looked down at her plate and noticed that she had eaten most of her meal. “Oh, yes, I am finished. Is the journey very long? Should I change my dress again?” She asked as she began to worry again.

  “It isn’t a very long journey. It would be a shame for you to change out of that dress, it is very becoming.”

  Adele beamed up at Peter. “Thank you! I will admit I wasn’t sure I would finish it in time, but there was a lovely woman on the train who helped me with it. I am so pleased you like it.”

  “You made that dress?” Bradley asked with a frown.

  Adele gave him a charming smile and ignored his surliness. “Yes. Does that please you?”

  Bradley snorted.

  “It pleases me!” Peter assured her. “I am pleased that you will be able to amuse yourself. I fear life on the ranch might become dull for you. I will make sure you have enough fine fabric to keep you busy and in a new dress every day.”

  Adele blushed. “I do not require such extravagance and I am sure there will be plenty to occupy me. I can make pastries and I am not above tending the house.”

  Peter shook his head. “I do not think that will be part of your duties, my dear. I would like to pamper you, but you may do as you will to amuse yourself.”

  Peter stood and helped Adele from her chair. He placed her hand on his arm and led her through the dining room and out the front door of the hotel.

  Adele soon found herself comfortably seated on the padded seat of the carriage. Dan drove a wagon filled with supplies behind them and Bradley rode a stunning black gelding. She couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering to the fine figure he made sitting tall on his mount nor could she stop her heart from hammering in her chest. She closed her eyes and prayed for strength. She was married to his father and she would not allow herself to have feelings of any kind for him. She wanted him to either ride far ahead or behind the carriage so she didn’t have to be tormented with the sight of him, but he stayed only slightly in front of the carriage keeping watch over the terrain.