The Debutante's Escape

by Peggy McKenzie

  A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room leaving John's stunned breath hanging in mid-air. Dread filled his chest as this evening’s events grew worse and worse by the minute.

  Chapter 13

  Regina had arrived at the meeting knowing there might be a confrontation with her parents, most likely her father. She had no idea it would be in front of the entire town.

  When she stepped inside the room, it was painfully obvious her father was berating John in front of the town and she was not going to let that happen, especially since it was obvious her husband was taking the high road and not defending himself. Besides, he had nothing to apologize for.

  She began pushing her way through the crowd, but as soon as people recognized her, they moved to either side. She felt much like Moses must have when he parted the waters of the Red Sea. Regina wasn't comfortable with all the attention, but she couldn't allow John to weather this storm alone. After all, he was being persecuted by her father because of his friendship with her.

  She nodded to first one person and then another until she reached the steps of the stage. A gentleman standing close took her hand and helped her up the steep stairs. Her nervousness made her stomach churn, but she swallowed a couple of times to keep her stomach steady.

  Quick steps brought her to John's side and without thinking she pulled his hand into hers. Then, she turned to face her father's anger. Her words were out before she knew it and by the collective gasp of the crowd, she knew her life would never be the same after tonight.

  Her father's hands were clenched at his side. Regina recognized the rage that mottled his face and braced for his toxic words, which were sure to follow.

  “Regina. You don’t know what you are talking about because you don’t know the whole story. You are too naïve to know he's playing you. You may think this was your idea, but I can spot a rotten apple when I see—”

  “Stop it, Father. You are embarrassing us all in front of our friends and neighbors.” Regina turned toward the crowd to speak so everyone could hear what she had to say. She didn't need to ask for quiet. You could hear a pin drop in the quietness of the room.

  “I'm not the naïve brainless fool my father makes me out to be. I know John Kingston. He and I have been best of friends since we were children and he came to my rescue one day after school. Two bullies pushed me down in the dirt leaving me with a bruised ego and a scraped knee. John ran them off, helped me up, then walked me home. When we arrived, he was berated and called horrible names by my father, and even then, John offered me his friendship.”

  She turned and shot a look of accusation and disdain in her father's direction. Then, she turned back to the audience who hung on her every word. “Ever since that day, I knew I could trust John Kingston. He is a man of honor, despite his father’s imperfections. I don't think a child should be held accountable for the sins of their parents. Do you?”

  A soft murmur rolled through the crowd. She could see heads nodding in agreement. “I certainly hope I’m not held accountable for my father’s—indiscretions.” She cut a sharp look towards her father.

  “I knew of my father's plans to pawn me off on Mr. Scott’s son, Martin. It was to be a business arrangement my father initiated to gain Mr. Scott's support to hire him for the overseer’s position. He made me painfully aware of his plans the evening of the debutante’s ball, so I took matters into my own hands and circumvented those plans by asking my best friend to marry me.”

  John leaned down and whispered. “Regina, you don’t have to do this.”

  She shook her head and kept going. “John graciously agreed to my rather unconventional plan and we were married this past Sunday. It was a beautiful ceremony with just us two, one witness, and the man who married us.” She kept her comments vague.

  “As John's wife, I'm here to attest to his honesty. His integrity. And to the wonderful ideas he has that he hopes will bring about change for the working people of this town and the entire state. If you have any doubts about John's worth, then doubt no further. You will not find a better man for this job than my husband and best friend, John Kingston.”

  Regina heard the emotion in her voice and realized she meant every word she said. She would defend John with every fiber of her body. Against her father. Against the whole world if necessary.

  John crushed her into a hug and held her for several seconds while the thunderous applause filled the room. Then he turned her to face the crowd and another rumbling applause overwhelmed Regina.

  Her father wasn’t ready to concede. “And would you still attest to his honesty and integrity if you knew that he lied to you about your wedding? That you proposed a temporary marriage of convenience, but he and his friend there, the Honorable William E. Baker, who just happens to be a federal judge, and fully capable of legally marrying you to this scheming bastard, had other ideas?”

  Regina heard her father’s words, but it took a moment or two for their meaning to sink deep enough for understanding.

  Mr. Scott’s booming voice interrupted the crowd's appreciation. “Well, there is some truth to Beckett’s accusations, but I think John Kingston should be commended for setting his sights on the prize and doing whatever it took to grasp it. When I first spoke to John about giving him my support for the position, I told him the people of Durango, and my investors, would identify with him more if he were a married man. I offered him the job if he would agree to this marriage. I’m certainly glad to see he took my advice. Don’t these two make a lovely couple?”

  The man's words punched at Regina's stomach. Confusion made her movements sluggish.

  “Regina?” John whispered against her ear and took her by the hand and pulled her to the side in order for Ben to take center stage. Regina felt weak in her knees.

  “Will everyone please be seated?” The man's booming voice could be heard over the occupants in the room, pulling their attention to his words.

  “I want to thank everyone for coming out to this very important town hall meeting. This will be a critical position for the citizens of Durango and all points surrounding this new hub of commerce.” The man chuckled and turned to point at her and John where they stood.

  “You've heard from John’s wife, and her glowing adoration for the man is hard to miss, but I would like you to listen a moment to someone else who is also in support of John Kingston as my overseer for this region. Perhaps he's a little less biased than Mr. Kingston's new bride, although these two men have been friends for many years.

  “This man is very well respected and he has dedicated his entire career to making impartial decisions based strictly on facts. So, without further delay, please allow me to introduce the Honorable William E. Baker, the territorial judge for this part of Colorado.”

  Regina watched in disbelief as John's friend stepped from somewhere behind her and walked up to the podium to speak. Will was a judge? The same man who performed her make-believe wedding ceremony in a drunken stupor, and the same man who provided her with a marriage certificate. He was a federal judge. A man legally capable of marrying her and John. And that is exactly what he’d done.

  Her father was right. John had…lied to her about their wedding. But why? And how could he do something like this? He was her friend. Her best friend. And the one person she thought she could trust without fail. And now, she learns that he has been conning her all the while pretending that he was helping her.

  She tried to listen as Will’s words vouched for his friend's integrity. And honesty. And character. But her mind circled back on the fact that John Kingston had lied to her.

  As Regina listened, the truth of her situation became increasingly clear to her. She realized John was still holding her hand. She needed to put some distance between them. She tried to discreetly pull her hand out of his, but he wouldn't let her go.

  Instead, he leaned in and whispered, “Regina, please let me explain.”

  Regina looked up into those beautiful eyes she had always trusted. “There’
s only one question I need you to answer. Is our marriage legal?” she whispered back to him behind her gloved hand in order to hide her words from the audience.

  “It’s not that simple,” John whispered back.

  “Yes, it is that simple. You knew I wanted a chance at independence. I was very clear about that when I came to you with my proposition. So, please answer my question. Did you conspire with your friend to have our marriage legally binding or not?”

  Regina shivered as emotions flooded her body. She had thought how wonderful it would be to be married to John, but that was before the possibility he had manipulated her just as her father had tried to do. Only this was worse. Much, much worse.

  Her father was at least honest about his intentions to use her as his pawn. Oh yes, this was much, much worse. Her world, the world she thought she was finally safe in, had just been shattered into a million painful shards of betrayal.

  “Regina, I—”

  She heard the regret in his voice. Her heart broke. So, it was true. For once, her father was right. John had used her to best her father in getting the position they both wanted. John. Had. Used. Her.

  She refused to look at him, knowing she wouldn't be able to hide her devastation or her tears from the crowd in front of them.

  He squeezed her hand and held on tight. People were watching, so she pasted on a bright smile even though there was no joy or happiness behind it. Standing on this stage in front of the whole town wasn't the place to have the conversation she and John needed to have.

  She kept a smile on her face and her eyes on the crowd in front of her. They were all listening to the man speaking. The man who had apparently legally married her to the man she had always thought was her most trusted ally and friend.

  John’s friend wrapped up his endorsement of John and turned to where Mr. Scott stood on the stage. “And now, I'd like to re-introduce the man who is going to put Durango, Colorado on the map as a huge tourist mecca and a prosperous town for us all. I welcome again the well-known and well-respected railroad and shipping tycoon who has graciously picked our town to invest in his next financial venture—Mr. Benjamin Scott.”

  Regina not only heard the thunderous applause that signaled the end of Will’s speech, but she felt it underfoot through the stage's wooden floorboards. Will turned from the podium and sent her an apologetic look. Then his gaze shifted to John.

  Her mind and body were numb, barely understanding everything that was going on around her. She saw Will come toward them from the podium and Mr. Scott take his place in the middle of the stage.

  “And now, for the announcement you’ve all been waiting for, let me introduce Durango’s own son, local businessman, well-respected entrepreneur, and my next financial overseer, Mr. John Kingston. I suspect there will be great things to come with this young man in charge.”

  John’s grasp on her hand was firm. He tried to pull her along with him to the podium to deliver his acceptance speech, but she refused.

  “No, you need to go alone,” she whispered through clenched teeth. Her fake smile still pasted on her face, she forcefully pulled her hand out of his. There was nothing he could do to make her go without causing a scene. She watched his eyes send her a silent message, but she didn't want to hear it, so she shifted her gaze to the man at the podium and then back to him. “Your new boss awaits, Mr. Kingston.”

  She saw the resignation in his eyes as he offered her a slight nod before making his way across the stage to join Mr. Scott.

  The man clapped John on the back and pushed him forward to the podium. “John, the citizens of Durango are waiting to hear what you have to say.”

  The crowd cheered and John turned to acknowledge the crowd's acceptance of him. She cut an angry look to Will. He shrugged and mouthed sorry as if that were explanation enough. It wasn't.

  It was time for her to go. Her face felt as if it had turned to stone holding her smile in place as she nodded to everyone she passed on her way to the stage stairs. A man reached out to help her down and she thanked him with her brightest smile, over-exaggerated as it was. She was pretty sure it made her look a bit unstable. Did it matter? Her world was unstable. Why shouldn’t she look the part?

  Instead of turning up the aisle where everyone would see her leave, including John, she turned toward the door behind the stage that led to the alleyway outside.

  Regina nodded to the man who opened the door for her as she stepped out into the dark alley and into the frosty evening air.

  She inhaled the deep aroma that was Durango. Dust. Horses. Cattle from the train's holding pen at the end of town. Pine trees. Crisp mountain air. She had spent three-quarters of her life in this town and suddenly, she felt like a stranger in it.

  Tears stung her eyes over John's deception. She couldn't come to terms with his betrayal. Not yet. She would need time and there was only one place she could go to get the time she needed.

  She walked quickly to her parent’s home. She knew they would still be at the meeting and she would have time to pack a few things for her trip. Then, she would head to Sarah’s house where she would spend her last night in town. Tomorrow morning, she would purchase a ticket on the stage or train or whatever mode of transportation would take her away from this town and its lies.

  Tears burned her eyes as she entered her parent’s home by the servant’s entrance. She expected this kind of thing from her father. But John? Never. She had trusted him without reservation, but now, she would never forgive him.

  John sat in his office and tried for the hundredth time to reconcile the day's receipts, but he couldn't force his mind to the task at hand. No matter how many times he refocused his thoughts, they always pulled him back to Regina and the look of betrayal in her eyes when she learned the truth. He had been so close to having it all, and just like his father, his con had cost him everything.

  It had been two months since she had left him standing on that stage. When he tried to find her, someone said they thought they had seen her leave by the alley door. As soon as he had been able to leave the town hall, he ran to the hotel hoping she would allow him a moment to explain, but when he arrived in the main lobby, he was mobbed by well-wishers and it was another half an hour before he was able to escape to his suite. She wasn't there and no one had seen her...not even Mary.

  John attended Mary and Charley’s wedding as planned hoping to see her there, but there was no luck to be had. He had tried to cheat Lady Luck and now his Queen of Hearts was gone forever.

  John had gone to her parent’s house every day since she left, hoping to get some answers as to where she had gone, but her father gleefully told him his daughter had finally come to her senses and left him in the gutter where he belonged.

  John kept hoping someone would slip up and say something that would give him some clue to where she had gone, but her father finally grew tired of insulting him and ordered his staff to stop answering the door.

  He even eavesdropped on the weekly ladies club meetings. And, although she was the topic of gossip on more than one occasion, no one seemed to know where his beautiful Regina had disappeared. He just hoped she was safe.

  A knock on his office door pulled him from his despair. “Come in,” he snapped.

  The door swung open and Will walked in. “Still stewing, I see.” His friend eyed his empty glass and raised his brows in question.

  “Yes, I'm still stewing. Why wouldn't I be? There's been no sign of her, Will. It's as if she vanished into thin air.” John slammed his ledger shut and removed the stopper from the crystal decanter and splashed a heavy-handed portion into his glass. He offered the bottle to Will, but he shook his head no.

  John didn't really care one way or the other. He slammed the bottle down on his desk and tossed the entire contents of his glass down his throat. The Scotch burned like hell. He poured another glass full and sat back in his chair. His eyes were full of grit from lack of sleep. He met Will's sympathetic gaze and nearly broke down.

  Will
remained silent and John’s frustration hit his limit of tolerance. He picked up the crystal paperweight and threw it across the room. It shattered into a thousand pieces. Just like his heart.

  “Feel better?” Will asked.

  “Where could she be, Will? I have asked all her friends from The Ladies Club of Durango. If they know something, they aren't talking about it. Her parents won't talk to me. I even hired two private investigators to see if they could find any trace of how she left or where she went. Nothing. Not a damn trace of her.”

  “Do you think if you find her, she's going to listen to you?”

  “I don't know, but I have to try. I have to do something to make her understand how much I love her. Let her know how sorry I am that I lied. Try to make her understand that I wanted the job from Scott, but…I wanted her more.” John felt so utterly lost and lonely—even worse than he ever had growing up without parents. He didn't think Regina would ever forgive him, but he had to try to explain his reasons for tricking her.

  “I bought her a house the day of the town meeting. Did I tell you that?” John casually asked Will.

  “No, why would you buy her a house if you know there was a possibility that she wouldn’t—” He heard his friend stop short.

  “She wouldn’t stay?” John filled in the blank. “Because she said she never felt like her parent’s house was her home. They decorated every square inch, even her room. They made the rules. They told her what to do. Where to go. When, how, and why to do everything.”

  “But what about your suite of rooms upstairs? Hell, there's probably more room up there than most houses can boast,” Will questioned. “Besides, that whole third floor is like a palace. It is unbelievable what you have done with—”

  “That's the problem. I decorated it. I designed it. And it was all built for a bachelor's taste. Dark woods. Browns and tans. Hunting horses and foxes. Not the roses and damask that ladies often like.