by Linda Bridey
“We gotta locate a couple of suitable horses, though. Let’s find a saloon. There’s bound to be a lot of horses there,” Luke said.
“Right.”
Luke’s feeling proved correct and they saw some horses that looked promising. They entered the saloon and Seth hollered, “Who’s got the fastest two horses around?”
Luke saw all eyes turn on them and he said, “What happened to letting me do the talking?”
“Oh, you are, I was just getting their attention. Who can resist talking up their horse? With this many guys here, we’re sure to ferret out whose horses really are the fastest and then you can do your thing,” Seth replied.
“My thing? I don’t even know what my thing means,” Luke said.
“You better figure it out quick, cuz. I think we’re getting some company,” Seth said. He turned on his own charm and said, “Howdy, fellas,” as a group of men came their way.
*****
A half hour later, Luke was surprised to find that he had learned some things about dishonesty and storytelling from Joe after all.
“So, we gotta find our buddy because his Ma is dying and wants to see her boy again before she passes,” he said with the saddest look he could muster. “We’d leave our horses with you and pick them up when we bring yours back. Please don’t let her die with a broken heart because she didn’t get to see her beloved son one last time.”
The switch was made within a matter of minutes. As they rode out of town, Seth began laughing and couldn’t stop for the longest time. Finally he sobered and said, “You shoulda been an actor, Luke. By the time you were done stringin’ that yarn, even I believed you. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house, including my own.”
Luke smiled. “I guess I found my thing, huh?”
“Looks like,” Seth said, and starting laughing all over again.
*****
Luke’s story changed with every town they came to. He used the story about Joe’s mother being close to death again and then switched it to Joe’s fictional brother. Then it became about finding a man who had robbed Luke’s mother of a family heirloom that he’d been given by his pa who had died. As long as Luke turned those brown eyes on them and made it seem like he was going to cry, it didn’t seem to matter how convoluted the story became. People were only too happy to give them their horses.
One time, they even conned a couple of single women into switching horses.
Seth saw that they were riding Thoroughbreds and said, “Take off your wedding ring,” to Luke.
“What? No!” Luke said.
“Do you want to save Joe and get him back home safe?” Seth asked.
“Yeah, but—“
“Then take it off,” Seth said and worked at his. “Damn it! I’ve never taken mine off and now I can’t get it off.”
Reluctantly Luke slipped off his band and put it in his pocket. Seth was finally able to remove his.
Luke’s natural shyness with women he didn’t know was endearing to the women. Add that to Seth’s wit and charm and the women never stood a chance against such a lethal combination. They rode with English saddles so Seth and Luke had to switch their Western saddles to the new horses. Seth tipped his hat to the ladies and he and Luke rode away.
As soon as they were out of sight, Luke put his ring back on, but Seth had as much trouble getting his back on as he had getting it off. Luke laughed at him and Seth smacked him in the back of the head.
Chapter Fifteen
Lacey tried hard not to fret, but it was impossible not to. She wasn’t riding any longer in case she would have an accident, but she still drove the Standardbreds around. The ranch employees were very good at their jobs and other than authorize payments for things, there was little for Lacey to do concerning running the place.
She took to going over to the Samuels ranch to visit with the women over there. Marcus brought Claire with him every day since she was so close to delivering and he didn’t want her to be alone when she went into labor. Everyone got a kick out of Aiyana who, along with his eyes, definitely had her father’s personality and chattered almost ceaselessly.
The problem for all of them except Claire was that she switched from English to Lakota in the middle of sentences so it was sometimes hard to figure out what she was trying to say. Mikey and Aiyana could talk to each other strictly in Lakota, however, which was amusing to hear.
One morning shortly after Marcus and Claire arrived, she went into labor. The women sat in Tessa and Dean’s kitchen when Claire made a funny face after she took a sip of coffee. Tessa saw and said, “Is there something wrong with the coffee?”
“Oh, no. It’s very good,” Claire said. “I just had a contraction, that’s all.”
“What?” Maddie said. “How long have you been having them?”
“They started on the ride here,” Claire calmly told her.
Jamie jumped up and clapped her hands together. “We’re going to have a baby!” she said, and ran out to the barn to find Marcus.
“Marcus! Marcus!” Jamie shouted as she came into the barn.
“Up here,” Marcus called from up in the hayloft. He came to the ladder and started down.
Jamie waited until he’d dropped to the barn floor from halfway down the ladder before telling him. She grabbed his shoulders and said, “Marcus, Claire is having the baby! She’s having contractions.”
Marcus let out a war whoop and hugged Jamie so tight she thought he was going to strangle her. Then he let her go and raced from the barn. Dean came out of the tack room and said, “What the hell was that about?”
“You’re about to become an uncle again,” Jamie said.
Dean grinned. “You don’t say? Well, let’s go see what we can do to help.”
*****
Tessa sat with Claire while Marcus worked on making his special potions.
Dean said, “You’re really gonna deliver your own baby?”
“Yes, Dean, I really am,” Marcus said as he mixed ingredients.
“Won’t that be hard for you?” his brother asked.
“Nope. I delivered the twins and J.R., so I oughta be able to deliver my own little one,” Marcus said.
Lacey watched Marcus with fascination. She had no idea how he remembered what went into each tea he made. “What are those for?”
“One is for pain. One is in case there’s a problem and I need to make the mother be a little sleepy, and the other is to help with delivering the afterbirth,” Marcus explained.
Dean remembered how if it wasn’t for Marcus, he might have lost Tessa and the twins.
“Little brother, I want to thank you again for everything you did for Tessa, the twins, and me. I don’t know what you need me to do to help, but just name it and I’ll do it,” Dean said.
Marcus smiled at his brother and said, “You just did it.”
Dean smiled back at him and then said, “Damn, that stinks, Marcus.”
“I know,” Marcus said as he poured the first tea into a cup and told Dean to blow on it.
“Why do I have to?” Dean said as he screwed up his face.
Marcus said, “You said you’d help, so help.”
Dean took the cup and began blowing on it. Maddie tried to hide her smile, but she couldn’t. Her smile faded when Marcus gave her a cup to blow on, too. Dean laughed at her and said, “C’mon, Aunt Maddie. You have to help, too.”
Marcus took Dean’s cup once it was cooler and brought it to Claire. He sat down on the bed with her and handed it to her.
“Hi, Mama,” he said with love in his eyes.
Claire took it and smiled at him. “Hi, dummy. Thank you.”
“How are you doing?” Marcus asked.
“The contractions are getting closer together. About seven minutes, I’d say,” Claire said.
Marcus nodded. “Good. Shouldn’t be too long,” he said as he palpated her abdomen a little. “I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary. I don’t think she’s breech.”
C
laire smiled. “No, I don’t think he’s breech, either.”
Marcus laughed. They had a friendly bet between them about the sex of the baby. Marcus voted for a little girl who looked like her mother and Claire thought it would be a little boy just like his father.
With a twinkle in her eyes Tessa said, “Maybe you’re having twins and you’ll have one of each.”
“Hush your mouth, Tessa!” Claire said. “Not for my first pregnancy, for goodness sake.”
“So you plan on having more?” Tessa asked.
Marcus nodded. “Absolutely. We’ve decided on four, including Aiyana. A nice even number. Claire likes even numbers,” he teased.
Claire groaned as a contraction hit her.
“That was only four minutes. Let me take a peek,” Marcus said. He determined that Claire was very close to delivering and hurried out to the kitchen and took the other two cups of tea back into Mikey’s room.
*****
Two hours and twenty-eight minutes later, Claire’s prediction of a son came true and Marcus delivered Anthony James Samuels into the world. He and Claire had decided that if the baby was a boy they would name him after Doc Turner since he’d taught Marcus so much over the years.
Marcus sat in the bed with Claire propped against him as she held Anthony. Marcus kissed the side of her head and gave her shoulders a small squeeze. “Way to go, Mama,” he said. “You do nice work.”
Claire glanced at him. “Me? You delivered him.”
“I was basically just there to catch him. You made my part of it easy,” Marcus insisted.
Claire laid her head on Marcus’ shoulder. “We make a good team.”
“That we do,” he agreed. “Who’d have thought that we would after the way we started out?” Marcus was referring to the love-hate relationship he and Claire had had for three years before falling in love.
“I know. It certainly wasn’t conventional, was it?” Claire said with a soft laugh.
Anthony stretched and yawned and Marcus smiled down at his son. He had Claire’s lighter hair color and Marcus hoped that he’d have her eyes, too.
“No, it wasn’t. But, here we are, two kids later and counting,” Marcus said.
Claire said, “I hope we have another one of each.”
“Yeah, just not twins,” Marcus said and chuckled.
“Agreed,” Claire said. She yawned and sighed.
“Honey, you need to rest. Let me take him. Everyone is probably chomping at the bit to see him,” Marcus said.
“All right. A nap is a good idea.” Claire kissed their son and handed him off to his father.
*****
“Hey, everyone,” Marcus said to the group that had assembled as he came out of Mikey’s room and shut the door. “Meet Anthony James Samuels.”
They all gathered around Marcus and quietly congratulated Claire and him on Anthony’s birth. Dean said, “I still can’t believe you delivered your own baby.”
“Well, he’s the proof that I did,” Marcus said. “He looks like Claire.”
“I would agree,” Tessa said.
Marcus said, “Well, Aunt Tessa, you should hold him first since you helped us get him here. Thank you.”
Tessa kissed Marcus’ cheek and then took Anthony. “I was just returning the favor. He’s beautiful,” she said as Anthony wrapped his tiny fingers around her forefinger.
Jamie grabbed Marcus in an impulsive hug. “I’m so happy for you guys.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Marcus said. “Hopefully it won’t be long until you and Luke have one of your own.”
Jamie said, “I know. We can’t wait.”
Maddie said, “If it doesn’t happen when you want it to, just have Marcus make his magic potion that he made for me and Seth.”
“I’d be happy to,” Marcus said to Jamie.
“I’ll take you up on that should it become necessary,” Jamie said.
Anthony was passed around to everyone. Lacey was surprised when Marcus said she should hold him, too. He said it would give her experience for when she had her baby. She took Anthony and smiled at the warm, pink-faced baby and her eyes filled with tears. Next year she would be holding her own newborn.
Lacey gave the baby back to Marcus as Jack came into the kitchen with Mikey and Aiyana. Jack had been keeping the two children occupied outside.
“Is it all clear in there?” Jack called out.
“Yeah. C’mon in,” Marcus replied.
Aiyana heard her father’s voice and went running into the parlor. Marcus smiled at her and knelt on one knee. “Aiyana, come see your baby brother,” he said.
Aiyana went to stand right by Anthony. She looked him over and then, meeting Marcus’ eyes. asked, “My baby?”
“No. Mama and Pa’s baby,” Marcus said. “He’s your brother.”
Aiyana shook her head and emphatically said, “My baby.”
Everyone laughed at her insistence. This encouraged Aiyana and she started chanting, “My baby,” over and over.
Marcus said, “Ok. Your baby…sometimes.”
Aiyana said, “Yeah,” and kissed Anthony’s forehead, which made everyone say, “Aww.”
Marcus rose and gave Anthony to Jack. Jack wasn’t shy about holding babies. He’d held Mikey and the other three babies around the ranch enough that it was second nature to him. He was even called upon to change diapers sometimes and while it wasn’t his favorite task, Jack did it without complaint.
“Hi, buddy. I’m your cousin, Jack. We’re gonna have fun when you’re older and I’ll teach you all kinds of bad stuff,” he said.
Marcus rolled his eyes. “You’re supposed to be a positive influence on him.”
“What fun is that?” Jack asked. He turned to Mikey. “You wanna hold him?”
“Ok,” Mikey said, and Jack put him in Mikey’s arms. “Why do babies have such scrunched up faces when they’re born?”
“I’ll explain that to you when you’re older,” Marcus said.
Dean said, “No, I’ll explain it to him.”
“Are you sure?” Marcus teased Dean.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Dean insisted as he gave Marcus an annoyed stare.
“Ok,” Marcus said. He’d been the one to explain the birds and the bees to Jack because Dean was shy about things of a sexual nature.
Anthony began crying then. “I think someone’s hungry. Jack, will you go let Doc know about Anthony and ask him to check out Claire and him when he has time?” Marcus asked.
“Sure, Uncle Marcus. I’ll leave now,” Jack said. “See everyone in a bit.”
Marcus took Anthony back to Claire and everyone began going about their business.
Chapter Sixteen
Joe reached Texas and felt a sense of homecoming. He hadn’t been to Texas in several years and it felt good to be back. He decided to make a quick stop in Dallas to do a little gambling and increase his cash flow even more. Luck was with him again and he walked away with a tidy sum to add to his bankroll. He planned to use whatever money he made on the trip to put towards buying Lacey the Standardbred foal she wanted. Joe also had something else he wanted to do for her, but he would have to figure out how to go about it first.
He left Dallas behind and stopped in Austin to try his hand at the poker table again. Even though he didn’t win quite as much, Joe was happy with the amount he walked away with. After Austin, Joe figured he’d better make a beeline for Houston before someone caught up to him. Hamlet ate up the distance in good time.
When Joe entered Houston, he saw that a few things had changed, but for the most part, they were as he remembered them. Nostalgia hit him and he thought about how much his mother had loved the city. He rode past stores where she liked to shop. She was the one who had started him wearing suits when he was about fourteen, and he’d worn them ever since. They’d had many a fun afternoon suit shopping because he grew fast and was constantly having to be refit.
It may have seemed strange to some people that a mother and son should be so c
lose, but it hadn’t seemed strange to them. Joe had also learned about women’s fashion from her and knew all about lingerie and anything pertaining to women’s clothing. It hadn’t been unusual for Joe to join his mother and her friends because they valued his male opinion and thought he was so cute and charming.
As Joe made his way along Main Street, he heard someone call his name. He looked around, but didn’t see the source right away. Suddenly a woman appeared beside Hamlet and looked up at him.
“Joey Dwyer, as I live and breathe!” she said.
Joe was off his horse in seconds and embraced her. Her name was Monica Davis. She had been one of his mother’s closest friends and was like an aunt to Joe.
“Good Lord, how are you, Monica?” Joe asked as he squeezed her tight.
“I’m just fine and it looks like you’re the same way,” she said. Her brown eyes were alight with joy. “You haven’t changed a bit except to get even more handsome.”
“Why, thank you. Likewise,” Joe said. Seeing her again brought Joe’s grief he still felt over the loss of his mother to the fore and he couldn’t help the tears that stung his eyes.
Monica laid a hand on his cheek and said, “I know, Joey. I feel the same way.”
Joe blinked the tears away and laughed. “I sure didn’t expect to see you, but I’m so glad you saw me.”
“Me, too. Do you have time for a cup of coffee or something? I’d love to catch up with you a little,” Monica said.
Joe couldn’t resist the hopeful expression on her still beautiful face. “I’d love that,” Joe said, and offered her his arm.
“Still the gentleman I see,” Monica said.
“Well, that’s debatable, depending on who you ask,” Joe said, which made Monica laugh.
Joe spent a little over an hour with Monica and he didn’t regret taking the time out to do so. She gave him her address and made him promise to write her. Joe told her all about marrying Lacey and the fire and what had happened with his father. Monica was deeply sorry about Joe’s loss and the way August had treated Joe.
“He was always awful to your mother,” Monica said.